BusinessMirror May 20, 2022

Neda: RTL repeal to dent anti-inflation efforts

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HE removal of the Rice Trade Liberalization (RTL) Law would be a major setback to the country’s efforts in keeping inflation at bay, especially at a time when commodity prices are skyrocketing, according to the National Economic and Development Authority (Neda).

Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Karl Kendrick T. Chua said the next administration will benefit greatly from keeping the RTL in place.

Chua added that the success of RTL in keeping rice prices low can even be replicated in other agricultural commodities such as livestock and poultry.

“We hope that this and our dialogue with the transition team of

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the new administration will help them better understand the costs and benefits of the policies that we have proposed,” Chua said.

“The RTL is the best model to help both farmers and consumers.

We are proposing the same model for livestock, poultry, and dairy, and we hope to do that for other crops as well,” he added.

Chua said the landmark legislation, which took the Philippines decades to pass, currently benefits 2 million farmers and 110 million consumers.

The list, Chua said, also includes “tens of thousands of retailers, wholesalers, millers, and those in the warehousing and transport businesses” who have been given cheap sources of rice.

The law, Republic Act No. 11203, not only replaced quantitative restrictions on imported rice with tariffs, but also created the Rice Competitiveness Enhancement Fund (RCEF).

The RCEF consists of an annual appropriation of P10 billion in six years to fund programs for farm mechanization, seed development, propagation and promotion, credit assistance, and extension services.

These programs were specifically identified to improve the productivity of rice farmers, reduce production costs, and link them to the value chain.

The excess from the P10-billion tariff revenue collection will be appropriated by Congress the fol-

lowing year for the direct financial assistance to rice farmers, titling of agricultural rice lands, expanded crop insurance program, and crop diversification program.

“Last year, we collected P18.9 billion from rice tariff collections.

We gave all that back to rice farmers. Those calling for the removal of the RTL risk taking away what we are giving to farmers to improve their productivity,” Chua said.

“Further lowering the price of rice for all Filipinos is really possible if we help farmers improve productivity. That is exactly what the RTL is doing by providing them with mechanization, seeds, and other support,” he added.

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HIKE TO CURB INFLATION T T ADB voucher plan to ease food insecurity covers PHL

By Bianca Cuaresma @BcuaresmaBM

HE Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) on Thursday increased its rates for the first time since the pandemic, as the country’s monetary authority tries to get a hold of the rising inflation expectations in the country.

By Cai U. Ordinario @caiordinario

HE Asian Development Bank (ADB) is developing a food voucher program in the Philippines as part of global initiatives to combat food insecurity heightened by the war in Eastern Europe.

In the International Financial Institutions (IFIs) Action Plan to Address Food Insecurity, multilateral development institutions outlined their projects and operations that would help ensure that acute and chronic food insecurity, especially in light of the war in Eastern Europe, is addressed.

These institutions included the ADB, African Development Bank (AfDB), European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), World Bank, the International Monetary Fund

‘DIGITAL DIASPORA’

At its meeting, BSP Governor Benjamin Diokno announced that the Monetary Board decided to raise the interest rate on the BSP’s overnight reverse repurchase facility by 25 basis points to 2.25 percent, effective Friday, May 20.

Accordingly, the interest rates on the overnight deposit and lending facilities were raised to 1.75 percent and 2.75 percent, respectively.

This is the first time that the BSP hiked its monetary policy rates since implementing an ultra accommodative monetary policy stance to keep the economy afloat during the pandemic. The move to raise rates also comes earlier than Diokno’s previous forward guidance of starting to hike monetary policy rates in the second half of this year.

BOWLING GOLD Bowling delivers a second gold medal at the Vietnam

31st Southeast Asian Games this time in the men’s team of four of (from left) Ian Dychangco, Merwin Tan, Patrick Nuqui and Ivan Malig. Nonie Reyes

By Jun Lomibao

kgs class gold medal the Hoai Duc Gymnasium.

The victories raised the haul of Team Philippines—backed by the Philippine Sports Commission and the Phi lippine Oly mpic Committee—to 40 gold medals that included a late-night conquest of the women’s Wild Rift team in esports on Wednesday.

With only two gold medals, Indonesia dislodged the Philippines at third place, shoving the Filipinos—limited to four golds Tuesday and three Wednesday—in a tight battle for fourth with the Singaporeans.

NMEDIA | DREAMSTIME.COM NMEDIA | DREAMSTIME.COM

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See “ADB,” A2

TEAM PHL TEETERS IN 4TH PLACE IN SEAG

ANOI—The gold meda ls came in tr ick les a new on T hursd ay and with victories notched in only two fronts—bowling and judo—in the 31st Southeast Asian Games on Thursday, the Philippines dropped to a tight race for fourth place in the overall medals race that host Vietnam solidly gripped with ByManuel Manuel Cayon “In deciding to raise theBy policy interestT.T.Cayon four days of action remaining. rate, the Monetary Board noted that the latThe men’s team of four of est baseline forecasts have further shifted bowling led by Merwin Tan and higher since the previous monetary policy in collaboration with Chrismeeting in March, indicating that elevated tian Dychangco, Ivan Malig inflation pressures could persist over the and Patrick Nuqui started the policy horizon,” Diokno said. day on high note by adding a

D

(IMF), and the International Fund for Agr icu ltura l Development (IFAD).

“As a part of the Philippine Policy-based lending project, Competitive and Inclusive agriculture development program [$400 million], ADB will help the government tackle food insecurity by developing a food voucher program for pregnant and lactating women and their children to improve their access to diverse and healthy nutrition sources,” the action plan stated.

The food voucher program, which has yet to officially receive a project name, is still being prepared, according to the ADB. Sources in the bank said the project may be designed as a technical assistance project rather than a project or program loan.

News

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A2 Friday, May 20, 2022

Neda...

Continued from A1

Chua also said the increase in importation did not hurt local rice production. In 2021, palay production increased to 20.0 million metric tons (MMT), 3.5 percent higher compared to 2020.

This was in spite of the increase in rice imports in 2021 to 2.9 MMT. The Neda chief said the RTL has been key in managing inflation.

Stable supply from higher production and more imports led to low and stable prices for rice. The latest inflation figures revealed that rice inflation averaged 1.4 percent in the first quarter of 2022.

“Prior to 2019, rice was the single biggest contributor to inflation. Today, and since the passage of RTL three years ago, it has had a negative to minimal contribution to inflation,” Chua said.

“Even during the first quarter of this year, when rice production slightly declined, inflation of rice was below 2 percent. That’s because we are able to temporarily import. Importation is a way to address supply and price volatility. If we did not have that, people would have faced much higher inflation today,” he explained.

On Thursday, BusinessMirror published a Bloomberg report saying the incoming administration would have to deal with the gravity of economic challenges ahead, even in the wake of a better-than-expected firstquarter GDP surprise. While policymakers just weeks ago sounded a more confident tone on reining in price growth, inflation has worsened worldwide, the Philippines included.

The central bank is set to decide on its benchmark interest rate Thursday, with a slim majority of analysts expecting a rate hike in line with global and regional trends. Cai U. Ordinario

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Sotto, Drilon: Halting Congress’s canvassing job to lead to ‘crisis’

By Butch Fernandez @butchfBM

S

ENATE leaders separately issued warnings Thursday of a possible constitutional crisis if the petitions to stop Congress from canvassing presidential votes are given due course by the Supreme Court.

Senate President Vicente Sotto III was asked for his reaction to the filing of a petition by activists and human rights groups, among others, asking the high court to issue a restraining order on Congress while it reviews their petition to strike down the Commission on Elections dismissal of their disqualification petitions against presumptive president Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr.

Sotto told reporters: “We will be courting a constitutional crisis from the fact that Congress can no longer meet after June 3.”

He asked aloud: “Who will then conduct the canvass as mandated by the Constitution?”

The Senate leader pointed out that “July 25 is a key date for Congress. So, no President or VP by June 30? What do they propose? Holdover? Tell me if

BSP...

is a higher deviation from the ceiling of the government’s target for the year of keeping inflation within the 2 to 4 percent band.

For next year, forecasted inflation is also near the ceiling of the 2 to 4 percent target band at 3.9 percent from the earlier forecast of 3.6 percent.

The adjustments, according to the BSP, were based on higher-than-expected in-

Continued from A1

Latest forecasts from the BSP - which were also announced during the Thursday meeting—pointed to inflation hitting an average of 4.6 percent for this year, from the previous forecast of 4.3 percent. This

that is not a crisis!” he asked, recalling that on Tuesday, two petitions were filed before the Supreme Court asking it to strike down the Comelec’s decision to dismiss the disqualification cases against Marcos Jr., who won by a landslide vote of 31 million in the unofficial count.

The petitioners also asked SC to stop Congress from proceeding with the canvassing of the presidential votes, which, Sotto III stressed, is the legislature’s constitutional duty. “The Constitution cannot be amended by a TRO,” Sotto III said.

The Senate chief added, in Filipino, addressing “all those wishing to stop us from proclaiming” the President and VP: “Congress is constitutionally-bound to canvass the results for the President and Vice President. Nothing prevents us from performing this duty to ensure the peaceful transfer of power. That is our Democracy and that is our sworn Duty to the Filipino people. We only

need a few days to complete this task and we commit that before June 30, we shall have our new President and Vice President. The ones elected by the sovereign will of Thirty one Million Filipino people.”

For his part, Minority Leader Franklin Drilon observed that “the petitions will not prosper,” adding that, “the Supreme Court cannot stop Congress from performing its constitutional duty.”

A former Secretary of Justice, Drilon said “the Supreme Court cannot restrain or stop the Congress, acting as the National Board of Canvassers, from performing its constitutional duty of canvassing the votes for President and Vice President of the Republic, and proclaiming the winner.”

The two chambers are expected to convene into the National Board of Canvassers on May 24, and thereafter proclaim the president and vice president.

flation prints in recent months, volatility in global oil prices, higher than assumed minimum wage increase in the National Capital Region (NCR) and Region 6, and the stronger domestic growth outlook.

“The balance of risks to the inflation outlook now leans toward the upside for both 2022 and 2023, with upside pressures emanating from the potential impact of higher oil prices, including on transport fares, as well as the continued shortage in domestic pork and fish supply,” Diokno said.

BSP officials had also warned on Thursday that inflation could hit as high as 5 percent this year. Inflation is also expected to remain above 4 percent until the first quarter of next year.

“Average inflation could peak in the second quarter of this year at slightly above 5 percent, and hovering at around 5 percent for most of the second half of the year before decelerating in 2023 and going back to target by the second quarter of next year,” BSP Managing Director Zeno Abenoja said.

Going forward, economists see further rounds of monetary policy tightening from the BSP in a bid to control the rise of prices of consumer goods.

Rizal Commercial Banking Corporation (RCBC) chief economist Michael Ricafort, in his analysis after the monetary policy meeting, said policy rate hikes in the coming months could be needed to address the risk of second-round inflation effects after the approved minimum wage hikes and possible hike in transport fares, all of which would lead to higher prices of other affected goods and services in the economy.

“It is a tough and delicate balancing act in managing the monetary policy, going forward, to prevent inflation from spiraling further, while at the same time, helping sustain the fragile economic recovery prospects still reeling from the adverse effects of the pandemic that could be jeopardized by any premature tightening of monetary policy that may not be necessarily effective in curbing supply-side inflationary pressures,” Ricafort said.

Economists at Bank of the Philippine Islands (BPI), on the other hand, now expect at least 100 basis point hikes from the BSP this year from 75 basis points previously.

“Even with a 100-basis-point rate hike this year, the policy rate will still be below historical and prepandemic levels.

Furthermore, the impact of rate hikes is usually gradual and the economy has the capacity to absorb slightly higher interest rates especially now that demand is almost back to pre-pandemic level,” BPI said in its analysis.

“A more significant risk to the country’s economic prospects is inflation and the depreciation of the Peso, which will increase the cost of oil that the country imports from abroad on top of the increase brought by the conflict in Ukraine.

A prolonged period of elevated oil and coal prices may eventually lead to second round effects that could make inflation more entrenched,” the bank added.

Second-round effects

Diokno also said second-round effects, or indirect price hikes as a result of higher prices of a major commodity item, have started to appear in the economy.

“The Monetary Board also observed the emergence of second-round effects, including the higher-than-expected adjustment in minimum wages in some regions. Inflation expectations have likewise risen, highlighting the risk posed by sustained pressures on future wage and price outcomes,” Diokno said.

“Given these considerations, the Monetary Board believes that a timely increase in the BSP’s policy interest rate will help arrest further second-round effects and temper the buildup in inflation expectations,” he added.

The BSP said the strong domestic growth as seen in the first quarter of the year has also provided them space to hike rates to control inflation.

PHL...

Continued from A1

Vietnam is in full throttle toward the overall title with a harvest of 149 - 88 - 80 gold-silverbronze early evening Thursday, followed by Thailand with 58-6592. Indonesia moved up to third with 41-59-55.

The Filipinos also had 55 silver and 76 bronze medals, enough to stave off Singapore which also had 40 golds but with 41 silvers and 52 bronzes.

Marathoner Christine Hallasgo battled cramps to lose her crown to Indonesian Odekta Naibaho Elvina, who won gold in two hours, 55 minutes and28 seconds. Vietnam’s Ngoc Hoa Hoang Thi was third in 2:57.350.

Basketball, tennis, boxing and billiards provided victories for Team Philippines for potential

gold medals.

Expected to lift the country’s morale is Tokyo Olympics champion Hidilyn Diaz, who is favored to rule the women’s 55 kgs class in women’s weightlifting on Friday.

Also winning silver medals were Grandmaster Darwin Laylo and International Master Paulo Bersamina in rapid chess; archer Jennifer Chan and Paul Marton dela Cruz in the mixed team competition; judokas Keisei Nakano and John Viron Ferrer, and wrestlers Roni Tubog, Alvin Lobreguito, and Jhonny Morte.

Another judoka, Megui Kurayoshi, settled for the bronze, along with Janella Mae Frayna and Antoinette San Diego in chess, the team of Paul dela Cruz, Flor Matan and Johan Olano in archery’s men’s team competition, weightlifter Rosegie Ramos, taekwondo’s Israel Cesar Cantos, karatedos Ivan Agustin, the kata team of Nicole Dantes, Rebecca Torres, and Sarah Pangilinan, and Ramon Misu.

ADB...

Continued from A1

ADB documents showed that a $400-million Competitive and Inclusive agriculture development program is already closed.

The project was approved in August 2020 and was closed in November 2020. The original closing date for the project, however, was August 2021.

The project intended “to support reforms by the Philippine government aimed at raising the productivity and competitiveness of the country’s agriculture sector and significantly reducing poverty in rural areas.”

Meanwhile, apart from the food vouchers, ADB has realigned its existing projects to support the current needs of developing member countries (DMCs) in developing agriculture value chains and enhancing agricultural competitiveness in and beyond the region.

This included the $100.4 -million Mindanao Agro-Enter prise Development Project in the Philippines and providing direct agribusiness lending for staple food working capital and liquidity.

T h i s t a r ge t e d ne a r l y 300,000 smallholder farmers in 15 DMCs with significant food security needs. Some $420 million was provided to countries like the Philippines, Azerbaijan, Bangladesh, Cambodia, India, Indonesia, and Lao PDR, among others.

ADB has earmarked lending suppor t to f ina nc i a l institutions to support approximately 30,000 food and agriculture MSME borrowers in seven DMCs. Some $110 million will be provided in 2022 for Cambodia, Georgia, India, Nepal, Pakistan, Philippines, and Uzbekistan.

“ADB will use existing as well as upcoming trust funds [such as OPEC trust fund, under processing, with funding to be determined] to provide immediate financial support to agribusiness across the Asia region, provide emergency assistance to countries that have been hard hit by the crisis [i.e., Sri Lanka, Mongolia] and support interventions to strengthen the agriculture value chain, particularly in countries that have been seriously affected by the crisis,” the action plan stated.

Further, in 2022, ADB and the World Food Program (WFP) have launched projects in Afghanistan and the Philippines and are in the process of finalizing another project in Myanmar.

For its Sustaining Essential Services Delivery Project (Support for Afghan People), ADB is providing direct financing to FAO, UNDP, UNICEF and WFP for immediate humanitarian support in response to the unprecedented crisis and to help sustain the country’s human development.

The action plan also contained information stating that the WFP has received $135 million to enable the provision of emergency food to over 800,000 people. Around 168,000 people will be covered under asset creation and livelihood activities.

Apart from the ADB, the World Bank Group said new food securit y-related operations are being prepared across regions, including in the Philippines.

The Washington-based lender also said that apart from the Philippines, they are including in these operations Cameroon, Ghana, Chad, Sierra Leone, Ethiopia, Madagascar, Lebanon, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Kyrgyz Republic, Moldova, Albania, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Ukraine, Bolivia, Nicaragua, Pakistan, and Indonesia, among others.

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‘New SK law levels up youth leadership and competency’

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AWMAKERS said the new law strengthening the Sangguniang Kabataan (SK) is expected to level up youth leadership in the Philippines.

Iloilo Rep. Julienne Baronda, one of the authors of the law, said the new law would boost youth engagement in governance.

“They are not only our future, they are our partners in nation-building today. I’m delighted that our youth leaders will be getting benefits for the service they provide the community. I am aware of the commitment and sacrifice it takes to balance their school work or jobs with their responsibilities towards their fellow youth in their respective communities,” said Baronda.

Through Republic Act 11768, the lawmaker said the compensation, other privileges and more capacitybuilding opportunities will be extended to SK officials.

The law stipulates an alignment with the skills of an SK official with their tasks, Baronda, a former SK Federation president, added.

“Thus, those who vie for SK positions should have formal training or have an education background that qualifies them for the roles at hand. This legislation also strengthens the accountability of our young leaders to those they swore to serve,” Baronda said.

“We look forward to the full

implementation of this law,” added Baronda.

For his part, Isabela 6th District Rep. Faustino Dy V said providing SK members with honoraria “should allow SK members to better focus on their SK work, particularly the planning and programming of youth projects in the country’s over 42,000 barangays.” Dy also urged SKs to focus on programs that would support government efforts to address environmental issues.

President Duterte on May 6 signed RA 11768, which provides SK members, including the treasurer and secretary, with monthly honoraria, chargeable against the SK funds, in addition to any other compensation provided by RA 11768.

The monthly allowances will be granted at the end of every regular monthly SK meeting. The honorarium, based on RA 11768, should not exceed the monthly compensation received by the SK chairperson.

The new law also mandates the appointment of SK secretary and treasurer, the latter preferably with an educational or career background relating to business administration, accountancy, finance, economics, or bookkeeping. The appointed SK treasurer is mandated to undergo bookkeeping training from, and be duly certified by, the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority before assuming office.

Jovee Marie N. Dela Cruz

DOJ-NPS indicts 3 PDEA agents, 4 cops over ’21 ‘misencounter’ in QC

By Joel R. San Juan @jrsanjuan1573

T

HE Department of JusticeNational Prosecution Service (DOJ-NPS) has found probable cause to indict three agents of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) for homicide and four Philippine National Police (PNP) officers for direct assault in connection with the 2021 shootout between elements of the said agencies that left four people dead.

In a two-page statement, the DOJ-NPS said it issued a resolution last May 2, 2022, indicting PDEA agents Khee Maricar Rodas, Jeffrey Baguidudol and Jelou Satiniaman for homicide for the death of Police Corporal Eric Elvin Garado.

On the other hand, indicted for direct assault were Police Corporal Paul Christian Gandeza for the injuries sustained by PDEA agent Raymart Bayote; Police Lieutenant Honey Besas for the injuries sustained by PDEA agent Prince Bernard Gallego; Police Major Sandie Caparroso for the injuries sustained by PDEA agent Brenson Sulang; and Caparroso and Police Senior Master Sergeant Melvin Merida for the injuries sustained

by PDEA agent Allan Capiral.

The DOJ-NPS said the charges against the said law enforcers would be filed before the courts in Quezon City.

However, the DOJ-NPS dismissed the homicide case against PDEA agent Romeo Asuncion in connection with the death of Police Corporal Lauro de Guzman since the firearm reportedly used to shoot De Guzman was not identified.

None of the evidence bullets or spent cartridges found at the area also matched the firearm of Asuncion.

Also dismissed was the homicide charge against Police Corporal Alvin Borja who is being blamed for the death of PDEA agent Rankin Gano.

The DOJ said the Medico-Legal Report and the Ballistics Examination conducted by the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) failed to identify the fatal shot sustained by Gano.

“There is also no record showing that Police Corporal Borja was the only one who actually shot at Gano,” the DOJ-NPS said.

Because of insufficiency of evidence, the DOJ-NPS also dropped the other complaints, namely, attempted homicide, falsification of official document, robbery, conniving

SC gives BBM, Congress, Comelec 15 days to answer nullification plea

T

HE Supreme Court did not issue a temporary restraining order (TRO) on Thursday that would stop the canvassing of votes for the presidential and vice presidential candidates by the two chambers of Congress scheduled on May 24.

Instead, the SC, in a resolution, gave the Commission on Elections (Comelec), the Senate, House of Representatives and presumptive President Ferdinand “Bongbong” R. Marcos Jr., 15 days to answer the plea of several human rights groups for the issuance of a TRO to enjoin the canvassing of votes for the presidential post and the latter’s impending proclamation as 17th president of the country.

The Senate and the House are set to convene as the National Board of Canvassers (NBOC), which is tasked to canvass votes and proclaim the next president and vice president, upon resumption of session on May 23.

The SC Public Information Office headed by lawyer Brian Keith Hosaka said the en banc resolution was released on Thursday.

The Court, however, is still on recess until June 10.

“Whereas, considering the allegations contained, the issues raised and the arguments adduced in the petition, without necessarily giving due course thereto, it is necessary and proper to require the respondents to comment on the petition and prayer for tem-

porary restraining order within a period of 15 days from notice hereof,” the SC resolution stated.

“Now, therefore, respondents Comelec, Ferdinand Romualdez Marcos Jr., Senate of the Philippines, and House of Representatives are hereby required to comment on the petitioner and prayer for temporary restraining order within a period of fifteen [15] days from notice hereof,” it added.

The resolution covers the petition filed by Fr. Christian Buenafe, Fides Lim, Ma. Edeliza Hernandez, Celia Lagman Sevilla, Roland Vibal, and Josephine Lascano representatives of various human rights groups, namely, the Task Force Detainees of the Philippines, Kapatid-Families and Friends of Political Prisoners, Medical Action Group Inc., Families of Victims of Involuntary Disappearance Inc., Philippine Alliance of Human Rights Advocates Inc. and Balay Rehabilitation Center Inc. The resolution did not mention anything about the second petition filed by the Campaign Against the Return of the Marcoses and Martial Law (CARMMA).

CARMMA is also seeking the issuance of a TRO/Writ of Preliminary Injunction to enjoin the Senate and the House from canvassing the votes cast in favor of Marcos and reverse the Comelec resolution dismissing their petition to disqualify Marcos on the ground of his previous criminal conviction.

The group also asked the Court

that in the event Marcos’ disqualification is granted, the candidate with the highest number of valid votes, in this case Vice President Ma. Leonor “Leni” Robredo, be allowed to assume as the next president.

The Buenafe et. Al. petition, seeks to set aside the January 17, 2022 and May 10, 2022 resolutions of the Commission on Elections (Comelec), which dismissed for lack of merit the petition they filed against Marcos Jr., for the denial or cancellation of his certificate of candidacy for the position of President, and denying his motion for partial reconsideration, respectively.

The petition is anchored on Marcos Jr.’s alleged failure to file income tax returns from 1982 to 1985 while he was a public official in Ilocos Norte.

The petitioners argued that the Comelec committed grave abuse of discretion when it gave weight to Marcos’ material representation that he is eligible for the position of President and that he has not been convicted of a crime punished with the penalty of perpetual disqualification from public office.

The petitioners stressed that Marcos Jr. has been a public officer for more than 25 years and that he was charged in eight criminal tax cases before the Quezon City Regional Trial Court (RTC) Branch 105 for violating the National Internal Revenue code (NIRC) of 1977, on his failure to file income tax returns for 1982, 1983, 1984 and 1985.

The Quezon City RTC sentenced Marcos to nine years imprisonment for failure to pay his income tax returns and to pay the taxes for the years 1982 until 1985.

Marcos then appealed the case before the Court of Appeals (CA). On October 31, 1997, and the CA reportedly affirmed Marcos’ conviction beyond reasonable doubt for violating Section 45 of the NIRC related to his failure to file income tax returns for the taxable years 1982 to 1985.

The CA ordered Marcos to pay the BIR the deficiency income taxes due with interest at the legal rate until fully paid; to pay the fine of P2,000 for each charge in Criminal Cases Nos. Q-92-29213, Q-92-29212; and Q-92-29217 for the failure to file income tax returns for the years 1982, 1983, and 1984; and the fine of P30,000 in Criminal Case No. Q-9124391 for failure to file income tax return for 1985 with surcharges.

Marcos appealed the appellate court’s decision before the SC, but later withdrew it.

In the Entry of Judgment, the CA also certified that its October 31, 1997 Decision was final and executory.

The petitioners said Marcos Jr.’s conviction has attained finality after he failed to challenge the CA ruling before the SC. The petitioners added that Marcos Jr., has not yet complied with the criminal penalty that attained finality more than 20 years ago.

Joel R. San Juan

House ready for canvass of votes for President, VP on May 24

I

T’S now all systems go in the House of Representatives for next week’s canvass of votes for President and Vice President in the recently concluded May 9 elections, the House Secretary General said on Thursday.

With the strict implementation of the government’s health protocol, House Secretary General Mark Llandro Mendoza said only 460 people, including lawmakers, poll watchers and observers, will be allowed inside the session hall.

He said a mandatory antigen testing would be conducted for those who will enter the plenary hall.

“The House is now ready for the canvassing next week, it’s all systems go,” he said.

Under the 1987 Constitution, Congress—the Senate and the House of Representatives in joint session —will act as the National Board of Canvassers to canvass the votes and proclaim the winners of the presidential and vice presidential race at the lower house.

The tabulation will be done at the House premises in the Batasan complex in Quezon City. Congress will reconvene on Monday.

But the canvassing of votes for the presidential and vice presidential candidates in the 2022 national elections would be done from May 24 to 27, 2022.

Mendoza said that on May 24, the canvassing would take place starting at 2 p.m., while from May 25 to 27; the canvassing will last from 10

Editor: Vittorio V. Vitug • Friday, May 20, 2022 A3

a.m. to 10 p.m.

Mendoza said the ballot boxes containing the Certificates of Canvass (COCs) and Election Returns (ERs) would be delivered from the Senate to the House at around 5 a.m. on Tuesday, May 24.

Under the Constitution, “the returns of every election for President and Vice President, duty certified by the board of canvassers of each province or city, shall be transmitted to Congress, directed to the President of the Senate.

Upon receipt of the certificates of canvass, the President of the Senate shall, not later than 30 days after the day of the election, open all certificates in the presence of the Senate and the House of Representa-

tives in joint public session, and the Congress, upon determination of the authenticity and due execution thereof in the manner provided by law, canvass the votes.”

The 1987 Constitution provides that the President of the Senate should, not later than 30 days after the day of election, open all the certificates in the presence of the Senate and of the House in a joint public session.

The members of the Congressional Canvass Committee acting as the National Board of Canvassers (NBOC) will be presided over

by Speaker Lord Allan Velasco and Senate President Vicente Sotto III. Velasco said they expect a speedy canvass and proclamation of the winners. Jovee Marie N. Dela Cruz

to or consenting to evasion, arbitrary detention, sedition, and violation of the Anti-Torture Act. Based on the findings of the DOJ-NPS panel of prosecutors that conducted the preliminary investigation, both PDEA and the PNP were conducting their separate buy-bust operations on February 24, 2021 along Commonwealth Avenue.

But the respective informants of the PDEA (Untong Matalnas) and Quezon City Police DistrictDistrict Special Operating Unit (QCPD-DSOU) (Jonaire Decena) intertwined the operations of the two agencies.

PDEA agents and Matalnas were reportedly onboard a white Honda City vehicle and were on their way to Litex, Quezon City when their car engine overheated prompting them to park at the McDonald’s Don Antonio parking lot.

At around the same time, the police officers were on their way to McDonald’s Don Antonio because their informant Decena reportedly told them that the transaction would take place there.

When the policemen arrived at the parking lot, Garado and Decena rushed to the parked Honda City.

Garado then reportedly pointed his firearm at Matalnas and at the

other passengers inside the vehicle.

This resulted in an exchange of gunfire between police officers Garado and de Guzman against the PDEA agents.

“The submitted abridged version of the CCTV footage shows that Police Corporal Garado fell down right after smoke soared at the back of the vehicle. Police Corporal De Guzman would also fall down moments after.

The abridged version of the CCTV footage also shows PDEA agent Rankin Gano falling down after Police Corporal De Guzman fell,” the DOJ recounted.

After a momentary ceasefire, and when other QCPD-DSOU operatives arrived at the scene, the shooting resumed until the PDEA agents were cornered at the McDonald’s drive through area.

“After evaluation of the evidence, the panel of prosecutors found sufficient evidence to charge respondents PDEA agents Rodas, Baguidudol and Satiniaman for homicide for the death of Police Corporal Garada,” the DOJ said.

“With respect to the injuries sustained by the PDEA respondents, there are sufficient evidence identifying some police officers who actually hit, strike, and maul them,” it added.

BBM spox to DQ petitioners: End agenda of divisiveness, animosity

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ETITIONERS of the disqualification case against presumptive President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. have been urged to stop pursuing their agenda of divisiveness and animosity, so that the new leaders can move forward in the difficult task of economic recovery.

Atty. Victor Rodriguez, chief of staff and spokesman of the former senator, said they should instead learn to respect the will of the majority—over 31 million who voted for Marcos in the unofficial count, pending the national canvass by Congress—and his running mate presumptive Vice President Inday Sara Duterte—in the recently concluded national and local elections.

“I appeal to those who keep on pursuing this divisiveness, the people have spoken. The Filipino people have spoken and an overwhelming majority has voted President-elect Bongbong Marcos and Vice President-elect Inday Sara Duterte into office as President and Vice President. Learn to respect the will of the Filipino people,” he said.

Rodriguez said they had yet to receive a copy of the petition filed before the Supreme Court to cancel the certificate of candidacy (COC) of Marcos, with a prayer for the issuance of a temporary restraining order (TRO) to block the counting of votes cast for him and his proclamation should he win.

However, Rodriguez pointed out that the disqualification cases were already dismissed unanimously in the Commission on Elections, both at the division and en banc level.

“We have yet to receive a copy of the petition that was filed this morning. However, I think these cases have been resolved unanimously [already] by the Commission on Elections on the division level as well as the Commission on Elections en banc. And these cases have been dismissed and the decision was unanimous,” he said.

Rodriguez also called on the petitioners to allow Marcos Jr. and his incoming administration to spend the limited time in a day to work productively instead of spending

time catering to their animosity.

“And I appeal to you, instead of pushing for your agenda of animosity, why don’t you just help us use our limited hours everday, we are all limited to 24 hours in a day, allow us to be more productive,” he appealed.

Earlier on Tuesday, petitioners Fr. Christian Buenafe, Fides Lim, Ma. Edeliza Hernandez, Celia Lagman Sevilla, Roland Vibal, and Josephine Lascano asked the High Court to issue a TRO enjoining and restraining the Senate and House of Representatives from canvassing the votes cast for Marcos and proclaiming him as president should he win the May 9 polls.

As of 2:47 p.m. on Friday, Marcos was still leading the partial and unofficial count of votes with 31,104,175 votes based on data from the Comelec Transparency Media Server.

Meanwhile, Davao City Mayor Duterte also maintains a huge lead among other vice presidential candidates with 31,561,948 votes as of the same period in the same partial and unofficial count.

A total of 55,197,306 votes out of the 67,442,616 registered voters have already come in as of posting.

A total of 98.35 percent of the election returns have been processed so far.

Last week, the Comelec En Banc affirmed the resolution of the poll body’s Second Division’s resolution that junked the petition filed by Buenafe to cancel Marcos Jr.’s COC. Similar to the ruling on the disqualification cases, the Comelec En Banc said the petitioners failed to raise new matters or issues to warrant the reversal of the former Comelec Second Division’s ruling.

Recently, Comelec Commissioner George Garcia said that, under Comelec rules, winning candidates for the 2022 elections who have pending disqualification cases could still be proclaimed without a final decision that would prohibit the poll body to do so and if there is nothing to prevent them from being proclaimed.

A4 Friday, May 20, 2022 • Editor: Vittorio V. Vitug

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Group presents inputs to fulfill BBM’s cheap rice goal

By Jasper Emmanuel Y. Arcalas @jearcalas

T

HE Bayanihan sa Agrikultura coalition on Thursday said the incoming administration’s promise of P20 per kilogram

of rice would only be attained through massive government subsidy and repeal of the rice trade liberalization (RTL) law.

The coalition said the government must pour in “complete” subsidies to rice farmers if the next administration under presumptive

President Ferdinand “Bongbong” R. Marcos Jr. wants his campaign promise to be fulfilled.

If there is no government subsidy, the group argued, private traders will just buy palay at a price way below the production cost just to achieve a retail price of rice at

P20 per kilogram.

“Without the government subsidy, the buying price of palay will become P10 per kilo to be able to achieve the P20 per kilo of rice in the market,” said Trinidad Domingo, farmer sector representative in the National Anti-Poverty Commission.

“This will be a great loss to farmers… because the cost of production is so steep atP70,000perhectare,”Domingoadded.

Domingo noted that rice production cost today is at about P14 per kilogram already due to expensive planting inputs such as fertilizer.

Omi Royandoyan of the Bayanihan sa Agrikultura coalition pointed out that the government must also repeal the RTL law to protect farmers from “unbridled” rice importation.

“We are deeply concerned that the next administration will rely on imported rice, still at subsidized price, to realize the promise of P20 per kilo of rice in the market. Mr. Marcos Jr. promised to review the RTL,” Royandoyan said.

“The review should be done with the interest of local producers as major consideration. Otherwise, the massive losses that local rice farmers continue to suffer from will even turn for the worst,” Royandoyan added.

The coalition challenged proclaimed legislators and the incoming administration to prove their care for the Filipino farmers by fulfilling their promise of reviewing the RTL law.

Agriculture Secretary William D.

Dar earlier disclosed that the P20 per kilogram to P30 per kilogram campaign promise of Marcos Jr. could be achieved if the National Food Authority (NFA) would revert to its commercial function of selling rice to the domestic market, particularly for the poor.

(Related story: https://businessmirror. com.ph/2022/05/11/dar-wants-nfa-tosell-rice-again-to-the-poor/) Dar said the NFA can sell P30 per kilogram of rice to the country’s poorest of the poor families if given a budget of P30 billion annually as it buys palay at a price of P19 per kilogram, which can be even increased to P20 per kilogram.

A higher budget would allow the NFA to beef up its buffer stock and maintain at least 30 days’ worth of daily national consumption, Dar added. At present, NFA’s annual budget is only P7 billion, enough for the procurement of about 5 to 10 days’ worth of rice buffer stock.

This inventory level, Dar said, would allow the food agency to have a substantial market share through its roll-over scheme wherein it buys palay from farmers at a “favorable price” then sells it at below the prevailing market price.

Considering the NFA’s current buying price of P19 per kilogram, the food agency can increase the price of milled rice by P3 per kg to P30 per kg from the previous P27 per kg, prior to the enactment of the RTL law.

Reinstating the commercial functions of NFA would entail the amendment of Republic Act 11203 or the RTL law, which liberalized the rice industry and deregulated the staterun food agency.

DOH and DBM release health-care workers’ sickness, death benefits

By Claudeth Mocon-Ciriaco @claudethmc3

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HE Department of Health (DOH) on Thursday vowed to expedite the release of P1.08 billion intended for the sickness and death compensation of eligible personnel assigned in all public or private health facilities involved in Covid-19 response.

The DOH and the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) have issued Joint Circular No. 2022-0002 to implement the payment of health-care workers who were infected by the virus and/or died while fighting the Covid-19 pandemic while on duty.

These include both medical and health allied personnel who provide direct health care to patients, and also technical, administrative, and support staff within the health facilities. Personnel may be occupying a regular, temporary, coterminous, contractual or casual position, on full-time or part-time basis. Clinical consultants, resident physicians, and fellows in training are also included.

“Our pandemic response would not be possible without the healing hands and loving hearts of our health-care workers and support staff who dedicated their all for every Juan and Juana throughout these trying times of the Covid-19 pandemic,” Health Secretary Francisco T. Duque III said.

By giving them the benefits they deserve, Duque expressed hope to solidify “our gratitude in addition to the pride and honor we have for them all the time.”

Also included are duly accredited volunteer workers, including but not limited to swabbers, vaccinators, encoders, bar coders, contact tracers, and ambulance drivers, as well as Baran-

gay Health Emergency Response Team (BHERT) members and barangay health workers (BHWs) provided they are assigned to health facilities or healthrelated establishments.

The coverage period is from January 1, 2022 until the state of public health emergency throughout the country is lifted.

The amount of P15,000 shall be provided to those who were ill with mild to moderate Covid-19 infection, while P100,000 for severe or critical cases.

Meanwhile, P1,000,000 will be provided as compensation for the legal heirs left behind by those who have died in the line of duty.

“The grant is one of the government’s core initiatives to recognize the invaluable services of personnel who have provided direct patient care and related support services to protect and save Filipino lives from Covid-19,” the DOH said.

To ensure equity and proper distribution, the DOH noted, beneficiaries should receive compensation following completion and submission of key requirements listed in the Joint Circular.

Claims evaluators will be assigned to ensure the most convenient means of compliance to the requirements.

The DOH said that those who wish to apply for the compensation are requested to approach the head of their respective office/health facility to know more about their eligibility and the next steps.

For convenience and to minimize physical contact, all claimants are advised to provide a working e-mail address where the processing units shall send all official communications and notices regarding the claim.

Claimants may call 1551 (toll free within NCR) or 09177877343 (standard rates apply) for any questions or concerns.

DAR official sees good opportunity in Halal food production for ARBs

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HE Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) recently held a threeday symposium in General Santos City to pitch to the agency’s concerned officials the Halal food industry as a good income and livelihood opportunity for agrarian reform beneficiaries (ARBs).

Halal foods are meals that can be consumed by Muslims according to their customs and Islamic law.

DAR-Mindanao Affairs and Rural Development Office Undersecretary Ranibai Dilangalen said the consultation and conference workshop on Halal global

business opportunities and integrated farming would broaden the business scope of farmer organizations to include Halal food processing practices and open opportunities for the agrarian reform beneficiaries organizations (ARBOs) in this competitive era of farming.

“There is a high demand for the Halal industry, not just in our country but also abroad, and it is our duty to introduce new possibilities to our farmers in addition to the opportunities that are offered from recent global developments in the market,” said Dilangalen. Jonathan L. Mayuga

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PSA: 10.5-M Pinoys receive natl IDs in April

By Cai U. Ordinario @caiordinario

S

OME 10.5 million Filipinos have received their national IDs as of the end of April, according to the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA).

PSA reported that the National ID cards that were delivered accounted for 33.7 percent of the government’s target distribution this year. Receiving the National ID and the PhilSys number is Stage 3 of the registration process.

Step 3 of PhilSys registration involves the delivery of PhilID cards to registrants in collaboration with the Philippine Postal Corporation. The PSA has also tapped field offices to assist in delivering PhilIDs to registrants located in remote areas nationwide.

“PSA recognizes this milestone as an outcome of our collective efforts with partner agencies and the field offices involved in producing and delivering PhilID cards to our registrants nationwide,” said PSA Undersecretary Dennis S. Mapa, National Statistician and Civil Registrar General. “We are determined to continue to put forth initiatives that will accelerate PhilSys operations across all sectors.”

Based on the data some 23.57 million PhilSys numbers have been generated as of May 5 and a total of 64.98 million have completed Step 2 as of May 4.

Filipinos who received their National IDs can check the authenticity of their cards as well as the information contained in its QR code can be verified through PhilSys Check. Part of the digital initiatives of PhilSys, the recently launched web site enables relying parties to easily conduct identity verificationamongPhilIDcardholders.

The PSA is also working on the PhilSys mobile application, which

is the digital version of the PhilID that can be used in public and private transactions ahead of the physical ID card.

“We anticipate more Filipinos to receive their PhilIDs. Simultaneously, PSA will continue to bring forward PhilSys services to make government and private services easily and conveniently accessible to the public,” Assistant Secretary Rosalinda P. Bautista, Deputy National Statistician of the PhilSys Registry Office.

Meanwhile, the PSA has also partnered with the National Commission on Indigenous Peoples (NCIP) to ensure the inclusion of indigenous communities in the Philippine Identification system (PhilSys).

The PSA entered into a memorandum of agreement (MOA) with the NCIP as part of the PSA’s efforts to make the PhilSys registration easily accessible to indigenous communities through mobile registration sites.

On Wednesday, PSA rolled out a mobile registration initiative in Porac, Pampanga, to accommodate Aeta communities in barangays Camisa, Villa Maria, Inararo, Diaz, and Sapang Uwak.

These initiatives continued this year, including an additional registration activity conducted on 19 March 2022 in Floridablanca, Pampanga, where 254 members of the area’s Aeta community were registered.

In Occidental Mindoro, IP registration was just as consistent.

This year alone, 10,972 members of indigenous communities such as Ratagnon, Hanunuo, Gubatnon, Tao Buid, and Iraya were successfully registered to PhilSys. Bautista assured the public that the PSA would exert the same efforts as it continues to register the rest of the population.

Coast Guard notes increased presence of Filipino fishermen on Pagasa Island

By Rene Acosta @reneacostaBM

F

ILIPINO fishermen are returning to the waters of Pagasa Island in bigger number as the government sustains its presence there through the conduct of regular patrols by the military, Philippine Coast Guard and the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources.

The increased sightings of fishermen in waters surrounding the island, where the seat of the local government of the Municipality of Kalayaan is located, was reported by the Coast Guard on Thursday, confirming the “increasing presence” of Filipino fishermen in Pagasa Island.

“During the deployment of the largest Coast Guard contin-

gent in the West Philippine Sea [WPS] from 12 to 14 May 2022, they monitored around 25 Filipino fishing boats conducting fishing activities on the island’s vicinity waters,” the Coast Guard, through its spokesman Commodore Armand Balilo, said.

The strong presence of Chinese paramilitary ships, including from China’s maritime militia in Pagasa Island, which is part of the Kalayaan Island Group, and in the West Philippine Sea, has in the past discouraged Filipino fishermen from venturing into the disputed waters.

The local fishermen also felt threatened and intimidated.

The Coast Guard said that during its ships’ missions, they checked on the conditions of the Filipino fishermen and provided relief supplies and

@butchfBM

R

EELECTED Sen. Risa Hontiveros, the only one in the opposition who survived the May 9 Senate race, said Thursday she is open to having Senator Koko Pimentel lead the minority in the 19th Senate “if he is interested to lead it.”

She, however, quickly added that their priority right now is to “form a minority, no matter how small,” in the chamber dominated by those identified with both the current and incoming administrations.

In a news conference called by Com-

mission on Elections after Wednesday’s proclamation of the winning 12 senators at the Philippine International Convention Center, Hontiveros confirmed there have been exploratory talks, but would rather have the particular senators confirm to media if they planned to join the minority bloc, which used to be led by veteran legislator Franklin M. Drilon, outgoing Minority Leader, whose term ends June 30.

“Ang priority po talaga ay makabuo kami ng minorya,” she said. “So, if Sen. Koko [Pimentel] is interested to lead it, I’m very open in supporting him.

By Claudeth Mocon-Ciriaco @claudethmc3

P

ASAY City Mayor Emi CalixtoRubiano disclosed a plan to make Pasay an eco-city like Singapore where technology and innovation comes hand-in-hand with environmental consciousness and awareness.

The mayor said that they have already taken the first step to achieve that goal by turning the city’s bleak and dirty “esteros” into eco parks where ventilation is of priority, and where greens take up

a majority of space.

“Pasay may have a lot of areas to be rehabilitated, but trust that in our leadership, these are to be transformed into picturesque spaces that we can proudly call our own,” CalixtoRubiano told the BusinessMirror in an interview.

She added that such initiative is further strengthened by the unwavering confidence of a lot of companies who are eager to invest and take up space in the city.

“The Mall of Asia complex, for one, is at its peak in being the melting pot of international and local collabora-

Basta ang No. 1 priority muna ngayon ay ’yung pagbubuo ng minorya.”

Hontiveros added that part of forming their minority bloc is “our division of labor,” identifying who will perform what task.

Still, she stressed, “Most important is that we are able to perform our check and balance task and fiscalize.”

At the same time, Hontiveros disclosed they are also in talks with former and incoming senators who may be inclined to join the minority bloc “but this is still in very early stages.”

“Actually, by Monday,” she added, “we resume session for the last two

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communities of peace,” UN-Habitat Country Programme Manager Christopher Rollo said.

Families previously awarded with the permanent houses are now living in their new communities. This included those located in a Marawi Resettlement Site (MRS) Phase 1 at Hadiya Village, Barangay Dulay West with 109 permanent houses inaugurated in February.

The list also included the 120 families in MRS Phase II located in Darussalam Village, Barangay Dulay Proper which was inaugurated in July while the 438 families will soon be transferring to their houses in MRS Phase III located in Norsalam Village, Barangay Patani. The land used to build the houses for these families were procured and developed by SHFC. “The rebuilding of Marawi through participatory housing entailed a lot of hard work among many partners who not only pooled financial and human resources but also spent thousands of hours on the ground,” SHFC President Arnolfo Ricardo B. Cabling said. “We hope that the partnerships that we

have formed here will continue in other parts of the country.”

Another 24 houses of the 462 awarded houses can be found at a local government unit (LGU) of Marawi property in Barangay Patani.

The LGU Marawi also pitched in its property for the building of 33 houses by UN-Habitat at a time when procurement of land was posing an extreme challenge to the project.

At the NHA site, the Pamayandeg Ranao Residences at Dansalan, 50 permanent houses were turned over to displaced families last July 22, 2021, in Barangay MipantaoGadongan, another 150 houses were built and another 100 houses in Barangay Kilala, bringing to a total of 300 houses built by UN-Habitat at the NHA site.

“It was not just houses that UNHabitat built—in the four years that we actively participated in the project, UN-Habitat helped us regain our confidence even as we became known as IDPs— internally displaced persons, through all those trainings, meetings, and coaching that they provided us,” Oling Manalao, a

tions, which provide employment and sustainability not only to our local economy, but to our public as well,” Calixto-Rubiano said.

With her “decades-worth of public service experience,” the mayor said, it would come as an advantage for her.

She also thanked her team and the city as a whole, “We are coming out to the new normal very strong.”

weeks that Congress would be at work and pass pending bills before the 18th Congress adjourns.”

“Of course, we will also hold a joint session to affirm the national canvassing final results to pave the way for the members of Congress to proclaim the duly elected President and Vice President.”

At the same time, Hontiveros indicated that in the next two weeks, the opposition lawmakers intend to pursue efforts to firm up composition of the minority bloc in the run-up for the inauguration and opening of the 19th Congress.

UN-Habitat cites significant gains in rebuilding war-torn Marawi City HE United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UNHabitat) has disclosed about a thousand families benefited from their housing projects in the wartorn city of Marawi.

UN Habitat said a total of 1,000 permanent houses were turned over to internally displaced families affected by the 2017 Marawi siege.

The UN agency said this included the 462 families that received their permanent housing on Thursday.

The housing projects were constructed with $10 million worth funding from the Government of Japan. These were built on land procured and developed by the Social Housing Finance Corporation (SHFC) and National Housing Authority (NHA).

“We and our partners are truly honored to be part of this rebuilding process. The Rebuilding Marawi Project demonstrates that adequate housing is at the center of sustainable development because having an adequate home empowers a family to satisfy its basic needs, while providing the space to dream, engage in gainful livelihood, commune with neighbors, and become

Covid-19 kits to support the Filipinos in their fishing operations.

According to Coast Guard Commandant Admiral Artemio Abu, the significant increase of Filipino fishermen in the West Philippine Sea proved that the PCG’s intensified presence boosted their confidence and made them feel safe and protected while fishing in those waters.

“Through our continuous modernization, we ensure that our kababayans can freely explore our marine resources while protecting our marine environment for the future generations,” he said.

National Task Force for the West Philippine Sea (NTF-WPS) Chairman and National Security Adviser Secretary Hermogenes Esperon has underscored the need to encour-

age Filipino fishermen to continue their fishing ventures in the West Philippine Sea. He also noted that constructing a fuel depot and ice storage plant on Pagasa Island is part of the national government’s effort to assist Filipino fishermen in the area.

The Coast Guard recently constructed an oil depot in the Kalayaan.

Meanwhile, Department of Transportation (DOTr) Secretary Arthur P. Tugade has directed the Coast Guard to guarantee that Filipino fishermen may enjoy the rich marine resources and be safe to come home to their families.

“The Coast Guard will always be in line with the direction of the national government to protect the country’s sovereign rights and safeguard every Filipino at sea,” Abu said.

From a ‘sin city’ to eco-city: Mayor Calixto-Rubiano presents ecological transformation plan for Pasay

Hontiveros to back Koko as Senate minority leader

By Butch Fernandez

Friday, May 20, 2022 A5

recipient of the project, said.

“Thank you for the livelihood projects that did not just benefit the home partners but also helped so many people directly and indirectly, through the 82 different kinds of livelihood projects that our Cooperatives managed. Our deepest gratitude goes to the People of Japan who generously provided us the means to start anew, for making it possible for us to rebuild with dignity,” he added.

Pre-siege, the 1000 families lived within the 3 to 6 meters easement along the Agus River and Lake Lanao—areas officially categorized by the government as “no dwell zone” and others that were affected by the development projects within the post-war Ground Zero/Most Affected Area (MA A).

UN Habitat said life for the 1000 families in the past four years since the war ended was spent in tents, transitory shelters, in home-based arrangements within Marawi or in nearby provinces. Other residents went as far as Manila to find sources of income as the war destroyed their homes and livelihoods. Cai U. Ordinario

Likewise, the mayor also underscored one major project in the pipeline which is their in-city housing project.

“It’s a high rise development for displaced families. Aside from that, it will house community centers, health centers, senior citizen centers,” she said, adding that it will be a “landmark project” of her administration.

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ESTABLISHMENT / ADDRESS No.

NAME OF FOREIGN NATIONAL , POSITION AND BRIEF DESCRIPTION

ESTABLISHMENT / ADDRESS QUALIFICATION AND SALARY RANGE

24 INCH GAUGE CONSTRUCTION INC. L4 Blk. 4, Near Kay Buboy Bridge, San Dionisio, City Of Parañaque

PANG, JIAN Project Coordinator 1.

Brief Job Description: Plan, organize, and direct the activities of a construction project, under the direction of a general manager.

Basic Qualification: Bachelor’s degree in business or related field of study; Competency in Microsoft applications including Word, Excel, and Outlook; Knowledge of file management, transcription, and other administrative procedures or a related field; Good communication and interpersonal skills Salary Range: Php 30,000 - Php 59,999

No.

PATIÑO PEÑA, JESUS ENRIQUE App/cloud Support Analyst

2.

Brief Job Description: Deliver client facing engagements/ work at philippine delivery center.• in charge of translating communication, verbal and written, from japanese to english and english to japanese, so that the accenture philippines members can communicate with the stakeholders in japan.• provide service level monitoring and reporting for it infrastructure and application related work build strong and sustainable client relationship at targeted account• contribute to quality and assurance activities: peer reviews, audits, reporting, etc

VALLURI, KRISHNA RAO Service Program Partner 7.

Brief Job Description: Single point of contact in the SBG’s matrix organization for providing the relevant support both for these activities as well as for growth opportunities.

CORREA, ADOLF EDWARD Delivery Excellence Manager

3.

Brief Job Description: Provide a cluster leadership role, can lead their organization on a continuous journey of sustained improvement. Innovate with the client to drive value to both Accenture and client. Support & monitor operation to make it measurable, repeatable and predictable.

Transform organization to create system and process for noise less deliver. Create client centric roadmap and transform organization to intelligent operation. Implement systems and processes that deliver improvement toward 100% conformance to customer requirements.

Engaging upfront in solutioning & transitioning of deals to enforce rigor and day 1 stable.

OKE OLOWO, FIDAWOS MODJISSOLA Sw/app/cloud Tech Support Analyst

4.

Brief Job Description: The position will require candidates to take calls using any of the 6 languages to support our clients with their it-related incidents and requests. the following are detailed tasks for the postings: perform initial triage for it issues raised by customers, log, track, and update incidents, attempt first time fix resolution for known issues, identify target resolver group and route tickets, do remote troubleshooting, install/uninstall applications for incidents raised by customers

Salary Range: Php 150,000 - Php 499,999

Basic Qualification: Graduate of any 4yr course, preferably it or engineering related, strong working knowledge of the service desk function, good knowledge level on multiple it technologies, excellent communications skills both written and verbal, willing and able to work effectively in a diverse and multi-cultural environment, willing and able to work on a shifting schedule Salary Range: Php 30,000 - Php 59,999

YU, XINGJIANG Chinese Speaking Solutions Consultant 5.

Brief Job Description: Assist / help customers, give customers information about product and services.

No.

Basic Qualification: Bachelor’s degree, experience in managing projects with a global set up (multi-country).

NAME OF FOREIGN NATIONAL , POSITION AND BRIEF DESCRIPTION

HUANG, ZIRONG Booth Fabrication Specialist Consultant 17.

Brief Job Description: Co-ordinates sub-contractors involved in the assembly stages. Ensures compliance with safety procedures and quality standards. Searches for the most efficient technical solutions.

Basic Qualification: Can coordinate and interface between fabrication/installation and pre-fabrication activities .Able to speak and communicate using Mandarin is an advantage .Must be willing to work on field.

8.

KO, HYUNJIN General Manager

Basic Qualification: College graduate

Brief Job Description: Overseeing daily business operations

Salary Range: Php 60,000 - Php 89,999

WEI, RONG Booth Fabrication Specialist Consultant 18.

BILLION DRAGON OUTSOURCE PHILS., INC. One Townsquare Place Bpo Bldg., Alabang Zapote Rd., Almanza Uno, City Of Las Piñas

9.

10.

11.

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13.

FIKY Customer Service Representative (csr) Brief Job Description: Customer Service Representative (CSR)

FRENGKY Customer Service Representative (csr) Brief Job Description: Customer Service Representative (CSR)

KRISTINA Customer Service Representative (csr) Brief Job Description: Customer Service Representative (CSR)

MAC KIM YEN Customer Service Representative (csr) Brief Job Description: Customer Service Representative (CSR)

TUO, YUANLONG Customer Service Representative (csr) Brief Job Description: Customer Service Representative (CSR)

Basic Qualification: High School Graduate in Chinese , Can Speak an d Write Fluent Chinese Mandarin, Can Operate Mandarin Characters

Basic Qualification: High School Graduate in Chinese , Can Speak an d Write Fluent Chinese Mandarin, Can Operate Mandarin Characters

KHALEK, MD ABDUL Marketing Manager 14.

Brief Job Description: Coordinating marketing strategies with the sale, financial public relation and production department

CAI, YEQIANG Field Sales Consultant 19.

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

Basic Qualification: High School Graduate in Chinese , Can Speak an d Write Fluent Chinese Mandarin, Can Operate Mandarin Characters

CHROMELAB TECHNOLOGIES INC. 25/f Techzone Bldg., 213 Sen. Gil Puyat Ave., San Antonio, City Of Makati

NGUYEN HOANG BAO NHU Bi-lingual Speaking It Officer 20.

Brief Job Description: General it support, deals with hardware and software enquiries

21.

22.

KELVIN NG KAIXIONG Sports Trader - Bahasa Speaking I Brief Job Description: Good in statistic or probability

PANG YEE TEIN Sports Trader - Bahasa Speaking I Brief Job Description: Good in statistic or probability

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

Basic Qualification: Excellent verbal and written communication skills

6.

Brief Job Description: Shall be evaluating suppliers before making purchasing decisions. This involves traveling to the supplier’s location and examining their products, as well as interviewing the decision makers on the supplier’s team to learn why their product is the best choice. Compare suppliers using cost-benefit analysis.

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

Basic Qualification: Fluent and proficient in writing and speaking at least 2 of the following; english, mandarin, cantonese and thai Salary Range: Php 30,000 - Php 59,999

CLOVERSENSE TECHNOLOGY INC. 29/f Robinsons Summit Center, 6783 Ayala Center, Bel-air, City Of Makati

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

Basic Qualification: High School Graduate in Chinese , Can Speak an d Write Fluent Chinese Mandarin, Can Operate Mandarin Characters

Brief Job Description: The one responsible to “get the sale” using various customer sales methods.

Basic Qualification: Can research accounts and generate or follow through sales leads; Can valuate customers skills, needs and build productive long-lasting relationships; Can meet personal and team sales targets Salary Range: Php 30,000 - Php 59,999

Salary Range: Php 30,000 - Php 59,999 Basic Qualification: High School Graduate in Chinese , Can Speak an d Write Fluent Chinese Mandarin, Can Operate Mandarin Characters

Brief Job Description: Co-ordinates sub-contractors involved in the assembly stages. Ensures compliance with safety procedures and quality standards. Searches for the most efficient technical solutions.

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

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

BLUE PLANET 999 CORPORATION Unit No. 27 3/f Baclaran Bagong Milenyo Plaza Bldg., Fb. Harrison St. Zone 10, Barangay 76, Pasay City

Basic Qualification: Must have good analytical skills, excellent in writing, reading and speaking Bahasa and English Salary Range: Php 30,000 - Php 59,999

Basic Qualification: Must have good analytical skills, excellent in writing, reading and speaking Bahasa and English Salary Range: Php 30,000 - Php 59,999

DIAGEO ASIA PACIFIC SHARED SERVICES CENTRE LIMITED, INC. 10th Floor, Commerce & Industry Plaza Bldg., Mckinley Hill, Fort Bonifacio, City Of Taguig

VIVATTANASET, YOSITA Source To Pay - Procurement Operations Analyst (thai Speaking) 23.

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

Brief Job Description: Responsible and accountable for the timely management of tactical purchasing requests from the business within the agreed SLA’s and KPI’s.

Basic Qualification: Proficient in Thai both written and spoken. More than 3 years experience in procurement and related management experience.

Expertise in category management Salary Range: Php 30,000 - Php 59,999

C’EST LA VIE EVENT MANAGEMENT INC. 230, Narra Street, Marikina Heights, City Of Marikina

CAI, CHONGQING Booth Fabrication Specialist Consultant 15.

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

Basic Qualification: Can speak, write, type in Mandarin language.

Technical skills in software as stated above.

Basic Qualification: Can coordinate and interface between fabrication/installation and pre-fabrication activities .Able to speak and communicate using Mandarin is an advantage .Must be willing to work on field.

ARAMAX SOLUTIONS INC. Unit 1702 Annapolis Wilshire Plaza,, #11 Annapolis St., Greenhills, City Of San Juan

Brief Job Description: Co-ordinates sub-contractors involved in the assembly stages. Ensures compliance with safety procedures and quality standards. Searches for the most efficient technical solutions.

Basic Qualification: Can coordinate and interface between fabrication/installation and pre-fabrication activities .Able to speak and communicate using Mandarin is an advantage .Must be willing to work on field.

DYNAMIC STUDIO TECHNOLOGY INC. 5th To 10th/f Platinum Tower Building, Aseana Ave. Cor. Fuentes Street, Baclaran, City Of Parañaque

24.

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

WONG CHUN KEAT Chinese Speaking Business Development Associate Brief Job Description: Assist / help customers, give customers information about products and services

ADVANCE BEYOND INTERNATIONAL CONSULTING, INC. Unit 511 Campos Rueda Bldg., 101 Urban Ave., Pio Del Pilar, City Of Makati

XU, JIANLONG Senior Procurement Personnel

QUALIFICATION AND SALARY RANGE

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

ACE VELOCITY CONSULTANCY INC. 37/f Lkg Tower, 6801 Ayala Ave., Bel-air, City Of Makati Basic Qualification: With at least 6 months customer service experience; good in oral and written communication.

QUALIFICATION AND SALARY RANGE

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

Salary Range: Php 30,000 - Php 59,999 Basic Qualification: 12-15 years industry experience. At least 5-6 years driving transformation. Must have done multiple projects on driving process improvements, &change management.

Experience is heavy on client facing / stakeholder management. Hands on experience in driving robotics projects. Ability to be to influence; someone who is a driver; analytical; ability to get detailed into data.

People manager – must have lead teams already.

Black belt / master black belt certified.

ESTABLISHMENT / ADDRESS

AMDOCS PHILIPPINES INC. 23rd, 25th, And 26th Floors Eco Tower, 32nd St. Cor. 9th Ave. Bonifacio Global City, Fort Bonifacio, City Of Taguig

ACCENTURE, INC. 7f, Robinsons Cybergate Tower 1, Pioneer St, City Of Mandaluyong Basic Qualification: jlpt n1 passer or native japanese.

Strong analytical and communication skills, written and oral in both english and japanese language. Outstanding interpersonal skills, the ability to influence and build relation with clients and others. People skills in coaching and motivating team members, and networking with externals.

Manage internal and external stakeholder expectations. Ability and or desire to excel in the it field.

NAME OF FOREIGN NATIONAL , POSITION AND BRIEF DESCRIPTION

www.businessmirror.com.ph

CHEN, FENFA Booth Fabrication Specialist Consultant 16.

Brief Job Description: Co-ordinates sub-contractors involved in the assembly stages. Ensures compliance with safety procedures and quality standards. Searches for the most efficient technical solutions.

Basic Qualification: Can coordinate and interface between fabrication/installation and pre-fabrication activities .Able to speak and communicate using Mandarin is an advantage .Must be willing to work on field.

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

TIAN, JINQIU Chinese Speaking Data Entry Clerk 25.

Brief Job Description: Assist/Help customers, give customers information about product and services

EASTERN GOLD CORPORATION 503, Nueva St., Barangay 289, Binondo, City Of Manila

Basic Qualification: Strong analytical, diagnostic and problem solving skills, excellent in Mandarin verbal communication skills Salary Range: Php 30,000 - Php 59,999

Basic Qualification: With Atleast 6 Months Customer Service Experience/Good in Oral Communication and Written Salary Range: Php 30,000 - Php 59,999

BusinessMirror

www.businessmirror.com.ph

ESTABLISHMENT / ADDRESS No.

NAME OF FOREIGN NATIONAL , POSITION AND BRIEF DESCRIPTION CHEN, MINYI Marketing And Sales Agent

26.

Brief Job Description: Researches and develops various marketing strategies for products and services and implements marketing plans and works to meet sales quotas.

Can contributes information, ideas and researches to help develop marketing strategies; JIA, XIAODONG Marketing And Sales Agent

27.

Brief Job Description: Researches and develops various marketing strategies for products and services and implements marketing plans and works to meet sales quotas.

Can contributes information, ideas and researches to help develop marketing strategies;

LIU, QUAN Marketing And Sales Agent

28.

Brief Job Description: Researches and develops various marketing strategies for products and services and implements marketing plans and works to meet sales quotas.

Can contributes information, ideas and researches to help develop marketing strategies;

ESTABLISHMENT / ADDRESS QUALIFICATION AND SALARY RANGE Basic Qualification: Can help to detail, design and implement marketing plans for each product or service being offered.

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

Basic Qualification: Can help to detail, design and implement marketing plans for each product or service being offered.

Salary Range: Php 30,000 - Php 59,999 Basic Qualification: Can help to detail, design and implement marketing plans for each product or service being offered.

No.

39.

Brief Job Description: Overall management of all departments.

KIM, KIHO Customer Service Representative 40.

30.

Brief Job Description: Oversee all marketing campaigns, implement strategy, promote business.

Basic Qualification: College graduate, fluent in english, preferably 6 months to 1 year to the same field.

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

FIBERHOME PHILS., INC. U-19d 19/f Rufino Pacific Tower, 6784 Ayala Ave. Cor. V.a. Rufino St., San Lorenzo, City Of Makati

31.

32.

XIE, ZHIHUI Finance Manager Brief Job Description: Support budget and forecasting activities

ZHANG, HANYU Finance Manager Brief Job Description: Support budget and forecasting activities

Basic Qualification: Fluent in Mandarin and English Language Both Verbal and Written

33.

Brief Job Description: Responsible for managing technical issues on materials, equipment being used

MA, KAICHUAN Project Manager 34.

Brief Job Description: Responsible for managing technical issues on materials, equipment being used

Brief Job Description: Assist/help customers, give customers information about product and services.

AIPI SUSANTI Indonesian Customer Service Representative 42.

Brief Job Description: Track main industry trends through blogs, micro blogs and forums.

JHONI Indonesian Customer Service Representative

43.

Brief Job Description: Track main industry trends through blogs, micro blogs and forums.

44.

YOSHIDA, KOTA Chairman/president/general Manager Brief Job Description: Overall head for JTB Phils.

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

35.

Brief Job Description: Responsible in answering customer questions about products and services of the company.

Basic Qualification: Proficiency in English, Mandarin and other multi-lingual language.

54.

55.

56.

Basic Qualification: Speak and write fluently (English & Korean)

Basic Qualification: Speak and write fluently (English & Korean) Salary Range: Php 60,000 - Php 89,999

46.

MOON, SUNGHWAN Customer Service Representative Brief Job Description: Interacting with customers queries

ZENG, HAIFENG Customer Service Representative Brief Job Description: Interacting with customers queries

Salary Range: Php 150,000 - Php 499,999

61.

47.

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

Brief Job Description: Ensure conformity of all commissioning activities with company standards.

Brief Job Description: Managing incoming calls and customer service inquiries

Brief Job Description: Managing incoming calls and customer service inquiries

Brief Job Description: Managing incoming calls and customer service inquiries

CHUA KHE LYE Chinese Speaking Business Development Associate Brief Job Description: Assist/help customers, give customer information about product and services

Brief Job Description: Assist/help customers, give customer information about product and services

Brief Job Description: Assist/help customers, give customer information about product and services

ZHONG, YOUZHUO Chinese Speaking Data Entry Clerk 62.

MC CONNELL DOWELL PHILS., INC. Level 4 Nol Tower, Commerce Ave., Alabang, City Of Muntinlupa

COMERFORD D’AUNOU PATRICK SEAN Commissioning Manager

Brief Job Description: Managing incoming calls and customer service inquiries

ZHANG, QIAN Chinese Speaking Data Entry Clerk

Basic Qualification: Fluent in Chinese dialect (Mandarin, Folkien, Cantonese)

Basic Qualification: Minimum 10 yrs. experience in the construction industry w/ significant exposure to design, costing, estimating & planning; proven background in project management.

Brief Job Description: Assist/help customers, give customer information about product and services

63.

Salary Range: Php 500,000 and above

PENG, JIAWEI Technical Consultant 36.

Brief Job Description: Consulting with management and other departments as required; Performing analyses on hardware, software, and network capabilities

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

MINDSCAPE CREATIVES INC. Unit 19-o, Burgundy Corporate Tower, 252 Sen. Gil Puyat Ave., Pio Del Pilar, City Of Makati

48.

JIA, MENGMENG Mandarin Customer Service Brief Job Description: Responsible for handling service support calls.

CAI, PENG Chinese Customer Service Brief Job Description: Customer support and data base services

SUSANTI Chinese Speaking Customer Financial Officer 37.

Brief Job Description: Assist/Help customers, give customers information about product and services

38.

Brief Job Description: Work out business case & return of investment for management review & approval

64.

Basic Qualification: With Atleast 6 Months Customer Service Experience/Good in Oral Communication and Written

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

MOA CLOUDZONE CORP. 4th-11th Flr. Nexgen Tower, C4 Rd. Edsa Ext., Barangay 76, Pasay City YAN PHU KYEIN Burmese Customer Service Representative 49.

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

GONG, JIAHONG Chinese Customer Service Representative 50.

Basic Qualification: 8 years of work experience preferred in an international environment Salary Range: Php 90,000 - Php 149,999

Brief Job Description: Managing incoming calls and customer service inquiries.

Brief Job Description: Managing incoming calls and customer service inquiries.

HUANG, XIAOYAN Chinese Customer Service Representative

51.

Brief Job Description: Managing incoming calls and customer service inquiries.

Basic Qualification: Able to speak, read and write Chinese language.

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

66.

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

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

Brief Job Description: Manage incoming calls and inquiries, handling complaints, provide solutions, process customer accounts and file documents.

LU, JIYE Chinese Customer Service

Basic Qualification: Able to speak, read and write Chinese language.

Basic Qualification: Able to speak, read and write Chinese language.

Brief Job Description: Manage incoming calls and inquiries, handling complaints, provide solutions, process customer accounts and file documents.

HUANG, WENLIANG Chinese Customer Service 65.

HELLMANN SHARED SERVICE CENTER, INC. Flr. No.6f, Five E-com Bldg., Pacific Drive St.,, Moa Complex Subd. Zone 10, Barangay 76, Pasay City

THAI, PISEY Finance Manager – Regional Competence Center Asia Pacific

CHEN, JING Chinese Customer Service

Basic Qualification: Proficient in speaking, reading and writing in mandarin

GRAND EVEREST HOLDING INC. 16/f Tower 6789, 6789 Ayala Ave., Bel-air, City Of Makati

Basic Qualification: Able to speak, read, and write Chinese language

Salary Range: Php 30,000 - Php 59,999 Basic Qualification: Able to speak, read, and write Chinese language Salary Range: Php 30,000 - Php 59,999 Basic Qualification: Able to speak, read, and write Chinese language Salary Range: Php 30,000 - Php 59,999 Basic Qualification: Able to speak, read, and write Chinese language Salary Range: Php 30,000 - Php 59,999

Basic Qualification: With at least 6 months customer service experience/Good in oral communication and written Salary Range: Php 30,000 - Php 59,999 Basic Qualification: With at least 6 months customer service experience/Good in oral communication and written Salary Range: Php 30,000 - Php 59,999 Basic Qualification: With at least 6 months customer service experience/Good in oral communication and written Salary Range: Php 30,000 - Php 59,999 Basic Qualification: With at least 6 months customer service experience/Good in oral communication and written Salary Range: Php 30,000 - Php 59,999

NEW ORIENTAL CLUB88 CORPORATION 3rd, 5th, 6th, 7th, 8th, 9th & 10th/f, Pearl Marina Building Pacific Drive, Don Galo, City Of Parañaque

FUTURENET AND TECHNOLOGY CORP. 4502 The Finance Centre, 26th Street And 9th Ave., Fort Bonifacio, City Of Taguig Basic Qualification: College Graduate; Excellent Verbal and Written Communication Skills in Both Mandarin and English; With the Experience in Telecommunication Consultation

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

Basic Qualification: Able to speak, read, and write Chinese language

SI SI YIN Chinese Speaking Data Entry Clerk

Basic Qualification: Fluent in Chinese dialect (Mandarin, Folkien, Cantonese)

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

Basic Qualification: Able to speak, read, and write Chinese language

NEO INCORPORATED North Tower Centrum Bldg., Aseana Avenue, Entertainment City, Baclaran, City Of Parañaque

Basic Qualification: Japanese with Directorship /GM Back ground from Other JTB office

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

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

MARSONO Indonesian Customer Service Representative

SUSIWATI Indonesian Customer Service Representative 58.

Basic Qualification: Able to speak, read, and write Chinese language

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

ROSMA LILY Indonesian Customer Service Representative 57.

QUALIFICATION AND SALARY RANGE

Brief Job Description: Managing incoming calls and customer service inquiries

MICHAEL NICHOLAS Indonesian Customer Service Representative

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

Salary Range: Php 60,000 - Php 89,999

Brief Job Description: Managing incoming calls and customer service inquiries

JONY Indonesian Customer Service Representative

60.

FRONTIER POINT MANAGEMENT SOLUTIONS INC. 29/f Techzone Bldg., Sen. Gil Puyat Ave., San Antonio, City Of Makati ERLINA Mandarin Accounts Staff

53.

Salary Range: Php 60,000 - Php 89,999

Basic Qualification: With at least 6 months customer service experience/good in oral communication and written.

Brief Job Description: Managing incoming calls and customer service inquiries JENNY Indonesian Customer Service Representative

MACH 86 TECHNOLOGIES CORP. 6th-13th Flr. Workspace Bldg., 1419 Industry St. Corner Finance St. Mbp Ayala, Alabang, City Of Muntinlupa

Basic Qualification: Fluent in Mandarin and English Language Both Verbal and Written

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

52.

59.

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

Basic Qualification: Fluent in Mandarin and English Language Both Verbal and Written

Basic Qualification: College graduate, with good communications and strong leadership skill, fluent in English and Korean Hangeul.

NAME OF FOREIGN NATIONAL , POSITION AND BRIEF DESCRIPTION SHEN, XIAOFANG Chinese Customer Service Representative

JTB ASIA PACIFIC PHIL. CORP. U2 18/f Rcbc Savings Bank Corp. Ctr., 26th & 25th St. Bonifacio South Bgc, Fort Bonifacio, City Of Taguig

Salary Range: Php 30,000 - Php 59,999 Basic Qualification: Fluent in Mandarin and English Language Both Verbal and Written

Salary Range: Php 60,000 - Php 89,999

J-NA ALLOUT TECHNOLOGY SOLUTIONS CORP. 3/f Lipams Bldg., #48 President Avenue, B. F. Homes, City Of Parañaque

45.

HAN, ZHONGHUO Project Manager

Brief Job Description: Customer service representative to manage customer queries and complaints.

DING, SHEN Chinese Speaking Graphic Designer

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

No.

Basic Qualification: At Least High School Graduate

INFOVINE INC. 9/f Y Tower, Moa Complex, Coral Way Drive Cor. Macapagal, Barangay 76, Pasay City

EVERLOUNGE INC. 27th/f Robinsons Summit Center, 6783 Ayala Ave., Bel-air, City Of Makati

PATTANAPORN, JULANEE Marketing Associate

Brief Job Description: Attends to customers inquiries and complaints

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

Basic Qualification: College graduate, has previous experience in related field.

QUALIFICATION AND SALARY RANGE

HJ WEB SOFTWARE DEVELOPER INCORPORATED Unit 207, Heritage Condominium, 1851 Antonio Vasquez St., 076, Barangay 697, Malate, City Of Manila

EVA AIRWAYS CORPORATION 23/f Lkg Tower, 6801 Ayala Ave., Bel-air, City Of Makati

29.

PHAN VAN TIENG Vietnamese Speaking Associate

A9

ESTABLISHMENT / ADDRESS

HINDUJA GLOBAL SOLUTIONS LIMITED 7th Floor Aeon Prime Centre, North Bridgeway Avenue Corner Alabang- Zapote Road, Northgate Cyberzone, Filinvest Corporate City, Alabang, City Of Muntinlupa

41.

SHIU, JIUN-CHUNG General Manager

NAME OF FOREIGN NATIONAL , POSITION AND BRIEF DESCRIPTION

Friday, May 20, 2022

Brief Job Description: Manage incoming calls and inquiries, handling complaints, provide solutions, process customer accounts and file documents.

WANG, JINLONG Chinese Customer Service 67.

Brief Job Description: Manage incoming calls and inquiries, handling complaints, provide solutions, process customer accounts and file documents.

Basic Qualification: Knowledgeable in Computer Application With Good Oral and Written Communication Skills Salary Range: Php 30,000 - Php 59,999 Basic Qualification: College graduate, preferably 1 year experience in the similar field, speak and write fluently (native language & English) Salary Range: Php 30,000 - Php 59,999 Basic Qualification: College graduate, preferably 1 year experience in the similar field, speak and write fluently (native language & English) Salary Range: Php 30,000 - Php 59,999 Basic Qualification: College graduate, preferably 1 year experience in the similar field, speak and write fluently (native language & English) Salary Range: Php 30,000 - Php 59,999 Basic Qualification: College graduate, preferably 1 year experience in the similar field, speak and write fluently (native language & English) Salary Range: Php 30,000 - Php 59,999

BusinessMirror

A10 A6 Friday, May 20, 2022

ESTABLISHMENT / ADDRESS No.

NAME OF FOREIGN NATIONAL , POSITION AND BRIEF DESCRIPTION

YAO, YONG Chinese Customer Service 68.

69.

Brief Job Description: Manage incoming calls and inquiries, handling complaints, provide solutions, process customer accounts and file documents.

BOONTHANORM, THITIRAT Customer Service Representative Brief Job Description: Customer support and data base services

SANTURI Customer Service Representative 70.

71.

72.

73.

74.

75.

76.

Brief Job Description: Manage incoming calls and inquiries, handling complaints, provide solutions, process customer accounts and file documents.

IWAN Indonesian Customer Service Brief Job Description: Customer support and data base services

CHIN WEN LIANG Malaysian Customer Service Brief Job Description: Customer support and data base services

CHIN YEONG HORNG Malaysian Customer Service Brief Job Description: Customer support and data base services

JASSON TEO MING GUAN Malaysian Customer Service Brief Job Description: Customer support and data base services

JOHNSTON TEO MING ZHE Malaysian Customer Service Brief Job Description: Customer support and data base services

LIEW JIUN SHIN Malaysian Customer Service Brief Job Description: Customer support and data base services

ESTABLISHMENT / ADDRESS QUALIFICATION AND SALARY RANGE Basic Qualification: College graduate, preferably 1 year experience in the similar field, speak and write fluently (native language & English)

No.

83.

Salary Range: Php 30,000 - Php 59,999 Basic Qualification: Knowledgeable in Computer Application With Good Oral and Written Communication Skills Salary Range: Php 30,000 - Php 59,999 Basic Qualification: College graduate, preferably 1 year experience in the similar field, speaks and write fluently (native language).

Salary Range: Php 30,000 - Php 59,999 Basic Qualification: Knowledgeable in Computer Application With Good Oral and Written Communication Skills

Salary Range: Php 30,000 - Php 59,999 Basic Qualification: Knowledgeable in Computer Application With Good Oral and Written Communication Skills

CHEN, JIA-WEN Chinese Customer Service Representative 85.

Salary Range: Php 30,000 - Php 59,999 Basic Qualification: Knowledgeable in Computer Application With Good Oral and Written Communication Skills

86.

87.

77.

Brief Job Description: Customer support and data base services

REAGAN WONG MAN TANG Malaysian Customer Service 78.

79.

80.

Brief Job Description: Manage incoming calls and inquiries, handling complaints, provide solutions, process customer accounts and file documents.

NANG AWAN SENG Myanmari Customer Service Brief Job Description: Customer support and data base services

WIN HLAING AYE Myanmari Customer Service Brief Job Description: Customer support and data base services

HOANG VAN DOAN Vietnamese Customer Service 81.

82.

Brief Job Description: Manage incoming calls and inquiries, handling complaints, provide solutions, process customer accounts and file documents.

NGUYEN THI QUYEN Vietnamese Customer Service Brief Job Description: Customer support and data base services

Salary Range: Php 30,000 - Php 59,999 Basic Qualification: College graduate, preferably 1 year experience in the similar field, speaks and write fluently (native language).

88.

Salary Range: Php 30,000 - Php 59,999 Basic Qualification: Knowledgeable in Computer Application With Good Oral and Written Communication Skills Salary Range: Php 30,000 - Php 59,999 Basic Qualification: College graduate, preferably 1 year experience in the similar field, speak and write fluently (native language & English)

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

Brief Job Description: Assist in obtaining and maintaining government approval for drugs, medical devices, nutritional products, and related materials

VEDANI, JULIE, CANDICE Production Manager, Batangas 89.

97.

Salary Range: Php 30,000 - Php 59,999 Basic Qualification: College graduate, preferably 1 year experience in the similar field, speak and write fluently (native language & English) Salary Range: Php 30,000 - Php 59,999

Basic Qualification: Proficient in Speaking, Reading and Writing in Chinese

Basic Qualification: Proficient in Speaking, Reading and Writing in Chinese

98.

99.

Brief Job Description: Ensure full focus on achieving all assigned KPIs “end-to-end” (from Supplier to Consumer) linked to Safety, Quality, Cost, Delivery and Morale, following a preventive/predictive approach

LU, XIANGXIANG Chinese Customer Service Representative 90.

Brief Job Description: Answering inquiries, resolving problems, fulfilling requests and maintaining data base.

100.

SUN, SHENGLI Chinese Customer Service Representative Brief Job Description: Answering inquiries, resolving problems, fulfilling requests and maintaining data base.

101.

Brief Job Description: Attracts potential customers by answering product and service queries; suggesting information about other products and services.

Brief Job Description: Attracts potential customers by answering product and service queries; suggesting information about other products and services.

DINH CONG TAM Vietnamese Customer Service Representative Brief Job Description: Attracts potential customers by answering product and service queries; suggesting information about other products and services.

DO DINH HOANG DIEP Vietnamese Customer Service Representative 103.

Brief Job Description: Attracts potential customers by answering product and service queries; suggesting information about other products and services.

DOAN VAN AN Vietnamese Customer Service Representative 104.

Salary Range: Php 500,000 and above

Brief Job Description: Attracts potential customers by answering product and service queries; suggesting information about other products and services.

HOANG QUOC VIET Vietnamese Customer Service Representative

105.

Basic Qualification: College graduate, fluent in English, preferably 6mos1year customer service experience.

Brief Job Description: Attracts potential customers by answering product and service queries; suggesting information about other products and services.

HOANG THAO NGUYEN Vietnamese Customer Service Representative

106.

Basic Qualification: College graduate, fluent in English, preferably 6mos1year customer service experience.

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

Brief Job Description: Attracts potential customers by answering product and service queries; suggesting information about other products and services.

DAO KIM HOAT Vietnamese Customer Service Representative

Basic Qualification: Strong experience in a dynamic International Regulatory Affairs Consultant role

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

Brief Job Description: Attracts potential customers by answering product and service queries; suggesting information about other products and services.

DANG THI THU THAO Vietnamese Customer Service Representative

102.

Basic Qualification: 5 - 8 years’ experience in production area within FMCG, pharmaceutical or similar industry of which at least 3 years in a managerial role

Brief Job Description: Apply diagnostic utilities to aid in troubleshooting

DANG MINH TUAN Vietnamese Customer Service Representative

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

Salary Range: Php 90,000 - Php 149,999

KWON, YONGJEONG Korean Technical Support Staff

BUI THI AN Vietnamese Customer Service Representative

Salary Range: Php 30,000 - Php 59,999 Basic Qualification: Proficient in Speaking, Reading and Writing in Chinese

NAME OF FOREIGN NATIONAL , POSITION AND BRIEF DESCRIPTION

QUALIFICATION AND SALARY RANGE Basic Qualification: Can speak and write fluent Korean language / preferably six (6) months experience in office staff Salary Range: Php 30,000 - Php 59,999

SOMI UNLIMITED SOLUTIONS, INC. 10/f Tower 2 Double Dragon Plaza Bldg., Edsa Corner Macapagal Ave. St. Zone 10, District 1, Barangay 76, Pasay City

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

RIGHT CHOICE FINANCE CORP. 5e-1 Electra House Bldg., 115-117 Esteban Street, San Lorenzo, City Of Makati

Brief Job Description: Attracts potential customers by answering product and service queries; suggesting information about other products and services.

HOANG VAN THANH Vietnamese Customer Service Representative

107.

Brief Job Description: Attracts potential customers by answering product and service queries; suggesting information about other products and services.

Basic Qualification: Fluent in vietnamese (verbal and written skills).

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

Basic Qualification: Fluent in vietnamese (verbal and written skills).

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

Basic Qualification: Fluent in vietnamese (verbal and written skills).

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

Basic Qualification: Fluent in vietnamese (verbal and written skills).

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

Basic Qualification: Fluent in vietnamese (verbal and written skills).

Salary Range: Php 30,000 - Php 59,999 Basic Qualification: Fluent in vietnamese (verbal and written skills).

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

Basic Qualification: Fluent in vietnamese (verbal and written skills).

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

Basic Qualification: Fluent in vietnamese (verbal and written skills).

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

Basic Qualification: Fluent in vietnamese (verbal and written skills).

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

Basic Qualification: Fluent in vietnamese (verbal and written skills).

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

RUNNINGMAN CORPORATION 8/f Techzone Bldg., 213 Sen. Gil Puyat Ave., San Antonio, City Of Makati LIM WAV PING Chinese/mandarin - Language Customer Support Staff 92.

Brief Job Description: Serves as primary contact for problem resolution and information gathering regarding customer complaints and work assignment.

LAPPREEDAPHAN, NATHCHAPHAT Thai - Language Customer Support Staff

93.

Brief Job Description: Serves as primary contact for problem resolution and information gathering regarding customer complaints and work assignment.

HUYNH THI HAN Vietnamese Customer Service Representative Basic Qualification: A native speaker of the mandarin language (spoken and written).

108.

94.

DUAN, LIJUN Chinese Project Manager Brief Job Description: Participating in scheduling for a project

Basic Qualification: A native speaker of the mandarin language (spoken and written).

LE DUY CUONG Vietnamese Customer Service Representative 109.

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

Basic Qualification: Excellent skills in Project Management, AutoCAD, SketchUp and MS Office

95.

Brief Job Description: Field incoming help requests from end users via both telephone and work orders in a courteous manner

LEE, JALYONG Korean Marketing Consultant 96.

Brief Job Description: Make initial prospecting and qualifying of leads via consultative approach

Basic Qualification: Can speak and write fluent Korean language / preferably six (6) months experience in office staff

110.

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

Brief Job Description: Attracts potential customers by answering product and service inquiries; suggesting information about other products and services.

LUONG VAN THAO Vietnamese Customer Service Representative

111.

Brief Job Description: Attracts potential customers by answering product and service inquiries; suggesting information about other products and services.

LY THI THU THAO Vietnamese Customer Service Representative

112.

Salary Range: Php 30,000 - Php 59,999 Basic Qualification: Can speak and write fluent Korean language / preferably six (6) months experience in office staff

Brief Job Description: Attracts potential customers by answering product and service inquiries; suggesting information about other products and services.

LE MANH DUY Vietnamese Customer Service Representative

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

SKYLUCK CORPORATION #360, Unit 243 Shaw Center Mall, Shaw Blvd. Penthouse Shaw I.t. Center, Addition Hills, City Of Mandaluyong

JOUNG, HEEJOONG Korean Customer Support Staff

Brief Job Description: Attracts potential customers by answering product and service inquiries; suggesting information about other products and services.

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

SHSY ELECTRIC POWER CORPORATION 3/f Salcedo One Center, 170 Salcedo St., San Lorenzo, City Of Makati

Salary Range: Php 30,000 - Php 59,999 Basic Qualification: Knowledgeable in Computer Application With Good Oral and Written Communication Skills

No.

PMFTC INC. Plant C & D, Champaca Ii, Fortune, City Of Marikina

Salary Range: Php 30,000 - Php 59,999 Basic Qualification: Knowledgeable in Computer Application With Good Oral and Written Communication Skills

Brief Job Description: To respond to customers concerns on site and supply solutions to their concerns

AKABARI, PRAKASHKUMAR MANUBHAI International Regulatory Affairs Consultant

91.

LIM CHEE KEONG Malaysian Customer Service

Basic Qualification: College graduate, preferably 1 year experience in the similar field, speak and write fluently (native language & English)

PHILRX PHARMA INC. 6 Felipe, Pike St., Bagong Ilog, City Of Pasig

Salary Range: Php 30,000 - Php 59,999 Basic Qualification: Knowledgeable in Computer Application With Good Oral and Written Communication Skills

Brief Job Description: To respond to customers concerns on site and supply solutions to their concerns

YU, JUAN SHUN HSIANG Chinese Customer Service Representative

Salary Range: Php 30,000 - Php 59,999 Basic Qualification: Knowledgeable in Computer Application With Good Oral and Written Communication Skills

Brief Job Description: To respond to customers concerns on site and supply solutions to their concerns

WU, HSIN-CHUN Chinese Customer Service Representative

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

Basic Qualification: Knowledgeable in Computer Application With Good Oral and Written Communication Skills

Brief Job Description: Manage incoming calls and inquiries, handling complaints, provide solutions, process customer accounts and file documents.

QUALIFICATION AND SALARY RANGE

NEW WEATHER FORCES GROUP INC. 26/f The Enterprise Center Tower 2, 6766 Ayala Ave., San Lorenzo, City Of Makati

Salary Range: Php 30,000 - Php 59,999 Basic Qualification: Knowledgeable in Computer Application With Good Oral and Written Communication Skills

Brief Job Description: Manage incoming calls and inquiries, handling complaints, provide solutions, process customer accounts and file documents.

TRAN VAN HUNG Vietnamese Customer Service 84.

ESTABLISHMENT / ADDRESS

NAME OF FOREIGN NATIONAL , POSITION AND BRIEF DESCRIPTION NGUYEN XUAN DAI Vietnamese Customer Service

www.businessmirror.com.ph

Brief Job Description: Attracts potential customers by answering product and service inquiries; suggesting information about other products and services.

MA NGOC NAM Vietnamese Customer Service Representative 113.

Brief Job Description: Attracts potential customers by answering product and service inquiries; suggesting information about other products and services.

Basic Qualification: Fluent in vietnamese (verbal and written skills).

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

Basic Qualification: Fluent in vietnamese (verbal and written skills).

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

Basic Qualification: Fluent in Vietnamese (verbal and written skills).

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

Basic Qualification: Fluent in vietnamese (verbal and written skills).

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

Basic Qualification: Fluent in vietnamese (verbal and written skills).

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

Basic Qualification: Fluent in vietnamese (verbal and written skills).

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

BusinessMirror

www.businessmirror.com.ph

ESTABLISHMENT / ADDRESS No.

NAME OF FOREIGN NATIONAL , POSITION AND BRIEF DESCRIPTION NGUYEN ANH TUAN Vietnamese Customer Service Representative

114.

Brief Job Description: Attracts potential customers by answering product and service inquiries; suggesting information about other products and services.

NGUYEN BA ANH Vietnamese Customer Service Representative 115.

Brief Job Description: Attracts potential customers by answering product and service inquiries; suggesting information about other products and services.

NGUYEN DANH TUNG Vietnamese Customer Service Representative 116.

Brief Job Description: Attracts potential customers by answering product and service inquiries; suggesting information about other products and services.

NGUYEN DUC HIEU Vietnamese Customer Service Representative 117.

Brief Job Description: Attracts potential customers by answering product and service questions; suggesting information about other products and services

ESTABLISHMENT / ADDRESS QUALIFICATION AND SALARY RANGE

No.

Basic Qualification: Fluent in vietnamese (verbal and written skills).

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

TRAN MAU TUYEN Vietnamese Customer Service Representative 127.

Basic Qualification: Fluent in vietnamese (verbal and written skills).

TRAN NGOC MAI Vietnamese Customer Service Representative 128.

Basic Qualification: Fluent in Vietnamese (verbal and written skills).

Basic Qualification: Proficient in speaking, reading and writing in English and their respective Native Language for the position applied for; Fluent in Chinese Mandarin is an advantage

NGUYEN HOANG TAN Vietnamese Customer Service Representative 118.

Brief Job Description: Attracts potential customers by answering product and service questions; suggesting information about other products and services

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

NGUYEN NGOC MANH Vietnamese Customer Service Representative 119.

Brief Job Description: Attracts potential customers by answering product and service questions; suggesting information about other products and services

Basic Qualification: Proficient in speaking, reading and writing in English and their respective Native Language for the position applied for; Fluent in Chinese Mandarin is an advantage

129.

NGUYEN NHAT PHONG Vietnamese Customer Service Representative 120.

Brief Job Description: Attracts potential customers by answering product and service questions; suggesting information about other products and services

130.

131.

121.

Brief Job Description: Attracts potential customers by answering product and service questions; suggesting information about other products and services

132.

NGUYEN THE TUAN ANH Vietnamese Customer Service Representative 122.

Brief Job Description: Attracts potential customers by answering product and service questions; suggesting information about other products and services

Brief Job Description: Attracts potential customers by answering product and service inquiries; suggesting information about other products and services.

VO MANH DAT Vietnamese Customer Service Representative

133.

Brief Job Description: Attracts potential customers by answering product and service inquiries; suggesting information about other products and services.

VU HONG KHIEM Vietnamese Customer Service Representative

134.

Brief Job Description: Attracts potential customers by answering product and service inquiries; suggesting information about other products and services.

INTAN SHELINA Customer Service Officer Brief Job Description: Resolve issues and give information when appropriate to solve issues effectively and promptly.

123.

Brief Job Description: Attracts potential customers by answering product and service questions; suggesting information about other products and services

VONG MY VAN Conformance Analyst

136.

Brief Job Description: Asses product and/or exporter risk levels, identification of product essential requirements and capable standards following the business rules on conformity assessment, classification, import eligibility and process flows. Conformity assessments instructions (CAIs), and other related references.

Excellent communication skills, both written and verbal. Must be fluent in English and Vietnamese.

NGUYEN TIEN TUAN Vietnamese Customer Service Representative 124.

Brief Job Description: Attracts potential customers by answering product and service questions; suggesting information about other products and services

137.

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

SPRITZER TRADING CORP. 37/f Lkg Tower, 6801 Ayala Ave., Bel-air, City Of Makati

LOC HOI LAY Research And Development Specialist

PHAN VAN VU Vietnamese Customer Service Representative 125.

Brief Job Description: Attracts potential customers by answering product and service inquiries; suggesting information about other products and services.

TIN CHIEU MINH Vietnamese Customer Service Representative 126.

Brief Job Description: Attracts potential customers by answering product and service questions; suggesting information about other products and services

Brief Job Description: Ability to formulate, develop, improve, and reformulate products

HUAI, SHENGDE Chinese Speaking Digital Marketing Specialist 138.

Brief Job Description: Assist/help customers, give customers information about product and services.

YANG, ZEXIONG Chinese Speaking Digital Marketing Specialist 139.

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

Brief Job Description: Assist/help customers, give customers information about product and services.

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

140.

FUJISHIMA, YOTARE Deputy Department Manager-pld Brief Job Description: Over -all of the purchasing & logistics department

QUALIFICATION AND SALARY RANGE

141.

Brief Job Description: Develop, implement and communicate metrics reporting processes and documentation across plants and companies in collaboration with operations, marketing and sales functions, fluency in English and Mandarin language is a must. Leading and executing various special projects with senior leadership primarily related to the evaluation of possible growth strategies or driving operational improvement.

Basic Qualification: Fluent in Vietnamese (verbal and written skills).

CHEN, SIHAI Financial Services Consultant

Salary Range: Php 30,000 - Php 59,999 142.

Basic Qualification: Fluent in Vietnamese (verbal and written skills).

Brief Job Description: A commendable sales performance specializing in Financial Services and in Corporate Banking or Wealth Management/ Financial Planning services to high net worth clients. Fluency in English and Mandarin Language is a must.

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

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

Basic Qualification: Fluent in Vietnamese (verbal and written skills).

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

PARK, SUNG MIN Trade Marketing Specialist

143.

Brief Job Description: Creating and implementation of a trade marketing strategy. Managing brand awareness across various categories and products. develop, implement and communicate metrics reporting processes and documentation across plants and companies in collaboration with operations, marketing and sales functions, fluency in English and Mandarin Language is a must.

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

Basic Qualification: Fluent in vietnamese (verbal and written skills).

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

Basic Qualification: Fluent in Vietnamese (verbal and written skills).

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

Basic Qualification: Fluency in English and mandarin is essential/ native speaker of Bahasa Indonesia.

Salary Range: Php 60,000 - Php 89,999

Basic Qualification: Must have an excellent research and analysis skills needed to find and examine new existing laws, rules and regulations, critical thinking skills are required to develop workable solutions for new analysis. Problem solving skills are needed to rectify any compliance issues that may pop up during compliance audits.

Must be fluent in English and Vietnamese language.

Basic Qualification: Positive towards multitasking. Must be fluent in English and Vietnamese language.

144.

Salary Range: Php 30,000 - Php 59,999 Basic Qualification: With at least 6 months customer service experience/good in oral communication and written.

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

Basic Qualification: Knowledge and experience in HPAL technology

Basic Qualification: Excellent Communication, Interpersonal and Listening Skills, the Capability to Explain Complex Information Simply and Clearly, the Ability to Network and Establish Relationships With Clients, Negotiation and Influencing Skills as Well as Determination and Tenacity. Fluency in English and Mandarin Language is a Must.

Basic Qualification: Strong Knowledge of Consumer Industry, Ability to Think Critically and Creativity, Fluency in English and Mandarin Language Is a Must.

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

Brief Job Description: Define region-specific marketing plan that supports the regional sales

Basic Qualification: Proficient in speaking, reading and writing in mandarin Salary Range: Php 30,000 - Php 59,999

VERTEX DIGITAL ENTERTAINMENT TECHNOLOGIES, INC. 1439 Adriatico Cor. Sta. Monica St., 072, Barangay 669, Ermita, City Of Manila Basic Qualification: College graduate with experience in maintain gaming devices, fluent in mandarin and english speaking.

NGUYEN THI VAN It Specialist 145.

Brief Job Description: Maintain the operations of electronic gaming devices.

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

VPC CORPORATE SOLUTIONS INCORPORATED 11/f 100 West, Sen Gil Puyat Ave. Cor., Washington St., Pio Del Pilar, City Of Makati Basic Qualification: Proficient in speaking, writing and reading in foreign language

DEWI KRISNA WATY Indonesian-speaking Customer Service Officer 146.

Brief Job Description: Manage large amount of calls, handle customer concerns

Salary Range: Php 30,000 - Php 59,999 Basic Qualification: Proficient in speaking, writing and reading in foreign language

ELICE Indonesian-speaking Customer Service Officer 147.

Brief Job Description: Manage large amount of calls, handle customer concerns

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

YOUBIN CONSULTANCY INC. 7/f Ba Lepanto Bldg., Paseo De Roxas, Bel-air, City Of Makati Basic Qualification: Proficiency speaking, reading and writing in mandarin.

QIU, WENYONG Chinese Consultant 148.

Brief Job Description: Responsible for checking and reporting on the campaign progress.

Salary Range: Php 30,000 - Php 59,999 Basic Qualification: Proficiency Speaking, Reading and Writing in Mandarin

CAO, GUOZHONG Chinese Customer Service Representative 149.

Brief Job Description: Responsible for responding promptly to customer inquiries

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

WANG, JUN Chinese Interpreter 150.

Brief Job Description: Responsible for analyze transaction, corrects, records, and adjust errors.

151.

Brief Job Description: Responsible for verifying timesheets and processing payroll

153.

Brief Job Description: Responsible for prepare content for the publication of marketing material and oversee distribute

Brief Job Description: Responsible for contribute in the implementation of marketing strategies.

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

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

BI, SHANG-HONG Mandarin Marketing Officer

WANG, CHI Mandarin Marketing Officer

Basic Qualification: Proficiency speaking, reading and writing in mandarin.

Basic Qualification: Proficiency Speaking, Reading and Writing in Mandarin

ZHAN, MINGWU Mandarin Administrative Associate

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

Basic Qualification: With at least 6 months customer service experience/good in oral communication and written.

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

TOTAL CREST BUSINESS SUPPORT, INC. 26/f & 27/f Alphaland Corporate Tower, Ayala Ave. Extn. Cor. Malugay St., Bel-air, City Of Makati WU, ZHE-CHENG Mandarin Field Marketing Officer

Basic Qualification: Fluent in Vietnamese (verbal and written skills).

Basic Qualification: Must be flexible, analytical and good communicators.

In the next few sections, we look at the academic requirements, professional certifications and soft skill requirements for BA roles.

Fluency in English and Mandarin Language is a must.

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

Basic Qualification: Fluent in Vietnamese (verbal and written skills).

SUMITOMO METAL MINING PHILIPPINE HOLDINGS CORPORATION 24th & 25th Floor Nac Tower, 32nd Street, Bonifacio Global City, Fort Bonifacio, City Of Taguig Basic Qualification: Proficient in speaking, reading and writing in English and their respective Native Language for the position applied for; Fluent in Chinese Mandarin is an advantage

NAME OF FOREIGN NATIONAL , POSITION AND BRIEF DESCRIPTION KWON, HYUNJIN Business Development Analyst

152.

Salary Range: Php 30,000 - Php 59,999 Basic Qualification: Fluent in Vietnamese (verbal and written skills).

No.

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

Basic Qualification: Proficient in speaking, reading and writing in English and their respective Native Language for the position applied for; Fluent in Chinese Mandarin is an advantage

Basic Qualification: Proficient in speaking, reading and writing in English and their respective Native Language for the position applied for; Fluent in Chinese Mandarin is an advantage

Basic Qualification: Proficient in speaking, reading and writing in English and their respective Native Language for the position applied for; Fluent in Chinese Mandarin is an advantage

SPRING DRAGON TRADING LTD. INC. 35th Flr. Penthouse 1,2 & 4 Manila Eco Tower, 9th Ave. Cor. 32nd St., Fort Bonifacio, City Of Taguig

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

NGUYEN THI KIM LINH Vietnamese Customer Service Representative

QUALIFICATION AND SALARY RANGE

SPARVA INCORPORATED 7/f Insular Life Bldg., 6781 Ayala Ave., Cor. Paseo De Roxas, Bel-air, City Of Makati

Salary Range: Php 30,000 - Php 59,999 Basic Qualification: Proficient in speaking, reading and writing in English and their respective Native Language for the position applied for; Fluent in Chinese Mandarin is an advantage

Brief Job Description: Attracts potential customers by answering product and service inquiries; suggesting information about other products and services.

TRUONG XUAN MINH Vietnamese Customer Service Representative

135.

NGUYEN THE ANH Vietnamese Customer Service Representative

Brief Job Description: Attracts potential customers by answering product and service inquiries; suggesting information about other products and services.

TRUONG MAI KHANH Vietnamese Customer Service Representative

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

Basic Qualification: Proficient in speaking, reading and writing in English and their respective Native Language for the position applied for; Fluent in Chinese Mandarin is an advantage

Brief Job Description: Attracts potential customers by answering product and service inquiries; suggesting information about other products and services.

TRINH THANH NGAN Vietnamese Customer Service Representative

Salary Range: Php 30,000 - Php 59,999 Basic Qualification: Proficient in speaking, reading and writing in English and their respective Native Language for the position applied for; Fluent in Chinese Mandarin is an advantage

Brief Job Description: Attracts potential customers by answering product and service inquiries; suggesting information about other products and services.

TRAN VAN THANH Vietnamese Customer Service Representative

Salary Range: Php 30,000 - Php 59,999 Basic Qualification: Proficient in speaking, reading and writing in English and their respective Native Language for the position applied for; Fluent in Chinese Mandarin is an advantage

Brief Job Description: Attracts potential customers by answering product and service questions; suggesting information about other products and services

A11

ESTABLISHMENT / ADDRESS

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

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

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

NAME OF FOREIGN NATIONAL , POSITION AND BRIEF DESCRIPTION

Friday, May 20, 2022

Basic Qualification: Proficiency Speaking, Reading and Writing in Mandarin Salary Range: Php 30,000 - Php 59,999 Basic Qualification: Proficiency in speaking , writing and reading in mandarin.

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

*Date Generated: May 19, 2022 In the ad material of Notice of Filing of Application for Alien Employment Permits published on MAY 18, 2022, the position of MORISHITA, MOTOHIRO under JACCS FINANCE PHILIPPINES CORPORATION SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT/GROUP HEAD-COLLECTION CONTROL GROUP, should have been read as SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT/GROUP HEAD-COLLECTION GROUP and not as published.

In the ad material of Notice of Filing of Application for Alien Employment Permits published on MAY 18, 2022, the name of HSU, FU-WEI , under SPEED QUALITY TECH INC. should have been read as HSU, FU-WEI a.k.a. HSU, PO-HAO not HSU and not as published.

Any person in the Philippines who is competent, able and willing to perform the services for which the foreign national is desired may file an objection at DOLE National Capital Region located at DOLE-NCR Building, 967 Maligaya St., Malate Manila, within 30 days after this publication.

Please inform DOLE National Capital Region if you have any information on criminal offense committed by the foreign nationals.

Salary Range: Php 90,000 - Php 149,999

TANZILA TRADING INC. U-29, 3/f Baclaran Bagong Milenyo Bldg., F.b. Harrison St., Barangay 76, Pasay City

ATTY. SARAH BUENA S. MIRASOL REGIONAL DIRECTOR

TheWorld BusinessMirror

A12 Friday, May 20, 2022

US Covid infections increasing; officials call for indoor masking

By Zeke Miller & Mike Stobbe

W

The Associated Press

ASHINGTON—Covid-19 cases are increasing in the United States—and could get even worse over the coming months, federal health officials warned Wednesday in urging areas hardest hit to consider reissuing calls for indoor masking.

Increasing numbers of Covid-19 infections and hospitalizations are putting more of the country under guidelines issued by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that call for masking and other infection precautions.

Right now, about a third of the US population lives in areas that are considered at higher risk—mostly in the Northeast and Midwest. Those are areas where people should already be considering wearing masks indoors— but Americans elsewhere should also take notice, officials said.

“Prior increases of infections, in different waves of infection, have demonstrated that this travels across the country,” said Dr. Rochelle Walensky, the CDC director, said at a White House briefing with reporters.

For an increasing number of areas, “we urge local leaders to encourage use of prevention strategies like masks in public indoor settings and increasing access to testing and treatment,” she said.

However, officials were cautious about making concrete predictions, saying how much worse the pandemic gets will depend on several factors, including to what degree previous infections will protect against new variants.

Last week, White House Covid-19 coordinator Dr. Ashish Jha warned in an interview with The Associated

Press the US will be increasingly vulnerable to the coronavirus this fall and winter if Congress doesn’t swiftly approve new funding for more vaccines and treatments.

Jha warned that without additional funding from Congress for the virus would cause “unnecessary loss of life” in the fall and winter, when the US runs out of treatments.

He added the US was already falling behind other nations in securing supplies of the next generation of Covid-19 vaccines and said that the domestic manufacturing base of athome tests is already drying up as demand drops off.

Jha said domestic test manufactures have started shuttering lines and laying off workers, and in the coming weeks will begin to sell off equipment and prepare to exit the business of producing tests entirely unless the US government has money to purchase more tests, like the hundreds of millions it has sent out for free to requesting households this year.

That would leave the US reliant on other countries for testing supplies, risking shortages during a surge, Jha warned. About 8.5 million households placed orders for the latest tranche of 8 free tests since ordering opened on Monday, Jha added.

The pandemic is now 2 1/2 years old. And the US has seen—depending

White House Covid-19 Response Coordinator Dr. Ashish Jha speaks during the daily briefing at the White House in Washington on April 26, 2022. Speaking to the Associated Press, Jha said Americans’ immune protection from the virus is waning and the virus is adapting to be more contagious, and that booster doses for most people will be necessary—with the potential for enhanced protection from a new generation of shots. AP/Susan Walsh how you count them—five waves of Covid-19 during that time, with the later surges driven by mutated versions of the coronavirus. A fifth wave occurred mainly in December and January, caused by the Omicron variant.

The Omicron variant spread much more easily than earlier versions.

Some experts are worried the country now is seeing signs of a sixth wave, driven by an Omicron subvariant. On Wednesday, Walensky noted a steady increase in Covid-19 cases in the past five weeks, including a 26 percent increase nationally in the last week.

Hospitalizations also are rising, up 19 percent in the past week, though they remain much lower than during the omicron wave, she said.

In late February, as that wave was ebbing, the CDC released a new set of measures for communities where Covid-19 was easing its grip, with less of a focus on positive test results and more on what’s happening at hospitals.

Walensky said more than 32 percent of the country currently live in an area with medium or high Covid-19 community levels, including more than 9 percent in the highest level, where CDC recommends that masks and other mitigation efforts be used.

In the last week, an additional 8

percent of Americans were living in a county in medium or high Covid-19 community levels.

Officials said they are concerned that waning immunity and relaxed mitigation measures across the country may contribute to a continued rise in infections and illnesses across the country. They encouraged people— particularly older adults—to get boosters.

Some health experts say the government should be taking clearer and bolder steps.

The CDC community level guidelines are confusing to the public, and don’t give a clear picture of how much virus transmission is occurring in a community, said Dr. Lakshmi Ganapathi, an infectious diseases specialist at Harvard University.

When the government officials make recommendations but do not set rules, “it ultimately rests on every single individual picking and choosing the public health that works for them.

But that’s not what is effective. If you’re talking about stemming hospitalizations and even deaths, all of these interventions work better when people do it collectively,” she said.

Stobbe reported from New York.

Yellen: Ukraine war fallout threatens ‘stagflation,’ hunger

By Fatima Hussein The Associated Press

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ONN, Germany—Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen warned Wednesday that Russia’s February invasion of Ukraine has produced a sharp increase in food and energy prices that is contributing to a slowdown in growth and creating greater risk of global stagflation.

“This is an environment that is filled with risk, both with respect to inflation and potential slowdowns,” Yellen said at a press conference ahead of Group of Seven finance ministers meetings this week in Bonn.

“The economic outlook globally is challenging and uncertain,” Yellen said.

“And higher food and energy prices are having stagflationary effects, namely depressing output and spending and raising inflation all around the world.”

Stagflation occurs when inflation and unemployment are high and economic output is low.

Yellen added that the US is “best positioned” to meet this economic challenge because of its strong jobs market, but she said that food shortages are a threat around the world that needs to be addressed.

Her comments came as US and other officials rolled out a multibillion-dollar plan to address the food security problem, a key danger facing an increasingly fragile world economy. The US, several global development banks and other groups collaborated on the effort.

Treasur y announced that several development banks are “working swiftly to bring to bear their financing, policy engagement, technical assistance” to prevent starvation prompted by the war, rising food costs and climate damage to crops.

Tens of billions will be spent on supporting farmers, addressing the fertilizer supply crisis, and developing land for food production, among other issues. The Asian

United States Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen delivers the Tommaso Padoa Schioppa Lecture at the Brussels Economic Forum 2022 in Brussels, Tuesday, May 17, 2022. Secretary Yellen focused on the way forward for the global economy in the wake of Russia’s brutal war against Ukraine, and discussed the unmet challenges that would benefit from multilateral cooperation in the years ahead. AP/Olivier Matthys Development Bank will contribute funds to feeding Afghanistan and Sri Lanka and the African Development Bank will use $1.5 billion to assist 20 million African farmers, according to Treasury.

The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, the Inter-American Development Bank, the International Fund for Agricultural Development and the World Bank will also contribute tens of billions in the coming months and years to support food producers and address supply shortage issues.

The plan stems from a meeting that Yellen convened in April at the International Monetary Fund and World Bank spring meetings, where she called on powerful nations to look for specific ways to combat a looming crisis over food insecurity around the globe that Russia’s war in Ukraine has made even worse.

Russia and Ukraine produce a third of the world’s wheat supply, and the loss of commodities due to the war has resulted in soaring food prices and uncertainty

about the future of food security globally, especially in impoverished countries.

As part of the effort to address the crisis, Secretary of State Antony Blinken will also convene meetings in New York on the sidelines of the UN over the next two days focusing on food insecurity. The State Department says that in 2021, more than 193 million people worldwide experienced acute food insecurity, an increase of 40 million people from the year before. As many as 40 million are projected to be pushed into poverty and food insecurity by the end of the year.

Shortages of fuel and fertilizer in many countries and accelerating spikes in food prices threaten to destabilize fragile societies, increase hunger and malnutrition, drive migration, and cause severe economic dislocation. Conflict has greatly exacerbated food security issues globally.

Yellen said the US Congress was moving forward with a package of $40 billion in security, economic, and humanitarian aid for Ukraine and that she would urge her

G-7 counterparts “to join us in increasing their financial support to Ukraine. Ukraine has done remarkable work to repel Russia’s invasion but they need our help and they need it now.”

She added that Treasur y was to unlikely to renew a provision, set to expire next week, that has eased Russia’s ability to pay bondholders, furthering tightening financial pressures on Russia’s Vladimir Putin.

Yellen said that liquidating Russian Central Bank reserves in other countries so that the money can be used to finance the defense of Ukraine “is not something that is legally permissible in the United States,” but left the option open.

German Finance Minister Christian Lindner, for his part, said that using frozen Russian Central Bank assets to cover running costs is a possible option for longer-term rebuilding efforts.

“In the current situation, such a procedure might take too long. We must secure Ukraine’s solvency now within days, a few weeks,” Lindner said. “As far as rebuilding Ukraine is concerned, for me it is politically conceivable to confiscate assets of the Russian state and use them for rebuilding in Ukraine.”

While European nations plan to phase out of Russian oil and gas, the US is pressing EU leaders to consider possible oil tariffs and other methods of preventing Russia from benefiting from increased energy prices.

Yellen said “tariffs, price caps, other possibilities” were being considered but no decisions have been made.

“This is important for Europe to decide what they think is best, but we continue to have those discussions and there are a lot of options,” she said.

AP Writer Geir Moulson in Berlin contributed to this report.

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

Economists pare down China growth forecasts as lockdowns hit economy

A

slew of economists have cut their forecasts for China’s full-year economic growth in recent days after the country reported worse-than-expected data for April while still signaling that its tough anti-Covid curbs aren’t going anywhere.

Standard Chartered Plc and Bloomberg Economics each downgraded their estimates for 2022 on Thursday, after Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and Citigroup Inc. did so earlier in the week.

Stringent Covid controls weighed heavily on activity in April and early May, disrupting production and consumption, the Standard Chartered economists wrote. They cut their full-year growth forecast to 4.1 percent year-on-year from 5 percent, and also lowered their second-quarter growth estimate to 0.3 percent from 3.5 percent.

Recent improvements in China’s Covid situation, along with continued policy support, should facilitate a recovery in the second half, they added. But the economists also estimated that “every additional month of severe lockdowns would trim annual growth” by as much as 0.6 percentage point.

The dow ngrade by Bloomberg Economics was even more severe: Economists now forecast growth of just 2 percent this year, down from 3.6 percent.

“Stimulus is failing to get much traction due to the restrictions on activity. The government and People’s Bank of China have room to step up support—and we expect them to deliver,” economists Chang Shu and Eric Zhu wrote in a report. “But even in an upside scenario, with an unlikely relaxation of the Covid Zero stance, a 5 percent expansion—let alone the government’s 5.5 percent target— looks out of reach.”

The Bloomberg economists project a contraction of 2.7 percent in the second quarter, down from a previous estimate of 1.5 percent growth.

Beijing’s growth target is looking harder to hit as Covid outbreaks and lockdowns hit economic activity.

Authorities have ramped up calls for support in recent weeks, with Chinese Premier Li Keqiang telling local governments Wednesday to “act decisively” in an effort to bring the economy back on track as soon as possible.

A lso on Wednesday, Goldman Sachs economists cut their 2022 economic growth forecast for China to 4 percent from 4.5 percent, citing the government’s doubling down on Covid Zero.

And Citi economists on Tuesday downgraded their GDP forecast to 4.2 percent from 5.1 percent, saying that the impact of Covid lockdowns on economic activity look set to extend into June and beyond. Bloomberg News

New Zealand plans to spend $630M to ease inflation pain

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ew Zealand will spend more than NZ$1 billion ($630 million) to help low and middleincome households cope with surging inflation.

The government will give about 2.1 million people a payment of NZ$27 a week for three months from Aug. 1, Finance Minister Grant Robertson said in his annual budget released Thursday in Wellington. Reductions in fuel duties to offset soaring gasoline costs will be extended by two months, as will half-price public transport.

Robertson was under pressure to respond to what the opposition has labeled a “cost of living crisis,” as spiraling consumer prices drive inflation to the fastest in more than 30 years.

The temporary fiscal stimulus comes at the same time as the Reserve Bank raises interest rates aggressively to curb price gains.

“Budget 2022 is being delivered against the backdrop of a global inflation spike, with existing supply chain pressures being exacerbated by pressure on oil prices from the war in Ukraine,” Robertson said. The costof-living package “will help New Zealanders through the peak of the global inflation storm,” he said.

The Treasury Department projects inflation will slow only gradually, from 6.9 percent today to 5.2 percent

by June 2023 and 3.6 percent a year later. It doesn’t see inflation returning to the RBNZ’s 1-3 percent target range until early 2025.

Supermarkets

The government will also try to increase competition in the supermarket sector to lower grocery prices. In an effort to allow new entrants into the market, it will introduce urgent legislation later Thursday to ban supermarkets from placing covenants on sites that rivals may want to build on.

Robertson said the overall budget “strikes a careful balance” between curbing spending that may fan inflation and the investment the economy needs.

A Treasury indicator of fiscal impulse shows government spending has provided stimulus equivalent to 4 percent of gross domestic product in the current year. While spending becomes contractionary from next year onwards, in the year through June 2023 it has much less of a brake on economic activity than projected in December’s half-year update.

“A less cont rac t ion a r y f i sc a l stance, all else equal, will slightly increase the amount of work the official cash rate will need to do to achieve the RBNZ’s policy objectives,” said Mark Smith, senior economist at ASB Bank in Auckland.

“The impact of the government sec-

tor on OCR settings will also depend on how effectively the execution of the government’s policy agenda can help alleviate capacity constraints.”

The cost-of-living payment, estimated to cost NZ$814 million, is for people earning less than NZ$70,000 a year. Pensioners and those on income support are excluded because they are already entitled to a winter energy payment. Extending the fuel tax reductions will cost another NZ$235 million.

The cost-of-living payment sits alongside new spending on health, climate change and the ongoing pandemic response that totals NZ$9.6 billion in the year ending June 2023.

As a result, the budget deficit in the coming year widens to NZ$6.63 billion compared to the NZ$831 million projected in December.

Increased spending in future years means the budget won’t return to surplus until 2024-25—a year later than previously projected.

Increased revenue will help to absorb some of the spending pressure.

The tax take is projected to improve

by NZ$2.3 billion in 2022-23 helped by economic activity, wage growth and company profitability.

The Treasury projects annual average economic growth will improve to 4.2 percent in the year through June 2023. But growth is forecast to virtually stall a year later, slowing to 0.7 percent in 2023-24 as higher interest rates bite.

“The tightening of credit conditions and associated cooling in the housing market will have negative impacts for indebted households and homeowners, putting downward pressure on consumer spending,” Treasury said. “In addition to the impact from rising interest rates, real government consumption is forecast to decline as expenditure related to Covid-19 unwinds.”

New Zealand’s tight labor market is expected to persist in the near term, with annual nominal wage growth forecast to exceed 6 during 2023. But as the economy cools the jobless rate is forecast to increase and wage growth will slow, Treasury said.

Robertson’s key policy announcement was an NZ$11.1 billion spend on health over four years. The government is reforming the sector and will spend NZ$3.6 billion in the next two years to wipe away accumulated debt within the existing 20 district health boards. More investment has been allocated to pay for more services, better wages and new treatments.

The government will also continue infrastructure investment, with NZ$4.7 billion of new projects outlined including hospitals, schools and railways. Bloomberg News

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TheWorld BusinessMirror

Friday, May 20, 2022 A13

Biden has an eye on China as he heads to South Korea and Japan

By Aamer Madhani & Josh Boak The Associated Press

W

ASHINGTON—President Joe Biden departs on a six-day trip to South Korea and Japan aiming to build rapport with the two nations’ leaders while also sending an unmistakable message to China: Russia’s faltering invasion of Ukraine should give Beijing pause about its own saber-rattling in the Pacific.

Biden departs Thursday and is set to meet newly elected South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida. Their talks will touch on trade, increasing resilience in the global supply chain, growing concerns about North Korea’s nuclear program and the explosive spread of Covid-19 in that country.

While in Japan, Biden will also meet with fellow leaders of the Indo-Pacific strategic alliance known as the Quad, a group that includes Australia, India and Japan.

The US under Biden has forged a united front with democratic allies that

have combined their economic heft to make Russia pay a price for its invasion of Ukraine. That alliance includes South Korea and Japan. But even as Biden is to be feted by Yoon at a state dinner and hold intimate conversations with Kishida, the US president knows those relationships need to be deepened if they’re to serve as a counterweight to China’s ambitions.

“We think this trip is going to put on full display President Biden’s Indo-Pacific strategy and then it will show in living color, the United States can at once lead the free world in responding to Russia’s war in Ukraine, and that at the same time chart a course for effective, principled American leadership and engagement in a region that will define much of the future of the 21st century,” White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan said.

The war in Eastern Europe has created a sense of urgency about China among major US allies in the Pacific. Many have come to see the moment as their own existential crisis—one in which it’s critical to show

China it should not try to seize contested territory through military action.

Biden’s overseas travel comes as he faces strong domestic headwinds: an infant formula shortage, budget-busting inflation, a rising number of Covid-19 infections, and increasing impatience among a Democratic base bracing for a US Supreme Court ruling that is likely to result in a roll back of abortion rights.

The conundrums Biden faces in Asia are no less daunting.

China’s military assertiveness has grown over the course of Biden’s presidency, with its provocative actions frequently putting the region on edge.

Last month, China held militar y drills around Taiwan after a group of US lawmakers arrived for talks on the selfgoverned island. Late last year China stepped up sorties into Taiwan’s air space.

Taiwan considers itself a sovereign state, but Beijing views Taiwan as a breakaway province and has not ruled out the use of force to achieve unification.

Japan has reported frequent intrusions

by China’s military vessels into Japanese territorial waters around the Senkaku Islands in the East China Sea. The uninhabited islets are controlled by Japan but claimed by China, which calls them Diaoyu.

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi on Wednesday criticized what he called negative moves by Washington and Tokyo against Beijing during a video call with Japanese Foreign Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi.

“What arouses attention and vigilance is the fact that, even before the American leader has set out for the meeting, the so-called joint Japan-US anti-China rhetoric is already kicking up dust,” Wang said, according to China’s Foreign Ministry.

Meanwhile, South Korea could tilt closer to the US under Yoon, who took office last week. The new South Korean president has criticized his predecessor as “subservient” to China by seeking to balance the relationships with Washington and Beijing. To neutralize North Korea’s

nuclear threats, Yoon has pledged to seek a stronger US security commitment.

The Biden administration has warned China against assisting Russia in its war with Ukraine. In March, the US informed Asian and European allies that American intelligence determined that China had signaled to Russia a willingness to provide military support and financial backing to reduce the blow of severe sanctions imposed by the US and its allies.

Biden administration officials say that the Russian invasion has been a clarifying moment for some of the bigger powers in Asia as financial sanctions and export bans have been put in place to check Russia.

US Ambassador Rahm Emanuel, Biden’s top envoy to Japan, said the Japanese have stood out by rallying eight of 10 members of Association of Southeast Nations to back a UN vote against the Russian invasion.

“Japan has been a pacesetter that has picked up and set the pace for South Korea, Singapore, Australia, New Zealand and

others here in the Indo Pacific area,” Emanuel said of Tokyo’s support of Ukraine following the Russian invasion.

Biden, who is making his first presidential trip to Asia, met Kishida briefly on the sidelines of a UN climate conference last year shortly after the Japanese prime minister took office. He has yet to meet with Yoon face-to-face. The South Korean leader, a former prosecutor who came to office without political or foreign policy experience, was elected in a closely fought election.

Biden arrives in the midst of an unfolding crisis in North Korea, where a mass Covid-19 outbreak is spreading through its unvaccinated population. North Korea acknowledged domestic Covid-19 infections for the first time last week, ending a widely doubted claim it had been virus-free.

In recent months, North Korea has test-launched a spate of missiles in what experts see as an attempt to modernize its weapons and pressure its rivals to accept the country as a nuclear state and relax their sanctions.

A14 Friday, May 20, 2022 • Editor: Angel R. Calso

Opinion BusinessMirror

www.businessmirror.com.ph

editorial

The writing is on the global wall

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F you are closely following economic and political developments in the world, you won’t miss the signs that the global situation is going to worsen before it gets better. The war in Ukraine is not going to end soon, so expect food and fuel crises to worsen. Sharply rising commodity prices have been the most immediate economic impact of Russia’s unprovoked and unjustified military aggression against Ukraine. The whole world suffers.

Inflation in the European Union is seen reaching a record high of 7.5 percent in April. Surging energy cost is the major factor driving inflation in the EU. Last month, energy prices surged 44.7 percent, up from 32 percent in February.

From Bloomberg: “UK inflation rose to its highest level since Margaret Thatcher was prime minister 40 years ago. Consumer prices surged 9 percent in the year through April, the fastest rate since March 1982, the Office for National Statistics said Wednesday in a report that marked a bleak moment for living standards. The increase is more than double the pace of basic wage growth, squeezing consumer spending power at the sharpest pace on record.

The pain is set to intensify, with the Bank of England predicting double-digit inflation by October when energy bills are almost certain to jump again.”

In China, the world’s second largest economy, Covid outbreaks in key cities underscore the challenges the government is facing in implementing its Covid Zero strategy. The risk of more pandemic curbs gives a bleak outlook as lockdowns have already taken an enormous toll on the economy and global supply chains. Last month, economists projected China’s economy to grow 5 percent in 2022. Goldman Sachs analysts on Wednesday cut their China gross domestic product forecast to 4 percent from 4.5 percent after weak data in April.

From the Associated Press: “Chair Jerome Powell on Tuesday underscored the Federal Reserve’s determination to keep raising interest rates until there is clear evidence inflation is steadily falling—a high-stakes effort that carries the risk of causing an eventual recession.” Observers said Powell’s remarks point to the Fed implementing a series of rate hikes that could amount to the fastest tightening of credit in more than 30 years.

This is another bad news for developing countries like the Philippines because higher US interest rates would spur capital toward the greenback. A strong dollar will hound the global economy, driving up borrowing costs and stoking volatility in financial markets. The Philippines will feel the pain of a strong dollar in the form of surging import costs, further fueling inflation rates.

“The Fed’s rapid pace of rate hikes is causing headaches for many other economies in the world, triggering portfolio outflows and currency weakness,” said Tuuli McCully, head of Asia-Pacific economics at Scotiabank.

News headlines: “Sri Lanka enters default and warns inflation may surge to 40 percent.” “New Zealand plans to spend $630-M to ease inflation pain.”

“Economists cut China growth forecasts as lockdowns hit economy.”

Global growth will essentially flatline this year as Europe falls into recession, China slows sharply, and US financial conditions tighten significantly, according to a new forecast from the Institute of International Finance.

With the Philippines’s above-target 4.9 percent inflation rate in April, economists predicted that a rate hike could be on the table. True enough, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas raised interest rates by 25 basis points to 2.25 percent on Thursday, as inflation continues to heat up while economic recovery picks up speed. Monetary tightening could alleviate price pressures, but at the cost of further domestic economic pain.

Most economists agree that the global streak of high inflation is far from over. The challenge for the next administration is how to tread carefully between controlling inflation and giving the Philippine economy enough stimulus to recover.

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Moving forward, together Sonny M. Angara

Better Days

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hen my late father, former Senator Edgardo J. Angara, retired from public service in 2013, he said something worth remembering during these times: “Good politics is also marked by close collaboration between the branches of government.” He was talking about his time as Senate President under the Ramos administration, where he challenged his colleagues in Congress, and the Executive, to set aside discord and cooperate on a legislative agenda that was needed for the country’s economic recovery.

During the 1992 elections, my father had supported another candidate, his partymate Ramon Mitra.

This non-alignment notwithstanding, under my father’s watch, the Senate was able to pass a total of 500 laws, 130 of which were reform measures in support of the Ramos administration’s drive to rebuild the country.

By my father’s example, we see how one’s choice of presidential candidate need not prevent one from helping the country. There are now murmurings on social media about

people refusing to donate during natural calamities or to anybody in need because these communities had generally voted in a certain direction. That’s not a path any of us should be taking.

Unity need not mean that we are all of the same political persuasion; or that we cannot critique whoever is in power. It should mean that we are all working to achieve the same goal and vision for the country. As my father said in his valedictory speech from the Senate: “A fiscalizing force is necessary for a healthy balance of

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EAGLE WATCH

Lourdes M. Fernandez Jennifer A. Ng Vittorio V. Vitug

power, and that obstructionism for the sole sake of opposition is selfserving.”

Now that the voting is over and the incoming administration has a resounding mandate, there is a need to drop campaign lines, fly our country’s flag, and coalesce over issues that need to be solved and reforms that we want to push forward. And we will need to come together because the new administration cannot face by itself the country’s immense challenges.

For instance, many Filipinos have yet to be vaccinated (including senior citizens and children below 5 years old), while only a small percentage of those with complete jabs (68 million)

Capturing hearts and minds

Founder Publisher

Recently, Secretary Karl Chua outlined in many fora and media briefings four priority areas that would set the stage for the incoming administration. This includes Smart Infrastructure, Innovation, Regional Equity, and Climate Change. In the face of these challenges, we shouldn’t let our politics prevent us from getting together to push the country forward.

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T best, the recent divisive elections have provided our nation with a point of reflection. While new presidents were greeted with celebration and immediate acceptance in previous elections, the current winner was not well-received, but instead accepted by many with incredulity. With all the sophistication introduced in the counting and completion of the electoral outcomes, people have become even more skeptical of the validity of these results.

During the election, I tried to engage with supporters of Ferdinand Marcos, Jr. to understand their mindset. The perception is that these people are engulfed with an inability to grasp reality, perhaps due to lack of education. I, however, found them to be quite intelligent and passionate about their cause. I teased them to be affected by selfinduced Alzheimer’s disease, but such compulsion for forgetfulness and outright rejection of history are really borne out of frustration.

The saddest news is that there are many of them.

What is causing this frustration? Sure, thanks to technology, fake news is everywhere, but why do many accept it unconditionally?

Coming out of Martial Law, many believed that the People Power revolution would bring about structural outcomes that will finally uplift their conditions. Instead, they have gotten more of the same poverty; worse, dynasties and associated injustices seem to have multiplied.

Despite the impressive economic growth achieved in the last 36 years, poverty, especially in the remotest regions, remains. The Philippines

To have any hope of healing the divisions in our society, social discourse should be required in policymaking for everyone to be aware of the information problem and begin the unification process.

still has a fairly high poverty rate in 2020, with more than 16 percent of the population living below the poverty line. Moreover, inequality remains the highest among Asean nations, as the Gini coefficient was recorded at 42.3 in 2018—just slightly down from 44.6 in 2015.

Because of continued reliance on agriculture for income and inequality in wealth distribution, about 17.6 million Filipinos struggle to afford necessities.

The source of this frustration is rooted in the inherent inequalities in society. Persons with lower incomes face discrimination, stigma, and other forms of negative stereotypes that reduce their social participation and gainful employment opportunities, as well as political support for immediate and comprehensive social protection. Certain sectors have been marginalized, and

have gotten the necessary boosters (13.5 million). The supply may be there, but we’ll still need to come together to ensure that vaccines reach our “last mile” communities.

Meanwhile, the pandemic revealed just how fragmented and fractured our health system is. The incoming administration will need to bridge the many resource gaps in our healthcare system. But the rest of us cannot afford to sit idly by when around 50 percent of the population live far from the nearest hospital or health center.

Unemployment also skyrocketed during the pandemic. While it has since gone down with the economy’s reopening, some 2.87 million Filipinos are still unable to make a living as of March 2022.

Couple this with high living costs and the result is widespread hunger and poverty. The incoming administration could be inheriting an economy where nearly 1 out of 4 Filipinos (23.7 percent) is considered poor. These numbers wouldn’t be as high if well-paying job opportunities were widely available. The irony is that in many sectors, job openings remain unfilled. One estimate even found that up to 2.4 See “Angara,” A15

prudent macro-fiscal policies have not addressed their inequalities.

Many of these policies worsened these disparities.

Nevertheless, recognizing these problems does not necessarily imply that solutions can be found. Marcos, Jr. did not discuss details of his economic platform. By contrast, the other presidential aspirant, Vice President Leni Robredo, focused on the issues and proposed clear and doable measures, including unemployment insurance and anti-discrimination, to address them. This ability to isolate the problems and her proven capability in implementation sparked the overwhelming volunteerism for her campaign— an event never before seen in the country’s history.

However, her campaign was not enough to capture the hearts and minds of roughly 60 percent of voters. Thus, the outcome highlights the issue of information. We may have the scientific proofs and knowledge to devise policies and reforms, but are these really the solutions that people want? Political structures seem to have prevented us from knowing the needs of the majority. More importantly, See “Eagle Watch,” A15

Opinion BusinessMirror

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Dissecting our own Age of Reason Tito Genova Valiente

annotations

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am by no means Eurocentric when I begin this discourse with the aim of looking into how Reason has seeped into our consciousness. Aware of how different the conditions that gave rise to political articulations in the other nations are, it must be said that something occurred in our territories during the days preceding the 9th of May, and with the days that followed. The last election season was characterized by vitriols, gross exchanges, illogical positionalities, and this is not mentioning, finally, the realization that there are indeed Trolls in our midst, not the enchanting kind, but disenchanted being tasked to sow disinformation and fake news. And these trolls live in “farms.” They thrive in a system that supports their well-being, assuming that spreading hate does not ruin one’s being as a human.

However, for all the dark days that witnessed the relentless attack on certain persons and the dumbing down of the media, as we know it, there was observed a new kind of politics, albeit marginalized but giving us hope, the small cowering type, but still hope, for a better tomorrow.

There was the youth at the forefront of the campaign. Young men and women were leading communities in giving voices to their choices. It may be that the same demographics may be behind the dismal results of the electoral exercise, but it cannot be denied that there are also the young sectors determined to follow their new brand of politics. This is one that generates debate and articulation of testable data and verifiable facts.

If political scientists—and philosophers—find joy in their claim that we have not yet achieved nationhood, the bravado and daring

Angara. . .

continued from A14

million quality jobs would be without takers if deep reforms aren’t made in the way we skill, upskill, and reskill our people.

Which brings us to an even bigger plague on our country—poor quality education. International assessments of our education system have been deeply disconcerting. And the pandemic only exacerbated these attendant issues. The abrupt shift to blended modes of learning did not really work well, considering many families didn’t have access to steady Internet connections nor to the gadgets necessary for online learning. Hence, in the coming years, we will need to help our students catch up with their learning.

All sectors of society also need to help with rebuilding our economy.

We need to enhance the productive capabilities of our industries and promote the Philippines to the rest of the world as an investment destination. This should be no less than a national effort. We’ve been trying

Eagle Watch. . . continued from A14

politicians have made it a strategy to not reveal their platforms, turning elections into a personal cause.

Leonid Hurwicz, an Economics Nobel Prize winner, highlighted the difficulties faced by social planners in designing policies when the quality of such policies depends on the spread of information among several individuals. He suggests that any solution should consider the incentives of self-interested agents, including the state. Rules must be established so that the state, on whose information the decision relies, will find it in its interest to talk about its options and reveal its true preferences.

Because social incentives are not necessarily aligned with individual incentives, the policy itself does not matter, but the process in which this is formulated. In effect, all agents, including the state, are forced to debate these policies and desired programs.

of young voters confirm that they are working for a nation, a Philippines not even inchoate in their minds. Granted that this nation is imagined, it is still a nation. When, in fact, Benedict Anderson employed the concept of nation as being imagined, I do not see it as imbuing such a collective with the generous illusion of a phantasm; rather, in Anderson’s words, “it is imagined because the members of even the smallest nation will never know most of their fellowmembers, or even hear of them, yet in the minds of each lives the image of their communion.”

Indeed, in the countless online engagements, the exchanges between opposing parties of youths carried in them this sense they knew each other’s fears and dreams.

Benedict Anderson would also say: “...it is imagined as a community, because, regardless of the actual into do just that with our Tatak Pinoy (Proudly Filipino) initiative. Hopefully, with the coming of a new administration, more thought can be placed on what must be done to help homegrown, Filipino enterprises succeed not just in the country, but in the global arena.

We are also challenged to lay the foundations today for our next phase of economic development in a postpandemic world. Recently, Secretary Karl Chua outlined in many fora and media briefings four priority areas that would set the stage for the incoming administration. This includes Smart Infrastructure, Innovation, Regional Equity, and Climate Change.

In the face of these challenges, we shouldn’t let our politics prevent us from getting together to push the country forward.

Senator Sonny Angara has been in public service for 15 years—9 years as Representative of the Lone District of Aurora, and 6 as Senator. He has authored and sponsored more than 250 laws. He is currently serving his second term in the Senate.

E-mail: sensonnyangara@yahoo.com| Facebook, Twitter & Instagram: @sonnyangara

The 2022 elections, in fact, marked the end of the EDSA People Power movement. However, in Robredo’s rallies, a more effective movement emerges where people come out to participate, listen, discuss, and make a difference. Here, facts do matter enormously and should be framed within appropriate social values so that these are taken seriously. Simultaneously, one must understand the opposing worldviews of other people.

The movement needs to challenge these worldviews if proven wrong and work out possible compromises and solutions if possible. From such a discourse, the government is compelled to design the necessary mechanism to improve social welfare.

To have any hope of healing the divisions in our society, social discourse should be required in policymaking for everyone to be aware of the information problem and begin the unification process.

Dr. Leonardo A. Lanzona, Jr. is Professor of Economics at the Ateneo de Manila University.

equality and exploitation that may prevail in each, the nation is always conceived as a deep, horizontal comradeship.” Thus, the very searing and deep hurt as each party hurls insult for a fact, destroying a fact with a curse, as if they are all conversant with the conditions on the other side, having known each other for so long a time they know what would wound them, what could kill them. Then deal with histories they did, fulfilling again Anderson’s concept of what this imagined nation generates—“a fraternity that makes it possible, over the past two centuries, for so many millions of people, not so much to kill, as willingly to die for such limited imagining.”

The young people did not have to work against a centennial of collective consciousness; they had to relive, in the absence of active historicizing, for themselves the decades of activism in the late ’60s and ’70s, the regilding of the martial law years, the false memories of a generation, and the betrayal of educational institutions removing any chapter on dictatorship. We are forgetting also the fact that for more than two years, our world has been isolated from other worlds, our spaces as learners and mentors have been diminished by a virus more potent than politics.

What are we dying for?

In the last few months, it was common for the enlightened older generations to acquiesce to the younger population in the fight for the next leaders. It is they who will live under the coming dispensation. Let them fight for it.

In homes and in living rooms

thrived debates where the sons and daughters face off with their parents as regards their differing choices. You see a glimpse of these bitter disputes online and through statements revealed by the young voters. Sometimes, as in glorious tales, we hear about parents finally relenting and going for the candidate preferred by their child. Then, on the day of the elections, we saw first-time voters

“Respect my Opinion,” otherwise, a traditional statement was reincarnated online—and I suppose, offline, face-to-face with other individuals and interlocutors—with animals serving as mascots for what became what many dubbed as “the dumbest retort” in any discussion.

Plainly speaking, one must first have an opinion before that person can demand or implore another per-

in tears, firmly believing their votes had been stolen.

I go back years to my being a young voter myself. Did I cry when my candidates lost?

Sound bites were made decades ago. And they made or unmade candidates. But now, memes have taken their place. These were words, special characters that could easily go viral.

Add visuals, and you have a pandemic of poisoned and/or sophisticated presences online.

son to respect that opinion. In the order of the day, though, the requirement for respect happened in the absence of an opinion. Technically, it should have been: respect me for not having an opinion, which is arrogant but sensical, or respect my opinion, which you do not know anything about or that I did not express to you, which is bad Zen, pardon my Buddhism.

Be that as it may, do I have the right to summon the words of Thomas Paine, the Patron of human

The story of Robinhood Manny F. Dooc

TELLTALES

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is real name is Robinhood Ferdinand Cariño Padilla, but he is better known as Robin Padilla, the so-called “Bad Boy” of Philippine movies. Like his old namesake from Sherwood Forest, Robin is a swashbuckling hero to his legion of movie fans who have watched him portray anti-hero roles such as Anak ni Baby Ama, Bad Boy, Manila Boy and many other unforgettable action characters.

Robin is not only a certified action man but a ladies’ man as well.

His handsome looks and dashing character have made girls swoon. He had been linked to famous women, which include Kris Aquino, Sharon Cuneta, Vina Morales and many others, any of them could have been his wife. Finally, he had been married to Liezl Sicangco while he was serving his prison sentence in Bilibid in 1996 for illegal possession of firearms. They divorced in 2007. Now, he found his Maid Marian in Mariel Rodriguez whom he married in Taj Mahal in India in 2010.

Robin is an excellent communicator, and he can connect to the masses effectively. He talks with common sense and is conversant with the issues of the day. Robin does not resort to motherhood statements, which are pleasant to hear but hollow in content. He does not deliver his messages in English but in flawless Pilipino like the true Bulakeño that the men and women on the street can easily pick up and understand.

He has amply demonstrated this in several interviews he gave during the campaign, which impressed listeners from all levels of society. In one interview, he confessed that he lacked the logistics to run a nationwide campaign. He admitted that he did not have the money and the machinery to support his senatorial bid. He had no campaign posters and TV and radio advertisements to promote his candidacy. A week before the election day, a TV ad appeared jointly promoting his candidacy and that of a fellow senatorial candidate who apparently paid for the ad. He

Friday, May 20, 2022 A15

was an official candidate of the PDPLaban Party (Cusi Wing), which was neither here nor there. And while Mayor Sara supported him and claimed that Robin was the 12th senatorial candidate of the UniTeam, its standard-bearer, BBM, disowned him. That’s unfortunate because Robin’s second name, Ferdinand, was taken from Ferdinand Marcos, Sr.’s who was obviously idolized by Robin’s father. Robin was born on November 23, 1969 in Daet, the capital town of Camarines Norte where his father was the mayor of the adjoining town of Jose Panganiban, a couple of weeks after Marcos, Sr. was reelected as president by a landslide vote over Sergio Osmeña, Jr. Robin ran on a campaign of anti-poverty and anticriminality. He supports President Duterte’s war on crimes, terrorism and illegal drugs. He promised to adopt community policing and establish community courts. He strongly advocates a shift to federalism to decentralize governmental powers to the regions and provinces. He believes that federalism will enhance the growth and development of the countryside. He has taken a liberal policy on divorce and same sex marriage, but favors the reinstitution of the death penalty. He subscribes to the Visiting Forces Agreement between the Philippines and the US and the passage of an anti-dynasty law.

In the celluloid screen, Robin has always championed the poor and the oppressed. He vows to improve their plight through cooperatives, social and livelihood programs, set-

On May 9, 2022, Robin received the greatest gift that the Filipino people can give by voting him the No. 1 senator of our Republic. Now Robin will have his hands full fighting the Sheriffs of Nottingham—the tyrant rulers who mistreat the people. ting up micro, small and medium enterprises across the country. Now that he is an honorable senator, our present day Robinhood does not have to steal from the rich in order to help the poor.

Unknown to many, Robin has a political pedigree. His father, Casimero “Roy” Bustamante Padilla, Sr., was an undefeated mayor of Jose Panganiban, Camarines Norte.

He later served as assemblyman, vice governor and governor of the province. He never lost an election until he was felled by an assassin’s bullet on the eve of the election in 1988. Roy, Sr. also served as an SSS commissioner representing labor as he was the acknowledged union leader of the National Mines and Allied Workers Union, the biggest labor union of mineworkers in the country, for decades. He led the mine workers in practically all places where major mining industries existed during his time, such as in Benguet, Jose Panganiban and Paracale, Camarines Norte where the biggest iron and gold mines were found. Due to his great contribution to labor in the province, Roy, Sr. was made an adopted son of Camarines Norte. The natives voted him into office every time he ran for an election. After his untimely death at the age of 61, his son Roy, Jr. replaced him as the candidate and was overwhelmingly elected to succeed his father as governor of the province. Roy, Jr. also served in other capacities as congressman of Camarines Norte and mayor in Jose Panganiban. Robin’s half brother, Ricarte “Dong’’ Padilla, is the presumptive governor of Camarines Norte after ousting the incumbent governor, Edgardo Tallado, in the recently concluded elections. Robin’s grandfather, Jose Galvez Padilla, Sr., was a former governor and represen-

rights, when he, in his dedication to The Age of Reason, said: “You will do me justice to remember, that I have always strenuously supported the Right of every Man to his own opinion, however different that opinion might be to mine. He who denies to another this right, makes a slave of himself to his present opinion, because he precludes himself the right of changing it.”

Addressed to his “Fellow Citizens of the United States of America,” it is reassuring that on that continent, as expressed in the expanding universe of trolling, these quotes have not been exactly favored.

Which does not mean we shall not heed it.

We look to the day—an era, perhaps—when we will not deny another person of his opinion and we will not close ourselves to changing our opinion as well. This will be a tough act given how the troll industry in our country has barely begun, and has proven to be a new cottage industry for our youth. Not everything is hopeless: Paine, again, nearly four centuries back, made this statement: “The most formidable weapon against errors of every kind is Reason.”

When that day comes, preferably a period, this country, its nationhood imagined perhaps still, shall benefit from the youth who will demand a hearing of Reason, not a respect for Opinion. In whatever form, that will be our own Age of Reason, born not out of revolutions, but from opinions laid out—inspected, questioned, respected but for a moment.

E-mail: titovaliente@yahoo.com

tative of Bulacan. He was a member of Partido Democrata. He was a lawyer and a movie actor whose screen name was Mario de Cordova. The Padillas that originated from Spain have a venerable political lineage with outstanding records of public service. The Padilla clan is a big and extensive family, which are all over Central Luzon, Metro Manila, Bicol and abroad. There are many branches of the family. His grandfather alone had seven wives and reportedly sired almost two-dozen children. His own father, Roy, Sr., was as prolific with several children as well. His uncles, Jose (Pempee) Padilla, Carlos Padilla, Sr. and Amado Cortez were also known as lady-killers. In the movie world alone, the Padillas can fill the entire production cast, including the extras, with others still not getting hired. From the grandfather down to the present generation of the Padillas, led by current heartthrob Daniel Padilla, the Padillas are the biggest showbiz family. I doubt if you can name them all: Mario de Cordova, Carlos Padilla Sr., Jose “Pempe” Padilla, Roy Padilla, Ateng Padilla Osorio, Cristina Aragon, Pilar Padilla, Amado Cortez, Gregorio Fernandez, Carlos “Sonny” Padilla, Jr., Rudy Fernandez, Zsa Zsa Padilla Mark Anthony Fernandez, Robin Padilla, Royette Padilla, Rommel Padilla, Rustom Padilla, Daniel Padilla, ad infinitum. His mother, Eva Cariño of Nueva Ecija, was a former movie actress herself. I won’t blame you if you lose count, but don’t wonder if Robin emerged as No. 1 in the senatorial race just with the support of the burgeoning clan alone.

Robin was given a conditional pardon by President Fidel V. Ramos who released him from imprisonment in 1995. President Rodrigo R. Duterte, whom he strongly supported for president in 2016, granted him an absolute pardon that restored his full civil and political rights. On May 9, 2022, Robin received the greatest gift that the Filipino people can give by voting him the No. 1 senator of our Republic. Now Robin will have his hands full fighting the Sheriffs of Nottingham—the tyrant rulers who mistreat the people.

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Seniors, PWD get discounts when buying online in JMC

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By Bernadette D. Nicolas

@BNicolasBM

ENIOR citizens and persons with disabilities (PWDs) may soon avail themselves of their special discounts even with their online purchases as the government finally released the guidelines requiring individuals and businesses to recognize this privilege.

Under the law, senior citizens and PWDs are entitled to a 20-percent discount and a 12 percent value-added tax (VAT) exemption on their purchase of several goods and services and a 5-percent special discount on their purchase of basic necessities and prime commodities.

Based on Joint Memorandum Circular No. 01 signed by seven government agencies, the newly released guidelines apply to the sale of goods and services using the Internet as well as those conducting

transactions through telephone, mobile phone/mobile application.

“The rapid development of digital technology has provided new opportunities for sellers and consumers to access products and services through the Internet. During the Covid-19 pandemic, people especially vulnerable sectors of society, including Senior Citizens and the Persons with Disability became dependent on the internet, phone, mobile phone, and mobile devices on the purchase of their basic needs given the mobility restric-

tions imposed,” read the circular which was issued on May 6, but a copy of which was only released on the Bureau of Internal Revenue website on Wednesday, May 18.

Apart from the BIR, other government agencies that signed the circular are the Department of Trade and Industry, Department of Social Welfare and Development, National Commission of Senior Citizens, National Council on Disability Affairs, Department of Health, and Department of the Interior and Local Government.

Senior citizens and PWDs may avail themselves of the 20-percent discount and 12-percent VAT exemption in their purchase of goods and services, which include utilization of services in hotels, lodging establishments, restaurants, and recreation centers, admission fees charged by theaters, cinema houses, concert halls, circuses, leisure and amusement, fare for land transportation travel in public utilities, medical and dental services, funeral and burial services, among others.

Meanwhile, the 5-percent special discount shall apply to basic necessities which refer to goods vital to the needs of consumers for their sustenance and existence.

It is also applicable to the sale

of prime commodities which refer to goods considered as basic necessities but are essential to consumers, which include flour, dried, processed and canned pork, beef and poultry meat, dairy products, onions, and garlic, etc.

To avail of the discounts, one should present his Senior Citizen ID or PWD ID. If the buyer is both a Senior Citizen and a PWD, the purchaser shall only be allowed to apply for either of the two discounts.

A 90-day transition period from the effectivity of the circular shall be granted to persons and businesses covered.

According to the circular, it shall become effective 30 days from publication thereof and submission of a copy to the Office of the National Administrative Register of the University of the Philippines.

Businesses covered by the circular may reconfigure their business and delivery systems to allow the availment of discounts, such as sending a copy of the necessary IDs or through the use of discount vouchers or codes.

In case the said online system is unavailable, businesses should provide an alternative manual process to properly recognize the privileges.

PANDEMIC IMPACT ON INCOME BLAMED FOR SELF-POVERTY RISE

By Samuel P. Medenilla medenilla

@sam_

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A L AC A ÑA NG on Thursday blamed the continuous impact of Covid-19 on the country’s economy for the rise in the numbers of families rating themselves poor, or the self-poverty incidence.

In a statement, Acting Presidential Spokesperson Martin M. Andanar said the pandemic has effectively undermined the government’s gains in terms of reducing poverty incidence in the country.

He reiterated the government had already cut down poverty incidence in 2018 to 16.7 percent from 23.5 percent in 2015.

“However, the Covid-19 pandemic has taken a heavy toll on income and job opportunities as reflected in the latest Social Weather Stations (SWS) survey, conducted April 2022, showing 43 percent of Filipino families feel poor—the same rating reflected in their December 2021 survey,” Andanar said.

This even after the government started placing the National Capital Region and other parts of the country under Alert Level 1—the lowest government

risk classification in terms of Covid-19 restriction—in March.

W hile signs of recover y have been seen in the past two months, including the reopening of more businesses and rising employment, the figures are still far from prepandemic levels.

“We recognize that much more needs to be done to lift Filipino families from their poor condition,” Andanar said.

Aside from increasing the number of areas under Alert Level 1, where businesses and public transportation are allowed to operate at full capacity, Andanar said the reopening of tourism to foreign travelers and schools for face-to-face classes is also expected to reduce incident poverty by generating more business activities.

He said they also anticipate the adoption of the government’s Ten-Point Policy Agenda for Economic Recovery last April 2022 will also help boost the country’s economic recovery further.

“All government agencies are directed to ensure all-related policies, programs and measures of the government are aligned with the Ten-Point Policy Agenda,” Andanar said.

Red Cross MICE, staycations lifting hotels as quarantine biz folds preps for

By Ma. Stella F. Arnaldo

@akosistellaBM Special to the BusinessMirror

H

OTELS in Metro Manila are slowly starting to recover from the loss of the quarantine business, as staycations and meetings have started to multiply. This, as an industry group confirmed that their member-hotels had finally received P1.7 billion from the government in payment for the quarantine stays of overseas Filipino workers (OFWs).

While the room rates have yet to rise to those charged in prepandemic 2019, occupancy levels in the National Capital Region (NCR) were about 50 percent in April, according to Hotel Sales and Marketing Association chair Margie Munsayac.

“Quarantine is now in the past. I think [we’re] actually in a better situation now, because people just want to get out, we want to travel…MICE (Meetings, Incentives, Conventions, Exhibitions) is what is filling up the hole [in the quarantine business] right now, and I think it is filling up NCR hotels.”

The same was echoed by the Philippine Hotel Owners Association (PHOA) which is reporting better occupancy levels in the last two months for its members.

PHOA Executive Director Benito Bengzon Jr. said, “Domestic leisure travel remains very strong, while the slow but steady recovery of MICE has also helped increase occupancy.”

Gov’t settles OFW obligations HE added that the quarantine business now accounts for less than 10 percent of business of hotels that still continue to offer quarantine facilities. “The return to prepandemic levels will depend on movement coming from the big three East Asian markets: Korea, China, and Japan.”

PHOA said its member-hotels had already received P1.7 billion from the government in payment for the quarantine stays of overseas Filipino workers (OFWs). In a news statement, PHOA President Arthur M. Lopez said, “We wish to convey our heartfelt thanks to Finance Secretary

Carlos G. Dominguez III, Labor Secretary Silvestre H. Bello III and Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA) Administrator Hans Leo J. Cacdac for facilitating the release” of funds to settle the latter’s accounts receivables of quarantine hotels.

W he n C o v i d -19 s t a r t e d ravaging the county in early 2020, PHOA hotels in Metro Manila and neighboring provinces, Cebu, Davao and Clark offered their facilities and services to thousands of OFWs to provide safe and comfortable accommodations.

Greater opportunity in 2023 “THE release of funds provides a welcome relief to us in the hotel industry,” said Lopez.

“This has allowed the hotels to pay for basic expenses and to continue operating. Rest assured that PHOA memberhotels will continue to partner with the Department of Labor and Employment and OWWA in ensuring that the needs of our OFWs and other guests are satisfactorily met.”

Meanwhile, HSMA said resorts are seeing occupancy levels at about 70 percent. “We are getting the resorts filled up, especially on weekends, and especially on special holidays.

And for the summer months, I believe for some of the city hotels, because staycations are also on the rise,” said Munsayac, who is also vice president for sales and marketing of Bluewater Resorts.

She described 2022 as the “light at the end of the tunnel,” with revenge travel and the MICE market improving, but 2023 “will be our greatest opportunity to provide receive both the international and domestic market.

I believe the summer months of July and August, we’ll see more international arrivals coming in because there are already charter flights being planned to fly to destinations such as Boracay, Bohol and Cebu from our North Asian market.”

She noted resorts are seeing a high rate of Caucasians and Northeast Asians, which will further rise toward the mid-year.

rainy day disasters

By Claudeth Mocon-Ciriaco Correspondent

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HE Philippine Red Cross (PRC) on Thursday said that preparations for rainy season are in place after the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical, and Astronomical Services Administration (Pagasa) declared on May 18 the start of the rainy season over the western sections of Luzon and Visayas.

PRC Chairman and CEO Sen. Richard Gordon also reminded the public to take the usual precautions during this period.

The PRC noted that Pagasa also stated that the current La Niña may increase the possibility of above-normal rainfall conditions in the coming months affecting some parts of the country.

With this report from the state weather bureau, the PRC advised the public to follow the organization’s 4Ps: Predict, Plan, Prepare, and Practice.

“Laging handa ang Red Cross sa anumang sakuna ngayong tag-ulan [The Philippine Red Cross is always ready for any disaster during the rainy season],” Gordon said as he urged the public to observe proper hygiene and sanitation to prevent diseases that may come with the rainy days.

Upholding its mantra “Volunteers + Logistics + Information Technology = a Red Cross that is Always First, Always Ready, Always There,” the PRC, under the leadership of Gordon, has maintained its modern operations with assets delivering quick services to emergency situations arising due to hazards caused by heavy rainfall.

In anticipation of rescue and relief operations, these assets will be mobilized: ■ Prepositioned items (food and non-food) ■ 32 Food trucks ■ 179 Ambulance units ■ 5 Rescue trucks ■ 34 Rescue boats ■ 2 Amphibians ■ 7 Payloaders ■ 5 Six-by-six trucks ■ 15 Fire trucks ■ 6 Fire tanker trucks ■ 2 Military jeeps In addition, the PRC operates 17 Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene (WASH) hubs equipped with trained volunteers and staff, water treatment units, and hygiene promotion materials.

Some hubs also maintain water tankers for WASH-related emergencies. Those needing emergency assistance may call the PRC’s Operations Center at 143 or 790-23-00.

Companies BusinessMirror

Editor: Jennifer A. Ng

Friday, May 20, 2022

Lockdown due to Omicron surge cuts Max’s Q1 profit

M

By VG Cabuag

@villygc

ax’s Group Inc., the country’s largest casual dining restaurant operator, said its income for the first quarter fell 87 percent to P41.5 million from the previous year’s P335.59 million, despite higher margins and revenues.

The operator of Max’s Restaurant and Pancake House said revenues, which comprise of restaurant sales, commissary sales, franchising and other revenue, rose 18 percent to P2.16 billion from last year’s P1.84 billion.

First quarter gross profit margin was at 31 percent, an improvement from last year’s 26 percent, while operating income margin was at 6 percent, higher versus the 2021 core margin of 2 percent despite relatively tempered sales

and revenues for the quarter.

“Our results for first quarter, even more markedly so in March, are an indication of strong demand for our brands and patronage of our core of core, which are available both in traditional brick-and-mortar spaces, and expanded to businessto-business and off-premise platforms,” Max’s CEO Robert Ramon F. Trota said.

The company said its systemwide sales, comprised of sales generated by both company-owned and fran-

chised stores, reached P3.55 billion, more than double from the previous year.

Sales and revenues are steadily recovering which are at 77 percent and 65 percent versus 2019, respectively, despite having fewer stores and strict lockdown measures in January, the company said.

The international business reported a 32-percent systemwide sales growth for the period. “(The) said business segment has been recovering faster versus the local market, favorably affected by faster vaccination rollout causing less stringent lockdown measures,” it said.

Local sales were still tempered as a result of the strict lockdown in January due to the Omicron surge.

March sales grew 14 percent month-on-month as restrictions on dine-in were loosened further. The group’s core brands Max’s Restaurant, Pancake House, Yellow Cab Pizza Co. and Krispy Kreme all realized upsides with the relaxed restrictions, and are expected to further realize gains as dine-in continues to surge

amidst heightened mobility.

Same store sales growth for the period reached 23 percent and is expected to further recover the rest of the year, it said.

Given the ongoing relaxation of government restrictions, dine-in which contributes healthier margins vis-à-vis other consumption channels, contributed to the group’s recovery, while reaping the benefits of its strengthened off-premise channels that continue to protect and provide upsides in its topline.

“As planned, our dine-in brands Max’s and Pancake House, which have been managed for profitability during the pandemic, realized significant growth towards the back-end of the quarter. We are expecting that as the market continues to open up, the recovery of these brands will be even more vibrant, giving our margins a boost,” Trota said.

As of March, the company’s store network totaled 14 territories, with 603 Philippine sites and 62 stores situated across various locations in North America, the Middle East and Asia.

Raslag prices IPO at ₧2 per share

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aslag Corp., a renewable energy developer, announced on Thursday that it has priced its offer at P2 per share, which is at the top end of its range.

The company is offering up to 350 million primary shares and up to 52.5 million over-allotment option shares to be offered by selling shareholder J Ten Equities Inc. At P2 per share, the company will raise as much as P805 million.

Its shares will be traded at the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE) with the stock symbol ASLAG. The company will have its offer period next week and its shares will

be listed on the PSE on June 6.

Proceeds from the offer will be used to finance the company’s solar projects, namely RASLAG-4, a 35.1-megawatt solar photovoltaic plant in Magalang, Pampanga, and RASLAG-5, with an approximate capacity of 60 MW. Raslag is a domestic renewable energy developer founded

by Peter G. Nepomuceno of the Nepomuceno family in Angeles City, Pampanga, and Conrado D. Pecjo, the business development manager of Angeles Power Inc. It currently focuses on the development of solar power projects, with

Globe offers solutions to fight cyber attacks

CEB resumes Cebu-Seoul flights

By Lorenz S. Marasigan @lorenzmarasigan

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lobe Telecom Inc. on Thursday said its business solutions enable the “new work style postpandemic lockdown,” highlighting its cybersecurity solutions that help safeguard companies, allowing them to be “more productive.”

“Globe Business recognizes the need to prioritize cybersecurity, especially with the shift towards remote and hybrid workspaces. We continue to empower companies with secure connectivity, digital solutions, and managed services to ensure that their cybersecurity infrastructure can withstand the demands of a hybrid work environment in the long term,” Globe Business VP Cocoy Claravall said.

Citing a report from Check Point Software Technologies, Claravall said organizations around the world saw a “surge in cyber attacks amid digitalization propelled by the pandemic.”

Cybersecurity solution, he said, enables businesses to take preemptive and proactive measures against cyber threats, noting that this is particularly important especially for companies that are transitioning into a hybrid set up.

two operating in Pampanga.

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

“We reiterate our view that the global pressures to take a hard shift to renewables to ease the effects of climate change are shifting the limelight to alternative sources of energy,” broker Regina Capital and Development Corp. said in its research note.

“This bodes well for ASLAG from all angles because on the one hand, clean energy projects have been generally well- received both from a market and a regulatory standpoint.

On the other, the near-term lack of supply will allow for more leverage in terms of pricing.”

The broker said one of the headwinds to look out for is grid parity for solar energy.

“Industry players expect the cost of solar to reach grid parity within the short- to medium-term—therefore, no further rounds of solar FIT [feed-in tariff] programs are expected to be implemented for the foreseeable future. ASLAG nonetheless will likely benefit from cost efficiencies on economies of scale should grid parity indeed be achieved.” VG Cabuag

C

ebu Pacific (CEB) continues to expand its regional footprint as it announces the resumption of its international flights from Cebu, beginning with Cebu to South Korea.

On July 3, CEB intends to operate twice weekly flights from Cebu to Seoul (Incheon), every Thursday and Sunday. Flight 5J 128 is estimated to depart the Mactan Cebu International Airport at 12:25 p.m., and is set to arrive at Seoul International Airport at 6:10 p.m. Its return flight, 5J 129, is scheduled to leave Seoul at 6:55 p.m., and will arrive in Cebu at 10:50 p.m.

This is the first international destination that the airline is restarting from its Cebu hub, following the reopening of South Korea for tourists.

“We are very happy to restart this flight as we know passengers in the Visayas and Mindanao have been looking forward to travel internationally again, without needing to pass by Manila. We hope to expand our international network more in the coming months as we’ve already stabilized operating over 100 percent of our pre-pandemic domestic capacity,” said Xander Lao, CEB Chief Commercial Officer.

Fully vaccinated travelers flying to Seoul need to bring their negative COVID-19 test result taken within 48 hours before departure, valid

Photo from www.cebupacificair.com

vaccination certificate, and a filledout foreigner registration card.

For more information, passengers may refer to CEB Travel reminders page for the latest updates and complete travel guidelines to their destination.

CEB continues to offer its guaranteed low fares to stimulate travel

across its widest domestic network in the Philippines. It continues to implement a multi-layered approach to safety, while it operates with a 100 percent fully vaccinated crew, 91 percent of whom have been boosted—all to ensure its every Juan flies safely and conveniently on Cebu Pacific.

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First Gen moves to secure LNG supply

This BusinessMirror file photo shows First Gen's San Gabriel and Avion, natural gas plants in Batangas.

By Lenie Lectura @llectura

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irst Gen Corp. (FGen) said its search for liquefied natural gas (LNG) suppliers has elicited “positive feedback.”

FGen Executive Vice President and Chief Commercial Officer John Russel said interested suppliers should be able to deliver supply starting 2023 up to 2027 and facilitate spot LNG purchases to supplement LNG supply when needed.

“First Gen is actually currently running a supply tender to find the best supplier for the initial term supply for delivery in the period 2023 to 2027. In parallel, we’re in discussions with several LNG suppliers to seek what they call master sale purchase agreement, which allows the spot purchase of LNG in addition to the term supply,” he said.

First Gen’s LNG terminal is expected to be commercially available by the fourth quarter of this year.

“Securing the LNG supply alongside the completion of the LNG terminal will be critical to ensuring grid security and to support the development of renewables in the country. Let me say, the response of the market so far, although we yet haven’t selected suppliers, is very, very positive,” said Russel.

The LNG terminal, he said, is crucial to maintaining the supply of natural gas in the country as indigenous sources run out. The Malampaya gas field could be depleted by 2027. The gas facility, in fact, is already experiencing gas restricted output since last year.

Rusell said the company will

continue to utilize liquid fuel for its gas plants as Malampaya gas restriction persists.

“Depending on Malampaya’s performance this year, we anticipate having a requirement of at least four million barrels of condensate. And for reference, so far this year, we’ve already imported one million barrels of condensate,” Russell said, adding that the company is closely working with the Manila Electric Co. to guarantee a smooth operational transition from fuel source to just Malampaya and liquid fuel to also include LNG. The LNG terminal will allow First Gen to import natural gas from around the world, thus providing consumers with clean, reliable electricity that will displace power produced by coal, even after indigenous supply in Malampaya is exhausted.

First Gen has earmarked a capital expenditure (capex) of around $550 million this year. Of which, $266 million will be allocated for Energy Development Corp.’s (EDC) growth projects, specifically 3.6MW Mindanao 3, 29MW Palayan Bayan, 20MW Tanawon Plant, and Energy Storage, Low Enthalpy Geo, Silica Extraction, Wind Energy projects.

About $135 million of this year’s capex is needed to finish its LNG terminal.

First Gen has also set aside about $70 million for its Aya PumpedStorage project; about $50 million is for the pre-development work on Santa Maria gas plant; $26 million for maintenance of its other gas plants.

B2

Friday, May 20, 2022

Companies BusinessMirror

Razon to buy Puerto Azul land for integrated resort

By VG Cabuag

B

@villygc

illionaire Enrique K. Razon Jr. is buying a chunk of land in Puerto Azul in Ternate, Cavite from the Panlilio-led Boulevard Holdings Inc., where he will build another integrated resort and casino.

In separate disclosures, Razon’s Bloomberry Resorts Corp. and Panlilio’s Boulevard Holdings Inc. said they signed an agreement for the sale of a total of 2.79 million square meters (279.77 hectares) of land in the Paniman area in Ternate, Cavite at an average price of P2,700 per square meter.

The deal was signed between Bloomberry’s newly incorporated subsidiary Solaire Entertainment Property Holdings Inc. (SEPHI) and a group of landowners comprising of Boulevard Holdings, Puerto Azul Land Inc., Ternate Development Corp. and Monte Sol Development Corp.

Razon’s camp said it will buy only titled and cleared land.

“SEPHI intends to develop the Paniman property into an integrated resort and entertainment complex with a world class casino, hotel, golf course, commercial, residential and mixed use development. This Paniman Project is expected to commence after the Solaire North in Vertis, Quezon City has started its commercial operations,” Bloomberry said in its disclosure.

Razon earlier said Solaire North’s construction was limited but it is on track to open next year.

Solaire North will be an upscale mass gaming, and together with its renovated Solaire Club in Entertainment City in Parañaque, will expand Bloomberry’s gaming footprint “to take advantage of what we anticipate to be a burgeoning post pandemic domestic mass and regional premium mass demand,” Razon said.

Razon earlier said the company will complete the 40-storey integrated gaming and resort facility by the end of 2022 or early 2023.

“Construction has partially restarted and the period of lockdown can be reasonably added to the completion date. We strongly believe that the timing of Solaire North could well coincide with a full economic recovery,” he said.

For the first quarter, Bloomberry said it had a consolidated net income of P679.4 million, a reversal of the P780.8-million net loss last year and P1.3-billion net loss in the fourth quarter.

Consolidated net revenue grew 30 percent to P7.26 billion from last year’s P5.52 billion.

Total gross gaming revenues (GGR) at Solaire reached P8.9 billion, representing an increase of 30 percent from P6.9 billion last year.

The company said the GGR growth was supported by much improved domestic patron confidence driven by the high nationwide vaccination rate and easing of Covid-19 restrictions throughout the quarter. Solaire’s GGR improved by 12 percent compared to the fourth quarter last year.

www.businessmirror.com.ph

STI income nearly triples in fiscal Q3 S

TI Education Systems Holdings Inc., the Tanco-led company that owns the country’s largest chain of schools, said its income for its fiscal third quarter ending March 31 almost tripled to P241.2 million from last year’s P82.55 million.

Gross revenues grew 34 percent to P793.81 million from last year’s P589.85 million.

The fiscal third quarter figures brought the company’s income in the fiscal nine months to P297.18 million, a reversal of last year’s loss of P31.35 million.

Gross revenues, meanwhile, reached P1.91 billion, up by 26 percent from P1.51 billion last year.

STI said its improved performance comes on the back of an 18-percent increase in its overall enrollment to 82,629 students for school year 2021-2022 from 70,223 in SY 2020-2021. In the enrollment mix, those enrolled in programs regulated by the Commission on Higher Education (CHED) increased to 68 percent in SY 20212022 from 57 percent the previous school year.

STI Holdings has started to im-

plement limited face-to-face classes for schools in areas under Alert Level 1 for identified high-stake tertiary courses and selected subjects beginning February, March, and May for STI Education Services Group, Bacolod City-based STI West Negros University and Makati Citybased iAcademy, respectively.

“High-stake tertiary courses refer to subjects or courses with laboratory components where the skills expected to be gained by the students are better acquired in a face-to-face class setup since actual demonstration and practice of competencies are significant in the learning process,” it said.

Meanwhile, limited face-to-face classes for senior high school students began in April and May for STI ESG and STI WNU, respectively.

“The group is continuously ensuring adherence to the guidelines set by the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases, CHED, the Department of Education, local government units, and all pertinent agencies that have released information on the conduct of the limited face-to-face classes.” VG Cabuag

mutual funds

May 19, 2022

NAV

One Year Three Year Five Year

per share Return*

Y-T-D Return

Stock Funds ALFM Growth Fund, Inc. -a

216.22

7.12%

-4.91%

-4.36%

-7.24%

ATRAM Alpha Opportunity Fund, Inc. -a

1.436

15.24%

-2.83%

-1.24%

-13.71%

7.61%

-8.86%

-6.95%

-8.43%

ATRAM Philippine Equity Opportunity Fund, Inc. -a 2.965

Climbs Share Capital Equity Investment Fund Corp. -a 0.728 3.03%

-6.62% n.a.

-3.77%

First Metro Consumer Fund on MSCI Phils. IMI, Inc. -a 0.6782 0.83%

-6.52% n.a.

-12.02%

First Metro Save and Learn Equity Fund,Inc. -a 4.8648

9.11%

-2.28%

-1.86%

-6.13%

0.7244

14.2%

-4.45%

-5.17%

-13.09% n.a.

-15.61%

First Metro Save and Learn Philippine Index Fund, Inc. -a MBG Equity Investment Fund, Inc. -a

79.69

-14.47%

PAMI Equity Index Fund, Inc. -a

44.3885

7.75%

-3.51%

-2.89%

-7.77%

Philam Strategic Growth Fund, Inc. -a

463.67

6.8%

-3.59%

-3.01%

-7.39%

Philequity Dividend Yield Fund, Inc. -a

1.3176

22.66%

1.43%

0.52%

-2.85%

Philequity Fund, Inc. -a

33.9382

9.19%

-2.84%

-1.79%

-7.26%

Philequity MSCI Philippine Index Fund, Inc. -a

0.8753

9.15%

-3.87% n.a.

-7.02%

Philequity PSE Index Fund Inc. -a

4.5944

8.81%

-2.81%

-7.39%

Philippine Stock Index Fund Corp. -a

765.02

8.35%

-2.88%

-2.36%

-7.66%

Soldivo Strategic Growth Fund, Inc. -a

0.6829

6.92%

-8.8%

-5.28%

-9.26%

Sun Life Prosperity Philippine Equity Fund, Inc. -a 3.449

7.14%

-5.86%

-3.76%

-8.65%

Sun Life Prosperity Philippine Stock Index Fund, Inc. -a

0.8713

8.09%

-3.2%

-2.6%

7.01%

-3.65%

-1.57%

-7.08%

United Fund, Inc. -a

3.1939

-2.29%

-7.52%

-7.75%

Primarily invested in Peso securities (units) Philequity Alpha One Fund, Inc. -a

1.0895

Philippine Stock Index Fund Corp. -a

932.77 n.a. n.a. n.a. n.a.

9.05% n.a. n.a.

-6.3%

Exchange Traded Fund (shares) First Metro Phil. Equity Exchange Traded Fund, Inc. -a,c 103.3018

9.05%

-2.62%

-1.92%

-7.33%

Primarily invested in foreign currency securities (shares) ATRAM AsiaPlus Equity Fund, Inc. -b

$0.9424

Sun Life Prosperity World Voyager Fund, Inc. -a $1.5398

-22.97%

-1.05%

-0.38%

-16.34%

-10.17%

6.9%

6.22%

-16.61%

Balanced Funds Primarily invested in Peso securities (shares) ATRAM Dynamic Allocation Fund, Inc. -a

1.5523

-3.53%

-2.16%

-2.59%

ATRAM Philippine Balanced Fund, Inc. -a

2.1421

1.27%

-1.53%

-1.76%

-6.11%

4.78%

0.3%

0.05%

-4.12%

First Metro Save and Learn Balanced Fund Inc. -a 2.5802

First Metro Save and Learn F.O.C.C.U.S. Dynamic Fund, Inc. -a 0.1997 NCM Mutual Fund of the Phils., Inc. -a

-8.26%

8.3% n.a. n.a.

1.9236

3.1%

0.72%

0.33%

PAMI Horizon Fund, Inc. -a

3.5472

1.87%

-0.38%

-0.85%

-5.79%

Philam Fund, Inc. -a

15.8928

1.79%

-0.63%

-0.93%

-5.66%

Solidaritas Fund, Inc. -a

2.0235

3.74%

-1.06%

-1.05%

-4.61%

Sun Life of Canada Prosperity Balanced Fund, Inc. -a 3.4139 3.16%

-3.05%

-1.85%

-6.39%

Sun Life Prosperity Dynamic Fund, Inc. -a

-2.53%

-1.44%

-6.68%

0.8905

9.65%

-4.45%

-4.62%

Primarily invested in Peso securities (units) Sun Life Prosperity Achiever Fund 2028, Inc. -a

0.9187

-2.7%

-1.76% n.a.

-7.18%

Sun Life Prosperity Achiever Fund 2038, Inc. -a

0.8635

2.55%

-3.4% n.a.

-8.58%

Sun Life Prosperity Achiever Fund 2048, Inc. -a

0.8527

3.66%

-3.7% n.a.

-8.69%

Primarily invested in foreign currency securities (shares) Cocolife Dollar Fund Builder, Inc. -a

$0.03358

-11.45%

-2.71%

-1.15%

$0.9393

-16.37%

-0.75%

-0.39%

-11.98%

Sun Life Prosperity Dollar Advantage Fund, Inc. -a $4.109 -10.32%

3.95%

4.03%

-14.43%

Sun Life Prosperity Dollar Wellspring Fund, Inc. -a,2 $1.0444 -11.08%

0.04%

0.84%

-12.87%

PAMI Asia Balanced Fund, Inc. -b

-11.49%

Bond Funds Primarily invested in Peso securities (shares) ALFM Peso Bond Fund, Inc. -a

372.44

0.35%

2.23%

2.3%

-0.5%

ATRAM Corporate Bond Fund, Inc. -a

1.8873

-1.37%

-0.02%

0.13%

0.14%

Cocolife Fixed Income Fund, Inc. -a

3.2302

0.18%

2.16%

3.4%

-0.43%

Ekklesia Mutual Fund Inc. -a

2.1874

-3.19%

0.31%

0.84%

-2.85%

First Metro Save and Learn Fixed Income Fund,Inc. -a 2.4111 -0.94%

2.03%

1.74%

-0.61%

Philam Bond Fund, Inc. -a

4.2244

-5.68%

1.28%

0.85%

-3.89%

Philam Managed Income Fund, Inc. -a

1.3114

-0.91%

2.96%

2.69%

-0.58%

Philequity Peso Bond Fund, Inc. -a

3.8746

-2.43%

2.26%

2.21%

-2.3%

Soldivo Bond Fund, Inc. -a

1.0075

-1.91%

2.99%

1.74%

-2.01%

Sun Life of Canada Prosperity Bond Fund, Inc. -a 3.1349

-1.89%

2.62%

2.76%

-1.65%

Sun Life Prosperity GS Fund, Inc. -a

-2.66%

1.79%

2.03%

-1.96%

1.6966

Primarily invested in foreign currency securities (shares) ALFM Dollar Bond Fund, Inc. -a

$481.74

-0.49%

1.89%

1.9%

-1.6%

ALFM Euro Bond Fund, Inc. -a

Є213.27

-2.88%

-0.44%

0.22%

-3.06%

ATRAM Total Return Dollar Bond Fund, Inc. -b $1.0657

-9.28%

-3.06%

-0.98%

-11.48%

-1.2%

-0.32%

-5.77%

First Metro Save and Learn Dollar Bond Fund, Inc. -a $0.0245 -5.41% PAMI Global Bond Fund, Inc -b

$0.9019

-14.01%

-5.53%

-3.45%

-11.82%

$2.2344

-10.02%

-0.67%

0.2%

-10.83%

$0.0608681

-3.03%

1.32%

1.3%

-2.29%

Sun Life Prosperity Dollar Abundance Fund, Inc. -a $2.7723 -11.68%

-2.56%

-1.38%

-13.26%

Philam Dollar Bond Fund, Inc. -a Philequity Dollar Income Fund Inc. -a

Money Market Funds Primarily invested in Peso securities (shares) ALFM Money Market Fund, Inc. -a

131.73

1.26%

2.34%

2.51%

First Metro Save and Learn Money Market Fund, Inc. -a

1.0623

1.04%

1.66% n.a.

0.41%

Sun Life Prosperity Peso Starter Fund, Inc. -a,1 1.3234

1.53%

2.24%

2.49%

0.43%

0.59%

Primarily invested in foreign currency securities (shares) Sun Life Prosperity Dollar Starter Fund, Inc. -a $1.063

0.59%

1.21% n.a.

0.23%

Feeder Funds Primarily invested in Peso securities (units) ALFM Global Multi-Asset Income Fund Inc. -a

43.2428 n.a. n.a. n.a. n.a.

Sun Life Prosperity World Equity Index Feeder Fund, Inc. -a 1.2188

0.35% n.a. n.a.

-11.87%

Primarily invested in foreign currency securities (units) ALFM Global Multi-Asset Income Fund Inc. -a

$0.8497

-15.03% n.a. n.a.

-12.4%

a - NAVPS as of the previous banking day. b - NAVPS as of two banking days ago. c - Listed in the PSE. d - in Net Asset Value per Unit (NAVPU).

1 - Renaming was approved by the SEC last July 8, 2021 (formerly, Sun Life Prosperity Money Market Fund, Inc.).

2 - Adjusted due to stock dividend issuance last November 25, 2021.

"While we endeavor to keep the information accurate, the Philippine Investment Funds Association (PIFA) and its members make no warranties as to the correctness of the newspaper’s publication and assume no liability or responsibility for any error or omissions. You may visit http://www. pifa.com.ph to see the latest NAVPS/NAVPU."

www.businessmirror.com.ph

Dominguez to PCIC: Bar self-serving consultants

By Bernadette D. Nicolas @BNicolasBM

P

HILIPPINE Crop Insurance Corp. (PCIC) Chairman Carlos G. Dominguez III ordered members of the board of state-run PCIC not to allow foreign consultants to offer projects that would not benefit the agency and the farmers.

During the PCIC Board meeting in March, Dominguez pointed out that some projects offered by foreign consultants end up serving their own personal interests.

The Finance Secretary said the implementation and financing of projects should be determined by the PCIC board.

“We are the ones who determine what we need and we will be the one to select the funding,” Dominguez said. “So in the future, you will reject any approach that is not generated by this Board.”

Dominguez also asked the PCIC to ensure that the projects supported by foreign grants and loans are actually “demand-driven.”

He also suggested that all PCIC personnel be required to reject any offers of foreign travel, vehicles, additional compensation or other perks associated with implementing projects offered by consultants.

Dominguez also directed the Bureau of the Treasury to work with the Department of Budget and Management in determining how to rationalize PCIC’s budget to reduce its financial strain on the proposed national expenditure program (NEP) for Fiscal Year 2023.

According to Agriculture Undersecretary Fermin D. Adriano, many projects do not proceed after the pilot stages of their implementation.

“There are so many pilots that have been done. The problem is really upscaling those pilots. And that’s the reason why we are stuck in this kind of underdeveloped status because we cannot upscale these things because it’s not demand-driven,” said Adriano, who represented Agriculture Secretary and PCIC Vice Chairman William D. Dar. During the meeting, the Board also approved the corporate operating budget of the PCIC, subject to its recasting based on the discussions among the board members about the need to ease its strain on next year’s General Appropriations Act (GAA) by reducing the corporation’s premium subsidy allocation and its investments in government securities.

To help PCIC raise more funds from its marketing efforts instead of primarily being reliant on government subsidies, Government Service Insurance System (GSIS) President-General Manager Rolando L. Macasaet stressed the need for the PCIC to develop a program that would increase its income from premiums of paying clients.

Macasaet said PCIC regional managers and marketing personnel must be given targets “so that you can hit your goal of earning P598 million in premiums from paying clients and other sources.”

“At least, it wouldn’t come from GAA funds but from premiums so they will pay for their insurance cover,” Macasaet said.

National Treasurer Rosalia De Leon said these moves would not reduce the firm’s insurance capability as its investments in government bonds that would mature next year can be spent to increase its coverage to serve more farmers.

De Leon said the PCIC’s investments will also be reviewed to determine how the PCIC can find a better way to grow its funds and how much it can return to the national government in the form of dividends, considering that the Corporation has accumulated surplus equity of P1.1 billion.

Moreover, Dominguez also pushed for the removal of the budget for commission or incentives received by municipal employees, which the corporation lists as “honoraria, “ with an allocation of around P147 million in the PCIC budget, noting that this should instead be shouldered by local government units (LGUs).

According to Adriano, LGUs can afford to give these incentives given their increased share of the government’s national tax collections beginning this year due to the implementation of the Supreme Court’s Mandanas ruling.

Banking&Finance BusinessMirror

Editor: Dennis D. Estopace • Friday, May 20, 2022

B3

ERC backs suspending fuel excise tax

T

By Lenie Lectura

@llectura

HE Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) is supporting the proposal to suspend fuel excise tax that, its chief said, could immediately and effectively bring down power rates.

ERC Chairman Agnes VST Devanadera, who announced that her term will expire on July 10 this year, told reporters in a news briefing that the suspension of excise tax on coal and petroleum products can be immediately felt by consumers, and with the least impact to stakeholders other than electricity consumers.

Devanadera explained that the current generation rate of the Manila Electric Co. (Meralco) due to the increasing coal and fuel prices is at P5.8724 per kilowatt hour (kWh).

Prior to implementation of the next excise tax rate under Republic Act 10963 (Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion, or Train, law), the generation rate is P5.8623/kWh.

If excise tax rate under the TRAIN Law will be temporarily suspended, the rate reduction that can be felt will be at P0.0101, the ERC official said.

Meanwhile, for missionary areas which are considered the poorest of the poor, where 100 percent of its power supply is coming from diesel or bunker fired power plant, the impact of the excise tax pursuant to the TRAIN LAW is significant.

It shows that the P1.50/kWh will be reduced in the generation rate if the P6/liter excise tax is removed.

This, however, will be seen as a reduction in subsidy since customers in the missionary areas pay a subsidized generation charge (SAGR) and the difference in the actual cost is source

through the “universal charge.”

The suspension of excise taxes will likewise have an impact on the transportation sector that rely 100-percent on fuel products.

“ERC, or I, would like to come up with some proposals. For example, there can be a temporary solution and there can be permanent solution. The very immediate is we can go into suspension of the excise tax on the coal and the petroleum fuel products,” Devanadera said.

“Other countries provide subsidy for energy. Here, however, the impositions of government in terms of taxes amount to about 12 percent.

Well, because of this and some other factors, the Philippines is now one of the highest in terms of electricity rates in Southeast Asia. The actual cost that is being billed to us is reflective of the real cost as there is no subsidy,” she added.

The ERC chief also raised a “double” VAT (value added tax) error computation.

The generation, transmission, distribution components of an electric bill are all subjected to VAT. She said that due to the manner of implementing BIR rules on VAT computation on gross receipts, generation and transmission charges are subject

to VAT when billed to distribution utilities (DUs) and again subjected to another VAT when included in the billing statement of DUs. As such, if a Meralco customer consuming 145kilowatt hour (kWh) will be billed at P1,412.71 if the generation and transmission charges are subjected to VAT twice.

On the other hand, if the VAT computation on the gross receipts of DUs is limited only to the distribution charges, the said Meralco customer will only be billed at P1,304.28.

The correction of the VAT imposition will result to a reduction of about 7.65 percent of the total bill of a residential consumer or a difference of P108.43.

Devanadera said that in order to correct this VAT computation, the BIR may issue a rule that gross receipts of DUs that will be subjected to VAT should be limited to the distribution charges and no other.

“I’d like you to review your bill.

You’d see the double imposition of VAT and that makes the amount that consumers pay to be higher than what it should really is. It’s a matter of interpretation. The agency that can do this is BIR and that will give us a reduction of about 7 percent. So that’s a lot,” she said.

The ERC chief also proposed the reduction of VAT on generation rate, which accounts for about 50 percent of an electricity bill.

While VAT is a major source of electricity for the government, a temporary and partial suspensionof its collection in the energy sector can provide an economic relief for electricity consumers. The ERC proposed a reduction to six percent from the current 12 percent.

She also proposed the continuation of fuel subsidy to public utility vehicles, and the discontinuance of collection of universal charge snd environmental charge.

Also, she raised the possibility of an increase in POGO (Philippine Offshore Gaming Operations) taxes.

“The government needs to produce around P600 billion and this is what I call a prioritization and also a judgment call. We can increase the taxes for non-essentials.

“We can consider increasing the taxes for POGOs because those are non-essentials, right? I’m sure our committee on ways and means will be very creative. What’s important here is how do we value or how urgent is or how important it is that the consumers be given a lower rate of electricity,” the ERC chief explained.

Salceda wants BIR to explain aborted closure order vs Megaworld

By Jovee Marie N. dela Cruz @joveemarie

T

HE chairman of the House Committee on Ways and Means on Thursday asked the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) for an explanation on the canceled Megaworld Corp. closure order.

House Committee on Ways and Means Chairman Joey Sarte Salceda made a statement after reports came out last May 17 of a media advisory from the South NCR Revenue Region of the bureau indicating the issuance of a closure order of the company on May 18.

“It creates the impression that the BIR will twist your hand if you don’t agree with it; and businesses that are smaller than Megaworld will get the wrong signal. If they can do that to a big elephant, what can they do to smaller businesses?” he said.

“That was a bizarre series of events that leaves us with more questions than answers. Why was the order issued? Why was it canceled if the order had already been issued?

On what grounds can the BIR just do that to one of the largest firms in the country; that is listed publicly besides?” Salceda asked.

According to the lawmaker, tax authorities need to be more transparent, more professional and more by-the-book about the tax system and instruments of enforcement.

“The exercise was so arbitrary, with a very strange scheduled press conference. And that does nothing for business confidence–that you can close a publicly listed corporation over an audit disagreement so drastically,” Salceda added.

“We need revenues, for sure and we need to punish businesses that refuse to pay taxes correctly. But a closure order on the basis of a protest

over jurisdiction seems overboard,” he said. “So, as the Congressional committee chair overseeing tax enforcement, I just want answers.”

Salceda also said he wants to know from the Department of Finance, especially the Revenue Operations Group, whether they knew this was going to happen and to what extent.

Avoid conflict

SALCEDA also emphasized the need for better tax rules for audit and tax transparency to avoid conflict between tax authorities and taxpayers.

“We really need to fully implement the tax transparency mandates that

are already in the law. I am particularly referring to electronic invoicing, which should speed up VAT [valuedadded tax] refunds, minimize disputes between taxpayers and the BIR over sales-related issues and reduce the burden of compliance for taxpayers,” he said.

“We also need a fully electronic system of filing and a more transparent and more rules-based dispute resolution mechanism between the BIR and the taxpayer. The ‘Ease of Paying Taxes’ bill sought to do that and I hope President-elect BBM [Bongbong Marcos] will take it on as a priority,” Salceda added.

Not your grandma’s non-dues revenue LandBank inaugurates Bulacan center

I

N my post about five years ago on October 5, 2017, “Beyond Traditional Revenue Sources,” I wrote about non-dues revenues (NDRs) which associations are now opting for as an alternative or supplemental business model.

Aggravated by the pandemic, the days of associations relying mainly on membership dues to survive is over.

Simply defined, NDRs are monies derived by an association other than membership dues. These fall under two types: revenue earned from vendors, advertisers and suppliers interested in reaching out to associations to promote their products and services; and, revenue obtained from charging members additional fees for conference registrations, webinars, books, professional certifications, publications, merchandise, etc.

For an update on NDRs, we were fortunate to have Teri Carden, founder and CEO of USbased 100Reviews, who spoke recently in our webinar, “Five New Ideas: Not Your Grandma’s Non-Dues Revenue.”

Here’s what’s current in the world of NDRs that I’ve picked up from Teri’s presentation: Royalty/Affinity Programs. Products or services that members need in their business or personal lives, e.g., discounts on office supplies, car rentals, and an array of insurance products like professional liability, health, and automobile. The association usually receives royalties on the money their members spend on these programs.

Advertising /Sponsorships. Whether for events,

Association World Octavio Peralta printing, website banner advertising, or selling naming rights to an association’s conference rooms, many associations rely on advertising and sponsorships for NDR. Education/Events. Associations rely on profits from events and education to help drive their budget. Years ago, it was common for association events to just cover their costs.

Nowadays, most associations expect their conferences and educational programs to turn a profit and contribute positively to the bottom line.

Products/Services. Some associations sell physical goods such as books, manuals, logo wear, and other items.

Others offer services to members and prospects such as consulting and other professional services.

Accelerator Programs.

The Independent Community Bankers of America developed an accelerator program that helps community banks directly engage and partner with early-stage or startup companies, focusing exclusively on community bank product development.

Market Intelligence. Selling market intelligence is another good source of non-dues revenue. A report by Avenue M Group found that 25 percent of associations derive revenue from benchmarking data and 19

percent earn revenue from selling market intelligence.

Here are five more “notyour-grandma’s NDR ideas” from Teri: 1. Sponsored retargeting. A form of digital advertising that shows your sponsor s paid ads to your members who have visited your website or people whose contact information you’ve already acquired, i.e., subscribers to your content.

2. Naming rights. A form of advertising whereby a company, person, or other entity purchases the right to name a facility, object, location, program, or event, for a specific period of time. Think virtual Zoom rooms, online community groups, a section of the website, document forms, etc.

3. Sponsored polls. Association questions or polls generated by sponsors for a period of time with the results being provided after poll/question is closed.

4. Review site. An online review site for products or services within your industry.

5. Virtual events. For your next virtual events, try sponsors-only track, goody box, introduce sessions, oneon-one rooms, cohorts or solution sits, analytics, video ads before and after content, sponsored happy hours, sponsored cameo from someone famous, digital DJ, etc.

Octavio Peralta is currently the executive director of the Global Compact Network Philippines and founder and volunteer CEO of the Philippine Council of Associations and Association Executives, the “association of associations.” E-mail: bobby@pcaae.org

This Friday, May 13, 2022, photo courtesy of Land Bank of the Philippines shows LandBank President and CEO Cecilia C. Borromeo (third from left), Bulacan State University President Cecilia S. Navasero-Gascon (fifth from left) and Dr. Yanga’s Colleges Inc. President Michael S. Yanga (fourth from left) at the inauguration of the LandBank Bulacan Corporate Center along McArthur Highway in Barangay Dakila, Malolos City, Bulacan, last May 13. Joining them were LandBank Executive Vice Presidents Julio D. Climaco, Jr. (leftmost) and Alan V. Bornas (rightmost) and LandBank Senior Vice President Randolph L. Montesa (second from left).

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ALOLOS CITY, Bulacan—Land Bank of the Philippines (LandBank) recently inaugurated a 3-story corporate center along McArthur Highway in Barangay Dakila, Malolos City, to provide Bulaceños convenient access to a wide array of banking services.

The LandBank Bulacan Corporate Center is designed as a one-stop shop for various banking and financial services, as it houses the Bank’s major touchpoints and offices.

Located at the ground floor of the corporate center is the LandBank Malolos Highway Branch, which caters to nearby local government units, academic institutions, corporations, and individual depositors from the 51 barangays of Malolos City and the 29 barangays of the Municipality of Calumpit.

Also situated in the building is the LandBank Bulacan Lending Center, which offers affordable financing for farmers and fishers, agribusinesses, micro, small and medium enterprises, countryside financial institutions, and local government units, among others.

“The LandBank Bulacan Corporate Cen-

ter illustrates our continuing commitment to provide greater banking convenience and accessibility to our growing customers,” LandBank President and CEO Cecilia C. Borromeo said. We also hope that this serves as a landmark to generate livelihood and business opportunities to bolster Bulacan’s local economy.

Other LandBank field offices stationed in the Bulacan Corporate Center are the Bulacan Accounting Center, Field Legal Services, Area Legal Unit II, Property Valuation and Credit Information Department-Bulacan Field Team, and the Bulacan Loans Operations Field Unit. A dedicated space for the Commission on Audit Regional Office III was also provided within the corporate center.

As of end-April 2022, LandBank has a total of 12 branches, one lending center, and 51 automated teller machines across the Province of Bulacan.

Landbank is the only bank present in all 81 provinces in the Philippines, with its continued expansion geared towards servicing the requirements of its diverse customer base, especially in unbanked and underserved areas.

B4

Friday, May 20, 2022 • Editor: Gerard S. Ramos

Relationships BusinessMirror

The business of unfriending

www.businessmirror.com.ph

Today’s Horoscope

By Eugenia Last

CELEBRITIES BORN ON THIS DAY: Naturi Naughton, 38; Matt Czuchry, 45; Tony Stewart, 51; Cher, 76.

PHOTO BY CHARLESDELUVIO ON UNSPLASH

HAPPY BIRTHDAY: Take pride in what you do and how you handle situations. A friendly nudge or gesture will prompt others to do their fair share. Keep an open mind, and encourage others to help bring about positive change. Try to get in tiptop shape and set standards that help maintain a healthy and happy lifestyle. Listen to your heart, but use common sense. Your numbers are 4, 19, 26, 30, 32, 37, 46.

ARIES (March 21-April 19): Activate your resources, and connect with people you know you can rely on to get things done. Enrich the process by learning on the go and implementing innovative methods to reach your destination. Refuse to let emotions come between you and doing what’s right.

HH

‘F

RIENDING’ was a term coined during the Facebook era, when it became possible to connect with people outside of your regular social network and have a seemingly more lasting relationship with them, even just by posting of photos and status updates.

I continue to use “friends” in quotation marks when referring to Facebook or other social-media platforms because many of these people don’t actually fit my old-people definition of what friends are. These aren’t the people who will visit you when you’re sick, send you a care package when you feel depressed, appear at your dead parent’s wake to condole with you and the rest of your family, or give you the shirt off their backs when you are in need.

And as such, unlike others in this collective post-election mourning, I don’t really overthink if I should continue friendships with certain people who hold different or opposing political beliefs to mine. I really keep a tight network of real friends on most social networks; for one, I’ve actually met many of these people in real life. I only accept friend requests of people I personally like. I’m not a clout chaser who needs 5,000 people on their Facebook friends list.

Sure, I’ve unfriended a few people over politics, like this one classmate who seems to have not imbibed the values of our dear school’s patron saint, and only has hate in her heart for those who don’t love her idol president.

I’ve also unfriended people who really had nothing original, funny, or shared even a comment on my posts over the years that we’ve been on Facebook or Instagram.

I especially find it taxing to remain “friends” with people who don’t even bother to greet me on my birthday (despite notifications going up on Facebook), or on special holidays like Christmas, New Year, or Easter, whether online or off the social networks.

On the other hand, I’ve maintained relationships with a teeny, tiny selection of friends who are of a different political persuasion. Mostly, it’s because we’ve been buddies long before all this political divisiveness, hate, and mean-spirited discourses came into fashion. So we’ve had more personal stories, engaging anecdotes and hilarious memories in common than our respective political beliefs. And, basically, we just don’t hassle each other over our candidates.

Which is how I think people should approach this stage of post-electoral “unfriending.” Allow yourselves to grieve over the loss of your candidate/s, but you can’t allow yourselves to become bitter as well. If you agonize over possibly losing one friend over your political differences, then take a breath, put off the unfriending for another day. Close your Facebook,

TAURUS (April 20-May 20): It’s up to you to make things happen. Don’t sit around waiting for someone to step in and take over.

Consider what makes you happy, and implement a schedule that offers peace of mind. Follow your heart, and doors will open. HHHHH

GEMINI (May 21-June 20): Speak up, promote your intentions and concerns, and do your best to make a difference. Look for a unique way to use your skills, intelligence and connections to help you gather the information to help you achieve your goal.

Self-improvement is favored. HHH

CANCER (June 21-July 22): Pay attention, pitch in and help, expand your circle and learn through observation. Consider how different relationships transform and recognize when a situation is beneficial and when it’s no longer working for you.

Take the path that makes you happy. HHH

unnecessary expenses—like for instance, a niece’s lakwatcha or gimmick—is frankly the benefactor’s right.

Tuition fee expenses, fine. Medicines for parents, okay.

But if you’re getting funding requests for anything and everything just because you’re the breadwinner in the family, or are working abroad (and they think you don’t have expenses of your own), then perhaps it’s time to wean your relatives off the gravy train. And it goes without saying that it doesn’t have to be over political issues.

I’ve seen one too many OFW friends who have cried and agonized about the way their families use them like a piggy bank not just for the regular sustento, but to pay for every close relative’s luho. In one friend’s case, her parents decided to quit their jobs, and the siblings didn’t look for work anymore, as they depended on her for all their financial needs.

So when you start going on your unfriending spree, make sure you have a clear mind and heart, and know exactly why you are doing so. If it’s just because you don’t share the same political beliefs with some friend, then maybe you should assess if there’s anything worthwhile in the relationship that can be saved. We live in a democracy and everyone has a right to his or her own political leanings. Real, close friendships should have enough space to accommodate these kinds of differences. n

Twitter and other social-media platforms for the sake of your mental health. Anger and frustration, or devastation over this election’s loss, can cloud one’s judgement about one’s relationship with others. So take a breath.

From experience, true and trusted friends will be able to understand our feelings of mourning. Even if they voted for our candidate’s rival and indeed won, they wouldn’t rub it in our faces. They’ll wait for the time when we’ve fully recovered and can take jokes again.

However, if you feel these friends have somehow crossed the line and needlessly stabbed you with their unkind words or patronizing comments, then it’s probably time to say goodbye. There was never real friendship there, so it won’t really be a loss. These aren’t the people who will come to your aid when you are absolutely in need.

Unfortunately, relatives are more difficult to get rid of. Some of the accounts on Twitter recently have to do with people deciding to deny financial assistance to family members because the latter voted for another candidate.

Personally, I’ve always believed when one helps, it should be out of the goodness of one’s heart, without expecting anything in return. But I get it. The cut is deep and being called on to cough up funds for some reason or the other is just too soon for some. So denying financial aid, especially for

Poetry book narrates Covid-19 story from frontlines IF there’s anyone who can speak on the pandemic, it’s one of the health professionals who’s fought long and hard at the frontlines.

Dr. Joseph Adrian L. Buensalido, an infectious diseases specialist and clinical associate professor of medicine at the University of the Philippines-Philippine General Hospital, and serves at the Makati Medical Center, among his other affiliations, took his skill for writing verses in Filipino and his love for history to create what can be considered as a primary source of the country’s Covid-19 story.

The 72-page volume Mikrobyong Maliit, Pandemyang Pasakit, Ang Tinulang Salaysay ng Pandemyang Covid-19, is in part inspired by Philippine history, particularly by national hero and physician Dr. Jose Rizal, and fittingly contains a foreword by renowned historian Prof. Ambeth Ocampo. The rest are from the first-hand experiences the author has gone through during the worst of the surges.

Dr. Jondi Buensalido has faced the pandemic head-on

and dealt with and grieved the passing of several colleagues who succumbed to the virus. From Raul Jara, one of his professors during his PGH training; Kharen Abat-Senen, his senior during his PGH internship; Grace Lim, whom he called “one of our heroic Emergency Room physicians who was the first line of defense in Asian Hospital during the deadly first wave of Covid-19;” and Sally Gatchalian, past president of the Philippine Society for Microbiology and Infectious Diseases.

His verses on the pandemic articulate impressions and emotions shared by everyone who has lived through these unprecedented times. In fact, in its early pages, there is a certificate attesting that the holder or owner of the book has lived and survived during the time of the pandemic, a declaration of having gone through a grim part of the country’s history, and happiness at being still here to see its recovery.

The poignancy of the verses is further enhanced by the paintings accompanying them, which were created by Dr.

Jocel Soria Buensalido, a skin specialist and Dr. Jondi’s wife.

She was one of the 54 women from 31 countries, and the only Filipina to join the Virtual Exhibit Creative Resilience—Art

by Women in Science by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization in 2021.

The book, according to Dr. Jondi Buensalido, is for “anyone who has lived through the pandemic, whether health-care workers, frontliners, those who suffered through the hard lockdowns, those who waited for the arrival of the vaccines, those who got the vaccines, those who had to sift through fake news to get to the real news, families who did their best to keep the SARS-CoV-2 virus out of their households, those who had Covid-19 and survived and even those who lost loved ones because of the virus.”

Copies of Mikrobyong Maliit, Pandemyang Pasakit, Ang Tinulang Salaysay ng Pandemyang Covid-19 can be ordered through Facebook Messenger (@mikrobyongmaliitbook), 0917- 5331201, or e-mail buensalidobooks@gmail.com.

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): Speak from the heart. Show how passionate you feel about your pursuits. Don’t offer false hope. Honesty will keep you out of trouble and protect you from making unrealistic promises. Don’t take risks with your health, reputation or position. HHH

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): Discuss possibilities with experts, and gain insight into what you can do on your budget. Reach out to someone you trust to keep your secrets and share your plans. Take responsibility and do the work necessary to reach your goal. HHH

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22): Look at the bright side, be positive and use your charm and diplomacy to win favors. Shoot for the stars, and put in the energy required to meet your expectations. A personal change will turn out better than anticipated. Romance is encouraged. HHHHH

SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): Don’t play with fire. Leave well enough alone when dealing with a friend, relative or lover. Bide your time, and work on personal growth and creative endeavors.

Steer clear of trouble and people who are negative or judgmental. Do your own thing. HH

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): You’ll gain insight into what’s happening if you trust your instincts and rely on experience. Speak up and make your feelings and intentions clear. Open a dialogue that will expose everyone’s true feelings. Do something to lift your spirits. HHHH

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): You’ll regret a change or decision made under duress. Keep anyone who is pushy at arm’s length. Don’t take a risk that can lead to poor health or injury. Stick close to home and implement projects that make you happy.

HHH

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): Take on a challenge that stimulates your mind, body and soul. Explore possibilities and work quietly toward a goal that will make your life better and allow you to raise your earning potential by doing something you enjoy. Romance is featured. HHH

PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20): Pitch in and do your part, and you’ll make new connections.

Knowledge is power, and the information you gather now will help you make better decisions. Aim for more stability and emotional well-being, and make your health a priority. HHHH BIRTHDAY BABY: You are persistent, competitive and dynamic.

You are intelligent and unpredictable.

‘beast mode’ BY DANNY RATLIFF AND MATTHEW STOCK The Universal Crossword/Edited by David Steinberg

ACROSS 1 Constricting snakes 5 Note hit by a 64-Across 10 Practice boxing 14 Seldom-seen 15 Slipup 16 Red, white or rose, e.g.

17 Party-size chicken order 20 Flip-flop 21 Language spoken in Mogadishu 22 Green prefix 23 We Don’t Talk About Bruno film 27 Winning number of victory points in Catan 28 Not illuminated 30 “Is that true about me?”

31 Freshness?

32 Basic piano lesson topic 37 ___-to-speech software 38 Person reading a manual 39 Withdraw officially 42 Followed the doctor’s orders, in a way 46 Taking foolish risks 50 Key in keyboard combinations

51 52 53 55

Place for gloss Not bright Name hidden in “manager” Words that can precede “time,” “touch” and “towner” 57 “One ___ time!”

58 With 60-Across, pop rock band behind “Radioactive”...or what you might do after discovering this puzzle’s theme 60 See 58-Across 63 Got to the point?

64 Ariana Grande’s vocal range 65 Insults 66 Butcher’s chopper DOWN 1 Made tea or beer 2 State home to 16 of Mexico’s Indigenous groups 3 Origami, e.g.

4 Feudal worker 5 Actress Mirren 6 Nest egg acronym 7 (Don’t pet me!)

8 Keep to oneself?

9 Feature of a cedar waxwing or blue jay 10 Hit the pool 11 Party items originally made from clay pots 12 They might be acute or obtuse 13 Sticky substances 18 Pub order 19 Try to win the heart of 24 Online shopper’s “basket” 25 Mornings, for short 26 Newborn’s hospital area: Abbr.

29 Bounce artist ___ Red 31 Font flourish 33 Star Wars knight 34 Farm team?

35 Helper: Abbr.

36 Nancy Drew actress Lewis 39 Place to get pampered 40 Boo’d Up artist 41 “If I fits, I sits” snoozes 43 Completely nailed 44 Author Huffington 45 Clothing line?

47 Stuck in place?

48 49 54 55 56 57 58 59 61 62

“Brevity is the soul of ___” Shuffles and Nanos, e.g.

A good long while Small bills Spider-Man: Far ___ Home Taj Mahal city “___ be cool if...”

Fury Orangutan, e.g.

Word on a Chicago baseball cap

Solution to today’s puzzle:

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Show BusinessMirror

Editor: Gerard S. Ramos

• Friday, May 20, 2022

B5

Zelenskyy opens Cannes Film Festival, links war and cinema

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By Jake Coyle The Associated Press

ANNES, France—The 75th Cannes Film Festival kicked off on Tuesday with an eye turned to Russia’s war in Ukraine and a live satellite video address from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who called on a new generation of filmmakers to confront dictators as Charlie Chaplin satirized Adolf Hitler.

After tributes and musical numbers, Zelenskyy was streamed live for the formally attired audience who had gathered for the premiere of Michel Hazanavicius’s zombie comedy Final Cut. Zelenskyy, dressed in his signature olive green shirt, drew a thunderous standing ovation and and spoke at length about the connection between cinema and reality. He referenced films, like Francis Ford Coppola’s Apocalypse Now and Charlie Chaplin’s The Great Dictator as not unlike Ukraine’s present circumstances.

Zelenskyy quoted Chaplin’s final speech in The Great Dictator, which was released in 1940, in the early days of World War II: “The hate of men will pass, and dictators die, and the power they took from the people will return to the people.”

“We need a new Chaplin who will demonstrate that the cinema of our time is not silent,” implored Zelenskyy. The Ukrainian president pushed filmmakers not to “stay silent” while hundreds continue to die in Ukraine, the largest war in Europe since WWII, and show that cinema “is always on the side of freedom.”

The war is to be a regular presence in Cannes, where the festival has barred Russians with ties to the government from attending this year.

Set to screen are several films from prominent Ukrainian filmmakers, including Sergei Loznitsa’s documentary The Natural History of Destruction.

Footage shot by Lithuanian filmmaker Mantas Kvedaravičius before he was killed in Mariupol in April will also be shown by his fiancée, Hanna Bilobrova.

Even Final Cut, the latest film from The Artist filmmaker Hazanavicius, was renamed from its original title, Z, after Ukrainian protesters noted that the letter Z to some symbolizes support for Russia’s war in Ukraine.

Formally attired stars including Eva Longoria, Julianne Moore, Bérénice Bejo and No Time to Die star Lashana Lynch were among those who streamed down Cannes’ famous red carpet on Tuesday. More star-studded premieres—Top Gun: Maverick! Elvis!— await over the next 12 days, during which 21 films will vie for the festival’s prestigious top award, the Palme d’Or.

PRESIDENT of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy appears via remote during the opening ceremony of the 75th international film festival, Cannes, southern France, Tuesday, May 17, 2022. AP

But Tuesday’s opening and the carefully choreographed red-carpet parade leading up the steps to the Grand Théâtre Lumiére again restored one of the movies’ grandest pageants after two years of pandemic that have challenged the exalted stature Cannes annually showers on cinema.

“Dear friends, let’s come out of this dark together,” said opening ceremony host Virginie Efira.

After last year requiring regular Covid-19 testing and masks in theaters—and no kisses on the red carpet—Cannes has largely done away with pandemic protocols. Masks are recomwmended inside but are rarely worn. Cannes presented an honorary Palme d’Or to Forest Whitaker, who received a standing ovation.

Whitaker, who won best actor at Cannes 34 years ago for his performance as Charlie Parker in Clint Eastwood’s Bird, said that while ascending the steps to the Palais des Festivals on Tuesday, he could still hear chants of “Clint! Clint!” ringing in his ears. Eastwood is one of few others who have been awarded an honorary Palme.

On Tuesday, Cannes also unveiled the jury that will award the Palme d’Or. French actor Vincent Lindon is leading a jury that includes Deepika Padukone, Rebecca Hall, Asghar Farhadi, Trinca, Ladj Ly, Noomi Rapace, Jeff Nichols and Joachim Trier.

At the tradition-upholding Cannes, the world’s largest and most glitzy temple to film, cinema, controversy and glamour swirl together in a 12-day spectacle of red carpet premieres and rampant movie deal-making up and down the Croisette.

Theatrical release is a requirement of any film vying for the Palme, which has prevented streaming services from playing a big role at Cannes.

But this year, one new festival partner— TikTok—has raised some eyebrows. The festival is hosting TikTok creators from around the world and holding a separate contest for best (very short) videos created during the festival. Thierry Fremaux, artistic director of Cannes, granted TikTok wasn’t the future of cinema.

“The cinema remains the final art,” said Fremaux. n

ANTI-VAXXER ERIC CLAPTON TESTS POSITIVE FOR COVID

ERIC CLAPTON, a critic of coronavirus vaccines and pandemic restrictions, has tested positive for Covid-19 and canceled two upcoming European gigs.

Clapton’s upcoming shows in Zurich on Tuesday and Milan on Wednesday will be rescheduled, he announced on his Facebook page and official online site. The 77-year-old rocker tested positive following his concert at London’s Royal Albert Hall on May 8.

“Eric is also anxious to avoid passing on any infection to any of his band, crew, promoters, their staff and of course, the fans,” the statement reads. He hopes to be able to resume the tour starting with two concerts in Bologna on May 20.

“It is very frustrating that having avoided Covid throughout lockdown and throughout the period when travel restrictions have been in place, Eric should have succumbed to Covid at this point in time,” the statement reads.

Clapton has expressed skepticism of the Covid-19 vaccine in the past. In 2020, he and Van Morrison released an antilockdown song titled “Stand and Deliver” featuring the lyrics: “Do you want to be a free man, or do you want to be a slave?” He also lashed out a year later with the song “This Has Gotta Stop.” AP

Unzipping the nation

AS fate would have it, Marlon Brando and his biographies—Brando Unzipped and Songs My Mother Taught Me—are placed again in the back burner. For the second time. I know what political scientists—the true, ardent ones—believe in: that politics is never a matter of fate. But if you had been born in the 1970s, and aware at the beginning of 1972, seeing a Marcos ready to live in the palace again is nothing short of terrifying. A dark deja vu.

History is going to be rewritten. This much, all journalists and writers agree on.

I can see what will happen in the few months, or even days, of this administration. There will be realignment of political affiliations, with politicians moving to the dominant party, and with a few staying loyal to their aggrupation, to what they believe in.

This happened back in the early days of martial law. Except for those incarcerated, the other politicians all shifted their allegiances. Sadly, the same happened with writers—columnists, essayists, poets. Again, except for the rabid anti-administration, anti-martial law writers, the rest joined the happy mob. The New Society.

Will this happen again?

I clearly recall how before the declaration of Martial Law, a new newspaper was founded. It was called Daily Express. The media and other pundits were

not quiet about it; they talked about a Romualdez being behind the paper. In what was then touted as the freest press in Asia, the Philippines was the last expected to have a newspaper backed by the administration. There were glib remarks about it but when martial rule was enforced, Daily Express was the last newspaper standing.

Well-funded as the paper was, including the weekly Expressweek, many could recall the bad quality of paper used to print the said publications.

They easily tore and, for proof, go to libraries and see for yourself these papers with plastic tapes where they were torn and frayed easily.

The new technologies have all but dissipated this scenario at present. There is now the Internet and social media where color and ideologies are much more difficult to pinpoint and disaggregate.

Where would the control be? Where lies the censorship and restraint?

Even as I write this column, there are talks of children’s books published by Adarna House, a noted publishing house, having been red-tagged. These books, although for children, deal with topics like dictatorship, the phenomenon of the Edsa People Power and many other themes written to instill social awareness and respect for histories. Presently on sale, the books are much sought-after by parents who are, it appears, eager to catch up on the past and make them accessible to children.

There is also a heightened interest in the more critical books on Marcos and the years of the dictatorship. And while we are at it, will the administration look the other way when terms like “conjugal dictatorship” are bandied around in columns and conversations? Already, the book The Conjugal Dictatorship of Ferdinand and Imelda Marcos by Primitivo Mijares is threatening to be a golden best seller. If there are still copies around.

As the media was controlled during the Martial Law years, one cannot really find substantial reports

on the state of journalism and communications in that era. Ironically, the book by Mijares provides a window into those early days of martial law and the real golden days before the dictatorship.

Under the chapter “The Era of Thought Control,” Mijares explains the creation of the Department of Public Information (DPI Order No. 1) “which required all media to print and broadcast accurate, objective, straight news reports of positive national value, consistent with the efforts of the government to meet the dangers and threats that occasioned the proclamation of martial law and the efforts to achieve a new society.”

You may want to ask: What is a straight news report and what do we mean by “positive national value?”

According to Mijares, “the news media were prohibited from carrying any editorial opinion, commentary, comments or asides, or any kind of political, unauthorized, or objectionable advertising.”

The DPI expressly prohibited the following, and I quote: a. Materials that tend to incite or otherwise inflame (italics mine) people or individuals against the government or any of its duly constituted authorities; b. Materials that undermine (italics mine) people’s faith and confidence in the government or any of its instrumentalities; c. Materials that are seditious (italics mine), not based on facts, or otherwise without definitely established and well-identified verifiable sources, or based on mere allegations or conjectures; d. Materials that downgrade or jeopardize the military or the law enforcement authorities, their work and their operations; e. Materials that abet, glorify, sensationalize crime, disorder, lawlessness, violence; f. Materials that destroy or tend to destroy (italics mine) public morals as well as morale; g.

Materials that foment opinions (underscoring mine) and activities contrary to law, and; h. Materials that sow or generate fear, panic, confusion, ignorance, and

vulgarity among the people (underscoring all mine).

Think of those prohibitions in the context of the present-day discourse and social-media developments. In an era of post-truth and fake news, how does one deal with, for example, with news that are not based on facts? In this world where for every ignorant response, or even non-response, one has the ultimate privilege to demand from others to “respect my opinion,” how can one foment opinions? Or, is the veiled command to respect an opinion even when there is none the new existentialism, the new Zen koan. Oh my satori, the flash of enlightenment in my dumb haiku! My Orientalism!

And there is more: How do trolls operate in a universe that punishes those who produce materials that cause fear, panic, ignorance, and vulgarity among people?

If there is a lesson in all these prohibitions is this realization about how generations have been silenced systematically and gradually for almost 20 years. The writers were not spared by these “laws” again except those who forgot who they were and became the new citizens of the then putative New Society.

There are more lessons in the book on the conjugal dictatorship. On the page indicating the many prohibitions slapped against the press, it is written these: “Before the imposition of martial law, there were no laws or decrees regulating the operation of the press. The Constitution guaranteed that ‘no law shall be passed abridging the freedom of the press.’”

Think of those words again: there was nothing to regulate the operation of the press. Mijares continued: “No government license or permit was required to publish a newspaper. He [the Journalist/Publisher] was merely accountable under the laws of libel and sedition. But he could not be arrested without a warrant.”

This freedom is too good to be true...for people used to being controlled by the state.

B6 Friday, May 20, 2022

Security Bank opens 316th branch in Sta Cruz, Laguna

ADPI invests in West Aeropark; expects to attract global BPOs

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EROPARK Development Philippines, Inc. (ADPI), a special purpose entity owned by funds managed by CarVal Investors, has invested in West Aeropark, a five-building development with a combined gross floor area of 142,000 sqm, previously owned by Udenna Land’s Global Gateway Development Corporation (GGDC) in Clark Global City, Pampanga.

The transaction was a collaborative effort between CarVal/ADPI and SofCap Partners, a growth equity investment firm based in the Philippines. CarVal/ADPI and SofCap worked closely with Udenna’s GGDC to consummate the transaction. It is in line with Clark Global City’s vision to be the developer of choice in creating sustainable business communities that contribute to nation-

building and GGDC’s long-term strategy of attracting local and international blue-chip investors and real estate developers to invest in the vertical developments in the estate.

Clark Global City is being developed as the next big metropolis outside of Manila and West Aeropark is one of its landmark developments. It is home to several global Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) tenants that cater to numerous multinational companies. Clark Global City’s prime location next to Clark International Airport, high-quality infrastructure, direct access to a large skilled labor pool, and multi-modal accessibility, are among the key selling points for global BPOs. The BPO industry requires highly sustainable workspaces with superior

infrastructure, transportation access, and expansion potential to support its rapid growth. Several of the commercial towers of West Aeropark have been completed and partially leased, while other towers are still under construction. All five towers have attained pre-certified Gold status under the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Core & Shell certification and the complex is registered as a PEZA IT Park.

“Weareexcitedabouttheopportunities we are seeing in the Philippines and look forward to helping finance commercial growth and development. As the country moves toward post pandemic recovery, we believe West Aeropark holds a lot of promise, especially in the IT BPO sector, which has started to rebuild its on-site footprint,” said Nimrod Wei, a Managing Director for CarVal Investors.

“Solid partnerships are built with strong partners, and we have found a strong partner in CarVal Investors.

This transaction is a testament to the resurgence of investor confidence in Clark. As the economy continues to show signs of recovery, we look forward to further developing Clark Global City into a global destination outside of Metro Manila, in support of the government's efforts to promote economic growth throughout the country,” added Udenna Land, Inc. President Wilfredo Placino.

Honda Foundation, Inc. recognized for its COVID-19 response by the 5th SPMJ Driven To Serve Awards

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OR maintaining steadfast advocacy in sharing the joy of mobility and helping those in need despite the global business challenges, the Honda Foundation, Inc. (HFI), represented

by Honda Philippines, Inc. (HPI), was bestowed with the COVID-19 Response Gold Award at the 5th SPMJ Driven to Serve Awards last April 6, 2022.

The SPMJ, or The Society of Philippine Motoring Journalists, is an association of local automotive writers, editors, and media personalities across different platforms.

The award honors the initiatives of Honda Foundation Inc. (HFI), the Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) arm of Honda Group of Companies in the Philippines. The first project is the HFI’s donation of motorcycles to the Philippine Red Cross (PRC) in 2020 to help in the quick delivery of humanitarian and lifesaving services to communities during crises, amid the pandemic. The second

project is the HFI’s efforts to help rebuild homes in typhoon-hit Catanduanes last year.

“Honda Foundation, Inc. and the entire Honda Group of Companies in the Philippines are beyond grateful for this heartwarming recognition by the SPMJ,” said HPI President Susumu Mitsuishi. “Supporting the community is the cornerstone of our business as we believe in creating value for the society.

This award will only keep us even more inspired to improve the lives of Filipino people in need

and bring joy to people’s lives.”

Honda's “One Dream” campaign, highlights Honda motorcycles as lifesaving vehicles. A total of 104 motorcycle units -- 52 red units each of TMX125 alpha and Wave 110 alpha—equipped with insulated top boxes were donated to be used by all of PRC’s Chapters across the country.

Meanwhile, HFI handed over construction supplies to help families rebuild their homes in San Andres, Catanduanes in 2021, after the province was battered by Typhoons Rolly and Ulysses. Each family received galvanized steel sheets for their roofing needs, sets of marine-grade plywood, Coco lumber, umbrella nails, and Honda souvenir items.

Visit www.hondaph.com. Follow Honda Philippines, Inc. on Facebook and Instagram (@hondaph_mc), or contact (02)-8581-6700 to 6799 and 0917-8846632 for more details.

Floors to Walls: Your doors to new business venture

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N line with the Bank’s vision to become the most customer-centric bank in the Philippines, Security Bank continued to expand its BetterBanking footprint by opening its 316th branch in Sta. Cruz, Laguna.

Located at the ground floor of the Metro Central Mall in Barangay Labuin, the branch is equipped with 24/7 ATM access and also includes the Bank’s recently launched Cash Recycler Machine.

“We at Security Bank continue to see the value of expanding our branch network

ATTENDING SECURITY BANK'S 316TH BRANCH ARE, FROM LEFT: Leslie Cham, EVP and Security Bank Branch Banking Group Head; Mian Carriedo, Branch Channel Manager; Marianne Joy Ilao, Security Bank Branch Manager; Jaezel De Vera, Security Bank Customer Advisor; John Paulo Arambulo, FWD Area Sales Head; Jonathan Manabat, Cluster Head; Jayson Lontoc, Area Head; Ronnie Austria, Region 2 Area Head; and Marcial Azada, Branch Manager.

Filinvest Land residential business grows 9% in 1Q 2022

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ILINVEST Land, Inc. (FLI), one of the country's largest real estate developers, reported Php 4.31 billion in revenues and other income for the first quarter of 2022. It posted Php 2.69 billion of residential revenues which is a 9% growth compared to the same period last year. The growth in residential revenues was due to continued construction progress and high reservation sales. Net income attributable to equity holders of the parent amounted to Php 678 million.

Reservation sales in the first quarter also reached Php 4.39 billion, an increase of 28% compared to the same period last year.

The increase in reservation sales was due to high OFW Sales and strong demand for housing products in the Laguna, Cavite, Rizal, Bulacan, and Pampanga market areas.

“We are pleased with the continued growth of our residential revenues, and we expect to sustain this momentum as the economy, both here and abroad, continues to open. Our OFWs are starting to gain traction once again. We plan to further boost our international sales network and improve our digital and online platforms to reach out to more OFW markets abroad. FLI will continue accelerating construction completions and rolling out projects in emerging markets

way possible, tailored to their needs and strengths,” said Rex Education CEO, Don Timothy Buhain.

Innovation meets expertise

Franchise Package

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OR many Filipinos, opening up a business is an achievement with corresponding responsibilities and challenges. These responsibilities and challenges have tested wholesale and retail home furnishing shop, Floors to Walls, which bravely faced the challenges of time and pivoted to offer new opportunities to many Filipinos.

From a humble shop in Binondo, Manila, Floors to Walls is now geared to

offer a consumer-focused franchise package backed with wholesale and retail experience that is programmed to provide Filipino entrepreneurs with broader opportunities and quick returns.

Offering a retail and wholesale home furnishing business, Floors to Walls caters to both B2B and B2C models capturing a wider scope of the market. The management has established the Floors to Walls brand as a convenient avenue for the customers to shop

with large unserved housing demand. We anticipate an improvement in rental revenues going forward now that the traffic has improved in malls and rental concessions will be reduced,” said Tristan Las Marias, FLI's President.

FLI was also given the highest credit rating by domestic credit rating agency Philippine Ratings Services Corp. (PhilRatings) for its planned bond issuance worth Php 8 billion, with an oversubscription option of up to Php3.9 billion.

According to FLI CEO Josephine Gotianun Yap, the funds generated from the proposed bond issue would be used to support the company's capital expenditures and service debt repayments within 2022.

FLI aims to expand its leasing business to reach 2.1 million square meters of GLA in 2026 and is ready to launch Php30 billion residential projects. “We are grateful for this development as we reach our growth targets for our leasing and residential businesses,” Gotianun Yap said.

The forthcoming bond issuance will be the third and last tranche of the Php 30 billion bond program of FLI as registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission last October 2020.

Rex Education releases new digital learning companion in the study and practice of law

and get ideas for their home and business improvement, with a unique selling proposition that could be applied in any key areas in the Philippines.

FLOORS to Walls’ initial Franchise Package amounts to PHP4.5 million, which already comes with a 5-year Franchise Fee, PHP2 million worth of saleable products, security bond, operation tools, and system. ROI could be achieved in less than 2 years given the targeted low volume, high value transactions that usually occurs in the business.

Each franchise package includes equipment and software, operations support, and marketing support on top of the showroom designs that will highlight the saleable products that are included in the package.

The franchising process is estimated to last for three weeks, starting on the day of submission of documents to the opening of the store. The minimum location requirement is 200 to 300 square meters for the basic setup. Each target location must be located on a national road and accessible to the public.

To know more about the Franchise Package, email floorstowallsfranchising@ gmail.com or inquire through https:// www.facebook.com/floorstowallsofficial/.

to make our services more accessible to different areas and enable us to provide service with a personal touch. Through our continued push to increase our branch banking presence, we’re optimistic that we will be able to serve more Filipinos and allow us to continue delivering the BetterBanking service we have come to be known for,” said Leslie Y. Cham, EVP, Branch Banking Group.

For more information on Security Bank’s services and its branch locations, you may visit www.securitybank.com or www.facebook. com/SecurityBank.

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O serve the growing demand of law students and practitioners for audio materials, Rex Education released CODIFY—a new learning companion in the study and practice of law.

CODIFY is where hardbound meets digital. The app brings an upgraded learning experience that complements the usual reading materials of legal resources with a pocket-friendly, on-hand option. Created with law students and practitioners in mind, CODIFY will help you master and memorize the provisions of the law using the audio version of your most trusted Rex Education pocket codals.

“Rex Education goes where the learner goes. In this fast-paced and flexible world where learning evolves as rapidly as our technology, we strive to provide our learners with all the materials they need to make sure they are learning in the best

ACCORDING to a study by the Centre for Educational Technology of the University of Cape Town, the use of podcasts and audio materials afforded learners control, flexibility, and self-paced learning.

Student agency and learner-centered education are at the core of innovation at REX. CODIFY aims to maximize every learner’s learning potential by enabling students to use the kind of learning material that works best for them, so they are agents of their own learning.

Rex Education is the leading provider of legal resources and learning materials for more than 70 years now. As a lifelong learning partner of law practitioners and students, Rex Education levels up its offerings with more audiovisual options to complement every learner’s journey.

CODIFY’s audio-facing offerings come in addition to the regular webinars and lectures on various legal subjects released

by Rex Academy through the Rex Education Facebook page.

CODIFY is a subscription-based app that lets you listen to Rex Education’s pocket codals on-the-go. Subscription rates start at Php 149.00 per month, Php 299.00 for 3 months, Php 549.00 for 6 months, and Php 899.00 for an annual subscription.

CODIFY is available on Google Play and App Store. For more information, visit rex. com.ph/learner-journey/legal-education.

Sports BusinessMirror

mirror_sports@yahoo.com.ph

Editor: Jun Lomibao | Friday, May 20, 2022 B7

ALL EYES ON HIDILYN H

ANOI—All eyes will be on Tokyo Olympics gold medalist Hidilyn Diaz as she competes in the weightlifting competitions of the 31st Southeast Asian Games on Friday at the Hanoi Sports Training Center.

And because she’s the Olympic champion, Diaz will be the target of six pretenders in the sport’s 55 kgs competition set to start at 1 p.m.

(Manila time).

“I will give it my best,” said the 31-year-old Diaz, who stayed a few days in Ho Chi Minh City prepping for the games with coach and trainer Julius Naranjo before flying to the Vietnamese capital. “Let’s support all Filipino weightlifters.”

But while the anticipation is on Diaz, Rosegie Ramos settled for a bronze medal in women’s 49 kgs class with a 179 kgs total lift built around 81 kgs in snatch and 98 kgs in clean and jerk. Thailand’s

THE men’s team of four—Merwin Tan, Christian Dychangco, Ivan Malig and Patrick Neil Nuqui—are going home with a gold medal each from these games. NONIE REYES

BOWLERS REAP 2ND GOLD MEDAL H

By Jun Lomibao

ANOI—Merwin Tan captured a second gold medal at the 31st Southeast Asian Games after he anchored the country’s entry to bowling’s team of four event at the Royal City Hanoi Bowling Lanes on Thursday.

It was Tan who ended the country’s gold medal drought in SEA Games bowling with his victory in men’s singles three days ago.

On Thursday, Tan and teammates Christian Dychangco, Ivan Malig and Patrick Neil Nuqui added another title to the coffers that helped keep the country on course to its bid of finishing third this time after winning the overall championship at host in 2019.

The Filipinos dominated the action with 5275 pinfalls, 113 pins ahead of runner-up Malaysia. The gold was the Philippines’s 39th in these Games and the second inside almost 12 hours when the women’s squad topped esports’ Wild Rift event late Wednesday.

Tan, a 22-year-old left-hander, rolled 1411 pinfalls for a six-game average of 235.17, the best among all the 24 competitors in the six-team field.

Dychangco posted 1377 pinfalls and an average of 229.50, including a tournament-high 278 in the sixth and final game.

Malig carded 1285 pinfalls for an average of 214.17 while Nuqui shot 1202 for an average of 200.33.

“We’re so happy with this second gold medal that we didn’t expect to win. We just enjoyed competing

and the result was satisfying,” said Tan, who’s competing in his third SEA Games.

Tan’s singles win ended the country’s long gold medal drought since Frederick Ong won the same title in the 2011 Indonesia Games.

Tan and Dychango bounced back from a seventh-place finish in men’s doubles last Wednesday, two rungs lower than the tandem of Malig and Nuqui.

“Between team and individual gold medal, we prefer the team because everyone gets to bring home a medal,” said Tan, who rolled a total of 1292 last Monday, propped up by a six-bagger in the sixth game where he scored 249.

Coach Biboy Rivera said the team event is the most satisfying to win.

“The team event is the most prestigious, even more than the individual competition,” Rivera said.

“It’s difficult to win this one—all the players need to be on one page and unite.”

“Their desire to give glory to God and make the country proud was greater than their fear of not making it or fear of losing,” bowling secretarygeneral Bong Coo.” And with the grace of God, we prayed the rosary. I knew we were short on training but if God is with us, who can be against us.”

Malaysia, the leader after the first three-game block last Wednesday, finished second with 5161 pinfalls, while Singapore bagged the bronze with 4963. Indonesia finished fourth (4890), followed by Thailand (4691), and Vietnam (4570).

Women’s silver medalist Alexis Sy will lead the country’s quest for a double gold team win in the

women’s side with Rachelle Leon Collanto, Mades Lourdes Arles and Lara Posadas-Wong later Thursday.

Singapore leads the bowling medal race here with a 2-1-3 tally so far, followed by the Philippines (213), Indonesia (1-1-1), Malaysia (0-1-1) and Thailand (0-1-0).

Despite the second gold medal from bowling, the Philippines was relegated to fifth in the medals race—although within striking distance of Indonesia and Singapore.

Team Philippines tallied 39 gold, 52 silver and 72 bronze medals before sundown here on Thursday with the Indonesians running third with a 40-5954 gold-silver-bronze tally and the Singaporeans staying at fourth with 40-40-52.

Host Vietnam was well on its way to the overall title in terms of gold medals won with 140 on top of 86 silvers and 78 bronzes. Thailand was a far second with 58 golds, 65 silvers and 90 bronze medals.

Myanmar has four golds, Cambodia four and Laos and Brunei Darussalam one mint each. Timor Leste has two silver medals.

Cramping Hallasgo settles for marathon silver at SEA Games

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THE members of Team Sibol celebrate their gold medal with Philippine Olympic Committee President Rep. Abraham “Bambol” Tolentino.

Esports team emerges Wild Rift champion

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ANOI—Team Sibol gave the Philippines its first esports gold late Wednesday night in the 31st Southeast Asian Games at the Vietnam National Convention Center.

And the team expects more of the medal of such color to come, according to Philippine esports head coach Ralph Andrei Llabres “Four to five, we’ve got a high chance for more podium finishes,” said Llabres, who said the success in Wild Rift was expected.

Eighteen-year-old Charize “Yugen” Doble utilized the Corki hero twice to help lift Team Philippines-Sibol, represented by Grindsky Eris, to a historic 3-0 triumph over Singapore for the gold at the end of the three-round League of Legends: Wild Rift final.

The team—also composed of Christine “RAY RAY” Natividad,

Rose Ann “HELL GIRL” Robles, Giana “JEEYA” Llanes, April “AEAE” Sotto and Angel “ANGELAILAILA” Lozada—became the first female medalists in SEA Games esports’ history.

Team Sibol, represented by Blacklist in the Games Mobile Legends: Bang Bang, is already in the semifinals awaiting its next opponent late Thursday, with the finals slated on Friday.

The Philippines—winner of three golds, a silver and a bronze during esports’ debut in the Philippines 2019 SEA Games—is competing in nine of the 11 esports events with its strongest teams entered in Wild Rift, Mobile Legends and Cross Fire.

Doble’s Corki character did a lot of damage as Team Sibol eventually swept its clash with the Singaporeans with scores of 16-9, 17-8, 27-21.

Josef Ramos

ANOI—Christine Hallasgo clinched silver in women’s marathon to cap the country’s campaign in athletics at the 31st Southeast Asian Games on Thursday.

Hallasgo was in contention for the gold in the final 600 meters until cramps set in and forced her to cross the finish second at the My Dihn National Stadium.

Hallasgo, the marathon queen in the 2019 Philippine edition, clocked two hours, 56 minutes and .07 second.

Olympian Odekta Naibaho Elvina of Indonesia won the gold medal in 2:55.280 while Vietnam’s Ngoc Hoa Hoang Thi finished third in 2:57.350.

Hallasgo’s silver was the seventh for Team Philippines in athletics to go with five golds and 14 bronze medals.

The team failed to match or surpass its 11 gold, eight silver and eight bronze medals in 2019 at the New Clark City Athletics Stadium in Tarlac, but Philippine Athletics Track and Field Association (Patafa) head coach Joeffrey Chua still considers the stint here a success.

“This version of the SEA Games is by far the most challenging because of the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic,” Chua said. “But with one SEA Games record, five new Philippine records and eight personal records established, this can be considered as a very successful campaign for Patafa.”

Jun Lomibao

CHRISTINE HALLASGO was in the fight for the gold medal until her legs started to give way in the homestretch. NONIE REYES

PETECIO STAKES METTLE VS. VIETNAMESE BOXER B

By Josef Ramos

AC NINH, Vietnam—Tokyo Olympics silver medalist Nesthy Petecio is right on track to keeping her lofty stature at the 31st Southeast Asian Games boxing competitions.

But after hurdling Myanmar’s Kay Thwe Nyein via unanimous decision on Wednesday night in the women’s featherweight quarterfinals, Petecio faces not one but three challenges in Friday’s semifinals of her weight class.

First, Petecio, 30, battles Tran Thi Linh, a boxer from host Vietnam who she hasn’t fought before.

Second, decisions in certain subjective sports appeared to have favored athletes from the host nation.

And third, the Vietnamese have an appetite for combat sports and boxing’s one of them—it’s never easy to fight with a rowdy hometown crown.

But Petecio, who has a world championship gold medal in her collection, is ready against all adversities—she won’t be in Tokyo last year if she didn’t have the skill set to fight in extreme unfavorable conditions.

Association of Boxing Alliances in the Philippines Secretary General Marcus Jarwin Manalo confirmed Petecio hasn’t faced Linh before, but they were together in training camp in Muak Lek, Thailand, ahead of the SEA Games.

“I don’t think they already fought each other in the past, but they were together in Thailand so I think she’s familiar with her,” said Manalo. “But Nesthy has what it takes to retain her SEA Games title.”

Another Tokyo Olympian, Irish Magno, faces Indonesia’s Novita Sinadia in the women’s

Cayetano hails Taguig pride Amit, Chua

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ORMER House Speaker Alan Peter Cayetano on Wednesday congratulated two gold medalists at the 31st Southeast Asian (SEA) Games who hail from Taguig City— Rubilen Amit and Johann Chua.

“I congratulate Rubilen Amit and Johann Chua for winning gold medals in billiards 9-ball singles [men and women],” Cayetano said. “Thank you very much for hoisting not only Taguig City, but more importantly our country’s colors in the SEA Games.”

Chua defeated fellow Filipino Carlo Biado in an all-Filipino final, while Amit retained her 9-ball gold

Surodchana Khambao (195) and hometown bet Dihn Thi Pham (183) bagged the gold and silver medals, respectively.

Diaz’s cousin, Mary Flor Diaz, meanwhile, landed fourth in women’s 45 kgs ruled by a Thai, Vietnamese and Indonesian, and so did Fernando Agad Jr. in men’s 55 kgs that saw a Vietnamese, Thai and Malaysian occupy the podium.

Also competing on Friday are Rowel Garcia in men’s 61 kgs, 2016 Rio De Janeiro Olympian Nestor Colonia in men’s 67 kgs and Margaret Colonia in women’s 59 kgs.

Seeing action on Saturday are Denmark Tarro (men’s 73 kgs), Elreen Ann Ando (women’s 64 kgs) and Vanessa Sarno (women’s 71 kgs).

On Sunday, it will be the turn of John Kevin Padullo (men’s 89 kgs), Kristel Macrohon (women’s 71 kgs) and John Dexter Tabique (men’s 89 kgs). Josef Ramos

medal after defeating Singapore’s Jessica Tan, 7-2..

Cayetano said Chua and Amit’s win, as well as those of other Filipinos who have had podium finishes in Vietnam, show what the country’s athletes are capable of even under less-than-ideal training circumstances.

He encouraged the next administration to provide incentives to athletes even before they win in international competitions, saying this will motivate them to seek exposure on the world stage and put the country

NESTHY PETECIO brings her silver medalwinning act at the Tokyo Olympics to Vietnam. flyweight semifinals on Friday.

Also on Friday, Ian Clark Bautista fights Cambodian Rangsey Sao in a semifinal bout, while early semifinalist Marjon Piañar, who drew a bye, battles Indonesian Sarohatua Lumbantobing or Cambodia’s Vy Sophors in the welterweight class.

Seeing action in the semifinals that were scheduled late Thursday night were Tokyo Olympics bronze medalist Eumir Felix Marcial, former world champion Josie Gabuco, Rogen Ladon, James Palicte and Riza Pasuit.

All but one of the 10-member boxing team are in the semifinals and assured of bronze medals.

Hergie Bacyadan, who won gold in the Thailand Open, won’t be fighting because the organizers scrapped the women’s middleweight class because of lack of entries. Also scrapped for the same reason was the women’s welterweight class.

Saturday will be rest day for boxing with the finals set for Sunday.

The boxers are coached by Don Abnett, Ronald Chavez, Gerson Nietes and Mitchel Martinez. on track to becoming a Southeast Asian sporting powerhouse.

“The next administration might consider offering incentives to Filipino athletes even before they win in international competitions,” Cayetano said. “We need to give incentives to our athletes so they want to compete internationally and expose themselves to high levels of competitions.”

Cayetano pointed out that the performance of Team Philippines in Vietnam should be a clear indication to the next administration that the country has significant potential as a regional leader in sports, performing above better-equipped teams like those of Indonesia and Singapore.

B8 Friday, May 20, 2022

Motoring BusinessMirror

Editor: Tet Andolong

Isuzu formally opens Roxas dealership

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Story and photo by Randy S. Peregrino

SUZU Philippines Corp. (IPC) is keeping the ball rolling in its commitment to dealership network expansion. This time, the leading truck manufacturer in the country boosts its presence in the Visayas region. Soon to open in Roxas City is a new Isuzu dealership under the helm of Isuzu Cebu Inc. (ICI). IPC and ICI recently acted a formal signing ceremony of the Memorandum of Agreement.

(From left) IPC executive vice president Shojiro Sakoda, outgoing IPC president Hajime Koso, AC Motors president Antonio A. Zara, and IADI Chief Operating Officer Alex Paguio

None other than outgoing IPC president Hajime Koso and executive vice president Shojiro Sakoda graced the event held at the company headquarters in Binan, Laguna.

Representing the Isuzu Roxas were AC Motors president Antonio A. Zara and IADI Chief Operating Officer Alex Paguio. Isuzu Roxas, under ICI, belongs to a dealer group managed

by AC Motors, an Ayala company.

In his brief remarks, Koso expressed delight that they are now one step closer despite the challenges they all experienced in the past two years. He is excited about the grand opening of this newest addition to the Isuzu

network. He also expressed confidence that Isuzu Roxas will bring in more sales for Isuzu under ICI's leadership.

“I would like to take this opportunity to thank Isuzu Cebu, Inc. (ICI) for supporting our expansion project and complying with our Isuzu Outlet Standard or IOS. As you may all know, we are on our "road to 50 dealerships" and today seals [an] additional outlet nationwide. We have been wanting to further establish our presence in Western Visayas,” said Koso. “On behalf of Isuzu Philippines Corporation, I extend our heartfelt congratulations to ICI for this exciting new outlet.

The proposed façade of the upcoming Isuzu Roxas.

Isuzu Philippines

We are confident that with your leadership, Isuzu Roxas will bring in more sales for the network. We are all looking forward to the grand opening of Isuzu Roxas.”

The upcoming dealership sits in an expansive 3,500-sqm property located at Barangay Bolo, Iloilo East Coast - Capiz Rd, Roxas City.

Of course, it will feature the new Isuzu Outlet Standard (IOS), depicting a cleaner and more streamlined interior and facade. The showroom, meantime, holds a 426-sq.m space plus a service area that can accommodate multiple vehicles for display and service.

For his part, Zara stated, “The addition of a new Isuzu dealership in our rapidly expanding network is a strong testament to the growing preference for the Isuzu brand as we continue to widen our reach to our customers in Western Visayas. Roxas City has emerged into a booming city with a strong economic development brought by different businesses citywide, and we are confident that Isuzu Roxas can cater to more customers in the region.”

Isuzu Roxas targets opening and beginning its operations sometime in the second half of the year. Once opened, Isuzu Roxas would become the 48th dealership under IPC's dealer network. All network dealerships now have a modern design with a functional facility to serve customers in their respective areas.

22nd year as the leading truck brand

Meanwhile, IPC adds another feather to its cap by achieving the top ranking in terms of the industry's truck sales. Based on the combined report from the Truck Manufacturers Association Inc. (TMA) and the Chamber of Automotive Manufacturers of the Philippines Inc (CAMPI), for 22 consecutive years, IPC remained the number one truck brand in the

Outgoing IPC president Hajie Koso with the best-selling truck models.

country, the exclusive assembler, importer, and distributor of brand-new Isuzu commercial vehicles (CV) and light commercial vehicles (LCVs) in the country.

According to the report, IPC sold 4,427 truck units, accounting for almost 45.5 percent of the market. The significant contribution came from the company's Category III light-duty trucks selling 2,745 units gaining 56 percent segment share. Its Category IV medium-duty trucks contributed a total of 1,397 units sold, or 38.3 percent share. In contrast, the Category V heavy-duty trucks contributed 285 units sold or a 25.3 percent segment share.

Koso credited the brand's continued domination to Isuzu's global reputation as the leading truck maker known for its durability and reliability. Moreover, the company's excellent aftersales support is manifested through IPC's nationwide dealer network with top-notch servicing facilities, expert service technicians, and on-call field support personnel to provide technical assistance

CEBU IS FAST COMING ALIVE; TOYOTA THRILLS

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INCE Socco, the perennial pillar of Toyota Motor Philippines (TMP), writes to say about his recent trip to Cebu, gushing over his “three lechonfilled” meals during his new-found “freedom!” Here: “WITH the recent relaxation of COVID health protocols, it seems that travel is back on the table. This is good news for the tourism and hospitality industry that was among the most badly hit by the pandemic.

“I had the opportunity to travel to Cebu recently, taking advantage of the Labor Day and Eid al-Fitr holidays. It was such a welcome opportunity to go places again after an extended spell of being grounded.

“Local travel has, indeed, opened up. The lines at the NAIA Terminal 3 seemed to go on and on and on, from Gate 1 all the way to Gate 5. This was at 05:30 in the morning for my 8:00 a.m. flight. Times like this, I relish my senior citizen status because—with all due respect to all those waiting patiently— I was accorded the privilege of the Senior Citizen access lane. In short time, I was off to the check-in counter. My wait in line—in the Senior lane, naturally—was infinitely longer than the time it took for the Cebu Pacific staff to check me in. But these are the travails of travel.

“Boarding and the flight itself were uneventful. Compared to a previous trip I took

to Cebu while health protocols were still in place, the key differences were the discarding of the health declaration form, the return of the in-flight games and the doing away with the social-distancing disembarkation procedure. Like I said, back to normal.

“The first thing that struck me upon leaving the Mactan airport were the lingering signs of the devastation of Typhoon Odette.

Five months on and still the devastation to property—fallen trees, bent utility posts, blown-away roofs—remains evident. That also explained why we landed in the international terminal of the Mactan airport; apparently repairs in the domestic terminal are still ongoing. Nothing truly drives home the pain of a calamity than seeing the damage up close.

“But notwithstanding the remaining signs of Odette’s wrath, Cebu seems to have come alive. Tourists are back, resorts are re-opened and restaurants are filled-up. Of course, what would a trip to Cebu be without feasting on their famed lechon? One of our three lunches and two of three dinners were lechon-filled— Rico’s (spicy for the win!), Shangri-La Resort and Leslie’s (featured on Netflix), in that order. Oh, we had our fill!

“The Shangri-La Mactan Resort was up and running. It remains my go-to whenever I am in Cebu. Clearly it was not spared by Odette but I was glad to see that it was, for the

Isuzu Philippines

whenever and wherever needed.

He also reiterated that the company continues to provide timely transport and business solutions to its customer, “As a leader, we continue to innovate as we launched our New N-Series Smoother AMT trucks late last year. Currently, this is the first lightduty truck in the market with an automated manual transmission, and we are confident that this new innovating truck will have similar success as other models in our lineup,” said Koso.

Moving forward, Koso revealed Isuzu's intention to shift its gear towards sustainability. "2022 will be the start of a new era for Isuzu, more sustainable and eco-friendlier plans will be introduced that are in line with the United Nation's Sustainable Development Goals. This includes its products, operations, and customer service. IPC will evolve into a company that creates economic value combined with social and environmental contributions to with-stand the challenges ahead," he concluded. main part, not hugely impacted. I think they are having to restore the aquatic reserve that took years to develop. The fish are teeming again. I was really glad to see the resort busy with both local and foreign visitors.

“The trip back was as normal as normal could be. On the way home, I was already planning my next sortie. Freedom!”

I wish I could join you in your next trip? Say, to faraway Zamboanga en route to Alavar to feast on its famed curacha on board a Veloz?

That will be the day.

Toyota thrillers

SPEAKING of Toyota, here is Mary Edzelynne “Sunshine” Cabrera on TMP’s May thrillers, led by a Vios giveaway deal of P7,518 per month instalment on its 1.3 XE CVT variant with 60 months to pay after a 50-percent down payment. The G, E and XLE models come at a warranty coverage of five years or 150,000km, whichever comes first.

The Wigo is pegged at P6,023, Raize at P9,351 and Veloz at P12,789 a month.

Any Rush variant offers a P10k discount and Innova P45k.

All models offer free maintenance services of up to 20,000 km, including Corolla Altis, Avanza, Fortuner, Hilux, and Hiace.

Sunshine also tells me that a P30k rebate awaits anyone trading his Vios for a Raize, and P20k for Avanza to Veloz.

“A free one-year insurance also awaits customers,” Sunshine says of the promos lasting up to May 31.

Check toyota.com.ph/promos/TimeToExplore for more details.

PEE STOP Noboru Murakami has replaced Hajime Koso, Isuzu PHL Corporation’s longest serving president at seven years. Welcome to the Philippines, Murakami-san.

I’m sure you will also enjoy the Filipinos’ world-famed hospitality.