BusinessMirror November 27, 2022

A broader look at today’s business

UNSTOPPABLE FEAST ON CHRISTMAS EVE

By Andrea E. San Juan

Noche buena or “good night” re fers to the night of Christmas Eve. Filipinos are known to be lovers of the three F’s: family, food and fes tivities.

These three words are already been ingrained in the Filipino cul ture even as the pandemic dimmed the parol—a Filipino lantern dis played during the Christmas sea son, for two consecutive years.

In the last two years, despite being cooped up in their homes, Filipinos still managed to dress themselves and show up at the noche buena table, while catching up with relatives and friends via video call either by playing online games together or pretending to drink to gether through “e-numan.”

The feast AS the clock strikes 12 midnight, dishes that are usually present on the table are Pinoy spaghetti, Christmas ham, queso de bola, mac aroni salad, leche flan and more.

However, after overcoming different Covid-19 variants in 2021 and early 2022, Filipinos are yet again expected to surpass a hurdle that’s almost beyond their control—the rising prices of goods brought about by the war in East ern Europe, supply-chain disrup

tions, farm production shortfalls owing to a string of tropical storms, and soaring inflation.

A longside global concerns over how the war in Ukraine had upend ed the world’s most crucial source of grains (Ukraine and Russia), the sugar supply shortage entered the picture, affecting all at once sarisari stores and carinderia owners, small businesses, to the major food manufacturers and consumers. It gets worse: as authorities took the reflex option of importing to fill the shortages and arrest surging prices, the weakening of the Philippine peso vis-à-vis the US dollar and other currencies jacked up the cost of imported raw materials.

Christmas as an exception NONETHELESS, while the persist ing inflation has tamed consumer spending, Christmas is still the ex ception for a lot of Filipinos.

In fact, a survey shows that eight out of 15 Filipino respon dents said they would still splurge on noche buena products despite the rising prices of goods.

They reasoned out that Christ mas is a tradition and it only comes once a year. Hence, spending for noche buena festivities won’t do them any harm.

Of those who said otherwise, three said they would no longer be splurging on noche buena like they used to in the previous years because of the “increase in prices.” One even said, “The increase in prices makes it hard to buy goods for noche buena.”

‘Little sacrifices’

MEANWHILE, one of the respon dents noted making “little sacri fices” to stick to the tradition, “You need to consider the cost of com modities in order to buy as much with the budget at hand. Little sac rifices will be made in order to have as much as possible for the tradi

tional noche buena with the family. Perhaps the amount will be less ened and go for cheaper brands.”

W hen asked where they would spend their money if they wouldn’t splurge on noche buena, 60 percent of the respondents said they would rather save and allot their money for bills to pay.

Interestingly, 66.7 percent of the respondents chose brand as the factor that they will consider when buying noche buena ingredients, fol lowed by 60 percent who answered “tried and tested,” meaning, going for the goods that they are already familiar with. A little over half, or 53.3 percent, said they consider the

price of a product.

The spenders and the ‘grinch’ OF the noche buena ingredients, all respondents said pasta or spa ghetti is usually present—and will yet again be there—on their noche buena table, followed by Christmas ham.

For Christmas 2021 and the years prior, 40 percent of the re spondents said they were willing to spend P4,001 to as much as P8,000; 33.3 percent said they were will ing to spend P2,001 to as much as P4,000; and 26.7 percent of the respondents were willing to spend beyond P8,000.

For 2022, 53 percent of the Filipino respondents said they are willing to spend P4,001 to as much as P8,000 for noche buena; 33.3 per cent said they would spend P2,001 to as much as P4,000; and 13.3 per cent of the respondents are willing to spend beyond P8,000 for noche buena this year.

A nalyzing individual respons es, one sees three consumers have decided to cut down their budget for noche buena. One said he/she is doing so because he/she would rather buy gifts for oneself. Anoth er respondent, meanwhile, said she would rather spend the money to buy gifts for other people, while the other respondent said she would rather save.

The respondent who said that she would rather save checked all three boxes: price, brand, and tried and tested as the factors that she considers when buying ingredients. Notably, this respondent said their monthly household income only ranges from P10,000 to as much as P40,000.

DTI price guide for proper budgeting

THE Department of Trade and In dustry (DTI) recently released a price guide for noche buena items to enable consumers to choose from a wide range of products at varying prices.

In a news statement on Mon day, the Trade department empha sized that the noche buena products are not categorized as basic neces sities and prime commodities (BN PCs) under the Price Act or Repub lic Act No. 75181.

A ccording to DTI, the noche buena price guide includes prod ucts such as ham, fruit cocktail, queso de bola , cheese, sandwich

WITH less than a month away from the noche buena festivities, it’s an impossible wish for the rising prices of goods and commodities to be halted or reversed. Still, from most indications, inflation won’t triumph over tradition and family.

8 out of 15 Pinoys say they would still spend for ‘noche buena’ amid pandemic, rising inflation

Walmart shooting raises need for violence prevention at work

By Alexandra Olson and Anne D’Innocenzio The Associated Press

NEW YORK—The mass shooting Wednesday at a Walmart in Virginia was only the latest example of a workplace shooting perpetrated by an employee.

But while many companies provide active shooting training, experts say there is much less focus on how to prevent workplace vio lence, particularly how to identify and address worrisome behavior among employees.

Workers far too often don’t know how to recognize warning signs, and even more crucially don’t know how to report suspicious be havior or feel empowered to do so, according to workplace safety and human resources experts.

“ We have built an industry around how to lock bad guys out. We have heavily invested in phys ical security measure like metal detectors, cameras and armed se curity guards,” said James Dens ley, professor of criminal justice at Metropolitan State Univer sity in DePaul, Minnesota and co-founder of the nonprofit and

nonpartisan research group The Violence Project.

But too often in workplace shootings, he said, “this is some one who already has access to the building.”

T he Walmart shooting in particular raised questions of whether employees feel empow ered to speak up because it was a team leader who carried out the shooting.

Identified by Walmart as 31-year-old Andre Bing, he opened fire on fellow employees in the break room of the Chesapeake store, killing six people and leaving six others wounded. Police said he then apparently killed himself.

The guy ‘to look out for’

EMPLOYEE Briana Tyler, who sur vived the shooting, said Bing ap peared not to be aiming at anyone

in particular. Tyler, who started at Walmart two months ago, said she never had a negative encounter with Bing, but others told her that he was “the manager to look out for.” She said Bing had a history of writing people up for no reason.

Walmart launched a comput er-based active shooter training in 2015, which focused on three pil lars: avoid the danger, keep your distance and lastly, defend.

Lesson learned THEN, in 2019 after a mass shoot ing at an El Paso, Texas, store in which an outside gunman killed 22 people, Walmart addressed the threat to the public by discontinu ing sales of certain kinds of ammu nition and asked that customers no longer openly carry firearms in its stores. It now sells only hunting rifles and related ammunition.

Wa lmart didn’t specifically respond on Wednesday to ques tions seeking more detail about its training and protocols to pro tect its own employees. The com pany only said that it routinely reviews its training policies and will continue to do so.

Red flags, yellow flags

DENSLEY said employers need to create open channels for workers to voice concerns about employees’ behavior, including confidential hotlines. He noted that too often attention is focused on the “red flags” and workers should be look ing for the “yellow flags”—subtle changes in behavior, like increased anger or not showing up for work.

Densley said managers need to work with those individuals to get

them counseling and do regular check-ins.

I n fact, the Department of Homeland Security’s active shooting manual states that hu man resources officials have a responsibility to “create a sys tem for reporting signs of po tential violent behavior.” It also encourages employees to report concerning behavior such as in creased absenteeism and repeat ed violation of company policies.

What HR policies are needed?

BUT many employers may not have such prevention policies in place, said Liz Peterson, Quality Manager at the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM), an organi zation of more than 300,000 hu man resources professionals.

She noted that in a 2019 SHRM survey of its members, 55 percent of HR professionals said they didn’t know if their organizations had poli cies to prevent workplace violence, and another 9 percent said they lacked such programs.

Th at was in contrast to the 57 percent of HR managers who said they did have training on how to respond to violence.

A recent federal government report examining workplace vio lence over three decades found that workplace homicides have risen in recent years, although they remain sharply down from a peak in the mid-1990s.

Between 2014 and 2019, workplace homicides nationwide increased by 11 percent from 409 to 454. That was still down 58 per cent from a peak of 1,080 in 1994, according to the report, which was

The report found that work place homicide trends largely mir rored homicide trends nationwide.

But the country’s spike in mass public shootings is raising aware ness among employers of the need to address mental health in the workplace and prevent violence— and of the liabilities employers can face if they ignore warning signs, Peterson said.

In one high-profile exam ple, the family of a victim filed a wrongful death lawsuit earlier this year against the Northern Cali fornia Transportation agency, al leging it failed to address the his tory of threatening behavior of an employee who shot and killed nine co-workers at a light railyard in San Jose in 2021.

‘Going postal’

THE transportation agency re leased more than 200 pages of emails and other documents show ing the shooter, Samuel James Cas sidy, had been the subject of four investigations into workplace con duct, and one worker had worried that Cassidy could “go postal.” That expression stems from one of the deadliest workplace shooting in US history, when a postal worker shot and killed 14 workers in Edmond, Oklahoma, in 1986.

“ Workplace violence is a situa tion that you never think is going to happen to your organization until it does, and unfortunately, it’s important to prepare for them because they are becoming more commonplace,” Peterson said.

UNSTOPPABLE FEAST…

spread, mayonnaise, pasta or spaghetti, elbow macaroni, salad macaroni, spaghetti sauce, toma to sauce, and creamer or all-pur pose cream.

Based on its price guide, prices of all stock keeping units (SKUs) of fruit cocktail, cheese and queso de bola, tomato sauce and cream prod ucts increased.

Prices of ham range from P162 to as much as P892.50.

Prices of fruit cocktail range from P56 to as much as P288.

Prices of cheese range from P55 to as much as P371.

Prices of queso de bola range from P199.50 to as much as P513.75.

Prices of mayonnaise range from P24 to as much as P176.15.

Prices of sandwich spread range from P26 to as much as P252.

Prices of pasta/spaghetti range from P25.50 to as much as P111.

Prices of elbow macaroni range from P23 to as much as P119.

Prices of salad macaroni range from P36.50 to as much as P117.

Prices of spaghetti sauce range from P35.50 to as much as P95.50

Prices of tomato sauce range from P17.25 to as much as P92.25

Prices of all-purpose cream range from P63 to as much as P75.

The prices of these products depend on their weight, brand and size.

Indeed, family and tradition will likely trump inflation this Christmas, and knowing the Filipi no, they will find ways to make the “good night” remain as a time for celebration despite the challenges.

released in July by the Depart ments of Labor, Justice and Health and Human Services.

FLOWERS and balloons have been placed near the scene of a mass shooting at a Walmart on Wednesday, November 23, 2022, in Chesapeake, Virginia. AP

How a flawed but historic climate deal emerged from COP27 chaos

By Jennifer A Dlouhy & John Ainger

HOURS after the COP27 climate talks reached the deadline, there was still no deal and the European Union’s climate chief was threatening to leave Sharm El-Sheikh without one. “We don’t want a result at any price,” Frans Timmermans told reporters, flanked by ministers from Germany, Austria, Ireland and Spain. “The EU would

The annual United Nations cli mate summit has only ended once without a major agreement, and in recent years, as the impacts of climate change have become more devastating, the meetings have taken on increased urgency. In the 24 hours after Timmermans and the EU raised the prospect of a nodeal outcome in Egypt, delegates from nearly 200 countries barely managed to avoid a stalemate. Ultimately the Europeans and their allies accepted the kind of flawed outcome they had vowed to avoid. The COP27 summit adopted an accord that doesn’t increase ambitions on lowering emissions or take new steps to preserve the 1.5 degrees Celsius limit for warm ing temperatures. It also commits to the creation a loss-and-damage fund that, if details can be worked out at future talks, will send aid to vulnerable countries wrecked by the irreversible harms of global warming. That stands as an enor mous achievement—a deal three decades in the making that many doubted would come from this year’s meeting.

But success was marred by the failure to find agreement on phas ing down all fossil fuels or other wise build on emissions-cutting commitments made at last year’s UN summit in Glasgow. “Many parties—too many parties—are not ready to make more progress today in the fight against the cli mate crisis,” Timmermans said after reaching the COP27 agree ment. The final deal “is not enough of a step forward for people and the planet.”

It’s a damning indictment of the UN process from a consummate insider, and it comes against the brutal backdrop of increasingly extreme weather such as the mon soon flooding in Pakistan over this summer that left at least 1,700 dead and some $30 billion in damage. Pakistan, for its part, celebrated the breakthrough on loss and damage.

After more than two weeks of climate haggling involving nearly 200 nations, all of which had to agree on the final text, COP27 has revealed a marked shift in power within the diplomatic process that produced the 2015 Paris Agree ment. Bold new agreements to curtail emissions are now harder, in large part because of the energy crisis that prompted a worldwide scramble for new natural gas sup plies. At this moment, cooperation meant to tackle inequities between developed and developing nations is more doable.

The final COP27 document without crucial progress on emis sions came about, in part, from a concerted effort by petrostates such as Saudi Arabia and Russia to fend off more carbon-cutting ambition and pledges that would undermine the oil and gas produc tion that fuels their economies.

Oil-producing nations were em powered by a hands-off Egyptian presidency that failed to launch early negotiations, foster trust among countries or even circulate draft proposals in time that could form the basis for consensus.

It didn’t start out that way. Delegates and observers were jubilant on Nov. 6 after a swift earlier agreement to launch the first-ever formal debate over the issue of loss and damage — COPspeak for how to help developing countries getting battered by in tense storms, searing heat waves and other climate-exacerbated weather disasters. The nations most vulnerable to rising tempera tures created little of the planetwarming pollution that has inten sified these extreme impacts. Yet the moral case for compensation from rich nations hadn’t even ap peared on a COP agenda until now.

There was major work to do to advance the issue at COP27. The top US climate envoy, John Kerry, had insisted before the summit that there was no way countries could agree to establish a new funding facility by the end of the conference. The largest negotia tion bloc of vulnerable nations, known as the G77+China, de manded nothing less. At the same time, rich countries wanted to push developing nations harder on pursuing economic growth with green energy and stepping up decarbonization efforts to lim it warming to 1.5C above pre-in dustrial levels.

This tension made for halting negotiations at the conference center in a Red Sea resort town, where thousands of participants and observers found long lines for food and empty water dispensers. A sense of frustration built among delegates as the days passed un der sweltering sun. By the middle of the second week, there was no hint of breakthroughs on any of the major issues. Even debates over smaller, less controversial topics—such as rules governing carbon markets—remained unre solved. The Egyptian official serv ing as president of COP27, Sameh Shoukry, had to keep a host of top ics under negotiation during the conference’s final days.

As the second week wore on, a stalemate emerged between de veloping and developed countries over the new fund for loss and damage. Concessions by the EU and other rich nations that might be compelled to pay into the fund did little to resolve the impasse. As that fight ground on, there was building momentum around India’s call for countries to pledge to phase down all fossil fuels—not just unabated coal, as they had promised a year earlier in Glasgow.

Shoukry warned delegates that “time is not on our side,” with just days remaining in the talks. “There is still a lot of work ahead of us if we are to achieve meaningful and tangible outcomes of which we can be proud.”

Behind the scenes, according to delegates and observers, the Egyp tian COP27 presidency was dis playing little urgency. Normally in the late stages ministers would be digging into proposed language for a final political decision, or “cover text,” that’s issued at the end of the summit. These broad consen sus statements form the basis for global climate action by laying out temperature goals, carbon-cutting pledges and finance plans. But the Egyptian officials running COP27 weren’t initially planning for am bitious cover text at the end, and so they hadn’t drafted boilerplate language ahead of time.

By the evening of Wednesday, Nov. 16—after 10 days of talks, and just 48 hours before the con ference’s official close—noth ing formal had been circulated. Shoukry had been notably absent from the process, both publicly in press briefings and behind closed doors in meetings with delega tions. This presented a marked contrast to the hands-on style of his predecessor in the COP presi dency, Alok Sharma of the UK, who took an active approach to COP26 talks in Glasgow last year.

On Thursday morning, dele gates woke to a sprawling, 20-page document that presented an as sortment of options for final lan guage. It was full of redundancies and conflicting passages. Egyptian Ambassador Wael Aboulmagd later explained that it had been whittled down from more than 50 pages of competing proposals, after omit ting ideas the presidency deemed too controversial.

Among the casualties: any pos sible pledge to phase down oil and gas as well as coal—a blow to India, the EU and scores of other countries now supporting the ef fort. The text also left only place holders for a future compromise on loss and damage, rather than the concrete offer sought by the G77 bloc of developing countries.

Developed nations felt blindsided by proposed language that would compel them to dramatically de carbonize and “attain net-negative carbon emissions by 2030,” a feat that would strain both political and technological wherewithal.

Sharma, Timmermans and Ste ven Guilbeault, Canada’s climate minister, spent parts of Thurs day pleading with Shoukry in pri vate to ensure the final COP27 out come would build on the Glasgow declaration, rather than backslide from it. When delegation leaders gathered later that day to assess progress, it was clear little had changed. Timmermans sought to break the logjam by offering a two-part deal: The conference would agree to establish a new loss-and-damage response fund, with details worked out over the next year, and in return countries would vow to peak global emis sions by 2025 and phase down all fossil fuels.

That EU proposal was largely passed over by the Egyptian presi dency, which on Friday morn ing released a draft decision text that once again left out any kind of promise to phase down fossil fuels as well as a commitment to peak emissions by 2025. There was little visible progress toward a potential loss-and-damage fund, which developing nations called an unforgivable omission.

“Anything other than the es tablishment of a loss-and-damage fund at COP27 climate talks is untenable,” warned Sherry Rehm an, Pakistan’s climate minister, speaking on behalf of the G77 bloc.

Tensions had emerged over a push by many developed nations, including Germany and other EU members, to ensure a broad donor base for any new fund for loss and damage. While the onus should be on historically high greenhouse gas emitters, they felt rapidly de veloping nations behind enormous emissions—namely, China— should also contribute. “We need a financing system that includes the biggest emitters, said Annal ena Baerbock, Germany’s foreign minister.

As conference staff started pulling down flags, unwiring dis plays and dismantling pavilions, 10-year-old Nakeeyat Dramani of Ghana beseeched delegates. “Please, do not renege on your re sponsibility,” she implored them inside a packed meeting on Fri day. “If all of you were to be young people like me, wouldn’t you have already agreed to do what is needed to save our planet?”

But the odds of success ap peared to be diminishing. Min isters from island nations were already starting to fly home late

Friday—which had been the offi cial end date for the conference— as they were unable to bear the expense of rebooking travel or staying for an extended time. A delegation from Botswana, among others, started scrambling to book new arrangements as negotiations headed into overtime. Talks were also complicated by John Kerry’s Covid diagnosis on Friday, which forced the seasoned diplomat— known for leveraging handshake diplomacy and personal relation ships to forge compromise—into quarantine.

Shortly after midnight Satur day, some delegates were sum moned by the Egyptian presidency for a closed-door look at portions of a new drafted text focused on loss and damage and efforts to boost climate mitigation. Coun t ry officials were permitted 20 minutes to analyze the unpub lished material in a closed room and barred from removing the documents. One official called it highly unusual.

For the EU, the draft decisions were riddled with holes. On loss and damage, the text said that the funds could apply to all developing countries rather than just the most vulnerable. The Europeans found the mitigation language even worse—weaker than Glasgow, according to some—because it explicitly ruled out new climate targets or goals. Timmermans had conditioned a new loss-and-dam age fund on stronger emissions cuts. He hadn’t gotten it.

Still, the EU gambit had helped shift the debate over loss and dam age, successfully boosting pressure on the US to yield on the issue while helping prompt oil-rich Canada to back down from a fight against a fossil-fuel phaseout. The key breakthrough on loss and damage came after texts published early Saturday afternoon. To break the deadlock, the EU took the unusual step of convening the “Friends of the Presidency,” a select group of countries and negotiating blocs.

The EU, US, the G77 and the Al liance of Small Island States as sembled with the Egyptians for the talks.

The G77, which includes many island states threat ened by rising seas, had shown a re markable solidarity in their quest for a loss-and-damage fund that would ap ply to all developing countries. But in the overtime meet ing, the EU pressed the island states: Are you really happy not to be prioritized

for funding? Representatives from the Maldives took a 30-minute timeout, came back into the room and broke with the G77, accord ing to a person familiar with the matter.

As a result, the final version of loss-and-damage text targeted funding to “developing countries that are particularly vulnerable to the adverse effects of climate change.” The proposal leaves the door open for contributions from developing-but-high-emitting na tions, such as China. And, in a win for the US, the language makes clear the new fund isn’t meant to duplicate existing efforts, with details developed over the next year. The goal is to operational ize the new funding arrangements at next year’s UN climate summit in Dubai.

“Just changing a few para graphs, we actually got something which respects both sides,” said Espen Barth Eide, Norway’s cli mate minister.

Despite the breakthrough on loss and damage, clashes over miti gation intensified at this point. As planes droned overhead, delegates were locked in an intense fight over even maintaining the emis sions-cutting ambition adopted at COP26. Officials from Saudi Arabia had pushed for a one-year mitigation work program, an ef fort that aims to close the gap between 1.5C and the current trajectory headed almost one de gree higher. The US, EU and other countries wanted the program to run through 2030.

Ministers from New Zealand, Norway and Canada complained that the latest text was a step backward. “There can’t be any backsliding,” Canada’s Guilbeault told reporters. “We cannot leave Sharm El-Sheikh by having aban doned the possibility of keeping 1.5 Celsius alive, and right now we are very concerned that is what is being proposed.”

Failure on the mitigation pack age threatened to tank the deal on loss and damage. New Zealand climate change minister James Shaw said at this point things were

rather have no decision than a bad decision.”

DEMONSTRATORS participate in a sit-in calling for reparations for loss and damage at the COP27 UN Climate Summit on Thursday, November 17, 2022, in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt. AP/PETER DEJONG

HOMES are surrounded by floodwaters in Jaffarabad, a district of Pakistan’s southwestern Baluchistan province, on September 1, 2022. AP/ZAHID HUSSAIN

Climate change reshapes life for gannets on Quebec isle

By Calvin Woodward, Lynn Berry, Carolyn Kaster & Christina Larson The Associated Press

You see this from the tender ages on the family gravestones of islanders who scratched out a liv ing from the late 1700s to when Bonaventure went entirely to the birds a half century ago.

You see it from the tenacious colony of 100,000-plus northern gannets as they plunge into the sea for prey, soar back to their nests and fight at the least provoca tion, sometimes to the death, for their territory on a plateau high above the waters or in crannies of the cliffs.

Nothing is easy for the gannets. Not in this age of warming seas, competition with trawlers for fish, pollution, supercharged storms and the onset of avian flu.

That’s especially so when those perils are combined with their cu rious compulsion, shared by many seabirds, to return each spring to the exact spot they left the year before. For these spirited divas, the next nesting spot over just won’t do.

Worldwide, it remains difficult or impossible to tie any one mas sive die-off of seabirds or breeding calamity solely to global warm ing, for nature has its own jar ring rhythms of abundance and deprivation.

But the evidence writ large, over decades, is unassailable: Warm ing and rising seas and the erratic weather events fueled by a chang ing climate are taking a heavy toll on seabirds. University of British Columbia researchers say seabird populations have fallen 70 percent since the mid-20th century.

Climate-related losses have, for example, hit albatrosses in the central Pacific, common murres and Cassin’s auklets along the US West Coast, puffins off the Maine coast, penguins in South Africa, endangered roseate terns off New England, and brown pelicans on vanishing islands off southeast ern Louisiana.

The struggles of many seabird species occur in marine wilderness far from humans. Those of the Bonaventure gannets, however, play out in plain sight, in a gift to

scientists and the public, on the protected grounds of the Quebec government’s Parc national de l’lle-Bonaventure-et-du-RocherPerce.

The Bonaventure gannets dis play a “clumsy and funny little side on land which has nothing to do with what it is when it is at sea,” said David Pelletier, a leading Que bec researcher of the birds.

At sea the gannets are mag nificent in their grace and power.

Using air currents off the water, they fly effortlessly high over the sea and dive nearly straight down in their hunt for fish, piercing the surface at 100 kilometers (60 miles) an hour like so many white missiles. Their black-tipped wings, which span 2 meters (6 feet), are tightly tucked behind them.

They dive in huge numbers near the island when mackerel—the prey that gives them the most en ergy—or herring or other smaller fish are abundant there.

It’s a sight that amazes even the most seasoned scientists ev ery time. “It’s so wow,” said Ma gella Guillemette, a pre-eminent gannet researcher at the Univer sity of Quebec in Rimouski, as he described watching the feeding frenzy from his small boat in the thick of it.

With the island less than 3 ki lometers (under 2 miles) from the Perce harbor, these Bonaventure birds are remarkably accessible to biologists and visitors who hike on trails thick with wildflowers in summer to see the birds up close. The clamor of the birds greets the hikers even before the full colony comes into view.

The gannets, unlike many other seabirds, seem utterly indiffer ent to humans. They gaze right through you with their porcelain blue eyes.

“It’s rare that we have the pos sibility to look at wild animals like this,” said Marie-Dominique Nadeau-Girard, the park’s services manager. “And they stay there, they don’t look at you, they live their life, and you’re just looking at them and learning.”

Guillemette’s student research ers are busy each summer studying the birds. Over the years, they have put leg bands and GPS systems on hundreds of them. What’s striking about gannets is that the research ers can simply pick them up, with out fear of disturbing their nests.

“You just catch that bird,” Guil lemette said. “You weigh them, you put some devices on them and then you put it back to the nest and it’s just staying there.”

The eco-sentinels ALL of this makes the Bonaven ture gannets ideal sentinels for the health of the marine ecosys tem in the gulf and clattering storytellers to the planet. They form the world’s second largest gannet colony and are easier to reach than the largest, on Scot land’s remote Bass Island.

Quebec’s on-the-ground ex perts on the colony, Canadian government biologists, and sea bird scientists globally say there is little to no question that global warming is reshaping the lives of the northern gannets. Warmer sea temperatures drive their prey to cooler depths, distant waters or both.

But the full impact of climate change is not yet established and overfishing may be an even greater danger.

In tandem, the threats from fishing and warming are forcing the gannets to go farther from their Bonaventure nests in search of food for their island chicks and themselves. The distance the birds fly on a single fishing trip has more than doubled in recent years to an average of 500 kilometers (300 miles), leaving one mate and the chick waiting several days or lon ger to be fed by the hunter, Guil lemette said.

If the mate on the nest gets too weak from hunger, it may fly off for food, too, leaving the young one to starve or to wander from the nest

Norway’s Eide bemoaned and that was left undefined. It could be read as supporting more natural gas.

and risk being killed by an adult. Like many seabirds, adult gannets are highly territorial and may kill any intruders to their nesting ar eas; AP journalists witnessed two such deadly attacks on the young on a day shortly before the winter migration.

Researchers have been able to draw a strong correlation be tween the supply of mackerel in t he gulf and the number of chicks produced. In 2012, when there were almost no mackerel, only 4 percent of the nests produced a chick, Guillemette said, a record low attributed to unusually warm waters that year.

Since then, productivity has been highly variable year to year while remaining low on average, said seabird biologist Jean-Fran çois Rail of the Canadian Wildlife Service, an agency of Environment and Climate Change Canada.

“Everything points in the di rection of reduced availability of mackerel and herring, which re sults in lower breeding success,” he said.

What’s clear is that birds now need to work harder to find food. Beginning in 2012, Guillemette’s researchers began outfitting gan nets with a GPS device, in little boxes taped above their tails, which lets them track how far they fly, how deep they dive, and how many times they dive each day.

In March, just as the spring fishing season was opening, Canada shut commercial fishing for Atlantic mackerel and spring herring in the southern Gulf of St. Lawrence, saying stocks had entered a “critical zone.” Earlier efforts to restore stocks failed, in part because warmer waters had depleted the microscopic crustaceans that are the main food for the fish.

Mackerel is a star of the gulf ecosystem, not only for gannets. They’re prized as a commercial species as well as bait for the

lucrative lobster, crab and tuna fisheries. The gulf’s abundant grey seals gobble as many as they can get. With all the competition for food, gannets have found ways to adapt, but at a cost.

This year, the Bonaventure col ony also had to contend with the avian flu. The contamination rate was high in the spring, Guillemette said, but faded. Other colonies in Canada had it much worse.

Colony life

OVER winter, northern gannets are solitary birds that live widely dispersed on the water—along the Atlantic coast from Maine to Florida, some even in the Gulf of Mexico. But mates reunite year af ter year on their breeding grounds, for 15 years or so, producing one chick each season.

They have a monogamous na ture and an elaborate means of communicating mate to mate. In gannet-speak, a beak turned sky ward signals it’s time to go forage; mates clacking their bills together as if in a swordfight signal a wel come home after the hunt.

You might think they are love birds; alas, these sentinels are not sentimental.

“People are more romantic and think they are faithful to their partner, but it’s not the case,” Nadeau-Girard says with a laugh. “The gannet is faithful to his ter ritory, his nest.

“And if the baby goes out of the nest, the parents won’t recognize him because ... they recognize the nest, not the individual. Each time they see each other it’s like they meet for the first time.”

The nests are only 80 centime ters (30 inches) apart, center-tocenter, and these are sizable birds. At certain vantage points, the col ony appears as a carpet of white as far as the eye can see, dotted with the dark-feathered young ones, and all of it against the backdrop of sea and sky.

The birds arrive in April, lay their eggs in May and tend them until they hatch more than 40 days later. Then it’s three months of raising the chicks. By the time of the southern migration in late September or early October, the young are plenty plump, weighing 1 kilogram (over 2 pounds) more than their parents. The extra fat will sustain them at sea as they learn to fly and dive for fish.

There are no training wheels for the portly juveniles. Instead, lots of practice beating their wings on the ground, followed by a depar ture from the cliffs that is part flight, part plop.

If they survive that, the jour ney south will teach them their grace and power on the wing and into the deep.

A mystical landscape FROM the town of Perce, the main land cliffs with the red-roofed houses, the commanding Perce Rock and Bonaventure Island make for an iconic panorama, and a mystical one for the people of the Gaspe Peninsula and travelers from around the world.

When boats bring visitors to the island, park employees cor ral them to explain the trails and what they can and cannot do. Ser vices are primarily in French. On a September day, the multilingual Rudiger Spraul pulled aside the English-speaking visitors to give them the drill.

He came from Germany, fell in love with the place and spent the summer and early fall working for the park until it closed last month after the gannets left for the winter. He looked out on the colony every day from a small food operation where visitors can pic nic and hope they aren’t leeward of the day’s winds, for the colony can stink.

“It gave me so much peace that I decided I’m going to stay here,” he said. “I’m actually an engineer. Now I’m selling sandwiches on this lonesome spot.”

“The island is such a beautiful small little paradise. It’s like time stands still there. You go there, you see that old houses, no people liv ing for so many years, but still you can get the impression how it was there, how hard it was.”

The island was settled in the late 18th century by cod fisher men, reaching its population peak of 172 in 1831. The last remaining families left in 1971 when it was taken over by the government to become part of the park.

Altogether, some 250,000 birds inhabit the teardrop-shaped island, about 3 kilometers (under 2 miles) at its longest. Seals frequent the rocks and shore and whales are a common sight. Foxes poke from island bushes and snag an occasional gannet on the colony’s periphery.

They’re all out making a living in a changing ecosystem that tests the ability of creatures great and small to adapt.

“The northern gannet is, for me, a resilient species, strong, capable of ‘turning on a dime’ ... as we say in Quebec, ‘se tourner sur un 10 cents,’” said Pelletier, a teacherresearcher at Cegep de Rimouski, a public college.

How much and how fast must they pivot as their habitat and our planet continue to warm? What fish will be there for them in the spring, and how far and how deep will they be? Bonaventure’s senti nels will be back next year to tell more of that tale.

“tantalizingly close” and he felt “it would be an incredible shame for it to fall over right now.” Delegates privately worried that if they didn’t strike now, future political shifts in the US and other countries would make a new fund impossible.

But Saudi Arabia, Iran, Russia and other oil-producing countries were digging in against expanded language on fossil fuels, according to people familiar with the mat ter. During a two-and-a-half hour meeting of the heads of delegations late Saturday, US negotiator Trigg Talley announced the country was ready to go even further and sup port a pledge to “phase out” un abated oil, gas and coal.

This took the US a step further than language to merely “phase down” fossil fuels.

But it wouldn’t matter. Del egates from oil-rich nations in sisted that the energy proposals were unbalanced and unaccept able. Language to phase down oil and gas was a red line they would not cross. When final text was released—after ministers had already filed in to a final meet ing around 4 a.m. Sunday—there was no phase-down pledge and new language had been added to further protect petroleum in terests. Countries would now be agreeing to an urgent need for rapid emissions reductions, in cluding through an increase in “low-emission” energy, a term

Shoukry was intent on quickly pushing through the loss-and-dam age compromise. Minutes after con vening the session just before dawn Sunday—with some staff still sleep ing in rolling office chairs in the back—he brought up the text and asked for its adoption. With a gavel bang just a few moments later, it was done. Nearly 200 nations had just agreed to create a loss-and-damage fund for vulnerable countries bear ing the brunt of climate change.

The countries that wanted to see stronger climate ambition were still weighing their options, including possibly intervening to demand the insertion of pledges on emissions peaking by 2025 and phasing down fossil fuels. After successfully appealing for a halfhour break to review the newly released text, delegates from the

so-called High Ambition Coalition, including Norway, Canada and the UK, huddled to strategize. Sharma spoke with US officials Talley and Sue Biniaz.

For a moment it looked like devel oped nations would press the issue on the floor, sparking a fight that would reveal deep divisions over the pace of the world’s pivot from fossil fuels. But Shoukry restarted the meeting and began calling up portions of the final documents, one after another, swiftly asking if there was any objection and then gaveling down in assent before any placards were raised. Timmermans sat stony faced, his eyes locked on Shoukry. Moments after applause marked the adoption of the main cover text—dubbed the Sharm ElSheikh Implementation Plan—del egates from the US fled out the back.

Norway’s Eide quickly followed. The mitigation work program could have been worse, he told reporters,

and at least the ambition “does not scale down from Glasgow.” But his glum face betrayed his disap pointment.

Inside, some ministers were still seething. The final calculus, for many, was whether to demand last-minute changes and risk a floor fight that could cause the entire deal to collapse, taking the progress on loss and damage with it. But the disgruntled nations weren’t united on their demands, and negotiators were exhausted af ter a sleepless final night. Shoukry had run out the clock.

“We are all tired—except, of course, for you, Mr. President,” Timmermans said in an address a few moments later, an apparent thinly veiled reference to Shoukry’s hands-off leadership. “We are faced with a moral dilemma because this deal is not enough on mitigation” but the alternative would be to “walk away and thereby kill a fund

that vulnerable countries have fought so hard for for decades.”

Sharma fumed that there were fights at every step. “Those of us who came to Egypt to keep 1.5 de grees alive and respect what every single one of us agreed to in Glasgow had to fight relentlessly to hold the line,” he said. That target “remains on life support.”

Tuvalu’s foreign affairs minister, Simon Kofe, summed up the mix of success and failure that charac terized the end of the summit in Egypt. Loss and damage counted as a tremendous gain: “It has been a long time coming—three long de cades—and we have finally delivered climate justice,” Kofe said. However, he added, “we haven’t achieved an equal success” on emissions and that “has made Sharm El-Sheikh, re grettably, a missed opportunity for a truly successful COP.” With assistance from Akshat Rathi, Salma El Wardany and Antony Sguazzin/Bloomberg.

How a flawed but historic climate deal emerged from COP27 chaos

PERCE, Quebec—On Quebec’s Bonaventure Island, the ghosts of human habitation from years past and the birds that breed there now in extraordinary numbers tell the same story: of lives lived hard in a place of fairy-tale beauty.

Larson reported from Washington.

A PAIR of northern gannets greet each other by touching beaks on Bonaventure Island in the Gulf of St. Lawrence off the coast of Quebec, Canada’s Gaspe Peninsula on September 13, 2022. Scientists are tracking the threats to seabirds, like gannets, from climate change, overfishing and other perils wrought by humans. AP/CAROLYN KASTER

www.businessmirror.com.ph

Malusog Rice tastes like...rice

By Lyn B. Resurreccion

AFTER 18 years of research and adhering to regulatory requirements, Golden Rice, renamed as Malusog Rice, made its first appearance in public like a debutante.

The cooked yellow rice was served during the “Unang Ani ng Golden Rice: Isang Pasasalamat,” a thanksgiving and celebration that was tended by the research agencies that developed the bio tech product, the Philippine Rice Research Institute (PhilRice) of the Department of Agriculture and the Los Baños-based International Rice Research Institute (IRRI), on November 24.

The two agencies treated their partners and the stakeholders in a “taste test” of sorts of the much awaited rice variety with beta carotene that produces vitamin A when eaten.

“It tastes like ordinary rice. But it is more nutritious [with beta carotene],” was the reac tion of everybody, including Dr. Howarth Bois, a recipient of the 2016 World Food Prize who pio neered the concept of biofortifi cation and founded HarvestPlus in 2003.

As expected, there would be no change in the form and taste of the rice compared to common rice, except for its improved nutri tional value to highlight its benefit to its target beneficiaries—the children and adults who suffer from vitamin A deficiency, and prevent death.

The no change in taste also gives the message that Malusog Rice is safe, as mentioned by a farmer in a video during the event

Its color yellow came from the beta-carotene that was engineered into its gene.

It should be noted that the Phil ippines was the first country to approve the commercial planting of the rice variety after the gov ernment approved it in July 2021.

The other countries doing re searches to adapt it in their respec tive countries are Bangladesh and Indonesia.

The Malusog Rice that was served during the event was har vested from Samar this wet crop ping season in September.

Malusog Rice

told the event that Golden Rice was registered in the Philippines by the National Seed Industry Council as Malusog Rice.

He said that for the beneficia ries to know more about the prod uct they should be given a clear idea of what it can offer. Thus, PhilRice did a survey that produced “Malu sog Rice” as the acceptable brand name for the seeds and grains

“It built a strong brand name that identified the product and captured our aspiration of better nutrition,” Zagado said, adding that “golden” sounds expensive.

“It highlighted the health and nutritional benefits of [Malu sog Rice] when consumed,” he pointed out.

The tagline “Bawat butil puno ng sustansya [Each grain is full of nutrients],” Zagado explained, signified better nutrition.

‘Parents, cousins’ MA. AILEEN A. GARCIA, senior manager of Program Manage ment and Stakeholder Advocacy of Healthier Rice at IRRI, acknowl edged that the success of Malusog Rice cannot be achieved without the participation of their partners and stakeholders

“We would like to call [Malu sog Rice] as the child born out of the marriage of agriculture and nutrition...and numerous other parents, uncles, cousins who have raised it,” Garcia said.

She said the overwhelming amount of support came from each stages of the project—from farm ers, farmer-leaders, local govern ment units (LGUs), nutritionists, women, scientists, coalition of experts, policy-makers, student organizations, private groups and Nobel laureates.

The hybrid event recognized those who attended by Zoom. Ag riculturists from Urdaneta City in Pangasinan and Piddig, Ilocos Norte, expressed their respective LGUs’ support to the technology online.

Dr. Mario Capanzana, former Food and Nutrition Research In stitute of the Department of Sci ence and Technology, spoke about how the agency collaborated with

the researchers through techni cal evaluation of the rice being researched.

Continue R&D journey

DR . John C. de Leon, executive director of DA PhilRice, said the first harvest of Malusog Rice was the first step toward the long term goal of meeting the rice require ment of all vitamin-A deficient households in the Philippines.

“This pilot scale deployment was also the continuation of our R&D journey. We intend to adjust and iterate our strategy based on emerging priorities and challeng es we observe on the ground,” de Leon said.

The PhilRice chief said they are “committed” to provide the seeds that meet the certifica tion standards and continue to capacitate their partners to be able “to produce seeds of the highest quality.

In creating demand, he said they have listened to their stake holders to be able to have the right perspective of how nutritious rice varieties like Malusog Rice can make an impact.

At the same time, he said the enabling environment must be present “at all levels” from the na tional to the barangays to be able to ensure the program’s sustain ability and create local champions to help build trust.

Commercial production by 2024 TEN regions across country were identified as sights for seed and grain production.

O n the other hand, based on a range of criteria, including mal

nutrition status, seven provinces were identified as initial areas for the Mausog Rice distribution.

Z agado told the Business Mirror at the sidelines of the event that commercial production of Malusog Rice may be possible by the latter part 2024.

“By then we hope to have enough supply of seeds. For now we are still in pilot-scale production for seed expansion. The limited milled grains we have from the harvests are for promotion and advocacy,” he pointed out.

He added that in the meantime, PhilRice will be doing promotion and initial or test marketing of milled rice.

“ We intend to develop more varieties of Malusog Rice in the background of popular and highyielding varieties preferred by farmers and consumers,” he said

He earlier announced during his presentation that some areas are able to produce big volumes of the rice, including the 7.8 tons/ hectare harvest in Maguindanao. ‘First father’ IT should be noted that the Gold en Rice Project was introduced in 1999. Professors Ingo Potrykus and Peter Beyer engineered it from normal rice to help improve hu man health, according to Embryo Project Encyclopedia. It produces beta-carotene, a molecule that becomes vitamin A when metabo lized by humans.

G olden Rice is a not-for-profit project where no individual, nor organization involved with its development, has any financial in terest in the outcome, the Golden

Rice Project web site said.

F rom the Potrykus-Beyer re search, scientists have been trying to adopt the healthy rice variety to the respective countries, including the Philippines.

Dr. Antonio Alfonso, the cur rent Regulatory and Steward ship manager at Corteva Agri science, was the “first father” of Malusog Rice.

He was the Golden Rice Project Leader at PhilRice when he start ed with the research on the proj ect in 2004—or 18 years ago— fresh from his doctoral studies at Cornell University in the US.

PhilRice has been working with IRRI to develop the variety for Philippine consumption.

Alfonso, told the Business Mirror in an interview on No vember 24, explained that IRRI would do the crosses, the hy bridization, to transfer the trait from the donor Golden Rice va riety to Philippine variety.

“The PhilRice team’s respon sibility was to grow them in the screenhouse to select the best variety. Actually IRRI was doing the same, so it was simultaneous at two locations. We were compar ing our data which among these candidate breeding lines would be suitable for advancing to the next generation,” he said.

From the selected breeding line, the PhilRice and IRRI teams would eventually select the best candidate to be the variety that can be commercialized.

The first screenhouse plant ing at PhilRice outside of the laboratory was witnessed by this writer.

After the screenhouse, some lines that were selected were eventually planted for confined field test. Then those that per formed well at this level were chosen for multi-location trials, Alfonso explained.

“That was a small part of the journey, but that was crucial be cause you need to identify the best lines to eventually reach the din ing table,” he pointed out.

What are his thoughts after 18 years that his “baby” is now mak ing its debut?

Alfonso said the past years were riddled with uncertainties.

“But early on we have confi dence with the technology and we understand the goal of the project. There were technical issues we had to address, the regulatory process, the acceptance of the stakeholders, there those against the technol ogy. We didn’t know if we would be able to address them. But we persisted,” he said.

“Finally we have this [Golden Rice or Malusog Rice] on our dining plate and enjoying it. Very soon it would reach the target sector of our society who would be benefiting most from Golden Rice,” the ever optimistic scientist said.

Lesson for the world

DR . Russell Reike, Healthier Rice Program Lead at IRRI, em phasized that they would not be able “to get to this point with out true partnerships of all the components of the program.... It honors the partnership between IRRI and PhilRice.”

He asked the stakeholders “to redouble our efforts. Let us reflect on the successes we have today but use that as energy for the future.”

Reinke noted that in the global context, the Golden Rice’s success in the Philippines “will be a lesson for the rest of the world.”

“I believe we have a bright fu ture in front of of us.... The fu ture of successful deployment of Golden Rice can be an example to the rest of the world to take this technology and move it further to reach the people in need, “ Reinke pointed out.

DOST-funded startup wins top prize in Shell LiveWIRE global awards

APHILIPPINE startup won the grand prize in the Business Innovation Category of the Top Ten Innovators (TTI) of the Shell liveWIRE (SLW), a global competition that highlights and rewards innovative and impactful entrepreneurs.

Nanotronics Inc., funded by the Department of Science and Technology-Business Innovation through S&T for Industry Program (DOSTBIST), is a tech startup pioneering in the production of sustainable nanomaterials derived from highly renewable indigenous plants for various industrial application.

Shell LiveWIRE web site said Nanotronics, with Dr Jerome

Palaganas as co-founder and CEO, produces nanomaterials as an alternative to plastic packaging.

Through Nanotronics’s project with the DOST-BIST, the company’s nanotechnology materials are being used to develop and produce sustainable material solutions for packaging application intended for the fast-moving consumer goods industry.

Its nanomaterials are intentionally not sourced from trees nor food-based plants to allow full sustainability of its feedstock.

The selected feedstock for Nanotronics’s nanomaterial products is highly renewable as it can be grown and harvested

almost yearly.

Paper per se as packaging material was seen to have inherent weaknesses, as it is lacking in mechanical strength and barrier properties.

Nanotronics’s nanomaterial products enable mechanical strength and barrier properties on paper in packaging, while maintaining the full biodegradability of the final paper-based packaging product, the DOST-BIST said.

Likewise, the final product can decompose at ambient temperature and without industrial intervention.

The same nanomaterial products have enabled the startup to recently produce its biobased and biodegradable

plastic, which is intended as an alternative for single-use plastic.

Nanotronics’s winning the SLW award is a historic moment for the Philippines as it is the first time in the 40-year history of SLW TTI to have a winner from the Philippines.

This also opened opportunities for the winner to have access to global market and support from SLW global, said DOST-BIST in a news release.

The award was designed to highlight and reward impactful Shell LiveWIRE entrepreneurs, who are making positive contributions toward social impact, environmental

sustainability and business innovation.

Nanotronics bested 203 entries coming from 22 countries globally.

The company was also the inaugural Grand Tech Winner of SLW Philippines in 2020 besting 154 tech startups in the country. It was in 2020 that the SLW was first launched in the Philippines.

Nanotronics’s win was announced in the 2022 TTI virtual and global awarding ceremony held on November 15 and published on the Shell LiveWIRE web site on November 16.

Two other Philippine entries won in the top 10, the Shell LiveWire web site said.

They were Henry James Sison of Agro-Digital PH that provides an end-to-end digital marketplace and value-chain training to help smallholder farmers make sales and manage their products; and Don Pansacola of NextPay, which offers small businesses tools to help them scale by automating processes to send, manage, and receive money.

The others in top 10 were from Malaysia, Brazil, Egypt, Indonesia, Mexico and Kazakhstan

The top 10 winners were selected from a 21-person shortlist by a combination of a public vote and an expert judging panel, the web site added.

• Editor: Lyn Resurreccion

COOKED Malusog Rice DA-PHILRICE PHOTO

DR . Russell Reinke, Healthier Rice Program Lead at IRRI LYN B. RESURRECCION

DR . Ronan G. Zagado, Program Lead, Golden Rice, DA-PhilRice LYN B. RESURRECCION

DR . Antonio Alfonso, former Golden Rice Project Leader at DA-PhilRice, eating Malusog Rice during the November 24 thanksgiving event. DR. ANTONIO ALFONSO CONTRIBUTED PHOTO

Ma. Aileen A. Garcia, senior manager of Program Management and Stakeholder Advocacy of Healthier Rice at IRRI LYN B. RESURRECCION

DR . John C de Leon, DA-PhilRice executive director LYN B. RESURRECCION

DR . Ronan Zagado, program leader of PhilRice Golden Rice Program Management Office,

Editor: Lyn Resurreccion • www.businessmirror.com.ph

NOT ABOUT FINANCIAL MISMANAGEMENT, SEXUAL ABUSE

Tagle: Changes at Caritas Intl call for humility, discernment

POPE Francis’s decision to relaunch Caritas Internationalis and its services was meant to be a process of “humility” and “discernment,” Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle said, not about financial concern or sexual abuse.

The cardinal, who is now presi dent emeritus of the global confed eration of Catholic charities, ex plained that the move came after a “careful and independent study” of the governance and working en vironment of the agency.

“I would like to assure you that this is not, this is not, this is not about sexual harassment or sexual abuse. This is not about, again, mismanagement of money…the decree clearly stated the inten tion,” Tagle added.

The Vatican’s Dicastery for Pro moting Integral Human Develop ment (DPIHD) had earlier commis sioned a review of the workplace environment of Caritas general secretariat.

Current and former Caritas Internationalis employees were heard by the Commission, and “no evidence emerged of finan

cial mismanagement or sexual impropriety.”

The changes, however, were deemed necessary to review Cari tas norms and procedures.

Other important themes and areas for urgent attention emerged from the panel’s work.

“Real deficiencies” were noted in management and procedures, seriously prejudicing team-spirit and staff morale.

“This is a call for walking hum bly with God and a process of dis cernment, confronting our unfree doms and following the spirit of freedom, [and] at the same time, the walking together of different cultures in their unique expres sions of humanity,” Tagle told Vatican News.

Saying that acknowledging the decision “might be disturbing or confusing to some of you,” he as

sured that its intention is for the further betterment of Caritas.

In a new decree released on No vember 22, Pope Francis has placed Caritas management under tem porary administration, in order to improve its internal procedures and better serve its charitable or ganizations worldwide.

The decree came even while financial matters have been wellhandled and fundraising goals regularly achieved.

This means that the roles of president, vice presidents, general secretary and ecclesiastical assis tant, as well as all the other current of governance, ceased.

The decree was read by Tagle himself during the confedera tion’s plenary meetings in Rome on Tuesday.

The Filipino cardinal had served as the organization’s presi dent since May 2015 and was re elected for a second and last term in May 2019.

The elections for Caritas’s new leadership would take place during its May 2023 assembly as scheduled.

For its preparation, Tagle will support the temporary adminis tration and will liaise with local churches and the member orga nizations of Caritas.

Tarlac’s Belenismo 2022 lights back Christmas after pandemic

Story & photos by Bernard Testa

WHEN one says “belen,” the nativity scene in Bethlehem comes to mind. It is where the Holy Bible and Quran has attested that Jesus was born in a manger.

The belen is among the Filipi nos’ traditional Christmas sym bol. A tableau representing the the birth of Jesus Christ, it was introduced in the Philippines by the Franciscan priests during the Spanish colonial period

In the 1960s the famous ani mated belen at Manila COD De partment Store on Rizal Avenue, and later in Araneta Center in Cubao, Quezon City, that was complete with fireworks, had brought joy and fond memories to thousands of Filipinos every year until it was moved to Greenhills Shopping Center.

The good news is that it was returned, dubbed as Christmas on Display, in Araneta Center in time for this year’s Yuletide season.

Being the world’s longest Christmas revellers, Filipinos of all ages are excited at the onset of the ‘ber’ months, starting in September, until the first week of January, when the feast of the Epiphany, or the feast of the Three Kings is celebrated.

When the pandemic hit the world in 2020, a low-key Christmas was held in the Philippines owing to health protocols. But the traditional

belen, Christmas tree and lantern were still the visible symbols of the celebration adorning most houses.

Another good news is that Belenismo is back this year with a vengeance.

Tarlac, known as the “belen cap ital of the Philippines,” has been showcasing its artistry, tradition and the love of culture in celebrat ing the Christmas season.

Tarlac Heritage Foundation

co-founders Isabel and Dr. Isa Cojuangco-Suntay lead the cer emonial lighting and opening of the two entries of the Philippine Army on November 4.

DND OIC Secretary Jose Faus tino Jr., Philippine Army Com manding General Lt. Gen. Romeo Brawner, Armor Division Com mander Maj. Gen. Efren Baluyot and other guests were also pres ent during the opening of Bele nismo 2022.

Dr. Cojuangco Suntay said that among the 51 entries, 30 finalists were vying for the coveted prize in Community, Church monumental and Grand Categories.

Hall of Famer Armed Forces of the Philippines’s Northern Luzon Command in Camp Servillano Aquino in Tarlac City wowed the crowd during the launching.

The Army’s Armored Division has joined this year’s contest with a theme, Candy Factory, which in verted cane-shaped candy forms the letter “J,” becomes a symbol of Jesus to remind the faithful that the Messiah will comfort them during hard times.

Using indigenous and recycled materials, the 30 finalists showed ingenuity and passion for the true meaning of Christmas as depicted in the belen.

The nativity scene with Joseph, Mary and baby Jesus, the three wise men and angel Gabriel remind the faithful that forgiveness, self lessness, love and compassion are the true meaning of Christmas.

Advincula: Skills without values is ‘dangerous’

ORDAINING five men to the diaconate, Cardinal Jose Advincula of Manila re minded them that knowledge without integrity is inadequate.

Ministering his second diaconate ordination in the archdiocese, the car dinal used his homily to describe how the new deacons, who will serve in parishes, would minister to the people.

According to him, service in the

church is not just about functions and ministry is not just about re sponsibilities.

“More than what we do, service is who we are. Skills without values could be dangerous,” Advincula said at the Manila Cathedral on November 19.

To further drive his point, he said that there are people who are smart and capable but they use them in bad things.

“What are talents and intelligence anyway if used in the wrong way? What are abilities and skills for if used for personal gain?” the cardinal added.

The newly ordained deacons are Kim Joshua Bibon, Albert Adrian David, Je sus Madrid Jr., Mark Francis Campit, LRMS and Christopher Crucero, LRMS.

Advincula pointed out that since to be a deacon is to be a servant, ser vice in the Church “always springs

from our remaining in love of Jesus.”

“Those who serve others without remaining in Jesus might serve for the wrong reasons,” he said. “It is in remaining in Jesus that our service and ministry become authentic.”

“If our service is borne out of our remaining in Jesus, then we will serve for the right reasons, with the right intentions, and with the right attitude,” he added CBCP News

The decree also stated that the measure “has no impact on the functioning of member organiza tions and the services of charity and solidarity they provide around the world.”

Pope appoints temporary administrator

THE Holy Father appointed Pier Francesco Pinelli as Temporary Administrator of Caritas Interna tionalis, effective on November 22.

Pinelli is a well-known organi zational consultant and admin istrator. He will be supported by Maria Amparo Alonso Escobar, current head of advocacy for Car itas, and by Fr. Manuel Morujão, SJ, for the personal and spiritual accompaniment of the staff.

On the contrary, it is intended serve to strengthen such service, Caritas said.

Pinelli and Alonso will man age Caritas’s operations and provide stability and empathetic leadership.

They will work to complete the candidate nomination and elec tion process as described in the organization’s Statutes. Caritas will hold the next regular in-per son general assembly of its mem ber organizations, including the election of the President, General Secretary and the Treasurer.

“In recent years we have seen

the needs of the many whom Cari tas serves increase markedly, and it is imperative that Caritas In ternationalis be well prepared to meet these challenges,” said Car dinal Michael Czerny SJ, Prefect of the DPIHD.

“Pope Francis invites us to con sider ‘the mission that Caritas is called to carry out in the Church… Charity is not a barren service nor a simple offering to be made in order to ease our conscience,’” Czerny said.

Informed by the evaluation and motivated to help bring the Roman office up to a standard commen surate with Caritas’s mission, the DPIHD will continue to exercise its “competence” in favor of Caritas Internationalis, encouraging the resolution of the issues elucidated in the review.

Caritas Internationalis is a con federation of 162 Catholic relief, development and social service organizations operating in more than 200 countries and territo ries worldwide. The mission of the member organizations is to work to build a better world, especially for the poor and oppressed.

Caritas Internationalis, the headquarters of the federation of Caritas organizations, is incorpo rated in the Holy See and is super vised by the DPIHD.

Roy Lagarde/CBCP News

Francis

ROME—Pope Francis offered advice recently for building “a more mature and more beautiful relationship with the Lord” through prayer.

Speaking at his general audience in St. Peter’s Square on a cold, cloudy morning, the pope spoke about spiritual desolation and approaching prayer without solely seeking “emotional gratification” or as “a mere exchange.”

“Many of our prayers are also somewhat like this: they are requests for favors addressed to the Lord, without any real interest in him,” Pope Francis said.

“It does us a great deal of good to learn to be with him, to be with the Lord, to learn to be with the Lord without ulterior motives, exactly as it happens with people we care for: we wish to know them more and more because it is good to be with them,” he added.

The pope pointed to the example of a child’s relationship with his parents.

He said that children often look to their parents for what they can give them: a toy, some money, ice cream, etc. It is only when one grows up that the realization occurs that the greatest gift is one’s parents, to be with them.

“Dear brothers and sisters, the spiritual life is not a technique at our disposal, it is not a program for inner ‘well-being’ that it is up to us to plan. No. It is the relationship with the Living One, with God,” Francis said.

The pope’s prayer advice was part of his eighth catechesis in a weekly series on spiritual discernment, which he began at the end of August.

Building upon his most recent catechesis on spiritual desolation, the pope underlined that the experience of desolation, or feeling emotionally dry in prayer, “can be an occasion for growth.”

“For many saints, restlessness was a decisive impetus to turn their lives around.... This is the case, for example, of Augustine of Hippo, Edith Stein, Joseph Benedict Cottolengo and Charles de Foucauld,” he said.

The pope urged people to “never be discouraged” when facing difficulties with prayer, but to trust with determination that “the help of the grace of God is never lacking.”

At the end of his general audience, the pope prayed for the victims of the recent bombing in Istanbul and said that his “unceasing prayer is for martyred Ukraine.”

Pope Francis particularly raised concern about the potential for escalation in the war in Ukraine. NATO held emergency talks on Wednesday morning after Poland was struck by a missile, killing two people, according to the Associated Press.

“Let us pray that the Lord will convert the hearts of those who still insist on war, and make the desire for peace prevail for martyred Ukraine, to avoid any escalation and open the way to a cease-fire and dialogue,” Francis said.

Pope Francis also prayed that the Lord would grant the Ukrainians “consolation, strength in trials, and hope for peace.”

He said: “We can pray for Ukraine, saying, ‘Hurry up Lord.’” Courtney Mares/Catholic News Agency via CBCP

on prayer: Just be with Jesus ‘without ulterior motives’

POPE Francis speaks during the weekly general audience at St. Peter’s square in the Vatican on November 16,. VATICAN MEDIA

CHILDREN look at the Armor Division Confectionery Belen in Camp O’Donnel, Sta. Lucia, Capas, Tarlac. The peppermint-flavored cane-shaped candy reminds everyone of the meaning of Christmas. The candy, when inverted, forms the letter “J,” that serves to communicate Christ to children.

CARDINAL LUIS ANTONIO TAGLE speaks before the delegates of the general conference of the Federation of Asian Bishops’ Conferences in Thailand on October 29. ROY LAGARDE

VICE President and Education Secretary Sara Duterte (center) interacts with school children during storytelling inside the Candy Factory Belen of the Armor Division. Also in the photo is Tarlac Heritage co-founder Dr. Isa Cojuangco-Suntay. The children receive an early Christmas package from the Office of the Vice President.

Asean Champions of Biodiversity Media Category 2014

Biodiversity Sunday

Editor: Lyn Resurreccion

Financing biodiversity via ecotourism, partnership

By Jonathan L. Mayuga

AT the foot of Mount Makiling, a mystical mountain shared by the provinces of Laguna and Batangas, lies the Makiling Botanical Garden (MBG), a popular ecotourism destination some 65 kilometers from Metro Manila.

The MBG is part of the Mount Makiling Forest Reserve (MMFR), an area set aside for conservation, which embodies a variety of ecosystems and species that makes a popular ecotour ism destination among dwellers of the so-called concrete jungle that is Metro Manila.

Leisure and learning park

A 300-hectare garden, MBG is both a learning and leisure park. It envisions into becoming a world-class education facility and regional biodiversity con servation area.

The management of the botanical garden aims to promote the apprecia tion and increase knowledge and under standing about plants, their diversity, importance and conservation, and serve as a living collection, a repository and sanctuary of endemic and endangered plant species in the country.

MBG is being developed to support professional instruction, research, and extension services related to forestry, plant sciences, biodiversity and aware ness about the environment and serve the needs of ecotourism.

Recently, the MBG played host to an ecotourism tour and workshop par ticipated in by some 70 environmental experts from various countries from Europe Asia and the Pacific who at tended the three-day Regional Dialogue of the United Nations Development Programme-Biodiversity Finance Ini tiative (UNDP-Biofin) for Europe, Asia, and the Pacific.

Learning tour

ANGELA A. LIMPIADA

FORESTER

University Extension Associate II of the Makiling Center for Mountain Ecosys tems of MBG, said students of Univer sity of the Philippines Los Baños (UPLB) are among the frequent visitors of MBG.

Being the closest to Metro Manila, the MBG is a natural tourist magnet.

Limpiada said other students and teachers from different schools, and even scientists from other state col leges and universities, as well as pri vate learning institutions, are com mon visitors to the botanical garden.

“Here, we have assorted indigenous flora to showcase,” Limpiada said in

Living collections

THE MBG showcases living collec tions of native plants in the Philip pensis Plants Row, which provides a glimpse of the indigenous plants of the Philippine archipelago.

It has a Dipterocarp Arboretum , in cluding the oldest arboretum, which harbors about seven genera and sev en species of dipterocarps , the bestknown family of tropical plants.

Dipterocarps grow up to 20 meters or more and reach more than 2 meters in diameter at the base.

As part of its conservation strat egy, the MBG management has been implementing the Adopt-a-Forest Project in collaboration with the Isuzu Philippines Corp.

The botanical garden also show cases Bambusetum, where the species

of the so-called giant grass or bamboo thrive through natural regeneration.

Mount Makiling’s rich biodiversity

WITHIN this 4,244-hectare forest re serve lies a rich biological diversity with both endemic, indigenous and intro duced non-native species.

A large number of endemic plant species as well as those introduced from other parts of the world can be found on Mount Makiling, which is not a moun tain, but a dormant volcano.

Species, such as  Rafflesia manil lana Medinilla magnifica and  Nepethes alata are found in this forest reserve.

Rare animal species are also found in the area. These include the Philippine eagle-owl ( Bubo philippensis) and the Philippine pygmy fruit bat ( Haplonycteris fischeri), which are both endemic in the country and are highly restricted to their original rainforest habitats.

The Philippine calotes (Calotes mar moratus) and common tree frog ( Philau tus surdus) were also recorded in the Makiling forest. Both are included in

Asean Heritage Park

MMFR, an Asean Heritage Park (AHP), has a unique management re gime. It is the first national park of the Philippines established on Feb ruary 23, 1933, by Proclamation 552.

However, it was decommissioned as a national park on June 2, 1963, with the enactment of Republic Act 3523, trans ferring it to the care of UPLB for its use in forestry education and information.

AHPs are selected protected areas in the Asean region that are known for their unique biodiversity and eco systems, wilderness, and outstanding values in scenic, cultural, educational, research, recreational, and tourism.

Tourism income LIMPIADA said that while the UPLB is allocating funds for the maintenance of the entire MMFR, including the MBG, its operation is getting a muchneeded boost from tourism income.

However, she said the income from

DENR chief: Communities, ecosystems should be priority in climate actions

By Rizal Raoul Reyes

THE Philippines should act against the threats of climate crisis through comprehensive risk management that emphasizes on evidence-informed prevention and disaster risk-recovery planning over emergency response.

This was the message made by Environment Secretary Maria Antonia YuloLoyzaga at the recent Pilipinas 2022 conference in Makati City organized by the Stratbase ADR Institute and Democracy Watch Philippines.

“Moreover, lessons unlearned from past disasters need to be made part of our survival DNA,” said Loyzaga, also a trustee and program convenor of Stratbase ADR Institute and convenor of Philippine Business for Environmental Stewardship.

She said the communities and the country’s ecosystems that support them need to be the priority in terms of investment, in terms of risk communications and impactbased early warning.

Living in a multi-hazard environment in an interconnected world, Loyzaga explained that the risks Filipinos face are complex, dynamic and systemic.

“These compound and cascade across sectors and skills. The interventions we designed to confront this complexity must,

therefore, be transdisciplinary, time-sensitive and spatially targeted in order for them to be transformational. In our view, this will involve the following, first, the establishing of a national risk registry,” she added.

Loyzaga urged a multistakeholder formation horizon, scanning exercise to ensure the country m ust h ave a shared understanding of risks to climate-related and other hazards. Afterwards, the country must frame and prioritize its investments.

She said the next move by the country

is to form a national natural resource geospatial base. She said it will need baseline inventories and valuations of the country that will function as both stock and flow.

”We have started this process internally but we will need your support to populate and validate data,” she said.

Loyzaga said these must be “intersected as the basis for identifying scenario-based challenges to the goals of inclusive, resilient, and sustainable development and

prioritizing strategies, laws, policies, and actions to respond to these.”

She said the private sector has played a crucial role in bridging the cost of both energy transition and the just transition of labor toward net zero. Energy transition costs are estimated to be in trillions for some countries and sectors.

L oyzaga said this would mean the private sector adopting climate and disaster resilience into core business value cycles through investment strategies, enterprise risk management, and integrated environmental, social, and governance programs.

“Here, we will support area-based approaches to risk prevention, preparedness, response and recovery that goes beyond company fence lines,” she said,

Loyzaga said the country must accelerate the adoption of nature-based solutions with co-benefits in terms of climate action.

She said the country must also invest in education training and capacity building to create decision support systems for risk governance based on the best available science.

“We need to build geo-strategic awareness of regional and global factors that will reduce our range of adaptation, mitigation, and disaster risk reduction functions,” she explained.

“Right now, we are not self-suffi cient,” she said, a reason why the UPLB is exploring for financial support for the protection and conservation of Mount Makiling’s rich biodiversity, through its various institutional partners, including the UNDP through Biofin Philippines.

Partnership for biodiversity

WITH the help of Biofin, Limpiada said they have several projects in mind to help narrow the budget gap, adding that protecting 4,244 Mount Makiling Forest Reserve, let alone the 300-hectare botanical garden, is a big challenge.

It requires forest guards or protec tors to prevent, among others, hunting and rampant harvesting of plant species by “plantitos and plantitas [male and female plant enthusiasts],” who found the mountain a treasure trove of orna mental plants that easily sell.

“There are several ways to finance biodiversity,” Anabelle Plantilla, proj ect manager of Biofin Philippines, said during the same interview.

She said it is best to have plenty of options, rather than simply “putting all the eggs in one basket” in biodiversity finance initiatives.

She said partnering with various in stitutions is one way of narrowing the biodiversity gap in protected area man agement, which can help the protectors of areas set aside for conservation, like the UPLB in the case of MMFR and MBG, to sustain its operation without hav ing to depend much from the equally limited budget of the state university.

“Crowdsourcing is also one way of funding biodiversity conservation pro grams,” Plantilla added, pointing out that partnership is the key to sustain ability in biodiversity conservation

Capacity building

EXECUTIVE Director Theresa Mundita S. Lim of the Asean Centre for Biodiversity (ACB) said that while she has not heard of the financial difficulties of Mount Makiling, she admitted that sustainabil ity of financing is common in protected areas, not only in the Philippines but also in the Asean.

The ACB, which implements the Asean Heritage Park Programme, imple ments various programs and activities to help protected area managers across Southeast Asia, to sustain biodiversity conservation efforts.

“That is why we have been con ducting workshops, capacity building activities and sharing of best practices in sustainable financing for PAs [pro tected areas in Asean,” Lim told the BusinessMirror via Messenger on November 21.

“Our recent support to Mount Makiling has been focused on the inven tory and understanding of the species found in the protected area, in particu lar, the plants,” she said.

According to Lim, such inventory and understanding of species would better provide the management and enforcers better capacity to track and trace specimens that may be il legally extracted, and possibly used for commercial gain.

“The projects related to this were implemented in partnership with UP Los Baños, and with UP Institute of Biol ogy in Diliman, among others. We also provide networking opportunities with other AHPs and Botanical Collections around the country, and eventually, outside and within the Asean region,” she added.

MOUNT APO WILDLIFE RESCUE, CONSERVATION CENTER MULLED

By Manuel T. Cayon

DAVAO CITY—An ambitious wildlife rescue and rehabilitation center is being hatched up for Mount Apo wildlife that may involve as large as 100 hectares for the facility.

At least two municipal governments in the Davao Region and Region 12 have volunteered spaces in their localities to host the facility but these proposed areas would still be subject to ongoing discussions among local government units straddled by the mountain, and private companies which also indicated their support to the proposal.

Joey E. Recimilla, director of the Policy Formulation, Planning and Project Development Office of the Mindanao Development Authority (MinDA), said Mayor Jose Paolo Evangelista of Kidapawan City, North Cotabato, and Acting Mayor Michel Louise Gutierrez of Sta. Cruz, Davao del Sur, volunteered their towns to host the facility.

“These areas have 50 hectares, but the DENR [Department of Environment and Natural Resources] told us it has 100 hectares,” he told a news briefing on Wednesday, after the chief executives and representatives of the Aboitiz Group and the Energy Development Corp. gathered for a commitment signing for the project.

They attended the workshop later in the afternoon to iron out more details, such as

the scope and size of the facility, where, from whom they would source the funds, and how much, said Secretary Maria Belen S. Acosta, the chairman of the MinDA.

Acosta disclosed that the move to establish the rescue center was partly prompted by the continued encroachment of Mount Apo and the sporadic incidents of Philippine eagles and other raptors, warty pigs and other wildlife animals being targets of game hunters and local tribal villagers.

MinDA has initiated the project and has engaged the local government units around the foothills of Mount Apo to contribute to the crafting of the rescue center.

Shirley Uy, the Mount Apo Natural Park (MANP) Protected Area superintendent (PASU), said hunting was among the threats to wildlife conservation in Mount Apo, although government has allowed the indigenous villagers to engage in hunting “because these are not for commercial purpose but for their sustenance.”

“However, we still have to regulate this hunting by the tribes and we ask and encourage them to list down the animals they usually target for hunting and the season for their hunting so that we can regulate their activities,” she added.

Uy said the project came at a period that the MANP PASU office was “preparing the protected area management plan for the next ten years.”

Filipino. “We also showcase some of the species planted over the years in this area. Sometimes foreign dignitar ies visit and plant their native species here,” she told the BusinessMirror in an interview on November 9.

International Union for Conservation of Nature Red List as threatened species.

tourism remains wanting, even after the quarantine restriction imposed by the government for three years due to the Covid-2019 pandemic.

DWARFED by the trees. This best describes the touring participants of the UNDP-Biofin Europe, Asia and the Pacific Regional Dialogue at the Makiling Botanical Gardens in UPLB as they stand beside gigantic trees. GREGG YAN

PARTICIPANTS of the eighth UNDP-Biofin Europe, Asia and the Pacific Regional Dialogue pose for a photo after planting tulibas, banana, talo-talo and other native tree species at the Makiling Botanical Gardens on November 9. UNDP-BIOFIN/GREGG YAN

A TOUCAN, one of the many types of South and Central American wildlife that Biofin looks out for. In Costa Rica, Biofin and its allies are buying privately owned land to conserve wildlife habitats. GREGG YAN

A

Break it down: Dancers begin charting path to Paris 2024

NEW YORK—Breaking is in

Victor Montalvo’s blood.

He is a descendant of twin breakers—his father and uncle— who were performing in Mexico long before they taught a young Montalvo to spin on his back.

B orn in Kissimmee, Florida, the 28-year-old who also goes by B-Boy Victor has mastered the foundations of the dance form. He has power. He has the flavor and swagger expected of a diehard b-boy. His movement syncs with the breakbeat flowing from the DJ’s turntables.

Scribble, chirp, rip, boom, blip.

He hopes to take breaking further than his relatives ever dreamt, to battle his way to a medal ceremony, when the now-global dance art debuts at the Olympic Summer Games less than two years from now.

“ I feel like I have a really high chance,” Montalvo told The Associated Press.

He is among dozens of champion b-boys and b-girls—a term for a male or female entrenched in the culture of hip hop—who are charting a path to the 2024 Games in Paris. The International Olympic Committee (IOC) announced two years ago that breaking would become an official Olympic sport, a development that divided the breaking community between those excited for the larger platform and those concerned about the art form’s purity.

But after the Red Bull BC One World Final, held earlier this month in the birthplace of hip hop and a short distance from the very streets where Black and Puerto Rican New Yorkers pioneered the art of breaking, the field of Olympic competitors is starting to take shape. The Nov. 12 event also attracted some of the original b-boys and b-girls, as the hip hop community prepares to celebrate 50 years since the culture’s founding in 1973.

“ You never thought that something you were doing for fun was going to go around the world,” said Douglas “Dancin’ Doug” Colón, a b-boy of the first generation of breakers from Harlem who beamed with pride over the dance form’s acceptance into the Olympics.

A long with Colón, first generation b-boy Trixie sat near a circular stage in the center of Manhattan’s Hammerstein Ballroom. One by one, Red Bull BC One World Final competitors from Canada, China, France, Italy, Kazakhstan, South Korea and Venezuela took to the battle stage. The energy drink beverage company runs the world’s largest breaking competition.

The OGs offered blessings to their descendants by giving them dap—a friendly gesture of greeting in the Black and Latino communities that communicates solidarity and well wishes to the recipient. Joe Conzo, Jr, a photographer known in the community as “Joey Snapz,” who documented hip hop in the Bronx from its infancy, also sat stageside taking pictures of the Olympic hopefuls.

“ Nothing’s going to change the culture, the culture stays the same,” Colón said. “Even though it’s now an Olympic sport, people back in the hood will still be doing their thing.”

V ictor Alicea, a Red Bull BC One World Final judge, told the AP that judging competitions within the hip hop culture has always been very subjective. But that won’t be the case with the Paris Olympics, where officials will use a newly developed judging system to decide which b-boy or b-girl bested their opponent in one-on-one battles.

The Trivium judging system, created for the debut of breaking at the 2018 Youth Olympic Games in Buenos Aires, is a digital scoring platform that allows judges to react in real time to breakers’ physical, artistic and interpretative qualities or their “body, mind and soul.” AP

A NOT SO WORLD CUP WORLD CUP IN QATAR

The logistics of this whole system are very complicated for people,” he said.

Obiena talks on resilience, inner strength

TOKYO Olympian Ernest John “EJ” Obiena put premium on his well-being over his climb to No. 3 in the world in men’s pole vault. Before being the best athlete, I need to be a better person,” said Obiena during the last episode of #BetterToday conversations in this year’s Power Move Project, an initiative of PLDT Inc. and Smart Communications, Inc. (Smart) to promote mental resilience through sports.

I n the middle of his tight schedule when he was on vacation from training and competition in Europe, the 27-year-old Obiena shared his story of strength and resilience on the road to become Asia’s best—from overcoming stigma in the sport to balancing his heart and mind as he dreams of bringing glory to the country in the sport he loves.

To maintain a strong mental headspace, I think it’s a matter of knowing how hard I’ve worked and that I’ve done everything in my capacity going to that day—all the training that I did throughout the year, all those days that I threw up on the side of the track,” he said.

I deserve to be there, I deserve to compete with the best, and to be one of the best in the sport,” he added.

DOHA, Qatar—Travel at this World Cup was supposed to be easy in the tiny host nation of Qatar, after fans had to take long flights between cities at the last three tournaments.

T he eight stadiums in Qatar are in or near the capital, so fans don’t have to go too far to get to matches—in theory. The country billed its World Cup as environmentally sustainable in part because of how compact it is, but the reality is quite different.

Tens of thousands of foreign fans are turning to shuttle flights between Doha and neighboring Dubai for a number of reasons—high hotel prices, a scarcity of accommodation and alcohol limits.

It might sound extreme, expensive and environmentally questionable, but the daily flights have become a popular choice as fans opt to sleep somewhere other than Qatar.

D ubai, the freewheeling commercial capital of the United Arab Emirates, is the region’s top destination outside Doha. State airlines like FlyDubai, the emirate’s budget carrier, are marshaling resources, operating 10 times the number of usual flights to Doha.

Neighboring Abu Dhabi and Saudi Arabia also have organized air shuttles to cash in on the World Cup tourism boom. Every few minutes, a Boeing or Airbus rumbles overhead at Doha’s old airport.

The concept of air shuttles isn’t new to the Gulf, where many who live and work in ultraconservative Saudi Arabia or dry Kuwait hop over to Dubai for the weekend to drink freely and have fun in the glittering metropolis.

Unlike fans who had to take longdistance flights at the World Cups in South Africa (2010), Brazil (2014) and Russia (2018), the Dubai-Doha route is shorter in most cases.

But short flights, often defined as trips shorter than 500 kilometers (311 miles), are more polluting than long ones per person for every kilometer traveled because of how much fuel is used for take off and landing.

More than a dozen World Cup fans interviewed Thursday who chose to stay in neighboring countries said it came down to cost. Many couldn’t find an affordable place to sleep in Doha, or any place at all. As hotel

prices soared in the months leading up to the tournament, frugal fans scrambled for spots in Qatar’s farflung fan villages filled with canvas tents or shipping containers.

We wanted to stay for five days in Doha. But it was too expensive. We didn’t want those weird fan zones,” said Ana Santos, a Brazilian fan arriving at Doha’s airport on Thursday with her husband.

“ In Dubai, we found a fancy hotel for not too much money.... The flights are so crowded so we’re not the only ones.”

A fter eight years of lying idle, Doha’s former airport is back to life as thousands of shuttle flight passengers squeeze through its halls. On Thursday, Qataris in traditional dress passed out juicy dates and Arabic coffee to arriving fans who cheered and snapped photos while draped in their national flags.

O ther fans on shuttle flights were turned off by Qatar’s alcohol restrictions. The city’s few hotels are almost the only places allowed to serve alcohol, after a last-minute ban on beer in stadiums. Doha’s sole liquor store is open only to Qatari residents with an official permit.

Meanwhile Dubai’s pulsing nightclubs, pubs, bars and other tourist spots are awash with spirits— and at lower prices than in Doha, where a single beer goes for $14 at the official fan festival. Even in Abu Dhabi, the United Arab Emirates’ more conservative capital, tourists

can buy alcohol at liquor stores without a license.

“ We want to have a Dubai experience. That’s more interesting for us,” said Bernard Boatengh Duah, a doctor from western Ghana who bought an all-inclusive Dubai hotel package that gives him match-day flights, as well as unlimited food and alcohol. “We wanted more freedom.”

M any fans described the shuttles as a fairly seamless process—arriving at the Dubai airport less than an hour before takeoff, zipping through lines without luggage and flying for about 50 minutes before landing in Doha just in time for their game.

B ut others found it stressful and draining.

These are long days. It’s exhausting,” said Steven Carroll, a lab technician from Wales, whose flight back to Dubai was delayed an hour, returning him to his Dubai hotel worn-out at 4.a.m after a 24-hour day.

The problem is you have to arrive in Qatar a good while before the match and you have to allow even more time to go through the airport.”

Fernando Moya, a 65-year-old Ecuador fan from New York, said he regretted flying in from Abu Dhabi. A technical problem with his friends’ Hayya cards, which act as Qatar entry visas, stranded his companions in the UAE capital.

Moya spent his Thursday speaking to customer service in the Doha airport and shelled out nearly $2,000 to fly them over on a new flight.

The airport on Thursday was teeming with fans from Saudi Arabia, whose citizens have bought more World Cup tickets than any other nationality after Qatar and the United States. The Saudi team’s shock victory over Argentina this week stoked even more excitement

R iyadh, an aspiring tourism des t ination, has sought to benefit from the regional boost, offering those with Hayya cards two-month visas to the kingdom. Saudi student Nawaf Mohammed said World Cup fever in Riyadh is palpable, with more Westerners visible in the capital’s airport and carnivals.

The prospect of shuttle flights from the UAE or Saudi Arabia would have been unthinkable mere years ago. In 2017, the two Gulf Arab states, along with Bahrain and Egypt, imposed a boycott on energy-rich Qatar, cutting off trade and travel links over the emirate›s support for political Islam and ties with Iran. Qatar refused to back down and the embargo ended last year.

Even so, tensions linger. Bahrain, just a 45-minute flight from Doha, continues to squabble over politics and maritime borders with Qatar. Fans sleeping in the island kingdom enjoy no such easy flights.

E yad Mohammed, who chose to stay at a beach in Bahrain, had a layover in eastern Saudi Arabia on Thursday.

This region is not always con venient,” he said. AP

Obiena’s conviction and commitment to the sport have been validated multiple times, with his record-breaking performances in his latest tournaments, beating other veteran pole vaulters.

There are a lot of challenges in the sport. Being Asian is one thing, because Asians are not known to excel in pole vault,” he said. “These kinds of stigma did affect me, but I learned to embrace that challenge. I make sure that I win the competition and prove that stereotype is not true.”

Obiena started in the sport through his father, former pole vaulter himself Emerson, who brought him to the Rizal Memorial Stadium when he was just a kid. Now that he’s turned world class, he said that his approach to the game is simply “winning.”

“ The best EJ as an athlete is going to be the best person that he is. Therefore, before becoming the best athlete, I need to be a better person,” he said. “From getting knocked down to getting back up to knowing the best approach and mindset—there are a lot of things I can improve on.”

He stressed that his biggest dream is the gold medal at the Paris Olympics in 2024.

Obiena also told the youth to “find something that they truly enjoy, but to also endure the hardship that they are bound to face.”

Achieving something historic would not come overnight. You need time and a lot of effort. There’s going to be a lot of pain, but stay with it,” he said. “Focus and keep striving. Next thing you know, you’re closer to your goal than you ever were today.”

French sports minister rallies team to support human-rights campaign

PARIS—France’s sports minis ter has encouraged her coun try’s World Cup team to make a symbolic gesture in support of human rights, after FIFA’s clampdown on the “One Love” armband.

“ Is there still a way our French team can continue to express its commitment to human rights? The answer is yes,” Amélie Oudéa-Castéra told French television channel Public Sénat. “The Germans showed it.”

Germany’s players covered their mouths for the team photo before their opening World Cup match on Wednesday.

The gesture was a response to FIFA’s effective nixing of seven European teams’ plans to wear armbands that were seen as a rebuke to host nation Qatar and its human rights record.

French players will be “free to express themselves,” in the coming weeks, Oudéa-Castéra said. “They share these values too ... and it’s important that they represent them.”

The French team released a state ment before flying to Qatar, saying the players supported NGO›s working to protect human rights and that all the players and staff members had made a

collective donation toward them.

The players have already made a statement saying how we feel,” France midfielder Matteo Guendouzi said Thursday in Qatar. “We’re not indifferent about this situation. But we’re here to play football and enjoy ourselves on the field.”

Forward Marcus Thuram said he respected what the Germans did.

As Matteo said we have done something (with a donation),” Thuram said. “If they think they defended a good cause then that’s a good thing.”

D efending champion France beat Australia 4-1 in its first World Cup match on Tuesday. The team plays its next Group D match Saturday against Denmark. AP

INDIA SARDJOE, also known as B-Girl India, of the Netherlands, and Logan Edra, a.k.a. B-Girl Logistx, of United States, compete in the recent B-girl Red Bull BC One World Final at Hammerstein Ballroom in Manhattan, New York.

GERMAN Football Federation

President Bernd

Neuendorf (left)

talks with German Interior Minister Nancy Faeser, who’s wearing the “One Love” armband, at the Khalifa International Stadium in Doha. AP

ERNEST JOHN “EJ” OBIENA: Before being the best athlete, I need to be a better person.

WITH nails painted with a Brazilian flag motif, a Brazil fan holds a beer while watching her team’s match against Serbia Thursday. AP

Publisher : Editor-In-Chief : Concept : Y2Z Editor : SoundStrip Editor : Group Creative Director : Graphic Designers : Contributing Writers : Columnists : Photographers :

T. Anthony C. Cabangon Lourdes M. Fernandez Aldwin M. Tolosa

Jt Nisay Edwin P. Sallan Eduardo A. Davad

Niggel Figueroa Anabelle O. Flores Tony M. Maghirang, Rick Olivares, Leony Garcia, Patrick Miguel

Kaye VillagomezLosorata Annie S. Alejo Bernard P. Testa Nonie Reyes

BANDING TOGETHER

As a duo and now as a band, Bajula ain’t no one and done

By Patrick V. Miguel

INITIALLY, Bajula was supposed to be a duo composed of just Frazier and Vertigo. Despite being in the middle of the pandemic last year, the two worked together in terms of making music by just communicating virtually—a process in which some artists find hard to do. It was an exchange of ideas between the two, and as a result, they ended up making 12 demo tracks.

“Initially, duo kaming dalawa,” Frazier shared. “Last year, nung mga kalagitnaan ng pandemic nagkaroon kami ng momentum in terms of creating, producing songs na parang nakagawa kami ng 10 to 12 na demo tracks.”

Since live performances are making a comeback to the stage, they decided they needed to transform the duo into a whole band. They added that they wanted a more “urban” style.

Doon pumasok sila Jed, Si Vick, and si Gideon. So parang kung tutuusin 1 year old na kami as a duo but parang at least a few months pa lang as a band,” Frazier said, explaining how long they have been as a duo and as a band.

All of the band members have one thing in common, and that is where they all came from— Polytechnic University of the Philippines. They all know each other initially for quite some time now, not only based on their common love for music, but also based on their university.

Most of them came from the Taguig branch, Frazier clarified.

Vick, on the other hand, was from Sta. Mesa.

Vertigo said, “Basically kami ni Frazier, ahead kami ng few years don sa current bandmates namin. Pero dahil we’re all doing the same passion, they’re also doing music, parang ayon nakakabalita kami na may ibang banda din sa school, so doon namin sila nakilala sa mga ganon, sa mga musical activity.”

So when Vertigo and Frazier decided to go full-band, the names Jes, Vick, and Gideon immediately came to their minds with no second thoughts.

Frazier tells about their first band practice, saying, “Unang practice namin, ayon nag-click na agad lahat, maganda yung kumbaga natuwa kami kaya sabi namin okay ito na buuin as a band.”

“In terms of skills is ‘yung sobrang pleased ako don sa skills nung mga ka-banda namin and walang problem in terms of creativity, ano yung parts ko, alam na nila yung gusto nilang gawin,” Frazier describes the band’s chemistry all together.

“

As a new band, one of their struggles is finding a space for their rehearsals.

“‘Yung struggles siguro na masasabi ko eh ‘yung time na nag uumpisa kami lalo is nahirapan kami sa schedule tsaka don sa space ng rehearsal,” Frazier shares. Eventually, they were able to find a solid spot to rehearse together as a band. Vertigo specifies that it is somewhere in Bicutan, Parañaque.

Why “Bajula”?

NOONG time na nag iisip kami ni Frazier ng band name, actually yung akin nagli-linger na ‘yung name na ‘yon for the longest time,” Frazier explains, thinking of “Bajula.”

They said that it came from the anime “Zenki.”

“Si ‘Bajula’ ‘yung tinatawag nila na parang power source ni Zenki, and saken parang meron siyang, medyo catchy the fact na naglilinger siya sa isip ko for that very long time may impact ‘yung name sa’kin,” Frazier explains.

They added that their band name Bajula is also unique, in a way that no other band has the name “Bajula.” They really wanted something unique and at the same time, catchy.

“I think may mga reactions kami na sometimes hindi siya pleasing pakinggan pero para sa amin, okay lang I mean medyo controversial ‘yung name, medyo sa tingin ko may spark or something,” Frazier adds.

As a full-band, they were able to release “One and Done,” a song about “pain and hurting,” according to Frazier.

“Nag imagine ako ng moment na parang pain and struggle as a man, ‘yung hindi ko naman agad ine-express na ita-translate ko siya as a song but di ko siguro specifically masasabi,” Frazier explains.

“One and Done” was released last October 14.

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So far, as a band Vertigo said they are doing great. He said, “So far, so good, masasabi ko kasi at the very short span I would say na nakuha na namin yung synergy or synchronicity na gusto namin sa banda.”

One and Done is available on major music-streaming platforms.

Y2Z & SOUNDSTRIP are published and distributed free every Sunday by the Philippine Business Daily Mirror Publishing Inc. as a project of the

BAJULA

SoundSampler

by Tony M. Maghirang

Tributes to Christmas, Laman, Kilig and E-Heads

an idol. The band’s songwriter Ayanstein Tolentino said, “While I was at the airport, I thought of writing a tribute song for the Eraserheads which no one has ever done before.

PENTATONIX and LEA SALONGA

“Christmas In Our Hearts”

AMERICAN a cappella ensemble Pentatonix lights up the holiday season with the release of their sixth album, “Holidays Around The World”— where they collaborate with some of the biggest pop stars and idols from different parts of the globe. As for the Philippines, Pentatonix teams up with multi-awarded Broadway icon Lea Salonga for the Yuletide contemporary classic “Christmas In Our Hearts,” originally written and performed by Jose Mari Chan.

Brimming with effervescent harmonies and powerhouse vocals, the latest rendition revisits the Christmas holidays with a comforting, dream-like spin. “I had the most wonderful time recording this classic Filipino Christmas song with Pentatonix,” Salonga posted on Instagram “And yes, this is the Christmas In Our Hearts you think it is,” she added.

E-Heads are my childhood musical heroes so I drew some influence from their early albums.” He further explained that the lyrics came from a Kampapangan song he wrote in 2016 and the spontaneity of the moment waiting for his flight reflected on how the lyrics and music came together. The music video for the single will be released on November 26 at Mando’s Wihg Shack ahead of the single’s release on various digital music platforms on Christmas day 2022.

legacy as one of the important voices in recent memory.

GRACENOTE “Kalituhan”

This new single from former college band standout Gracenote talks about loving someone no matter what. Band vocalist and songwriter Eunice Jorge said she wrote “Kalituhan” inspired by a maze as a core concept. “Like in a maze, maraming pwedeng daanan, pwedeng mag-iba ng landas, pero kahit magkalituhan, sana magkita pa rin sa dulo,” Eunice shared.

loving relationship. The chorus goes, “Oras ng kalungkutan / ‘Di ka bibitawan / Hahawakan ang iyong mga kamay” that’s sure to bring a smile even on a cloudy day and slots the song on any music fan’s kilig playlist.

“As a pessimist, it’s easy to look at these words as an illusion, kasi di ba may “walang forever” na notion nonstop,” Rangel argues. “But it’s just unfair to those who are really down for the long run. So I thought it’ll be nice to look at the bright side sometimes and hope for the best. ‘Cause, who knows? Maybe it’ll still work out.”

THE MOTHERCAMPERS “S.W.A.B.E”

THE idea behind the song is to write a love song but it happily turned into a triute to

PHOENIX MORISSETTE “Colour Everywhere”

AWARD-WINNING singer and Asia’s Phoenix Morissette releases her very own interpretation of the Deana Carter original Colour Everywhere”. She puts her on stamp on the classic thanks to her sophisticated vocal prowess and her version’s fairy tale-like rhythm.

Morissette’s stylistic approach is sprinkled with energy without detracting from the sincerity of her distinctive interpretation. “Thrilled to be reviving another classic” is how Morissette proudly says in one of her digital posts that also features the song’s official album artwork. With this single, Morissette enhances her

Eunice further recalled, “The tempo was originally a bit faster than the final version. But during the preproduction process with my band, we’ve decided to make it slower to catch the right vibe for the song.”

RANGEL “DIKA”

MELODY del Mundo (erstwhile singer for Sugar Hiccup), Wolf Gemora (former drummer for Wolfgang), and guitar whiz Robin Nievera (who’s now chosen to go by the mononym Nievera) have put out new music together as The Mellow Dees. Their first single “Lamán,” has been described “a serenade with a different approach, definitely a break from the usual, being a heavier and more upbeat track.”

O

N her latest single titled “DIKA,” Rangel Fernandez, better known under the mononym Rangel, opens her heart to the warmth of love focusing on the brighter side of being in a

With a bit of reggae, a drop of island pop, a helping of kundiman (traditional Filipino folk ballad), the single sees a band cognizant of its roots but also dead set on innovation. As for the band, they say, “We are here to just share the songs we created: to touch people who love music and meaningful songs.”

THE MELLOW DEES “Laman”

Shoppers hunt for deals but inflation makes bargains elusive

by Anne D'innocenzio & Cora Lewis The Associated Press

While retailers are advertising sales of 30-percent, 50-percent and 70-percent off everything from TVs to gadgets, many items will still cost more than they did last year because of inflation and finding a true bargain may prove to be a challenge.

From September through October, shoppers paid roughly 18 percent more for furniture and appliances than they did a year ago, according to a recent major data analysis by analytics company DataWeave, which tracks prices for hundreds of thousands of items across roughly three dozen retailers including Amazon and Target. For toys, they paid roughly 2 percent more.

Things looked a bit better for consumers shopping for clothing—they paid nearly 5 percent less compared with last fall, accord-

ing to DataWeave. Meanwhile, prices held steady for footwear.

“It’s just a weird time for everybody to figure out what is the right price, and what is the real price,” said Nikki Baird, vice president of strategy of Aptos, a retail technology firm. “Consumers are really bad at discount math, and retailers are fully aware of it and do everything they can to take advantage of it.”

William Wang, 24, who teaches high school math, says he’s more likely to notice price increases on everyday items—like his quesadilla that now costs $8 at his local deli—than for gifts he’s going to spend money on once a year.

“I do feel like everything’s more expensive,” said the Brooklyn, New York, resident. “But I mainly keep track of it with small items, like food.”

The latest government retail sales report shows retail sales rose last month even when adjusting for inflation. That un-

IT ’S late November, which means the holiday sales period has well and truly begun. If you haven’t already seen your spending go up, the possibility is looming. Based on psychology, here are three tips to improve the way you spend your hardearned cash this holiday season.

Before the purchase: Patience is your friend

ONE of the amazing features of the human mind is that we can mentally time travel: we can imagine what the future is going to feel like. Scientists call this “affective forecasting.”

You can derive happiness from just anticipating future experiences. For example, one study measured the happiness of 974 people going on a trip compared with 556 people not going on a trip. As you might expect, the vacationers were relatively happier—but only before the trip.

So, how can we take advantage of our capacity to mentally time travel?

n Tip #1: Pay now, consume later. These days, fueled by the rise of “buy now, pay later” options, we get to consume what we want immediately. However, this instant gratification deprives us of a key source of happiness: anticipation. A better strategy is to commit to buy something and then wait a little before actually consuming it.

At the point of purchase: Notice you’re paying

ACCORDINg to one theory of shopping, we decide to buy after making a mental calculation: is the anticipated pleasure of consuming higher than the anticipated pain of buying?

It turns out your method of payment changes how much pain you feel. In one study, researchers asked some university employees if they would like to buy a mug at a discounted price. Half were only allowed to pay in cash, whereas the other half had to use a debit or credit card. Those who paid in cash self-reported more pain of paying. So, how can you use this to your advantage?

But cracks are forming.

Third-quarter earnings results from major retailers show shoppers aren’t willing to pay full price and waiting for deals. Kohl’s, Target and Macy’s all noted Americans have also slowed their spending in the past few weeks.

It’s a dramatic change from last year’s holiday period when shoppers began their holiday items as early as October for fear they wouldn’t get what they needed amid pandemic-infused clogs in the supply chain. They were also flush with cash from government stimulus money. Retailers were struggling to bring in items so they didn’t need to discount as much.

Michael Liersch, head of advice and planning at Wells Fargo, said this holiday shopping season, it’s more likely that things will “appear discounted or feel discounted, or it

will seem like there are big offers” but that between inflation and “shrinkflation” when manufacturers quietly shrink package sizes without lowering the price—it’s often not the case.

That trend played out in a recent spot check by DataWeave of different items. For example, a Cuisinart two-speed blender, listed at $59.99 but discounted at 25 percent, was available for $44.99 at grocery chain Fred Meyer. But it was still more expensive than last year’s blender, available for $39.99, after a 20-percent discount off a lower list price of $49.99.

Kevin Brasler, executive editor of Consumers’ Checkbook, a nonprofit consumer organization, noted its researchers spent 33 weeks starting February 9 tracking sale prices at 25 major retailers. They found most stores’ sale prices—even those that promote big savings—are bogus discounts, with retailers offering the same “sale price” more than half the time. In fact, at many retailers, the “regular price” or “list” price listed is seldom, if ever, what shoppers pay, Brasler said.

Still, inflation-battered shoppers like Yoki Hanley are willing to take their chances and hold out for a bargain. So far, she doesn’t feel like she’s getting good deals for her eight grandchildren and plans to delay her buying until the last week before Christmas.

“Everything went up so my little nest egg disappeared a whole lot quicker than I expected,” said the St. Croix resident. “I will wait until the last minute. They’ll get it, but it’s coming late.”

n Tip #2: Ramp up the pain. If you’re worried about overspending this holiday period, ramp up the pain of paying. You can do this by using cash or receiving a notification each time money leaves your account.

After the purchase: Stop chasing rainbows

R EMEMBER the day you got your smartphone? You may have felt joy as you caressed the smooth aluminium back and watched light glint off the unblemished glass. Now look at your phone. What happened to the joy?

It’s normal to experience hedonic adaptation. However, one problem is that we don’t anticipate it. Remember affective forecasting? Since satisfaction is a function of expectations relative to performance, when we fail to adjust our expectations in light of the inevitable hedonic adaptation, we end up dissatisfied.

The second problem with hedonic adaptation is that the obvious solution appears to be buying something new. Maybe you need a new smartphone to replace your

slightly scratched-up old one? If this is your thinking, you’ve just hopped onto the hedonic treadmill.

Now the only way to maintain your happiness is to spend more and more money to get better and better versions of everything. So, how can you get off this treadmill?

n Tip #3: Buy experiences, not things. It turns out people end up happier when they buy experiences rather than things. For example, a study that tracked how older adults spent their money found that only one category of spending was related to happiness: leisure purchases, such as going on trips, seeing a movie at the cinema, and cheering at sporting events.

One reason for this is that we adapt to purchases of experiences more slowly than purchases of material things.

So, the next time you’re tossing up between buying tickets to a festival or getting the latest gadget, pick up your scratched-up smartphone and pre-purchase some festival tickets for you and your friends. The Conversation

NeW YorK Consumers holding out for big deals—and some much-needed relief from soaring costs on just about everything— may be disappointed as they head into the busiest shopping season of the year.

derscores some resiliency among shoppers heading into the Black Friday weekend, the kickoff to the season.

A “BlACk Friday” sign is posted at a retail location in Philadelphia, Monday, November 21, 2022. Bargain hunting is back with full force heading into the holidays. But inflation is limiting how much of a deal consumers will be getting. AP

WATCHING over the scenic landscape of Batad rice terraces, the most famous among the World Heritage-listed clusters. BERNARD JOSEPH ESPOSO GUERRERO

The Ifugaos: From the Philippine Highlands to the World

IN July this year, the town of Banaue suffered heavy damages and losses due to flash floods. Not only did it put a halt in tourism, on which a large part of the community depends, but also in agriculture and food mobility. Despite the devastations, I never doubted even for a second how resilient the Ifugao people are.

As one of the oldest indigenous people inhabiting the Philippines, this was not the first environ mental crisis they have faced, and definitely not the worst. And, if there is one lesson we have learned time and time again, it is that the Ifugaos always thrive. After all, they have been successful in pre serving their unique way of life for centuries, proudly bringing it forward and making it relevant in the modern age.

The Ifugao homeland in the Cordilleran highlands corre sponds to a small province of the same name. Previously, it was thought that they have settled down in the upland for more than 2,000 years already, recent studies show that it may even have just been as recent as 300 years ago. Nevertheless, there is no denying their solid presence and contribu tion to shaping the Filipino iden tity through their exceptional tra ditions and an extensive system of built-heritage that is renowned all across the globe.

The Rice Terraces of the Phil ippine Cordilleras UNESCO World Heritage Site holds the prestige of being the first “Cultural Land scape” to be included in the roster upon its inscription in 1995. As such, the key to a better apprecia tion of the property is to see it in relation to its environment and its people. The Ifugaos’ farming method has been recognized by the Food and Agriculture Orga nization as an outstanding ag ricultural system, meriting it to become a pilot for the Globally Important Agricultural Heritage Systems (GIAHS) in 2002.

Among the five clusters inscribed (which also include

Hung-duan, Mayoyao, Ban gaan, and Nagacadan), the most popular and easiest to get to –as well as the smallest— is Batad. The walls were constructed us ing the dry-stone technique, wherein the oldest surviving sections are said to be in Hungduan. Some even claim that if only the walls were laid in one straight line, it would end up longer than the Great Wall.

The practice of rice terracing has never been unique to the Phil ippines. The Hanni rice terraces in southern China, for example, have also been designated as a World Heritage Site in 2013. Neverthe less, the unparalleled attributes that make the rice terraces in Ifugao stand out are their altitude (reaching as high as 1000 meters) and steepness (at 70 degrees maxi mum tilt). The American Society of Civil Engineers named them as a Historic Engineering Landmark for water supply and control, and in 1997 the group came to the Phil ippines and proclaimed them the 8th Wonder of the World.

Until the inscription of Bali’s Subak system in 2012, the Rice Terraces of the Philippine Cordil leras were the only World Heritage Sites dedicated to the production of the single most important crop, rice. However, it was not always about praises and glamor.

The entire Ifugao rice terraces have been listed twice (2000 and 2010) as one of the 100 Most En dangered Sites in the World by the World Monuments Watch. These were made in response to the two waves of a massive abandonment of the rice terraces by farmers: they fled to the cities for greener pastures leaving the rice terraces

unattended and crumbling.

At the same time, the indig enous rice variety that adapted well in such high altitudes was also substituted by more prolific and easier-to-produce cash crops, creating serious shifts in the cul tural landscape’s integrity. Given the alarming status then, the five inscribed rice terraces clusters were also placed on the World Heritage In Danger List in 2001 until significant improvements and reparations were finally se cured 11 years later.

Also integral to the Ifugao life cycle is a set of ancient songs called Hudhud. Performed only during special occasions, it is made of more than 200 stories and can take days to complete one. The

lead chanter sets the introduc tory notes and is then picked up by a chorus of women. Hardly ever transcribed, the Hudhud is largely just in the memory of the people, where the chanters rely heavily on cultural and environmental stimuli to help them remember the chant. Efforts are being un dertaken in bringing the Hudhud closer to the younger generation, one of which is the institution alization of Hudhud Schools of Living Traditions. Another tradi tion that has gained international attention recently is the age-old tug-of-war in Hungduan called Punnuk. The ritual executed by three villages is a ceremonious event to mark the culmination of the harvest season. The Hudhud

and Punnuk are both declared as Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.

Another global celebrity that originated from the Ifugaos is the Bulul, a wood-carved icon of the rice guardian deity. In October, the Bulul has become so popular that an archaic specimen was auc tioned at Christie’s in Paris with an estimated value of USD210,000300,000. Each town in Ifugao traditionally had its own style in crafting the figure, which has to undergo rituals involving animal sacrifices and liquid libations in order for it to be initiated as a le gitimate Bulul. The last authentic pieces are said to have been made in the 1950s. As most of them are already in private collections or museums here and abroad, they are getting harder to come by. Commercial reproductions sold as tourist souvenirs, however, are not at all difficult to find.

Indeed, the Ifugao people have left remarkable impressions way beyond our borders. They are cre ative, determined, and, most im portantly, unique. Their will to survive amidst rough uneven ter rains and harsh changes of times is commendable and ought to be emulated. With farming tradi tions and their lifestyles still very much intact, the cultural land scape of the Ifugao people is an enduring portrait of what makes us proud and inspired being Fili

pinos, then and now.

Story & Photos by Bernard Joseph Esposo Guerrero

A LOCAL who earns a living by letting tourists snap his photos at one of the viewpoints of the Banaue rice terraces.

AUTHENTIC mid-century standing Bulul from Hengyon (left) and Hungduan (right). Private collection of the author, acquired from Floy Quintos.

THE World Heritage-listed Bangaan rice terraces and its picturesque central hamlet.

Reflections In Light And Shadow

FIFTY-SEVEN essays and poems.

These are contained in the anthology Reflections in Light and Shadow launched at Sunshine Place: Senior Recreation Center recently.

The pieces were penned by 18 neophyte writers in their retirement age and members of Sunshine Place Memoir Writing Group Batch 2021-2022, under Professor Oscar Peñaranda, a US-based lecturer in literature and writing. He is also a Gawad Pambansang Alagad ni Balagtas awardee, a prestigious award given by the Unyon ng mga Manunulat sa Pilipinas (UMPIL).

“A memoir is a window to the writer’s world. The aim of the memoir writing workshop is to hone the skills of the students so that they will be confident enough in the greatest story ever told, their story,” said Peñaranda.

The book launch program started with an invocation and welcome remarks by Sunshine Place Marketing Manager Yla dela Rosa. Sunshine Place President Lizanne Uychaco delivered the keynote message and led the book unveiling. After this, a video message from Professor Peñaranda who is currently in San Francisco, California was presented.

Included in the program was the reading by the authors of excerpts from their essays. Among those who shared excerpts were Flora Timoteo Sebastian from her piece Mother and Son; Catherine Mijares Chua , It’s not you, it’s Life; Mariquit Reventar, from My Home Quarantine; Linda Atayde, Educating Nanay; Dolores Matias who was tearyeyed as she read the excerpt from Balangiga; Dada Trillo who paid tribute to her mother in A Woman of Substance; Mario Torrento Jr., Someday I Will Come to Love My Name; and Neny Regino with her romantic essay, Friendship from the Heart Essays of two of the authors who passed on—Suzie Benitez and Winifred Samson—were included in the anthology. Samson’s poem Here I Am was read by her granddaughter.

Multi-awarded author Alfred A. Yuson, in his Foreword, wrote: “Remembering is regal. Putting it down on paper is divine.”

AN ELDERLY woman making sure her paddies are well irrigated while along the ancient walls of Hungduan rice terraces.

TRADITIONAL bale (Ifugao huts) are still in use in Bangaan village.

AT the main viewpoint for the rice terraces in Banaue poblacion.

TAPPIYA waterfall in Batad is said to be where the ancestors of the villagers dwell.

SUNSHINE Place President Lizanne Uychaco and Catherine Mijares Chua

LEFT-RIGHT: Authors Linda Atayde, Susana Yap, Neny Regino, Dada Trillo and Mariquit Reventar

MARIO TORRENTO JR . and his family

FAMILY of Winnie Samson who passed on.

AN Ifugao sifting rice grains using a bilao under a traditional bale (hut) in Batad village.

A WOMAN chanting while working in the fields. Nagacadan Rice Terraces in Kiangan town during rice planting season.

A new lifestyle is happening

happening at Eton Retail Districts

Going Back to Live Theatre in “Shorts and Briefs”

By Seymour B. Sanchez

AN independently produced theatre festival featuring short plays successfully returned to the physical setup at a new venue in Makati and even had a partial staging at the Cultural Center of the Philippines.

Eksena PH, a community of theatre artists and creators, recently staged the eighth edi tion of “Shorts and Briefs” to sold-out performances at the Draper Startup House along Burgos Street in Poblacion. The event showcased eight stories for children, with many of them originally written for children’s books.

Family matters and social issues

“ TAY NAY ” directed by storytell er and LGBTQ+ advocate Eluna “EC” Cepeda kicked off the pro gram. Starring Dang Alfonso and Trent Joshua Asuncion, the play is based on Sofia Santiago’s “Si Tay Nay,” a story that tackles the advantages and disadvantages of being a mother and a father at the same time.

Next, Dustin Celestino adapt ed for the stage China de Vera’s “Palayain ang Aking Inay,” about a child whose mother is a politi cal prisoner. The resulting play is “Pag-usapan Natin si Amanda” starring Pamy Villa and Tisha Combong.

Celestino, an experienced playwright yet a newbie stage director, revealed that when he first read China’s story, he knew that it was something that he wanted to collaborate with her on. “It was a story about political detainees and how families struggle to cope with this conflict.”

Richardson Yadao, a dancer/ choreographer at Alice Reyes Dance Philippines, explored the world of storytelling through movement by adapting BJ Crisostomo’s unpublished story “Lulu” about a girl (Uriel Villar)

and her travails in life.

“It’s a privilege to be a part of such a talented group of art ists who are very generous and passionate. Learning to share stories through movement alone has been a delightful experience, especially under the guidance of my director,” Villar shared, as she also heaped praises for Yadao.

Filmmaker ER Alviz also gave storytelling via live theatre a try by directing and adapting for the stage “Signal No. 3,” a story about typhoon preparations and chaos by Dr. Luis Gatmaitan, also known as “Tito Dok.” Julius De Vera, Crisostomo Suarez, and Ramon Maraneta III starred in the play.

Another filmmaker, Ryan Termoso, directed the play “Si Aris at si Philip” based on “Si Aris at ang Flying Ipis,” an unpub lished story of Juan Ekis about an unlikely friendship between a boy (Eugene Angelo Dizon) and a cockroach (Efren Manuel, Jr.). Michael Pangcoy played the fa ther of Aris.

“I did this because I’ve always thought of myself as a storytell er, and I needed this to give the voices inside of me an outlet,” Dizon, who played Aris in the play, revealed.

Another story from “Tito Dok” has been adapted for Shorts and Briefs 8. This time around, former thespian Maco Barredo reimagined “Ang Kuya Kong Zombie,” which is about the ef fects of staying late nights. He turned it into “Mulat” starring Chris Philip Abecia, Kevin Jude Pueblo, and Christine De Vera.

Meanwhile, Mark Boquiren’s soon-to-be published “Maria Sibol” about the adventure of a

naughty fairy (Monica Stohner) is adapted for the stage by direc tor James Ferrer. Mika Puyat and Issabella Ver alternately provid ed support to Stohner.

Baguio-based artist-teacher Kath Nobleza wrapped up the program with a stage adaptation of Cheeno Sayuno’s “The Missing Blanket” featuring actors from Tanghalang SLU, the official and resident theatre company of Saint Louis University.

The play, which tells the jour ney of finding the memories of a loving parent, highlighted the acting chops of Juno Nicho lia Agtani, Angelika Mia Amor Tapia, Renzo De Vera, and Jocel Fongayao.

From school projects to annual theatre festival

FESTIVAL founder and director Karl Alexis Jingco, who hails from Zamboanga and studied Theatre Arts as a scholar at Me ridian International (MINT) College, shared that it has “al ways been a dream to experience performing in theatre or just the thought of performing in a crowd makes him happy.”

The idea for the festival start ed at MINT where he invited “teachers and non-theatre stu dents to direct, retiring profes sors and first-time performers to act.” He also recalled not hav ing a theatre space and lights at that time since the program was just starting. “I am just so very thankful that I was surrounded

with teachers that believe in my vision.”

Jingco, who is also an alum nus of the CCP Virgin Labfest and whose works revolve around im prov and inclusive theater, made sure that all shows of Shorts and Briefs 8 had Filipino Sign Lan guage interpreters Liz Valles teros and Leah Apuli. “I believe inclusivity is a must in all forms of art and aspects of life.”

“I also made sure also that the process of joining the festi val is how I want to experience it,” he revealed as he recalled his unfortunate experiences before in auditions. “Art should be reachable, and it is,” Jingco stressed as he encouraged the public to experience “once in your life how performing arts can make your life exciting and scary and alive.”

After its four-weekend run, three of the eight “Shorts and Briefs” plays, namely “Si Aris at si Philip,” “Tay Nay,” and “The Missing Blanket,” were restaged at the CCP Tanghalang Huseng Batute last November 12 as part of BALANGÁW, a colorful fes tival of performances and arts events for children.

This early, the organizers of Shorts and Briefs have already issued a call for original scripts of plays with a running time of approximately 10 to 15 minutes. They may be in Tagalog, English, or another language or even dia lect provided that a Tagalog ver sion is available.

Furthermore, unfinished works or works-in-progress of first-time writers or those without any prestigious awards or prior theater experience are highly preferred. There is no age limit. Interested parties may send their scripts in PDF, MS Word, or Google Docs with their name, contact number, and location via Facebook messenger of Eksena PH.

“There are a lot of possibili ties—musicals, original works, special needs performers, col laborations. But we are very sure to start offering inclusive workshops. Singing for non-sing ers, dancing for non-dancers, playwriting for the first time, and DRAG experience,” Jingco rattled off some of their plans for the future.

“The festival is surrounded by kind and generous individuals who make art and create a cel ebration rather than a competi tion,” he continued. Production manager Steph Estrella, stage manager Felix Tiongson, graphic designer Kevin Matsuyam, tick et manager Rozen Tabaodaja, voiceover talent Jun Ebdane, Cy Galang, Niño Manzano, and interns Aeriel Madriaga, Maui Tacto, and Kirnsten Tolentino from Bulacan State University complete the Shorts and Briefs production team.

“Passion and a whole lot of kindness can make you move forward,” the young and active festival director concluded.

SHORTS and Briefs team performs at the CCP.