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Stable supply THE government is committed to stabilizing prices by augmenting the food supply and ensuring that the supply chains of goods, especially food, will be unhampered during the enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) period, the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) said. The Philippine S t at i s t i c s Au t h o r i t y reported Tuesday that the country’s headline inflation rate fell to 4.5 percent in March 2021 from 4.7 percent in the previous month. This is the first easing of the inflation rate since September 2020. The slower inflation in March 2021 was mainly driven by the decrease in the price indices for major food items.
Rido COTABATO City – A state of calamity has been declared in the entire town of Talitay, Maguindanao, due to armed hostilities triggered by a family feud (rido). Talitay Mayor Montasir Sabal approved Tuesday a resolution allowing the local government unit to use its quick response fund to provide relief assistance to displaced families. The Municipal Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office has placed the internally displaced persons (IDPs) to about 700 families or 3,500 individuals.
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Veggie prices drop 50%, non-agri goods stable P Thank you for trusting us!
RICES of vegetables have dropped significantly while prices of nonagricultural products remain stable, chiefs of the Department of Agriculture (DA) and the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) said.
“Our (vegetable) prices are significantly lower at an average of 50 percent, much lower compared to February,” DA Secretary William Dar said in an online press briefing Wednesday. Dar said since it is already in season, the supply of vegetables is abundant and prices are low. For non-agricultural products, DTI Secretary Ramon Lopez said there have been no price increases for basic necessities and
commodities since September 2019. “But notably, we are studying some requests given the increasing cost in the world market of their cost items,” Lopez said in the same briefing. Both officials vowed to monitor the movement of prices and supply of food products in the domestic m ar ke t to e nsu re t h at Filipinos would not be burdened with higher food PRICES/PAGE 7
SINOVAC FOR NORMIN. Workers load boxes of Sinovac COVID-19 vaccine to a waiting refrigerated van at the Laguindingan airport on Wednesday, 7 April 2021. A Philippine Airlines plane ferry 24,000 doses of the vaccine for healthcare frontliners in Northern Mindanao. mindanews photo by froilan gallardo
24,000 Sinovac doses arrive for NorthMin’s frontliners By FROILAN GALLARDO, MindaNews
LAGUINDINGAN, Misamis Oriental – It took only 19 minutes to transfer the shipment of 24,000 doses of the Sinovac vaccine from the Philippine Airlines plane to a
refrigerated van waiting at the tarmac of the Laguindingan Airport. All under the watchful eyes of armed police officers who later escorted the van
and other vehicles to the D e p ar t m e nt of He a lt h regional office in Barangay Carmen, Cagayan de Oro City, 33 kilometers away. The vaccines, said health officials, are intended for the medical frontliners of SINOVAC/PAGE 7
LINE CLEARING. A worker earns 600 pesos by cutting this tree in a subdivision in Malaybalay City. mindanews photo by h . marcos c . mordeno
KORONADAL City — The Sangguniang Bayan (SB) of Tampakan in South Cotabato has passed a resolution seeking the lifting of the provincial ban on open-pit mining, which has been blamed for allegedly hampering for a decade now the development of the Tampakan project, Southeast Asia’s largest known undeveloped copper
and gold minefield. Vice Mayor John Mark Baldon, presiding officer of the SB or the municipal council, said the body is urging the Sangguniang Pan l a l aw i g an of S out h C ot ab ato to re v isit its Environment Code, passed in 2010, particularly Section 22 which provides that “open-pit mining shall not be allowed
Tampakan seeks lifting of ban on open-pit mining
in the Province of South Cotabato.” “The ordinance is now ripe for review (due to) the fact that it is now in (sic) its 10th year since its passage,” he said. June 9, 2021 will be the 11th year since the Code’s passage. The municipal board approved Resolution No. 589 LIFTING/PAGE 7
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2
Local
4K applicants vie for 200 teacher vacancies in BARMM
C
OTABATO City – Minister Mohaqher Iqbal of the Ministry of Basic, Higher and Technical Education– Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (MBHTE-BARMM) has vowed to ensure transparency and accountability in the recruitment and hiring of new teachers for Maguindanao and Lanao del Sur.
Iqbal made this assurance on Thursday after more than 4,000 teacher-applicants have submitted their job application for the 200 vacant teaching positions in the two provinces. “The situation has been challenging since not all will be hired,” Iqbal said, adding that they have to select those most qualified for the vacant items. He said in Lanao del Sur, more
than 2,000 applicants are being screened for appointments for the limited number of vacancies. The same number of applicants are aspiring to be hired for Maguindanao, he added. In BARMM, Maguindanao and Lanao del Sur have the highest number of teachers and students with two school divisions each. “No position is for sale,” Iqbal assured the applicants. (PNA)
ZAMBOANGA City -- The Bureau of Customs (BOC)-Port of Zamboanga said Wednesday it will dispose of all seized smuggled cigarettes in its custody on April 13. Segundo Sigmundfreud Barte Jr., BOC-Zamboanga district collector, said the destruction covers all smuggled cigarettes seized in series of anti-smuggling campaigns the BOC launched in the region and in
Basilan, Sulu, and Tawi-Tawi (BaSulTa) provinces recently. Barte was unable to divulge the volume of smuggled cigarettes but said the confiscated items are "worth millions of pesos". The scheduled destruction of seized smuggled cigarettes on April 13 will be the first by the BOC-Port of Zamboanga this year. The last destruction of smuggled
cigarettes by the BOC-Port of Zamboanga was in December last year, covering some 5,200 master cases of cigarettes worth P183 million. Firemen drenched and crushed the cigarettes with the use of a backhoe. The destroyed cigarettes, which were seized in the region and the BaSulTa provinces, were later transported and disposed of in the city’s sanitary landfill in Barangay Salaan. (PNA)
BOC-Zambo to destroy millions worth of smuggled cigarettes
BALINGASAG, MISAMIS ORIENTAL National Highway Balingasag, Barangay 4, Balingasag, Misamis Oriental Mobile Number/s: 0933-823-3161, 0933-823-3304 Tel. Number: 333-5161 CAGAYAN DE ORO P&J Lim Building, Tiano Kalambagohan St., Barangay 14, Cagayan de Oro City, Misamis Oriental Tel No. (08822) 727-829 / 231-6629 Telefax No. (088) 856-1947 Mobile No. 0933-823-3303 / 0943-708-7065 CAGAYAN DE ORO WAREHOUSE Warehouse 7, Bonbon Road, Kauswagan, Cagayan de Oro City, Misamis Oriental Mobile No. 0917-825-4149 / 0943-708-7065 CARMEN, CAGAYAN DE ORO Vamenta Blvd., fronting CEPALCO, Carmen, Cagayan de Oro City, Misamis Oriental Tel. No. (088) 233-2011 Mobile No. 0933-823-3159 CORRALES, CDO Corrales Ave., Barangay 29, Cagayan de Oro City, Misamis Oriental Telefax No. (088) 231-2055
DIVISORIA, CDO A. Velez St., Barangay 9, Cagayan de Oro City, Misamis Oriental Telefax No. (088) 856-1947 Mobile No. 0917-841-4000 / 0933-823-3164 GINGOOG CITY G/F Wyne Militante Bldg., Lugod St., Barangay 22, Gingoog City, Misamis Oriental Telefax No. (088) 861-0104 Mobile No. 0933-823-3168 LAPASAN, CDO National Highway (FICCO Bldg.), Lapasan, Cagayan de Oro City, Misamis Oriental Tel. No. (088) 231-6739 Mobile No. 0933-823-3160 PUERTO, CDO Purok 6, Puerto, Cagayan de Oro City, Misamis Oriental Tel. No. (088) 859-0574 Mobile No. 0943-708-7537 CAMIGUIN B. Aranas St., Poblacion, Mambajao, Camiguin Telefax No. (088) 387-0491 Mobile No. 0943-708-7539
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The Miseducation of the Filipino Prof. Renato Constantino A CRITIQUE
WENDELY R. CAPISEN, Teacher I MOGCHS
For those of us who truly love our country; for those of us who truly care for our people; for those of us who are proud of being Filipinos, 'MISEDUCATION' is even an understatement. I fully agree that the educational system of our country lacks proper direction, is bereft of nationalistic fervor and does not truly serve the aspirations of the Filipino people. This is best expressed by the result on the survey conducted among the 2004 graduates of the Ateneo de Manila University to gather information on whether the graduates embody in themselves the true holistic Jesuit education which is supposed to be people oriented. Unfortunately, the result told of graduates being only family and self centered. They only thought of their own future and the future of their own families. Corollary to this, it was also stated that the Jesuit education was a failure on this aspect. I believe it is essential to have the right education. Meaning, it should serve the aspirations of our people; it should give direction to all our struggles as a people; it should help transform all of us from being individuals, separate communities and entities into a people who truly treasure the common good; it should be a tool for liberation be it economic, political, or cultural. We remember that during the Spanish time, the Spanish government as a matter of policy purposely deprived the Filipino people their right to
education. For them ignorance was a tool for subservience. It was subjugating a people not only through arms but by also keeping them ignorant. Jose Rizal, our national hero has a beautiful story about the women of Malolos to prove this point. The women demanded to be given the right to education like their male counterparts because at that time only men had the right to education. The American occupation was a great lesson for us on education as a tool for subjugation and pacification. Education was offered and made accessible to all. But with the intention of forming the Filipino people into the image of their colonial American masters. Education at that time was a blessing but with strings attached. If I were to des crib e t he pres ent situat ion of our educational system, I would say it does not have what it takes to unify us as a people; to mold us into a "STRONG REPUBLIC" as trumpeted by President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo during her presidency. It doesn't have what it takes to propel us into the "DAANG MATUWID" as bragged about by President Benigno Aquino Jr. during his term. And even the much b a l l y h o o e d " C HA N G E " peddled by President Rodrigo Roa Duterte, though giving the Filipino people much hope for the future, still I believe is very long in coming. Although I also believe it is worth all the waiting. Our President Rodrigo Roa Duterte is giving us a great lesson in education in terms of everyday life situations, care for the poor, education for all, love of country, commitment to people, sacrifices for the common good, and willingness to die for country and people. I may have hungered for better situations in life; I may have thirsted for a better educated Filipino people. But most of all I have dreamed for my people to live in peace and harmony; with everyone enjoying the bounty of life, with those who have less in resources will have more in opportunities and support; where people are not only individuals but communities; where leaders are servants not masters, true to their calling, faithful to their responsibilities; where everyone is convinced that no man is an island; no country can stand without its people and that even the weakest link can also be a source of strength. I would like to end this with my conviction that no matter the state of our educational system is, right now; no matter how hard our struggles as a people; no matter the problems besetting our government and leaders; no matter the adversities we are facing right now as a people and as a country, it is still my firm conviction that the best is yet to come because we are never alone in life. Someone greater than all of us is always watching over us. And He will never fail.
3 Jollibee further expands in Europe with 8 more stores W Advertising and Editorial E-mail : businessweekmindanao@gmail.com Contact nos. : 0917-7121424 • 0947-8935776
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ITH 70 percent of its customers in its latest UK stores now being locals, homegrown restaurant brand Jollibee is further expanding its reach to local European customers by growing to 50 stores in that continent in the next five years. This year, the restaurant chain will open its Europe flagship location in Leicester Square, London. This will be followed by seven other
CorporateWorld
store openings, including its first stores in Scotland in Edinburgh, its first in Wales in Cardiff, and its first in Spain in Madrid. This came on the heels of its successful Rome, Liverpool, and Leicester City openings in 2020, which opened to much fanfare despite the pandemic. “The Jollibee Group is dedicated to growing the Jollibee brand in the UK and across Europe. Investing 50 million euros demonstrates
our commitment to become a major player in the European quick-service industry,” Dennis Flores, Jollibee Group regional business head for Europe, Middle East, Asia, and Australia. “The pandemic may have been a setback, but it will not deter us from pursuing our vision for Jollibee in the UK and the rest of Europe.” Jollibee’s new stores in Europe have been designed to adapt to changes brought about by the pandemic by including
contactless kiosks for speed and safety, and pick-up settings to make take-outs even more convenient. Jollibee has introduced multiple new menu items that cater to the local market palate and hoped to draw in more local customers through its new and refreshed store design that showcases its Filipino heritage while adapting to the European market. By end-April, Jollibee UK will launch an app that will
CLI sets P12-B capex for 2021, eyes return to growth trajectory CEBU CITY – Cebu Landmasters Inc. (CLI) is earmarking P12 billion in capital expenditure this year to expand its landbank and complete ongoing projects across the Visayas and Mindanao (VisMin) regions. During the company’s investors’ briefing on Wednesday, chief operating officer Jose Franco Soberano said the listed developer is set to launch 15 residential projects in 2021 with a total of 7,507 units worth P19 billion. He also disclosed the firm will start the reclamation works this
year for the 100-hectare techno business hub in Minglanilla town, southern Cebu. CLI is looking to increase its gross leasable area to 28,000 square meters (sqm) from 14,500 sqm in 2020, with the expected completion of its Latitude Corporate Center, located at Cebu Business Park. The company reported P8.30 billion in consolidated revenues in 2020, closely matching 2019’s P8.50 billion resulting from “the immediate deployment of catch-up measures shortly after the relaxation of
lockdowns triggered by the pandemic in the first half of 2020.” Despite lockdowns that restricted construction activities and hampered movement across various sites, it ended the challenging 2020 with a
P1.85-billion net income, only an 8-percent decline from the 2019 figure. The company attributed the slight decline in profit to its market-leading advantage in the VisMin regions and CAPEX/PAGE 7
allow customers to order in advance. “Simultaneously, we are investing in technologies such as a mobile app for click and collect along with in-store contactless kiosk options to bring additional convenience to our customers,” Jollibee Group market head for Europe Adam Parkinson said. Over five million pieces of Chickenjoy have been sold across Europe since the brand first debuted in the region. (PR)
Aboitiz Power’s solar plant doubles capacity feed WITH the completion of the south transmission line in Negros Occidental, Aboitiz Power Corporation said its Carlos Sun Power Inc. (SacaSun) has already started doubling
its capacity feed to the Visayas power grid. In a briefing with reporters, Aboitiz Power President and CEO Emmanuel V. Rubio CAPACITY/PAGE 7
Smarter Education to be launched in DepEd Iligan By DOUGLAS V. MORDENO, JR.
A webinar on Public Welfare ProjectIligan City was conducted via web online attended by the school heads and Division personnel of the Department of Education – Iligan City last March 17, 2021. This is in partnership with the HABOOK Group of Taiwan headed by JEric Lee and Power Wu, Dean of Global TEAM Model
Education Research Institute, who aims to provide aid for Philippine Educators to gain more knowledge and access in enhancing the professional development strategies of the different schools in Iligan City Division including Dońa Juana Actub Lluch Memorial Central School. Team HAB OOK will help the
department by providing technical assistance with the software they have developed in which new teaching strategy will be applied in the form of Smarter Classroom. DepEd Iligan with the leadership of SDS Roy Angelo E. Gazo, together with the rest of the team, is looking forward for the project.
4
Opinion
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On April 22, Bank of the Philippine Islands (BPI) will have a changing of the guard. Cezar “Bong” P. Consing will step down as President in favor of Jose Teodoro “TG” Limcaoco, another stal-wart of the BPI/Ayala group. Consing will remain as a director and member of the ExCom, as well as director of its subsidiaries. I first meet Bong in 1983 after Ayala Investment and Development Corporation (AIDC), Ayala’s investment banking arm where I was connected , was absorbed by BPI. BPI had just obtained a universal banking license. Bong joined BPI in 1981 as the youngest management trainee in the corporate planning de-partment. In 1985, Bong joined corporate banking, where he eventually h e a d e d t h e t e a m t h at covered conglomerate and multinational clients. In April 2013, Bong succeeded Aurelio “Gigi” Montinola III, as President of BPI. Bong presided during
HINTS AND TRACES
ROY CIMAGALA
Philippine Press Institute Oro Chamber
No parking T h i n k a m i nut e … O n this journey of life do you sometimes feel like pulling over and parking? You feel like you have done enough, worked enough, and learned enough. It’s time to sit back, relax and enjoy the ride to the end. But “The problem with doing nothing is you never know when you’re finished.” When we pull over and park we get nowhere, and stop short of experiencing all that life has for us. One parking place we might stop at is what we think are our handicaps and weaknesses, because we compare ourselves to others who have certain abilities we do not have. But we must realize that we have our own special abilities. You and I must learn to accept ourselves with our own physical appearance, personality and talents. No one is completely handicapped! We each have something very important that we can be and do in this world which no one else can. This is why others actually need you to make the most of your assets and abilities, so you add your contribution and influence in their lives.
THINK A MINUTE
one of the most challenging periods faced not only by BPI but by most other financial institutions. But due to Bong’s skillful and prudent management of risks, BPI still managed to come out on top, being named Best Philippine Bank of 2020 by the prestigious fi-nance publication Euromoney. BPI’s focus on digitalization, financial inclusion and sustainability indeed paid dividends. Under Bong’s stewardship, BPI commenced its digitalization journey four years ago. Bong cor-rectly anticipated that digitalization will help reduce cost to serve and facilitate banking ac-cess and transactions, thereby fostering financial inclusion and sustainability in BPI’s operations. Dig it a lizat ion re a l ly gained traction during t h e p an d e m i c . D u r i ng the enhanced community quarantine (ECQ), 90 percent of all of the bank’s transactions were done outside branch
prem-ises, a significant jump from 72 percent pre-ECQ, reflecting an accelerating shift to digital banking. Online transactions, which in 2019 were up by 50 percent, account for practically all of the growth in the Bank’s transaction count. About 40 percent of the Bank’s customers are now en-rolled in one or more of our digital channels, with 25 percent of all customers being regular digital transactors. Jo s e Te o d o r o “ T G” Limcaoco, currently Ayala Corporation's chief financial officer, chief risk officer, and chief sustainability officer, is no stranger to BPI. Asked by a forum moderator why he wore several hats in the Ayala organization, TG replied in jest: “Cost-cutting.” TG has served as executive vice president of BPI, became president of BPI Capital in 2007, president of BPI Family Savings Bank in 2010, and board member of BPI in 2019. TG is also re-sponsible for BPI's insurance businesses,
SPEAKING OUT
IGNACIO BUNYE Ayala Life and Ayala Plans, and had oversight over BPI Philam and BPI/MS Insurance Corporation. TG reminded me of our very first meeting in 1986. I was just newly appointed as OIC Mayor of Muntinlupa and not having said a proper goodbye, I immediately paid a visit to my former colleagues at corporate finance and at treasury at the first opportunity. I just shook the hand of everybody I met along the corridor, and one of them happened to be TG. I would meet TG again much, GUARD/PAGE 7
The Easter Spirit
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Changing of the guard at BPI
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Many things can be said about what the Easter spirit is. In fact, I don’t think we can ever exhaust them. The implications we can derive from the consideration of what the Easter spirit is would be endless. But what we already can say about it should already be enough to make us so understand it as to live it adequately. So what
is the Easter spirit? The Easter spirit is about God’s tremendous love for us. It’s a love that knows no bounds. It’s rather us who can give it limits since we are capable of rejecting it. But on his part, he loves us all the way, no matter what. He is bent on doing that, no matter what it would cost. The Easter spirit is about God sending the son to become man to save us. It’s about God adapting himself fully to our condition, even to our worst condition without committing sin, so that we can have a way to identify ourselves with him, which is what he wants for us. The Easter spirit is about Christ, the son of God and our redeemer, eager to fulfill his redemptive mission to
the end. Christ does not shy away from the most difficult human task he has to carry out. And in so doing, he assumed all the sins of man and gave them the death blow with his own passion, death and resurrection. The Easter spirit is about Christ sharing his triumph over sin and death with us. What we cannot do, he does it for us—but also, with us. Since on our own, we cannot turn around the infinitely evil effects of our sins, suffering death, Christ does it for us. And so, the Easter spirit means that we have every reason to be joyful, hopeful and, of course, most thankful, which would put us in the ideal condition to keep our intimate relation with God and to live our life that is
proper to us, that is, as children of God, created in God’s image and likeness, meant to share in the very life of God, created out of divine love and for divine love too. The Easter spirit should give us an invincible sense of being a victor and conqueror, oozing in peace, serenity, confidence and security, despite whatever. Because no matter how wounded and broken we are, we have the assurance that God will mend us always with his mercy and restore us to the dignity he wants to give us. The Easter spirit, of course, would also make our sense of responsibility over our life keener. We would more sharply realize that EASTER/PAGE 7
Journalistic fraud
JHAN TIAFAU HURST A second parking place that many of us stop at is our failures. Yet we all have failed, so join the club! Simply learn from it and try smarter next time. “We’ve only truly failed when we stop trying.” It’s so simple, yet so true: “A quitter never wins, and a winner never quits.” The final place many of us park is by our successes. In 1899, after the U.S. Patent Office had given over 600,000 patents, it made this statement: “Everything that can be invented has been invented.” They could not have been more wrong! Think of all the inventions since 1899: airplanes, radio, television, the computer, the PARKING/PAGE 7
IN my recent ar ticle “Nitpicking” I pointed out the dubious if not diabolic agenda of opposition quarters at discrediting and demonizing Pres. Rodrigo Duterte in every turn, creating mountains out of molehills and deliberately ignoring the achievements that this administration had achieved. Little did I know that Philippine Star had, in its corral, writers who rely mainly on questionable sources which are obviously paid mainly to churn out b l a c k prop a g an d a an d d is i n for mat i on ag ai nst countries that are perceived to be inimical to the interest of their patrons. Rightly the writers of Philstar and the source of their story blasted China but committed a big mistake when they dragged the Philippines and Finance Sec. Carlos “Sonny” Dominguez in cursing China by claiming that China’s projects in the Philippines
are riddled with secretive issues. Secretary Dominguez pointed out that the three projects funded by China’s ODA were the Chico River Pump Irrigation Project for the National Irrigation Administration, the Kaliwa Dam for MWSS, and the Philippine National Railway Long Haul Project. Sonny asserts that there was nothing secretive about the loan negotiations as all the nittygritty features of the contracts were publishe d on t he Website of the Department of Finance. In short, everything was transparent from the beginning. It is elementary in journalism to countercheck information gathered from unusual sources if one has to come out with a balanced story. What Sonny is saying, they could have just clicked on the DOF Website where all the data are available at their fingertips. Dominguez is even more
investigative than the Philstar reporters as he revealed that the authors of the article just borrowed the data from a ‘think tank’ called AidData which is under the auspices of William and Mary Global Research Institute. Kiel Institute of World Economy, Center for Global Development and Peterson Institute of International Economics. Obviously, the author of the article had wanted to denigrate China and Dominguez in the process made it appear that the Chinese-funded contract was done in secrecy and was only divulged in 2019 at the prodding of lawmakers when, in fact, the details of the deal were immediately posted on the DOF Website. There were other unfair innuendos in the article which Secretary Dominguez dissected and proven to be figments, inaccurate and speculative. Well, call it the hazards of the trade. Now and then
LETTERS FROM DAVAO
JUN LEDESMA publishers and editors are victims of fraudulent stories. The prestigious Washington Post and Pulitzer Prize were victims of literary fraud. A coveted Pulitzer Prize was awarded to Janet Cooke, who wrote an article about a boy who was embroiled in drugs. The story later turned out to be a fairytale fabricated by the writer. Her story ended her journalistic career and besmirched the reputation of the Washington Post. But that is Post, Philstar is another story.
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Macro support to reduce scarring effects of pandemic: IMF exec
A
N International Monetary Fund (IMF) executive has underscored the importance of strengthening coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) containment measures in the Philippines and ensuring macroeconomic support to address the pandemic’s impact on the economy. This, after the multilateral lender hiked its 2021 growth projection for the country to 6.9
percent based on the updated World Economic Outlook (WEO) Update released Tuesday night (Philippine time) from 6.6 percent in the WEO issued last January. But IMF Resident Representative to the Philippines Yongzheng Yang said the lender kept its 6.5-percent gross domestic product (GDP) forecast for the country for 2022. In a reply to emailed questions from the
Philippine News Agency, Yang attributed the hike of IMF’s growth forecast for the country this year to the “stronger-than-expected growth in the fourth quarter.” “This good momentum signals a stronger recovery this year,” he said. The domestic economy posted an 8.3-percent GDP contraction in the last quarter of last year, an improvement from the previous quarter’s -11.4 percent. Full-year print
reached -9.5 percent. Yang said higher fiscal stimulus under this year’s national budget “should also help boost economic activity”, citing the additional fund from unused Bayanihan 2 funds that will be disbursed this year. However, he said the latest growth forecast for the country “is subject to substantial uncertainty” given the risks from Covid-19 infections “as tightening quarantine
THE administration of President Rodrigo Duterte has infused a combined P53.3 billion in cash into the Land Bank of the Philippines (Landbank) and the Development Bank of the Philippines (DBP) -- the country’s two main government financial institutions (GFIs) -- over a five-year period, larger than the combined capital infusions from all administrations
since the two banks were established. Based on data from the Landbank, it has received a total of P38.79 billion in capital infusion under President Duterte as of Feb. 28, 2021, which accounts for 72.11 percent of the total paid-up capital of the bank. The DBP got a total of P14.5 billion in capital infusion under the current administration, the bank’s
president Emmanuel Herbosa said Since Duterte took over in 2016, the government invested a total of P38.79 billion so far in Landbank, of which P27.5 billion was infused in February 2021. This is in line with the provisions of Republic Act 11494, or the Bayanihan to Recover as One Act (Bayanihan 2), to support the institutions wholesale banking services and
extend low-interest rate loans to sectors severely affected by the economic shock of coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19). Landbank’s paid-up capital of P1.8 billion in 1992 grew at a slow phase, as the past administrations did not inject capital into the bank but instead issued stock dividends. It was only during the administration of INFUSION/PAGE 6
Landbank, DBP get largest capital infusion under Duterte admin
Republic of the Philippines REGIONAL TRIAL COURT OF LANAO DEL NORTE 12TH Judicial Region BRANCH 07 Tubod, Lanao del Norte IN RE: PETITION FOR CHANGE OF NAME IN THE CERTIFICATE OF LIVE BIRTH OF VICKY JOY QUABO ALVIA UNDER THE FIRST NAME FROM VICKY QUABO ALVIA to VICKY JOY QUABO ALVIA and CORRECTION OF ENTRY UNDER HUSBAND’S SURNAME OF THE CERTIFICATE OF MARRIAGE FROM MARTOLO TO MORTOLO. VICKY JOY Q. ALVIA-MORTOLA, - versus –
SPL. PROC. NO. 352-07-2020 - for Change of Name
ORDER Filed before this Court is a Petition for Change of Name of VICKY QUABO ALVIA otherwise known as VICKY JOY QUABO ALVIA from VICKY QUABO ALVIA to VICKY JOY QUABO ALVIA filed by the herein Petitioner praying among others that upon due notice, publication and hearing, judgment be issued granting the petition. Petitioner alleges that she is of legal age, married and a resident of Lower Sagadan, Baroy, Lanao del Norte. Respondent is sued in her official capacity as such. The Petitioner was born to spouses VIRGILIO R. ALVIA and FERNANDA R. QUABO at Poblacion, Baroy, Lanao del Norte. That unknown to the petitioner, her father registered the First Name as VICKY instead of VICKY JOY as it can be gleaned in all her documents of importance, hence, this instant petition for correction of entry of the First/Given Name of Petitioner from VICKY TO VICKY JOY. There is also entry of the Husband’s Surname in the Certificate of Marriage, MARTOLA instead of MORTOLA as reflected in the Birth Certificate of her husband issued by the Office of the Municipal Civil Registrar of Kolambugan, Lanao del Norte, Certificate of Baptism issued by the Parish of the Holy Cross, Kolambugan, Lanao del Norte and Confirmation Certificate of San Isidro Labrador Church, Maigo, Lanao del Norte. She attached to the petition the documents to support her petition. That the petition is filed in good faith and is not intended to conceal the commission of a crime and/or defeat the investigation and prosecution of the same but with the sole intention to straighten the records of the petitioner. Set the initial hearing of this petition to July 1, 2021 at 8:30 in the morning before the sala of this Court. Any person interested to the said petition may come to Court on said date and time to show cause why said petition should not be granted. Furnish copy of this Order to the Office of the Solicitor General in Makati City, the Public Prosecutor’s Office in Tubod, Lanao del Norte, the Office of the Local Civil Registrar of Baroy, Lanao del Norte, Atty. Dorothea SaliganBasalo of Poblacion, Tubod, Lanao del Norte and to the petitioner herself of Lower Sagadan, Baroy, Lanao del Norte. Let copy of the Order containing the petition be published in a newspaper of general circulation for three (3) consecutive weeks at the expense of the petitioner. Another copy be posted at the Bulletin Board of this Court. SO ORDERED. Tubod, Lanao del Norte. January 18, 2021
BWM: Mar. 26, Apr. 2 & 9, 2021
to bring virus infections under control and to maintain macroeconomic support to reduce scarring effects of the pandemic,” he said. He said targeted support to vulnerable households should continue while strengthening social protection programs over time. Instead of just providing liquidity support, Yang said the assistance should address solvency issues. He also cited the need for “continued structural reforms to reduce restrictions on inbound foreign investment and efforts to ease the burden of doing business and resource reallocation.
Plant Expo Bazaar at Doña Juana Actub Lluch Memorial Central School MARK MICHAEL A. MACAPIL
April 2021 — PLANT EXPO Bazaar 2021 There will be different booths which sells ornamental plants, cacti and succulents, indoor plants, soil, pebbles, potteries, tools, fertilizer, seeds among others. The plant expo bazaar starts from April 22 to April 26, 2021.
Republic of the Philippines REGIONAL TRIAL COURT OF LANAO DEL NORTE 12TH Judicial Region BRANCH 07 Tubod, Lanao del Norte IN THE MATTER OF CANCELLATION/CANCELLATION OF ENTRY IN THE CERTIFICATE OF LIVE BIRTH OF MINOR KRYSZHA WEAVE ATAY CARMELO.
SPL. PROC. NO. 354-07-2021
METZIE ATAY CARMELO, Represented by PLACIDA ATAY CARMELO, Petitioner, - versus OFFICE OF THE MUNICIPAL CIVIL REGISTRAR, TUBOD, LANAO DEL NORTE, Respondent. x------------------------------ ----------/ ORDER
Petitioner,
THE LOCAL CIVIL REGISTRAR OF BAROY, LANAO DEL NORTE, Respondent. x------------------- -----------/
measures could dampen economic activity.” Other downside risks to the growth outlook include slower-than-expected vaccinations, geopolitical and trade tensions, and potential volatility in global financial markets, he said. These factors are, however, expected to be countered by the fiscal stimulus of the Joe Biden administration and the much discussed infrastructure initiative, which he said “(if materialized) could boost US import demand from the rest of the world, including the Philippines.” “At this juncture, it is critical to continue to strengthen virus containment measures
(Sgd) RICHIE GAY T. MENDOZA Presiding Judge
Filed before this Court is a Petition for CANCELLATION/CORRECTION of entry in the Certificate of Live Birth of minor KRYSZHA WEAVE ATAY CARMELO filed by the herein Petitioner praying among others that upon due notice, publication and hearing, judgment be issued granting the petition. Petitioner alleges that she is of legal age, Filipino, single and a resident of Purok- 4, San Antonio, Tubod, Lanao del Norte. She is represented in this case by her mother. PLACIDA ATAY CARMELO, also of legal age, Filipino, and likewise a resident of Purok-4, San Antonio, Tubod, Lanao del Norte by virtue of a Special Power of Attorney. The Respondent is sued in her official capacity as such. Petitioner is the biological mother of the minor child, KRYSZHA WEAVE ATAY CARMELO, who was born out-of-wedlock on August 2, 2005 at San Antonio, Tubod, Lanao del Norte. The child, KRYSZHA WEAVE ATAY CARMELO was registered in such name under Registry No. 2005-650 in the Municipal Civil Registrar of Tubod, Lanao del Norte with the Midde name, “ATAY”. In it, the entry in the “FATHER” portion was either reflected as “UNKNOWN” OR “NOT APPLICABLE”. The middle name of the minor child as “ATAY” was just copied from the middle name of petitioner, her biological mother. That the name minor child of petitioner was born an illegitimate child with the name of her father not indicated. It is further an error that petitioner’s minor child will carry the middle name as same with her, as indicated, considering that the subject minor is not petitioner’s sibling, and was never acknowledged by her biological father as well. That in the case of REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINES vs. TRINIDAD R.A. CAPOTE, G.R. No. 157043, February 2, 2007, it was held that; “Our ruling in the recent case In Re: Petition for Change of Name and/or Correction of Entry in Civil Registry of Julian Lin Carulasan Wang is enlightening: Our laws of the use of surnames state that legitimate and legitimated children shall principally use the surname of the father. The Family Code gives legitimate children the right to bear the surname of the father and the mother, while illegitimate children shall use the surname of their mother, unless their father recognizes their filiation, in which case they may bear the father’s surname. Applying these laws, an illegitimate child whose filiation is not recognized by the father bears only a given name and his mother’s surname, and does not have a middle name. The name of the unrecognized illegitimate child therefore identifies him as such.” (underlining ours). That the Highest Court enumerated valid grounds or reasons to validly ask the Court for a change of name. It is enshrined in Republic of the Philippines vs. Coseteng, G.R. No. 189476, February 2, 2011, to wit: A person can effect a change of name under Rule 103 (CHANGE OF NAME) using valid and meritorious grounds including (a) when the name is ridiculous, dishonourable or extremely difficult to write or pronounce; (b) when the change results as legal consequences such as legitimation; (c) when the change will avoid confusion; (d) when one has continuously used and been known since childhood by a Filipino name, and was unaware of alien parentage; (e) a sincere desire to adopt a Filipino name to erase signs of former alienage, all in good faith and without prejudicing anybody; and (f) when the surname causes embarrassment and there is no showing that the desired change of name was for a fraudulent purpose or that the change of name would prejudice public interest. That from all the foregoing, petitioner prayed that the name of her minor child be corrected/changed from KRYSZHA WEAVE ATAY CARMELO to simply KRYSZHA WEAVE CARMELO, bearing her GIVEN FIRST NAME and the LAST NAME of petitioner only. Set the initial hearing of this petition to May 27, 2021 at 8:30 in the morning before the sala of this Court. Any person interested to the said petition may come to Court on said date and time to show cause why said petition should not be granted. Furnish copy of this Order to the Office of the Solicitor General in Makati City, the Public Prosecutor’s Office in Tubod, Lanao del Norte, the Office of the Local Civil Registrar of Tubod, Lanao del Norte, Atty. Glenice Joy Jornales of Poblacion, Tubod, Lanao del Norte and to the petitioner herself through her mother, Placida Atay Carmelo of P-4, San Antonio, Tubod, Lanao del Norte. Let copy of the Order containing the petition be published in a newspaper of general circulation for three (3) consecutive weeks at the expense of the petitioner. Another copy be posted at the Bulletin Board of this Court. SO ORDERED. March 16, 2021 Tubod, Lanao del Norte. (Sgd) RICHIE GAY T. MENDOZA Presiding Judge BWM: Mar. 26, Apr. 2 & 9, 2021
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Capacity... from page 3
emphasized that the facility was able to “operate additional inverters and raised its output by another 23 megawatts.” By far, that maximized the plant’s generating capacity to 46 megawatts. The solar facility has an installed capacity of 59 MWp and was completed in March 2016. It serves as the first utility-scale, ground mounted solar PV installation of the Aboitiz group.
The plant’s electricity generation has been constricted for years because of transmission capacity congestion in that part of the Visayas grid. Hence, it became a dilemma for many solar power projects in the area. “SacaSun was constrained and without this line, we’re only able to deliver 50 percent of its capacity – as it is now energized, completed, we’re able to evacuate full capacity of SacaSun being a mustdispatch,” Rubio said.
BLENDED WAY OF LEARNING KELLY S. ESMERO
Doña Juana Actub Lluch Memorial Central School, use its initiative to door to door modules and online learning. By this teachers give their best to make this happen despite of covid-19 pandemic threats. The school personnel still follow health protocol.
Aside from the SacaSun solar facility, the Aboitiz group has also been achieving milestones leading to the commercial operation of its two-phased 1,336MW GNPower Dinginin coal-fired power project in Mariveles, Bataan. He s a i d t h e p l a nt’s generating unit 1 with 668MW installed capacity has started running on March 22. As of March 26, it already reached 600MW level of generation. “In the past few weeks, we have already synchronized but we took an outage for some adjustments for about one-and-half weeks. And there’s still a lot of tuning to be done, it takes some time – a long way to go to declare COD (commercial operation date) but at least, with that capacity, we’re keeping prices at lower levels given the significant outage in the grid,” Rubio
expounded. The Aboitiz Power chief executive added “we expect this to continue and hopefully, we’ll remain online up to the reliability run… not yet to the full capacity, because we expect to get 668MW, but we are now above 600MW.” The Dinginin plant is a new capacity addition to the Luzon grid, with its unit 2 of similar 668MW capacity, eyeing to be advanced to commercial operation by next year. Given the simultaneous outages in power facilities in recent weeks, it has been emphasized that the capacity feed of the new Dinginin plant had been critical because it was able to shore up supply and subsequently helped in softening prices in the electricity spot market. As most Filipinos are consigned to work-fromhome arrangements and with students on online distance learning, the Department of Energy (DOE) has directed power firms to ensure that
their facilities will continually deliver service to consumers in these critical times.
Infusion... from page 5
President Benigno Aquino III that the government infused capital into Landbank in the amount of P3.03 billion. As for DBP, P12.5 billion of the P14.5 billion infused by
the Duterte administration into the bank were in step with the Bayanihan 2 law provisions to enable the bank provide wholesale banking services and cover the loans and interest subsidies of pandemic-hit enterprises. This P12.5-billion infusion represents 39 percent of DBP’s total paid-up capital of P32 billion. (PR)
School-Based Five-day Virtual In-Service Training on Mid-Year Bridging of Learning Gaps in the New Landscape S.Y. 2020-2021 By: ANNALYN L. ENLAWAN Panampawan Elementary School
As stipulated under DepEd Memorandum OUCI 2020307 on suggested Measures to Foster Academic Ease during the Covid-19 Pandemic, the Division of Misamis Oriental will conduct a School-based Five-Day Virtual In-Service Tr a i n i n g o n M i d - Ye a r Bridging of Learning Gaps in the New Landscape SY 2020-2021 highlighting the flexibility in the teaching learning process and making necessar y adjustments throughout the school year. In the new landscape of teaching-learning delivery, ever ything has changed. Changes are needed to embrace so education must continue. DepEd Undersecretary Alain Pascua, in a memorandum issued on March 4, 2021 said that the five-day session aims to “further expand the participants’ skills and knowledge on different digital teaching materials, systems and approaches that are useful in delivering quality education”. In this connection, the Panampawan Elementary School conducted a fiveday school-based Virtual INSET for the SY 20202021 last March 15-19, 2021. The training highlights the
Measures to Foster “Academic Ease” during the COVID-19 Pandemic Memorandum OUIC-2020-307, Interim Guidelines for Assessment and Grading in Light of the BELCP, Crafting of Performance Tasks and Written Works Sample Activities, Retrieval and Checking of Bridging Activities, Computation/ f i n a l i z at i on of g r a d e s , encoding of grades in CMSS and making of report cards. Following the guidelines provided by the division, this INSET was conducted through the online platform Google Meet since the default work arrangement is Work From Home. The training headed by our dynamic School In-charge Mrs. Disire L. Fabela. The Panampawan ES teachers actively participated in the said training workshop. On the morning of the first day of virtual conference, the teachers shared their views and comments on the measures to Foster “Academic Ease” during the COVID-19 Pandemic Memorandum OUIC2020-307 with the resource speaker Mrs. Gretchen Nova P. Manoop, Master Teacher I. On the afternoon session, Mrs. Evangelyn L. Arazo, Teacher
III discussed the interim guidelines for assessment and grading in light of the BE-LCP. The second day aimed to help teachers in Crafting of Performance Tasks and Written Tasks sample activities for the 3rd Quarter discussed by Mrs. Irish M. Fabre, Master Teacher I. On third day of the training, discussion on IPCRF, MOVs and classroom observation discussed by our energetic resource speaker Mrs. Disire L. Fabela, School In-charge. The topics were ver y interest ing and it helped to the teachers on how to gather the MOVs for IPCRF. On the fourth day, the teachers actively participated the topics that discussed by Mrs. Annalyn L. Enlawan, Teacher III and Mrs. Laura A. Seno, Teacher I, all about the computations of grades, making of report cards and encoding of grades in CMSS. The topics gives big helped to the teachers explore and enhance their ICT skills in encoding of grades in CMSS. On the last day of training the closing program and giving certificates to the resource speakers. The five-day schoolbased virtual training ended successfully.
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Parking... from page 4
Internet, cell phones—just to name a few! And inventions continue to be made every single day! Just because you have achieved a little success in life, does not mean that is all you can do. “Some people think they’re in the groove when they’re really in a rut.” You will never know all you could have done in life unless you keep going and growing. For whatever reason, if you have given up and stopped reaching for more in your life, you can change all that today. Right now, you can ask Jesus to forgive you for your failure to live the way you know you should. Then ask Him to help you with His power so you can start living His way every day. It is only then that you can move on to fully living His great plan for your life. Just think a minute
Guard... from page 4
much later when I was a member of the Monetary Board and he was the President of the Chamber EXTRA-JUDICIAL SETTLEMENT WITH A DEED OF ABSOLUTE SALE OF A PARCEL OF LAND KNOW ALL MEN BY THESE PRESENTS: That the late ANACLETO ASENTISTA, who died on June 23, 1975 and FELIZA YAÑEZ, who died on October 12, 2006 both died Baungon Bukidnon, that the said deceased, at the time of his death, left a parcel of land with Technical Description situated in the Liburan, Baungon Bukidnon, Island of Mindanao, containing an area of FIFTEEN THOUSAND (15,000) Square Meters, more or less, and has been the subject of an EXTRAJUDICIAL SETTLEMENT WITH A DEED OF ABSOLUTE SALE OF A PARCEL OF LAND, filed by the heirs of ANACLETO ASENTISTA and FELIZA YAÑEZ, in favor of EUSTAQUIA ASENTISTA SABINAY, per DOC #420; PAGE #84; BOOK #XVIII; Series of 2020 under the Notarial Registry of ATTY. EMELITO J. MARQUIÑO. BWM: April 9, 16 & 23, 2021
EXTRA-JUDICIAL SETTLEMENT (With WAIVER OF RIGHTS) KNOW ALL MEN BY THESE PRESENTS: That the late RICARTE M. VILLANUEVA, at the time of his death left a certain parcel with TCT No. T-29860 situated at Imbatug, Baungon Bukidnon, Island of Mindanao containing an area of FORTY FOUR THOUSAND THREE HUNDRED AND FIFTY NINE (44,359) SQUARE METERS, more or less, WHEREAS, It is to the best interest of the parties hereto to divide and partition and adjudicate among themselves the entire estate extra-judicially, in the form and manner hereinafter set fourth: LUISA B. VILLANUEVA – Lot 91-F under PSd-10-048489 with an area of 4,359 Square meters, LIXYL V. CUAL married to JONI CUAL- Lot 91-A under Psd-10-048489 with an area of 8,000 Square meters , JERIEL B. VILLANUEVA married to GLAIZA GAY O. VILLANUEVA- Lot 91-B under Psd-10-048489 with an area of 8,000 Square meters, JERAMEEL B. VILLANUEVA- Lot 91-C under Psd-10048489 with an area of 8,000 Square meters, RICKY LOU B. VILLANUEVALot 91-D under the Psd-10-048489 with an area of 8,000 Square Meters and MALCHIEL V. DAANOY married to MARIO DAANOY JR. –Lot 91-E under Psd-10-048489 with an area of 8,000 Square meters, and has been the subject of an EXTRA-JUDICIAL SETTLEMENT (With WAIVER OF RIGHTS), filed by the heirs of RICARTE M. VILLANUEVA, per DOC #351; PAGE #071; BOOK #VV; Series No. 2021 under the Notarial Registry ATTY. ERNIE PALANAN. BWM: April 9, 16 & 23, 2021
of Thrift Banks. TG strikes me as very customer-centric and employee-centric. A wellknown anecdote is about how TG picked up the phone one day and called a branch employee in Baguio to personally congratulate her. TG earlier learned about how this employee had gone out of her way to as-sist a bank client. That telephone call became the talk of the town in Baguio for several weeks. TG fervently believes that customer experience is the key to the success of any business. Knowing our customers’ needs will definitely enhance our customers’ overall experience. Thus going for ward, TG will continue to build on BPI’s two strengths: its digital strength, an-chored on trust, plus customer service excellence. Anti-Asian My very first opportunity to visit the United States came in 1981. I was sent by Ayala Investment and Development Corporation (AIDC) to attend a World Bank-sponsored seminar in Washington DC. It was also my first time to experience “discrimination” as an Asian. With our seminar session done for the day, I was waiting for a cab to bring me back to my ho-tel. At that moment, a Caucasian panhandler approached me. I pretended not to see him and slightly turned away from him, tightly holding the strap of my camera bag. He just followed and stood in front of me. Again, I turned away from him. He started to hum what sounded to me like “Sakura”. Again, I did not respond. Finally, he stopped humming. He left, but not before cursing: “F…k….g Japanese!” Note: You may wish to share the foregoing via FB, Twitter or Linked-In.
Easter... from page 4
we have to do our best to conform ourselves to God’s will and ways, taking up all the spiritual, supernatural as well as the human means to that ideal. If we have the Easter spirit, we would know how to always live in the presence of God, driven always with love that can conquer all things. It would give us an apostolic zeal that would provide us with a burning desire for the salvation of all souls. The
Easter spirit is the slayer of complacency, lukewarmness and the other weaknesses we have. It, for sure, will protect us from all sorts of temptations. There are still many things we can say about the Easter spirit. But for now, let us see if we have these marks of the Easter spirit in our life!
Prices... from page 1
prices while struggling amid the pandemic. Inflation in March this year eased to 4.5 percent from the 26-month high of 4.7 percent in February. The Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) attributed the rising inflation rate to higher food prices since the start of the year. Supply deficiency on meat, particularly pork due to African swine fever, transitory impacts of the typhoons in the latter part of 2020, and the higher oil prices have contributed to the rising food prices in the past months. (PNA)
Lifting... from page 1
urging the provincial board to revisit the Environment Code on March 15, a copy of which was obtained last Friday. Sagittarius Mines, Inc. (SMI) has been pursuing the Tampakan project, with the mammoth deposits best extracted, according to the company, using the open-pit mining method. The landowners under Certificate of Ancestral Domain Title 108 have already perfected the Free, Prior and Informed Consent (FPIC) opening their lands to mining operations, the resolution said. Currently, all requirements for the mining operations to proceed have been completed, except for the ban on open-pit mining, which continues to impede the realization of the Tampakan project, it added. In August 2020, the Tampakan SB terminated the municipal principal agreement (MPA) with SMI. The deal was supposed to be reviewed and updated every four years, but this hasn’t been done since 2009, the municipal board said in a resolution. There were attempts to review the MPA, but the mayor and other municipal representatives were excluded from the negotiations, it added.
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“After scrutiny, there are provisions in the MPA that are considered vague, disadvantageous to inhabitants of Tampakan and unduly tie the hands of the local government unit [LGU] of Tampakan,” the council said in the resolution approved on August 10, 2020. “As such, the LGU cannot sit and fold its arms not to intervene in any action initiated by its people if, indeed, their rights have been violated contrary to some provisions of the agreement.” The MPA was already a done deal rather than negotiated with the government, the resolution said. SMI had declined to comment on the matter. The municipal board, however, stated that it is open to negotiate a new MPA with the company. Rene Pamplona, advocacy officer of the Convergence of Initiatives for Environmental Justice Inc., noted that the moves to lift the open-pit ban have failed in the past. “In 2015, the provincial board, despite strong lobbying by pro-mining g roups, reaffirmed the validity of the Environment Code and the ban on open-pit mining method,” he told MindaNews on Sunday. L ast O c tob er, Judge Vicente Peña, acting presiding judge of Regional Trial Court 11th Judicial Region Branch 24, ruled against a petition to revoke the prohibition, saying the open-pit mining ban in South Cotabato not only remained valid but was also deemed legal and consistent with the provisions in the 1987 Constitution. Pamplona, a resident of Tampakan, is confident the “same thing” will befall the latest move of the municipal council urging the lifting of the open-pit mining ban, stressing the strong anti-mining stance of the Diocese of Marbel and other environment groups in the country against the Tampakan project. Marbel Bishop Cerilo Casicas spearheaded the revival last year of the Tampakan Forum to ignite a “systematic and sustained” opp osit ion against t he Tampakan Project. This, after learning that the
environmental compliance certificate (ECC) of SMI, which was canceled by the late Environment Secretary Gina Lopez, had been restored by the Office of the President. Sagittarius Mines, Inc. (SMI), developer of the m am mot h S 5 . 9 bi l l i on Tamp a k an copp e r- gold project in South Cotabato, has “re acquire d” its environmental compliance certificate (ECC), one of the requirements needed to proceed to the commercial production phase, a senior environment official said. Omar Saikol, Environmental Management Bureau – Region 12 (EMB-12) director, said the SMI “reacquired” its environmental compliance certificate (ECC) which the late Environment Secretary Gina Lopez canceled on February 14, 2017. “The ECC of SMI was reinstated by the Office of the President on May 6, 2019,” Saikol, reading from a prepared document, told reporters on July 9, 2020. The local Catholic church has been consistently opposing the Tampakan project since its discovery in the 1990s on concerns over the environment, food security and human rights of the affected Lumad (Indigenous Peoples) communities.
Sinovac... from page 1
Northern Mindanao. PA L F l i g ht PR 2 5 1 9 landed at 5:07 a.m. carrying 20 boxes of the vaccine against the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) from China. By 5:26 a.m., the refrigerated van was already on its way to the D OH regional office. Emiliano Galban Jr., DOH X spokesperson, said that in the afternoon, the vaccines were already distributed to the nine cities and five provinces of Region 10. He said the shipment was the third that arrived for the region’s 84,000 frontliners. Galban s aid t he two earlier vaccine shipments include 17,000 doses of Sinovac in February and 22,000 doses of AstraZeneca in March. He s ai d s i n c e t h e s e
vaccines require two doses per beneficiary, only 19,500 of t he f ront liners have b een vaccinated s o far, and 12,000 more will have their jabs soon with the latest Sinovac arrival, for a total of 31,500. “We are still a long way of our target of 84,000 medical frontliners,” Galban said. He said they are expecting a bigger vaccine shipment of one million doses later this month. (Froilan Gallardo / MindaNews)
Capex... from page 3
sustained demand across its residential projects amid the housing backlog woes. “We have learned much from this pandemic and look forward to offering safe and healthy homes and communities to address not only the great housing backlog in VisMin but also what families really need,” Soberano said. CLI bucked the pessimistic trend by beating its 2019 reservations sales performance with record P14.25 billion of new sales in 2020, up 12 percent from P12.67 billion the previous year. The strong sales take-up also resulted in unrealized revenue of P20.4 billion, the firm said. S oberano said that despite the pandemic, the real estate boom in the country continues where the company is “able to take advantage of this new kind of demand.” CLI ended the year with an additional 4,300 housing units added to its inventory spread over nine projects worth P11.4 billion. Newly launched projects were 71 percent sold by the end of 2020. Other revenue contributors included the leasing income business which accounted for P55.2 million while maintaining a healthy occupancy rate of 79 percent. Citadines Cebu City, CLI’s first hotel project, posted P54.6 million in room rentals with an average occupancy of almost 50 percent last year. The firm’s growing hotel portfolio is expected to reach 1,433 rooms by 2025.
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Fri-Sat|April 9-10, 2021
Smart, DavNor LGUs partner in promoting sustainability through arts To encourage communities to take an active role in sustainability, Smart, together with local government units of Davao region, recently launched a Paint it Forward: Wall Mural Contest. A total of 20 groups of local artists from Tagum City, Panabo City and the Municipality of Carmen in Davao del Norte responded to the invitation of Smart to present, through public art, the efforts of the local government in promoting sustainability measures in the region. Artist Ryan Paltrep, one of the participants from Barangay Ising in Carmen, said that their group joined the competition to raise awareness about sustainability through arts. He has been painting since he was still in elementary. “Sa among wall painting (In our wall painting), we featured the sustainable tourism destinations in our town. These destinations are Tala River, Veteran’s Shrine, Divine Islet Zipline,
Balutan sa Carmen, Riverside of Tagunay, and Umasataba, a fishing resort,” he said. Carmen shortlisted six entries for the competition while Panabo City and Tagum City banked on six and eight entries, respectively. Each participating group has a maximum of five members. Tagum City Mayor, Allan Rellon said that the partnership with Smart is timely as the Davao del Norte capital pivots towards increasing the public mural density in the city. “We want to thank Smart Communications for partnering with the Tagum City Historical and Cultural Center for this very inspiring project. The visibility of murals in the city contributes to the amplification of our sustainability programs in a manner that is creative as the local government works towards creating a #BetterWorld for the Tagumenyos.” All participating groups are given P5,000 to procure paints, brushes and other necessities
related to the completion of the project. The top three winners in each locality will receive prizes of P30,000, P20,000 and P10,000 worth of communication packages for the first, second and third placers. The package includes gadgets, load cards and SIM packs. Consolation prizes will also be given to all participating groups. The winning groups may also opt to donate the prizes to
a charity, foundation, or advocacy of their choice. Launched in the province of Cebu and Davao Region, the Paint it Forward Mural Contest is
If interested, contact:
part of Smart’s efforts that encourage communities to #LiveSmarter for #BetterWorld campaign. The initiative is also aligned with the
DANICA SUDARIA
commitment of Smart and parent firm, PLDT to support the 17 Sustainable Goals of the United Nations, particularly Climate Action (SDG 13).
dannycarosesudaria0512@gmail.com 0936-046-2356