Metro CDOTIMES (May 24-30, 2021)

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CAGAYANLifestyle TIMES Weekly DE ORO

Volume 8 | No. 41 | Cagayan de Oro City | May 24-30, 2021

Memorial Day in the Philippines

Honoring Kagay-anon Patriots of World War II

By MIKE BAÑOS

On May 31, 2021, the United States celebrates Memorial Day, a federal holiday dedicated to honoring and mourning military personnel who had died while serving in the United States Armed Forces.

Previously observed on May 30, it has been officially moved to the last Monday of May since

1971, purportedly to allow people to enjoy a long weekend.

Memorial Day in the Philippines Memorial Day has been similarly observed in the Philippines in cemeteries of American military personnel who died in the line of duty. Most notable examples are the Manila American Cemetery and

Memorial, Cabanatuan American Memorial and Clark Veterans Cemetery which are officially cared for by the American Battle Monuments Commission.

The Manila American Cemetery and Memorial in the Philippines occupies 152 acres on a prominent plateau, visible at a distance from the east, south and west. It contains the largest number of graves of our military dead

of World War II, a total of 17,184, most of whom lost their lives in operations in New Guinea and the Philippines.

The Clark Veterans Cemetery was formed between 1947 and 1950 by moving the headstones/ markers and remains from at least four other U.S. military cemeteries (Fort Stotsenburg 1 & 2, Fort McKinley, and Sangley Point Naval Cemetery)

Memorial Day 2019 photo courtesy of the Bamban Museum of History (Rhonie dela Cruz)

Captain Antonio Julian Montalván, G-2, 10th Military District, USFIP

to the new 20.365 acre, 12,000 plot cemetery located just inside the main gate of Clark Air Base. All WWII dead were moved to the American Cemetery in Manila.

Clark Cemetery contains the remains of U.S. veterans from the USA, USN, USMC, USCG, USAF, Philippine Scouts (PS) and their dependents. Some, but not all, were veterans of the Spanish/American, Philippine-American War, WWI, WWII (died after

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the war), Korean, Vietnam, and Iraq wars.

The largest category interred are civilian, mostly U.S. and Filipino and their dependents, all of whom worked for the U.S. Government. There are nearly 9,000 individuals buried in the cemetery as of May 1, 2019. Dual flags have flown over the cemetery since March 1984.

Victory Week While there is currently no Philippine equivalent PATRIOTS/PAGE 7

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May 24-30, 2021

Mount Everest:

China reaches new heights of ridicule

Sports Tourism Ostensibly not satisfied with claiming our shoals in the Spratleys, Scarborough and elsewhere in the South China Seas and West Philippine Seas, China has declared they will lay claim to one section of the summit at Mount Everest, the world’s highest peak at 8,848.86 meters or 29,032 feet.

Am I joking or instigating an issue in my Sino-bashing agenda? Obviously not, as I am only quoting the news wires from Associated Press and Reuters. It came as a disbelief for me as well as the 4,000 who have summited Mt Everest.

The reaction became one of condemnation, and

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CAGAYAN TIMES/Sudaria Group of Companies Publisher MIKE BAÑOS Editor-in-Chief SUSAN P. DENNIS GEAN T. CESAR RANDY FAMACION MAI MAI SISON KLAUS DORING ANNIE GORRA RAGO WENDY RAMOS-GARCIA Contributing Editors CLIFFORD SANTILLAN Layout Artist PINKY DOMINGO Marketing KHRISTHA RIVA FELICILDA Advertising ATTY. MARIO T. JUNI Legal Counsel The Metro CAGAYAN de ORO TIMES newspaper is published weekly at Tanleh Bldg., Abellanosa Street, Consolacion, Cagayan de Oro City.

It is registered with the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) Region 10 with Certificate No. 01801884, and with Business Registration Plane No. 17211 with Business License Certificate 2014-00691. TIN No. 311-982-549-000 Tele/Fax #: (088) 856-3344 Find us on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/CagayandeOroTIMES email us at thecagayandeorotimes@gmail.com Member: Cagayan de Oro Chamber of Commerce and Industry Foundation, Inc. (Oro Chamber)

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rightly so. I can surmise what my favorite Foreign Secretary, Ted Locsin will tell the Chinese if he is a mountaineer.

China, who has access to Mt Everest through their questionable takeover of Tibet, shares the Himalayas mountain range from the north side through Tingri, Shigatse Prefecture in Tibet - oops, sorry, I mean, Xixang.

The standing space at the peak of the world’s highest mountain is barely the size of a table good for, at most, six persons according to friends of mine who have summitted. Most climbers will attest that you will be “near death” when you reach the peak, with the lack of oxygen, all your energy spent and the “Mama, I love you” frame of mind.

In that condition, will you be tolerant of anyone telling you that you cannot stand on this side of the peak simply because it does not belong to Nepal?

Ridicule at its highest.

All a climber wishes to do, once upon summitting, is to take on a 360-degree view of the world, pose for a selfie with your Sherpa guide or group, hold your country flag, say a little prayer and, pronto, “Mama, I’m coming home.”

On descending, many never made it home alive. This year already two climbers have died.

Dr Puwei Lui (55), an American, died while attempting to the top while Swiss national, Abdul Waraich (41) collapsed on the way down to the lower camps after summiting.

This very week, my

By CHARLES LIM

friend Swee Chiow Khoo is preparing his ascend to a neighboring south peak, Lhotse which is 8, 516m high and is the fourth highest peak in the world. He posted having met Dr Lui at Base Camp weeks ago and became dinner buddies for days. One fine evening, they were having such a great conversation, the next day Lui was gone - for good. Bless this mountaineering scientist from Connecticut.

Swee Chiow, 57, has made three successful ascents to Everest (1998, 2006 and 2011) and is the first Southeast Asian to climb K2, the more difficult mountain to conquer. Around 5,500 climbers have ascended Mt Everest but only 400 have summited K2.

An average of 5 climbers die each year since Sir Edmund Hilary and his Nepalese guide, Sherpa Tenzing Norgay conquered Everest in1953. The morbid tale is that half of the 300 bodies throughout these years were never brought down; never found.

The absurd reason that has forced China to contemplate on drawing a “separation line” on the peak of Everest is to prevent climbers from their side being infected with coronavirus by climbers ascending from the Nepal side.

Beijing says they will send their team of Tibetan mountaineering guides to mark their side of the peak. How it will be done and how it will be enforced is not clear.

Another Great Wall, perhaps?

According to an AP report, a mountaineering doyen,

Ang Tshering Sherpa states that it is simply not possible to draw any kind of separation on the Everest summit.

“The idea that anyone with coronavirus could even reach the summit is impossible because climbers with respiratory difficulties will just not be able to reach that altitude.”

Sherpa said.

The window period to ascend Everest and the neighboring peaks is from late April to May each year. This Spring, Nepal granted 408 permits for the climb as against 21 by the Chinese. In my humble opinion, it would more credible for the Chinese to cancel the 21 permits in the interest of health and safety than to draw that ludicrous line.

I wish my friend, Swee Chiow a safe climb up Lhotse this week.

He had a few scary moments during his acclimatization weeks ago but I have so much confidence in him as he is the fourth person in the world to complete

The Explorers Grand Slam, that is the North Pole, South Pole and the top Seven Summits of the world. He is well prepared for this climb, a difficult one by any standards, as the last 300 meters to the summit is a steep ice.

Swee Chiow has participated in my Sports Tourism Forum as a motivational speaker and was last here as guest of Mayor Felipe Remollo of Dumaguete City in 2018. Dear to us in the Philippines, Swee Chiow, paddled in a kayak from Sarangani in the south to Pagudpud in Ilocos Norte in 88 days covering 3,205 kilometers, cutting across 50 provinces in 2009.

Certainly, he and thousands of mountaineers throughout the world will not tolerate this Chinese nonsense of claiming part of the peak of Everest and putting the safety and health of the climbers at stake.

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A German Expat in the Philippines

WITH BEETHOVEN UNDER PALMS

By Klaus Döring

Chapter VXI:

Terrible homesickness

LUDWIG VAN BEETHOVEN and all my classical masters seemed to be thousands of miles away. Rossana and I reached the Philippines together with our four best friends from Berlin in March 1989 for another six weeks long vacation.

Of course, we wanted to show our friends the most beautiful and best sides of Davao City and Mindanao.

The known political situation gave us limits.

But, we tried it.

Relatives and good connections arranged an appointment with then

Cotabato City Mayor Ludovico Badoy. While writing this chapter, I learned that Vic Badoy passed away in April 2021.

As the national executive director of the NHC, Badoy was credited for the renovation of the historic “Bahay Kalakal” (Ker and Co.) building in Iloilo City in 2018. Agriculture Undersecretary Zamzamin Ampatuan remembered the late mayor as a leader who made Cotabato City peaceful, orderly, clean and a vibrant city.

And even in 1989,

we had nothing to worry about. Roaming around, but with a group of six bodyguards, we enjoyed the two wonderful days stay in Cotabato City. And I got my interview with the mayor for my ANG MABUHAY magazine in Berlin. On the way back to Davao, some bombs and grenades exploded.

Nothing happened to us.

Our thirst for adventure didn’t seem to slow. Of course, our four friends wanted to experience something, but it was clear to Rossana and me, that we should

not overdo it. After all, we were responsible for their security.

But, again with several bodyguards our next destination was within reach several days later: Mount Diwata, also locally unofficially nicknamed Diwalwal, is a remote 1,261-metre (4,137 ft) high range of volcanic mountain and biodiversity area in Davao Region on eastern part of Mindanao island of Philippines. Rich in gold and copper ores and mines, it is spread across the 3 municipalities: (a) Monkayo in the province

of Compostela Valley; as well as (b) Cateel, and (c) Boston in the province of Davao Oriental.

Laguna Copperplate Inscription, the oldest written document in the Philippines dated to 900 CE, refers to Mount Diwata.

A dizzying hanging bridge brought us to the Bagobos. Along the desolate eastern coast of the Davao Gulf, centuries ago, new migrants mixed with the native population, forming a new community that was given the name Bagobo.

This tribe traces its origin from the people who brought Hinduism to Mindanao, its name was derived from the words bago meaning new and obo meaning growth.

Throughout centuries a strong social structure has enabled these native groups to blend well with the original population, retaining their indigenous customs, beliefs and values.

The mountainous region between the upper Pulangi and Davao rivers is the homeland of the Upland Bagobo. The Coastal Bagobo once lived in the hills south and east of Mount Apo, where according a legend, their supreme god and common ancestor Apo Sandawa ruled as God. Mount Apo is the Bagobo ancestral domain and their sacred place of worship.

The weeks flew by.

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Rossana developed a certain sentimentality during the last few days.

She called it homesickness.

Me too. And we found out that both of us got the same feelings: one home - two countries. A very tearful goodbye party is still in my memories.

A particularly historic event awaited us in Berlin a couple of months later: the fall of the Berlin Wall in November 1989. Rossana and I joined the peaceful revolutions and helped tear down the Berlin Wall. A piece of the wall that we broke out then is still in a special place in our house in the Philippines.

And then? When I got back from the office, Rossana had a very important message from Los Angeles for me.

(To be continued) ‘Klaus Doring was born in Spenge, a little village near Bielefeld in North RhineWestphalia, former West Germany. A publishing house manager and journalist by profession, i.e. managing editor for law magazines in Berlin, New York and Amsterdam, radio and TV host.’

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Cebu Pacific remains in the frontline of battle vs. COVID-19

T

HE Philippines’ leading carrier, Cebu Pacific (PSE: CEB), remains in the frontline of the country’s battle to curb the surge of COVID-19 cases with timely deliveries of vaccines to key cities across the archipelago.

CEB flew more than 236,000 doses to five cities in the Philippines, specifically to Tuguegarao and Legazpi on April 30, and to Tacloban, Zamboanga, and Cotabato on May 1, 2021.

This shipment comprised 41,600 doses for Tuguegarao, 67,200 doses for Legazpi, 73,600 for Tacloban, 25,600 for Zamboanga, and 28,800 for Cotabato.

"We are delighted to continue collaborating with our public and private partners for the realization of this national

endeavor. We consider it our duty to bring these much-needed vaccines across our wide domestic network while ensuring they are preserved well and delivered safely while in our care," said Alex Reyes, President and CEO of Cebgo.

Upon receipt of the vaccines at the Cebu Pacific Cargo warehouse in Pasay, these were placed in a reefer container equipped with cooling systems for proper storage before cargo loading.

These vaccines were immediately transferred to container vans upon arrival at the destinations, ready for local distribution.

On April 29, CEB flew half a million vaccine doses from Beijing to Manila, in coordination with the Department of Health (DOH).

CEB has delivered the single largest vaccine shipment to the country so far, in coordination with the Department of Health (DOH).

A total of 1.5 million doses from Beijing arrived at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) via 5J 671 on May 7, 2021.

“This large shipment of COVID vaccines with Cebu Pacific brings us closer to our goal of protecting every Filipino as fast as possible,” said Sec. Carlito Galvez, Jr., chief implementer of the National Task Force against COVID-19. “We are grateful to Cebu Pacific for joining forces with the government to support us in ensuring the success of this vaccine roll-out.”

“We are thankful for the continued trust of the

Philippine government and the DOH, and restate our intention to support our country’s fight against COVID-19 in any way we can. We look forward to picking up more vaccines from across the globe and aid in distributing across our widest domestic network,” noted Alexander Lao, Cebu Pacific Chief Strategy Officer.

Upon unloading from CEB’s A330 aircraft, all vaccines were thoroughly inspected by the authorities prior to uplifting to refrigerated trucks via electric forklifts.

On May 4, Cebu Pacific transported 6,200 COVID-19 vaccines from Manila to Puerto Princesa.

Apart from Palawan, the carrier has delivered more than half a million doses of vaccines to six (6) other cities in the country namely Bacolod,

Cotabato, Legazpi, Tacloban, Tuguegarao, and Zamboanga.

Following last week’s shipment of 500,000 Sinovac vaccines from Beijing to Manila, CEB has already transported over 2.5 million COVID-19 doses since March 2021.

CEB fully supports the nation’s vaccination program by helping ensure life-saving COVID-19 vaccines are flown safely to the Philippines, and distributed across the rest of the archipelago.

CEB operates the widest domestic network in the Philippines covering 32 destinations, on top of its six (6) international destinations.

Its 74-strong fleet, one of the youngest in the world, includes two (2) dedicated ATR freighters and one (1) A330 freighter.

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Aboitiz-AIM-NEDA-LGU collaboration to boost PH contact tracing capabilities To help address the issues surrounding the effectiveness of the country’s contact tracing efforts, the public and private sectors together with the academe launched ‘Project Connect,’ an initiative for the seamless execution of this important pillar in the government’s Covid-19 pandemic response (Test, Trace, Isolate).

Through a virtual ceremony held on May 18, 2020, the Aboitiz Group, premier academic institution Asian Institute of Management-Aboitiz School of Innovation, Technology, and Entrepreneurship (AIM-ASITE), and the local government of Pasig City signed a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) that would put in motion a data science-driven project conceptualized by the National Economic Development Authority (NEDA), to significantly improve contact tracing in the country.

The AIM-ASITE, with its world-class computing facility, research tools, and data science experts, will help develop data analysis techniques for contact tracing.

The Aboitiz Group, a known advocate of innovation, data science and artificial intelligence, supports the initiative through its social development arm Aboitiz Foundation. Aboitiz helped establish ASITE through a $10 million donation to AIM. It offers Master of Data Science (MSDS), the first graduate data science degree program in the country.

“In Aboitiz, everything we do should drive change for a better world and we are a firm believer that data science is a strong foundation that we can rely on as our country continuously fights this pandemic,” Aboitiz Foundation President Maribeth Marasigan stressed.

The Aboitiz Group

ELEVATING CONTACT TRACING THRU DATA SCIENCE. (Clockwise) Aboitiz Equity Ventures, Inc. VP for Corporate External Relations Vince Tan, Pasig City Mayor Vico Sotto, Aboitiz Foundation President and Chief Operating Officer Maribeth Marasigan, and Asian Institute of Management-Aboitiz School of Innovation, Technology, and Entrepreneurship (AIM-ASITE) Head Christopher Monterola led the MOA signing for ‘Project Connect’ - an initiative to improve the country’s contact tracing through the use of data science.

through its Foundation has also donated PHP2 million to fund the implementation of ‘Project Connect’, which includes pilot testing, SMS blasts, and the development of the Application Programming Interface or API which is essential to increase contact ratio from one (1) infected person is to two to three persons traced (1:2-3) to an ideal of one (1) infected person is to thirty to thirty-seven people traced (1:3037).

“One life saved by addressing this gap in the pandemic response, is more than enough reason for Aboitiz to be part of this initiative.

This remains true to our promise of advancing business and communities,” she added.

The Automatic Contact Tracing Using Short Messaging System (SMS) Project, through the said API, would help seamlessly execute contact tracing as soon as an individual’s Covid-19 test result comes out by automatically linking the contact tracing applications used by various local government

units (LGU) to the government’s testing portal.

While the Department of Health data showed that the 7-day moving average for Covid-19 testing reached close to 64,000, the challenge is ensuring immediate testing of those who might have direct contact with individuals who tested positive. This is currently one of the weakest links in the entire Covid-19 response and when addressed would greatly help prevent the dreaded virus’ further transmission.

“Through quick testing and tracing, we can identify, test, and isolate asymptomatic individuals before they go out and infect others in the community. Doing so will dramatically reduce cases, limit the spread of the virus, sustain the reopening of the economy, and allow people to go back to work as soon as possible. The gradual reopening of the economy is key to economic recovery,” said NEDA Undersecretary Mercy Sombilla.

AIM-ASITE Head

and Aboitiz Chair in Data Science Christopher Monterola said by connecting DOH’s data to the contact tracing apps used by the LGUs, required isolation time of compromised individuals can be reduced from seven to just four days. “According to simulations done, this acceleration of the contact tracing process can reduce the total number of cases by 50-60% if tracing is implemented with about 75% of the population complying”, Monterola pointed out.

“By connecting the DOH data of infected individuals and the contact tracing data of say Pasig Pass, we can identify the individuals most likely compromised if they are in the same establishment within say 30 mins. We can then prioritize on contact tracing the individuals based on the length of contact, nature/place of contact, susceptibility to become seriously ill (age and gender), and most importantly one’s potential to be a super spreader,” Monterola further explained.

Pasig City, the

project implementation pilot site is already maintaining PasigPass, a contact tracing solution specifically made for the city which runs via quick response (QR) code system and is required to be accomplished in establishments and operating offices within Pasig.

Pasig City Mayor Vico Sotto said that while around 2.6 million individuals are already currently on the SafePass app, the city recognizes the need to improve its contact tracing and sees further use of technology and data analytics to better fight Covid-19.

“There are so many data points that we can extract [from the app].

You know the potential for data analytics and analysis is really high but obviously, the LGU of Pasig does not have the capability for a lot of these things; it's new to us as well and we’re trying to figure things out as we go along and we need your help,” the mayor said during the project launch.

“Every time we identify a close contact, every time someone tests positive and prevents him or her

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from spreading the disease, that’s a win for us. These are little victories that we see on a daily basis,” he stressed, noting that the initial results’ potential from the pilot test of 1,000 people traced through Project Connect is “through the roof.”

Mayor Sotto thanked all the stakeholders involved in the project including the Aboitiz Foundation. “To the Aboitiz Foundation, thank you for your generosity, for your kind hearts, and your willingness to partner with the LGUs like Pasig City. I know it’s not only Pasig that you are partners with but you have done so much for the community, for our nation and I just want to thank you for that,” he added.

Usec. Sombilla said the Inter-Agency Task Force on Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF) agreed to do the pilot test in the consortium cities including Pasig, Antipolo, Mandaluyong, and Valenzuela. The recommendation to the task force is to scale the initiative nationally as soon as possible.

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Coca-Cola Beverages PH completes 14,000 solar panel project in manufacturing sites; 24,000 solar panel project underway Coca-Cola Beverages Philippines, Inc. (CCBPI), the bottling arm of Coca-Cola in the country, has achieved another sustainability milestone in Q1 of 2021 upon completing the installation of almost 14,000 solar panels in its Davao del Sur, Misamis Oriental, and Bacolod plants.

A multi-phased solar panel project is underway that covers four more sites— namely, Canlubang, Sta. Rosa, Zamboanga, and Cebu—with 2022 as a target deadline. With this, CCBPI is pursuing a 24,000 solar panel project, with the total capacity to produce a maximum of 9.4MW. More projects are in the pipeline— two plants in North Luzon and the Visayas are being assessed for renewable energy integration.

Energy efficiency is one of the company’s strategic investment areas. Efforts to further integrate renewable energy (RE) into its operations are part of CCBPI’s Cleaner Energy 2.0 initiative—a roadmap toward becoming a leader in clean energy use and energy use ratio in Southeast Asia by 2023. Even with the challenges brought by the pandemic, CocaCola steadily poured in investments—an initial $63M for 2021 and $95M in 2020—to ensure the highest standards of safety, quality, and sustainability for every bottle that reaches its customers.

To date, as much as 65% of Coca-Cola’s total energy consumption is sourced from renewable and clean energy, which are geothermal, solar, and biomass resources.

The company’s two mega plants, Canlubang and Sta. Rosa, were the first to utilize RE in 2018. All of CocaCola’s manufacturing sites that are viable to be converted to 100% RE—given the existing grid and connectivity infrastructure—have been transitioned to use clean energy. These sites are Sta. Rosa, Canlubang, Ilocos, (Calasiao) Pangasinan, Cebu, San Fernando in Pampanga, and Meycauayan.

“Organizations of our scale need to consciously and deliberately manage our environmental

COCA-COLA MISAMIS ORIENTAL PLANT. Over 7,000 solar panels were installed on Coca-Cola’s Misamis Oriental plant in March 2021, in partnership with Buskowitz Energy, with the capacity to generate an average of 2.8MW. Coca-Cola will continue prioritizing initiatives that enable the significant reduction of its overall energy consumption, while maintaining the quality of its beverages.

impact. By placing sustainability at the core of our operations, we are able to demonstrate that growing a successful business through sound and responsible enterprise strategies is highly achievable.” says Gareth McGeown, President and CEO of Coca-Cola Beverages Philippines, Inc. “We are increasing the volume of our production and maintaining the quality of our beverages, handin-hand with hitting our sustainability goals.”

Consuming less energy, producing more beverages Coca-Cola has been delivering significantly on reducing overall energy consumption. To track progress on this front, the Company uses a metric called Energy Use Ratio (EUR), which is the amount of energy used for every liter of product produced.

The suite of energy savings initiatives has so far improved CocaCola’s energy use ratio from 2014 to 2018 by as much as 30%, which means that Coca-Cola is utilizing less power even as it produces more beverages—but it is not stopping there.

CCBPI has introduced more operational excellence programs, which include step change in processes through initiatives like “LUPIT” (Level-Up Process Improvement Teams) that are fueled by a rewards and recognition scheme.

LUPIT, a Filipino word

for awesome, is run through a combination of focused improvement teams and individual employee improvement ideas and suggestions.

“Our 20 plants across the Philippines are equipped with state-ofthe-art technologies that allow for efficient energy and water consumption.

We make sure that we continuously innovate and upgrade our processes, train our people, and invest in technology to ensure that the systems we have in place demonstrate our commitment to sustainability—it’s not all talk,” adds McGeown.

Sustainability across the value chain: water, packaging, fleet operations Comprehensive strategies are in place to further improve the company’s operational efficiencies throughout the value chain— from using biomass boilers that are fed rice hulls as fuel, to upgrading the fleet to Euro IV-V compliant trucks; from improving systems in manufacturing, to replacing old refrigeration equipment to new units that utilize LED lighting and hydrocarbon refrigerant.

In line with World Without Waste—which is Coca-Cola’s global goal to collect and recycle every single bottle and can by 2030— CCBPI partnered with Indorama Ventures, a global leader in green technology, to construct PETValue Philippines,

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a PHP 1-billion PET recycling facility in General Trias, Cavite.

The DTI’s Board of Investment (BOI) granted the plant a ‘pioneer status’ as its technology is the first of its kind in the country.

PET recycling is also being addressed at the source: as colored bottles chart low in recyclability, CocaCola changed the iconic Sprite green packaging to clear PET in 2019, in order to increase its recyclability.

Furthermore, water savings initiatives and operational efficiencies in the manufacturing sites, as well as community programs like AGOS also enabled Coca-Cola to achieve an estimated 132% water replenishment.

“Energy conservation, water replenishment, and taking responsibility for our packaging footprint—these are the sustainability commitments that we are tirelessly and strategically working on,” says McGeown. “We are proud of what we have achieved thus far, but we are just getting started.”

McGeown adds, “Coca-Cola has been in the Philippines for 109 years now, but we believe that our best days are still ahead of us. There is a lot more we can do as a company: More partnerships we can forge, more innovations to introduce, and more lives to help change for the better.”

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Fe Tiano, Nurse, 109th Regiment, 10th Military District, USFIP

Patriots... from page 1

Running Organgs — the new Pinoy-made mobile game is taking the country by storm

By JASMINE CARGULLO

A new fun and addicting mobile game for both Android and Apple users has come to town! If you were waiting for all of 2020 for a big vacation, you’ll surely love playing Running Organgs.

The game is 100% Pinoy-made, conceptualized and developed by PurpleBug Inc., which is a local digital marketing company. Another one joining the roster of Philippines’ pride, indeed!

Running Organgs is one of the most anticipated online games this 2021. The game aims to serve as not just an entertainment for people and to distract them from the setbacks brought by the COVID-19 crisis, but to also allow players to travel and recall the feeling of visiting the most famous tourist spots in the Philippines, all the while staying safe from the dangers of the COVID-19 virus.

Apart from providing entertainment, the game also aims to provide education to players about self-care and health.

The characters, hence, the name “Running Organgs” is inspired from the human organs.

The following are the characters of the game: • Brainstein (Brain): The one who holds the greatest understanding and wisdom among the members of the Running Organgs. His arch nemesis are illegal drugs • Amor (Heart): The fun and bubbly member of the Running Organgs.

She wears her heart on her sleeve and loves to make friends. Her arch nemesis are the pictures of her ex-boyfriends.

• Oliver (Liver): The cool, laid-back, and most stylish member of the Running Organgs. His arch nemesis are alcoholic beverages.

• Lang-Lang and Leng-Leng (Lungs): Lang-Lang and Leng-Leng are twins. Lang-Lang is prim and proper, while Leng-Leng is a free-spirit.

Their arch nemesis are cigarettes, vapes, and the COVID-19 virus.

• Tammie (Stomach): The confident and bold member of the Running Organgs. She loves to eat to her heart’s content and knows how to have a good time! Her arch nemesis are poisonous substances.

As a simple platformer game, people of all ages can enjoy playing Running Organgs.. With the overall unique art style and fun characters, you will surely enjoy every passing moment with this cute gang!

Watch out for updates!

PurpleBug Inc. will be releasing new versions within the year with additional characters and Philippine tourist spots. So far, the game has already received positive feedback, most notably for its art style, characters, and concept.

PurpleBug is a digital marketing agency in the Philippines that offers 360 degrees digital marketing solutions and online marketing services such as web design services and web development services.

Aside from these web solutions, PurpleBug also caters to search engine optimization services, online advertising, social media management services, online PR media, application development services, and other digital marketing solutions for businesses.

Be sure to try it out!

Happy playing!

Download Running Organgs through these links: Android: https://bit. ly/2W1wZr3 iOS: https://apple. co/3qGdPFj

to Memorial Day, the Philippine Veterans Affairs Office and Armed Forces are pushing to have September 2nd officially recognized as Victory Week to honor and mourn military personnel who died while serving the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP).

“We have started informally building the surrender of Gen. Yamashita as Victory Week since last year, which we treat as the equivalent of the US Memorial Day. It takes a legislative action to establish it so we made it initially as a tradition until we could elicit acceptance,” said Brig. Gen. Restituto L. Aguilar (ret.), executive director of the National Historical Commission of the Philippines (NHCP) and former chief of the PVAO’s Veterans Memorial and Historical Division.

Even before that is officially recognized by the Philippine government, allow us the privilege of honoring and mourning some of our local heroes who perished during the Second World War in service of the United States Army Forces in the Far East (USAFFE) and the guerrillas of the United States Forces in the Philippines (USFIP), when the Philippines was still a colony of the US. Although bitter adversaries during the Philippine-American War of 1899-1902 (still carried in American history books as the ‘Philippine Insurrection’), and the first and only colony of the US in Asia since that time, Filipinos never bought into Imperial Japan’s line they were here to free us from the American yoke as partners in the “Greater East Asia CoProsperity Sphere".

When the Pacific War broke out in December 8, 1941, with Japanese planes bombing Clark Field and other US installations in the Philippines, the greater part of the Filipinos sided with the US and when the USAFFE Mindanao Force under Maj. Gen. William F. Sharp, Jr. surrendered to the invaders on 10 May 1942 in Malaybalay, Bukidnon, most of the American and Filipinos melted away in the hills of Mindanao

7

The Tiano Brothers (L-R) Sgt Nestor Tiano, 1Lt Ronaldo Tiano & 2Lt Apollo Tiano. (MOGCHS 1980)

to start what eventually became the biggest and most organized group of guerrillas in the 10th Military District, USFIP under Col. Wendell W. Fertig.

For this year’s Memorial Day, we honor and mourn some of our Filipino martyrs who fought and died in the service of their beloved Philippines and their adopted country the United States of America.

Our Local Heroes Capt. Antonio Julian C. Montalvan (Feb. 8, 1906 - Aug. 30, 1944) was a member of an espionage team as G-2, MC Liaison and Intelligence Officer, of the 10th Military District under Fertig in Mindanao, who reported directly to Gen. Douglas MacArthur.

As a medical doctor, he was able to get information by moving through various hospitals in Manila about Japanese troops in Mindanao, which he passed on to Fertig and which eventually reached MacArthur in Australia. As a member of a spy network, he helped establish coastal radio relay stations in Mindanao, Visayas and Southern Luzon.

After three successful intelligence gathering trips by banca to Manila from Mindanao, he was arrested by the Japanese Kempeitai (Military Police) in Tayabas, and was later detained and tortured in Fort Santiago and the Old Bilibid Prisons in Manila.

On August 30, 1944 he was executed by decapitation with the group of Senator José Ozámiz, and the Elizalde Group of Manila which included the writer Rafael Roces and Blanche Walker Jurika, the mother inlaw of guerilla leader Charles "Chick" Parsons. The execution took place at the Manila Chinese Cemetery. Dr. Montalvan is buried with the rest of the Ozamiz/Elizalde Group in Manila’s North Cemetery.

1st Lt. Fidel Saa, Sr. of Cagayan de Misamis was the 109th Regiment’s dental surgeon. He married Enriquita Mercado of Gingoog City with whom he had three sons: Le Grande, Fidel Jr. and Ruel. On January 1944, he and four other guerrillas and one civilian were captured, tortured and bayoneted to death when

the Japanese ambushed their headquarters in El Salvador around 04 January 1945.

The other victims were 2nd Lt. Eufronio Jabulin, Sgt. Gregorio Macapayag, Cpl. Gerardo Saguing, Pvt. E. Eling and Chong Ing, a Chinese trader. The Japanese also captured Maj. Fidencio Laplap’s father Melanio and brought him to Cagayan where he was tortured and killed.

The Japanese had no reservations about the age of the suspected spied and guerrillas they killed. Sometime in 1942, Cox Banquerigo, an intelligence asset of the guerrillas was betrayed by a “friend” and neighbor at the Parque (now Gaston Park) who was an enlisted man with the Japanese-sponsored Bureau of Constabulary (BC). Only 16 at the time, Cox was brought to the Ateneo de Cagayan where he was interrogated, tortured and beheaded. The guerrillas eventually caught up with the traitor and killed him at Barangay Agusan.

Perhaps the most remarkable Kagay-anon patriots were the Tiano siblings, for whom the Tiano Brothers street in Cagayan de Oro is named after, another story apparently forgotten by the present generation. No less than six of the siblings, five males and one female, were involved in fighting the Japanese in World War II, making them our counterpart to the famous Sullivan Brothers of the US Navy.

While only the second eldest sibling Nestor was killed in action vs. the Japanese at the young age of 24,while repelling a Japanese attack at Aglaloma Point, Bataan on Jan. 23, 1942, this does not by any measure diminish the sacrifice of his five other siblings in the struggle against the Japanese Occupation during the war.

The eldest Ronaldo, a 1st Lt. in the nascent Philippine Army Air Force (PAAC) with the 7th School Squadron based at Maniquis Field, Nueva Ecija, survived the Bataan Death March, but was released by the Japanese from the concentration Camp in Capas, Tarlac and instructed to report to the Japanese headquarters

Dr. Fidel Saa Sr. and His wife Enriquita during happier days. Photo was taken during their wedding in Gingoog, 1937. (ThePacificWars.com)

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in Cagayan. He came home wearing his full PAAC uniform.

Instead, he joined the 120th Infantry Regiment under Maj. Angeles Limena as one of his staff. After the war he joined the newly organized Philippine Air Force (PAF) but left after 18 months to join Philippine Airlines (PAL). He died in a plane crash on Jan. 24, 1950.

Apollo became a 2nd Lt. and platoon leader of “C” Company, 1st Battalion, 120th Regiment, 108th Division based in Initao, Misamis Oriental.

He died fighting with the 19th Battalion Combat Team (BCT) of the Philippine Expeditionary Force to Korea (PEFTOK) defending Hill 191 (also called Arsenal Hill) and Hill Eerie, comprising Combat Outpost No. 8 at the Chorwon-Siboni corridor in the west central sector of Korea on June 20,1952 while repelling a superior force of the Red Chinese People’s Liberation Army. The Philippine Navy’s BRP Apollo Tiano (now decommissioned) was named in his honor.

Uriel became a sergeant of “A” Company, 1st Battalion, 120th Regiment, 108th Division based at Pangayawan, Alubijid, Misamis Oriental, and ended the war in the Signal Corps.

The youngest brother Jaime was a private first class at only 15 years of age, and served as medical aide of the 120th Regimental Hospital together with his sister 1st Lt. Fe B. Tiano (RN), who was the unit’s sole regimental nurse at the regimental hospital at Talacogon, Lugait, Misamis Oriental.

As Corporal Jesus B. Ilogon relates in his unpublished manuscript, Memoirs of the Guerrillas: The Barefoot Army, Lt. Fe Tiano and PFC Jaime Tiano were engrossed in their hospital work, tending to the sick of the regimental hospital. They were so busy that they forgot to apply for their vacation, and when they did, it would be disapproved. Truly a dilemma that our frontliners in our hospitals and health care facilities could relate with!

“This is the story of the Tianos-brave and courageous, their battles are now part of history. While they went to war, their parents Emilia Bacarrisas and Leocadio Tiano and two sisters Ruth and Emily were left in Lapad (Alubijid, now part of Laguindingan), to stoke the home fires burning,” Ilogon noted.

There are too many others, both known and unknown, who suffered the ultimate sacrifice in our fight for freedom, and it’s beyond our limited knowledge and present capacity to mention all of them here.

But let this not diminish our recognition of their uncommon valor and faith in our ultimate victory that may serve to inspire us withstand the trials of this unseen enemy which now confronts us the world over.

Thank you for your service to the Philippines and the United States of America!

MABUHAY!

Metro

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CAGAYANTIMES Feature DE ORO

May 24-30, 2021

Page 8

IDC Extends its Help to the Community in Bulacan T HE coronavirus pandemic is leaving millions of people sick, unemployed, and struggling to make ends meet. Thankfully, there are many things we can do to help make a difference in our community.

From volunteering to supporting local establishments, there are a variety of opportunities to help those in need during this difficult time.

Italpinas Development Corporation’s (IDC) premier green property builder has recently conducted a simple community pantry for the families of Meycauayan, Bulacan.

“As members of our community, it is our responsibility to take initiative in providing assistance to communities that are in need.

We need to take action now” said Ms. Mary Ann Lopez, IDC VP for Finance and Administration.

True to its company mission, IDC had been conducting monthly CSR activities in various localities

in Cagayan de Oro and Sto. Tomas Batangas.

IDC values its roots of being a true local of the city in ways of helping the community as much as it can. And serve as inspiration to other investors in the community to reach out and give a helping hand to those in need.

IDC conducts CSRs on a monthly basis, as it is also the company’s way of sharing and giving back to the community.

“We believe in bringing smiles regularly through our CSR programs.

Through these activities, we devote ourselves to reaching out and giving people even the simplest reasons to smile,” she added.

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