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COVID-19 PANDEMIC WON’T BE THE LAST, W.H.O. CHIEF WARNS

Story on B2

How BioNTech-Pfizer won the vaccine race BERLIN—It was over breakfast on the wintry morning of January 24 that Ozlem Tureci and her husband Ugur Sahin decided, “we need to fire the starting gun on this”. Sahin “had concluded from a publication describing coronavirus cases in Wuhan... that there was a high

GAME CHANGER. German glass company Schott makes the glass vials to carry the vaccine; Dirk Heinrich, a senior physician at a vaccination centre in Hamburg, shows off the facilities.

‘14-day quarantine a must’ Next page

Rody sets mandatory isolation for travellers from UK, others By Macon Ramos-Araneta, Willie Casas and Rio N. Araja

RAVELERS from countries with reported cases of the new COVID-19 variant that emerged in the United Kingdom (UK) must undergo a 14-day quarantine in state-run facilities in Clark, Pampanga, a Palace spokesman said Sunday.

VOL. XXXIV • NO. 295 • 3 SECTIONS 12 PAGES • P18 • MONDAY, DECEMBER 28, 2020 • www.manilastandard.net • mst.daydesk@gmail.com

In an interview on Dobol B sa News TV, presidential spokesman Harry Roque said this recommendation was among those approved by President Rodrigo Duterte during his meeting on Saturday with the Inter-Agency Task

Vaccine likely to work on new COVID strain, expert eases fears AN INFECTIOUS diseases expert on Sunday has allayed concerns that the currently available vaccines against COVID-19 would not work against the new strain of the coronavirus from the

United Kingdom (UK). Dr. Mario Panaligan, president of the Philippine College of Physicians, said in a Dobol B sa News TV interview that a COVID-19 vaccine would allow

a person to develop enough antibodies we have many antibodies we can proto ward off the novel coronavirus even duce when we are vaccinated,” he said as it has already mutated. in Filipino. “We need not be afraid that our vacThe new coronavirus strain detected cine will no longer be effective because Next page

Freeze order on CPP, NPA bank accounts

Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF). Roque said the 14-day quarantine would be mandatory, regardless of the results of their COVID-19 tests. Next page

COVID-19 PH AT A GLANCE

(AS OF 4 PM DECEMBER 27)

469,886 TOTAL NUMBER OF CASES

883

22,099

9,109

NEW

DEATHS

RECOVERIES

NEW

438,678 7,635

By Rey E. Requejo and Jimbo Gulle AS THE Anti-Terrorism Council (ATC) moved to cut off funding to the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP), the New People’s Army (NPA), and the National Democratic Front (NDF), the Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC) has issued a freeze order on all bank accounts of the leftist bloc the government has designated as terrorist groups. In a message to reporters on Sunday, Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra did not say how many bank accounts or properties are covered by the freeze order. In a statement, Alex Monteagudo, director general of the National Intelligence Coordinating Agency (NICA)

ACTIVE

NEW

Gregorios forgive killer, press for justice for victims

GRIEF STRICKEN. Grieving members of the Gregorio family turn emotional before Sonia and Frank Anthony Gregorio are

finally laid to rest in Paniqui, Tarlac on December 27, 2020, a week after Police Senior Master Sgt. Jonel Nuezca shot them dead in their backyard, the shooting caught on video that went viral and sparked outrage. Mark Demayo

THE relatives of the mother and her son who were shot dead by a policeman in Paniqui town, Tarlac, said Sunday they had forgiven the killer but would seek justice for the victims. Hundreds joined the funeral procession in Paniqui of Sonia, 55, and Frank Anthony Next page

Floods, landslides feared as 2 LPAs induce rain WEATHERMEN on Sunday warned of flooding as the water level in the dams of Magat, Angat and Ipo in Luzon continued to rise following the rain brought by two low-pressure areas.

They made the warning even as dis- sponsibility and the northeast monsoon aster officials reminded the public to affecting Northern Luzon. prepare for rain and possible floods and At 9 a.m. on Sunday the first LPA landslides from the two low-pressure was spotted 140 kilometers west-northareas inside the Philippine Area of ReNext page

Innocents’ Day tricks: Beware By Ben Cal

LUCENA INUNDATED. Floodwaters have risen at Purok Riverside, Brgy. 1, Lucena City following non-stop rains brought about by a low-pressure area on Sunday. Mae Formaran

FILIPINOS join the whole of Christendom in observing Holy Innocents’ Day today, Monday, to recall the massacre of thousands of innocent children aged two and below. The massacre was ordered by King Herod more than 2,000 years ago in Jerusalem in a bid to kill the newly born King, Jesus Christ, the Son of God whom he considered a threat to his throne. By tradition, Filipinos celebrate Niños Inocentes or Holy Innocents’ Next page

Ivana Alawi celebrates a milestone Story on C3

News

MONDAY, DECEMBER 28, 2020

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Duterte halts face-to-face classes By Macon Ramos-Araneta

RESIDENT Rodrigo Duterte has ordered on December 26, Saturday, educational institutions to refrain from conducting face-to-face classes given the emergence of new strains of COVID-19, said Sen. Bong Go.

klase (school year). Ba’t ‘di na lang natin antayin? Alam naman natin na marami pang nangyayari. Nakakabahala kung bubuksan pa natin ang klase (na face-to-face),” he said. . The Department of Education had pushed for limited physical classes in low-risk areas in order to address the educational challenges confronting children from disadvantaged families and in rural areas. Go has discussed the issue with President Duterte to reconsider the move and delay the pilot implementation until there is a safe and effective vaccine available and the country’s level of immunity is high enough to achieve herd immunity. “With what is happening right now in other countries, let us study and visit

the decision of DepEd,” said Go. He said the President can talk and study a pilot implementation ng faceto-face classes. Meanwhile, the Alliance of Concerned TeachersPhilippines criticized as ‘a knee-jerk, passive response’ the President’s recall order on the conduct of limited face-to-face classes in January, citing that such move doesn’t answer safety, accessibility, and quality concerns in education amid the COVID-19 pandemic and its dangerous new variants. The group reiterates the need for the Duterte government to take proactive measures against the local spread of existing strains of the virus and the ‘equally pressing’ need to strengthen the education system to make it ‘pandemic-responsive.’

In response to the President’s order, Education Secretary Leonor Briones said they will implement the president’s instructions to recall limited face-to-face classes in the light of recent development. Earlier, Go reiterated his firm resolver with regards to the holding of pilot face-to-face classes in the country by January 2021 while there is still no approved safe and effective vac-

cine and amid the emergence of new strains of COVID-19. He has consistently urged concerned authorities to reconsider such plan given the potential threat of COVID-19 and its new strains to the health and safety of the students, teaching staff and surrounding communities, without an approved vaccine to protect them. “Sa Mayo, matatapos naman na ang

How BioNTech-... From A1

Oil companies reverse gear, rollback looms

probability that a pandemic could be imminent”, Tureci recounted. The decision by the couple, founders of a small German company called BioNTech, gave birth to Operation Lightspeed -- in which the scientists in the company diverted all their resources from cancer therapy research to finding a vaccine to stop Covid-19. “Since that day... there has not been a day when we took a break from working on this project,” said Tureci. Four days later, on January 28, Germany confirmed its first case of coronavirus infection -- also the first known human-to-human transmission on European soil. What was an epidemic hitting China hardest soon morphed into a global health crisis, forcing governments to close borders, schools and offices and keep their populations at home to halt the spread. As BioNTech and other pharmaceutical companies leapt into action in search of the winning formula, Germany’s army of “Mittelstand” companies and other bigger manufacturing and logistics experts would soon prove crucial.

Genie in a bottle

Just a few minutes’ drive away from BioNTech’s headquarters in the city of Mainz, one such company quietly ramped up production. Little known to the rest of the world, the 130-year-old firm Schott is in fact a major player in the pharmaceutical industry because of its little glass vials designed to hold life-saving vaccines. Three-quarters of the more than 100 coronavirus inoculation trials across the world would end up using Schott products. The company alone aims to produce enough vials to hold two billion doses of a coronavirus vaccine by the end of 2021, head of communications Christina Rettig told AFP. Schott itself had an early scare with the virus at its Mitterteich plant in Bavaria. The town became one of Germany’s first coronavirus hotspots in March after a beer festival, and Rettig said several Schott workers from the Czech Republic ended up “not seeing friends and family for weeks” as borders slammed shut.

Freight steps up

With passenger flights mostly grounded, the buzz at Frankfurt airport’s terminals all but vanished to a hush in the spring. Its freight area however kept humming. Tens of thousands of boxes of urgently needed surgical gowns and masks were transiting through. AFP

Innocents’ Day... From A1 Day with some add-ons similar to April Fools’ Day, when pranksters play tricks like borrowing money without the intention of paying it back. Others may play other harmless tricks

Gregorios... From A1 Gregorio, 25, who were shot dead a week ago by their neighbor, Police Staff Sergeant Jonel Nuezca, after an altercation over an improvised cannon. In a video of the killing that made the rounds of social media, Sonia could be seen pacifying and hugging her son Frank in an attempt to end their encounter with the policeman. They were both unarmed. Grief poured out from the victims’ relatives, friends and supporters in their town as they were buried at the Paniqui Garden of Angels Memorial Park on Sunday morning.

Exchange deal with US floated: VFA for vaccines By Rio N. Araja IN DEFENDING President Rodrigo Duterte’s threat to terminate the Visiting Forces Agreement with the United States if it fails to immediately provide of 20 milion of Covid-19 vaccine doses, Senator Majority Leader Juan Miguel Zubiri and House Committee on Health chairperson Helen Tan said the President may have made the statement out of frustration at the delay in its procurement and delivery. “I believe because we are a bit too late in the game... Naunahan na tayo ng ibang bansa, ang balita nga raw yung 10 million doses ng Singapore dapat para sa atin yun, so medyo na by-pass na tayo at nakikita ko ang frustration ng ating Pangulo,” Zubiri said. “Siguro out of his frustration, sinabi niya na mawawala yung visiting forces agreement natin dito kung ganito ang mangyayari. But I could see, because of anger,” he added. The Philippines was supposed to receive 10 million doses of Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine by January next year, but Health Secretary Francisco Duque III’s allegedly fauiled to submit the required Confidentiality Disclosure Agreement on time, costing the country that opportunity. Still, Zubiri said the Philippines can still purchase vaccines from other pharmaceutical companies like India’s Novavax which only costs P366 per person. He is also hoping that Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro Locsin Jr. and Philippine Ambassador to the United States Jose Manuel Romualdez would succeed in convincing the US government to help the Philippines procure the Pfizer vaccine.

an end of the COVID-19 pandemic and pave the way for a global economic recovery. Unioil Philippines expects fuel prices to have a mix movement next week, or from Dec. 29 to Jan. 4, 2021. “Diesel should go down by P0.10 to P0.15 per liter. Gasoline should have no price change,” the company said. On Dec. 22, the oil firms raised the price of gasoline by P0.75 per liter, diesel by P0.85 per liter and kerosene by P0.80 per liter to reflect the movements

in the international oil market. That resulted in a year-to-date adjustments of a net decrease of P3.47 per liter of gasoline, P7.61 per liter of diesel and P10.84 per liter of kerosene. The oil companies also increased the price of gasoline by P0.50 per liter, diesel by P0.60 per liter and kerosene by P0.55 per liter on Dec. 15. On Dec. 8, the oil firms similarly increased the price of gasoline by P0.25 per liter, diesel by P0.40 per liter and kerosene by P0.60 per liter.

acts?” he said, reacting to the government’s pronouncements. The senator urged the government to take decisive action to prevent the variant from entering the Philippines, whose number of coronavirus cases is now nearing half a million. Pangilinan said officials should have learned their lesson from Covid-19, which had already spread in some parts of the country before the government decided to impose a travel ban. “It’s time authorities take swift action because all it takes for the new variant to spread is one person getting on a plane and landing at NAIA,” he said. On Saturday, medical experts said they would not recommend new lockdowns and travel restrictions in reaction to the new coronavirus variant. Dr. Marissa Alejandria, a member of the country’s COVID-19 technical advisory group, said while the mutated COVID-19 variant was easily transmittable, the mode of transmission would still be the same. “We would like to clarify that the mode of transmission will be the same — respiratory droplets…. To impose the lockdown or travel restrictions will not be sustainable in the long run,” Alejandria said during Duterte’s press

briefing on the COVID-19 variant. Alejandria said that the mutated form of the virus is not “more virulent” or something that could cause severe symptoms, citing research. Dr. Socorro Escalante, the country’s OIC representative to the World Health Organization, cautioned against a new set of lockdown restrictions, saying that ensuring public health interventions could help. “The WHO recommendation for now is not to restrict travel but to ensure that our public health interventions are in place and that the country is ready to mitigate any event that the transmissibility of this new strain will come in the country,” Escalante said. “In the past nine months, the government has already put all the necessary public health intervention and measures [in place] but we have already learned a lot of lessons,” Escalante said. Duterte earlier said Sulu province has sought the government’s help to monitor the situation after the new strain was reported in Sabah. But the country’s OIC representative to the World Health Organization clarified during the briefing that the strain found in Sabah wasn’t the mutated form from the United Kingdom.

under the Office of the President, said the CPP, NPA and NDF were “partners in terms of the terror war.” He said it was only a matter of time that evidence would be presented to expose the conspiracy of the three groups through the provisions of the Anti-Terrorism Act signed into law last July. “By nature, the CPP is the partybrains and the NPA is the armed wing or the organization that wages a bloody war of terrorism. It’s only imperative that they are partners in terms of the terror war, with the party as the

head and the force as the body,” Monteagudo said. The CPP was responsible for thinking of the terrorist acts and tactics while the NPA would execute them, the NICA chief added. “The body will not move without the head’s direction,” he said. The NDF, meanwhile, serves as the “hands and feet” that block political attacks on the CPP-NPA, serving as the shield that “consolidates the power” of both groups,” Monteagudo added. When asked what bank accounts or properties are covered by the freeze order, AMLC Executive Director Mel Racela said: “There are no accounts under the name of CPP/ NPA, but the FO covers the related accounts (RA)

of said organization.” “RA means all accounts opened and maintained for the benefit of said organization, the identification of which the banks and other covered persons will play a very important role. Said FO was issued pursuant to Sec. 25 of the Anti-Terrorism Act (ATA) of 2020 in relation to the Terrorism Financing Prevention and Suppression Act (RA 10168) after the ATC has designated the CPP-NPA as a terror organization,” Racela said. “These statutory provisions are intended to preemptively deprive designated terror organizations of resources to prevent possible terror attacks,” he added.

on friends and neighbors just for fun to commemorate Holy Innocents’ Day So before lending money on Holy Innocents’ Day, think it over or you will be a hapless victim. According to biblical records, Herod the Great was disturbed on learning that the child Jesus was born in Bethlehem to save mankind from sin.

He was so disturbed he would be removed from his throne that he ordered the killing of children aged two years and below. But Herod was clueless where the Child Jesus was born in his own kingdom, so he thought of tricking the three kings by telling them he would like to join them when they came to visit the infant Jesus.

But an angel appeared to the Magi and told them to ignore Herod because of his bad intention. He told them to take another route going to Bethlehem guided by a comet. The three kings followed the angel’s advice as they took another road going to Bethlehem, where they offered gifts to baby Jesus.

Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro Locsin Jr. on Sunday said American biotechnology company Moderna is accelerating its production for a huge shipment of the COVID-19 vaccines to the Philippines. Citing information from the Philippine ambassador to Washington, Locsin said Moderna and another company, Arcturus Therapeutics Holdings Inc., are willing to supply up to 25 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines to the Philippines in the third quarter of 2021. Moderna’s coronavirus vaccine earlier received emergency use authorization (EUA) from the US Food and Drug Administration. This will enable the pharmaceutical firm to apply for an EUA in the Philippines.

west of Puerto Princesa City. PAGASA said the northeast monsoon is also affecting Northern Luzon. Cagayan Valley, Aurora, Rizal and Quezon will continue to experience cloudy skies with scattered to widespread rain and thunderstorms. The operator of Magat Dam in Isabela opened one gate for one meter at 9 a.m. on Sunday, according to PAGASA. The water release will likely affect the towns of Ramon, San Mateo, Aurora, Cabatuan, Luna, Reina Mercedes, Burgos, Naguilian and Gamu, it said. The channels of the Cagayan River are also on “above alert level,” which may cause flashfloods due to the accumulation of water, according to the

bureau’s hydrometeorology division. “The whole stretch of Cagayan River, including the major tributaries, are likely to rise in the next 12 hours,” PAGASA said. Cagayan and Isabela were severely flooded during the onslaught of typhoon “Ulysses” in November. As of 2 p.m., the Angat and Ipo dams in Bulacan opened one gate each at 0.5 meters, according to PAGASA. The water release will affect the towns of Norzagaray, Angat, San Rafael, Bustos, Baliuag, Pulilan and Plaridel, it said. Angat Dam’s water level was 213.378 meters, which is higher than its normal level of 212 meters, PAGASA said. Ipo Dam was at 100.32 meters and nearing its normal water level of 101 meters.

By Alena Mae S. Flores

CONSUMERS may expect a diesel price rollback of about P0.15 per liter next week amid reports of a more contagious strain of the COVID-19 virus and concerns of fresh lockdowns in Europe that could dampen oil demand. The anticipated oil price cut will put an end to several weeks of oil price increases amid optimism over the rollout of vaccines that could put

‘14-day... From A1 The countries which have reported the UK variant of the coronavirus include Hong Kong, Japan, Australia, Singapore and France. Earlier, Health Secretary Francisco Duque III said one of the 79 passengers that arrived in the Philippines from the UK tested positive for COVID-19, but it was not yet known if this was the new strain. On Sunday, Interior Secretary Eduardo Año said the Philippines would not yet ban travel from other countries with the new COVID-19 strain found in the UK unless there’s community transmission there. Beginning Dec. 24, Manila already suspended flights coming from the UK. The ban was supposed to end on Dec. 31, but the government extended it for another two weeks. But Senator Francis Pangilinan on Sunday called on the government to immediately impose a travel ban on countries that were monitored to have the new coronavirus variant, and not wait for local transmission before doing so. “Why do we need to wait for the new strain to scatter before the government

Freeze... From A1

Belen San Jose, a relative of the Gregorios, said the family had found it in their hearts to forgive Nuezca, a policeman assigned to the Paranaque City police crime laboratory. “What we want is justice. We have forgiven him, but there’s justice, we have laws. He should take responsibility before God and the people,” Belen San Jose said. “I’m not mad. I’m mad at erring policemen. Not all policemen are like that. The brutal killing is an isolated case, according to Police Col. Narciso Domingo, regional director of the Central Luzon Police. “The incident is not the whole PNP’s doing. There are just some rotten members among the PNP,” Domingo said.

Floods,... From A1 west of Puerto Princesa City, while the other was seen 35 kilometers northeast of Daet in Camarines Norte. Weathermen said the two low-pressure areas will continue to drench Luzon, the Visayas and Mindanao in the last few days of December. In a 3 p.m. advisory, the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration said the first LPA was estimated 40 kilometers east of Infanta, Quezon, and the other was 190 kilometers north-north-

Vaccine... From A1 in the United Kingdom was reported to be 70 percent more transmissible than SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19. But Health Secretary Francisco Duque III said there is no evidence yet that the new strain causes COVID-19 to be more severe. Willie Casas

Cases fall as labs fail to send results

The Philippines on Sunday logged 883 new COVID-19 cases, bringing the total to 469,886, as 15 laboratories failed to submit their data on time, the Department of Health (DOH) reported Sunday. The DOH reported 42 new fatalities, bringing the death toll to 9,109, which is 1.94 percent of the total cases. The DOH also reported 7,635 new recoveries, bringing the total recoveries to 438,678, which is 93.4 percent of the total cases. This left 22,099 are active cases, which is 4.7 of the total cases. Of the active cases, 80.2 percent are mild cases; 9.9 percent are asymptomatic; 6.2 percent are critical; 3.2 percent are severe; and 0.43 percent are moderate. Willie Casas

Moderna cranks up output – Locsin

News OFW wins case vs recruiters over illegal dismissal

MONDAY, DECEMBER 28, 2020 mst.daydesk@gmail.com

SC upholds ‘redundancy case’ By Rey E. Requejo

By Rey E. Requejo THE Court of Appeals has ordered a local recruiter and its foreign principal to pay an overseas Filipino worker amounting to $8,400 representing her compensation for the unexpired portion of her two-year contract after it found the local and foreign manning companies liable for illegal dismissal. In a decision, the, CA through Associate Justice Ruben Reynaldo G. Roxas, ordered local recruiter Marinduquena International Manpower Services, Inc. and its foreign principal Ibrahim A. Al-Senea Recruitment Office to pay OFW Mary Ann B. Bancaso US$ 8,400, which is equivalent to her salary for the unexpired portion of her two-year contract and 10 per cent of the monetary award as attorney’s fees. Bancaso complained that she was forced to work 18 hours daily and seven days a week to serve 13 members of two families in Saudi Arabia, but was still dismissed by her employer for no valid reasons. The appellate court upheld the September 28, 2018 ruling of the National Labor Relations Commission which found that Bancaso “was constructively dismissed from service as a result of the unbearable and unreasonable working conditions imposed by her employer.” It also affirmed the NLRC’s findings that “the quitclaim was invalid on the ground that it was not voluntarily executed and the consideration therefor is unreasonable” and that “the settlement agreement dubious.” After an assiduous study of the case, the Court finds that the NLRC did not commit grave abuse of discretion because its finding of constructive dismissal is supported by substantial evidence,” the CA ruled. Court records showed that Bancaso was deployed to Dammam City in Saudi Arabia on June 24, 2017 as a household service worker under a contract that she would work for her employer with only eight family members.

IN BRIEF

PH lags behind 57 countries in Math, Science—TISS WHILE the global assessment Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study 2019 revealed that the Philippines lags behind 57 other countries in Math and Science achievements, the study also reported that less than 50 percent of Grade 4 learners only were receiving instructions with “high clarity”. For Senator Win Gatchalian, this only reinforces the need to improve the quality of teacher education and training as the country’s basic education sector struggles with a major crisis: learners failing to master basic competencies and lagging behind in global assessments. To measure the clarity of instruction that learners receive, the TIMSS used a scale that asked learners about the aspects of teachers’ instructions in Mathematics or Science, including the learners’ knowledge of teachers’ expectations. The scale also covers the capacity of their teachers to offer clear answers to questions, explain the subjects clearly, do a variety of things to help them learn, and explain a topic again when learners do not understand. Based on the results of the TIMSS, only 48 percent of Grade 4 learners in the country reported receiving Mathematics instruction with “high clarity”, 37 percent received instruction with “moderate clarity”, while 15 percent received instruction with “low clarity.” In terms of science instruction, 48 percent reported receiving instruction with high clarity, 36 percent received instruction with moderate clarity and 16 percent received instruction with low clarity. Macon RamosAraneta

Meralco urged to extend ‘no disconnection’ period BAYAN Muna party-list Rep. Carlos Isagani Zarate is urging the Manila Electric Co. give a further extension of its “ no-disconnection” period even while lauding the utility firm’s move to allow its consumers to settle their unpaid bills until Jan. 31, 2021. “This is a much welcome move but we urge Meralco to further extend its no disconnection period for at least six months so thatelectricity consumers would be in a better position to pay their bills considering that many lost their jobs and are finding it hard to just put a meal on the table,” he said. Speaker Lord Allan Velasco, in a letter, requested Meralco president Ray Espinosa to extend its no-disconnection period. He welcomed the move of Meralco to grant his request amid the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). “The extended grace period being given to our fellow Filipinos during the holiday season will provide much needed reprieve to those reeling from the devastating effects of the pandemic and natural calamities,” he said. Rio N. Araja

HE Supreme Court has sustained its existing jurisprudence that affirmed the right of employers under the law to dismiss or retrench employees on the ground of redundancy.

SHROUDED NAZARENE. The image of the Black Nazarene

is placed outside the balcony of the Quiapo church in Manila for a “Padungaw” as replacement to the annual Pahalik after the Procession for the Feast of the Nazareno was cancelled amid the Covid-19 pandemic. Norman Cruz

‘Penalize telco firms for failure to reach internet targets’ By Rio N. Araja MAKATI City Rep. Luis Campos Jr. wants to penalize telecommunications companies a P365-million annual fine over their failure to reach internet speed targets. He filed House Bill 7479 that would allow the National Telecommunications Commission to impose P1-million per day or P365-million per year fine on telecoms that are found to “have violated, violating, or those which have failed or are failing... to comply with any order decision or regulation of the commission.” “Filipinos deserve faster Internet speeds, which have been associated with higher economic productivity, stronger jobs creation and greater quality of life,” he said.

“We want the NTC to set faster Internet speed targets every year, and then penalize the service providers that fail to deliver,” he added. The United Arab Emirates ranks No. 1 with 170.30 Mbps, while Afghanistan is No. 139 with 6.31 Mbps. In fixed broadband, Campos said the Philippines ranks No. 103 with an average speed of only 28.69 Mbps. Singapore ranks No. 1 with 241.10 Mbps, while Turkmenistan is at the tailend with 3.47 Mbps. The Speedtest Global Index analyzes web access performance metrics around the world based on millions of tests taken by real people using the Internet. Campos said on Sunday that the Philippines’ average Internet is even way behind those of its peers in the Association

DoLE assisted nearly 340K minors and families THE labor department has assisted close to 340,000 minors, along with their families, in an intensified implementation of the government’s child labor prevention and elimination program amid the Covid 19 pandemic, the agency said on Sunday. Children and young workers are considered among the most vulnerable as the health crisis persist to affect the livelihood of mostly poor families in urban and rural areas. Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III said given the government restrictions to contain the spread of the virus, the labor department profiled around 274,924 child laborers. On top of this figure, he said, about 293,318 were referred for assistance while more than 47,000 were removed from child labor. “Along with our campaign to protect the vulnerable workers, we also stepped up our efforts to eliminate the worst forms of child labor,” Bello said, citing DOLE’s mandate under Republic Act No. 9231 or the Special Protection of Children against Child Abuse, Exploitation and Discrimination Act. He noted that the pandemic has drawn children of poor families into some worst forms of child labor. “This is indeed unfortunate. This is why we had to work doubly hard to arrest the situation,” the labor chief added. Underscoring DOLE’s effective child labor prevention and elimination program, Bello cited the recent experience of one of the young beneficiaries as a good example. Joseph (not his real name), 14, from San Fernando, Romblon, is an orphan living with his grandmother. He used to gather and sell firewood and worked extra as a baggage boy for fish traders. In a report to Bello, DOLE MIMAROPA Director Joffrey Suyao said Joseph was awarded a P30,000 sari-sari store package along with his grandmother. They made good on their assistance and Joseph is now enrolled as a first-year student at the Romblon State University taking up Bachelor of Science in Business Administration. “The boy has been freed from hazardous work. We hope that this simple livelihood assistance help him attain his dreams,” Suyao said in his report. Joseph vowed to make the most out of the livelihood package, and promised to do his best with the opportunity to get a better education, the report added. The DOLE child labor prevention and elimination program consists of Project Angel Tree which provides an array of social services for the child laborers and their families, and the H.E.L.P. M.E. program, which stands for health services and medical assistance; education and training; livelihood opportunities to parents of child laborers; prevention, protection, and prosecution; monitoring; and evaluation.

of Southeast Asian Nations. “Among the 10 member countries of the ASEAN, for instance, our average mobile Internet speed is ranked the secondslowest,” Campos pointed out. “In fact, our 18.49 Mbps represents just 60 percent of the 30.94 Mbps average mobile Internet speed across all ASEAN members,” Campos said. “We are more concerned about mobile Internet speed because an overwhelming majority of Filipinos now access the web through their smartphones via their cellular telephone service provider,” Campos said. Earlier, President Rodrigo Duterte threatened he would “close” all telecommunication providers and “expropriate” if their services would not improve by end of the year.

In a decision penned by Associate Justice Amy C. Lazaro-Javier, the SC Second Division ruled that redundancy is one of the authorized causes for the termination of employment provided for in Article 298 of the Labor Code. “An employer has no legal obligation to keep more employees than are necessary for the operation of its business,” the high court stressed. “In fact, even if a business is doing well, an employer can still validly dismiss an employee from the service due to redundancy if that employee’s position has already become in excess of what the employer’s enterprise requires,” it said. The SC made the ruling in resolving the legal controversy between 3M Philippines, Inc. and Lauro D. Yuseco, who before the termination of his employment on Jan. 1, 2016, was the country business leader of the firm’s industrial business group. In its decision, the SC reversed the January 18, 2019 decision of the Court of Appeals, which declared Yuseco as illegally dismissed, saying 3M Philippines had complied with all the requirements of the law in terminating Yuseco’s employment due to redundancy. The SC also ordered petitioner 3M Philippines, Inc. to pay Yuseco his separation package in accordance with its Separation Benefit Computation. Associate Justices Estela M. Perlas Bernabe, Alexander G. Gesmundo, Mario V. Lopez, and Ricardo R. Rosario concurred with the ruling. The SC stressed that 3M Philippines had complied with the law’s requirement for dismissing employees through the redundancy program. “A valid redundancy program must comply with the following requisites: (a) written notice served on both the employees and the DOLE at least one (1) month prior to the intended date of termination of employment; (b) payment of separation pay equivalent to at least one (1) month pay for every year of service; ( c) good faith in abolishing the redundant positions; and (d) fair and reasonable criteria in ascertaining what positions are to be declared redundant and accordingly abolished, taking into consideration such factors as (i) preferred status; (ii) efficiency; and (iii) seniority, among others,” the SC pointed out.

LGUs

Jimbo Owen Gulle, Editor

MONDAY, DECEMBER 28, 2020 lgu@manilastandard.net editor.lgustandard@gmail.com

LOCAL GOVERNMENT UNITS

Bacolod creates vaccination body B

ACOLOD CITY—The city government has created a COVID-19 Vaccination Council, a first among local government units in the country, the executive director of the League of Cities of the Philippines (LCP) said Sunday. “The creation of the COVID-19 Vaccination (CoVac) Council in Bacolod is a first among LGUs,” said LCP Executive Director Veronica Hitosis upon learning of its establishment. With a “safe and effective” COVID-19 vaccine expected to be available in the market soon, the City Government of

Bacolod has created its very own CoVac council that is tasked to plan and implement the City’s vaccination roadmap. Considered among the first established by a local government unit in the country, the Bacolod CoVac was formed by virtue of Executive Order No. 83 issued by Mayor Evelio Leonardia on Dec. 22.

“It is the highest priority of the city government to ensure that the lives of Bacolodnons are protected from COVID-19. This is the preamble of our CoVac executive order. We must make sure we have accessibility and adequacy of vaccine supply,” Leonardia said. CoVac is chaired by Leonardia himself, together with Vice Mayor El Cid Familiaran as Vice Chair while City Administrator Em Ang will act as Council Coordinator. Councilors, City Department heads and other key personnel are members. Selected medical experts from the private sector will complete the CoVac

membership. Earlier, Vaccine Czar Secretary Carlito Galvez Jr. had personally informed Leonardia and publicly declared that Bacolod City is among the priority areas of the national vaccination program. The mayor added: “While (Budget) Secretary Wendel Avisado has made a public pronouncement that vaccination is the responsibility of the national government, it is to the best interest of our people, nevertheless, that major and concrete steps are taken by our local officials to ensure that the City of Bacolod will be prepared to implement and manage this expected massive health program.”

Pampanga allots P300m for cure for coronavirus CITY OF SAN FERNANDO—The provincial government of Pampanga set aside P300 million for the purchase of anti-COVID 19 vaccines as Governor Dennis Pineda vowed to secure doses with 99 percent efficacy for the Kapampangan. Once vaccines are acquired, Pineda said the priority sectors would have their complete doses to ensure their health and safety while performing their duties. “Kailangan po nating magtulong-tulong para makabili ng epektibong antiCOVID-19 vaccine. Hindi po puedeng iasa ang lahat sa national government [We need to help each other to be able to buy an effective vaccine against COVID-19. We cannot rely solely on the national government to do the vaccination program],” Governor Pineda said on Sunday. He said the vaccine should be administered before the second quarter of 2021 to medical frontliners in public and private hospitals handling COVID-19 patients as well as to workers in private companies to strengthen the capacity of the health system while restarting the economy. These groups would consist the first batch of recipients of vaccine allotments from the national and provincial government. For the multi-sectoral fund drive, Governor Pineda urged local executives and legislative councils in 19 towns and three cities to appropriate funds for the vaccination program. He said Vice Governor Lilia Pineda and the Sangguniang Panlalawigan are supportive of larger allocation proposals from him.

Angeles extends biz tax deadline

WEEK OF PEACE. The provincial government of Sarangani recently co-hosted the Mindanao Week of Peace, an annual celebration mandated by Presidential Proclamation No. 127 series of 2001 for the pursuit of justice and peace in the southern island, in General Santos City. According to Sarangani Governor Steve Chiongbian Solon, the province is extending its horizons through the Sulong Kapayapaan Kalinaw project, which seeks to attain peace by addressing the roots of the conflict through God-centered governance. The Week of Peace is likewise an integral part of the annual Munato Festival and Provincial Foundation celebrations.

IN BRIEF DAR puts up office in Pagadian City THE Department of Agrarian Reform on Sunday said a new regional office will rise in Pagadian City, Zamboanga del Sur to better serve farmer-beneficiaries in Region 9. Secretary John Castriciones said Pagadian City Samuel Co has donated a 5,500-square meter land for DAR’s new building in that area, citing Co “sees the important role of DAR in improving the lives of the farmers and it is just proper to accommodate their office in the city.” The transfer of lot to DAR was recently done through a simple signing ceremony between Co and Castriciones. The agrarian reform chief said the construction of new and bigger DAR headquarter is very timely since President Rodrigo Duterte has given DAR a multitude of tasks, especially in the provision of support services to the farmers.” “I am very thankful for the Sangguniang Panglungsod ng Pagadian, especially to Mayor Co, for seeing the importance of DAR to the farmers,” he said. He said he would allocate budget in 2021 for the construction of the new building. Rio N. Araja

Dinalupihan mayor helps local workers DINALUPIHAN, Bataan—To make sure displaced workers here have something for New Year given the COVID-19 pandemic situation, Mayor Gila Garcia fast-tracked needed requirements for the 234 displaced workers here to be accommodated in the Department of Labor and Employment’s TUPAD Program. On Sunday, the beneficiaries who have yet to complete the 10 days of work already received their allowance of P4,200 each. “Binigay na ho natin sahod nyo para makaabot sa New Year kahit di pa tapos yung sampung araw na trabaho ninyo. Si Mayor Gila Garcia ho talagang hinabol nya yung mga requirements para maisama at maihabol kayo sa TUPAD program ngayong papatapos na ang taon,” Senior Labor and Employment Officer Eloisa Mercado told beneficiaries during the payout. “Lahat po ng programa ng DOLE suportado ni Mayora Gila Garcia,” Mercado said. Garcia said: “Sa loob ng 10 araw magtatanim sila ng gulay sa bakuran nila o sa common area ng barangay at may sahod sila ng P420 bawat araw.” The lady mayor also said: “Kasi di ba pandemic ngayon yung itatanim nila ay pagkain din nila para maging malusog sila.” She said the vegetable seedlings are provided by the municipal government. Beneficiaries must submit three photos per day while working as accomplishment report. Butch Gunio

Vietnamese with P763k in rare agarwood arrested By Ronald O. Reyes TACLOBAN CITY—Police arrested on Wednesday (December 23) a Vietnamese national for alleged illegal possession of agarwood during an entrapment operation in Barangay Jubasan, Allen, Northern Samar. In a report from the Police Regional Office headquarters, the suspect was identified as 39-year-old female Hong Dinh Thi Bich. Joint police operatives confiscated

from the suspect 10.9 kilos agarwood with an estimated value of P763,000; 1/2 kilo bird nest with an estimated worth of P750; accessories of making agar beads; and marked money. Another unidentified male person, believed to be the live-in partner of the suspect, was able to evade arrest. The operating units were from CIDGNorthern Samar Provincial Field Unit led by Captain Deogracias Diaz III and Regional Special Operations Group (RSOG)-PRO

8, together with Northern Samar SOG, 1st Northern Samar Provincial Mobile Force Company (NSPMFC), 803rd Coy, Regional Mobile Force Battalion (RMFB 8), and Allen Municipal Police Station. The suspect will be facing charges for violation of section 77 of President Decree 705, or the Forestry Reform Code of the Philippines and violation of Republic Act 9147, otherwise known as the Wildlife Resources Conservation and Protection Act, police said in the report.

ANGELES CITY—The city government has extended the business tax payment and business permit renewal without penalties from January 20, 2021 to February 28, 2021. This, after City Councilor Arvin “Pogs” Suller, sponsored Ordinance 571, seeking for the one month and eight days payment extension. Mayor Carmelo “Pogi” Lazatin, Jr. has strongly urged the City Council to pass the Ordinance to help local businesses recover, as they are one of the hardest hit sectors because of the pandemic. “Isa lang ito sa mga maliit na pamamaraan, na matulungan natin ang mga kababayan nating namumuhanan para makabangon, lalo na ngayong panahon ng pandemya,” Lazatin said. The said Ordinance, titled “Granting extension for the filing, assessment and payment of business permits without penalties or surcharges and interests until Feb. 28 as an integral part of the implementation of the public safety and health protocols in the city government due to the circumstances brought about by the pandemic COVID-19,” was unanimously approved by the City Council, led by Presiding Officer Vice Mayor Vicky VegaCabigting. Jess Malabanan

Navotas workers to get swab tests UPON their return to work, employees of the City Government of Navotas will undergo swab testing for Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19). “Experts said there is a possibility of a dramatic increase of COVID cases after the holidays. We deemed it prudent to have our employees tested for their own safety and the safety of those they come in contact with while working,” Mayor Toby Tiangco said. All employees, including city officials, have been scheduled for testing on January 4-8. They may forgo quarantine or isolation if they are not tagged as close contacts of COVID patients or do not show any symptoms of the disease. Last June, Navotas also had its city hall workers tested for COVID-19. It also launched a massive community testing since it imposed a city-wide lockdown on July 16. Jun David

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NOCHE BUENA PACKS. Villagers from coastal barangays in Mabini, Batangas who were badly hit by the COVID-19 pandemic and typhoon Quinta recently received noche buena packs from Metro Pacific Investment Foundation, the corporate social responsibility arm of the Manny Pangilinan Group of Companies. Dubbed Tuloy Pa Rin Ang Pasko, the gift-giving initiative is a partnership with the One Meralco Foundation and the Alagang Kapatid Foundation Inc. of TV5. In photo are AKFI volunteer Dante Ricaforte, MPIF president Melody Del Rosario, Mabini Boat Owners and Crew Association president Jun Ilagan, Resort Owners Association of Mabini president Jake Calangi, and One Meralco Foundation program manager Mike Del Rosario.

3 arrested, P5m shabu seized in drug bust

SHABU AND CASH. Some 800 grams of methamphetamine hydrochloride and marked money seized from suspected illegal drug traffickers are laid out following a buybust in Angeles City on Sunday. Jess Malabanan

CAMP OLIVAS, Pampanga—Three suspected illegal drugs traffickers were arrested by anti-narcotics operatives following a buy bust at Barangay Ninoy Aquino here where P5 million worth of methamphetamine hydrochloride was seized from them Sunday evening. Police Colonel Rommel Batangan, acting director of the Angeles City Police Office (ACPO), identified the suspects as Noraden Naser Ariray, alias Conan, of Marisol Village; Roberto Angeles Carbungco, of Brgy. Lourdes Northwest and Anthony Quitalig Bonifacio, of Bamban, Tarlac. Batangan said the suspects earned notoriety after their names surfaced in previous drug bust. He said they are included in the police list of illegal drugs personalities operating in Angeles City and nearby areas in Pampanga and Tarlac.

In his report to BGen. Valeriano De Leon, Central Luzon police chief, Batangan said the suspects have been placed under discreet monitoring by ACPO- Drug Enforcement Unit due to their involvement in the city drug trade. On Sunday, Batangan said DEU cops arranged a drug deal with the suspect who agreed to meet them along Valdez Street, Marisol Village in this city. The suspects were immediately arrested after they handed over 800 grams of shabu with an estimated street value of P5.4 million. “Thru our revitalized anti-drug campaign in line with the directives of high headquarters and with the support of the community, our campaign against the menace of society will surely go a long way,” said De Leon. Jess Malabanan

Opinion As mean as mean can be ONE would be at a loss to come up with a description of the character of one Donald Trump, until high noon of the 20th of January in the coming year, president of the United States of America. In the twilight of his presidency, the least shred of dignity is yet alien to his persona. Trump is devastated by his loss, nay, extremely bitter that what he thought would be a resounding re-election against one he described as “sleepy Joe” and denigrated as a “most unworthy opponent,” beat him with 306 electoral votes over his 232, and a more than million popular vote margin with 81 million Americans choosing his opponent as their soon-to-be president. To this day, he is publicly in denial. Privately realizing the end is near, he unleashes against the electorate, against his own people, a vengeance that wreaks havoc upon the traditions of America’s democracy, and will make it extremely difﬁcult for his successor to undo the wreckage he will inherit 24 days henceforth and beyond.

Nothing should surprise us anymore about the irascibility and outright lack of self-respect of this man. Cocooned inside the Oval Office when not playing rounds of golf, he makes no public statements except to tweet unfounded charges of being cheated, and orders his attorneys to file case after case in trial courts asking judges to overturn the vote. He has even gone as far as the Supreme Court of the United States. That Supreme Court, packed with conservatives including one he appointed in midnight fashion and railroaded through a Senate confirmation, rejected his lackeys’ “motion for leave to file complaint” to overturn the election results in the battleground states of Georgia, Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin, whose governors and secretaries of state refused to kowtow to his earlier demands to de-legitimize mailed-in votes. No proof was presented to the claim of “widespread fraud and erroneous counting,” and so the Supreme Court, by a vote of 7-2 threw out the petition last December 14. Trump harrumphed that it was a “disgraceful miscarriage of justice” when even his newly appointed justice, Amy Coney Barrett, along with earlier Trump appointees Justices Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh voted against his plea. Meanwhile, gullible rednecks and “true” believers have donated hundreds of millions of dollars to fund Trump’s insane quest to overturn the electoral results. Even in the face of humiliation, the Donald knows how to make money by fooling people. How much of the millions he will pocket after 20 January, 2021 is up for speculation. He of course will need it when he faces tax fraud and other criminal suits after he loses presidential immunity, to hire lawyers of ambulance-chaser caliber who will just milk him knowing they will get nowhere. Surrounded by sycophants trying to squeeze as much “juice” as they can from him while his residual powers last, even as many Republicans including his Majority Floor Leader, Sen. Mitch McConnell finally

recognized Biden as the popular and electoral choice, Trump continues to dig in. Meanwhile too, he has issued presidential pardons as if he was printing money, to criminal after criminal involved in several breaches of federal law, too many to bother enumerating in this space. One would not be surprised if he likewise pardons family members, including his favorite son-inlaw, whose business dealings many say, have bordered on the criminal. Trump may even pardon himself, or resign by early January and ask his vice-president, Mike Pence, to grant him presidential pardon. A precedent was set when Nixon, another Republican, resigned in disgrace, and his selected vice-president, Gerald Ford, pardoned his benefactor. Nothing, but nothing, should surprise us anymore, about the irascibility and outright lack of self-respect of this man Americans once hailed as their leader. But on top of all his delusions, on top of his willy-nilly presidential pardons, and his stubborn hope that Congress will yet stand in the way of the verdict of the Electoral College, he displays a character as mean as mean can be. Congress recently passed a Covid-19 economic relief bill wrapped up in a 1.4 trillion dollar funding bill without which government will have to shut down midnight of this annus horribilis. In a video late evening of December 22, Trump called the $900 million in stimulus funds a “disgrace” despite it being passed the day before by a large bi-partisan majority after months of negotiation. In the negotiations, the Democrats wanted more, but the Republicans wanted less in economic stimulus to small businesses and the unemployed who have been subsisting during the pandemic on federal and state dole-outs, much like our “ayuda.” Trump now says he wants the checks to taxpayers increased to $2,000, something he refused to consider prior to the elections. “This abdication of responsibility has devastating consequences. About 10 million Americans will lose unemployment benefits,” president-elect Joe Biden said. When 2021 enters without this bill signed into law, a moratorium on house evictions will expire, putting millions at risk of being thrown out of their homes. Vital services will grind to a halt. Military servicemen around the world will stop receiving their paychecks. At the eleventh hour, Trump echoes what the Democrats wanted to give—a bigger stimulus fund, to which they caviled before Republican intransigence, only to be able to give millions of Americans something to live on while waiting for the new president to petition Congress for more. If Trump does veto, as he has threatened to, Congress is likely to override him, but how much longer will that take, given an impending recess? Nothing could explain this act of madness except a meanness of character in the outgoing president. Vox populi, vox Dei. The voice of the people is the voice of God. But then again, megalomaniacs think they are themselves god. So when they fall, whether in their lifetime or in the hallowed writ of history thereafter, there will be no redemption. *** We will resume the series on the nine presidentiables Biz News Asia published after the New Year starts. Thus far we have written about Ping Lacson, “the outlier” and Manny Pacquiao, “the pugilist”. We still have to write our (as objective as objective can possibly be) readings of their qualifications and their chances in 2022, of the businesswoman, the foundling, the assistant, the son, the widow, the daughter, Yorme and the mechanic. “Is there no one else?” Time flies quickly, but surprise is the coin of politics.

More for others (Third of three parts) LAST week, I began my one year of service as National President of the Junior Chamber International Philippines. I would like to share my inaugural address delivered during my induction on December 13, 2020. As National President, we promise to provide the members of our organization an opportunity to be heard and to contribute their own ideas in shaping the direction moving forward, to enhance even more their knowledge, skills and abilities and to empower them to take part in making ours a better future. With all your support, we look forward to a JCI Philippines that is more dynamic, innovative and conﬁdent of what it can do to realize positive change. But more importantly, at the core of being “more for others” is the imperative for our leadership to let our members know that they are valued and cared for. It is important for the organization to respect and afﬁrm their potential—that in many diverse ways, they live out the same JCI Creed that brings together all JCI chapters in the Philippines and around the world.

At the end of this one year to lead, we hope that our leadership will successfully engage, enable and empower our members to believe in their own possibilities and shaped by values of authenticity, service, integrity, excellence and inclusion, they can transform themselves into leaders who are willing to do more for others. Finally, to be more for others demands from each of us a mission and responsibility of selﬂess generosity. Upang tayo’y maging tunay na higit

Here is the last part of my speech. para sa kapwa, kailangan nating maging bukas-palad sa mga layunin ng ating mga gawain, maging bukas-palad sa paglilingkod sa kapwa, at maging mas bukad-palad sa pakikipagkaibigan. To be more for others requires of us generosity in the work that we do as JCI local organizations: ﬁrst, the generosity of purpose; second, the generosity of service; and third, generosity of friendship. Generosity of purpose. The programs and projects that we carry out and implement are directed towards diverse ends and purposes—from healthcare to education, from everyday community concerns to the global Sustainable Development Goals. No

Adelle Chua, Editor mst.daydesk@gmail.com

MONDAY, DECEMBER 28, 2020

EDITORIAL

The man who can do no wrong

HAT would it take for the President to realize that he needs to fire Health Secretary Francisco Duque and, at the soonest possible time, name a competent one to take his place? Why, after so many grievous offenses during the past year that we have been battling the COVID-19 pandemic, has Duque managed to cling to his post and continued to enjoy the trust and confidence of his principal? Why has President Duterte turned a deaf ear to the widespread clamor for Duque’s sacking? Over the weekend, amid news of a new, more contagious strain of the coronavirus believed to have originated in the United Kingdom, Duque said there was no need for a travel ban unless a community transmission involving the new strain is proven to have occurred. This brings us horrifically back to the early part of this year, when Duque, instead of taking the opposite position, said he was not in favor of banning flights from China because he was concerned about maintaining diplomatic ties with our neighbor. We all know what happened next.

Why is the secretary so untouchable despite being, at the very least, spectacularly incompetent? And while the rest of the world was beginning to gain access to much-needed vaccines to counter the pandemic, we learned in early December that Duque had in fact “dropped the ball” months ago when he failed to act with urgency on the United States’ offer to provide us 10 million doses of the Pﬁ zer vaccine. Duque characteristically offered his own version of events, saying he was erring on the side of caution, in the same manner that he has given us alternative-fact versions of truths like

keeping our throats moist to avoid contracting the virus, that we were the ones ﬁ rst to impose preventive measures, that we had one of the lowest infection rates in the world, that asymptomatic patients were not contagious, and that we were already on the next wave of infections. He has also failed to be transparent about COVID-related procurement and on the P15-billion scam at PhilHealth. This holiday season, many have ventured to go out of their bubbles and taken risks—we can only hope they are more calculated than reckless—to resume their “normal” ways. We dread the toll this would have on the COVID numbers a week or so from today. We do not know how much longer the dreaded virus would plague us, but we do know that Duque at the helm of the department that is supposed to be science-based, deliberate and decisive will not make our journey easier. If there were one person deserving to lead us during these still-perilous times, Duque would not be that person —not in his own capacity, certainly not as the alter-ego of the President. We truly wonder why he is so infallible in Mr. Duterte’s eyes, and so untouchable despite his transgressions.

A threat greater than COVID-19 covering from this global crisis was rightly highlighted during the recently held Pilipinas Conference session on “Green Economic Recovery” hosted by the Stratbase Albert del Rosario Institute. The institute’s President, Prof. Dindo Manhit, stated that the Philippines’ disaster resilience policies remain reactionary rather than anticipatory in its attempt to mitigate the impact of natural disasters. “Climate change is a long-term threat that has and will continue to endanger the planet’s survival. Due to this problem’s multi-sectoral nature, all stakeholders

ON TOP of the health and economic disaster of the COVID-19 pandemic, 2020 has become a year of natural calamities that hit all regions of the country. Published reports place estimates of some nine million of our population were affected. In January there was the phreatic eruption of Taal Volcano. This was followed by Typhoon Ambo in May and then a magnitude 6.6 Masbate earthquake that heavily damaged buildings. Still fresh in our memories are the back-to-back typhoons Rolly and Ulysses that caused unprecedented ﬂooding hitting hard the provinces in Region V, Cagayan Valley and Marikina including many low-lying areas in Metro Manila. Of the eight most damaging natural disasters of 2020, the National Disaster Risk Reduction Management Council’s data estimates total damage well over P45.4 billion! About half of that from typhoon Ulysses (P20.1 billion) while typhoon Rolly’s damage was worth P17.8 billion. Being ranked the 9th most vulnerable country in the 2020 World Risk index of disasters, a reality we have been living with even before the term climate change was being used, you would think that our government resources would have reached a sophisticated level of resilience by now. But obviously we are far from it. The interlinking dimensions of public health, environment, economy, governance, and public-private cooperation towards re-

must take part in the solution. Only with a whole-of-society approach can this desired outcome be achieved, and swiftly integrate genuine sustainability into all aspects of peoples’ lives,” Manhit said. In the same forum, Environment Undersecretary Analiza Teh said that we must step up investment in preparedness now, instead of waiting for the next crisis to hit. Teh said: “The choice is clear, either delay and pay or plan and prosper. We know that investing in natural disaster preparedness is worth it, both in human lives and economic returns.” She recommended more government investments in better collection and analysis of data of the disaster risk because having storm warnings of at 24 hours’ can cut resulting losses by 30 percent and that spending $800 million on early warning systems could actually save $16 billion a year.

social need is too small to be ignored or taken lightly. This speaks a lot about the generosity of purpose in the work that JCI local organizations do. Generosity of service. The programs and projects that our local organizations carry out are done voluntarily, with our members using their own resources, giving the best effort and their time, just to make sure the work is done. We are proud of the fact that we are a voluntary organization, receiving no reward or compensation. Thankfully, being part of JCI means finding joy in service, because for us, service itself is our work’s reward. Generosity of friendship. The best thing about working on JCI projects is that we are working with friends, with whom we share not only our fondest memories, but our strongest passions. Many of us would not have probably found the courage, confidence and conviction to take on leadership roles without the encouragement, patience, and support of our JCI friends and mentors. This is the generosity of leadership that has for long defined the Junior Chamber International. I hope this will keep us always inspired by the profound optimism and sincere compassion that no matter how hard things may get in our world, service will always retain its compelling universal value. Sa akong pagsugod sa akong unang tuig sa pangpanguna niining atong pundok, hinaut ubanan ko ninyo sa pag-ampo nga unta madungagan pa ang kahulugan sa atong panghinaut nga mamahimong makugihon sa pag kab-ot sa atong mga

tinguha ug makahatag ug inspirasyon para kanatong tanan aron molambo ug mas mag-mahinatagon pa kita, sa atong mga bili ug tinguha, sa atong pagpangalagad ug labaw sa tanan, sa atong panaghigala. Please join me in this prayer. Panginoon, turuan mo akong maging bukas-palad Turuan mo akong maglingkod sa Iyo At magbigay nang ayon sa nararapat Na walang hinihintay mula sa Iyo Na makibakang di inaalintana, mga hirap na dinaranas Sa tuwina’y magsumikap na hindi humahanap ng kapalit na kaginhawaan At di naghihintay kundi ang aking mabatid na ang loob Mo’y siyang sinusundan. In closing, allow me to pose before all of you this challenge: you willing to envision a better JCI Philippines? Think of all the strengths that our JCI members have—our expertise, knowledge, experience, power and resources—and the achievements we have all accomplished in our own respective ﬁelds. Imagine if together we can be more generous to share all these strengths and work even more closely to create sustainable impact. Imagine if we can be more. Imagine if we can be more for others. Let’s be more! Let’s be more for others, JCI Philippines! Madamo nga salamat ha iyo ngatanan! Mabuhay ang JCI Philippines!

Let’s do our part while we still can.

“Community resilience must be at the heart of a green recovery, and it requires integrating sustainable measures in government policies, programs and plans to achieve transformational changes in health, climate, environment, and eradication of poverty,” Teh said. Dr. Deo Florence Onda, Deputy Director for Research of the University of the Philippines Marine Science Institute, raised an interesting perspective on the government’s ability to translate scientiﬁc research to policy stating that there is a big gap between the public and the scientists. “There should be citizen-led science. It allows the public to get direct information from data gathering and there’s a certain level of data ownership, enabling them to be directly connected to the science. Dr. Onda suggested that trust should be built between the scientists and the public and that scientists, though good researchers, need to become good communicators. In support of Dr. Onda, Dr. Mahar Lagmay, Executive Director of Project NOAH, stressed the need for more scientists in the government and pointed out though there are enough environmental policies in place such as the Clean Air Act, Water code, Building Code, etc. But enforcement is a problem because of the lack of data as basis for prosecution and pin-pointing problems. For his part, Manila Mayor Francisco “Isko” Moreno Domagoso recognized the critical role of the private sector in helping government protect the environment and creating programs that can be sustained for many generations. He vowed to work with the DENR to clean Manila Bay and go after violators of environmental laws. The message of the environment advocates of this forum is clear. We must act now in building resilient and sustainable communities thru an all of society, public and private sector partnership that can harness science and technology in an open data environment that supports a green economic recovery strategy. Now that we are seeing COVID 19 vaccines being deployed, there is a growing optimism that a global herd immunity will be achieved in a year or two. The existential threat of climate change, however, is growing fast and will come to a point where it will be beyond human control.

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MONDAY, DECEMBER 28, 2020 mst.daydesk@gmail.com

Probers search Nashville home AUTHORITIES searched a house in the Nashville area on Saturday as they probed the large blast that ripped through the downtown of the southern US city on Christmas morning, injuring several people and damaging dozens of buildings. The operation in Antioch came as US media reports said a 63-year-old “person of interest” had been identified in connection with the explosion, which came from a parked motorhome that blared a warning minutes before it blew up. Some US media outlets reported Saturday evening that the bomber may have been killed in the blast, but authorities have not officially confirmed anything. Friday’s explosion in historic downtown Nashville, the United States’ country music capital, damaged about 40 buildings and injured at least three people, with the streets largely abandoned at that hour. Authorities were examining tissue found at the blast site that they believe could be human remains. Police say the blast was an “intentional act” but the motive remained unclear, and FBI behavioral analysts were involved in the investigation. “The damage is shocking and it is a miracle that no residents were killed,” Tennessee Governor Bill Lee said on Twitter on Saturday. Media reports said neighbors had previously spotted a motorhome outside the residence that was being searched Saturday by authorities, and that it appeared to be similar to the one that exploded in Nashville. No one has been arrested, but “information developed during the course of the investigation led us to this address,” an FBI spokesman said in an interview with the Nashville Tennessean newspaper outside the home being searched. AFP REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINES REGIONAL TRIAL COURT National Capital Judicial Region Branch 89, Quezon City IN RE: PETITION FOR ADOPTION OF THE MINORS ELMIRA EOJAN BARTOLOME SALISI AND PRINCE EMERALD BARTOLOME, SP. PROC. NO. R-QZN-20-00319-SP SPOUSES MARK EDU ATIENZA MACAS and RIZALYN SANCHOLEZ BARTOLOME, Petitioners. x--------------------------------------------------x

NOTICE OF HEARING This case is a verified petition for adoption of minor Elmira Eojan Bartolome Salisi and Prince Emerald Bartolome filed on January 8, 2020 by petitioners through counsel praying that, after due notice and hearing, Judgment be rendered approving the present petition. Being sufficient in form and in substance, the petition is given due course. Set this case for initial hearing on March 10, 2021 at 2:00 in the afternoon at Room 401 4th Floor, Hall of Justice (Annex), City Hall Compound, Quezon City. Any interested person/s may appear on said date, time and place, and show cause, if any, why the petition should not be granted. Let a copy of this Order be published, at the expense of petitioners strictly by raffle, once a week for three (3) successive weeks, in an accredited newspapers of general circulation in the Philippines, particularly in Quezon City, Metro Manila. Further, petitioners are directed to furnish the Office of the Solicitor General, Office of the City Prosecutor of Quezon City, Department of Social Welfare and Development, Office of the Local Civil Registrar of Caloocan City, Office of the Local Civil Registrar of Quezon City and Office of the Civil Registrar General with a copy of the petition and to submit proof of service on or before scheduled hearing. SO ORDERED. Given in Chambers, this October 2, 2020 at Quezon City. (Sgd.) CECILYN E. BURGOS-VILLAVERT Presiding Judge (MStandard-Dec. 14, 21, & 28, 2020)

REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINES REGIONAL TRIAL COURT NATIONAL CAPITAL JUDICIAL REGION BRANCH 221, QUEZON CITY IN THE MATTER OF CHANGE OF NAME OF ASTRID MAMARIL MANAOG, A MINOR, represented by AILEEN M. MAMARIL, S.P. PROC. NO. R-QZN-20-06944-SP ASTRID MAMARIL MANAOG, Petitioner. x----------------------------------------------x

ORDER A verified Petition was filed before this Court on September 16, 2020 by petitioner, Astrid Mamaril Manaog, represented by her mother Aileen M. Mamaril, praying for the change of name in the Certificate of Live Birth of her daughter, Astrid Mamaril Manaog. Finding the petition to be sufficient in form and substance, the Court gives due course thereto. Wherefore, let a copy of this Order be published in a newspaper of general circulation in the Philippines once a week for three (3) consecutive weeks at the expense of the petitioner, upon coordination with the Office of the Clerk of Court, Regional Trial Court, Quezon City. Initial hearing on the verified Petition is set on January 25, 2021 at 8:30 in the morning at the Regional Trial Court, Branch 221, Rm. 608, Hall of Justice Bldg.-Annex, Quezon City, at which date, time, and place all interested persons are required to appear and show cause why the petition should not be granted. Let copies of this Order be posted by the Branch Sheriff thirty (30) days before the hearing date at the following places at the expense of the petitioner: 1. At the main entrance of the City Hall Building, Quezon City; 2. On the Bulletin board of the Court, Hall of Justice Bldg., Quezon City; and 3. At the Barangay Hall of the barangay where the petitioner resides. Likewise, let copy of this Order be furnished the Office of the Local Civil Registrar of Quezon City; the Philippine Statistics Authority; the Office of the Solicitor General, Makati City, and the Office of the City Prosecutor, Quezon City. Further, Petitioner thru counsel is directed to furnish the petitioner’s father, Arlan J. Manaog, a copy of this Order together with the petition and its annexes thereto at his given address, and to show proof of compliance hereof before the hearing date. SO ORDERED. Quezon City, October 28, 2020. (Sgd.) JOCELYN A. SOLIS-REYES Presiding Judge Cc: Astrid Mamaril Manaog Rep. by Aileen M. Mamaril Petitioner Atty. Rod Criswin V. Formoso Counsel for the Petitioner Office of the Solicitor General Local Civil Registry of Quezon City Quezon City Philippine Statistics Authority Arlan J. Manaog 122 M.H. Del Pilar, Sto. Tomas Pasig City Office of the City Prosecutor (MStandard - Dec. 21, 28, 2020 & Jan. 4, 2021)

‘COVID pandemic won’t be last’ T

HE coronavirus crisis will not be the last pandemic, and attempts to improve human health are “doomed” without tackling climate change and animal welfare, the World Health Organization’s chief said.

House Democrats failed in a bid to increase relief payments to people struggling to survive the pandemic. AFP

Biden warns Trump not to block stimulus US PRESIDENT-ELECT Joe Biden warned Saturday of “devastating consequences” if President Donald Trump continues to delay signing a Covid-19 economic relief bill passed by Congress. Biden spoke out as millions of Americans saw their jobless benefits expire after Trump threw a long-awaited pandemic aid package into doubt—demanding lawmakers more than triple the $600 direct payments to US taxpayers. “This abdication of responsibility has devastating consequences. Today, about 10 million Americans will lose unemployment insurance benefits,” Biden said in a statement. The stimulus measure is wrapped up with a $1.4 trillion funding bill, without which the government will be forced to shut down at midnight Monday. “In just a few days, government funding will expire, putting vital services and paychecks for military personnel

at risk,” Biden added. “In less than a week, a moratorium on evictions expires, putting millions at risk of being forced from their homes over the holidays.” In a video late Tuesday, Trump, who is due to leave office in less than a month, called the $900 million bill “a disgrace”—despite it being passed Monday with a large bipartisan majority after months of negotiation. The legislation was designed to throw a lifeline to businesses and people struggling to keep their heads above water. But in a pre-recorded statement made in the White House, Trump said he would refuse to accept the bill without changes increasing the checks to taxpayers to $2,000. ‘Dark winter’ “I simply want to get our great people $2000, rather than the measly $600 that is now in the bill,” Trump reiterated

Saturday on Twitter. The move puts the Republican president at odds with his party’s Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell and House minority leader Kevin McCarthy, who have ruled out any larger stimulus measures. Republicans on Thursday blocked a Democratic effort to increase the payments that would go to all taxpayers earning up to $75,000 a year, with smaller amounts for those making up to $99,000. “Delay means more small businesses won’t survive this dark winter because they lack access to the lifeline they need, and Americans face further delays in getting the direct payments they deserve as quickly as possible to help deal with the economic devastation caused by Covid-19,” Biden added. It is almost unprecedented for a president to veto a bill that received such overwhelming bipartisan support. AFP

Iran says US wants vaccine payments via american banks PRESIDENT Hassan Rouhani said Saturday that Washington was demanding Iranian transactions for novel coronavirus vaccines pass through US banks, and expressed fear the money could be seized. US President Donald Trump has imposed wave after wave of sanctions on the Islamic republic since 2018, when he unilaterally withdrew from the Iran nuclear deal. Iran has assets frozen in several countries, including in the US. “We want to transfer money from a country where our money is” to buy the vaccine and “this country has accepted”, Rouhani said during a meeting of Iran’s coronavirus task force, without identifying the country in question. In theory, medicines are exempt from the sanctions, but in reality, international banks tend to turn down transactions involving Iran to avoid being exposed to potential litigation. The US Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control had initially indicated that “it didn’t have a problem” with such a transfer of funds, he said. But “it said later that the money had to first pass through a US bank before being transferred” for the vaccine purchase, Rouhani said. In April, the Iranian president said the country had won a legal “victory” over $1.6 billion of its assets that had long been frozen on a US request in Luxembourg. “Who can trust people like you? You have stolen our money everywhere you found it,” Rouhani said Saturday, addressing the US administration. The Islamic republic has been battling the Middle East’s deadliest outbreak of the novel coronavirus since February, with almost 1,195,000 cases and over 54,500 deaths, according to official figures. Health Minister Saeed Namaki said early this month that Iran had “pre-purchased” about 16.8 million vaccine doses “via COVAX”, without specifying which vaccine. AFP CYAN MAGENTA YELLOW BLACK

Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus also condemned the “dangerously shortsighted” cycle of throwing cash at outbreaks but doing nothing to prepare for the next one, in a video message marking Sunday’s first International Day of Epidemic Preparedness. The WHO director-general said it was time to learn the lessons from the Covid-19 pandemic. “For too long, the world has operated on a cycle of panic and neglect,” he said. “We throw money at an outbreak, and when it’s over, we forget about it and do nothing to prevent the next one. This is dangerously short-sighted, and frankly difficult to understand.” The Global Preparedness Monitoring Board’s September 2019 first annual report on world readiness for health emergencies—published a few months before the novel coronavirus broke out—said the planet was woefully unprepared for potentially devastating pandemics. “History tells us that this will not be the last pandemic, and epidemics are a fact of life,” said Tedros. “The pandemic has highlighted the intimate links between the health of humans, animals and planet,” he added. “Any efforts to improve human health are doomed unless they address the critical interface between humans and animals, and the existential threat of climate change that’s making our earth less habitable,” he said. World ‘turned upside-down’ The novel coronavirus has killed at least 1.75 million people and nearly 80 million cases have been recorded since the outbreak emerged in China last December, according to a tally from official sources compiled by AFP. “In the past 12 months, our world has been turned upside-down. The impacts of the pandemic go far beyond the disease itself, with far-reaching consequences for societies and economies,” said Tedros. AFP

IN BRIEF Champagne makers toast post-Brexit deal with Brits

Troubled C. Africa goes to the polls VOTING began in presidential and legislative elections in the Central African Republic on Sunday, in a key test for one of the world’s most troubled nations. The polls take place after a week of turbulence, marked by accusations of an attempted coup, the brief seizure of the CAR’s fourth-largest town and the dispatch of military personnel by Russia and Rwanda to help its beleaguered government. UN peacekeepers and local and Rwandan soldiers were patrolling the streets throughout the capital, with armoured vehicles posted outside voting places armed with machine guns, AFP journalists saw. There was a delay of around 50 minutes before some polling stations in Bangui opened as voting materials had not been delivered on time. “It’s very important for me to be here, as a citizen. I think this vote will change our country, whoever the president will be,” teacher Hortense Reine said outside a voting place in Boganda secondary school in the city’s east, where around 30 people were queueing. Senior officials at the election organising authority told AFP that where polling stations had opened late, voting would continue for an additional 50 minutes.

- Questions over legitimacy The frontrunner for the presidency is incumbent Faustin Archange Touadera, who was elected in 2016. The mineral-rich but poverty-stricken country has been chronically unstable since independence 60 years ago. Thousands of people have died since a civil war erupted in 2013 and more than a quarter of the population of 4.9 million have fled their homes. Of these, 675,000 are refugees in neighbouring countries and cannot vote. Even though bloodshed has receded in intensity over the last two years, violence remains chronic. Militia groups hold sway over two-thirds of the territory, spurring fears about intimidation that could also affect turnout. Experts and opposition figures have already asked what legitimacy the president and 140 MPs to be elected will have, given the obstacles to a large proportion of people outside Bangui voting freely. On December 19, the government accused armed groups of banding together and advancing on the capital Bangui in a plot allegedly fomented by ousted former president Francois Bozize, a charge he denies. AFP

FRENCH champagne producers had extra reason to celebrate this week with the sealing of a post-Brexit trade deal between the EU and the UK, the biggest market for the sparkling wine synonymous with luxury. Champagne is a fixture of the high life in Britain, from the preferred brand -- Bollinger -- of fictional superspy James Bond to certain makers’ coveted status as suppliers to the Queen and royal family. In fact, the island nation mops up between 25 and 30 million bottles of the French fizz every year. That makes a deal ruling out new tariffs and quotas on goods trade across the English Channel “an enormous relief” for the sector, said Jean-Marie Barrillere, president of the UMC federation of champagne houses. “It’s a happy ending to a story that’s gone on too long.” Since Britons voted in 2016 to quit the European Union after half a century of membership, the spectre of a “no-deal” departure had hung over the sector. “Do you realise, without a deal, the English will become foreigners and Britain a market just as distant as Africa or Asia,” Barrillere fretted earlier this month, fearing “new taxes, customs formalities, complex bureaucracy and logistical nightmares”. AFP

British Cold War spy Blake dies in Moscow GEORGE Blake, a famous “mole” in British intelligence who spied for the Soviet KGB during the 1950s before fleeing across the Iron Curtain, has died aged 98, Russian news agencies reported Saturday. “The legendary intelligence officer George Blake has passed away today,” the spokesman for Russia’s SVR foreign intelligence service Sergei Ivanov told the TASS state news agency. “He sincerely loved our country and admired our people’s achievements during World War II,” Ivanov added. Russian President Vladimir Putin, himself an ex-KGB agent, on Saturday expressed his “deep condolences” to Blake’s family and friends. In a message published on the Kremlin website, the Russian leader noted Blake’s “invaluable contribution to ensuring strategic parity and maintaining peace on the planet”. A former member of the Dutch resistance during World War II then an agent of the British foreign intelligence service MI6, Blake offered his services to the Soviets in the 1950s after witnessing US bombings against the civilian population during the Korean War. AFP

Business

FRIDAY, DECEMBER 25, 2020 || extrastory2000@gmail.com

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CHRISTMAS IN RUSSIA. A metro train decorated with Christmas lights departs from Belorusskaya metro station in Moscow

on December 25, 2020. AFP

Market investors cautious; eyes on new strain of virus of the day, remains to be a developing acse, in this regard, market participants may have to brace for extra volatility in HARE prices are the coming weeks,” it added. expected to expected Despite the market volatility due to worries on COVID-19, analysts said to move sideways the earnings recovery could bring lothis week on narrow range cal investors back to the equities marduring the last two trading ket and could push the market higher days of the year on concerns in 2021. The bellwether Philippine Stock Exabout the new COVID-19 change Index last week declined slipped 0.9 percent to 7,204 on concerns about virus strain. The local financial markets will be a possible spike coronavirus cases in the closed on Wednesday, Thursday and country due to the holiday season. Except for the property sector which Friday. Analysts said the seasonal window rose by 0.3 percent all, other sector indidressing, which is used by funds to ces ended in the negative led by mining make their financial reports and portfo- and oil (-2.74 percent), industrials (-2.43 lios look more appealing to clients, will percent) and services (-1.44 percent). The average value turnover fell to be tempered by worries about the spread of the new virus strain which is feared to P8.5 billion while the average net foreign selling slowed to P510 million. be more contagious. Tokyo stocks, meanwhile, ended “The pandemic remains to be the single-biggest threat to risk-asset investing nominally lower on Friday after thin currently (even) as... vaccines are being trade with overseas investors absent deployed globally,” online brokerage over the Christmas holidays. The benchmark Nikkei 225 index firm 2TradeAsia.com said. “This supports not only a guarded fell 0.04 percent, or 11.74 points, at 26,656.61,BLACK for a weekly loss of 0.40 outlook for full economic reopening YELLOW CYAN MAGENTA plays but also that COVID-19 at the end percent.

By Jenniffer B. Austria

nsactions only. On the other hand, COA Circular No. 96-004 s for drawing and liquidation of cash advance granted for foreign s no substantial inconsistency between the two circulars, COA t supersede COA Circular No. 96-004. However, the contrast quirements of the circulars must be addressed to avoid further ed officials and/or employees and the auditors; and

ti-monopoly probe juggernaut Alibaba

This photo taken on December 10, 2020 shows fisherman Joe Paratore displaying his catch of western rock lobsters aboard his boat to customers at the Fishing Boat Harbour that features a bronze statue of a lobster fisherman in Fremantle in Western Australia. AFP

the rendition of account of cash advances for travel expenses oreign travels, this Commission deems it fit to resolve the noted ofched COA Circular 96-004 and 2012-001 and at the same timeit InNos. a statement, the company said to be submitted as proof of travel and appearance/participation, intoCircular “will COA No.actively 2012-001. cooperate with the regu-

sday, lators on the investigation.” CommissionFinancial Proper RESOLVES, as it does hereby RESOLVE, comservices subsidiary Ant Circular No. 2012-001 is modified, as follows: fying Group said it too would cooperate and under “diligently study and strictly comavel ply with regulatory departments’ rentary Requirements erviquests.” aper/electronic plane, or bus tickets, boarding terminalvia its libaAnt boat Group made its pass, name ee. In the absence thereof, other documents such as, but not limited bsidmain the oronline o, a passenger manifestproduct certified by theAlipay, concerned airline shipping payompany. rted, ments platform and super-app that aking now deeplyIn embedded inBack China’s ertificate of is appearance/attendance. the absence thereof, oeOffice Report/Narrative Report on trip undertaken/Report on by economy. articipation addressed to the agency head will suffice. The report, company also expanded uly noted by the But agencythe head or his authorized has representative, shall ontain, others, the followingloans, information:credit, investments e ofamonginto offering o Highlights of the training/activity; anies andpreferably insurance o Pictures dated; to hundreds of millions o for knowledge sharing; unist Planofof action consumers and and small businesses, o Recommendations amfear in a wider n the case ofspurring travels of agency headsand within jealously their area of jurisdiction, certificate ofbanking appearance/attendance no longer be required.for supaway systemshallgeared more porting state opyMa of previously approved itinerarypolicy of travel and large corporaevised or supplemental Office Order or any proof supporting the th an tions. hange of schedule ItsItinerary reachof into spend of Chipproved Revised Travel,the if thedaily previous approved nerary followed aertification forwasbynot nese has also caused anxiety over the the Head of Agency as to the absolute necessity of ces,” for personal to ifturn he expensespotential together with the corresponding bills debt or receipts, the sour xpenses incurred official travel the prescribed rate arket and fortoxify the exceeded wider economy. er day (certification or affidavit of loss shall notAustralia―Even be considered as FREMANTLE, in n appropriate replacement for the required hotel/lodging bills and the scorching Australian summer sun, eceipts) iquidation Reportlong queues of customers snake around eimbursement Expense Receipt (RER) Fremantle harbor―a soothing sight for Official Receipt (OR) in case of refund oflocal excess cash advance beleaguered fishermen trying to ertificate of Travelreplace Completed lost business with China. otel room/lodging bills with official receipts in case of official travel Australia’s rock lobster exports are o places within 50-kilometer radius from the last city or municipality overed by the Metro Manilahalf Area, or city or municipality where a year― worth a the billion US dollars heir permanent official station is located in the case of those outside in allowances normalbeingtimes, 94 the percent of Metro Manila Area,and if the travel claimed include otel room/lodgingthem rate go to China. But all that changed a few weeks Travel ago, when Beijing imposed a near-total ntary Requirements import ban on lobster, part of a broader aper/electronic plane tickets, boarding pass, boat or bus tickets. In politically charged “shadow war.” he absence thereof, other documents such as, but not limited to,trade a ertified true copy of the the dates entry and exit, “Itpassport has showing affected usofdrastically,” thirduly stamped by the Immigration Office of the country of destination fisherman s indicated in thegeneration approved travel authority and itineraryFedele of travel; or Camarda toldcertified AFP. income has been repassenger manifest by the“Our concerned airline or shipping ompany. duced considerably.” ertificate of appearance/attendance for training/seminar/ Relations between Canberra and articipation. In the absence thereof, Back to Office Report/Narrative Beijing have been free-fall eport on trip undertaken/Report on Participationin addressed to the for most of this year,dulywith hitting gency head will suffice. The report, noted China by the agency head out at a r his authorized representative, shall contain, among others, the list of issues including Australia’s call ollowing information: for an inquiry into the origins of COo Highlights of the training/activity; o PicturesVID-19 preferably dated; and a ban on Huawei’s particio Plan of action for knowledge and 5G network. pation in thesharing; nation’s o Recommendations row has seen more than a dozen n the case of travels The of agency heads, a certificate of appearance/ ttendance shall no longer be required provided that travel was Australian sectors hitthewith import levuly supported with travel order properly approved in accordance with ies, the barley and wine industries ection 5 of EO No. 248,with as amended.

Australian lobster sector claws back trade after China ban

EGAL NOTICE

hereby given to the public ury Marketing Services under the business adbury Confectionery– Branch has ceased all its perations on 13 November the Board Resolution of Office and has officially winding up procedures. e is in compliance with the nts of the Securities and Commission. (MS-DEC 16, 17, 18,21, 23, 25,28, 29 & 31, 2020)

ills/receipts for non-commutable representation expenses approved y the President under Section 13 of EO No. 248

or reimbursement of actual travel expenses in excess of the rescribed rate (EO No. 298) o

MONDAY, DECEMBER 28, 2020 || extrastory2000@gmail.com

Approval by the President

particularly badly hit. Exporters stand to lose as much as US$2-4 billion worth of sales. So far, the broader Australian economy has weathered the storm. The economy returned to growth in the last quarter, exiting a COVID-induced recession. But individual businesses have been forced to find new customers and markets overnight to avoid red ink, job cuts or bankruptcy. Close to home Some barley farmers have planted other grains or re-routed shipments to the Middle East, and winemakers have focused on selling more in Japan. But the lobster industry is looking closer to home. In a bid to help the ravaged sector, local authorities recently changed legislation to allow commercial rock lobster fishers to sell large quantities from the back of their boats during December and January. So far the Australian public has responded enthusiastically, offering a much-needed lifeline to Camarda and

his fellow vendors. Before the COVID-19 pandemic, prices topped US$80 a kilogram (US$36 a pound) in Western Australia and usually averaged around US$53 per kilo. On one muggy pre-Christmas weekday, sweat-drenched customers bought the world-renowned western rock lobster direct on the quay for US$34 a kilogram―a 36-percent markdown. “That’s just enough to break even,” Camarda said. “But we have been selling out almost every day. We are taking pre-orders as people want it for Christmas.” Ensuring they were set up to manage orders and make the product available to the public had been “a crash course,” he admitted. Such is the demand across Australia that some supermarkets have had to place limits on the number of lobsters customers can buy. Nick Van Niekerk, a resident of nearby Mosman Park, was one of those braving the heat to stand in line for 30 minutes. AFP

The broader Topix index edged up 0.23 percent, or 4.14 points, to 1,778.41 for a weekly loss of 0.83 percent. “The market was in the state of ‘no selling in quiet times’,” Okasan Online Securities said, referring to a Tokyo market maxim cautioning traders to reject the impulse to dump shares during quiet moments and remain patient until the next opportunity arises. “The range was so narrow that no one felt shares move,” the brokerage said in a note. Overnight gains on Wall Street lifted the Tokyo market to open higher. The momentum, however, was short-lived, and investors searched for fresh news in sluggish trade. Still, bargain hunting prevented a sharp fall of the market. “The news that Britain and the EU reached a trade deal meant one fewer element of uncertainty, but investors did not see it as a major trading cue,” SMBC Nikko Securities added. Former prime minister Shinzo Abe faced tough questioning in televised parliament sessions about a scandal involving payments to his supporters, but that did not move the market either. With AFP

TOKYO―Japan on Friday unveiled plans to boost renewable energy, phase out gasoline-powered cars and reduce battery costs as part of a bid to reach an ambitious 2050 carbon-neutral goal. Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga announced the new 2050 goal in November, significantly moving up Japan’s timeline for carbon-neutrality. On Friday, his government laid out for the first time what meeting that target will involve, including setting a provisional goal of generating more than half of the country’s electricity from renewable sources by 2050. “The government’s actions on the environment reflect our belief that a significant change of mindset is required and that these are not constraints for growth, rather they are drivers of growth,” top government spokesman Katsunobu Kato told a regular briefing. Japan, which is a signatory to the Paris climate deal, has been seen as reluctant to reduce its reliance on fossil fuel, despite its self-professed pride as a nation of energy-saving technologies. The country was the sixth-biggest contributor to global greenhouse emissions in 2017, according to the International Energy Agency. The world’s third largest economy still relies heavily on coal and liquefied natural gas, with most of its nuclear reactors offline since the 2011 Fukushima disaster. Japan expects demand for electricity to surge 30-50 percent by 2050, but the nation’s conservative ruling party has so far stayed lukewarm about renewable energy, though Suga has shifted the tone in recent weeks. Under the plans to boost renewables, officials are placing a new focus on offshore wind generation, with the goal of producing up to 45 gigawatts within the coming decades. Japan also wants to use nuclear and thermal power plants with carbon capture technology to cover 30-40 percent of the nation’s electricity demand. Ammonia and hydrogen technologies are expected to fulfill about 10 percent of the nation’s power needs. By the mid-2030s, the government also wants to end the sale of new passenger vehicles that are solely powered by gasoline. AFP

What are the fine prints of the UK, EU post-Brexit trade agreement? BRUSSELS, Belgium―The European perts, should consultations fail. Union and Britain on Saturday pubThat overall treaty will be overseen lished the full text of their post-Brexit by a “Partnership Council” with repretrade deal, detailing areas both sides sentatives from both sides. fiercely wrangled over for months. Various committees under that CounThe 1,246-page document notably cil will supervise the different aspects sets out the fine print on how disputes of the treaty. There is also an option for over trade will be addressed and on MPs and MEPs to form a “Parliamenthe politically sensitive issue of fishing tary Partnership Assembly.” rights. Fishing The pact, agreed on Thursday, is to be The thorny issue of access for EU ratified by the UK parliament next week fisherman to Britain’s rich waters was and will come into force provisionally resolved with a compromise: EU boats in the EU pending a vote by the Euro- will gradually relinquish 25 percent of pean Parliament expected next month. their current quotas during a five-and-aIt replaces a transitional trade ar- half year transition period. rangement Britain has with the EU After that there will be annual negotiwhich comes to an end next Thursday. ations on the amount of fish EU vessels Tariffs can take from British waters. The deal avoids tariffs or quotas on If the UK limits EU access or catchalmost all goods produced in the UK es, Brussels can retaliate with tariffs on and EU moving between the two sides. UK fishing products or other goods―or British exports must comply with EU even suspend much of the trade agreehealth and safety standards and con- ment while keeping fair-competition CYAN MAGENTA YELLOW BLACK formity rules, and there are strict rules rules intact. AFP governing Manila p r o d u c t s Standard TODAY made with parts originating outside the EU or UK. Disputes The UK refused any role for the EU’s European Court of Justice, so disputes will be addressed by the WTO or ad hoc arbitration tribunals made up of three independent legal and trade ex-

LEGAL NOTICE

Notice is hereby given to the public that Cadbury Marketing Services Pty Ltd under the business name Cadbury Confectionery– Philippine Branch has ceased all its business operations on 13 November 2019 per the Board Resolution of its Head Office and has officially begun its winding up procedures. This notice is in compliance with the requirements of the Securities and Exchange Commission. (MS-DEC 16, 17, 18,21, 23, 25,28, 29 & 31, 2020)

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Ray S. S. Eñano, Eñano, Editor Editor Ray Roderick T. T. dela dela Cruz, Cruz, Assistant Assistant Editor Editor Roderick business@manilastandard.net business@manilastandard.net extrastory2000@gmail.com extrastory2000@gmail.com

MONDAY, DECEMBER THURSDAY, DECEMBER28, 24,2020 2020

PSE INDEX CLOSING

Wednesday, December 23, 2020 1.99 PTS. 7,204.38

TOTAL VOLUME TOTAL TRADES TOTAL VALUE ADVANCES DECLINES UNCHANGED

29,387,682,696 117,001 6,941,478,221.39 138 90 43

F oreign e xchange r ate Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas • WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 23, 2020

Currency

Unit

US Dollar

Peso

United States

Dollar

1.000000

48.0910

Japan

Yen

0.009650

0.4641

Pound

1.336400

64.2688

Hong Kong

Dollar

0.128989

6.2032

Switzerland

Franc

1.124101

54.0591

Canada

Dollar

0.774773

37.2596

Singapore

Dollar

0.748559

35.9990

Australia

Dollar

0.752100

36.1692

Bahrain

Dinar

2.655267

127.6944

Saudi Arabia

Rial

0.266546

12.8185

Brunei

Dollar

0.745768

35.8647

Indonesia

Rupiah

0.000071

0.0034

Thailand

Baht

0.033102

1.5919

UAE

Dirham

0.272272

13.0938

Euro

1.216500

58.5027

Korea

Won

0.000901

0.0433

China

Yuan

0.152837

7.3501

India

Rupee

0.013541

0.6512

Malaysia

Ringgit

0.246366

11.8480

New Zealand

Dollar

0.704100

33.8609

Taiwan

Dollar

0.035540

1.7092 Source: BSP

BOI requests clears NGCP October trade Congress to let Coca-Cola’s figures indicate tax-free P2.3-bimports PET recovery, says ofFinance virus vaccines recycling bid official

TRANSMISSION network operator

By V. Rada Campos By Othel JulitoGrid G. National Corp. of the Philip-

pines on Wednesday asked lawmakTHE Boardprivate of Investments THE is recovering from the ers toeconomy allow companies tosaid imThursday it approved the P2.3-billion impact of thedoses coronavirus pandemic port, tax-free, of the COVID-19 greenfield polyethylene terephthalas shown merchandise trade vaccine forby usethe of their employees. ate recycling project of Coca-Cola figures in October, Finance UnderNGCP president and Inc. chiefthat execuBeverages Phillippines will secretary and chief said economist Gil tive Anthony Almeda this transform used PET intowould foodBeltran said over thebottles weekend. enable businesses to give the econograde PET in resin containers. Beltran, an economic bulletin, citmy a much-needed boost in activity. on its that presentation totrade the edBased data showing merchandise Almeda lawmakers to BOI, CCBPI saidpercent ittosigned a joint dipped justappealed 12.6 in October pass a law encouraging the private ventured with Indorama Ventures from a 59.5-percent decline in April, Packaging Corp. for a reflected PET recycling sector to provide vaccination to“ecoemHe said the figures and manufacturing ployees. nomic recovery as project. the country eased The jointaventure company, PET “With vaccination program in lockdown measures intended toValue curb Philippines gained asector, pioneer status place for Corp., the private more the pandemic.” that allows followed the enjoy six Exports thetosame trend, botbusinesses andproject industries will beyears able of income tax holiday or exemption from toming at 49.9-percent decline in April to regain some semblance of normal wharfage dues and2.2 export tax, and dropping just percent October. activity, bounce back, andinduty, put imthe port and fees, and modified duty rate for Imports also showed economy on its way toimproving recovery numafter capital equipment. bers, from -65.3ofpercent in AprilAlmeda to -19.5 almost a year slow of down,” A preferred area investments percent in October, he said. said in statement.pioneer if the acmay bea recovery declared “This in trade is alsoworkseen NGCP, with the a 5,000-strong tivity manufacturing or in theinvolves improvement in the Manufacforce, continues to monitor the progprocessing or usesManagers’ a design, formula, turing Purchasing Index of ress rollout of the COVID-19 vacscheme, method, process or system of recentand months from low of 31.6 in cines in other countries. production or transformation of any April,” he said. “Vaccination, as well asormass testelement or raw material finished “Recovery is not smooth, however; good which is new and ing, is focally critical in the fight September numbers foruntried. merchandise A project may beneed considered against COVID-19. We to trade and PMI arealso better than in preOcpioneer if it engages in agricultural vent, detect, isolate, and treat. tober. As long as lockdowns areWe in activities/services essential toonnow, the need jumpstart economy place,tothere will bethe hesitation the achievement of ensure theand country’s selfpart we of need consumers investors to but to that we stack sufficiency program or produces nonbehave like they did before March,” the odds against infections in the conventional fuels orsaid. manufactures Beltran said.Almeda workplace,” equipment which utilize non-convenBeltran issaid good macroeconomic NGCP assessing the possibility tional sources had of energy or conforms fundamentals cushioned the imof other providing its criteria employees, includto specific as provided pact of the coronavirus pandemic. He inginessential personnel comprised of for the annually drawn Investments said with a vaccine in sight, continugrid dispatchers and transmission line Priorities Plan. calibrated reopening ing the prudent, personnel with the necessary Undersecretary andvaccine BOI ofTrade key sectors of the economy would doses as soon as it becomes available. managing head Ceferino Rodolfo be key to the recovery of the econoencourage counterparts in said thegeneral joint venture infused proprimy“We in and our trade in particular. both the public and private sectors, to etary and state of the art eight-step reHe said the government should concycling that would transform be similarly pro-active inreforms, protecting tinue toprocess adopt economic in used pet bottle back intowe food-grade their employees, so that can keep addition to infrastructure program, to recycle per resin. the economy running at full speed,” attract more investments. He said the PET Value will soon the Almeda said. approval of CREATE andinitiate FIST bills construction of a welcome new plant at and the in NGCP the Senate were news renewed its commitment Gateway Business Park in General would help in decreasing the burden to enforce all health and safety proTrias, Cavite. Itonce took overDepartment the on businesses, intoprevilaw. tocols mandated bysigned the ousOther production site of Wilkins Disreforms such as the amendments of Health and the Department of Latilled Waters in the economic zone. to the Commonwealth-era Public Service bor andValue Employment to mitigate the PET is 30-percent Spanish Act andofthe Retail Trade Liberalization spread the virus in the workplace. and 70-percent Dutchcountry company. It Act, could also help weather It also continues to the help local governreceived favorable and recover from theendorsement impacts of the from coroments, national health agencies and the Department navirus pandemic,ofheScience said. and Techvarious communities fight the disnology which was instrumental for its “Furthermore, improvements in ease. Alena Mae S. Flores pioneering status. ease of doing business improvements will also be important in adapting to the new normal,” Beltran said. LIVELIHOOD The interagency Development PROGRAM. Budget Coordinating Committee earExecutives of Hedcor Inc. lier said theand economy contract Aboitiz might Foundation between -8.5Inc. percent and -9.5 percent sign a memorandum this year because of thewith prolonged of agreement impact of the pandemic. representatives

of barangays and cooperatives involved in the implementation of the P450,000 livelihood recovery program, through THE Technical Education and Skills the provision of egg Development Authority said over the machines to four different weekend it associations tapped theinGCash mobile Bukidnon wallet to distribute training subsidies to and Davao del Sur. The scholars nationwide. initiative is part of a bigger Scholars under theby agreement program AFI knownwill as receive a support fund of upFoundation to P160 per Restart: Aboitiz training dayRecovery from the agency Program forthrough Partner Cooperatives, GCash. which provides in-kind The adoption of GCash aims to donations for livelihood achieve efficiency during the panand training demic as recovery assistance distribution to select cooperatives would be remitted digitally, sparing nationwide.

Business Meralco takes full control of Global Business Power M

The company also plans to put up around 1,000 MW of renewable energy projects and is developing a 1,200-MW ultra supercritical coal plant in Atimonan, Quezon. ANILA Electric Co. said Meanwhile, Meralco said the purchase price would be paid in installments: 60 percent at closing, 20 percent six months Wednesday wholly-owned unit after and the remaining 20 percent after 18 months. Meralco PowerGen Corp. will BEAHI holds a 56-percent ownership interest in GBP take full ownership of Global Business while JG Summit owns 30 percent interest. Meralco PowerGen owns the balance of 14 percent. Power Corp. after acquiring an additional As a result of the transaction, Meralco PowerGen will own 86-percent stake for P34.466 billion. 100 percent of GBP, the leading power producer outside Luzon with gross capacity of 1,091 MW. The company has asMeralco said in a disclosure to the stock exchange Meralco sets in the Visayas and Mindanao. PowerGen signed agreements with Beacon Powergen HoldGBP has almost 30 power generation facilities spread ing Inc., a wholly-owned subsidiary of Metro Pacific Invest- across the Visayas and Mindoro with an more than 850 MW ments Corp. and JG Summit Holdings Inc., to transfer their of coal and diesel powered generating capacity and more than respective shareholdings in GBP toCity Meralco for 1.3(center) HYUNDAI JEEPNEYS. Bacoor Mayor PowerGen Lani Mercado-Revilla graces turnover ceremony and test ride of the gigawatts for the further expansion. Hyundai Jeepney. Hyundai Trucks and Buses Philippines, themain official distributor ofproject Hyundai P22.443 HD50S billionModern and P12.023 billion, respectively. The development iscommercial a 670-MWvehicles, super-critical turned over the first batch of 120 units of Hyundai HD50S Class 2 Modern Jeepneys Kapit-Bisig, one of Bacoor’s leading “With GBP’s operational experience of successfully runcoal-fired planttoinGardenia La Union, Pangasinan. multi-purpose a broad membership engaged of transport, refilling and travelits tours in ning its own cooperatives portfolio ofwith generation assets, coupled within the businesses GBP also has presencewater in Mindanao through 50-percent Metro Manila CALABARZON. MGen’s ownand record of managing the first supercritical gen- interest in Alsons Thermal Energy Corp. which owns 2,105 eration plant in the country, MGen will be better placed to fo- MW units through Sarangani Energy Corp. and a potential cus on its plan to build its own generation portfolio, including expansion project under San Ramon Power Inc an ambition to own at least 1 gigawatts in renewable energy The transfer is expected to deliver scale and operational capacity in five years,” said Meralco president Ray Espinosa. synergy to both GBP and Meralco PowerGen and further enMeralco PowerGen owns 51 percent of San Buenaventura able these companies to provide ample and reliable supply of Power Ltd. Co., the country’s first 455-megawatt supercritical power to distribution utilities, electric cooperatives and other coal-fired power plant in Mauban, Quezon. customers at competitive rates.

By Alena Mae S. Flores

DTI preparing safeguard measures on auto imports

By Othel V. Campos

HE Department of Trade and Industry is preparing to issue safeguard measures to protect the local automotive industry from imports, an official said over the weekend.

Board of Investments managing head Ceferino Rodolfo, who also serves as DTI undersecretary, said the agency would submit the plan to Trade Secretary Ramon Lopez for final approval before the end of the year. Rodolfo said the results of a preliminary investigation showed a need to subject car and other vehicle imports to definitive safeguard duties to protect the local industry. “The safeguards are meant to protect

the local industry. Right now, we’re trying to balance the benefits and effects, notwithstanding whether the vehicle is imported or locally-assembled,” he said. He said the government considered the difficulty faced by automotive companies as they were trying to recover from the crisis. Vehicle sales were down by at least 40 percent in the first 11 months from a year ago. Data from the Chamber of Automotive Manufacturers of the Philippines Inc. and the Truck Manufacturers Association showed automotive sales fell 41.6 percent in the 11-month period to 196,197 units from 336,226 units in the same period last year. The two industry groups said sales in November were also down 33 percent to 23,162 units from 34,465 units delivered a year earlier. The data did not include those reported by other industry groups such as the Association of Vehicle Importers and Distributors.

J.P. MORGAN

Rodolfo said the BOI would determine the appropriate rate ofSUPPORT. safeguard duties on Ma. imported vehicles andCarlos the timeline of the country measure based on the Mendoza, Trade Remedy law. manager of J.P. “We already expect there will be no Morgan, receives investments in the from automotive sector Technical during these times. We’re doneand with the Education technical and legal issues. We’re trying Skills Development to wrap-up the political and national inAuthority Secretary terest side,” he said. Isidro Lapena Rodolfo said that under the plan, a certificate of only special-purpose vehicles such as for ambuappreciation the lances and funeral company’s hearses would supportbe spared from the safeguard to the duties. workforce readiness of Meanwhile, Rodolfo said agenda the DTI the country. was considering a proposal to Bayan extend Academy, along the effectivity of the Comprehensive with the supportproof Automotive Resurgence Strategy JP Morgan, helps gram by another three years for registransform tered participants to TESDA catch up with sales into athe demandand production following imposition driven organization of strict lockdown measures during the attunedstalled to the ecopandemic that practically needs of future nomic activities in the country. Filipino workers

SEAMLESS TRAVEL.

Agriculture orders temporary ban on poultry shipments from Poland after bird flu outbreak By Othel V. Campos THE Department of Agriculture said Wednesday it issued a temporary ban on the entry of poultry and poultry products from Poland following reports of an outbreak of H5N8 or the highly pathogenic avian influenza in Nakory, Suchozebry, Mazowiekie, Poland on Dec. 1. It said the ban was based on the report of Dr. Bogdan Konopka, chief veterinary officer of the Polish Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development to the World Organization for Animal Health on Dec. 3. ByThe Alena Mae S.Veterinary Flores Research National Institute based in Warsaw, Poland conTHE of upon Energy is anticipatfirmedDepartment the outbreak assessment of ing an expected increase in power deaffected fowls and birds from the said mand once the economy recovers and outbreak areas. fully reopens next year with the help of Agriculture Secretary William Dar aordered massivethe vaccination program. the Bureau of Animal In“For to thedesist powerfrom sector, we continue dustry issuing import to build for thePolish capacity… Weand arepoultry trying permits poultry to prepareand the day-old power supply a level products chicks,into eggs and where we will have normal operations already. And you know how it takes time before we build capacity,” Energy Secretary Alfonso Cusi said. Cusi said power demand was expected to surge when the economy returned to full capacity. “The energy family must be ready to meet that. That will be a big disservice to the

semen. Dar said all incoming poultry meat shipments with sanitary and phytosanitary import clearance issued on or before Dec. 8 would be allowed entry provided that frozen poultry meat are certified to have been processed 21 days prior to the outbreak, on or before Nov. 10. All shipments that are non-compliant with the condition will be seized and confiscated upon entry in all major ports in the country, the department said. “All shipments will be subject to veterinary quarantine rules and regulations,” the agency said. country oncewill thetake economy recovers The order effect immediagain,and andwill we lack supply,” the energy ately remain enforced unless chief said. revoked in writing, the department said. “And I’ve always this Meanwhile, the DAbeen earliersaying, lifted the pandemic, ban as on far poultry as energy supply temporary imports fromis concerned, is both a problem and an opHungary. portunity. It’s antheopportunity for usbyto This followed report submitted do catch-up in really boosting our the Ministry work of Agriculture in Hungary supply,” Cusi to the OIE thatsaid. the country is now free Peak from birdpower flu. demand grew 5.3 percent in 2019 from a year ago. Mindanao registered the highest growth at 8.6 percent, followedINAUGURAL by Visayas at 8.3CALL. percent and Luzon at 4.2 percent. Pakistan International Peak demand in 2019Terminal, reacheda11,344 Container megawatts in subsidiary Luzon, 2,224 MW in the of International Visayas and 2,013 MWTerminal in Mindanaofor Container a total of 15,581 MW.Inc., welcomes the Services callpeak of thedemand newlyPrior to theinaugural pandemic,

to 11.6% next year

It said for the residential sector, some 7,270 new units were expected in 2021, up by 21 percent from 6,000 units in 2020. More than 75 percent inofLuzon was expected reach likely 12,285 the upcoming supplytowould MW, MW the as Visayas and come 2,419 from the BayinArea selected 2,278 MWinin Mindanao 16,692 projects 2020 weretotaling delayed to MW year. of temporary work 2021thisbecause Energy officials earlier said actual figstoppage. uresItshowed peak demand year said thatthat in the retail sector,this it was was lower the thandelivery in 2019. expecting of about 304,700 Actual peakretail demand sq. m. of new space reached in 2021. 11,103 MW“We for project Luzon, 2,201 MW Visayas vacancy to for reach 13 and 1,977asMW total percent we for see Mindanao a reboundfor in aconofsumers’ 15,281 in 2020. confidence and purchasing Mindanao posted highest decline power. Lease ratesthe should continue intopeak at 213percent percent, dropdemand by about in followed 2021,” bysaid Luzon at 10head percent and Visayas Colliers of research Joeyat 9Bondoc. percent. Meanwhile, Cusi was Colliers said thatsaid in oil thedemand industrial also expected grow next yearactive as the space, it was to looking at more Philippines already the transtake-up in 2021 andopened 2022 because of portation sector. and logistics investmanufacturing ments. It expects warehouse lease rates growing at a faster rate than land leasehold given the growth of ecommerce and online deliveries. also expects a safeThe andfirm effective way on the howcomplewe can tion of about hotelfund rooms in distribute training2,100 support to our 2021. in It this saidpandemic. the increase hotel scholars Nowinthat we supply subduedwith foreign arrivals have this and partnership GCash, this to thehelp pandemic should keepespeoccandue really our kababayans, cupancy rateswho at sub-50 percent levcially the ones are in the far-flung els even at thesaid. end of 2021. areas,” Lapeña Colliers thatswing, developWith GCQ believes still in full both ers should continueand to adapt to the private businesses government evolving entities alikepreferences were lookingofforinvestors ways to and cash tenants to survivefrictionless in a property make distribution and market that beenmoney redefined the most relied onhas mobile forby transpandemic. Othel V. Campos actions. Darwin G. Amojelar

TESDA taps mobile wallet of GCash to distribute training support fund to scholars

er 50,000 electric poles

the students from the trouble of going to field offices or claim centers to receive funds. The shift to cashless also allows for contactless transactions, mitigating the impact of COVID-19 on its employees and students, amid the implementation of the general community quarantine. “GCash has been actively supporting the government in delivering muchneeded support to Filipinos since the onset of the pandemic. We understand

CHINA Bank Capital Corp., a wholly-owned investment banking subsidiary of China Banking Corp., maintained its position as the number one debt capital markets book runner in the Philippines since its inception, with 30.50-percent market share as of December. China Bank Capital president Ryan Martin Tapia said in a statement 2020 was By Julito Rada marked with G. deals to support economic recovery from the devastating impact of COTHE government’s budget deficit VID-19 pandemic. He said Bank Capital had particimore thanChina doubled to P128.3 billion pated in the mostfrom numberthe of P60.9-billion local currency in November and US dollar fixed income issuances, again shortfall registered a year ago, as topping the league table for debt capital marpublic spending rose 2.30 percent ket deals. and revenue 19.35 Tapia said incollection the last sixdropped months, China Bank Capital or jointly nearpercent, thesolely Bureau of arranged the Treasury ly P150 billion worth of corporate bonds, said Wednesday. notes and other debt securities. This resulted in a cumulative bud“China Bank Capital’s strong perforget deficit of P1.069 trilliondrive in to the mance is motivated by a constant 11-month period, to we the deliver the best results tocompared our clients, and are pleased to havegap successfully many P409.1-billion a year closed earlier. The landmark transactions thathowever, helped not only just year-to-date deficit, private companies, but also the government made up 59 percent of the revised and the broader economy,” Tapia said. P1.815-trillion full-yearJulito program. G. Rada

Revenue collection fell 19.35 percent or P59.0 billion in November PH ranks 110th to P245.8 billion. Of the total, 96 in or Internet speed percent P235.9 billion was raised THE Philippines’ through taxes,average whileInternet the connecremaintion speed remains or sluggish is way being 4 percent P9.9andbillion was hind those of its peers in the Association of generated from non-tax collections. Southeast Asian Nations, Makati City Rep. Revenue reached P2.617 Luis Camposcollection Jr. said Sunday. trillion the from firstThe 11 Speedtest months,Global down Citing in figures Index, P2.894 Campos trillion said the generated Philippines―with from in the an average mobile of only it same period lastInternet year. speed However, 18.49 megabits per second―ranked No. 110 breached the revised P2.520-trillion among 139 countries or territories as of Nofull-year vember. target by 4 percent. The Bureau ofEmirates Internalranked Revenue’s The United Arab No. 1 with collection 170.30 Mbps, while Afghanistan was net reached P191.7 billion No.November, 139 with 6.31down Mbps. by 17.40 percent in said in from fixed broadband, the or Campos P40.4 billion a year earlier. Philippines ranked No. 103 with an average Total collection hit P1.788 trilspeed ofBIR only 28.69 Mbps. Singapore ranked lion of end-November and exceedNo. 1aswith 241.10 Mbps, while Turkmenistan the was at the tail end with 3.47program Mbps. ed revised full-year of The Speedtest Global Index analyzes P1.686 trillion by 6 percent, but still web access performance metrics around the 11.19 percent or P225.3 billion below world based on millions of tests taken by real last year’s 11-month people using the Internet. tally of P2.013 trillion. “We clearly still have one of the slowest Customs went Internet speedscollection in the world and down in Asia,”by Campospercent said. 13.29 in November to P43.7 billion after deducting the P204 taxDam refundnot paid to NIA:million Magat claimants. only cause of flooding The agency’s cumulative uptake of THE National Irrigation Administration said P492.3 from in January NoSunday thebillion recent fooding Cagayan to Valley vember also decreased by 14.84Dam percould not be wholly-attributed to Magat in Ramon, Isabela. cent or P85.8 billion from the P578.1 It saidraised Magat in River only one last of billion theBasin sameis months the 20 river systems within the Cagayan year.

River Basin. Studies showed that Magat Dam contributes only 15 percent of the river basin’s total water storage capacity and 21 percent if the considered control point will be in Buntun Bridge, Tuguegarao City, according to the agency. Magat Dam was pinpointed as the culprit in the widespread flooding within the Cagayan Valley Region during the onslaught of Typhoon Ulysses on Nov. 11 to 12. The NIA said Cagayan River Basin is GLOBE Telecom Inc. has tapped Aboitiz subdivided intothe three parts: Upperarm Cagayan InfraCapital, infrastructure of the River Basin (Ganano Middle Aboitiz Group, to rolland out Magat), affordable interCagayan River Basin (Siffu-Mallig, Pinanet in key urban areas in Visayas and Mincanauan Rivers of Ilagan, Tumaini and San danao through the former’s KonekTayo Pablo)service. and Lower Cagayan River Basin WiFi (Pinacanauan de Tuguegarao, Chico Pared Formerly known as KapitWiFi, KonekTayo and Dummun). WiFi is a fast and secure community WiFi It saidthat theaims recent the province service to flooding provide in households with of Cagayan internet. and some With portions of Isabela was affordable KonekTayo WiFi, caused by natural calamities whichtowere becustomers simply need to connect a Konekyond human control. TayoWiFi hotspot, purchase a promo and surf all day. “Our focus is always to serve and empower Filipino families and communities, particularly those with limited resources. KonekTayo WiFi promises the affordability, accessibility and ease of use that most low-income Filipino homes need,” said Globe president and chief executive Ernest Cu. “And this partnership with AIC strongly complements our efforts to boost network capacity and coverage through infrastructure in a cost-efficient manner,” he added. Canilao, InfraCapital presiByCosette Darwin G. Aboitiz Amojelar dent and chief executive, said her company is pleased to be working with Globe on this inPLDT Inc. said weekend it exnovative project thatover aimsthe to make the internet pects higher revenues frominits home accessible to underserved Filipinos different parts of the country. Darwinamid G. Amojelar broadband business increased

IN BRIEF

Globe Telecom taps Aboitiz InfraCapital

Home broadband Colliers sees office to register bigger vacancy rate to rise revenues—PLDT

NLEX Corp. and parent firm Metro Pacific Tollways Corp. assure the public that system improvements implemented at North Luzon Expressway will help control congestion during the holiday season. MPTC senior vice president PROPERTY advisory firm Jr.ColRomulo Quimbo liers International Philippines said says the improvements Wednesday it expects office by vacancy implemented NLEX rate to rise to 11.6 percent in 2021. in the past few weeks CIP said in a significantly year-end analysis eased office space take-up hit 250,000 thewould traffic situation, especially in light square meters next year, as new of supthe anticipated rise in ply was expected to reach 632,600 holiday traffic. sq. m.

Power demand expected to surge once economy fully reopens

launched Pakistan-United Arab Emirates service. Jointly operated by Wan Hai Lines with Global Feeder Shipping, that fintech plays a key role in the carrying point-to-point servicefaster links out social assistance programs the ports of Jebel Ali and and safer, especially now that we are Karachi and uses a single still figuring out how to transition back vessel with a nominal to normalcy,”capacity GCashof 1,800 president and TEUs. chief executiveWith Martha Sazon said. this service, PICT TESDA Secretary Lapeña said looks toIsidro further strengthen the agency was looking for ways trade patronage with theof continuing to Gulf servemarket clientsbywithout handlingexposing them toincreased COVID-19. cargo through “At the earlynon-vessel stages ofoperating the pandemic, I have alreadycommon instructed our Regional carriers and Operations Management Office to find mainline operators.

IN BRIEF Budget deficit China Bank Capital topped P1t indeals 11 arranges P150-b months as tax collections fell

competition in 2021. PLDT chairman and president Manue AllHome launches new Pangilinan said the biggest percentage of retail concept AllDigital increase in revenues would likely come ALLHOME Corp., broadband the country’smarket pioneering from the home next one-stop full line home center, has launched a year.retail concept under small specialty store new “There isAllDigital. going to be a big push in the format called AllHome in a disclosure to the stock home broadband, while wireless weexexchange AllDigital, opened its first pect tosaid grow, even inwhich the enterprise, destore Lasimpact Piñas City, tech marketplace spiteinthe of isthe pandemic onthat the offers a wide variety of gadgets―laptops, cellenterprise sector of our economy. They phones, cameras, drones, e-scooters and even grew thistoys. year by 3 percent and by 2021 collectible “AllDigital curated latest and innothey should has grow by athe percentage highvative brands in the country in one store. er,” hetech said. This is the one-stop shop for all technolPLDT, amid the entry ofyour a third maogy needs for your home and home office. It jor telecom player next year, bannered puts great value in offering only the best origikeymerchandise,” services that further turn in nal saidcould AllHome vice chairman Camille Villar. revenues including the roll-out of more Designed to 5G be experience-focused, the Allcommercial services. Digital store allows gamers to try the newest PLDT announced the pilot availability games with its gaming nook, complete with a of its 5G gaming network last and yeara in Makati, high-specs desktop top-of-theNewgaming Clarkchair. City in Pampanga and Araline E-scooters are on display and can be tested neta in Quezon City. in-store whileinfused drones have a dedicated fly zoneto It also more investments where customers can fly them safely. further build its infrastructure and capacJenniffer B. Austria ity in gaining more coverage in the country through its fiber optic network. City Savings Pangilinan earlier saidissues PDT was allocating P92 billion in capital P5-bnearly corporate notes expenditures for 2021 support the netCITY Savings Bank Inc. to issued on Tuesday P5 billion worth of projects. corporate notes, including work expansion P1.5 will matureoptimism in three years Hebillion alsothat expressed onand the P3.5 billion in five as years. 5GCitySavings’ technology, “the advantage in this issued the notes, which was industry of lowest business is the thatpricing it does not priced at the end of range, standa still. amid favorable interest rate environment. The will with use the proceeds of the is“Webank started 1G, 2G, 3G. We’re sue assetwe’re expansion, especially loanIt nowtoatfinance 4G, and building our 5G. portfolio, to extend the maturity for profile of lioffers you this opportunity revenues abilities, and fund other general corporate reand new products and services. 5G, for quirements. example, is anwas online, real-timeinkind CitySavings incorporated Cebuof City in 1965 as the Cebu Citydifferent Savings from and connection, which is very Loans Association.Pangilinan It has since 4G technology,” sid.expanded its “That’s branch network businessa operations, going and to impart significant establishing itself as a major player in the capacity and thatindustry we have notearnseen country’s thriftspeed banking and yet.aWe’re not for familiar now with the use ing reputation outstanding operational efficiency exemplary cases for and products and performance services thatand 5G service to its but clients. could offer there’s evidence in what’s It was acquired by Union Bank the US Phil-of happening in Korea, Japan andofthe ippines in 2013. what could happen to 5G,” he said.

Duke women’s basketball team cancels games

Sports

By Peter Atencio THE Duke Blue Devils women’s basketball won’t be playing the remainder of the 2020-21 season of the National College Athletic Association women’s basketball tournament due to health and safety concerns. The decision comes after a week after two individuals from their delegation came up with positive COVID-19 tests. “Duke will maintain our current schedule of competition in other sports and will continue to observe our rigorous health and safety protocols, which include daily testing for all student-athletes and are based on guidance from leading medical experts,” said school officials in a statement. The Blue Devils, who have Fil-American cager Vanessa de Jesus in their roster, played four contests in first year of head coach and former Beijing Olympian Kara Lawson on her debut stint. The squad paused its basketball related activities on Dec. 16 due to COVID-19 positive cases and precautionary contact tracing measures among individuals within the travel party. “I don’t think we should be playing right now. That’s my opinion on it,” said Lawson. The Blue Devils have already scrapped their games against North Carolina State on Dec. 20 and University of North Carolina Wilmington on Dec. 22. The Blue Devils had a 3-1 win-loss record in the Atlantic Coast Conference team standings. Lawson, who helped the US women’s quintet win the gold in the Beijing Olympics, recently became the first NCAA Division I Power Five head coach to win her first three games by 25 or more points.

OS ANGELES, United States—Portland’s CJ McCollum drained the game-winning three-pointer with 6.9 seconds left in overtime as the Trail Blazers edged James Harden and short-handed Houston 128-126 in the Rockets’ belated NBA season opener on Saturday (Sunday Philippine time). have violated NBA anti-Covid measures that ban players from attending indoor gatherings of more than 15 people. He was fined $50,000, in the latest instalment of the pre-season drama surrounding Harden, who turned up late to training camp amid reports he has demanded to be traded. The three-time—and reigning—NBA scoring champion played more than 43 minutes. He connected on 12 of 22 shots from the field, including six three-pointers. Harden’s step-back three-pointer with 15.3 seconds left in overtime put the Rockets up 126-125. But the Trail Blazers responded, Lillard driving toward the basket then kicking the ball out to McCollum who calmly sank a

three-pointer of his own. “I just got to the corner,” McCollum said. “I knew (Lillard) was going to be aggressive, he drew a crowd. My man turned his back so I just relocated to the open area and knocked down the trey.” The Rockets had the ball again after a timeout, but Robert Covington came up with the steal from Harden as he was driving toward the basket. In Detroit, Cleveland guard Collin Sexton scored 32 points, including a layup to force a second overtime as the Cavaliers beat the Detroit Pistons 128-119. Andre Drummond added 23 points against his former team, Cedi Osman scored 22 off the bench and Darius Garland chipped in 21 as the Cavaliers rallied from a nine-point deficit with 2:15 left in the first overtime. The Pistons appeared to seize control in the third quarter, when Jerami Grant scored 14 of his 28 points. Blake Griffin scored 26 points and Derrick Rose had 13, but the Pistons—with 24 turnovers leading to 31 Cavaliers points—could not hang on for the win.

“It was multiple opportunities where we could’ve given in, there were multiple opportunities that we could’ve lost the fight,” Cavaliers coach J.B. Bickerstaff said. “Every player, to a man, decided that was not going to happen.” It was close in Charlotte, where Oklahoma City’s Shai Gilgeous-Alexander drained a game-winning jump shot with 1.4 seconds left in the Thunder’s 109-107 season-opening win over the Hornets. Oklahoma City led by 13 with less than two minutes to play and held off a Hornets rally to gain the win. Miles Bridges scored three 3-pointers in the final 25 seconds as the Hornets battled back, knotting the score at 107-107 with 10.3 seconds remaining. But Gilgeous-Alexander took an inbounds pass and drained a jump shot over Caleb Martin to seal it for the Thunder. Westbrook triple-double A triple-double from Russell Westbrook and 39 points for Bradley Beal were not enough for the Washington Wizards, who fell 130-120 to the Orlando Magic. AFP

World No. 1 Momota rules All-Japan to cap comeback after car crash TOKYO, Japan—Badminton world number one Kento Momota won the All-Japan championships on Sunday to complete the first step of his comeback, nearly a year after suffering serious injuries in a car crash. Momota came from behind to beat world number 11 Kanta Tsuneyama 18-21, 21-12, 21-17 in Tokyo, marking a successful return from the accident that left him fearing his career might be over after fracturing an eye socket. The win gave Momota his third straight national title, and he immediately turned his thoughts towards making his international comeback at the Thailand Open in January. “I had the initiative in the first game but then I started to lose my cool once I had the lead,” said Momota. “I think that’s because I’m still not used to playing matches. In the second and third games, I wanted to put all my feeling into it regardless of technique or tactics, and I think I willed myself to the win. “The Thailand Open starts in the new year and I’ll be able to play against players from overseas. I want to go there and show what I can do as the top Japanese player.” Momota was badly hurt in January when the vehicle taking him to the airport after he won

MONDAY, DECEMBER 28, 2020

Portland Trail Blazers guard CJ McCollum (3) shoots the ball during the game against the Houston Rockets at the Moda Center Arena in Portland, Oregon. AFP

McCollum powers Trail Blazers to overtime win over Rockets McCollum scored 44 points, with a career-high nine three-pointers, and Damian Lillard added 32 as the Trail Blazers withstood a 44-point, 17-assist performance by Harden. Center Christian Wood added 31 points for the Rockets, who had just nine players in uniform—one above the NBA minimum of eight—after two players tested positive for Covid-19 and four more were listed as unavailable due to “health and safety protocols” after being declared close contacts of those with the virus. The Rockets’ scheduled season opener against Oklahoma City had been postponed when they could not field eight players. Harden was among those unavailable on Wednesday after he was deemed to

Riera U. Mallari, Editor; Reuel Vidal, Assistant Editor

the Malaysia Masters crashed, killing the driver. He admitted to feeling nervous as he returned to competition this week in Tokyo, and he was pushed to the limit by Tsuneyama, who took him to 16-16 in the final game only to crumble with victory in sight. “I was too cautious,” said Momota, who also had to come from a game down in the quarter-finals. “Before, my game was about using everything I’d built up over time, and my results gave me the confidence to do that. “This week, I hadn’t played for a long time so I was very anxious going into each match. But I think my game will start to return now that I’ve won this title.” Momota is one of Japan’s brightest hopes for a gold medal on home soil at the coronavirus-postponed Tokyo Games next year. The 26-year-old left-hander won a record-breaking 11 titles last year, and he is confident of adding more after tasting success this week in Tokyo. “I’m 70 percent relieved and 30 percent happy,” said Momota. “I’m known as world number one Momota, so I feel that I’m not allowed to lose. “It wasn’t easy for me to get the number one ranking. It’s because of my experience and ability, and I really hate to lose. “That pride helps me but there is also pressure, and I want to keep doing more. If I can, I want to get back to training tomorrow.” AFP

Japan’s badminton world number one Kento Momota competes in the men’s singles quarter-final match in the AllJapan National Championships in Tokyo nearly a year after suffering serious injuries in a car crash. AFP

Fortea faces bright future in college AFTER helping the Nazareth SchoolNational University Bullpup to two junior titles, top high school point guard Terrence Fortea hopes to continue making an impact in college. The 19-year-old Fortea finished season 82 of the University Athletic Association of the Philippines with averages of 15.4 points, 2.6 assists, 2.6 rebounds and 1.1 steals. These were Fortea’s final figures after the Bullpups won their second straight crown over the Far Eastern University-Diliman Baby Tamaraws. Together with teammates Gerry Abadiano, Kevin Quiambao, and Carl Tamayo, the Bullpups were able to finish season with a 16-game sweep. “Wala pa naman talaga kaming napapatunayan sa college kaya ako motivated lang din hanggang sa papunta sa college,” said the 6’1” Fortea in a podcast. Since graduating last March, Fortea has been in the eyes of coaches from three other collegiate teams. But, for now, the NU Bulldogs are hopeful that they will stay on in college. Among the other schools that are after Fortea includes the Ateneo Blue Eagles, University of Santos Tomas Growling Tigers and the Adamson Falcons. And Fortea says this is putting pressure on him and how he plays the game. “Siguro positive na may negative kasi thankful kami na nakikita nila yung nilalaro namin sa high school. Nakikita nila yung potential. Pero may nasasabi din na konting mali mo lang may maririnig ka rin talaga. Wala. Tuloy tuloy lang hanggang sa mapatunayan namin,” said Fortea, who has seen action for Gilas in the under-19 and under-16 levels. For now, Fortea will have a year to improve further on his performance, now that season 83 is cancelled because of restrictions imposed to control the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic. And season 84 promises to be a better year for him because Fortea will have a chance to come up with a better game, and time to decide if he will stay on and play with the NU Bulldogs, which is back under the care of coach Jeff Napa. Fortea said the games of Paul Lee and Keifer Ravena, who are among his idols in the professional league, have also influenced his game. Peter Atencio

Leonard felled by teammate but Clippers hold on to win Los Angeles Clippers forward Kawhi Leonard (2) looks to shoot the ball against the Denver Nuggets at Ball Arena in Denver, Colorado. AFP

LOS ANGELES, United States— Los Angeles Clippers star Kawhi Leonard suffered a cut in his mouth that required eight stitches to seal but should be ready to face the Dallas Mavericks on Sunday (Monday Philippine time). Leonard was injured in a collision with teammate Serge Ibaka in the fourth quarter of the Clippers’ 121108 NBA victory at Denver. Ibaka was going up for a defensive rebound when his elbow inadvertently hit Leonard’s face. Leonard slumped backward then crumpled

to the floor. The All-Star bled profusely from his mouth as he was treated on the court with 6:07 left in the game. The 29-year-old was able to stand up with assistance. Later he was helped off while bleeding from his mouth. He did not return as the club later revealed details of the injury. “He’s going to be fine,” Clippers coach Ty Lue said. “He got up and walked off the floor so he’s good.” Teammate Paul George said he was very concerned after seeing the bloodied Leonard on the floor.

“Really worried,” George said. “I was thinking of the worst. I didn’t know if he was concussed or how hard of a hit [it was] or what actually happened, because I didn’t see it. I just saw him laying on the ground. That was first and foremost, just making sure he was OK.” Leonard had 21 points, seven assists and five rebounds against the Nuggets to lift the Clippers to 2-0. The two-time NBA Finals Most Valuable Player sparked San Antonio to the 2014 title and Toronto to the 2019 crown. AFP

Sports

MONDAY, DECEMBER 28, 2020

Ventura leads top performers at women’s draft combine STHEFANIE Ventura headed the list of top performers in the WNBL Draft Combine last December 1213 at the Victoria Sports Tower in Quezon City. Ventura, who played college ball with Centro Escolar University, topped two categories in the 3/4 court sprint with a time of 3.18 seconds and the lane agility with a clocking of 12.66 seconds. Ventura actually ended up in a tie for fastest time in the lane agility with Noella Joy Cruz in the combine where the aspirants underwent several tests to gauge them better for the upcoming draft in the first-ever women’s professional basketball league in the country. Meanwhile, Eliezza Dianne Ventura stood out in the max vertical jump with a leap of 27 inches as Syl Kristine Alcantara took first place in the 300-yard shuttle run with a time of one minute and one second. Kathleen Araja and Mary Rose Labrador also made a good impression in the draft combine by ruling the shooting drill with an 83 percent average. WNBL ambassador Kiefer Ravena was present to personally see the 115 aspirants who attended. Performance tests were conducted during the combine supervised by the Games and Amusements Board and conducted with strict health and safety protocols that included antigen testing before entering the venue of the combine supported by Victoria Sports, Chris Sports, Phenom, Tanita, Chooks-to-Go, Uling Roasters, and GIG Sportswear. No scrimmages were held as part of the protocols, but a video of the combine will be furnished to the teams. trainers Karlo Santos, Mark Caron, Aldo Panlilio, and Justin Aquino supervised the agility exams, and two coaches from Tamita administered the body composition tests.

Brady’s amazing half lifts Bucs to playoffs

ASHINGTON—Tom Brady threw for 348 yards and four touchdowns in the ﬁrst half Saturday to power Tampa Bay to a 47-7 win over Detroit and lift the Buccaneers into the NFL playoffs. this all started was to get into the dance. Now it’s to win 11 games and see who we play next.” Brady, who completed 22 of 27 throws, set a first-half career best and club record in passing yardage and the four touchdown passes were his most in a first half since 2014. Brady’s 36 passing touchdowns this season are a Bucs record and enabled his new club to reach the playoffs—a feat his old team, the Patriots, failed to manage this year. The Buccaneers set a team record with 410 total yards in the first half, the most by any NFL club in a decade. In his 300th career NFL game, Brady threw touchdown strikes of 33 yards to former New England teammate Rob

The 43-year-old quarterback, who joined the Bucs this year after 20 campaigns and six Super Bowl crowns with New England, delivered one of his greatest one-half efforts before being benched to put Tampa Bay into the post-season for the first time since 2007. “We played pretty good in the first half,” Brady said. “Good execution. Guys were making plays for me all over the field. It was just a great effort by the whole team.” The Buccaneers led 34-0 at half-time on the way to improving to 10-5, securing an NFL wildcard berth while the already-eliminated Lions slid to 5-10. “It’s just the beginning,” said Bucs coach Bruce Arians. “Our goal when

Gronkowski, 27 yards to Mike Evans, 12 yards to Antonio Brown and 7 yards to Chris Godwin. Leonard Fournette added a four-yard touchdown run in the first half and Brady’s back-up Blaine Gabbert added third-quarter touchdown passes of 25 yards to Gronkowski and 22 yards to Evans in the rout. “When we do play the way we’re capable of playing, we’re tough to beat,” Brady said. “We have to learn to do it more consistently.” Playoff practice Evans, who had 10 catches for 181 yards, broke his own one-season touchdown reception record with 13 on his second-half scoring catch. Arians said he could sense a great performance coming while watching workouts during the week. “You could feel this was a playoff practice week,” Arians said. “Even with the holidays, they handled their business well.” The Lions avoided a shutout when Ja-

2-time MMA champion Pettis signs with PFL

Tom Brady of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers warms up prior to a game against the Detroit Lions at Ford Field in Detroit, Michigan. AFP

Truth x Lakay Gaming raises P50k donation goal SINCE officially launching the “Truth x Lakay Gaming” official Facebook Gaming page of ONE Championship Filipino mixed martial arts heroes and World Champions, the following has grown immensely with thousands of fans wanting to witness their favorite stars play the most popular games of today. It’s been a tremendous platform so far, and one that has been recently mobilized to raise funds for charity. Launched on December 2, ONE Championship and ONE Esports (who manages the page) partnered with Save the Children Philippines in a fundraising activity to help victims of the recent string of typhoons that ravaged parts of the country. An official message on the page wrote: “We are absolutely heartbroken to see the devastation brought about by Typhoon Rolly and Ulysses. That’s why we are joining Save the Children Philippines to raise funds for aid and relief. Join us on Sat, 5 Dec with two charity streams and stand a chance to win exclusive merchandise from ONE Esports when you make a donation! We will also be giving away 20% discount codes for shop.oneesports. gg/ to all donors. Watch us stream, and make a donation at bit.ly/truthlakaysave. Let us help where we can.” Stars such as ONE Heavyweight World Champion Brandon “The Truth” Vera, ONE Strawweight World Champion Josh-

mal Agnew returned a punt 74 yards for a touchdown in the third quarter. Detroit was hampered by a right ankle injury to quarterback Matthew Stafford in the first quarter. The Lions were already starting with five coaches sidelined by Covid-19 and contact tracing, with wide receivers coach Robert Prince serving as acting head coach. The Bucs became the seventh NFL team to clinch a playoff berth, joining Green Bay, New Orleans and Seattle in the NFC plus Kansas City, Pittsburgh and Buffalo in the AFC. The San Francisco 49ers delivered a setback to Arizona’s hopes for a first post-season berth since 2015 by defeating the host Cardinals 20-12. C.J. Beathard threw three touchdown passes for the 49ers (6-9), who have been eliminated from the playoff hunt. Chicago (7-7) can deny Arizona (8-7) a playoff spot by beating Jacksonville (1-13) on Sunday and Green Bay (11-3) next week. AFP

ua “The Passion” Pacio, former champions Eduard Folayang and Kevin Belingon came together to live steam to raise funds to aid those affected by Typhoons Rolly and Ulysses that hit the Philippines

in late 2020. The country, which lies in the Pacific Ring of Fire, is subject to numerous natural disasters, including powerful typhoons, multiple times every year. The

country welcomes support through all means, and this latest campaign has certainly leveraged its athlete star power. “I think this is an amazing opportunity to give back to the people and the fans who have supported our careers,” said the 24-year-old World Champion Pacio. “We are glad to be able to help where we can, even in our own small way. I’m sure the funds we’ve raised here will be of great use, and we’re looking forward to participating in more of these campaigns in the future. It’s important that we give each other a helping hand, especially in these difficult times. We’re willing to do what we can do for our fellow Filipinos.” The campaign (https://donate.savethechildren.net/campaigns/truthlakay) has since shattered its P50,000 goal, raising over P55,541 currently with two days remaining in the two week donation drive. Truth x Lakay Gaming is the official Facebook Gaming page of ONE Championship Filipino mixed martial arts heroes and World Champions Brandon “The Truth” Vera, Joshua “The Passion” Pacio, Eduard “Landslide” Folayang and Kevin “The Silencer” Belingon. Tune-in for the ultimate Mobile Legends showdown. Savage plays, legendary takedowns, unstoppable combos—you want it, they’ve got it. Brought to you by ONE Championship and ONE Esports, join the athletes as they #GameAsONE.

NEW YORK—Professional Fighters League, the fastest growing and most innovative league in the world, recently announced the signing of two-time MMA world champion Anthony Pettis to a multi-year deal. The 33-year-old American—nicknamed “Showtime”—has made a career of being a human highlight reel and has notched 23 career wins, with 11 coming by way of knockout. Pettis will be fighting in the 155-pound lightweight division upon his PFL debut in 2021. In addition to his status as one of the pound-for-pound greats, the Wisconsin native is known as one of the most acrobatic fighters in the world. Equipped with lightning quick speed and unrelenting power, Pettis was responsible for one of the most iconic moments in MMA history when he ran off the cage and threw a flying kick—now known as the Showtime Kick—that connected with his opponent’s head en route to claiming his first world title. Pettis is one of the most mainstream fighters in mixed martial arts history, evidenced by in 2014 when he became the first MMA fighter to ever be featured on a Wheaties cereal box. “I am excited to announce that the PFL has signed two-time world champion, Anthony Pettis,” said Peter Murray, CEO of the Professional Fighters League. “Not only is Anthony a transcendent athlete within the sport of MMA, but he is also an innovator in the cage who is known for his charismatic fighting style and determination to win. I am confident that Anthony will bring that ‘wow’ factor into every matchup he participates in over the course of our season format, and we’re excited for him to join the PFL family.” “As we get closer to the start of PFL’s 2021 season, we are looking forward to showcasing Anthony’s talents on ESPN and around the world via PFL’s global distribution network,” Murray added. “I am really looking forward to this next big challenge after signing with the PFL to compete in the lightweight division.” said Pettis. “I’m super impressed with what the PFL has built, how they are growing the sport, and the amazing talent they have added. I’ve been watching the Brazilian guy [Natan] Schulte who is the champion and he is really good but there isn’t anyone I’m scared of. AFP

Golf legend Norman quarantining at home in Covid scare MIAMI—Australian golf great Greg Norman said Saturday he was quarantining at home after spending Christmas Day in the hospital with COVID-19 symptoms. The 65-year-old Aussie, a former world number one who won the 1986 and 1983 British Opens, said in an Instagram post on Saturday that he still had fever, joint and muscle aches and headaches “but on a lesser level.” Although he had yet to get results of his latest COVID-19 test, Norman said he had a chest X-Ray and blood

test in the hospital “where 2 markers showed up leading the Doc to say, assume you are positive with these symptoms and markers. “They released me to continue quarantining at home on medication in our guest house away from the main house,” added Norman, who posted a picture of himself on the balcony of the guest house. On Friday, Norman had posted a photo of himself with medical equipment in the background, an NFL Pittsburgh Steelers mask over his lower face and the cap-

tion: “This sums it all up. My Christmas Day.” Norman competed in last week’s PNC Championship at Orlando with his son Greg Jr., finishing in a share of ninth. He tested negative for COVID-19 prior to the event and again as recently as Tuesday. “Until I get 2 consecutive negative tests I will continue to isolate with my dog Apollo keeping me company,” he wrote, thanking fans and friends for messages of support and Australian golf champion Greg Norman said December 25 he has been hospitalized with concern. AFP Covid-19 symptoms, posting an Instagram photo of himself in a hospital bed.

Entertainment

Nickie Wang, Editor nickie.standard@gmail.com MONDAY, DECEMBER 28, 2020

23 things about Bright Chiva-aree By Angelica Villanueva FANS first met him as Sarawat who pursued and teased Tine to kiss him ‘til he dropped, but this “forgetful boy” is more than just an actor. He’s a singer, a model, an advocate, a son, and “a bright star.” Get to know more about rising Thai actor Bright Chiva-aree — his stories, his memorable events, and fun facts about him that you, somehow, didn’t notice. 1 Bright is the only child of Chutikan Chiva-aree, his mom’s name, a Thai of Chinese descent. 2 The young actor began to make noise when he was starred and paired with Win Metawin in 2gether: The Series and Still 2gether as Sarawat Guntithanon, which he described as “the series that changed my life.”

3 During his early years as a celebrity, he was one of the hosts of the teen variety shows Strawberry Krubcake for three years. 4 Before becoming known professionally as “Bright,” the Thai actor’s original name was “Kunlatorn” which was changed when he was in Grade 4 into Vachirawit Chiva-aree. 5 Apart from playing sports and acting, Bright also loves music. Currently, he has already five singles under his name including a song for Thailand Special Olympics and the Philippine-dubbed Still 2gether’s official soundtrack, “With A Smile,” an Eraserheads original. 6 His official Instagram account, @ bbrightvc, has over six million followers while his Twitter has over two million followers, as of this writing.

7 Bright loves playing football and one of his favorite football players is Cristiano Ronaldo, who’s currently playing in Juventus FC, with the jersey number of 7. 8 His first international interview was also with Win during an exclusive Zoom call hosted by ABS-CBN Entertainment on May 8, where they shared their reactions about the show’s success and how it affects their lives. 9 His US shoe size is 9 while in Europe, his shoe size is 42.5 or 43. 10 His family owned a music school leading him to learn various musical instruments such as guitar, bass, drums, and keyboard, at an early age of 10. Read full article at: https://www. manilastandard.net/showbitz/celebrityprofiles/342987/23-things-about-brightchiva-aree.html

BRIGHT STAR. Thai heartthrob Vachirawit Chiva-aree, known professionally as Bright Vachirawit or simply Bright, turns 23.

Recollection and reflection THE year 2020 is a lot of things. What are the events and lessons from this tumultuous year that will linger in our memory? All of us are silent witnesses and part of the survival of the fittest demographic in this pandemic. We faced the fury of Mother Nature. And yes, we swallow, like bitter pills, the political shenanigans served on a daily basis. No, I will not say we Filipinos are resilient because the remainder of us are breathing and existing. Living well? Not everyone is lucky. Whether it was caused by men’s folly and greed or by natural causes, these are reminders that we must get our acts together. As Mother Nature heals herself, we are the tragic victims of the wrong choices that we justify as the easier way out.

RIGHTLIGHT Productions’ Magikland is unmistakably expensive film by local standards. In fact, it is one of the most ambitious films ever made in the recent Philippine cinematic history with 95 percent of the shots meticulously created with stateof-the-art visual effects that took almost two years to complete.

‘Magikland’ kid heroes Joshua Eugenio as Pat Patag, Elijah Alejo as Mara Marapara, Princess Rabara as Kit Kanlaon, and Migs Cuaderno as Boy Bakunawa.

Kids are heroes in magical family movie

While we can talk all day about the pricey film and how its impressive sets were constructed, talking about the hero kids in the film is also an interesting topic. Brightlight’s top gun Albee Benitez and his townmate filmmaker, the late Peque Gallaga, who was also the story writer of Magikland, choose the young actors to play the lead characters in the movie simply because they wanted the audience to focus more on what the story can offer. “Some people were asking why we didn’t cast older actors, the popular ones. Our idea was, we wanted to offer a film that doesn’t bank on the stars. We have cast four brilliant young actors in this movie. Remember when Anne Curtis was cast in Magic Kingdom? She wasn’t a big star yet when she starred in that movie. So, we are using the same principle here,” Benitez told Manila Standard Entertainment in an interview. Magikland is a fantasy film which themes are rooted in age-old Negros myths that is why the heroes’ names pay homage to the local landscape: Boy Bakunawa, Mara Marapara, Pat Patag, and Kit Kanlaon. Now let’s meet the four kid heroes as introduced by director Christian Acuna. Boy Bakunawa is the top player of Magikland, the game. He’s the group’s leader. He played Magikland as an escape from his problems. He is a kid with a golden heart. He knows the most about the game. His way of dealing with the hardships of caring for his sick

mother is by playing the game. Boy Bakunawa’s weapon is Espada ng Katapatan (Sword of Truth), which goes back to his core as a loyal and golden heart person. “Boy, teamed up with the Bakunawa, the Dragon King, the mythical god of Magikland, they fight against the evil Lord Mogrado-or. A boy stands for the common good and believes if you lead with your heart you can never go wrong. “Migs Cuaderno is perfect for a strong hero that leads the team. Migs was able to really execute the range of heavy emotions. Migs is really very good at his craft, and could really deliver,” Acuna noted. Pat Patag grew up on the streets and doesn’t have any parents to take care of him. He comes to the story when he chances on the phone of a top player of the Magikland game. Pat is a little rough around the edges but because of everything he has been through he has a resilient nature, able to weather any challenge. He wears the Baluti ng Katibayan (Armor of Resilience) and is connected to Pawi, the turtle god of the ocean. “Joshua Eugenio, plays Pat Patag. It was initially very hard to cast Pat, because the role required such comedic timing and real natural charisma. So we were lucky we found Josh. His acting was the ‘no acting’ style. He was just himself and was very confident to really just throw lines,” the director said. “The first time we saw him and saw him act, we knew we found Pat Patag. In the group he became the spontaneous

one, giving a much-needed carefreeness to the bunch. On the set, Josh would randomly tell jokes and make the whole crew laugh. He was the perfect choice for Pat Patag,” he added. Mara is the motherly figure of the group. She’s the one that nourishes. Her strengths lie in care and empathy. That’s why she serves as the group’s healer. Her power is drawn from the Pulseras ng Kapayapaan (Bracelet of Peace). She is connected to Usasa the forest goddess. “Elijah Alejo’s character could not be farther from Mara’s personality. Eli’s is very loud and outgoing, but her looks fit our vision for Mara. Eli’s acting was very versatile as she played the motherly Mara. “On the set, Eli was easy to direct. She had a natural charm that came through as she took on the role,” Acuna underscored. Kit Kanlaon is small but terrible, as the youngest but the most aggressive one in the group. “She’s very brash, and the polar opposite of her sister Mara. She wields the Maso ng Katapangan (The Hammer of Courage) and is connected to Idikidik, the temple god. “Princess Rabara is the youngest in the cast, only 9 years old when the film was shot, she showed so much maturity. “Princess also had a different personality from Kit’s character. She is a good actress, learning to play her character as we went through the workshops, showing a great ability to move and fight. Princess grew well into the character,” Acuna concluded.

templates in terms of programming, promotions, and its way of making its stars superstars. Netflix, YouTube, Tiktok, Lyka, and Kumu are now considered alternative platforms for content that are available in the local scene. Netflix gave us Hyun Bin and So He Jin in Crash Landing On You; Park Seo –Joon in Itaewon Class; Kim Hee An, Park Hae Jon, and Han So Hee in The World of The Married; all the juvenile problems and promises in Sex Education, Elite, and Riverdale; and all the camp and high fashion in La Casa de las Flores, Emily In Paris and Dynasty. We have seen the rise of Ivana Alawi, with 10 million subscribers in just 14 months, and Inigo Pascual’s “Dahil Sa ‘Yo” becoming one of the most viewed original Filipino songs on YouTube. The controversial Raffy Tulfo also dominated as the most searched male showbiz and public service personality. Over on TikTok, Lyka, and Kumu, the flash in the pans are a dime and a dozen. The millennial generation of strippers are boring everyone to tears. The “little monsters” show their fangs and horns with postings defending their callousness that are both laughable and pitiful. Boys Love dramas are the sources of kilig. Emotional connection and sanity. The elite group consist of Gameboys, with Kokoy de Santos and Elijah Canlas as ’Pantasya ng Bayan’ Ivana Alawi garnered 10 million Gavreel and Cairo. They are the biggest sensations of this BL subscribers on YouTube in just 14 months. drama fascination. As the forces of the Universe target Next in line, are XavMi, the their anger and rage at us, praying for characters of Tony Labrusca and JC deliverance and mercy will never suffice Alcantara in Hello Stranger. The XavMi without action on our part, which is to lip-locking is an “event” that all their choose the good, the right, and the just, followers and bashers anticipate. and sow the seeds of love. The PangPang couple, Ian No more gray areas. Nada on neutrality. Pangilinan and Paolo Pangiinan, Vlad Nay on biting one’s lips, keeping the and Karl of Gaya sa Pelikula are the BL peace and just living for I, me, myself, It Pair of the year. This two are the most and your loved ones. “believable” and “relatable” tandem by far. All that we encountered and And they baby talked their experienced are great equalizers. The way to their hearts, so like Gabby tragedies that happened did not care Concepcion and Sharon Cuenta in Dear if you are affluent, new moneyed, or Heart, Ali King and Alec Kevin as Key economically disadvantaged. It did and Chen in Boys Lock Down. not spare the youth and the elders. The Rabiya Matteo is the very first Miss political correctness and labels did Philippines Universe who gets a lot of not offer protection from anxieties, bashing and hating because of her “I’d depression, and dwindling finances. rather be caught dead than wear her The year 2020 teaches us not to outfit” fashion fiascos. look the other way and turn blind to the And in due time, the fate of the ten injustice, transgressions, and degradation motion pictures in competition is the that are the by-products of all our options. online edition of the 2020 Metro Manila In local showbiz, what shook us all and Film Festival will be known. changed the entertainment landscape, the With the latest tragedy involving a man closure and non-renewal of the franchise of in uniform that shocked, shook, and angered the country’s biggest network, ABS-CBN. us, is this how we want 2020 to end? With the “death of the network,” TV 5 Of course not. That is why do not and NET 25 are beefing and strengthening treat this as another slogan. Our share in their boob tube offerings with the hope to making this world a better place, let us lure the audiences of free television. make it happen, for real. GMA 7 refuses to think out of its Merry Christmas to all.

How music label head Rox Santos shines amid the pandemic

STARPOP’s hit-making executive Rox Santos claimed a personal milestone when his composition “Hanggang Kailan” performed by Michael Pangilinan reached the 100 million mark in video views and digital music streams this year. That’s actually the cherry on top. His latest hits as a songwriter also include the Jayasung “Hanggang Dito Na Lang” and ”Corona Ba Bye Na” by Vice Ganda. The first was used as the main theme song for the ABS-CBN Koreanovela I Have A Lover and won Best Ballad at the Awit Awards 2019 with a combined 35 million views and streams. He co-wrote the latter with the prolific Jonathan Manalo and the comedian himself. “2021 looks hopeful and somehow a real blessing that the industry has fully transitioned to digital before the pandemic happened,” said the triumphant Rox. He co-penned with Trisha Denise the number “Liliwanag” that they dedicated to all ABS-CBN employees affected by the infamous shutdown. He also co-wrote with Dan Tanedo the Star Cinema movie main theme for Four Sisters Before The Wedding, called “Maligaya Ang Buhay” and performed by Inigo Pascual. “There have been a lot of adjustments made here and

there but the music industry has survived the pandemic,” he explained, “There’s nowhere to go but to progress and grow in 2021 moving forward.” As producer, Rox had been widely cited with his work for the Himig Handog grand winner “Mabagal” by Daniel Padilla and Moira Dela Torre, bagging both the Awit Awards’ People’s Choice and Favorite Record of the Year, along with two other recognitions. Further back in 2018, he won Best-Selling Album of the Year for Jona (Jonalyn Viray) and Album Of The Year for KZ Tandingan’s Soul Supremacy. Rox is now at the helm of StarPop, a sub-label of ABSCBN Music for young, talented artists with Gen-Z and millennial following. With his knack for the mainstream, he is by far the perfect fit for the post. Under his guidance, the label has been producing certified hits like MayMay Entrata’s “Kakayanin Kaya” and Jem Macatuno’s “Can’t Get Out.” Both songs have combined YouTube views and Spotify streams of 27 and 22 million, respectively. Two other hits worth-mentioning are Seth Fedelin’s “Kahit Na Anong Sabihin Ng Iba,” used as the main theme for Hello Strangers, and Wilbert Ross’ “Maaari Ba.”

On the viral front, Kim Chiu’s “Bawal Lumabas” earned 50 million clicks across YouTube, Facebook, and Spotify, and became the fun anthem to the wide community quarantine in effect since March. JM Bales, KIKX, and KVN’s “Magandang Dilag,” on the other hand, amassed 205 million Tiktok views. Jamill’s “Tayo Hanggang Dulo” also went viral, and so was Ivana Alawi’s “Sana All,” which gave the popular expression its proper song equivalent. Half of ABSCBN Music’s Top 16 mostwatched YouTube videos this 2020 are from StarPop. “Maari Ba” music video and “Can’t Get Out” lyric video both garnered more than eight million views. The other six songs are “Kung Ako Na Lang Sana” (Justin Vasquez), “Kahit Anong Sabihin Ng Iba,” “Payapa” (Andrea Brillantes), “Pangako” (Kyle Echarri), and “Pag-ibig” (Francine Diaz). The multi-awarded songwriter-producer is grateful to his bosses Roxy Liquigan and Jonathan Manalo for their support and trust. He said, “I will always be grateful for the opportunity given to me by ABS-CBN Music. In line with the aim to always be of service to the Filipino people, expect the StarPop label to continuously give world-class

StarPop head and hitmaker Rox Santos, whose discernment for what’s in empowers artists with Gen-Z and millennial following, sees a bright 2021 ahead. quality entertainment through more music releases in the coming years.” StarPop artist roster for 2021 are as follows: Ana Ramsey, Bugoy, Chill Guys, Edward, Elisse Joson, Heaven Paralejo, Idolls, Ivana Alawi, Jeremy G., Kakai, Kim Chiu, KD Estrada, Klarisse, Kokoy De Santos, Kyle Echarri, Lance Busa, Loisa Andalio, Lukas Magallano, Maymay, Patrick Quiroz, PJ Endrinal, Rayt Carreon, Vance Larena, Vivoree, and Star Hunt.

Life

Bernadette Lunas, Editor manilastandardlife@gmail.com @manilastandardlife @MStandardLIFE

FOOD

MONDAY, DECEMBER 28, 2020

PULL, HEAT, EAT. The Filipino-made self-heating, portable food box, dubbed Hotbox, allows businesses to deliver their dishes to customers, who can then re-heat them by simply pulling a string. In photos are Richmonde Hotel Ortigas’ Holiday Bento Hotbox and Holiday Platter Hotbox.

Have you heard of Hotbox? Lockdown’s hottest takeaway innovation

By Bernadette Lunas

Holiday treats at Café Society

HE nearly year-long quarantine has given birth to a number of food trends that delighted the feeds and palates of Filipinos.

But perhaps one of the most interesting, fascinating even, that emerged from the year of food takeout and delivery is Steam Box Corporation’s Hotbox. The Filipino-made self-heating, portable food box—the first of its kind in the country— allows diners to heat their take-away food wherever they may be. No electricity needed. “You can take it with your wherever you go—to the office, beach, car, park, or even the great outdoors,” said the company, which began operations in May of this year, the middle of the pandemic, no less. A game-changer in food packaging, it allows clients to deliver their dishes to customers, who in turn can simply re-heat them by pulling a string. Steam will then come out in two to three minutes and continue heating up the food for up to 30 minutes. Prior to the holiday season, Hotbox has be become popular among hotels offering meeting

CITY of Dreams Manila’s Café Society offers handmade holiday confections until Dec. 31. Treats include Christmas fruit mince and mini pies, puto bumbong bread, stollens, fruit cakes, assorted Christmas cookies, chocolate and other dragées (sugar-coated nuts), and specialty breads such as the Chocolate and Hazelnut Babka (fluffy brioche dough) and Croissant Chocolate Swirl Loaf. With 27 choices, the café offers one of the widest selections of pannetone.

packages. Today, the self-heating packaging provides an easy way to serve holiday feasts. Richmonde Hotel Ortigas, for instance, offers its own Holiday Bento Hotboxes and Hotbox Platters. Bento boxes include a selection of Yuletide dishes good for one to two persons such as Grilled BBQ Pork Ribs, Marinated Grilled Beef Belly, Seafood Paella, and Osso Bucco. Prices start at P1,000 per order. Dishes in platters include Grilled Beef Belly with German Sausages, Lemon Grass Roast Chicken, Pan Seared Salmon, Grilled Baby Back Ribs, Roast Pork Belly, Tuna Steak, and Chicken BBQ. Prices start at P2,500, and are good for three to four persons. All offerings are served with mixed vegetables and choice of rice or mashed potato. For inquiries and orders, call (02) 86387777 or go to www.richmondehotelortigas.com.ph.

Call (02) 8800-8080 or email guestservices@cod-manila.com for orders or inquiries.

Christmas treats offered at Café Society.

RECIPE FILES – HOLIDAY EDITION

Easy-to-cook dishes for Media Noche WE’RE all tired this year, so much so that no one would take it Maya Kitchen did the heavy-lifting to create sumptuous spread usagainst you if you choose to order in the entire holiday feast or ing products easily bought at supermarkets and other leading retailopt for no-fuss recipes. Experts over at San Miguel Foods and The ers nationwide.

Cerveza Negra Char Siu Ribs Makes: 6 servings Ingredients: 800g pack Monterey American Style Ribs 1 cup tomato ketchup 3 tbsp. Magnolia Butter-Licious 2 tbsp. soy sauce 2 tbsp. Char Siu sauce 1 tbsp. brown sugar 3 cloves garlic, finely crushed 1 tbsp. Five Spice 330ml San Miguel Beer Cerveza Negra 1 cup water Procedure: 1. Add rib marinade in a pot, including all the sauce ingredients over low heat. Mix until butter has melted and sauce is uniform in color. 2. Add ribs and bring to a boil. Cover and bring heat to low. Simmer for 25 minutes. Remove cover and turn heat to high for five minutes.

Crispy Shrimp Caesar Salad Makes: 5 servings Ingredients: 200g Purefoods Seafood Delights Tail-on Shrimp 1/3 cup store-bought Caesar salad dressing 170g mixed greens 2 pcs. Magnolia Brown Eggs, boiled, peeled, and sliced 1 tbsp. Parmesan cheese 1/4 cup store-bought croutons Procedure: 1. In a mixing bowl, toss lettuce and salad dressing, and arrange on a serving bowl. 2. Top salad with sliced eggs, crispy shrimps, Parmesan cheese, and croutons.

Arroz Valenciana con Pollo Makes: 2 servings Ingredients: 1 pack Purefoods Heat and Eat Afritada 1/2 cup glutinous rice, washed and properly drained 2 cups coconut milk 1 cup chicken stock 50g red bell pepper, sliced 50g green bell pepper, sliced Procedure: 1. In a paellera or large frying pan, add the afritada over medium heat until cooked through. Add washed rice and cook for two minutes. 2. Add coconut milk and stock. Bring to a boil while stirring continuously then lower heat. 3. Add bell peppers, cover, then cook for 15 minutes or until rice is tender and liquid has been full absorbed.

Caldereta Shepherd’s Pie Ingredients:

Makes: 8 servings

1 pack Purefoods Heat and Eat Caldereta 2 cups Grated mozzarella 165g Magnolia Quickmelt Cheese 100g red bell pepper 100g green bell pepper For the mashed potato: 1/2 kg potatoes, washed thoroughly and boiled 1/2 tbsp. iodized fine salt 1/4 tsp. pepper 250ml Magnolia All Purpose Cream 1/4 cup Magnolia Gold Butter Unsalted Procedure: 1. Preheat oven to 350-degree Fahrenheit. 2. Chop caldereta meat into 1/2-inch squares. Transfer into a pan and simmer until sauce has thickened. Set aside. 3. Mash the potatoes and set aside. In a pan, combine salt, pepper, cream, and butter over low heat. When butter has melted, mix into the mashed potatoes. 4. In an 8x4x4 heat-proof loaf pan, place the caldereta evenly. Top with the mashed potatoes and bake for 30 minutes or until top has browned.

Bistek Stroganoff Makes: 5 servings Ingredients: 1/4 cup Magnolia Gold Butter Unsalted 5 pcs. fresh button mushrooms, sliced 1 pack Purefoods Heat and Eat Bistek 2 packs Magnolia All Purpose Cream 250ml 4 cups Fusilli pasta, cooked according to package directions 2 tbsp. chopped parsley Procedure: 1. Melt butter in a pan and sauté mushrooms for one minute. Add bistek and cook until heated through. 2. Slowly add cream while mixing. Bring to a boil and toss in pasta until well-coated with sauce. 3. Turn off heat and mix in chopped parsley.

Assorted Mini Bibingka Makes: 8-10 pieces Ingredients: 4 pcs. eggs 1 pack Maya Original Fluffy n’ Tasty Hotcake Mix 200g 1/4 cup sugar 1 tbsp. rice flour 1/4 cup fresh milk 1/4 cup store-bought coconut cream 1/4 cup store bought coconut milk 1/4 cup butter, melted different flavorings and toppings salted egg, sliced cheese, sliced or grated banana leaves for lining of pans (optional) grated coconut (optional) Procedure: 1. Preheat oven to 350-degree F/177-degree C. Line mamon molder or 6-hole 8oz muffin pans with banana leaves. Set aside. 2. In a bowl, beat eggs, then add hotcake mix, rice flour, sugar, milk, coconut milk, coconut cream, and melted butter. Mix well. Fold in desired flavors. 3. Fill up to 3/4 of the mamon molder or muffin pans with the bibingka mixture. Bake bibingka for 10 to 15 minutes or until toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean. Note: In the middle of baking, around 5 to 6 minutes, gently take the half-baked bibingka and top it up with sliced salted egg and sliced or grated cheese. Then put it back in the oven to completely bake the bibingka. 4. Serve with butter on top and grated coconut on side.