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IT'S BEZOS TURN TO BLAST OFF IN SPACE FOR 11-MINUTE HOP WASHINGTON—The wealthiest man on the planet Jeff Bezos spent a few minutes in space Tuesday on Blue Origin's first human mission, a key moment for a fledgling industry seeking to make the final frontier accessible to elite tourists.

BLUE CREW.

This still image taken from video by Blue Origin shows (right photo, from left) Wally Funk, Oliver Daemen, Jeff Bezos and Mark Bezos before they leave for the first crewed flight of Blue Origin's reusable New Shepard craft on July 20 in Van Horn, Texas. The mission is an 11-minute flight from west Texas to an altitude of 65 miles (106kms), and back again, to coincide with the 52nd anniversary of the first Moon landing. AFP

"A very happy group of people in this capsule," said Bezos after the spaceship touched down in the west Texas desert following a 10-minute hop to the Karman line and back. The four-member crew exchanged Next page

Infection rate rises in MM

Octa Group: Daily average breached; WHO sees Delta as dominant strain By Willie Casas and Macon Ramos-Araneta

HE reproduction number of the coronavirus in the National Capital Region (NCR) rose to 1.06, the first time it breached the 1.0 mark since April 18, signaling the continuous transmission of the virus, the OCTA Research Group said Tuesday. In its latest report, OCTA said the average daily new cases in NCR increased by 11 percent to 701 from July 13 to July 19, breaking the daily average of less than 700 over the past four weeks. “This uptick in the NCR is a cause for concern but not yet a cause for alarm, as it is still too early to determine if this will continue to be an increasing trend,” OCTA said. This developed as concern over the spread of the Delta coronavirus variant came amid a World Health Organization (WHO) projection that it would soon become the dominant strain across the globe. "The Delta variant of the coronavirus

VOL. XXXV • NO. 155 • 3 SECTIONS 12 PAGES • P18 WEDNESDAY, JULY 21, 2021 • www.manilastandard.net • mst.daydesk@gmail.com

BOWING IN PRAYER. Muslims

participate in morning prayers to celebrate the Eid al-Adha at the Golden Mosque in Quiapo, Manila on Tuesday. Eid al-Adha is the holiest of two Muslims holidays celebrated each year, it marks the yearly Muslim pilgrimage (Hajj) to visit Mecca, the holiest place in Islam. Norman Cruz

has now spread to more than a hundred countries,” said Dr. Poonam Khetrapal Singh, regional director of WHO-Southeast Asia. “The way it is spreading, it will soon become the most dominant strain globally.” Dr. NK Arora said on Monday that the Delta variant is about 40-60 percent more transmissible than its predecessor, the Alpha variant. “The Delta variant has mutations in its spike protein that helps it bind to the ACE2 receptors present on the surface of the cells more firmly, making it more transmissible and capable of evading the body's immunity,” Arora said.

‘Household parties, political gatherings must be avoided’ COVID-19 PH

By Willie Casas and Francisco Tuyay

Duterte leads nation in marking Islamic feast community in pursuit of a shared goal of building a more inclusive society as the nation observed Eid’l Adha or the Feast of the Sacrifice Tuesday. PRESIDENT Rodrigo Duterte vowed “This significant occasion continues to stand in solidarity with the Muslim to serve as a testament to the unyield-

By Vito Barcelo and Rio N. Araja

ing faith of the Muslim community. Its narrative remains a fervent remainder to the people that, even amid life’s difficulties and challenges, our sacrifices have profound value and meaning,” the Next page

Du30 taunts Rody to US: Define role in WPS By Macon Ramos-Araneta Del Rosario: and Louise Coleen Magahis Where to meet? PRESIDENT Rodrigo Duterte on Monday said he wanted to meet with former Foreign Secretary Albert del Rosario to personally ask him about his claim that China interfered in the 2016 presidential elections to get Duterte elected. Duterte said he won by 6 million votes against his closest rival, former Interior secretary Mar Roxas in the 2016 presidential race. “You kept on talking that China help me, where did you get that? Can you get 16 million votes from another nation? Mine was… 6 million [votes] over your friend,” Duterte said in Filipino during his Talk to the People at the Arcadia Active Lifestyle Center in Matina, Davao City. "I want to see you personally. Where can I meet you?" Duterte said. "Try conveying to me the message where I can find you and I'll go to you,” he said, addressing Del Rosario. Next page

WITH the extension of the Visiting Forces Agreement between the Philippines and the United States “on deck” and on the table, President Rodrigo Duterte said Monday night wants to talk to ranking US officials to clarify the longtime ally’s stand and role in the West Philippine Sea and South China Sea. This developed as US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin will visit Southeast

Asia later this month, the Pentagon said, a trip which starts on July 23 and will include stops in the Philippines, Singapore, and Vietnam, according to the US embassy in Hanoi. In his weekly televised briefing, Duterte referred to the VFA after cutting Presidential Chief Legal Adviser Salvador Panelo’s comments on former Foreign Affairs Secretary Albert del Rosario, one of the President’s staunch critics (see related story below – Editors). “You know, this Visiting Forces

TAGUIG City Mayor Lino Cayetano on Tuesday appealed to the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATFEID) to look into household gatherings in making policies amid the pandemic. The appeal coincided with an assurance by Interior Secretary Eduardo Año that the local government units and the Philippine National Police would enforce all laws, ordinances, omnibus guidelines, and community quarantine protocols to keep the people safe from possible local transmission of the more contagious Delta variant of COVID-19. “That is why the public should not

AT A GLANCE

(AS OF 4 PM JULY 20)

1,517,903 TOTAL NUMBER OF CASES

4,516 46,806 NEW

ACTIVE

26,844

1,444,253

5,240

DEATHS

RECOVERIES

NEW

Lacson, Sotto team up for 2022 THE tandem of Senator Panfilo Lacson and Senate President Vicente Sotto are definitely running for president and vice president, respectively, in next year’s national elections, Lacson confirmed on Tuesday. Sotto as early as June said he would "definitely" be Lacson's running mate if the three-term senator and former national police chief would run for president.

"We’ve gotten our feet wet with our Tour of Luzon, so we will go into the deep end," Lacson told GMA News in Filipino. Lacson and Sotto have gone on a series of consultations with local officials in Luzon over the past few weeks (See related Election 2022 stories on A4 -- Editors). Sotto said he and Lacson would make the official announcement of their Next page

COVID-HIT CREW. Anchored one kilometer from Lidong Port, Sitio Sunday, Albay, is the towing vessel, MT Clyde and barge Claudia on July 20 with 11 crew members who are positive for COVID-19 after their trip from Indonesia, which is suffering from a third wave of the coronavirus fueled by the Delta variant. The Philippine Coast Guard is ensuring that none of the crew leave their boats to control the spread of the virus. PCG Photo

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WEDNESDAY, JULY 21, 2021

mst.daydesk@gmail.com

‘Delta scare won’t change PH goal’ "The presence of the Delta variant is not really a big factor [to make changes on the target]. We should still have the same target of vaccinating 70 percent of our population by the end of the year, es-

pecially those in high-risk populations," vaccine expert Dr. Rontgene Solante said during the Laging Handa briefing. The Department of Health said there were eight active Delta variant cases in the

Philippines, with an estimated 109 million population. Solante has urged the public to get vaccinated to protect themselves and the community from COVID-19 and the Delta variant, which “will not significantly affect the efficacy rate of the vaccines available in the country," he said. The Philippines has available Sinovac, Moderna, Pfizer-BioNTech, Sputnik V and AstraZeneca vaccine brands. More than half of the 27 million doses are Chinese vaccine Sinovac. Solante also said there is no need for a booster shot just yet since further observations are still being conducted if significant breakthrough infections will occur

Infection...

high incidence rates, which refers to the number of new daily cases per 100,000 population. Earlier, the Department of Health (DOH) reported eight more cases of the more transmissible Delta variant, one of which was detected in Manila. Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire said the cases remain asymptomatic but must complete the 14-day isolation period. Of the eight, four were detected in Cagayan de Oro, one each came from Manila and Misamis Oriental, and two were returning overseas Filipinos. Vergeire said the cases were initially reported to have recovered from the disease after completing the 14-day quarantine period and showing no symptoms. However, people who have contracted the variants must be tested again for COVID-19 following DOH protocol, she said. The authorities have traced 91 contacts for the 16 recent Delta variant cases as of Monday. The tracing is ongoing, Vergeire said. Vergeire said two of the three fatalities (78-year-old female from Antique and 58-year-old from Manila) were unvaccinated. The DOH is still verifying the vaccination status of the third fatality (63-yearold male and crew member of the MV Athens Bridge). Due to the presence of the Delta variant, Metro Manila mayors urged the InterAgency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF) to suspend the policy allowing children 5

years old and above to go outdoors. The government previously allowed these children to go outdoors in areas under general community quarantine (GCQ) and modified GCQ. The Delta variant was first identified in October last year in India. It is believed to be primarily responsible for the second wave in the country, accounting for over 80 percent of COVID-19 cases. It emerged in Maharashtra and travelled northwards along the western states of the country before entering the central and the eastern states of India. The Philippines logged 4,516 new COVID-19 cases on Tuesday, bringing the total number of infections to 1,517,903. Fifty-eight new fatalities on Tuesday brought the COVID-19 death toll to 26,844. The DOH also reported 5,240 new recoveries, bringing the total recoveries to 1,444,253. There were 46,806 active cases, of which 91.7 percent were mild, 2.1 percent were asymptomatic, 1.6 percent were critical, 2.7 percent were severe, and 1.9 percent were moderate. Nationwide, 54 percent of ICU beds, 46 percent of isolation beds, 43 percent of ward beds, and 36 percent of ventilators, were in use. In Metro Manila, 42 percent of ICU beds, 38 percent of isolation beds, 34 percent of ward beds, and 34 percent of ventilators, were in use. Meanwhile, Vergeire said the government is looking for ways to keep contact tracers with expiring contracts on the job,

as the country prepares for a possible surge in COVID-19 cases driven by the Delta variant. At the same time, she said the government needs to double the current oxygen supply, which will be sourced from manufacturers, in anticipation of a surge in cases. "Currently, our supply of oxygen is sufficient according to hospitals, but of course, when we have the Delta variant and it’s going to increase the number of cases, we will be requiring twice as much," she told CNN Philippines. In other developments: • The DOH said 12 Filipino crew members of a vessel that had sailed from Indonesia tested positive for COVID-19, with 11 kept strictly aboard at a port in Albay and one under watch in Butuan after sneaking off the boat in his hometown. Vergeire said the patients are among 20 in an all-Filipino crew of a tugboat now docked in Albay. The eight others tested negative for the disease. She said the COVID-19 patients were isolated in their vessel and being monitored by the Coast Guard. No one is allowed to disembark or enter the vessel, she said. • Manila Mayor Francisco "Isko Moreno" Domagoso said one of the 36 contacts of the three patients afflicted with the Delta variant tested positive for the coronavirus. During the same contact tracing, Moreno said the 35 other contacts tested negative. Almost all of them are healthy, he said. The mayor said only two of the cases were residents of Manila.

Tuesday. At the Laging Handa public briefing, DILG Undersecretary Epimaco Densing III warned politicians against holding assemblies and meetings. “We will be strict against mass gathering. I do understand that we have been receiving report on mass gatherings or politicians have already started holding their meetings,” he said. Densing warned politicians that these meetings might result in a superspreader event. Interviewed on Super Radyo dzBB, Cayetano pointed out that household gatherings were more of a concern for him than the restriction on children to go outdoors. “I am appealing to the IATF to look closely for our countrymen to really avoid in the next weeks these household gatherings,” he said. He made the statement after the IATF allowed children aged five and above to go outdoors in areas under general community quarantine (GCQ) and modified GCQ. According to Cayetano, many families have been holding household gatherings

despite the prohibition under the GCQ rules. Unlike outdoors, he said the police could not monitor and enforce the observance of minimum health standards inside households. Metro Manila mayors urged the IATF to suspend the policy allowing children to go outside amid the threat of the highly contagious COVID-19 Delta variant. Año also said border control especially in the international airports and seaports would be intensified while the local chief executives would lead the aggressive mass vaccination and faster testing, tracing, contact tracing and isolation of patients infected with the virus. Through Operation: Listo (Awareness), the protocol for the management of emerging infectious diseases, Año said there will be an increased number of quarantine, isolation, and health care facilities. Año said the country had so far recorded 36 Delta variant cases, with two deaths – one less than the report the other day. He reminded the public to strictly adhere to the minimum public health standards as the Delta variant cannot be detected by ordinary testing and may be

traced only through “venom sequencing.” The DILG chief also noted that other countries like the United Kingdom, Australia and Malaysia were currently enforcing lockdowns to prevent the Delta variant transmission. For his part, PNP chief Gen. Guillermo Eleazar said the surge of Delta variant in India should remind everyone the importance of strictly observing health protocols. “We all witnessed what happened in India and we do not want it to happen in our country now that we have confirmed cases of the Delta variant and known fatalities," he said. “I have tasked all police offices and units to coordinate closely with their respective LGUs so that they may come up with stringent measures to curb the spread of the variant,” the PNP Chief said. The Department of Health said a patient infected with Delta variant could infect as many as eight people at a time. Duterte is eyeing stricter health measures in preparation for the possible local transmission of the “more aggressive and fatal” Delta variant in the country.

experience in dealing with police corruption and how he used a single standard for everyone, regardless of rank, and tried hard to show leadership by example. “If your subordinates see you violating your own standards, why would they follow your orders? That is why there is no substitute for leadership by example,” he said. Lacson also expressed alarm over the national debt that has ballooned to P11.071 trillion as of May, and the possibility it may continue to grow even before the end of the Duterte administration amid the coronavirus pandemic. “There are now 110 million Filipinos. Easily each of us, even those born just today, will already be saddled with a debt of P100,000,” Lacson said. Macon Ramos Araneta (See full story online at manilastandard.net)

Rody... Agreement, its extension is on deck, on the table. Now, I just want to talk to some people in Washington, be it from the Office of the President or the State Department or the Defense Department,” Duterte said. The President said the Palace is “still investigating it” but it was unclear if he meant the VFA or Del Rosario, who as the top envoy of the previous Aquino administration helped the country reach a landmark victory over China in an international court over the latter’s expansive claims in the South China Sea, including portions of the West Philippine Sea. Duterte will most likely get that chance to speak to a high-ranking US official in Austin, President Joe Biden’s de-

fense chief. On the visit, Pentagon spokesman John Kirby said: "Secretary Austin's visit will demonstrate the importance the Biden-Harris Administration places on Southeast Asia and on ASEAN as an essential part of the Indo-Pacific's architecture," referring to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations bloc. "This trip will underscore the enduring US commitment to the region, and our interest in upholding the rules-based international order in the region and promoting ASEAN centrality," the embassy said in a Facebook post. The report coincided with President Duterte on Monday saying the mended relationship between the Philippines and China had made it “very easy” to ask Chinese ships to leave Philippine waters. (See full story online at manilastandard.net)

But Blue Origin's sights were set higher: both in the altitude to which its reusable New Shepard craft would ascend compared to Virgin's spaceplane, and in its ambitions. Bezos, 57, founded Blue Origin in 2000 with the goal of one day building floating space colonies with artificial gravity where millions of people will work and live. Today, the company is developing a heavy-lift orbital rocket called New Glenn and also a Moon lander it is hoping to contract to NASA. Named after Alan Shepard, the first American in space, the New Shepard suborbital rocket had flown 15 uncrewed flights to put it through its paces and test safety mechanisms. Lift-off was slightly delayed and came at 1312 GMT from a remote facility in

the west Texas desert called Launch Site One, some 25 miles (40 kilometers) north of the nearest town, Van Horn. "This might have looked easy today, it was anything but easy," said Gary Lai, lead designer of New Shepard. Richest, oldest, youngest Notably absent was the still anonymous winner of a $28 million auction for a seat, who had "scheduling conflicts" and will take part in a future flight. Daemen's father, the CEO of a private equity firm, was a runner-up in the bidding, allowing his teenage son to become the company's first paying customer. After lift-off, New Shepard careened towards space at speeds exceeding 2,300 mph (3700 kph) using a liquid hydrogenliquid oxygen engine whose only byproduct is water vapor.

The capsule separated from its booster, and when it got high enough, the astronauts unbuckled and experienced space for three to four minutes. The booster returned autonomously to a landing pad just north of its launch site, while the capsule fell back to Earth with three giant parachutes, and finally a thruster, for a gentle landing. 'Read the room' Blue Origin has remained relatively coy about what comes next. The company says it plans two more flights this year, then "many more" next year. Analysts say much will hinge on early successes and building a solid safety record. CEO Bob Smith revealed Sunday that the next launch could take place in September or October, adding "willingness to pay continues to be quite high." AFP

By Willie Casas and Joel E. Zurbano

HE emergence of local cases of the more transmissible Delta variant of COVID-19 in the country should not change the ultimate target of vaccinating 70 percent of the population by the end of the year, a vaccine expert said on Tuesday.

From A1

President Rodrigo Duterte said Monday night he is eyeing stricter health measures in preparation for the possible local transmission of the Delta variant. “The reported local cases in the country are a cause for serious alarm and concern. Again, it's redundant but it's good as any warning that can be given to people. We may need to impose stricter restrictions to avoid mass gathering and prevent super spreader events," Duterte said in his pre-recorded Talk to the People. Manila and Makati cities both recorded high reproduction numbers ranging between 1.1 and 1.4, OCTA said. “This indicates an increasing trend in new cases in these two LGUs. Manila had a one-week growth rate of 35 percent while Makati had a one-week growth rate of 29 percent,” it said. Other local governments with significant one-week growth rates were Valenzuela, Pasay, Marikina, and Parañaque. OCTA said outside NCR, Mariveles remained “very high risk” for COVID-19. Meanwhile, Davao City, Cebu City, Bacolod, Iloilo City, Makati, Cagayan de Oro, Baguio City, General Santos, Laoag, Lapu Lapu, and Butuan were considered “high risk.” OCTA said that Manila and Laoag had a significant increase in new daily cases while Cebu City, Laoag, Lapu Lapu, and Mariveles had very high infection rates. Laoag and Mariveles also recorded

‘Household... From A1

worry since there are prepared plans for the COVID Delta variant,’’ Año said during the IATF-EID meeting prior to President Rodrigo Duterte’s talk to the people in Davao City on Monday night. The task force leading the country's COVID-19 response will meet on Thursday about measures to arrest the spread of the Delta variant, including the proposal to reinforce the so-called bubble over NCR Plus areas. Año said the department would soon issue a memorandum reminding LGUs to immediately prepare strategic plans against the possible local transmission of Delta variant. “The Delta variant is seen as the root cause in the spike of the cases in other countries like India and Indonesia,’’ Año said. At the same time, the Department of the Interior and the Local Government has been receiving reports on alleged mass gathering organized by politicians amid the pandemic, its official said on

Lacson,... From A1

candidacies on Aug. 5, after completing their remaining consultation meetings in the Cagayan Valley, which has more than 2.2 million voters as of 2019. They will then proceed to the Visayas, comprising three regions with almost 13 million votes in 2019. The Mindanao meetings will be done in-between sessions after July 26, he added. Previously, Lacson said the challenges confronting the country could still be addressed by real leadership and hoped that the 2022 elections would revolve around pressing issues and not turn out to be another “campaign of entertainment.” The former PNP chief recalled his

It’s... From A1

high-fives and hugged his family who came to meet them at the landing site. Earlier, the New Shepard capsule reached at an altitude of 66.5 miles (107 kilometers), allowing the passengers to experience weightlessness while admiring the curve of the Earth. "It's dark up here," said barrier-breaking female aviator Wally Funk, who joined Bezos, his brother and 18-year-old Dutchman Oliver Daemen, who became the youngest ever astronaut. Virgin Galactic founder Richard Branson made the voyage on July 11, narrowly beating the Amazon magnate in their battle of the billionaires.

From A1

among fully vaccinated individuals. Meanwhile, Solante said he agrees with prohibiting minors from going outside amid the presence of the Delta variant, given that there is no COVID-19 vaccine for children yet. "The children, if allowed outside, could transmit the virus especially when they live with elderly relatives," he said. Meanwhile, more than 4.7 million individuals in the Philippines have been fully vaccinated against COVID-19 as of July 18, the Departmentof Health said. The DOH, in its latest COVID-19 vaccination bulletin, said 15,096,261 doses have been administered across 1,297 active vaccination sites.

Palace certifies end to ‘endo’ bill as priority MALACAÑANG on Monday appealed to Congress to pass the bill that seeks to institutionalize the right to security of tenure of casual and contractual employees. In his regular Palace briefing, presidential spokesman Harry Roque said Senate Bill No. 1826, otherwise known as the proposed Security of Tenure and End of Endo Act, continues to be an administration bill. The anti-endo bill has also been certified by President Rodrigo Duterte as urgent, he said. "But we leave it to Congress because, unfortunately, no amount of certification can lead to an enactment of the law if the wisdom of Congress is otherwise," he added. The measure seeks to provide civil service eligibility and permanent appointment to contractual, job order, and casual government employees who have served for substantial periods of time. "We continue to appeal to Congress to pass this anti-endo law as the term of the President ends," Roque said. The authors of the bill said the state must protect the security of tenure of each employee, which applies to both the public and private sectors.

Duterte... From A1

President said in a message released by the Palace. “It is my sincere hope that our Muslims brothers and sisters will find renewed faith and spirituality, especially when called to emulate Ibrahim’s devotion to his belief. I stand in solidarity with you in pursuing our shared goal of building a society that transcends religious, political, and cultural barriers.” “May you have a solemn and meaningful observance. Eid Mubarak!” Vice President Leni Robredo on Tuesday greeted “all Muslim families here and around the world, a very blessed Eid’l Adha,” the most important feast in the Muslim calendar. “As we mark the Feast of Sacrifice this year, let us come together in solidarity, shared humanity, and the common good,” she said in her Facebook message. “This day is a celebration of faith and its ability to endow us with the courage to meet any challenge. As we have seen countless times during this pandemic, there are more things that bring us together than tear us apart-kindness, compassion, and the genuine desire for a world where people of all faiths thrive and flourish under a banner of hope,” she added. Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) chief Gen. Cirilito Sobejana said the observance of Eid'l Adha or the Feast of Sacrifice among Filipino Muslims is a time to triumph despite challenges. Sobejana said the significance of Eid'l Adha, one of the two holiest Islamic feasts celebrated by Muslims around the world, was shown during the C-130 plane crash in Patikul, Sulu on July 4 when the people near the site responded to help survivors. This demonstrates solidarity in one of the most tragic accidents in the military. "As we continue to face unprecedented challenges, we hope that every Muslim both here and elsewhere can find the time and space to strengthen our faith and spirit, to triumph over despair, and embrace a life dedicated to the service of those who are in need," Sobejana said. Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana reminded everyone about the need to reach out to others in the spirit of empathy and service. "This holiday in the Islamic faith highlights the importance of unwavering devotion, fortitude and unity in times of trials. It is a chance for us to reflect on our values, with this auspicious day inspiring us to look beyond the comforts of our own lives and reach out to others in the spirit of empathy and service," he said.

Du30... From A1

Duterte said he wanted to talk to “some people” in Washington to find out whether del Rosario ordered the withdrawal of Philippine ships from Scarborough Shoal in the West Philippine Sea during a standoff with China in 2012. “You know, we are still investigating it,” he said, adding that he would have charges filed against the former secretary if any wrongdoing was found. Responding to Duterte’s latest tirade, Del Rosario issued a one-sentence statement. “For this coming election, our humble view is that our people should vote for the candidate who is good for our country -and not one who is good for China,” he said.

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WEDNESDAY, JULY 21, 2021

Stimulus sought to spark growth AN ADVOCACY group – the Freedom from Debt Coalition – on Sunday batted for a people’s stimulus and a people’s economy amid the nation’s “deep financial straits.” Rene Ofreneo, FDC president, said President Rodrigo Duterte is leaving behind P11 trillion in national debt, a large bulk of which was incurred under his administration. At a Zoom national conference dubbed “State of the People’s Address: Kumperensiya para sa Pagbangon ng Ekonomiya at ng Bayan (#Bangon), he stressed Duterte is ending his term at a time when the economy is in recession and gross domestic product rate is at a historical low of -9.5%. “During this time when unemployment is increasing, currently pegged at 8.7%, and COVID infections continue to spread with almost 1.4 million getting sick, a responsive recovery program from the grassroots is much needed,” he noted. The event was organized a week before the President’s last State-of-theNation Address. Manjette Lopez, FDC vice president and Sanlakas president, said the country must drastically veer away from its business-as-usual and trickle-down economics approach since it does not address the sordid circumstances of the marginalized and deprived. She proposed that a people’s stimulus must be implemented where jobs are created, direct income support for affected individuals and household are given, and the budget for health doubled to re-build and strengthen the public health care system, particularly community-based primary health care. She said a people’s stimulus should also include a tax holiday for struggling micro, small and medium enterprises for the next three years. “If big corporations are granted tax holidays, it is only fair that smaller businesses also enjoy these since they account for 63% of employment,” she said.

100 new posts at Immigration: Fresh grads on priority list THE Bureau of Immigration has an opening for at least 100 new immigration personnel. In an advisory, BI Commissioner Jaime Morente said that 100 slots opened for hiring of immigration officers with the plantilla position Immigration Officer II to be deployed in the country’s major airports and seaports in Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao. “We are filling out all the vacant items to ensure that our manpower are in maximum capacity once normal international travel has resumed,” said Morente. Also open are 148 positions for administrative aides and translator, as well as opportunities for promotion for the positions intelligence agents, intelligence officer, and senior immigration officer. BI Personnel Section Chief Grifton Medina said that applicants for the position of immigration officer would undergo several tests to ensure that the office hires the cream of the crop. “We are encouraging fresh graduates to apply as we need more young and vibrant officers to man our airports and seaports,” said Medina. He shared that applicants would undergo online examinations, interviews, and if selected would have to pass trainings in the Bureau’s Philippine Immigration Academy in Clark, Pampanga. Vito Barcelo

BIKES AND VACCINE.

San Juan City Mayor Francis Zamora and other city officials lead a bike ride around San Juan for “Bisikleta Para sa Bakuna” in house-to-house campaign to encourage residents to get vaccinated. Manny Palmero

BORDER CHECK. Quezon City policemen set up a checkpoint at the boundary with San Mateo Rizal, areas under General Community Quarantine, on orders of PNP Chief Gen. Guillermo Eleazar as Metro Manila braces for the possible spread of the Delta Variant of COVID-19, said to be more contagious. Manny Palmero

Top cop twits ex-Education chief: No special privileges By Francisco Tuyay

HILIPPINE National Police chief General Guillermo Eleazar said the police have not been bestowed with any power or privilege in the government’s war on drugs.

Eleazar disputed the findings of former education secretary Edilberto de Jesus in his paper at the Ateneo de Manila University where he claimed that in the course of the war on drugs “privileges given to cops gave rise to corruption and abuse of power.” “I would like to point out that the PNP and other enforcers of the war on drugs were never bestowed any privilege as the study claimed. The campaign against illegal drugs is part of our mandate to carry out just as it is our duty to act against and prevent crimes,” the PNP chief stressed. He added, “In President Rodrigo Roa

Duterte’s war on drugs, law enforcement is just part of the equation in coming up with a solution to put a stop to the narcotics trade. This is a whole-of-nation approach that seeks to not only address illegal drugs as a peace and order problem but also as a health and social concern.” Eleazar said special focus was given to the campaign against illegal drugs based on the experience that most crimes, particularly the heinous kind, are rooted on illegal drugs. The PNP Chief assured, that “in enforcing the war on drugs, the PNP takes into high consideration accountability and ad-

Customs seizes second shipment of red onions By Joel E. Zurbano

herence to human rights-based policing. Police personnel who commit any violation in the Police perational procedure or abuse in conducting operations are held accountable for their actions or lapses.” He said, “I think the claim that the war on drugs resulted in an increase in the number of abusive cops is baseless and an unfair assumption because the PNP has never tolerated rogues in its ranks. May sariling mekanismo ang PNP para sa mga tiwaling pulis.” As to the supposed ineffectiveness of the war on drugs, Eleazar said the data and figures will belie the allegations, “ Naniniwala ako na hindi na natin pa kailangang isa-isahin ang mga operasyon kontra droga na nagresulta sa pagkakasabat ng bulto-bultong shabu at ang mga nahuling high value targets, pati na din ang mga ngayo’y drug-free barangays.”

CUSTOMS agents assigned at the Manila North Harbor intercepted P10 million worth of red onions smuggled from China. Operatives of the Manila International Container Port - Customs Intelligence and Investigation Service (MICP-CIIS) seized the two shipments consigned to Flevo Trading on Saturday. Based on documents, the importer misdeclared the shipments as ‘fresh yellow onions.” CIIS officials said red onions are regulated goods, thus, the consignees need the necessary permits and the goods should be properly declared. Customs commissioner Rey Leonardo Guerrero commended the CIIS team for the latest apprehension, saying the seizure is part of the agency’s campaign to protect the country’s borders against illegal importation activities. “This has been part of our mandate from the time I took office. The focus is to stop all these smuggling activities and to send a clear message to these smugglers that we’re not going to take these sitting down. They have to face the law,” he said. On July 9, MICP District Collector Romeo Allan Rosales issued an Alert Order to subject the shipments to a 100 percent examination, resulting in the discovery of the red onions. The examination was conducted by the Formal Entry Division (FED) and witnessed by members of BOC’s Enforcement and Security Service (ESS). After the 100 percent examination, a Warrant of Seizure Detention was issued against the shipments. This is not the first time the bureau intercepted illegal shipments of red onions.

VAX COUNCIL.

The Emergency Operations Center-Task Force (EOCTF) and the COVID-19 Vaccination Council (CoVaC), both chaired by Mayor Bing Leonardia, continues this week with the vaccine rollout at the barangay level, focusing on priority groups.

Remittances from OFWs need to be protected, says Grace Poe By Macon Ramos-Araneta SENATOR Grace Poe onTuesday said financial institutions like banks and money transfer companies as well as regulators should do more to protect the remittances of overseas Filipino workers (OFWs). The latest Consumer Expectations Survey of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipi-

nas (BSP) showed that 96 percent of households that receive remittances spend it on food and other needs. “The remittances are crucial to the survival of families of OFWs and play an important role in the economy as a whole,” said Poe. “Their steady flow into the country softens the destabilizing impact of

hemorrhaging foreign investments and outflows from the payment of foreign debt,” Poe added.. Remittances of OFWs totalled $30.1 billion in 2019, BSP data showed. Despite the blow COVID-19 dealt on the global economy, remittances in 2020 only dipped slightly to $29.9 billion. “It’s imperative that we protect our

people’s money. It is not just the remittances of OFWs coming from abroad that we must protect but local money transfers as well,” Poe said. Since the pandemic, more people have to rely on remittances and money transfers from family members and other relatives to cope with heightened difficulties.

Guard houses as toll booths demolished THE Quezon City Department of Public Order and Safety has demolished several guard houses in private subdivisions along Katipunan Avenue that were collecting fees from motorists and delivery trucks passing through. The guard house owned by California Village situated along Katipunan Avenue, a mabuhay lane, was considered a road obstruction. In addition, the village guard house collects fees from motorists, especially delivery trucks from P50 pesos to P200 pesos day. “Our operation will continue against illegal guard houses even if they are inside private subdivision,” DPOS chief Elmo San Diego said. The city government also demolished an-

other guard house from California Village, while the Sierra Vista Subdivision homeowners demolished two of their own guard houses, also along Katipunan Avenue. Moreover, three guard houses-cum-toll booths in Kingspoint Subdivision and two from Goodwill Subdivision were also demolished to clear the road of obstructions. Mayor Joy Belmonte called on village homeowners associations to refrain from collecting fees from motorists, especially on public roads. “We do not tolerate private subdivisions that take advantage of motorists just because they have to pass their gates. Mabuhay lanes are public roads and no one should pay any amount to access these roads,” she said. Rio Araja

News

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WEDNESDAY, JULY 21, 2021

RAIN OR SHINE. Intermittent rains did not stop residents from

lining up as they wait for their turn to get vaccinated outside the San Andres Sports Complex in Manila on Tuesday, July 20, 2021. Manila Mayor Francisco ‘Isko Moreno’ Domagoso said the city has breached the one million mark of vaccines administered Monday morning. Norman Cruz

Marcos extends help to Pateros fire victims TRUE to his promise a few weeks ago that his assistance to the public will not end in Batangas, former lawmaker Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. extended help to fire victims in Pateros. Marcos distributed sacks of rice and other goods to residents. On July 12, Marcos also went to a number of towns in Batangas without fun fare since his purpose was to give assistance to the residents directly affected by the restless Taal Volcano. He distributed some 3,000 sacks of rice, 500 cartoons of surgical mask, 3,000 pairs of sleepers, 4,000 cartoons of vitamins and 500 bottles of coconut water to the residents. The former lawmaker successfully made the distribution of the goods in coordination with the officials and frontliners of Talisay, Laurel and Agoncillo towns together with several groups from the private sector and the office of Batangas Gov. Hermilando Mandanas office, through PPOSD head Genaro Cabral. Despite being away from the limelight, Marcos remains one of the choices being considered by the Filipino voters to succeed President Rodrigo Duterte when the latter bows out of office on June 30, 2022. Based on Pulse Asia’s latest, survey conducted from June 7 to 16, Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio is in the top spot with 32 percentage points while Manila Mayor Franciscon “Isko Moreno” placed second with 29 percent.

PDP-Laban finalizing 2022 senatorial lineup Endorsement power

By Macon Ramos-Araneta

RESIDENT Rodrigo Duterte is now finalizing the senatorial slate of the ruling party for next year’s elections, PDP-Laban vice president for Visayas Ben Evardone said.

In an interview with GMA News Online, the Eastern Samar governor said the lineup includes “reelectionists, returning senators, cabinet members, and prominent personalities.”

Initial list

The initial list includes Public Works Secretary Mark Villar, Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III, Cabinet Secretary Karlo Nograles, Chief Presidential Legal Counsel Salvador Panelo, Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque, Transportation Secretary Arthur Tugade, and DICT Secretary Gregorio Honasan II.

Also part of the pool of possible candidates are House Deputy Speaker Loren Legarda, Senate Majority Floor Leader Juan Miguel Zubiri, former senator JV Ejercito, Metropolitan Manila Development Authority chairman Benhur Abalos, Presidential Anti-Corruption Commission Greco Belgica, and Presidential Communications Operations Office Secretary Martin Andanar. Personalities such as Willie Revillame and Robin Padilla and broadcaster Raffy Tulfo were also among those being eyed for the senatorial slate, Evardone said.

‘Visit our headquarters first’

For his part, Pimentel lamented the faction within the ruling party that was founded by his father, the late Senate President Aquino Pimentel Jr. “It’s really painful that those who joined the party five years ago are now doing this to us,” the younger Pimentel said.

A DREAM FULFILLED.

Employees from the Tabaco local government have repurposed discarded bottles and other materials to decorate the Hiraya Manawari Nature Park at Barangay San Vicente in Albay. The park is set to open on Aug. 1. “The park’s concept is upcycling. It’s actually to give a chance for everything and everyone in this world. That is why it is called ‘Hiraya Manawari,’ which is an ancient Filipino term which means may all your dreams and aspirations come true,” said Tabaco City Mayor Krisel Lagman-Luistro. Norman Cruz

CDC, CIDG nab suspect in estafa, extortion cases CLARK FREEPORT— A suspect for a robbery extortion and estafa case was recently arrested in Angeles City during an entrapment operation led by Clark Development Corporation (CDC) Security Services Group personnel in coordination with Criminal Investigation and Detection GroupPNP Regional Field Unit III. According to the CDC-SSG, the suspect, identified as Carlo Trinidad Pe, has been posing as a CDC employee to extort money from a certain Gennievive Austria of JJJ-A Construction, in exchange for favorable consideration in the bidding of a CDC infrastructure project. Due to Pe’s persistent demand for money, Austria contacted CDC to verify his real identity. When she confirmed that Pe was not in any manner connected or affiliated with the state-owned firm, she reported the case to the concerned units of CDC. Following Austria’s complaint, CDCSSG, headed by retired Brig. Gen. Sheldon Jacaban, collaborated with the CIDG Field Unit 3 and organized an entrapment operation to arrest Pe. During his arrest, several pieces of evidence were also confiscated from Pe, including one piece of P1,000 bill (genuine marked money) with dusting powder, twenty pieces of P1,000 (boodle money) dusted with fluorescent powder, a black wallet, a blue Huawei mobile phone, and assorted identification cards.

He said Duterte would personally campaign for candidates of PDP-Laban. “President Duterte’s endorsement power is very potent because of his enormous popularity,” Evardone added. On Saturday, the Duterte-led PDP-Laban ousted party president Senator Manny Pacquiao and elected Energy Secretary Alfonso Cusi as his replacement. Pacquiao and Senator Aquilino Pimentel III, party executive vice chairman, called the meeting “illegal.”

Herd immunity for Davao City by Nov.—Sara DAVAO City Mayor Sara DuterteCarpio assured Dabawenyos she is not neglecting her duties as mayor amid concerns that she has been going around the country to confer with other local government leaders. “I assure all Dabawenyos that my strength as a mayor is to take on several roles and ensure that work is carried out,” she said. “I don’t stop being mayor wherever I am. I give instructions and make decisions at all times of the day, whenever needed,” she added. She also assured the public that Davao city’s vaccination program is “doing very well” as the local government targets to achieve herd immunity in November 2021. The mayor expressed hope that more vaccines will arrive so that the city can ramp up its inoculation program. According to the Davao City Vaccination Cluster, as of June 30, a total of 257,253 doses were already administered, including 45,828 for second dose. A survey released last week by polling firm Pulse Asia Duterte-Carpio holding a formidable lead if the presidential elections were held last June. The survey, conducted from June 7 to 16, showed the presidential daughter had a substantial lead among the 2,400 respondents interviewed, 28 percent of whom said they would vote for Duterte-Carpio. In the presidential race, she was followed by Manila Mayor Francisco “Isko Moreno” Domagoso with 14 percent, former senator Ferdinand Marcos Jr. with 13 percent, and Senator Grace Poe with 10 percent.

Comprehensive plan sought for transport woes By Maricel V. Cruz A CONGRESSMAN on Tuesday called on concerned government agencies like the Department of Transportation (DOTR), Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB), and the Metro Manila Development Authority (MMDA) to have a clear strategy that will solve the lack of public transport options in the Greater Metro Manila Area. “We have to acknowledge that we have an apparent supply problem in the public transportation sector and this is reflected in the daily struggle of commuters. The long lines every morning and late afternoon in key transport hubs should be a wakeup call for us,” Rizal Rep. Fidel Nograles said. Nograles, author of House Bill 5653 or the Magna Carta of Commuters in the House of Representatives, also explained that the current pandemic made the public transport supply problem worse because it forced commuters to crowd the limited PUVs available to them. “This is counterproductive to our policies on social distancing and exposes our already tired commuters to the dangers of COVID-19. And we cannot just simply apprehend drivers who allow passengers to cram in their buses since it is hard for them to stop people from embarking their vehicles. Besides, because of the insufficient PUVs on the road, some terminals and waiting sheds will be jam-packed if commuters will not be allowed to ride,” the neophyte solon said.

SC designates 20 roving RTC judges to help unclog court dockets

By Rey E. Requejo

THE Supreme Court has approved the designation of 20 regional trial court judges who have been chosen by President Duterte to serve as judges-at-large or roving judges to various court stations with no judges or to those with overloaded dockets. Chief Justice Alexander Gesmundo affirmed the assignments of the 20 RTC

judges-at-large on recommendations made by Court Administrator Jose Midas Marquez, who exercises administrative supervision over all lower courts in the country for the SC. The appointment of judges-at-large, who have no permanent stations, is mandated under Republic Act No. 11459 or the Judgesat-Large Act of 2019, which was signed into law by the President in August last year.

The law mandated the creation of 100 judges-at-large positions for RTCs and 50 posts for municipal trial courts (MTCs). Only 40 judges-at-large have so far been appointed by the President. On July 14, the SC received the appointments of 20 MTC judges-at-large. Marquez said he recommended the partial implementation of RA 11459 “since only 50 of the 150 positions were funded by

Congress in the judiciary’s 2020 budget.” Under the law, RTC judges-at-large will be assigned as acting or assisting judges to any RTC branch, while the MTC judges-at-large will be assigned to any first-level courts in the country -- such as MTC, municipal circuit trial court (MCTC), municipal trial court in cities (MTCC) or metropolitan trial court (MeTC) – as public interest may require.

Free medicines for cancer patients By Maricel V. Cruz

GOOD JAB. Vice President Leni Robredo (right) oversees the vaccination of tricycle,

pedicab, and delivery riders at the Cultural Center of the Philippine Complex in Pasay City on Tuesday, July 20, 2021. Danny Pata

CANCER patients can now avail themselves of free cancer medicines under the National Integrated Cancer Control Act (NICCA), a lawmaker said Tuesday. House Assistant Majority Leader and Quezon City Rep. Alfred Vargas said the Department of Health, in a letter dated July 8, gave the assurance that patients can now access the P620-million Cancer Assistance Fund established by the NICCA. Vargas, whose mother had succumbed to cancer, is principal author of the House version of the measure. He is also the chairman of the House Committee on Social Services.

“This is a victory for cancer care advocates and for the patients and their families. For years we have all fought to make cancer treatment more affordable. We have seen how families of cancer patients, regardless of economic class, struggle to pay for the cost of treatment of their loved ones. We are now able to offer them relief,” he said. The DOH letter, signed by Undersecretary Rosario Vergeire, was in reply to a letter from Vargas inquiring about the status of the Cancer Assistance Fund. Vargas earlier expressed concern that the P620 million allotted by Congress for free cancer medicines this year could revert to the National Treasury if unused by the DOH.

Opinion

It does not stand for President Duterte’s Party. I understand that the PDP leadership had already dropped the “Laban” part of their official name after 2016, but many still refer to the party by its old name by force of habit. Dropping “Laban” was the right thing to do, maybe because the ghosts of Ninoy and Lorenzo Tañada haunted PDP Chairman Rodrigo Duterte no end in his worst nightmares. The PDP of today can hardly be called “democratic” when most of its new leaders have neither cut their teeth in the struggle to defend Philippine democracy in the past, nor shed their image as dyed-in-the-wool traditional politicians eager to prolong their grip on power. That the PDP has been transformed from a powerful battering ram against dictatorship and political dynasties into a convenient vehicle for vested interests and perpetuation of power by both old and new politicians is the composition of the new leadership of the party following Sen. Pacquiao’s unceremonious ouster as Party President despite their claim that this followed the party’s constitution and by-laws. News reports on the just concluded PDP “national assembly” quoted one Jovel Lopez, a PDP-Laban community leader in Bulacan and a party cadre since its founding in 1982, who said “party newcomers and interlopers are now trying to wrest control of the party...We are wondering why we now have so many politicians who have emerged

A viewer’s guide to the Sona P

to claim that they are PDP-Laban members but we, who are original members, are now being eased out. We will not allow these hitchhikers to gain control of the party that we established.” That’s a very accurate description of what has happened to the PDP from a party old-timer who appears to have remained faithful to the vision of the late Nene Pimentel who’s not only turning but certainly even spinning in his grave in sheer disgust over what has happened to the party that he founded in 1982. During Saturday’s PDP meeting that Sen. Aquilino “Koko” Pimentel III described as illegal, Duterte blamed him for appointing Pacquiao as Acting President when his (Koko’s) term office under the PDP Constitution and by-laws ended. That arrangement served the party well until Pacquiao started to raise questions about Duterte’s handling of our territorial dispute in the South China Sea/West Philippine Sea and later about the extent of corruption in the current administration. That’s when Duterte started calling Pacquiao names, among them “punch-drunk” and earlier, even “shit” for alleging that some P10.4 billion was missing in the Social Amelioration Program (SAP) of the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) through the latter’s use of a private financial services provider as conduit for giving ayuda or financial assistance to families severely affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. What’s clear at this point is that it’s now all-out war by the Duterte camp against the Pimentel-Pacquiao faction in the PDP after Duterte blamed Pimentel for appointing Pacquiao to a leadership position in the party. How will Koko and Pacquiao respond to Duterte’s diatribes against them? That should be interesting to find out in the days ahead. What’s also clear is that the PDP appears bent on supporting Sara Duterte as presidential bet, with President Duterte himself as vice-presidential candidate. If the PDP nevertheless comes up with a Duterte-Duterte tandem in 2022 for “continuity” and to deal with “unfinished business,” what do they really want? Precisely what the PDP means by “continuity” and “unfinished business” are unclear. Maybe more infrastructure projects? More tax reform? But will there also be more extrajudicial killings? Or perhaps more misuse of public funds as Duterte himself has admitted has not stopped since he took office five years ago? Email: ernhil@yahoo.com

Mind product quality, not our adobo

INSTEAD of spending precious time and resources in setting a “baseline” for our “adobo,” DTI Secretary Lopez should devote more time in looking at the quality of our products starting with the consumables in our grocery shelves and industrial items used in households, offices and factories. Product quality is definitely a more crucial DTI responsibility than setting “standards” for adobo making. Lopez should just leave the “baselines setting” to the styles of our cooks and chefs who have their own versions of that family fare that not even DTI’s high powered technical working group can possibly improve on, much less impose. Has the agency, for example, looked into the earlier complaints about substandard steel products flooding the country’s gray market which can definitely cause the loss of lives and property in time? Remember the case of the Pampanga mall which collapsed after just a small tremor? That mall was built with substandard steel bars. What about those of the lemon cars which became the talk of the town early into the term of this administration? Although these cases were inherited from the PNoy administration, it was incumbent upon Lopez and company to have looked into this matter and submitted their findings complete with possible measures to ensure that such vehicles do not populate our streets all over again. We have yet to hear from Secretary Lopez about these cases. And these were all

WEDNESDAY, JULY 21, 2021

EDITORIAL

PDP hijacked by anti-democracy forces LAST Saturday’s national assembly of the Partido Demokratiko Pilipino (PDP) that ousted Sen. Manny Pacquiao as its president and installed a rabid Duterte follower in his place has all the makings of a virtual coup d’etat that could pave the way for another six years of authoritarian rule. Let us not forget that the key word in the party’s name is “demokratiko” or “democratic.” If we go by the Lincolnian notion of democracy, it’s a government of the people, by the people, for the people. The PDP should not be transformed into President Duterte’s Party. The PDP was founded in 1982 by the late former Senator Aquilino “Nene” Pimentel Jr. to engage the Marcos dictatorship in electoral politics at a time when it seemed a quixotic effort to do so amid intense political repression. It later teamed up with the Laban ng Masa, founded by opposition leaders Ninoy Aquino and Lorenzo Tañada, staunch critics of despotic rule, to pursue its goal of justice, freedom and democracy at a dangerous period in our contemporary history, but was unable to put enough of their members in positions of power until after Edsa People Power in 1986.

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pre-pandemic. What about the thousands of food products whether locally manufactured or imported? Has the DTI been conducting regular monitoring of these items to ensure that the same are manufactured in accordance with internationally recognized standards? Definitely, the provenance and quality of these products are more critical to the consuming public than all the various types of adobo dishes which Lopez’ technical working group intend to look into and “standardize.”

Secretary Lopez should concentrate on these concerns instead. In fact, Secretary Lopez can start this quality assurance effort by inquiring into the manufacturing, importation and distribution of Nestle S.A. products. He can secure a copy of the internal investigation report submitted to the highest officials of the world’s largest food company which pointed out that a majority, about seventy percent (70 percent), of Nestle’s food and beverage products do not meet internationally recognized standards” for such products. In that internal document which found its way into the pages of the UK business paper, Financial Times, Nestle acknowledged that the majority of such products excluding pet food and specialized medical nutrition do not meet the said standard established under Australia’s health star rating system. The system scores foods out of five stars and is used in research by international

RESIDENT Rodrigo Duterte will have his last State of the Nation Address on Monday. We have heard him speak so many times during the course of the pandemic that we can be reasonably confident about our expectations.

We should not expect him to give an objective recounting of his gains and misses this past year, and even in the past five years. Of course he will play out the positives, even lay claim to things that are not wholly of his doing. Of course too he will play down the negatives and the failures, or ascribe blame to somebody else. To be sure, he is not the first chief executive to do this. He will not be the last. We should know better than to expect he would stick to a script. No doubt his researchers and speechwriters are hard at work, putting meat into the narrative. If it were any other leader, we could expect that the speech in its final form would be vetted, fact checked, approved and rehearsed. But this is Rodrigo Duterte—his being

a maverick is part of the package. We should not expect him to give an even-toned description of Philippine politics. We have heard him lash out at his detractors, perceived enemies and his critics. We should not imagine that a statesman would take the stage. Mr. Duterte has never hesitated to show his “human” side to all who would applaud it. If he is irked, he is bound to show it.

Whatever is said or not said does not change the real state that our nation is in. What we should expect, however, are more of the same things we have been seeing during his late-night addresses. He feels no compulsion to change—this is what, after all, continues to endear him to a great majority of Filipinos during the protracted honeymoon period.

And since we cannot do anything about the person who would be speaking, we should instead focus on how we react to his pronouncements and what we each can do in its aftermath. First, dismiss the bombastic, thug-like statements. Mr. Duterte likes to get into character, and it is too late for him to change —not that he even wants, or sees the need to. Second, activate a fact checker at the back of our minds. Good governance and good citizenship are anchored on facts. Many of us would be online, anyway, as we listen to the speech. Check for misleading or downright false statements, errors in claims, or exaggerations. And then let these color how seriously we take the words that come after them. Third, pay attention to what is not said as much as what is said. This will give us a peek into what the chief executive deems truly important, and what we feel about what he thinks are important. Finally, remember this: Whatever is said or not said does not change the real state that our nation is in. We are still stuck in the pandemic, under threat of a new surge, with herd immunity still far from reality, with the economy still on its knees and millions of Filipinos still clueless about how they can make ends meet.

Duterte’s game plan perhaps, wait for the president to die. “But not all presidents you want to die,” Duterte clarified at the PDP-Laban gathering, which is why he wants a say in the election of his successor. Two, the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court which came into force July 2002, under which crimes against huRODRIGO Roa Duterte will not go gentle into that good night after the end of his sixyear presidency at noon of June 30, 2022. Addressing the largest ever assembly of the ruling Partido Demokratiko Pilipino-Lakas ng Bayan (PDP-Laban) Party on July 17, 2021, at Clark, the 16th Philippine president made four major disclosures: One, he wants to be vice president firstly, to escape immunity from suit, local and overseas, for alleged human rights violations and other abuses, and secondly, to finish the reforms undertaken in the last five years. Of course, as vice president, he is a heartbeat away from the presidency. “The left and the Yellows (followers of the Aquino mother and son presidents) are pushing for it (my prosecution),” Duterte said. The President’s own justice secretary, Menardo Guevarra has clarified that the vice president is not immune from suit while in office. “When Vice President (Leni) Robredo was included in sedition charges in 2019 in connection with alias Bikoy’s allegations, I remarked that the VP was not immune from suit under the present Constitution. My opinion on the matter has not changed,” Guevarra said. “Considering the magnitude of the responsibility that awaits the next batch of the elected officials in 2022 elections, we must remain focused on how to continue the reforms that we have instituted in the last five years.,” Duterte urged his partymates, a number of whom are members of his cabinet, at the Clark national assembly. As to being a VP, Duterte said he does not know what the job actually is. The Constitution does not say what the job of the vice president is, the President noted. Except,

He will not go gentle into that good night. manity are prosecuted and penalized, does not apply to him because of a technicality, the Philippine government failed to publish it in its Official Gazette, and a law that nobody knows about, cannot be a law. If he is sued, he said, he will go to the Supreme Court of the Philippines, because being sued for a law that was not published locally, is a violation of due process. Three, the PDP-Laban party belongs to Duterte and his followers. Under Sen. Aquilino “Koko” Pimentel III, the son of one of the party founders, Aquilino “Nene” Pimentel Jr., Duterte sneered, “the party slept for 100 years.” “It only woke up when I ran for the presidency under the party,” Duterte said. “It was a father-and-son party, period. They were not even recognized in Cagayan de Oro.” Four, Duterte is determined that his wing of PDP-Laban to consolidate further its ranks “until the end of my term and beyond.” Speaking in Pilipino, the President said: “Now it (PDP-Laban) has grown big. I think it can compete with the other parties, except that mayroon silang ano, ito si ano, nandiyan si ‘yung financier nila, ganoon. “But if you really try also to be strong, eh lahat ‘yan patron ninyo ‘yan. Ang PDP sayang eh, nandiyan na, malakas, marami at nandito ako. So we can really make a [unclear]... [applause].

groups including, among others, the Access to Nutrition Foundation. The company which manufactures such favourites as Maggi noodles, Kitkat and Nescafe has acknowledged that only 37 percent of products in those categories achieve a rating above 3.5 star under the said system and that “some categories and products will never be ‘healthy’ no matter how much it renovates.” This means that Nestles’s portfolio of unhealthy products, as rated under the 5 stars Australian system accounts for about 46.3 billion Swiss francs or half of Nestlé’s 92.6 billion Swiss francs (€84.35 billion) total annual revenues.This is certainly a very troubling development especially in the midst of a pandemic which has highlighted more intimately the need for healthy products and lifestyles. It is even more disconcerting and certainly a cause for immediate action on the part of Secretary Lopez whose agency through its Bureau of Product Standards can initiate a thoroughgoing investigation into this matter. He should be advised that Nestle’s food and beverage products have somehow dominated the local scene, so to speak, edging out those dished out by the other multinationals like Procter and Gamble and Unilever and our very own local food and beverage manufacturers. Of course, Lopez can always claim that his agency is just one of a number of other departments such as the Department of Agriculture and the department of health, among others, which has responsibility over the quality of food and beverage products being displayed in

our supermarkets. But that would be a very lame and disingenuous claim considering its basic mandate under the law. Imagine, the fact that 70 percent of the hundreds of products in Nestles’s food portfolio along with 96 per cent of beverages – excluding pure coffee – and 99 per cent of its confectionery and ice cream portfolio, do not meet the said standard can potentially subject not only the company but possibly even DTI and the government to multiple suits. In DTI’s case, for negligence and even incompetence. Secretary Lopez should be advised if he is not yet aware that Nestlé’s strawberry-flavoured Nesquik , which is a favourite of school children, contains 14g of sugarin a 14g serving alongside small amounts of coloring and flavouring, though it is designed to be mixed with milk and is advertised as “perfect at breakfast to get kids ready for the day” which is,of course, far from the truth if not utterly false. That false advertising alone should be more than enough for Lopez and his colleagues to go after Nestle and its partners. Of course, we would be

MORE OPINION ONLINE (www.manilastandard.net)

“Those running for reelection, ikakampanya ko kayo city por city. [applause] Totoo ‘yan. Kayong mga nagtatakbo, I will—I commit to you. Talagang pupunta ako city por city, province por province, kakampanya ko kayo. [applause] Pero— at saka magdala ako ng maraming pera [laughter and applause] por sako kung mayroon.” Duterte appeared to be speaking of rival parties which are bankrolled by tycoons— like the 1907-era Nacionalista Party of brown property taipan Manuel B. Villar Jr., the Nationalist People’s Coalition (NPC) of the late industrialist-statesman Eduardo “Danding” M. Cojuangco Jr. and Senate President Vicente “Tito” Sotto III, and the Lakas party of former President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo (who is now a veritable tycoon in her own right) and House Majority Leader Ferdinand Martin Romualdez who is wealthy in his own right. Port tycoon Enrique Razon Jr is nurturing his own National Unity Party and could be grooming Manila Mayor Isko Moreno for the presidency. Per Wikipedia, PDP-Laban has 62 of 304 congressmen and five of 24 senators. NP has 42 congressmen and four senators. NPC has 33 congressmen and three senators. Lakas-CMD has 19 congressmen and one senator. The Liberal Party headed by Sen. Francis “Kiko” Pangilinan has 17 congressmen and three senators. Duterte has vowed to campaign for PDP-Laban candidates, city to city, town to city, and bringing with him bags of money. The May 9, 2022 elections are going to be a bruising, expensive, bitterly contested, possibly violent, political contest. At stake are: a new president, a new vice president, 12 seats in the Senate, 308 seats in the House of Representatives, 61 party-list congressional seats, 81 provincial governors and vice governors, the 780 seats of 81 provincial legislative councils, 1,634 mayors and vice mayors, and 13,546 seats in all city and town legislative councils. biznewsasia@gmail.com ready to hear and even present the other side of the story if the company deems it necessary. We are just talking of Nestle here. What about the other consumer products companies such as P&G, Unilever and the local manufacturers? Has the DTI ever lifted a finger to check on their products and, yes, their advertising mantras? For a long, long time, these companies have been heavily advertising the virtue of their products and their operations as “nutrition, health and wellness organizations” exhorting the values of their products in pursuit of a good and healthy life. With this internal confession from no less than Nestle S.A. itself about its unhealthy products, Lopez and company should now work overtime to see to it that indeed there is truth to its claim as an excellent, professional and civic minded manufacturer. That should be the effort as well in the case of the other manufacturers whose products affect the health and lifestyles of each and every Filipino. Secretary Lopez should concentrate on these concerns and distance himself from our adobo.

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Republic of the Philippines TODAY ENERGY REGULATORY COMMISSION Pasig City

SEM-CALACA POWER CORPORATION

IN THE MATTER OF THE JOINT APPLICATION FOR THE APPROVAL OF THE ELECTRIC POWER PURCHASE AGREEMENT ENTERED INTO BY AND BETWEEN LA UNION ELECTRIC COMPANY, INC. AND MASINLOC POWER PARTNERS CO. LTD., WITH MOTION FOR THE ISSUANCE OF A PROVISIONAL AUTHORITY OR INTERIM RELIEF AND CONFIDENTIAL TREATMENT OF INFORMATION Promulgated: July 16, 2021

4.2777

4.4538

“P”

Corporate Structure Chart

4.5210

4.9087

“Q”

Write-up – Explanation on the Non-applicability of the Board of Investments (BOI) Certificate of Registration (COR) for MPPCL Units 1 and 2

20. On 30 April 2021, the respective bid offers of the bidders who passed the pre-qualification were opened. MPPCL’s bid was declared as the best bid.

“R”

BOI COR for MPPCL Units 3 and 4

Notice is hereby given that on 07 July 2021, La Union Electric Company Inc. (LUECO) and Masinloc Power Partners Co. Ltd. (MPPCL) filed a Joint Application dated 21 June 2021, seeking the Commission’s approval of their Electric Power Purchase Agreement (EPPA), with motion for the issuance of a provisional authority or interim relief and confidential treatment of information.

“T”

Letter of Provisional Authority to Operate (PAO) issued by the ERC Write-up – Explanation on the Non-applicability of the Requirements regarding Renewable Energy Plant

“V”

Write-up – Explanation on the Non-applicability of Minimum Energy Offtake Provision

“W”

Write-up – Explanation on the Non-applicability of Requirements regarding the Ancillary Services Procurement Agreement

24. A copy of the TPBAC Summary Report regarding the conduct of LUECO’s CSP is likewise hereto attached and marked as Annex “H-10”.

“X”

Certification by the CFO of MPPCL on items under Sources of Funds/ Financial Plans of the Pre-filing Requirements (Confidential)

SALIENT FEATURES OF THE EPPA

“Y”

Write-up – Explanation on Pre-filing Requirements on Computation of Rates

25. The EPPA dated 28 May 2021, entered into by and between LUECO and MPPCL, a copy of which is hereto attached as Annex “A” and made an integral part hereof, contains the following salient features:

“Z”

Affidavit of Competitive Procurement Process of Fuel executed by the Procurement Manager of MPPCL (Confidential)

“AA and series”

Relevant technical and economic characteristics of the generation capacity, installed capacity, mode of operation, and dependable capacity

“BB”

Write-up – Explanation on the Non-applicability of the DOE Certificate of Endorsement (COE) for MPPCL Units 1 and 2

“CC”

DOE COE for MPPCL Units 3 and 4

“DD”

Transmission Service Agreement (TSA) between the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP) and MPPCL

“EE”

Audited Financial Statements (AFS), Balance Sheet, Income Statement, and Statement of Cash Flows

22. On 07 May 2021, LUECO sent MPPCL the result of the post evaluation qualification.

2.2

The pertinent allegations in the said Joint Application are hereunder quoted as follows:

LUECO is represented in this Joint Application by its President, Mr. CARLOS L. VALERO.

MPPCL is a limited partnership established in the Philippines to invest in, acquire, finance, complete, construct, develop, improve, operate, maintain, and hold power production and electric generating facilities in the country, with business address at Masinloc Coal-Fired Thermal Power Plant, Barangay Bani, Masinloc, Zambales. It may be served with notices and other processes of this Honorable Commission though its counsel at the address herein indicated.

MPPCL owns the 1 x 315 MW (Unit 1), 1 x 344 MW (Unit 2) and 351.75 MW (Unit 3) of the Masinloc Coal Fired Thermal Power Plant located in Barangay Bani, Masinloc, Zambales.

MPPCL is represented in this Joint Application by its authorized representatives, Mr. PAUL BERNARD D. CAUSON.

2.2.1 Subject to Section 2.3, this Agreement shall become effective on the Effective Date. 2.2.1.1

2.3

This Joint Application for the approval of the “ELECTRIC POWER PURCHASE AGREEMENT” (“EPPA”) dated 28 May 2021 entered into by and between LUECO and MPPCL is being submitted to this Honorable Commission for its review and approval pursuant to Sections 25 and 45 (b) of Republic Act No. 9136 otherwise known as the “Electric Power Industry Reform Act of 2001” (“EPIRA”), Rules 5, Sections 4 (e) and 11, Section 5 of its Implementing Rules and Regulations (“IRR”), Rule 20 (B) of its Rules of Practice and Procedure, and other pertinent rules and regulations.

13. Pursuant to the 10 December 2020 letter of the DOE, LUECO, on 21 December 2020, submitted its compliance and likewise furnished the DOE the Secretary’s Certificate providing the composition of LUECO’s Third Party Bids and Awards Committee (“TPBAC”), TPBAC- Technical Working Group (“TWG”) and TPBAC Secretariat.

DATE,

AND

“GG and series”

The “Commencement Date” shall occur upon the satisfaction of the conditions set out in Section 2.3.2.

2.3.3.2

It shall be on August 26, 2021 or upon approval by the ERC, (whether interim relief, provisional or final), whichever is later but to coincide with NGCP Billing every 26th day of the month. xxx

4.1

4.2

Supply of Electricity. Subject to the terms and conditions of this Agreement, from the Commencement Date until the expiration of the Cooperation Period or earlier termination of this Agreement, SELLER shall make available to LUECO the Contract Capacity to be sourced from the Power Plant, the WESM, or any other source at prevailing Electricity Fee. SELLER shall ensure that its daily declarations of BCQs reported to the Market Operator (as required by the WESM Rules) accurately reflects the metered quantities in each of LUECO’s Delivery Points net of any reduction by reason of enforcement of RCOA and/or Renewable Energy Law. xxx Failure of Power Plant to Generate Electricity. In case SELLER is unable to source electricity from Power Plant for whatever reason except cases of Force Majeure, SELLER shall undertake alternative sourcing arrangements to compensate for the failure or shortfall, provided that, BUYER shall pay to SELLER the prevailing Electricity Fee or from the alternative source, whichever, is lower. In case SELLER fails to supply BUYER electricity due to unavailability of supply from its Power Plant, WESM, and any other source, SELLER shall pay a fine calculated as follows: Fine = 5% x GENRATE from the previous Billing Period x Unsupplied Energy

Unsupplied Energy = the average of the last four (4) same day, same hour of the Trading Intervals affected by the loss of supply from Power Plant, WESM, and any other source which shall be used to reduce the generation charge to the consumers. For avoidance of doubt, in case SELLER fails to supply electricity despite availability thereof, then Section 14.1 shall apply. 5.1

Where: E

The metered quantities at BUYER’s Delivery Points for the Billing Period that is net of energy carved out by reason of enforcement of RCOA, Renewable Energy Law, and Event of Force Majeure affecting SELLER, expressed in kWh.

EFM

The metered quantities at BUYER’s Delivery Points for the Billing Period measured for hours during which Event of Force Majeure is affecting SELLER, expressed in kWh.

15. On 29 December 2020, LUECO sent the revised TOR in compliance with the 22 December 2020 letter of the DOE, and on 04 January 2021, the DOE via electronic mail approved the TOR and allowed LUECO to cause the publication of the Invitation to Bid on 05 January 2021 and 12 January 2021.

Where:

16. The salient provisions of the TOR are herein provided:

Where:

Commencement Date of Supply

August 26, 2021 or upon approval by the ERC whichever is later but to coincide with NGCP Billing every 26th day of the month.

Tariff Structure

Base Energy Rate (BER) in Php/kWh subject to the following: • 50% maximum of the BER can be escalated at an annual rate not greater than 3.5% beginning on the second contract year. • Inclusive of Line Rental and all other market related charges • Exclusive of VAT Bids shall be evaluated based on Levelized Cost of Electricity (LCOE) after VAT, whenever applicable which shall be derived using the LCOE calculation sheet in accordance with the formula in Annex B. The Bidder’s Proposed Price (for the first Billing Year) and its LCOE are both subject to predetermined “Reserved Prices”. Bid VAT Rate shall be the maximum VAT rate that Winning Bidder may charge LUECO for any given Billing Month.

Power Act Reduction (PAR)

Power Supplier may opt to offer a Power Act Reduction (PAR) rate of Php0.30/kWh applicable to energy affecting residential customers only (approximately 50% of LUECO’s annual energy requirement; that the actual average for the last 5 years preCOVID19 is 44%).

17. On 05 January 2021 and 12 January 2021, LUECO caused the publication of its “Invitation to Bid” in the Manila Bulletin which contained the TOR, indicating a summary of the process and timelines of the CSP and inviting generation companies (“GenCos”) to submit an Expression of Interest between 06 January 2021 and 19 January 2021. 18. In response to LUECO’s published Invitation to Bid, eight (8) GenCos purchased bid documents, namely: a. b. c. d. e. f. g. h.

First Year PreVAT rate* (PhP/kWh)

Final LCOE Pre-VAT rate* (PhP/kWh)

MASINLOC POWER PARTNERS CO. LTD.

3.4508

TEAM (PHIL) ENERGY CORP

3.9462

4.2971

31. In the interest of LUECO’s consumers, there is a necessity for the immediate issuance of a provisional authority or interim relief in order to have a continuous and reliable supply of electricity. 32. Pursuant to its Rules of Practice and Procedure, this Honorable Commission may issue a provisional authority or interim relief: “Section 3. Action on the Motion. – Motions for Provisional Authority or Interim Relief may be acted upon with or without hearing. The Commission shall act on the motion on the basis of the allegations of the application or petition and supporting documents and other evidences that applicant or petitioner has submitted and the comments or opposition filed by any interested person, if any.” 33. In further support of the immediate issuance of a provisional authority, Joint Applicants attach as Annex “K” the Judicial Affidavit executed by Mr. JOSEPH BERNARD G. VALERO, EMO Manager and Member of the Board of Directors of LUECO. ALLEGATIONS IN SUPPORT OF THE MOTION FOR CONFIDENTIAL TREATMENT OF INFORMATION 34. Under the ERC Rules of Practice and Procedure, a party to any proceeding before the Honorable Commission may request that certain information not be disclosed and be treated as confidential.4 Pursuant to this, Applicant MPPCL prays for the confidential treatment of the information contained in the following annexes: Documents and/or Information

Annex

Certification by the CFO of MPPCL on items under Sources of Funds/Financial Plans of the Pre-filing Requirements (Confidential)

“X”

Affidavit of Competitive Procurement Process of Fuel executed by the Procurement Manager of MPPCL (Confidential)

“Z”

35. Annexes “X”, and “Z” contain the details of the power rate calculations and financial model of MPPCL as well as the manner by which these were derived. These information are proprietary in nature and should be protected as trade secrets as contemplated by law and jurisprudence. In the case of Air Philippines Corporation vs. Pennswell, Inc.5 , the Supreme Court defined a trade secret, as follows: “A trade secret may consist of any formula, pattern, device, or compilation of information that: (1) is used in one’s business; and (2) gives the employer an opportunity to obtain an advantage over competitors who do not possess the information. Generally, a trade secret is a process or device intended for continuous use in the operation of the business, for example, a machine or formula, but can be a price list or catalogue or specialized customer list. It is indubitable that trade secrets constitute proprietary rights. The inventor, discoverer, or possessor of a trade secret or similar innovation has rights therein which may be treated as property, and ordinarily an injunction will be granted to prevent the disclosure of the trade secret by one who obtained the information “in confidence” or through a “confidential relationship”. American jurisprudence has utilized the following factors to determine if an information is a trade secret, to wit:

GENRATE or Ex-Ante WESM Price at BUYER’s relevant Delivery Point, whichever is lower, expressed in Php/kWh

GENRATE = BER x ADJESC

(1) the extent to which the information is known outside of the employer’s business;

BER = is the Base Energy Rate equivalent to PHP3.5575/kWh

(2) the extent to which the information is known by employees and others involved in the business;

ADJESC = [ Percent Subject to Escalation x ( 1 + Escalation) ^ (Contract Year – 1) ] + [ 1 – Percent Subject to Escalation ]

(3) the extent of measures taken by the employer to guard the secrecy of the information;

Percent Subject to Escalation = none

(4) the value of the information to the employer and to competitors;

Escalation = none

(5) the amount of effort or money expended by the company in developing the information; and

VAT = Maximum Value Added Tax equivalent to twelve percent (12%) Effective VAT = Blended Maximum VAT and VAT from WESM Purchases

(6) the extent to which the information could be easily or readily obtained through an independent source.” (citations omitted, emphasis supplied)

RATE IMPACT ON LUECO’S OVERALL GENERATION RATE 26. The indicative rate impact on LUECO’s overall generation rate with the supply from MPPCL is as follows: SUPPLIER Average Rate PhP/kWh (for the recent 12 months)

CURRENT SUPPLIER

MPPCL

DIFFERENCE

4.2876

3.4939

0.7937

Details of the calculation of the rate impact on LUECO’s overall generation rate with the supply from MPPCL is hereto attached and marked as Annex “J”. COMPLIANCE BY THE JOINT APPLICANTS WITH THE PRE-FILING CHECKLIST REQUIREMENTS 27. In compliance with the pre-filing requirements of this Honorable Commission and in further support of the instant Joint Application, Joint Applicants submit the following:

The interest of the consuming public is sufficiently protected by the review and evaluation of the rates under the EPPA by the Honorable Commission, without the need to disclose the contents of Annexes “X”, and “Z”. The reasonableness and transparency of the prices of electricity is to be assured by the Honorable Commission through its own review and verification of MPPCL’s generation costs. More importantly, competitors of MPPCL, should they obtain the information in Annexes “X”, and “Z” may gain undue advantage to the prejudice of MPPCL. The negotiating power of MPPCL with parties it plans to contract with or who it is currently doing business with, will clearly be thwarted if it is compelled to disclose such information; 36. Accordingly, Joint Applicants hereby submits one (1) copy of the confidential documents in a sealed envelope, with the envelope and each page of the document stamped with the word “Confidential”.6 37. Lastly and corollary to the foregoing, MPPCL would like to implore the discerning wisdom of the Honorable Commission to include in its issuance for this purpose the “xxx procedures for the handling or returning the confidential information, as appropriate, upon the close of the proceedings or at the end of the period provided in this Rule7”.

LUECO SUPPORTING DOCUMENTS DESCRIPTION OF THE DOCUMENT

ANNEX “B”

Articles of Incorporation and By-Laws

“C”

Latest General Information Sheet (GIS)

“D”

Load forecast projections in accordance with the latest DDP Average daily load curve, supply and demand scenario in accordance with the templates under Annex A of the Prefiling Checklist Requirements

“F”

Demand Side Management (DSM) Program

“G”

PSPP

“H” & series

19. Out of the eight (8) GenCos who purchased bid documents, two (2) did not submit their bids while one (1) GenCo withdrew prior to the submission of bids. The GenCos who submitted their bids are the following: GENERATION COMPANY

EFM Rate

“E” & series

GNPower DINGININ LTD. CO SOLARACE1 ENERGY CORPORATION SEM-CALACA POWER CORPORATION TEAM (PHIL) ENERGY CORP MASINLOC POWER PARTNERS CO. LTD. THERMA LUZON INC. SN ABOITIZ POWER - MAGAT INC. ENERGY DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION

30. Given the impending expiration of the Letter of Agreement between LUECO and TPEC and without a provisional authority or interim relief issued by this Honorable Commission authorizing the supply by MPPCL starting 26 August 2021, LUECO will be left with no other supplier. Moreover, LUECO cannot purchase from the Wholesale Electricity Spot Market (WESM) as it is not a direct member therein. Thus, with no supplier to provide the much-needed electric service, consumers of LUECO may experience total blackout instead of enjoying the lowest generation rate offered by MPPCL.

SCHEDULE 4:

GENRATE The generation fee rate applicable for the Billing Period, expressed in PHP/ kWh.

BASELOAD AND LOAD FOLLOWING, FIRM

29. Currently, LUECO continues to source its power from TPEC pursuant to a Letter of Agreement dated 11 June 2019 for a period of one (1) year from 26 August 2020 to 25 August 2021 under the same terms and conditions.

ELECTRICITY FEES.

Electricity Fee = [(E x GENRATE)] x (1+VAT)] + [(EFM x EFM Rate) x (1+ VAT)]

MPPCL Secretary’s Certificate for Filing of Joint Application and Delegation Letter to Counsels

28. LUECO and MPPCL replead the foregoing allegations in further support of their prayer for the immediate issuance of a provisional authority or interim relief.

SELLER shall render to BUYER an itemized Invoice for each Billing Period in accordance with the provisions of this Agreement and SCHEDULE 5. BUYER shall pay Invoices when due and payable in accordance with this Agreement and SCHEDULE 5.

ELECTRICITY FEES

Certification from MPPCL Units 1-3 on Net Heat Rate

ALLEGATIONS IN SUPPORT OF THE IMMEDIATE ISSUANCE OF PROVISIONAL AUTHORITY OR INTERIM RELIEF

Where:

14. On 22 December 2020, the DOE sent its reply to the 21 December 2020 letter of LUECO recommending the removal of the option to extend for a maximum period of five (5) years pursuant to the Supreme Court Decision in G.R. No. 227670 requiring all PSAs to undergo CSP and the deletion of the Prompt Payment Discount and Prompt Payment Discount Period.

TYPE OF CONTRACT

“FF to FF-2”

The Effective Date shall be the date the conditions precedent in Section 13.1.1 and 13.2.1 have been satisfied or waived by the relevant Party (the “Effective Date”).

2.3.3.1

On 25 November 2019, the Department of Energy (“DOE”) issued its Certification (COE-CSP-2019-10-001) certifying that LUECO “is exempted from the conduct of COMPETITIVE SELECTION PROCESS (CSP) to extend its existing power supply agreement with Team (Philippines) Energy Corporation (TPEC) for one (1) year supply under the same terms and conditions starting from 26 August 2019 until 25 August 2020.”2 Furthermore, the DOE also stated that “LUECO’s succeeding PSA procurement shall undergo CSP in accordance with DC2018-02-0003 in a manner provided under Section 5 thereof – through public bidding x x x .”3

12. On 10 December 2020, the DOE sent its reply to the letter dated 02 December 2020 of LUECO suggesting some revisions in its TOR, particularly the revision of the 2020- 2029 Power Supply Procurement Plan (PSPP) and the submission of the 2020-2029 Distribution Development Plan (DDP).

EFFECTIVE

2.3.3 COMMENCEMENT DATE

STATEMENT OF FACTS

11. On 02 December 2020, pursuant to DOE Department Circular DC201802-003, LUECO sent a letter to the DOE attaching its Terms of Reference (TOR) for its approval.

CONDITIONS PRECEDENT, COMMENCEMENT DATE

2.3.1.1

On 18 July 2019, two months before the expiration of its EPPA with Team (Philippines) Energy Corporation (“TPEC”) on 25 August 2019, LUECO wrote the Hon. ALFONSO G. CUSI, Secretary of the Department of Energy, requesting for the issuance of a Certificate of Exemption (“COE”) “to enable LUECO to extend its existing power supply agreement under the same terms and conditions.”1

10. However due to the issuance of Proclamation No. 929, Series of 2020 on 16 March 2020 by President RODRIGO ROA DUTERTE declaring a State of Calamity throughout the Philippines due to Corona Virus Disease 2019 Pandemic or COVID-19 Pandemic, LUECO was not able to complete the conduct of its CSP.

The term of this Agreement (the “Cooperation Period”) shall commence on the Commencement Date and shall expire on February 25, 2032, unless terminated earlier or extended in accordance with the terms of this Agreement.

2.3.1 Effective Date

NATURE OF THE APPLICATION

COOPERATION PERIOD OF AGREEMENT

LUECO is a private electric distribution utility duly organized and existing under the laws of the Republic of the Philippines, with principal office address at LUECO Building, Quezon Avenue, San Fernando City, La Union. It may be served with notices and other processes of this Honorable Commission though its counsel at the address herein indicated. LUECO is the grantee of a legislative franchise (R.A. No. 9385) issued by the Thirteenth (13th) Congress of the Philippines on 24 July 2006 to operate and maintain an electric distribution system within the City of San Fernando and the Municipalities of Bauang and San Juan, all in the Province of La Union.

Environmental Compliance Certificates for MPPCL Units 1-3 issued by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources

“S and series”

“U”

TO ALL INTERESTED PARTIES:

Write-up – Explanation on the Requirement of List of Shareholders (GIS Sheet)

SN ABOITIZ POWER-MAGAT INC.

23. On 17 May 2021, the Notice of Award was sent to MPPCL which it accepted on 24 May 2021 via zoom meeting. A copy of the “Notice of Award” is hereto attached and marked as Annex “H-8”.

NOTICE OF VIRTUAL HEARING

“O”

ENERGY DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION

21. On 03 May 2021, LUECO’s TPBAC sent a Notification of Best Bid to MPPCL as the winning power supplier confirming after post-evaluation that its proposed energy price was found to be the best bid.

LA UNION ELECTRIC COMPANY, INC. (LUECO) AND MASINLOC POWER PARTNERS CO. LTD. (MPPCL), Applicants. x-----------------------------------------------------------x

4.4460

* First Year and Final LCOE rates are net of offered PPD and/or PAR

ERC CASE NO. 2021-048 RC

4.0948

Documents showing the conduct of CSP

“I”

Executive Summary of the LUECO-MPPCL EPPA

“J”

Rate Impact Study

38. This is guided by the fact that MPPCL will seek for the return of these sought to be declared confidential annexes after its utilization as evidence in this case and/or at the close of the proceedings hereof, so as to relieve the Honorable Commission of the burden of safekeeping the trade secrets of MPPCL enclosed in the subject annexes. PRAYER WHEREFORE, in view of all the foregoing, Joint Applicants, LA UNION ELECTRIC COMPANY, INC. and MASINLOC POWER PARTNERS CO., LTD. respectfully pray of this Honorable Commission that: 1.

Before and during the pendency of the proceedings: a.

An Order be issued GRANTING provisional authority or interim relief authorizing the immediate implementation of the EPPA including the rate embodied in Schedule 4 thereof.

An Order treating Annexes “X”, and “Z” and all the information contained therein as confidential in perpetuity, directing their non-disclosure to persons other than the officers and staff of the Honorable Commission, perpetually protecting the said information from public disclosure by maintaining the same separate and apart from the records of the case, ensuring that these are not divulged to unauthorized persons, from the time these annexes are received by the Honorable Commission up to the termination of the instant case; and,

an Issuance concerning the procedures for handling the

MPPCL SUPPORTING DOCUMENTS “L”

2007 Articles of Partnership

“M”

2020 Amended Articles of Partnership

“M-1”

Certificate of Registration issued by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)

“N”

Write-up – Explanation on the Requirement of Shareholders Agreement

CYAN MAGENTA YELLOW BLACK

World China denies Microsoft hack, blasts US allies

WEDNESDAY, JULY 21, 2021 || mst.daydesk@gmail.com

30 dead on eve of Eid as IS claims Iraq market bombing

BEIJING—China on Tuesday sharply denied US allegations it carAGHDAD—The Islamic State group claimed ried out a massive Microsoft hack, countering that Washington was the responsibility early Tuesday for a suicide bombing “world champion” of cyber-attacks that ripped through a busy market in the Iraqi while raging at American allies for capital ahead of Eid holiday celebrations, killing nearly 30 signing up to a rare joint statement of condemnation. people, according to medical sources. The United States on Monday accused Beijing of carrying out the cyIn a message posted to its Telegram In one of the worst attacks in Baghber-attack on Microsoft and charged channel, the militant group said a suicide dad in recent years, body parts of vicfour Chinese nationals over the “mabomber named Abu Hamza al-Iraqi deto- tims lay scattered across the previously licious” hack in March. nated his explosive belt in the middle of a bustling market that had been crowded US Secretary of State Antony crowd in Sadr City, an eastern Baghdad with shoppers buying food ahead of the Blinken said the attack on Microsuburb on Monday night, killing more Islamic festival of Eid al-Adha, accordsoft Exchange, a top email server for than 30 and wounding 35 others. ing to an AFP photographer. corporations around the world, was part of a “pattern of irresponsible, disruptive and destabilizing behavior in cyberspace, which poses a major threat to our economic and national security.” China’s Ministry of State Security, or MSS, “has fostered an ecosystem of criminal contract hackers who carry out both state-sponsored activities and cybercrime for their own financial gain,” Blinken said in a statement. In a simultaneous announcement, PERU’S NEW the US Department of Justice saidBLACK CYAN MAGENTA YELLOW LEADER. A supporter of four Chinese nationals had been leftist schoolteacher Pedro charged with hacking the computers Castillo (inset) watches of dozens of companies, universities, fireworks during celebrations and government bodies in the United in downtown Lima following States and abroad between 2011 and the official proclamation of 2018. him as Peru’s president-elect Pointing to the indictment, Blinken on July 19, six weeks after said the United States “will impose a polarizing vote of which consequences on (Chinese) malicious the results were delayed by claims of electoral fraud from cyber actors for their irresponsible beCastillo’s right-wing rival, havior in cyberspace.” AFP

Some 50 people were also wounded in the blast, medics said. Iraqi President Barham Salih called the bombing in the densely populated majority-Shiite suburb of Sadr City a “heinous crime” and offered his condolences. “They are targeting our civilians in Sadr City on the eve of Eid,” Salih said in a message on Twitter. “They do not allow people to rejoice, even for a moment.” Eight women and seven children were among the dead, according to a medical source, who said the toll lay between 28 and 30 killed. In an early Tuesday statement, children’s

Indonesians gather to pray amid virus surge

Keiko Fujimori. AFP

confidential information upon the close of the proceedings and its return/delivery to MPPCL. 2.

After due notice and hearing, render a Decision approving the EPPA including the rates set out therein and authorizing LUECO to charge and collect the fees therein from its customers reckoned from the start of the supply by MPPCL to LUECO under the EPPA. Other reliefs just and equitable under the premises are likewise prayed for.

The Commission has set the instant Joint Application for determination of compliance with the jurisdictional requirements, expository presentation, Pre-trial Conference, and presentation of evidence on the following dates and online platform for the conduct thereof, pursuant to Resolution No. 09, Series 0f 2020,8 dated 24 September 2020 and Resolution No. 01, Series of 2021, dated 17 December 2020 (ERC Revised Rules of Practice and Procedure)9: Date

Platform

Activity

04 August 2021 (Wednesday) at two o’clock in the afternoon (2:00 PM)

Microsoft Teams

Determination of compliance with the jurisdictional requirements and expository presentation

11 August 2021 (Wednesday) at two o’clock in the afternoon (2:00 PM)

Microsoft Teams

Pre-trial Conference and presentation of evidence

Accordingly, LUECO and MPPCL are hereby directed to host the virtual hearing at LUECO’s principal office located at LUECO Building, Quezon Avenue, San Fernando City, La Union, as the designated venue for the conduct thereof, and ensure that the same is open to the public and the community quarantine guidelines are observed at all times. Moreover, LUECO and MPPCL shall guarantee that, during the conduct of the expository presentation, the participation of the public shall not be impaired. Any interested stakeholder may submit its comments and/or clarifications at least one (1) calendar day prior to the scheduled virtual hearing, via electronic mail (e-mail) at docket@erc.ph, copy furnish the Legal Service through legal@erc.ph. The Commission shall give priority to the stakeholders who have duly submitted their respective comments and/or clarifications, to discuss the same and propound questions during the course of the expository presentation. Moreover, any persons who have an interest in the subject matter of the instant case may become a party by filing with the Commission via e-mail at docket@erc. ph, copy furnish the Legal Service through legal@erc.ph, a verified Petition to Intervene at least five (5) calendar days prior to the date of the initial virtual hearing and subject to the requirements under Rule 9 of the ERC Revised Rules of Practice and Procedure, indicating therein the docket number and title of the case and stating the following: 1)

The petitioner’s name, mailing address, and e-mail address;

The nature of petitioner’s interest in the subject matter of the proceeding and the way and manner in which such interest is affected by the issues involved in the proceeding; and

A statement of the relief desired.

Likewise, all other persons who may want their views known to the Commission with respect to the subject matter of the case may file through e-mail at docket@ erc.ph, copy furnish the Legal Service through legal@erc.ph, their Opposition or Comment thereon at least five (5) calendar days prior to the initial virtual hearing and subject to the requirements under Rule 9 of the ERC Revised Rules of Practice and Procedure. No particular form of Opposition or Comment is required, but the document, letter, or writing should contain the following: 1)

The name, mailing address, and e-mail address of such person;

A concise statement of the Opposition or Comment; and

The grounds relied upon.

Any of the persons mentioned in the preceding paragraphs may access the copy of the Application on the Commission’s official website at www.erc.gov.ph. Finally, all interested persons may be allowed to join the scheduled initial virtual hearings by providing the Commission, thru legal.virtualhearings@erc.ph, with their respective e-mail addresses and indicating therein the case number of the instant Application. The Commission will send the access link/s to the aforementioned hearing platform within five (5) working days prior to the scheduled hearings. (This space is intentionally left blank) WITNESS, the Honorable Commissioners ALEXIS M. LUMBATAN, CATHERINE P. MACEDA, FLORESINDA G. BALDO-DIGAL and MARKO ROMEO L. FUENTES, Energy Regulatory Commission, this 12th day of July 2021 in Pasig City.

AGNES VST DEVANADERA Chairperson and CEO

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9

Last paragraph, page 2, letter dated 18 July 2019 to Sec. Alfonso G. Cusi. Underscoring supplied. First (1sT) paragraph, COE-CSP-10-001 dated 25 November 2019. Underscoring supplied. First (1st) paragraph, page 2, letter of Secretary Cusi to Mr. Bernardo L. Valero dated 25 November 2019. Underscoring supplied. Section 1, Rule 4, Rules of Practice and Procedure of the Energy Regulatory Commission. G.R. No. 172835, December 13, 2007 Soft copies of the same to be provided to this Honorable Commission are password protected. Rule 4, Section 2, paragraph 5 of the 2021 ERC Rules of Practice and Procedure. A Resolution Adopting the Guidelines Governing Electronic Applications, Filings and Virtual Hearings Before the Energy Regulatory Commission. A Resolution Adopting the Revised Rules of Practice and Procedure of the Energy Regulatory Commission.

Erratum: The publication on the Notice of Virtual Hearing last Saturday July 17, 2021 for the joint application of LUECO- MPPCL promulgated last July 16, 2021 should have been this Notice of Virtual Hearing. Our apologies for the error.

‘Pegasus shows risk of Israel’s spy-tech’ JERUSALEM—Reports that Israel-made Pegasus spyware has been used to monitor activists, journalists and politicians around the world highlight the diplomatic risks of nurturing and exporting “oppressive technology”, experts warned Monday. Private Israeli firm NSO Group has denied media reports its Pegasus software is linked to the mass surveillance of journalists and rights defenders and insisted that all sales of its technology are approved by Israel’s defense ministry. Founded in 2010 and based in Herzliya, north of Tel Aviv, NSO says it develops tools that allow governments to pursue criminals who might evade authorities through encrypted communications. But the Washington Post, the Guardian, Le Monde, and other news outlets that collaborated on an investigation reported on a leaked list of up to 50,000 phone numbers believed to have been identified as people of interest by clients of NSO since 2016, not all of whom

agency UNICEF confirmed that children were killed and injured in the attack. “This horrific attack right before Eid AlAdha is a terrible reminder of the violence Iraqi children continue to face,” it said. Video footage shared on social media after the blast showed bloodied victims and people screaming in terror. The blast was so strong it ripped the roofs off some market stalls. “A terror attack using a locally made IED (improvised explosive device) in Woheilat Market in Sadr City, in east Baghdad, left several victims dead and others injured,” Iraq’s interior ministry said in a statement. AFP

were hacked. NSO spokesman Oded Hershkovitz told Israel’s Army Radio the list of phone numbers was “not connected” to NSO, but rather to other companies and open-source software. “We didn’t receive until today a bit of evidence that on this list someone indeed was attacked by the Pegasus system,” Hershkovitz said. The software enables phones to be infiltrated and tracked, with the microphone and camera activated remotely to monitor the user. - ‘Incubator for oppressive technology’ Israeli experts recalled the country’s long history of using the export of cutting edge weaponry to foster diplomatic relations but warned that burgeoning sales of advanced surveillance systems could cause more harm than benefit. “Israeli weapons exports helped the country forge all kind of ties,” said Yoel Guzansky from the Institute for National Security Studies in Tel Aviv. AFP

JAKARTA—Indonesians prayed outside mosques and slaughtered goats to commemorate a sombre Eid al-Adha festival on Tuesday despite efforts to stop mass gatherings asManila coronavirus deaths skyrocket. Standard This week marks the secondTODAY time during the pandemic that the world’s biggest Muslim-majority nation has celebrated the Feast of Sacrifice, which signals the end of the annual pilgrimage to Mecca. Authorities have banned large crowds, including at traditional events that feature the sacrifice of livestock, and urged the public not to gather for acts of religious worship. In the capital Jakarta and elsewhere, some heeded an official request not to go inside mosques but instead gathered to pray on nearby roads, while residents in Bandung laid out their prayer mats in narrow alleyways outside their homes. Thousands of others in Banda Aceh assembled in close quarters outside the Baiturrahman Grand Mosque, where vendors hawked animal-shaped balloons to families. President Joko Widodo appealed to Muslims to pray at home to mark Eid rather than risk infection at public gatherings. “In the midst of the pandemic, we need to be willing to sacrifice even more,” he said in a Monday television address. “Put the interests of the community and others first.” Virus cases shot up after millions travelled across the vast archipelago of nearly 270 million people at the end of the holy fasting month of Ramadan in May. AFP

Study: India COVID deaths 10x higher than reported NEW DELHI—India’s coronavirus death toll is up to 10 times higher than the nearly 415,000 fatalities reported by authorities, likely making it the country’s worst humanitarian disaster since independence, a US research group said Tuesday. The Center for Global Development study’s estimate is the highest yet for the carnage in the South Asian nation of 1.3 billion people, which is emerging from a devastating surge partly fueled by the Delta variant in April and May. The study—which analyzed data from the start of the pandemic to June this year—suggested that between 3.4 million and 4.7 million people had died from the virus. “True deaths are likely to be in the several millions, not hundreds of thousands, making this arguably India’s worst hu-

man tragedy since partition and ing death registrations in some cluded a Harvard University independence,” the researchers states as well as a recurring na- expert, acknowledged that estitional economic study. mating mortality with statistical said. The researchers, who also in- confidence was difficult. AFP India’s official death toll of just over 414,000 is the world’s thirdhighest after the United States’ 609,000 fatalities and Brazil’s 542,000. Experts have been casting doubt on India’s toll for months, blaming the stressed health service rather than deliberate misinformation. Several Indian states have revised their virus tolls in recent weeks, adding thousands of “backlog” deaths. The center’s report was based on estimating “excess mortality”, the number of extra people who died compared with pre-crisis figures. The authors—which included CAGED PROTEST. Animal rights group PETA activists sit in a Arvind Subramanian, a former cage to protest against neglected conditions of chicken egg farms chief government economic adin Japan that are also feeding the Tokyo Olympic Village, outside the viser—did this partly by analyzOlympic Stadium in Tokyo on July 20. AFP

US won’t compel journalists to reveal sources, ends Trump policy WASHINGTON—The US government pledged Monday to steer clear of legal orders that force journalists to reveal their sources, with only rare exceptions, reversing course after revelations of secret efforts to obtain information from the media. A statement from the agency said it would no longer use the “compulsory legal process” including subpoenas or warrants to obtain records or identify sources from journalists involved in newsgathering activities. The new policy comes following revelations that former president Donald Trump’s Justice Department secretly obtained phone records of journalists investigating his administration, inducing from CNN, the Washington Post and New York Times.

The statement said the policy shift was made “because a free and independent press is vital to the functioning of our democracy.” It said the new policy applies to reporters, publishers, third-party service providers and others involved in newsgathering, and to physical or digital documents as well as phone records. Attorney General Merrick Garland announced the new policy in a memo and called for “a review process to further explain, develop and codify the policy.” Monday’s announcement comes after news that the Trump administration sought records of journalists investigating Russian meddling in the 2016 election, while obtaining “gag orders” to keep that effort secret.

White House press secretary Jen Psaki said last month that the use of such orders in leak investigations “is not consistent with the president’s policy direction.” The Garland memo said exceptions to the policy would be made if the journalist were the subject of an investigation or was suspected of being a foreign agent or member of a terrorist group, or in cases of “imminent” risk of death or bodily harm. While the cases involving the Trump administration have drawn scrutiny recently, the policy change addresses a longstanding concern on press freedom and follows several cases where journalists have been threatened with jail for refusing to reveal sources.AFP

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

WEDNESDAY, JULY 21, 2021

Business

PSE INDEX CLOSING Monday, July 19, 2021

-106.63

6,587.20

TOTAL VOLUME TOTAL TRADES TOTAL VALUE ADVANCES DECLINES UNCHANGED

2,106,331,825 116,871 6,538,186,888.73 43 159 48

F oreign e xchange r ate Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas • MONDAY, JULY 19, 2021

Currency

Unit

US Dollar

Peso

United States

Dollar

1.000000

50.2030

Japan

Yen

0.009090

0.4563

Pound

1.377100

69.1346

Hong Kong

Dollar

0.128735

6.4629

Switzerland

Franc

1.088376

54.6397

Canada

Dollar

0.793147

39.8184

Singapore

Dollar

0.737354

37.0174

Australia

Dollar

0.739500

37.1251

Bahrain

Dinar

2.655619

133.3200

Saudi Arabia

Rial

0.266624

13.3853

Brunei

Dollar

0.734646

36.8814

Indonesia

Rupiah

0.000069

0.0035

Thailand

Baht

0.030544

1.5334

UAE

Dirham

0.272272

13.6689

Euro

1.181000

59.2897

Korea

Won

0.000876

0.0440

China

Yuan

0.154354

7.7490

India

Rupee

0.013404

0.6729

Malaysia

Ringgit

0.237699

11.9332

New Zealand

Dollar

0.700000

35.1421

Taiwan

Dollar

0.035737

1.7941 Source: BSP

PSE approves P44.7-b initial public offering of Del Monte By Jenniffer B. Austria THE Philippine Stock Exchange approved the P44.7-billion initial public offering of food giant Del Monte Philippines Inc. (DMPI). DMPI, which is widely known for its pineapple products, is set to become the second largest IPO in the country this year after Monde Nissin Corp.’s P55.8 billion maiden share offering in May. The company’s major shareholders, Del Monte Pacific Ltd. and SEA Diner Holdings Pte., plan to sell 699.33 million common shares with an over-allotment of another 104.899 million common shares at a maximum price of up to P54.80 each. DMPI will have a public float of 28.75 percent after the IPO, assuming the overalloment shares are fully exercised. Of the total offer shares, about 489.53 million will be sold to foreign investors while 209.799 million shares will be allotted to domestic investors. The offering period is set from Aug. 16 to 20 while the listing date is tentatively scheduled on Aug. 23 Net proceeds from the IPO will be used to pay debt and redeem preferred shares. DMPI is a food manufacturer operating four main product segments, namely convenience cooking and dessert, healthy beverages and snacks, premium fresh fruit and packaged fruit and beverages exports. Its Del Monte brand offers a line of ketchup, tomato sauce and paste, pasta, spaghetti sauce, and packaged pineapple products, among others. The company is also one of the largest fresh pineapple growers in Asia, with an approximately 26,000-hectare plantation in the Bukidnon. DMPI has engaged Morgan Stanley Asia (Singapore) Pte. and Credit Suisse (Singapore) Ltd. as joint global coordinators and book-runners of the offering, while CLSA Ltd., DBS Bank Ltd. and Jefferies Singapore Ltd. will act as joint international book-runners. The company also hired BDO Capital and Investment Corp. and BPI Capital Corp. as joint local lead underwriters and book-runners. First Metro Investment Corp. has been tapped as local co-lead underwriter.

HYUNDAI Asia Resources Inc., the exclusive distributor of Hyundai vehicles in the Philippines, on Tuesday reported an increasing trend in vehicle sales that reached 812 units in June, up 5 percent from 773 units in May. HARI president and chief executive Ma. Fe Perez-Agudo said despite the challenges in the economy, vehicle sales remained healthy. She said the trend was “a positive indicator of increased activity, with June being the first full month of post-ECQ and MECQ in the NCR Plus region.” “HARI’s steady growth mode is a sign of how we, shoulder-to-shoulder with our nationwide dealership fortress, have grown in resilience through our 20-year

Filinvest REIT pegs offering price at P7

FILINVEST REIT Corp., the real estate investment trust company of Filinvest Land Inc., has set the final price of its maiden share offering at P7 apiece. The company at the price level stands to raise P11.42 billion from the sale of 1.634 million common shares. The net proceeds from the IPO could increase to P12.53 billion, assuming the over-allotment of 163.41 million common shares is exercised. The final offering price of P7 per share is 15.6 percent lower compared than the maximum of P8.30 earlier set by the company. It set the offering period from July 26 to August 3. The shares will be listed under the main board of the Philippine Stock Exchange on August 12. Filinvest REIT’s property portfolio of consists of 17 Grade A office buildings on prime property totaling over 300,000 square meters of gross leasable area. Jenniffer B. Austria

DITO CME, global analytics leader tie up

SAFE WORK PLACE. Team members from Therma South Inc., operator of Aboitiz Power Corp.’s 300-megawatt baseload power facility that straddles the village of Toril in Davao City and the municipality of Santa Cruz in Davao del Sur, make sure they adhere to the highest safety standards. The AboitizPower coal business unit clocked in close to 9.6 million safe man-hours without lost time injury as of end-June this year. From 2016 until June 30, 2021, facilities operating under the unit collectively reached 9,587,739 safe man-hours, marking a significant milestone not only for the unit itself but also for the whole AboitizPower group.

ADB maintains PH growth forecast at 4.5% for this year By Julito G. Rada

HE Asian Development Bank on Tuesday kept its economic growth forecasts for the Philippines at 4.5 percent in 2021 and 5.5 percent in 2022, taking into account the gradual recovery from the global health crisis and the faster pace of vaccination against COVID-19. “While Philippine GDP shrank by 4.2 percent in Q1 2021, this improved on the previous 4 quarters and aligned with growth forecasts in April. Sustained government spending on infrastructure and social assistance programs is supporting recovery, as did a gradual pickup in household spending aided by strong remittances,” the bank said in its Asian Development Outlook for July 2021 report. It said private investment remained sluggish, but indicators such as Purchasing Managers Index, industrial production and imports improved gradually. “The government’s vaccination effort has accelerated to over 250,000 jabs daily, improving the prospects that

community protection in metropolitan Manila could be achieved by year-end. Growth forecasts are maintained at 4.5 percent in 2021 and 5.5 percent in 2022,” the ADB said. Data showed the country’s gross domestic product contracted by 9.6 percent in 2020, the worst since World War 2, amid the pandemic. The GDP in the first quarter posted a lesser contraction of 4.2 percent, compared to an the 8.3-percent decline in the fourth quarter of 2020. Economic managers expect the economy to recover this year, growing between 6 percent and 7 percent driven by the rollout of vaccination program that could spur business and consumer con-

fidence. Economic managers expect the GDP to be in the positive territory after five quarters of contraction. Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas Governor Benjamin Diokno earlier urged the national government to intensify the rollout of COVID-19 vaccination program, saying the threats posed by the more deadly delta variant of the virus could derail the full recovery of the domestic economy. The Department of Health reported that as of July 19, about 15,096,261 vaccine doses were administered throughout the country. The government aims to inoculate 50 to 70 million of its population of around 110 million by yearend. Meanwhile, the ADB cut its 2021 GDP growth forecast for Southeast Asia from 4.4 percent to 4.0 percent because of mobility restrictions re-imposed to combat a COVID-19 resurgence across the region. GDP forecasts were downgraded for Indonesia, the Lao People’s Democratic Republic, Malaysia, Thailand, Timor-Leste and Viet Nam. They were unchanged for Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Myanmar, and the Philippines. The growth forecast for Singapore was upgraded.

DITO CME Holdings Corp., the communications, media, entertainment and ICT arm of the Udenna Group, has teamed with SAS, a global leader in analytics, artificial intelligence and data management, to launch unit UNALYTICS, through its wholly-owned subsidiary ISM Equities Corp. UNALYTICS, in partnership with SAS, will provide flexible solutions in the areas of managed risk and fraud, and customer and advanced analytics, in line with its mission to harness customer data into real business value though cost-effective and convenient cloud managed solutions. “The market today is massively experiencing digital pivot and transformation. If we are to serve customers better, it is imperative for all sectors to take digital tools not only for convenience and cost effectiveness against legacy and traditional ways by which we engage our consumers, but it’s also a safe way by which we can conduct business,” said DITO CME president Eric Alberto. “The partnership with SAS and UNALYTICS gives us much pride in associating with a name that is truly at the forefront of global data analytics capability in service of both private and public enterprises,” he added. Darwin G. Amojelar

Fitch Ratings lowers outlook for six banks

FITCH Ratings revised on Tuesday the outlook on the long-term issuer default rating of the country’s six biggest domestic banks to negative from stable following a similar downward revision in the outlook of the Philippines on July 12 on the back of the slower economic recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic. “The less vigorous economic recovery is likely to weigh on loan demand and business opportunities over the next 12 to 18 months,” Fitch said in a report. But just like the sovereign (BBB), Fitch also affirmed the current ratings of BDO Unibank Inc. (BBB-), Metropolitan Bank & Trust Co. (BBB-), Bank of the Philippine Islands (BBB-), Land Bank of the Philippines (BBB), Philippine National Bank (BB) and Development Bank of the Philippines (BBB). Fitch said the viability rating of BDO, the country’s biggest bank controlled by the Sy family, was underpinned by its steady management track record, acceptable loss absorption buffers and marketleading franchise, which support its funding profile and business generation over the years. Julito G. Rada

Gov’t pushes Mindanao railway project with official funding from China—DOTR By Darwin G. Amojelar

‘SAFETY SEAL.’ Eleven properties of Megaworld Hotels & Resorts, the country’s

largest homegrown hotel chain, receive ‘Safety Seal’ certification from the Department of Tourism. Megaworld Hotels & Resorts vaccinated 93 percent of its 1,154 hotel-based staff and personnel, who are actively working in the various properties such as Twin Lakes Hotel in Laurel, Batangas as shown above. These include teams from the front office, housekeeping, food and beverage, engineering, sales and marketing, finance, executive, human resources and security in different hotel locations around the country.

Hyundai notes increasing monthly vehicle sales By Othel V. Campos

IN BRIEF

journey as the Filipino’s lifetime partner in mobility. We are definitely driven to start a new chapter of HARI history, which may be the toughest one yet—recovery on to achieving equilibrium in the Now Normal era. Thanks to the People of Hyundai, we’ll get there,” she said. Hyundai commercial vehicles largely contributed to the strong month-onmonth sales, having sold 40 percent more units in June than in May. Meanwhile, the passenger cars and light commercial vehicles maintained a steady increase in sales at 6.7 percent and 1.6 percent growth, respectively. The company said that in the passenger cars segment, locally-assembled Hyundai Accent’s 13.6-percent month-on-month growth made for the biggest share in the segment’s 6.7-percent incremental sales.

THE Department of Transportation on Tuesday said it is pushing through with the construction of the Mindanao Railway Project funded by a official development assistance from China. “The Mindanao Railway Project will push through, at present we are just waiting for the shortlist of bidders for the design and build contractor to be provided by China. There will be bidding among themselves as soon as we receive it, procurement and construction will follow,” Transport Secretary Arthur Tugade said during the virtual inauguration of the Metro Davao Bike Lane Network Project. “The DOTr is also in the process of bidding for the procurement of the project management consultant, hopefully, we are targeting August that the contract will be awarded,” he added. Tugade said the agency is working the partial operability of the P82 billion Tagum-Carmen segment of Mindanao

Railway “hopefully” before the term of President Duterte. The 102-km Mindanao Railway Project: Tagum-Davao-Digos segment is expected to reduce travel time from Tagum City, Davao del Norte to Digos City, Davao del Sur from 3.5 hours to 1.3 hours. The MRP-TDD segment is the first of the three phases of the project. It is expected to make travel faster, and offer safer and more convenient ride for passengers in the corridor, according to the government. It will have eight stations at Tagum, Carmen, Panabo, Mudiang, Davao, Toril, Sta. Cruz and Digos. A 10-hectare depot will also be built in Tagum. Transportation Secretary Arthur Tugade said in a virtual briefing the 54.71-kilometer bike lane network in Davao, which stretches across 14 road sections, was officially completed onJune 30. Tugade inaugurated the Metro Davao Bike Lane Network Project, covering a 54.71-kilometer stretch across 14 road sections.

EDC seeks to link 3.6-MW geothermal plant to Mindanao power grid By Alena Mae S. Flores ENERGY Development Corp. is seeking the approval of the Energy Regulatory Commission to develop, own and operate dedicated point-to-point limited facilities to connect the Mindanao 3 (M3 Binary) Geothermal Power Project to the Mindanao Grid. EDC said in a filing to the ERC that given the urgent need for additional capacity by 2022 as projected by the Department of Energy, the completion of the 3.6-MW M3 Binary Geothermal Power Project would be critical to ensure additional ca-

pacity for the Mindanao grid. The ERC set the hearings for EDC’s application in August. The company plans to connect the M3 Binary Project to the Mindanao Grid and construct a one-kilometer 69-kilovolt transmission line. It will also include other related facilities and a switchyard that will connect the plant directly to the Kidapawan Substation of National Grid Corp. of the Philippines. “EDC respectfully prays that the honorable commission provisionally authorize the development, ownership, and operation of the connection asset considering that the power demand pro-

jected by the DOE warrants the issuance of a provisional authority,” it said. EDC said the cost for constructing and developing the connection asset would be about P245 million. The company expects to complete the construction of the connection asset in the fourth quarter and intends to have the asset in place and ready for the commissioning of the M3 Binary geothermal power project is scheduled to happen in the first quarter of 2022. EDC is the largest producer of geothermal energy in the Philippines and the third largest in the world.

Sports

Third time’s a charm for PSC chief TOKYO—For Philippine Sports Commission chairman William Ramirez, the third time could be a charm. Ramirez owns the distinction as the only chairman since the PSC’s establishment in 1990 to be at the helm of the sports agency in three Olympics—his first Beijing 2008, followed by Rio de Janeiro 2016, and now, Tokyo 2020+1. “I always say, Olympic success is more than just a year of preparation,” said Ramirez two days before he and Chief of Staff Marc Velasco fly to Tokyo aboard Philippine Airlines on Thursday. “For some, it took 3 cycles. Experience is good leverage,” Ramirez added. Ramirez’s Olympic journey matches weightlifter Hidilyn Diaz’s Games sortie. Then 18-year-old, Diaz made her Olympic debut in Beijing as a wild card in the women’s 58 kg class. So young and so innocent on the Olympic stage then, she didn’t make the podium, nor get close to it, but the prize of Zamboanga City reaped the experience she needed. London 2012 wasn’t Diaz’s time then, but came 2016 in Rio and she brought home a silver medal. “I have the privilege of seeing Hidilyn grow from grassroots to Olympic medalist,” Ramirez said. Diaz and 18 other Filipinos are competing in 11 sports in Tokyo and Ramirez believes all of them have the potential to win the country’s first Olympic gold medal—or perhaps even more. “This batch is strong. Not to discount previous batches kasi lagi ko sinasabi making it to the Olympics is a medal in itself, it is just that this delegation presents us a strong chance for a golden break” Ramirez explained. Ramirez recalled how he felt when Diaz landed that silver in Rio, ending a six Olympic cycle drought since Atlanta 2016 when Mansueto “Onyok” Velasco won a men’s flyweight gold medal in boxing. “Everyone was ecstatic syempre. Dinala ko siya kay Presidente at ang napakalinaw na bilin na tandang tanda ko – Butch alagaan mo ang mga bata” Ramirez said. AFP

Riera U. Mallari, Editor; Randy M. Caluag, Assistant Editor WEDNESDAY, JULY 21, 2021

Carlos Yulo intently studies several video clips with Japanese coach Munehiro Kugiyama at their apartment in FUDA in Chofu, Tokyo. AFP

Website forecast: 2 PH golds, best SEA nation in Olympics By Riera U. Mallari

OKYO—If we are to believe the medal projections of website https:// olympicmedalspredictions.com, the Philippines stands to win two gold medals, a silver and a bronze in the Summer Olympic Games in Tokyo. Gymnast Carlos Yulo and boxer Nesthy Petecio are the projected gold winners for the Philippines, with boxer Eumir Marcial bagging a silver medal and weightlifter Hidilyn Diaz earning a bronze. The website’s forecasts are in sync with the projections of Philippine Olympic Committee president Rep. Abraham “Bambol” Tolentino and Philippine Sports Commission chairman

William “Butch” Ramirez of multiple medals in the Olympics from what is probably the strongest, most prepared Philippine delegation ever. “This (2 golds) maybe correct, and it can be 2 silvers and 2 bronze medals, too,” said Tolentino as he prepares to leave Manila for Tokyo on Thursday. “Naniniwala akong may medalya tayo sa Tokyo Olympics. Malamang meron tayong gold, silver at bronze

medal kasi mayron din tayong mga baguhan na puwedeng gumawa ng surprises,” seconded Ramirez. The Philippines’ projected 2-1-1 gold-silver-bronze finish will be its best ever in the quadrennial meet since the country took part in the Olympics in 1924. It will also crown the Philippines as the most successful Southeast Asian nation in the Tokyo Olympics, beating its rivals Thailand, Indonesia and Vietnam. Thailand, which has long been a sports power, at least in the Southeast Asian, is expected to win just a lone gold courtesy of taekwondo jin Panipak Wongpattanakit, to go with the silver of its mixed team in badminton. Indonesia, on the other hand, is anticipated to win a gold in the badminton

doubles, a silver in weightlifting courtesy of Eko Yuli Irawan and a broze in mixed badminton. Malaysia isn’t expected to win a gold, but will have two silver medals from archer Khairul Anuar Mohamad and from diving. Singapore and Vietnam won’t bag any medals, while Brunei, Laos, Cambodia and Timor-Leste are not even listed. The same website predicts the United States to win the overall Olympic title with 50 golds, 29 silvers and 29 bronze medals, followed by China (42-33-17), Russia (27-25-18), Great Britain (2113-21) and host Japan (16-21-15-52). The rest of the Top 10 includes Australia (15-16-14), Germany (15-3-22), Netherlands (10-14-7), France (10-618) and Hungary (8-5-3).

All PH athletes accounted for at Olympic Village except EJ, golfers Gold medalist gets additional bonus of P3M TOKYO—All but the country’s bets in athletics and golf have already entered the Olympic Village as of Tuesday, a good three full days before the Tokyo Olympics opening ceremony. “Everyone who’s here are already training in their respective training venues,” Team Philippines Chef de Mission Mariano “Nonong” Araneta said, adding early-day hitches are being addressed by the organizers, including the distribution and administration of the daily virus tests for the athletes. “Team Hidilyn [Diaz] is already training, as well as the boxing team,” Araneta said. “There are challenges in bringing the athletes to their training venues, but they are all under control.” Athletes and delegation members have to follow an activity plan in getting from one venue to another, one of the dozens of protocols to guarantee the safety and health of everyone participating in the Olympics. US Women’s Open champion Yuka

Saso, according to Araneta, is already in town but prefers to stay in a hotel closer to the golf venue. “Yuka arrived on Monday and she is staying at the Okura Hotel with his father-coach Masakazu, as well as his coaching team,” Araneta said. The Kasumigaseki Country Club, which is hosting both the men and women competitions, is a good 70 kms—an over an hour drive from the Olympic Village—prompting Saso’s team to relocate to a hotel. Bianca Pagdanganan and Juvic Pagunsan will also stay at separate hotels near the venue. There are 60 golfers from at least 36 nations competing in Olympic golf. The men’s contest is set from July 29 to August 2 and the women will follow suit from August 4 to 7. Mariano also bared that boxer Irish Magno hurt her right ankle while jumping rope on Monday, but thanks to coach Nolito “Boy” Velasco, the injury was immediately contained.

YUKA SASO

“Nilagyan ko kaagad ng yelo at nu’ng tinignan ni Doc Randy [Molo, team doctor], ok na siya,” Velasco said. Mariano said pole vaulter EJ Obiena

ERNEST JOHN OBIENA

is due at the village at noon on Friday, while runner Kristina Knott is staying in a hotel in Nagasaki. where the athletics training venue is located. AFP

Olympics chief admits ‘sleepless nights’ over troubled games

IOC president Thomas Bach takes part in a news conference following an executive board meeting ahead of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo. Olympics chief Thomas Bach says the Tokyo 2020 Games will send a “powerful message”, with the opening ceremony finally within sight after a year’s delay and coronavirus chaos. AFP

TOKYO—Olympics chief Thomas Bach revealed “doubts” and “sleepless nights” over the postponed Tokyo Games on Tuesday as the opening ceremony nears after a year’s delay and coronavirus chaos that has made them deeply unpopular with the Japanese public. Bach, speaking at the International Olympic Committee session in Tokyo, said the unprecedented step of postponing the Games had proved more complicated than he thought. The build-up to Friday’s opening ceremony has been exceptionally rocky, with Tokyo still under a state of emergency and public opinion consistently against the Games, which will be held largely without spectators. “Over the past 15 months we had to

take many decisions on very uncertain grounds. We had doubts every day. We deliberated and discussed. There were sleepless nights,” said Bach. “This also weighed on us, it weighed on me. But in order to arrive at this day today we had to give confidence, had to show a way out of this crisis,” he added. Bach has drawn scattered protests during his visit to Japan, where the latest poll in the Asahi Shimbun newspaper showed 55 percent of respondents opposed holding the Games this summer. Four people have tested positive in the Olympic Village, heightening fears that the influx of thousands of athletes, officials and media will add to a spike in cases in Japan. AFP

DEPUTY House Speaker and sportsman Mikee Romero has sweetened the pot for Filipino athletes vying for medals in the Tokyo Olympics. Romero, a business magnate who has donned the national colors in shooting and polo, on Tuesday announced his own set of cash incentives for what he described as “the strongest ever Philippine delegation” to the Olympics. “Out of my company’s expenses, I will also put an additional motivation of P3 million for a gold, P2 million for a silver and and 1 million for a bronze,” he told the online version of the Philippine Sportswriters Association Forum. “That is my ambag (contribution). That’s the least I can do,” he told the forum presented by San Miguel Corporation, MILO, Amelie Hotel Manila, Braska Restaurant and the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation. Romero, who was joined in the forum by NorthPort’s Erick Arejola, is pinning his hopes on golfer Yuka Saso, weightlifter Hidilyn Diaz, and skateboarder Margielyn Didal. “Triple threat,” said the PBA team owner. Romero expects Team Philippines, which also boasts the presence of world champions Caloy Yulo of gymnastics and Nesthy Petecio of boxing, to deliver two to five medals of any color.

REP. MIKEE ROMERO

Sports

WEDNESDAY, JULY 21, 2021

Bucks focused as fans eye end to 50-year NBA title drought

US NBA star Lavine enters COVID-19 protocol

ZACH LAVINE WASHINGTON—Chicago Bulls guard Zach LaVine was placed into Covid-19 safety protocols on Monday and did not join his US Olympic basketball teammates in traveling to Japan for the Tokyo Olympics. USA Basketball said it hopes LaVine will be able to travel to Tokyo later this week and join his fellow NBA stars in time for Sunday’s Olympic opener against France. A USA Basketball statement said LaVine did not travel with the team “out of an abundance of caution” after starting Covid-19 health and safety measures, but did not say if he contracted the virus or was being kept back for contact tracing. LaVine scored 13 points for the Americans on Sunday in an 83-76 exhibition victory over reigning Basketball World Cup champion Spain at Las Vegas. The US squad has already lost Washington guard Bradley Beal after he was placed into Covid-19 protocols and center Kevin Love to a calf injury. The Americans added Denver Nuggets center JaVale McGee and San Antonio Spurs guard Keldon Johnson to replace Beal and Love. The US squad is set to add three more players following the conclusion of the NBA Finals -Phoenix guard Devin Booker and Milwaukee’s Jrue Holiday and Khris Middleton. AFP

Mercedes’ British driver Lewis Hamilton celebrates after winning the Formula One British Grand Prix motor race at Silverstone motor racing circuit in Silverstone, central England. AFP

Hamilton racially abused on socmed over British GP win P ARIS—Lewis Hamilton was the victim of “multiple instances of racist abuse on social media” during and after his controversial win in the British Grand Prix, according to a joint statement by Formula One, the FIA and his Mercedes team.

The seven-time world champion was involved early on in an incident that saw championship leader Max Verstappen plough his Red Bull into a wall and out of the race. Hamilton was hit by a 10 second penalty but went on to win the race and close the gap in the title race to just eight points. “During, and after, yesterday’s British Grand Prix, Lewis Hamilton was subjected to multiple instances of racist abuse on

social media following an in-race collision,” they said in a joint statement condemning the behaviour “in the strongest possible terms”. “These people have no place in our sport and we urge that those responsible should be held accountable for their actions. “Formula 1, the FIA, the drivers and the teams are working to build a more diverse and inclusive sport, and such unacceptable instances of online abuse must

be highlighted and eliminated.” Verstappen, who was taken to hospital for checks after the race, later accused Hamilton of “disrespectful and unsportsmanlike behaviour”. A public supporter of the Black Lives Matter movement, Hamilton gave his support a week ago to the England footballers Bukayo Saka, Marcus Rashford and Jadon Sancho who were also abused after they missed penalties in the Euro 2020 final. “I hope this opens a conversation around acceptance,” he wrote on Instagram at the time. “We must work towards a society that doesn’t require Black players to prove their value or place in society only through victory.” AFP

Ravena to reinforce Gilas in Jordan cagefest By Peter Atencio THIRDY Ravena, who now plays as an import in Japan, will reinforce the Gilas Pilipinas national men’s basketball when they head for Jordan this weekend. Taking a break from his stint with San-en NeoPhoenix of the B.League of Japan, Ravena will be with the national squad when they take part in the 10th King Abdullah Cup. The cagefest is slated to take place in Amman, Jordan from July 25 to August 3. National head coach Tab Baldwin said the squad is now undergoing bubble training in Calamba, Laguna before their trip to the Middle East. “Entering the bubble is forced on all of us since we are heading to Jordan on Saturday. It’s the long-term vision of the program that we have to look at here. We have to take advantage of every minute of games that we can get,” said Baldwin.

THIRDY RAVENA

Gilas, which will be involved in a round-robin affair, will first meet Egypt on July 26 at 11 a.m. (Manila time), followed by Saudi Arabia on July 27, same time. Next matches will be against Jordan-B on July 28 at 11 a.m., Tunisia on July 29, at 12 a.m., and Jordan-A on July 30 at 2 p.m. “We’ll be going up against quality teams with different styles compared to the ones we faced in the Asia Cup Qualifiers,” added Baldwin. The top four teams will advance to the knockout semis on July 31, with the top team meeting the fourth seed, while the second and third-ranked teams will face off. In the pool are RJ Abarrientos, Justine Baltazar, SJ Belangel, Geo Chiu, Isaac Go, Jordan Heading, Ange Kouame, William Navarro, Mike Nieto, Carl Tamayo, and Dwight Ramos. Also returning are Matt Nieto, Allyn Bulanadi, Tzaddy Rangel, Kemark Carino, and Rey Suerte.

MILWAUKEE—Milwaukee Bucks supporters are buzzing about the possible end of a 50-year NBA title drought while star Giannis Antetokounmpo fights to keep his focus with a crown tantalyzingly near. The Bucks lead the best-of-seven NBA Finals 3-2 over Phoenix with game six Tuesday at Milwaukee, where 20,000 fans will fill the arena and 25,000 more will jam the “Deer District” outside to watch on huge videoscreens. “You can feel the excitement in the city. But we got to focus,” Greek forward Antetokounmpo said Monday. “We got to do our job first. Then they can do their job celebrating at the end.” The Bucks, in their first finals since 1974, would capture their first crown since 1971 by winning Tuesday. “The whole city is buzzing,” Bucks guard P.J. Tucker said. “Everybody wants it.” That just makes it tougher to stay in the moment for Antetokounmpo, who knows the Suns must win to force a seventh game Thursday at Phoenix. “You work so hard to be in that moment. It’s hard not to get ahead of yourself,” Antetokounmpo said. “But this is the time that you got to be the most disciplined. Don’t get too excited. Don’t get too pumped up for the game. None of that. “It’s hard. Sometimes you sleep and you’re dreaming about the game. But this is the time that we have to be disciplined. We cannot worry about having plans of celebrating. None of that, until it’s done.” Antetokounmpo won’t let himself ponder how it would feel to win the title in Milwaukee, determined to stay in the moment. “It would be nice to celebrate with the fans inside and outside and with our families, because this is something historical that’s happening in the city right now,” he said. “I can’t focus on celebrating. You get too ahead of yourself. We got to focus on right now, focus on each possession, compete as hard as possible and put ourselves in a position to be able to win.” Milwaukee guard Jrue Holiday wants the Bucks to play like they face elimination instead of celebration. “It’s about playing desperate, like our back is against the wall,” Bucks guard Jrue Holiday said. “The job is not done. “There would be no better place to do it than at home but we also have a team over there that doesn’t give up and plays well together.” The Bucks can become only the fifth team in NBA Finals history to win the title after losing the first two games, a fightback feat managed by such stars as LeBron James, Shaquille O’Neal and Bill Russell. “We don’t think about what’s at stake,” Bucks guard Khris Middleton said. “We’ve been doing a great job just blocking out distractions, focusing on the task at hand and what needs to be done.” Going to be dogfight’ The Suns are focused as they face elimination for the first time in the playoffs. “It brings out a sense of desperation, a sense of urgency, a sense of collectiveness within your group, knowing what you’re battling,” Suns forward Jae Crowder said. “It’s going to be a dogfight. You have to leave it all out on the court.” The Suns were bolstered by rallying from a 16-point deficit to within a point with the ball in the dying seconds before losing game five at Phoenix. AFP

Accountability in sports THERE’S a good harmony existing now between the Philippine Sports Commission and the Philippine Olympic Committee, which is probably the reason why Philippine sports has been getting high grades both locally and internationally. Proof is the country’s dominant performance in the 2019 Southeast Asian Games and now we’re sending what could probably be the strongest Olympic delegation to the Olympics. PSC chairman Butch Ramirez and POC president Bambol Tolentino both adhere to the principle of the word “accountability” because they are both

from the government service, with the latter being an active lawmaker representing Tagaytay District in the House of Representatives. In the past, the POC-PSC relationship was never as smooth. Either the PSC chairman and the commissioners were appointed through the political clout of the POC chief or, the PSC chair and the POC chief tried to outdo each other. Pataasan ng ihi, as they say. In the case of Ramirez and Tolentino, they have learned to respect each other’s turf. They learned to work things together for the good of the national athletes. Because of Tolentino’s clout in Congress, the PSC found an ally when it was time to defend its budgetary requirement. They did that in the 2019 SEA

Games hosting. And during the nearly two years that the country—and the world- is under the COVID-19 pandemic—Tolentino again helped put additional funds to the PSC for the athletes and coaches allowances through its inclusion in the Bayanihan Act 1. The PSC’s coffers is in the red without the help of the Philippines Amusement and Gaming Corporation, whose operations have been largely affected by the pandemic. Ramirez will again need the help of Tolentino at the lower house and his sportsmen friends in the Senate—Senator Bong Go and Francis Tolentino— for approval to double its budget for the country’s participation in the Vietnam SEA Games, which is expected to

get underway in April or May 2022 after it was postponed by the organizers. The PSC has allotted P200 million for the Philippine delegation to the Vietnam SEA Games and Ramirez said they want to double the budget because the Philippines intends to stay within the top 3 after becoming the overall champion in 2019. While the PSC’s general mandate is the grassroots program for sports, it has to balance its support for elite sports because the country’s pride in the international stage is at stake. So far, Ramirez reported that the PSC has already spent at least P2 billion for elite sports since 2016 and most recently, majority of it were spent for the training of nearly 100 athletes who dared to aim for the Tokyo Olympics.

Now we have the magnificent 19 athletes who will try to bring home the country’s first-ever Olympic god medal. And Ramirez, a septuagenarian, will take the risk (amid COVID-19 pandemic) to be where the action is. “Yes, I will be in Tokyo. It’s dangerous for my age but I will serve as the representative of the Filipinos to attend all the 19 events our athletes are participating in. The gold medal is the values and learnings the athletes get as they reach the Olympics,” said Ramirez. It can be very frustrating if we won’t bring home a gold, according to Ramirez. “The people are expecting. After all, it’s the people who spent for our athletes. We are accountable to the Filipino people.”

Entertainment

What’s in Shaina Magdayao Magdayao’s J

Nickie Wang, Editor nickie.standard@gmail.com WEDNESDAY, JULY 21, 2021

pandemic-ready bags bags

UST when businesses are closing down and people are starting to realize that the basic needs are the most important ones, Shaina Magdayao takes a leap of faith by partnering with her childhood friend, Niki Medina, furthering her hobby, and putting up their own business. Born early this year in February, the Organized Chicas Lifestyle is guided by its vision of promoting a “tidy bag, tidy mind, tidy life,” perspective one stylish, and pandemic-ready item at a time. The lifestyle brand focuses on producing sustainably created and sourced and locally produced canvas bags, home items, and clothing pieces. “We found a very good supplier, which also helped us further our cause in promoting locally-made, locally-designed, and locallysourced fabrics,” Shaina said. “I also like that they are made by women. At some point, it’s also our own little way of helping these women during the pandemic and giving back to the community,” she added. However, she admitted that they were initially uncertain if patrons would find their product interesting at this point in time. But, much to their delight and surprise, they were able to get their return of investment one month after launching. In order to tap the environment-consciousyet-practical market, the Organized Chicas started selling via Instagram. At the moment, they have every day, carry-all basic canvas bags in different styles and sizes namely—Torba (P1,200), Borsa (P900), Sac (Small-P800, Medium-P900), OC bag insert (P350), Paño (P750), Tela (P950), Stoffa (P1,200), and the Chiffon (Small-P850, Large P950). Adding variety and some color to the original, plain canvas bag line are army green and black colors, which are set to roll out in the market this July. Although they drew inspiration from

the existing bag organizers. Shaina highlighted that they made sure to factor in the pandemic’s limitations and requirements in the bags’ designs. “It’s very specific for the pandemic. Meron talaga siyang mga pockets outside and naka-measure talaga yun for face shields or kung hindi naman, pwede rin siyang lagyan ng water bottle,” Shaina shared. The functionality of these bags simply does not end there. The Stoffa, to be specific, is also perfect for the hustling mommas as a keep-all diaper or milk bag. It also works for women who are on the go and yet who love to have all their necessities in one everyday bag. As if being washable, eco-friendly, and reusable are not enough, what makes these bags even more special, particularly for those who intend to purchase or give the bags as a gift, is that the option to personalize them by having their initials embroidered on the bags. With the pandemic far from being over, Shaina remains hopeful that more clients would see the beauty of going back to basics. If you’re not into bags, then you’ll only have to wait a few months more as Shaina is gearing up to go fullthrottle by releasing a clothing line and a home line to include under their main brand. Aside from that, a collaboration with renowned professional organizer Issa Reyes, better known as Neat Obsessions is currently in the works. Through this,

Shaina Magdayao launches Organized Chicas, a lifestyle brand dedicated to making your lives easier with functional tote bags.

patrons can finally expect to purchase the “Ultimate Garment Bag,” which will be released soon for those who like to keep their clothes safely kept during travels or just inside their closet.

Top OPM artists collaborate to champion MVP Group’s Gabay Advocacies METRO Pacific Investments Corporation (MPIC), through its operating companies and with the support of various businesses led by Manuel V. Pangilinan, launched its Gabay Advocacies that aimed to champion a sustainable Philippines through a two-hour digital concert featuring the country’s top OPM artists last July 14. The concert, streamed via the Facebook and YouTube channels of Gabay Guro, featured songs, and medleys from renowned singers such as National Artist Music Ryan Cayabyab, Regine Velasquez-Alcasid, Basil Valdez, Hajji Alejandro, the Company, Lea Salonga, Gary Valenciano, and many more. The virtual concert was hosted by Ogie Alcasid, Iza Calzado alongside Augie Palisoc Jr., President of the Metro Pacific Hospitals Holdings Inc., and Bong Sta. Maria, President and CEO of Pilipinas Global Network. “I’d like to thank everyone who brought this concert to reality. This day wouldn’t really be complete without saying thank you to all of you. I really had a long list of people to thank—too long. I wish when the pandemic settles down, we would be able to hold a live concert and we would be inviting all the artists because I think we really need a break from the pandemic and our Filipino artists are really great,” said Manny V. Pangilinan, chairman of MPIC and PLDT. The MVP Group of Companies launches its GABAY Advocacies for a Sustainable Philippines in a digital concert in celebration of MVPs 75th birthday.

STANDARD’S CHOICE

Miss World Philippines 2021 hot picks WHO will wear the Philippine sash at Miss World 2021 on Dec. 16 in San Juan, Puerto Rico? That will be known at the Miss World Philippines grand coronation set on July 25 airing on GMA. Seven other titles are at stake this year: Miss Supranational Philippines 2021, Reina Hispanoamericana Filipinas 2021, Miss Eco-International Philippines 2021, Miss Multinational Philippines 2021, Miss EcoTeen Philippines 2021, Miss Philippines Tourism 2021, and Miss Environment Philippines 2021. Here are Manila Standard’s top choices to win any of the coveted crowns: Trisha Martinez A native of Pila, Laguna, and currently a Dentistry student at University of the East, this 22-year-old beauty was crowned Miss UE 2018 and Las Casas Lakambini 2018. She is an advocate of oral health and a member of The Smile Initiative, an organization of dental students, which offers free oral rehabilitation and oral health care for Filipinos. Ganiel Krishnan This Fil-Indian beauty is a journalist and sportscaster. Ganiel, 26, represented the Philippines in Miss Asia Pacific International 2016 and finished as 2nd runner-up. She founded her advocacy called People I Met. a social media movement that aims to share and tell stories of incred-

ible people and to alleviate their life situations. For her, it’s Miss World or nothing, which is a possibility. Zoe Emmanuelle Vera This 26-year-old, actress-singer and graduate of St. Paul College and Ateneo de Manila University is passionate about bringing awareness to fighting online sexual exploitation of children. Described by pageant experts as a woman with substance, this deep thinker has a beauty and talent that fit Miss World. Kathleen Joy Paton This Fil-Australian beauty and former Miss Manila 2018 and Miss Teen International 2017 was born in Boracay 23 years ago. Now based in Australia where she is finishing a Bachelors of Business degree at Victoria University, Kathleen is an advocate of mental health and has a beauty that fits all international pageants. Joy Barcoma She is a “joy to the world” but her personality and vibrancy also fit Miss Multinational. Joy, 21, is a freelance model and aspires to become a lawyer. The Miss Philippine Association of State Universities and Colleges 2017 winner wants to handle the pro bono cases of the poor, needy, and underprivileged people. A stunner, she is also a keen advocate for Mental Health through her “I’m Here Campaign.”

Read full list on manilastandard.net

imagine and pursue the grandest vision of their future. Read full story on manilastandard.net

GTV expands coverage in Luzon

More brands dump Chinese popstar accused of sexual assault LOUIS Vuitton, Porsche, and Bulgari on Tuesday joined a legion of brands in dropping Chinese-Canadian pop idol Kris Wu, as sexual assault allegations swirling around the star drew condemnation across Chinese social media. The scandal has parallels with China’s #MeToo movement sparked by Chinese feminists in 2018, where women were empowered to voice their experiences of sexual harassment—sometimes involving powerful public figures. Nineteen-year-old student Du Meizhu accused Wu, 30, of date-raping her when she was 17 in a Sunday interview with Chinese news portal NetEase. Du said the K-pop star had attempted to buy her silence with 500,000 RMB ($77,100) and told the outlet she planned to go ahead “with legal proceedings.” Wu, who also holds Canadian citizenship and grew up between Vancouver and Guangzhou, has denied the allegations on social media. “I only met Miss Du once at a friend’s gathering, I didn’t ply her with alcohol... I have never ‘coerced women into sex’ or engaged in ‘date rape’,” the megastar also known as Wu Yifan, wrote on Monday, adding he does not sleep with underage girls. AFP

But beyond the stellar performances remain the heart of the GABAY message—that the Philippines deserves the brightest future. The concert also served as the stage to present the six Gabay Advocacies and the various initiatives and milestones it has accomplished and how the MVP Group, guided by the advocacies, remains committed to its mission to serve as reliable partners for nation-building and uplifting Filipino lives. “The Gabay Advocacies were born out of our Chairman MVP’s passion to make a difference. With his guidance and leadership, we are committed to help shape a healthy and hopeful future for our country. We will continue to leverage our group’s strengths to become part of the solution to our country’s challenges,” said Jose Ma. K. Lim, Metro Pacific Investments Corporation President. Each Gabay Advocacy was created to respond to the call for individuals and organizations to contribute to the country’s achievement of the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). They were presented by advocacy anchors: celebrity power couple Sarah Geronimo and Matteo Guidicelli for Gabay Kabuhayan, actor Ian Veneracion for Gabay Kabataan, actor Derek Ramsay for Gabay Kalikasan, host and anchor Korina Sanchez-Roxas for Gabay Komunidad, actress Mikee Cojuangco-Jaworski for Gabay Kalusugan, and singer/actress Pops Fernandez for Gabay Karunungan. The presentations of the advocacies and its milestones were underscored by medleys sung by seasoned and up-and-coming Filipino artists—Bugoy Drilon joined Quest, Mark Bautista, and Erik Santos in singing a medley of “Nais Ko,” “Sige Lang,” and “Simulan Mo” for Gabay Kabuhayan focused on uplifting the lives of Filipino entrepreneurs through livelihood programs, training, and other initiatives; Aicelle Santos and Morisette alongside Christian Bautista and Sam Concepcion sang “Both Sides Now,” “Here Comes the Sun,” “A Million Dreams,” and “Firework” for Gabay Kabataan focused in providing tools for the youth to

Kris Wu was formerly a member of the K-pop group Exo, but returned to China in 2014 to strike out on his own as a singer and actor.

GMA Network’s second freeshows also include Farm to to-air channel GTV further Table, I Juander, Pusong Pinoy widens its coverage areas in Sa Amerika, Pinoy A+, My Northern and Central Luzon as Fantastic Pag-ibig, Brigada, well as in Southern Tagalog. Taste Buddies, Pop Talk, and Residents located newly-launched comedy-gagin Benguet, La Union, variety show FLEX. GTV’s Pangasinan, Tarlac, portions Happy Hour strip likewise of Nueva Ecija and Ilocos Sur, includes Good News, Pinas as well as in Batangas and Sarap, Pera Paraan, IRL, and parts of Quezon Province can True to the Kapuso Network’s goal of reaching every Biyahe ni Drew. now expect a sharper, more Filipino household, GMA Network’s second free-to-air In addition to these original channel GTV further widens its coverage. vibrant, and high-quality TV shows, viewers also get to viewing experience that they enjoy a vibrant mix of animated can enjoy while watching the series, foreign series, as well as colorful line-up of GTV programs. local and Hollywood movies on movie blocks Siesta Fiesta Viewers can continue watching newscasts Dobol B TV, Movies, Afternoon Movie Break, and G! Flicks on GTV. Balitanghali, 24 Oras, 24 Oras Weekend, State of the Catch GTV in the Northern and Central Luzon via Nation (SONA), as well as GMA Regional TV Strip and analog free-to-air UHF Channel 22, in Southern GMA Regional TV Weekend News. Tagalog via Channel 26, or on digital broadcast via Sports fans can catch all the action daily on Rise Up GMA Affordabox and GMA Now as well as on other Stronger: NCAA Season 96 as the National Collegiate digital TV receivers. More coverage areas are likewise Athletic Association (NCAA) kicked off the extraordinary soon to be announced as GTV continues its analog Season 96 last June in a courageous step to adapt to the upgrades. new normal. GTV’s programs also air abroad via the Network’s Meanwhile, well-loved public affairs and lifestyle international channels GMA Pinoy TV, GMA Life TV,

Life

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

FASHION AND BEAUTY

WEDNESDAY, JULY 21, 2021

Crochet, you slay:

Score a piece of this hippy Gen Z trend By Ellicia Frentzen C. Del Mundo ONE of the hottest trends today is colorful, retro, and can be made during your free time. It makes sense do-it-yourself (DIY) style like knit and crochet skyrocketed in popularity during the pandemic as it enables people to stay creative and productive in quarantine. The clamor for this ‘70s-inspired, Instagram-popular fashion trend gave birth to handcrafted crop tops, bralettes, cardigans, and bucket hats popular among the Gen Z crowd. For those who have neither time nor patience to DIY their own crochet piece, we found these local IG stores that sell them. Studio Artesan showcases Filipino-made accessories and apparel from homegrown labels including Kanya’s Elizze multi-way bag (left) and Ethnique samu jacket (right).

Studio spotlights

Filipino

fashion labels

TUDIO Artesan is a treasure trove of locally made accessories and ready-to-wear pieces that showcase the cultural diversity of our country.

Tropical themes, Filipino-inspired trends, indigenous patterns, and bold and muted color palettes take one on a journey around the Philippines. Rustan’s launched Studio Artesan on July 7 in stores and on its website to feature long-time partners and new labels to watch out for. Anthill Fabric Gallery offers contemporary, stylish apparel made from weaves crafted by indigenous tribes from Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao. Light Adornata necklace and comfortable pieces made of natural, earth-friendly fabrics are offered at Etika Collective, while Everyday Pnay uses Yakan fabrics reinterpreted into modern silhouettes. Marga Nograles’ eye for design is reflected in each piece from Kaayo, a brand that aims to honor Mindanao and bring local fashion to the world. Liwayway’s latest collection is made for entertaining in style at home with loungewear pieces with embroidered details and batik patterns. Meanwhile, Maison Metisse and Sitara Vintage take care of resortwear with the former’s drape-y silhouettes in tie dye Viajecito Splashkit short chain crossbody Kaayo slides and muted colors and the latter’s bold and bright pieces made of South Asian fabrics. serves sculptural accessories, and Misa is known for its elSheryl Ann Buenaventura of Style egant jewelry made for everyday wear and special occasions. Ana showcases an easy-to-move-in interpretation of classic Social enterprise Kanya takes pride in its minimalist bags Filipino styles with her relaxed terno sleeve. created through a conscious, low-environmental impact proStudio Artesan likewise features homegrown accessory cess, while Matthew and Melka showcases whimsical bags in labels including known favorites Ethnique and Viajecito and addition to its headbands, hats, and headscarves. newcomers Adornata and J Makitalo. Completing the accessory labels present at the concept Ethnique showcases colorful and versatile samu jackets store is TPWN Shoes, founded by Manila-based, Australian made of heirloom fabric, while Viajecito is known for its wa- fashion editor and stylist Kimberly Fisher Horan. The brand terproof and lightweight bags. offers sophisticated yet comfortable shoes made of Italian Adornata offers fine and demi fine jewelry, J Makitalo nappa leather and manufactured in Marikina.

Color-block cardigans Bucket hats and cardigans

Crochet Corner PH

(@crochetcorner.ph) This store, also present on Shopee, offers colorful handcrafted crochet clothes and accessories, including bralettes, tube tops, bucket hats, cardigans, bandanas, earrings, scrunchies, and key chains. Check out its bucket hats available in rainbow, Evil Eye, and We Bare Bears-inspired designs. The shop is open for commissions; prices may vary depending on the materials used, size, and design. Send them a message on Instagram to inquire.

Sunshines and Crafts

(@sunshinesandcrafts) This Mandaluyong-based shop offers color-block cardigans made of cotton and acrylic fiber. Colors and designs can be customized, price varies depending on the size. Its made-to-order tops come in basic square neck, backless, v-neck, and buttoned halter styles. Tops, bralettes, and other pieces can be adjusted to the customer’s measurements and color preference.

Crochet accessories

Mariana puff sleeve tops

Crocheteria.PH

(@crocheteria.ph) One of its bestselling pieces is the Mariana top, a puff sleeve crop top in peach and cream. Other styles available include halter, ruff sleeve, and spaghetti tops. The IG and Shopee store also sells bikini sets, bralettes, cardigans, and bandanas perfect for summer getaways. All fashion items may be customized to the customer’s measurements and preferred color.

Magwa.PH (@magwa.ph)

This online store boasts a variety of fashionable crocheted accessories with designs inspired by the owner’s interest in mermaids. Its catalog includes knitted headbands, bandanas, scrunchies, earrings, clips, rings, bucket hats, and baguette bags. All products are made of milk cotton yarn and poly yarn. It also offers cup sleeves, bottle holders, boho coasters, and alcohol pouches.

Mimiyuuuh joins Bea in lipstick campaign Power Stay lipstick boasts a 10-hour smudgeproof formula.

FROM looking at Avon brochures to being in one of them, social media sensation Mimiyuuuh has made it. In her first beauty endorsement, Mimiyuuuh joins Bea Alonzo for the Power Stay Lightweight Matte Lipstick campaign that celebrates women empowerment. “First beauty endorsement ko ito… tapos Avon pa!” Mimiyuuuh enthused during a briefing with the Avon team. The vlogger joins Avon Philippines’ premiere roster of ambassadors including Alonzo, Angel Locsin, and Jennylyn Mercado. The 10-hour smudge-proof Power Stay lipstick campaign tells the story of the long-running revolution for women’s causes, which the company has consistently supported for 135 years. “Over the years, both Bea and Mimiyuuuh have maintained their positions in the limelight not just because of their

Blossom top Crochet tops

Looped by Cha

Mimiyuuuh and Bea Alonzo star in Avon’s Power Stay Lightweight Matte Lipstick campaign that celebrates women empowerment.

talent, but also because of their drive to become a better version of themselves and their commitment to their craft. And just like the Avon Power Stay Lightweight Matte Lipstick, there’s no doubt these two will be on our lips for a long time,” the company said in a statement.

(@loopedbycha) The store offers handmade crochet tops, headbands, and bags in different styles and colors. Headbands come in bow, twisted, picot stitch, and bobble stitch styles; while the crochet tops and bralettes are customizable. In addition to fashion pieces, the store also sells pandemic-essential items like knitted alcohol pouches. Cha also accepts commissions. Go to its social media for more details.

O-Ren Crochet

(@oren.mnl) For those who like to try their hand at crocheting, this online store offers crochet patterns. The pattern sets include yarn, hook, and instructional materials including photos for each step and the finished product. The Arya pattern set consists of a crop top and cardigan (also available in top or cardigan only), while the popular Blossom top is a puff sleeve crop top. The store ships overseas.