Manila Standard - 2021 September 12 - Sunday

Paalam’s silver medal caps PH’s best Olympic campaign 18 Vol. 35

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September 12, 2021 8 PAGES

n By RIERA .00 U. MALLARI

IN MET R MANILAO

TOKYO – The Philippines capped its greatest Summer Olympic Games’ campaign on Saturday with a silver from flyweight boxer Carlo Paalam, an eagle-spiked six-under 65 by golfer Yuka Saso and the dawn of a new era in sporting excellence.

Already its best showing in the 97-year history of participa-

Vol. 35 n No.174

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AUGUST 8, 2021 8 PAGES

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IN MET R MANILAO

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Carlo Paalam celebrates his silver medal for the men’s fly (48-52kg) boxing final bout during the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games at the Kokugikan Arena in Tokyo on August 7, 2021. AFP

Below is the state weather bureau’s forecast track for Typhoon Kiko, which is expected to exit the Philippine Area of Responsibility late Sunday evening or early Monday morning.

Photos show the damage wrought by the typhoon in Licuan-Baay in Abra and in Ivana, Batanes where several power poles were damaged.

Pagasa, Licuan-Baay MDRRMO, and Facebook post of John Harold Agito

DIAZ

Gold Medalist

PH logs all-time high COVID tally at 26,303 PAALAM

Silver Medalist

MARCIAL

Bronze Medalist

Gov’t eyes vaccinating general population next month

T

HE country logged a new record-high of 26,303 COVID-19 cases yesterday, pushing active cases to 185,706.

Saturday’s tally surpassed the previous highest daily case count recorded Thursday at 22,820.

But according to the Department of Health, of the new cases, 1,608 should have been included in the

COVID-19 PH AT

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1,985,337 with 16,013 more patients who have recovered from the disease.

Meanwhile, the government is set to begin inoculating the general public next month with the expected arrival of over 61 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines.

“Once the 61 million vaccine doses arrive, we can start the general population vaccination this coming October,” National Task Force Against COVID-19 chief implementer and vaccine czar Carlito Galvez Jr. told President Rodrigo Duterte during the latter’s Talk to the People aired Saturday morning.

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n By ZURBANO AND MARICEL CRUZ

PETECIO

September 10 data update.

The DOH said technical issues have “led to some delays in the inclusion of new data for cases, deaths and recoveries.”

Total recoveries climbed to

Silver Medalist

GLANCE

Duterte hits ‘maldito’ Congress

n By JOEL ZURBANO

the disbursements and delivery of the items. What do you (senators) want to elicit?” he said in a pre-recorded Talk to the People that aired Saturday morning.

“The agenda of the Blue Ribbon committee is motu proprio investigation. The senators kept looking for the technical and financial requirements of Pharmally.

But I don’t have anything to do with that. Pharmally is really a Pharmally corporation in Singapore.”

“As for Yang, for the last 20 years he has

been a businessman in Davao. I

New cases hit 11k, Delta drives surge 2,206,021 26,303

185,706

34,978

79

New

Death

Active

New

1,985,337 16,013 Recoveries

New

(As of 4 PM, SEPTEMBER 11)

PRESIDENT Rodrigo Duterte defended anew former presidential adviser Michael Yang Pharmally Pharmaceutical Corporation as he slammed the Senate inquiry into the alleged overpriced deals on pandemic medical supplies.

The President also vowed to Duterte likewise offered to resign if graft is proven.

“I already told you, if there is corruption, ahora mismo, I will step down. The Commission on Audit already said there was no anomaly in

n By WILLIE CASAS and JOEL ZURBANO

Ched: Expand in-person classes HE country logged 11,021 new COVID-19 cases Saturday – the high-

THE Commission on Higher Education has marine transportation. est daily record since April – asThe theproposal Department ofendorsed Health admitted asked President Rodrigo Duterte to allow was already the expansion of limited face-to-face classes by the Inter-Agency Task Force thenot be that the two-week Enhanced Community Quarantinefor will to other courses aside from health allied Management of Infectious Diseases . able to stop the surge, likely driven bysaid the13,188 more transmissible programs.

De Vera students taking up Delta “Our variant. request, Mr. President, is to expand medicine and allied health courses in 118 this policy to other programs that also schools nationwide are allowed to hold ches District Hospital – reported full-occuThe fresh cases –Ched the second consecutive need face-to-face classes,” chairman limited in-person classes.

Prospero dethat Verathe said duringmark Duterte’s Talk total, close to 10,000 of their COVIDstudents beds. have day 10,000 was breached –Of thepancy to the People aired morning. with 162 been The Philippine General Hospital said its brought theSaturday total to 1,649,341, new vaccinated.

De Vera said Ched is seeking to expand “Limited in-person classes so far occupied, COVID beds are nowhave 75 percent fatalities. face-to-face classes forstood the following been safe.

Ourthree guidelines stringent with minor are patients in critical condiActive cases at 76,063 active cases, courses:also engineering, hospitality/hotel – 24 pages jointly crafted by Ched and tion. the highest since April 25. and restaurant management, tourism and travel the Department of Health,” De Vera told last census Saturday mornIn Quezon two hospitals management, marineCity, engineering, and – the QueDuterte. “Based on ourCONTINUED ON 2Apatients ing, we have 169 confirmed COVID zon City General Hospital and the Novali-

Typhoon Kiko weakens over Batanes waters n By MARICEL V. CRUZ

TYPHOON Kiko continued to weaken as it moved over the waters off Itbayat, Batanes, the state weather bureau reported Saturday afternoon.

As of 4:00 p.m yesterday, the typhoon was reported to be moving north northwest at 15 kilometers per hour.

Weather forecasters said Batanes will continue to have stormy weather and will have possible flash floods or landslides due to heavy to intense rains.

Babuyan Islands on the other hand will have rains ang gusty winds while Ilocos Region, Cordillera Administrative Region, Central Luzon, and rest of Cagayan Valley will have monsoon rains.

Meanwhile, the number of individuals affected by the CONTINUED ON 2A

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COVID beds in 2 QC hospitals fully occupied, PGH at 75%

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PNP apprehends almost 2,000 ECQ violators – Eleazar

out of 225 allocated beds, So, that is roughly 75 percent occupancy,” PGH spokesman Jonas del Rosario said.

For the entire Metro Manila, DOH reported 59 percent of the ICU beds, 54 percent of the isolation beds, 53 percent of the ward beds, and 46 percent of the ventilators were in use.

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US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and Philippines Secretary of National Defense Delfin Lorenzana (left) stand at attention outside of the Pentagon ahead of their THE government has in issued meeting the joint guidelines for the reWashington, DC. lease of financial aid to quali“Both parties now fied residents in Metro Manila, have a better paving the way for the distribuappreciation of tion of ayuda likely this coming each countries’ Wednesday, Interior Secretary defense and Eduardo Año said. security priorities, CONTINUED ON 2A and have come to an understanding of shared goals A T A Gfor L Athe N alliance CE and the region,” Lorenzana’s office said in a statement after the meeting. AFP

Año: Ayuda release starts Wednesday

COVID-19 PH

1,649,341 11,021

76,063

28,835

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Rody: Double effortsmayors target Metro Manila vs. illegal drug trade

Death New Fire: Pandemic a global PRC told: OpenDixie books 9,194 1,544,443 3rd cut largest in wake-up call—UN or suffer funding New Recoveries California history (AS OF 4 PM, AUGUST 7) | 2A NEWS | 2A NEWS

250k jabs daily under ECQ NEWS | 2A

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PRC told: Open books or suffer funding cut

SEPTEMBER 12, 2021

Doctor rejects Roque’s apology as ‘insincere’ T HE head of a group of doctors who was recently berated by presidential spokesman Harry Roque for warning that relaxing lockdowns could lead to a further spike of COVID-19 infections rejected the Palace official’s apology, saying it was not sincere.

“Unfortunately, I could not feel the sincerity of his apology,” Philippine College of Physicians (PCP) president Dr. Maricar Limpin said.

“The apology should not be directed to me or to my companion Dr. Tony Dans, but to the entire health force because we were at the IATF [meeting] as representatives of the healthcare workforce,” she added.

Limpin, along with several other groups of health workers, urged the President to fire Roque for his outburst that was caught

on video and has been widely circulated online.

“Before you speak, you should get your facts straight. For a presidential spokesperson, it is important that [any comment] should be based on facts, not just on impressions,” she said.

“We hope you will be very conscious of your actions because as a spokesperson, you are representing the President,” Limpin added.

In the video, Roque was seen shouting and wagging his finger at a group of doctors during an online meeting with the In-

UN: Pandemic a worldwide wake-up call

ter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF) on Tuesday.

The other doctor at the meeting was Dr. Antonio Dans, convener of the Healthcare Professional Alliance Against COVID-19 (HPAAC).

“We were there as representatives of the health care workforce. He has to apologize to the whole of the healthcare workforce, not just to us. What he did is against all of us in the health care sector,” Dans said.

Dr. Leni Jara of the Shape Up to Defeat COVID-19 group demanded that Roque apologize to medical professionals for his outburst.

Alliance of Health Workers (AHW) president Robert Mendoza said Roque should step down for insulting medical professionals at the frontlines of the pandemic.

MASS TRANSPORTATION.

Rody orders agencies to ‘double’ efforts in anti-narcotics war n By JOEL E. ZURBANO PRESIDENT Rodrigo Duterte ordered state forces to “double” their efforts in eradicating the narcotics trade to counter bigtime syndicates bringing in huge volumes of drugs in the country.

FromtheFRONTPAGE

Levels 1 to 4 and will be implemented on a weekly basis in each city or municipality. The new approach will do away with the current strategy of implementing city-wide or province-wide community quarantine throughout the country.

• A congressional leader urged the DOH to step up the search for possible alternatives to tocilizumab, an off-label drug used to treat COVID-19 patients. “The DOH needs to work double time in finding cost-effective alternatives to tocilizumab, which is currently out of supply in the market,” House Deputy Speaker Bernadette Herrera said. “Time is of the essence. We cannot afford to lose more of our kababayans to COVID-19.”

PH...

Trade Secretary Ramon Lopez, for his part, proposed an age cap among fully-vaccinated individuals who can avail of dinein and personal care services once the guidelines for easing COVID-19 restrictions are firmed up.

“The middle ground for it to be safe is we allow only the vaccinated [to avail of dine in and personal care services currently prohibited under Modified Enhanced Community Quarantine],” Lopez said.

He said seniors 65 years old and above should be disallowed.

“Even if you are vaccinated, if you are above 65 years old, it is still dangerous if you contract COVID-19. You can become a severe or critical case,” Lopez said.

In other developments: • President Duterte appealed to the public to be more patient and understanding as the government decided to take a new approach in dealing with the pandemic. Duterte said the planned shift to localized lockdowns is seen as a more effective solution to stop the further transmission of the dreaded respiratory disease. “I ask for the general public’s continued understanding and patience on this matter,” he said. The proposed system is composed of

A newly-acquired train set from South Korea is brought to Tandang Sora in Quezon City early Saturday morning for the MRT-7 project, which is expected to cut travel time from North Avenue, Quezon City to San Jose del Monte in Bulacan to only 35 minutes from the current 2 to 3 hours.

photo

THE United Nations chief warned that the world is “moving in the wrong direction” and exhorted nations to take urgent action to fight the COVID-19 pandemic and climate change.

“COVID-19 is a wake-up call, and we are oversleeping,” UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said at a press conference.

Speaking ahead of the UN General Assembly that kicks off in New York on Sep. 21, Guterres lamented that vaccine-manufacturing nations have been unable to ramp up production toward the goal of vaccinating some 70 percent of the world population by the first half of 2022.

“The pandemic has demonstrated our collective failure to come together and make joint decisions for the common good, even in the face of an immediate, life-threatening global emergency,” Guterres said.

Earlier, the World Health Organization called on countries to avoid giving out extra COVID jabs until year-end, pointing to the millions worldwide who have yet to receive a single dose.

“I will not stay silent when the companies and countries that control the global supply of vaccines think the world’s poor should be satisfied with leftovers,” WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told journalists.

Speaking from WHO’s headquarters in Geneva, Tedros urged wealthy countries and vaccine makers to prioritise getting the first jabs to health workers and vulnerable populations in poorer nations over boosters. AFP

DUTERTE:...initially asked him

when I made contact with Chinese...

What is clear is that there was a contract, there was delivery, the specifications – quality, quantity and all – were complete. And payment was made after delivery,” the President added.

He described Congress as “maldito” or naughty for investigating the Department of Health first for unspent funding and then for the alleged overpriced medical “They started first with the unspent billions. They were asking [Health Secretary Francisco III] Duque why the funds remained unspent...Don’t listen to Congress. They are bullshit.

Those devils are just a nuisance,” Duterte added.

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PRESIDENT Rodrigo Duterte has urged Senator Richard Gordon to open the financial records of the Philippine Red Crossfor thorough scrutiny by the Commission on Audit or he would stop funding PRC. “Either you submit to an auditing procedure or we quarrel. If we quarrel, do your worst because I will do mine,” Duterte said in a pre-recorded Talk to the People aired Saturday morning.

The President said he is ready for a long legal battle if that is what it would take for COA to audit PRC’s financial records.

“I do not care. I will not give funding to the PRC. As far as I’m concerned, the Red Cross does not exist.

You can create a controversy there or a crisis, I do not mind because as I said, I am on the right track,” he said.

“If you are operating here and you receive the money and spend it, you are accountable to the government and therefore an audit is in order.”

“I said this will involve a long, legal battle but I am prepared to go into it and really demand the accountability of Senator Gordon and all of them in the Red Cross to account for the money that was given by the government of the Philippines for the longest time,” Duterte added.

Duterte has been criticizing the senator for several days now as the Blue Ribbon Committee led by Gordon began probing the government’s procurement of medical supplies amid the COVID-19 pandemi.

Duterte warned he might be forced to cut the government’s ties with PRC if Gordon rejects his call to allow the humanitarian organization to undergo a state audit.

“Now, if you don’t agree to it, I would be forced to totally disassociate with you.

I will stop the national government and all from having transactions with you in any manner,” he said.

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“I am not joking when I say I’m afraid of what might happen to the country if the illegal drug trade continues. It would require more than just double of what we are doing now to cope with the widespread importation or the presence of whatever drugs in the country,” he said.

rective following successive drug busts that netted billions worth of illegal narcotics in Zambales, Bataan and Cavite.

Last Thursday, government agents killed two suspected drug dealers and seized P1.58 billion worth of shabu during simulta-

He also took a shot at Senator Franklin Drilon and asked the lawmaker from Iloilo to explain his alleged involvement with jailed alleged pork barrel scam mastermind Janet Lim-Napoles.

“This Drilon – he might want to explain his relationship with Janet Lim-Napoles since you want to discuss corruption and the use of people’s money. And I can still remember that Ms. Napoles tampered with billions of pesos,” Duterte said.

students recorded last year have enrolled so far for School Year 2021-2022.

The Food and Drug Administration has allowed the emergency use of the COVID-19 vaccines of Pfizer and Moderna for minors aged 12 to 17.

But Health Secretary Francisco Duque III said the government may gradually include children in the COVID-19 vaccination program only in the fourth quarter of the year.

On Friday, South Africa launched the main phase of a global COVID vaccine study on children and teenagers led by Chinese maker Sinovac Biotech, with the first two participants jabbed in Pretoria.

The study is testing the efficacy of Sinovac’s two-dose CoronaVac on 14,000 children aged between six months and 17 years in Chile, Kenya, Malaysia, the Philippines, and South Africa.

CoronaVac is approved for use among adults in over 50 countries.

China recently cleared it for use in minors, where it has already been administered to millions of children aged three to 17. With AFP “We see a lot of milder and less severe disease in children, but they still remain susceptible,” project director Sanet Aspinall told reporters at the event.

“They are... getting the infection and they are then able to transmit it to the rest of the population,” she explained, assuring the Chinese vaccine was safe. With AFP

The President issued the di-

CHED:...The President has yet to

approve the Ched proposal.

Classes will resume in public schools on Monday with over five million students less compared to last school year’s enrollees as the government has yet to green light the resumption of in-person learning, with minors still excluded from the COVID-19 vaccination program.

Education Secretary Leonor Briones will lead the virtual National School Opening Day program with the theme “OBE 2021: Bayanihan para sa Ligtas na Balik Eskwela.”

“This school year, we would like to honor everyone who made learning continuity possible amid the challenges of the pandemic. Our efforts throughout the year showed our deep understanding that education is our shared responsibility,” Briones said.

Based on its latest data, the DepEd said a total of 21,034,472 or 80.2 percent of the 24.7 million

Former Chief Justice Reynato S. Puno Anita F. Grefal Baldwin R. Felipe Edgar M. Valmorida

Board Member & Chief Legal Adviser Treasury Manager Head—Ad Solutions Circulation Manager

neous anti-narcotics operations in Imus and Bacoor in Cavite.

Authorities confiscated 182 kilos of shabu worth more than P1.25 billion during the buybust operation in Bacoor that resulted in the death of two suspects.

TYPHOON...effects of Typhoon

Jolina has reached 140,444.

In its update on Saturday, the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council said this is equivalent to 37,022 families from 891 villages in Central Luzon, Calabarzon, Mimaropa, Bicol, Western Visayas, Eastern Visayas, Soccsksargen, and the National Capital Region.

Of this number, 5,341 families or 19,778 individuals are being aided in 412 evacuation centers while the rest are taking shelter with their relatives and friends.

The agency said one was confirmed dead, along with 16 injured and seven missing.

Reports of 14 deaths, four injured and three missing are still undergoing validation.

A total of 6,575 houses were damaged by the typhoon in Calabarzon, Mimaropa, Bicol, Western Visayas, and Eastern Visayas.

Out of this figure, 6,259 were partially damaged while 316 were totally damaged.

The damage caused by Jolina to agriculture and infrastructure is so far placed at P190.9 million and P30.7 million, respectively.

Rolando G. Estabillo Ramonchito L. Tomeldan Managing Editor Chin Wong/Ray S. Eñano Associate Editors Joyce Pangco Pañares News Editor Emil P. Jurado

Publisher Jimbo Owen Gulle City Editor Honor Blanco Cabie Night Editor Lino M. Santos Chief Photographer

Chairman Emeritus, Editorial Board

WORLD

INBRIEFS SEPTEMBER 12, 2021

The annual ‘Tribute in Light’ marking the 20th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks on the World Trade Center shines within lower Manhattan’s skyline in New York. AFP

Scientists find prehistoric winged lizard in Chile CHILEAN scientists have announced the discovery of the first-ever southern hemisphere remains of a type of Jurassic-era “winged lizard” known as a pterosaur.

Fossils of the dinosaur which lived some 160 million years ago in what is today the Atacama desert, were unearthed in 2009.

They have now been confirmed to be of a rhamphorhynchine pterosaur -- the first such creature to be found in Gondwana, the prehistoric supercontinent that later formed the southern hemisphere landmasses.

Researcher Jhonatan Alarcon of the University of Chile said the creatures had a wingspan of up to two meters, a long tail, and pointed snout.

“We show that the distribution of animals in this group was wider than known to date,” he added.

The discovery was also “the oldest known pterosaur found in Chile,” the scientists reported in the scientific journal Acta Paleontologica Polonic. AFP

Prince Andrew served with papers for sexual assault

20TH ANNIVERSARY OF ATTACK

US honors 9/11 dead

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MERICA marks the 20th anniversary of 9/11 Saturday with solemn ceremonies given added poignancy by the recent chaotic withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan and return to power of the Taliban.

Heart-wrenching commemorations will unfold at each of the three sites where 19 Al-Qaeda hijackers – mostly from Saudi Arabia – crashed packed airliners, striking the cultural, financial and political hearts of the United States and changing the world forever.

The memorials come with US troops finally gone from Afghanistan, but national discord – and for President Joe Biden, political peril – are overshadowing any sense of closure.

In a video posted on the eve of the anniversary, Biden urged Americans to show unity, “our greatest strength.”

“To me, that’s the central lesson of September 11th. It’s that at our most vulnerable, in the push and pull of all that

makes us human, in the battle for the soul of America, unity is our greatest strength,” Biden said in a six- minute message from the White House.

At New York’s Ground Zero, where two pools of water now stand where the Twin Towers used to, relatives will read out the names of the nearly 3,000 people killed, in a four-hour-long service starting at 8:30 am (1230 GMT).

Six moments of silence will be observed, corresponding with the times the two World Trade Center towers were struck, and fell, and the moments the Pentagon was attacked and Flight 93 crashed.

Monica Iken-Murphy, who lost her

37-year-old husband Michael Iken in the World Trade Center, says this will be a “heightened” anniversary for many Americans.

But for her, as for many other survivors, the pain has never wavered.

“I feel like it just happened,” she told AFP. A whole generation has grown up since the morning of September 11, 2001.

In the interim, Al-Qaeda founder Osama bin Laden has been hunted down and killed.

A towering new sky scraper has risen over Manhattan, replacing the Twin Towers. And less than two weeks ago, the last US soldiers flew from Kabul airport, ending the so-called “forever war.”

But the Taliban who once sheltered bin Laden are back ruling Afghanistan, the mighty US military humiliated. In Guantanamo Bay, accused 9/11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and four other men continue to await trial, nine years after charges were filed. AFP

Rocks collected

by Perseverance boost case for ancient life in Mars NASA’s Perseverance Mars rover has now collected two rock samples, with signs that they were in contact with water for a long period of time boosting the case for ancient life on the Red Planet.

“It looks like our first rocks reveal a potentially habitable sustained environment,” said Ken Farley, project scientist for the mission, in a statement Friday.

“It’s a big deal that the water was there for a long time.”

The six-wheeled robot collected its first sample, dubbed “Montdenier” on September 6, and its second, “Montagnac” from the same rock on September 8.

Both samples, slightly wider than a pencil in diameter and about six centimeters long, are now stored in sealed tubes in the rover’s interior.

A first attempt at collecting a sample in early August failed after the rock proved too crumbly to withstand Perseverance’s drill.

The rover has been operating in a region known as the Jezero Crater, just north of the equator and home to a lake 3.5 billion years ago, when conditions on Mars were much warmer and wetter than today.

The rock that provided the first samples was found to be basaltic in composition and likely the product of lava flows.

BRITAIN’S Prince Andrew has been served legal papers in a US lawsuit brought by a woman who says he sexually abused her when she was a teenager, a court filing showed Friday.

The complaint was delivered to the royal’s home in Windsor, England, on August 27, according to an affidavit filed in the Southern District of New York.

Virginia Giuffre says she was “lent out” for underage sex by late US financier Jeffrey Epstein who killed himself in a New York prison in 2019 while awaiting trial on sex trafficking minors.

Giuffre sued Andrew last month, alleging he sexually abused her at the London home of socialite Ghislaine Maxwell more than 20 years ago, when she was under 18.

Giuffre also claims Andrew abused her at Epstein’s New York mansion and on Little St. James, Epstein’s private island in the US Virgin Islands.

Andrew, 61, has vehemently denied claims he had sex with Giuffre, and said he has no recollection of meeting her, but the allegations have damaged the British royal family.

An agent for Giuffre said in the affidavit that he handed the papers to a police officer at the main gates of Andrew’s property and did not meet Queen Elizabeth II’s second son.

A spokesperson for Andrew refused to comment when asked by AFP. Andrew, a divorced father of two and former Royal Navy helicopter pilot who flew in the 1982 Falklands War against Argentina, was forced to step back from frontline royal duties in late 2019.

That followed a furor at a rare television interview he gave to the BBC, in which he defended his friendship with Epstein, a multi-million-dollar hedge fund manager who befriended countless celebrities.

Andrew – who as a young man was considered one of Britain’s most eligible bachelors and was dubbed “Randy Andy” in the tabloid press – later issued a statement in which he said he “unequivocally” regretted his “ill-judged association” with Epstein.

He has made few public appearances since, although joined other senior royals for the funeral of his father, Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, at Windsor Castle in April.

Maxwell pleaded not guilty in April to charges of recruiting underage girls for Epstein. She is due to go on trial on November 29.

Giuffre sued Andrew under the Child Victims Act as she was 17 at the time. The first hearing in the case is set for Monday. AFP

Unaccompanied Afghan children in Qatar limbo

This image taken by NASA’s Perseverance rover shows two holes where the rover’s drill obtained chalk-size samples from rock nicknamed ‘Rochette.’ The Perseverance rover on Mars collected two probable samples of volcanic rock, NASA announced on September 10, 2021, stressing that the presence of salt in these rocks was an indicator of favorable conditions to possibly detect traces of ancient life. AFP

Volcanic rocks contain crystalline minerals that are helpful in radiometric dating.

This in turn could help scientists build up a picture of the area’s geological history, such as when the crater formed, when the lake

appeared and disappeared, and how climate changed over time.

“An interesting thing about these rocks as well is that they show signs for sustained interaction with groundwater,” NASA geologist Katie Stack Morgan told a press

conference.

The scientists already knew the crater was home to a lake, but couldn’t rule out the possibility that it had been a “flash in the pan” with floodwaters filling up the crater for as little as 50 years. AFP

Sao Paulo art fest gives voice to resistance in times of darkness A METEORITE salvaged from a 2018 fire at Rio de Janeiro’s National Museum symbolizes resistance to the destruction of culture in times of darkness – a spirit at the heart of this year’s Sao Paulo Biennial of Contemporary Art. Marking its 70th anniversary the exhibition, one of the most important of its kind in the world, reflects a reaction to the extreme right embodied in Brazil by President Jair Bolsonaro, as well as to the environmental crisis and the pandemic.

“Faz escuro mas eu canto” (“It’s dark but I sing”): the curators salvaged this verse by Thiago de Mello, a message of hope written during Brazil’s military dictatorship from 1964 to 1985, to summarize this Biennial of more than a thousand works by 91 Brazilian and foreign artists, including indigenous creators.

The darkness has become more tangible with “new fires, hate speech (...), acts of explicit racism, signs of institutional fragility and finally the pandemic,” said Paulo Miyada, one of the curators, at the launch.

“The voices of artists become more important in states of emergency like the one we are living in,” he added. AFP

THE daily life of unaccompanied Afghan refugee children in Qatar is punctuated by recurring questions, “where are we going?” and “can I have some chips?”

About 200 uprooted young Afghans arrived in Doha aboard flights from Kabul in recent weeks and are being hosted at a reception centre, where they grapple with the trauma of their ordeals.

They are now being cared for by Qatar Charity, a humanitarian organisation that has sought to protect them from prying eyes and keep them out of the reach of people traffickers.

Officials are picking a path for the future of the children who have adopted new routines, playing football, exercising and enjoying arts and crafts.

“It’s very hard to imagine the trauma that they’ve been through,” said an aid worker based in the Middle East who declined to be named.

“All of them are in a state of shock and trauma, similar to what we’ve seen in places like Iraq or Syria with kids who have lived in (Islamic State group) areas.”

The Taliban’s shock takeover rekindled fears among Afghanistan’s people of a return to the hardline rule between 1996 and 2001 which was marked by public executions, floggings and amputations for misdemeanours.

Many fled, including the youngsters, some of whom cannot recall the circumstances of their abrupt departure from their homeland, while others give contradictory accounts of how they came to be in Qatar.

According to the UN children’s agency UNICEF, around 300 unaccompanied children were evacuated from Afghanistan to Qatar, Germany and other countries after August 14.

Questions are swirling about how they came to be at Kabul’s airport and then embark on planes bound for Qatar, and drastically different lives, but answers are in short supply. AFP

SEPTEMBER 12, 2021

Lady executive sees sustained expansion of local BPO industry K

RISTINE Bondoc, one of the top business process outsourcing executives, believes that the sector she leaped into from banking a decade and a half ago, will continue to expand, despite the challenges brought on by the pandemic, and one of the reasons is the culture of service that Filipinos are known for.

“We have to think positive in these times,” says Bondoc, vice president of operations at Everise Philippines—a global, next-generation customer experience solutions and technology company. “People are looking for service that Filipinos can provide, with one of the main things is interacting with people with concern and empathy.”

“We strive to make the human element vital, and it is still the biggest element of the customer experience still to this day.

The CX [customer experience] industry is an exciting one that is growing exponentially, so if you want to make a change like I did, I encourage one to take the leap,” she says in an e-mail interview.

Bondoc had a five-year stint as a country manager of a BPO company in Jamaica, before she returned home to lead Everise Philippines. With over 15 years of experience in the BPO industry, she is passionate about the evolving industry which helps provide jobs, grows future leaders, promotes diversity, invests in development and helps partners in reaching their business goals.

Everise employs more than 3,000 customer service “champions” in the Philippines. The company announced its move to bolster its workforce in the country to

Everise Philippines vice president of operations Kristine Bondoc

Epson introduces office-based paper recycling system

Pre-employment screening service raises $2.8 million

n By Darwin G. Amojelar EPSON, a leading manufacturer of inkjet printers, digital printing systems and projectors, unveiled its office-based papermaking system called PaperLab to promote circular economy as part of its commitment to sustainable businesses in Southeast Asia, including the Philippines.

PaperLab, which was one of the highlights during the launching of Epson Southeast Asia’s new regional headquarters at Alexandra TechnoPark, Singapore on Wednesday, is an office-based papermaking system that uses the unique Dry Fiber Technology.

Epson PaperLab

Dry Fiber Technology means it does not use water during the process, unlike traditional paper recycling methods. PaperLab can enable businesses to reduce environmental impact by recycling used paper. It can also upcycle and give added value to the new paper by customizing the output in terms of thickness, size and color.

As the process involves three stages: defibrating, binding and forming, it can securely destroy confidential documents.

PaperLab will be available in Singapore this year and will subsequently be launched in Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines and Thailand.

Aside from PaperLab, the Solution Centers at Alexandra TechnoPark houses Epson’s full range of B2B products including its line of business inkjet printers, scanners, point of sales (POS) solutions, projectors, and large format printers for industrial label, photographic, signage and textile printing.

“In the current pandemic and with the growing preference for products that are better for the environment, we will focus on collaborating with our stakeholders to drive sustainability through our products and solutions,” said Tomoki Ueyama, president and director of Epson Philippines Corp.

service the growing demand from clients for additional services, including managing digital customer support channels.

The young global company dominates in the technology, healthcare and e-commerce verticals. It was established in 2016 by Sudhir Agarwal with a vision to disrupt the BPO industry and pave the way for a tech-enabled, people-first customer experience.

Bondoc recalls she had the honor of working with a few of the current Everise executives including president Dave Palmer in previous roles at eTelecare. In June 2020, she was offered a role in Malaysia and applied for a position in the US. “But as fate may have it, I was brought back home after my project stints in Malaysia/Japan, US and Singapore; all from my living room in Jamaica because I could not travel yet during the pandemic,” she says.

She was asked to return home to help Everise accelerate growth in the Philippines, which she gladly accepted. “It is a vision that I am excited about because we are creating great jobs for Filipinos of all walks of life who will be supporting innovative brands that millions of people use around the world,” she says.

Roderick T. dela Cruz

From left to right: Aaron Paul William Abdon (Pamplona Elem. School Unit 1 Coordinator); Joana Mae Galla (Guidance Co-Coordinator); Michelle Hawil (Brigada Eskwela Co-Chairperson); Nenita Santoluis (Master Teacher 1/OIC); Carlo Gahol (DMCI Homes Corporate Communications Manager); Donna Aragoncillo (Outgoing Brigada Eskwela Chairperson); and Jenelyn Nacario (Brigada Eskwela Chairperson) during the turnover of donations last Sept. 1, 2021.

Las Piñas school receives supplies from DMCI Homes

By Mary Umlas DMCI Homes donated school and medical supplies to Pamplona Elementary School Unit 1 in Las Piñas City in preparation for the coming school year.

DMCI Homes representatives turned over bond papers, face masks, bottles of alcohol and boxes of Vitamin C to school officials through the Brigada Eskwela program by the Department of Education.

“As one of the neighboring schools of our Sonora Garden Residences project, we wanted to help Pamplona Elementary School Unit 1 prepare for the coming school opening by providing additional school supplies and health care products to protect them from the COVID-19 virus,” DMCI Homes corporate communications manager Carlo Gahol said.

Gahol said the initiative is part of the company’s ‘Kaakbay sa Edukasyon’ corporate social responsibility that seeks to support education in commu-

nities where the company operates.

As classes start on Sept. 13, the school continues to prepare for 1,000 enrollees for the new academic year amid the pandemic.

“Our school is really blessed to have a partner company like DMCI Homes which always supports our activities especially our Brigada Eskwela program,” Pamplona Elementary School Unit 1 Brigada Eskwela chairperson Jenelyn Nacario said.

DepEd recently released guidelines for the 2021 Brigada Eskwela program to ensure quality education through partnership engagements.

“The Brigada Eskwela Program shall be implemented from Aug. 3 to Sept. 30, 2021 with focus on collaboration and strengthening partnership engagements that complement DepEd efforts to implement the Basic Education Learning Continuity Plan and to ensure the delivery of quality basic education amidst the COVID-19 pandemic,” DepEd said in a Facebook post.

VEREMARK, a global pre-employment screening service that helps companies verify employee credentials, raised a $2.8-million seed round in follow-on investment from ACF Investors, Triple Point Ventures and SOV Ventures. This brings the total funding to $3.8 million.

Launched in late 2019, Veremark provides an automated digital first solution that instantly lets companies, large or small, order a wide range of checks like employment history, academic, criminal and credit records checks anywhere in the world.

Over 800% growth Veremark is a global background Veremark CEO Daniel Callaghan screening service that helps companies to do checks on prospective employees through prescreening services and prospective business partners, LPs and founders.

Despite the pandemic, Veremark has grown more than 800 percent in the last 12 months, delivering thousands of checks per month to its range of BPO and professional service clients in the Philippines, exceeding a $1 million ARR in monthly sales.

The team plans to use the funding to expand in the preemployment screening market, reportedly worth $16 billion a year, and offer both a standalone web platform and an API that lets other service providers plug Veremark’s verification engine into their service and instantly provide pre-employment screening services to their clients.

This is particularly of use for the growing trend of Employer of Record platforms or Freelance marketplaces that want to help clients get greater confidence around potential hires.

Veremark is also leading the charge in the use of verifiable digital employment credentials that reduce the need for time wasting and repetitive checks saving clients upwards of 50 percent of traditional delays and costs. These verifiable credentials are then housed in what Veremark coined as ‘Career Passports’ and enable companies to save time on having to repeat checks on candidates who have been already checked elsewhere.

Developer supports 1st International Housing Fiesta Filipinas

Filipino property seekers anywhere in the world can view the BRIA trade exhibits and displays on offer 24/7 during the three-day event.

BRIA Homes signed up as a major sponsor of the International Housing Fiesta Filipinas, the largest international online real estate trade show being organized by the National Real Estate Association Inc. in partnership with the Department of Human Settlements and Urban Development.

The IHFF, to be held from Sept. 22 to 24, 2021, will enable Filipino property seekers anywhere in the world to view the trade exhibits and displays on offer 24/7 during the three-day event. The global exposure is expected to endow IHFF and its participants with tremendous opportunities to do business without the din and distractions of a physical trade show.

As one of the IHFF’s major sponsors, Bria Homes will showcase its affordable house and lots and vertical villages in

more than 50 developments nationwide, granting access to both domestic and global prospects for 72 straight hours.

No matter what time zones they’re in, prospective homebuyers may also interact with Bria representatives through video and calls from the comfort of their homes or workplaces.

Through the IHFF, Bria boosts its online presence and better serve the needs of overseas Filipino workers, considered a major driving force in the flourishing Philippine property market.

With intermittent outbreaks of Covid-19 here and abroad, travel restrictions were hampering OFWs’ plans to fly home and take a break. Bria thus appreciates every chance it gets to present property investment opportunities to the hardworking Filipinos.

SEPTEMBER 12, 2021

Ballet must go on

ballet let her progress into a “stronger and more independent” girl.

For Nica Jane Delos Reyes, it was ballet that helped her “not get bored during the pandemic because it allowed [me] to stay in touch with friends.”

It was also amazing how these girls are staying positive despite the challenges brought about by virtual classes.

When asked if they feel that the lockdown affected their dreams negatively: “No, because we can do Zoom classes and I have space to do ballet.

My mom removed our couch and placed it in the bedroom”, shared Patricia Isabelle Alvarez, who mentioned how her mom strongly supports her passion.

Heiress Soluna Arcamo agreed with Patricia, saying that she “has been participating in more competitions now than before because we only have to submit videos”.

The lockdown allowed Bianca Denise Magbatoc to improve on her craft, sharing that “this is a quiet time when you can concentrate more and focus yourself on your dance unlike before”.

Gratitude fills the heart of little Josephine Manzano.

“Thanks to teacher Pam, teacher Mark and my other teachers, I was able to join (online) competitions and won in most of them.”

It’s amazing how they have found the silver lining through it all—carrying the hope that someday, more kids like them will hit the dance floor again.

During this time, Ella Klaire Dimapilis encourages little girls to “find the joy and love in what you do and dedicate to God everything that you

Online classes enable little ballerinas to remain active

J

■ By RANDY CALUAG

UST like other sports and physical activities, ballet was among the casualties when COVID-19 invaded the world and brought everything to a standstill.

Unlike dancesport and the more liberal breakdancing which have made their way into the sporting stage like the Southeast Asian Games and the Olympics, ballet is in a class of its own.

Female dancers dominate the ballet population but some world-class male athletes have used ballet as an essential cross-training for their main sport.

Former world boxing Evander Holyfield and the legendary bodybuilding champion and Hollywood actor Arnold Schwarzenegger took ballet lessons to help them in their sport. And so did a number of professional football players, Olympic figure skaters, gymnasts, and divers.

For young athletes, practicing ballet helps them improve their flexibility, body awareness, agility, and coordination.

Ballet also helps improve lateral movement, footwork, as well as leg and core strength.

For the true-blue lover of the art, ballet has a life of its own.

continues to push its goal to uplift the children’s awareness of classical ballet. True enough, the virtual setup has now been embraced by their students from as young as four years old to the semi-professionally ranked dancers.

Teacher Pam shared how this set-up is still based on their holistic teaching style, aiming “to give children physical activity even in the comfort of their homes, give the children a sense of normalcy and routine, making them feel confident and have high self-esteem, teach them to be adaptable and versatile to change, make them feel that they belong and connected with people around them, and lastly, give them a sense of joy through dance”.

Ultimately, DTAP wants to groom them into young artists worthy

Virtual Set-up

For years, the Dance Theater Arts Philippines (DTAP) has been training young ballet dancers, also known as ballerinas, at their Makati studio and just like other establishments that require faceto-face activity, it has to close shop when Covid-19 pandemic struck.

But after more than a year of zero activity, the studio made a comeback via the virtual world.

“Of all the things that the pandemic has taken away from us, one thing’s for sure—it can’t take away the dreams of aspiring little ballerinas,” said DTAP head guru Pamela Ortiz-Bondoc, who is addressed by her students as Teacher Pam. Teacher Pam said the school’s pivot to teaching ballet classes virtually made way for more learning opportunities at home than ever before.

She said the school

Despite the pandemic, Tiffany Ong, Josephine Manzano (topmost) and Chloe Ziquian Chen (right) have remained active in ballet through online classes set up by the Dance Theater Arts Philippines.

of recognition locally and internationally.

In fact, ten DTAP students recently won in the renowned Hong Kong Challenge Cup Dance Competition (HKCCDC). These students are testaments that even through virtual ballet classes, DTAP was able to help them flourish into well-rounded, award-winning performers.

Little Achievers

Meet these little achievers who shared how ballet dancing helped them cope throughout the challenges of the pandemic: “Ballet helps me be physically active even if I’m only staying home,“ said Anya Katrin Barredo.

Chloe Zi Qian Chen also claimed that

do and feel.”

Tiffany Ong also hopes that just like her, little girls should “never give up even when it’s very difficult because God always makes a way when there seems to be no way.”

“They’re right. Don’t let anything stop your child from achieving her dreams. Despite the seemingly never-ending lockdowns, your child can start her dance journey in the comfort of your home and be a world-class ballerina, too—you just have to help her make it happen,” added Teacher Pam, who also said some of her students have ventured into martial arts and excelled.

DTAP can be contacted through its FB page: Dance Theatre Arts and IG account: @dancetheatreartsph or call/ send an SMS via WhatsApp or Viber at 09171260888.

Diaz, Tokyo Olympians are products of PSC’s grassroots THE Philippine Sports Commission (PSC) has once again proven the effectiveness of its grassroots programs after most of its prodigies carried the Philippine flag and made history in the recently concluded 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games.

Hidilyn Diaz, the country’s first-ever Olympic medalist is a proud product of the Batang Pinoy (BP) and Philippine National Games (PNG). These two youth programs which hones the Filipino weightlifting superstar and helped reach her dreams and become an Olympic champion are under the management of the PSC. “Talagang malaking bagay ang nagagawa ng competition and programs.

It gives awareness.” said Diaz in an earlier interview with the PSC

Public Communications group.

“Ang Olympics ay pangarap ng lahat ng mga atleta pero may kaakibat na responsibilidad.

Kailangan po ay patuloy tayong magsilbing inspirasyon para sa mga kabataan.” added Diaz who, prior to her Tokyo stint, also won the silver medal in 2016 Rio Olympics.

Aside from Diaz, 2020 Olympics silver medalists Nesthy Petecio, Carlo Paalam, and bronze medalist Eumir Marcial are also products of these grassroots programs which started their journey to sports success. They qualified in their regional meets before competing and winning on the world stage.

These athletes have put the country on the world map after their historic performances in

Tokyo this year. The country delivered the best-ever Olympic finish with 1 gold, 2 silvers, and 1 bronze medal surpassing the 1932 Los Angeles Games with 3 bronzes.

PSC Chairman William ‘Butch’ Ramirez believes that “the Filipino youth will go a long way if we continue investing in our grassroots. Taking care of Hidilyn Diaz since her first Olympic campaign shows that developing athletes should be from the ground up.”

Olympic artistic gymnastics finalist and world champion Carlos Edriel Yulo, weightlifting national record-holder Elreen Ando, taekwondo jin Kurt Barbosa, and rower Cris Nievarez were also discovered through the agency’s youth programs.

“The achievement of these young athletes has affirmed the vital role of strengthening grassroots sports alongside elite sports. Working in unity as one nation will truly lead us to a more promising and brighter future for Philippine sports.” said chairman Ramirez.

The sports agency chief also acknowledged the support and trust of the parents of these athletes, “you helped shape champions when you lent your children to sports and eventually become champions in their own fields.”

The PSC through the Philippine Sports Institute (PSI) has designated regional cluster heads and coordinators to sustain the grassroots programs from local up to the national level.

SEPTEMBER 12, 2021

‘Get along with your colleagues’ And other career tips from Bianca Gonzalez

By Theriz Lizel R. Silvano

T

HE beginning of a career is not an easy path. Add uncertainty, confusion, and a pandemic to the equation and the path becomes more winding.

As people born after 1996 (Gen Z) enter the workforce amid challenging circumstances, noted television host Bianca Gonzalez, at a virtual career fair hosted by Nylon Manila, talked about the lessons she learned while working her way up the career ladder.

She talked about the beginning of her career and the efforts she made to Bianca Gonzalez emphasizes the importance of taking every opportunity to learn at any job, whether it is your dream job or not. expand her network and work with the biggest names in Philippine television. job and creating a harmonious work en- are, and use that experience to ex- possibly help you pursue your dream job. pand your network.”

Here are some key takeaways from vironment is a win on many fronts.

This, however, doesn’t mean being Not everyone lands their dream job “Figure out kung tama ba yung Gonzalez’s talk: friends with everyone and having no right after graduating, and it’s alright! opportunity for you.”

Do not discount a job that is differYoung workers are always told to “If people don’t like working with boundaries; it is about balance – mainyou, they will get someone who may taining a healthy work relationship ent from the field you chose so long “grab every opportunity” because we not be technically as good as you, with everyone by being yourself and as you can learn from it, you meet new get to experience new things, learn respecting your colleagues’ personal people from different fields, and above more about ourselves, and might earn pero masarap katrabaho.” all, it helps pay your bills. more than we did from our previous job.

According to Gonzalez, pakikisama or spaces as well.

A job is an experience and should be But, Gonzalez stressed that our valgetting along with your colleagues is im“The job that you have that pays considered a blessing. Legal work, no mat- ues, strengths, and profession should portant. This, she said, would determine not only your work behavior but your the bills is part of your process. ter what it is, will help you expand your be aligned with the opportunity we are personal character as well. Doing a great Learn when you can wherever you contacts and gain new friends who could considering to take.

“I may have not achieved my dream job but I worked really hard and it led me to something better than what I’ve dreamed of.”

Working hard is one of the, if the most important, keys to have a successful career. Whether you have your dream job or not, set your sights on learning and growing.

And sometimes, where you are at the moment either prepares you for something better or is better than you planned.

FROM A MILLENNIAL TO GEN Zs. One of Bianca Gonzalez’s career tips for young employees is to be someone people like to work with; it doesn’t mean being friends with everyone but simply getting along with colleagues while respecting each other’s boundaries.

More Filipino women enroll in online courses amid pandemic 11 nonprofits, including Operation Smile Philippines, can tap Zalora Philippines customers to raise funds for their programs.

Zalora cares for children’s smiles ONLINE fashion retailer Zalora Philippines partners with an organization that helps treat children with cleft lip and cleft palate.

Operation Smile Philippines (OSP) joins a select group of 11 nonprofits that can tap Zalora Philippines customers, through the Zalora Cares platform, to raise funds for their programs.

Zalora Cares was launched in 2020 to support COVID-19 efforts. “We’ve decided to expand beyond that initial mission and start giving back to our community in as many ways as we can by diversifying our pool of foundations,” shared marketing partnerships executive Vern Jaurigue.

Over the past 40 years, OSP has treated more than 30,000 Filipino children and young adults with oral cleft, providing them with free surgery, medical examination, dental treatment, and speech therapy.

“This is a breakthrough partnership for us,” OSP executive director Emiliano Romano said, citing the foundation’s new thrust to engage individuals via digital marketing as a way of broadening its donor base to help more children.

“We know there’s a lot of pent-up desire to help among ordinary Filipinos even in these extraordinary times, and our cause is one that is sure to tug at their hearts; it’s just a matter of providing them with the convenient and secure means to do so,” he added.

According to an online learning platform, the pandemic has driven enrollments in business-related courses and certificate training programs for digital jobs among Filipino women.

FILIPINO women are upskilling themselves by enrolling in courses and programs available online amid the pandemic, according to a report.

Coursera’s The Women and Skills Report compares pre-pandemic enrollment and performance data with trends observed on the platform since the onset of the pandemic through June 2021. It found a staggering 774 percent year-over-year growth in enrollments from women learners in the Philippines, the highest recorded increase out of 190 countries.

More women are also participating in certificate training programs aimed at entry-level digital jobs.

“We believe that the new norm of remote work and online learning is setting a solid foundation of a more inclusive recovery,” Raghav Gupta, managing director for India and APAC at Coursera, said in a statement.

Majority of women enroll in business-related courses, with communication at the top (1.2 million enrollments), followed by leadership and management, entrepreneurship, marketing, and business analysis.

The majority of the most popular courses are also from the business domain, including “Excel Skills for Business” (Macquarie University) and “Write Profes-

sional Emails in English” (Georgia Institute of Technology).

Filipino women are likewise investing in critical STEM skills like probability and statistics, data analysis, and computer programming, with “Programming from Everybody” offered by the University of Michigan among the most popular courses.

“I earned my computer science degree with only a handful of women alongside me, and while a great deal has changed since then, we still have important work to do to increase women’s representation in technology and leadership,” shared Betty Vandenbosch, chief content officer of Coursera.

Interest in certificate training programs for entry-level digital jobs also went up to 47 percent in 2021, versus 33 percent in 2019.

These certificates from industry leaders such as Google, IBM, and Facebook are designed to prepare learners without a college degree or technology experience for a wide range of high-demand digital jobs.

Coursera currently has over 5,000 courses and 87 million learners on the platform.

“Access to flexible, job-relevant education can help women learn the new skills they need to enter high-demand roles and achieve better gender balance in the workforce,” said Vandenbosch.

SEPTEMBER 12, 2021

RAYVER CRUZ crosses another

milestone T

HREE years ago, actor Rayver Cruz signed with GMA Network and its talent manage management arm, Artist Center, to explore other facets of his career, tackle onscreen roles that he hasn’t done before, and rediscover his other abilities as a well-rounded talent.

Speaking to Manila Standard Entertainment right after he signed a contract with his new mother network, the then 29-year-old actor talked about his plans as new Kapuso. He also shared with us his expectations of working in a different home studio.

Fast-forward to today, Rayver is positive that all his expectations have been met giving him another big reason to renew his ties with the network. expec“The network exceeded my expec tations. They showered me with projproj ects since I rejoined GMA,” Rayver told the author.

“I’m thankful that up to now tuloy tuloy ang projects ko with them and they entrusted me with big, importimport ant assignments,” he added.

In the past three years of being with GMA, Rayver felt how the netnet work was able to unleash his other capabilities. He considers his being a host in numerous programs and

Rayver Cruz marks another milestone in his career renewing his ties with GMA and its talent management arm.

‘The Atom Araullo Specials’ trains spotlight on ‘Team Pilipinas’ WINNING and rising above all odds, four Filipino athletes spark hope and pride during these most challenging times through their phenomenal and historic triumphs.

This Sunday, The Atom Araullo Specials presents “Team Pilipinas” that features the stories of these Filipino athletes who ended the Philippines’ near century-long quest for Olympic multiple medals.

Apart from bringing home its first-ever gold medal, the Philippines also finished as the top-performing Southeast Asian nation in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics following its biggest medal haul in the history of the games.

Hidilyn Diaz made Olympic history as the Philippines’ first gold medalist, winning in the women’s weightlifting competition. Boxers Nesthy Petecio bagged the women’s featherweight silver, Carlo Paalam captured the men’s flyweight silver, while Eumir Marcial won a bronze

n By NICKIE WANG

in the men’s middleweight class.

Before their victories, the four Olympic medalists started from small beginnings like Hidilyn who at an early age experienced selling vegetables and fish with her father. So was Carlo, who as a kid used to scavenge garbage and metal scraps which he would sell to help earn money for his family in Cagayan de Oro City.

Meanwhile, Nesthy’s father who was an amateur boxer in Davao, began training her at the age of seven.

She chose boxing as a sport to help the family earn extra income and to avail a sports scholarship.

Like Nesthy, Eumir Marcial also started boxing at the age of seven.

His father was instrumental in getting him into the sport because he was the head coach of the Zamboanga City boxing team then.

Catch these four athletes’ stories in “Team Pilipinas” on The Atom Araullo Specials this Sunday at 2:00 p.m. on GMA Network.

Hidilyn Diaz (left) made Olympic history as the Philippines’ first gold medalist, winning in the women’s weightlifting competition.

shows has helped him develop the skill and confidence talking in front of the camera.

“I really didn’t expect that I could be a good host. Ang galing lang ng GMA kasi nang nakita nila pwede kong gawin yun, they capitalized on that and made sure that I would be trained to be a good host,” he admitted.

“I can say that I’m already confident being a host. I know I could do it before but I had doubts. GMA helped me become better on this skill.”

Since joining GMA in 2018, Rayver has been part of shows such as Asawa Ko, Karibal Ko, Hanggang sa Dulo ng Buhay Ko, All-Out Sundays, and The Clash.

He currently leads the cast of the series remake of the film Nagbabagang Luha together with Glaiza de Castro, and he is also set to return to his hosting duties in The Clash with Julie Anne San Jose, whom he’s going to share the screen with in a film project soon.

Paulo Avelino and Janine Gutierrez share the screen as a couple in ‘Marry Me, Marry You.’

Reasons that will make you say ‘yes!’ to ‘Marry Me, Marry You’ PAULO Avelino and Janine Gutierrez are finally getting hitched in ABS-CBN’s newest television series Marry Me, Marry You. If you’re just as excited as us about the show’s cute wedding-themed teasers, Paulo and Janine’s big day is happening on Sept. 13, when the series premieres on Kapamilya Channel, Kapamilya Online Live, A2Z, and TV5 at 9:25 p.m.

Before fans get to watch its pilot episode, we’ve compiled seven exciting things to look forward to in the series: Janine and Sunshine like you’ve never seen them before Janine and Sunshine Dizon veer away from their usual heavy drama roles to show their bubbly and fun-loving side in Marry Me, Marry You, which is their first Kapamilya teleserye. In fact, when you watch the scenes where they are together, you’ll find yourself irresistibly laughing out loud.

Janine plays the jolly and optimistic Camille, while Sunshine effortlessly displays her ‘kalog’ side as a single mom named Paula, whom Camille is the closest to out of her three godmothers. Paula’s love life also gets exciting as she figures in a May-December affair when she falls in love with a younger man (Fino Herrera).

It’s feel-good, comforting, and evokes the vibe of “OTWOL” and “Be Careful” If you fell in love with the hit Kapamilya teleseryes On the Wings of Love and Be Careful with My Heart, then Marry Me, Marry You will surely be up your alley.

The family-oriented series presents a feel-good yet heartwarming story about the true essence of love and family, which is very timely now that we need more sources of relief and entertainment more than ever. Read full story on manilastandard.net

‘Don’t Break The Heart’ ofdfds Tom Grennan ENGLISH singer-songwriter Tom Grennan is back with a brand new single “Don’t Break The Heart,” released on Sept. 3 alongside Evering Road Deluxe, a special extended version of the artist’s UK Number #1 chart-topping album featuring five new tracks.

As Tom prepares for a huge soldout headline tour that’s seen over 40,000 ticket sales across the UK, including London’s 10,000 capacity Alexandra Palace, “Don’t Break The Heart” arrives amidst a volley of celebratory activity.

Following a landmark performance on the Reading and Leeds Festival Mainstages, Tom headed straight into the booth at BBC

Tom Grennan counts three charttopping singles in 2021 alone and is now one of the top 200 most streamed artists in the world.

Radio 1 for a four-day takeover hosting and curating the Future Sounds slot.

As one of the top 200 most streamed artists in the world, Tom Grennan now counts three chart-topping singles in 2021 alone with “Little Bit of Love,” “By Your Side,” and “Let’s Go Home Together” with Ella Henderson.

Now surpassing 250 million global streams, Tom’s acclaimed UK Number One album Evering Road has seen him recognised as “one of the country’s bright young musical talents” by British GQ, simply “epic” by the NME and “a catchy, dance-adjacent mea culpa that will score with fans” by ES Magazine.

Chelsea Cutler announces launch of sophomore album PLATINUM Certified singer, songwriter, and producer Chelsea Cutler reveals her anxiously awaited sophomore album, When I Close My Eyes, to be released on Oct. 15.

To celebrate the announcement, Chelsea teams up with friend and fellow “Stay Next To Me” tour mate Quinn XCII on her new single, “Calling All Angels.”

Chelsea Cutler wrote “Calling All Angels” with Quinn XCII, ayokay, and Hazey Eyes during a writing trip to Newport, RI, where much of the album was written and recorded.

The song rides a dreamy bassline and steady cymbals towards a fingersnap-laden hook.

“My mom used to always say, ‘Calling All Angels’ to me as a kid. It always made me think of protection.

The song is a well wish to other people,” says Chelsea says.

The single follows Chelsea’s recently released tracks, “You Can Have It” and “Walking Away,” the latter of which was lovingly dubbed the “Jeep Song”

by her fans after she teased a short snippet of the track on Instagram months before it was released.

Together, the songs have amassed nearly eight million combined streams to date.

As Chelsea gears up to release When I Close My Eyes, she is currently on her co-headline Stay Next To Me Tour with Quinn XCII, which includes two upcoming sold-out shows at New York’s iconic Radio City Music Hall on Sept. 17 and 18.

Chelsea Cutler with fellow singersongwriter Jeremy Zucker

FEATURES SEPTEMBER 12, 2021

Guantanamo

9/11 trial:

The defendants T

HE trial of five men accused of participating in the September 11, 2001 Al-Qaeda plot to attack the United States has moved extremely slowly before the military commissions in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba since the original charges were announced in February 2008.

The case was withdrawn, and then refiled, and the first hearing took place on May 5, 2012.

Since then, dozens of hearings have taken place, all in the pre-trial phase.

After a 17-month halt for the COVID-19 pandemic, the case is restarting Tuesday with a new judge, the eighth to preside.

The case, occurring in a highly secure courtroom on the US naval base in southeast Cuba, is mired in the defense's effort to demonstrate that the government's evidence is tainted by the torture that defendants underwent in CIA captivity.

The five are charged with conspiracy, terrorism, and the murder of 2,976 people in the attacks, charges which can bring the death penalty.

Khalid Sheikh Mohammed

Mohammed, dubbed "KSM," is called

was subjected to waterboarding 183 times over four weeks, as well as other harsh interrogation methods.

In September 2006 he was sent to Guantanamo. A year later, he told a closed-door hearing that he was responsible not only for the 9/11 attack but also Al-Qaeda-linked bombings in Bali and Kenya, the failed 2001 "shoe-bomber" the mastermind of 9/11. A Pakistani citi- attempt to bring down a US airliner, and zen raised in Kuwait, Mohammed, 56, is the murder of US journalist Daniel Pearl. believed to have first proposed crashing jets in the United States to Al-Qaeda Ramzi bin al-Shibh leader Osama bin Laden in 1996.

Al Shibh trained in an Al-Qaeda A graduate of a US university, he was camp in Afghanistan with some 9/11 working for the government of Qatar in hijackers in 1999, and became part of the early 1990s when he began fashion- the "Hamburg Cell" that included lead ing plots with his nephew Ramzi Yousef, hijacker Mohammad Atta and two othwho detonated a bomb in New York's ers. But the Yemeni, 49, failed to get World Trade Center in 1993. In 1994 the a US visa to take part, and instead he two planned to blow up US-bound air- helped coordinate between the cell liners from the Philippines. The first at- and Al-Qaeda. tempt failed, and Yousef was arrested in He was captured in Karachi, Pakistan Pakistan and extradited to the US. on September 11, 2002. Over the next When Bin Laden finally approved four years he was repeatedly moved the 9/11 plot, Mohammed was put in between CIA black sites, undergoing charge. He was captured in Rawalpindi, repeated interrogations that involved Pakistan in March 2003 and taken by torture. Transferred to Guantanamo in the CIA to black sites in Afghanistan September 2006, his lawyers say he conand then Poland for interrogation. He tinues to suffer severely from the effects

More joy: Milan designers visualize post-pandemic home A POOL table that changes into a dining table, a bookshelf that transforms into a filing cabinet and noise-cancelling panels to facilitate home-working: adapting to life after coronavirus was on the minds of many exhibitors at Milan Furniture Fair this week.

After months cooped up at home, many people's houses and apartments have been transformed into offices, schools, gyms and playgrounds, blurring the lines between public and private spaces.

"The home has become a refuge for its inhabitants, a welcoming place that reflects the personality of each of them and offers both comfort and a certain flexibility," Maria Porro, head of the Salone del Mobile fair, told AFP. "Hence the search for materials that feel nice to touch, and multifunctional pieces that allow spaces to be modulated and personalized."

A pool table in canaletto walnut laid with plates and candles draws the eye of visitors, who stop to feel its smooth surface and take photos.

"Demand has increased with the pandemic because people have rediscovered their home and want a games

area that transforms easily into a dining table or desk," said Guido Rossi of the manufacturer MBM Biliardi.

Nearby, Ferrimobili offers tailor-made products including a shelf that houses an extendable desk, adapted for the needs of people working from home.

"It's the ideal solution for small spaces.

With the pandemic, clients want a home that is more functional but also still elegant," said Domenico Tescione from the Rimini-based firm that saw its revenues increase by 20 percent last year.

The wider Italian furniture industry had a difficult 2020, when the country endured months of coronavirus lockdowns, with turnover falling 8.9 percent to $25 billion.

In the first half of 2021, however, sales soared and even overtook prepandemic levels, at 14.3 percent higher than the same period in 2019.

Comfort has become increasingly important. "Working for hours on an old table and repurposed chair is unacceptable," said Andrea Bottoli of office furniture firm Martex.

Home-workers who spend much of their day in videoconferences are also focusing more and more on their image.

"They put the company logo as a backdrop, they try to find the most attractive part of their house and adapt the light so they don't look too tired," Bottoli said.

Before the pandemic, "clients looked for office furniture that made it feel more like home – and now it's the reverse. They want an office at home, without it looking like a workplace," added designer India Mahdavi.

Another trend during lockdowns was that "people wanted their house to be a happy place, so with more colour and greenery," she told AFP. The trend of searching out durable, solid and sustainable material was highlighted by the fair's "urban forest," 100 maples, oaks, lime, apple and plum trees that welcomed visitors and will later be replanted around Milan.

"The pandemic has revealed a huge appetite in people for creating, for renovating their homes, because they are staying at home, they don't travel so much," said French designer Pierre Yovanovitch.

He believes "people want comfort, sensuality," not cold, white interiors: "They are searching for more playfulness, more colour, more joy." AFP

of torture, and that the government itself labels him psychotic.

Walid bin Attash

Attash, 43, is called a "senior lieutenant" in Al-Qaeda who helped Mohammed plan the 9/11 attacks as well as other plots. A Yemeni native, he traveled to Afghanistan and Tajikistan in the early 1990s to battle the Soviets, and lost part of his right leg fighting in Afghanistan in 1996. In 1999, he led a close combat course in an Al-Qaeda training camp that included some hijackers. Ahead of 9/11 he took flights on US carriers across Southeast Asia to test airline security, and potentially to hijack and crash one of them. He also allegedly procured the explosives used in the October 2000 suicide bombing of the USS Cole missile destroyer which left 17 American sailors dead. He has a younger brother also in Guantanamo, who has not been charged or directly implicated in the 9/11 plot.

Ammar al-Baluchi, or Ali Abdul Aziz Ali

A citizen of Pakistan originally from Kuwait, Baluchi is a nephew of Kha-

lid Sheikh Mohammed.

He allegedly prepared the hijackers, teaching them how to function in Western culture, and helped with travel plans and money transfers for the operation. He was captured in Rawalpindi, Pakistan in April 2003. He underwent interrogations involving torture techniques in the hands of the CIA, and he remained in their custody for 40 months before being delivered to Guantanamo. His attorneys say he was repeatedly thrown against a wall in the interrogations, leaving him with significant, medically diagnosed brain damage.

Mustafa al-Hawsawi

A Saudi Arabian national, Hawsawi, 53, allegedly aided the 9/11 hijackers with travel arrangements and by handling money transfers for them, working together with Baluchi. Captured in Rawalpindi, Pakistan in March 2003, he underwent harsh interrogations by the CIA and was then held in black sites until being sent to Guantanamo in September 2006. His attorneys say he suffered rectal damage due to the abusive techniques of his captors. AFP

A visitor views a film in virtual reality (VR) at the Palazzo del Casino, as part of the Venice VR Expanded Programme during the 78th Venice Film Festival at Venice Lido. AFP

Art, terror and erections showcase VR potential "CAN you tell the difference between what is and isn't real?" intones Tilda Swinton as the room disintegrates into pixels.

Swinton is the latest star to lend her talents to the world of virtual reality, which has been quietly building into a medium with incredible – and disconcerting – potential.

She narrates "Goliath," about a man's descent into schizophrenia, illustrated by startling visual effects and interactive experiences that illustrate his slippery hold on reality.

It premiered in the VR section of the Venice Film Festival which ran until yesterday.

It was far from the only intense experience on offer to those willing to don helmets and flail around in a booth.

"Container" was a particularly arresting experience.

One minute, the container is filling with water as a woman tries desperately to keep from drowning, then suddenly it becomes a massage parlor with a man trying to force a woman into sex, then suddenly a tiny sweatshop in which a family of garment workers are toiling away.

The viewer is so utterly immersed, effectively standing just centimetres away from the characters, that it feels

viscerally, uncomfortably real.

"VR is immersive theatre meeting technology. It has extreme potential, it goes beyond the wildest imagination of what people can experience spatially and artistically," May Abdalla, co-creator of "Goliath," told AFP. "Not every project suits VR. You need to find the right experience," Abdalla added.

One of the most daring at Venice was "In the Mist," which skirts a delicate line between art and porn.

Given that its 15-minute running time is almost entirely filled with naked men fellating and penetrating each other in a sauna, some might feel the line is crossed.

Michel Reilhac, Venice VR co-curator, insisted it should be seen as naked contemporary dance that "transcends sexuality," though he added that the porn industry was the only sector to turn a profit with VR for now.

VR competitions have become a regular feature of film festivals around the world, from Sundance to Cannes, but many remain unaware of how quickly the medium is evolving.

"The tech has reached the point where the makers are no longer fascinated by the tech... where it can call itself a fully-fledged artform," said Reilhac. AFP