Manila Standard - 2021 September 14 - Tuesday

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TEACHERS’ TROUBLES. A teacher prepares the additional learning materials under the local government’s project called “Dyip ni MAKI” inside a jeepney at the Fort Bonifacio National High School in Makati on Monday, September 13, 2021. The jeepney will be deployed to barangays in the city as mobile learning hubs or ‘schools on wheels’.

It’s an entirely different story for a group of militant teachers who welcome the opening of the school year 2021-2021 by staging a ‘sunrise protest’ at the foot of Mendiola Bridge in Manila on Monday, September 13, 2021, calling on the government to immediately release all their benefits and ensure the teacher’s rights and welfare are protected.

Norma Cruz, Danny Pata

Late enrolees accepted until Sept. 30 – DepEd

By Macon Ramos-Araneta and Joel E. Zurbano THE Department of Education (DepEd) will accept enrollees for the school year 2021 to 2022 until Sept. 30, hoping to surpass the number of enrollees during the previous school year.

Education Undersecretary Revsee Escobedo said that as classes opened Monday, there were already 24.6 million enrollees.

“We’re hoping to surpass the enrollment for school year 2020 – 2021 this month,” Escobedo said, adding that a memo would soon be issued

Five alert levels for MM

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IATF pilot-tests a new stab at COVID response with granular lockdowns

By Willie Casas and Macon Ramos-Araneta

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HE Inter-Agency Task Force yesterday issued the approved guidelines for the pilot implementation of the Alert Level System with granular lockdowns in Metro Manila that will take effect Wednesday.

Presidential spokesman Harry Roque said the new classification framework aims to further curb the spread of COVID-19 and its variants.

“In this new classification framework, we proactively advocate the principles

of 3C’s Strategy (Closed, Crowded and Close Contact). We should strive for total health and this can only be realized by carefully balancing our COVID-19 response by considering both the health Next page

VOL. XXXV • NO. 211 • 2 SECTIONS 12 PAGES • P18 • TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 14, 2021 • www.manilastandard.net • mst.daydesk@gmail.com

More doctors leave PGH; manpower lack hits many hospitals Video leaker liable for data privacy breach, Roque warns

By Macon Ramos-Araneta and Willie Casas

yond its capacity, with 200 more COVID-19 patients awaiting admission, a hospital spokesman said Monday.

In an interview with the ABS-CBN TWENTY of 25 volunteer doctors are leaving the Philippine General Hospital news channel, PGH spokesman Dr. Jo(PGH), which is now operating well be- nas del Rosario said only five of their 25

Department of Health (DOH) volunteer doctors have opted to renew their contracts at one of the country’s premier referral facilities, which has 320 beds allotted for COVID-19 patients.

“We are beyond our capacity -- 310

180,293

35,307

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By Rey E. Requejo and Willie Casas

2,248,071 20,745

patients in the hospital, about 40 patients in the emergency room waiting to get into the hospital, so that’s pretty much 350 out of 320. We’re 30 patients above our threshold,” Del Rosario said.

THE person who leaked a video of Presidential Spokesman Harry Roque’s outburst at a group of doctors could face charges for supposedly revealing government secrets and violating the data privacy law, Roque said Monday.

“I think the person is liable, also for revealing public secrets. But I will let the IATF decide on it as the matter is being discussed by the body,” said Roque, who is also the spokesman of the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases, in a Palace press briefing.

He said it is up to the IATF to file possible charges against the person.

The video, which circulated widely last week, showed Roque berating and shouting at a group of doctors at an online meeting of the IATF for warning that relaxing lockdowns could lead to a further spike in COVID-19 infections.

2,032,471 22,290 (As of 4 PM, September 13) SCARCE SUPPLY. Medical staff member of the Manila COVID-19 Feld Hospital arrange the remaining oxygen tanks inside the special facility on Monday, September 13, 2021. Mayor Isko Moreno has reminded his constituents to be very careful at this point in time because the city is running out of medical oxygen tank supplies as even regular suppliers can no longer meet the demand. Norman Cruz

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‘20m to achieve herd immunity’ Pharmally sent supplies to PH absent request

By Willie Casas and Joel E. Zurbano said, during a ceremony to welcome the THE country needs to vaccinate 20 million individuals from the adolescent and pediatric groups if it wants to upgrade its herd immunity targets.

“If we want upgrade herd immunity by scale to 80-90 (percent), we need to vaccinate 20 million from the adolescent and pediatric,” vaccine czar Carlito Galvez Jr.

arrival of 2 million doses of the Sinovac COVID-19 vaccine at the airport Monday.

Galvez, however, said the vaccination of those 18 years old and above must be completed first as recommended by the Philippine Medical Association and its Pediatrics Society head in a meeting last Sunday.

“Their recommendation is to vacci-

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IATF cancels physicians’ board exams METRO Manila’s current quarantine status scuttled the 2021 Physician Licensure Exam, which was supposed to be held last weekend, as the regional InterAgency Task Force (IATF) on COVID-19 Next page

By Macon Ramos-Araneta

THE move of Pharmally Pharmaceutical Corp. to deliver 500,000 surgical masks to the government even without a request or purchase order (PO) was not standard procedure, a retired officer of the Department of Budget and Management admitted Monday to a Senate panel.

This was as Senator Francisco Pangilinan said government procurement personnel had been ordered to sign inspection documents for personal protective equipment from China even before the items were delivered or inspected.

“Some inspection reports were signed even if the delivered goods were not actually inspected,” Pangilinan said, noting that the goods were still in China when the reports were signed.

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TOTALLED. Two women were killed while two others, including the driver of a passenger car, suffered injuries after their vehicle was allegedly rammed by a speeding dump truck along the northbound side of the C-5 Ortigas flyover from Pasig City going to Quezon City on Monday, Sept. 13, 2021. Norman Cruz

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TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 14, 2021

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HPS wants Rody not to vie for VP

By Maricel V. Cruz

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EADERS of the Hugpong Para kay Sara (HPS) movement on Monday appealed to President Rodrigo Duterte not to run for Vice President in the 2022 elections and instead give way to Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio’s stand that only one from their family can run for a post in next year’s polls.

Evasco, and House appropriations panel chair Rep. Eric Yap. Meanwhile, a legislator from the socalled “Solid North” batted for the possible tandem of Duterte-Carpio and former Senator Ferdinand “Bong-Bong” Marcos as President and Vice President, should the former decide to run next year.

“I think this is the best team that can lead the country in the next six years due to their combined experience and genuine empathy for the common folk of this country,” said Abra Rep. Joseph Bermas, who is also the Vice President for special concerns of HPS. “Sure, I say this because I and former Senator Marcos are both from the north. But it would be very difficult to argue that this team is the most qualified for the jobs of President and Vice President,” he stressed.

During the virtual ceremony, members from other regions in the country, as well as supporters in the Middle East, Canada and the USA, pledged their loyalty and gave “shout-outs” through various social media platforms, encouraging Mayor Duterte-Carpio to seek the highest post in the land.

“We share a common aspiration – to effect true and lasting change for the country. We believe Mayor Sara is the perfect person to be President, with her personality and being confident, yet quiet and reserved pero palaban at may totoong malasakit para sa bayan,” Herrera said.

Former Davao del Norte Governor and HPS Chairman Anthony Del Rosario, who led the oath-taking, said: “Mayor Sara has always been consistent that only one Duterte can run for national office in 2022.”

HPS, a citizens’ movement urging Mayor Sara to run for the president in the 2022 national elections, launched Monday with over 15,000 supporters, chapter members, and officers taking their oath during a virtual launch.

The citizen’s movement aims to persuade Duterte-Carpio to throw her hat into the presidential derby in the upcoming elections, something she has refused as of late.

House Deputy Speaker and HPS Secre-

tary-General Bernadette Herrera, one the movement’s leaders who were sworn into office during the virtual ceremony, said the movement is not tied to any traditional party, thus giving it a unique credibility and flexibility to negotiate through the corridors of Philippine politics.

HPS is chaired by House Speaker Lord Allan Velasco, a known ally of the Davao mayor. Other prominent members include former Dangerous Drugs Board chief Dionisio Santiago, ex-Cabinet Secretary Jun

More doctors...

From A1

Oil price hiked for 3rd straight week: P40/li

“And then there are about 200 patients waiting in the wings wanting to be admitted, waiting to be transferred to PGH,” he added.

Still, the Palace on Monday said the recruitment of health professionals continues.

“The Health Department has been recruiting medical professionals on volunteer status or those receiving salary. We have a lot of graduates,” said presidential spokesman Harry Roque.

Despite the manpower shortage, Roque said the government is committed to expanding COVID-19 bed capacity.

Private hospitals are facing the same situation, although the number of doctors quitting could not be verified as of press time.

Last month, the premier St. Luke’s Medical Center reported that 23 of its emergency room nurses resigned from its Global City hospital in Taguig to seek opportunities abroad.

In August last year, over 80 medical societies sounded a distress call for health workers, saying the country’s healthcare system had been overwhelmed. “We are waging a losing battle against COVID-19,” they added.

Frustrated health workers recently took to the streets to also demand the release of their long overdue COVID-19 benefits.

“If we are heroes for you, why has it been a year now, yet we are still here in the streets calling and shouting for the immediate release of our hard-earned COVID-19 benefits?” said Edwin Pacheco, president of the National Kidney and Transplant Institute Employees Association- Alliance of Health Workers.

Del Rosario admitted that it would be impossible to admit all of these patients on the waitlist since many of the COVID-19 patients currently admitted are severe to critical cases that need to stay in hospital many days.

He said PGH is also facing a staff shortage with the departure of the 20 DOH volunteer doctors. He said there was a need for additional doctors to attend to patients who contracted COVID-19.

“It’s so hard to open up more beds, more wards if you do not have the right doctors to take care of them. A lot of our patients are severely ill, so they really demand specialists, not just general doctors,” Del Rosario said.

He said the DOH volunteers had been assigned to COVID-19 patients.

Late enrolees...

From A1 on late enrollment.

The DepEd officially opened classes in public and private schools nationwide for the school year 2021 to 2022.

In her welcome speech, Education Secretary Leonor Briones said this year’s opening of classes is the second “in the time of COVID and a celebra-

‘20m...

From A1 nate first the 18 years old and above and once this is completed, we can proceed to the 17 years old and below,” he said.

Galvez, chief implementor of the task force against COVID-19, said expanding the country’s vaccine coverage will help counter the threats posed by the fast-spreading Delta variant.

The government earlier planned to inoculate 70 percent of the country’s adult population.

While no date has been set yet for the vaccination of the individuals from the adolescent and pediatric groups, Galvez said dependents of health care workers

De Lima takes a swipe at Rody in Senate reso

By Macon Ramos-Araneta OPPOSITION Sen. Leila De Lima has filed Senate Resolution 898 expressing the sense of the Senate that President Rodrigo Duterte should show courtesy to a co-equal institution like the Senate, amid threats he would stop his Cabinet members from attending the chamber’s ongoing probes.

At the same time, Sen. Richard Gordon took potshots at Executive Secretary Salvador Medialdea for blaming them for the increasing COVID-19 cases and noting that key officials in the battle against the coronavirus were instead being asked to attend the Senate hearings.

At the start of the 6th hearing of the Senate Blue Ribbon committee, chaired by Gordon, he clarified only Health Secretary Francisco Duque III was called to the proceedings.

The committee is currently investigating the alleged anomalies in the procurement of medical supplies to respond to the current pandemic (see story on A1 – Editors).

De Lima warned that any public attempt discrediting and preventing the Senate and any of its committees from performing its mandate could result in a constitutional crisis.

“This would weaken our republic to the detriment of our republic,” she said.

As leader of the country, the President might set a good example in allowing democratic process to run its course without undue interference, much less political attacks that do not aid in uncovering the truth behind anomalous government transactions, De Lima emphasized.

“Whereas petty, inflammatory and personal statements by the President against the Senate or any of its members only lead to the erosion of public trust and confidence in our democratic institutions,” she said.

tional oil market,” Petron Corp. said in its advisory.

Phoenix Petroleum Philippines, Seaoil Philippines, PTT Philippines, Cleanfuel, Chevron Philippines and Petrogazz also issued separate announcements of the latest price adjustment.

Unioil Petroleum Philippines announced over the weekend that fuel prices are expected to go up from September 14 to 20.

“Diesel will increase by P0.30 to P0.40 per liter. Gasoline will increase by P0.40 to P0.50 per liter,” the company said.

Oil prices went up due to supply

tightness owing to Hurricane Ida in the United States. China’s announcement it will release its oil reserves to the market, thereby increasing supply, helped dampen oil prices.

On September 7, local oil companies raised prices in domestic oil products

by P0.50 per liter for gasoline, P0.95 per liter for diesel, and P0.60 per liter for kerosene.

These resulted in year-to-date adjustments at a total net increase of P13.35 per liter for gasoline, P10.90 per liter for diesel, and P8.70 per liter for kerosene, according to the Department of Energy.

of our people and the economic health of the nation, which this policy shift is all about,” Roque added.

There will now be five Alert Levels in Metro Manila and not four as earlier announced by some members of the IATF. Alert Level 1 covers areas where case transmission is low and decreasing and total bed utilization rate and intensive care unit utilization rate are low. All establishments, persons, or activities are allowed to operate, work, or be undertaken at full on-site or venue/seating capacity provided they are consistent with minimum public health standards.

Alert Level 2 covers areas where case transmission is low and decreasing; healthcare utilization is low; or case counts are low but increasing; or case counts are low and decreasing but total bed utilization rate and intensive care unit utilization rate is increasing. Business establishments are allowed to operate at a maximum of 50 percent capacity. An additional 10 percent will be allowed for those with the Safety Seal Certification.

Alert Level 3 covers areas where case counts are high and/or increasing, with total bed utilization and intensive care unit utilization are at increasing rates. Business establishments are allowed to operate at a maximum of 30 percent capacity.

An additional 10 percent will be allowed for those with the Safety Seal Certification. Indoor entertainment venues, however, will remain prohibited.

Alert Level 4 covers areas where case counts are high and/or increasing, with total bed utilization and intensive care unit utilization at high rates. Al fresco and indoor dine-in services are allowed at a maximum of 30 percent and 10 percent, respectively. In-person religious

gatherings are allowed at 30 percent capacity, as well as indoor barbershops, salons, hair spas, and nail salons also at 30 percent capacity. Indoor venues for meetings, casinos, social events, and indoor sports are not allowed.

Alert Level 5 covers areas where case counts are alarming, with total bed utilization and intensive care unit utilization at critical rates. Guidelines applicated to the Enhanced Community Quarantine shall be observed.

For areas that have been identified as “critical zones” by the local government, granular lockdowns or micro-level quarantine will be declared regardless of alert level.

The authority to impose granular lockdowns, which shall last for a period of not more than 14 days, has been given to the city or municipal mayor.

The micro-level quarantine may cover individual houses where one household member has been confirmed, residential buildings, streets, blocks, puroks, subdivisions and villages.

The government has assured food packs for families living in areas placed under a granular lockdown.

Social Welfare Assistant Secretary Glenda Relova said local government units would provide family food packs in the first seven days of the lockdown, while the DSWD will provide food packs from the 8th to 14th day.

A DSWD food pack costs about P774 and contains four cans of tuna, four cans of corned beef, six kilos of rice, five sachets of coffee, five cereal drink sachets, and two cans of sardines. This is good for a family of five for 3 days, the department said.

DSWD gives three food packs per beneficiary family every week.

In a separate interview on ABS-CBN’s TeleRadyo, Interior Undersecretary Epimaco Densing said areas to be placed

under a granular lockdown would be advised 24 hours before it is implemented, to give them time to prepare.

This developed as the Philippines logged on Monday 20,745 new cases of COVID-19, bringing the total to 2,248,071, the Department of Health said.

The DOH also reported 163 new fatalities, bringing the death toll to 35,307. It also reported 22,290 new recoveries, bringing the total recoveries to 2,032,471.

Active cases stood at 180,293, of which 86 percent were mild, 9.4 percent were asymptomatic, 0.6 percent were critical, 1.4 percent were severe, and 2.62 percent were moderate.

Nationwide, 74 percent of the ICU beds, 69 percent of the isolation beds, 74 percent of the ward beds, and 57 percent of the ventilators, were in use.

In Metro Manila, 78 percent of the ICU beds, 65 percent of the isolation beds, 72 percent of the ward beds, and 61 percent of the ventilators, were in use.

Positivity rate was at 26.7 percent, with 71,860 COVID-19 tests conducted. International standard is less than 5 percent.

In related developments: * Out of 748 samples sequenced, government agencies detected 640 more samples of the highly contagious Delta coronavirus variant, the DOH reported Monday. * A public health advocate said the government should conduct free mass testing and allow only vaccinated workers outside their homes if it would enforce the proposed alert level and granular lockdown policy in Metro Manila.

Mass testing, intensified contact tracing, and increased vaccination should be in place as the policy will grant more mobility to the public, according to Dr. Tony Leachon, who previously served as special adviser to the National Task Force Against COVID-19.

tion of last school year’s success.”

Digital learning tools were developed as face-to-face classes remain suspended due to the threat of more transmissible coronavirus variants.

“We ended the School Year 20202021 in victory. Our tentative graduation figures indicated that 98.13 percent or 2,055,499 of 2,115,040 Grade 6 learners made it and our Grade 10 learners also did very well--96.9 percent or 1,881,817 out of 1,940,578 completed

their studies,” Briones said.

Briones’ claim of victory comes as UNICEF warned of the ill effects of keeping students out of school. The Philippines today is one of only two countries that have not yet allowed students back into the classroom.

President Rodrigo Duterte, meanwhile, has yet to give his go signal even with a “positive reaction” to the proposal of Briones to hold limited faceto-face classes in pilot areas where the

COVID-19 risk is low, the Palace said on Monday.

Presidential spokesman Harry Roque said Duterte has yet to give his approval to push through with the pilot face-toface classes, although his initial reluctance may change.

Citing Briones’ proposal, he said the DepEd is planning to hold a dry-run of limited in-person classes in some 150 schools in areas where there is low COVID-19 risk. With AFP

Many in the medical community have demanded that Roque apologize, while others said he should resign for his disrespectful outburst.

On Monday, Dr. Antonio Dans, one of the doctors at the receiving end of Roque’s harangue, said health workers would not be deterred from serving the public, despite the presidential spokesman’s outburst.

“We will not be intimidated by Secretary Roque. We will do what’s necessary. We will continue helping the public,” said Dans, convener of Healthcare Professionals Alliance Against COVID-19.

Meanwhile, the Free Legal Assistance Group on Monday objected to the nomination of Roque, who has been defending President Rodrigo Duterte against links to alleged human rights violations, to the International Law Commission for being unqualified to the post.

In a letter dated September 12, the FLAG stressed Roque “does not possess the qualifications for a seat at the Commission.”

“While he has degrees in law and has taught Public International Law, he is a political partisan who has actively demonstrated contempt for the rule of law and, with specific relevance to the Commission, has undermined the supremacy of human rights and international law,” FLAG chairman Jose Manuel Diokno said.

“FLAG respectfully asks the Commission to peremptorily disregard the nomination of Mr. Roque and remove him from consideration for a seat in the Commission,” Diokno added.

Roque shrugged off FLAG’s protest as “bereft of legal merit.”

“Nothing, because that’s the decision of member states. If member states listen to them, we can’t do anything about it,” Roque said in reaction to FLAG’s call for the rejection of his nomination.

as guarantee to Chinese suppliers.

Philippine law requires actual inspection before the signing of inspection documents and before the PPEs can be delivered and paid for.

Mendoza identified former PS-DBM accounting Chief Raul Catalan as the one who asked him and fellow inspectors to sign the papers.

This developed as former presidential economic adviser Michael Yang, the “guarantor” between China-based suppliers and Pharmally, which bagged the billion-peso medical supplies procurement contract from the Department of Health through DBM-PS, failed to attend the Senate hearing Monday due to hypertension. (See full story on manilastandard.net)

declared in September 8, so as soon as the MECQ (modified enhanced community quarantine) was declared, the PRC requested permission from the regional IATF did not approve it, the Professional to allow us,” said PRC Board of Medicine Regulation Commission said Monday. chairperson Dr. Eleanor Almoro.

“Unfortunately, maybe they felt that the “For NCR (National Capital Region) as we all know, the quarantine status was cases are too high, maybe you know, mak-

ing decisions is not very easy for our colleagues in the government,” Almoro added.

The PRC had scheduled the board exams for Sept. 11 and 12 and Sept. 18 and 19 in NCR and in Baguio, Cagayan de Oro, Cebu, Davao, Iloilo, Legazpi, Lucena, Tacloban, Tuguegarao, and Zamboanga cities. (See full story on manilastandard.net)

By Alena Mae S. Flores THE country’s oil firms raised pump prices by as much as P0.40 per liter as of 6 a.m. Tuesday to reflect the movement of prices in the world oil market.

The oil firms raised the price of gasoline by P0.40 per liter, diesel by P0.35 per liter and P0.15 per liter for kerosene, the third consecutive weekly oil price hike. “”Petron will implement the following price increase effective 6 a.m. on Sep 14: P0.40/li for gasoline; P0.35/ li for diesel; and P0.15/li for kerosene.

These reflect movements in the interna-

Five alert...

From A1

(A-1) and those with comorbidities (A2) will be prioritized once it starts.

Galvez said 56.7 million of assorted Covid-19 vaccines have been delivered so far in the country as he lauded Sinovac and China for their “very steady deliveries” of the life-saving jabs.

He said the new shipment of 2 million Sinovac vaccines is part of the 12 million doses ordered for September that was negotiated and procured from the Chinese vaccine manufacturer.

Most of the Chinese-made vaccines delivered Monday will be deployed to Regions 3 (Central Luzon), 4-A Calabarzon, 6 (Western Visayas), 9 (Zamboanga Peninsula), 11 (Davao), and other “surge areas” along with 151 highly urbanized cities. (See full story on manilastandard.net)

Pharmally...

From A1 Jorge Mendoza, whose contract as inspection chief at the Procurement Service of DBM (PS-DBM) was not renewed, revealed that he remembers two instances when documents were signed

IATF...

From A1

Video leaker...

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After surpassing targets, Gen. Reynaldo V. Velasco (Ret.), MWSS Chairman and Administrator, said the AMTC is now on track for its nationwide expansion.

“Watersheds are not only crucial in the provision of water for agricultural, domestic and industrial purposes. They also serve as habitats to diverse plant and animal species; and play other ecological functions such as flood mitigation. Illegal logging, grazing and mining are some of the human activities that have adversely affected the state of our country’s watersheds. Despite the growing awareness of environmental protection among Filipinos, much still needs to be done to raise that awareness to the ideal level,” Velasco, who also serves as the chairman emeritus of the MTFI, said.

“For us at the water agency that services the Greater Manila area, the critical state of the seven watersheds that are beneficiaries of the AMTC is a cause for worry because it greatly affects the water supply in the country’s busiest economic center. But we are making headway to achieve water security. Our progress can be gleaned from the increased population being served. To further improve this, we have embarked on water infrastructure projects. More can be done to improve the performance of the water industry sector. Better watershed management will definitely be a key,” he added.

The promo package must be purchased within this period. SIM and promo must be activated within 30 days from delivery. Promo will not activate beyond the 30-day delivery period.

The promo package must be purchased within this period. SIM and promo must be activated within 30 days from delivery. Promo will not activate beyond the 30-day delivery period.

The Php 199 promo + Php 40 SIM bundle is priced at Php 239.00 and is inclusive of the following:

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Promo is only valid for the subscriber’s DITO compatible mobile phone where the purchased DITO SIM and Promo are installed.

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Purchase the “10GB Data” package. Customers can pay using credit/ debit cards and various e-wallet as indicated in the online store.

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Promo shall only be offered in the following cities and municipalities in the following:

LUZON: NCR: Manila, Quezon City, Muntinlupa, Paranaque, Pasay, Taguig, Pateros, Makati, Pasig, Mandaluyong, San Juan, Caloocan, Malabon, Navotas, Valenzuela, Marikina, Las Pinas; Pangasinan: Basista, Binmaley, Dagupan, Manaoag, Mangatarem, San Manuel, San Carlos City, Lingayen (Capital), San Nicolas, Alaminos, Bolinao, Urdaneta, Urbiztondo, Bani, Bugallon, Mangaldan; Bulacan: Pandi, San Jose del Monte, Malolos, Meycauayan, Marilao, Bocaue, Hagonoy, Bulacan, Plaridel, Baliuag, Guiguinto, Bustos, San Ildefonso, San Miguel, Santa Maria, San Rafael, Pulilan; Nueva Ecija: Llanera, Palayan City, Santa Rosa, Santo Domingo Science City of Munoz, Talavera, Cabanatuan, Gapan City, San Leonardo, San Jose, General Mamerto Natividad, Rizal, Zaragoza, General Tinio (Papaya), Licab, Jaen, Quezon; Pampanga: Angeles, Mabalacat, Mexico, Guagua, San Fernando, Magalang, San Simon, Lubao; Tarlac: Capas, Tarlac City, Concepcion, Gerona, Moncada, La Paz, Ramos, San Manuel, Pura, Victoria; Zambales: Olongapo, Subic; Bataan: Balanga, Dinalupihan, Orani; Batangas: Alitagtag, Bauan, Cuenca, San Jose, Ibaan, Batangas City, Malvar, Mataas na Kahoy, San Pascual, Santo Tomas, Lipa City, Talisay, Tanauan City, Taysan, Balete, Padre Garcia, San Juan, Balayan, Calaca, San Luis, Taal, Agoncillo, San Nicolas, Lian, Calatagan, Tuy, Laurel; Cavite: Kawit, Bacoor, Imus, Tagaytay City, Silang, Dasmarinas, Carmona, Amadeo, Rosario, Mendez, Indang, Alfonso, General Trias, Trece Martirez, Tanza, Magallanes. Naic; Laguna: San Pedro, Sta Rosa, Binan, Cabuyao, Los Banos, Calamba City, Victoria, Calauan, Alaminos, San Pablo, Majayjay, Luisiana, Rizal; Rizal: Antipolo, Cainta, Taytay; Quezon: Candelaria, City of Tayabas, Pagbilao, San Antonio, Sariaya

LUZON: NCR: Manila, Quezon City, Muntinlupa, Paranaque, Pasay, Taguig, Pateros, Makati, Pasig, Mandaluyong, San Juan, Caloocan, Malabon, Navotas, Valenzuela, Marikina, Las Pinas; Pangasinan: Basista, Binmaley, Dagupan, Manaoag, Mangatarem, San Manuel, San Carlos City, Lingayen (Capital), San Nicolas, Alaminos, Bolinao, Urdaneta, Urbiztondo, Bani, Bugallon, Mangaldan; Bulacan: Pandi, San Jose del Monte, Malolos, Meycauayan, Marilao, Bocaue, Hagonoy, Bulacan, Plaridel, Baliuag, Guiguinto, Bustos, San Ildefonso, San Miguel, Santa Maria, San Rafael, Pulilan; Nueva Ecija: Llanera, Palayan City, Santa Rosa, Santo Domingo Science City of Munoz, Talavera, Cabanatuan, Gapan City, San Leonardo, San Jose, General Mamerto Natividad, Rizal, Zaragoza, General Tinio (Papaya), Licab, Jaen, Quezon; Pampanga: Angeles, Mabalacat, Mexico, Guagua, San Fernando, Magalang, San Simon, Lubao; Tarlac: Capas, Tarlac City, Concepcion, Gerona, Moncada, La Paz, Ramos, San Manuel, Pura, Victoria; Zambales: Olongapo, Subic; Bataan: Balanga, Dinalupihan, Orani; Batangas: Alitagtag, Bauan, Cuenca, San Jose, Ibaan, Batangas City, Malvar, Mataas na Kahoy, San Pascual, Santo Tomas, Lipa City, Talisay, Tanauan City, Taysan, Balete, Padre Garcia, San Juan, Balayan, Calaca, San Luis, Taal, Agoncillo, San Nicolas, Lian, Calatagan, Tuy, Laurel; Cavite: Kawit, Bacoor, Imus, Tagaytay City, Silang, Dasmarinas, Carmona, Amadeo, Rosario, Mendez, Indang, Alfonso, General Trias, Trece Martirez, Tanza, Magallanes. Naic; Laguna: San Pedro, Sta Rosa, Binan, Cabuyao, Los Banos, Calamba City, Victoria, Calauan, Alaminos, San Pablo, Majayjay, Luisiana, Rizal; Rizal: Antipolo, Cainta, Taytay; Quezon: Candelaria, City of Tayabas, Pagbilao, San Antonio, Sariaya

VISAYAS: Cebu: Toledo City, Balamban, Barili, Carcar, Cebu City, Compostela, Consolacion, Cordova, Danao, Liloan, Mandaue, Minglanilla, Naga, San Fernando, Lapu Lapu, Dumanjug, Talisay, Moalboal, Bogo City, San Remigio, Sogod, Alcantara, Santander, Ginatilan, Daanbantayan; Negros Occidental: Bacolod City, Kabankalan, Pulupandan, Silay City, Valladolid, Binalbagan; Iloilo: Iloilo City, Oton; Negros Oriental: Dumaguete, Valencia

VISAYAS: Cebu: Toledo City, Balamban, Barili, Carcar, Cebu City, Compostela, Consolacion, Cordova, Danao, Liloan, Mandaue, Minglanilla, Naga, San Fernando, Lapu Lapu, Dumanjug, Talisay, Moalboal, Bogo City, San Remigio, Sogod, Alcantara, Santander, Ginatilan, Daanbantayan; Negros Occidental: Bacolod City, Kabankalan, Pulupandan, Silay City, Valladolid, Binalbagan; Iloilo: Iloilo City, Oton; Negros Oriental: Dumaguete, Valencia

MINDANAO: Agusan Del Norte: City of Butuan; Agusan del Sur: Rosario, San Francisco, Trento, Bayugan, Santa Josefa; Compostela Valley: Monkayo; Davao del Norte: Santo Tomas, Braulio E. Dujali, Panabo, Tagum, Carmen, Island City of Samal; Davao del Sur: Santa Cruz, Bansalan, Davao City, Digos, Hagonoy; Davao de Oro: Montevista, Compostela, Nabunturan, Maco; Cotabato: Kidapawan, Makilala; South Cotabato: General Santos City, Polomolok; Bukidnon: Malaybalay, City of Valencia, Quezon, Don Carlos, Manolo Fortich, Baungon, Libona, Impasug-ong, Maramag; Lanao Del Norte: Linamon; Misamis Oriental: Balingasag, Cagayan de Oro, Claveria, Talisayan, Manticao, Sugbongcogon, Medina, Kinoguitan, Binuangan, Balingoan, Naawan, Villanueva, City of El Salvador, Jasaan, Opol, Tagoloan, City of Gingoog, Lugait; Gitagum, Laguindingan, Libertad, Initao; Saranggani: Alabel

MINDANAO: Agusan Del Norte: City of Butuan; Agusan del Sur: Rosario, San Francisco, Trento, Bayugan, Santa Josefa; Compostela Valley: Monkayo; Davao del Norte: Santo Tomas, Braulio E. Dujali, Panabo, Tagum, Carmen, Island City of Samal; Davao del Sur: Santa Cruz, Bansalan, Davao City, Digos, Hagonoy; Davao de Oro: Montevista, Compostela, Nabunturan, Maco; Cotabato: Kidapawan, Makilala; South Cotabato: General Santos City, Polomolok; Bukidnon: Malaybalay, City of Valencia, Quezon, Don Carlos, Manolo Fortich, Baungon, Libona, Impasug-ong, Maramag; Lanao Del Norte: Linamon; Misamis Oriental: Balingasag, Cagayan de Oro, Claveria, Talisayan, Manticao, Sugbongcogon, Medina, Kinoguitan, Binuangan, Balingoan, Naawan, Villanueva, City of El Salvador, Jasaan, Opol, Tagoloan, City of Gingoog, Lugait; Gitagum, Laguindingan, Libertad, Initao; Saranggani: Alabel

Via Lazada Mall:

Via Shopee:

6)

Via Lazada Mall: a. b. c. d. e.

Open Lazada and search for DITO in the Lazada Mall (DITO Telecommunity) account or DITO SIM. Click on DITO SIM product in DITO’s shop in Lazada Mall.

Go thru handset validation using the link displayed in the Product Description Section.

Select the SIM type compatible exactly to your handset and click Buy Now. The promo package shall be delivered to the customer via Lazada partner courier and may be subject to a delivery fee. Delivery is subject to the terms and conditions of Lazada and their partner couriers.

If you are unable to receive your order or received a damaged SIM card, you may reach out send an email to customerservice@dito.ph or send your concerns via DITO’s Facebook messenger or using the DITO App. You may also reach out to Lazada or its partner couriers pursuant to their terms and conditions.

Via Shopee:

a. Open Shopee and search for DITO in the Shopee Mall (DITO Telecommunity) account or DITO SIM. b. Click on DITO SIM product in DITO’s shop in Shopee. c. Select the SIM type compatible exactly to your handset and click Buy Now. d. The promo package shall be delivered to the customer via Shopee partner courier and may be subject to a delivery fee. Delivery is subject to the terms and conditions of Shopee and their partner couriers.

If you are unable to receive your order or received a damaged SIM card, you may send an email to customerservice@dito.ph or send your concerns via DITO’s Facebook messenger or using the DITO App. You may also reach out to Shopee or its partner couriers pursuant to their terms and conditions.

7)

The Php 99 promo + Php 40 SIM bundle is priced at Php 139.00 and is inclusive of the following: a. b. c.

a. Open Lazada and search for DITO in the Lazada Mall (DITO Telecommunity) account or DITO SIM. b. Click on DITO SIM product in DITO’s shop in Lazada Mall. c. Go thru handset validation using the link displayed in the Product Description Section. d. Select the SIM type compatible exactly to your handset and click Buy Now. e. The promo package shall be delivered to the customer via Lazada partner courier and may be subject to a delivery fee. Delivery is subject to the terms and conditions of Lazada and their partner couriers.

If you are unable to receive your order or received a damaged SIM card, you may reach out send an email to customerservice@dito.ph or send your concerns via DITO’s Facebook messenger or using the DITO App. You may also reach out to Lazada or its partner couriers pursuant to their terms and conditions.

MWSS, AMTC hold awards THE Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage System and its partners for the Annual Million Trees Challenge are now on track to reach five million trees alongside with its bold plan for the nationwide expansion of the treeplanting project, which is set to celebrate its four-year milestones.

Today September 14, the MWSS and the Million Trees Foundation Inc. the organization established to sustain and expand AMTC, will hold the Annual Million Tree Challenge Awards and Recognition.

Apart from the recognition of AMTC partners and the country’s top water security advocates, the event will also highlight the AMTC scorecard, the showing of the 15-minute Annual Million Trees Challenge documentary, and the launching of MTFI’s FLOW (For the Love of Watersheds) magazine.

Launched in 2017, the AMTC is a five-year watershed rehabilitation program of the MWSS which aims to restore the health of seven critical watersheds – namely Angat, Ipo, Kaliwa, La Mesa, Laguna Lake, Umiray, Upper Marikina and Manila Bay – that are crucial in supplying water to Metro Manila and neighboring provinces.

Four years after its maiden launch, AMTC is now on its way to surpassing its target of five million trees, having planted 4,131,326 in 9,509.475 hectares of identified denuded areas of the aforementioned watersheds with this year’s partner stakeholders’ pooled commitment of planting 1,173,831 trees. The

Bulacan: Norzagaray Nueva Ecija: Lupao Nueva Vizcaya: Dupax Del Norte Pangasinan: Laoac, Dasol, Aguilar, Bautista, Binalonan, San Jacinto, Tayug Laguna: Nagcarlan Batangas: Lemery Cavite: Maragondon Quezon: Lucban

a. Go to DITO’s Promo Page at (https://dito.ph/promo-page.html) or DITO’s Facebook page at (https://www.facebook.com/DITO.ph/).

Scan the promo QR code or access the promo link to access the DITO Online Store. In the DITO Online Store, check if your handset is compatible and location covered by the promo. Read, understand, and accept the terms and condition of the SIM card, Welcome Offer Promo, and privacy policy. b. Purchase the “25GB Data” package. Customers can pay using credit/ debit cards and various e-wallet as indicated in the online store.

Customers will be asked to input their name, email address, contact number and delivery address where the DITO packaged will be delivered, delivery is valid within the promo areas only. c. The promo package shall be delivered to the customer via third-party courier and may be subject to a delivery fee. Delivery schedule may be subject to change by the third-party couriers depending on its terms and conditions or force majeure. If you are unable to receive your order or received a damaged SIM card, you may reach out send an email to customerservice@dito.ph or send your concerns via DITO’s Facebook messenger or using the DITO App. 5)

Promo will be available starting from September 17 – September 30, 2021 in the following additional areas as approved by DTI-FTEB:

Bulacan: Norzagaray Nueva Ecija: Lupao Nueva Vizcaya: Dupax Del Norte Pangasinan: Laoac, Dasol, Aguilar, Bautista, Binalonan, San Jacinto, Tayug Laguna: Nagcarlan Batangas: Lemery Cavite: Maragondon Quezon: Lucban

a. Only those with device compatible with the DITO SIM card and has passed the location validation may avail the promo. Device and location compatibility shall be assessed during the online ordering process.

The list of available devices shall be available at DITO’s website (https://www.dito.ph/). Network locked phones, aside from DITO’s, and phones blocked by government agencies shall be considered as noncompatible devices. DITO shall have the sole discretion on whether a particular device is compatible with DITO SIM cards. In case of dispute on device compatibility, the list, and records of DITO shall prevail. b. Promo is only valid for the subscriber’s DITO compatible mobile phone where the purchased DITO SIM and Promo are installed.

Eleazar

THE Department of Environment and Natural Resources will pilottest a special course for enforcement front liners tomorrow until Oct. 12, 2021 in Quezon City.

Secretary Roy Cimatu said a total of 10 environment workers of the agency have been assaulted while on duty since 2017 with nine of these 10 incidents resulting in death.

Four of the 10 incidents took place during the COVID-19 lockdown period.

To take part in the training skills are DENR’s enforcement personnel, and members from the Philippine National Police and its Maritime Group, Philippine Coast Guard, Armed Forces of the Philippines and Philippine Air Force.

The entire course consists of five modules with two weeks of webinar, two weeks of practicum and 12-hour community service on the field.

The DENR chief underscored the urgent need for a continuous environmental training program for enforcement officers to manage challenging situations effectively. Rio Araja

Promo will be available starting from September 17 – September 30, 2021 in the following additional areas as approved by DTI-FTEB:

a. SIM card b. 25GB Data for 30 days upon activation of the SIM card. c. Unlimited DITO-to-DITO calls for 30 days upon activation of the SIM Card. d. Unlimited DITO-to-DITO SMS for 30 days upon activation of the SIM Card e. 300 minutes of calls to other networks f. Unlimited texts to other networks

4)

the provinces of Zambales, Bataan and Cavite.

Police said this is the campaign’s biggest drug haul this year so far.

“The confiscation of more or less 809 kilos of shabu last week is proof that illegal drug syndicates still have a market in the country and that is the reason why we need to further step up our campaign down to the community level, with the distributors or the sellers as the priority targets,” Eleazar said.

Suspected big-time drug pushers died in the operations in Zambales where 500 kilos of shabu were seized and in a separate operation in Bacoor, Cavite where 181 kilos of shabu were also confiscated.

NOTICE TO THE PUBLIC TODAY

Promo Mechanics:

HILIPPINE National Police chief Guillermo Eleazar on Monday ordered chiefs of local police to update the list of priority targets, including rogue cops involved in the illegal drugs trade.

Drug syndicates continue with their operations even during a pandemic. Eleazar said. “We encourage our stakeholders and community partners to help us in this fight,” he said.

He assured that the renewed campaign against illegal drugs includes running after erring policemen who deal in the illegal drugs trade.

Last week, a policeman assigned in Tarlac City, tagged as a suspected protector and financier of some drug pushers in the province, was arrested in a buy-bust.

Eleazar vowed to dismiss the policeman from service.

“We assure our kababayan that we will not tolerate abuses and wrongdoings in our ranks in our aggressive campaign against illegal drugs just like what we have shown in the last five years when hundreds of our personnel were dismissed from the service for illegal drugs involvement,” he said Following the arrests of drug suspects in a series of operations, police are working with the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency for the destruction of the confiscated illegal drugs.

An estimated 809 kilos of shabu, worth P5.5 billion, were seized last week in separate operations in

Manila

Standard

Promo Mechanics:

TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 14, 2021 mst.daydesk@gmail.com

Drug-dealing police among priority targets

NOTICE TO THE PUBLIC

How to Activate the Promo

a. b. c. d.

7)

a. Insert the DITO SIM in the prescreened DITO compatible device or other DITO compatible devices. The 25GB high-speed data, onnet call, and on-net text promo shall be automatically enabled upon activation of the SIM Card. To activate the SIM card, subscribers may turn on their data, attempt a call or send an SMS. b. Subscribers will receive confirmation via SMS for the activation of the SIM card and the promo.

8)

Once availed, the promo is non-refundable / non-replaceable / nonexchangeable. The promo must be availed and activated within 30 days from the date the DITO SIM was successfully delivered. The SIM card shall expire if not activated within “1” year from purchase.

9)

The promo cannot be used in conjunction with any unlimited promo offers, discount available and other exclusive promo offers.

Open Shopee and search for DITO in the Shopee Mall (DITO Telecommunity) account or DITO SIM. Click on DITO SIM product in DITO’s shop in Shopee.

Select the SIM type compatible exactly to your handset and click Buy Now. The promo package shall be delivered to the customer via Shopee partner courier and may be subject to a delivery fee. Delivery is subject to the terms and conditions of Shopee and their partner couriers.

If you are unable to receive your order or received a damaged SIM card, you may send an email to customerservice@dito.ph or send your concerns via DITO’s Facebook messenger or using the DITO App. You may also reach out to Shopee or its partner couriers pursuant to their terms and conditions.

How to Activate the Promo a.

Insert the DITO SIM in the prescreened DITO compatible device or other DITO compatible devices. The 10GB high-speed data, onnet call, and on-net text promo shall be automatically enabled upon activation of the SIM Card. To activate the SIM card, subscribers may turn on their data, attempt a call or send an SMS. b. Subscribers will receive confirmation via SMS for the activation of the SIM card and the promo.

8)

Once availed, the promo is non-refundable / non-replaceable / nonexchangeable. The promo must be availed and activated within 30 days from the date the DITO SIM was successfully delivered. The SIM card shall expire if not activated within “1” year from purchase.

9)

The promo cannot be used in conjunction with any unlimited promo offers, discount available and other exclusive promo offers.

10) The promo cannot be converted to cash, credit, or other goods and services of DITO.

10) The promo cannot be converted to cash, credit, or other goods and services of DITO.

11) By availing of the promo, the subscriber confirms that he/she has read, understood, and agrees to the promo mechanics, its terms and conditions, the terms and conditions of the SIM card. Subscriber also agrees not to use the SIM card and/or promo for illicit or illegal means.

11) By availing of the promo, the subscriber confirms that he/she has read, understood, and agrees to the promo mechanics, its terms and conditions, the terms and conditions of the SIM card. Subscriber also agrees not to use the SIM card and/or promo for illicit or illegal means.

12) For any concerns and/or inquiries regarding the promo, information may be sent to customerservice@dito.ph. All matters and disputes will be subject to the final decision of DITO Telecommunity. All decisions made

by DITO Telecommunity pertaining to the promo will be deemed final and irrevocable, with the prior concurrence of DTI.

12) For any concerns and/or inquiries regarding the promo, information may be sent to customerservice@dito.ph. All matters and disputes will be subject to the final decision of DITO Telecommunity. All decisions made

by DITO Telecommunity pertaining to the promo will be deemed final and irrevocable, with the prior concurrence of DTI. Per DTI Fair Trade Permit No. FTEB-124998 Series of 2021

Per DTI Fair Trade Permit No. FTEB-122325 Series of 2021 (MS-SEPT. 14, 2021)

(MS-SEPT. 14, 2021)

A4

TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 14, 2021

REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINES DEPARTMENT OF FINANCE BUREAU OF INTERNAL REVENUE Quezon City September 10, 2021

REVENUE REGULATIONS NO. 18-2021 SUBJECT

: Consolidated Revenue Regulations on the Affixture of Internal Revenue Stamps on Imported and Locally Manufactured Cigarettes, Heated Tobacco Products and Vapor Products for Domestic Sale or for Export and the Use of the Enhanced Internal Revenue Stamp Integrated System (Enhanced IRSIS) for the Ordering, Distribution, Monitoring, Report Generation and Incorporating the Strict Supervision of Production, Release, Affixture, Inventory and Sale of Cigarettes

TO

: All Internal Revenue Officials and Others Concerned

SECTION 1. SCOPE. – Pursuant to the provisions of Section 8, in relation to Sections 244 and 245 of the National Internal Revenue Code (NIRC) of 1997, as amended, these Regulations are hereby promulgated in order to amend certain provisions of Revenue Regulations (RR) No. 7-2014, RR No. 9-2015, RR No. 6-2017 and incorporating the applicable provisions of Republic Act (RA) Nos. 11346 and 11467 for the affixture of new internal revenue stamps on imported and locally manufactured cigarettes, heated tobacco products and vapor products whether for domestic sale or for export, including the strict supervision of production, release, affixture, inventory and sales of cigarettes, heated tobacco products and vapor products by the Revenue Officer on Premise (ROOP) and the use of the Enhanced IRSIS for the ordering, distribution, monitoring and report generation thereof.

SECTION 2. DEFINITION OF TERMS. – For purposes of these Regulations, the following words and phrases shall be defined as follows: a.

APO – shall refer to APO Production Unit, Inc., a government entity who undertakes the base printing of secured internal revenue stamps and together with the winning contractor, develop and maintain IRSIS;

b.

Bad Order Stamps – shall refer to damaged internal revenue stamps released by APO and received by taxpayer involving a deviation in any of the following specifications: Quick Reference (QR) Code, Unique Identifier Code (UIC), color, core, and dimension;

c.

Back Order – shall refer to the quantity of the remaining or unissued stamps ordered by the taxpayer after its partial release from APO-designated plant due to factory defects subject to replacement of new stamps and new UICs;

d.

Enhanced Internal Revenue Stamp Integrated System (Enhanced IRSIS) shall refer to the web-based or online application system based on the existing system that introduces new and additional functionalities that manages the ordering, distribution and monitoring of internal revenue stamps, as well as the real-time monitoring and report generation of the said stamps upon its affixture on the cigarettes, heated tobacco products and vapor products;

e.

Factory Defected Stamps – shall refer to damaged/defective tax stamps produced from APO-designated plant that did not pass the Quality Assurance (QA) standards;

In the event of an increase in excise tax rate, collection of Top-up on excise tax shall be recorded in the Enhanced IRSIS based on the remaining inventory of stamps.

BIR user shall adjust taxpayer ledger to apply the computed additional excise tax.

Taxpayer should pay the additional charges due to top-up on excise tax thru EFPS and/or other filing/payment facility for Non-EFPS taxpayers in order to proceed on their next stamp order before the effectivity of the new rate for validation by ELTFOD. With respect to locally manufactured cigarettes, heated tobacco products and vapor products intended for export, the details of payment of the excise tax due thereon if made through the Product Replenishment Debit Memo (PRDM) prescribed under Revenue Regulations (RR) No. 3-2008 shall be encoded in the Enhanced IRSIS by the authorized personnel of the ELTFOD. In case of any additional excise tax paid through BIR Form No. 0605, the said payment form shall strictly contain the phrase “Product Replenishment” in the boxes specifically provided for “Others/Specify” under the “Manner of Payment” thereof. Moreover, the Alphanumeric Tax Codes (ATCs) once available shall be provided in the BIR Form for the following products: •

EXT10 – Excise Tax on Export of Tobacco Products

•

Excise Tax on Export of Heated Tobacco Products

•

Excise Tax on Export of Vapor Products

Failure to provide the required description and ATC in the said BIR Form No. 0605 shall not be considered as excise tax payment for Export in the Enhanced IRSIS. Taxpayers may opt to post an export bond prior to the removal from place of manufacture of locally manufactured cigarettes, heated tobacco products, and vapor products, which is equivalent to the amount of the excise tax due thereon if sold domestically or said products for export maybe transferred from the place of manufacture to a bonded facility, upon posting of a transfer bond prior to export, in accordance with RA No. 11346. In this case, Enhanced IRSIS must capture the details of the bond through manual data entry.

SECTION 6. PAYMENT OF THE PRICE OF INTERNAL REVENUE STAMPS. ESCALATION PROVISIONS. – After the approval of the order of internal revenue stamps and prior to its release from the APO designated plant, the price thereof shall be paid by the importer or local manufacturer of cigarettes, heated tobacco products and vapor products to APO in the amount of TWENTY CENTAVOS (P0.20) per piece of internal revenue stamp.

Based on the order reference number issued by the Enhanced IRSIS, the price of the said stamps shall be paid by the importer or local manufacturer of cigarettes, heated tobacco products and vapor products through the on-line payment facility, over-the-counter, or bills-payment on-line facility of APO: Provided, however, that in case of discrepancy between the said taxpayer’s own record and the database of the Enhanced IRSIS, the latter shall prevail, after prior consultation with the concerned parties, for purposes of payment of the total price due on the internal revenue stamps that were previously ordered.

In case of occurrence of inflation, escalation and/or decrease in costs of raw materials and equipment to be used for stamps production, APO and BIR shall jointly approved the adjustment of internal revenue stamps, based on recommendation of APO and after consultation with all concerned stakeholders.

The amendatory revenue regulations for the effective implementation of price escalation/adjustment shall be issued.

It shall be understood that payment of the price of internal revenue stamps shall be subject to the existing tax laws, rules and regulations governing withholding taxes.

Internal Revenue Stamp – shall refer to the BIR-issued stamp with a dimensional size of 23 millimeters (mm) by 43 mm containing multi-layered security features and an Enhanced IRSIS-assigned UIC and a QR Code containing information pertinent only to the cigarette, heated tobacco products and vapor container (e.g. pack, cartons, bottles, pods) to which the internal revenue stamp is affixed. The new (3rd generation) internal revenue stamp comes in ten (10) different color designs designated for locally manufactured and imported cigarettes, heated tobacco and vapor products and for constructive affixture of the stamps on exportation. Internal Revenue Stamps may be ordered in banderols or pre-cut/stack according to the machine requirements of the importer or the local manufacturers;

SECTION 7. RELEASE OF INTERNAL REVENUE STAMPS FROM APO. – The internal revenue stamps shall be released and received personally by the authorized representatives of the importer or local manufacturer of cigarettes, heated tobacco products and vapor products directly from the APO designated plant, within fifteen (15) calendar days from the scheduled date of its release as indicated in the email notification. Failure to claim the internal revenue stamps from the said period shall authorize APO to charge the said taxpayer for the reasonable storage fees. The said authorized representatives should be able to present their identification cards duly issued by the importer or manufacturer of cigarettes, heated tobacco products and vapor products upon claiming the internal revenue stamps.

g.

Quick Reference (QR) Code – shall refer to a two dimensional bar code that holds information on the internal revenue stamp;

h.

Return Material Authorization (RMA) – shall refer to the process of replacing returned Bad Order and Spoiled Stamps with equal number of stamps. RMA shall take the place of the previous process of credit back for returned stamps with the printing cost to be shouldered by the taxpayers in cases of spoiled stamps;

The authorized BIR personnel shall always be present to witness and monitor the actual release by APO of the internal revenue stamps to the said taxpayer’s authorized representatives. Accordingly, the BIR personnel shall attest thereto by affixing his or her signature on the release document issued for the purpose. The attested document shall be used as reference in case of claim for RMA for spoiled/bad order stamps.

f.

i.

Spoiled Stamps – shall refer to internal revenue stamps damaged during their affixture on packs and/or cartons at the production warehouse of the taxpayer where the UIC is still visible or QR Code is still verifiable by the machine;

j.

Top-up on Excise Tax – shall refer to the additional excise tax levied to all local manufacturers and importers of cigarettes, heated tobacco products and vapor products as a result of an increase in excise tax rate due to enactment of law and implemented by revenue issuances. It is assessed and collected by computing the differential increase between the new tax rate and the current tax rate multiplied by the number of unaffixed internal revenue stamps in the possession of the importer and/or local manufacturer, affixed stamps on cigarette, heated tobacco packs and cartons/bottles of vapor products not removed from the place of production of the local manufacturer, ordered stamps not released from APO-designated plant and imported cigarettes, heated tobacco products and vapor products affixed with internal revenue stamps not released from customshouse of the BOC at the time of the effectivity of the new tax rate. It is also applied to backorder and stamps subject to RMA if the same are released and received by the taxpayers after the effectivity of the new tax rates; and

k.

Upon receipt of the internal revenue stamps by the authorized representatives, the ownership and responsibility thereon shall be transferred to the importer or local manufacturer of cigarettes, heated tobacco products and vapor products. Any damage to or loss of internal revenue stamps after release thereof shall be for the account of the importer or local manufacturer of the said excisable products.

In case of partial release of ordered stamps due to factory defect, the Enhanced IRSIS will record a Backorder for the remaining quantity of ordered stamps not released from APO-designated plant. The factory defected stamps will be replaced with new stamps and new UICs upom validation and certification by APO and the Service Provider of the Enhanced IRSIS with Post Validation by BIR to ensure that the volume of defected stamps are the same with the volume for replacement.

Basically, backorder will be the process of allowing partial release of ordered stamps and issuance of the remaining quantity after reproduction thereof. In such case, the following shall be undertaken/accomplished: 1.

The taxpayer shall submit a request for replacement of Factory Defected Stamps to APO, copy furnished the BIR-ELTFOD;

2.

APO shall facilitate the approval with confirmation by the Enhanced IRSIS Provider and a joint report shall be provided to the BIR as basis for post validation. The report shall identify the following:

Unique Identifier Code (UIC) – shall refer to the code/serial number that represents an internal revenue stamp.

SECTION 3. ENROLLMENT OF IMPORTERS AND LOCAL MANUFACTURERS OF CIGARETTE, HEATED TOBACCO PRODUCTS AND VAPOR PRODUCTS WITH ENHANCED IRSIS. – A letter of intent for enrollment and registration with Enhanced IRSIS shall be filed by the importer and/or local manufacturer of cigarettes, heated tobacco products and vapor products with the Chief, Excise LT Field Operations Division (ELTFOD) of the BIR, together with a duly notarized Board Resolution, in case the taxpayer is a juridical entity, or a Special Power of Attorney (SPA), in case of a sole proprietor stating, among others, the names of his/her representatives who are authorized, in behalf of the taxpayer, to maintain a user account for purposes of using the Enhanced IRSIS. In case of changes of the taxpayer’s authorized representative, a separate Board Resolution or SPA shall be issued by the taxpayer for this purpose to warrant cancellation and replacement of user’s name/account.

The taxpayer, through its authorized user, shall subsequently proceed to the BIR website at www.bir.gov.ph and access the Enhanced IRSIS icon which is viewable in the system for purposes of initiating the enrollment process. All the fields as represented by blank boxes provided in the enrollment form screen shall be filled up and all instructions shall be complied in order to complete the enrollment process.

Thereafter, the taxpayer, through its authorized representative, shall receive an electronic mail (email) notification validating the receipt and approval of the application.

For this purpose, the email address to be used by the concerned taxpayers shall be the official business email address in case of corporations or partnerships, or the personal email address in case of sole proprietorships. However, for sole proprietorships, the individual registered taxpayer may authorize his/her subordinate employees to use their respective personal email accounts; provided, that the latter’s submission shall be deemed the submission of the individual registered taxpayer himself/herself.

Accordingly, in case of violations committed by such subordinate employees, the individual registered taxpayer shall be liable for the corresponding penalties therefor.

The BIR shall ensure that necessary briefings/trainings on Enhanced IRSIS are conducted to concerned taxpayers or its authorized representatives, including BIR’s duly authorized revenue personnel, prior to the actual implementation of these Regulations in order to provide and clarify the details of the aforesaid enrollment and usage of the system.

SECTION 4. ORDERING OF INTERNAL REVENUE STAMPS THROUGH ENHANCED IRSIS AND BIR APPROVAL THEREOF. – Each and every order shall be placed only through the stamp ordering module of Enhanced IRSIS by the authorized user. All orders submitted on or before twelve o’clock noon (12:00 NN) shall be processed by BIR within the said working day. Accordingly, all orders submitted after 12:00 NN of the working day shall be processed the following working day.

Upon approval by BIR of the order, an email notification shall be received by the said authorized user confirming the order with the date of release of the internal revenue stamps from the APO-designated plant. The internal revenue stamps shall be released by APO to the importer/local manufacturer of cigarettes, heated tobacco products and vapor products not later than fifteen (15) calendar days from the date of approval by the BIR of the submitted order.

All orders of internal revenue stamps, after having been duly approved by the BIR, are no longer allowed by Enhanced IRSIS to be cancelled or changed by the authorized users of importers and manufacturers of cigarettes, heated tobacco products and vapor products. Accordingly, the authorized users shall ensure that the correct information is encoded prior to the submission thereof in the ordering module of the Enhanced IRSIS. SECTION 5. PRIOR PAYMENT OF EXCISE TAX ON ORDERS OF INTERNAL REVENUE STAMPS. – Each and every order of internal revenue stamp submitted by the authorized user of the importer or local manufacturer of cigarettes, heated tobacco products and vapor products shall be approved by the BIR. Provided, however, That the excise tax due on the total number of internal revenue stamps ordered has been paid by the importer or local manufacturer of cigarettes, heated tobacco products and vapor products.

For purposes of placing the order of internal revenue stamps, through the Enhanced IRSIS, the excise tax payment shall only be made through the Electronic Filing and Payment System (eFPS) of the BIR. Accordingly, the importer or local manufacturer of cigarettes, heated tobacco products and vapor products shall be enrolled with the eFPS. Non-EFPS taxpayers shall use other mode of filing and payment to be captured through system integration or manual data entry.

In cases of eFPS downtime or unavailability, the excise tax return (BIR Form No. 2200-T) shall be manually filed and the excise tax payment be made through the duly Authorized Agent Banks (AABs) of the BIR where the importer or local manufacturer of cigarettes, heated tobacco products and vapor products are enrolled. The copies of duly received excise tax return and proof of the excise tax payment shall be submitted to the Chief, ELTFOD for purposes of encoding the details of payment in the Enhanced IRSIS. Accordingly, tax return (initially filed manual return) should eventually be filed in the eFPS facility on or before the deadline stated in accordance with RMO No. 65-2016.

a.

Taxpayer;

b.

Volume or quantity of Factory Defected Stamps;

c.

Date of Production;

d.

UICs;

e.

QR Codes; and

f.

Other necessary details.

3.

Replacement shall be processed upon approval/consideration by APO and the Service Provider with a joint report given to BIR-ELTFOD. Hence, APO and the Service Provider shall be the one responsible/accountable for the Factory Defected Stamp replacements since prior approval by BIR is no longer required;

4.

The BIR shall conduct post validation of the Factory Defected Stamps replacement and the desctruction of stamps on a per taxpayer basis by ELTFOD in coordination with concerned Audit Group; and

5.

The report of destruction shall be submitted by the Revenue Officers for approval by authorized BIR Officials.

SECTION 8. SPOILED INTERNAL REVENUE STAMPS, BAD ORDERS, LOSSES AND REPLACEMENTS THEREOF. – In cases where the internal revenue stamps already in the possession of the local manufacturer of cigarettes, heated tobacco products and vapor products became spoiled, were damaged or rendered unfit for affixture to the said excisable products or found to be bad orders, the said stamps shall be surrendered to the BIR within six (6) months from the date of release by APO. In the case of spoiled stamps and bad orders in the possession of the importers, the same shall be surrendered to the BIR within ten (10) months immediately after receipt thereof from APO: Provided, that the importer or local manufacturer shall report the same in accordance with the provisions of Section 11 of these Regulations.

Bad Orders or spoiled stamps to be surrendered to the BIR by the importers or local manufacturers of cigarettes, heated tobacco products and vapor products shall be affixed and properly arranged in rows and columns on the sheet of paper specifically provided for the purpose by APO. The replacement of spoiled stamps shall be allowed only upon approval by the BIR using the online facility of the Enhanced IRSIS, with the corresponding payment of the printing cost prevailing at the time when the spoiled stamps were originally ordered subject to top-up if applicable.

With respect to bad orders of internal revenue stamps, the price for the printing cost thereof shall no longer be paid by the importer or manufacturer of cigarettes, heated tobacco products and vapor products, subject to prior verification by APO upon the surrender thereof with corresponding approval by BIR. The Enhanced IRSIS will utilize the process of Return Material Authorization (RMA) in handling the replacement of the returned tax stamps by the importer or local manufacturer of cigarettes, heated tobacco products and vapor products due to bad order and spoilage. Once approved, this will correspond to the production order for tax stamps with new UICs, subject to Top-Ups, if applicable.

In no case shall replacement be allowed under the following instances: a.

Failure by the importer or manufacturer of cigarettes, heated tobacco products and vapor products to surrender any spoiled stamp or bad order within the required period as provided herein. Stamps surrendered beyond the period required under these Regulations shall be processed in accordance with Section 204 (C) of the Tax Code.

b.

Unaccounted internal revenue stamps, except in cases of losses due to force majeure or other fortuitous events beyond the control of man.

c.

Spoiled internal revenue stamps that were surrendered to the BIR that do not bear their respective UIC or QR Codes.

d.

Spoiled internal revenue stamps that were surrendered to the BIR containing their respective UIC or QR Codes but no longer verifiable by the mobile device.

Factory Defected Stamps, Bad order or spoiled stamps that were not surrendered within the prescriptive periods to surrender such stamps shall be allowed disposal by the importer or local manufacturer subject to verification by the BIR. Guidelines, policies and procedures shall be prescribed for the inspection or supervision of the disposal of bad orders, unreadable or spoiled stamps that shall not be subjected for replacement under the Enhanced Internal Revenue Stamp Integrated System (Enhanced IRSIS) due to expiration of the prescriptive period to surrender such stamps and no claim for refund/TCC was submitted. If the taxpayer applies for Refund/ Tax Credit under Section 204 (C) of the NIRC, as amended, the disposal/destruction shall be the responsibility of the concerned Audit Office in coordination with ELTFOD.

SECTION 9. AFFIXTURE OF STAMPS. – Subject to the transitory provisions of Section 15 hereof, all importations and removals from the place of production of cigarettes, heated tobacco products and vapor products shall be affixed with the internal revenue stamps prescribed by these Regulations.

Cigarettes, Heated Tobacco Products and Vapor Products manufactured for export by the taxpayer irrespective of location shall (a) comply strictly with all existing BIR rules and regulations, terms and conditions for operating in relation to registration of brands, manufacture, import, utilization and withdrawal of raw materials, work in process and finished products, labels and posting of export bonds, among others; (b) have labels stating clearly that the cigarettes, heated tobacco products and vapor products are strictly for sale in the country of destination for which it was allowed to be manufactured for; (c) have labels that are not similar in any way to the labels of cigarettes, heated tobacco products and vapor products sold in the Philippines; and (d) provide proof that the cigarettes, heated tobacco products and vapor products authorized to be manufactured for a foreign destination were actually shipped to the country of destination for which it was authorized to be manufactured as evidenced by a certified true copy of the bill of lading and/or shipping manifest clearly identifying the quantity (as to number of packs/pods/bottles) and brand of cigarettes, heated tobacco products and vapor products actually shipped to the country of destination which is clearly identified.

For cigarettes, heated tobacco and vapor products manufactured for export

by Special Economic and Freeport Zones locators, in addition to the requirements under their respective Investment Promotion Agency-registration, the taxpayer shall comply with the following requirements before they could be authorized to order or affix stamps: a.

Secure a BIR Permit to Operate as Manufacturer of Tobacco Products, Heated Tobacco Products and Vapor Products;

b.

Secure a BIR Permit to Operate Leaf Tobacco and/or Non-Tobacco Material (NTM) Warehouses;

c.

BIR Registration of brands and variants produced for export, which includes proposed packaging “artwork” that complies with the Philippine labelling requirements;

d.

Enrollment and encoding of all manufacturing transactions in BIR’s Official Registry Book System to monitor all movements of raw materials and finished goods and/or submission of all transcription sheet of Official Registry Books (ORBs) to the concerned BIR Office on or before the 8th day of the month immediately following the month of operation and every 8th day of every month thereafter in the form prescribed under existing rules and regulations;

e.

Submission of a Plat and Plan of the manufacturing facility with list of machineries and equipment to be used in the operations; and

f.

Designation and access by a BIR Revenue Officer on Premise (ROOP) in and to the manufacturing facility at any time.

All cigarettes, heated tobacco and vapor products manufactured for export shall be provided the range of UICs of internal revenue stamps, thru IRSIS, intended for affixture to the cigarettes, heated tobacco and vapor products for export, and said UIC shall be released to the manufacturer. Provided, further, that the price of Four Centavos (P0.04), per piece of internal revenue stamp on such cigarettes, heated tobacco and vapor products for export, shall be paid by the manufacturer-exporter.

The payment thereof shall be considered constructive affixture of the internal revenue stamps on such cigarettes, heated tobacco and vapor products for export that shall be integrated in the system for monitoring of volume, brand/variant, country of destination and report purposes: Provided, finally, that the range of UICs that were released to the manufacturer-exporter shall be reported to the BIR, thru Enhanced IRSIS. In the event of failure to comply with the aforementioned requirements, the internal revenue stamps prescribed by these Regulations shall be duly affixed on the packs of cigarettes, heated tobacco products and vapor products before removal from the place of production.

The internal revenue stamp for imported products and locally manufactured products for domestic market shall be affixed at the upper portion of the immediate container of cigarettes, heated tobacco products and vapor products (e.g. hard pack, soft pack, cartons, tin can, pod, bottle, etc.) including exported products, if applicable, regardless of the number of sticks units/pods, bottles contained therein, overlapping the intended opening of the immediate container in such manner as to effectively seal the container and prevent the removal of sticks units, pods, bottles of cigarettes, heated tobacco products and vapor products without breaking the said stamp and before the immediate container is wrapped in cellophane or transparent wrapper. However, for containers of cigarettes, heated tobacco and vapor products with pictogram, the internal revenue stamp may be affixed at the side overlapping the intended opening of the immediate container in a manner as to effectively seal the container and prevent the removal of sticks units, pods bottles, etc. of cigarettes, heated tobacco and vapor products without breaking the said stamp and before the immediate container is wrapped in cellophane or transparent wrapper. Moreover, the internal revenue stamp shall be affixed on the cigarette, heated tobacco and vapor products container in a manner without violating the health warning requirements prescribed under existing law, rules and regulations.

Provided further, that cigarettes and heated tobacco products in ten (10) sticks and units bundled in packs of twenties (20s) and other packaging combinations of not more than twenty (20) shall be taxed as one, but the internal revenue stamps affixed to the cigarettes and heated tobacco products shall be equivalent to the number of packs bundled together.

In order to facilitate the monitoring of internal revenue stamps duly issued to the importers and local manufacturers by the BIR, through APO, the stamps shall be affixed to the immediate containers of cigarettes, heated tobacco products and vapor products on a first-in-first-out (FIFO) basis.

Any cigarettes, heated tobacco products and vapor products found in any area in the Philippines without any internal revenue stamp affixed shall be presumed to have been withdrawn without the payment of the excise tax due thereon, and shall be subject to the penalties provided for in the National Internal Revenue Code, as amended and the related rules and regulations.

SECTION 10. PRODUCT REGISTRATION REQUIREMENTS, EXPORT COMPLIANCE AND SUPERVISION BY REVENUE OFFICERS ON PREMISE (ROOP) The BIR, through the Excise LT Regulatory Division (ELTRD), shall ensure that all manufacturers, whether domestic or a Special Economic and Freeport Zone-registered Export Enterprise or distributor shall register their brands/variant of products and comply with the labelling and packaging requirements. The Excise LT Field Operations Division (ELTFOD) shall supervise the establishments where articles subject to excise tax are made or kept, including those located within the Special Economic and Freeport Zones to ensure compliance with the administrative requirements on monitoring of the production/affixture, removal, and release of stamps on a per product per taxpayer basis.

The following existing requirements under Revenue Regulations (RR) No. 3-2006 and related issuances shall be complied by all exporters within thirty (30) days from the date of actual removal from the place of production subject to extension for meritorious reasons as approved by BIR: a.

Export Permit/Export Entry Declaration duly filed with Bureau of Customs/ Special Economic and Freeport Zones;

b.

Commercial/Sales Invoice;

c.

Packing List;

d.

Bill of Lading/ Sea Way Bill/Air Way Bill;

e.

Cargo Manifest, if applicable;

f.

Inward Bank Remittance in Foreign Currency Acceptable to Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas;

g.

Proforma Invoice, if applicable;

h.

Inspection Fees, if applicable;

i.

Import Entry Filed in the Port of Destination (or equivalent document); and

j.

BIR Form No. 1425 or Official Delivery Invoice (GUIA) or any BIR prescribed forms, such as but not limited to BIR Form No. 2299 or Excise Taxpayer’s Removal Declaration (ETRD) to document removal of excisable articles from the place of production.

For taxpayer’s availing of Product Replenishment, the documentary requirements under RR No. 3-2008 shall be submitted accordingly.

For Special Economic and Freeport Zones, the exporter may provide equivalent documents used in their respective zones duly confirmed by the Zone. The BIR shall coordinate with the respective zone administrations to ensure harmonious and unimpeded flow of business operation.

Submission of the above documents shall warrant the actual shipment of the product to the country of destination.

SECTION 11. REPORTING REQUIREMENTS FOR AFFIXTURE OF STAMPS, REMOVALS OF CIGARETTE, HEATED TOBACCO PRODUCTS AND VAPOR PRODUCTS WITH AFFIXED STAMPS, INCLUDING SPOILED, LOST STAMPS AND BAD ORDERS. – The importers and local manufacturers of cigarettes, heated tobacco products and vapor products shall submit the reports enumerated below through the Enhanced IRSIS reporting facilities within the deadlines prescribed as follows: Type of Report

Deadline of Submission

a. Affixture of Stamps

Within ten (10) working days from the end of the month of affixture. In the case of imported cigarettes, heated tobacco products and vapor products, date of affixture shall refer to date of release from Customs custody

b. Removal of Cigarettes, Heated Tobacco Products and Vapor Products

Within fifteen (15) working days from the date of removal from the finished goods warehouse (A-5), (A-8) & (A-9) for local manufacturers, and/or taxpaid depots, for importers

c. Spoiled, Lost Stamps and Bad Orders Stamps

Within six (6) months from the date of release

by APO and in case of importer, within ten (10) months after receipt from APO.

News

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TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 14, 2021 mst.daydesk@gmail.com

Solon sees rice price spiking as Vietnam’s supply dwindles

By Maricel V. Cruz

A

House leader has warned against possible rice price increases over the coming months as Vietnam, the country’s main source of imported rice, suffers rice supply pressures as Vietnamese farmers shift to more highvalue varieties of the staple grain.

Rep. Joey Sarte Salceda of Albay said: “The implications of these developments in Vietnam are certain. If we don’t do anything with domestic supply and source diversification, we could see higher rice price inflation.”

To address the problem, Salceda said the

government should fast-track the Rice Competitiveness Enhancement Fund (RCEF) programs.

Salceda cited data from the Vietnam Food Association (VFA), which showed that Vietnam’s rice exports in the first seven months only reached about 3.5 million tonnes, down 12.7 per cent over the same period in 2020.

Salceda added the VFA’s statements that Vietnamese farmers are shifting to more expensive varieties, while accepting a decline in export volumes.

“We should never depend on Vietnam’s rice exports for our supply in the first place.

Vietnam is a society that is becoming more affluent. The result of higher purchasing power is greater food consumption. That means fewer volumes available for export,” Salceda said.

The lawmaker said Vietnam’s Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD) also showed that rice prices in-

creased in the first seven months of 2021, although with limited supplies due to the ongoing health crisis.

“Part of what keeps inflation tame despite higher meat and transport prices is because rice inflation is actually negative in some cases. Average rice prices in August declined by 0.4 percent year-on-year. Imagine what happens to inflation when that ticks up even just a bit. The poor spend around 20 percent of their income on rice,” Salceda remarked.

“We really need the RCEF programs to be fast-tracked so that we can respond to these developments from our main provider of imported rice,” he stressed.

Meanwhile, the Bureau of Customs (BOC) has collected P11.69 billion in tariffs from 1.74 million metric tons (MT) of rice imports from January to August, which is already 17 percent more than the minimum funding requirement for the annual RCEF for the following year.

‘Kiko’ displaces 6,315 families in Regions 1-3, CAR

DRIVE-THRU QUEUE. Motorists continue to line up at the Quirino Grandstand in Manila for drive-thru vaccinations for COVID-19 on Monday, as the city’s MDRRMO staff check to see if they are registered to speed up the vaccination. Norman Cruz

Environmentalists: PH ‘Asia’s deadliest country’

By Rio N. Araja ENVIRONMENTALISTS on Monday claimed the Philippines remains Asia’s deadliest country.

The international human rights and environment group Global Witness said the Philippines is still the worst place for land and environmental defense in Asia.

“Global Witness data demonstrate that the murder of environmental defenders doubled under the Duterte government compared to its predecessor,” Leon Dulce, Kalikasan People’s Network for the Environment (Kalikasan PNE) national coordinator, said.

“We clearly need a new leadership that will protect our nature’s front-liners and stop destructive projects that aggravate our country’s ecological, climate and human rights crises,” Dulce added.

Kalikasan PNE is a leading partner of Global

Witness in in the documentation of environmental defender killings.

A Global Witness report entitled “The Last Line of Defence” showed a total of 227 environmental defenders murdered across the world, the deadliest year on record.

The Philippines ranked third overall with 29 killings, trailing behind Colombia, 65 and Mexico, 30, making it the country with the highest figures outside the Americas.

The report said the worst massacre on record occurred in the Philippines was when nine indigenous Tumandok tribe leaders and members were massacred on Dec. 30, 2020, during which 17 other indigenous people were arrested for their opposition against the Jalaur mega-dam project in Panay Island.

It noted that a total of 166 land and environmental defenders were killed until the end of 2020, which is double the number killed under the previous regime.

TYPHOON Kiko has affected 6,315 families in four regions and rendered some roads still impassable, the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) said in its Monday update.

These families are residing in 110 barangays located in Regions 1, 2, 3 and the Cordillera Administrative Region or equivalent to 23,702 persons.

About 508 families or around 1,789 individuals are sheltered in 62 evacuation centers while the remaining families are aided by friends and relatives.

Two houses were reported partially damaged in the Cordillera.

In a report by the Department of Public Works and Highways, some roads remain impassable either due to landslides or flooding brought by Typhoons Kiko and Jolina.

Some roads in the provinces of Aurora, Nueva Ecija, Pampanga, Batangas and Leyte are passable only to light vehicles.

As of 6 a.m. Monday, the TernateNasugbu Road in Barangay Sapang II in Ternate, Cavite remains impassable to all types of vehicles due to landslides. Motorists are advised to take Tuy Road as an alternative route.

The Nueva Ecija-Aurora Road, Diteki River Detour Road in Aurora is still flooded and passable only to light vehicles; while PinagpanaanRizal Pantabangan Road, Bicos Bridge I, Barangay Bicos, in Rizal, Nueva Ecija is one-lane passable due to a damaged bridge deck.

Monsod to Ombudsman: People are the principals A 1987 Constitution framer, former Commission on Elections chairperson Christian Monsod, on Monday slammed Ombudsman Samuel Martires for declining to publicly release the Statement of Assets, Liabilities and Net Worth (SALN) of government officials, including that of President Rodrigo Duterte.

“It seems that the present Ombudsman has forgotten that in a democracy, the people are the principals, and the government officials are their agents, not the other way around,” he said during a Zoom forum organized by the Right to Know Right Now Coalition.

Monsod said the Constitution was not written so that the Office of the Ombudsman would be the “protector of government officials.”

Martires earned criticism for batting for a jail term of five years for any person who “makes a comment” on the SALN of a particular government worker.

Monsod maintained that the Constitution has three provisions supporting the existence of the SALN law -- Article 2, Sections 27 and 28, and Article 11, Section 1.

He said the provisions allow the SALN to function as a tool for an accountability system. Rio N. Araja

WATER FOR MUNOZ. PrimeWater Muñoz led by Engr. John F. Cardenas (fifth from left) and joint venture partner Muñoz Water District (MWD) together with Science City of Muñoz Mayor Nestor L. Alvarez (fourth from left), breaks ground for the Gabaldon booster station with a water reservoir held in Muñoz, Nueva Ecija. Also present were (from left) MWD Board Member Maila C. Marañon; MWD Board Member Angelita F. Garcia; MWD General Manager Engr. Rogelio L. Miguel; Mayor Alvarez; PrimeWater’s Cardenas; Mayor’s Office Senior Executive Asst. Tita Armi L. Alvarez; MWD Board Secretary Marietta M. Recometa; MWD Acting Chairman Engr. Renato C. Vergara; Brgy. Gabaldon Chairman Bernardino E. Bautista; MWD Board Member Edgardo S. Dela Cruz; and PrimeWater Cabanatuan Branch Manager Engr. Shaly S. Lopez.

Kabankalan City, with 11 living centenarians, home to oldest living Pinoy BACOLOD CITY—The City of Kabankalan in Negros Occidental, which currently has 11 validated living centenarians, takes pride in being home to the oldest living Filipino— 124-year-old Francisca Montes Susano.

On Sept. 11, Susano, who was born in 1897, turned a year older and this time, her well-wishers included Chief Executive Officer Franklin Quijano of the National Commission on Senior Citizens (NCSC).

Photos posted by the city government on Facebook on Sunday showed Quijano, with Mayor Pedro Zayco and Vice Mayor Raul Rivera, visiting the supercentenarian at home in Barangay Oringao.

“It’s an honor for us to have the oldest living Filipino in our place,” city tourism and

information officer Jake Carlyne Gonzales told the Philippine News Agency (PNA) on Monday.

She said the NCSC reached out to the city government to arrange for Quijano to visit Susano in the southern Negros city.

Quijano gave the supercentenarian a bouquet, a plaque recognition, PHP10,000 cash and a manager’s check amounting to PHP24,000.

Commissioner Jorge Largado of the Commission on Indigenous Peoples also came to visit to acknowledge Susano as a member of the IP community in her village.

Also, Susano received two wheelchairs -one each from the Provincial Health Office and Department of Health -- as well as essen-

tial items such as vitamin supplements, face shields and blankets.

With the bid to have Susano declared as the oldest living person in the world, Gonzales said the city government and the Susano family are willing to assist and provide documents to the Guinness World Records that will verify her birth records.

She bore 14 children, including her now 101-year-old eldest daughter.

Meanwhile, among the living centenarians in Kabankalan, two are 104 years old.

Esperanza Gargantiel and Argentina Azcona are considered among the oldest vaccinees in the country.

Quijano also visited Gargantiel at her residence in Barangay 3 on Saturday.

World

TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 14, 2021

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mst.daydesk@gmail.com

New Zealand extends strict lockdown in virus-hit Auckland

N

This handout photo from the Sabah Wildlife Department shows a vet wearing personal protective equipment while collecting a swab sample from an orangutan for COVID-19 testing at the Sepilok Orangutan Rehabilitation Center in Sandakan on the Malaysian island of Borneo. AFP

Testing times: Orangutans get swabbed for COVID DOZENS of critically endangered orangutans in Malaysia have been tested for the coronavirus, with vets in protective suits undertaking the tricky task of giving the apes nasal swabs.

The antigen tests on 30 of the red-haired creatures in Sabah state on Borneo Island were conducted last Tuesday, and all came back negative, wildlife officials said.

They were the first virus tests on orangutans in the Southeast Asian country, and were ordered after staff at a rehabilitation center and wildlife park became infected.

“Testing for COVID-19 has been a vital tool in helping us get through this pandemic, and it is similarly important for this orangutan population,” said Sen Nathan, assistant director of the Sabah Wildlife Department.

“The disease could prove vastly detrimental to their health and set back their rehabilitation.”

Vets will continue to closely monitor the apes and tests will be conducted regularly, officials said.

Animals have become infected

with COVID-19 on occasion. At the weekend, a zoo in Atlanta announced that several of its gorillas had tested positive. Domestic cats, dogs and at least one ferret have also been infected.

Malaysia is fighting a serious COVID-19 outbreak driven by the highly contagious Delta variant, and has been recording thousands of cases and hundreds of deaths each day.

Sabah, on the northeastern tip of Borneo and home to vast tracts of jungle and a kaleidoscope of rare animals, has also faced a surge in cases.

Bornean orangutans are classified as “critically endangered” by protection group the International Union for Conservation of Nature.

Their populations have declined by more than 50 percent over the past 60 years, according to the WWF, as the animals’ forest habitat has been progressively cut down to make way for agricultural plantations.

Borneo is shared between Malaysia, Indonesia and Brunei. AFP

EW Zealand’s largest city of Auckland will remain in strict COVID-19 lockdown for at least another week as a Delta variant outbreak “rumbles along,” Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said Monday.

Ardern said the city’s two million residents needed to abide by stay-at-home orders because of the emergence of several “mystery cases” which had not yet been linked to existManila Standard ing clusters.

TODAY “These mystery cases are still coming through and the fact we’re finding them

through surveillance and community testing, rather than contact tracing, is what we’re concerned about,” she said.

New Zealand imposed a national lockdown on August 17 when the first case of the highly transmissible Delta variant was found in the community.

But stay-at-home orders were lifted outside Auckland last week as it became apparent that all new cases were emerging in the city.

Ardern ruled out lifting Auckland’s hard lockdown before September 21 but said the city should then move down an alert level on the country’s four-tier coronavirus response Manila system.

Standard With 33 new community casesTODAY recorded in the city on Monday, Ardern said she was wary of lifting restrictions too early.

NOTICE TO THE PUBLIC

NOTICE TO THE PUBLIC

Promo Mechanics:

Promo Mechanics:

1) Promo will be available starting from September 17 – September 30, 2021 in the following additional areas as approved by DTI-FTEB:

1)

Bulacan: Norzagaray Nueva Ecija: Lupao Nueva Vizcaya: Dupax Del Norte Pangasinan: Laoac, Dasol, Aguilar, Bautista, Binalonan, San Jacinto, Tayug Laguna: Nagcarlan Batangas: Lemery Cavite: Maragondon Quezon: Lucban

The promo must be activated within the promo period. Promos activated after the promo period shall not take effect.

The promo must be activated within the promo period. Promos activated after the promo period shall not take effect.

2) The promo is priced at Php 199.00 and is inclusive of the following:

2)

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Pro-democracy camp loses ground in Macau MACAU’S pro-democracy camp lost further ground in the Chinese gambling hub’s legislature, according to preliminary results Monday from an election marred by low turnout and a ban on “disloyal” candidates.

Macau, like neighboring Hong Kong, is a “semi-autonomous” Chinese territory, and the central government in Beijing has been tightening control in both with a more direct role in recent years.

Authorities in Macau had disqualified 21 candidates – most of them Manila Standard from the pro-democracy camp – from Sunday’s election on national TODAY security grounds.

They were accused of disloyalty to China after they commemorated the victims of the 1989 Tiananmen Square crackdown and honored rights activist and Beijing critic Liu Xiaobo.

Of the 33 seats in Macau’s legislature, 14 are directly elected and a preliminary count on Monday showed the pro-democracy camp won just two – half of what it got in the last vote in 2017.

The other 19 lawmakers include 12 indirectly chosen from professional sectors and seven appointed by Macau’s chief executive.

The general turnout of just over 42 percent was the lowest since the former Portuguese colony was handed over to China in 1999, but authorities dismissed suggestions that it was caused by the disqualification of pro-democracy candidates.

The president of Macau’s Electoral Affairs Committee, Tong Hio Fong, blamed the low level of participation on coronavirus restrictions, hot weather and heavy rain on Sunday. AFP

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open vehicle for a Holy Mass at the end of an International Eucharistic Congress in Budapest on September 12, 2021, during his papal visit to Hungary. The Pope embarked on his 34th international trip for a oneday visit to Hungary for an international Catholic event and a meeting with the country’s populist leader, and a three-day visit to Slovakia. AFP

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MASKLESS. Pope Francis greets the faithful as he arrives in an

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Promo shall only be offered in the following areas: LUZON: NCR: Manila, Quezon City, Muntinlupa, Paranaque, Pasay, Taguig, Pateros, Makati, Pasig, Mandaluyong, San Juan, Caloocan, Malabon, Navotas, Valenzuela, Marikina, Las Pinas; Pangasinan: Basista, Binmaley, Dagupan, Manaoag, Mangatarem, San Manuel, San Carlos City, Lingayen (Capital), San Nicolas, Alaminos, Bolinao, Urdaneta, Urbiztondo, Bani, Bugallon, Mangaldan; Bulacan: Pandi, San Jose del Monte, Malolos, Meycauayan, Marilao, Bocaue, Hagonoy, Bulacan, Plaridel, Baliuag, Guiguinto, Bustos, San Ildefonso, San Miguel, Santa Maria, San Rafael, Pulilan; Nueva Ecija: Llanera, Palayan City, Santa Rosa, Santo Domingo Science City of Munoz, Talavera, Cabanatuan, Gapan City, San Leonardo, San Jose, General Mamerto Natividad, Rizal, Zaragoza, General Tinio (Papaya), Licab, Jaen, Quezon; Pampanga: Angeles, Mabalacat, Mexico, Guagua, San Fernando, Magalang, San Simon, Lubao; Tarlac: Capas, Tarlac City, Concepcion, Gerona, Moncada, La Paz, Ramos, San Manuel, Pura, Victoria; Zambales: Olongapo, Subic; Bataan: Balanga, Dinalupihan, Orani; Batangas: Alitagtag, Bauan, Cuenca, San Jose, Ibaan, Batangas City, Malvar, Mataas na Kahoy, San Pascual, Santo Tomas, Lipa City, Talisay, Tanauan City, Taysan, Balete, Padre Garcia, San Juan, Balayan, Calaca, San Luis, Taal, Agoncillo, San Nicolas, Lian, Calatagan, Tuy, Laurel; Cavite: Kawit, Bacoor, Imus, Tagaytay City, Silang, Dasmarinas, Carmona, Amadeo, Rosario, Mendez, CYANTrias, MAGENTA YELLOW BLACK Naic; Indang, Alfonso, General Trece Martirez, Tanza, Magallanes.

Laguna: San Pedro, Sta Rosa, Binan, Cabuyao, Los Banos, Calamba City, Victoria, Calauan, Alaminos, San Pablo, Majayjay, Luisiana, Rizal; Rizal: Antipolo, Cainta, Taytay; Quezon: Candelaria, City of Tayabas, Pagbilao, San Antonio, Sariaya

LUZON: NCR: Manila, Quezon City, Muntinlupa, Paranaque, Pasay, Taguig, Pateros, Makati, Pasig, Mandaluyong, San Juan, Caloocan, Malabon, Navotas, Valenzuela, Marikina, Las Pinas; Pangasinan: Basista, Binmaley, Dagupan, Manaoag, Mangatarem, San Manuel, San Carlos City, Lingayen (Capital), San Nicolas, Alaminos, Bolinao, Urdaneta, Urbiztondo, Bani, Bugallon, Mangaldan; Bulacan: Pandi, San Jose del Monte, Malolos, Meycauayan, Marilao, Bocaue, Hagonoy, Bulacan, Plaridel, Baliuag, Guiguinto, Bustos, San Ildefonso, San Miguel, Santa Maria, San Rafael, Pulilan; Nueva Ecija: Llanera, Palayan City, Santa Rosa, Santo Domingo Science City of Munoz, Talavera, Cabanatuan, Gapan City, San Leonardo, San Jose, General Mamerto Natividad, Rizal, Zaragoza, General Tinio (Papaya), Licab, Jaen, Quezon; Pampanga: Angeles, Mabalacat, Mexico, Guagua, San Fernando, Magalang, San Simon, Lubao; Tarlac: Capas, Tarlac City, Concepcion, Gerona, Moncada, La Paz, Ramos, San Manuel, Pura, Victoria; Zambales: Olongapo, Subic; Bataan: Balanga, Dinalupihan, Orani; Batangas: Alitagtag, Bauan, Cuenca, San Jose, Ibaan, Batangas City, Malvar, Mataas na Kahoy, San Pascual, Santo Tomas, Lipa City, Talisay, Tanauan City, Taysan, Balete, Padre Garcia, San Juan, Balayan, Calaca, San Luis, Taal, Agoncillo, San Nicolas, Lian, Calatagan, Tuy, Laurel; Cavite: Kawit, Bacoor, Imus, Tagaytay City, Silang, Dasmarinas, Carmona, Amadeo, Rosario, Mendez, Indang, Alfonso, General Trias, Trece Martirez, Tanza, Magallanes. Naic; Laguna: San Pedro, Sta Rosa, Binan, Cabuyao, Los Banos, Calamba City, Victoria, Calauan, Alaminos, San Pablo, Majayjay, Luisiana, Rizal; Rizal: Antipolo, Cainta, Taytay; Quezon: Candelaria, City of Tayabas, Pagbilao, San Antonio, Sariaya

VISAYAS: Cebu: Toledo City, Balamban, Barili, Carcar, Cebu City, Compostela, Consolacion, Cordova, Danao, Liloan, Mandaue, Minglanilla, Naga, San Fernando, Lapu Lapu, Dumanjug, Talisay, Moalboal, Bogo City, San Remigio, Sogod, Alcantara, Santander, Ginatilan, Daanbantayan; Negros Occidental: Bacolod City, Kabankalan, Pulupandan, Silay City, Valladolid, Binalbagan; Iloilo: Iloilo City, Oton; Negros Oriental: Dumaguete, Valencia

VISAYAS: Cebu: Toledo City, Balamban, Barili, Carcar, Cebu City, Compostela, Consolacion, Cordova, Danao, Liloan, Mandaue, Minglanilla, Naga, San Fernando, Lapu Lapu, Dumanjug, Talisay, Moalboal, Bogo City, San Remigio, Sogod, Alcantara, Santander, Ginatilan, Daanbantayan; Negros Occidental: Bacolod City, Kabankalan, Pulupandan, Silay City, Valladolid, Binalbagan; Iloilo: Iloilo City, Oton; Negros Oriental: Dumaguete, Valencia

MINDANAO: Agusan Del Norte: City of Butuan; Agusan del Sur: Rosario, San Francisco, Trento, Bayugan, Santa Josefa; Compostela Valley: Monkayo; Davao del Norte: Santo Tomas, Braulio E. Dujali, Panabo, Tagum, Carmen, Island City of Samal; Davao del Sur: Santa Cruz, Bansalan, Davao City, Digos, Hagonoy; Davao de Oro: Montevista, Compostela, Nabunturan, Maco; Cotabato: Kidapawan, Makilala; South Cotabato: General Santos City, Polomolok; Bukidnon: Malaybalay, City of Valencia, Quezon, Don Carlos, Manolo Fortich, Baungon, Libona, Impasug-ong, Maramag; Lanao Del Norte: Linamon; Misamis Oriental: Balingasag, Cagayan de Oro, Claveria, Talisayan, Manticao, Sugbongcogon, Medina, Kinoguitan, Binuangan, Balingoan, Naawan, Villanueva, City of El Salvador, Jasaan, Opol, Tagoloan, City of Gingoog, Lugait; Gitagum, Laguindingan, Libertad, Initao; Saranggani: Alabel

MINDANAO: Agusan Del Norte: City of Butuan; Agusan del Sur: Rosario, San Francisco, Trento, Bayugan, Santa Josefa; Compostela Valley: Monkayo; Davao del Norte: Santo Tomas, Braulio E. Dujali, Panabo, Tagum, Carmen, Island City of Samal; Davao del Sur: Santa Cruz, Bansalan, Davao City, Digos, Hagonoy; Davao de Oro: Montevista, Compostela, Nabunturan, Maco; Cotabato: Kidapawan, Makilala; South Cotabato: General Santos City, Polomolok; Bukidnon: Malaybalay, City of Valencia, Quezon, Don Carlos, Manolo Fortich, Baungon, Libona, Impasug-ong, Maramag; Lanao Del Norte: Linamon; Misamis Oriental: Balingasag, Cagayan de Oro, Claveria, Talisayan, Manticao, Sugbongcogon, Medina, Kinoguitan, Binuangan, Balingoan, Naawan, Villanueva, City of El Salvador, Jasaan, Opol, Tagoloan, City of Gingoog, Lugait; Gitagum, Laguindingan, Libertad, Initao; Saranggani: Alabel 7)

Promo resubscription is allowed even if the current subscription is active.

The remaining data and off-net minutes allocation from the previous subscription will be carried over to the latest subscription.

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Once availed, the promo is non-refundable / non-replaceable / nonexchangeable. Promo is only valid for the subscriber’s DITO compatible mobile phone where the purchased DITO SIM and Promo are installed.

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11) By availing of the promo, the subscriber confirms that he/she has read, understood, and agreed to the promo mechanics, its terms, and conditions. Subscriber also agrees not to use the SIM and/or promo for illicit or illegal means.

11) By availing of the promo, the subscriber confirms that he/she has read, understood, and agreed to the promo mechanics, its terms, and conditions.

Subscriber also agrees not to use the SIM and/or promo for illicit or illegal means.

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by DITO Telecommunity pertaining to the promo will be deemed final and irrevocable, with the prior concurrence of DTI.

12) For any concerns and/or inquiries regarding the promo, information may be sent to customerservice@dito.ph. All matters and disputes will be subject to the final decision of DITO Telecommunity. All decisions made

by DITO Telecommunity pertaining to the promo will be deemed final and irrevocable, with the prior concurrence of DTI.

7) Promo resubscription is allowed even if the current subscription is active.

The remaining data and off-net minutes allocation from the previous subscription will be carried over to the latest subscription.

8) Once availed, the promo is non-refundable / non-replaceable / nonexchangeable. Promo is only valid for the subscriber’s DITO compatible mobile phone where the purchased DITO SIM and Promo are installed.

Per DTI Fair Trade Permit No. FTEB-123441 Series of 2021

Per DTI Fair Trade Permit No. FTEB-118950 Series of 2021 (MS-SEPT. 14, 2021)

“(Case) numbers are rumbling along and this has been evident in the last three days,” she said.

“This doesn’t mean our collective efforts in Auckland are not making a difference.”

New Zealand is pursuing a “COVID zero” elimination strategy – which has resulted in just 27 deaths in a population of five million throughout the pandemic.

It had been free of community cases for six months before the August outbreak, with residents enjoying a near-normal domestic life alongside tight restrictions on international borders.

The Delta infection prompted immediate lockdowns because of low vaccination rates, with data this week showing only about a third of the eligible population are fully jabbed. AFP

(MS-SEPT. 14, 2021)

(MS-SEPT. 14, 2021)

Sports

Riera U. Mallari, Editor; Randy M. Caluag, Assistant Editor

A8 TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 14, 2021

Medvedev denies Novak piece of tennis history NEW YORK—Being disrupted by hecklers while serving for the match only made Daniil Medvedev’s first Grand Slam title that much sweeter when it came Sunday at the expense of Novak Djokovic in the US Open final.

World number two Medvedev ripped top-ranked Djokovic 6-4, 6-4, 6-4 to deny the Serbian star the first Grand Slam sweep since 1969 and a men’s record 21st career major title.

“He definitely was not at his best.

We saw him playing better,” Medvedev said. “Question is, if he would be, would I be able to cope up with him? We can never know now. I’m just happy to win.”

The breakthrough came in Medvedev’s third Slam final after losses to Rafael Nadal in the 2019 US Open final and Djokovic in February’s Australian Open final.

“A lot of happiness. That’s my first Grand Slam,” Medvedev said. “So I’m really happy. Means a lot to me. I’m definitely going to be celebrating the next few days.”

It also came after some spectators tried to disrupt him as he served for the match in the final set. Medvedev double faulted on two match points before hitting a service winner for the triumph.

“It was definitely tough,” Medvedev said. “I knew that the only thing I can do is focus. Never know what would happen if it would be 5-all, if I would start to get crazy or whatever.

“I knew I have to focus on myself, on what I have to do to win the match. I do think it was not against me. It was more for him. They wanted to see their guy win a calendar Grand Slam.

“But, yeah, I definitely made some double-faults because of it. That makes it even more sweet that finally I managed to pass a first serve on the thirdmatch point.”

Medvedev has never been ranked higher than second, but there’s a sense his Slam breakthrough might inspire a fight to claim the number one spot —one day.

“I’m just happy to win a major,” he said. “That’s not my first goal in my mind to try to achieve it this year. If I manage to do it one day, it’s great.” AFP

Daniil Medvedev kisses his US Open trophy. AFP

Obiena now showing 5.8-meter consistency

By Peter Atencio

which he ruled.

In the process, Obiena smashed the Asian record of 5.92 meters set by Igor RNEST John “EJ” Obiena ended his long season of Kazakhstan in June with good marks and an impressive showing in the Potapovich 1992 in France.

100th Internationales Stadionfest Athletics Meet at Last Friday, Obiena vaulted to 5.83 meters on his second attempt to settle the Olympiastadion in Berlin, Germany early Monday. for fourth position in the Diamond League’s 14th and final leg in In his last competition for the year, the consistency of making the 5.8 to Zurich, Switzerland.

25-year-old Obiena still managed to fin- 5.9-meter range.

“This is the end of a long ish strong, clearing 5.81 meters on his “Medyo pagod lang, daseason. For EJ and most third attempt to claim fourth place behind hil sa dalawang araw na of the others, it has been a three Americans. magkasunod na competinon-stop series of travels, United States’ pole vaulters dominated tion. Kahit papaano, mas trainings, living out of the event, with Sam Kendricks winning consistent pa rin siya sa suitcases since April,” on countback from Chris Nilsen as both 5.8-meter range,” said said James Lafferty, one jumped 5.91 meters and KC Lightfoot Obiena’s father Emerson of Obiena’s coaching taking third with 5.81 in one go.

Obiena. consultants for strength For Kendricks, he got his first gold A day earlier at the 2021 and conditioning. medal following his bout with COV- Golden Roof Challenge in “EJ has a well-deserved ID-19, preventing him to join the Tokyo Innsbruck Austria, Obiena set break coming up and we are Olympics. a new personal best and PhilipThe long preparations since March last pine record for the fourth time Ernest John looking forward to having him in Dubai and shifting his trainyear, combined with the length of time in two years, while eclipsing Obiena ing around. More recovery, that Obiena travelled from Paris, Zurich a 29-year-old Asian record as and Munich over the past five days have well. In doing so, Obiena breached the more yoga, more time to reflect on taken its toll on him.

5.9-meter barrier again as he cleared these past months and get focused for Despite the fatigue, Obiena still showed 5.93 meters at the Austrian tourney, 2022,” added Lafferty.

E

Republic Act 11180 seeks to unify tertiary sports

CHED chairman Prospero de Vera

A COORDINATED and unified effort to develop sports at the tertiary level is in the works.

Commission on Higher Education chairman Prospero de Vera said this following a virtual meeting last week with officials of various school sports associations throughout the country.

De Vera said the CHED is now working on having the different leagues linked up with a common policy that promotes physical education and encourages athletic programs, league competitions, amateur and professional sports.

This will now be possible with the implementation of Republic Act 11180, which seeks to regulate and oversee the programs of school athletic associations in the future.

“The assistance of the national government is very limited, because there is no mechanism by which all these sports associations will regularly talk to each other,” said De Vera as he described the current situation that collegiate sports programs are in.

De Vera believes that most school sports programs belonging to different associations are disconnected from each other.

With RA 11180, the different educational institutions with sports programs will be able to participate

by providing information on their programs.

“One immediate change is that our decision making will be more data-driven. One problem of higher education sports is that we don’t have data when we make decisions because we don’t know what the schools are doing, and what programs they have,” added De Vera.

Officials of the Private Schools Athletic Association, the University Athletic Association of the Philippines and the National College Athletic Association of the Philippines were among those who attended the virtual gathering.

Also providing inputs were representative of the Women’s National Collegiate Athletic Association, the State Colleges and Universities Athletic Association, the Cebu School’s Athletic Foundation, Inc., the National Capital Regional Athletic Association, the Association of Local Colleges and Universities Athletic Association and the National Athletic Association of Schools, Colleges and Universities.

UAAP executive director Rene Saguiag Jr. and NCAA management committee member Hercules Callanta of the Lyceum Philippines University shared their inputs on how their respective leagues ran their sports programs. Peter Atencio

Djokovic copes with Slam heartbreak, crowd love NEW YORK—Tearful Novak Djokovic felt relief and sadness after his Grand Slam dream died with a US Open final defeat, overcome by loss but winning heartfelt support from New York fans.

World number one Djokovic missed the first calendar-year Slam since 1969 at the final hurdle Sunday, losing to Russia’s secondranked Daniil Medvedev 6-4, 6-4, 6-4 in Arthur Ashe Stadium.

“Relief. I was glad it was over,” Djokovic said about his feelings in the moments after the defeat.

“The buildup for this tournament and everything that mentally, emotionally I had to deal with throughout the tournament in the last couple of weeks was just a lot. It was a lot to handle,” Djokovic said.

“I was just glad that finally the run is over. At the same time I felt sadness, disappointment, and also gratitude for the crowd and for that special moment that they created for me on the court.”

Djokovic also missed out on a fourth US Open title and 21st career Grand Slam, leaving him deadlocked on the men’s record 20 Slam trophies with Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer.

“So many different emotions,” he said. “Part of me is very sad. It’s a tough one to swallow, this loss, considering everything that was on the line.

“But on the other hand I felt something I never felt in my life here in New York. The crowd made me very special. They pleasantly surprised me.”

Down two sets and two breaks, US Open fans cheered for a Djokovic fightback with a spirit he said will stay with him as long as a Grand Slam might have.

“The amount of support and energy and love I got from the crowd was something I’ll remember forever,” Djokovic said. “That’s the reason on the changeover I just teared up. The emotion, the energy was so strong.

“It’s as strong as winning 21 Grand Slams.

That’s how I felt, very special. They touched my heart. These are the kind of moments that you cherish. It was just wonderful.”

Djokovic admitted he didn’t have the game to stay with a determined Medvedev from the start.

“I was just below par with my game,” Djokovic said. “My legs were not there. I was trying. I did my best. I made a lot of unforced errors. I didn’t have no serve really.

“Just one of these days where unfortunately wasn’t meant to be.

“I know I could have and should have done better. It’s a very tough loss.”

Older guys ‘hanging on’ Djokovic took the first look back at a year that brought Australian and French Open titles and a Wimbledon crown but heartache at New York and no medal at the Tokyo Olympics.

“Was also emotionally very demanding period for me in the last five, six months,” he said.

“Unfortunately I didn’t make it in the final step. But when you draw a line, you have to be very satisfied with the year. Three wins, three slams and a final. I have to be proud of everything I’ve achieved. AFP

Novak Djokovic AFP

Ex-Archer Dinglasan passes away FORMER La Salle cager Rafael Dinglasan, considered as one of the best collegiate basketball players during his time, has passed away.

Dinglasan, who led the Green Archers to back-to-back titles in the University Athletic Association of the Philippines, succumbed early Monday morning after contracting COVID-19 at the age of 53.

Best remembered as the sparkplug of the team by fans, well-wishers and the alumni, Dinglasan was around when the Green Archers won their first UAAP title on their fourth season in the league in 1989 against the Far Eastern University Tamaraws.

After the squad forfeited several games due to player eligibility the following year, Dinglasan’s crew made it to the finals with a twiceto-beat edge.

They lost to the University of the East Warriors in Game 1 before taking Game 2 to claim their their second consecutive crown.

“During the olden days, La Salle vs Ateneo, our captain Rafa Dinglasan, when there was a need to spark our team, he will ignite a confrontation.

After that, La Salle will win. That spirit was what we needed to beat Ateneo next year. We must not fool ourselves as the boys next door,” said a fan in one of the tribute messages coming from the De La Salle community and the alumni on Twitter.

“The alumni who started getting the crowd hyped up was Rafa Dinglasan.

He was a former Green Archer. Full of Animo, too!” said another one on Twitter.

Coached by Derrick Pumaren, the team in 1989 included Jun Limpot, John Cardel, Gee Abanilla, Joey Santamaria, the late Jonas Mariano, Teddy Monasterio, Eddie Viaplana, Lincoln Lim, Arnel Guste, Dong Vergier, Jun Toral and Oliver Bunyi.

The 1990 quintet had Adi Papa, Dwight Lago, Pons Castelo and Noli Locsin.

In later years, Dinglasan played for Burger City in the Philippine Basketball League, before suiting up briefly for the Iloilo Megavoltz in the Metropolitan Basketball Association.

He became active as an assistant coach of the College of St. Benilde Blazers from 2014 to 2016.

Peter Atencio

Business

PSE INDEX CLOSING Monday, September 13, 2021 -2.37 PTS.

Ray S. Eñano, Editor Roderick T. dela Cruz, Assistant Editor

T

HREE major business groups on Monday asked Pag-IBIG Fund for penalty condonation and longer payment terms to settle their obligations and help them recover amid the repeated suspensions of operations this year because of the pandemic.

“In the spirit of helping employers recover from the effects of the pandemic, it is our earnest desire to be of assistance to our stakeholders during the time of

national health crisis,” the Employers Confederation of the Philippines, Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry and Philippine Export Confederation said in a joint letter to Pag-IBIG Fund chief executive Acmad Rizaldy Moti.

“In line with this, we are requesting from your good office to extend help in easing the burden of Filipino business owners who were affected by the pandemic by offering a penalty condonation program for businesses who failed to remit their business savings within the past two years,” the groups said.

The groups also asked for longer payment plans to allow them enough lead time to settle outstanding obligations with the fund.

The groups said 35,049 establishments already filed for permanent closure, which led to 710,477 displaced workers.

They also asked Pag-IBIG Fund to ex-

tend the same consideration to businesses that have outstanding penalties due for payment to Pag-IBIG prior to 2020. “Doing so may help these businesses stay afloat these trying times,” the groups said.

Meanwhile, business leaders urged the government to ramp up vaccination and testing for free to encourage people to be inoculated and tested. The groups also decried suggestions to discriminate against the unvaccinated for constitutional, medical and practical reasons, as it runs counter to the objective of reopening the economy.

“The policy of discrimination is a half measure that could complicate the early opening of the entire economy, since the elusive herd immunity according to medical experts is impossible to achieve even if the entire population is fully vaccinated,” said PCCI

B1

acting president Edgardo Lacson.

Meanwhile, 42 percent of CEOs who participated in a survey said that their average daily sales and/or revenues declined by at least 20 percent each time the country was placed under enhanced, modified enhanced or general community quarantine. This was based on the results of the 2021 Philippine CEO survey conducted by the Management Association of the Philippines and PwC Philippines.

PwC, the knowledge partner of MAP, polled 178 CEO respondents In August and from these respondents, 74 percent were hopeful that their revenues would grow in the next 12 months—higher than 63 percent as surveyed in April and May 2021. About 91 percent, expressed confidence that their company would experience revenue growth in the next three years.

Inflation seen exceeding 5% in September

By Julito G. Rada INFLATION rate is expected to rise beyond 5 percent in September from 4.9 percent in August on higher prices of food and agricultural products triggered by recent storms, an economist said Monday.

“Inflation which recently peaked at 4.9 percent last month will likely see price pressures heat up anew in September,” ING Bank Manila senior economist Nicholas Mapa said in a report.

“We expect inflation to move past 5 percent as recent and approaching storm systems will undoubtedly figure into this month’s fruit and vegetable inflation numbers,” he said.

He said fish and meat prices would likely remain elevated at a time that energy costs rise as crude oil stayed close to $70 per barrel.

“Furthermore, utility companies and retail fuel distributors have recently announced additional rounds of price increases, all adding to the supply side pressure on headline,” he said.

Mapa said while the pickup in imports might be a sign of renewed demand, it also reflected an improvement in domestic production that could help increase the supply of basic goods and services.

“Despite this, the price pressures appear to be accelerating at the worst possible time with base effects unfavorable in September,” Mapa said.

Inflation in August rose to 4.9 percent from 4 percent in July, according to the Philippine Statistics Authority.

It was the fastest since January 2019 and brought the average inflation in the first eight months to 4.4 percent, over the 2021 target range of 2 percent to 4 percent.

Prices of food and non-alcoholic beverages increased 6.5 percent in August, while recreation and culture index went up by 0.5 percent, after recording annual decreases since August 2020.

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Currency

Unit

US Dollar

Peso

United States

Dollar

1.000000

49.8970

Japan

Yen

0.009102

0.4542

UK

Pound

1.383900

69.0525

Hong Kong

Dollar

0.128573

6.4154

Switzerland

Franc

1.089681

54.3718

Canada

Dollar

0.788706

39.3541

Singapore

Dollar

0.745268

37.1866

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Dollar

0.735300

36.6893

Bahrain

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2.653224

132.3879

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Brunei

Dollar

0.742501

37.0486

Indonesia

Rupiah

0.000070

0.0035

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UAE

Dirham

0.272264

13.5852

Euro

Euro

1.181500

58.9533

Korea

Won

0.000855

0.0427

China

Yuan

0.155183

7.7432

India

Rupee

0.013602

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Malaysia

Ringgit

0.241838

12.0670

New Zealand

Dollar

0.711300

35.4917

Taiwan

Dollar

0.036152

1.8039 Source: BSP

IN BRIEF MREIT eyes 1m sq m of leasing portfolio MREIT Inc., the real estate investment trust company of Megaworld Corp., plans to expand its office leasing portfolio to 1 million square meters over the next five to 10 years.

The plan to aggressively grow its office assets is in line with the MREIT’s goal to become largest office REIT in Southeast Asia.

Megaworld said in a disclosure to the stock exchange it would infuse an additional 100,000 sq. m. of prime office assets in MREIT next year which would increase its portfolio to around 324,000 sq. m.

“We are committed to reaching half a million square meters by 2024, and are highly confident of our ability to reach 1 million square meters in the near future so that we can be the largest office REIT in Southeast Asia. Our goal is to put the Philippines and MREIT on the global REIT map because of the size and quality of our REIT portfolio and our world class tenant base,” MREIT president and chief executive Kevin Tan said.

“We believe we can easily achieve this because Megaworld already has 1.2 million square meters of existing office buildings and has a robust pipeline of new office development spread across 30 business parks across the country,” Tan said. Jenniffer B. Austria

Japan livestreaming firm expands to PH

ASEAN MEETING. Economic Ministers from the 10-member states of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations meet for the 53rd ASEAN Economic Ministers’ Meeting through a virtual conference. The Philippines is represented by Trade Secretary Ramon Lopez (center). The AEM tackled this year’s key deliverables that aim to strengthen the region’s economic integration and support post-COVID-19 efforts in line with the ASEAN Comprehensive Recovery Framework adopted in 2020.

Malaya thermal plant buyer to build more power projects

By Alena Mae S. Flores FORT Pilar Energy Inc., the parent company of Belgrove Power Corp. which won the bid for the 650-megawatt Malaya Thermal Power Plant, is looking at power generation portfolio of 2,000 to 3,000 MW in the next five years, top executives said Monday.

This developed as state-run Power Sector Assets and Liabilities Management Corp. turned over the operating documents of the Malaya plant to Belgrove after receiving the full payment of P4.185 billion.

“It is our goal to acquire more power plants to increase our portfolio,” Belgrove chairperson Sheila Romero said during the virtual turnover ceremony.

Belgrove chief executive Joseph Omar Castillo said Fort Pilar wanted to become a major player in the industry so it could capture a good market share.

“We are looking at 2,000 to 3,000 MW in the next five years. In terms of energy source, first renewable energy and baseload capacity is also being considered,” Castillo said.

ERC asks electricity market operator to explain ‘extreme’ price hike in Iloilo THE Energy Regulatory Commission asked Philippine Electricity Market Corp. to respond to the queries of MORE Electric and Power Corp. on the high line rental payables at the Wholesale Electricity Spot Market in July that translated into an increase of P1.5351 per kilowatt-hour to residential customers of Iloilo City.

ERC chairperson Agnes Devanadera acted on the letter of MORE seeking assistance on its WESM bill for July.

MORE said it noted numerous “extreme” price separation due to the damage encountered in one of the circuits of the submarine cable of National Grid Corp. of the Philippines between Cebu and Negros, which limited the flow of power supply between the islands. The damage occurred during the dredging activities of the Department of Public Works and Highways on June 15.

MORE’s line rental payables in the July billing month amounted to P66.15 million, which would translate into P1.5351per-kWh price hike for residential consumers.

MORE also informed ERC that its generation charge was projected to increase by 76 percent in September after hitting

5,002,439,586.90 76 119

Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas • MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 13, 2021

Business groups eye Pag-IBIG break

By Othel V. Campos

1,751,549,703 71,464

TOTAL VALUE ADVANCES DECLINES

F oreign e xchange r ate

business@manilastandard.net extrastory2000@gmail.com TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 14, 2021

6,968.14

TOTAL VOLUME TOTAL TRADES

a record low of P3.55 per kWh in July 2021.

“MORE Power is bleeding to pay IEMOP [Independent Electricity Market Operator of the Philippines] a line rental amount of P164.4 million, more than twice that of P66.15M from last month... This extreme price hike in WESM projected to continue until December, pending complete repair of the NGCP’s damaged submarine cable.

This means another unbearable four months for the paying consumers just because of the underwater mishap of the DPWH’s operator,” the company said.

MORE asked the ERC to urgently look into the burden caused by the damaged submarine cable “as this will continuously rip the consumers by paying exorbitant electricity rates.”

ERC said it directed PEMC to provide within three days its input on the inquiry of MORE on the non-imposition of the price substitution methodology during the period where issues on the NGCP line were encountered , considering that the scheduling and pricing of real-time data and the billing and settlement procedures are part of the market operation functions.

Alena Mae S. Flores

Fort Pilar recently acquired the 28.59-MW solar power plant in Digos, Davao del Norte and is in the process of constructing a battery energy storage system in Zamboanga City, which is scheduled for commissioning in February next year.

Fort Pilar submitted the highest offer of P3.123 billion for the Malaya plant in May, surpassing the minimum offer price of P1.845 billion. It later assigned its rights to subsidiary Belgrove. Aside from the bid, Belgrove paid PSALM an additional P1.062 billion for the remaining fuel stock of MTPP. Castillo said they informed the Department of Energy to immediately repair Unit 2 of Malaya power plant with a rated capacity of 350 MW and bring in two new modular aero-derivative gas engines for an additional capacity of 60 MW by end of 2021.

He said repairs on Unit 2, being a 1978 vintage plant, “is still undergoing full inspection.

“We have a cost estimate of P500 million for repair and purchase of replacement parts,” Castillo said,

as he committed to complete the feasibility studies soon and embark on a rebuilding program for MTPP to bring back its reliable capacity to 650 MW. “For unit 2, definitely we will keep it as a diesel plant but for new engines that we will be bring in to the facility we plan to have it as a multi-fuel engine so that in case the LNG terminals are put up in the country, we will be ready to receive it as well,” Castillo said.

Romero said Belgrove was planning to keep the position of Malaya “as the premier back-up power for the country’s main grid.”

She said they started talks with the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines to secure an ancillary services agreement. “We would definitely offer services for Meralco, once our plans are firmed up. After all, the Malaya power plant is embedded in the Meralco franchise area,” Romero said.

PSALM president Irene Garcia said the successful privatization of the Malaya power plant is a clear testament to the agency’s dedication to do our mandate.

A JAPANESE online live streaming platform expanded its operations to the Philippines to tap the “very active” Filipinos on social media as it aims to become a global leader.

“We found that the Philippines’ content preference is similar to the US, as both countries share similar values and cultures. As 17LIVE is already established in the US with US curated content on the platform, we wanted to leverage this content and our expertise in the Philippines,” 17LIVE Inc. said in a statement.

The Japanese platform also expanded operations to Singapore and Malaysia.

“The audiences in Southeast Asia are very active on social media and many dreams of becoming social influencers,” 17LIVE said, adding that the community is very open to showcase their talents and lifestyle online.

The company said the diversified cultures in the region would generate a good content pool in line with its goal to build a strong local content ecosystem. Darwin G. Amojelar

PayMaya now has over 90,000 channels PAYMAYA Philippines Inc. said Monday it expanded its cash-in channels to more 90,000 touchpoints nationwide –the most extensive network offered by an e-wallet in the Philippines.

“We are breaking the barriers to digital payments adoption and usage by offering the most extensive cash in channels,” said Shailesh Baidwan, president at PayMaya Philippines.

“With this unparalleled network plus our free cash in offer, we are making it easier for Filipinos to embrace digital payments,” he said.

Customers will be able to easily fund their accounts, lowering barriers to digital payments adoption and usage. PayMaya said of the touchpoints, more than 60 percent or 55,000 offer free cash-in services to PayMaya users— providing them with a hassle-free way to put funds into their e-wallet without incurring additional charges.

These free cash-in channels include BPI online banking (via linked account), Ministop and Smart Padala. Adding to PayMaya’s nationwidest network of cash in touchpoints are top supermarkets and leading establishments.

Darwin G. Amojelar

SBFI DONATION. Security Bank Foundation Inc. turns over a two-story, eight-classroom school building to Sabang Elementary School that will reduce the classroom-to-student ratio in SES from the pre-pandemic ratio of 1:50 to 1:35, which is the ideal class size. Attending the turnover ceremony are (from left) DepEd Danao City Schools division supervisor Helena Almancen, Security Bank Danao City branch business manager Christo Rey Abayon, Danao City administrator Jose Thaddeus Roble Jr., DepEd Danao City Schools division superintendent Dr. Leah Noveras and Sabang Elementary School principal Jose Buot.

PPA expects to award three unsolicited port bids until next year

By Darwin G. Amojelar STATE-RUN Philippine ports Authority said Monday it is hopeful about awarding three unsolicited port projects to private sector proponents before the end of the Duterte administration in mid-2022.

PPA general manager Jay Daniel Santiago said in a virtual briefing the projects that include the modernization of Iloilo Commercial Ports Com-

plex as proposed by International Container Terminal Services Inc., Davao Sasa Ports by Chelsea Logistics and Infrastructure Holdings Corp. and General Santos Ports by Kudos Tracking Services Corp. were still awaiting approval from the National Economic and Development Authority.

“All of those unsolicited proposals are currently pending with the NEDA for evaluation and we are in continu-

ous communication with the NEDA for the additional requirements and documents that they are requiring,” Santiago said.

“So far, we have completed our submissions. Of course, we are hopeful that the government should be able to approve and award those three projects to the proponents later on, but of course we are all dependent on the action of the NEDA -ICC,” he said.

Business

B2 || TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 14, 2021 extrastory2000@gmail.com

China targets payment app Alipay in tech suppression BEIJING, China—Chinese regulators have ordered sweeping changes to the country’s biggest payment app Alipay, as the ruling Communist Party attempts to rein in “the unruly growth” of the tech giants.

Alipay—with more than one billion users in China and other Asian nations including India—was told to spinoff its profitable micro loan business, the Financial Times reported Monday, citing a person with knowledge of the matter.

Currently the app allows users to pay with a traditional credit card linked to their bank or offers small unsecured loans to buy anything from toilet paper to laptops.

“The government believes big tech’s monopoly power comes from their control of data,” the source close to financial regulators told the newspaper.

“It wants to end that.”

Alipay’s parent company Ant Group is China’s biggest payments services provider.

Regulators pulled the plug on the fintech conglomerate’s record $37-billion stock market launch in November, after founder Jack Ma criticized officials for stifling innovation.

Ma’s business empire has been targeted in a wider crackdown on tech firms aimed at breaking monopolies and strengthening data security, that has wiped billions off companies’ valuations.

The outspoken billionaire has largely remained out of the limelight since the crackdown began.

After separating its payment and loan businesses, Alipay will have to hand over customer data used to make its lending decisions to a new credit scoring joint-venture that is partly state-owned, two sources familiar with the arrangement told the Financial Times.

Alipay did not immediately respond to AFP’s questions on how the order would affect its business.

Regulators have also asked Ma’s ecommerce platform Alibaba and other internet firms to stop blocking links to rival services, Zhao Zhiguo, a spokesman for Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, said at a briefing on Monday. AFP

PSEi September 13, 2021

TOP GAINERS

Stock market closes flat; Globe and Converge rise T HE stock market closed virtually flat Monday as record high US inflation ramped up concerns the Federal Reserve will have to tighten monetary policy sooner than later.

The Philippine Stock Exchange Index slipped 2.37 points, or 0.003 percent, to 6,968.14 on a value turnover of P5 billion. Losers beat decliners, 119 to 76, with 49 issues unchanged.

Major property developer Ayala Land Inc. of the Ayala Group fell 2.2 percent to P33.75, while LT Group Inc. of airline and tobacco tycoon Lucio Tan dropped 1.3 percent to P9.

Globe Telecom Inc., the second-biggest mobile phone company, however, advanced 8 percent to P3,090, while fiber internet services provider Converge ICT Solutions Inc. rose 3.2 percent to

P33.35.

Meanwhile, aluminum broke $3,000 a ton for the first time in 13 years Monday on supply concerns while equity markets were mixed.

Reports that President Joe Biden was considering a fresh trade probe into China added to the downbeat mood and nullified the optimism sparked by news that he had held talks on Friday with Xi Jinping in a bid to smooth relations between the superpowers.

Hong Kong led the losers, with tech firms again taking much of the heat on lingering concerns about China’s crackdown on the sector. Market heavyweight Alibaba plunged more than four percent after Chinese regulators ordered sweeping changes to the country’s biggest payment app Alipay.

Singapore, Taipei, Mumbai, Bangkok and Jakarta were also down but Tokyo, Shanghai, Sydney, Seoul and Wellington edged higher.

After driving a healthy run-up in Asia so far this month, investor sentiment

Bicycles, mini-cars, protests: Climate fears mar motor show MUNICH, Germany—Germany’s revamped IAA motor show opened to the public this week, with climate concerns drawing anti-car protesters but also forcing the world’s most prominent carmakers to showcase greener options.

From the influx of two-wheelers to automated valet parking to a major anti-car protest, here are five things to look out for at one of the world’s biggest motor shows: Welcome back Eased coronavirus-related restrictions and progress in the vaccination campaign mean the show is able to take place in person—the first big event of its type in Germany since the beginning of the pandemic last year.

Daily visitor numbers are capped at 80,000. Attendees are expected to prove they are double-vaccinated, recently recovered from the virus or in possession of a negative test, and are asked to wear a mask inside.

But outside, the show, which takes place every two years, spills out into the city center, with events happening throughout Munich open to the public.

Green?

Climate change and the shift to sustainable vehicles are on everyone’s lips at the show, including German Chancellor Angela Merkel, who opened the IAA with a

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1.08 3090

0.09 228

9.09% 7.97%

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0.58

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MAHB CEU

1.82 6.98

0.1 0.34

5.81% 5.12%

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HI DELM

4 15.2

0.19 0.7

4.99% 4.83%

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11.18

0.48

4.49%

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ABS

11.8

0.4

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TOP LOSERS LAST PRICE

% CHANGE CHANGE

1

LRW

0.37

-0.13

-26.00%

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LR GREEN

1.86 2.45

-0.12 -0.15

-6.06% -5.77%

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-0.13

-5.68%

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I IPO

1.22 6.85

-0.07 -0.38

-5.43% -5.26%

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PBB FPI BCB

9.63 0.295 5

-0.53 -0.015 -0.25

-5.22% -4.84% -4.76%

10

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VOLUME 180,200

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12,897,300 32,496,200 189,240 12,453,100

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18,355,100 727,210 3,925,000

165,940,148 138,440,293 133,347,405

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2,654,700 3,562,700

131,958,815 119,877,095

UPS executive sees supply chain disarray extending into next year

Police officers surround a group of climate activists sitting on the ground near the booth of Mercedes at Odeonsplatz on the sidelines of the International Motor Show (IAA) being held in Munich, southern Germany.

AFP

By Yann Schreiber and Taimaz Szirniks

was once again roiled by data on Friday showing US factory gate inflation had soared in August to an all-time high of 8.3 percent owing to a jump in demand as well as supply and labor shortages.

The reading was fueled partly by a sharp rise in commodity prices, a concern highlighted by news that aluminum had rocketed past $3,000 a ton for the first time in 13 years, owing to concerns about supplies in light of a coup in major bauxite producer Guinea as well as low Chinese output.

The data ramped up speculation about the Fed’s plans for monetary policy.

Its boss Jerome Powell has already indicated that the central bank will likely start tapering its vast bond-buying program—which has been a key driver of the economic and equity markets recovery—by the end of the year.

But the latest figures could cause officials to bring forward their timeline.

The release Tuesday of consumer inflation has now taken on more significance. With AFP

% CHANGE CHANGE

1

NO VACCINE PASSPORT YET. Crowds of people walk along Columbia Road flower market in east London on

September 12, 2021. The UK government has dropped a plan to make people in England show vaccine passports to enter crowded events such as nightclubs, the health minister said Sunday. The government had previously said these would be introduced at the end of this month. AFP

LAST PRICE

vote of confidence for the industry.

Over 70 bicycle brands are at the show to peddle vehicles on two wheels—bicycles even have two halls dedicated to themselves in a sign that the show is earning its new sobriquet IAA “Mobility”.

This is not just a conference for petrol heads anymore, and some names more associated with speedy roadsters than bicycles are getting in on the act.

Prestige brand Porsche is flaunting the bike rack on its new Taycan Turbo S and the own-brand electric bike to go with it, in matching colors.

But not every vehicle on show was able to deliver on its green promises. Mercedes E-Performance hybrid, the first from its sports marque AMG, has electricity in the name but a fully-charged battery will take the car only 12 kilometers (7.5 miles).

Small packages While sales of people carriers and SUVs continue strongly, some companies are hoping to appeal to drivers who want something a little more economical in space and more efficient in consumption.

The Microlino, scarcely 2.5 meters (8.2 feet) in length, welcomes test drivers by its forward-facing door.

“It’s not a car,” says Wim Ouboter, founder of Swiss scooter brand Micro, whose two sons are developing the pintsized vehicle, “but it does protect you from the weather and it’s heated.”

The model is amongst those trying to entice younger buyers with a promise of travel adapted to crowded city life.

Israeli company City Transformer was meanwhile showcasing its Twizy-like model whose wheels can be retracted when driving at low speeds or when trying to squeeze in between cars at a crowded parking.

‘Automatic valet’ Finding a parking space may soon be easier for some, as German company Bosch demonstrated its new driverless parking technology.

The automated system coordinates with the parking lot to guide the car to an empty space after its owner has already stepped out of the vehicle.

The cameras in the lot provide “an external view on the exterior of the vehicle” to see if any hazards are approaching, says Robert Exler, responsible for the “automatic valet” system at Bosch.

The technology is ready to be deployed, the company says, but for the moment is only available in the latest high-end vehicles, such as the Mercedes EQS. Protests “Stop driving climate change” is the message climate activists have for manufacturers at the show.

Protests around the main event are not a new feature at the car summit. In 2019, thousands demonstrated outside the show in Frankfurt.

NEW YORK—UPS is girding for more supply chain problems in 2022 after this year’s upheaval, but does not expect the disruption to cause huge spikes in transport costs, the shipping giant’s international president Scott Price told AFP. Price said low vaccination rates in key developing countries will likely lead to additional shortages of raw materials and components similar to those that have plagued industries from automakers to apparel to homebuilders.

“The logistics industry does not see 2022 as having any less disruption in supply chains than in 2021,” Price told AFP in an interview.

“I half-jokingly tell people ‘Order your Christmas presents now because otherwise on Christmas day, there may just be a picture of something that’s not coming until February or March,’” Price said.

But Price expressed confidence that transport costs could be contained in 2022 after the company enacted a series

of surcharges earlier in the pandemic amid skyrocketing demand and higher operating expenses.

UPS spent more paying for disinfectant, installing plastic dividers in work sites and covering hotel costs for employees in markets where workers were unable to commute to their homes due to strict government mandates.

“Some of those costs are going away,” said Price, who said 2022 shipping rates would be increased by 2.8 percent on average, well below the 10year average.

In 2021, UPS raised prices between 4.0 and 5.5 percent, depending on the market.

UPS’s outlook for more supply chain disarray follows announcements from several other companies over the last week, including Toyota, which said Friday it will cut car output by 70,000 units in September and 330,000 in October because of ongoing virus disruptions and a chronic global semiconductor chip shortage. AFP

Qantas-Japan Airlines deal opposed SYDNEY, Australia—Australia’s competition regulator on Monday definitively blocked a pricing, code-sharing and scheduling deal between Qantas and Japan Airlines, saying the arrangement would hurt consumers.

The deal would have seen the two airlines coordinate on how much fares would cost, as well as flight schedules.

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission ruled the proposal would “remove competition” between two carriers that normally account for 85 percent of flights between Australia and Japan.

It had earlier indicated a rejection was likely, but airlines hard-hit by pandemic travel disruptions had hoped, in vain, for a reprieve.

“The agreement would likely lead to reduced competition as international travel resumes, to the detriment of passengers traveling between Australia and Japan,” the watchdog said.

Australia closed its international borders 18 months ago to reduce the spread of the coronavirus. Travel between the country’s major cities has been disrupted repeatedly during that time, hammering the bottom lines of carriers.

Qantas expressed “disappointment” at the decision, saying the deal would have helped “ensure a faster and sustained recovery from COVID.” Australia’s borders are expected to slowly reopen for vaccinated travelers from later this year.

Qantas last month reported revenues had fallen Aus$12 billion (US$9 billion) in the last financial year as travel dried up.

The company received more than a billion dollars in taxpayer aid and has furloughed thousands of workers. AFP

Entertainment LOVING

TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 14, 2021

B3

Jeric Gonzales weighs in on playing gay roles

Beauty Gonzalez

as Miss Bridegette GMA Network challenges viewers’ take on forbidden love story via drama miniseries ‘Stories from the Heart: Loving Miss Bridgette’ starring Beauty Gonzalez and Kelvin Miranda.

S

tories from the Heart, a unique drama mini-series of unusual love stories reflecting how social media affect the relationship of lovers and the people surrounding them, presents the onscreen paring of Kelvin Miranda and Beauty Gonzalez in Loving Miss Brdigette, which premiered on Monday on GMA Afternoon Prime.

In the story Kelvin Miranda is Marcus Villareal, a self-righteous Biology student who is bent on pursuing his counselor. In her very first GMA series, character actress and the new Kapuso darling Beauty Gonzalez is Bridgette de Leon, an old-fashioned guidance counselor who is recently annulled and has a chance encounter with her student that will change both of their lives.

“I feel so happy about the show, the script is so beautiful that’s why I’m excited every day to go to work.

Our director really helps us. ‘Yung coactors ko, sobrang babait nilang lahat.

Everyone really makes me feel at home and comfortable at work,” Beauty shared during the series digital media conference.

Kelvin, in turn, expresses his utmost admiration for Beauty and his gratitude to the network for entrusting him the role, “I’m very thankful to be Beauty’s leading man. It’s inspiring to work with an actress of her caliber. I’m also thankful to the cast members of Direk Adolf. Sobrang grateful ko na binigyan ako ng chance at opportunity ng Kapuso Network.”

Playing equally important roles in the series are Lloyd Samartino as Manolo Villareal,

Nickie Wang, Editor nickie.standard@gmail.com

Nikki Co (left) with Kelvin Miranda

From left: Bing Loyzaga, Pamela Prinster, and Beauty Gonzalez

Marcus’ laidback father who is really close to his son; and Bing Loyzaga as Stella Villareal, Marcus’ domineering career-oriented mother and Manolo’s ex-wife who would do anything just to keep her reputation at bay.

Making this series even special is the stellar roster of cast including Polo Ravales, Adrian Alandy, Tart Carlos, Noel Colet, Nikki Co, Pamela Prinster, and Shanicka Arganda.

The story opens with Bridgette (Beauty), a recently annulled guidance counselor who goes on vacation to embrace her new reality as a single woman after being cheated on by her ex-husband Tristan (Polo). While on vacation, she meets Marcus (Kelvin), a pre-med student who’s raging in youthful energy and arrogance. One thing leads to another and the two had a one-night stand.

Thinking that it was all just that, Bridgette ditches Marcus on their supposed date as she goes back to her reality only to find out that he is a student in her school. As Bridgette and Marcus proceed with their undeniable connection, things will not come easy as complications will start to arise.

Can their love withstand the demeaning remarks of those who deem their relationship unacceptable? Or will they soon realize that the permanent damages caused by their love are enough to put a stop to everything?

Directed by Adolf Alix Jr., Stories from the Heart: Loving Miss Bridgette airs weekdays on GMA Afternoon Prime.

Viewers abroad can also catch the program via GMA’s flagship international channel, GMA Pinoy TV.

Actor Jeric Gonzalez aims to tackle different and challenging roles

In a recent virtual interview, Jeric Gonzales, who was last seen in GMA7’s Daig Kayo ng Lola Ko Presents Captain Barbie, said that if given a chance, he is willing to play a gay character on screen.

For the 29-year-old Kapuso star, tackling this role is no big deal.

“I’m an actor and whatever role that will be offered which I think I can do, I will grab it especially if I will see that it is relevant to the story, the more that I want to do it,” Jeric explains.

Many think that it will be interesting to see him breathe life to such character especially during these times when the so-called BL (Boy Love) genre has become popular among viewers.

Interestingly, who among the present crop of actors will he pick to be his partner?

“Honestly, it’s hard to choose.”

Some suggest that he and fellow Kapuso hunk Ruru Madrid will be an exciting screen tandem to watch if ever.

“Well, why not? We’re good pals. Our friendship dates back to our Protégé days many years back.

I believe it will be easier to act out a scene with someone whom you’re close with.

“The result will be fine. For one, there will be no awkwardness since you’re both comfortable with each other. Surely, Ruru and I will laugh a lot in between takes. Everything will be light!” Jeric ended. Read full story on manilastandard.net

Reliving Kathryn Bernardo and Julia Monte’s ‘Way Back Home’ Britney Spears and Sam Asghari are now engaged after five years of being together.

OOPS..SHE DID IT AGAIN

Britney engaged to boyfriend Sam Asghari US pop star Britney Spears on Sunday announced her engagement to her boyfriend Sam Asghari via social media.

Spears, 39, showed off a diamond ring in an Instagram micro-video post and wrote “I can’t f***ing believe it!”

By her side in the video is her boyfriend—now fiance—Sam Asghari, whom she turns to and kisses on the cheek.

“Look at that—you like it?”

Asghari, 27, asks.

“Yeah!” Spears squeals in delight.

Congratulations poured in and over 1.6 million people had liked the post

by Sunday night.

“Congratulations love!! So happy for you! Welcome to the club!” said celebrity heiress Paris Hilton in a comment on the video.

Asghari’s Instagram page has a simple picture of him kissing Spears as she lifts her hand—and ring finger—to show off her new bling.

Spears and Asghari met in 2016 when they co-starred in a music video for her single “Slumber Party.”

Spears has two children with former husband rapper Kevin Federline, and had a brief Las Vegas marriage to childhood friend Jason Alexander that was annulled after just 55 hours. AFP

ABS-CBN Film Restoration delivers another compelling family-drama to today’s audiences with the premiere of the digitally restored and remastered version of Way Back Home, starring Kathryn Bernardo and Julia Montes, in the latest edition of Sagip Pelikula Festival on KTX.ph starting today.

With its story conceptualized by Anna Karenina L. Ramos, Dang Bagas, Vanessa R. Valdez, and directed by veteran filmmaker Jerry Lopez Sineneng, Star Cinema’s 2011 well-regarded film brings the story of long-lost sisters Joanna and Jessica Santiago (Kathryn and Julia).

Jessica lives a life full of pain and guilt after losing her sister years back, trying to fill the emptiness felt by her mother, Amy (Agot Isidro), who continuously longs for Joanna’s return. On the other hand, unaware of her true past, Joanna lived simply in a humble fisherfolk family as Ana Bartolome.

Their lives then intertwine in a fateful encounter when the sisters compete against one another in a swimming competition,

with Amy finally finding out that Ana is their lost daughter, Joanna. As Ana reunites with her biological family, Jessica’s feeling of loneliness worsens day by day, with their family’s attention turning towards her sister, causing a rift between the two.

Starring alongside Kathryn and Julia are Agot Isidro, Lotlot de Leon, Tonton Gutierrez, Sam Concepcion, Enrique Gil, Bella Flores, Ahron Villena, Jairus Aquino, and Clarence Delgado.

Way Back Home streams tonight at 7:30 on the Sagip Pelikula Festival on KTX. Tickets are now available at https://bit.ly/ WBHPremiere for only P150.

Apart from Way Back Home, Sagip Pelikula Festival has more restored classics in store for today’s audiences, including Flames: The Movie, And I Love You So, Soltera, Paano Kita Iibigin, One More Chance, Miss You Like Crazy, A Love Story, Ang Pulubi at ang Prinsesa, and Labs Kita...

Okey Ka Lang? on KTX starting Sept. 15 (Wednesday).

Fil-Am pop artist Olivia Rodrigo arrives for the 2021 MTV Video Music Awards at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, where she scored several awards including Best New Artist.

Lil Nas X, Olivia Rodrigo sweeps the VMAs The cast of Star Cinema’s 2011 film, ‘Way Back Home.’

Celebrating Southeast Asian hip hop via dance pageant YOUNG dancers from Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand and the Philippines will virtually gather to promote and celebrate Southeast Asian hip-hop culture in the finals of Redefining Elements: A Hip-Hop Pageant, which aims to reformulate the approach to the popular genre in terms of talent, knowledge, technique, and engagement in the society.

A collaborative platform built by the academic and hip-hop community, the contest studies the components of the art form through the lenses of the dancers in both education and praxis. The friendly match likewise investigates the diverse effects of the discipline in the Southeast Asian countries.

The finalists will be graded based on their skills, representation, and awareness of their respective hiphop cultures. Each participant will be given three minutes to exhibit their distinct artistic movement on top of the core elements.

There will be a separate freestyle showcase, wherein they will portray the aesthetic balance between the dance genre and their national identities through styled looks and costumes. The competition will likewise feature a brief question and answer portion with the judges to test the contenders’ understanding and grasp of hip-hop.

Competitors include Indonesia’s Lalu “Mamiq” La Salle Dance Indra of @lombokhiphop and @eastblocsyndicate; CompanyMalaysia’s Amirul “Peot” Hafiz of Walawei and Street’s Beat my Bois; Singapore’s Luqman B Asád, Gracles “A to founder of Shift Singapore; and Thailand’s Thad Z” Dela Rosa “Oam” Prasert of The Zoo Thailand and Litefeet from Taguig Nation Thailand. is one of the The Filipino participants include Streetmovers Philippine and ONEUPCDO member Ran Villaver Omapas

from Cagayan de Oro, ALAB Danse Company and Battle Krew PH delegate Deidre “Heidra” Palaruan from Baguio, and Aftermath PH rep Carla “Foxy B” Faner from Manila.

Other finalists are COALIXON’s Jegad “KayumanJG” Gapasin, who hailed from Soccskargen, La Salle Dance CompanyStreet’s Trisha Kerstin “Tribute” Tan from Zamboanga, and Gracles “A to Z” Dela Rosa from Taguig, as well as San Juan City-based John Matthew “Prodigy” Quiambao of Kinection, Krumpinoy, Original Flavor Crew, The Empire, and Armoury Krump.

The roster of judges include Swaggie Baggie Indonesia Creative Conceptor and Owner Semmy Blank, Original Flavor Crew and Beyond Passion Entertainment International Inc. Chief Creative Officer Ian Villanueva and Danz People and Danz Kidz Director Kayte Willis.

Hosted by Benilde Experimental Dance and the Dance Program of De La Salle-College of Saint Benilde Manila, Redefining Elements: A Hip-Hop Pageant was the brainchild of Christine Crame, the college’s Experimental Dance Artistic Director and Dance Program Full-time Professor and Mentor. She is the highly acclaimed principal dancer and former associate director of Ballet Philippines, the country’s prestigious classical ballet institution and dance company.

The event was spearheaded by choreographer, educator, and La Salle Dance Company-Street Artistic Director Coach Mycs Villoso, proponent of several hip-hop competitions in the country.

Redefining Elements: A Hip-Hop Pageant is co-presented by Hybrid Series Singapore, at the helm of creator, director, dancer, and choreographer Alif Aircho, together with Prelude Dance PH. It is also organized in cooperation with Proprio Wardrobe Malaysia and Jacqueline Jala of Jala Styling Studio.

The finals will go live on Saturday, Sept. 18, at 7:00 p.m. PHT in a private Facebook group. Interested viewers may register at https:// forms.gle/1c1zN32cb3kVbLRNA and secure their access for P150.

A STACKED slate of artists lit up MTV’s 40th annual Video Music Awards on Sunday, returning in full force to Brooklyn’s Barclays Center after last year’s scaled-back pandemic show.

The 2021 VMAs—a show known more for ostentatious performances, made-for-Twitter moments and wild costumes than the actual awards— was back with its signature elaborate performances before a masked full audience after a 2020 show that saw many celebrities accept prizes via video stream.

The show opened with a pretaped clip from none other than Madonna, who made VMA history at the 1984 inaugural show with a show-stopping performance of “Like A Virgin,” which kicked off the show’s reign as a platform for headline-grabbing antics.

“They said we wouldn’t last, but we’re still here,” she said after strutting onto the stage, dropping an expletive while wearing a dominatrix-esque black leather thong corset.

“Happy 40th, MTV.” Lil Nas X scored the night’s top award, Video of the Year, for “Montero (Call Me by Your Name)” not long after a sensual performance just days before his album is set for release Sept. 17. AFP, read full story on manilastandard.net

Life

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

B4

DO GOOD TO FEEL GOOD.

Recognizing the opportunity it has as a leading health and beauty products retailer, Watsons launches a sustainability program that includes offering consumers with sustainable products that are good for them and the environment.

HEALTH AND ENVIRONMENT

TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 14, 2021

Rachel Herrera, commissioner of Philippine Climate Change Commission

Do good for the planet

Viki Encarnacion, PR and sustainability director at Watsons Philippines

PH Climate Change commissioner says it all starts with the decisions we make every day

By Bernadette Lunas

I

T IS hard to imagine how a person’s decision to forego singleuse plastic or buy a product with an “eco-friendly” tag creates a significant impact in the fight against climate change. It is, after all, a global issue involving millions of people. One piece of plastic doesn’t make much damage, right?

Wrong.

While the problem is large-scale, climate change experts say individual action – which may seem irrelevant – does make a difference, good or bad.

“Every act matters; it all accumulates,” said Philippine Climate Change Commission commissioner Rachel Herrera.

In 2016, the Ellen MacArthur Foundation predicted that there will be more plastic than fish in oceans by 2050.

That was before the pandemic and all the plastic that came with it. As the war against a virulent disease continues, another war is happening – has been for a long time – and people are urged not to look the other way.

“Climate change is not just an issue for the future but an urgent issue today. We must do good now; this is the only time we can act for the planet that we have,” Watsons public relations and sustainability director Viki Encarnacion said during the virtual launch of Watsons Philippines’ sustainability program.

The launch of “Do Good” campaign is part of the 180th anniversary of its

parent company, A.S. Watson Group.

In keeping with ASW’s commitment to sustainability, Watsons Philippines’ program “pledges to restore thousands of perfect smiles through life-changing Jared De Guzman, senior assistant vice president of GOBE health at Watsons highlights clean, green, natural, and cruelty-free products in stores. free surgeries to kids with cleft palate, Watsons Philippines to reduce tons of carbon dioxide emissions, and to offer more sustainable “We have specific areas in the come up with opportunities to take the The last pillar is dedicated to its employchoices in stores”. stores indicating ‘Sustainable Choices lead in doing good and encourage its ees, as the company promises to maintain and Clean Beauty’, including a Sus- customers and partners to engage in a healthy and sustainable workforce.

Sustainable choices tainable Choices button on our web- meaningful climate action.”

“Watsons has always been at the foreAs the leading beauty and wellness site to make it easier for consumers to front of sustainability since its founding retailer in the country with over 900 see which product supports this goal,” Making the planet 180 years ago. In recent years, we’ve stores nationwide plus online reach Jared De Guzman, senior assistant invested in various initiatives that take and people smile via its website, Watsons sees the op- vice president of Global Own Brand Also part of Watsons Do Good cam- our commitment to the planet that susportunity to work together with con- and Exclusives at Watsons Philip- paign is its commitment to reducing tains us all,” shared Watsons general sumers by offering sustainable prod- pines, told Manila Standard. carbon footprint by collecting 65,000 manager Danilo Chiong. ucts – one of the four pillars of the Do Herrera welcomes such initiative as kilograms of trash via Trash for Cash As Herrera simplifies the ways an Good campaign. this that offers consumers choices that program and 40 million plastic bottles. individual can help – “eating sustainThe retailer highlights in stores are good for them and the environment. The retailer vows to invest in programs ably, advocating for the people and the products that are “clean” (non-toxic, She said, “There is a clamor for more that offset carbon dioxide emissions and environment, repairing and refilling inno forbidden ingredients), “cruelty- sustainable products, more choices.” in alternative energy sources. stead of buying, turning down plastic, free” (don’t involve animal testing at “So far, efforts to reduce warming of Much like how its founder, Alex- and helping organizations that do good any point in the production process), the planet focuses on the supply side. ander Skirving Watson provided free for the planet like Watsons” – she high“green” (made in eco-friendly way), Equally important is your personal medicines to the needy, Watsons will lights that it must be a collective effort and “natural” (made exclusively from choice. It all starts with the decisions be offering the same as well 3,300 to truly make a difference. botanicals or contain a percentage of that we make daily,” Herrera said, add- free cleft palate surgeries – the third “At the end of the day, we are more efplant-derived ingredients). fective at doing good if we do it together.” ing, “It is not every day that big brands pillar of the program.

In defense of trees Text and photos by Diana B. Noche

Host Kara David with Dr. Melani Camarillo Espino

Health app holds virtual medical mission

IN A bid to bring quality healthcare closer to Filipinos in the safest way possible, a health and wellness mobile app organized a two-day virtual medical mission.

The nationwide medical mission, dubbed “National mWellness Day”, took place in the mWell app of Metro Pacific Health Tech Corporation on Sept. 4-5. It provided free consultations with primary care and specialized doctors.

“Nakakalungkot, subalit totoong may kakulangan sa healthcare para tugunan ang pangangailangan ng ating mga kababayan (It’s disheartening to note that there is a lack of quality

healthcare needed by Filipinos),” said journalist and Project Malasakit founder Kara David, who hosted the event.

One of the medical mission volunteers, obstetrician and gynecologist Dr. Melani Camarillo Espino recommends the app to her patients.

“Using mWell is just like making a private house call with my patients from the comforts of their homes. The flow of my virtual consultations are smooth, plus I gained more patients through the app.” said Dr. Espino.

The app’s 24/7 doctor on-call service lets users consult with a doctor anytime. The mWell app is available on App Store and Play Store.

Volunteer doctors providing free consultations during the National mWellness Day.

THE drama of nature inspires a passion in even the most jaded city folks. Trees can rise up to awe-inspiring heights, spread their limbs, block the sky, and bring unknown tranquility to our hearts.

Each tree is an extensive community of inter-dependent lives. There are millions of creatures for whom the forest is home. Every day the sun rises over a spread as far as it can reach out. Birds chirp and frogs croak raucously. At night, bats and crickets chime in their racket. Fireflies, with lamps in their bellies, blink like neon bar signs. Through it all, the wind sings in the thick of the branches and rejoices with the song of the trees.

What could be more perfect than a forest? Graced with eye and soul-calming greenery, a forest of real trees, growing beautifully, is the perfect convergence of design, purpose, and beauty that evokes admiration at the infinite artistry of nature.

A lot of people generally regard a tree as merely a green living thing that stands in their way, or timber used for homes, furniture, and other man-made structures. Others who regard trees far beyond their commercial value and are more perceptive to their true worth beside the timber procured from them and their carbon offsetting function would be in awe at such extraordinary creation (or mournful when a tree is cut down the same way when one loses a good friend).

The place where I live has been home to three generations of families. It used to be swampland. The roads were short and people had to wade through water hyacinths to reach home. Every now and then “tilapia” and some mudfish would pop out of the offensive water to say hello. Some families took advantage of the living situation: they raised ducks and goldfish. That was a few years after World War II. The land which was not submerged under the swamp can be had for P5 per square meter. No kidding. P5 per square meter. Postwar in a span of some 40 years, the place has not been spared from the reach of intense urban development.

Gone are the “tilapia”, ducks, mudfish, and the goldfish pens, buried under concrete and three-story buildings, except for some indelible memories surviving only in yellowed photographs and grandfather tales.

My house stands right in front of a big residential house where there used to be a swarm of informal settlers. The family who lived in that big house planted the lot with several trees: chico, macopa, santol, langka, eucalyptus, duhat, and malunggay. For many summers, the trees bore fruit and children in the neighborhood and passersby had their fill of the sun-ripened yield.

That lot where the big house stood has now been dug up and bulldozed to make way for a four-story condominium building. The trees were mutilated – helpless, voiceless victims of man’s quest to outsmart Mother Nature.

Each tree forms a kinship group. It creates one of the strong spirits in any place. To feel and taste the wind rustling through the leaves … to smell their perfume … to watch them dance in the violent storms … to hear the call of the

Centuries-old acacia tree in Sariaya.

Trees stand tall in Lucban, Quezon.

birds as a new day begins … to watch butterflies and bats flutter their wings.

Trees are not solely for our eyes or for our ears. Trees find their way inside us and get absorbed in our heart. Trees offer us intimations on how to love, how to co-exist with all creations, and how to understand what genuine optimism means.

It’s high time we enforce more stringent laws against wanton felling of a tree.