Manila Standard - 2021 December 6 - Monday

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Holiday spectacle: Venus shows off

Christmas weather: Baguio chills at 11°C GET ready for colder days ahead, with the icy Siberian winds blowing south in the run up to the Christmas season.

The government's state weather bureau recorded Sunday thus far the lowest temperatures in Baguio City

ASTROLOGERS and other stargazers will have their moments this December as the planet Venus, the hottest planet in the solar system, will be visible during some days prior and after Christmas.

Bonus to this spectacle will

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VOL. XXXV • NO. 294 • 2 SECTIONS 12 PAGES • P18 MONDAY, DECEMBER 6, 2021 • www.manilastandard.net • mst.daydesk@gmail.com

Gov’t eyes 100% vax target DOH says inoculating all will stop community transmission of variants

By Willie Casas SNAPSHOT. A family takes a groufie with a Belen – a nativity scene showing the Holy Family – inside Paco Park on Sunday, December 5, 2021. With Metro Manila under Alert Level 2, the park is open to the public free of charge daily from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Danny Pata

HE Philippines may increase its COVID-19 immunity vaccination target from 70 percent to 100 percent of the country's population to prevent community transmission of emerging coronavirus variants, a Department of Health (DOH) official said on Sunday.

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Health Undersecretary Leopoldo Vega, in an interview over radio dzBB, said the 70 percent target would only protect people from severe infection from the original coronavirus strain.

“With the new variants, we need to raise the herd immunity to 90 percent or possibly 100 percent,” Vega said in Filipino.

Over 55.4 million individuals have already received at least one COVID-19 vaccine dose.

Some 37 million individuals are already fully vaccinated, the National COVID-19 Vaccination Dashboard, as of Next page Dec. 4, showed.

PGH, Lung Center set the pace in preparing for Omicron

2,834,775 603

13,853

49,386

156

2,771,536

1,047

in infections due to the emergence of the more contagious Omicron variant.

TWO COVID-19 referral hospitals in The Philippine General Hospital Metro Manila said on Sunday that they (PGH) and Lung Center of the Philipare prepared for the possibility of a surge pines are ready to convert non-COVID

By Willie Casas

OVER 2,000 public elementary and senior high school students in Metro Manila are set to return to limited inperson classes today (Monday), an official from the Department of Education said Sunday, with police ordered to increase their visibility in the pilot areas.

The students – in Kindergarten to Grade 3 and SHS – come from the 28 schools across the capital region selected to join the pilot phase of in-person classes

4 Quiboloy aides plead ‘not guilty’

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SMALL STATUES, BIG FAITH. Catholic devotees – including a male worker who brought with him miniature replicas of the Black Nazarene adorned with sampaguita garlands – attend the first Sunday mass for December at the Quiapo Church in Manila on December 5, 2021. Norman Cruz

CNN sacks its top anchor Cuomo CNN fired veteran anchor and correspondent Chris Cuomo, the cable news channel said Saturday, amid an investigation into his involvement with helping defend brother Andrew Cuomo, the former New York governor, against sexual misconduct allegations.

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amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

"We're one of the last areas in our country to hold face-to-face classes because we just shifted to alert level 2," Wilfredo Cabral, officer-in-charge of the DepEd's office for the undersecretary of human resources, said in an interview with ABS-CBN's TeleRadyo.

Metro Manila eased to Alert Level 2 in early November as the number of Next page

GIVEN THE BOOT. In this file photo taken in 2016, moderator Chris Cuomo speaks at a town hall forum hosted by CNN at Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa. CNN fired the veteran anchor during an investigation into his involvement with helping defend his brother, former New York governor Andrew Cuomo, against sexual misconduct allegations. AFP

Chris Cuomo had been suspended from CNN over the matter just days before his termination.

"We retained a respected law firm to conduct the review, and have terminated him, effective immediately," a statement Next page

PACQUIAO: EXPAND LENI LAMENTS FAKE PANGASINAN EXECS SENIORS’ BENEFITS SOCMED PHOTOS SUPPORT BBM-SARA NEWS / A5

the COVID wards, close the non-COVID wards and realign manpower. We're used to those kinds of operations so the transition will be fast,” Dr. Jonas del Rosario,

2,000 students in NCR troop back to face-to-face classes

(As of 4 PM, DECEMBER 5)

NOT guilty. That's the plea of four members of the Restorationist church called Kingdom of Jesus Christ (KOJC), accused in the sex-trafficking complaints filed against Pastor Apollo Quiboloy, before a United States District Court in Los Angeles, California.

GMA News identified the four members Sunday as Guia Cabactulan, Marissa Duenas, Amanda Estopare, and Felina Salinas who pleaded not guilty through a video conference.

Cabactulan, Duenas, and Estopare were detained by the Federal Bureau

wards into facilities catering to patients of the respiratory disease, in the event that the number of COVID-19 cases starts to rise again, hospital officials said.

“Just like in past surges, we'll open

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CAVITEÑOS BACK ISKO’S AGENDA

PING: ALWAYS BELIEVE IN DIVINE PROVIDENCE

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News

MONDAY, DECEMBER 6, 2021

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Pope laments ‘shipwreck of civilization’

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With the threat of the Omicron variant, Vega urged the public to get inoculated, saying that vaccines are effective against severe infection even with the variants.

“This is one of the ways to stop transmission or viral loads of COVID-19,” Vega said.

The new variant, which was first detected in South Africa, has been recorded in Europe, United States, and some parts of Asia.

Omicron is tagged a "variant of concern" like the Delta variant by the World Health Organization.

The Philippines has not yet detected the Omicron variant in the country, but Malacañang is monitoring the results of genome sequencing of three travelers from South Africa, Burkina Faso, and Egypt, who tested positive for the coronavirus disease.

The University of the Philippines COVID-19 Pandemic Response Team (UP PRT), meanwhile, said that being inoculated with the primary doses of vaccines and booster shots could still help fight the Omicron variant should it enter the country.

UP PRT spokesman Dr. Jomar Rabajante, told radio dzBB that they are monitoring the studies from other countries regarding the Omicron variant of the COVID-19.

“Many experts from other countries say that Omicron is highly transmissible, even up to three times more transmissible than the Delta variant. It spreads fast and this is evident in South Africa which reports plenty of Omicron variant cases,” Rabajante said.

Rabajante said that the higher transmissibility of Omicron compared to Delta could be seen in the case of South Africa, which was only detected in the country in early November, but has already infected lots of individuals a month afterward.

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spokesman of the Manila-based PGH, told ABS-CBN's TeleRadyo.

The PGH currently has 325 COVID-19 beds, although only 63 are occupied, Del Rosario said.

The hospital's emergency room remains overwhelmed due to a rise in nonCOVID patients.

Del Rosario appealed to the public to avoid going to the PGH emergency room unless the patient is suffering from a "lifethreatening emergency."

“Those cases which aren't life threatening can go to other hospitals,” he said.

Del Rosario added that the hospital is in need of doctors, nurses and medical technicians after several staff members resigned to work overseas.

Lung Center spokesman Dr. Norberto Francisco said the hospital has an "advanced strategy plan" in case the number of COVID-19 patients begins to increase.

He said the plan covers all aspects, in-

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COVID-19 infections began to drop.

The 28 Metro Manila schools are part of 177 schools added for the pilot phase, which began in mid-November in 120 public and private schools.

Cabral said if a new coronavirus infection emerged, “whatever variant, the implementation of face-to-face classes in that school will immediately stop.”

The pilot is the first of the government's three-phased plan to reopen basic education schools after nearly two years of closures due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Meanwhile, PNP chief Brig. Gen. Dionardo Carlos ordered all unit commanders in the NCR to increase police visibility as the pilot implementation of

CNN...

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posted to CNN's official communications Twitter account said. "While in the process of that review, additional information has come to light."

The termination comes after documents surfaced showing that Cuomo, who anchored the 9:00 p.m. news slot, offered advice to his politician brother that was deemed too close for comfort

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of Investigation after a raid in January 2020. They also faced indictment over trafficking allegations.

Based on court records, Cabactulan was ordered detained because the person was a "flight risk."

Salinas, meanwhile, posted $50,000 bail for her temporary freedom.

In a 74-page indictment, Quiboloy, 71, a long-time ally and spiritual adviser of President Rodrigo Duterte, and other KOJC church members were accused of recruiting females ages 12 to 25 as personal assistants, or "pastorals," adding they were required to prepare Quiboloy’s meals, clean his residences, give him massages and have sex with him during what they called "night duty."

There was no immediately available reaction from the Davao-based KOJC but Quiboloy earlier said he forgave his accusers: “I forgive all my detractors. I forgive all those betrayals. I forgive all the traitors. I forgive all of those who have come to see the truth and turn their back on it. I forgive all of it.”

But in a later statement, Quiboloy warned and urged the public to stop "persecuting, prosecuting and maligning" him, or suffer more from the coronavirus pandemic.

In related developments, Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra had said the government might investigate Quiboloy, based on the evidence that US authorities had gathered.

Guevarra earlier said the pending appeal on a rape complaint against Quiboloy would not stop his possible extradition to the United States on sex trafficking charges.

Guevarra said although there was an appeal on a criminal complaint against Quiboloy, this could not be used as a ground to stall his possible extradition to the US, since no charges have been filed against him before a Philippine court.

“The pendency of the appeal before the Office of the Secretary is not an obstacle to extradition because there is no indictment in a Philippine court as yet,” the Justice Secretary said. (See full story online at manilastandard.net)

rovouni camp where nearly 2,200 asylum seekers live.

On the second day of his visit to Greece, he met dozens of child asylum seekers and relatives standing behind metal barriers and stopped to embrace a boy called Mustafa.

"I am trying to help you," Francis told one group through his interpreter.

People later gathered in a tent to sing songs and psalms to the pontiff.

Pope Francis warned that the Mediterranean "is becoming a grim cemetery without tombstones" and that "after all this time, we see that little in the world has changed with regard to the issue of migration."

He said the root causes "should be confronted – not the poor people who pay the consequences and are even used for political propaganda."

The European Union has been locked in a dispute with Belarus over an influx of migrants travelling through the former Soviet state seeking to enter Poland, Lithuania and Latvia in recent months.

Britain and France have also traded barbs over the increasing number of migrants making the deadly Channel crossing to reach the UK in the wake of the November 24 mass drowning which claimed 27 lives.

"His visit is a blessing," said Rosette Leo, a Congolese asylum seeker at the site.

However, Menal Albilal, a Syrian mother with a two-month-old baby whose asylum claim was rejected after two years on the island, said refugees "want more than words, we need help."

"The conditions here are not good for a baby," she told AFP. AFP (See full story online at manilastandard.net)

On the other hand, he said it took a couple of months before the Delta variant spread to various countries.

He also noted, however, that some experts said the severity of these cases was mild—but this is still subject to verification by the WHO. Rabajante also cited a study that showed that the reinfection rate was high among those who have had COVID-19 before.

“What we are sure of right now is that amid the presence of the Omicron variant, it could help if you’re already vaccinated,” he said.

The Philippine Genome Center on Saturday floated the possibility that the Omicron variant may have already crossed the country’s borders.

No case has been detected so far however from the 18,000 sequenced samples.

The Department of Health (DOH) on Friday said 253 travelers from South Africa, three from Burkina Faso, and 541 from Egypt arrived in the country from Nov. 15 to Nov. 29. Three of them tested positive for COVID-19.

As Christmas draws nearer, Rabajante reminded the public that while there has been a decline in new reported cases, people should still be careful because the disease can still lead to death or land people in intensive care units.

“While we still don’t have much information, we should stay safe and continue the vaccination program. Also, if you’ve been given the green light to get the booster shot, do so to increase your immunity when the Omicron arrives here,” he said.

A molecular biologist with the OCTA Research Group urged the government to procure two anti-COVID drugs that deal with all variants of the respiratory disease, including the newly detected Omicron.

"We have drugs now from Merck and Pfizer and these drugs will attack all the variants equally well. The Philippines has to try to buy these drugs," said Fr. Nicanor Austriaco.

Austriaco, who teaches at the University of Sto. Tomas and has a PhD in Biology from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, was referring to molnupiravir and paxlovid, which were developed

by American pharmaceutical companies Merck and Pfizer, respectively.

A panel of experts from the United States' Food and Drug Administration (FDA) earlier this week recommended the authorization of molnupiravir to treat COVID-19 after the pill proved effective against the respiratory illness.

The Philippines' FDA has issued a compassionate special permit for use of molnupiravir in several hospitals.

In November, a shipment of molnupiravir arrived in the Philippines through a local pharmaceutical company.

Pfizer's recent study on paxlovid also showed the drug could significantly reduce the chances of hospitalization or death for adults at risk of developing severe COVID-19.

"The Pfizer drug, called paxlovid, is going to be public soon. And once that's public, it will change the way we manage the pandemic because if you get it, even if it's Omicron or something else, we'll just give you the drugs. And you can take it at home--once in the morning, once at night," said Austriaco.

The anti-COVID pill may be prescribed by a doctor to patients who are senior citizens or have comorbidities, he said, noting that the drugs will be taken twice a day for five days.

The drug is not recommended to be given to young and healthy people, especially those who have been vaccinated against COVID-19, because their bodies are capable of fighting the virus, Austriaco said.

"This is prescription only so it's in the hospital. The doctor has to prescribe it," he said of the two drugs.

"We anticipate that both of these drugs will be used in our hospitals probably in the next few weeks.

Austriaco said studies have yet to show if current COVID-19 vaccines are less effective against the Omicron variant, which is what worries some scientists as they acknowledge that the spike protein of the new strain is very different from other variants.

"There is no definitive data pa (yet).

It's only been one week and it takes two weeks to do those experiments," he said.

"We know that vaccines still protect you. We’re still not sure how good that protection is. We will know within a week. By next week, we will have a sense of how good the protection is," he said.

The head of the International Red Cross said the emergence of the Omicron variant is the “ultimate evidence” of the danger of unequal vaccination rates around the world.

In an interview with the Agence France-Presse during a visit to Moscow, Francesco Rocca, the president of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, also raised concerns about the politicization of migrants and for the plight of civilians in Afghanistan as winter approaches.

Asked about the global approach to vaccinations, the head of one of the world's largest humanitarian groups said more needed to be done to fight rampant vaccine inequality.

"The scientific community has warned... on several occasions about the risks of very new variants in places where there is a very low rate of vaccinations," he said.

About 65 percent of people in high-income countries have had at least one dose of vaccine against the coronavirus, but just over 7 percent in low-income countries, UN numbers show.

Western countries have been accused of hoarding vaccines and the WHO has urged them to avoid a rush to give out booster shots when millions worldwide have yet to receive a single dose. With AFP

cluding personnel,equipment and the use of space, in case a surge occurs again.

“We've experienced a number of surges last year and we've learned to convert non-COVID to COVID wards,” he said.

Francisco urged non-COVID patients to take advantage of the drop in virus cases in the hospital and proceed with their medical checkups.

"Now is the time to go to the hospital," he said.

Aside from PGH and Lung Center, private hospitals are also preparing for a possible spike in COVID-19 cases due to the new variant.

The World Health Organization (WHO) said preliminary evidence on Omicron suggested that the variant could spread more readily than earlier COVID-19 strains.

Despite this, the independent OCTA Research Group said the chances of experiencing a surge is "much smaller than before," noting the high vaccination rate in Metro Manila and major cities.

"If Omicron lands at Ninoy Aquino International Airport, it will struggle

to spread because everybody in Manila is vaccinated," OCTA fellow Fr. Nicanor Austriaco told ABS-CBN's TeleRadyo.

More than 37.3 million people in the Philippines have been fully vaccinated against COVID-19, accounting for 48.4 percent of the government's target of 77.1 million.

Over 55.4 million others have received their initial dose, while more than 421,000 booster doses have been administered.

The Philippines logged 603 new COVID-19 cases on Sunday, bringing the country’s total number of cases to 2,834,775.

“Of the 156 reported deaths, only 12 occurred in December 2021; 36 percent of the reported deaths today occurred in November 2021 due to late encoding of death information to COVIDKaya. This issue is currently being coordinated with the Epidemiology and Surveillance Units to ensure information is up to date,” the Department of Health (DOH) said.

The death toll from COVID-19 rose

to 49,386 as a result of the new reported fatalities.

The DOH reported 1,047 new recoveries, pushing the total number of Filipinos who recovered from the disease to 2,771,536.

There were 13,853 active cases. Of this figure, 1,270 are asymptomatic, 5,532 mild, 3,903 moderate, 2,410 severe, and 738 critical.

The COVID-19 positivity rate was at 1.8 percent of 35,950 tests conducted on Dec. 3.

Nationwide, 26 percent of ICU beds, 25 percent of isolation beds, 14 percent of ward beds, and 14 percent of ventilators, were in use.

In Metro Manila, 28 percent of ICU beds, 22 percent of isolation beds, 20 percent of ward beds, and 17 percent of ventilators, were in use.

The Bureau of Quarantine said Sunday that most travelers who entered the Philippines from Omicron-affected countries such as South Africa are still under quarantine and have not shown COVID-19 symptoms, so far.

limited face-to-face (F2F) classes starts Monday in 28 public schools across the metropolis.

“The resumption of the face-to-face learning setup is not new anymore for us since other schools have already started this last November. We just have to follow the template and remind our police personnel to strictly limit themselves from going inside school premises unless there is a request for security assistance,” Carlos said in a statement on Sunday.

He said the PNP would do its best to keep students as well as school personnel away from harm.

By doing so, police will only provide a limited presence outside the school compounds except in emergencies when police assistance is sought by school authorities, he added.

Carlos also reminded the students,

parents and guardians to still practice the minimum health protocols against coronavirus disease (Covid-19) such as wearing of face masks, safe physical distancing and frequent hand washing.

He assured local government units and health authorities of PNP assistance in implementing the minimum public health standards in school premises.

In related developments, Carlos ordered a probe into a shooting incident inside the Mindanao State University (MSU) in Marawi City, Lanao del Sur last Dec. 2.

“We are alarmed by this act of violence displayed inside a campus. I have ordered the concerned police unit to resolve this case at the soonest possible time,” he saideport from the Lanao del Sur Police Provincial Office stated that the victim, Aripodin Darayno Mamacuna, 21, was walking inside the campus when he noticed that a

group of men was following him.

He proceeded to the MSU grandstand to hide but was caught and beaten up.

Onlookers tried to stop the attackers but were shot at by the suspects.

An off-duty PNP personnel, who was watching the awarding ceremony of a sporting event at the grandstand, immediately responded to the site, which resulted in an exchange of gunfire.

One of the suspects was hit in the arm, prompting his group to run away.

The suspects were identified as Macaraya Saripada Armama, Banjo Saripada, and Rakim Saripada -- all of legal age and residents of Barangay Rapasun, Marawi City.

The victims, on the other hand, were identified as Aripodin Darayno Mamacuna, Anwar Dimaodin Kiram, and Mohaimen Batal Maba.

be Jupiter and Saturn – all in the sunset direction, with Venus, which spins clockwise on its axis and whose day is longer than Earth's one year, being the lowest in the sky or nearest the sunset but still very bright.

Venus had its greatest brilliancy on December 3, most glorious on December 4, and again on December 8, and by end of December will be visible in the evening sky with Mercury, Jupiter and Saturn.

PAGASA said in its astronomical diary Sunday there would also be a couple of Moon-planetary conjunctions, in which the moon would appear to be close with other planets this week.

"For the whole month of December, Venus can be observed in the southwestern part of the sky after sunset. However, in late December, Venus may be already difficult to observe as it is just a few degrees above the horizon," PAGASA said.

The agency said "the close pairing" between Venus and the Moon will be visible in the southwest horizon from around 5:41 to 8:13 p.m. on Tuesday, Dec. 7 and at midnight on Dec. 8, "Venus will reach its greatest brightness."

On Saturday, a total solar eclipse plunged Antarctica from summer into darkness in a rare astronomical spectacle.

"The visibility was excellent," said Raul Cordero of the University of Santiago de Chile (USACH), who was on site to witness "totality," with the "ring of fire" phase lasting just over 40 seconds.

by his employer.

"The documents, which we were not privy to before their public release, raise serious questions," a CNN spokesperson said Tuesday, adding they "point to a greater level of involvement in his brother's efforts than we previously knew."

CNN on Saturday found itself in the awkward position of reporting on the firing of one of its own anchors.

"This is not how I want my time at CNN to end but I have already told you why and how I helped my brother," Cuo-

mo, 51, said in a text message statement read out on the air by CNN media reporter Brian Stelter.

"So let me now say as disappointing as this is, I could not be more proud of the team at 'Cuomo Prime Time,'" Cuomo added. "I owe them all and will miss that group of special people who did really important work."

Cuomo has spoken candidly of his strong bond with his older sibling.

"He's my brother. And if I can help my brother, I do. If he wants me to hear some-

thing, I will. If he wants me to weigh in on something, I'll try," he told investigators in July when asked about the counsel he had offered.

"He's my brother, and I love him to death no matter what."

Democrat Andrew Cuomo was elected governor three times before resigning in August after New York's attorney general said an investigation concluded he had sexually harassed at least 11 women.

In October, the former governor --

whose father Mario Cuomo had also been governor of New York -- was charged with a misdemeanor sex crime for forcible touching.

At the start of the pandemic, the Cuomo brothers soared to new heights of popularity: Andrew, 63, earned praise for his frank daily briefings as the coronavirus ravaged New York, and his live exchanges with Chris on CNN were peppered with banter.

The investigation into Chris Cuomo's conduct remains ongoing, CNN said. AFP

OPE Francis on Sunday returned to the island of Lesbos, the migration flashpoint he first visited in 2016, calling the neglect of migrants the "shipwreck of civilization."

The pope has long championed the cause of migrants and his visit comes a day after he delivered a stinging rebuke to Europe which he said was "torn by nationalist egoism."

"In Europe there are those who persist in treating the problem as a matter that does not concern them," the pope said as he spent some two hours at Lesbos' Mav-

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and Metro Manila this northeast monsoon.

PAGASA said the temperature in pines-dotted Baguio, the country's summer capital perched 5,000 feet above sea level, dropped to 11.4 degrees Celsius at 4:50 a.m.

The temperature in Science Garden, Quezon City was 20.4 degrees Celsius at 6:15 a.m.

PAGASA said the northeast monsoon was expected to bring cloudy skies with light rains over Cagayan Valley, Cordillera Administrative Region, Aurora and the northern portion of Quezon, including Polillo Islands.

The northeast monsoon is also expected to bring partly cloudy to cloudy skies with isolated light rains over Metro Manila.

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News IN BRIEF DENR orders Urdaneta landfill closure again THE Department of Environment and Natural Resources has re-issued a closure order against a sanitary landfill facility in Urdaneta City in Pangasinan for violation of the Philippine Clean Water Act and the Ecological Solid Waste Management Act. DENR Secretary Roy Cimatu said the issuance of the cease-and-desist order to the Urdaneta City engineered sanitary landfill is part of the department’s commitment to ensure that the two laws are enforced.

“We are on our way toward changing the psyche of the Filipino people when it comes to solid waste management. The success of the enforcement operations is a crucial part of this gargantuan endeavor,” he said.

Rogelio Demelletes Jr., Environmental Law Enforcement and Protection Service Intelligence Operations team leader, said the sanitary landfill facility in Barangay Catablan, Urdaneta City was found still being used for waste disposal months after it was first issued a CDO last March 5. Rio N. Araja

SC upholds Arroyo EO on lahar extraction THE Supreme Court has sustained the constitutionality of Executive Order No. 224 issued by former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo which scaled down the extraction and disposition of sand, gravel, and lahar deposits in the provinces affected by Mt. Pinatubo’s eruption in 1991.

In an en banc decision released to the public on December 2, 2021, the SC denied the petition filed by provincial government of Pampanga assailing the decision of the Court of Appeals in 2010 which overturned a lower court’s decision declaring EO No. 224 invalid and unconstitutional.

The petitioner asserted that EO No. 224 violated the principle of local government autonomy under the Local Government Code and was an invalid exercise of presidential control and not just general supervision.

But the high court ruled that the issuance of EO No. 224 was a valid exercise of the President’s ordinance-making prerogative, which forms part of the power of executive control. Rey E. Requejo

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PIMENTEL HAILS SAMPAGUITA PROJECT

Offshore drill to assert EEZ rights

By Rio N. Araja

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URIGAO del Sur Rep. Johnny Pimentel on Sunday said deepwater drilling in the Sampaguita gas field in Recto Bank is a move to assert the country’s sovereign rights over its exclusive economic zone in the West Philippine Sea.

“We are counting on Forum Energy Ltd.’s offshore drilling in Sampaguita to demonstrate that the Philippines is determined to enforce its undivided rights over Recto Bank’s vast petroleum resources. In fact, this early, we

want Forum to contract the drillship for Sampaguita,” he said.

Pimentel, chairperson of the House strategic intelligence committee, noted that a recent SWS survey showed eight out of 10 Filipinos would want the next

president to invoke the country’s rights over the WPS. At least 82 percent of Filipinos said the next administration must enforce the Permanent Court of Arbitration ruling that granted the Philippines sole rights over its EEZ and quashed China’s “historic-rights” claim over the entire South China Sea. “We have very high hopes that the appraisal wells that will be drilled into Sampaguita’s world-class hydrocarbon deposits will successfully flow gas at rates deemed economically viable, just like the producing Malampaya field,” he said.

“All of the government’s private petroleum service contractors, including Forum, are required to exert maximum efforts to discover and produce gas and/ or oil as soon as possible. We need Sampaguita developed right away to guarantee the country’s long-term energy security, considering that Malampaya will run out of gas by 2027,” he added.

Forum was only given an Oct. 16, 2022 deadline to drill its two commitment wells in Sampaguita estimated to contain up to 4.6 trillion cubic feet of gas and 115 million barrels of oil.

Senate urged Christian, Muslim, IP youth convene for peace gab to OK medical reservists bill

Members of the Tagum-based Dilaab youth dance crew perform a cultural dance number during the opening of the Panaghiusa Grand Peace Conference.

AMID the continued threats of violent extremism and terrorism in many parts of the Philippines, hundreds of young leaders representing indigenous groups, Christian and Muslim communities, and other backgrounds mobilized on Saturday in a powerful showcase of peace through the Panaghiusa Grand Peace Conference held at the Tagum City Historical and Cultural Center.

Funded by the European Union (EU) and supported by the Kofi Annan Foundation (KAF), the non-profit organization Kristiyano-Islam Peace Library (KRIS), and the local government of Tagum City, the Grand Conference is the culminating activity of the Extremely Together Philippines Panaghiusa (ET Philippines) program which aims to prevent violent extrem-

ism and promote peace through youth leadership in the Philippines.

“Violent extremism is like a pandemic that we can cure through unity and education. This is why we are working to educate, empower, and inspire young people to become peacebuilders who can strengthen the resistance of their fellow youth against terrorism,” said Paula Gendrano, co-project lead of ET Philippines.

ANAKALUSUGAN party-list Rep. Michael Defensor urged the Senate to pass a House bill seeking to create a new Medical Reserve Corps (MRC), which he said has become “absolutely crucial to enable the country to suppress future pandemics.”

“The bill is already with the Senate, after the House approved it in March.

They ought to pass the measure forthwith,” Defensor said.

Defensor, who is running for Quezon City mayor, made the statement on the eve of National Health Emergency Preparedness Day, which the country observes every Dec. 6.

“We have to establish the MRC without delay to reinforce the country’s health system in times of public health emergencies, or severe health threats,” Defensor said.

President Rodrigo Duterte asked Congress to pass the MRC bill in his 5th State of the Nation Address in July.

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Opinion

MONDAY, DECEMBER 6, 2021 mst.daydesk@gmail.com

Vulnerability

THE growing threat of another coronavirus variant that was discovered a few weeks ago has once more forced governments and countries to impose varying levels of restrictions.

It is an attempt to prevent or at the very least slow down its spread, until such time the efficacy of the vaccines against this variant can be established. Even though the World Health Organization and other health experts have cautioned the imposition of drastic restrictive measures, many wouldn’t want to take the risk of another wave of infections.

The alarm and distress over the emergence of the Omicron variant, which is believed to be more infectious than previous variants, indicate clearly how vulnerable we have become as a society to the uncertainties caused by this pandemic. The threat is clearly not just against our physical health; it has also challenged how we live as a community. The social institutions such as politics, business, the economy and even governance, that we so thought before to be impermeable have been shaken in ways we never even imagined.

This will be a different Advent season.

With the increasing number of vaccinations administered in many parts of the world, the declining trend in active COVID-19 cases seemed to signal the end of this two-year-old pandemic. Even the usual rush hour traffic appears to be back to the pre-pandemic situation, and people have become more confident going outside of their homes.

Then this new variant emerged, and so did the distress and uncertainty about it leading to another wave of infections and frustrating our hopes for a final solution to this crisis.

For a world that has been built on increasing levels of technology and a growing sense of control over the future, this pandemic certainly has left communities vulnerable, helpless and insecure. Even when various sectors of society have worked together in the past to bridge the gaps caused by this crisis, it seems for many that having struggled for so long society has now come to the end of the line.

The present state of things is a powerful reminder of our inherent vulnerability, that as a society, we can be, and often are, vulnerable. No matter how much science, expertise and logic we bring in to explain and ascertain our way of living, and to somehow address our own vulnerabilities and hide our weaknesses, the truth is we can’t keep it hidden all the time—and the only way forward is to admit our vulnerability, allow others to see it, and to accept it as part of the reality of life.

Our vulnerability also underscores another truth about ourselves—our humanity. Human as we are, we have our own limitations and that our skills,

EDITORIAL

knowledge and resources are finite. That for reasons that are both theological and sociological, we are ever in need of salvation, and that we are always in need of a Savior.

That is why Advent this year will prove to be different. This pandemic has revealed to us the limits of our humanity and our way of life as we know it. But this is the same reality that Christ has shown us in embracing our humanity.

He has come in the most vulnerable state possible‚—that of a child born in a lowly manger. In a powerful way, God has chosen our vulnerability as a way to reach out to mankind. He could have sent chariots of fire or hurled bolts of lighting but instead, he chose to be born as one like us.

This Advent, we are invited to grow in even greater awareness of our humanity, and why it was through our own humble and weak nature that God emptied himself to be close to us, to hold us and to live with us.

In a time darkened by fear and despair, Advent unexpectedly leads us to a place of hope and assurance. Wary of the longstanding Roman occupation of their land, the Jews of that time perhaps had the same questions as we do today, ‘When will salvation come?’ In like manner, without an end in sight to this pandemic, we echo them in our time, ‘When will this crisis end?’

The four weeks of Advent are meant to accompany us in preparing for a worthy celebration of the mystery of Christ’s incarnation. In the same way, it invites us to come face to face with our humanity, and discover how through our own frail nature, God communicates to us his love. Perhaps, the lasting cure to the ails of our times cannot be found simply in the exceptional or the extraordinary, but in the ordinariness of our existence.

Maybe, the values that we share – such as family, faith and fortitude will endure whatever seemingly insurmountable adversity there may be in our present or in the future.

‘The Word became flesh – and dwelled among us.’ The mystery of the incarnation is not limited to Christ’s birth, but to his continued presence in our reality and history. Advent, therefore, is not simply a celebration of Christ’s nativity two thousand years ago, but of his enduring presence in our homes and communities, here and now.

Therefore, in our fear, we must be led towards deeper faith; in our poverty, we must be led to greater compassion; and in our weakness, may we find even more fervent courage.

This coronavirus pandemic is but one of many ails and ills that confront our society today. Humanity continues to face so many challenges in politics, in our economy and even in our culture. In the same way that the struggles and strife are shaped by our humanity, so is our character molded by our ingenuity and persistence, and our fervor and fortitude.

Advent reminds us that despite our many differences and difficulties, we are all bound by something greater. In the face of this crisis, it is too easy for us to get trapped in a toxic web of doubt and cynicism, and to resort to easy escapes and quick fixes. By pointing our attention to that one silent night in Bethlehem, Advent reminds us that even the tiniest flicker can lighten up a room of darkness, and that an unrelenting faith can give more meaning than the most unimaginable realities.

Austerity, far right, feminism: Merkel’s ambivalent legacy

By Hui Min Neo CRISES have a knack for felling leaders.

Not Chancellor Angela Merkel.

During 16 years in power, the veteran navigated Germany through the 2008 financial turmoil and ensuing eurozone debt crisis, the 2015 refugee influx and then the coronavirus pandemic.

While largely admired at home and abroad even in the final days of her reign, the legacy she leaves behind is marked both by light and shadows.

A party in crisis Merkel scraped to a narrow win in 2005 against incumbent chancellor Gerhard Schroeder of the Social Democrats, putting her conservative CDU-CSU alliance on the path of power for over a decade.

At the zenith of her popularity, Merkel led the conservatives to a thumping win with 41.5 percent of the vote in 2013.

With her track record, she was able to end a crucial TV election debate that year with the simple closing words “you know me.”

But her exit from politics was marred by a succession crisis in her party, culminating in a humiliating loss at September’s general elections that sent it into the opposition for the next four years.

Budget dogma Once dismissed as the sick man of Europe, Germany cemented its reputation as the continent’s economic engine on Merkel’s watch.

Unemployment is at record lows -- 5.3 percent in November even as the economy is struggling with the impact of the pandemic.

Budget surpluses chalked up from 2012 also allowed the ageing nation to pay down a huge debt mountain, giving it a buffer against the impact of the health emergency.

But Germany’s fixation with balanced budgets has left a sour taste, particularly among southern Europeans battered by the financial and eurozone debt crises.

Merkel appeared to ignore pleas for debt relief when Greece was on the brink of economic collapse, triggering huge demonstrations in the country.

While credited with securing huge European bailouts that saved Greece from crashing out of the euro, it was achieved at a heavy social cost including massive job losses.

But it was COVID-19 that forced her to make a drastic U-turn on her resistance to mutualizing European debt.

Instead, Merkel spearheaded the 800-billion-euro ($950-billion) EU recovery fund, which sees the European Commission raising money by issuing bonds on behalf of all 27 members.

Climate chancellor?

Merkel made the startling decision to shut Germany’s nuclear power plants in the aftermath of the 2011 Fukushima disaster, triggering the “Energiewende”—the shift to sustainable energy.

But the sudden policy shift forced greater

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Back to school

T

ODAY more than 2,000 basic education students in 28 schools in the National Capital Region will attend face-to-face classes.

It’s an offshoot of the sustained decrease in the number of fresh cases recorded daily nationwide, alongside the great strides achieved in the vaccination drive.

The Department of Education assures us that, like the pilot run of face-to-face classes elsewhere in the country three weeks ago, measures that ensure the protection of students and teachers and anticipate less-thanideal scenarios are in place.

If it were not for the very real threat of the Omicron variant of COVID-19, it would be easy to say that things are looking up, that we are emerging out of hiding, and that all of Philippine society is nearly ready to embrace the new normal. After all, the pilot runs are happening just as the economy is opening up, and a greater number of Filipinos are out and about after more than a year of being cooped up indoors.

While no country has yet eradicated the virus, it appeared that we had at least learned to live with the constant threat and protect ourselves from it.

Omicron or not, however, this test of whether schoolchildren—from

Learning was never meant to be experienced in any alternative mode. kindergarten to Grade 3 and Senior High School – can physically return to school without incident will be instructive in the weeks and months to come.

Aside from the health and economic crises, the pandemic also occasioned a learning crisis among students across the country. It highlighted the gaps already present before COVID-19 and trained the spotlight on the great disparity among the millions of learners, whatever their academic level. Some had the advantage of having the tools and enjoying the infrastructure for online learning, the default alternative mode. But more students suffered the consequences of a lack of computers, tablets or even smartphones, and a stable internet connection. Many of them had parents who lost their jobs. And while teachers

valiantly stepped up to the role of bringing learning modules to the students’ homes, this practice yielded imperfect results.

As a result, the Philippines had the unflattering distinction of having a learning poverty rate—defined as the share of 10-year-olds who can neither read nor understand a simple story—of 90 percent this August, according to the World Bank.

Earlier, a survey conducted by the Movement for Safe, Equitable, Quality and Relevant Education (SEQuRE) showed that 86.7 percent of students under modular learning, 66 percent under online learning, and 74 percent under blended learning said they learned less under these alternative modes of instruction than they did before the pandemic.

Education is not meant to be experienced in any alternative mode.

The traditional mode remains supreme, perhaps only reinforced by the possibilities introduced by technology.

Then again, that would only reach its full potential if the gaps in digital infrastructure are addressed.

We welcome these small but decisive steps to reclaim education. Let our decisions be guided by science only— not by fear or ignorance, lest we raise a generation of learners less resilient and less critically minded as the one before it.

Pivot to the EU

SUSTAINABLE recovery was a shared objective among the country’s top thought leaders from the government, the private sector, and the academe.

In the recently held 2021 Pilipinas Conference of the Stratbase ADR Institute, they expressed an honest assessments of the government’s historical performance, the complexities of the current pandemic crisis, and the mistakes and gains, as the context for serious strategic propositions calling for reforms and actions with a long term and global outlook.

In the second session of the conference themed “Philippine Trade Relations in the Pandemic Context: A Part of EU-PH Trade and Sustainability Discussions 2021,” boosting trade relations with the European Union is seen as a great opportunity with the Philippines as the only ASEAN country given trade preference in the EU market to GSP+ (Generalized Scheme of Preference Plus). Under this incentive scheme, the Philippines could enjoy zero duties on its exports to the European Union of products falling under more than 6,000 tariff lines.

Dr. Ana Isabel Sánchez Ruiz, Deputy Head and Head of Political, Press and Information Section, Delegation of the European Union to the Philippines in her statement during the conference said that as the Philippines slowly recovers, foreign investors and entrepreneurs are eager to see substantial growth as in economic reform, further opening to foreign capital, and improvement in the business climate.

“The sobering reality we face now is an opportunity for the Philippines to adopt reforms and policies that will lead the country towards a resilient and sustainable recovery,” Dr. Ruiz said.

What she leaves behind is marked by light and shadows. reliance on coal energy in the transition period as the country battled to ramp up wind and biomass energy output.

Merkel’s government was accused of protecting Germany’s vital automobile industry by watering down emissions regulation reforms, and its refusal to advance a 2038 deadline to quit coal energy also irked green activists.

In a humiliating ruling against the government’s flagship environmental protection plan, Germany’s highest court in April ordered Merkel’s coalition to draw up an improved plan.

Her government subsequently brought forward targets to slash CO2 emissions by 65 percent by 2030 compared to 1990 levels, from an earlier goal of 55 percent.

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

According to a published statement of the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), the Philippines has enjoyed greater market access to the EU that boosted exports. The estimated worth of Philippine products eligible for GSP+ preferences in 2019 amounted to EUR2.7 billion, of which EUR1.95 billion were able to use GSP+ preferences.

The top GSP+ exports then included: crude coconut oil, vacuum cleaners, prepared or preserved tunas, spectacle lenses, new pneumatic tires, bicycles, electro-thermic hair dressing apparatus, prepared or preserved pineapples, relays, and activated carbon.

However, Dr. Ruiz sees that “the EUPhilippines trade today is far from its full potential” as trade declined by 17%” compared to that of EU-Vietnam trade which is more than 3 times bigger than EU-Philippine trade and EU-Thailand trade which is 2.5 times bigger even while considering the impact of the pandemic.

Mr. Lars Wittig, President, European Chamber of Commerce in the Philippines (ECCP) for his part sees the Philippines improving when it comes to ease of doing business but lags in terms of attracting FDIs (Foreign Direct Investments). He observed that last year’s FDIs into the Philippines dropped by 24 percent, only 12 percent from European investors, whereas it dropped dramatically more into other ASEAN countries.

He sees that the enactment of the Corporate Recovery and Tax Incentive for Enterprises Act will strongly improve the overriding environment for foreign investors and will help the ECCP promote the Philippines.

Mr. Chris Humphrey, Executive

Director, EU-ASEAN Business Council, stated that Europe is a large investor in the region and its countries actually have more FDI stock in the region than any other dialogue partner of ASEAN. Though he expressed concerns about ASEAN not being able to function as a bloc along with other issues such as: non-tariff barriers in the region, the harmonization of standards, simplification and automation of customs procedures, and the review and modernization of ASEAN Trade in Goods agreement, he is optimistic.

“Our members, European companies, still think ASEAN is a great place to invest… The opportunities are massive, the market is massive. Positioned correctly, you should be making sure you are a natural choice for businesses to come and invest in,” Mr. Humphrey said.

He also encouraged pursuing the possibility of an EU-ASEAN Investment Protection Agreement, a region-to-region FTA (Foreign Trade Agreements) and financing assistance for green energy transition from EU lending institutions.

Stratbase ADRi President Prof. Dindo Manhit in his opening statement said, “A global opportunity for the country is borne by strengthening its ties with partners such as the European Union (EU), where the trade gap is narrow while registering a trade surplus during the first nine months of 2021. This means that Philippine exports are competitive enough to be able to gain a foothold in this area.”

“To bounce back more quickly, the Philippines needs to recalibrate its growth trajectory by strengthening cooperation with its long-standing economic partners, including the EU, through trade and investments.”

A pivot to the EU’s member countries as major trading partners and for FDIs looks like a much better strategy than the administration’s preference to China which has proven to be un-reciprocal and even corrosive as we see no clear resolution to Beijing’s expansionist ambitions that now threatens the regions stability.

It’s time to pivot to the EU.

“When I look at the situation, no one can say that we have done enough” for the environment, admitted Merkel in June.

“Time is pressing. I can understand the impatience of young people.”

Business as usual?

Merkel was lauded by human rights activists in 2015 for keeping Germany’s borders open to hundreds of thousands of refugees fleeing war in Syria and Iraq.

But on China’s mass incarceration of Uyghurs in the far western region of Xinjiang, Merkel was accused of lacking bite.

Critics said she was hamstrung by huge economic interests in China.

Likewise, while Merkel spoke out firmly against Russia over the poisoning and jailing of Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny, she stuck to her guns on completing a controversial gas pipeline called Nord Stream 2.

Far right, Europe fault lines The arrival of more than a million asylum seekers in Germany further fractured the political landscape.

Popular anger over the mass influx sent a far-right bloc, the anti-immigration AfD,

to parliament in 2017 for the first time since World War II, making it the biggest opposition force.

It also opened up a fault line with former Eastern bloc nations including Hungary and Poland, which have dug in their heels against the new arrivals.

Six years on, the European Union has been unable to agree on unified migration policies.

Legacy for women As Germany’s first female chancellor, Merkel smashed the glass ceiling and became a role model for women politicians around the world.

But it was only at the very end of her time in office that she declared herself a feminist, having long resisted the term—too little, too late for some in Germany.

Critics say her government failed to make structural changes to benefit women in German society, such as reforming Germany’s tax system for married couples —a long-standing feminist plea.

The country’s gender pay gap also remains among the highest in the European Union and stood at 19 percent in 2019. AFP

Trade and investments look promising, even amid the pandemic.

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IN BRIEF Go seeks to establish more ‘super hospitals’ SENATOR Christopher “Bong” Go yesterday called for the improvement of the country’s public hospitals, proposing the establishment of a “super hospital” in every region in the country.

“Let us invest in our hospitals. I plan to have another hospital similar to Southern Philippines Medical Center (SPMC) and Philippine General Hospital (PGH) in every region,” said Go. “We can have a complete supercenter like a mega-regional hospital in each region. For example, in Metro Manila, there’s PGH complete with all the needed facilities,” he said.

He also emphasized the need for the government to continue investing more in the country’s healthcare system and learn its lessons from the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Macon Ramos-Araneta

STRENGTH IN NUMBERS. (From right) Tingog Party List 2nd Nominee Jude Acidre, Bukidnon 4th District Rep Oneil Roque, Lakas-CMD party president Martin Romualdez

(representing vice presidential candidate, Lakas-CMD party chair, and Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte), Ilocos Norte congressional candidate Sandro Marcos representing his father presidential candidate and former senator Ferdinand Bongbong Marcos, Jr. and Bukidnon Vice Governor Dan Dangallo as well as more than 15,000 supporters attended an event at the Oval of Valencia City Bukidnon. Ver Noveno

Leni dismisses 2 fake photos on social media

By Rio N. Araja VICE President and presidential aspirant Leni Robredo on Sunday hit those behind two fake photos that went viral on social media showing that she was selling fish in a public market and that her supporters violated physical distancing at a rally.

She said the questionable photos are fake and badly edited. Robredo said the photos were “obviously done to put us in a bad light. Hindi po tayo magpapatinag (We will not be cowed).

Let us report posts like these. Sorry walang link (Sorry, there’s no link).

They were only sent to me,” she said.

Senator and vice-presidential candidate Francis “Kiko” Pangilinan meanwhile received a morale boost in his bid for the second-highest seat of the land after his two-day visit in Iloilo.

During the two-day caravan of the Team Robredo-Pangilinan (TROPA), various groups originally formed to back Robredo’s campaign also confirmed their support for Pangilinan’s vice-presidential bid.

According to lawyer Larry Firmeza, a member of the “Ilonggo Lawyers for Leni,” the group will do some grassroots campaigns for both Robredo and Pangilinan.

“We, Ilonggo Lawyers for Leni, have already started our Facebook page. But in the succeeding months, we will go to the grassroots to campaign for Leni and Kiko,” Firmeza said.

“We will go house-to-house, secluded places, hard-to-reach and faraway places and inform other people of the excellent platforms of Leni and Kiko should they be elected,” he said.

Despite the massive machinery of the opponents and murder cases against lawyers, Firmeza’s group remains unfazed, saying there is no time to be afraid.

Pangasinan execs vow to support BBM, ‘Uniteam’

By Rey E. Requejo

B

AYAMBANG, Pangasinan—Key political leaders in the province formally announced on Saturday their full support for the “Uniteam” of presidential candidate Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. and his running mate Davao City Mayor Sara “Inday” Duterte for next year’s presidential elections.

Bayambang Mayor Cezar T. Quiambao, convenor of the grand alliance to support the BBM-SARA Uniteam in the country’s third vote-rich province, said 44 incumbent and aspiring mayors and six incumbent and aspiring congressmen unanimously decided to ensure the victory of the MarcosDuterte tandem in the 2022 polls.

After expressing and signing their commitment of support for BBMSARA Uniteam, the alliance also vowed to secure the win of gubernatorial candidate and incumbent 5th District

Rep. Ramon V. Guico and current vice governor Mark Ronald DG. Lambino, the team dubbed as “Alyansang Guico-Lambino” or Team Aguila, in next year’s elections.

“On behalf of all the 44 incumbent and aspiring mayors and 6 incumbent and aspiring congressmen of the province of Pangasinan, particular to the Team Aguila, as well as my fellow Hugpong Para Kay Sara, we hereby express our unequivocal support to you, for your candidacy and we will do everything in our power

to ensure an unequivocal victory in the coming elections,” Quiambao said, during the event formalizing their commitment of support to the BBM-SARA Uniteam.

Quiambao is married to singer and television personality Niña Jose who is running for mayor in next year’s local elections apparently to succeed her husband who gave up his third term reelection bid to fully support the election of the Alyansang Guico-Lambino for the gubernatorial and vice gubernatorial posts, respectively.

The local alliance endorsing the BBM-SARA tandem is composed of the Pangasinan chapters of Hugpong ng Pagbabago, Partido Federal ng Pilipinas, Lakas-CMD, Nacionalista Party, Nationalist People’s Coalition, Abono Party-list, People’s Reform Party, and Pwersa ng Masang Pilipino.

MOTION FOR RECONSIDERATION. Public Attorney’s Office (PAO) chief, Atty Persida Acosta, together with families of victims of the ill-fated MV Princess of the Stars gather at the PAO head office in Quezon City. The criminal case filed by the victims’ families of the ill-fated ship was dismissed by the court. The PAO will file a manifestation to join the prosecution’s motion for reconsideration as they will try to reopen the criminal case.

Manny Palmero

Manny says senior citizens should get more health care services

PRESIDENTIAL candidate Sen. Manny Pacquiao urged the government to give additional benefits to senior citizens by providing free hospitalization, free medical checkups, and free medicines.

Pacquiao said these additional ben-

efits should be on top of the discounts already being given to the elderly.

He noted that funding for these free health care services can be sourced from funds that he hopes to generate from the “billions of funds” that his government can save from a campaign

against corruption. Pacquiao said corruption is estimated to cause Filipinos about P1 trillion a year.

He also said these additional benefits are a way for the government to “honor” senior citizens, and that the elderly should be “showered with love

Lacson: ‘Always believe there is a God’

By Macon Ramos-Araneta SEN. Panfilo “Ping” M. Lacson on Sunday reminded his fellow Caviteños that “there is a God, always believe there is a God,” when he visited his home province along with running mate Senate President Vicente “Tito” Sotto III. Lacson, who is running for president under Partido Reporma, recalled before Cavite local officials, as well as members and officers of local Tricycle Operators and Drivers Associations (TODAs) in General Trias City, a childhood experience that reminded him of God. He said that when he was five or six years old while visiting his maternal grandparents in General Trias, he was swimming in a local river when he felt he was drowning, as he did not know how to swim then.

As he hovered between life and death, Lacson

said, he vividly saw and heard the angels singing in the blue sky - before his cousin saved his life by getting a tree branch for him to hang on to.

“When I looked up to the sky while I was bobbing up and down in the water, not knowing how to swim, do you know what I saw and heard? Angels singing,” he said.

“Since then, it was like a miracle because I learned to swim. When I returned to the river, I even knew how to dive,” he added.

Lacson also noted the unique trajectory of his public life where he was forced to resign from the Philippine National Police in 2001 - due to the events of EDSA II that ousted then-President Joseph Estrada.

At the time, he was not due to retire until his fouryear term as chief of the Philippine National Police would have ended on Nov. 16, 2003.

and respect.”

Aside from the additional services to the elderly, Pacquiao further said the government should focus on modernizing barangay health care units to hopefully de-clog public hospitals, particularly during the pandemic.

Cayetano: ‘Be more critical of e-sabong’ TAGUIG City Rep. Alan Peter Cayetano is challenging colleagues to be more critical of the 25-year franchise applications from e-sabong operators amid mounting opposition from religious leaders and other legislators.

“The emergency use of the Philippine Amusement and Games Corp. of e-sabong, so to speak, is to grant licenses to operators because the agency said it was running out of cash.

But why would you give e-sabong operators full access or full authorization for 25 years when we’ve regulated them for barely six months, we haven’t seen whether it is beneficial or harmful or neutral to society?” he asked.

Congress is considering the approval of the second franchise application of an e-sabong operator despite existing regulations put in place by PAGCOR since April, he said. Rio N. Araja

Moreno visits Cavite to offer pro-poor plan

By Rey E. Requejo

PRESIDENTIAL candidate and Manila City Mayor Isko Moreno Domagoso has won the hearts and minds of Caviteňos as he offered his pro-poor agenda to the province.

In a town hall meeting in Naic, Cavite on Saturday, Moreno, the Aksyon Demokratiko standard-bearer, vowed that if elected president, he will give the people a government that focuses on the plight of the ordinary people, a government that listens and cares for their needs.

“I know that for many of you, before the pandemic, life was hard. Of course, we are even more devastated by the pandemic. It’s hard to be poor,” Moreno said, in front of more than a thousand residents.

“Hopefully, with God’s mercy and with your help, if I am lucky, you will have a government that you can lean on, that has ears, that you can run to, and that understands and listens to you,” Moreno said.

To achieve a government for the people, Moreno said his administration would prioritize providing the minimum basic needs – food, housing, health, education, and jobs.

To bring immediate relief to the people, the 47-year-old presidential aspirant said the first policies he would institute is to cut by 50 percent the taxes of petroleum products and electricity by 50 percent to bring more food on the table, raise family income and provide extra savings.

Lazaro writes 30 Lady public relations executive, veteran journalist, and editor Maria Eloisa “Meloi” Lazaro succumbed to a massive cardiac arrest at 2:07 a.m. on December 4 at the Philippine Heart Center in Quezon City.

She was 70.

She is survived by sons Theo and Xavier.

Her remains lie at Chapel A, Krus na Wawa Memorial Park, 371 MacArthur Highway, Wakas, Bocaue Bulacan.

There will be a one-day wake at the Garden of the Divine Word Chapel, Christ the King Seminary Compound, 1101 E. Rodriguez Sr. Ave., Quezon City after her cremation on Wednesday.

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World

MONDAY, DECEMBER 6, 2021 mst.daydesk@gmail.com

Amid Omicron fears, Rio cancels New Year festivities RIO de Janeiro has decided “with sadness” to cancel its huge New Year’s celebration amid rising concerns over the spread of the new COVID-19 variant known as Omicron.

The move also raises doubts about the city’s iconic Carnival in February.

“We are going to cancel the official celebration of the New Year’s party in Rio,” Mayor Eduardo Paes announced Saturday on Twitter.

He added the decision was made “with sadness,” but in view of the rapid spread of Omicron. Six cases of the variant have been confirmed in Brazil to date.

The decision followed intensive debate between city officials and Brazilian health experts, with Omicron arriving after months in which the virus situation in the country had been substantially improving.

But in the end, Paes said, “Let us respect science” and take a cautious approach.

More than 20 other Brazilian cities, including populous Sao Paulo, have already canceled year-end festivities.

On Thursday, Paes said people would now need Covid-19 vaccination certificates to enter beauty salons, restaurants, bars and hotels. They were previously required in cinemas, theaters, gyms, museums and sports stadiums.

The city’s New Year’s festivities, involving joyous dance music and extravagant fireworks displays, typically bring some three million people to famed Copacabana beach.

But even without the fireworks, Paes later told reporters “the city remains magical, incredible, welcoming,” and “vaccinated tourists will be very welcome.”

He also sought to project optimism about the Carnival, noting that it is still three months away.

In the meantime, Rio’s famous samba schools are continuing the work of preparing – practicing dance moves, preparing floats and creating exotic costumes.

COVID-19 has claimed more than 615,000 lives in Brazil – trailing only the United States. AFP

In this file photo taken on December 31, 2019, people celebrate as they watch the traditional New Year’s fireworks at Copacabana Beach in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

The city of Rio de Janeiro announced on December 4, 2021 it suspended its New Year’s celebrations after the emergence of the Omicron variant of COVID-19. AFP

Australia okays COVID vax for kids aged 5-11

A

USTRALIA on Sunday cleared the first COVID-19 vaccine for children aged five to 11, with the next stage of its vaccine rollout expected to start in early 2022.

Health Minister Greg Hunt said medical regulators had granted provisional approval for the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine to be administered to younger children for the first

time.

It follows similar decisions in the European Union, the United States, Israel and Canada.

Hunt said the vaccination of 2.3 million Australian children in the cohort will start on January 10, subject to approval from the nation’s immunization advisory body.

“It is recommended for children right across Australia,” he said of the vaccine.

“It is about keeping our kids safe, keeping our families safe, keeping all Australians safe.”

The Therapeutic Goods Administration

regulatory authority said children aged five to 11 would receive a smaller vaccine dose than people 12 years old and above.

Agency head John Skerritt said he was confident in both the efficacy and safety of the formulation, adding “it has extensively been clinically tested.”

Almost 93 percent of Australians aged over 16 have now received a first vaccine dose, with 88 percent of the population double-dosed.

Booster shots were authorized in October, with people encouraged to receive their third jab after six months. AFP

Mt. Semeru’s sudden eruption leaves 13 dead

A villager carries a child as people salvage their belongings in an area covered in volcanic ash at Sumber Wuluh village in Lumajang on December 5, 2021, after the Semeru volcano eruption that killed at least 13 people. AFP Manila

US, West blast Taliban over ‘summary killings’

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TODAY

THE United States on Saturday led a group of Western nations and allies in condemnation of the Taliban over the “summary killings” of former members of the Afghan security forces reported by rights groups, demanding quick investigations.

“We are deeply concerned by reports of summary killings and enforced disappearances of former members of the Afghan security forces Manila as documented by Human Rights Watch and Standard TODAY others,” read a statement by the United States, the European Union, Australia, Britain, Japan and others, which was released by the State Department.

“We underline that the alleged actions constitute serious human rights abuses and contradict the Taliban’s announced amnesty,” the group NOTICE OF ofEXTRA-JUDICIAL nations said, as it called on Afghanistan’s SETTLEMENT new rulers to OF ensure the amnesty is enforced ESTATE and “upheld across the country and throughout Notice is hereby given that the estate of the late ERWIN D. SAMONTE has been extra-judicially settled among his wife and heirs on the 30th of March, 2021 as per Doc. No. 292; Page No. 59; RUSSIAN President Vladimir Putin and his Manila Book No. 25; Series of 2021;counterpart under the Notarial US Joe Biden will hold talks by RegisterTODAY of Atty. Marty video conference Franz F. Toralba, for and on Tuesday, the Kremlin in Camiling, Tarlac. and Washington said, as tensions rise over

their ranks.”

Early this week Human Rights Watch (HRW) released a report that it says documents the summary execution or enforced disappearance of 47 former members of the Afghan National Security Forces, other military personnel, police and intelligence agents “who had surrendered to or were apprehended by Taliban forces” from mid-August through October.

“Reported cases must be investigated promptly and in a transparent manner, those responsible must be held accountable, and these steps must be clearly publicized as an immediate deterrent to further killings and disappearances,” the countries – which include Canada, New Zealand, Romania, Ukraine and several European nations – said in their statement.

“We will continue to measure the Taliban by their actions.” AFP

THE death toll from a sudden, spectacular eruption of Indonesia’s Mount Semeru has risen to 13, disaster officials said Sunday, as rescuers searched villages blanketed in molten ash for survivors.

The eruption of Java’s biggest mountain caught locals by surprise on Saturday, sending thousands fleeing its path of destruction and forcing hundreds of families into makeshift shelters.

It left at least 11 villages of Lumajang district in East Java province coated in volcanic ash, submerging houses and vehicles, smothering livestock and leaving at least 900 evacuees seeking shelter in mosques, schools and village halls.

Dramatic footage showed Semeru pumping a mushroom of ash into the sky, looming ominously over screaming residents of a nearby village as they fled.

“The death toll is now 13 people.

Rescuers found more bodies,” national disaster mitigation agency (BNPB) spokesman Abdul Muhari told AFP, without specifying the cause of death.

Two of the victims have been identified, he said in a later statement.

At least 57 people were injured in the eruption, of whom 41 suffered burns and were hospitalized, the BNPB said in a press release.

As many as 10 trapped people were rescued from the surrounding areas in Lumajang, Muhari said, as villagers and rescuers worked through the night to find anyone trapped or retrieve bodies.

Local broadcaster Kompas TV reported those rescued were local workers at a sand mining site. AFP

Biden-Putin talks set for Tuesday as tensions rise over Ukraine

Standard Ukraine.

(MS-NOV. 15/22/29, 2021)

NOTICE OF DISSOLUTION The public is hereby notified that RITTAL SYSTEMS INC., a corporation organized and existing under Philippine laws, with registered address at 88 Corporate Center, 141 Valero Street corner Sedeño Street, Salcedo Village, Makati City, Philippines, will be DISSOLVED through shortening of its corporate term in accordance with Section 136 of the Revised Corporation Code of the Philippines. The corporation’s dissolution will automatically take effect on the day following the last day of its shortened corporate term as stated in the corporation’s amended articles of incorporation, without the need for the issuance by the Securities and Exchange Commission of a certificate of dissolution.

(MS-NOV. 22/29/DEC. 6, 2021)

Standard Manila

TODAY

Manila

REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINES Standard REGIONAL TRIAL COURT

TODAY NATIONAL CAPITAL JUDICIAL REGION BRANCH 225 – QUEZON CITY

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Saturday the conversation would take place in the evening Russia time and the two leaders would determine its duration, according to Russian news agencies.

A statement from the White House also confirmed the talks, saying the leaders would discuss a range of issues by a secure video link.

“President Biden will underscore US concerns with Russian military activities on the border with Ukraine and reaffirm the United States’ support for the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine,” press secretary Jen Psaki said in the statement.

Biden said Friday he would make it “very, very difficult” for Russia to launch any invasion of Ukraine, which had warned that a largescale attack may be planned for next month.

Washington and Kiev say Moscow has massed troops near Ukraine’s borders and accuse Russia of planning an invasion.

Russia has denied any bellicose intentions and accused the West of provocation, particularly with military exercises in the Black Sea, which it sees as part of its sphere of influence.

Biden and Putin had been expected since Friday to hold a video call.

Biden told reporters in Washington he was putting together “the most comprehensive and meaningful set of initiatives to make it very, very difficult for Mr. Putin to go ahead and do what people are worried he may do.”

And on Saturday, US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin made it clear they were taking the threat of invasion seriously, in comments following a speech in California. AFP

Republic of the Philip REGIONAL TRIAL C National Capital Judicia Branch 100, Quezo

Business

A7

MONDAY, DECEMBER 6, 2021 || extrastory2000@gmail.com

Volatile market trading seen this week

By Jenniffer B. Austria

T

RADING at the Philippine Stock Exchange is expected to remain volatile as the spread of the Omicron variant of COVID-19 weighs on the market.

BDO Unibank Inc. chief investment strategies said the Philippine Stock Exchange Index will likely trade within the 7,000-7,200-point levels in the nearterm because of the nervous stance of investors. A sustained fall below the

6,950 levels will call the bears to test the 6,500/6,800 marks.

Upcoming equity deals in the market, however, should provide investors some confidence on the market. Medilines Distributors Inc., a leading distributor of medical equipment in the country, is set to list as the Philippines’ first pureplay healthcare initial public offering on Tuesday, while Solar Philippines Nueva Ecija Corp., a unit of Solar Philippines Power Holdings Inc., is scheduled to list its shares on December 17, 2021.

The PSEi last week ended lower by 3.1 percent to close at 7.055.19 on concerns about the new variant of the COVID-19. The broader All Shares Index

also dropped 2.1 percent to 3,790 All sub-indices posted week-on-week declines led by holding firms (-3.46 percent), property (-3.24 percent), industrial (-2.96 percent) and services (1.92 percent).

The financials index slipped 1.8 percent while mining and oil index declined 1.3 percent.

Foreign investors were net sellers for the week by P1.8 billion, while the average daily value traded reached P14.6 billion from the previous week’s average of P8.8 billion.

Weekly top price gainers were Union Bank of Philippines, which jumped by 13 percent to P97.20 after the bank was reported to be the preferred bidder for

the consumer and retail banking assets of American banking giant Citigroup Inc. Other top gainers were Converge Information and Communications Technology Solutions Inc., which rose 4.5 percent to P31.50, and DMCI Holdings Inc., which climbed 3.5 percent to P7.97.

Weekly top price losers were Cebu Air Inc., which declined 9.7 percent to P43.70; Jollibee Foods Corp., which dropped 8.5 percent to P223; and Ayala Corp., which fell 5.7 percent to P824.

Global stocks finished a volatile week on a downcast note Friday, sunk by festering worries over the Omicron variant and disappointment at the most recent US job growth figures. With AFP

IMF chief says Omicron could reduce growth WASHINGTON—The new Omicron variant of COVID-19 could slow the global economic recovery, just as the Delta strain did, IMF chief Kristalina Georgieva said Friday.

“A new variant that may spread very rapidly can dent confidence and in that sense, we are likely to see some downgrades of our October projections for global growth,” she said at a Reuters event.

In its most recent World Economic Outlook, the fund projected global growth of 5.9 percent this year and 4.9 percent in 2022, but the United States and other major economies suffered sharp downward revisions after the spread of the Delta variant “caused some friction,” Georgieva said.

“Even before the arrival of this new variant, we were concerned that the recovery, while it continues, is losing somewhat momentum,” the IMF chief said, noting that policymakers are now dealing with new issues like inflation.

The IMF’s most-recent forecasts raised concerns that global supply chain issues and uneven distribution of vaccines were slowing the rebound, and causing some countries to be left behind.

A surge in demand in many advanced economies coupled with shortages of key components like semiconductors has fueled a wave of prices increases.

Less than two months ago, Georgieva expressed confidence that inflation would not become a “runaway train” but on Friday she said the US Federal Reserve will have to increase interest rates in 2022, rather than in 2023, as the IMF previously predicted.

The Fed, which cut the benchmark lending rate to zero in the early days of the pandemic, already has started to pull back on its stimulus measures and has signaled it will speed up that process, which would put it in position to lift rates off zero by midyear. AFP

FINAL TRIP. People take photos as a steam train prepares to leave Bangkok Railway Station for a trip to mark the birthday of Thailand’s late king Bhumibol Adulyadej in Bangkok on December 5, 2021, in the station’s final month before all services are moved to the capital’s new railway hub at Bang Sue Grand Station. AFP

Didi departure marks end of romance with Wall Street NEW YORK—The Chinese ride-hailing giant Didi Chuxing’s announcement that it will delist its shares from the New York Stock Exchange marks the end of a cushy relationship between Wall Street and Chinese tech giants, who are under siege from authorities in Beijing and regulators in America.

Only five months transpired between Didi’s going public in New York in June and word Friday that it will prepare a Hong Kong listing. During that time its market value has fallen by 63 percent.

Didi’s move comes in the wake of a sweeping Chinese regulatory crackdown in the past year that has clipped the wings of major internet firms wielding huge influence on consumers’ lives—including Alibaba and Tencent.

After Friday’s announcement, heavyweight Chinese online retailers whose stocks are sold on the New York exchange, such as Alibaba, JD.com and

Romain Beiso, owner of Chez Mere-Grand coffee, poses for a picture in Montreal, Quebec, taken on November 10, 2021 The signs of an unprecedented labor shortage in Canada are glaring.

AFP

OTTAWA, Canada—The signs of an unprecedented labor shortage in Canada are glaring: hospital emergency rooms closed because of a lack of nurses, restaurants skipping meals and fewer Santas in malls.

In Ottawa, a “Help Wanted” notice in the window of Corazon De Maiz restaurant—like those in storefronts across Canada—has gone mostly unanswered since the recent lifting of public health restrictions introduced 19 months ago to slow the spread of the coronavirus.

The end of COVID-19 lockdowns brought droves of customers to the capital city eatery, but with kitchen staffing levels down, the restaurant has been unable to meet the demand for burritos and tacos.

“We’re suddenly busier, but we’re having to close early because my wife and I are exhausted after working all day,” owner Eric Igari told AFP. One new hire worked three hours and quit, saying the job was too hard for not enough pay, Igari said.

“We’ve asked friends to pitch in, and even a few regular customers offered to help,” Igari said. Two customers actually worked a few shifts.

TOP GAINERS 1

MAHB

LAST PRICE 1.69

% CHANGE CHANGE 0.26 18.18%

2 3

IDC ECP

2.12 4.6

0.22 0.4

11.58% 9.52%

4 5 6

ABG DIZ PRIM

5.7 5.49 1.36

0.43 0.37 0.07

8.16% 7.23% 5.43%

7 8 9

ROCK LOTO EURO

1.57 2.09 1.55

0.07 0.08 0.05

4.67% 3.98% 3.33%

10

LR

1.55

0.05

3.33%

TOP LOSERS

Canada’s labor fix: Cooks, nurses and mall Santas in short supply

By Michel Comte with Anne-Sophie Thill

PSEi November 26, 2021

No ‘ho ho ho’ Studies by the government and industry associations found that up to two-thirds of Canadian businesses are facing worker shortages, and claim the deficit is limiting their growth.

The industries most affected are health care, food services, manufacturing and construction.

According to the latest from Statistics Canada, there were a total of 1,014,600 job vacancies in September, including 196,100 in food services and 131,200 in health care—double the numbers from two years ago.

Trevin Stratton, a partner at Deloitte Canada, said factors contributing to the shortfall include an aging population leaving the workforce and lower recent immigration due to travel restrictions—which Canada lifted in September.

Some sectors are adapting through the use of technologies such as increased automation in manufacturing, e-commerce in retail, or allowing staff to work from home.

But in others, “many workers might not necessarily yet feel comfortable working somewhere where their physical presence is required,” Stratton said. AFP

Pinduoduo, dropped sharply.

Shares in Alibaba—whose arrival on Wall Street in 2014 to a loud fanfare kicked off the parade of Chinese firms listing in the Big Apple—fell to their lowest level in nearly five years as rumors circulated that, after Didi leaves, Alibaba might be next.

Technically, even as Didi Chuxing moves its listing to Hong Kong, holders of its shares in New York retain those stakes. Their investment does not simply vanish.

But “people are very fearful about regulations and the Chinese government,” said Kevin Carter, portfolio manager at EMQQ. “And that has really, really affected sentiment. People are scared.”

Coincidentally, on Thursday US market regulators announced the adoption of a rule allowing them to delist foreign companies if they fail to provide information to auditors.

The move is aimed primarily at Chinese firms, and requires them to disclose whether they are “owned or controlled” by a government.

“While more than 50 jurisdictions have worked... to allow the required inspections, two historically have not: China and Hong Kong,” Securities and Exchange Commission chairman Gary Gensler said.

The Global Times, a newspaper close to the Chinese Communist Party, criticized the new US regulation in an opinion piece Friday.

“If the US sets unequal conditions on national security for competition between the two countries by demanding Chinese listed companies hand over audits for inspection so as to spy on China’s internal situation and store huge amounts of sensitive data acquired by Chinese companies, China won’t accept that,” the unsigned piece said. AFP

Work-life harmony WORK-LIFE harmony is one of the topics that resonated with me the most in class as I admittedly struggled with balancing work and life. I always have whispers at the back of my mind telling me that I have to be busy to be productive, although I know this is not entirely true.

My personal experience After deep reflection, I realized that this could be attributed to my upbringing and family values. Like many Chinese-Filipino families, my family has focused on the family business. The family business has been a topic of conversation from work hours, during lunch or dinner, and even weekends. There was a thin line separating between work and leisure growing up.

It was further tested when I joined an auditing firm after passing the CPA board examinations. It is well known that there are “busy” and “slack” seasons for auditing firms in a year.

However, I never really experienced slack seasons since I was assigned to a large corporate client requiring the firm to do audits or reviews of the financial statements of this client throughout the year. I envied my colleagues who went on vacations from May to July when my team and I worked overnight.

There was no “life” during my auditor days since it was normal for me to be in the office 16 hours daily from Monday mornings until the dawn of Sundays. The remainder of the week, which only consists of Sunday, I catch up on sleep. I also barely used my vacation leave credits. I came to the point when I became physically and

mentally exhausted. When I have eventually been diagnosed with thyroid disease, I decided to resign from my job and look for “greener pastures.”

I was grateful that my routine was more relaxed, and I had more leisure time in my next job. I learned the importance of work-life harmony the hard way. Though still busy at work, I can now watch KDrama, attend yoga classes and bake during my free time.

Work-life balance and life priorities As we grow older, our priorities change. After graduating from the university, my priority was on building my career. When I eventually stepped up the corporate ladder, I prioritized my leisure activities as I focused more on my health, family and social circles.

Juggling work and life will be more tested now that I have decided to take graduate studies. Proper time management and prioritization of tasks are now more vital than ever, and this is a challenge that I am willing to take.

How we make decisions and what we do in the 16-hours we spend awake are driven by our life’s goals and priorities.

The work-leisure-integration matrix Despite my hardships, I still feel fortunate that I could experience being an external auditor. I now have something to look back to when reflecting on the work-leisureintegration matrix shown during class.

One of the reflection questions asked during class was where we see ourselves on this matrix. After a decade of working, it hit me that I still think

1

PHES

LAST PRICE 0.61

2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

BCB OPMB I PHA ZHI APVI DITO BKR MARC

4.8 0.01 0.91 0.72 0.175 18 5.61 1.67 1.38

% CHANGE CHANGE -0.18 -22.78% -0.6 -0.001 -0.09 -0.07 -0.015 -1.26 -0.39 -0.11 -0.09

-11.11% -9.09% -9.00% -8.86% -7.89% -6.54% -6.50% -6.18% -6.12%

MOST ACTIVE 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

MONDE ACEN ALI SMPH BDO GLO SM CNVRG TEL MBT

VOLUME 73,281,400 70,164,400 14,954,700 14,082,000 3,932,730 85,685 256,170 8,256,000 133,135 4,289,260

VALUE (PHP) 1,311,036,314 832,373,298 544,562,070 515,155,235 500,494,867 295,186,130 250,939,480 249,912,080 228,494,265 214,408,401

JEFFERSON DEE

Green LiGht that I am still in between the lower and middle part of the matrix–that is, in the middle of “Job” and “Career, “Amusement” and “Utility,” and “Gratification” and “Achievement.”

Interestingly, I realized that we might be at a higher part of the matrix at some points in life and go back down afterward. When I was an auditor, I felt like I was on the “Vocation” stage at Work, but on the “Amusement and “Gratification” stage on Leisure and Integration, respectively.

I truly enjoyed auditing despite working long hours. I wouldn’t have resigned from my job if not for adverse health effects of the lifestyle. I’m afraid that my disease would have gotten worse if I had remained with the firm, even just for another year. It was not a sustainable lifestyle. We cannot rank high in one part of the matrix but rank low in the others.

At this point, I am content that I am at the lower level in the matrix but remain balanced throughout all the aspects. From here, I can start climbing up step by step and work on each aspect equally. It is not a race, and I still have the rest of my life to achieve this.

The author is an MBA student at the Ramon V. del Rosario College of Business, DLSU. He can be reached at jefferson_dee@dlsu.edu.ph.

The views expressed above are the author’s and do not necessarily reflect the official position of DLSU, its faculty, and its administrators.

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

A8

MONDAY, DECEMBER 6, 2021

IN BRIEF Cargill opens basemix plant

AMERICAN food conglomerate Cargill Inc. announced the opening of its first basemix plant in Mindanao to deliver consistently high-quality, nutritious and safe animal nutrition solutions composed of micro-ingredients to improve the health, immunity and growability of hogs and chickens.

The new facility is equipped with modern automated technologies with an annual capacity of 30,000 metric tons. It was built beside the Cargill Animal Nutrition and Health’s compound feed production facility in Villanueva, Misamis Oriental, which produces swine and poultry products for the region.

“Working closely with our customers and local communities, Cargill in the Philippines continues to identify and unlock opportunities to optimize our market footprint and realize our purpose to nourish the world in a safe, responsible and sustainable way,” said Cargill Philippines managing director for animal nutrition and health Sonny Catacutan.

“We are proud and excited to unveil our new basemix plant in Mindanao, a strategic decision that allows us to better serve our customers across the region with our latest animal nutrition offerings and solutions,” said Catacutan. Othel V. Campos

Lim set to step down as Metro Pacific head

Business DTI applies anti-dumping duty on 13 Vietnam cement traders

By Othel V. Campos

T

HE Department of Trade and Industry said over the weekend it imposed provisional antidumping duties on specific Portland cement brands imported from Vietnam.

It said it reached decision after conducting a preliminary determination on the anti-dumping petition filed by Republic Cement & Building Materials Inc., CEMEX-Solid Cement Corp./Apo Cement Corp. and Holcim Philippines Inc. “Preliminary determination showed that 9 of 16 Vietnamese exporters of type 1 cement and four out of 12 exporters of type 1P cement have been dumping cement in the country causing material injury to the domestic cement

METRO Pacific Investments Corp. president and chief executive Jose Ma. Lim is set to retire from his post by the end of 2021.

Metro Pacific said in a disclosure to the stock exchange chairman Manuel Pangilinan would assume the post as president of the company effective Jan. 1, 2022.

Lim will continue to be a board member of the company and will be a consultant of the group to help the company with more aggressive business development activities.

“Mr. Lim has been part of the group for 26 years and has been instrumental in the inception of MPIC and has successfully grown MPIC to its current portfolio during his almost 15 year stint with the company,” Metro Pacific said.

“His stellar performance was recognized, as shown by awards and recognitions he received as Best CEO from Institutional Investor and Corporate Governance Asia,” it said. Jenniffer B. Austria

ties will result in an increase in the retail price of cement because its effect on landed cost is minimal. Any price increases in imported cement will be discouraged by competition from domestic cement producers,” said Trade Secretary Ramon Lopez.

Lopez said “the provisional antidumping duties will be imposed only on specific Vietnamese exporters found to be dumping cement to the Philippines. Vietnamese exporters who are not dumping can continue to export cement without having to post the provisional anti-dumping cash bond.”

Finding of DTI’s investigation also showed that during the investigation period, dumped cement imports from Vietnam accounted for 55 percent of total Philippine imports from July 2019 to December 2020. Cement imports from Vietnam accounted for almost 90 percent of the country’s total cement imports.

MANGROVE PROTECTION. San Miguel Corp., along with the Department of Environment and Natural Resources and the local government of Navotas City, taps more volunteers from its own workforce to scale up efforts to clean and protect Isla Pulo, home to the remaining old-growth mangrove forest in Metro Manila. The company, which has been holding weekly cleanup activities since October, mobilized some 80 volunteers consisting of employees, residents from Barangay Tanza 1 and personnel from the local government of Navotas, Philippine National Police personnel based in Navotas, the 51st Engineers Brigade of the Philippine Army and the DEBR. Volunteers collected 3,803 sacks of garbage from the mangrove area, which also serves as a natural barrier that protects nearby cities from storm surges and coastline erosion.

LandBank lends P233b to agriculture

STATE-RUN Land Bank of the Philippines extended P233.6 billion in loans to the agriculture sector as of end-October this year, according to a report submitted to Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez III. The amount is 93 percent of the bank’s P251.5-billion target in loans to the agriculture sector in 2021.

The bank has outstanding loans of P94.01 billion to support the improvement and construction of farm infrastructure and postharvest facilities, which make up the bulk of the P233.6 billion.

LandBank also assisted 2,987,929 farmers and fishers as of October, representing an increase of 13,125―of which 10,189 availed of regular loans from the bank― from last month’s figure of 2,974,804.

The bank said the P5.39-billion net growth in loans as of October was attributed to the increase in loan releases of P4.41 billion to small, medium and large agribusiness enterprises from September.

It said that in terms of economic activity, loans supporting agri-related activities such as the improvement and establishment of public markets, farm-to-market roads, warehouses, cold storages, irrigation systems, fish port, and agri-tourism picked up with an increase of P5.79 billion as of end-October.

Julito G. Rada

industry,” the department said.

Dumping occurs when exporters sell their products to an importing country at a price lower than the normal value when consumed in their home market.

Provisional anti-dumping duties on type 1 cement will range from $1.02 per metric ton to $10.53/MT, representing 2.69 percent to 31.87 percent of the export price.

The nine exporters account for 82 percent of total imports of type 1 cement.

Meanwhile, provisional anti-dumping duties on Vietnam’s type 1P cement exports will range from $1.16/MT to $12.79/MT, representing 3.80 percent to 29.20 percent of the export price. These provisional duties are estimated to add P2.01 to P25.08 to the import cost of a 40-kilogram bag of cement, but this is not expected to be passed on to the users due to strong competition from local and other imported brands.

“We do not anticipate that these du-

Villar Group bares plan to list REIT unit, renewable energy firm PROPERTY tycoon Manuel Villar disclosed a plan to list two more companies next year to take advantage of the recovery of the economy.

Villar said his listed property firm Vista Land & Lifescapes Inc. would spin off its office assets under a real estate investment trust to be listed on the Philippine Stock Exchange.

The family’s renewable energy firm PAVI Green is also considering an initial public offering next year.

Villar said Vista Land planned to offer an office REIT with few commercial spaces. Vista Land’s leasing assets as of 2020 included 31 malls, 63 commercial centers and 7 BPO office spaces with

a total of 1.5 million square meters of gross floor area.

Villar said his family was also planning to list its renewable energy venture under PAVI Green to fund expansion plans.

PAVI Green has more than 50 megawatts of capacity with operations in Siquijor, one of the missionary areas of National Power Corp.’s Small Power Utilities Group.

Villar said the group would expand the current capacity to 200 MW of renewable energy.

The Villar Group in November listed supermarket chain AllDay Marts Inc., while his brother Virgilio Villar will list this week his medical distribution firm

Medilines Distributors Inc. Meanwhile, Villar said foot traffic in major malls were already back to prepandemic levels as the government continued to ease restrictions over falling COVID-19 cases.

He said his malls as a result stopped giving concession rates to tenants.

Villar said he created at least 23 new retail concepts during the pandemic to fill up his malls.

“We were having a hard time getting tenants for our malls, while other tenants decided to close down because of the pandemic. So I had no choice but to develop my own retail concepts.

Jenniffer B. Austria

PSE INDEX CLOSING Friday, December 3, 2021

22.65 PTS. 7,055.19

TOTAL VOLUME TOTAL TRADES TOTAL VALUE ADVANCES DECLINES UNCHANGED

1,304,375,118 87,683 6,972,628,878.89 131 65 38

F oreign e xchange r ate Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas • FRIDAY, DECEMBER 3, 2021

Currency

Unit

US Dollar

Peso

United States

Dollar

1.000000

50.4010

Japan

Yen

0.008838

0.4454

UK

Pound

1.331100

67.0888

Hong Kong

Dollar

0.128357

6.4693

Switzerland

Franc

1.086720

54.7718

Canada

Dollar

0.780762

39.3512

Singapore

Dollar

0.730460

36.8159

Australia

Dollar

0.709300

35.7494

Bahrain

Dinar

2.653012

133.7145

Saudi Arabia

Rial

0.266574

13.4356

Brunei

Dollar

0.727802

36.6819

Indonesia

Rupiah

0.000070

0.0035

Thailand

Baht

0.029533

1.4885

UAE

Dirham

0.272279

13.7231

Euro

Euro

1.130300

56.9683

Korea

Won

0.000850

0.0428

China

Yuan

0.156796

7.9027

India

Rupee

0.013338

0.6722

Malaysia

Ringgit

0.236518

11.9207

New Zealand

Dollar

0.681600

34.3533

Taiwan

Dollar

0.036032

1.8160 Source: BSP

PSE okays P750-m IPO of Haus Talk in January

By Jenniffer B. Austria THE Philippine Stock Exchange approved the P750-million initial public offering of residential developer Haus Talk Inc. in January 2022.

Haus Talk will sell up to 500 million common shares at an price of up to P1.50 each based on the terms approved by the PSE, .

“Haus Talk is one of the companies in PSE’s handholding program for potential IPO listing applicants.

We are pleased to see that their IPO journey will soon come into fruition,” PSE president and chief executive Ramon Monzon said.

Haus Talk will use the net proceeds from the maiden share offering to fund capital expenditures, land acquisition, project development and general corporate purposes.

The offering period is set from Jan. 3 to Jan. 7, 2022. The shares will be listed on the SME board of PSE on Jan. 17, 2022. Haus Talk will have a public float of 20 percent after the IPO. Monzon said the PSE was guiding over 30 companies in their plans to go public under the handholding program, most of which are candidates for SME board listing.

“We have long wanted to grow the number of SMEs listed in the PSE. To achieve this, we relaxed our listing rules and beefed up the support we provide to potential listing applicants.

We hope that the IPO of Haus Talk will set the tone for 2022 in encouraging other SMEs to consider raising capital through the stock market,” Monzon said.

The niche residential developer said it planned to acquire land in Bacoor, Cavite; Dagupan City; Sta. Cruz, Laguna; and Antipolo City for future development.

Formed in 2004, Haus Talk is a residential real estate developer led by the Madlambayan family with projects based in Antipolo and Laguna. The company sold almost 1,900 housing units, with about 2,300 units in the pipeline until 2023.

AirAsia PH resumes regional flights after 2-year hiatus as air travel eases

By Darwin G. Amojelar

VTI STOCKHOLDERS. Vallacar Transit Inc., the flagship company of Ceres Bus Lines, holds the 2021 special stockholders’ meeting and organizational meeting, more than a month after a Bacolod City court appointed Olivia Yanson the special administrator of the estate of her late spouse Ricardo Yanson on Oct. 21. Attending the meeting are (from left) Arvin John Villaruel, Charles Dumancas, Ginette Dumancas, Leo Rey Yanson and Daniel Nicolas Golez. Leo Rey Yanson was re-appointed chairman and president of VTI during the board meeting, while Olivia Yanson, the co-founder of the company, was re-appointed corporate secretary and treasurer.

AIRASIA Philippines said over the weekend it resumed regional flights after a two-year commercial flight hiatus due to COVID-19.

“We are happy to have successfully expanded our route network to Singapore. Initially, we will cater to our Filipino workers and business travelers, but soon as we slowly recover from the global pandemic, we hope to open this route for leisure travel also,” said AirAsia Philippines spokesperson Steve Dailisan.

“This is extra special for us in AirAsia because we know how Filipinos value family traditions during the Christmas season, and we take pride in being an instrument to those happy and mean-

ingful reunions,” he said.

One of the most progressive ASEAN countries, Singapore invited more Filipinos for work because of its proximity to the Philippines.

The global pandemic, however, trimmed down the deployment of Filipino workers to the Lion City by 80 percent. To date, there are 200,000 Filipinos working in Singapore.

AirAsia Philippines flies to Singapore via Ninoy Aquino International Airport Terminal 3 every Saturday.

AirAsia Philippines earlier said it would double and triple weekly flight frequencies to most local destinations such as Caticlan, Iloilo, Tacloban, Bacolod, Tagbilaran, Puerto Princesa, Kalibo and Cebu.

BDO Capital agrees to support renewable projects to avert looming power shortfall in next dry months

By Alena Mae S. Flores BDO Capital & Investment Corp. said it will continue to lend to power projects, particularly renewable energy, as it expressed concern over the looming power shortfall during the next dry months.

BDO Capital president Ed Francisco said during the recent Department of Energy’s 2021 Energy Investment Forum that RE projects are easier to finance specifically wind, solar, geothermal and

run-of-river “because we are very comfortable” with them.

BDO Capital is an investment house whose functions include securities underwriting and trading, loan syndication, financial advisory and private placement of debt and equity.

Wind and solar are considered intermittent source of power unlike coal which provides baseload capacity due to its 24/7 availability.

“Just recognizing of course the availability factors, we’d love to lend more

to that...We really need [capacity]…

We’ve heard that there will really be a shortfall,” Francisco said.

Francisco said he was constantly in talks with Manila Electric Co. president Ray Espinosa who informed him of the forecasted increase in demand during the dry months as the economy reopens.

“He [Espinosa] foresees problems this coming summer because if all the businesses are opened and if the economy re-opens, then we will have

a shortage in power,” the bank executive said.

“Therefore, what will what happen?

Will we go back to coal? I really rely on DOE for that,” Francisco said.

Francisco said he would rather have power and use coal “rather than have brownout because that will destroy the catchup we need.”

Meralco is seeking approval from the DOE to procure 170 megawatts of capacity in preparation for the anticipated increase in demand during the dry

months and the election period.

Meralco officials bared in October the need to secure an additional 170 MW of supply in preparation for increased demand next year, election period and declining gas supply from the Malampaya project in northwest Palawan.

The decline in gas supply from Malampaya forced the country’s natural gas plants to run on the more expensive liquid fuel or shut down some of their operations, leading to lower generation capacity in the Luzon grid.

Bolts send Jackson to E Painters for Johnson

Sports

Riera U. Mallari, Editor; Randy M. Caluag, Assistant Editor MONDAY, DECEMBER 6, 2021

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By Argie Paul Candare MERALCO is sending Trevis Jackson to Rain or Shine in exchange for the Painters’ rookie Franky Johnson.

Jackson was the fifth pick in 2019 Draft by the Bolts.

The 5’11 playmaker loggedin 2.25 points, 1.25 rebounds and 0.5 assists during the 2021 Philippine Cup. On the other hand, Johnson was fresh off his inaugural conference that saw him in limited action for Rain or Shine, appearing in only four games, averaging 3 points, 1.75 rebounds and 0. 5 assists.

The 27-year-old Fil-Am cager was initially relegated to his former team’s 3x3 squad but was called-up later.

Rain or Shine battles Blackwater Bossing on December 9 with another match-up two days after fighting Terrafirma Dyip.

The Bolts for now have no assigned game based on the released one-week schedule by the league.

Dream take WNBL tiara UR ATEX Dream captured the f irst crown in the W NBL 3x3, r uling the f irst leg with a 21-10 victor y over Jiaguel last Sunday at the Bren Z. Guiao Convention Center in San Fer nando, Pampanga.

The team of Kaye Pingol, Tina Deacon, Alyssa Villamor and Angel Anies won the crown over Boom Moslares, Pam Payac, Trina Guytingco and Cara Buendia, completing a six-game sweep of the competition.

The Dream swept the eliminations with a 4-0 record in Pool B after beating Swish, 21-0, and Blue Fire Gasulista Huskies, 21-11. They advanced to the championship with a 22-4 victory over Dreamers.

Uratex Tibay finished the competition in third place of the first leg that attracted 10 teams including JJD Basketball, Amazing, Fourbees Hoopers, QWBT and Swish.

Olympic boxing silver medalists Carlo Paalam and Nesthy Petecio and bronze medalist Eumir Marcial are joined by Senator Francis Tolentino and POC president Rep. Abraham “Bambol” Tolentino during the house blessing and turnover ceremony of the Olympic heroes’ house and lot in Tagaytay City.

Paalam slowly getting back into fighting shape T

By Peter Atencio

AGAYTAY City—Filipino Olympic medallist Carlo Paalam is finally getting back in shape after spending a month in Baguio City, training and preparing for his coming fights next year.

The 23-year-old Paalam got more inspired yesterday after a 150-sq. meter housing unit that has been promised to him and his fellow Olympic medallists (silver) Nesthy Petecio and (bronze) Eumir Marcial were finally turned over to them.

“Nag-start na po ako ng training.

Mga one month na po. Paghahandaan ko po ang mga ibibigay sa akin na laban next year,” said Paalam, who is set to see action in the coming Southeast Asian Games and the Asian Games.

The 5’4” Paalam, who brought home the silver medal during his stint in the Tokyo Olympics, said he is grateful for the blessing of his new home at the Olympic inside Bgy. San Jose in Tagaytay City.

Last August, Paalam, Petecio and Marcial, along with Olympic gold medallist Hidilyn Diaz, were given

housing units for winning medals during the Olympiad by Tagaytay Rep. and Philippine Olympic Committee president Abraham “Bambol” Tolentino, and his brother, Sen. Francis Tolentino.

Paalam settled for a silver medal after losing to Great Britain’s Galal Yafai in the men’s f lyweight finals.

Bor n in Talakag, Bukidnon before his family settled in Cagayan de Oro, Paalam comes from a family of 10 in an upland town in Bukidnon province.

“Okay na po kami. Naibigyan na po POC president Tolentino at ni Sen. Tolentino ang bahay. Welcome po sa amin ito,” said Paalam, who brought relatives in viewing the property, which is next to the ones owned by Marcial and Petecio.

Paalam’s family eventually relocat-

Dyip secure last berth in quarterfinals TERRAFIRMA rallied back to hack out a 23-20 win against San Miguel in overtime and book the last quarterfinals berth in Leg 4 of the PBA 3x3 Lakas Ng Tatlo Sunday at the Ynares Sports Arena in Pasig.

The Dyip trailed 14-18 before Dhon Reverente willed the team back and forced the extra period, 20-all.

Reverente later teamed up with Matt Salem to clinch the win for the Dyip, who advanced to the knockout stage for the fourth straight time.

The two teams met in a suddendeath after finishing as the no. 3 teams in their respective pools.

San Miguel lost out Bacon Austria in the early minutes of the playoff after suffering a busted upper lip.

Terrafirma will now meet top seed Platinum Karaoke in the next round.

Earlier, Limitless Appmasters thwarted Sista’s bid of becoming the first team to win back-to-back leg title by booting out the Super Sealers, 21-12.

The Super Sealers ended their

ed to Cagayan de Oro, where he grew up and later developed his skills as a boxer.

Due to poverty, Paalam used to scavenge for garbage in a stinking sanitary landfill in Barangay Carmen, Cagayan de Oro and gained interest in the sport when he joined weekly matches. He was finally discovered in 2009 after slugging it out at the local “Boxing at the Park.”

Paalam have received incentives totalling of P24.5 million in cash.

This includes P5 million, under Republic Act 10699 or the National Athletes and Coaches Benef its and Incentives Act, where Olympic silver medalists are entitled to P5 million He got another P5 million through sports patron Manny Pangilinan and his MVP Sports Foundation and another P5 million from San Miguel Corporation boss Ramon Ang. Meanwhile, the POC chief ¥ said he is glad the Olympians and their families are appreciating the blessings that they have received.

“Masaya ang mga pamilya nila, kahit may virus at Omicron ngayong kapaskuhan,” said Tolentino.

San Miguel’s Louie Vigil scores against Terrafirma’s Terrence Tumalip.

pool campaign with a 1-3 record and missed out on a quarterfinals berth in Pool A, which went to unbeaten Platinum Karaoke, Limitless Appmasters, and Cavitex.

Meralco, the Leg 2 winner, and Pioneer Pro Tibay, earned outright quarterfinals berths in Pool B, while Purefoods TJ Titans and TNT took the two playoffs spots in Pool C. The match ups in the knockout stage will have Meralco taking on Cavitex, Pioneer Pro Tibay against Purefoods TJ Titans, and TNT opposite Limitless Appmasters.

Zamboanga edge Roxas in overtime Games on Monday 4 pm - MFT Iligan Archangels vs BYB Kapatagan Buffalos 6:30 pm - Globalport-MisOr Valientes vs Pagadian Explorers PAGADIAN, ZAMBOANGA DEL SUR — Shaq Imperial saved the day as Zamboanga Sibugay escaped Roxas in overtime, 91-89, in the Chooks-to-Go Pilipinas VisMin Super Cup Mindanao Challenge, Sunday at the Pagadian City Gymnasium here.

Trailing 87-91, Embons Bonleon and Wawa Templo split their respective charities to pull the Vanguards within two with 44.2 seconds left.

After a couple of empty possessions on both ends, Roxas sent Imperial to the line.

However, the former CESAFI MVP missed both his shots, giving the Vanguards a chance to tie or win the game with 4.3 seconds left.

Off a timeout, Roxas went to Cyrus Tabi who received the ball at the left corner and hoisted a triple but Imperial atoned for his missed freebies with a massive block to seal the deal.

“Ang game plan namin sa defense all switch talaga kami.

Maganda ‘yung kuha ni Shaq, maganda ‘yung angle niya kaya na-block niya,” Anak Mindanao Warriors head coach Arnold Oliveros said.

Down 10 midway, Roxas ended the fourth quarter on a 14-4 blast to force overtime, 83-83.

Imperial had a chance to win the game for Zamboanga Sibugay but his shot from deep was smothered.

The Warriors were led by Imperial with 20 points, eight rebounds, six assists, and an eyepopping six blocks.

Ifugao native Martin crowned new PH superbantam king

Newly-crowned Philippine superbantamweight champion Carl Jammes Martin (middle), whose hand is being raised by referee Sammy Bernabe (left), savors his latest accomplishment as he is joined by Filipina promoter Maria Laurita “Cucuy” Elorde (right).

THE benefits of having a legitimate strength and conditioning coach proved to be crucial for young boxing prospect Carl Jammes Martin in his latest fight.

The 22-year-old Martin snatched the Philippine superbantamweight crown from longtime champion Mark Anthony Geraldo via 12-round unanimous decision win Saturday night at the Elorde Sports Center in Sucat, Parañaque.

The Hingyon, Ifugaonative Martin started out strong by connecting several counter rights and

body shots that baff led the 50-fight veteran Geraldo.

In the 5th round, Martin got staggered a bit after he got caught with a strong counter right from Geraldo.

The following rounds, though, Martin made the necessary adjustments when he used his excellent footwork and stinging jabs to outwork Geraldo, a longtime Philippine champion who scored impressive knockouts in all of his last four fights.

“Dati kasi ‘pag kalagitnaan ng laban medyo mabigat na paa ko. Ngayon nagu-

lat ako kasi ang gaan at bilis ng paa ko kaya maganda talaga epekto ng strength and conditioning sa akin,” said Martin.

In preparing for this fight, Martin tapped the services of Mel Lantin, a University of the Philippines Physical Education graduate, who is also the Program Director for Physical Development of the Basketball Coaches Association of the Philippines.

The win improved Martin’s record to 18-0 with 15 knockouts, while Geraldo, who is the only fighter to

beat IBF world superf lyweight champion Jerwin Ancajas, drops to 38-10-3, 19 Kos. In the main event, Olympian Charly Suarez positioned himself to aim for a championship belt when he tallied a 10-round decision win over previously unbeaten superfeatherweight Delmar Pello.

Suarez is eyeing to claim a regional title in a planned March 2022 card being prepared by VSP Boxing in partnership with the Ultimate Knockout Challenge of Cucuy Elorde.

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Sports

MONDAY, DECEMBER 6, 2021

Jokic leads Nuggets in rout of Knicks; Spurs prevail

Medvedev wins to set up Russia against Croatia Davis Cup final MADRID — Daniil Medvedev sealed Russia’s place in the Davis Cup final with a 6-4, 6-4 victory over Jan-Lennard Struff giving his team an unassailable 2-0 lead over Germany on Saturday.

The world number two backed up Andrey Rublev’s 6-4, 6-0 win over Dominik Koepfer in the first rubber to set up a clash with Croatia on Sunday.

The Russians, like the Croats, will be bidding for a third win in the competition.

“Russia is without doubt the strongest team in this Davis Cup,” said Croatia’s veteran number one Marin Cilic.

“It will be a very tough mission for us facing them. But we have our own strengths.

“It is our third final in five years, which is something exceptional, and does not happen very often,” added the 33-year-old 2014 US Open champion.

The Croats’ task is certainly a formidable one.

The Russians strength in depth is unquestionable with four players all ranked in the top 30 (Rublev is fifth, Aslan Karatzev is 18th and Karen Khachanov 29th).

They have lost just one rubber in the whole tournament, Rublev going down to Spanish veteran Feliciano Lopez in their first match.

Croatia are hoping to win one of their singles and leave it down to their unbeaten world number one doubles pairing of Mate Pavic and Nikola Mektic.

The Wimbledon and Olympic champions have yet to drop their service in the competition.

“They have the best doubles pair in the world, thus we will have to try and wrap this up in the singles,” said Medvedev.

This the Russians did clinically against the Germans — admittedly without their number one Alexander Zverev who opted to miss the finals.

Rublev ruthlessly exposed the gap between himself and the 54th-ranked Koepfer.

Rublev delivered nine aces, won 54 points — opposed to 32 for his opponent — and took all four break points.

“I was focused from the beginning to the end,” said 24-year-old Rublev, who eased to victory in 50 minutes, with Medvedev needing just 17 more to beat Struff.

Germany later claimed a consolation win in the doubles with Kevin K rawietz and Tim Puetz seeing off Aslan Karatsev and Karen K hachanov 4-6, 6-3, 6- 4.

Once that was done and dusted their venerable non-playing captain Shamil Tarpsichev could enjoy a cake baked to honour his 100th match in charge with almost 45 years in his role.

The organizers were denied the mouthwatering prospect of Medvedev potentially facing world number one Novak Djokovic as the Croats ousted Serbia 2-1 in the other semi-final on Friday.

AFP

Collin Morikawa of the United States chips in for eagle on the third hole during the third round of the Hero World Challenge at Albany Golf Course in Nassau. AFP

Morikawa eyes No.1 after grabbing ‘Challenge’ lead M

IAMI — Collin Morikawa, seeking a victory to become world number one, fired an eight-under par 64 to seize a five-stroke lead after Saturday’s third round of the Hero World Challenge.

The 24-year-old American made six birdies and an eagle chip-in to stand on 18-under 198 after 54 holes in the 20-man invitational hosted by Tiger Woods at the Albany resort in the Bahamas.

“I’m playing to my strengths. That’s what I have to do,” Morikawa said.

“Overall I feel good about my game so far.

“I just have to go out and play the way I have been and be ready by hole one.

Nothing is going to be a ‘gimme’ out there.”

Reigning British Open champion Morikawa, who got engaged earlier in the week, can overtake Spain’s Jon Rahm to reach the top of the rankings for the first time if he remains on top for another 18 holes.

“You don’t get in these spots every week,” Morikawa said. “You want to take advantage of it when you do.

That’s what I’m going to try and do tomorrow.”

Four-time major winner Brooks Koepka, ranked 16th, shot 69 to stand second on 203 and join Morikawa in Sunday’s last pairing.

“Try to get off to a good start. That’s all I can do,” Koepka said.

“Five back so I’ve got to do something. It’s always nice to be in the last group, but still got to play good. Just keep doing what I’m doing and hope for the best.”

A third-place pack on 204 included Norway’s Viktor Hovland and Americans Patrick Reed, Daniel Berger, Sam Burns and Tony Finau with Scottie Scheffler on 205 and fellow American Bryson DeChambeau, the 2020 US Open winner, on 206.

Morikawa, who also won a major title at the 2020 PGA Championship, captured last month’s DP World Tour

Championship, becoming the first American to win the Race to Dubai and cementing his place as world number two.

“It feels good, just piggybacking off a couple weeks ago in Dubai,” Morikawa said. “I’m figuring out what I need to do with my game to be in contention more.”

Morikawa chipped in for eagle at the par-5 third and birdied the fourth but missed a four-foot birdie putt at the par-4 seventh.

He escaped a bunkered tee shot to birdie the par-5 ninth and grab the lead alone at the turn at 14-under.

Morikawa rolled in an eight-foot birdie putt at the par-4 10th and followed with a four-foot birdie putt at the par-5 11th for a three-stroke lead at 16-under.

‘Room for improvement’ Morikawa added birdies at the 14th and par-5 15th — giving him three birdies and an eagle on the par-5s Saturday.

At 18, Morikawa blasted out of a greenside bunker to three feet and saved par to cap only the fourth bogeyfree round of the week. AFP

Tiger says competitive return ‘long way away’

Tiger Woods of the United States hits balls on the range during the third round of the Hero World Challenge at Albany Golf Course in Nassau. AFP

MIAMI — Tiger Woods said Saturday a return to competition is “a long way away” and will not come any time soon as he continues to rehabilitate from severe car crash injuries.

Woods said he still cannot make a fullspeed swing without risking a setback in his recovery from a shattered right leg suffered in a February crash near Los Angeles.

The 15-time major winner spoke with telecaster NBC at the Hero World Challenge, the 20-player invitational Woods hosts this week in the Bahamas.

Asked when and how he would know he is ready to return to competition, Woods said, “That’s a great question.”

“Playing hit-and-giggle golf, it’s easy,” Woods said.

“But playing tour golf and being prepared to play and trying to shoot scores against these best players on the toughest golf courses, that’s a totally different deal.

“I’m a long way away from that. Don’t expect me to be out there on the tour level for quite some time.”

Eersel retains ONE lightweight kickboxing world title SINGAPORE — ONE Championship™ returned with ONE: WINTER WARRIORS, which aired live from the Singapore Indoor Stadium, featuring a battle for the ONE Lightweight Kickboxing World Title, the conclusion of the historic ONE Women’s Atomweight World Grand Prix, and other exciting martial arts contests.

In the main event, reigning ONE Lightweight Kickboxing World Champion Regian Eersel continued his reign of dominance after going to war with Islam Murtazaev to secure a split decision and retain his World Title.

Murtazaev was aggressive from the start, pushing the pace with a torrent of flashy combinations.

Eersel timed his responses well, countering with efficiency, and both fighters had their moments in a fairly even second round.

Eersel came alive in the third, as he pressured an exhausted Murtazaev along the Circle Wall.

NEW YORK — Nikola Jokic scored 32 points and pulled down 11 rebounds as the Denver Nuggets schooled the New York Knicks in a 113-99 NBA victory on Saturday.

The Nuggets won for just the third time in 10 games -- and it wasn’t even close.

Second-year big man Zeke Nnaji contributed a career-high 21 points off the bench for a Denver team that never trailed.

It was a third straight defeat for the Knicks, who fell to 5-8 on their home floor at Madison Square Garden.

“I like something here,” reigning NBA Most Valuable Player Jokic said of the historic Manhattan arena -where he exchanged courtside comments with famous Knicks fan Spike Lee. “I don’t know what it is.”

Jokic connected on 14 of his 19 shots from the floor, including three of seven from three-point range.

He handed out five assists in just under 27 minutes on court in his third game back since missing four games in late November with a wrist injury.

The Nuggets capitalized on the defensive lapses of the Knicks, pushing their lead to as many as 30 points and connecting on 52 percent of their shots from the field.

New York, trailing 60-49 at halftime, chipped away at Denver’s lead early in the second half, trimming the deficit to six points.

But Denver responded with a 23-3 scoring run and took a 21-point lead into the fourth quarter.

The Knicks, limited to 40 percent shooting, remained in 11th place in the Eastern Conference, outside the playoff window. The Nuggets, at 1111, are eighth in the West.

In San Francisco, Derrick White scored 25 points while Dejounte Murray had 22 points and 12 rebounds as the San Antonio Spurs closed the fourth quarter with an 8-1 run to beat the Golden State Warriors 112-107.

Stephen Curry scored 27 points and Jordan Poole added 15 for Golden State, which was playing a night after ending the Phoenix Suns’ 18-game winning streak in a marquee Western Conference matchup. AFP

The championship rounds then saw the Dutch-Surinamese striker establish himself even further, as he eked out a close victory, extended his winning streak to 18, and moved to 6-0 in ONE. In the co-main event, #2-ranked atomweight contender Stamp Fairtex submitted #4-ranked Ritu Phogat in the second round to win the ONE Women’s Atomweight World Grand Prix Championship. Phogat was aggressive with her takedowns early, closing the distance on Stamp, who attacked with kicks from range.

However, the former ONE Atomweight Muay Thai and Kickboxing World Champion showcased great takedown defense, preventing Phogat from advancing her positions. In the second round, Stamp locked in a triangle choke after Phogat took her to the mat.

She then quickly transitioned to an armbar, which forced the tap at the 2:14 mark.

In a ONE Super Series contest, #3-ranked bantamweight kickboxer Hiroki Akimoto upset Chinese superstar Qiu Jianliang in the latter’s highly anticipated promotional debut. Akimoto was aggressive to start, firing off a myriad of powerful combinations in the first round. With a sense of urgency, Qiu came back in the second frame with sharp counters, but Akimoto did not back down. In the final round, the Japanese athlete did just enough to outstrike Qiu and take home the unanimous decision victory.

In a pivotal lightweight mixed martial arts clash, #3-ranked Dagi Arslanaliev and #5-ranked Timofey Nastyukhin put on a show. It was an intense battle from the opening bell, as both men traded destructive blows in the Circle. A furious second frame from Arslanaliev nearly had the Russian out on his feet, but the latter survived the onslaught. In the

final round, the Turkish star connected with a thunderous right hand that slept Nastyukhin almost instantly, ending matters at just 49 seconds into round three.

Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu legend Marcus “Buchecha” Almeida made quick work of previously unbeaten knockout artist Kang Ji Wong, submitting the South Korean midway through the first round.

“Buchecha” wasted no time with a takedown. Once on the mat, he swiftly took the back and locked in the rear-naked choke to force the tap at the 2:27 mark.

Kicking off an explosive card was #3-ranked flyweight contender Yuya Wakamatsu, who dominated rising star Hu Yong on all fronts to earn a landslide unanimous decision on the judges’ scorecards.

Wakamatsu connected early with several powerful right hands that hurt Hu, and he secured a plethora of takedowns across all three rounds to seal the victory.

Official Results for ONE: WINTER WARRIORS Kickboxing - Lightweight: Regian Eersel def. Islam Mur Murtazaev via Split Decision MMA - Atom Atomweight: Stamp Fairtex def. Ritu Phogat via Submission (Armbar) at 2:14 of R2 Kickboxing Bantamweight: Hiroki Akimoto def.

Qiu Jianliang via Unanimous Decision MMA - Lightweight: Dagi Arslanaliev def.

Timofey Nastyukhin via TKO at 0:49 of R3 MMA - Heavyweight: Buchecha def. Kang Ji Won viaSubmission(Rear-naked Choke) at 2:27 of R1 MMA - Flyweight: Yuya Wakamatsu def.

Hu Yong via Unanimous Decision

Woods gave no timetable for a possible return on Tuesday when he gave his first public update in months on his health.

Woods shares the US PGA Tour all-time wins record with Sam Snead at 82.

While Woods is taking practice swings with his driver on the practice range, he does so but without the power that was once his trademark.

“I can hit it. It just doesn’t go as far. The power is not there,” Woods said. “I can hit any club in the bag. I’m not to the point where I can hear it land, so I’m OK.” But asked if he felt like it was risky to unleash a proper swing, Woods admitted, “If I go at it at my ‘old’ speed, yes it is.”

Woods said earlier this week he wasn’t planning on a full-time return to the US PGA Tour but wouldn’t rule out being able to “ramp it up for a few events” at some future stage.

“I still have a lot of work to do,” Woods said. “Still grinding. Still working hard. But I have a lot of work to do.” AFP Regian Eersel (left) is declared world champion.

Entertainment

Nickie Wang, Editor nickie.standard@gmail.com MONDAY, DECEMBER 6, 2021

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Billie Eilish, Olivia Rodrigo lead celeb glamor at Variety bash

American singersongwriters Billie Eilish (left) gets chummy with Olivia Rodrigo (right) during the Variety 2021 Music Hitmakers Brunch.

TEEN superstar Billie Eilish and Fil-Am pop darling Olivia Rodrigo and led the stars at Variety 2021 Music Hitmakers Brunch held in Los Angeles on Saturday (Sunday in Manila).

Billie complemented the red carpet by slipping into a loose-fitted burgundy top that matched her jacket and a pair of baggy trousers, accessorizing

Artists united as one

the ensemble with a few necklaces.

The 19-year-old artist, together with Finneas, was honored with best film song of the year award.

Olivia, who had her breakthrough single with “Driver’s License” last year, arrived at the event wearing a little black dress that featured a massive green bow on the front. She was later on honored with songwriter of the year plum.

The event, tied to Variety‘s Dec. 2 Hitmakers issue, honors the writers, producers, publishers, managers, and executives who helped make — and break — the 25 most consumed songs of the year.

Among the artists honored at the event were BTS for record of the year, Lil Nas X for innovator of the year, Lana Del Rey for the decade

Award, Jack Harlow for hitmaker of tomorrow, Normani for collaborator of the year, Polo G for the rising star award presented by Amazon Music, Kali Uchis for the crossover award, Glass Animals for group of the year, Walker Hayes for sync of the year, and City Girls for the Future Is Female Award presented by Motown Records.

Nickie Wang

Up-and-coming P-pop group stages successful debut concert Filipino boy group Beyondzer0

Ice Seguerra

Lani Misalucha

ARTISTS coming together for a good cause is no longer an alien concept.

Case in point, Band Aid — the British initiative led by Bod Geldolf gave us the holiday ditty “Do They Know It’s Christmas?” — used the single’s proceeds to address the famine situation in Ethiopia.

“We Are the World,” on the other hand, gathered the mightiest American Top 40 superstars to curb world hunger and bring food, water, and health care to the poorest of the poor in the continent of Africa and beyond.

Other fine examples are “Voices That Care” and the Dione Warwick song initiative, “That’s What Friends Are For” the earnings were for HIV and AIDS awareness, research and care for the afflicted.

This united as one ingenuity of artists showing compassion and concern has reached the Philippine shores in so many forms and many ways. In fact, this holiday season, Lani Misalucha and Ice Seguerra headline such a laudable undertaking billed as Handog at Pasalalamat: Benefit E-Concert presented by A Teacher Party-list.

The online streaming concert is slated Dec. 11, Saturday at 6:00 p.m. and can be viewed for free on the official Facebook page of the A Teacher PartyList and on YouTube, Sessionslive, and Kumu.

Joining Misalucha and Seguerra in this coming together of OPM Artists are Pinopela, a group of young musicians brought together by the members’ shared love and talent for a cappella music; “Tawag ng Tanghalang” Season 2 grand finalist Sofronio Vazquez III; alternative band Love Commercial; and the youth chorale group Saint Vincent Ferrer Parish Church Angelico Voce Chorale with Mary Elaine as conductor.

“We took careful thought of the songs we have curated and the artists who will perform them.

From gratefulness, hopefulness, to empowering people to get back up, and become the change they desire to see in the world, each song in the concert has meaning and conveys different messages we want to send across.

It’s both a night of entertainment and empowerment,” says A Teacher Party List VP for Luzon Ryan Taclan on what makes this a special preChristmas concert offering. Read full story on manilastandard.net

JM Bales

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EYONDZER0, composed of Andrei, Duke, Jester, Jieven, Khel, Matty, and Wayne, rocked the stage in the biggest indoor beach club in the country, Cove Manila in the luxurious Okada, with a grand debut show that witnessed the release of its first single, “Reach the Top” written by the awardwinning singer-songwriter, Quest.

Artists who lent their support to the group were Sexbomb Dancers, Manoeuvres, Quest, JRoa, Glendale Aquias, and Jessy Mendiola-Manzano Mendiola-Manzano.

Performances were pumped up by the beats of leading DJs Ace Ramos and Mars Miranda. Tiktok personalities Argie Roquero, Ericka Pineda, Andrea Pauline, Ralph Alfaro, Austin Ong, Franz Miaco, and JM Yrreverre also graced the concert to showcase viral Tiktok dance challenges.

Prior to the group’s debut, House of Mentorque and Mentorque Productions took the reign in managing BeyondZer0 and embarked them on a two-month rigorous training in dancing, singing, and personality development.

The debut concert marked the start of a promising career for these talented individuals, who started out on Tiktok where they have more than 1.4 billion combined views.

BeyondZer0 The Reboot Digital Concert was directed by the award-winning director, GB Sampedro.

Beyondzer0 with Jessy MendiolaManzano

‘Wish Ko Lang’ celebrates Christmas season with month-long special KAPUSO actresses Barbie Forteza, Kim Domingo, Max Collins, and Jean Garcia

‘Wish Ko Lang’ celebrates the holiday season with four heart-warming stories starring highly-esteemed actors.

banner the powerful line-up of Wish Ko Lang this December dubbed “Pasko ng Pag-asa: The Wish Ko Lang Christmas Specials.”

With fresh episodes airing every Saturday afternoon, the award-winning GMA Public Affairs show hosted by Vicky Morales features stories that spark hope and inspiration among viewers.

Just recently, the program won “Best Public Service Program” at the 2021 Platinum Stallion Media Awards with Morales taking home the “Best Public Service Show Host” award as well.

As the world celebrates the Christmas season, Wish Ko Lang proudly presents four heart-warming stories headlined by this generation’s highly esteemed actors.

On Dec. 4, Forteza took on the role of a

woman with Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID) in “Tatlong Katauhan ni Sunshine.”

Joining her in the episode were Thea Tolentino, Arvic Tan, Regine Angeles, Carlos Agassi, and Chanel Latorre.

With a very challenging role for her firstever Wish Ko Lang episode, Forteza shared how she was able to pull off portraying three different personalities.

“Thankfully, we had a chance to meet virtually with a psychiatrist so we were able to discuss the proper execution of the characters [personalities] and the case of Sunshine,” she said. “ In terms of characterization, I went straight to YouTube for research. I watched real people with DID. How they transition to another persona and their behavior. I also

Moira Dela Torre dominates 34th Awit Awards

KVN won Best New Artist in a Collaboration with JM Bales (left).

ABS-CBN Music has notched 14 recognitions from the 34th Awit Awards, including Song of the Year and Most Streamed Song for Moira Dela Torre’s heartbreak anthem “Paubaya.”

Aside from her honors for “Paubaya,” Moira also bagged the Best Traditional/Contemporary Folk Recording for her song “Kita Na Kita,” which she co-wrote and performed with her husband Jason Marvin Hernandez from her 2020 album Patawad under Star Music.

The Kapamilya singer-songwriter likewise won Best Song Written for Movie/TV/Stage Play for “24/7’s” theme song “Hangggang Sa Huli.”

Almost a year since their debut, ABS-CBN’s P-pop boy group BGYO also triumphed as the People’s Voice Favorite Group Artist.

Other awardees from ABS-CBN’s premier music label are from Himig 11th Edition namely Best Performance by A Male Artist for Sam Mangubat’s interpretation of “Kulang Ang Mundo”; Best Performance by A New Female Recording Artist for Fana’s recording of “Out”; and Best Engineered Recording for “Marupok” by Tim Recla at the Purple Room Studio. Arvey’s feel-good single “Umaga” was awarded as the Best Rap/Hip-hop Recording.

Meanwhile, Matty Juniosa’s recording of his debut single under Star Pop “Sayaw Ng Mga Tala” has earned him the Best Performance by

turned to some of my favorite powerful movie characters as pegs,” added the 36th Fantasporto International Film Festival Best Actress.

Forteza, who recently renewed her contract with GMA Artist Center, is elated to be part of Wish Ko Lang’s Christmas lineup. “ This is my first Wish Ko Lang guesting so that alone is pretty special for me. Opening the December Specials of Wish Ko Lang really brings me joy and I just can’t wait for everyone to watch all the episodes,” she shared.

Other stories to watch out for in “Pasko ng Pag-asa: The Wish Ko Lang Christmas Specials” are “Lihim ng Punerarya” airing on Dec. 11 starring Kim Domingo, “The Affair” on Dec. 18 headlined by Jean Garcia, and “Gayuma” on Dec. 25 bannered by Max Collins. Read full story on manilastandard.net

Singersongwriter Moira Dela Torre

A New Male Recording Artist award. Bea C was named as the Best Child Recording Artist for “The Kokak Song.”

DNA Music also scored two accolades— Best Performance by A New Group for Nameless Kids’ “Outlaws” and Best New Artist in a Collaboration for KVN and JM Bales’ smash hit “Magandang Dilag.”

Finally, Tarsier Records’ cross-cultural single “RISE”—a collaboration of Grammy Awardwinning artist Eric Bellinger, Filipino pop artists Iñigo Pascual and Sam Concepcion, label head and producer Moophs, Malaysian singer-songwriter Zee Avi, and BTS’ “Black Swan” composer Vince Nantes—was recognized as the Best Global Recording.

Awit Awards ˜sis the Philippines’ longest-running music award-giving body spearheaded by the Philippine Association of the Record Industry (PARI) that “recognizes Filipino performing artists and the people behind the making of Filipino recorded music.” Its 34th awarding ceremony was streamed live on Awit Awards’ Facebook page and YouTube P-pop boy group BGYO was named as the People’s Voice Favorite Group Artist. channel last Nov. 29.

FOOD

Life

Nickie Wang, Editor nickie.standard@gmail.com

B4

MONDAY, DECEMBER 6, 2021

Jones’ seafood Cocktail Tower

The exterior of Jones AllDay Bistro.

Mr. Jones’ famous Tapa and Garlic overload

Home-made Salmon Gravlax

Good times and good vibes at Jones All Day bistro

A

FTER almost two years of staying at home to keep ourselves and our loved ones safe, we are slowly and safely exploring the outside world again – re-engaging with friends and family we have not seen face-to-face in a long time.

With this in mind, seasoned restaurateurs Annabella and Martin Wisniewski of the Raintree Hospitality Group, together with corporate chef Kalel Chan, recently launched Jones All Day. “If you want a laid-back place to catch up with your family and friends while enjoying comfort bistro classics, then Jones All Day is the place for you,” Martin told Manila Standard during a three-hour lunch that would have extended to five if the news desk

deadline did not beckon.

The restaurant has an alfresco area, but be forewarned that this is the favorite spot of the resident “presidentitas” of BGC – the titas of the corporate world with their pearls and gold, some semi-retired, and most with their amigas, sipping mimosas or bloody mary at 11:00 a.m. while enjoying the Jones Seafood Tower that has oysters, shrimp cocktail, mussels, salmon, tuna and uni sashimi, spicy tuna dynamite, nori, corn tortilla chips, and saltine crackers.

The bistro features some of Chef Kalel’s best work, such as the Jones Burrata (locally-made burrata with roasted pumpkin yogurt hummus, kale basil pesto, cherry tomatoes, pickled pimentos, and rocket), Pacific Oysters (Aklan oysters served on ice with spinach and hollandaise or Katsu Dynamite-style topped with Sriracha mayo, unagi sauce, and ikura).

For those who are looking for something light yet satisfying, try the Jones Vegan Bowl (a totally vegan dish made of plant-based kofta, broccoli, caulif lower, kale, basil, cilantro, cabbage, carrots, onions, crispy garbanzos, plant-based Caesar dressing, and passion fruit & herb vinaigrette) or Smoked Pepper Turkey Reuben (with house-made

Chef Ghaello Salva, a full-blooded Batangueño, is on mission to elevate local cuisine.

By Tet Defensor DULONG, the small and rich flavored fish is no longer just an omelette filling Dulong in olive oil, specially prepared

by Chef Ghaello Salva (pronounced as ‘jel-oh’) now has a special place on the grazing table. In fact, according to the chef “it is an alternative to the famed caviar.”

Chef Ghaello is a full-blooded Batangueño who grew up eating tortang dulong (fish omelette). His mission is to elevate local cuisine by crafting dishes using the haute-cuisine approach. He calls it “Batangueño fusion,” traditional Batangueño dishes prepared and executed using French cooking techniques.

Dulong, or silverfish is abundant in Batangas and is characterized by its halfinch size.

The Chef was inspired to upgrade it, because he distinctly noticed the absence of local fare in wine and cheese tables, “that’s aside from kesong puti,” he joked.

His “dulong in olive oil” recipe is extra flavorful, it highlights the smooth salty taste of fresh fish and captures the richness of caviar.

“We have a very rich culture in terms of food. Dulong is local but quality-wise it’s international. Its taste and flavor are at par with the cold cuts served with wine and cheese; some even find it like caviar,” he said.

When spreading on bread or crackers, Chef Ghaello recommends adding honey for a subtle kick of sweetness.

“Dulong in olive oil” can also be an interesting seafood

and creamy mashed potatoes, haricots verts, and shiitake on the side).

The bistro also has a selection of premium wines and gourmet dishes to choose from Firecracker Mussels (blue fin, sambal herb broth, lemongrass, white wine, butter, and fresh lime, served with a mini baguette) to Steak Frites to Open-Faced Truffled Egg Salad (topped with black caviar, fresh dill, paprika on thick toasted multigrain bread).

Jones All Day Bistro & Bakery is located at the ground floor of Serendra Piazza, Bonifacio High Street, Bonifacio Global City, Taguig. It is open from 7:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m. daily. For updates, like and follow @ JonesAllDayPH on Facebook and Instagram.

Keeping Manila safe

HOLIDAY SPREAD WELCOMES DULONG pasta sauce, when added with garlic, olive oil, basil, and parmesan cheese. Last but certainly not the least, it can be enjoyed Pinoy style, with rice.

For now, the dulong can be purchased via his Ghaello Facebook Page. It also comes in a Christmas box together wine, the perfect holiday giveaway. In time his merchandise will include dulong with sundried tomatoes, capers and olives, and dulong Pomodoro. Once all the bottled goodies are in place, he hopes to open his own restaurant so diners can fully savor his unique Batangueño fusion cuisine.

Ghaello’s passion for cooking started when he was young. He regularly helped his mother in the kitchen, “I was her ‘sous chef,’” he quipped. He liked the idea of mixing all kinds of ingredients to come up with different tastes. Back in college, he used to challenge himself to come up with interesting cookies, using ingredients suggested by his classmates.

He likes his dishes to exude sweet, salty, bitter, and sour flavors. The goal is to hit “umami” which means “essence of deliciousness” in Japanese. It is also known as the “fifth” taste or the deep, savory, and meaty flavor of monosodium glutamate. Also called the “soulful” chef he also subscribes to the mystical transfer of energy while cooking.

“If I cooked the food with love and joy all those who will partake, will also feel the energy of love and joy. This transfer of energy is thru sincere prayer. I pray while cooking.”

After dulong next on the drawing board is the best-loved maja blanca. A native desser t made from coconut milk cornstarch and s u g a r, Chef Ghaello’s version resembles a traditional cheesecake, but will still carry the sweet and luscious flavor of the local fare.

purple kraut, remoulade, and pickles, topped with Emmental cheese, mozzarella all between sesame rye and served with whole-grain mustard on the side).

If you’re in the mood for classics with a Jones twist, make sure to get the Jones Beef Tapa (char-grilled US top blade beef with tapa sauce topped with crispy garlic chili; served with garlic rice, two cage-free eggs the way you want them, and cucumber atchara, grilled tomatoes, and vinegar dip on the side), House-Made Handkerchief Pasta (with guanciale, butter, organic egg yolks, and finished with malagos pecorino), or Chef Kalel’s Truffled Mushroom Roast Chicken (half-chicken stuffed with mushroom tapenade served with light chicken jus

the earth, the city’s Jamias: Barako Ng MayPublic Enemy Number nila, which had Jinggoy One who was responEstrada playing the title sible for the murder of role. several police officWhen asked why he ers. Aside from that, chose to serve in the pohe has championed the lice force, he readily refight against illegal lates how, in his growing NO MATTER how spectacular the drugs towards ensurup years, he witnessed attraction may be, if people don’t ing a drug-free city. “tough guys” lording feel safe in them, all the hype about Jamias always exit over on the streets, the place will just come to naught. It celled in the various terrorizing residents, could be the ultimate powdery white positions he occupied cowed by fear and helpsand beach destination or a city with as the guardian of Jamias always keeps an eye on lessness. endless entertainment options to of- safety in the National the safety of Manila residents.

All these made him fer, visitors will no longer feel the Capital Region—Poresolute in his decision desire to visit them if they know they lice Brigadier General at the Na- to help make the city safe and prosperwill easily fall prey to unscrupulous tional Capital Region Police Office; ous for its residents. He then enrolled creatures.

Head of Eastern Police District; in the Philippine College of CriminolBut the peace and order situation Deputy Director for Administration ogy and the Philippine National Police of the country’s main gateway for of the Southern Police District; Chief (PNP) Academy, and was later elected international tourists recently got a of Police of Muntinlupa; Unit Com- by his peers as the President of the boost as retired police officer Elmer mander of the Manila Police Depart- PNP Academy Alumni Association.

Jamias announced his candidacy for ment’s Traffic Enforcement Office As he declared his intention to run Mayor of Manila in next year’s elec- in the Port Area; and as Deputy Di- for the city’s top elective post, Jamias tions. rector of the Directorate of Informa- said that a real tough man puts his More popularly known as “Barako tion and Communication Technology bravery in place. He should never be ng Maynila,” this tough guy of the Management. a terror but, instead, should always be city gained recognition when he got Most importantly, Jamias envi- an instrument of peace. rid, as in, wiped off from the face of sioned a digitally transformed Philippine National Police to ensure effecYOUR WEEKEND tive and credible service by 2030.

CHUCKLE The epitome of five core values I have a few jokes about (Dynamism, Innovation, Commitunemployed people…but none of ment, Transparency, and Methodolothem work! gy) which he will continue to uphold when elected, he was proclaimed one of The Outstanding Manilans of With this, I completely agree. It 1999, aside from being the Bayaning would certainly be nice, and be great Pulis (People’s Choice) National for our Tourism Industry, if our counAwardee, as proclaimed by Banco try’s premier city will be completely Pilipino. His generosity is beyond safe for us, residents, and for our visireproach as he donated all of the tors as well. After all, the success of cash prize he received together with our Industry is always hinged on the this recognition, split between the safety of our stakeholders and our Manila Police Press Office and the guests. Let’s ensure a desirable Peace wounded and retired members of the and Order situation for Manila and Manila Police force. give the task to someone who’s “been His interesting and enviable there, done that.”

The ultimate crusader for Peace and Order in For feedback, I’m at bobzozobraManila, retired police officer Elmer Jamias, is achievements and heroism were very now gunning for Mayor of Manila well documented in the 2000 biopic, do@gmail.com

Keep the holiday traditions alive with KFC Christmas Bucket Meal KFC’s Christmas bucket meal

CHRISTMAS is always full of traditions.

From customary ones your parents taught you, to novel ones created with your barkadas.

The challenges we are facing this year may pose a threat to our well-loved holiday practic practices. Celebrations may still have safety protocols, but they wouldn’t be any less merry. Don’t let

the world kill your vibe and keep the holiday traditions alive with the KFC Christmas Bucket Meal.

Among festive favorites, fried chicken is on top of any list. Until Jan. 23, you can avail of any of KFC’s Christmas offerings: the 6-pc Christmas Bucket Meal which includes

6 pieces of KFC’s signature fried chicken, 3 rice, 3 fixins, 3 drinks and 3 desserts; and the 8-pc Christmas Bucket Meal which includes 8 pieces of KFC’s signature fried chicken, 4 rice, 4 fixins, 4 drinks, and 4 desserts.

What’s more, the Colonel is bringing back one of KFC’s all-time favorites - the Choco Mousse

Spoonfuls— as the creamy dessert of the bucket meals. The delectable treat has layers of brownies, chocolate mousse, and whipped cream.

Visit kfc.com.ph, call 88-87-8888, or download the KFC PH app on Google Play: https:// bit.ly/KFCPHAppAndroid or App Store: https://apple.co/2BFAugj.