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Relief, rehab mobilization on Rody places 6 regions under state of calamity, sets P14b for recovery

VOL. XXXV • NO. 310 • 3 SECTIONS 12 PAGES • P18 •WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 22, 2021 • www.manilastandard.net • mst.daydesk@gmail.com

By Vito Barcelo, Francisco Tuyay, Alena Mae Flores, Darwin G. Amojelar, and Maricel V. Cruz

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RESIDENT Rodrigo Duterte committed to raise an additional P10 billion on top of the P4 billion earlier pledged for the rehabilitation of areas ravaged by typhoon “Odette” as he approved a resolution placing six regions under a state of calamity.

The declaration, Duterte said in a pre- ing, will cover Regions 4B, 6, 7, 8, 10 taped message aired late Tuesday even- and 13 (Caraga).

“The declaration of the state of calamity will hasten rescue, relief and rehabilitation efforts of the government and private sector,” Duterte said.

Duterte earlier committed P2 billion to Odette-damaged provinces during a visit to Leyte, then added P2 billion after his visit to Cebu and Bohol.

In a situation briefing in Kabankalan City, Duterte provided guidance and Next page

MAD RUSH FOR AID. In Barangay San Juan in Surigao City, desperate survivors

of typhoon Odette disregard health protocols to get their share of rice and noodles.

(Inset) President Rodrigo Duterte delivers aid to residents of Kabankalan City in Negros Occidental on Monday. Erwin Mascariñas and AFP

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Private help

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The Red Cross is flying relief to popular tourist destinations Siargao and Bohol islands.

“The emergency appeal by IFRC helps us to act swiftly and do all we can to help people and families get back on their feet,” said Alberto Bocanegra, head of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies

San Miguel Corporation (SMC) has activated its network in the Visayas and Mindanao regions to deliver truckloads of food to Odette-hit areas. This, as the company dispatches fuel stocks at its Petron installations and, where possible, provide access to water at its affected manufacturing facilities to help fence line communities.

The country’s two largest telecom companies on Tuesday said they have nearly completed the restoration of telecommunication services in Mindanao.

PLDT Inc. and wireless subsidiary Smart Communications, Inc. (Smart) reported that 99 percent of Mindanao fixed services and 97 percent of wireless services are up, including vital

Bohol, Siargao, Dinagat and Surigao del Norte will likely still be in the dark until after New Year’s Day as power restoration efforts continue to be hampered by communication and transportation issues.

The National Electrification Administration (NEA) initially estimated the damage wrought by

A congressional leader on Tuesday called on provincial and city governments in Odette-affected areas to consider suspending requirements for inbound travelers to facilitate better government and private sector response.

Assistant Majority Leader and Rep. Fidell Nograles of Rizal said,

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Bohol gov asks help to halt looting, Trade chief probes profiteering rap

By Othel V. Campos

Odette survivors: No home for Christmas WHERE A HOME USED TO STAND. The skeleton of a destroyed house stands as silent witness to the horrors unleashed by typhoon Odette in Ubay town, Bohol province.

IT WILL literally be an empty Christmas for thousands who will be homeless in Mindanao and some areas in the Visayas, with all of them praying for hope and help following the onslaught of Odette, the 15th typhoon to hit the country in 2021 with nearly 400 people now counted dead.

In the far south, Tubajon, Dinagat

Islands Mayor Fely Pedrablanca said Tuesday almost all homes in the entire town had been damaged due to the impact of Odette, and asked the government for help as their food was running out and was only good for two more days.

In Surigao City, residents of barangays Punta Bilar, San Juan, Lipata and

other areas were clamoring for food and water supplies.

Meanwhile, President Rodrigo Duterte has directed the Department of Social con Welfare and Development to continuously provide family food packs and water and shelter assistance for Next page

THE governor of Bohol, now in a state of calamity, said Tuesday his province had run out of money and asked the Duterte government to send soldiers and police to prevent looting there.

Governor Arthur Yap, in an interview on dzBB, asked the national government to send funds to enable local leaders to buy food and drinking water for the desperate population.

On nearby Negros island, Carl Arapoc, 23, told AFP there was no electricity in his city and his family was using “driftwood” to cook.

“A gallon of water used to cost P25, now it’s P50,” he complained.

In Manila, the Department of Trade and Industry is looking at reports of alleged overpricing of bottled water and generator sets ( gensets) in ar areas affected by Typhoon Odette.

Trade Secretary Ramon Lopez re-

An event canceled is better than a life canceled—WHO THE head of the World Health Organization (WHO) has called on people in all continents to cancel Christmas parties and other holiday gatherings this month as this might lead to “increased cases, overwhelmed health systems and more deaths.”

Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said “an event canceled is better than a life canceled.” “[It is better to] celebrate later than to celebrate now and grieve later. We have to focus now on ending this pandemic,”he said.

Tedros said the Omicron variant was spreading faster than the Delta variant and was causing infections in people already vaccinated or who have recovered from the COVID-19 disease.

WHO chief scientist Soumya Swaminathan added it would be “unwise” to conclude from early evidence that Omicron was a milder

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ported that major groceries and supermarkets in typhoon-hit areas are comNext page

2,837,719 168

9,384

50,794

10

2,777,541

372

(As of 4 PM, December 21)

Omicron now dominant virus variant in US SWIM FREE. Over a dozen olive ridley sea turtles (Lepidochelys olivacea) hatchlings – one of the smallest in the world – were released on the shore of Brgy. Labac in Naic, Cavite on Tuesday, December 21, 2021. Danny Pata

THE fast-spreading Omicron variant is now the dominant strain of COVID-19 in the United States, health authorities said as the WHO called for greater efforts to ensure the pandemic ends next year.

The new variant has helped fuel record case surges, forcing a return Next page

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WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 22, 2021

mst.daydesk@gmail.com

News

Covovax gets emergency use OK

By Willie Casas

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HE World Health Organization (WHO) has issued an emergency use listing (EUL) for Covovax, which paves the way for its delivery to the Philippines, the distributor in Manila has said on Tuesday.

three or four weeks apart, Food and Drug Administration (FDAj) Director General Eric Domingo earlier said.

The jab is a new kind of vaccine that makes use of the protein subunit platform, which means it replicates the pure antigenic part of the virus to elicit immune response, Domingo said.

Meanwhile, the independent monitoring OCTA Research Group said Tuesday COVID-19 reproduction number in the National Capital Region (NCR) went up to 0.48, higher from the previous 0.39.

The reproduction rate refers to the number of people infected by one case.

A reproduction number that is below 1 indicates that the transmission of the virus is slowing down.

The average number of cases in the

region stood at 79 cases from December 14 to 20. This is lower than the average of 91 cases per day from December 6 to 12, OCTA said.

The report also shows that the average daily attack rate was recorded at 0.55 per 100,000 population while the positivity rate was at 0.6 percent.

OCTA said the region had an average of 18,127 RT-PCR tests over the past week.

NCR and all 15 local government units are classified as very low risk while Las Piñas and San Juan are classified as low risk by OCTA. In a disclaimer, OCTA said the report did not reflect the position of the Department of Health (DOH), the Inter-Agency Task Force, and other local government units.

Many on the island of Palawan had never experienced such a strong storm, Catholic priest Eugene Elivera in the provincial capital Puerto Princesa said, adding: “The challenge now is how to begin again.”

The Armed Force of the Philippines said it would forgo its 86th anniversary celebration so as not to disrupt ongoing disaster response operations, AFP Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Andres Centino said.

Col. Ramon Zagala, AFP spokesman, said the military is coordinating with the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) for their disaster-response missions.

He said the AFP has mobilized search, rescue and recovery units from all regional commands to the battalion level “to ensure the widest coverage possible.”

The presidential yacht, BRP Ang Pangulo, is also serving as a f loating hospital to serve Dinagat Islands and Siargao.

The BRP Gabriela Silang of the Philippine Coast Guard left Manila on Sunday and arrived in Surigao Tuesday morning carrying about 50 tons of relief goods and medical, rescue, and relief augmentation teams.

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Housing assistance will be provided by the Department of Human Settlements and Urban Development and the National Housing Authority to victims whose homes were partially and totally damaged, he said.

Joining calls for immediate relief and recovery, Greenpeace also raised its calls for climate justice and the declaration of a national climate emergency amid the worsening impacts of the climate crisis.

In Central Visayas, Marivic Rosal of Minglanilla, Cebu temporarily left their house and drove to the city with her children as communication signals were down in the town south of the capital, she told The Manila Standard.

In Eastern Visayas, around 85 percent of houses in Southern Leyte were damaged, according to Danilo Atienza of the province’s disaster council.

Atienza also said they were still struggling to reach some far-flung areas, with people in the province badly food, potable water and temporary shelter.

Interviewed on Dobol B TV, Pedrablanca said some residents in Dinagat Islands were homeless, two days after Odette’s exit, as around 25 percent of the houses were totally damaged.

“Only nine were really not damaged. The rest of the over 2,000 households were really damaged. Around one-fourth of the homes are totally damaged,” Pedrablanca said.

She also called on the national government to send food assistance to their town.

According to her, the stock of food relief packs would be depleted in two days as some of them were already used for the individuals in isolation under COVID-19 protocols.

Pedrablanca said the town still had no access to communication lines and relief assistance as are other towns in Mindanao on the path of Odette.

Humanitarian aid workers who arrived in the province of Dinagat Islands on Sunday were horrified to see houses flattened to the ground and landmarks, including its provincial capitol, destroyed by super typhoon Odette.

Charlito Manlupig, chair of the Balay Mindanaw Foundation said the Category 4 winds and rains of Odette damaged 95 percent of the islandprovince’s estimated 22,000 houses.

Manlupig said the provincial capitol of Dinagat and the house of Governor Arlene Bag-ao were not spared.

The Philippines earlier this year signed an agreement for 30 million doses of Covovax. It is developed by US firm Novavax and is produced by the Serum Institute of India.

The vaccine is the ninth jab that has been given an EUL, which allows countries to expedite their own regulatory approval to import and administer COVID-19 vaccines, according to the WHO. Covovax has an overall efficacy rate

of 90.4 percent and it is 92.6 percent effective against variants of interest and concern, said pharmaceutical firm Faberco, one of its distributors in the Philippines along with Unilab.

“We are looking forward to helping the nation ease further into the next normal where COVID-19 is expected to continue being a health issue worldwide,” said Vinay Panemanglor, chairman of Faberco board of directors.

Covovax is given in two doses at least

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in the Philippines.

The organization has appealed for $22 million to fund urgent relief and recovery efforts.

Canada, Hungary, the United Kingdom, and New Zealand have pledged to provide over P187.9 million to assist provinces hit hard by the onslaught of Typhoon Odette.

On top of this, several countries like China, the United States, Japan, Israel, and Australia allocated in-kind goods for immediate deployment to the affected families.

World leaders also sent their condolences to the bereaved families of those who perished in the super typhoon.

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Ottawa is providing financial assistance through the Red Cross, which should help address the urgent need for water and sanitation on the ground.

“My heart goes out to the people of the Philippines, whose lives have been forever changed by last week’s super typhoon. Canadians are sending our deepest condolences to those who lost loved ones – and we’ll keep everyone affected in our thoughts during this challenging time,” he said in a statement on Tuesday.

“In the days and weeks ahead, we’ll continue to help those who need it most,” he added.

issued several orders to national agencies to address the immediate concerns of the local governments in Negros Occidental and Negros Oriental.

Agricultural assistance will be distributed by the Department of Agriculture to affected farmers and fishermen, he added.

The Department of Public Works and Highways was ordered to clear uprooted trees along the roads and highways and to turn over these logs to the local government units for use as construction materials for housing. The department will also provide support for river dredging as soon as funds are available.

Duterte also ordered the Department of Energy to work double time to restore power in affected areas as soon as possible.

He ordered the Department of Information and Communications Technology to also work fast to restore telecommunication networks and internet connectivity in the affected regions.

Troops raced Tuesday to deliver food and water to typhoon-ravaged islands as

charities appealed for aid to help hundreds of thousands left homeless by the deadly storm.

At least 375 people were killed and hundreds injured when Typhoon Odette battered the southern and central regions of the archipelago Thursday last week, wiping out wooden houses, uprooting trees and knocking out power across entire islands.

“Never in my entire life have I encountered such a typhoon,” said Catholic Bishop Antonieto Cabajog in Surigao, on the northern tip of Mindanao island.

“To say ‘super’ is an understatement,” he told a Catholic church-run news agency.

More than 400,000 people were sheltering in evacuation centers or with relatives, the national disaster agency said, after their homes were damaged or destroyed by the strongest typhoon to hit the country this year.

Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana has ordered the military to deploy ships, boats, aircraft and trucks to deliver food, drinking water and medical supplies to survivors, who have been struggling for basic necessities.

Heavy machinery, including backhoes and front-end loaders, also have been sent to clear roads.

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communication links in the Misamis Oriental and Surigao del Norte.

Meanwhile, 86 percent of wireless services and 60 percent fixed services in the Visayas have been restored.

Customers may experience intermittent service in previously restored areas due to prolonged unavailability of commercial power and transmission lines.

PLDT and Smart technical teams are also working round-the-clock in affected areas in Palawan, amid clearing operations and power interruptions. Additional support teams have also been flown from Manila to critical areas via PLDT’s aviation unit to augment resources onground.

Globe Telecom Inc., on the other hand, has restored services in Eastern Samar, Agusan del Norte and Surigao del Sur, as more areas become operational. Restoration efforts in typhoonaffected areas in Mindanao are nearing completion, the company said.

In the Visayas, certain areas remain challenging due to several damaged roads, bridges, and power lines. Globe’s network engineers on site are working to bring services back to normal.

Globe field teams are currently on the ground in Siargao, another hard hit area and are putting up the needed equipment to put mobile services back up.

typhoon Odette to the country’s electric cooperatives at nearly P300 million although some electric cooperatives have yet to submit reports.

NEA department manager Ernesto Silvano said power to these isolated areas may be restored after New Year’s Day as the Task Force Kapatid has so far reached only Surigao del Norte, which has been heavily damaged.

“Some of the teams will cross to Dinagat and Siargao. We cannot do it (before New Year’s Day) with all the challenges: communication, transportation, mobilization, availability of materials, and extent of damage,” Silvano said.

The National Grid Corp. of the Philippines said among the facilities damaged by typhoon Odette, Bohol has yet to be energized.

“We are still concentrating on how we can address the issues in Bohol.

Before we send a task force, we need to know what equipment and facilities they need because it’s pointless to send people there without [this information],” said Energy Undersecretary Felix William Fuentebella.

In a separate statement, NEA said 74 affected electric cooperatives are undergoing recovery measures.

“We are again seeing the spirit of bayanihan. While we know that COVID is a real concern, it is just right for us to relax some rules to ensure that help will be received by the needy in the quickest manner.”

As part of the ongoing government response to the typhoon, the Department of Health and the National Task Force Against COVID-19 (NTF) are assessing the condition of vaccines and storage facilities in areas with reported power outages.

To date, 13 regions in Luzon and Mindanao reported zero vaccine wastage and no cold storage facilities damaged due to Odette. Assessments are still ongoing in Regions VI, VII, VIII and CARAGA, the DOH said in a statement Tuesday.

In anticipation of the typhoon, the National COVID-19 Vaccination Operations Center (NVOC) issued Advisories 118 and 119 which temporarily suspended the Bayanihan Bakunahan - Phase 2 in provinces along the typhoon’s track to prioritize safety of the public, the implementers and vaccines, and called for the implementation of contingency plans of local vaccine operations centers.

bottled water and even gensets. I have instructed our Consumer Protection Group and regional offices to immediately check the retailers and apprehend business pliant with the suggested retail price for owners who are profiteering and unduly basic necessities and prime commodi- increasing prices of consumer goods esties (BNPCs). pecially at this time when we are recover“But there are reports on overpricing of ing from the damage caused by Typhoon

Odette,” he said.

“We will not allow the public to be taken advantage of by unscrupulous individuals and we will not hesitate to file charges against these individuals to the full extent of the law,” he added.

According to CPG, violators can be fined P300,000 and imprisonment of

one year for unfair and unconscionable acts or practices by sellers or suppliers.

“We ask the public to report to us the stores that are overpricing and better to show proof so we can penalize faster.

The business owners should not take advantage of the already unfortunate condition of our people,” Lopez said.

is over.

The United States will give $580 million in additional aid to international organizations to fight COVID-19 in the face of surging Omicron cases, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Tuesday.

“The rapid spread of the Omicron variant reinforces that we must all continue to accelerate our efforts to end this pandemic and that none of us are safe until all of us are safe,” Blinken said in a statement.

“The world is at a critical point in our global response to this vir us. I call on my counter parts to fulf ill and bolster their commitments in f ighting the pandemic.

We must work together, and we must act quickly,” he said.

The additional funds to seven multilateral agencies bring overall US assistance to $19.6 billion, according to the State Department.

In addition to the 330 million vaccines Washington has given to the rest of the world, the $580 million “is a significant contribution to turn vaccines into vaccinations; strengthen public health capacity; support communities in need, and provide urgent, life-saving relief,” Blinken said.

Meanwhile, Thailand reimposed mandator y coronavir us quarantine measures for foreign tourists on

Tuesday, nixing a quarantine-free travel scheme as the kingdom seeks to stif le the spread of the Omicron variant.

In early November Thailand reopened to fully vaccinated travelers – who had to isolate for a night until they received a negative PCR test – from more than 60 countries.

But the government announced Tuesday the so-called “Test and Go” scheme will be suspended for at least two weeks.

Visitors will have to undergo hotel quarantine for 10 days, or 14 days if they are unvaccinated.

Thailand has detected 63 cases of the Omicron variant this week, including one community case. AFP

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From A1 SMC president and chief executive officer Ramon S. Ang said the company had, over the weekend, coordinated with various local government units to immediately extend aid to stricken cities and communities, with its donations reaching P30 million as of Monday, Dec. 20.

Among the provinces SMC has been sending food donations to are: Antique, Agusan del Norte and Agusan del Sur, Bacolod, Bohol, Biliran, Bukidnon, Cagayan de Oro, Camiguin, Cebu, Dinagat island, Davao del Sur, Eastern Samar, Guimaras, Iloilo, Leyte, Marinduque, Misamis Oriental, Negros Occidental, Negros Oriental, Occidental Mindoro, Oriental Mindoro, Palawan, Siquijor, Surigao del Norte, Surigao del Sur, and Tagoloan.

“We are one with all our countrymen who were affected by the recent typhoon. There’s a lot of things that are needed right now; we want to help make sure that basic food is covered.

We will continue to assess the situation in the coming days and weeks and find more ways to help,” said Ang. McDonald’s Philippines, meanwhile, through its charity of choice, Ronald McDonald House Charities (RMHC), has committed to serve 20,000 meals for communities affected by the super typhoon through their McDonald’s Kindness Kitchen program.

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But in the United States, President Joe Biden does not plan on “locking the country down,” press secretary Jen Psaki said earlier in the day.

Omicron now accounts for 73.2 percent of new US cases over the past week ending Saturday, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said. In some regions of the country – the Pacific Northwest, South and parts of the Midwest – it already comprises more than 90 percent of new infections.

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With Biden set to deliver an address on COVID-19 Tuesday (Wednesday Manila time), the White House reported that a mid-level, fully vaccinated and boosted staff member had tested positive for COVID-19 after spending 30 minutes in proximity to the president three days prior. Biden has so far tested negative.

Early data suggests Omicron could be more infectious and possibly have higher resistance to vaccines, despite indications that it is not more severe than the Delta variant.

Since it was first reported in South Africa in November, Omicron has been identified in dozens of countries, dashing hopes that the worst of the pandemic

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The variant is successfully evading some immune responses, she said.

This means the booster programs being rolled out in many countries ought to be targeted towards people with weaker immune systems.

“There is now consistent evidence that Omicron is spreading significantly faster than the Delta variant,” Tedros told the Geneva briefing.

“And it is more likely people vaccinated or recovered from COVID-19 could be infected or re-infected,” Tedros added.

Their comments echoed the finding of a study by Imperial College London, which said last week the risk of reinfection was more than five times higher and it has shown no sign of being milder than Delta.

News

WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 22, 2021 mst.daydesk@gmail.com

House vows to probe food ‘smuggling’

By Maricel V. Cruz

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HE House of Representatives Committee on Ways and Means on Tuesday vowed to resume its inquiries into plant product smuggling and misdeclaration in the wake of reports that misdeclared imported fruits are flooding wet markets across the country.

Rep. Joey Sarte Salceda of Albay, chair of the committee, particularly expressed alarm over a complaint by Benguet Farmers Marketing Cooperative which urged the Bureau of Plant and Industry to explain why strawberries from South Korea are flooding the wet markets of Cebu.

“In our earlier hearings on the matter, we called on the Bureau of

Plant Industry to ensure that the inspection of plant imports is up to standard. They did point out that they are unable to inspect each shipment, which makes these shipments vulnerable to misdeclaration,” Salceda said.

Salceda referred to hearings by the House tax panel in February 2021, which scored the BPI for the lack of

stringent mechanisms to prevent the smuggling of plant products such as fruits and vegetables.

“We requested them to craft guidelines on their work with Customs, and how we can ensure that imports are processed on time, but without misdeclaration or technical smuggling,” Salceda said.

“When session resumes after the Christmas break, we will follow up on our request and give them a deadline,” Salceda added.

“If it’s not intentional, it seems to me that the technical processes for evaluation are still lacking. For example, strawberries from Korea aren’t included in the goods allowed inside the country under the KoreaPhilippine Trade Agreement under

IN BRIEF Maynilad receives award on energy use

the General Agreement on Tariff Agreement-World Trade Organization (GATT-WTO). So, something’s up,” Salceda said.

In Senate hearings, the BPI claimed that the strawberry imports were for use “by the Korean community” in the country.

“That’s not a satisfactory answer. So, I want to see how the import permitting process can be streamlined so that the rules are clear.”

Salceda also emphasized that “a highly arbitrary import permits process places the country’s own domestic agriculture at risk, especially from biosafety hazards.”

“Once January session comes, we’ll give a deadline for the BPI,” Salceda stressed

THE Clean Energy Ministerial has recently recognized the west zone Maynilad Water Services Inc. for its excellent implementation of an energy management system (EnMS) based on ISO 50001:2018, the international standard for structured monitoring of energy utilization and performance.

It is a global forum that promotes policies and programs to advance clean energy. Maynilad is the lone award recipient from the Philippines.

It earned the “Energy Management Insight Award,” citing the water company’s efforts to enhance the energy efficiency of several treatment plants and pumping stations that led to significant reductions in greenhouse gas emissions and other related environmental impacts.

It also enabled the water firm to register savings in energy consumption and operational expenses.

“We are happy to receive this recognition, as it reinforces our carbon sequestration initiatives geared toward attaining Net-Zero Carbon by year 2037,” Maynilad president and chief executive officer Ramoncito Fernandez. Rio N. Araja

Agents seize shipment of ‘ecstacy’ worth P4.1m in NAIA

Employers advised to give proper holiday pay THE Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) advised employers to give rightful wages to workers who will report for work during the holidays.

“We remind companies and establishments in the private sector to observe the proper payment of wages to their workers this month,” Labor Secretary Silvestre III Bello said.

He said “employers must provide the rightful wages and benefits entitled to their workers so that they can truly enjoy the spirit of Christmas with their families amid the pandemic.”

Labor Advisory 23 Series of 2021 is pursuant to Proclamation No. 1107 signed by President Rodrigo Duterte declaring December 24 and December 31 as special working days.

The proclamation also declared regular holidays December 25 and December 30 for the commemoration of the martyrdom of national hero Jose Rizal.

For the declared special working days on December 24 and 31, the advisory said that should a worker report for duty, the employee is entitled to receive his daily wage. No premium shall be paid since those days are considered ordinary working days. Vito Barcelo

By Joel E. Zurbano CUSTOMS assigned at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport have intercepted another shipment of the party drug ecstasy smuggled from Germany and the Netherlands.

Authorities seized a total of 2,437 tablets of ecstacy worth more than P4.1 million at the Central Mail Exchange Center (CMEC) and DHL warehouse in Pasay City.

District Collector Carmelita Talusan said the prohibited drugs were intercepted through the intensified profiling and examination conducted by Customs NAIA personnel with the help from the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) and NAIA - Inter-Agency Drug Interdiction Task Group.

She said the importers misdeclared the shipments as “switch panels,” a clear case of technical smuggling. Talusan said the shipment consist of two letter posts and one parcel.

“The illegal drugs were discovered in secret spaces in between the box and envelopes. The said parcels originated from Germany the Netherlands and consigned to individuals addressed in Quezon City, Bulacan, and Las Pinas City,” she said.

The seized items were turned over to PDEA for further investigation.

The consignees, who the Customs did not identify, will be charged with violation of Republic Act 9165 (Comprehensive Drugs Act) as well as RA 10863 (Customs Modernization and Tariff Act. Talusan assured that unscrupulous individuals taking advantage of the holiday season rush will not succeed in their attempt to smuggle illegal drugs into the country.

Last week, airport authorities also seized a drug shipment worth more than P15 million.

The Port of NAIA had a total of 30 drug busts for 2018; 31 seizures in 2019, and 43 in 2020 while 57 for this year. Most of the seized drugs were shabu and ecstasy.

“Under the leadership of Commissioner Rey Leonardo Guerrero, BoC-NAIA continues to intensify efforts against the entry of illegal drugs into the the country and the protect the borders 24/7,” said Talusan.

RELIEF GOODS FOR ANIMALS.

Staff from an animal welfare organization unloads sacks and boxes of cat and dog food at the office of presidential aspirant Senator Manny Pacquaio in Makati City who will be scheduled to fly to Siargao and Leyte to distribute relief goods.

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ESSENTIALS. A member of the Philippine Army loads water and other essentials to military trucks that will be brought to the affected families by typhoon Odette in Alabang. Landers donated 5 million pesos worth of goods in support of humanitarian assistance and disaster relief in Visayas and Mindanao. Danny Pata

Villar cites importance of DTI’s ‘One Town One Pasko’ program

By Macon Ramos-Araneta SENATOR Cynthia Villar has recognized the important role of the “One Town One Pasko” (OTOP) program of the Department of Industry (DOT) to help the economy bounce back.

During the opening and ribboncutting ceremony of the Grand OTOP Provincial Trade Fair with the theme: “OTOPasko: Atinito!” on December 16 at Vista Mall in Santa Rosa City, Laguna, Villar commended the DTI Laguna for supporting our local micro small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs).

“The OTOP program of the government is intended for MSMEs and I am

glad that the DTI has leveled it up through its OTOP next-generation program that assists them in product development and enhances services in terms of assistance in improving quality, design, packaging, marketability, standards compliance among others,” Villar said.

And with the eased restrictions, she said many people will now go out to buy their needs for the Christmas season.

“That is the essence of OTOP—to patronize our own. It enables localities and communities to develop, support, and promote products or services that are rooted in its local culture, community resource, creativity, connection, and competitive advantage,” Villar said.

Villar also said there are indeed many areas where we can help our MSMEs to further improve their businesses and income.

“We can make this happen with the collaborative efforts of the private sector and the government especially since the MSMEs is the engine of the country’s growth.”

The MSMEs, Villar said, comprise more than 99 percent of businesses in our country and employ over 65 percent of Filipinos.

She also related that many big companies started as MSMEs. She specifically cited the real estate business of their family which started with a small gravel and sand company. Now, it is already a publicly-listed corporation.

“So I can relate with small entrepreneurs and that is why we have a soft spot for MSMEs and we promote entrepreneurship. (Former Senate President ) Manny (Villar) and I as well as the Villar Social Institute for Poverty Alleviation and Governance (Villar SIPAG), have always been active advocates of entrepreneurship,” she said.

As entrepreneurs ourselves, Villar said they know that entrepreneurship is the key to the economic freedom of Filipinos. She mentioned that from a small gravel and sand company, with two second-hand delivery trucks, she said her husband has created the country’s largest homebuilder (Vista Land).

Pact to lessen ‘red tape’ signed

By Othel V. Campos THE Anti-Red Tape Authority (ARTA) led the signing of a joint memorandum circular (JMC) that is seen to expedite the processing of construction-related permits.

The JMC, titled “Guidelines in the Processing of Construction-Related Permits,” aims to set service standards in processing construction-related permits such as building permits, certificate of occupancy, and other permits issued by local government units.

It amended JMC 2018-10 by the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG), Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH), and Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) to cover simple, complex, and highly technical transactions.

“Indeed, as we now see, that what makes a great project for the people great is not only measured by the grandeur of the plan and its execution but also the speed by which it is achieved. But let me also say

that we do not only need to have a quick infrastructure building system but more so we need a quicker infrastructure rebuilding process. This is especially so for a tropical country like ours which is constantly bombarded by challenges given by nature,” said ARTA during the launch.

Under the newly signed JMC, an oversight committee on Construction Permit Reforms (OC-CPR) will be formed, as adopted from JMC 2018-10.

Construction-related applications for building permits and certificates of occupancy will also be classified into simple, complex, and highly technical. This means that the processing time for simple transactions will be reduced from 5 to 3 days. There will also be a set processing time of 7 days for complex transactions and 20 days for highly technical transactions in alignment with Republic Act No. 11032 or the Ease of Doing Business and Efficient Government Service Delivery Act of 2018.

CHRISTMAS PACKAGE. Residents of San Miguel island received their Christmas package courtesy of the Tabaco City local government unit.

PhilHealth holds first-ever members’ summit THE Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (PhilHealth) held its very first PhilHealth Members’ Summit with the theme “Benepisyong PhilHealth: Maaasahan, Saanman, Kailanman.”

The summit is in line with its intensified information dissemination efforts even during the pandemic and to boost awareness on benefits and services of PhilHealth.

PhilHealth president and CEO Atty.

Dante A. Gierran assured members that PhilHealth is always ready to assist all Filipinos in times of hospitalization due to ill health.

“PhilHealth is here to help Filipinos

who get sick and need hospitalization anytime,” she said.

During the three-day virtual forum, speakers have thoroughly explained before the participants PhilHealth’s inpatient, outpatient, and special benefit packages available to the members and their qualified dependents.

In addition, its Z Benefits and primary care benefit package under Konsultasyong Sulit at Tama or PhilHealth Konsulta were also presented in addition to must-know information on membership, registration, and contribution payments.

Efforts in addressing the financial burden brought by the pandemic

through COVID-19 benefit packages had been presented.

These packages include testing, isolation, inpatient care, and vaccine injury compensation for those who will suffer serious adverse effects arising from inoculation for the virus.

Around 300 participants joined the virtual forum that was also streamed via Facebook Live for the benefit of members in the provinces and even abroad.

Meanwhile, PhilHealth officers and select employees have responded to numerous members posted by the members during the live-streamed event. Macon Ramos-Araneta

High Court issues TROs for 3 more party-list groups

By Rey E. Requejo THE Supreme Court has issued a temporary restraining order in favor of three more party-list groups enjoining the Commission on Elections from denying their petitions for registration as party-list groups for the coming May 2022 elections.

In three separate orders, the SC granted the plea for TROs of Ang Tinig ng Senior Citizens sa Pilipinas, Inc., Lingkud Bayanihan Party, and the Mindanao Indigenous Peoples Conference for Peace and Development.

Last December 17, the Court issued similar orders in favor of Igorot Warriors International, Inc. (IWI) and Alliance for Resilience, Sustainability and Empowerment (ARISE).

SC Clerk of Court Marife M. Lomibao Cuevas said the TROs were given by the authority of Chief Justice Alexander G. Gesmundo upon written recommendations by the justices-incharge of the petitions.

In the same orders, the Court directed the respondent Comelec to comment on the petitions filed by the three party-list groups within 10 days from receipt of the resolutions.

Comelec dismissed the petition for registration of Ang Tinig ng Seniors on October 12. The party-list group’s motion for reconsideration was likewise turned down on December 1.

Comelec rejected 126 groups bidding to register as party-lists for the 2022 elections on November 17.

Of the 270 party-list groups that filed their Certificates of Nomination and Acceptance during the filing period from October 1 to 8, a total of 53 groups were granted new registrations on October 25.

The Kalipunan ng Maralita at Malayang Mamamayan, Inc. (Kamalayan) has secured the top spot on the ballot for 166 party-list groups during the recent draw.

Additional groups will be placed after the 166th group, Buhay Hayaan Yumabong (BUHAY).

Leni: Prioritize underground power, com lines

By Rio N. Araja VICE President Leni Robredo is calling on the government to prioritize the construction of underground power and communication lines in typhoon-prone areas.

“One realization from the spate of very strong typhoons that hit our country is that our next priority is to put in place infrastructure development agenda in typhoon-prone areas,” Robredo said.

The presidential candidate visited Bohol, Cebu, Surigao, Southern Leyte, and Dinagat Islands to distribute relief. “[There are] many reasons [to do so].

First, in the long run, this would be costeffective compared to the recurring costly rehabilitation of above-ground electric and communication lines and posts that are felled and destroyed by typhoons.

Second, the disruption and absence of power and communication services adversely affect the economy and business,” Robredo said.

She lamented natural disasters would badly affect health, hygiene and sanitation services.

The Vice President responded to calls for helpo in the aftermath of typhoon “Odette” that has killed 375 people and rendered thousands homeless.

In Dulag, Leyte, residents are seeking help from the national government for them to rebuild their homes in time for Christmas.

Senator Francis “Kiko” Pangilinan distributed relief packs that included rice and other food items to the affected families of Barangays San Jose, Luan, Sungi, Sabang, and Rizal. The relief packs were from donors who responded to his and Vice President Leni Robredo’s appeal for help.

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WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 22, 2021 E-mail: mst.daydesk@gmail.com

News

UNITEAM AID. Former Senator Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr., Dapa Mayor Elizabeth Matugas, House Majority Leader and Leyte Rep. Martin Romualdez and Surigao Del Norte 2nd District Rep. Francisco Jose ll “Bingo” Matugas (from right) visited the devastated houses of residents in Surigao del Norte due to super typhoon Odette. The Uniteam led by Marcos, Mayor Sara Duterte and Romualdez delivered financial and food packs assistance to Surigao del Norte, Capiz, Masbate. and Negros Occidental. Ver Noveno

Comelec summons BBM, who asks it to junk cases T

By Vito Barcelo

HE Commission on Elections (Comelec) has summoned presidential aspirant Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. to answer the three disqualification cases filed against him.

Commissioner Rowena Guanzon, a member of the Comelec’s First Division, said summonses were already sent to Marcos, via email, on three cases filed against him.

“The EOs were directed to print, personally serve the Summons to Respondent BBM, and to submit Affidavits of service,”

Guanzon in a Facebook post on Tuesday.

At the same time, Marcos Jr. asked the Comelec to dismiss the petition seeking his disqualification, arguing that he was qualified to run based on the 1987 Constitution and the events after the People Power Revolution which ousted his family from power in 1986.

In a memorandum filed before the Comelec in response to the petition by Christian Buenafe and others, Marcos Jr. cited Article 7, Section 2 of the Philippine Constitution.

It states that “no person may be elected President unless he is a natural-born citizen of the Philippines, a registered voter, able to read and write, at least forty years of age on the day of the election, and a resident of the Philippines for at least 10 years immediately preceding such election.”

“The Honorable Commission may

resolve this petition on the merits if, and only if, there is a prior authoritative finding that Marcos, Jr. does not possess any of the qualifications required of a president under Section 2, Article 7 of the Constitution.”

“Otherwise stated, it is only with a prior finding where the ineligibility of Marcos, Jr. is readily apparent, that the Honorable Commission may determine whether there has been material misrepresentation in Marcos, Jr.’s certificate of candidacy (COC),” Marcos, Jr.’s memo read.

“There is no contention that Marcos, Jr. is a natural-born citizen of the Philippines, a registered voter, able to read and write, at least 40 years of age, and a resident of the Philippines for more than 10 years already. It is thus most respectfully submitted that the only recourse of the Honorable Commission is to dismiss the instant petition for lack of jurisdiction,” it added.

HELP FOR ILOILO.

Vice President Leni Robredo (left) turns over to Iloilo Mayor Jerry P. Treñas 500 sacks of rice, canned goods and hygiene kits as part of her team’s Typhoon Odette relief operations in Iloilo City. Iloilo City Mayor’s Office

IN BRIEF

Isko thanks Manilans for giving back food

PRESIDENTIAL candidate and Manila City Mayor Isko Moreno Domagoso has expressed his gratitude to his constituents for taking part in the relief drive of the local city government by personally donating their Noche Buena food packages that were recently distributed to them.

Moreno said the city government of Manila began distributing early this month the Noche Buena boxes containing 3 kilos of rice, 5 cans of corned beef, ingredients for spaghetti and fruit salad.

“Can you believe that the Christmas gift packages I gave in Manila, a lot of them donated their Noche Buena packs?

They returned them, we sent them to Leyte. We sent to Surigao, Cebu, Bohol.

Those are Manila children,” a proud and happy Moreno told the media.

He was giving an update on the city government’s relief operations to help those in the Visayas and Mindanao who were severely affected by the onslaught of Typhoon Odette.

“Never mind I called them to help. So what they did was they gave their packages they received. Because I always tell them… I know our lives are hard but at least we can survive. Because I saw the Visayas, seriously. I really feel sorry for them so I can talk to whoever I can, I take them and then give them to the person,” Moreno explained.

Moreno said he was in Urdaneta, Pangasinan over the weekend where businessmen and other groups contributed about P250,000 for the relief efforts of the Manila city government.

The Aksyon Demokratiko standard bearer earlier thanked Dr. Honey Lacuna, his vice mayor in Manila, and the City Government Council for the speedy approval of a resolution that allocated P2.5 million in assistance for the recovery efforts in the typhoon-hit areas in Cebu (P1 million), Bohol (P500,000), Leyte (P500,000), and Surigao del Norte (P500,000). Rey E. Requejo

Ruling on old, sickly convicts welcomed

UniTeam eyes more Ro-Ro routes to fast-track disaster aid TO avoid the problems that confronted first responders and rescuers who were stymied by lack of available transport systems shortly after typhoon Odette’s onslaught, the BBM-Sara UniTeam eyes the expansion of the country’s Roll-On/ Roll-Off (Ro-Ro) terminal system to expedite response time in calamity-hit areas.

Presidential candidate Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos said given the country’s archipelagic structure, the Philippines would require an effective

means of distribution for disaster-related concerns such as the delivery of relief goods and heavy equipment.

“The country’s unique archipelagic layout is a challenge when it comes to disaster response. Island municipalities can be easily isolated for days, with help only being sent via airdrops and only in small quantities. We believe that by having more Ro-Ro routes, we can send help faster to these affected communities,” the tandem said in a statement.

Meanwhile, Marcos Jr. continues to

lord it over his rivals in the presidential derby as shown by the latest face-toface survey conducted by Radio Mindanao Network (RMN)-APCORE. In the survey conducted from November 23 to 29 on 2,400 respondents, at least 55% said their preferred choice was Marcos, standard-bearer of Partido Federal ng Pilipinas. Vice President Leni Robredo and Manila Mayor Francisco Moreno Domagoso were tied with identical 13% votes.

Rey E. Requejo

Lacson directs teams to help storm victims

By Macon Ramos-Araneta

ASSISTING ANTIQUE. Anakalusugan partylist nominee Ray Roquero (right)

leads in the distribution of relief goods to Super Typhoon Odette’s victims in Barangays Igdanlog, Arobo and Masayo in Tobias Fornier, Antique, benefitting 300 households with 1,300 family members. Anakalusugan also conducted relief operations in the town of Tibiao, also hit by the recent typhoon in the province.

AS A clearer but grimmer picture emerges on the extent of the damage wrought by Typhoon Odette, Senator and presidential aspirant Panfilo “Ping” Lacson directed various teams from his Partido Reporma, campaign volunteers, and even his own Senate staff to focus on helping the victims of the storm.

Since Saturday, December 18, simultaneous relief efforts have been undertaken by these teams in Cebu, Leyte and Siargao with additional volunteers joining to help in Southern Leyte, Negros Island, and Palawan.

Through its alliance with LPGMA Party-List, Partido Reporma will also dispatch a Landing Craft Tanker (LCT) to ferry heavy equipment, housing materials, food, and water to various affected areas in Visayas and Mindanao in the next few days.

Lacson, in a recent out-of-town engagement, called for a moment of silence in for those who perished in the typhoon, which as of Monday has reached 375 persons, according to the Philippine National Police.

The three-term senator’s presidential run is anchored on his 50 years of experience as a soldier, a policeman, a legislator and a rehab czar, in the hope of offering the most effective solutions to the country’s myriad problems, which include solving the coronavirus pandemic, the looming huge national debt, poverty and loss of livelihoods, and other issues.

Meanwhile, the parents of children who are knowingly committing criminal offenses must also be held accountable under the law, said the Partido Reporma standard-bearer.

Lacson cited a precedent involving a teenager charged with multiple crimes in the United States.

A PARTY-LIST lawmaker on Tuesday welcomed a Supreme Court ruling allowing bail for convicted old and sickly persons.

“The recent Supreme Court ruling should now be made a new additional and humanitarian ground applicable for the release of deserving prisoners,” Bayan Muna Rep. Carlos Zarate said.

“In fact, this should set as a precedent for the release especially for those not yet convicted but are still detained due to trumped up charges and whose cases are still being tried in court,” he added.

Zarate recalled that Camilo Sabio, the former chief of the Presidential Commission on Good Government (PCGG), was recently allowed by the Supreme Court to be provisionally released, citing humanitarian reasons.

Sabio was found guilty by the Sandiganbayan of graft in 2019 and was arrested in 2020. He was sentenced to 6 to 10 years of imprisonment and perpetual disqualification from holding public office.

“This ruling should immediately be made applicable to all prisoners under similar situation so as to prevent a repeat of what happened to farmer Antonio Molina, a sick and elderly political prisoner who died of cancer inside a Palawan prison last November,” Zarate stressed.

“While the convicted Marcoses continue to flaunt their ‘untouchability,’ an elderly, sickly, poor farmer died because of trumped-up charges and the skewed justice system,” he added.

Zarate noted the Molina, 66, was “unjustly arrested and jailed in 2019. Despite his advanced age and serious sickness, a local court in Palawan unjustly denied his plea for release on bail or recognizance, until his death in jail.”

“The SC Sabio ruling should stop the double standard in the release of prisoners,” said the Davao-based solon.

Zarate’s Bayan Muna authored House Bill 10535 or An Act Providing for the Inclusion of Fragile Health and/or Advanced Age as Grounds for the Release on Recognizance of an Accused, amending for the purpose Republic Act 10389 or the ‘Recognizance Act of 2021. Maricel V. Cruz

Opinion Disaggregating the 2022 youth vote

They will vote according to where they came from, where they have lived, what education they have received, and their sense of what is best for the country.

A young 2022 voter’s educational attainment will be a great divider among next year’s youthful voters, and the higher the educational attainment, the more likely they will go for educational achievers like VP Leni Robredo and Sen. Lacson, eschewing fake graduates like Mr. Marcos and non-graduates like national boxing icon Sen. Pacquiao.

Allied with educational attainment, a young voter’s level of political discernment will determine who will score heavily with the young electorate in the coming election. Not all young voters are politically discerning, but those who are - and they are very probably in the majority - appreciate the difference between right and wrong, between honesty and corruption and between a solid public record like that of VP Robredo and a tattered public record like that of Mr. Marcos.

The disaggregation process will establish that there is no such thing as a monolithic youth vote. The youth will not vote as a monolith on May 9, 2022. They will vote according to where they came from, where they have lived most of their lives, what education they have received and, last but not the least, their sense of what is best for this country in the next six years.

China’s green energy rush ahead of Winter Olympics has a huge human cost

By Poornima Weerasekara BEATEN, forced off their land, cheated out of money, and even falsely imprisoned — farmers in China say they are paying a heavy price as authorities rush to deliver on ambitious pledges to ramp up national green energy output.

China has vowed the upcoming Winter Olympics 2022 will be the first Games to be run entirely on wind and solar energy, and have built scores of facilities to increase capacity — but activists warn ordinary people are being exploited by “land grabs” in the process.

In a hamlet near Beijing, the Long family — who say they’ve lost more than half their agricultural land to a sprawling solar farm next door — now have so little income they are burning corn husks and plastic bags to stay warm in winter.

“We were promised just 1,000 yuan per mu of land each year when the power company leased the land for 25 years,” farmer Long from Huangjiao village said, using a Chinese unit of land equal to approximately 667 square metres.

“We can make more than double the amount by growing corn in the same area.

Now without land, I eke out a living as a day laborer.”

China is the world’s biggest producer of wind turbines and solar panels, and the Winter Olympics is seen as an opportunity to showcase the country’s green technologies as they seek global markets.

To ensure an uninterrupted power supply for the Games — and clear the winter smog choking the Chinese capital — Hebei province neighboring Beijing has built a giant plant that takes in power from renewable projects in the province.

That one plant creates 14 billion kilowatt hours of clean electricity every year, similar to the annual energy consumption of Slovenia.

But for farmers like Long and his neighbour Pi, the green energy boom has made their lives more dangerous and difficult.

Pi says villagers were forced to sign contracts — seen by AFP — leasing their land to the solar park built by State Power Investment Group (SPIC), one of the five biggest utility companies in the country.

Those who didn’t agree were beaten by the police, he said, adding “some were hospitalized, some were detained.”

‘Suppressed and imprisoned’ Pi was jailed for 40 days, while Long languished in prison for nine months for “ille-

gally gathering and disturbing peace,” after a public protest.

“The situation is similar to a mafia,” Pi said.

“If you complain, then you’ll be suppressed, imprisoned and sentenced.”

The average annual disposable rural income in Baoding is about 16,800 yuan ($2,600), a figure both Long and Pi said they can no longer make.

Ordinary people are paying the price.

AFP could not confirm that electricity from the SPIC project near Huangjiao would be used to power the Olympic venues directly, because that information is not publicly available.

The company declined to confirm when asked by AFP. But the Zhangjiakou government — the city co-hosting the Games — has said that since winning the Olympic bid in 2015, the area has “transformed itself from scratch (into) the largest non-hydro renewable energy base in China.”

Government subsidies for wind and solar farms have also accelerated construction of such projects in other parts of Hebei, as China scrambles to cut air pollution before the Games.

In a statement, Amnesty International said “forced evictions, illegal land seizures, and loss of livelihoods related to the loss of land” were among the most frequent human rights concerns associated with the wind and solar energy sectors.

China wants 25 percent of its electricity to come from non-fossil fuels by 2030.

To achieve this, the country has to more than double its current wind and solar capacity — but environmentalists warn land seizures will become more widespread as energy companies rush to produce renewables.

And although Beijing has set a series of ambitious targets around the Winter Olympics, green campaigners face heavy pressure in China if they challenge the official line.

Several told AFP they were not comfortable discussing Beijing’s environmental targets for the Games for fear of reprisals.

‘We got nothing’ In September, China announced strict rules for compensation when land is taken over for ecological projects, including the development of green energy.

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EDITORIAL

inces will more readily take to Vice-President Leni Robredo and Manny Pacquiao than to Sen. Panfilo Lacson. Young voters who are not from Ilocandia or southern Mindanao will not experience a regional-sentiment pull toward BBM or Manny Pacquiao, respectively; BBM’s being an Ilocano and Manny Pacquiao’s being a Mindanaoan will have little meaning for them at the time they cast their ballots.

ONE of the scariest things for a candidate for one of the national offices at stake in the 2022 election - especially a presidential candidate is that approximately 50 percent of next year’s electorate will be composed of young voters, i.e., voters between the ages of 18 and 30 years old. The fear arises from the obvious fact that failure to win a majority of the youth vote could well spell the difference between victory and defeat.

Failure to capture a majority of next year’s youth vote is indeed a daunting thought. But the thought becomes far less daunting when the enormous 2022 youth vote is subjected to what economists call disaggregation, on the assumption that next year’s youthful voters will not vote in monolithic fashion. As the word suggests, disaggregation involves breaking down the 2022 youth vote into its likely components. At the end of the disaggregative process, national-office candidates will be thinking not of a “youth vote” but of a number of smaller groups of youthful voters. And they will structure their campaign strategies accordingly.

The process of disaggregating the 2022 youth vote will entail looking at and analyzing factors that largely account for the character, attitudes and caliber of today’s 18-to-30-yearold Filipinos. These factors are birth circumstances, provincial-versus-urban orientation, regional attachment, educational attainment and political discernment.

A young voter who had very humble beginnings and experienced privation and poverty during his or her childhood will look at the candidates - especially the presidential candidates - differently from a young voter who began life under comfortable and financially stable circumstances. The former will be more strongly attracted to Sen. Manny Pacquiao and mayor Isko Moreno than to BBM (Ferdinand Marcos Jr). Young voters who were born in and have lived most of their lives in the prov-

WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 22, 2021

Anticipated report, cautionary tale

S

ENATE Blue Ribbon Committee Chairman Richard Gordon says they are wrapping up their probe on the irregular deals made by the Executive department with the capital- and track record-bereft Pharmally Pharmaceuticals for the procurement of pandemic supplies.

Over the past few months the Filipino people were witness to the unsavory revelations during the Senate hearings, where we learned that the officials who are supposed to spend our money prudently blew it, instead, on substandard and overpriced supplies.

We also saw the spectacle of employees disappearing, or talking about luxury cars materializing in their garages, even as no less than the President of the country defended his friends – the company’s executives – and lashed out instead at the lawmakers trying to ferret out the truth.

The incredible events also included the resurfacing of the disappearing em-

ployee and the arrest of siblings who were on the brink of escaping to another country – still in luxury, no less.

Let us not forget Pharmally and all it represents.

The shock factor notwithstanding, the Senate probe remains in aid of legislation – how we can ensure procurement processes will be in the interest of the people and not of a certain group

of well-connected businessmen – and the committee report will soon be released, we are told.

Many other things have captured our attention since Pharmally. The election season has begun in earnest, substitutions and realignments dominated the headlines, another COVID variant threatens to derail our recovery, and, just recently, a typhoon left hundreds dead and devastated property, livelihood and infrastructure alike.

But let us not forget Pharmally and all it represents. The reason we are where we are and not quite living up to potential is that we never learn from the times we were taken for fools.

In our utter ignorance, or laziness, those who take advantage of us for their own purposes are able to wait the crisis out and then emerge again, free to do as they please, and boss us around even if they do it nicely, as if nothing happened.

Pharmally is many things to many people. Of all these things, let it be a cautionary tale for all of us.

Trust gest contributors to the Vatican, another institution that did not help much during the two years of the pandemic.

With its network of churches (there is one in every small town and big city), schools, and convents, the Philippine Catholic Church could have readily marshalled the resources, funds, manpower, and retail stations to erect community pantries in all the country’s barangays. But it did not. And one cardinal caught COVID.

THE public relations and research firm EON Group this year disclosed the findings of its trust research, based on a face-to-face poll nationwide of 800 respondents 18 and above.

The results are disturbing—for business.

Business is losing the public’s trust. In 2017, business enjoyed a trust rating of 75 percent. In 2021, that trust fell to a low of 66 percent, a drop of 9 percentage points or 12 percent.

Business has been the most dynamic and helpful in helping the nation go through the most difficult pandemic of the century and enabling the country to recover from the economic slump caused by the pandemic.

The major corporations like SMC, Ayala and PLDT Group spent billions to help with the pandemic, biting into big chunks of their profits to fund their generosity.

All the other institutions of society showed gains or held on to their high trust ratings— the Church 90 percent in 2019 and 91 percent in 2021; the academe 90 percent in both 2019 and 2021; media 69 percent in 2019 to 76 percent in 2021; and government, 76 percent in both 2019 and 2021.

The fact that the Church has kept its high trust rating befuddles me.

If you ask me, our Catholic Church failed the Filipino people. Its leaders retreated into the safety of their cocoons, seldom seen or heard from, even after 100 nuns got sick with COVID in a Quezon City convent.

The senior Church prelates failed to fight for the right of Catholics to go to their church and hear mass. That is a gross violation of the Constitution, of the people’s right to practice their religion. It is not the business of the government to count how many churchgoers could enter a particular church on a particular day.

The Church also failed to help the people in their hour of greatest need. It took a nondescript girl in suburban Quezon City to think of community pantries—to give away basic goods to the poor, hungry and the jobless.

The Philippine Catholic Church is one of the richest in the world. It is one of the big“Our land zoning (rules) also clearly regulate what agricultural land can’t be occupied, especially farmland,” Li Dan, secretary general of the renewable energy professionals committee, which promotes green development.

“This is a red line.”

If farmland is being used for renewable energy projects there should be a benefit sharing programme in place such as powering greenhouses, she said.

But several farmers AFP spoke to said companies were labelling agricultural fields as wasteland to skirt the rules.

Xu Wan, a farmer in Zhangjiakou, lost his land to a solar installation built during the runup to the Games.

“The company told us this was non-usable land, but actually it’s all very good agricultural land used by us farmers,” Xu said.

“They said they would give us 3,000 yuan per mu of land. But in the end, we got nothing.”

Zhangjiakou Yiyuan New Energy Development, which installed the solar project in Xu’s

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

Here are some survey results.

Also a big trust rating winner is media, up from 69 percent in 2019 to 76 percent in 2021, a 10-percent gain, despite disinformation and disinformation peddled by mainstream media outlets as well as the social media.

Amazingly, despite Pharmally, Duque dropping the ball, twice, first on Pfizer vaccines and then on US-made syringes, the government kept the trust of the people. It scored a healthy 76 in both 2019 and 2021, approximating President Duterte’s own high trust ratings. This is amazing considering that the government is generally perceived as having mismanaged the pandemic.

Duterte imposed the severest and longest pandemic lockdown in the world, from March 15, 2020 to this day. The lockdown eviscerated 20 percent of the economy, collapsed 70 percent of businesses (half of them, for good), and displaced 30 million workers nationwide.

NGOs-civil society was also a big winner.

Its trust rating leaped phenomenally, almost double, from 37 percent in 2017 to 70 percent in 2021.

Said Eon Group on its own findings: “The 2021 PTI, titled RISE & RESPOND: Trust Rewards the Agile and the FutureReady, reveals that the trust level for the business sector declined while the other five institutions were able to maintain or even increase public trust in them from 2019.”

“Four of them, notably the Church, the academe, the media, and non-governmental organizations (NGOs), saw a rise in trust.

NGOs, in particular, saw the highest gain, nearly doubling its 2019 trust rating this year.

The government’s level of trust, however, has remained constant since 2019.”

Per EON: village, did not respond to AFP’s request for comment.

Jiang Yi, a Chinese Academy of Engineering researcher, told a state-run industry news site that in future China will need 30,00040,000 square kilometers more land to meet the renewable energy needs.

“Where the land comes from has become the biggest issue restricting the development of the industry,” he said.

‘The corruption is intolerable’ Renewable investments also made up over half the new projects under China’s global infrastructure push — the Belt and Road initiative — last year.

Priyanka Mogul from The Business and Human Rights Resource Centre, a UK-based non-profit that has studied the impact of Chinese renewable investments abroad, said some developers had also been accused of controversial practices when acquiring land overseas.

“The most prevalent issue was inadequate disclosure of environmental impact assess-

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

“Trust in the media has increased since 2019, though it has yet to reach its 2017 rating. This institution earned its highest trust ratings from Gen Xers and its highest boost in trust from the Visayas.”

“Trust in the academe has maintained its 2019 trust level, though its 2017 trust rating still remains its highest. It earned the full trust of Baby Boomers but saw a downward trend in trust level among Metro Manila and South Luzon residents.”

“Trust in the Church has remained high since 2017. The institution rates the highest among Baby Boomers and North/Central Luzon residents, though its trust levels in South Luzon and Mindanao decreased.”

“Government has maintained public trust in spite of the pandemic. Trust in government has maintained its 2019 level despite the pandemic. It received a very low trust rating from millenials, however, and it continues to receive its lower score from the Visayas.”

“Trust in business has been declining since 2017. For 2021, it received its lowest ratings from Baby Boomers and saw a trust level increase only in Metro Manila.”

Speaking of media, in a separate survey,

by PublicusAsia on Oct. 11-18, 2021, among 18 media outlets rated by respondents, GMA Network 7 topped the field, with total high trust rating of 52.6 percent, and a total low trust of just 11.6 percent. A close second was CNN Philippines, with a total high trust rating of 50.8 percent and total low rating of 11.6 percent.

More than half of Philippine tv viewers have a high trust in GMA7. Only one of every ten TV viewers has a low trust in the network.

Among the 18 media outlets polled, GMA enjoyed the highest “very high trust” rating of 21.667 percent. GMA also had the lowest No Trust among the 18 media companies, just 2.533 percent.

Rappler had the highest No Trust rating among the media outlets, a disturbing 23.67 percent, followed closely by ABS-CBN Online, with 20.467.

Rappler and ABS-CBN Online are the only two media outlets with double-digit No Trust ratings—one of every four Filipinos in the case of Rappler, and one of every five in the case of ABS-CBN Online. biznewsasia@gmail.com

ment (data)... followed by issues related to land rights and loss of livelihoods,” she said.

To reduce conflicts when taking over village land, China has billed most solar farms as poverty alleviation projects, where villagers get free electricity from solar panels installed on their roofs.

According to 2014 state guidelines, utility companies should then buy back the extra electricity in a programme to lift two million families out of poverty by 2020.

The National Energy Administration said last year more than double that number benefited.

But in Huangjiao with over 300 households, only two roofs had solar panels, and villagers said there had been no programme to install solar panels.

“At a central level, the government has good policies for farmers,” Pi from Huangjiao village said.

“But once it comes to the village level, things change. The corruption at the grassroots level is intolerable.” AFP

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AS COVID CASES RISE AHEAD OF WINTER OLYMPICS HOSTING

China’s Xi’an city tests millions T HE Chinese city of Xi’an began testing millions of residents for the coronavirus on Tuesday after the detection of more than 40 new cases raised concerns of wider transmission ahead of a busy travel season.

China, where the virus was first detected, has slowed new cases to a trickle since the middle of last year through border restrictions, targeted lockdowns and lengthy quarantines as it pursues a zero-COVID strategy.

But the world’s second-largest economy is now fighting local outbreaks in

several cities, including key industrial hubs in the east and south.

Authorities are keen to extinguish the flare-ups ahead of a crucial period that will see the capital Beijing host the Winter Olympics in February as well as a surge in cross-country travel during the Lunar New Year.

Xi’an – a historic northwestern city of around 13 million people – recorded 42 new cases on Tuesday, bringing the total number detected since December 9 to 91, according to figures from the provincial health commission.

The city has also shut schools and large indoor recreation venues while encouraging residents to avoid going out and congregating in large groups, according to local government notices.

The museum housing the world-famous Terracotta Army – the 2,000-year-

old mausoleum of China’s first emperor – said in an online statement that it had closed from Sunday “according to the needs of epidemic prevention work,” without giving a reopening date.

COVID-19 is not the only scourge to hit Xi’an in recent weeks, with the city also logging several cases of potentially deadly hemorrhagic fever since the beginning of winter.

Local authorities have urged calm about the rodent-borne disease, saying it is common across northern China and easily preventable through vaccination.

AFP

HK adds Britain to gov’t camp quarantine tier TRAVELERS to Hong Kong from Britain will have to initially quarantine in a government camp from Tuesday, joining 12 African nations and the United States on the city’s strictest entry tier.

Throughout the coronavirus pandemic, Hong Kong has maintained some of the world’s toughest quarantine restrictions, measures that have kept infections at bay but left the finance hub isolated.

Those policies have been tightened further since the emergence of the Omicron coronavirus variant, which has spread rapidly around the world in the last few weeks.

Most people arriving in Hong Kong must undergo 21 days of hotel quarantine and frequent testing before being allowed out.

But people from countries deemed to have high Omicron infection rates must spend the first four days of quarantine in a government-run camp before seeing out the rest AUCTION SALE of their isolaACME PAWNSHOP, INC. tion in a hotel.

Auction sale on January Britain was 05, 2022 10:00 a.m. MJ Holding Bldg., Almanza added to that Las Piñas; 12:00 noon Alabang Town Center list from midStall 2074 U/L, 2:00 night on Tuespm G/F Majalco Bldg.

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Village, Makati and L&R Bldg., 1018 Pasay The other Road, Makati and 4:00 countries on the pm Circle C G14, #17 Congressional Ave. highest tier are Bahay Toro D1, Quezon Angola, BoCity. All items Pawned August 01-31, 2021. tswana, Eswatini, Ethiopia, Lesotho, Malawi, REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINES Department of Human Settelements and Urban Development Mozambique, Kagawaran ng Pamahalaang Pantao at Pagpapaunlad ng Kalunsuran National Capital Region Namibia, NigeNotice is hereby given that NOEL ria, South Africa, T. CO married to LOURDES TORRES CO, GEORGE T. CO, the United States, JR. married to BETTY SY CO, Zambia and ZimROBERTO T. CO married to NELIA GAN CO, DARRYL T. CO married babwe.AFP to LOURDES C. CO, JOSE T. CO (MS-DEC. 22, 2021)

FATALITIES. Aerial view of seven coffins of people killed in the village of Chiquix during a ceremony in Santa Catarina Ixtahuacan, Guatemala on December 20, 2021. Thirteen people, including four children, were killed in the attack, part of a long-running land feud between members of the Mayan K’iche community from the neighboring municipalities of Nahuala and Santa Catarina Ixtahuacan. AFP

Defrocked priest jailed for 12 years for child sex abuse A DEFROCKED American priest was jailed for 12 years on Tuesday for sexually abusing children at an East Timor shelter, in a case that caused sharp divisions in the deeply Catholic nation.

At least 15 women had accused Richard Daschbach, 84, of sexually abusing them when they were children at his shelter in the enclave of Oecusse, with fears that there may be many more victims.

A panel of judges found the ex-priest guilty of several sex crimes at the shelter, which was founded in the early 1990s and housed hundreds of orphans

and impoverished children.

They handed down several sentences totalling 37 years behind bars, but presiding judge Yudi Pamungkas said that was reduced considering his age.

Daschbach was under house arrest during the trial, and the judges ordered his immediate imprisonment to prevent any escape attempt.

The court also ordered East Timor authorities to pay financial compensation to the victims.

Daschbach moved to East Timor in the mid-1970s, and was once widely revered for his charity work in the South-

married to MAGGIE CHUA CO, and TRADITION HOMES PROJECT MANAGERS & DEVELOPMENT, INC., (Owners) at TRADITION HOMES PROJECT MANAGERS & DEVELOPMENT, INC. (Developer) have filed this Office for the change of developer's corporate name of WINN RESIDENCES located at Dove corner Hopeful Streets, Area 4': Sitio Veterns, Brgy. Bagong Silangan, Quezon City, from TRADITION HOMES PROJECT MANAGERS & DEVELOPMENT, INC. to TRADITION HOMES, INC., covered by TCT No. 0042018004921 , with an area of 9,833 square meters. A Certificate of Registration No. 028195 issued on May 10, 2018 and License to Sell No. 033496 issued on February 12, 2019.

China blocks US humanitarian exemptions on Afghan sanctions

All papers relative thereto shall upon request and payment of processing fee, be “available for inspection during business hours by any person having legal interest thereon .

Absent any legal impediment, the above-cited project is deemed registered and a certificate, in evidence thereof, shall forthwith be issued after five (5) days from the last day of publication.

Quezon City, Metro Manila, Dec. 3 13, 2021.

COL. JEOFREY DELOS REYES TUPAZ (Ret) Regional Director (MS-DEC. 22, 2021)

REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINES Department of Human Settelements and Urban Development Kagawaran ng Pamahalaang Pantao at Pagpapaunlad ng Kalunsuran National Capital Region Notice is hereby given that FILINVEST LAND, INC. (owner/ developer) has filed with this Board for the amendmend of license to sell of the LEVELS - BURBANK TOWER located at Pacific Rim corner Commerce Avenue, Filinvest Corporate City, Alabang, Muntinlupa City, specifically described as Lot 2-A, Psd-00074849, Transfer Certificate of Title No. 01 4-2015001055, with a total area of 13,590 square meters. The project was issued Certificate of Registration No. 26799 and License to Sell No. 033407 were issued on 28 December 2015 and 02 July 2018, respectively.

The fo regoing project is utilizing units in SUNNY BROOKE II located at Sitio Elang , Gen. Trias, Cavite, owned and developed by Filinvest Land, Inc., issued License to Sell No. 26799 on 28 October 2010 and Certificate of Accreditation No. CA2019-67 dated August 13, . 2019, as its compliance pursuant to Section 18 of Republic Act No. 7279, as amended by R.A. 10884.

All papers relative thereto shall, upon request and payment of processing fee, be available for inspection during business Ilours by any person having legal interest thereon.

Absent any legal impediment, the name of the above-cited project is deemed registered and a certificate, in evidence thereof, shall forthwith be issued after five (5) days from the last day of publication.

Quezon City, Metro Manila, Dec. 13, 2021.

COL. JEOFREY DELOS REYES TUPAZ (Ret) Regional Director (MS-DEC. 22 & 29, 2021)

east Asian nation.

He was defrocked by the Vatican in 2018, but details of the sex abuse allegations were only disclosed the next year when the case was reported by a local news outlet.

Catholic officials in East Timor’s capital Dili said this year that Daschbach was dismissed because he had admitted to the “heinous crime.”

But Daschbach retained broad support in the Catholic nation, including among some members of the political elite because of his support for East Timor’s independence movement. AFP

SILENT NIGHTS. A notice board with a sign informing people that there will be no fireworks during the upcoming New Year countdown is displayed at Marina Bay in Singapore on December 21, 2021. AFP

CHINA, backed by Russia, blocked a US draft resolution in the UN Security Council that would have provided a system for humanitarian exceptions to economic sanctions imposed on Taliban-controlled Afghanistan.

“They want the deletion” of a paragraph of the resolution allowing the sanctions committee responsible for Afghanistan to provide “exemptions from the freezing of assets” if it considers that “such a waiver is necessary to facilitate further assistance to Afghanistan,” a diplomat told AFP on condition of anonymity.

China, which is “opposed in principle to sanctions,” is “against a case-by-case exemption mechanism,” another diplomat confirmed.

“Humanitarian aid and life-saving assistance must be able to reach the Afghan people without any hindrance,” China’s UN Ambassador Zhang Jun said in a tweet Monday. “Artificially created conditions or restrictions are not acceptable.”

Washington was hoping for approval on Monday of their draft by the other 14 members of the Security Council, so that they could put it to a vote on Tuesday, diplomatic sources said.

“There are currently no humanitarian exemptions from the sanctions regime” imposed on the Taliban in 2015 and for aid workers to “carry out financial transactions with ministries headed by people under sanctions would violate sanctions,” said a diplomat.

Having abandoned the disputed paragraph on case-by-case exemptions, the United States submitted a new draft late Monday stating that, for the period of one year, humanitarian assistance would not be deemed to violate sanctions on Afghanistan. AFP

Biden introduces new first pup, ‘Commander’ A WELCOME, furry distraction from political morass and flagging approval ratings has arrived at the White House, with Joe Biden introducing the residence’s newest inhabitant Monday – a German shepherd puppy named “Commander.”

“Welcome to the White House, Commander,” Biden tweeted along with a photo of the pup running with a tennis ball in his mouth.

The Democrat then shared a video introducing the US public to “the newest Biden.”

In the clip, the US commander-in-chief walks over to the four-legged Commander, saying, “Hey, pal.”

The clip also shows Biden throwing a ball for the new dog, who later enters the White House led on a leash by Biden, alongside his wife Jill.

The new arrival is certainly a welcome distraction for the president, whose approval rating has dropped in recent weeks and is staring down a rejection of his signature social spending bill amid a surge in COVID-19 cases.

The White House has given no further details on Commander.

He is the third dog to join the Bidens at the White House. They had revived the long-standing tradition of White House pets that was broken under former president Donald Trump, when they arrived at the White House with German shepherds Champ and Major.

The president and first lady announced in June on Twitter that Champ had died at age 13.

Their other pooch, Major, has had some trouble adapting to life at the White House. AFP

Haiti gas truck explosion toll climbs to 90 MORE than a dozen people severely injured in a gas truck explosion last week have died, raising the total number of deaths to 90, the deputy mayor of Cap-Haitien, the city in Haiti where the tragedy occurred, said.

The count is “still unfortunately incomplete” due to severe injuries suffered by those still hospitalized, said Patrick Almonor.

The previous tally released last Wednesday by Haitian authorities stood at 75 deaths with 47 victims severely burned.

According to Almonor, during the night of December 13, the driver of the gas truck lost control when he swerved to avoid a motor-taxi, and subsequently overturned. Residents tried to collect the spilled fuel, which then exploded.

National funerals will be observed in the city’s main cathedral, but only 25 caskets will be set up. The majority of the victims were buried shortly afterward in a mass grave in CapHaitien.

In a country plagued by natural disasters and political instability, more than 60 percent of Haiti’s 11 million inhabitants live below the poverty line, according to the World Bank.

Fuel shortages have been a frequent occurrence in recent years, with authorities regularly running out of cash to pay gas distributors.

“Fuel is worth its weight in gold these days in the country, and there it was free for the taking,” Almonor said, describing the scene of the explosion. “That’s what worsened the toll.” AFP

Japan executes 3 prisoners in first hangings since ‘19 JAPAN hanged three prisoners on Tuesday, its first executions in two years, with the government saying it was necessary to maintain capital punishment in the face of continued “atrocious crimes.”

Japan is one of the few developed countries to keep the death penalty and public support for capital punishment remains high despite international criticism, especially from rights groups.

More than 100 people are currently on death row, most of them for cases of mass murder. Executions are carried out by hanging, usually long after sentencing.

One of the three executed on Tuesday was Yasutaka Fujishiro, 65, who used a hammer and knife to kill his 80-year-old aunt, two cousins and four others in 2004, a justice ministry spokeswoman told AFP. The other two were 54-year-old Tomoaki Takanezawa, who killed two clerks at an arcade game parlor in 2003, and his accomplice Mitsunori Onogawa, 44.

The executions were the first under Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, who took office in October.

“Whether to keep the death sentence or not is an important issue that concerns the foundation of Japan’s criminal justice system,” deputy chief cabinet secretary Seiji Kihara said.

“Given that atrocious crimes keep occurring one after another, it is necessary to execute those whose guilt is extremely grave, so it is inappropriate to abolish capital punishment.”

The country is reeling after a fire gutted a mental health clinic in the city of Osaka on Friday, with the death toll climbing to 25 as another woman succumbed to her injuries.

Investigators have made the unusual move of naming the arson suspect although they have not yet announced a criminal investigation. AFP

FIRST PUPPY.

This undated photo obtained from US President Joe Biden’s Twitter account through the White House shows Biden’s new German Shepherd ‘Commander.’ AFP

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China Mobile eyes $7.6-b Shanghai IPO after delisting

PSEi December 21, 2021

TOP GAINERS LAST PRICE

% CHANGE CHANGE

1 2 3 4 5

MJC TUGS SGI MB DELM

2.4 0.89 1.15 0.44 16.48

0.57 0.07 0.09 0.03 0.98

31.15% 8.54% 8.49% 7.32% 6.32%

6 7 8 9 10

TFHI IMI BKR DFNN CIC

128 8.68 1.59 2.52 21

5.9 0.37 0.06 0.09 0.75

4.83% 4.45% 3.92% 3.70% 3.70%

TOP LOSERS LAST PRICE

% CHANGE CHANGE

1 2 3 4 5

DIZ LBC LOTO OPM WPI

5 20.55 1.76 0.01 0.465

-0.66 -2.45 -0.19 -0.001 -0.035

-11.66% -10.65% -9.74% -9.09% -7.00%

6 7 8 9 10

AB IPO KPPI DWC VMC

5.75 7.11 3 1.83 2.4

-0.4 -0.49 -0.2 -0.12 -0.15

-6.50% -6.45% -6.25% -6.15% -5.88%

MOST ACTIVE 1

AGI

VOLUME 120,646,900

VALUE (PHP) 1,447,607,624

2 3 4

JFC MBT SPNEC

2,404,820 7,783,370 350,543,000

507,201,294 412,474,946 407,863,770

5 6

ICT AC

1,928,680 381,510

372,511,743 336,449,975

7 8 9

ALI PX BPI

7,115,200 50,114,000 2,370,290

248,093,190 232,531,080 220,518,873

10

SM

194,280

188,973,600

NO LET-UP. An aerial view of Plaza de Mayo square where social organizations members gather on December 20, 2021,

during the 20th anniversary of the so-called ‘corralito’ (Spanish diminutive of corral, stockyard”—a governmental economic measure imposed by then Economy Minister Domingo Cavallo, which restricted US dollars withdrawals and almost froze bank accounts—and led to protests and riots that ended up in Argentinian President Fernando De la Rua’s resignation. AFP

Stock market declines; BDO and Jollibee drop S TOCKS sank Tuesday on further consolidation even as investors remain fixated on the fast-spreading Omicron coronavirus variant.

The rest of Asian equities stabilized and oil prices saw a much-needed gain Tuesday after their latest flop as bargain-buyers moved in.

Reports that moderate Democratic Senator Joe Manchin could still be willing to discuss US President Joe Biden’s $1.75-trillion social spending bill—having delivered a blow to the White House Sunday by rejecting it—also provided a little support, with talks likely to drag.

Markets have been lashed since the emergence of Omicron as it spreads quickly through populations, forcing governments to impose anti-virus measures that are economically damaging.

The Netherlands has imposed a lockdown over the holiday period, Germany has tightened restrictions notably affecting the unvaccinated, and media speculation has swirled over possible tougher UK curbs.

“There is more uncertainty than I

The Philippine Stock Exchange Index dropped 70.55 points, or 1 percent, to 7,167.06 on a value turnover of P6.9 billion. Losers beat gainers, 106 to 75, with 56 issues unchanged.

BDO Unibank Inc., the biggest lender in terms of assets, declined 2.7 percent to P123.60, while Bank of the Philippine Islands, the fourth-largest bank, fell 2.6 percent to P92.10.

Jollibee Foods Corp., the biggest fast-food chain, decreased 2.4 percent to P208.80, but Solar Philippines Nueva Ecija Corp., the developer of what is planned to be the largest solar project in Southeast Asia, rose 3.6 percent to P1.15.

think most people thought we would see here as they were anticipating a Santa Claus rally,” said Victoria Fernandez of Crossmark Global Investments on Bloomberg Television.

“Volatility and uncertainty are the key terms that will lead us into the new year.”

And National Australia Bank’s Ray Attrill added: “For now... it’s the short term economic impact of the virus spread and related restrictions that (are) front and centre of market focus.”

All three main indexes on Wall Street ended down more than one percent, though they pared early losses.

Asia and Europe were on the front foot Tuesday.

Tokyo added more than two percent, while Hong Kong jumped one percent. There were also healthy gains in Shanghai, Sydney, Seoul, Singapore, Taipei, Wellington, Mumbai, Jakarta and Bangkok. With AFP

Foreign shoppers swarm Turkey after lira currency crisis

By Dmitry Zaks EDIRNE, Turkey—The sea of Bulgarian buses parked outside a market in Turkey’s historic city of Edirne betrays the scale of the currency crisis impeding President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s path to a third decade of rule.

The mosque-filled city on Turkey’s western edge was an early capital of the Ottoman Empire when it was expanding across the Middle East and Europe in the 14th and 15th centuries.

It is now the place where shoppers from Bulgaria and the Balkans—themselves some of Europe’s poorest countries—go to stock up on everything from underwear to walnuts at a fraction of their cost back home.

“For us, the crisis is good, but it is very bad for the Turkish people,” said tour guide Daniela Mircheva before boarding a bus back to her Bulgarian hometown of Yambol.

“We were in a similar situation maybe 10, 11, 12 years ago,” the 49-yearold said, in reference to the 2008 global financial crisis. “It is very difficult.”

‘Half the price’ Turkey’s beleaguered lira has crashed under the weight of an unusual economic experiment Erdogan is conducting in a bid to boost support before elections due by mid-2023.

Erdogan has pushed the central bank to slash interest rates in fervently-held belief that this will finally cure Turkey’s chronic inflation problem.

It has—as economists had universally predicted—done the exact opposite.

Consumer prices are climbing at an annual rate of more than 20 percent.

Tourists look at textiles as they shop at a bazaar in Edirne, near Bulgaria border in Turkey on December 17, 2021. AFP

Some economists think this pace could accelerate in the coming months.

The lira has shed a third of its value since the start of November alone.

It was beginning to lose five percent a day until Erdogan announced new currency support measures Monday that managed to suspend the slide.

This means Mircheva can afford to pile a few extra jugs of sunflower oil on her bus packed with Bulgarian shoppers.

“It is half the price it is in Bulgaria. It is much cheaper for us, much cheaper,” she said.

But the mood among the market’s Turkish traders is grim.

‘Humiliating’ “It is humiliating,” said Gulsen Kaya from behind her counter filled with

sweaters and winter clothes. “Look at what he has done to Turkey!”

Erdogan is betting that a cheap lira will create exports-driven growth that puts Turkey on a path followed by China during an economic transformation that pulled millions out of poverty and created a new middle class.

He championed the poor when bringing his Islamic-rooted party to power against all odds in 2002.

Erdogan then surprised many by opening Turkey up to foreign investment and marshaling nearly a decade of vigorous growth.

Economists and diplomats—as well as some Bulgarians—struggle to understand why Erdogan has decided to reverse course so dramatically in the past

few years.

“I think that the people who rule Turkey, if they do the things that I think they should do, then the lira will come back to the levels it was in the summer very, very quickly,” Bulgarian shopper Tinko Garev said.

“I am very unhappy for the Turkish people because I realize what these cheaper prices mean for them.”

One senior Western official said the drop in Erdogan’s approval ratings in most polls to as low as 30 percent had put the veteran Turkish leader “in political survival mode.”

“You can choose not to believe (individual polls) but the trajectory is clear,” the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said. “He is down to the very bottom of his base of support.”

‘We are in shock’ Bulent Reisoglu has been running the Edirne market since it opened after moving from its original location in Istanbul 15 years ago.

He said the number of weekly shoppers filling his hangar-like trading centre has ballooned from 50,000 to nearly 150,000 since the full effects of the crisis set in.

“The number of foreign shoppers have gone up four- or fivefold,” he said.

Yet the merchants are making less money because the extra sales are more than offset by the depth of the lira’s collapse. AFP

Coca-Cola threatens to sue Colombia’s ‘Coca Pola’ beer over name BOGOTA, Columbia—Drinks giant Coca-Cola has threatened legal action against a small Colombian business unless it changes the name of its Coca Pola beer, according to a letter from the multinational’s lawyers.

The Coca Nasa company produces food, traditional medicine, drinks and other products from the coca leaf. It employs about 20 people.

The company says the drink’s name comes from the word “pola,” which means beer in Colombia, and “coca,”

short for the plant, which is also used to make cocaine.

In a letter seen by AFP Thursday, Coca-Cola asked the company—run by members of the indigenous Nasa community—to “cease and desist permanently from using the name Coca Pola or any similar term that could be confused with the commercial brands” owned by the drinks giant.

Its use “could violate the trademark law in Colombia” and “the law on

unfair competition,” warned the letter by law firm Brigard Castro dated November 26.

David Curtidor, Coca Nasa’s legal officer, told AFP this was not the first time that the multinational had threatened the company with legal action.

“We will go as far as Coca-Cola takes us. We will dance to whatever tune they play. If they threaten us with our very existence, we will resist,” he said.

Coca-Cola addressed the letter to Tierra de Indio, a distributor of the drink, and gave it 10 working days to respond.

“They will probably take legal action on Tuesday or Wednesday, which is when the warning period expires... unless we stop using the term Coca Pola,” Curtidor said.

“And since we are not going to stop using it, we will wait for the lawsuit and respond,” he added.

“We are not afraid of them.” AFP

SHANGHAI—China Mobile is aiming to raise $7.64 billion in a Shanghai share listing, documents filed Tuesday showed, after the telecoms giant was delisted in New York tensions between Beijing and Washington worsened.

The 48.7 billion yuan initial public offering would be one of the largest on China’s domestic stock markets for a decade, according to a calculation by Bloomberg News, based on the company’s prospectus.

China’s largest wireless carrier by revenue was removed from the New York Stock Exchange this year along with fellow state-owned telecoms firms China Telecom and China Unicom, as part of an executive order by former president Donald Trump.

The prospectus filed with the Shanghai exchange said it plans to issue 845.7 million shares at 57.58 yuan each on Wednesday.

If an over-allotment option is exercised in full, China Mobile could raise as much as $8.78 billion.

The group has said that funds raised will go towards building 5G infrastructure, as well as “smart home” projects and other initiatives.

Some of China’s biggest tech and telecom firms listed on US stock markets in recent decades as they sought access to fresh funding and more developed markets.

But the tide turned as tensions between Beijing and Washington have plummeted in recent years.

China’s government has been encouraging companies to list on domestic exchanges as part of a push to keep big tech players closer to home and help develop the country’s capital markets.

China Mobile’s delisting came as Trump looked to ban US investment in Chinese companies his administration deemed a threat to national security.

China Telecom, the country’s biggest fixed-line operator, debuted in Shanghai in August after raising $7.3 billion in its IPO. China Unicom has listed shares of a subsidiary in Shanghai since 2002.

In October, US officials told China Mobile to discontinue its services in the country, ending nearly two decades of operations, in a move that Beijing called “malicious suppression” of Chinese companies.

The US Federal Communications Commission said the firm’s “ownership and control by the Chinese government raise significant national security and law enforcement risks.” AFP

New virus wave, inflation dampen consumers’ spirit FRANKFURT, Germany—German consumer sentiment worsened for the second month running, a key survey said Tuesday, as Europe’s largest economy braces itself for rising inflation and the spread of the Omicron coronavirus variant.

Pollster GfK’s forward-looking barometer fell to -6.8 from a revised figure of -1.8 for December.

“The high incidence of the virus due to the fourth wave of the coronavirus pandemic with further restrictions and higher prices are increasingly weighing on the consumer climate,” said GfK consumer expert Rolf Buerkl.

New rules barring the unvaccinated from non-essential shops had dealt retailers “a hard blow,” Buerkl said.

Warnings that the Omicron variant could begin to spread quickly in the country had also “dampened prospects for the new year,” he commented.

Already under pressure from rising infections in recent weeks, Germany could face a “massive fifth wave” of the virus caused by the more infectious new strain, Health Minister Karl Lauterbach said Friday.

On inflation, consumer prices rose at an annual rate of 5.2 percent in November, a 29-year high driven by the soaring cost of energy and widespread supply bottlenecks.

The GfK survey of some 2,000 people found that Germans were significantly more pessimistic about the state of the European Union’s largest economy than last month, the third drop in a row for that sub-section of the survey.

Income expectations also dropped, while the willingness to splash out on big purchases fell to levels not seen since the beginning of 2021, the pollsters said. AFP

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

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WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 22, 2021

BDO, Japan’s Resona Bank sign contract

By Julito G. Rada BDO Unibank Inc., the country’s largest lender controlled by the Sy Group, said Tuesday it signed a business alliance with Resona Bank Group of Japan that will allow it to tap and support the banking needs of the latter’s clients operating in the Philippines.

BDO said in a statement the agreement was formalized through a memorandum of understanding effective Dec. 21, 2021.

Resona is the fourth largest universal city bank with full-line trust and real estate capabilities in Japan. Its strong customer base is centered primarily in the Tokyo metropolitan area and the Kansai area, where economic activity and population are concentrated.

Its business alliance deal with BDO will be participated in by Resona’s affiliated banks, including Resona Bank Ltd., Saitama Resona Bank Ltd., Kansai Mirai Bank Ltd. and Minato Bank Ltd. Resona is the latest in the list of Japanese financial institutions that teamed up with BDO, given the local bank’s strong position in the Philippine banking sector.

“For BDO, the partnership with Resona can potentially increase its support to Japanese companies doing business in the country, particularly those located in various industrial zones,” BDO said.

BDO, the country’s largest bank by total assets, loans, deposits, trust funds and capitalization, has a reputable Japan Desk dedicated to support Japanese companies operating in the country and help provide the bank requirements of Japanese clients.

BDO’s earnings returned to pre-pandemic levels after it posted a 95-percent growth in net income in the first nine months to P32.4 billion from P16.6 billion a year ago. With this performance, it surpassed the 2020 net income of P28.2 billion that was pulled down by pre-emptive provisions of P30.2 billion against potential delinquencies from the pandemic.

BDO said in a statement the expansion in the first three quarters was driven by its resilient business franchise and normalized provisions. It said the business outlook “turns positive with increasing vaccination rates and improving mobility.”

Filinvest Land raises P10b from fixed-rate bonds

Business Philex to launch Silangan mine’s development in Q2 P

By Othel V. Campos

HILEX Mining Corp., the largest publicly-held copper and gold producer in the Philippines, said Tuesday it will start the development of the Silangan mine in Mindanao in the second quarter of 2022.

Touted as the biggest investment in the local mining industry in the last six years, Philex will initially spend $224 million for a starter mine under the development plan for the Silangan Copper-Gold Project to process 2,000 tons of ore a day.

Total project cost was estimated to reach $1.72 billion, including the $1.5-billion sustaining capital expenditure through the project’s mine life of 28 years.

“Philex have invested approximately between P17 and P19 billion to put this project where it is today. We have embarked on land banking activities and acquired 80 percent of the land that we need. The other costs are for engineering studies,” said Philex president and chief executive Eulalio Austin in a news briefing Tuesday.

Silangan Mindanao Mining Co., the

wholly-owned subsidiary of Philex that will operate the mine, will gradually develop the project until it reaches 12,000 tons a day, or 4 million tons a year.

Austin said the copper and gold grades in Silangan would be twice as high than the current grades of Padcal, “which for decades has been the life blood of Philex but is now approaching the end of its mine life.”

Phase 1 of the Silangan Copper-Gold Project covers the Boyongan deposit, which has an estimated 81 million tons of mineable ore containing 0.67 percent copper and 1.13 grams of gold per ton.

Silangan has estimated mineral resources of 571 million tons, with 0.52 percent copper and 0.64 percent gold.

Annual production could increase to 6.5 million tons once the Bayugo deposit is

mined, under phase 2.

“We have secured all the necessary clearances and permits from relevant government units to pursue the Silangan project that we have started more than 15 years ago,” Austin said.

Phase 1 will take two and a half years with projections to commence commercial operation by 2025. The first phase is expected to produce 2.8 million ounces of gold and 993 million pounds of copper throughout its mine life.

Global spot gold price ranges from $1,770 to $1,790 an ounce while copper spot prices ranges from $4.20 to $4.40 per pound. These prices will render the project highly profitable, according to the company.

“Silangan will be a major exporter of metallic minerals for the Philippines, generating in the future, much needed foreign exchange receipts of the country that will augment and increase the country’s foreign currency reserves that can improved the country’s ability to settle foreign currency requirements for economic recovery post COVID-19 pandemic,” said Philex chief operating officer Mike Toledo.

PSE INDEX CLOSING Tuesday, December 21, 2021 -70.55 PTS. 7,167.06

TOTAL VOLUME TOTAL TRADES TOTAL VALUE ADVANCES DECLINES UNCHANGED

955,828,940 68,172 6,860,658,782.34 75 106 56

F oreign e xchange r ate Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas • TUESDAY, DECEMBER 21, 2021

Currency

Unit

US Dollar

Peso

United States

Dollar

1.000000

49.9540

Japan

Yen

0.008804

0.4398

UK

Pound

1.320800

65.9792

Hong Kong

Dollar

0.128189

6.4036

Switzerland

Franc

1.085776

54.2389

Canada

Dollar

0.772738

38.6014

Singapore

Dollar

0.731797

36.5562

Australia

Dollar

0.710900

35.5123

Bahrain

Dinar

2.652801

132.5180

Saudi Arabia

Rial

0.266418

13.3086

Brunei

Dollar

0.729129

36.4229

Indonesia

Rupiah

0.000070

0.0035

Thailand

Baht

0.029780

1.4876

UAE

Dirham

0.272287

13.6018

Euro

Euro

1.127900

56.3431

Korea

Won

0.000841

0.0420

China

Yuan

0.156843

7.8349

India

Rupee

0.013207

0.6597

Malaysia

Ringgit

0.236686

11.8234

New Zealand

Dollar

0.671300

33.5341

Taiwan

Dollar

0.035899

1.7933 Source: BSP

IN BRIEF

BOP yielded $123-m deficit in November

THE country’s balance of payments’ position swung to a deficit of $123 million in November from the $1.47-billion surplus a year ago, as the government settled some of its foreign debt, latest data from the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas show.

“The BOP deficit in November 2021 reflected outflows arising mainly from the national government’s foreign currency withdrawals from its deposits with the BSP as the national government settled its foreign currency debt obligations and paid for various expenditures,” the BSP said in a statement Tuesday.

It said that despite the deficit in November, the cumulative BOP level in the first 11 months registered a surplus of $353 million, lower than the $11.79-billion surplus recorded in the same period last year.

The cumulative BOP surplus reflected inflows such as from personal remittances, trade in services, net foreign borrowings by the national government and foreign direct investments, which were partly offset by a wider trade in goods deficit. Julito G. Rada

Converge gets highest rating for P10-b bonds

NEW AFNI SITE. Afni Philippines Inc. and SM Supermalls executives lead the groundbreaking of Afni’s site at SM City Fairview Tower 4. Attending the ceremony are (from left) Afni PH senior director for operations Ricky Aquino, SM Supermalls senior assistant vice president for operations Johanna Rupisan, Afni PH vice president for operations and country manager Khalid Khursheed, SM Supermalls regional manager for operations Leah Sta. Ana and Afni PH senior director for operations Alain Katigbac. The Afniexclusive tower spans over 12,000 square meters across four floors high and will be home to more than 3,000 business process outsourcing employees.

AC Energy agrees to buy 60% of Cagayan solar developer

By Jenniffer B. Austria

By Alena Mae S. Flores

FILINVEST Land Inc., the property unit of the Gotianun Group, said Tuesday it raised P10 billion from the issuance of fixed-rate bonds.

FLI said in a disclosure to the stock exchange the offering was more than four-times oversubscribed over the base amount of P8 billion, which enabled it exercise the P2-billion overallotment option.

Net proceeds from the offering will be used to fund capital expenditure program for 2022 and repay maturing debt.

“FLI is growing its recurring income portfolio particularly in the logistics/ industrial and office space. In addition, we continue to provide the housing requirements of our fellow countrymen as we help build the Filipino dream,” FLI president and chief executive Josephine Gotianun- Yap said.

“FLI is encouraged by the performance of the residential sector in the first nine months of the year with residential revenues increasing by 23 percent. We are hopeful that we are on the way to economic recovery,” she said.

The issuance consisted of four-year bonds due 2025 with interest rate of 4.5030 percent and six-year bonds due 2027 with interest rate of 5.2579 percent per annum.

The bonds, which were listed on the Philippine Dealing & Exchange Corp.

Tuesday, received the highest PRS Aaa rating from the Philippine Rating Services Corp.

It was the second tranche out of the company’s P30-billion bond shelf registration program approved by the Securities and Exchange Commission in 2020.

FLI is one of the leading real estate developers in the country. As of July 2021, the group was operating 31 office buildings totaling 524,188 square meters and 256,830 sq. m. of leasable space in the retail portfolio.

AC ENERGY Corp. and whollyowned subsidiary ACE Endevor Inc. signed subscription agreements with Natures Renewable Energy Development Corp. to fund the development of the Lal-lo solar power project in Lal-lo, Cagayan.

ACEN and Endevor subscribed to 82,500 common shares in NAREDCO with a par value of P100 per share for a total of P8.25 million.

“The subscription price will be used

by NAREDCO to fund the development of the proposed 200-MW Lal-lo solar power project in Lal-lo, Cagayan. The planned capacity of Phase 1 is

100 MW,” ACEN said in a disclosure to the stock exchange.

NAREDCO is a special purpose vehicle for the development of the proposedLal-lo solar project, ACEN’s joint venture project with CleanTech Renewable Energy 4 Corp.

The 82,500 common shares represent 60 percent of the outstanding shares of the company. Of the total 82,500 common shares, ACEN said the subscription to 37,500 common shares would be subject to the necessary regulatory approvals from the Securities and Exchange Commission on the increase in authorized capital stock of NAREDCO. The ACEN board approved the

joint venture with CleanTech Global Renewables Inc. on Oct. 18, and CleanTech assigned its rights and obligations under the joint venture to wholly-owned subsidiary CREC4.

The subscribed shares include 45,000 common shares to be issued from NAREDCO’s unissued capital stock and 37,500 common shares to be issued out of the increase in NAREDCO’s authorized capital stock.

The Lal-lo, Cagayan solar project site was deemed ideal for solar projects given the area’s high resource quality, flat landscape and potential for expansion as the company plans to buy the adjacent lots.

CONVERGE ICT Solutions Inc. said Tuesday it obtained the highest credit rating from Philippine Ratings Services Corp. for its planned maiden bond issuance worth P5 billion, with an oversubscription option for another P5 billion.

The Converge maiden bond offering was granted a “PRS Aaa rating with stable outlook” due to the internet provider’s formidable position in the fixed broadband market following its spectacular growth in recent years and its strong cash flow that provided the company flexibility in its network rollout.

“Obligations rated PRS Aaa are of the highest quality with minimal credit risk.

The obligor’s capacity to meet its financial commitment on the obligation is extremely strong,” said PhilRatings in its Rating News report. A stable outlook means the rating would likely remain unchanged for the next twelve months.

Converge chief executive Dennis Anthony Uy said the funds to be generated from the proposed bond issue would be used to support the capital expenditures of the company. Darwin G. Amojelar

COA uncovers more disallowed incentives

THE Commission on Audit said it uncovered another set of illegal tax incentives worth P390.04 million that were granted to textile companies from 2008 to 2014, bringing the total invalidated tax credit certificates received by those firms to P3.41 billion.

A report by the COA Special Audits Office to Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez III dated Nov. 17 said the new set of disallowed TCCs were worth P214.38 million, which were granted to Primeknit Manufacturing Corp. and P175.66 million which were given to Tai-Cheng Integrated Resource Inc. These were on top of the previous batches of TCCs received by textile firms worth P3.018 billion that the COA invalidated.

The illegal TCCs were issued between 2008 and 2014 by the One-Stop-Shop InterAgency Tax Credit and Duty Drawback Centerthat is attached to the Department of Finance.

Aside from PMC and TICIRI, the other textile firms with invalidated TCCs are Silvertex Weaving Corp., Knitech Manufacturing Inc., Capital-Roll Knit Corp., UniGlory’s Knitting Corp., Miskhu Industrial Corp. and Universal Pacific Knitting Mills Inc. Julito G. Rada

PHILRECA task force to help ‘Odette’-hit utilities THE Philippine Rural Electric Cooperatives Association Inc. said it created a task force to extend assistance to members whose power distribution lines were damaged by typhoon Odette.

PHILRECA’s Task Force Kapatid, organized in the aftermath of typhoon Odette, mobilized 23 teams consisting of 230 line workers and 21 vehicles spread out across Regions 6, 8, 9, 10 and CARAGA. More electric cooperatives in the Visayas and Mindanao expressed intention to join the task force to speed up the rehabilitation of downed power distribution systems in the typhoon-ravaged regions.

The task force leaders reported they were having difficulty coordinating with some electric cooperatives because of damaged communication facilities.

PHILRECA president and party-list representative Presley De Jesus said he was tapping certain government agencies such as the Office of Civil Defense to reach out to electric cooperatives whose communication systems appeared to have bogged down.

“As confirmed by our Task Force

Kapatid commanders, some teams have been deployed in Region VIII already,” said lawyer Janeene Depay-Colingan, executive director and general manager of PHILRECA. “Sadly, there are ECs who have no available communications at the moment as telecommunication infrastructures are also heavily affected and remained nonoperational at this time,” De Jesus said.

“While pursuing other options, we have authorized some of our people to physically go and inspect those areas with no communications and see what other assistance is needed,” De Jesus said.

The task force wants to have a complete assessment of the needs and other vital information about the affected ECs prior to deployment of the field workers.

Meanwhile, the One EC Network Foundation, the corporate social responsibility arm of the One EC-MCO Movement, is consolidating information on the impact of the typhoon to EC employees and member-consumer-owners preparatory to providing the necessary assistance.

ROTARY SCHOLARSHIP. Rotary Club of Manila and Dualtech Training Center sign a memorandum of agreement to launch the RCM-Dualtech Scholarship Program for students of Dualtech from different provinces. Leading the signing ceremony are (front row, from left) RCM-Dualtech Scholarship Program chairman Bobby Joseph, RCM president Felix Francisco Zaldarriaga and Dualtech Training Center president Arnolfo Mofre.

Sports

WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 22, 2021

Woman GM Frayna grabs share of PH chess lead

The victorious Team Philippines that that collected a total of 42 medals.

Team PH captures 42 medals in Kenya martial arts tourney

By Randy Caluag

T

EAM Philippines captured 19 golds, 19 silvers and 7 bronze medals to finish behind host Kenya in the overall medal tally in the 9th Mombasa Open Tong-Il Moo Do International Martial Arts Championship 2021, which concluded on Monday (PH time) in Mombasa, Kenya.

The combined superb efforts of Jinnefer Bertulfo and Princess MinMi Ilustrisimo catapulted the 17-man Philippine squad to a lofty 42-medal finish in the tournament that showcased Korea’s brand of mixed martial arts, participated in by 16 nations.

Berfulfo proved to be the star performer with a haul of six gold medals as she topped all the six catego-

PSC sends funds to PH team members, Bohol weightlifting gym THE Philippine Sports Commission board has approved the release of a P15,000 cash assistance for each of the 85 athletes and 20 coaches from 24 sports, who were monitored affected by typhoon Odette to help them start recovery from the destruction brought about by the typhoon.

PSC chairman William Ramirez has been closely keeping track of the situation since the weekend, initiating a relief operation to also send about 10,000 bottled water and 900 units of mattresses. The Special Services Office of the Armed Forces of the Philippines, which also oversees the detailed service of the country’s military-athletes, partnered with the PSC to ensure that these goods and subsequent packages to the intended recipients.

A P50,000 financial aid for the rehabilitation of the weightlifting gym in Bohol has also been approved for release to start immediate repairs.

“My heart breaks for them.

Na-pandemic na binagyo pa,” said Ramirez.

However, he also said that it is during these times where the heart of champions beat stronger.

“They are trained to overcome, to survive and to win. They might be sad for a while but the champions in them will prod them to rise up and help themselves and those around them so that together they can get through this,” added the sports chief who has always spoken about the other golden triumphs sports brings about in the lives of people like acquiring positive values and character.

ries she took part in—the Gichoom, Individual Sparring Finweight, Individual Bon, Team Bon Women, Team Mixed Bon, and the Team Special Technique.

Minmi grabbed the gold in the Individual Special Techniques and was part of the victorious side in the Team Form Women, Team Special Techniques, and Team Mixed Form, while taking bronze finishes in the

women’s Sparring Flyweight and the Individual Bong.

Other Team Philippines members, who produced medals were Mharjude Delos Santos, who had 2 golds and 3 silvers, Cyrus Tumanda (3 golds, 3 silver), Reymark Bais (3G, 2S, 1B), Jocelyn Pablo (2G, 2S), Aldrige Urianza (1G, 2S, 1B), Vincent Laguerta (1G, 4S, 1B), Jayson Purificacion (2G, 3S), Rivier Desuyo (2G,1S,1B), Rhenel Desuyo (1G, 1S, 1B) and Marissa Arbolario, who bagged the gold in the Gichoom event.

Top Philippine TIMD official Dr. Venus Agustin said it was an “extraordinary campaign” for the Philippines that was funded privately “with no government support and recognition, lack of allowances.”

“The Philippine Tong- IL MooDo team is united and in high spir-

C1

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

its to represent the Philippines in bringing glory to the country,” added Agustin, who was joined by delegation head Bernardino Villagante and coaches Nicky Rambuyon and Marissa Albolario.

“I’m in tears seeing them fighting with all their strength and never giving up and the result is truly exceptionally amazing,” he said.

Kenya collected a total of 39 gold, 33 silver, and 56 bronze medals for the top overall finish.

Coming in at third was DRC Congo with a 12-5-10 tally. Other countries that won according to the number of medals were Zambia, Cote D’Ivore, Burkina Faso, Angola, Nigeria, Japan, Thailand, USA, Korea, Iran, Turkey, and Congo Brazzaville. Ethiopia was the only country that ended up empty-handed.

WOMAN Grandmaster Janelle Mae Frayna turned back Allaney Jia Doroy to barge into the five-player lead group after the sixth round of the 2021 Philippine Women’s Chess Championship at the PACE building in Quezon City yesterday.

The top-seeded, 24-year-old Frayna outwitted Doroy in the opening to gain a twopawn advantage and leaned on her super endgame technique to translate it to a 91move victory of an English showdown.

It sent the Army woman straight to the top, where she joined Kylen Joy Mordido, Marie Antoinette San Diego, Shania Mae Mendoza and Jan Jodilyn Fronda on identical four points.

And it took a while for Frayna to recover her wits after her title bid was derailed by a stunning opening round setback to 13-year-old wunderkind Ruelle Canino Saturday.

Frayna will have a chance to move up the standings even farther and stay on course to snare the champion’s prize worth P50,000 a berth to the Hanoi Southeast Asian Games in May next year if she could hurdle Francois Magpily in the seventh round that was being played at press time.

Mordido, who is tipped to become the country’s next WGM, drew with San Diego in 31 moves of an English Opening while Mendoza split the point with Marian Calimbo in 68 moves of a King’s Indian Defense.

Fronda, for her part, was on her way to beating Mariel Rinoa Sadey that would have catapulted her alone on top.

But the 2019 national champion couldn’t convert her pawn advantage into a win, allowing Sadey to escape with a 59-move standoff in their supersharp Sicilian encounter.

It kept Sadey at No. 6 with three points, half a point atop Canino, Doroy and Bernadette Galas with 2.5 points.

Canino outlasted Magpily in 69 moves of a Pirc Defense while Galas smashed Lexie Grace Hernandez in 53 moves of a Reti Opening.

The event, which is backed by PSC chair Butch Ramirez, Chess Movement, Inc. chair Dr. Ariel Potot, PCSO general manager Royina Garma, Endgame Sports founder Atty. Cris Aspiras, POC president Bambol Tolentino, NCFP chief Butch Pichay and Atty. Roel Canobas, is staking a top purse worth P50,000 and a slot to the Hanoi Southeast Asian Games in May next year

Malditas need 2 weekly friendlies to stay in shape

By Peter Atencio PLAYING two friendlies every week will get the Philippine national women’s football team in shape as it seeks to qualify for the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup. Newly-named national coach Alen Stajcic said this as the Filipina booters continued to prepare for their coming games in Group B of the 2022 Women’s Asian Cup that will be held in India this January.

“Everything needs to improve.

In the last tournament, they struggled to score against big countries. But they’re still competitive,” said Stajcic in a Zoom huddle with scribes on Tuesday.

The new national coach discussed

the team’s preparations 11 days after Team Philippines reached its highest FIFA Women’s Ranking of 64th last Dec. 10.

The rise in the rankings came after the Philippines successfully joined the AFC Women’s Asian Cup qualifiers last September, besting both Nepal and Hong Kong to qualify for the final competition.

Stajcic is now in Irvine, California with the national squad and members of the coaching staff. They are in the process of selecting their lineup for the tournament in India.

The former national coach of the Australian national team believes that it will be a challenging experience for the Philippines to qualify for the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup.

“For their first appearance in a competition in a long time, the team showed that it can sort of compete. But we definitely have to improve in every facet,” said Stajcic.

The Philippines is in the same group with former Asian Football Confederation Women’s Asian Cup champion Australia and Southeast Asian countries Thailand and Indonesia.

Host India is with China, Chinese Taipei and Iran in Group A. On the other hand, Japan, Korea, Vietnam, and Myanmar are in Group C. Coach Marlon Maro recently stepped down from his duties as head coach of the Philippine Malditas national women’s team to give way to Stajcic.

Alen Stajcic

Gin King sophomore named CIGNAL Best Player

Arvin Tolentino (Barangay Ginebra)

ARVIN Tolentino is making the most out of the extra time given him at Barangay Ginebra.

With the Kings plagued by injuries to key players, Tolentino stepped up to the plate and provided huge contributions in helping the defending PBA Governors’ Cup champion off to a fast 3-0 start in its title retention bid.

The sophomore big man posted back-to-back career highs in the team’s last two outings to emerge as the Cignal Play-PBA Press Corps Player of the Week for the period Dec. 15-19.

Tolentino emerged as the top choice following a tight race that saw teammate Christian Standhardinger and Magnolia’s Calvin Abueva also in the running for the weekly honor handed out by the men and women regularly covering the PBA beat.

Getting additional playing time as injuries shut down Aljon Mariano, Joe Devance, Stanley Pringle, and Jared Dillinger, Tolentino initially warmed up by finishing with 16 points, including four threepointers, in a 108-82 Ginebra rout of import-less NorthPort to establish a new PBA career high.

But the former Far Eastern University standout proved he’s truly up to the task when he set a new career record by hitting three from beyond the arc for 20 points as the reigning champion clawed its way back late in regulation to outlasts Phoenix in overtime, 125-121.

Tolentino hit the last of his three treys with 1:59 left in the extra period to give the Kings a 120-119 lead and the extra push they needed to finish off the Fuel Masters.

In the two career-games he recorded, Tolentino averaged 18 points on 7-of-20 shooting from downtown, and added 2.5 rebounds, 1.5 assists, and 1.0 steals.

“That will help Arvin down the road, too, being able to play big minutes, meaningful minutes down the stretch, and it’s going to help his confidence,” said Ginebra coach Tim Cone of the extra minutes earned by Tolentino.

“I think Arvin really opens it up for a lot of guys out there. And he just have to keep on shooting.

Even if I’m yelling at him, he just have to keep on shooting.”

C2

Sports

WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 22, 2021

NorthPort nails last berth in 3x3 quarterfinals NORTHPORT edged out Purefoods in the hunt for the remaining quarterfinals berth in Leg 6 of the PBA 3x3 Lakas Ng Tatlo on the final day of pool play Tuesday at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.

Although the Titans whipped the Batang Pier, 21-14, NorthPort emerged as the third best team in Pool B to have a crack at the eighth and last spot in the knockout stage.

Following the Purefoods victory and coupled by a 21-19 win by San Miguel over TNT, a three-way tie for second place emerged in Pool B among the Titans, Tropang Giga, and the Batang Pier, all with identical 1-2 records.

But TNT and NorthPort had the highest accumulated points among the three teams, thereby slamming Purefoods’ bid to advance.

The Tropang Giga took the no. 2 spot in the group, while the Beermen finished their pool campaign with a perfect 3-0 record to top Pool B. As the third best team in Pool B, NorthPort meets the third best team in Pool C for the final berth in the knockout stage.

Platinum Karaoke meanwhile, completed a four-game sweep of its pool assignment with a 21-17 win over Cavitex.

The quartet of Karl Dehesa, Chris Dechavez, JR Alabanza, and Yutien Andrada steered the team on top of Pool A for a spot in the knockout stage.

Also progressing in the next round from Pool A are Pioneer Pro Tibay (2-2) and Leg 5 winner Limitless Appmasters, who finished their pool campaign with a 3-1 record following a walk over against Zamboanga Valientes.

In Pool C, Meralco absorbed its first loss with a 21-17 setback against Sista Super Sealers, but is already assured of advancing to the quarterfinals with a 2-1 card.

The final positioning going to the quarterfinals is yet to be determined as of press time pending the completion of all pool games.

FIFA to woo members with big windfalls for biennial tilt

Justin Arana of Pasig-SLR secures the rebound.

B. League prospect Arana helps Pasig win

By Peter Atencio

F

RAN Yu and Japan B.League prospect Justin Arana led the Pasig-Sta. Lucia Realtors to a final-quarter fightback, which lifted them to a 70-66 win over San Juan on Tuesday at the SM Mall of Asia Arena.

Their quarterfinal heroics sent the Realtors into the semifinals of the Chooks-to-Go Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League.

The Realtors, who remained unbeaten in six games, will have a semifinal knockout match with the winner of the match between Basilan-Jumbo Plastic and Mindoro.

Yu and the 6’7” Arana took turns in protecting the Realtors’ slim two-point

lead in the last four minutes.

The 5’10” Yu sank three charities in the remaining two seconds and this allowed the Realtors to move out of trouble with their four-point edge at the end of the game.

“Pinagtrabahuhan ng mga players ‘yung defense. Kung hindi sila nag-trabaho, hindi namin mararating ito,” said Realtors’ coach Bong de la Cruz.

Arana, who is being invited to play for

the B.League next season, also dominated the middle with 11 rebounds.

It was Arana’s lone charity with 5:22, which allowed the Realtors to remain ahead by two, 60-58.

Jerald Bautista topscored for the Realtors with 12 points while Jeckster Apinan added 10.

San Juan, starring John Michael Calma with 13 points, was last in front off Rhenz Abando’s jumper in the remaining 9:56 of the fourth, 56-54.

After that, the Realtors fought to stay in control and got the needed points from Yu’s lone charity and two freebies from Allen Mina, 57-56, in the last 6:29.

Pasig-Sta. Lucia earlier completed a five-game sweep of Pool A after handing Negros a harsh 85-73 exit.

PARIS—FIFA on Monday claimed staging the World Cup every two years would offer enormous financial benefits for its member federations as president Gianni Infantino expressed hope that the highly controversial plans will not be derailed by opposition from Europe and South America.

Infantino was speaking after FIFA held a virtual global summit with federations to discuss the project, although there was no vote on the subject on Monday and he refused to confirm if there would be one at the next FIFA Congress on March 31.

Football’s global body published findings from two separate feasibility studies which it claimed showed there would be “a strong upturn in football’s economic situation” if the World Cup was held as a biennial tournament rather than the current four-year cycle for the men’s and women’s competitions.

One study, by market researchers Nielsen, estimated that approximately $4.4 billion (3.9 billion euros) of additional revenues would be generated over four years, with income from gate receipts, media rights and sponsorship increasing from seven billion dollars to $11.4 billion.

To help convince its 211 member federations—207 of whom participated in Monday’s summit—FIFA vowed to hand over an extra $19 million every four years to each one, with the amount the same for major federations such as Brazil and France as it would be for Andorra or Guam.

Each member would get “around $16 million” allocated from a “Solidarity Fund” of some $3.5 billion in the first four years of the reformed calendar, as well as an increase in funding via its FIFA Forward programme from the current six million dollars to nine million.

Nadal tests positive for COVID in latest blow for tennis legend MADRID—Spanish tennis star Rafael Nadal said Monday he had tested positive for Covid-19, putting in doubt his participation in the Australian Open next month where he was expected to make his comeback to major competition after months of injury.

The Spanish former world number one said he took a test when he returned to Spain from Abu Dhabi where he took part in an exhibition tournament last week, his first since August due to a foot injury.

“I am going through some unpleasant moments but I trust that I will improve little by little. I am now confined at home and have informed the people who had been in contact with me,” he wrote on Twitter.

“As a consequence of the situation, I have to have total flexibility with my calendar and I will analyse my options depending on my evolution,” he added.

“I will keep you informed of any decisions about my future tournaments.”

The 35-year-old had been due to fly to Melbourne later this month to

Spain’s Rafael Nadal returns the ball to Canada’s Denis Shapovalov (unseen) during the third-place play-off match of the Mubadala World Tennis Championship in the Gulf emirate of Abu Dhabi. AFP

compete in an ATP event ahead of the struggled with a foot injury for the past Australian Open which begins at Mel- six months, forcing him to miss both bourne Park on January 17.

Wimbledon and the US Open.

The 20-time major champion has Nadal lost to another former world

number one Andy Murray in an exhibition match on Friday in Abu Dhabi, his first match since August.

He was then defeated by Wimbledon semi-finalist Denis Shapovalov of Canada on Saturday.

It was his first tournament appearance since the Citi Open in Washington in early August where he lost to Lloyd Harris.

Nadal had said the championship in Abu Dhabi was a chance to test his foot and work towards the trip Down Under in healthy conditions.

“I was able to compete in both matches and even had my chances, so if we put that in perspective it’s a very positive thing,” he said after the tournament in Abu Dhabi.

“The idea is to go there and try my best there in Australia. Being 100 percent honest, I can’t guarantee it,” he added, saying he would have to speak to his team before making a final decision.

Royal close contact Nadal had been practising hard back home in Mallorca and has made a new addition to his coaching staff in the form of his friend Marc Lopez, who

won 2016 Olympic gold with him in doubles in Rio. Despite missing almost half the season, Nadal finished 2021 ranked No.6 in the world after picking up two titles in Barcelona and Rome and making the semi-finals at the French Open and the quarters at the Australian Open.

Nadal, Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic are tied with a record 20 Grand Slam singles titles each.

During the tournament on Friday in Abu Dhabi, Nadal was photographed talking to Spain’s former king Juan Carlos I without wearing a face mask, sparking fears that he too may have become infected.

But a palace spokesman told AFP the 83-year-old has since tested negative and is in “good health”.

It was a rare public appearance for the former king since he went into exile in the United Arab Emirates in August 2020 following corruption allegations.

Nadal said he was regularly tested in Abu Dhabi, and the results were always negative. His last test there was on Friday, and he received the results on Saturday. AFP

Philracom disqualifies Sky Shot as Gold Cup winner THE Philippine Racing Commission acted favorably on the letter of protest by horseowner Leonardo “Sandy” Javier as the commission resolved the issues relative to the decision of the Board of Stewards on the incidents involving horses “Boss Emong”, “Sky Shot”, and “Super Swerte” during the 2021 PHILRACOM-PCSO Presidential Gold Cup at the Metro Manila Turf Club, Inc. last December 12, 2021.

The PHILRACOM decision stemmed from a letter sent by Super Swerte owner Javier on Monday last week to the commission, protesting the result of the said Gold Cup race, won by Sky Shot.

Javier accused Boss Emong jockey FM Racquel Jr. of “foul riding”, thereby obstructing the path of Super Swerte heading into the final stretch

and allowing Sky Shot to win the 2,000-meter race and the P6-million top purse.

Sky Shot and Boss Emong are coupled entries of owner Edward Vincent Diokno.

After viewing the race footage, the board of stewards of the Metro Turf swiftly acted and penalized Racquel Jr. with a 156-day suspension, which the jockey appealed.

“The Board finds the appeal of Jockey Fernando M. Raquel, Jr. without merit and hereby denies the same. Consequently, the decision of the MMTCIBOS suspending Raquel for a period of one hundred 156 days is hereby affirmed,” the resolution stated.

The board also declared Sky Shot as disqualified pursuant to PR 56.A and PR 78.B.1. Consequently, it was relegated to the third spot behind Su-

Aurelio “Reli” De Leon

Leonardo “Sandy” Javier

per Swerte, with the final placing of horses for the Gold Cup being Nuclear Bomb, Super Swerte, Sky Shot, War Cannon, Boss Emong, Pangalusian Island and Isla Puting Bato.

“The MMTCI-Board of Stewards, namely Rommel A. Fernandez, Volter S. Pelipel, and Rene C. Sare, were also found guilty of gross negligence amounting to dereliction of duty pursuant to PR 5.G and PR 4 and they are hereby suspended for a period of one year,” the decision said.

The commission also handed a written warning to jockey Jonathan B. Hernandez for careless riding and that repetition of similar acts in the future shall be dealt with accordingly.

Meanwhile, Javier also asked the commission to only allow the use of the horseowners’ true name in its public records.

Entertainment

Nickie Wang, Editor nickie.standard@gmail.com WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 22, 2021

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A different kind of spirit arrives this Christmas

T

HE Exorsis is making its way to the cinemas for the Metro Manila Film Festival (MMFF) on Dec. 25.

The movie is a horror-comedy feature starring siblings and comedic duo Toni Gonzaga and Alex Gonzaga Gonzaga.

Following their film Mary, Marry Me in 2018, the Gonzaga sisters return to the MMFF to bring another treat for the whole family.

In the movie Toni is Gina and Alex is Dani. They are sisters with very much different personalities. Gina is a formal, goal-oriented person, while Dani is more of a free spirit, living life on a day-today basis. Being orphans, it has been Gina’s responsibility as the eldest to take care of their family, and her gro grocery business has been able to provide for her and her sister’s needs.

Fate makes a way for Gina’s unful unfulfilled dreams to come true when an

Sisters Alex and Toni Gonzaga

TV5 caps off longest Christmas campaign

opportunity abroad comes knocking on her door, but she becomes hesitant to grab this chance in fear that Dani, her reckless and irresponsible sister, will not be able to manage her growing grocery business.

One eerie night, a mysterious girl named LengLeng passes by and unfortunately falls into an accident right in front of Gina’s grocery store and dies. Her spirit wanders, finds Dani, and takes over her body. Now possessed by Leng-Leng, Dani tries to attack everyone she meets, including her sister. Dani’s condition worsens, and Gina finds a way to help and protect her sister, and save Dani from the evil spirit of Leng-Leng that refuses to leave her body.

Co-produced by Viva Films and TinCan film production, this is Alex and Toni’s reunion project. It is directed by up-and-coming director, Fifth Solomon,, who is also Alex’s good friend and the director of her film Nakalimutan Ko Nang Kalimutan Ka.

Reigniting Pancho Magno’s passion for acting

By Patrica Taculao

TV5 celebrated the season with a series of performances and surprises for viewers across the country.

AS A culmination of the longest Christmas campaign on Philippine TV, TV5 wrapped up its four-month-long parade of presents with Atin ang Paskong Ito, the 2021 TV Christmas Celebration.

The two-part TV special packed with joyful treats and performances from the country’s brightest stars aired on Dec. 18 and 19.

TV5 kicked off the BER-months this year with its ceremonial Christmas Tree Lighting, followed by a series of surprises for viewers across the country, most notably the Himig ng Ating Pasko: Guess the Lyrics promo, which let viewers enjoy Christmas carols every day for a chance to win exciting prizes.

Last month, the network successfully launched its inspiring Christmas Station ID, Atin ang Paskong Ito, Kapatid, enjoining Filipinos to celebrate this most-loved time of the year despite these challenging

times.

For its holiday special, TV5 celebrated the season with lots of singing and dancing, life-changing prizes and surprises, and the promise to continue uplifting the Filipino spirit in every home.

Anchored on the theme “Ako, Ikaw, Tayo, hanggang sa pagtatapos ng selebrasyon!”, the Yuletide celebration spreads TV5’s five pillars of Pag-asa, Kasiyahan, Kapatiran, Pagbabalik-tanaw, and Pasasalamat.

As the network’s way of expressing its gratitude or Pasasalamat to its avid viewers across the country, the winners of the Himig ng Ating Pasko: Guess the Lyrics promo was announced during the Christmas Special. Three lucky winners received P100,000 each and the name chosen in the Grand Draw will bag the P1,000,000 jackpot prize and a house and lot from Camella.

SB19 brings infectious energy to ‘Love at First Stream’ OST

JOSH, Justin, Ken, Pablo, and Stell of the P-Pop boy group SB19 have lent their voices for the inspiring track “No Stopping You,” the theme song of the Star Cinema and kumu film Love At First Stream.

“No Stopping You” encourages the idea of being unstoppable in pursuing dreams, keeping the fire burning to achieve goals, and never letting mistakes define who someone is. It marks the first project of the trailblazing quintet with ABS-CBN Music.

Apart from SB19’s solo version, a remix version of “No Stopping You” also dropped Dec. 17 featuring singer-songwriter Jayda Jayda.

The uplifting track was written and composed by Richard “Putito Chief” Salazar, arranged, mixed, and mastered

by Theo Martel, and produced by ABSCBN Music creative director Jonathan Manalo.

With its inspiring message, “No Stopping You” delights not only the fans of SB19 and Jayda but also the supporters of Daniela Stranner, Anthony Jennings, Kaori Oinuma, and Jeremiah Lisbo—the main cast of Love At First Stream directed by Cathy Garcia-Molina.

Unspooling in cinemas on Dec. 25, Love At First Stream is an official entry to this year’s Metro Manila Film Festival.

Members of the P-Pop boy group SB19

(From left) Toni Gonzaga, upand-coming director Fifth Solomon, and Alex Gonzaga

IT WAS in 2011 when actor Pancho Magno began his showbiz career. He made his debut in the fantasy series Amaya.

Ten years later, Pancho renewed his contract with GMA Artist Center, allowing him to further hone his craft and star in more projects.

During a press conference held for his contract renewal, Pancho shared that as a big fan of cinema, he’s grateful for the opportunity to portray some of the roles, especially the deeper ones, that he watches.

Throughout the ten years since acthe started act ing, Pancho has starred in television series with various genres such as drama, f a n t a s y, romance, and action. consid He considers his ca caKapuso star Pancho Magno

reer as a never-ending learning experience where he continues to learn new approaches in tackling roles and applying them to his future projects.

Although Pancho has already starred in several action series, he hopes to become part of similar projects in the future, especially in stories that go beyond the physical and violent aspects of the genre. He also hopes to work alongside some of the industry’s legends and learn from them.

From ‘First Yaya’ to ‘First Lady’ Pancho starred in various programs over the years, including the Encantadia remake (2016) and Victor Magtanggol (2018). One of his most recent roles is in the television series First Yaya. He plays Captain Conrad Enriquez, the main security detail for Gabby Concepcion, who plays the role of the president of the Philippines.

The series concluded in July, but a continuation to the series, titled First Lady, is scheduled to premiere in 2022.

Unlike the series it precedes that focused on Sanya Lopez’s role as Melody Reyes, an ordinary woman who leads an extraordinary life as the nanny Philippine president’s children, Pancho shared that First Lady tackles the story of almost every other character involved.

Apart from telling a dynamic story

through the developing plotline and chemistry between the characters, Pancho shared that the series also hopes to educate its viewers about the country’s law, how public officials handle matters around the country, and some of the basics of politics that fascinates even Pancho.

The show also raises awareness of what happens in the lives of public servants behind closed doors.

Fatherhood The actor admittedly has a lot to look forward to in his life. Besides his bright future in showbiz, Pancho is also excited about his role as a father to oneyear-old Skye Anakin, who was born last year on July 6.

Even though the actor has a busy schedule that keeps him away from his son most of the time, he takes every chance he gets to spend time with Skye by taking him on excursions upon returning from lock-in tapings.

Being the protective father that he is, Pancho gets himself tested for COVID-19 and waits for a negative result before he gets close to his kid.

Pancho also hopes that the first leg of the production for First Yaya will wrap up a few days before Christmas so he can spend time with his family. He shared that his family spends the holidays together by playing games and giving gifts.

GMA Network delivers public service, news, and information on Typhoon Odette

WITH the country facing the onslaught brought about by Typhoon Odette (international name Rai) – considered as the strongest typhoon to hit the Philippines this year – GMA Network continues to deliver not only news and information, but much-needed public service as well, most especially to those who are in Visayas and Mindanao.

GMA Kapuso Foundation (GMAKF) proactively pre-positioned its teams and is now distributing relief packs in Leyte, Surigao, Bohol, and Cebu. Together with its long time service partner, the Armed Forces of the Philippines, GMAKF is able to deliver speedy aid to those who need it most.

The Philippine Army boosted fundraising efforts by donating P4 million to GMAKF last Dec. 17, a day after Typhoon Odette hit Visayas and Mindanao. The amount was taken from the subsistence allowance of army soldiers nationwide. The Philippine Navy, for its part, picked up GMAKF relief goods bound for Cebu and Bohol. The Philippine Coast Guard also picked up tons of GMAKF relief goods bound for Mindanao, specifically, Surigao.

GMAKF’s first wave of relief distributions in Leyte, Surigao, Bohol, and Cebu targets over 31,000 individuals. A second wave of relief operations for Dinagat Island and other devastated provinces is already in the works.

On air, news teams of both GMA News and GMA Regional TV are deployed in key locations even prior to Odette’s landfall. These included some of what would turn out to be the most devastated areas such as Liloan in Southern Leyte; Surigao City; Surigao del Norte; Misamis Orien-

tal; Cagayan de Oro City; Guiuan, Eastern Samar; Bohol; Cebu City; Lapu-lapu City; Cebu Province; Tacloban City, Leyte; Bacolod City; and Negros Occidental. There are also teams present in Iloilo City; Iloilo province; Dolores in Eastern Samar; Allen in Northern Samar; Aklan; Albay; Masbate; Catanduanes; Camarines Norte; Camarines Sur; Sorsogon; General Santos; Calayan in Cagayan; and Davao City.

Led by the network’s flagship newscast 24 Oras together with Unang Hirit, Saksi, 24 Oras Weekend, and GMA News Bulletins, viewers continue to be provided with news reports and latest situations from various parts of Visayas and Mindanao.

On GTV, GMA Network is also in full force via Dobol B TV, GMA Regional TV News, Balitanghali, Dapat Alam Mo!, State of the Nation, and Balitanghali Weekend. These also include the simulcasts of 24 Oras, 24 Oras Weekend, and Saksi.

Playing an important role was GMA News’ resident meteorologist Nathaniel “Mang Tani” Cruz as he consistently gave warning and useful information about the typhoon, even before it entered the Philippine Area of Responsibility.

With Odette hitting Visayas and Mind-

anao, GMA Regional TV continues to deliver local news that greatly matters to Kapuso in the regions. Amidst the power outage and signal loss, GMA RTV’s pool of reporters and news teams braved the typhoon to deliver news and updates in their areas.

Online, non-stop coverage and news alerts are being made available via GMA News Online and GMA News and Public Affairs social media platforms. Live and up-to-the-minute video reports on the typhoon and areas affected–including live streams of 24 Oras, 24 Oras Express, 24 Oras Weekend, 24 Oras News Alerts, and various government briefings–are being posted on GMA News and 24 Oras digital platforms allowing Filipinos worldwide to catch the most important updates on Odette.

Citizen journalists documented the wrath of Odette through YouScoop, GMA News and Public Affairs’ citizen engagement arm. Its original digital series GMA News Feed likewise is providing quick breaking updates with videos on social media. The Network’s disaster and emergency preparedness portal, IMReady, are posting updates as well as they happen.

GMA Kapuso Foundation’s Operation Bayanihan is also accepting cash donations via its payment channels posted on its official website and Facebook page for those who want to sponsor relief packs for the typhoon victims.

Visit www.gmanetwork.com/kapusofoundation/donate for more details.

GMA Regional TV correspondent Alan Domingo on location in Cebu Province

Life

Nickie Wang, Editor nickie.standard@gmail.com

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ART AND CULTURE

WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 22, 2021

Stars of hope

Alekos Fassianos is known worldwide for his works inspired

by Greek mythology and folklore.

Inside ‘museum’ home of Greek artist Alekos Fassianos ON A quiet street lined with orange trees, sheltered from the hustle and bustle of Greece’s capital Athens, lies the house of renowned contemporary artist Alekos Fassianos.

Paintings, lithographs, ceramics, and tapestries line the walls, but the secrets of the three-storey building’s eye-catching interior are rarely unveiled to the outside world.

A museum named after Fassianos — a man known worldwide for his works inspired by Greek mythology and folklore — will open in autumn 2022 and display some of the works adorning his home.

Iron suns decorate the windows, mosaics cover the floor and sculpted bamboo leaves grace the banisters, while gently curving walls were created without a corner to avoid a harsh coming-together.

“Welcome to the universe of Fassianos. It’s an artist’s house, a museum,” his daughter Viktoria Fassianou told AFP. “Everything was designed and created by him, by hand, little by little, like a small paradise,” she added, pointing to the curtain rods, door handles, lights, sofa, and ochre-colored plasterwork.

Greek inspiration Fassianos, who put down his paintbrush in 2019, rests in an adjoining room. Viktoria told AFP the 86-year-old’s fragile health prevented an interview with him.

Despite his works appearing in Paris, Munich, Tokyo, and Sao Paulo, Fassianos wanted to stay faithful to his origins and memories.

“Greekness has always been his

inspiration, from mythology to contemporary Greece,” said his wife Mariza Fassianou.

“He has always believed that an artist should create with what they know.”

Symbols of his attachment to his roots include depictions of fish from his favorite Greek island of Kea, round waves evoking Homer’s “Odyssey” and other scenes drawn from mythology.

Fassianos — who used to invent his own colors — has painted in blue to convey Greece’s blue sky, in red to give an impression of heat and in ochre to reflect the inspiration of traditional Greek handcrafts.

The veteran artist would work on the floor or even scratch the corner of a table.

“He destroyed what he didn’t like. I cried, but he knew better than me what we needed to keep,” his wife recalled.

Fassianos and architect friend Kyriakos Krokos entirely redesigned the central Athens museum that will showcase his work.

“My father planned everything but let future historians carry it out — he never wanted to take on responsibilities,” said Viktoria.

Fassianos has split his life between Greece and France, studying lithography at the National School of Fine Arts in Paris and rubbing shoulders with writers and painters as greats Henri Matisse and Pablo Picasso did before him.

Although he admires the two painters, he denied being inspired by one artist over another, insisting he had drawn on 77 different influences. AFP

SNAPSHOT

(From left) Jes Evangelista, Carmela Geisert, and Emocling Nestor Calma

An ‘artreach’ program CARMELA Geisert (center) joins 15 other artists in a fund-raising exhibition by Silab Artreach via Convergence4th Art Exhibition at Robinson’s Metro East, Pasig City. Silab Artreach is a non-profit organization with the advocacy of providing art therapy solutions for Differently-Abled Filipino creativity.

With Geisert in the photo during the exhibit opening on Dec. 7 are artist Jes Evangelista (left) Founder of Convergence, artist and President of Asia Grand View Hotel, and artist Emocling Nestor Calma, Founder of Silab Artreach.

The exhibition runs until Jan. 10.

Making a parol requires creativity, dedication, and hard work.

T

HERE is nothing that spells Paskong Pinoy than the beautifully crafted lantern we call parol. For most of us, it is GLAZING LIFE more than just an

BY GLAIZA LEE ornament during the Christmas season. It symbolizes the happiness of still being together despite the hardship we had to endure, the ardent wish that things will get better come the new year, and the hope that we will survive whatever life throws our way.

It is said that the first parol was crafted by an artisan from Pampanga, named Francisco Estanislao, in 1908. He created the lantern using bamboo sticks and papel de japon. Utilizing kalburo (carbide), the lanterns were used by the barrio people to light their way to the lubenas, the nine-day novena before Christmas (also known as Misa de Gallo).

Soon, it became a tradition and eventually a festival.

When electricity was established in San Fernando in 1931, the parol evolved with the designs becoming more intricate.

Before the pandemic, I was able to visit the atelier of the Quiwa Family, one of the families who champion parol making in San Fernando, Pampanga. There, I learned that making a parol is not an easy task. More than creativity, it needs dedication and hard work.

From conceptualizing the design to actually crafting the lantern, it is quite challenging. Once a parol maker has finalized a design, the framers would trace the pattern with a steel frame, which

the welders would put together. Making the patterns/frames has to be precise because this is the foundation of the parol.

After putting the two frames together with ample distance between them for the bulbs and electric wiring, they would do the kulong, or the process of putting cardboard between the steel frames dictating the shape and design. Palara that serves as reflector would be pasted on each compartment. Next, the bulbs would be prepared, washed, and painted.

A small parol needs about 300 bulbs; a medium-sized, at least 500 bulbs. For the 20-feet high lantern usually seen at the Giant Lantern Festival in Pampanga, they need 5,000 to 7,000 bulbs.

When the bulbs are installed, the parol maker would begin the electrical route, lining up the electrical lines from the generators to the rotor, the “brain of the lantern” as it dictates the “dance” of lights. While all the electrical stuff happening at the back, papering is being done at the front. Transparent and colorful overlay plastic sheets are used to make the “face” of the lantern.

Truly, it is a labor of love.

••• Experience the Parul Sampernandu at the Giant Lantern Festival, locally called Ligligan Parol, happening now until Jan. 2at Robinsons Starmills.

Launched online on Dec. 16, this year’s Ligligan features seven giant lanterns representing seven barangays of San Fernando City, namely Telabastagan, San Juan, Bulaon, Sta.Lucia, Calulut, Sto. Nino and San Nicolas.

Apart from bringing good cheers and embodying the essence of the Christmas spirit, the parol reminds us to “Stay Safe” and “Be Vaccinated.” One parol (from Brgy. Sta. Lucia) even honors the frontliners.

This year, we are still reeling from the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic but I hope our parol will light our way to the better normal.

Have a safe Christmas everyone.

Seven barangays of San Fernando City participated in Parul Sampernandu at the Giant Lantern Festival, locally called Ligligan Parol.

A parol from Brgy. Sta. Lucia honors the frontliners.

‘War on Rape’ tackles urgent societal issues WAR on Rape is a gripping action - thriller film that relentlessly tackles head on the plight of human trafficking and rape victims in the country. Directed by Marvin Leyson, it follows the story of the lead cast, Michael Say, Morgan Say, and Solomon Say as they abolish a syndicate that abuses the rights of women and innocents.

“There is an ongoing tumor in the society and a repeating history of abuse on women and numerous acts of rape.

Amidst the pandemic, many societal issues are set aside but are still rampant.

Our goal is to shed light on these issues with our movie,” Morgan Say said in an interview.

Cases of abuse and harassment on women and children have inspired the team of Ilocano Defenders to produce and create a fictional movie that mirrors this societal issue. Thus, the movie War on Rape was made with the incorporation of fighting arts and correct assimilation of legal actions used to combat villains.

Michael, Morgan and Solomon, who are all black belters in Taekwondo, aim to promote the revival of martial arts in the Philippine movie industry through Ilocano Defenders. Packed with fight scenes, Morgan directed the choreography using fighting arts through Taekwondo, a campaign to promote the use of effective

and non-lethal weapons against sexual harassment.

“Taekwondo and other non-lethal fighting styles, once used responsibly and put into good use, can be an effective and helpful guard against violence and abuse,” Morgan added.

Just in September of this year, a report presented by Quezon City Police

Department showed that the number of cases of rape and violence against women and children in Quezon City increased by 66.67 percent, while rape cases increased by 21.54 percent for the first eight months this year compared to the same period last year.

Rated-16 by MTRCB, War on Rape premiered in select cinemas.

‘War on Rape’ sheds light on human trafficking and rape victims in the country while promoting the revival of martial arts in Philippine cinema.