Manila Standard - 2021 December 28 - Tuesday

PH DETECTS 4TH OMICRON CASE; DOH TO STOP DAILY COVID REPORTS

By Willie Casas THE Philippines, still reeling from the onslaught of deadly typhoon Odette, reported on Monday an additional imported case of the Omicron coronavirus variant, bringing the country’s total to four, the Department of Health said.

This developed as senators on Monday opposed the Department of Health’s (DPH) decision to stop daily reports on new COVID-19 cases.

The DOH earlier said it will now

only post its daily data on its official website for the public, hours after it recorded the country’s fourth case of the highly transmissible Omicron variant.

The Philippines is under COVID-19 Alert Level 2 for the remainder of 2021.

Health Secretary Francisco Duque III on Monday said he favors keeping it at this level, but admitted the Inter-Agency Task Force had the last word on it.

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Blames its required damage report for delay in declaring state of calamity

By Joyce Pañares, Ronald O. Reyes and Maricel V. Cruz

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RESIDENT Rodrigo Duterte called on Congress to amend a law that requires him to wait for the report of the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council before he can declare a state of calamity.

Duterte, who earlier apologized for the delay in his declaration of a state of calamity in six regions devastated

by Typhoon Odette, blamed the provision in his Talk to the People late Monday evening.

“What fool will be able to immediately come up with the required assessment so that there would be a declaration,” he said, adding that the NDRRMC was “busy rescuing [survivors] and retrieving the dead.”

“That law should be changed, and it behooves upon this Congress, if they want to, or the next President, may I advise, [to] try to repeal the law so that assessment will no longer be required,” Duterte added.

Odette first made landfall in Mindanao on December 16 before it barreled across Visayas, leaving close to 400 dead and displacing almost a million people.

The President, however, was only able to declare a state of calamity on Dec. 21.

The declaration allows local governments to tap calamity funds, imposes a price freeze on basic goods, and facilitates foreign aid in recovery efforts,

NEW MATERIALS. Typhoon Odette victims receive new pots and pans and building materials like

bamboo poles (inset) along with galvanized iron sheets, blankets, mosquito nets, sleeping mats, nails, wire, hygiene kits and food packs from the Office of the Vice President through the Iloilo City Mayor’s Office in Jaro Plaza, Iloilo City on Monday. Arnold Almacen/ICMO

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6,800 soldiers now deployed 2,838,792 in five regions 318

9,579

51,211

11

2,778,002

255

(As of 4 PM, DECEMBER 27)

OVER 6,800 military personnel have been deployed in several provinces devastated by Typhoon Odette to help bring relief goods and take part in clearing operations, Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana said Monday.

In a report to President Rodrigo Duterte, Lorenzana said a total of 6,886 military personnel have been deployed in five regions.

Of this number, 2,857 personnel

Calls mount to build permanent evacuation centers

By Maricel V. Cruz AS THE number of families affected by the onslaught of Typhoon Odette breached 1 million on Monday, several lawmakers and candidates for the 2022 national elections reiterated calls

to build permanent evacuation centers across the country, which is hit by an average of 20 storms a year.

Families displaced by Odette have so far reached a total of 1,074,169, the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) re-

ported on Monday.

In its latest situation report, the agency said this is equivalent to a total of 4,204,601 individuals from the regions of Mimaropa, Bicol, Western Visayas, Central Visayas, EastNext page

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Comelec: Printed list of bets out Jan. 7

By Vito Barcelo THE Commission on Elections (Comelec) said Monday it will come out with the official list of candidates on January 7, 2022.

However, the actual printing of the list on the ballots – and thus the conduct of the elections themselves – were threatened by the appeals of party-list

groups who sought relief from the Supreme Court.

Comelec spokesperson James Jimenez said it will still take some time for the poll body to finalize the list because there are still pending cases that Comelec is looking into.

“We expect that the list will be final by January 7. That is the target,”

HOMES BY THE WATER. This file photo shows a squatter village along the Pasig River area in Manila as skyscrapers fill the horizon. AFP

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Budget signing reset, Palace gives no reason

By Macon Ramos-Araneta

CHRISTMAS IN WPS. Philippine Navy air and surface assets, such as its AW109 helicopter, deliver Christmas goods to military personnel deployed in the various detachments and stations in the Kalayaan Island Group in the West Philippine Sea, especially the troops aboard BRP Sierra Madre in Ayungin Shoal (pictured). Dave Leprozo

THE ceremonial signing of the General Appropriations Bill containing the P5-trillion budget for 2022 has been postponed, Senate President Vicente Sotto III said in a Viber message to reporters Monday.

But Malacañang did not give any reason behind the rescheduling of the Next page

Hospitals group urges members to set ‘PhilHealth holiday’ protest

By Willie Casas and Macon Ramos-Araneta THE Private Hospitals Association of the Philippines Inc. (PHAPI) is encouraging its members to observe a “PhilHealth holiday” in early January to protest delayed or unpaid claims by the state-owned health insurance company.

From Jan. 1 to Jan 5, PHAPI members are urged not to accept PhilHealth deductions for health services,

PHAPI president Dr. Jose Rene De Grano said in an interview on ANC. He added that this was a show of support for other hospitals that were cutting ties with the Philippine Health Insurance Corp.

Seven private hospitals in Iloilo City have severed ties with PhilHealth effective Jan. 1 next year over debts of the government health insurance agency to the hospitals amounting to P895 million.

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News

TUESDAY, DECEMBER 28, 2021

mst.daydesk@gmail.com

Gov’t eclipses 2nd Vax Day mark

By Vito Barcelo, Willie Casas and Joel E. Zurbano

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HE government surpassed the target set for the second phase of its National Vaccine Days (NVD), with close to 7.5 million Filipinos vaccinated against COVID-19 from Dec. 15 to 23 nationwide, despite the onslaught of Typhoon Odette and the arrival of the holidays, Malacanang said.

centage of jabs administered compared to its NVD 2 target, with 561,858 jabs or 277.84 percent of its 202,224 target jabs to be administered.

Region 2 followed, achieving 232.57 percent of their target, while Region 10 accomplished 173.27 percent of its NVD 2 target.

Nograles said that with the looming threat of the Omicron variant of COVID-19, people must continue to be vigilant and alert by observing minimum public health standards on top of getting vaccinated.

Meanwhile, National Task Force Against COVID-19 Chief Implementer Secretary Carlito Galvez Jr assured the public that there are vaccine supplies sufficient to achieve the government’s

target to fully vaccinate 77 million Filipinos by the first quarter of 2022.

Galvez added that the government’s priority is still to vaccinate the unvaccinated, including the pediatric population.

The government clarified on Monday that the COVID-19 inoculation of children aged five to 11 years old has yet to start.

In an advisory, the Department of Health (DOH) said preparations are underway for the vaccine rollout of the youngest age group.

The National Vaccination Operations Center will announce the exact vaccination schedule “as soon as COVID-19 vaccines suitable for the ages 5 to 11 and its appropriate syringes become available”, the DOH said.

ID-19 vaccines and damaged 141 hospitals and clinics, only 30 of which have resumed full operations.

The Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) said it has delivered over 2.376 million pounds of relief goods to provinces battered by Typhoon Odette.

In a statement on Sunday night, the AFP said a total of 15 aircraft and 13 naval vessels have been used in its humanitarian operations.

Navy vessels have transported the bulk of the goods at 2.190 million pounds so far, while Air Force air assets that include one C-130 and eight S-70i Blackhawk helicopters have flown over 186,282 pounds of relief.

The AFP also reported providing transportation assistance to 394 locally stranded people.

In his Christmas message, AFP chief Lt. Gen Andres Centino asked for prayers for the survivors of the typhoon, as well as for soldiers deployed for disaster response and security operations nationwide.

Meanwhile, the AFP, through the Philippine Navy and Western Command, airdropped Christmas goods to the military personnel deployed in various detachments and stations in the Kalayaan Island Group (KIG).

An AgustaWestland 109 (AW-109) naval helicopter onboard BRP Antonio Luna (FF-151) delivered relief packs from Palawan Provincial Disaster and Risk Reduction Management Office for the residents of Pagasa Island.

The same naval asset airdropped Noche Buena packages, including the traditional lechon to the troops in KIG. BRP Mangyan (AC-71) delivered the same Christmas packages to the troops in Rizal Reef Detachment.

A Philippine Coast Guard vessel also met with BRP Antonio Luna and delivered the package for the troops of BRP Sierra Madre (LS-57) in Ayungin Shoal.

Meanwhile, survivors of the 2013 Super Typhoon Yolanda in Tacloban City and nearby towns were rushing to the devastated Southern Leyte to bring emergency relief to victims of Typhoon Odette.

See full story on manilastandard.net.

ernment should include in its six-month rehabilitation efforts in the Odettebattered provinces in the Visayas and Mindanao,” he said.

Villafuerte said the initial construction of these permanent evacuation centers can be sourced from the P10 billion that the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) said would be made available for the rehabilitation of typhoon-ravaged provinces.

Last week, House Committee on Disaster Resilience chairperson Rep. Lucy Torres-Gomez of Leyte said a centralized government agency is necessary to make disaster preparedness more comprehensive, responsive, and customized based on technical and scientific analysis.

Acting presidential spokesman Karlo Nograles said that as of Dec. 26, 2021, a total of 7,497,802 doses were administered during the second iteration of the NVD, exceeding the initial target of 7,326,613 jabs.

“We thank our kababayans for their cooperation and for the steps they have taken to protect themselves, their families, and their communities,” said Nograles.

“We likewise commend our medical frontliners, vaccinators, and volunteers for their sacrifice, dedication and service to the country,” he added.

For NVD phase 2, Region 4-A recorded the highest number of cumulative jabs with 1,244,191, followed by Region 3 with 919,822, and Region 6 with 658,805 administered jabs.

Region 1 recorded the highest per-

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were deployed to Region 13, particularly to Siargao and Dinagat Islands, and Surigao del Norte. Over 1,900 were deployed in Palawan, 1,172 were sent to Regions 6 and 7, while 937 were assigned to Samar and Leyte.

A total of 27 military aircraft from the Philippine Air Force are helping transport relief goods and other essentials to affected areas, Lorenzana said.

Military aircraft have so far transported a total of 202,405.5 pounds of goods and equipment. A total of 324 stranded individuals have also been transported, he added.

A total of 15 ships were also deployed, with the BRP Ang Pangulo being used as a field hospital in Siargao Island.

Lorenzana also said the Armed Force of the Philippines (AFP) has deployed a mobile kitchen in Cebu, while its carpentry teams were deployed to Southern Leyte to help in the reconstruction of houses and other facilities.

The death toll from one of the most destructive typhoons to hit the Philippines in recent years rose to 388 on Monday, the government said, as disease outbreaks threatened some of the stricken areas.

Odette (international name Rai) struck the south and center of the country on December 16 and 17, toppling power lines and trees and unleashing deadly floods that also left hundreds of thousands homeless.

The civil defense office raised the death toll from Rai to 388 with 60 others missing and hundreds injured. Police previously put the death toll at 375.

Civil defense officials said more than four million people were receiving typhoon aid in 430 cities and towns where about 482,000 houses were damaged or destroyed.

More than 300,000 people remain in evacuation camps, with more than 200,000 others sheltering in the homes of relatives or friends. AFP

among others. “[For] the critics, we are always wrong, and they are always right,” the President added, as he lamented that his hands were tied by law’s provision.

“That is why it’s a stupid thing. I have to wait for the report, assessment before I can act on a proclamation. That’s the law so I can’t do anything,” Duterte said in an earlier command conference in Cebu.

Under Republic Act No. 10121 or the Philippine Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Act of 2010, the NDRRMC first has to make an assessment and recommendation to the President for the declaration of a state of calamity.

Duterte said he has ordered the release of P5,000 per family displaced by Odette.

Interior Secretary Eduardo Año said a joint circular providing guidelines for the distribution of cash assistance in typhoon-hit areas has been issued.

He said the Department of the Interior and Local Government will distribute around P4 billion worth of cash aid that will be releases today (Tuesday) to local government units.

This will bring the total funds released by the government to typhoon survivors to P6 billion.

Acting Budget Secretary Tina Canda said the department already released P1 billion on Friday and added another P1 billion yesterday.

Duterte earlier promised to raise P10 billion for Odette recovery efforts.

Canda said the remaining P4 billion would come from next year’s national budget, which is expected to be signed on Tuesday.

This is apart from $106.5 million (about P5.35 billion) the United Nations has pledged to raise for the country, targeted towards 530,000 people in the worst-affected areas who are in dire need of health logistics, access to drinking water, and sanitation facilities.

The United States government, through the US Agency for Interna-

tional Development (USAID), also said Monday it is providing an additional P50 million ($1 million) to support communities affected by Odette.

This funding is in addition to the initial P10 million ($200,000) in assistance provided by the United States on December 22 to support the Philippine government’s relief efforts.

The assistance will provide logistics support to transfer humanitarian workers and relief supplies to communities devastated by Typhoon Odette, the US embassy in Manila said in a statement.

“The United States is pleased to provide this additional assistance to support the immediate needs of individuals and families in the areas hardest hit by Typhoon Odette,” said US Embassy in the Philippines Chargé d’Affaires ad interim Heather Variava.

“This support will help ensure that food and other life-saving supplies reach communities most in need.”

With nine landfalls, Odette left more than 380 people dead, damaged tens of thousands of homes, displaced some 630,000 people, and disrupted power and telecommunications service in six regions.

The government reported that the death toll from Odette had reached 389

by Monday, as disease outbreaks threatened some of the stricken areas.

As the government rushed to bring food, water and clothing to devastated areas, a new threat appeared in recent days with at least 140 people falling ill from suspected contaminated water.

Eighty people were taken ill with acute gastroenteritis in the southern province of Dinagat Islands, while 54 people are being treated for diarrhea in hospital on the neighboring tourist island of Siargao, Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire said.

The central city of Cebu reported 16 diarrhea cases, she told reporters.

“We all know these areas suffered water interruption. Some areas still have tap water but pipes have been damaged and so there is a possibility of contamination,” Vergeire said.

Vergeire said the typhoon also spoiled more than 4,000 doses of COV-

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property during natural calamities such as Odette.

This prompted Quezon City Rep. Alfred Vargas on Sunday to repeat his appeal to senators to act on bills proposing the establishment of permanent evacuation centers amid the recent devastation caused by the typhoon.

Vargas is the principal author of House Bill 8990, or An Act Establishing Evacuation Centers in Every City and Municipality, that was approved by the House of Representatives and is awaiting Senate action.

“The loss to lives and property in the Visayas and Mindanao should be seen as a wake-up call for us in Congress to be proactive in our legislation,” said

Vargas, chairman of the House Committee on Social Services.

Senators Sherwin Gatchalian and Ramon “Bong” Revilla Jr. had filed separate similar bills, with the former’s proposal being referred to the House Committee on National Defense as the principal committee in 2019.

Camarines Sur Rep. Luis Raymund Villafuerte also said rehabilitation efforts should include the construction of permanent and durable evacuation centers to safeguard people from future calamities.

“Building permanent, durable evacuation centers complete with the essential facilities that evacuees need is among the adaptation measures that the gov-

Department of Budget and Management officer-in-charge Tina Rose Canda earlier said they were expecting Duterte to sign the budget measure this week.

But Sen. Christopher Go, a close associate of the President, said the chief executive would expedite the review and signing of the proposed 2022 General Appropriations Act to ensure the government had a working budget for

the rehabilitation and recovery of areas hard hit by Typhoon Odette.

Go said the President would immediately sign the national budget so that on January 1 or January 3, the government would already have a working budget.

“This is not only for the typhoon but also for COVID response since we need immediate help for our people. Also, the assistance to Covid response should be continuing,” said Go.

of names in the list like those on cancellations and nuisance candidates should have been resolved,” he added.

But in a previous tweet, Comelec Commissioner Rowena Guanzon criticized party-list groups who went to SC for relief.

“Those who filed cases to stop Comelec from printing ballot numbers of party-list, I hope you realize what you have done. If ballots are not printed by

January, the May elections is at risk,” she said.

Jimenez expressed confidence that the Comelec will resolve most of the pending petitions for nuisance candidates as well as the cancellations of the certificate of candidacy (COC) by the end of December.

However, Jimenez said other cases, like a more complicated disqualification case, will probably take longer to resolve.

ern Visayas, Zamboanga Peninsula, Northern Mindanao, Davao, Soccsksargen, Caraga, and the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM).

But the Department of Human Settlements and Urban Development (DHSUD) and the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) were silent so far on President Rodrigo Duterte’s orders Sunday to immediately evict residents living on coastal easements within 40 meters of the shoreline, to prevent loss of lives and damage to

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Last Week, Sotto said President Rodrigo Duterte was set to sign the proposed P5.024-trillion budget measure on December 28, with the bill sent to Malacañang by Congress on Thursday last week.

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The official said “those that can be resolved should have been resolved by then.

There will still be some pending issues.”

“For example, if there is a disqualification case, that normally takes some time. But cases regarding the removal

Hospitals...

From A1 “It’s our decision to disengage this coming Jan. 1, 2022 and we are preparing for it,” Dr. Danny Encarnacion, president and CEO of Metro Iloilo Hospital & Medical Center Inc, told ABSCBN’s TeleRadyo.

The other hospitals are Iloilo Doctors’ Hospital, Iloilo Mission Hospital, Medicus Medical Center, Qualimed Hospital Iloilo, St. Paul’s Hospital of Iloilo, and The Medical City of Iloilo.

Encarnacion said they had a meeting with the state health insurer on Dec. 20 but nothing came of it.

He said hospitals were against the PhilHealth Debit-Credit Payment Method (DCPM) because they have no say in it.

To date, Metro Iloilo Hospital & Medical Center Inc.’s collectibles with the state health insurer have reached

Gordon to Lin of Pharmally: ‘You are a liar’ SENATE Blue Ribbon Committee Chairman Richard Gordon called Quezon City congressional aspirant Rose Nono Lin “a liar” during the 17th hearing of the panel on government spending during the pandemic.

Gordon presented a document from the Bureau of Internal Revenue showing that Lin Weixiong, the husband of Rose Nono Lin, is the financial manager of Pharmally Pharmaceutical.

When confronted with the document, officials of Pharmally Pharmaceutical, Mojit Dargani and its President Huang Tzu Yen, confirmed the veracity of the document.

According to Huang Tzu Yen, Lin Weixiong was designated as financial manager of the company as a guarantee for the financing that Michael Yang provided to the company.

Based on the Senate investigation findings, it was Yang who introduced the company to President Rodrigo Duterte, Gordon said in a statement.

The Standard could not reach Rose Nono Lin for comment as of press time.

In previous hearings, Rose Nono Lin denied any association with Pharmally Pharmaceutical. She insisted that her company Pharmally Biological was separate and different from Pharmally Pharmaceutical.

However, Gordon said that in both companies, Huang Tzu Yen of Pharmally International is a Board Director, linking both to the defunct mother company in Taiwan.

Also an officer of Pharmally Biological is Gerald Cruz, who holds several positions in the companies of Michael Yang just like Rose Nono Lin. Gordon said the story of the Pharmally Investigation is a litany of lies perpetrated on the Philippines during the pandemic.

“All these people are lying! It’s a train wreck of lies. But the truth is coming out.

Now we know Lin Weixiong is the financial manager of Pharmally!” he said.

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Sen. Richard Gordon, also chairman of the Philippine Red Cross, said this sudden change of policy in disseminating COVID-19 updates shows lack in manpower. Continuing their daily release of reports is vital to ensure public safety, he said, a point echoed by Sens.

Joel Villanueva and Francis Pangilinan.

Senate President Vicente Sotto III said the DOH’s sudden change of policy might have an “agenda” while Senate Majority Leader Juan Miguel Zubiri also questioned the agency’s new tack, underlining the people’s right to information.

DOH spokesperson and Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire said the newest Omicron case was a 38-yearold female from the United States who arrived at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport on December 10 via Philippine Airlines PR 127.

“She was quarantined upon arrival,” Vergeire told in a media forum, adding the woman had throat itchiness and colds on December 13.

Upon testing positive on December 15, she was placed in an isolation facility. “She was discharged after a 10-day isolation on December 24. She remains to be asymptomatic as of this time,” Vergeire said.

P200 million, Encarnacion said.

In total, PhilHealth owes the seven hospitals some P895 million, he added.

Also on Monday, Senator Panfilo Lacson, a candidate for president, said the Universal Health Care Act is still underfunded by about P84 billion— a gap that must be addressed by the next administration to stop hospitals from leaving the state health insurance system for good and prevent the public from suffering even more amid the coronavirus pandemic.

Lacson raised this issue in a recent press conference in Lingayen, Pangasinan, as he noted that more private hospitals were cutting ties with PhilHealth over unpaid hospitalization claims that reached about P20 billion as of November.

The three-term senator noted the full implementation of the UHCA was crucial for the country to address the pandemic, which he said would be his priority if elected president.

News

DOJ, BAP to forge pact vs bank cybercrimes

By Rey E. Requejo

T

HE Department of Justice (DOJ) through its Office of Cybercrime will to forge an agreement with the Bankers Association of the Philippines (BAP) for “a collective, coordinated, and strategic cybercrime response within the banking industry.”

DOJ-OOC Officer-in-Charge Charito A. Zamora said a memorandum of understanding (MOU) between the DOJ and BAP “is being finalized to establish a formal agreement that would promote a genuine atmosphere of collaboration and alliance through an effective and efficient partnership meant to curb cybercrime and cyber-related offenses nationwide.”

Zamora stressed that while the MOU has yet to be signed, “the OOC has been consistently cooperating with the BAP through capacity building and public awareness on cybercrime.”

The National Bureau of Investigation, Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas and the Na-

tional Privacy Commission have started their investigation into the bank accounts hacking incidents.

“The collaboration eyes achieving the common goal of establishing a collective, coordinated, and strategic cyber response within the banking industry through information sharing and collaboration,” Zamora added.

Recently, depositors of a universal bank lost money through an online fraud which involved transfer to another bank, bypassing the security measure of sending a one-time PIN (Personal Identification Number) to the registered mobile number of the account holder.

About 700 of the bank’s depositors

were victimized. The bank has assured the return of the lost deposits of its clients.

Ramon Jocson, BAP cybersecurity committee vice chair, said in a November report that banking fraud during the pandemic reached P1 billion in terms of unauthorized withdrawals and transfers.

Republic Act 10175 or the Cybercrime Prevention Act of 2012 created the OOC under the DOJ and designated it as the central authority for international mutual assistance and extradition for cybercrime and cyber-related matters.

It also acts as the focal agency in law enforcement investigation and prosecution strategies in curbing cybercrime and cyber-related offenses nationwide.

Among its other functions, the OOC can require the submission of timely and regular reports including pre-operation, post-operation, and investigation results, and such other documents from the police and National Bureau of Investigation for monitoring and review.

TUESDAY, DECEMBER 28, 2021 mst.daydesk@gmail.com

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IN BRIEF Rody OKs P10K cash incentive for gov’t workers PRESIDENT Rodrigo R. Duterte signed an administrative order (AO) giving qualified government workers a one-time service recognition incentive (SRI) worth P10,000.

Signed by Duterte on December 24, AO No. 45 is in line with the implementation of Joint Resolution 4 inked on June 17, 2009, which authorizes the grant of incentives to reward an employee’s loyalty to government service and contributions to the agency’s continuing viable existence.

“The government continues to acknowledge all public servants for their collective and unceasing participation in an invaluable contribution to the establishment of streamlined government processes and responsive

delivery of services to the public, especially in the midst of the prevailing public health emergency due to the COVID-19 pandemic,” the AO said.

AO No. 45 also recognizes that it is imperative to provide incentives and assistance to public servants, who are impacted not only by the pandemic but also by various natural calamities.

Under the AO, the incentive will be received by civilian personnel in national government agencies (NGAs), including those in state universities and colleges (SUCs) and government-owned or –controlled corporations (GOCCs), occupying regular, contractual, or casual positions.

Villar recognizes 16 coops for poverty reduction FORMER Senate President Manny Villar and Senator Cynthia Villar led the awarding of 16 cooperatives nationwide during the virtual and face-to-face ceremony on December 17.

The Villar SIPAG (Social Institute for Poverty Alleviation and Governance) intends to acknowledge cooperatives from different parts of the country which served as encouragement and inspiration for others to embark on social integration and job creation.

This, in turn, helps alleviate the living conditions of Filipinos and eventually contributes to economic growth.

Each of the 15 awardees received P250, 000 in cash from Villar SIPAG. A special award was also given to a cooperative which got P150,000 cash.

“Through this recognition, we hope to inspire and encourage cooperatives to continue

with their work to uplift the lives of their communities,” Sen. Cynthia Villar, director of Villar SIPAG, said.

There were 247 entries this year and the number was shortlisted to 58. Twenty-three entries were declared semifinalists.

Fifteen organizations were named “Outstanding Partners” in this year’s Villar SIPAG Awards on Poverty Reduction and one was cited with special recognition for environmental protection. Among the 15 outstanding coops, 13 have savings and loans services, and two coops provide employment and job opportunities for their members.

The lack of access to financing has long been a hindrance to the development of the country’s agriculture and MSME sectors which is made more pronounced during the time of the pandemic. Macon Ramos-Araneta

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TUESDAY, DECEMBER 28, 2021 E-mail: mst.daydesk@gmail.com

ROAD CLOSURE PREPARATIONS. MMDA Chairman Benhur Abalos, Transportation Sec. Arthur Tugade and International Container Terminal Services Inc vice

president Christian Martin Gonzalez conduct an inspection at the Manila International Container Terminal (MICT) in Tondo, Manila on Monday, December 27, 2021. The government is looking at viable solutions and finding alternate routes for trucks and trailers with the imminent closure of a portion of Roxas Boulevard for the repair of a damaged box culvert. (See story below) Danny Pata

IN BRIEF

Solon warns against power coop takeover AN opposition lawmaker on Monday warned that Executive Order 156 mandating the Department of Energy (DOE) to identify unviable, unserved, underserved and poorly served areas within the franchise areas of distribution utilities may be used to take over electric cooperatives.

“This may be a guise to take over electric cooperatives like what the administration tried to do with (an electric cooperative) in Baguio,” House Deputy Minority Leader Carlos Isagani Zarate said.

“EO 156 may seem innocuous and even supposedly beneficial to far flung areas still in need of electricity but it may be just be a disguised scheme to take over and then sell to private power players the electric cooperatives especially with the devastation caused by Typhoon Odette,” said Zarate, the nominee of the party-list group Bayan Muna.

Under EO 156, the DOE must order all distribution utilities to submit a Comprehensive Electrification Master Plan for the total electrification of their respective franchise areas.

Meanwhile, the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) shall “promulgate rules in computing rates that allow full cost recovery for the facilities built by microgrids, [distributed energy resources], and other alternative electric service providers.” Maricel V. Cruz

MMDA prepares for road closure METROPOLITAN Manila Development Authority officials on Monday inspected the Manila International Container Terminal in Tondo, Manila in connection with the closure of a portion of Roxas Boulevard to give way to the repair of the damaged box culvert of the Department of Public Works and Highways.

MMDA Chairman Benjamin Abalos Jr. said he met with officials from the Department of Transportation (DOTr), DPWH, Philippine Ports Authority (PPA), and International Container Terminal Services, Inc. (ICTSI) and discussed viable solutions and finding alternate routes for trucks and trailers which will be affected by the road closure.

“One of the possible solutions that we are eyeing is for the container vans to be carried on the barge and will be transported from MICT going to the Cavite Gateway Terminal in Tanza, Cavite,” said Abalos.

“We are studying all options to alleviate the possible traffic it would generate,” he said.

The MMDA chief said the agency has yet to determine if a portion of the southbound direction of Roxas Boulevard fronting HK Sun Plaza will be totally or partially closed to vehicular traffic.

“The structural integrity is at stake. Hence, we are appealing for the public’s understanding of the inconvenience the road closure would cause. This is temporary. The construction is only for three months,” Abalos said.

Joel E. Zurbano

No lenient treatment for 3 Army soldiers

THE Philippine Army will cooperate with the Philippine National Police on the case of the three soldiers involved in the Christmas Day shooting incident in Taguig City that wounded six civilians.

“The personnel under investigation are already in the custody of the PNP. The Army is collaborating with the PNP on their investigation of the incident and will cooperate in any legal actions that may be taken against the suspects. Internally, we are also conducting a parallel investigation for the administrative cases that may be filed against them,” Army spokesperson, Col. Xerxes Trinidad said.

He also assured the public that the Army does not condone any violation of laws or regulations by its personnel.

“We expect high standards of military discipline and values to all our personnel, hence if proven guilty appropriate sanctions shall be meted against them,” Trinidad said.

Initial reports identified the arrested Army personnel as Capt. Nheiljay Maguddayao Garcia, 31; Probationary 2nd Lt. Felomino Maguddayao Garcia, 30; and 1st Lt. Minalyn Awat Ladyong, 29.

Capt. Garcia is with the Training and Doctrine Command in Capas, Tarlac; 2nd Lt. Garcia is assigned at the Army Headquarters in Fort Bonifacio, Taguig; and Ladyong is detailed with the Army Signal Regiment, also in Fort Bonifacio.

The shooting incident happened along the C-5 Service Road in Wildcat Village, Barangay Pinagsama after the six male victims threw stones at the suspects while they were having a drinking spree.

Comelec: Mock polls set in 34 barangays on Wed. T HE Commission on Elections will hold mock polls in 34 barangays nationwide on Wednesday, December 29, in preparation for next year’s national elections.

Comelec spokesperson James Jimenez said the mock polls will be livestreamed and will be open to the media, citizens’ arm groups, and some political parties.

The mock elections will run simultaneously from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m.

In the following areas:

• two barangays in Pateros, two in Taguig City, and two in Pasay City • two barangays in Cauayan City and two in Cordon in Isabela • two barangays in Legazpi City and two in Piodoran in Albay • two barangays in Dumaguete City and two in Zamboanguita in Negros Oriental • two barangays in Tacloban City, two in Baybay City, and two in Palampon in Leyte • two barangays in Cotabato City, two in Shariff Aguak, and two in Buluan in Maguindanao • two barangays in Digos City and two barangays in Sulop in Davao del

Sur Jimenez said the test ballot will contain fictitious names of candidates.

The national and local candidates’ names are printed on the front page of the ballot while the names of the party-lists are placed at the back.

“These are fictitious names,” Jimenez said.

“We will not be using the tentative list (of candidates) for anything even resembling a mock election. That would not be a good idea,” he added.

Jimenez said they expect to start printing the official ballot by January 15.

ACCIDENT.

A white sedan crashes into a concrete barrier along the EDSA Kamuning Flyover in Quezon City on December 27, 2021 during the morning rush of the last working week of the year.

Manny Palmero

Lacson: Next gov’t must close P84-b UHC funding gap

By Macon Ramos-Araneta THE Universal Health Care Act is still underfunded by about P84 billion – a gap that must be addressed by the next administration to stop hospitals from leaving the state health insurance system for good and prevent the public from suffering even more amid the coronavirus pandemic, Partido Reporma chairman and standard-bearer Panfilo “Ping” Lacson said.

Lacson raised this issue in a recent press

conference in Lingayen, Pangasinan as he noted that more private hospitals were cutting ties with the Philippine Health Insurance Corp. (PhilHealth) over unpaid hospitalization claims that reached about P20 billion as of November.

The three-term senator said the full implementation of the UHC is crucial for the country to address the pandemic, which is a priority of the Partido Reporma presidential bet.

“Our primary program, of course, is to address the pandemic. We have a Universal

Health Care Act that was passed in 2018.

Until now it is not fully funded, although it can be. Its full implementation is worth P257 billion but the fund allocated for it in 2022 is just P173 billion,” he said.

The longtime public servant said private hospitals in Iloilo were “rebelling” against PhilHealth and withdrawing from the state health insurer, which he reiterated should be chaired by a competent fund manager or financial expert from the Department of Finance and not by the Secretary of Health.

More than 60% of Class ABC voters will back Marcos—OCTA

By Rey E. Requejo A RECENT survey conducted by the OCTA Research Group showed Partido Federal ng Pilipinas standard-bearer Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos, Jr., has the overwhelming support of the Class ABC voters with more than 60 percent saying they will vote for him in the 2022 national polls.

Of the total respondents, 63 percent from Class ABC said they would vote for Marcos if the elections happened at the time of the survey, while Class D recorded 55 percent and the Class E bracket registered 46 percent.

The OCTA Research Tugon Ng Masa nationwide survey was conducted from December 7 to 12 with 1,200 respondents, 99.6 percent of whom were all registered voters. It has a +/-3 percent margin of error.

Manila Mayor Francisco “Isko Moreno” Domagoso received 14 percent preference votes from Class ABC, followed by Vice President Leni Robredo with 9 percent; Sen. Manny Pacquiao with 5 percent; and Sen. Panfilo Lacson with 2 percent.

For classes D and E, all aspirants aside from Marcos received less than 25 percent preference votes.

In a statement, the Marcos camp said the OCTA pre-election survey proved that the former senator is the most preferred presidential aspirant from all socioeconomic classes.

The same survey showed that Marcos will dominate the May 2022 presidential race in all areas of the country as he received more than the majority of the preference votes with 54 percent.

His running mate, Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio, also topped the vice presidential survey with 50 percent.

Isko sends team to help typhoon survivors in Cebu

By Rey E. Requejo and Willie Casas IN THE spirit of Bayanihan, members of the Manila Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office were dispatched to Cebu City to help in the clearing operations as well as provision of potable water to residents affected by super typhoon Odette.

Manila Mayor Francisco “Isko Moreno” Domagoso said he has deployed a 16-man team of the MDRRMO who were willing to celebrate Christmas away from their families while serving the very basic need of Cebuanos—clean water.

MDRRMO Director Arnel Angeles said the 16 members of the MDRRMO came in three batches, arriving in Cebu City on December 22, 23 and 24, which is Christmas eve. Most of the personnel came from different fire volunteer groups in Manila.

Of the 16 personnel, 12 were assigned in the clearing operations of debris and fallen trees left by Typhoon Odette, while four were in charge of the water purification robots that were brought by the team.

“We help in clearing debris. We did not bring relief goods but we did bring a Water Filtration Machine. We brought heavy equipment and tools, such as saws and cutting machines,” Angeles said.

Angeles said a water tanker was also mobilized to provide much needed water to Cebu City residents.

“We have been concentrating all over Cebu City this week. There are different barangays but they are all from Cebu City and I am the team leader,” Angeles said.

Ang Probinsyano brings Christmas cheer to Odette-hit Bohol town AMID long queue lines to gasoline stations where petrol prices have shot up to P110 per liter, damaged homes, no electricity and no signal, people have started to pick up their lives a week after Typhoon Odette unleashed its fury on the island of Bohol.

Most roads are now cleared, people have started to clean and fix their homes, and businesses have resumed operation.

In the coastal community of Jagna, Ang Probinsyano, one of the very first party-list organizations to reach out to communities hit by Typhoon Odette, stayed true to its cause of giving aid to “probinsyanos.”

Ang Probinsyano distributed Noche Buena and ayuda bags to 350 families on Christmas eve.

Ronson Tumaliwan, an auxiliary officer of the Philippine Coast Guard, and a permanent resident of Jagna, said: “There are several areas in Bohol that remain impassable to vehicles, thus hampering relief op-

erations. These include the towns of Ubay and Trinidad.”

“This is why we are thankful for Ang Probinsyano party-list because those of us living in the outskirts are given aid. As one of our residents said, we are grateful we have ingredients to prepare spaghetti for Christmas,” Tumaliwan said.

The residents, despite undergoing a traumatic experience, have ready smiles when Ang Probinsyano party-list Rep. Alfred Delos Santos personally visited them.

“I am happy to see that you are still full of energy. That is a good sign that we have not lost hope. That we have not lost the determination to celebrate Christmas,” the lawmaker said.

“Let us not lose faith. Let us not give up.

Ang Probinsyano party-list is one with our fellow probinsyanos in your efforts to recover,” Delos Santos added as he held a dialog with local residents at the Looc Multi-Purpose Hall and Tubod Monte Operation Center.

HOLIDAY CHEER. A resident of Tubod Monte in Bohol receives her Noche Buena bag from Rep. Alfred Delos Santos of the Ang Probinsyano party-list.

Opinion After six years of Duterte, still so much poverty

Mr. Duterte has been an unfocused, highly distracted Chief Executive.

Two days ago, in their last-of-the-year briefing, the nation’s economic managers stated that around one out of every four Filipinos was living in poverty. Given the crushing effect of the pandemic on jobs and incomes, I am inclined to believe that widespread poverty now involves more than 1 out of 4 Filipinos.

Granting that it did not accord the highest priority to the elimination of widespread poverty, the administration of Rodrigo Duterte has made little progress toward pushing many Filipinos above the poverty line. How could it, when Mr. Duterte has been an unfocused, highly distracted Chief Executive?

With inefficient use of fiscal resources, pursuit like the so-called war on drugs and insufficient dedication to economy-enhancing programs, the outgoing administration really never gave widespread-poverty elimination a chance.

A total ban on firecrackers became No.2 and that in the vice presidential race, Bongbong, who people knew was winning suddenly was overtaken by Robredo when people went to sleep on the night of the election. I really believe Smartmatic did some magic to make Robredo win.

••• THERE is a lot of anticipation that it will be a Happy New Year for us all. I wonder though if there will be a total ban on firecrackers and all forms of pyrotechnics.

There has been no formal announcement coming from Malacanang.

What worries me are reports that some people are already lining up in Bocaue to buy those deadly forms of pyrotechnics that Bocaue shopkeepers are not even supposed to peddle. If this is true, obviously, some people never learn a lesson.

Firecrackers have no Filipino connection and tradition, but the Chinese resort to these to ward off evil spirits. I believe it has some kind of psychological and mental aberration for many Filipinos. They love their money being blown away to those firecrackers, without realizing the ill-effects of air pollution on many.

Will there even be an announcement from the Palace?

With the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and the threat of the dreaded Omicron variant still with us, it will be a double whammy on us!

My wife and I have been to Hong Kong and Singapore on New Year’s Eve. The two cities are predominantly Chinese where firecrackers and other forms of pyrotechnics are banned. The two cities simply entertain tourists by a display of pyrotechnics at the Hong Kong and Singapore bays. Except in those places, those Chinese do not play around with firecrackers and other forms of pyrotechnics the way we in the Philippines do. My gulay, to think that firecrackers and other forms of pyrotechnics are of Chinese origins.

••• Pulse Asia’s “Ulat ng Bayan” poll survey of early December, reveals two things: First, the May 9, 2022 elections can be a boring presidential and vice presidential race. We almost already know who the winners will be.

The problem of Bongbong Marcos now is how to maintain his lead. The same goes for Sara Duterte.

In 2016, people were not sure that Duterte could win. It was only during the post-election exit survey when we knew that Duterte won.

Certainly, we already know who will lose.

The fact at that time that the “Yellows” aspirant, Mar Roxas after election suddenly

In the Senate now, it looks like former senators like former Speaker Alan Peter Cayetano, Loren Legarda of Antique, Sorsogon Governor Chiz Escudero, incumbent senators Migs Zubiri, Joel Villaueva, Win Gatchalian, Risa Hontiveros, Jinggoy Estrada, and newcomers Raffy Tulfo, a popular broadcaster, former DPWH Secretary Mark Villar, former Vice President Jojo Binay, and actor Robin Padilla have statistical chance of making it.

If you look at the names of those who will probably make it in the Senate race, it is mostly name recall. That’s how it is in the Senate race.

••• Once again, I appeal to the Senate to enact immediately the long pending DDR or Department of Disaster Resiliency in the wake of all devastation wrought by super-typhoon Odette in the Visayas and Mindanao, with so many lives lost, missing and injured, and with the millions of pesos in infrastructure and agriculture also devastated.

Yes, we have the NDRRMC, an ad hoc body, already devolved into regional and provincial offices. But, they are not enough of the three “Rs,” rescue, relief and rehabilitation. We need the department, with its own budget, urgently, so it could focus and strategize how we can live with disasters.

This DDR was enacted by the House of Representatives in the past Congress, and all it needs is for the Senate to act as well.

President Duterte should certify the bill as urgent.

••• The World Health Organization says that 2022 could well mean the end of the COVID-19 pandemic. But, my gulay, how could COVID-19 cases be stopped at the rate the virus has so many variants like the latest one called Omicron? Analysts even say that this variant could also frustrate efforts at economic recovery.

I have a feeling the COVID-19 could even outlast next year. Let’s not be complacent.

••• I’d like to thank all those who remembered me during the Christmas holidays.

Published Monday to Sunday by Philippine Manila Standard Publishing Inc. at 6/F Universal Re Building, 106 Paseo de Roxas, corner Perea St., Legaspi Village, Makati City. Telephone numbers 832-5554, 832-5556, 832-5558 (connecting all departments), (Editorial) 832-5554, (Advertising) 832-5550. P.O. Box 2933, Manila Central Post Office, Manila. Website: www. manilastandard.net

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T

Resilience HE dictionary defines resilience as “the capacity to recover quickly from difficulties; toughness.”

The term can be applied to a variety of situations.

For example, just this month, the Asian Development Bank (ADB) upgraded its growth forecast for the Philippines, citing the economy’s “impressive resilience” during the onslaught of the Delta variant of the coronavirus.

In an update to its “Asia Development Outlook” report, the ADB said it now expects the Philippines to grow 5.1 percent this year, better than its previous projection of 4.5 percent.

“The Philippine economy has shown impressive resilience,” Kelly Bird, country director at ADB, said. “Public spending on infrastructure and continued vaccination of the population will help the country further accelerate its recovery in 2022.”

Of course, these projections were made just before Typhoon Odette (international name: Rai) slammed into the country on Dec. 16, killing more than 370 people and leaving in its wake a swathe of destruction that crippled at least five of the country’s regions the UN described as “catastrophic.”

As the authorities are still taking stock of the damage—to the power grid and telecommunications network, to houses and buildings, crops, agricultural infrastructure, and roads and bridges—economists agree this latest calamity will surely delay

It isn’t too early to consider longerterm solutions to the perennial setbacks we suffer every year. the country’s recovery.

The immediate concern, of course, is to provide relief to the millions of people affected by the typhoon. The presence of at least 10 United Nations agencies, 40 international and local non-government organizations and dozens of private sector groups that are now on the ground to help is a clear indication of the massive scale of the relief effort.

Still, it isn’t too early to consider longer-term solutions to the perennial setbacks we suffer from the 20 or so destructive typhoons that hit the country every year.

Congress, for instance, has proposed the creation of a Department of Disaster Resilience (DDR) to better manage our response to natural catastrophes. The bill creating the DDR has already passed the House of Representatives, but is still pending in the Senate.

The value of such a department, however, should not be limited to more efficiently re-

sponding to natural disasters as they occur, but planning for them in a way that protects our people and our resources, and that limits the damage the country suffers and reduces the time it takes to get us up on our feet again.

In the wake of Odette’s onslaught, government officials said regions battered by the typhoon may have to wait until February 2022 to get power back. An assurance from the Department of Energy that power would be restored in some areas of the Visayas and Mindanao before the May 2022 elections is hardly comforting. Meanwhile, Odette also knocked out telecommunications facilities that effectively cut off the most devastated areas cut off from the rest of the country, making rescue and relief efforts even more difficult.

In the province of Albay, the roofs of some evacuation centers were torn clear off, endangering the lives of the people who sought shelter there.

These are the types of situations a Department of Disaster Resilience should be planning to prevent. How do we make our power and telecommunications systems more resilient against the storms we know will visit every year, so that we don’t have to take months simply to restore service? How do we build more resilient evacuation centers that truly protect our people? If we put our best minds to the task and back them with the resources they need, surely we can have a truly more resilient country.

Peace and education

Will the Palace even make an announcement?

ManilaStandard

B1

EDITORIAL

During the last few decades the Survey of Household Incomes and Expenditure undertaken by the government every three years has regularly found the incidence of widespread poverty in this country - Filipinos living below the poverty line - to be between 20 percent and 25 percent of the population.

The findings of the private survey firm SWS (Social Weather Stations) have been approximating the findings of the government surveys. That percentage of the national population translates to between one out of four and one out of five Filipinos. In a number-of-families terms, that’s around 4.3 million families.

RODRIGO Duterte assumed the Presidency of this country in 2016 with a socio-economic agenda made up of ten items. At the top of the 10-item list were the elimination of crime, corruption and illegal drugs within six months and the ushering in of a Golden Age of Infrastructure. The elimination of widespread poverty was not near the top of the list.

It should have been. Shorn of highflown rhetoric and reduced to the barest essentials, the principal responsibility of a government is the elimination of widespread poverty among the citizenry. That is the core of the social contract that the people of a country enter into with their government. When a government leaves office as poor as when it started its term, it has failed to comply with its contractual obligation. That is the state of affairs as the Duterte administration begins to wind down its six years in office.

There is no precise numerical definition of widespread poverty. The closest that economists have gotten to numerically defining widespread poverty is the laying down of a poverty line, i.e., a line running through a level of income separating a person’s ability and inability to pay for the daily basic needs of a five-member family.

Those who have incomes below the poverty-line figure are officially said to be experiencing poverty; widespread poverty is said to exist when a high percentage of the population have incomes lower than the poverty line. A famous writer, using prose, has described a poverty-line income as the amount of income that makes it possible for a person to “keep body and soul together.”

TUESDAY, DECEMBER 28, 2021

IN MY Christmas Day column last Saturday, I introduced Pope Francis’ message entitled “Dialogue between generations, education and work: tools for building lasting peace” given during the 55th World Peace Day, last 8 December 2021 from the Vatican. To achieve peace, the Holy Father proposed three paths, namely, first, dialogue between generations or intergenerational dialogue as the basis for the realization of shared projects which we already discussed in the first part of this series; second, education as a factor of freedom, responsibility and development. And finally, labor as a means for the full realization of human dignity.

This can be achieved, according to the Holy Father, if “all can work together to build a more peaceful world, starting from the hearts of individuals and relationships in the family, then within society and with the environment, and all the way up to relationships between peoples and nations.

Francis has observed that “in recent years, there has been a significant reduction worldwide in funding for education and training; these have been seen more as expenditures than investments.”

Even in the Philippines, this phenomenon is noticeable. Education has taken the backseat in the hierarchy of priorities such that the proposed budget for education is not commensurate with what is necessary in order to maintain high quality education. As a side note, a 2018 study found that a sample number of 15-year-old Filipino students ranked last in reading comprehension out of 79 countries. They also ranked 78th in science and math. The implication is that a lot of Filipinos can’t read or do simple math. It goes without saying that an uninformed citizenry cannot make informed choices and exercise good judgment. Ignorance, due to poor learning or lack thereof, breeds bigotry, discrimination and misplaced hatred

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

or anger towards those who, because of misconception or clouded judgment, do not conform to their perception of reality, however misplaced. In the words of Francis, “they (education and teaching) are the primary means of promoting integral human development; they make individuals more free and responsible, and they are essential for the defence and promotion of peace.” In a word, teaching and education are the foundations of a cohesive civil society capable of generating hope, prosperity and progress.

Teaching and education are the foundations of a cohesive civil society capable of generating hope, prosperity and progress.

As the Holy Father pointed out, milimili tary expenditures have increased beyond the levels at the end of the Cold War and they seem certain to grow exorbitantly.”

He then suggests for “governments develop economic policies aimed at inverting the proportion of public funds spent on education and on weaponry.” Indeed, never before since the end of the Cold War has the world inched nearer to a worldwide conflict than the present era.

The billions spent for armaments could have been better allotted for the development of peoples and nations, freeing up financial resources better used for health care, schools, infrastructure, care of the land and so forth. ‘ At this point, I wish to emphasize that education and teaching are most important in dealing with one of the greatest existential threats of our time, and that is climate change. Through education, people must learn how to care for mother earth and take heed of its dire warnings in terms of hitherto climactic oddities which we are now experiencing with increasing frequency. Most recently, Supertyphoon Rai or what we locally call

typhoon Odette unleashed its full fury in many parts of the Visayas and Mindanao, leaving so much destruction in its wake.

The Holy Father also expressed hope that “investment in education will also be accompanied by greater efforts to promote the culture of care, which, in the face of social divisions and unresponsive institutions, could become a common language working to break down barriers and build bridges.” According to the Holy Father, it is of utmost necessity, “to forge a new cultural paradigm through “a global pact on education for and with future generations, one that commits families, communities, schools, universities, institutions, religions, governments and the entire human family to the training of mature men and women”. A compact that can promote education in integral ecology, according to a cultural model of peace, development and sustainability centered on fraternity and the covenant between human beings and the environment, is what we need.

In other words, through constructive dialogue and a better understanding, through education, of the problems that confront us, we will be able to social bridge barriers, mend fences and resolve problems/conflicts that can still make genuine peace a reality.

On a personal note, the work I am most proud in this past year, 2022, was my engagement with the Lumad Bakwit Schools in Quezon City, Cebu City, and Davao. The administrators and the teachers of these schools, as well as many of its students and parents, were under constant attack by fascists in and outside government throughout the year but they withstood their ground.

In that process, they have become good friends, fellow travelers in the work to change the country and this world for the better. Their courage, commitment, and inner strength has inspired me and I look forward to working with them to rebuild the community schools in their rightful places.

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World

TUESDAY, DECEMBER 28, 2021 mst.daydesk@gmail.com

Omicron hammers US, hits kids W ASHINGTON —With Omicron cases on the rise, New York health officials have reported an increase in hospitalized children, as the White House promised Sunday to quickly resolve the United States’ Covid-19 test shortage.

The New York State Department of Health warned “of an upward trend in pediatric hospitalizations associated with Covid-19,” in a statement Friday.

In New York City, it “identified fourfold increases in Covid-19 hospital admissions for children 18 and under beginning the week of December 5 through the current week,” it said.

Approximately half of the admissions are younger than five, an age group that

is vaccine ineligible, the department added.

The number of Covid-19 cases in the United States is on the rise, with an average of nearly 190,000 new infections daily over the past seven days, according to figures from Johns Hopkins University.

The arrival of the new Omicron variant, compounded by holiday celebrations that typically include travel and

family reunions, have caused a rush on tests in the United States, where it is difficult to get one in many locations.

Top US pandemic advisor Anthony Fauci on Sunday acknowledged a Covid “testing problem” and vowed to make more tests available to Americans next month.

“One of the problems is that that’s not going to be totally available to everyone until we get to January and there are still some issues now of people having trouble getting tested,” Fauci told ABC News.

“But we’re addressing the testing problem,” he added, saying it should be corrected “very soon.”

On Tuesday, President Joe Biden announced a raft of new measures as the

United States battles its latest Covid surge, including shipping half a billion free home tests in the wake of the Christmastime testing crunch.

However, the White House, whose strategy has for weeks been mainly focused on vaccinations, has faced strong criticism over the fact that many tests won’t be available until January.

Fauci on Sunday emphasized that the administration was ramping up to tackle the spike and stressed that Omicron was “extraordinarily contagious.”

Apart from overwhelming hospitals and Covid testing sites, the Covid variant has forced the cancellation of hundreds of flights in the United States, as crews called in sick or had to quarantine after exposure to the virus. AFP

Myanmar court delays Suu Kyi verdict again YANGON—A Myanmar junta court on Monday again postponed giving its verdict in Aung San Suu Kyi’s trial for illegally importing and possessing walkie-talkies, a source with knowledge of the case said.

The Nobel laureate has been detained since the generals staged a coup against her government on February 1, ending the Southeast Asian country’s brief period of democracy.

Nationwide protests against the putsch have been met with a bloody crackdown, with more than 1,300 people killed and over 11,000 arrested, according to a local monitoring group.

Suu Kyi, 76, was due to hear the verdict on charges she illegally imported and possessed walkie-talkies -- the latest in a catalogue of judgements in a junta court that could see her jailed for the rest of her life.

But the judge adjourned the verdict until January 10, a source with knowledge of the case told AFP, without giving details.

Earlier this month, Suu Kyi was jailed for four years for incitement against the military and breaching Covid restrictions, in a ruling that was widely condemned by the international community.

Junta chief Min Aung Hlaing later commuted the term to two years and said she would serve her sentence under house arrest in the capital Naypyidaw.

Suu Kyi had faced three years in prison if found guilty on the walkietalkie charges, which stem from the early hours of the coup when soldiers and police raided her house and allegedly found her in possession of the contraband equipment. AFP

SUBMERGED. An aerial view of floods caused by heavy rains in Itapetinga, Bahia State, Brazil, on December 26. The death toll from heavy rains that have battered Bahia since November rose to 18 on Sunday, amid incessant torrents that have displaced 35,000 people, authorities said. AFP

Brazil flooding death toll mounts, 35K more displaced SALVADOR, Brazil—The death toll from heavy rains that have battered the Brazilian state of Bahia since November rose to 18 on Sunday, amid incessant torrents that have displaced 35,000 people, authorities said.

Bahia firefighters confirmed the death of a 60-yearold man who drowned in a river in the south of the state on Sunday.

Two people are also missing, while 19,580

have been displaced and another 16,001 forced to seek shelter, bringing the number of people driven from their homes to 35,000, the Bahia civil protection agency Sudec said.

Another 286 people have been injured since the start of the downpours, Sudec added.

According to estimates more than 430,800 people have been impacted, and the situation has only worsened in recent days.

By Sunday afternoon, the number of municipalities in a state of emergency

had risen to 72, of which 58 are in crisis due to flooding, according to Sudec.

“It’s an enormous tragedy,” said Governor Rui Costa, who surveyed damaged areas by plane Sunday.

“I don’t remember something of this dimension in Bahia’s recent history. The number of homes, streets and towns completely under water is truly terrifying.”

A joint operation of federal and state emergency services has been mobilized since Saturday to rescue thousands of residents trapped by the flooding. AFP

S. Africa begins week of mourning for Desmond Tutu; tributes pour in

PURPLE FOR TUTU. Bystanders walk past the Cape Town City Hall litten in purple at night to honor South African anti-apartheid icon Archbishop Desmond Tutu following his death on December 26. AFP

JOHANNESBURG—South Africa began a week of mourning events for anti-apartheid icon Archbishop Desmond Tutu, described as the country’s moral compass, on Monday as tributes poured in from across the world for the outspoken Nobel peace laureate.

Tutu, who died on Sunday aged 90, had largely faded from public life in recent years but was remembered for his easy humor and characteristic smile—and above all his fight against injustices of all colors.

His funeral will be held on January 1 at Cape Town’s St. George’s Cathedral, his former parish, his foundation said in a statement.

South Africa’s President Cyril Ramaphosa called him a man of “extraordinary intellect, integrity and invincibility against the forces of apartheid”.

Ramaphosa said Tutu’s death was “another chapter of bereavement in our nation’s farewell to a generation of outstanding South Africans who have bequeathed us a liberated South Africa,” after the country’s last apartheid-era president FW de Klerk died in November.

Former US president Barack Obama, the country’s first Black leader, hailed Tutu as a “moral compass”.

“A universal spirit, Archbishop Tutu was grounded in the struggle for liberation and justice in his own country, but also concerned with injustice everywhere,” Obama said in a statement.

Mourners gathered at St. George’s Cathedral, while others massed at his home, some holding flower bouquets, according to an AFP journalist.

South Africa’s cricket team wore black armbands in Tutu’s honor on day one of the first Test against India in South Africa.

Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta said Tutu had “inspired a generation of African leaders who embraced his non-violent approaches in the liberation struggle”. AFP

Bangladesh arrests ferry owner after blaze that killed 39 DHAKA—Bangladesh police on Monday arrested the owner of an overcrowded ferry that caught fire and killed at least 39 people last week, after investigators blamed the toll on a disregard for safety.

The blaze broke out in the middle of the night on Friday when many of the ferry’s 700 passengers were sleeping near the southern district of Barguna.

Survivors relayed harrowing stories of having to jump into the Sugandha river from the three-storey ferry, which was only designed to carry 420 people.

Most of the victims burnt to death while others drowned in frigid waters while trying to escape.

Ferry owner Hum Jalal Sheikh was arrested Monday, a police spokesman told reporters, a day after a court issued an arrest warrant for eight people including the cap-

tain and crew of the Obhijaan-10.

Marine police officer Mahbubur Rahman said the vessel did not have adequate fire extinguishers and buoys to face a major mid-river accident.

“We spoke to the survivors and they said the driver of the ferry kept the vessel moving for nearly an hour after its engine room caught fire,” he told AFP. “Had they stopped the ferry and anchored immediately, it could have saved all these valuable lives.”

Experts in Bangladesh blame poor maintenance, lax safety standards at shipyards and overcrowding for the South Asian nation’s frequent maritime disasters.

At least 21 people were killed in August when a boat packed with passengers collided with a sand-laden cargo ship. AFP

NATO chief eyes meeting with Russia BRUSSELS—NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg has sought a meeting of the NATO-Russia Council next month and contacted Moscow to secure its attendance, an alliance spokesman said Sunday.

Stoltenberg has on several occasions in recent months offered to resume dialogue with Moscow through this body, set up in 2002 but currently inactive because of the conflict in Ukraine.

But the Russian authorities have not responded favourably.

“We are in touch with Russia” about the January 12 meeting, said the NATO spokesman, who asked not be identified.

NATO has consistently denounced Russia’s 2014 annexation of Crimea from Ukraine and has called on Moscow to respect its neighbour’s territorial sovereignty.

The West has long accused the Kremlin of providing direct military support to pro-Russia separatists in eastern Ukraine, who seized two regions shortly after Moscow annexed Crimea in 2014.

Russia denies the claims and Putin has suggested that the conflict, which has claimed over 13,000 lives, is genocidal.

The Kremlin has grown increasingly insistent that the West and NATO are encroaching dangerously close to Russia’s borders.

Earlier this month, Moscow presented the West with sweeping security demands, saying NATO must not admit new members and seeking to bar the United States from establishing new bases in former Soviet republics.

The January 12 meeting is the first proposed by Stoltenberg since Moscow made its demands.

A two-day meeting of the military chiefs of NATO’s 30 member states is scheduled to start the same day in Brussels. AFP

Weddington, 76; Lawyer in historic Roe v. Wade case WASHINGTON—Sarah Weddington, who successfully argued the landmark Roe v. Wade case that enshrined abortion as a legal right in the United States, died Sunday aged 76, according to a former student and media reports.

In 1973, Weddington argued on behalf of plaintiff Norma McCorvey — known by the pseudonym “Jane Roe” —against Dallas district attorney Henry Wade in the US Supreme Court.

The top court ultimately ruled that access to abortion was a constitutional right—striking down restrictive state laws.

Weddington is believed to have been one of youngest people ever to win a case before the US’ top court.

She died “after a series of health issues”, former student and Democratic candidate for Texas agriculture commissioner Susan Hays said on Twitter.

Abortion has been legal in the United States for nearly 50 years but remains a bitterly contentious issue, and access to the procedure varies from state to state.

Legal observers expect the conservative-dominated Supreme Court to also overturn Roe v. Wade next year, which would pave the way for total bans at the state level.

In 1998, Weddington expressed alarm when state-led abortion limitations mushroomed nationwide.

“I think of Roe v. Wade as a house that’s sitting on the edge of a beach, where the water is coming under it and taking the sand out,” she said.

“The house is still standing there, but it is more and more in danger of collapsing in the water.” AFP

BRUSH STROKES.

Sea lion Leo uses a brush to paint the Chinese character “tiger”, which is the upcoming new year’s Chinese zodiac sign, during a press preview at Hakkeijima Sea Paradise in Yokohama on December 27. AFP

Business

B3

TUESDAY, DECEMBER 28, 2021 || extrastory2000@gmail.com

Debt-ridden Evergrande vows to finish housing units

PSEi December 27, 2021

TOP GAINERS LAST PRICE

% CHANGE CHANGE

1 2 3 4 5

SPNEC ANI LBC ACEX OPM

1.38 4.84 23.5 41.8 0.011

0.23 0.57 2.5 3.85 0.001

20.00% 13.35% 11.90% 10.14% 10.00%

6 7 8 9 10

OV PBB MM LOTO PHES

0.0096 9.46 2.52 1.86 0.54

0.0008 0.77 0.19 0.11 0.03

9.09% 8.86% 8.15% 6.29% 5.88%

TOP LOSERS LAST PRICE

% CHANGE CHANGE

1 2 3 4 5

FGENG NI TECHW APVI 2GO

100 0.96 0.83 20.1 7.56

-10.8 -0.07 -0.05 -1.15 -0.42

-9.75% -6.80% -5.68% -5.41% -5.26%

6 7 8 9 10

CDC DELM EEI LPZ APX

0.73 15.8 6.45 2.9 1.34

-0.03 -0.62 -0.24 -0.1 -0.04

-3.95% -3.78% -3.59% -3.33% -2.90%

MOST ACTIVE 1

SPNEC

VOLUME 619,955,000

VALUE (PHP) 796,508,760

2 3 4

WLCON CNPF SMPH

9,388,100 9,926,400 4,539,800

290,701,040 273,430,685 156,569,355

5 6

SECB AC

1,138,670 132,370

134,119,665 116,178,505

7 8 9

ACEN BDO ALI

9,973,200 862,120 2,451,900

111,012,842 107,378,714 86,989,540

10

GTCAP

133,070

76,017,395

BOXING DAY SALE. Shoppers, some wearing masks to combat the spread of COVID-19, queue to enter Selfridges department store ahead of their Boxing Day sale in central London on December 26, 2021. AFP

Share prices advance; Solar PH, Century gain S HARE prices climbed Monday on better economic prospects for 2022 amid low COVID-19 cases in the country and a solid gross domestic product performance in the fourth quarter this year.

ing canned sardines brand and Potato Corner, one of the leading food kiosk brands, increased 2.4 percent to P27.55. BDO Unibank Inc., the largest lender in terms of assets, added 2 percent to P125.50 The rest of Asian shares dipped in thin holiday trade on Monday as fears lingered over the impact of the Omicron coronavirus variant.

The highly transmissible strain has sent new cases skyrocketing across the globe, with countries reviving lockdowns, major sports leagues canceling fixtures, and cruise ships returning to port with COVID-infected passengers.

Even in China, where a “zero-COVID” strategy has largely kept infections in check, officials recorded 206 new infections Sunday—a count tiny by worldwide standards, but the country’s biggest such figure in 21 months.

Tokyo fell 0.4 percent, while Shanghai and Seoul also ended lower. Hong Kong and Sydney were closed for a holiday.

The Philippine Stock Exchange Index rose 72.94 points, or 1 percent, to 7,254.80 on a value turnover of P3.9 billion. Gainers edged losers, 87 to 83, with 51 issues unchanged.

Solar Philippines Nueva Ecija Corp., which is building what is being touted as the biggest solar farm in Southeast Asia, surged 20 percent to P1.38, while Wilcon Depot Inc. advanced 3.2 percent to P31.

Century Pacific Food Inc. of the Po Group, which just bought a lead-

“Concerns about Omicron weighed on the market,” said Toshikazu Horiuchi, a broker at IwaiCosmo Securities.

And senior strategist Yoshihiro Ito of Okasan Online Securities warned that “the sense of caution over the spread of infections (due to Omicron) remains strong”.

“The market also lacked strength, with the number of investors limited due to the year-end holiday,” Horiuchi told AFP. On Friday before the Christmas break, markets wavered in similarly subdued trade.

A day earlier on Wall Street, the S&P 500 ended the last session before the long holiday weekend at a fresh record following a raft of mostly decent US economic data.

And a study released Sunday showed US consumers were in the mood to spend over the holiday season, with retail sales soaring 8.5 percent over last year. With AFP

Mustard, fries in short supply due to Canada climate miseries

By Michel Comte OTTAWA, Canada—A mix of drought in Canada’s prairies and flooding on its Pacific coast have brought about crop production and shipping woes now leading to international shortages of fries and mustard.

In Japan, for example, McDonald’s has been forced to ration fries as the British Columbia floods squeezed potato imports, while mustard producers in France are forecasting steep price increases because the drought in another part of Canada— the world’s biggest producer of mustard grains—cut supplies.

“When we look back at the state of the agriculture sector in 2021, we can say this year has been marked by extreme climate change weather events,” Agriculture Minister Marie-Claude Bibeau said in a recent speech.

“That includes the worst drought in 60 years in Western Canada and the devastating atmospheric rivers in British Columbia,” she told livestock farmers and ranchers who’ve struggled to secure enough hay to feed their animals as pastures dried up.

According to government data, farmers in Canada produced more corn but less wheat, canola, barley, soybeans and oats in 2021 compared with 2020.

The lower yields—which Statistics Canada said marked the largest yearover-year decrease on record, falling to levels not seen in more than a decade— were driven largely by drought conditions in Western Canada.

Keith Currie of the Canadian Federation of Agriculture told AFP: “There’s a lot of angst in the farming community.”

In this file photo taken on May 22, 2013, jars of mustard are displayed on a shelf in Gravelbourg, Saskatchewan, Canada. A mix of drought in Canada’s prairies and flooding on its Pacific coast have brought about crop production and shipping woes now leading to international shortages of fries and mustard. AFP

Some farmers have lost everything, others are considering quitting as the future looks bleak.

The Agri-Food Analytics Labs at Dalhousie University publishes a list of the top 10 food-related stories each year. Climate calamities in Western Canada ranked second this year, after food inflation.

“Climate change has strongly impacted agricultural production and supply chains” already strained by the pandemic, its scientific director Sylvain Charlebois told AFP, leading to rising food costs.

“This year saw extremes,” he said, noting a Canadian record high tempera-

ture of 49.6 degrees Celsius in the town of Lytton in British Columbia. It was later destroyed by wildfires.

Subsequent flood devastation in British Columbia showed that Canada’s westward supply links, Charlebois said, “are very, very vulnerable, and not resilient enough to climate change.”

Heavy rains disrupted shipping Because of the drought, meanwhile, mustard seed production in the prairies was halved this year to almost 50,000 metric tons, from 2020.

As a result, the average price is expected to double to “a record $1,700 (1,510 euros) per ton,” according to a Canadian agriculture ministry report.

The French region of Burgundy hosts the vast majority of mustard manufacturers but depends heavily on Canadian farmers to produce the strong, tangy condiment consumed the world over.

Commodity markets analyst Ramzy Yelda noted that droughts in Western Canada occur every 1015 years on average, but this year’s “was particularly brutal.”

“I don’t think we’re done with these kinds of severe weather situations,” added Currie. “We’re going to continue seeing them more frequently.”

On the flip side, it was a banner year for Canadian potato producers who harvested 123,000,000 hundredweight of potatoes, up 18 percent from the prior year.

The United Potato Growers of Canada said most provinces this year “enjoyed excellent harvest conditions without cool temperatures or wet conditions.”

But record downpours in British Columbia that trapped motorists in deadly mudslides, forced thousands to evacuate their homes and destroyed roads, rail lines and bridges in November also cut off the port of Vancouver from the rest of Canada.

That resulted in disruptions to exports from Canada’s largest port.

As a result, McDonalds restaurants in Japan announced that they would only sell small-sized French fries for a week from Friday to avoid running out. AFP

US monitoring dozens of holiday cruise ships hit by COVID-19 MIAMI, United States—US authorities on Sunday were monitoring dozens of cruise ships hit by COVID-19 cases, with several reportedly denied port in the Caribbean.

Over 60 vessels were under observation after “reported cases of COVID-19 have met the threshold for CDC investigation,” the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said.

The Washington Post reported that several cruise liners were denied port at their scheduled destinations.

Brenda Hammer, who was set to board the Odyssey of the Seas, a Royal Caribbean cruise ship, told AFP: “I’m a little nervous about it. I wasn’t sure I still wanted to come.”

Earlier this week, 55 people on the ship tested positive for COVID-19 which spread among passengers and crew members despite 95 percent of people on board being vaccinated, the company said.

Hammer, 69, said that she ultimately decided to go ahead with her vacation because “I already

paid my money.”

The ship did not dock at the Caribbean islands of Curacao and Aruba, the last scheduled stops on its eightday voyage out of precaution, before it returned to port at Fort Lauderdale, Florida on Sunday.

“We’re just being optimistic about everything, even if we can’t get off, we’ve got all our friends with us and hopefully everything inside is on,” said Brij Patel, 45, ahead of boarding.

Another ship, the Carnival Freedom, was turned away from the Ca-

ribbean island of Bonaire, the Post reported.

In a statement to AFP, Carnival confirmed that “a small number on board were isolated due to a positive COVID test.”

“The rapid spread of the Omicron Variant may shape how some destination authorities with limited medical resources may view even a small number of cases, even when they are being managed with our vigorous protocols,” the company said, without providing further details. AFP

BEIJING, China—Embattled Chinese firm Evergrande will deliver almost four times the number of housing units to buyers in December than in the previous three months, its chairman said, as the real estate behemoth grapples with massive debts.

Evergrande—drowning in $300 billion in liabilities—has struggled to repay bondholders and investors after becoming ensnared in Beijing’s deleveraging crackdown on the bloated property sector.

But the group—which officially defaulted on a major bond payment this month—has insisted it will be able to complete tens of thousands of units and pay off some debts.

“Since the company’s troubles began, we delivered fewer than 10,000 units in September, October and November,” chairman Hui Ka Yan—known as Xu Jiayin in Mandarin—told a company meeting Sunday evening, according to a post on Evergrande’s official WeChat account.

“There are only five days left this month, we must charge full steam ahead to guarantee the delivery of 39,000 units this month.”

The new homes are across 115 developments, he said.

“Absolutely nobody at Evergrande is allowed to ‘lie flat’,” Hui added, referring to an internet slang term for “slacking off” popular among young people.

In recent months, the company has repeatedly said it will finish its unfinished projects and deliver them to buyers in a desperate bid to salvage its debts, despite having missed a payment of more than $1.2 billion earlier this month.

Earlier struggles to pay suppliers and contractors due to the debt crisis led to sustained protests from homebuyers and investors at the group’s Shenzhen headquarters in September.

Since then, the bloated firm has tried to sell off its assets and shave down its stakes in other firms, with Hui paying off some of the debts using his own considerable personal wealth.

The provincial government of Guangdong—where the firm is headquartered— is currently overseeing Evergrande’s debt restructuring process, but Beijing has yet to roll back any of the restrictions that prompted the housing crunch.

Having already blamed the firm’s woes on “poor management and blind expansion,” China’s central bank vowed Saturday to protect the rights of homebuyers and promote the healthy development of the real estate market. AFP

American retail sales up by 8.5% this Christmas WASHINGTON, United States—US consumers were in the mood to spend this holiday season, with retail sales soaring 8.5 percent over last year, a study released Sunday showed.

Online sales were up 11 percent and in-store sales up 8.1 percent between November 1 and Christmas Eve, according to the Mastercard SpendingPulse study.

The increase, which was the strongest in 17 years, does not reflect automobile sales.

“Consumers splurged throughout the season,” said Steve Sadove, senior advisor for Mastercard and former CEO of Saks Incorporated.

The boom saw “apparel and department stores experiencing strong growth as shoppers sought to put their best dressed foot forward,” he said.

Americans flocked to clothing, which experienced a 47.3 percent increase in sales year-to-year as well as jewelry, with a 32 percent increase.

The period included several weeks before the Omicron COVID-19 variant spread widely in the United States.

Department store sales were up 21.2 percent, while electronic products experienced 16.2-percent growth.

“It’s been a resurgent season for retailers as consumers stocked their carts with gifts and gadgets,” Mastercard said.

The study also indicated that US households made their purchases earlier than in years past, including to lock in “guaranteed by Christmas” delivery. AFP

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

B4

TUESDAY, DECEMBER 28, 2021

PLDT, Smart plan aggressive network rollout

By Darwin G. Amojelar THE country’s largest telecommunication company has ramped up its network rollout nationwide on the back of a record number of permits secured in 2021.

PLDT and Smart have secured more than 45,000 fixed and wireless permits as of December 21 this year.

“As the economy re-opens and our countrymen continue to recover from the pandemic, the demand for reliable internet connectivity only continues to accelerate. As such, we are one with our government in ensuring faster delivery of quality connectivity to more Filipinos nationwide,” said PLDT Inc. and Smart Communications Inc. president and chief executive Alfredo Panlilio, “Government initiatives such as the streamlining of permitting guidelines for our cell sites and fiber lines are really helpful in expediting the expansion of our network across the country,” he added.

These include the recently signed Joint Memorandum Circular No. 1, Series of 2021 simplifying the permitting process for cable laying, including the erection of poles, construction of underground fiber ducts, and installation of cables and facilities along national, local, and subdivision roads, including pavements and sidewalks.

PLDT’s fiber infrastructure, the country’s most extensive, is at around 615,000 kilometers as of end-September.

The fiber lines also support Smart’s 3G, 4G/LTE and 5G network, which serve 96 percent of the population from Batanes to Tawi-Tawi.

In addition to being the fastest mobile network in the country according to Ookla, Smart also operates the country’s widest 5G network with around 6,400 base stations deployed nationwide.

The initiatives of PLDT and Smart to upgrade their integrated fixed and wireless networks across the country are in support for the government’s call to elevate the quality of telco services in the Philippines.

PLDT and Smart are on track to meeting the 2021 full-year capital expenditure guidance of at least P88 billion.

Business DTI urges Senate to ratify vital Asian free trade deal

By Othel V. Campos

T

HE Department of Trade and Industry urged the Senate to ratify the critical Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) Agreement that will boost economic growth and make the Philippines more competitive in the export market. The deal will take effect on January 1, 2022.

The DTI said in a statement economists and international organizations had vouched the importance of the RCEP Agreement to the Philippines and to the region.

The Philippine Institute for Development Studies said non-participation in

the RCEP will cause the Philippines to miss out on the opportunity to speed up he much-needed economic growth and recovery. A delay or non-participation in the RCEP would lead to a 0.26 percent decline in real gross domestic product of the Philippines.

“Economies that fail to ratify the agreement (when the rest of the countries do) will be adversely affected. The Philippines and Vietnam are among the countries that have positive export growths once the RCEP is in effect, and much of the growth is coming from new-product margin where innovations stem,” said PIDS economist Francis Quimba.

The RCEP is a free trade agreement among the Asia Pacific nations of Australia, Brunei, Cambodia, China, Indonesia, Japan, South Korea, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, New Zealand, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam. The 15 member-countries account for about 30 percent of the world’s population and 30% of global

GDP, making it the largest trading bloc in history.

Quimba estimated that while East Asian countries stand to benefit the most in terms of increased exports, the Philippines and Vietnam will gain the most in terms of real GDP due to lower trade costs and higher factory gate prices.

Meanwhile, a study conducted by a research fellow at the Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University Caesar Cororaton noted that the RCEP is estimated to improve the Philippines’ trade balance by as much as $128.2 million, increase overall welfare by $541.2 million, contribute to a 1.93-percent real GDP growth and lower poverty incidence by 3.62 percent in 2031.

The Asian Development Bank said in a study recognized the RCEP has a strong potential to mold regional trade and investment patterns well into the future and to influence the direction of global economic cooperation at a challenging time.

BANGKO Sentral ng Pilipinas Governor Benjamin Diokno urged foreign investors to take advantage of investment opportunities in the country’s rapid digital transformation and serve as partners in growth and nation-building.

Diokno made the call during the recent Philippine Economic Briefing for Foreign Chambers of Commerce jointly organized by BSP and the Department of Finance.

“As we build our digital finance eco-

POWER RESTORATION. Distribution utilities and electric cooperatives from all over the country sent their linemen to support the organic teams of Aboitiz Power Corp. distribution utility subsidiary Visayan Electric Co. in the repair and restoration of power lines. Visayan Electric aims to restore 80 percentr of power to customers in almost all urbanized areas within the franchise by January 10 next year.

system, we encourage foreign investors who may bring advanced technologies and technical expertise to take advantage of untapped potential in the financial services space and be our partners in achieving our economic growth and financial inclusion objectives,” Diokno said.

Based on the BSP’s 2019 Financial Inclusion Survey, 71 percent or 51.2 million Filipino adults have no bank accounts. Moreover, 30.8 percent of cities and municipalities have no banking offices within their jurisdiction as of the

third quarter of 2020.

By catering to the unserved and underserved, Diokno said financial technology service providers may tap into a wide client base, diversify revenue sources and secure new growth opportunities in the country, thereby improving efficiency in banking operations.

He said the introduction of new technology and knowledge transfer will boost the competitiveness of local banks and expand access to new markets through partnerships and

tie-ups, enabling financial consumers to gain from increased access, lower cost, better products and improved experience.

He said BSP was committed to advocate digitalization reforms to boost the country’s competitiveness and achieve a future-ready financial landscape.

Under its Digital Payments Transformation Roadmap 2020-2023, the BSP aims to convert 50 percent of the volume of retail payments into digital form and bring 70 percent of Filipino adults to the formal financial system by 2023.

CTS Global Equity Group raising P1.37b from initial public offering CTS Global Equity Group Inc., an equities trading firm owned by businessman Edward Lee, plans to raise as much as P1.37 billion through an initial public offering slated in early 2022.

CTS Global in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission it will sell up to 1.375 billion common shares at a price of P1 apiece.

The firm plans to use the net proceeds from the offering will be used to expand company’s global trading operations and account management business.

“The main reason for the company’s IPO is to scale its global trading. Even having already built the concrete trading systems, risk protocols, and trader support infrastructure, CTS Global plans to commit funds in order to continuously develop more traders to pave the way for its future growth,” the company said.

The company set the offering period from February 21 to February 28, 2022.

The shares will be listed and traded on the SME Board of the Philippine Stock Exchange on March 9, 2022.

Monday, December 27, 2021 72.94 PTS. 7,254.80

TOTAL VOLUME TOTAL TRADES TOTAL VALUE (IN PHP) ADVANCES DECLINES UNCHANGED

1,096,669,436 50,336 3,872,851,710.67 87 83 51

F oreign e xchange r ate Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas • MONDAY, DECEMBER 27, 2021

Currency

Unit

US Dollar

Peso

United States

Dollar

1.000000

50.0200

Japan

Yen

0.008744

0.4374

UK

Pound

1.339700

67.0118

Hong Kong

Dollar

0.128203

6.4127

Switzerland

Franc

1.088258

54.4347

Canada

Dollar

0.780579

39.0446

Singapore

Dollar

0.735727

36.8011

Australia

Dollar

0.722200

36.1244

Bahrain

Dinar

2.652661

132.6861

Saudi Arabia

Rial

0.266312

13.3209

Brunei

Dollar

0.733030

36.6662

Indonesia

Rupiah

0.000070

0.0035

Thailand

Baht

0.029931

1.4971

UAE

Dirham

0.272287

13.6198

Euro

Euro

1.132200

56.6326

Korea

Won

0.000843

0.0422

China

Yuan

0.157055

7.8559

India

Rupee

0.013338

0.6672

Malaysia

Ringgit

0.238493

11.9294

New Zealand

Dollar

0.681800

34.1036

Taiwan

Dollar

0.036117

1.8066 Source: BSP

IN BRIEF

ERC clears first unit of GNPower Dinginin

THE Energy Regulatory Commission granted GNPower Dinginin Ltd. Co. a certificate of compliance for the first unit of its 724.965-megawatt Dinginin coal plantin Sitio Dinginin, Barangay Alas-Asin, Mariveles, Bataan.

“With the issuance of a COC to GNPD, it can now commercially operate and inject power to the Luzon Grid that will provide the much needed additional power supply to meet the increasing demand for power this holiday season and up to the election period,” said ERC chairperson and chief executive officer Agnes Devanader.

GNPD’s generation facility is composed of two 668-MW net supercritical coal-fired power plant. Its associated facilities are linked to the Luzon Grid through an interim connection to the Mariveles Substation.

The COC granted to GNPD, however, only covers Unit 1, as Unit 2 is still undergoing construction and has completeed test and commissioning.

GNPD, in consultation and coordination with National Grid Corporation of the Philippines and the Department of Energy, moved its internal test for Unit 1 on November 30, 2021 due to the current demand and supply situation. Alena Mae S. Flores

Arroyo: PH to become first world economy

Diokno asks foreign investors to take advantage of PH’s digital shift

By Julito G. Rada

PSE INDEX CLOSING

Upon listing, CTS Global will have a market capitalization of P6.875 billion and a public float of 20 percent.

CTS Global, formerly Citisecurities Inc., was established to engage in the business of equities trading. It currently has pool of over 30 traders who actively manage a combined capital amounting to ₱550 million.

CTS Global registered a net income of P27.1 million in the first nine months of 2021, up 207 percent from P8.8 million in the same period last year.

Lee is also the chairman and founder of COL Financial Group Inc., a leading and largest online trading platform in the Philippines. COL Financial was previously under CTS Global before it was spun off in 1999.

CTS Global has engaged SB Capital Investment Corp. as the issue manager, underwriter and bookrunner of the offering.

CTS Global is one of the two companies with pending IPO applications with the SEC. The other one is Bank of Commerce, an affiliate of San Miguel Corp., which plans to raise P4 billion.

Jenniffer B. Austria

FORMER President and House Speaker Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo envisions the Philippines as a first-world economy.

Arroyo, who made economic development as the centerpiece of her nine-year administration from 2001 to 2010, expressed hope that the Philippines would become an advanced economy or first-world country within this generation.

First world refers to high-income and industrialized nations such as the United States, Japan and Germany. The Philippines is currently ranked as a middle-income economy, but the National Economic and Development Authority predicts that the country will attain the upper middle-income status by 2022.

Upper middle-income countries have gross national income (GNI) per capita of more than $4,000. The next step is advanced or first-world countries―those with GNI per capita income of $12,700 or more.

The 38 quarters of economic growth under the Arroyo administration from 2001 to 2010 lifted the country’s per capital income.

The Philippines also survived the global financial crisis with stronger finances during her term.

Arroyo said she would like to see the Philippines become a first-world country in her lifetime, replicating the feat of her father, the late President Diosdado Macapagal, whose term saw the Philippines become the second richest Asian nation after Japan.

Select BDO branches open on December 30

BDO Unibank Inc. said Monday select BDO branches will be open on Rizal Day, December 30, until 4:00 p.m. For guidance, please visit https://www.bdo.com.ph/branch-updates Meanwhile, all BDO branches will be open on December 31 until 2:00 p.m. and closed on January 1.

BDO is a full-service universal bank in the Philippines. It provides a complete array of industry-leading products and services including lending (corporate and consumer), deposit-taking, foreign exchange, brokering, trust and investments.

It is also into credit dards, retail cash cards, corporate cash management and remittances.

BINONDO CENTER. Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas Governor Benjamin Diokno (third from left) and China Bank president William Whang (second from left) lead the ceremonial ribbon cutting ceremony to inaugurate the genuinely restored China Bank Binondo Business Center. They are joined by (from left) China Bank director Ricardo Chua, chief finance officer Patrick Cheng, National Historical Commission of the Philippines chairman Rene Escalante and National Museum Deputy Director General Ma. Rosenne Flores-Avila.

Fruitas prepares listing of bakery chain Balai, eyes P309m in proceeds

By Jenniffer B. Austria FOODCART operator Fruitas Holdings Inc. plans to list newly-acquired bakery chain Balai Pan de Sal on the Philippine Stock Exchange to raise much as P309 million in proceeds.

Fruitas said in a disclosure to the stock exchange Monday its board approved the offering of 375 million common shares of Balai plus an over allotment option of up to 37.5 million

shares to be sold at P0.75 apiece.

“We evaluated several capital-raising options to fund the next phase of growth of Balai. Given the significant growth prospects of the bakery sector, distinct from the kiosks within Fruitas Holdings, we decided to undertake an IPO for Balai,” Fruitas president and chief executive Lester Yu said.

“This will provide Balai its own resources to take advantage of the opportunities presented to it,” he added.

Fruitas in June acquired Balai, which had only five outlets at that time. Fruitas has since expanded to 23 stores.

“The primary proceeds will be used to expand Balai’s store network in major Philippine cities and establish its own commissary to serve more customers. Part of the new capital will also be utilized to explore the possibility of acquiring other baked goods firms to broaden the company’s current product offerings,” Yu said.

Sports

TUESDAY, DECEMBER28, 2021

Phoenix’s Wright named Cignal Play Best Player

Phoenix Super LPG’s Matthew Wright beat San Miguel’s Terrence Romeo and CJ Perez, Magnolia’s Paul Lee, Jio Jalalon, and Calvin Abueva, Meralco’s Chris Newsome, TNT’s Mikey Williams, Alaska’s Maverick Ahanmisi, Jeron Teng, and Robbie Herndon for the Best Player of the Week title.

PSC to discontinue planned PATAFA-EJ Obiena mediation

By Peter Atencio

T

HE Philippine Sports Commission will step back from mediation talks involving pole vaulter Ernest John “EJ” Obiena and his mother federation the Philippine Athletics Track and Field Association.

The sports agency said this after Obiena refused to be subjected to the PSC-initiated mediation process and instead made a decision to let the Philippine Olympic Committee and the International Olympics Committee handle the complaint that he has filed against his federation.

“The Philippine Sports Commission humbly informs the public that we are discontinuing the mediation offer. The agency leaves the mediation table, respecting the decision of Mr. Obiena, who chose to submit to procedures conducted by other institutions,” the PSC statement said.

“We have to underscore that mediation should be the first course of

Dolphins grab share of 2nd spot in B.League AMERICAN import Scott Eatherton, Bobby Ray Parks Jr. and two others scored in double digits as the Nagoya Diamond Dolphins subdued the Kyoto Hannaryz, 87-73, Sunday night in the 2021-22 B.League at the Dolphins Arena in Aichi, Japan.

The 6’2” Eatheron and Parks unloaded 14 and 12 points, respectively, for the Diamond Dolphins, who posted their 16th win in 23 games in the West District.

This allowed the Diamond Dolphins to climb to a share of second place with the Shimane Susanoo Magic and firm up their place in the quarterfinal round.

The Ryukyu Golden Kings are solidly in the lead with their 20-3 winloss slate after putting away the Yokohama B-Corsairs, 81-79, last Saturday, and 79-66, on Sunday.

Coty Clarke and Robert Dozier shot 14 and 10 points, respectively, for the Diamond Dolphins, who moved away, 64-55, at the end of the third period.

Earlier, the Diamond Dolphins won over the Hannaryz, 84-53, with Clarke making 12 points, and Parks contributing five.

Meanwhile, Kiefer Ravena complemented Ovi Soko’s big game as the Shiga Lakestars completed two-game sweep of Niigata with a 90-77 win Sunday at Ukaru-chan Arena.

Ravena had 10 assists in the game against just one turnover with eight points, steering the Lakestars to a 9-14 slate and into a share of seventh spot with the Shinsu Brave Warriors.

Kobe Paras did not see action after he was benched by Albirex BB. The Lakestars’ win allowed them to bounce back from 78-59 loss on Saturday, with Paras subbed out by head coach Tadaharu Ogawa for committing a turnover. The 6’6” Filipino import was seen on the bench frustrated. Peter Atencio

action being the more peaceful, equitable, confidential, voluntary option to resolve issues,”continued the PSC, which, despite Obiena’s refusal, is still open to mediation.

“The PSC though is keeping its doors open to the process should both parties agree to it in the future,” the statement ended.

In his post on Facebook, Obiena explained that a process involving the POC and IOC is already going on.

“I believe it’s appropriate to allow this process to finish unencumbered by outside matters such as a parallel mediation process. I believe it’s right to allow

several more days for the POC process to conclude,” he wrote.

Obiena was recently questioned by his mother federation on his liquidation paperworks concerning Ukrainian coach Vitaliy Petrov’s 85,000 euro funding allocation.

In an affidavit signed by top World Athletics’ official Sergey Bubka and a written statement

by Petrov, the coach initially alleged that he “did not receive any monthly coach’s fees for the years 2018, 2019, 2020, and 2021,” for his services to Obiena.

Petrov, however, later retracted his statement in a zoom conference with the Filipino pole vaulter, saying he was already paid in full, but only last November.

The discovery led the PATAFA to send Ernest John Obiena

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

a letter to Obiena, asking him to explain the discrepancies in his liquidation reports, which bore the signatures of Petrov, at a time when it was apparent he wasn’t paid yet.

Claiming harassment, Obiena filed a complaint before the Athletes Commission and Safe Sports Technical Working Group of the POC, while a similar one was sent to the IOC. Obiena’s complaint was lodged against the PATAFA and its president Philip Ella Juico, saying his federation was attempting to collude with coaches to fabricate statements, coercing to solicit doctor-patient privileged communication, psychological abuse, bullying and neglect of duty.

MATTHEW Wright and the importless Phoenix Super LPG couldn’t have wiggled out of their slump at a perfect time than on Christmas day in front of a sizeable crowd at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.

And the Fuel Masters couldn’t have caught a bigger fish than erstwhile unbeaten NLEX following a 103-92 win in the two-day PBA Christmas special dubbed ‘Season of Joy.’ With import Paul Harris playing just a little over two minutes owing to due to an injury, Wright took matters into his own hands and finished with a game-high 23 points to hand Phoenix a fitting Yuletide present and arrest a two-game skid before the league enters the New Year.

The ace guard laced the performance with six triples on top of nine rebounds and four assists to bag the third Cignal Play–PBA Press Corps Player of the Week award after NLEX’s Kevin Alas and Ginebra’s Arvin Tolentino.

“As bad as we played in our last two games, Matt said that we just have to keep on playing. That it’s either we go all the way with three straight losses or we stop the streak of NLEX,” said coach Topex Robinson on Wright’s leadership in a win that also served as his sweet birthday present.

Robinson celebrated his 47th birthday on Christmas as Phoenix climbed to a 3-2 record.

“These guys are really motivated, especially our leaders,” added Robinson, also crediting the solid contributions of Justin Chua, Chris Banchero, Jason Perkins, RJ Jazul, and Aljun Melecio in a huge Phoenix win sans Harris.

Chua, who uncorked 19 points and six boards, was also considered for the weekly citation for the period Dec. 22-26.

Other candidates for the honor handed out by the men and women regularly covering the PBA beat were San Miguel’s Terrence Romeo and CJ Perez, Magnolia’s Paul Lee, Jio Jalalon, and Calvin Abueva, Meralco’s Chris Newsome, TNT’s Mikey Williams, Alaska’s Maverick Ahanmisi, Jeron Teng, and Robbie Herndon.

The Apprentice: ONE Championship hits Netflix in ‘22 “THE Apprentice: ONE Championship Edition” is set for a global takeover once its first season premieres to over 150 countries via Netflix by the first quarter of 2022.

This development comes after ONE’s adaptation of the popular business reality television show won Best Non-Scripted Entertainment and Best Adaptation of an Existing Format at the Asian Academy Creative Awards 2021 (AAA).

After a successful run in Asia, ONE Chairman and CEO Chatri Sityodtong is excited to finally showcase the ‘toughest Apprentice yet’ to the world.

“The first season of the ‘The Ap-

prentice: ONE Championship Edition’ was a smashing success. After a fantastic reception in Asia, it’s time for the rest of the world to experience the toughest and most unique version of ‘The Apprentice’ in history,” Sityodtong said.

“On behalf of ONE Championship, I am truly honored for all the support we have received for the show, and I’m excited to premiere the series to a broader audience.”

The show pits 16 candidates from various parts of the globe with diverse corporate backgrounds. At stake is a US$250,000 job offer to work as Sityod-

tong’s direct subordinate at the ONE global office in Singapore.

Some of the biggest stars in mixed martial arts like Rich Franklin, Renzo Gracie, and Georges St. Pierre graced the show to facilitate various physical challenges.

Current ONE stars like Demetrious “Mighty Mouse” Johnson, ONE Women’s Atomweight World Champion “Unstoppable” Angela Lee, and ONE Women’s Strawweight World Champion “The Panda” Xiong Jing Nan also appeared in the show, among others.

The hit series launched in Asia earlier this year, and its premiere episode

garnered an estimated four million viewers. It became the most-watched 2021 season premiere of an all Englishlanguage reality TV series in Asia.

That episode’s broadcast reach is better than other reality competition premieres, including “America’s Got Talent” Season 20, “MasterChef Singapore” Season 2, “The Voice” Season 20, and “The Masked Singer” Season 5.

Its run in Asia also garnered 30 million cumulative viewers for an average reach of 3.5 million per episode.

Catch all the ONE Championship action by downloading the ONE Super App.

Bucs, Rams, Chiefs, Cardinals clinch NFL playoff berths WASHINGTON—Tom Brady and reigning Sony Michel ran a career-high 27 times for a Super Bowl champion Tampa Bay clinched season-best 131 yards and a Rams touchdown an NFL playoff berth on Sunday by defeating and Brandon Powell scored on a 61-yard punt Carolina 32-6, securing the Buccaneers’ first return for Los Angeles. division title since 2007.

Minnesota’s defeat allowed Arizona (10-5) to The Los Angeles Rams, Kansas City Chiefs clinch a playoff berth as well despite a Saturday and Arizona Cardinals also sealed post-season loss to Indianapolis. spots thanks to Sunday’s results while New The Green Bay Packers, with an NFL-best England missed a chance to clinch with a 33-21 12-3 record, and Dallas Cowboys had already home loss to Buffalo. clinched NFC playoff berths, meaning five of Brady, the 44-year-old quarterback who seven NFC post-season spots are claimed with has won a record seven Super Bowl titles, Philadelphia and San Francisco, both 8-7, the completed 18-of-30 passes for 182 yards and teams to beat for the others. a touchdown while Ke’shawn Vaughn and Washington visited Dallas later, but the Ronald James each ran for touchdowns to Cowboys clinched the NFC East title thanks to spark the Bucs.

Las Vegas beating Denver 17-13.

Tampa Bay captured the NFC South division Derek Carr completed 20-of-25 passes for crown and reached the playoffs in consecutive 201 yards and a touchdown to spark the VeTom Brady of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers is shown on the sidelines seasons for the first time since capturing the gas triumph. during the fourth quarter in the game against the Carolina Panthers 2003 Super Bowl.

Patrick Mahomes threw for 258 yards and at Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte, North Carolina. AFP “I’m not taking anything for granted,” Brady three touchdowns as Kansas City secured a said. “Winning the division is hard to do. We’ve sixth consecutive AFC West division crown by reer and for a 13th consecutive season. earned it. We’re 11-4. It’s not the greatest record in the The Rams also reached 11-4 and boosted their NFC routing Pittsburgh 36-10, the host Chiefs winning their world but it’s certainly not the worst either.

West-division lead to a game over Arizona with a 30- eighth game in a row to become the first AFC team to “We’ve lost some tough games. I think we’ve 23 victory at Minnesota. secure a playoff berth. learned from each of those losses. Everything is New England failed to become the first AFC play“Punched a ticket to the playoffs, but we know that’s ahead of us. We’ve got to finish these next two not the end goal,” Rams coach Sean McVay said. off team as Buffalo’s Josh Allen completed 30-of-47 games really strong and we’ll see where things Matthew Stafford threw for 197 yards and a touch- passes for 314 yards and three touchdowns to ignite stack up after that.” down but was intercepted three times by Vikings de- the Bills, who overtook the Patriots to lead the AFC Brady is in the playoffs for the 19th time in his ca- fenders.

East at 9-6. AFP

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Sports

TUESDAY, DECEMBER 28, 2021

Thailand books place in Suzuki Cup final SINGAPORE—Thailand booked their place in the AFF Suzuki Cup final for a ninth time in 13 attempts after they held defending champions Vietnam to a goalless draw on Sunday in the second leg of the semi-finals to complete a 2-0 aggregate victory.

The Vietnamese dominated possession at Singapore’s National Stadium but could not break down the resolute defense of the Thais, who have conceded only one goal in six matches on their run to the final.

The War Elephants will attempt to win the Asean football title for an unprecedented sixth time when they face Indonesia in the final.

Both legs will take place in Singapore with the first leg on Wednesday and the return game on New Year’s Day. Vietnam coach Park Hang-seo made five changes to his line-up from the first leg and his team exerted much of the pressure as they sought to turn around the two-goal deficit.

But the Thai defense allowed few clear-cut chances despite suffering a blow in the 31st minute when goalkeeper Chatchai Bootprom had to be replaced after he was injured in a clash with Nguyen Tien Linh.

Siwarak Tedsungnoen came off the bench and made a good save shortly afterwards to keep out Nguyen Quang Hai’s free-kick.

As the first half came to a close, Ho Tan Tai headed a corner narrowly wide and Quang Hai fired wastefully high over the crossbar as Vietnam turned up the pressure.

At the other end, goalkeeper Tran Nguyen Manh was called into action just before half-time as he made a fine save to deny Theerathon Bunmathan.

The Thais continued to frustrate their opponents after the interval with Vietnam’s best efforts falling to Quang Hai, who sent a 49th minute free-kick narrowly wide before forcing Siwarak into a diving stop nine minutes later.

The replacement keeper also snuffed out efforts by Phan Van Duc and Nguyen Hoang Duc as the Thais gradually took the sting out of their opponents to seal their passage to the final. AFP

This handout photograph released by Rolex shows, SHK Scallywag 100 (right), Stefan Racing (second from right), Black Jack (second from left) and Law Connect, competing out of Sydney harbour at the start of the Sydney to Hobart yacht race. AFP

Rough weather batters Sydney to Hobart race

S

YDNEY—Treacherous conditions have pummelled the annual Sydney to Hobart yacht race, forcing dozens of withdrawals as Black Jack led a tight battle for line honors.

Sunday’s starting f leet of 88 yachts for one of the world’s toughest ocean events was cut down to 59 by Monday afternoon, as competitors peeled off after suffering damage or minor injuries to crew.

A close scrap for line honours was being fought out at the front of the pack between super maxis Black Jack, SHK Scallywag, LawConnect and the slightly shorter 80-foot (24m) Stefan Racing.

Black Jack, skippered by Mark Bradford, was race leader as they headed into the Bass Strait.

“Last night wasn’t too bad, the breeze got up a bit and it was pretty wet for a while. We managed to get through,” Ty Oxley, captain of Law-

Connect, said.

Crowds had turned out to watch the boats race out of Sydney Harbour on Boxing Day after Covid-19 forced the blue-water classic’s suspension in 2020.

But the pandemic continued to cause problems. Before the start, four yachts were forced to retire, leaving 88 entrants at the starting line including 17 two-handed crafts, which are allowed to take part for the first time.

It was a sharp reduction from the 157 boats that set out in 2019.

In a dramatic start to this year’s race, a major technical problem cost the 100-foot SHK Scallywag prime position to LawConnect after leading out of the heads.

Numerous withdrawals followed, as southerly winds -- which reached 30 knots overnight -- whittled the competition down.

Weather is a critical factor in the 628-nautical-mile (1,200-km) race down Australia’s east coast to the Tasmanian capital.

Six men died, five boats sank and 55 sailors were rescued during the 1998 spectacle when a deep depression exploded over the fleet in the Bass Strait.

The latest weather update predicted south to southeasterly winds to ease on Monday evening in the Strait and onto Tasmania’s coast.

Depending on the weather, the fastest super maxis are expected to arrive in Hobart at some point on Tuesday.

Though the first yacht to reach the finishing line grabs most public attention, the main prize for sailors is regarded as the handicap honours, which take account of the size of the yachts. AFP

Shapovalov tests positive for COVID-19

SYDNEY—World number 14 Denis Shapovalov has tested positive for COVID-19 after arriving in Sydney, he said Sunday, highlighting the virus threat to the Australian Open.

The 22-year-old was among the first players to enter Australia ahead of the ATP Cup teams event from January 1, where he was supposed to be playing for Canada, and with the first Grand Slam of the year three weeks away.

He said on Twitter he was experiencing mild symptoms and isolating—the latest player who competed at an Abu Dhabi exhibition this month to get coronavirus.

“Hi everyone, just wanted to update you that upon my arrival in Sydney, I tested positive for Covid,” Shapovalov said.

“I am following all protocols, including isolation and letting the people who I’ve been in contact with know.

“Right now I am experiencing minor symptoms and look forward to getting back on the court, when it is safe to do so.”

Shapovalov played Rafael Nadal in Abu Dhabi, with the Spanish superstar later also testing positive for Covid, throwing his plans for the Australian Open into chaos.

Australian Open chief Craig Tiley last week said he was confident the former world number one would still play at the Melbourne event, which is due to start on January 17. AFP

Nuggets hold off Clippers; Bulls beat Pacers LOS ANGELES—Denver and their NBA Most Valuable Player Nikola Jokic thwarted a furious Clippers rally to emerge with a 103-100 victory in Los Angeles on Sunday.

The Nuggets saw their 17-point third-quarter lead evaporate, falling behind by nine with 9:04 remaining only to rally for the narrow victory.

Jokic scored 26 points and pulled down 22 rebounds for the Nuggets. Will Barton added 17 and Austin Rivers and Monte Morris scored 12 points apiece as Denver avoided the kind of collapse that saw them waste a 19-point lead in a loss to Charlotte on Thursday.

Luke Kennard drained a three-pointer with 19 seconds left to pull the Clippers within one at 101-100.

But Jokic was fouled on an inbounds play and made two free throws to push Denver’s lead to three and Brandon Boston’s three-point attempt at the buzzer for Los Angeles didn’t fall.

Boston and Eric Bledsoe led Los Angeles with 18 points apiece. Ivica Zubac scored 17 points and grabbed 11 rebounds for the Clippers, who were playing their first game since announcing that Paul George would miss at least three weeks with a torn ligament in his right elbow.

LaVine lifts Bulls In Chicago, the Bulls were buoyed by the return of Zach LaVine from Covid protocols in a 113-105 victory over the Indiana Pacers.

LaVine scored 32 points and DeMar DeRozan added 24 for Chicago, who led most of the way en route to their third straight win.

LaVine, who hadn’t played since December 11, admitted he’d been frustrated to be ruled out because of Covid concerns.

“But that’s the world we’re living in right now,” he said.

“Everybody in the league and the world is dealing with it right now, so I’m not doing a poor-me mentality.”

Elsewhere, Jimmy Butler returned from an eight-game injury absence to post a double-double in the Miami Heat’s 93-83 victory over the Orlando Magic.

Butler, who was sidelined with a bruised tailbone, scored 17 points and pulled down 11 rebounds, handing out four assists and coming up with three steals.

It couldn’t have been more timely after Miami guard Kyle Lowry on Saturday joined the parade of NBA players sidelined by Covid-19 concerns.

Miami were also without regular starters Bam Adebayo and P.J. Tucker. Orlando were even more short-handed and the teams reached halftime with Miami holding a slim 4239 lead, despite connecting on just 37.8 percent of their shots from the field.

Six three-pointers in a 30-point third quarter helped the Heat pull away. They led by as many as 18 in the fourth period.

Coping with inevitable injuries has become more problematic for all teams amid the wave of coronavirus cases in the league that mirror the rise of the Omicron variant in the United States.

The Magic had six players in the league’s Covid protocols on Sunday, with another player cleared to return but still absent because of conditioning issues. Another six players were out with injuries.

“You expect the unexpected,” Magic coach Jamahl Mosley said.

In Cleveland, the Cavaliers thrashed Toronto 144-99 in the Raptors’ first game since December 18.

The Raptors, who had three of their past four scheduled games postponed because of lack of available players, had the league minimum eight on Sunday -- four on regular contracts and four signed under the league’s hardship rules.

“We haven’t done a thing since our last game,” Toronto coach Nick Nurse said before the game.

Kevin Love and Darius Garland scored 22 points each for the Cavs, who tied a club record with 46 points in the third quarter.

It was another lopsided affair in Washington, where Philadelphia’s Joel Embiid scored 36 points and grabbed 13 rebounds in the 76ers’ 117-96 victory over the Wizards, who were without top scorer Bradley Beal because of Covid. AFP

Nikola Jokic of the Denver Nuggets drives to the basket against Serge Ibaka of the Los Angeles Clippers during the fourth quarter at Crypto. com Arena. AFP

Entertainment

Nickie Wang, Editor nickie.standard@gmail.com TUESDAY, DECEMBER 28, 2021

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‘Spider-Man’ surpasses $1b globally in second weekend at the tills THE hit new Spider-Man became the first billion-dollar-grossing film of the pandemic era over the Christmas weekend, reaching the milestone while holding firmly to the North American box office top spot, industry watcher Exhibitor Relations said Sunday.

Spider-Man: No Way Home, British star Tom Holland’s third solo outing in the wildly popular role, has grossed $467.3 million in North America and $587 million internationally, raking in more than $1 billion over 12 days and proving analysts’ predictions that it could reach the milestone sum.

It rocketed to that benchmark at a speed Tom Holland (left) and Benedict Cumberbatch in Columbia Pictures’‘Spider-Man: No only matched by 2015’s Star Wars: The Force Way Home.’ (Photo from Sony Pictures)

Awakens, according to industry outlet Variety, and comes even as the rapid spread of the Omicron COVID-19 variant casts a pall over holiday outings worldwide.

Sony’s latest installment to the comic-inspired series took an estimated $81.5 million in North America for the three-day period over the Christmas weekend, holding its top spot after scoring the third-biggest domestic opening of all time with more than $260 million, smashing early estimates.

Its debut box office sales trailed only 2019’s Avengers: Endgame ($357 million) and the previous year’s Avengers: Infinity War ($258 million), according to the BoxOf-

ficeMojo website.

With an estimated $23.8 million, Sing 2, Universal’s star-studded animated jukebox musical follow-up to Sing, was this weekend’s runner-up. It beat out two other new series installments: The Matrix Resurrections from Warner Bros, which sees Keanu Reeves reprise his iconic role as Neo, underperformed at $12 million.

In fourth place, also earning less than expected, was 20th Century’s spy prequel to the Kingsman films, The King’s Man, with $6.4 million. Lionsgate’s American Underdog slid in at number five on its opening weekend with an estimated $6.2 million. AFP

Is Kim ready to settle down?

I

N THE recent media conference for the horror vehicle Huwag Kang Lalabas, which is part of the ongoing Metro Manila Film Festival, Kim Chiu averred that her relationship with Xian Lim remains strong.

Queries about their relationship surfaced when Xian started doing projects for GMA, while Kim remains a loyal ABS-CBN star.

“It’s good that Xian and I support each other. Even if he is with the rival camp now, it doesn’t affect our personal relationship,” Kim said.

The actress and television host admitted that she fully understands her boyfriend’s decision.

“What matters is where he will find a job. Like now, he has an upcoming teleserye. I believe it’s a good decision since things are still hanging in ABS-CBN. We don’t know what will happen next,” Kim said alluding to Xian’s TV project called False Positive opposite Glaiza de Castro.

“The network has no projects for him. We talked about it and he said, ‘Where do I stand?’ So, he is just thankful to GMA for taking notice of him. Where there is work, that’s where he’ll be.

We’re just working separately but our relationship is strong. It’s not the whole year that he’ll be in a lock-in taping. It’s just for a month. Actually, it’s just okay if we don’t see each other during that time frame. At least, we’ll be missing each other, right?”

Kim and Xian have been steadies for a decade already. Many are curious if at this point they have wedding plans.

TV host Boy Adunda with GMA Network executives and talents of GMA Artist Center (below).

Kim Chiu is a scene from Adolf Alix Jr.’s ‘Huwag Kang Lalabas.’

“I believe it’s not right for a girl to talk about marriage especially if the guy hasn’t proposed yet. So, I don’t know about it.

The best person to ask is Xian himself,” Kim said.

Asked if she would be ready if Xian popped the question, Kim just smiled and said: “I’ll cross the bridge when I get there.

But one thing’s for sure: we love each other.”

Meanwhile, Kim felt ecstatic when their fil became part of the annual MMFF. Huwag Kang Lalabas is a horror trilogy and she stars in the episode titled “Hotel.” In this episode, she is joined by Jameson Blake, Tina Paner, Allan Paule, Rico Barrera, and Brenda Mage.

Shot in Baguio, the film is directed by Adolf Alix, Jr. “I committed to this project because I already miss acting.

It’s been a while since my last acting assignment. This is quite challenging for me because I’m easily scared in real life. I accepted it without knowing that it will be shown in cinemas and be part of the MMFF. I’m both glad and proud of this development,” ended Kim.

Kim maintains that her relationship with Xian Lim remains strong.

SNAPSHOT

New Matrix film holds US premiere in San Francisco DIRECTOR Lana Wachowski and the cast of The Matrix Resurrections celebrate their US premiere in San Francisco.

The new film reunites original stars Keanu Reeves (in photo) and Carrie-Anne Moss in the iconic roles they made famous, Neo and Trinity.

In The Matrix Resurrections, return to a world of two realities: one, everyday life; the other, what lies behind it. To find out if his reality is a physical or mental construct, to truly know himself, Mr. Keanu Reeves

Anderson will have to choose to follow the white rabbit once more.

And if Thomas…Neo… has learned anything, it’s that choice, while an illusion, is still the only way out of—or into— the Matrix. Of course, Neo already knows what he has to do. But what he doesn’t yet know is the Matrix is stronger, more secure, and more dangerous than ever before.ss The film is distributed worldwide by Warner Bros. Pictures. It will be in Philippine theaters on Jan. 12.

King of Talk Boy Abunda mentors GMA stars AS GMA Artist Center strives to deliver on its promise to develop globally competitive talents, seasoned TV host and Philippine King of Talk Boy Abunda shared his expertise as mentor during the third batch of the Breakout Room: Master Class Series last Nov. 16 and 23.

Abunda, who has been in the show business as a talk show host for more than two decades, taught the art of public speaking to more than 20 Artist Center talents.

Julie Anne San Jose, Rayver Cruz, Ken Chan, Rita Daniela, Barbie Forteza, Martin Javier, Sophia Senoron, Kyline Alcantara, Luane Dy, Glaiza De Castro, Jose Sarasola, Patricia Tumulak, Gil Cuerva, Ruru Madrid, Miguel Tanfelix, Derrick Monasterio, Sanya Lopez, Ysabel Ortega, Sanya Lopez, Bianca Umali, Khalil Ramos, Gabbi Garcia, Ashley Rivera, Rocco Nacino, Arra San Agustin, Lexi Gonzales, and Rain Matienzo were present during the virtual workshop.

Consultant for Comedy, Infotainment, Game and Reality Productions Bang Arespacochaga, Senior Vice President for Entertainment Group Lilybeth G. Rasonable, Senior Assistant Vice President for Alternative Productions Gigi SantiagoLara, and GMA Artist Center Consultant Johnny Manahan also attended the event.

“As in all my classes, I don’t say I’m go-

ing to teach you what you want to do,” said Abunda at the beginning of the workshop.

“Instead, I would like to help you discover yourselves. I’d like to help you discover your power to tell your story. I’d like to journey with you as you explore, as you examine, as you provoke your question, and most importantly, as you commit mistakes along the way. One of the best ways to learn in the talk business is to commit mistakes.”

Before the actual workshop, the Philippine King of Talk sent out a declaration that urged the artists not to judge themselves as they practice public speaking.

“Learn all the rules because only then can you break them. Sometimes the best way to create something original is by breaking it. And breaking it is sometimes by committing mistakes,” encouraged Abunda.

The second round of the public speaking workshop was more interactive as artists were required to participate in a mock interview presentation.

The Breakout Room: Master Class Series is a virtual roundtable discussion where top-notch mentors impart knowledge about their craft. More talented industry experts, leaders, and professionals will join in the next sessions as GMA Artist Center continues to provide international standard workshops for its artists.

‘House of Gucci’ to open in Philippines INSPIRED by the shocking true story behind the Italian fashion house of Gucci and based on Sara Gay Forden’s The House of Gucci: A Sensational Story of Murder, Madness, Glamour and Greed, published in 2001, and with a screenplay by Becky Johnston and Roberto Bentivegna, the latest Ridley Scott film House of Gucci brings together a powerhouse of iconic and talented actors and crew that tells the story of the real-life family drama set at the critical era of the famed Italian fashion empire’s history.

Ridley Scott, best known for his works in classic films such as Alien, Blade Runner, Gladiator, and Thelma & Louise, brings his latest film to cinemas around the globe a thrilling exploration of three decades in the tangled history of the multi-generational Gucci family, a tale of ambition, greed, betrayal, and murder.

Oscar nominees Adam Driver and Lady Gaga take on the roles of Maurizio Gucci and Patrizia Reggiani respectively, along with Oscar winners Al Pacino as Aldo Gucci, Jeremy Irons as Rodolfo Gucci, and Jared Leto

as Paolo Gucci while Oscar nominee Salma Hayek plays Pina Auriemma.

House of Gucci is the latest in Ridley Scott’s unforgettable lineup of films for having his unique touch of visual sense meant for the big screen experience. From his classics and now, House of Gucci – call to mind indelible images in the minds of viewers, each film unique and distinctive.

The reason, according to producer Walsh, is that “he hand-draws every single frame of the movie. By the time he gets to the set he’s done months of preparation and everyone knows exactly what they’re doing on any given day. The attention to

detail is mind-blowing.”

“It’s almost as though the cast were all different musical instruments,” says Lady Gaga, “like an orchestra – everything from the drums to the bass to the brass to the woodwinds and strings. And because we’re all so different as actors, Ridley is the one conducting a symphony of all these different orchestral elements.”

House of Gucci not only depicts the end of the Gucci family’s control over its vast fashion empire, but the waning days of privately-owned fashion labels and the onset of conglomerate control of the industry.

In that regard, says production designer Arthur Max, the film is a “rollicking romp with all the Adam Driver sounds and looks of the peand Lady Gaga riod and the world in which in the crime the main characters lived and drama ‘House of Gucci.’ played. As the story unfolds, however, you witness how these characters interact and how off-kilter their lives become. A sad tale really, but told in a very entertaining way.”

From Universal Pictures International, House of Gucci opens Jan. 19 in Philippine theaters.

Life

Nickie Wang, Editor nickie.standard@gmail.com

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FOOD AND TRAVEL

TUESDAY, DECEMBER 28, 2021

Finding refuge amidst nature in Hamilo Coast

Staying close to nature improves physical, mental, and spiritual well-being.

B

EING confined in one’s home for an uncertain duration, with limited movement and access, required drastic adjustment, with some people inevitably experiencing higher levels of anxiety. Mechanisms for survival took many forms, including preserving as much of a sense of normalcy as strict quarantines allowed.

For many, this meant relocating out of the city, away from urban congestion and higher risks of COVID-19 infection, to more open spaces.

Communities like Hamilo Coast in Nasugbu, Batangas, a mere 90-minute drive from Manila, cradled between mountain ridges and the sea, provided ideal locations close to what has proven to be the most powerful antidote to modern chaos: nature itself.

For many Hamilo Coast residents like human resources manager Jessica Clara Belardo, relocating, for the time being, was not a difficult decision.

“Due to the rapid increase in COVID-19 cases in Metro Manila, we decided to look for a secure and less crowded place nearby where we could stay for at least a year and avoid exposure. We found out that Hamilo Coast was the perfect fit for our family,” Belardo says.

Hamilo Coast is obviously on to something.

In a February 2021 article on the website PositivePsychology.com, Madhuleena Roy Chaudhury wrote about “The Positive Effects of Nature on Your Mental Well-Being” where she also cited that “staying close to nature improves physical, mental, and spiritual well-being; it makes us feel alive from the inside, and we should not compromise it for recent developments like urbanization, technology, or social media.”

Chaudhury, a psychologist, mentioned a host of other benefits of being close to nature, including emotional regulation and memory, fighting depression, reducing the stress hormone cortisol, and improving focus and creativity.

This is validated by people who now live and work in their Pico De Loro Cove homes in Hamilo Coast after work-from-home arrangements became the norm. With the stress of traffic and commuting eliminated and the option to hold virtual meetings with a view now available, productivity and well-being have increased significantly.

“As a working mom, one of the best benefits I have experienced and am still enjoying is the perfect work-life balance,” says Belardo.

“I can do my work remotely and take care of my child and family while enjoying the beach and other facilities. Plus, my son is really having a great time here.”

“The free strong WiFi and internet connection are among the benefits,” says finance executive and general manager Willard Mosquito. “Then there are lots of places to work even outside the unit, such as the Beach Club.

You can bike and swim during free time on weekends, enjoying the beauty of nature.

There’s also a very nice chapel where you can pray, reflect, and meditate.”

Developed by SM Prime’s Costa Del

New place to get your milk tea fix YOU drive into a milk tea, infused with differ differgasoline station to ent flavors (there’s one for every load gas, have your mood). Add to that the Choco oil, tires and waMalty Milk ter level checked Te a and perhaps take a break and buy snacks.

How about which adding an order or two of your favorite Chatime Milk Tea and its new flavor, the Choco Malty Overload? Yes, your craving for bubble tea can be satisfied at the Shell Mobility Station.

Chatime officially became The popular milk tea brand introduces new flavors. the first beverage brand to open at what is dubbed as the Site transports you to your childhood of the Future in Acienda Silang , years, drinking Ovaltine and enjoyCavite. ing its malty chocolatey goodness.

Also, find your happiness in the Whether you’re a motorist on your way to Batangas, a biker cruising the widely popular Pearl Milk Tea and road to Tagaytay or a homeowner other favorites such as the Matcha who lives nearby, you now have ac- Red Bean, Taro Milk Tea, Cream cess to Chatime in Shell Acienda Si- Cheese Choco Hazelnut, as well lang’s Select store where its kiosk is fruity teas and refreshers. Add lots of soft, chewy and addicting pearls for conveniently located.

Imagine sipping freshly brewed an even more satisfying drink.

Hamilo, Inc., Hamilo Coast is considered the first premiere sustainable community in Nasugbu, combining nature and man-made excellence in residential properties and amenities. Many homeowners had, in fact, chosen to settle here even before the lockdowns.

When the pandemic came, extra safety and security measures adopted by the Property Management Team on a 24/7 basis, including seeing to homeowners’ needs, made life much easier.

“The ambiance of the place is relaxing, the security is tight, the place is less crowded, safety protocols are being strictly implemented, and the staff is very helpful,” says Belardo.

“More important, the guards, receptionists, and maintenance guys are very respectful, friendly, and firm on the rules and guidelines,” agrees Mosquito.

Indeed, despite all the chaos in the city, some people have fortunately found an ideal pandemic cocoon. Hamilo Coast is a masterplanned seaside residential community in Nasugbu, Batangas, developed and managed

by Costa del Hamilo, Inc., a subsidiary of SM Prime.

For inquiries, call (632) 7945-8000, check out www.hamilocoast.com, or follow them on www.facebook.com/hamilocoastph or Instagram @hamilocoastph.

There are plenty of outdoor activities to do in Hamilo Coast such as biking while enjoying the views of nature.

Many homeowners had chosen to settle in Hamilo Coast because the ambience is relaxing, the security is tight, the place is less crowded, safety protocols are being strictly implemented, and the staff is very helpful.

A commercial pilot’s travel hacks

By Josh Mercado AS THE country’s major tourist destinations begin to emerge from lockdown and we slowly ease back into normalcy with restrictions being lifted, travel is making its much-awaited comeback in our lives.

All of a sudden, travel photos are popping up in our social media feeds.

In case the almost two-year wait has made you forget what it was like to explore the world outside, here are some helpful hacks from former showbiz hopeful-turned-licensed pilot Mann Ed Demalata.

1. Travel light. Check your schedule and count the number of clothes you will be needing. Save yourself from the extra baggage weight by planning your outfits beforehand. The extra space will leave you room for some souvenirs.

2. Use the restroom at the airport departure area. This will help minimize the need to use the inflight lavatory. Apart from sanitary reasons, we all know the struggle of having to excuse ourselves from strangers to get to the lavatory if we’re assigned the window seat.

3. Upon check-in, ask the agents to place a “fragile” sticker on your baggage even if the items inside are not breakable.

This is to ensure extra protection for your luggage especially if you are carrying designer brands.

4. Always bring fully charged power banks or portable chargers for your devices like camera, mobile phone, and tablet. Capturing picture-perfect moments

After his short-lived showbiz career, Mann Ed Demalata is now living his best life as a social media personality and a commercial pilot.

and making emergency calls are priceless.

5. Bring a noise cancellation headset or ear buds. Keep yourself entertained during lull times by streaming your favorite series or jamming with your customized playlist. Additionally, snorers and crying infants are unavoidable so save yourself from the inconvenience.

6. Board as early as possible so that overhead bins will be available closest to your seats. Trust me, it will be a lot easier when you can readily get your luggage out for deplaning.

7. Bring a basic medicine and first aid emergency kit. This will come in handy in case any of you feel sick or encounter an accident. Do not forget to include your vitamins and supplements!

8. Arm yourself with information.

Make sure you are updated with the COVID-19 data, travel requirements, and protocols in your destination. Whether you are going local or international, making sure you have the necessary documents or testing results will save you time

and effort.

9. Always have rubbing alcohol with you. Carry a tightly-sealed bottle (one with a nozzle seems easy to use) to avoid spillage. Bring a maximum of 100ml as a hand carry item and just place more in your check-in luggage so you can refill later. You can use clear tape around the cap and place the bottle in a resealable bag.

10. Bring your own sunshine. Make sure you have a cheerful attitude with you as you go out there and conquer. After all, that is what vacations are for.

Apart from flying, Capt. Demalata dedicates some time to sharing his experiences on social media. As a former actor, he remains sociable and loves interactions. These days, Demalata happily provides information and airline sneak peek to his more than 230,000 followers on Instagram.

Get more travel tips or just personal updates from our pilot-on-call by following him on Instagram with the same user handle (@pilotoncall).