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Rody: Fly home OFWs in HK

Plight of Pinoy workers saddens him

By Vito Barcelo

P

RESIDENT Rodrigo Duterte ordered the immediate repatriation of some overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) in Hong Kong who were fired by their employers after testing positive with COVID-19 and being forced to sleep in parks and streets.

In his late-night public address Monday, Duterte said he was saddened to learn of the unfortunate plight of OFWs infected with the virus as a result of the recent surge of COVID-19 cases in the Chinese special administrative region.

Hong Kongers stripped shop shelves

bare Tuesday as panic buying set in following mixed messaging from the government over whether it plans a Chinastyle hard lockdown this month.

Uncertainty over Covid rules has sent the city’s residents flocking to supermarkets, chemists and vegeta-

ble stores to stock up, leaving shelves empty across the city (see full story in World, Page B3 – Editors).

“Our government is promptly responding to the situation, primarily through our Consulate in Hong Kong, and has been providing protection and assistance to our kababayans such as ensuring and securing isolation facilities for their fast recovery,” Duterte said.

He directed Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana to spearhead the operations for repatriation services.

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NOWHERE TO GO. A Hong Kong police officer walks past the belongings of a foreign domestic helper, who wonders where to go on her Sunday rest day. AFP

Virus wave deepens grim state of domestic helpers HONG KONG—Janice Obiang stifled sobs as she packed goods to send to the Philippines, gifts for loved ones she hasn’t seen in years as life for domestic workers in virus-hit Hong Kong goes from bad to worse.

Few have suffered more during Hong Kong’s pandemic restrictions than the hundreds of thousands of women from

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the Philippines and Indonesia who work as domestic helpers.

And as the city reels under its most severe coronavirus wave to date, many are now at breaking point.

“I really want to move, I really want to have a vacation,” Obiang said, as a police officer with a megaphone gave Next page

PEOPLE ARE BACK. Commuters cross the intersection of Taft Avenue and United Nations in Manila on Tuesday, while in Quezon City, they line up on the pedestrian overpass as they wait to board the EDSA Carousel bus at the Nepa Q-Mart bus stop along EDSA (inset) – two of several signs Metro Manila is easing into the ‘new normal’ after the two-year battle with COVID-19.

Norman Cruz and Manny Palmero

Long COVID sets in people hospitalized Command conference maps out plans for protracted Ukraine crisis

By Vito Barcelo

By Willie Casas ABOUT half of the people who were hospitalized for COVID-19 have experienced the disease’s long haul effects, a government adviser said on Tuesday.

National Task Force (NTF) Against COVID-19 medical adviser Dr. Ted Herbosa, in an ANC interview, said that people who develop long COVID continue to have inflammation in the

PRESIDENT Rodrigo Duterte convened a special meeting Tuesday night with law enforcement authorities and businessmen to plot the country’s se-

curity and defense plans and mitigating measures that would alleviate the impact on the country of a prolonged conflict between Russia and Ukraine.

Duterte headed the joint Armed Forces of the Philippines-Philippine

National Police command conference at Malacanang, as the authorities joined Cabinet members and business leaders in laying out contingency measures and assessing scenarios in case the battle in eastern Europe, which is entering its

Palace: No rule yet to suspend online ‘sabong’

By Vito Barcelo and Macon Ramos-Araneta

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Russia-Ukraine talks: No clear breakthrough

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THE Palace said Tuesday there is no documentation to show that the President has suspended e-sabong or online cockfighting permits, despite a statement from Senate President Vicente Sotto III that he did.

In a public forum in Lucena City,

seventh day today, lingers.

The President said Cabinet Secretary and acting Palace spokesman Karlo Nograles would release details of the plans today (Wednesday).

COMMAND CONFERENCE. President Rodrigo Duterte (left) talks to members of the Armed Forces of the Philippines, Philippine National Police, the business sector and his Cabinet Tuesday night as they assess Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and what the country can do to ease its ill effects. RTVM screen grab

MOSCOW—The Kremlin on Tuesday said it was too early to draw conclusions from a first round of talks held with Ukraine on ending the war following Moscow’s invasion last week.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said President Vladimir Putin had been informed about the talks and that “it is too soon to assess” their outcome.

Russian and Ukrainian officials met on Monday on the border between Belarus and Ukraine for the first talks since the outbreak of war.

Peskov said Moscow will “analyse” the outcome of the talks.

Meanwhile, NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg on Tuesday said Putin had “shattered peace in Europe” by invading Ukraine, adding that the Western defense alliance would defend “every inch of our territory”.

He spoke during a visit to the Lask air base in NATO member Poland, whose neighbor Ukraine has been fightNext page

BBM, Sara to resume stumping together; Bicol groups back UniTeam

By Maricel V. Cruz and Rey E. Requejo

TOGETHER AGAIN. Presidential candidate Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr., vice presidential bet Sara Duterte-Carpio, and

Narvacan, Ilocos Sur Mayor Luis “Chavit” Singson cut the ribbon to open the League of Municipalities of the Philippines General Assembly 2022 at Resorts World Manila in Pasay City. Earlier, Duterte and Lakas-CMD President and Majority Leader Martin Romualdez debunk reports the party was selling fake UniTeam ID cards for 20 pesos each. Ver Noveno

THE UniTeam tandem of presidential candidate Ferdinand Marcos Jr. and vice presidential candidate Sara Duterte-Carpio will be campaigning together more in the coming days.

Lakas-Christian Muslim Democrats (CMD) President and House Majority Leader Martin G. Romualdez made this promise late Monday afternoon when asked during a press conference in Davao City on what would be next for the frontrunning UniTeam.

“We will be unveiling the schedules for the month of March, and you will be seeing actually more of the UniTeam campaign together,” said Romualdez, Duterte’s campaign manager.

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3,663,059 1,067

51,592

56,451

0

3,555,016

1,652

(As of 4 PM, March 1)

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WEDNESDAY, MARCH 2, 2022

mst.daydesk@gmail.com

‘F2F classes will boost recovery’

By Vito Barcelo and Willie Casas

T

HE nationwide resumption of face-to-face or in-person classes would boost the economy’s recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic, the National Economic and Development Authority said Tuesday.

midst,” Nograles added.

NEDA said this was on top of the estimated P16.5 billion to be added to the country’s gross domestic product each week that the entire Philippines is under Alert Level 1.

Chua said the P12 billion per week additional economic output would come from the resumption of “services around the schools like transport, dorms, food stalls, school materials and so on.”

The country’s chief economist said that the Philippine economy had lost P22 trillion for the two years of faceto-face learning closure.

Meanwhile, the effects of declaring Alert Level 1 amid the COVID-19 pandemic on the National Capital Region and 38 other areas would be seen only from 10 to 14 days after its implementation, the Department of Health said.

“The public needs to understand that

whatever the effects of Alert Level 1 are, they will be seen in 10 to 14 days.),” Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire said during a Palace briefing.

Vergeire said that updates about the public’s compliance with the minimum public health standards during the first day of the implementation of Alert Level 1 might be given on March 2.

“We cannot say, for example, that a sudden increase of two cases tomorrow is the effect of Alert Level 1. So far, we have no updates, maybe tomorrow,” said Vergeire.

In related developments, the de-escalation of the National Capital Region as well as several other areas, to a COVID-19 Alert Level 1 can help the country with its economic recovery and reduce the effects of the conflict between Russia and Ukraine, the independent monitoring OCTA Research Group said.

During a Palace briefing, Socioeconomic Planning Secretary and NEDA chief Karl Kendrick Chua said opening all 60,743 schools for in-person learning would increase economic activity

by P12 billion per week.

But a Malacanang official expressed caution, saying “COVID 19 is still here,” as he reminded the public not to be complacent after Metro Manila and 38 other areas were placed under most relaxed Alert Level 1 which started March 1.

Palace spokesman and Cabinet Secre-

tary Karlo Nograles reiterated his call to individuals who are not yet vaccinated against the COVID 19 to comply with minimum health protocols.

“We must continue to avoid another spike in infections and a return of quarantine restrictions. Our reaching Alert Level 1 may be regarded as a victory, but this is not yet the time to celebrate,” he said.

“We need to be responsible to ourselves, our families, and our communities. Even if we have controlled it, the threat of COVID-19 remains in our

Virus...

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DOH: Only 10m got booster shots, but more available

regular reminders for people not to gather in groups.

“But I don’t have a choice, we need to stay,” the 36-year-old told AFP, adding it had been four years since she went home. “We really miss our family.”

There are about 340,000 foreign domestic helpers in Hong Kong, down from 400,000 when the pandemic began.

Paid a minimum of HK$4,630 ($590) a month, they work six days a week and must live with their employers, in a city that offers some of the world’s smallest apartments.

While the work is tough, it pays more than the women can earn in the Philippines, allowing them to support families as key breadwinners.

But the pandemic has made a hard job even harder.

For two years Hong Kong kept the coronavirus at bay with a strict zeroCovid policy and long quarantines, meaning most foreigners have not seen family for long periods.

The highly transmissible Omicron variant broke through at the start of the year, but authorities have been ordered by China to return to zero-Covid despite the exponential caseload.

As a result, the government has taken to advising Hong Kongers to keep domestic workers inside during their one day off.

Police have also stepped up fines –the equivalent of one to two months’ salary for a domestic worker –- for breaching the current ban on any more than two people gathering in public.

Avril Rodrigues said her phone has not stopped ringing with stories of intensifying suffering and dismay.

“Imagine thinking ‘I am not allowed to fall sick’ out of fear of losing your job,” Rodrigues, who works at the charity Help for Domestic Workers, told AFP. But that is exactly what is happening to some.

She recalled one woman calling from outside one of Hong Kong’s hospitals as they buckle under thousands of new infections each day. “(Her employer) made her do a rapid test because she had a slight cold and when she went to the hospital, the employer told the agency to inform her ‘Don’t come back,’” Rodrigues said. AFP

Palace:...

From A1 Quezon, Sotto said government efforts to locate 31 missing online cockfighting enthusiasts or “sabungeros” who were linked to game fixing would continue after President Rodrigo Duterte agreed to suspend the licenses of seven e-sabong companies that might be con-

BBM,...

From A1 According to him, seeing the two top poll aspirants together on stage always draws an “explosive” reaction from voters.

“We have felt the warm reception of the people in whatever place that the UniTeam visited. This is proof that the message of the UniTeam campaign has resonated to the broad masses of people, and they really like to see Mayor Inday Sara with BBM campaign together so we will try to also give that to the people,” Romualdez said.

Next President must continue drug war—Rody

By Vito Barcelo and Ray E. Requejo PRESIDENT Rodrigo Duterte said Monday night he wants his successor to continue his war against illegal drugs, but with more “ferocity” as he expressed worries the drug problem would make a resurgence after his term ends.

In his late-night public address, Duterte said he wants the next President to maintain his administration’s campaign against illegal drugs, but with a different approach.

While expressing that he is not worried about the International Criminal Court’s (ICC) impending investigation into his drug war, the President said the drug problem is so widespread that the fight will go on even after his term ends on June 30, 2022.

“I hope that whoever would sit as President, would continue this — if not the ferocity that I did, and I accept it, maybe even a little lower than my standard,” he said.

In a related development, Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra has invited the United Nation to send its two special rapporteurs to come for an official visit to the country late this year or next year.

In his virtual speech delivered before the 49th Session of the UN Human Rights Council (HRC) last February 28, Secretary Guevarra extended the Philippines invitation to two special rapporteurs.

“The Philippine government has invited two special rapporteurs to undertake official visits to the country between now and next year,” Guevarra told UNHRC members.

ditional shot in several drugstores, Herbosa said.

“You don’t have to pay. There’s no fee. You don’t have to be a resident, all you have to do is show your vaccination card,” he told ANC’s Headstart.

The booster shot allows one’s immune system to “produce more antibodies which gives protection to new variants like omicron, BA.2,” Herbosa said.

“We made it (booster shots) earlier to three months because we were having an omicron surge, but really after your second dose it’s after six months to 8 months is when it starts to wane... If

you’re fully vaccinated your immunity does not disappear, but your antibodies wane,” he said.

There is no government mandate on getting a fourth shot, Herbosa said.

“There is no value, the scientific evidence shows no value in getting four shots,” he said.

Under Alert Level 1, vaccination cards will no longer be required in public transportation but are required in some establishments such as gyms, restaurants, bars, and other enclosed spaces, said Herbosa, citing a resolution of the Inter-Agency Task Force Against COVID-19.

the largest ethnic minority in the Chinese city.

The Philippine Consulate General in Hong Kong said Tuesday about 190 OFWs now have COVID-19.

Labor attaché Melchor Dizon said 16 OFWs have recovered, while the rest are on the mend in isolation facilities.

The Philippine Overseas Labor Office has also prepared a boarding house for OFWs who cannot return immediately to their employers.

Manila is also coordinating with various non-governmental organizations to help OFWs with COVID-19.

Dizon said some employers are hesitant to take back OFWs after they con-

tract COVID-19, but the POLO is talking to them to reconsider.

Some of the workers came to the end of their contracts with their employers and thus could not return, he told TeleRadyo.

According to the POLO tally, about 123 OFWs with COVID still have live contracts with their employers.

“We have no reports that they have been terminated. Here, (OFW contract) termination must be reported to the immigration. They can’t just do it at a whim,” Dizon said.

Employers would face a penalty of HK$100,000 if they fired OFWs for COVID-19, the Hong Kong government warned.

ing back against a Russian offensive that is now on its sixth day.

“President Putin has shattered peace in Europe. Allies condemn the unjustified and brutal invasion of Ukraine,” Stoltenberg told reporters alongside Polish President Andrzej Duda.

“The Russian assault is totally unacceptable, and it is enabled by Belarus. NATO allies provide support to Ukraine,” he said.

Stoltenberg stressed that as a defensive alliance, “we do not seek conflict with Russia”, but said it was prepared to defend itself and had recently beefed up its eastern flank.

“Our commitment to article 5, our collective defense clause, is iron-clad.

We will protect and defend every inch of NATO territory,” he said.

“Russia must immediately stop the war, pull out all its forces from Ukraine, and engage in good faith in diplomatic efforts. The world stands with Ukraine in calling for peace.”

Russian forces struck cities in eastern Ukraine and massed armored vehicles and artillery near the capital Kyiv on Tuesday, as Western powers promised further sanctions to bring down Russia’s economy.

On the sixth day of Russia’s invasion, officials in Ukraine’s second city, Kharkiv, said the Russian army had shelled the local administration building.

An AFP reporter saw the windows of the building were blown out and there was rubble all around it.

Local authorities in Mariupol on the Azov Sea also said their city was without power after bombing.

In Kherson on the Black Sea, Russian army checkpoints were reported at city entry points.

“The mask has finally dropped. Russia is actively shelling city centers, directing missiles and shells directly at residential areas and government buildings,” an adviser to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Twitter.

“Russia’s aim is clear -- mass panic, civilian victims and the destruction of infrastructure. Ukraine is valiantly fighting back,” wrote the adviser, Mykhailo Podolyak.

More than 350 civilians have been killed in the fighting and hundreds of thousands of Ukrainians have fled into neighbouring countries.

Russia has defied mounting global pressure and international pariah status to press ahead with its invasion and initial ceasefire talks between Moscow and Kyiv on Monday failed to secure a breakthrough.

Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu on Tuesday said Russia would continue its offensive “until set goals are achieved”. AFP

nected to the case.

But Nograles said no official document has been transmitted either to Malacanang or to the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. (Pagcor) to suspend online cockfighting.

E-sabong or the remote wagering of bets in live cockfights is a P50billion industry in the Philippines and employs at least 385,000 people, with many working as farm workers and

cockpit staff.

“On this matter, there should be a Senate resolution recommending the suspension, which will be sent to the Philippine Gaming Corporation, which will then give its advice to the Office of the President,” Nograles said.

“As of the moment, there is no indication that there is a Senate resolution to that effect, given to Pagcor or even to the Office of the President,” he added.

“These are all reports that we read in the newspaper. These are reports that we hear,” Nograles said.

Meanwhile, Senator Ronald dela Rosa said senators want to transfer the authority to issue online e-sabong licenses from Pagcor to Congress.

In an interview on radio dzBB, Dela Rosa said this is one of the recommendations being discussed in a bid to properly regulate online cockfighting activities.

In a caption for a video it released of the meeting, Radio TV Malacanang said: “The discussions include security and defense plans; economic, trade and human resource implications of the Russia-Ukraine conflict; and, mitigating measures and contingency plans and programs to be installed to alleviate the effects of a prolonged Russia-Ukraine conflict to the Philippines.”

Earlier, Duterte said during his “Talk to the People” on Monday night: “I am assigning Secretary Nograles as sole spokesperson. I will meet the military, police, Cabinet members, but maybe not all of them. But it is an invitation for all so we can exchange ideas and come up with a sensible front on how to handle these things.”

“We will discuss what is evolving or what is happening in Europe. I want you to listen to how important it is that we know everything,” Duterte said.

The President said members of the Cabinet would also attend, adding “everybody is invited.”

“The invitation is for all so we can have an exchange of ideas with the military and police, and the businessmen so they can come up with a sensible front on how to handle these things.”

Duterte, who in the past described Russian leader Vladimir Putin as his “idol,” urged the public to follow the discussion, saying Filipinos do not yet have “a good grasp” on the situation.

The Palace did not say whether the meeting would be televised.

Putin’s unprovoked invasion of Ukraine has triggered widespread condemnation, with the United States, Canada and the European Union imposing harsh sanctions on Russia, including freezing of bank deposits, and the stopping of gas pipelines and military exports to Russia.

Meanwhile, the Department of Foreign Affairs on Tuesday said 13 Filipinos from Ukraine were expected to arrive in Manila last night. With Macon Ramos Araneta and Maricel V. Cruz

Still, Marcos and Duterte would split up on the campaign trail whenever needed, as this would allow them to cover more ground with less than three months to go before the May 2022 polls.

“You will see a more cohesive, a more coordinated, a more focused and a more successful campaign. You will see the best campaign ever waged in the Republic of the Philippines for we have no other than our chair of Lakas-CMD here, taking the cudgels for not just the party but for the UniTeam making sure that we will win these elections. That is why we are proud,” he said of the presidential daughter.

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include “brain fog” or the inability to think well, and fatigue, especially among athletes.

If people suffer these symptoms, Herbosa said they should continue their consultation with their physicians.

Now that the National Capital Region (NCR) and several other areas are under Alert Level 1, Herbosa said there should be a paradigm shift from the government telling people what to do to people regulating themselves to help limit the spread of COVID-19 infections.

The Inter-Agency Task Force (IATF) approved placing the NCR and 38 more areas under a COVID-19 Alert Level 1

from March 1 to March 15.

Aside from this de-escalation to the “new normal,” Herbosa said March 1 marks the first anniversary of the country’s COVID-19 vaccination drive.

“We started one year ago, March 1, 2021, the first day of people being vaccinated with the Sinovac vaccine. Today, we have vaccinated 63 million Filipinos, fully vaccinated, and 10 million with boosters. We got here because of these very good efforts to vaccinate the people,” he said.

The Philippines logged 1,067 new COVID-19 cases on Tuesday, bringing the total case count to 3,663,059, the Department of Health (DOH) reported.

By Willie Casas and Macon Ramos-Araneta AN ADVISER to the government pandemic task force urged fully-vaccinated individuals Tuesday to get their booster shots as only 10 million have received their additional doses ahead of Metro Manila and 38 other areas’ shift to the lowest alert level.

According to Dr. Ted Herbosa, around 63 million Filipinos have been fully vaccinated so far.

Those who have received two doses three months prior may receive an ad-

Rody:...

From A1 Lorenzana is now closely coordinating with the Department of Foreign Affairs and the Consulate for the deployment of government air assets, such as C130s, and/or chartered commercial flights to be sent for those who want to be repatriated.

Reports said at least 45 OFWs were displaced and forced to stay in parks after they were rejected by their employers.

There are some 220,000 Filipino workers in Hong Kong. They constitute

Russia-Ukraine...

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brain, heart, or lungs despite having recovered from COVID-19.

“What we’ve discovered is that it’s actually very high among the hospitalized.

If you are hospitalized for COVID, ICU, as high as 50 percent continue to experience what we now term as long haul COVID or long COVID,” Herbosa said.

Herbosa, however, said that someone who has recovered from the viral disease is no longer infectious even if he or she still exhibits symptoms.

Some of long COVID’s symptoms

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News

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 2, 2022 mst.daydesk@gmail.com

Duterte hails his Cabinet execs for ‘job well done’

Salceda: PSA bill is now in PRRD office

By Maricel V. Cruz ALBAY Rep. Joey Sarte Salceda said the enactment of the Public Service Act amendments (PSA) will help create local jobs as well as reduce dependency on overseas Filipino workers.

Salceda, chair of the House ways and means committee and first principal author and principal sponsor of Bill 78, or the Public Service Act amendments made the statement as he confirmed the measure was transmitted to President Duterte’s office Monday and is expected to be signed by the President in the coming days.

Calling the reform “the most important economic reform since the CREATE Law,” Salceda says the reform “comes in handy as we are looking for growth that will not be debt-driven but investment-driven.”

“The PSA amendments will be very crucial for economic recovery. Our freedup fiscal space will be limited due to COVID-19 debts. So, in place of government spending, we need another source of capital for our public investment needs. Foreign direct investments will help fill that gap,” Salceda said.

Salceda adds that the measure will be particularly important to “closing the country’s investment gap,” as the bill, once enacted, “will encourage investment in sectors that are essential to public welfare.”

The measure effectively opens up to 100 percent foreign equity all economic sectors in the country except the transmission and distribution of electricity, water pipeline, and sewerage, seaports, petroleum pipeline, and public utility vehicles.

Salceda said the measure is the closest that the country has been to overcoming the “growth overhang caused by the 1987 Constitution’s foreign equity restrictions.”

“Prior to these amendments, we were the only country on the planet to limit foreign equity in certain industries on the basis of implication. We just assumed that all public services are public utilities. The Constitution only explicitly limits foreign capital in the latter, not the broader category.”

‘PAL will still require face shields in flight’

PRESIDENT Rodrigo Roa Duterte on Monday commended anew his Cabinet members for the job well done, saying he’d be happy to pass them on to the next administration for the benefit of the Filipino people.

In his prerecorded “Talk to the People,” Duterte said he would have been done nothing as the country’s President without the help of his Cabinet members.

Duterte said he got the “best minds” in his Cabinet, and it would be better if their good works can be continued even in the next government.

The Chief Executive thanked Department of Transportation (DoTr) Secretary Arthur Tugade after the latter reported the Duterte administration’s long list of accomplishments in the transportation sector.

“I was actually looking at your slides and the way you’ve—you have not changed, your passion for achievement [always] been there. I’m old actually, maligaya ako para sa bayan na kinuha kita.

Salamat (I’m happy for the country that I brought you in. Thank you) for your tireless toil and I am ready to pass you on to the next administration as a gift,” Duterte told Tugade after his presentation.

Duterte is likewise impressed with National Task Force (NTF) Against Covid-19 chief implementer and vaccine czar Secretary Carlito Galvez Jr. for relentlessly working on the country’s vaccination programs and other pandemic responses.

“You know, Secretary Galvez, so far, so good ka. From Day 1, talagang (really) any superior would be very happy to have you,” he told Galvez.

Duterte said he will suggest retaining his “best” Cabinet members for the sake of the nation.

Duterte also thanked Trade and Industry Secretary Ramon Lopez for his untiring efforts to revive the economy hit hard by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Duterte also commended Education Secretary Leonor Briones for her “splendid” job and unwavering dedication in pushing for a better learning system for young Filipinos.

He said the country might have a “little of everything” when it comes to education, but he wishes that all the things that Briones brought for the education sector will not be forgotten.

‘NO’ TO WAR. Youth activists protest in front of the Philippine Boy Scout Circle in Quezon City on Tuesday to call on Russian President Vladimir Putin to stop bombing Ukraine. The group also raised concerns over the effects of the war in the uncontrolled increase of oil prices in the Philippines. Danny Pata

SBMA chair Eisma steps down, cites ‘health, family’

By Ansbert B. Joaquin

O

LONGAPO City—Wilma Eisma has stepped down as chairperson and administrator of the Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA).

Eisma said she resigned to “focus on my health and family.” It can be recalled that Eisma had earlier submitted a letter of resignation in October for the same reason but the resignation was not accepted by Malacañang.

“At that time, President Duterte did not acquiesce to my decision, but at this time, thankfully, he favored my renewed request,” Eisma said in a statement.

Former Olongapo Mayor Rolen Paulino, who took his oath before Executive Secretary Salvador Medialdea this afternoon in Malacañang, replaces Eisma.

The Supreme Court (SC) meanwhile appointed Raul Villanueva as the new

court administrator of the SC. He took his oath before Chief Justice Alexander G. Gesmundo at the Dignitaries Lounge of the SC. Villanueva started his judicial career in 2002 when he was appointed Presiding Judge of Branch 255 of the Las Piñas City Regional Trial Court. He was at one point the Acting Presiding Judge of Branch 267, Taguig City RTC, and Acting Presiding Judge of Branch 4, Manila RTC. He also served as Executive Judge of the Las Piñas City RTC. On March 2, 2010, he was promoted as Deputy Court Administrator (DCA), a position he held until his recent appoint-

ment as Court Administrator.

Prior to joining the Judiciary, Villanueva worked for various government institutions and served all three branches of the government: the Executive, the Legislative, and the Judicial departments.

He was actively involved in the Philippine Judges Association (PJA) where he served as executive vice president.

In another appointment, President Duterte named former Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) Undersecretary Edilberto Dela Cruz Leonardo to become one of the Commissioners of the National Police Commission (NAPOLCOM).

Leonardo, who represents the law enforcement sector, shall serve a six-year fixed term. His appointment was issued to replace former Commissioner Felizardo M. Serapio, Jr. whose term of office ended on February 11, 2022.

With Rey E. Requejo

BFAR execs face graft complaint

By Joel E. Zurbano FLAG carrier Philippine Airlines (PAL) will still require air travelers to wear face masks and face shields.

PAL spokesperson Cielo Villaluna said the highest standards of safety continue to be observed on every flight to protect the passengers and their crew against the deadly coronavirus disease.

“Alert levels may have eased, but Philippine Airlines’ safety protocols remain the same,” said Villaluna. “The requirement for passengers to wear face masks and face shields inflight, except during meals, remains in place.”

The PAL management assured that PAL cabin crew frontliners also continue to wear full PPE (personal protective equipment) throughout the journey.

“Our HEPA (high-efficiency particulate absorbing) filters cleanse cabin air of bacteria and viruses while disinfection of aircraft surfaces is carried out after every flight. Our flight and cabin crew teams are fully-vaccinated,” said Villaluna.

The government placed the National Capital Region and 38 other areas in the country under Alert Level 1 from March 1 to 15.

Under Alert Level 1, well-fitted face masks shall be worn properly at all times, whether outdoors or in indoor private or public establishments, including in public transportation by land, air or sea, except when eating and drinking, participating in team and individual sports in venues where ventilation standards can be maintained, and practicing outdoor sports/exercise activities where physical distance can be maintained.

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By Rey E. Requejo

PUVS IN SAN JUAN. San Juan City Mayor Francis Zamora inspects the city’s main tricycle terminal and checks the vaccination status of the drivers at the Makabagong San Juan Plaza along N. Domingo Street as Metro Manila shifts to Alert Level 1. Jeepneys, tricycles, and buses can now operate without a plastic barrier. They can also accommodate passengers at full capacity. Manny Palmero

THE Office of the Ombudsman has been asked to hold criminally liable Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR Director Eduardo B. Gongona and two other officials in connection with the alleged anomalous awarding of a contract to a British company to supply Vessel Monitoring System (VMS) transceivers for local vessels.

The VMS is said to be a component needed to implement BFAR’s more than P2-billion Integrated Marine Environment Monitoring System Project II, aimed at improving the agency’s mandate of safeguarding and monitoring the country’s maritime resources.

In a complaint filed on Tuesday with the Ombudsman, lawyer James Mier Victoriano accused Gongona, along with Demosthenes R. Escoto and Hansel O. Didulo, who served as chairpersons of the Bids and Awards Committee of BFAR during the bidding of the controversial IMEMS project, of conspiring with private respondents for the irregular award of the project to SRT Marine Systems Solu-

tions Ltd (SRT), in violation of the pertinent provisions of Republic Act 3019 or the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act, RA 9184 or Government Procurement Reform Act and its revised implementing rules and regulation.

Also named respondents to the graft complaint were Simon Tucker and Richard Hurd, both British nationals, chief executive officer and chief financial officer, respectively of SRT Marine Systems Solutions Ltd, the winning bidder, to supply 5,000 units of VMS transceivers or two-way transmitters in the amount of P2,096,989,000, a little lower than the P2,097,819,000 project cost.

The complainant alleged that Gongona, Escoto, and Didulo committed graft and corruption when they violated provisions of RA 8550 or the Philippine Fisheries Code of 1998 and the antigraft law for causing undue injury to the government and giving unwarranted benefits, advantage and preference to SRT in awarding the project, and entering into a transactions that is manifestly and grossly disadvantageous to the government despite knowing that SRT is ineligible to participate in the bidding of the IMEMS project.

IPs in Aurora, Nueva Ecija to benefit from DHSUD housing project

By Rio N. Araja THE Department of Human Settlements and Urban Development (DHSUD) has recently rolled out its first-ever “subdivision-like” housing projects for indigenous peoples (IPs) in Aurora and Nueva Ecija.

Secretary Eduardo del Rosario spearheaded the groundbreaking for the housing

project for members of the Dumagat tribe in Barangay Matawe, Dingalan, Aurora.

The housing project stands to benefit 245 Dumagat families.

Despite the rain and heat, Del Rosario led similar activities for land development of a covered court and an evacuation center for the Dumagat tribespeople in the vicinity.

The undertakings are part of DH-

SUD’s mandate and are in line with the Duterte administration’s directive of prioritizing IPs in the provision of safe, resilient, and affordable housing communities to all Filipinos.

“I was about 12 or 13 years old when my father would bring me along hunting and spent days with the Dumagats ... so, I experienced first-hand the hardships of the

Dumagats in the mountains,” the housing czar said.

The DHSUD chief spearheaded the groundbreaking for 95 housing units in Barangay Malinao in Gabaldon.

The subdivision-like housing projects would be equipped with drainage system, power and water facilities, and road networks.

Lawyer says councilor should not have been jailed AN incumbent municipal councilor of Lopez town in Quezon province should not have been thrown into jail as he never committed any crime, he and his lawyer told the National Press Club Tuesday.

Lawyer Freddie Villamor, representing Councilor Manuel “Arkie” Yulde, said his client was a free man after the three cases filed against him were dismissed. Yulde was in jail for five months.

“Hindi ko alam kung papaano ko makakamit ang katarungan. Ako po ay kumapit na lamang sa panalangin sa Diyos na sana po igiya niya ko papunta po sa kalayaan at makamtan ang hustisya [I didn’t know how I would achieve justice. I was holding on to God in prayer that He would bring me to freedom and to justice],” the councilor said in NPC’s “Meet the Press.”

Yulde also said he cannot forgive those who ruined his family’s reputation.

“Ang kinamatay po ng tatay ko ay atake sa puso habang nag-iisip kung papaano po kami makakabuwelta sa paninira pong ginawa sa akin, sa pangalan po ng aking pamilya [My father died from a heart attack while trying to think how we can get back at those who slandered our name and my family],” he shared.

Yulde, who is a critic of a politician in Quezon, was jailed last September based on a case of rape and kidnapping filed by a group on behalf of the alleged rape victim.

The councilor was recently released after Villamor presented evidence that the charges against him were also fake, including that of the supposed rape victim.

Yulde mentioned that his relatives are public servants.

“Sa akin po bilang konsehal ng bayan, ito po ang dinanas ko dahil lamang po sa paghahanap ng katotohanan, paghahanap po ng katarungan at paghahanap po ng malinis na pamahalaan dito sa ating bayan [For me, as a councilor of our town, I went through this only because I sought the truth, sought justice and good government in our town],” the councilor said.

Meanwhile, NPC President Paul Gutierrez said Jaime Aquino, the Pangasinan correspondent for a national daily was behind Yulde’s imprisonment. Aquino was immediately expelled from the press club, he added.

“We don’t know what is worse—media groups inventing journalists as victims of violence so they can get funding from abroad or members of the press concocting bogus charges against prominent personalities in exchange for money,” Gutierrez said.

MEET THE PRESS SESSION. Lopez, Quezon Councilor Manuel Yulde (second from right) speaks to the National Press Club (NPC) “Meet the Press” forum with (from left) Usec. Joel Sy Egco, NPC President Paul Gutierrez, and lawyer Freddie Villamor, in this screengrab from the NPC Facebook live stream.

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DEMAND FOR WHAT IS RIGHTFULLY YOURS. Presidential aspirant Ping Lacson and his running mate Tito Sotto urges stakeholders from the transport sector to ask for their

pandemic ayuda that have not yet been released.

EVEN AS 70 PERCENT CAPACITY ALLOWED IN ALERT LEVEL 1 AREAS

Vax cards required for sorties P

ARTICIPANTS in election campaign activities still need to present proof of vaccination against COVID-19, the Department of the Interior and Local Government said Tuesday.

DILG Undersecretary and spokesperson Jonathan Malaya said those going to campaign rallies, caucuses and other similar election-related activities should bring their vaccination cards issued by their local government units or VaxCertPH digital certificates.

Malaya reminded the concerned parties that these are the only two COV-

ID-19 vaccination proofs that will be accepted by law enforcers.

He said the “face mask rule, hand hygiene, and vaccination rule are still in place under any Alert Level so those are our safeguards against any possible surge in cases.’’

“Under Commission on Elections Resolution 10732, under Alert Level

1, campaign activities are allowed up to 70 percent of the operational capacity of the venue whether indoor or outdoor,” he added.

The campaign period for national candidates officially began Feb. 8 while the campaign period for local candidates will start on March 25.

Meanwhile, close to 1.7 million Filipinos abroad are expected to participate in the overseas absentee voting which is set to begin next month, Comelec said.

Based on its latest data, a total of 1,697,215 are registered as overseas voters – 1,677,631of whom are land-

Sara: Resilience of Pinoys shone in 28-day ride

WARM WELCOME.

Manila Mayor Francisco ‘Isko Moreno’ Domagoso waves to the crowd during his campaign motorcade in Malabon City on Tuesday, March 1, 2022. Norman Cruz

By Maricel V. Cruz LAKAS-Christian Muslim Democrats vice presidential candidate Davao City Mayor Sara DuterteCarpio has capped her 28-day Mahalin Natin ang Pilipinas Ride (MNPR) that took her to at least 34 provinces around the country where she personally experienced the love, warmth and support of Filipinos.

“I will never forget the warmth of the Filipino people we met along the way, and I will always remember the courage, strength and the resiliency they’ve shown as we passed by rain or shine,” Duterte-Carpio said after her return to Davao City.

She also thanked her campaign managers, House Majority Leader and Lakas-CMD President Martin Romualdez and Davao Occidental Governor and Hugpong ng Pagbabago (HNP) President Claude Bautista, and Speaker Lord Allan Velasco for their support during her grueling and nonstop visit of the country’s provinces.

In most of the provinces she visited, Romualdez was there to welcome and accompany her.

The Davao City Mayor said her ride, which took her from the southern part up to the northern portion of the country, gave her a personal glimpse of the varying situations and conditions of the places and provinces that she visited.

Despite the realities on the ground, she said she could not help but admire the spirit, character and resilience of Filipinos, which she witnessed and experienced during her ride.

Drivers must demand for unclaimed ayuda–Lacson

PUBLIC transportation drivers must demand for the cash aids and subsidies not released by government officials but paid for by the public through their taxes.

Partido Reporma standard-bearer Ping Lacson and his running mate, Senate President Tito Sotto III, gave this advice Tuesday to about 200 stakeholders from the public transport sector who engaged in a dialogue with them at the Dagat Cusina

Gubat restaurant along Diversion Road in Candelaria, Quezon.

Lacson and Sotto talked about how they worked on the enactment of Bayanihan I and Bayanihan II during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, hoping the appropriated budget for the social amelioration packages of the affected sectors would reach them on time.

The longtime public servants, however, found out from the Candelaria TODA

AKSYON Demokratiko standardbearer Francisco “Isko Moreno” Domagoso has gained the backing of workers and transport groups under the Labor Power Movement which actively campaigned for President Rodrigo Duterte in 2016.

The 200,000 strong Labor Power Movement announced their all-out support for Moreno during a press conference held at the Team Isko-Doc

members that they, too, have not yet received their share on the P5.58-billion allocation to aid public utility vehicle (PUV) drivers under the Bayanihan II before it lapsed.

“Go to your barangay chairman, go to your mayors as a group, because if you’re going alone, you might just get ignored. It is better if you remain organized through your TODA. Claim your cash assistance because that’s yours,” Lacson said.

By Rey E. Requejo A GROUP of supporters of Vice President and presidential candidate Leni Robredo on Tuesday asked the Supreme Court to stop the Commission on Elections from dismantling or confiscating election materials that are privately-owned and installed within private properties under its “Oplan Baklas.”

In a 52-page petition filed through their lawyer Ray Paolo Santiago, the petitioners also urged the SC to declare as unconstitutional the acts of the poll body based on its wrongful interpretation and implementation of Comelec Resolution No. 10730.

The Baguio City Regional Trial Court on Monday issued a cease-anddesist order for 72 hours on Comelec Resolution 10372.

Executive Judge Ligaya ItliongRivera, in her February 28, 2022 order, said: “Upon consideration of the allegations contained in their verified petition in support of the prayer for the issuance of a temporary restraining order (TRO) and it appearing that before the matter could be heard on notice, the petitioners would suffer grave and irreparable injury, the court hereby orders respondents Comelec with office address at Intramuros Manila and Comelec-Cordillera Administrative Region with office address at Baguio City to cease and desist, for a period of 72 hours only, from enforcing Comelec Resolution 10732.”

Comelec to resolve pending division cases in 45 days

By Vito Barcelo THE Commission on Elections has passed a resolution directing its commissioners to resolve all pending cases at the division level within 45 days.

Under Comelec Resolution No. 10765, the members of the former First Division and former Second Division shall “complete and wind up” the resolution of the cases previously raffled to the remaining members as ponente.

All pending cases assigned to the retired commissioners or chairperson shall be inventoried and raffled among the remaining members of the en banc or the former divisions, depending on the case and unless otherwise directed by the chairperson or the presiding commissioners.

“After the expiration of the forty-fiveday period or upon the assumption to office and designation as members of the regular divisions of new Commissioners, whichever comes first, the Former First Division and Former Second Division shall be automatically dissolved,” the resolution added.

If a commissioner is reassigned to another division, he or she shall bring the pending cases previously raffled to him or her as ponente to the regular division where he or she is reassigned.

The resolution takes effect immediately upon publication.

According to the Comelec, acting chairperson Socorro Inting will preside over the new first division, with Commissioner Aimee Ferolino as member.

Meanwhile, the new second division will be presided by Commissioner Marlon Casquejo, with Commissioner Rey Bulay as a member.

Leni to push for on-site, in-city, near-city resettlement housing VICE President Leni Robredo said she would push for the passage of the Onsite, In-city, or Near-city Resettlement Act which will put a premium on access to livelihood and social services of relocated informal settlers.

Robredo empathized with the fami-

lies living near the New Bilibid Prison in Muntinlupa City who were forced to evacuate due to demolitions.

“Some do not have access to electricity, water, or decent housing. We will make sure our relocation will be in-city or near-city,” she said.

Pro-Duterte labor groups back Isko’s prexy bid

By Rey E. Requejo

based voters while 19,584 are sea-based voters.

Almost half of the overseas voters are based in the Middle East and Africa with 786,997, followed by the Asia Pacific region with 450,282.

There are 306,445 voters in the North and Latin America region, while the European region has 153,491 registered voters.

Voters overseas will be casting their ballots one month ahead of the May 9 polls.

Overseas voters will only vote for president, vice-president, senators, and party-list representatives.

Group asks SC to halt Comelec’s ‘baklas’ campaign

Willie campaign headquarters in Intramuros, Manila.

The LPM is composed of the Bus Transport Workers Alliance (BTWA), Alliance of Genuine Labor Organizations (AGLO), and National Confederation of Labor (NCL).

Around 200 leaders of the three labor groups under the LPM assembled in front of the Manila Cathedral before marching towards the Team Isko-Doc Willie campaign headquarters before noon Monday.

Domagoso happily acknowledged the support of the three labor groups under the Labor Power Movement and thanked their leaders and members from all over Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao.

“This symbolic presence of yours, all of you who are here and your leadership who are here, I thank you and I hope that you, about 200,000 of you all over the country, are solid and ready to switch to Isko, as your t-shirts say.

Thank you very much,” he said.

“We will do this by passing the Onsite, In-city, Near-city bill that we supported when we were still in Congress,” Robredo said.

In 2021, the City Council of Muntinlupa passed a resolution urging the Bureau of Corrections to stop the eviction

of its informal settlers, after BuCor ordered demolitions within a 50-meter radius of the New Bilibid Prison fence.

If elected, Robredo would put in place a People’s Council, involving stakeholders in the planning process of any government project.

VISIT TO RIZAL. Senator

Lito Lapid, Pinuno partylist’s number one supporter, visits the province of Rizal with first nominee Howard Guintu on Tuesday, March 1, 2022. ‘We are very thankful for the warm welcome that the people of Rizal have shown to the Pinuno Party-list,’ Lapid said.

Opinion ASEAN leaves Myanmar at junta’s mercy

MORE than two years after the military in Myanmar launched a coup d’etat that seized power from the duly elected civilian government led by Aung San Suu Kyi, earnest efforts by the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) to mediate the internal conflict appear to have achieved meager results.

In fact, while the head of Myanmar’s military junta, Senior General Min Aung Hlaing, had agreed to most of the proposals put forward by ASEAN leaders during a summit in Jakarta in April last year to resolve the crisis, it appears that the Tatmadaw, as Myanmar military is called, had basically overruled him and opted to pursue a scorched-earth policy against all those opposed to it.

The junta chief had agreed to the proposal of the regional grouping for the immediate cessation of violence, the start of constructive dialogue among all parties, access to humanitarian assistance, and the appointment of a special ASEAN envoy who would be allowed to visit the country.

He did not agree, however, to calls for the release of political prisoners, including Aung San Suu Kyi. As things now stand, therefore, Myanmar is still in the grip of civil war, with the military having killed more than 1,500 civilians and arrested more than 12,000 during mass protest actions. The junta has also launched air strikes and pursuit operations against armed rebels in the hinterlands, killing more civilians and displacing hundreds of thousands, creating a serious humanitarian crisis.

A covert group of activists calling themselves Justice for Myanmar recently came out with a study focusing on the ASEAN governments and businesses that have supplied arms, funds and investments to the Myanmar military.

An Indonesian state-owned enterprise, PT Pindad, exported bullets to Myanmar in 2020.

Pindad has a cooperation agreement with an arms brokerage company owned by the son of the Myanmar military junta’s planning and finance minister.

A subsidiary of a Thai company, PTT Public Co. Ltd, whose majority shareholder is the Government of Thailand, is an operator and investor in multiple gas exploration projects in Myanmar. In 2017-18, the Myanmar government received over USD$40 million for one of these gas projects alone and these funds now flow to the military junta.

Viettel Global, a telecommunications company owned by the Vietnamese Ministry of National Defense, is a joint investor in mobile telephone company Mytel, alongside a Myanmar military conglomerate.

Mytel provides a major source of revenue

for the Myanmar military. The study also said a Philippine arms manufacturing company, United Defense Manufacturing Corporation (UDMC), supplied firearms to Myanmar as the military launched its campaign of genocide against the Rohingya in August 2017.

As we reported earlier, the Ayala Corporation, the Philippines’ oldest conglomerate, has also established a foothold in Myanmar since 2019 with an investment of $237 million, or more than P12 billion, in the Yoma Group. This business group is engaged in multiple sectors such as real estate, banking, automotive, health care, power, and tourism, among others.

There’s little chance of a return to normalcy soon.

A fugitive from China who holds Cambodian citizenship is said to be the main investor in the Yatai City project in Shwe Koko, a huge real estate, casino and entertainment development in Myanmar with its own cryptocurrency. Yatai City is being developed as a joint venture with the Karen State Border Guard Force, a militia group under the command of the Myanmar military.

Meanwhile, the financial sector of Singapore is a key source of support for the business activities of the Myanmar military and its partners. Singapore’s stock exchange has been used by Emerging Towns & Cities Ltd (ETC) to raise funds for a property development that pays millions of dollars in rent to the quartermaster general of the Myanmar army, whose office is tasked with the procurement of weapons.

According to Justice For Myanmar spokesperson Yadanar Maung: “ASEAN and its member states are implicated in lining the pockets of the terrorist junta and supporting its grave crimes....ASEAN governments and companies must immediately end business with the military junta and its partners, and stop supplying arms and equipment to the terrorist military.”

The group is also urging ASEAN’s dialogue partners, namely Australia, Japan, South Korea, United Kingdom, Canada and the European Union, to “impose targeted sanctions against the military junta, its businesses and partners.”

At the rate things are going in Myanmar, there’s little chance of a return to normalcy soon.

With Myanmar’s military junta engaged in killing unarmed protesters in the cities and search-and-destroy operations against armed rebels in the rural areas, it is clear that the time has come for the international community to act with dispatch to stop the human rights violations and hasten the country’s transition to return to democratic rule after many years of military dictatorship since the 1960s.

(Email: ernhil@yahoo.com)

China backpedals on climate promises as economy slows

By Poornima Weerasekara WHEN China’s President Xi Jinping issued his traditional Lunar New Year wishes from the country’s coal heartland in January, the subtext was clear: Beijing is not ready to kick its coal addiction, despite promises to slash emissions.

The ink had barely dried on the hard-fought deal struck at last year’s United Nations climate conference in Glasgow when Beijing’s backslide on pledges began.

The country’s central economic planner has watered down a roadmap to slash emissions, greenlighted giant coal-fired power plants, and told mines to produce “as much coal as possible” after power shortages paralysed swathes of the economy last year.

Environmentalists are concerned this would mean China would continue to pollute beyond the 2030 deadline by which it has promised to have reached peak emissions.

Xi’s trip to mining towns in Shanxi — China’s biggest coal producing province — saw him making crispy noodle snacks with families “recently lifted out of poverty.”

“We are not pursuing carbon neutrality because others are forcing us, it’s something we must do. But it can’t be rushed,” he said later, while inspecting a thermal power plant.

“We can’t delay action, but we must find the right rhythm.”

Days earlier, Xi told Communist Party officials in Beijing that low-carbon goals should not come at the expense of “normal life” — a major change in rhetoric from his 2020 announcement at a UN assembly that China would be carbon neutral by 2060.

Dependent on coal The Glasgow pact encourages countries to slash their emissions targets, with the aim of limiting warming to well below 2 degrees Celsius (36 degrees Fahrenheit) ideally to 1.5 degrees.

Experts have warned that global emissions must be halved within a decade to have a chance of achieving that goal.

A report issued by the UN’s climate science advisors on Monday said that warming beyond 1.5C would wreak permanent damage to the planet and that nearly half the world’s population is already “highly vulnerable” to the accelerating impacts of climate change.

“The world’s biggest polluters are guilty of arson of our only home,” UN chief Antonio Guterres said in response to this most compelling scientific overview of climate change impacts to date.

China generates an estimated 29 percent of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions — double the US share and three times that of the European Union.

Environmentalists had hoped that postGlasgow, Beijing might announce a maximum carbon cap for the whole country but Li Shuo, a campaigner for Greenpeace China, told AFP that is now “off the table.”

Policymakers in Beijing have long walked a tightrope, balancing climate objectives with domestic growth.

Beijing has pledged to curb coal consumption after 2025 — but last year, half of China’s economy was fuelled by it.

Now as growth slows, authorities are resorting to an old formula of propping up smoke-

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EDITORIAL

Refusal to take a stand is a stand

T

HE Philippine mission to the United Nations has voted yes to the UN General Assembly Resolution that condemns Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. This is a strong and principled stand that places our country on the right side of history.

Russia’s president, the strongman Vladimir Putin, last week ordered his troops to invade Ukraine, a move that has shocked the international community. Almost immediately, countries condemned the act and the resulting violence and displacement of the Ukrainian people.

Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, seeks the help of the rest of the world as it struggles to defend itself against its giant neighbor. He has also promised his people that he would not abandon them for any safe haven.

The continued silence among our national officials on the matter, however, is deafening – and alarming.

As of press time, President Duterte is said to be preparing to meet top administration officials to discuss what is happening in Ukraine. The invasion’s effects on the Philippines cannot be good: the conflict

We hope our leaders can be bold enough and human enough to recognize this is more than geopolitics at stake. displaces our workers there, depriving them and their families a stable source of income. It also almost certainly will raise the price of oil and other goods, dealing a further blow to our COVID-19 pummeled economy and our long-suffering people.

But beyond articulating the consequences pertinent to us and planning how to best

address them, we are also looking at our national leaders to take a stand in the very obvious asymmetrical conflict between Russia and Ukraine. The latter is so much smaller in many respects, less influential, and could not afford to match the former’s might. This uneven fight is exploited by Russia – the words and actions of Putin are unmistakable and unequivocal.

In the meantime, ordinary Ukrainians are suffering, completely at the mercy of the Russian forces now marching through their streets, undermining their sovereignty, and taking everything they can.

There is something inherently and manifestly wrong about this.

To stay in the middle and claim neutrality is not really being neutral. It is lending a tacit approval to the injustice and violence committed by one strong country against its smaller, weaker neighbor. To say one is not taking sides is in itself taking sides, because silence allows the continuation of atrocities and emboldens the aggressor.

We hope our leaders can be bold enough and human enough to recognize this is more than geopolitics at stake – it is basic humanity and decency.

SMC builds a bank SAN Miguel Corporation President Ramon S. Ang is building a new financial behemoth to backstop the diversified conglomerate’s vast operations and fund future growth. SMC is the Philippines’ largest conglomerate in assets, revenues, and diversity of operations. In 2021, SMC is estimated to have chalked up revenues of P940 billion.

SMC’s new financial arm is the Bank of Commerce, a 59-year-old commercial bank that used to be owned by Jose Cojuangco Sr., the father of the late President Corazon Cojuangco Aquino.

SMC has acquired 84.52 percent of BankCom—39.89 percent through San Miguel Properties, Inc.; 38.54 percent through the SMC Retirement Plan, and 21.57 percent through the SMC Equivest Corp.

BankCom is conducting an initial public offering this March to raise P3.5 billion. Plus the P5.5 billion recent capital infusion from SMC Equivest, the bank will have P9 in fresh equity as it tries to go big time.

The Bangko Sentral recently granted BankCom its universal banking (UB) license, giving it flexibility in its operations and branch banking.

The UB license, says leading investment bank BDO Capital “would allow the bank to broaden its suite of products and services and achieve sustainable growth across its business segments. The bank will also have more opportunities to generate fee-based income, as well as engage in investment banking and bancassurance activities.”

Previously, SMC had wanted to develop United Coconut Planters Bank (UCPB) as its financial arm. But the government sequestered it and now wants it merged with another government bank, Land Bank.

So RSA has to grow another bank—BankCom. Major Philippine conglomerates own banks.

A P9-billion in fresh capital can be geared 8x, enabling BankCom to extend up to P72 billion in fresh lending. In September 2021, BankCom had P72 billion in customer loans alone.

With total networth of P23 billion as of end-September 2021, BankCom is 11th largest among the private domestic banks (exstack industries to juice the economy.

In late 2021, China began construction on 33 gigawatts of coal-fired power plants — the most since 2016 — that will emit as much carbon dioxide annually as Florida, according to data from Global Energy Monitor.

Policymakers in Beijing have long walked a tightrope, balancing climate objectives with domestic growth.

Even more new plants are being built in the first few months of 2022 as well, all of which can operate for 40 years on average.

‘Ambition in jeopardy’ During the Glasgow talks the Chinese delegation — like many others — promised a de-

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

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

cluding the three government-owned banks) in equity. It is the 13th biggest in assets (P195 billion as of end-September 2021) and in total deposits (P167 billion), among the local banks.

The giant conglomerate has a new financial arm.

BankCom has a capital adequacy ratio (CAR) of 21 percent, better than the CAR of the Top Ten Banks. The CAR of the biggest banks: 1) BDO 14.87 percent; 2) Land Bank 17.36 percent; 3) Metrobank 20.66 percent; 4) Bank of PI 17.64 percent; 5) PNB 14.32 percent; 6) DBP 14.86 percent; 7) Chinabnk 15.30 percent; 8) RCBC 15.15 percent; 9) Union Bank 18.28 percent; and 10) Security Bank 20.10 percent.

In terms of capital, thus, BankCom is the strongest among the top-tier banks.

In terms of bad loans, BankCom is just fine. Its NPL (non-performing loan) ratio is 3 percent. Compare that with the 2.8 percent of Chinabank, 3 percent of BDO, 3.4 percent of LandBank, 4.2 percent of both Union and Security, the 5.2 percent of RCBC, 6.7 percent of DBP, and the whopping 10.7 percent of PNB. Two banks have negligible NPL— Metrobank 1.3 percent, and Bank of PI 1.6 percent.

Improving the quality of BankCom’s net worth and loan portfolio indicates Ramon Ang’s seriousness to make the bank one of the biggest and best in the industry. Quickly, but still adhering to prudential rules of banking.

BankCom has three main strategies to power its growth—one, make use of the San Miguel group’s vast network and ecosystem; two, use the latest in IT; and three, render the best in service.

BankCom has adopted “We Think Customers” as its slogan. It calls its branches, 140 so far, “Malasakit Centers.”

BDO Securities sees a boom in banking.

“Sustained reopening and recovery of the economy is expected to drive demand for bank services,” says BDO Securities in analyzing BankCom’s IPO. “The latest BSP survey showed that consumer and business sentiment appear to be improving, with respondents more optimistailed roadmap to peak emissions for different industries and regions over the next decade.

Existing guidelines issued just before the talks only include vague targets for increasing energy efficiency and say renewables will supply a quarter of China’s electricity by 2030.

They have not yet been updated.

This “suggests that the politics are tough, ambition is in jeopardy, and the regulators are reserving as much wiggle room (to pollute) as possible for the next few years,” Greenpeace’s Li said.

Earlier last month, Beijing pushed back the deadline for slashing emissions from the steel sector — China’s biggest carbon emitter — five years to 2030.

“Steel and cement need to peak earlier than the country as a whole to ensure China’s targets are on track,” said Lauri Myllyvirta, lead analyst at the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air.

tic for 1Q22 and the next 12 months. Businesses cited improving demand and sales, and some firms are now looking to expand operations and hire more. Consumers, on the other hand, are anticipating the availability of more jobs and better income. So far, industry loan growth has been improving for the past five months (4.6 percent/4.3/3.5/2.7/1.3 percent in Dec 2021/Nov 2021/Oct 2021/Sep 2021/Aug 2021), and we expect the uptrend in bank lending to continue, tracking GDP growth in the subsequent quarters.”

BDO Securities projects operating revenues and attributable net income to grow by an average of 7.1 percent and 38.5 percent, respectively, from FY2020 to FY2023, on the back of steady increases in lending and service transaction volumes as BankCom transitions into a full-service universal bank.

Increasing scale and improving operating efficiencies are also expected to gradually lift the bank’s ROE from 4.8 percent in FY20A to potentially 6.8 percent/8.6 percent by FY22F/FY23F. SMC is the Philippines’ largest corporation in revenues and assets. Sales are 5 percent of GDP, the country’s value of economic production. SMC has more than 100 factories and factories in the Asia Pacific. Its SanMig is one of the best and best-selling beers in the world.

SMC has five major businesses—nearly all market leaders: Food and beverage, packaging, fuel and oil, energy, and infrastructure.

SMC has investments in other businesses such as property development and leasing, cement, car distributorship, and now, banking services.

SMC says it has a portfolio of companies that is interwoven into the economic fabric of the Philippines, benefiting from, as well as contributing to, the development and economic progress of the nation.

SMC products include beer, spirits, nonalcoholic beverages, poultry, animal feeds, flour, fresh and processed meats, dairy products, coffee, various packaging products, and a full range of refined petroleum products, most of which are leaders in their respective markets. In addition, SMC contributes to the growth of downstream industries and sustains a network of hundreds of third-party suppliers. biznewsasia@gmail.com Meanwhile, China’s investments in overseas oil and gas projects tripled to $10.9 billion last year, according to a Fudan University report in January.

Renewable bottlenecks Another of China’s key pledges — to increase wind and solar capacity to three times the current level over the next decade — has been blown off-course as well by supply chain disruptions and soaring raw material costs.

The price of polysilicon, used to make solar panels, jumped 174 percent in December from the previous year.

Analysts fear more fossil fuels will be burnt to meet China’s growing energy needs as the rollout of renewables slows.

“The political signals are much more cautious (than before), saying the transition will be slow, and coal would remain a mainstay of China’s energy supply for a long time,” said Myllyvirta. AFP

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Flee floods, Australia tells thousands on its east coast

ROWING BY ROOFS. A submerged shed is seen on the bank of the overflowing Clarence River in Grafton, some 130 kms from the New South Wales town Lismore on, March 1. AFP

IN RARE UN EMERGENCY SESSION

Isolated Russia defends Ukraine war Lockdown fears in HK spark panic buying HONG KONG―Hong Kongers stripped shop shelves bare Tuesday as panic buying set in following mixed messaging from the government over whether it plans a Chinastyle hard lockdown this month.

Uncertainty over Covid rules has sent the city’s residents flocking to supermarkets, chemists and vegetable stores to stock up, leaving shelves empty across the city.

Photos circulating on social media showed people had trouble finding a variety of items including meat, vegetables, frozen foods, noodles, paracetamol and testing kits.

“We are like ants going home, grabbing a bit at one spot at a time,” a woman, who gave her surname Wu, told AFP on Tuesday in a supermarket where most vegetables and meat had been snapped up.

The financial hub is in the grips of its worst coronavirus outbreak, registering tens of thousands of new cases each day, overwhelming hospitals and shattering the city’s zeroCovid strategy.

Authorities plan to test all 7.4 million residents this month and isolate all infections either at home or in a series of camps that are still being constructed with the help of mainland China.

City leader Carrie Lam had initially ruled out a mainland style lockdown where people are confined to their homes during the testing period.

But on Monday, health chief Sophia Chan confirmed it was still on the table, a day after a senior Chinese health official described it as the best option. AFP

U

NITED NATIONS―Encountering deepening global isolation, Russia faced urgent calls Monday to end its “unprovoked” and “unjustified” assault on Ukraine as the UN General Assembly’s 193 members held an extraordinary debate on the invasion of the ex-Soviet state.

During the rare emergency special session, just the 11th the Assembly has held in its history, Russia defended its decision to invade its neighbor as nation after nation urged peace from the podium.

On the sidelines, the United States said it was expelling from the country 12 “intelligence operatives” at Russia’s United Nations mission for “engaging in espionage activities that are adverse to our national security.”

Inside the General Assembly hall, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, pleaded: “The fighting in Ukraine must stop. Enough is enough.”

Representatives of more than 100 countries are expected to speak over three days as the global body decides if it will support a resolution that demands Russia immediately withdraws its troops from Ukraine.

A vote is expected Wednesday, and it must reach a twothirds threshold to pass. The resolution is non-binding but will serve as a marker of how isolated Russia is.

Its authors hope they may exceed 100 votes in favor— though countries including Syria, China, Cuba and India are expected to either support Russia or abstain.

“We do not feel isolated,” Russia’s UN ambassador Vassily Nebenzia told reporters.

He reiterated Moscow’s stance, flatly rejected by Kyiv and its Western allies, that its military operation was launched to protect residents of breakaway regions in eastern Ukraine.

“The hostilities were unleashed by Ukraine against its own residents,” he said during his address.

The vote is also being seen as a barometer of democracy in a world where autocratic sentiment has been on the rise, diplomats said, pointing to such regimes in Myanmar, Sudan, Mali, Burkina Faso, Venezuela, Nicaragua—and of course Russia.

“If Ukraine does not survive, the United Nations will not survive. Have no illusions,” said Ukraine’s ambassador to the UN, Sergiy Kyslytsya.

‘I’m afraid’ During an emotional speech, Kyslytsya held up images of what he said were the final text messages from a Russian soldier to his mother before he was killed.

“Mama, I’m in Ukraine. I’m afraid,” Kyslytsya said, reading the messages. “They call us fascists. Mama, this is so hard.”

Russian President Vladimir Putin launched the full-scale invasion of Ukraine on February 24. Moscow has pleaded “self-defense” under Article 51 of the UN Charter. AFP

ALL DRESSED UP. A woman

shops at a fresh food market in Hong Kong on March 1, as panic buying returned to the city this week with many supermarket shelves stripped bare following mixed messaging from the government over whether it plans a city lockdown later this month when it tests all residents. AFP

China starts evacuating citizens from Ukraine BEIJING—China has started evacuating its citizens from Ukraine, state media reported Tuesday, amid fears for their safety due to the invasion by Beijing’s ally Russia but also reports of resulting hostility from angry Ukrainians.

Some 600 Chinese students were evacuated Monday from Kyiv and the southern port city of Odessa, the state-run Global Times newspaper reported, citing the Chinese embassy in the Ukrainian capital.

They travelled by bus to neighbouring Moldova under an embassy escort and local police protection, according to the report, which cited an evacuee as saying the six-hour journey was “safe and smooth”.

A further 1,000 Chinese nationals will leave Ukraine on Tuesday bound for Poland and Slovakia, both European Union member states, the report added.

China has trod a cautious diplomatic tightrope on the conflict, balancing its oft-repeated insistence on the sanctity of state sovereignty with an unwillingness

to call out its close ally Russia.

While countries including the US, UK and Japan evacuated diplomats and urged citizens to leave in the weeks before the invasion, China waited until Thursday before announcing it would organise charter flights to evacuate its nationals.

But the flights have not yet materialised and Ukraine later closed its airspace, leaving the Chinese ambassador to deny he had fled Kyiv and stress the need to “wait until it is safe” to evacuate during a Sunday video message.

China has said around 6,000 of its citizens are based in Ukraine for work and study.

Its embassy in Kyiv initially urged those planning to leave to clearly fix a Chinese flag to their vehicles, but reversed course amid unverified social media claims of rising hostility towards Chinese citizens from Ukrainians.

Two other EU nations—Hungary and Romania—will provide assistance to Chinese nationals coming from Ukraine, the embassy said in a Monday statement. AFP

GRAFTON―Deadly floods swept Australia’s east coast Tuesday, stranding residents on bridges and rooftops and forcing tens of thousands to flee their homes.

Flood warnings were in effect for dozens of areas across the states of Queensland and New South Wales, where a week-long “rain bomb” has dumped a metre (3.2 feet) of water on some areas in a week.

Several waterways have already burst their banks or broken through levees, inundating towns and forcing residents to flee or seek safety on higher ground.

Nine people have died and more than a thousand people have been rescued. Authorities have warned that more fatalities are likely.

The latest victim was a woman in her 80s, whose body was found by police inside a home in the country town of Lismore.

“She is yet to be formally identified,” said New South Wales Police.

In the usually laid back surf town of Byron Bay, Hannah Leser spent the weekend celebrating her wedding with 150 guests.

But the new bride and groom are now spending their honeymoon rescuing friends stranded in the nearby towns of Ballina and Mullumbimby in a borrowed four-wheel-drive.

Some 30 people are camped at the house where they were to spend their honeymoon.

“It’s chaos but all of our friends and family are safe,” she told AFP. “This is not quite the honeymoon I expected but it is what it is.”

Elsewhere, a military helicopter performed a daring aerial rescue, plucking two people to safety as muddy waters lapped at the corrugated metal roofing of their home.

Live television images on public broadcaster ABC showed a rescuer sitting on the roof with the pair, preparing to strap them to the chopper’s winch.

“We’ve seen people stranded on roofs for hours, we’ve seen children being rescued, we’re seeing people stranded on bridges,” said New South Wales Premier Dominic Perrottet. AFP

IN BRIEF Dad shoots 3 kids, self in US church LOS ANGELES―A father shot dead three of his own children Monday before turning the gun on himself in a US church, police said.

A fifth person also died in the shooting in Sacramento, California, though it was not clear if that person was related to what police said was a domestic incident.

All three children who died were under the age of 15, Sergeant Rod Grassmann of Sacramento County Sheriff’s Office told reporters.

“At 5:07 this afternoon, we received a call that there was a shooting inside the church,” Grassmann said.

“We have found now there’s an adult male, a father who has shot and killed his three children under the age of 15,” he added.

“And my understanding is that there is a fifth person that is also deceased. I don’t know if they are related.”

Police said they were not looking for anyone else involved in the shooting at The Church of Sacramento in the Arden Arcade area of the city. AFP

‘Mercy for disabled man on death row’ SINGAPORE―Singapore’s top court was Tuesday urged to show “mercy” as it heard the last-ditch appeal of a Malaysian man facing execution despite criticism from supporters who say he is mentally disabled.

Nagaenthran K. Dharmalingam was arrested in 2009 for trafficking a small amount of heroin into the city-state, which has some of the world’s toughest drugs laws, and handed a then mandatory death sentence the following year.

He was finally scheduled to be hanged in November but the plan sparked criticism due to concerns he has intellectual disabilities, with the European Union and British billionaire Richard Branson among those condemning it.

The 34-year-old lodged a final appeal and, after several delays, Singapore’s Court of Appeal on Tuesday heard the challenge.

His lawyer Violet Netto urged the judges to show “mercy” by allowing Nagaenthran to undergo an independent psychiatric assessment.

She asked that the defence team be given “adequate time” to locate psychiatrists for the examination, adding it was against international law to execute mentally disabled people. AFP

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Business

Ayala Land earmarks P90b for 2022 capex

By Jenniffer B. Austria MAJOR property developer Ayala Land Inc. has earmarked P90 billion in capital expenditures this year, up 40.6 percent from P64 billion spent in 2021, as it plans to launch P100billion worth of new projects.

Ayala Land president and chief executive Bernard Vincent O. Dy said the company’s business units are expected to perform well this year amid the economic recovery.

“Barring any new surge and any new lockdown, the Philippines will resume its growth trajectory in 2022 and this economic pick up will favorable to Ayala Land, as well as the whole economy and the whole business sector. So we remain very positive in our outlook for 2022 for all our business lines,” Dy said.

Ayala Land will allot the bulk of the P90-billion capital expenditures for residential development, land acquisitions and estate development.

Meanwhile, Ayala Land reported that net income in 2021 surged 40 percent to P12.2 billion as more relaxed quarantine restrictions resulted in higher residential sales. Consolidated revenues rose 10 percent to P106.1 billion.

Net income in the fourth quarter climbed 54 percent to P3.6 billion while revenues inched up two percent to P33.5 billion.

Revenues from property development, which includes sales from residential, office, commercial and industrial lots, climbed 14 percent to P75.9 billion.

Reservation sales for the year reached P92.2 billion, a 13-percent growth from last year’s, mainly from solid demand for lots in Southern Luzon by Ayala Land Premier and Alveo.

Fourth-quarter reservation sales also rose five percent to P22.1 billion from the same period in 2020, reflecting confidence in the local residential market.

Alliance Global investing P7.8b in gaming company ALLIANCE Global Group Inc., the holding company of billionaire Andrew Tan, is injecting P7.8 billion in gaming unit Travellers International Hotel Group Inc. to support its recovery plan.

AGI said in a disclosure to the stock exchange the fresh capital infusion would be done through an increase in Travellers’ paid-up capital.

“The infusion of fresh capital to augment the working capital of Travellers will afford AGI’s entertainment and hotel business the opportunity to keep current with its obligations and catch the window of business recovery with the easing of COVID-19 restrictions,” AGI said.

No other details were provided.

Travellers is the owner and operator of Resorts World Manila. In the first nine months of 2021, RWM performed strongly year-on-year amid the easing, heightening and reimposition of lockdown restrictions.

RWM reported core revenues of P9.9 billion in the nine-month period, up by 16 percent from P8.6 billion a year ago and on the back of a one-time income of P5.6 billion of a foreign subsidiary in relation to the Westside City Project.

Net profit of surged to P2.1 billion during the period, up 139 percent yearon-year.

Gross gaming revenues jumped 37 percent to P12.8 billion on improved overall drops and higher gaming table capacity. With increased activity, promotional allowance expanded 66 percent to P4.8 billion from a year earlier.

Net gaming revenues increased 24 percent year-on-year to P8.0 billion Non-gaming revenues from hotel, food, beverage and other businesses were still down 11 percent year-on-year to P1.9 billion on less foot traffic and lower room revenue attributed to lockdown restrictions. Hotel occupancy rates in RWM ranged from 50 percent to 75 percent in the nine-month period.

Hong Kong-based Suncity Group reported that it signed a 45-year lease agreement with Travellers and Westside in 2020 for the development and operation of a casino and hotel at Manila’s Westside City Resorts World.

Jenniffer B. Austria

PSE INDEX CLOSING Tuesday, March 1, 2022

93.60 PTS. 7,404.61

TOTAL VOLUME TOTAL TRADES

1,005,777,256 97,748

TOTAL VALUE (IN PHP) ADVANCES DECLINES

7,842,536,313.75 135 60

UNCHANGED

49

F oreign E xchange R ate Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas • TUESDAY, MARCH 1, 2022

Currency

Unit

US Dollar

Peso

United States

Dollar

1.000000

51.3850

Japan

Yen

0.008696

0.4468

UK

Pound

1.342300

68.9741

Hong Kong

Dollar

0.127977

6.5761

Switzerland

Franc

1.090988

56.0604

Canada

Dollar

0.788955

40.5405

Singapore

Dollar

0.738225

37.9337

Australia

Dollar

0.726200

37.3158

Bahrain

Dinar

2.652590

136.3033

Saudi Arabia

Rial

0.266553

13.6968

Brunei

Dollar

0.735510

37.7942

Indonesia

Rupiah

0.000070

0.0036

Thailand

Baht

0.030628

1.5738

UAE

Dirham

0.272287

13.9915

Euro

Euro

1.122300

57.6694

Korea

Won

0.000833

0.0428

China

Yuan

0.158479

8.1434

India

Rupee

0.013246

0.6806

Malaysia

Ringgit

0.238322

12.2462

New Zealand

Dollar

0.675900

34.7311

Taiwan

Dollar

0.035719

1.8354 Source: BSP

IN BRIEF HYPERSCALE CENTER. Trade Secretary Ramon Lopez (center) highlights the possible benefits the Philippines will get from the establishment of the largest hyperscale data center in the country during the courtesy call of SpaceDC chief executive Darren Hawkins (left) and chief financial officer Joshua Robinson. Also attending the meeting is Undersecretary Ceferino Rodolfo, managing head of the Board of Investments. The hyperscale data center is seen to facilitate the creation of more local jobs.

Gov’t budget deficit surged by 21.8% to P1.67t last year

By Julito G. Rada

T

HE government posted a budget deficit of P1.67 trillion in 2021, up 21.8 percent from the P1.37trillion gap a year ago, as the 10.6-percent expansion in expenditures outpaced the 5.24-percent increase in revenues, the Bureau of the Treasury said Tuesday.

The Treasury said in a statement the full-year deficit was equivalent to 8.6 percent of gross domestic product, lower than the programmed 9.3 percent but still higher compared the 7.6 percent recorded in the previous year.

“However, the deficit was still 10.00 percent or P185.5 billion within the P1.9trillion program for the year,” it said, adding the P338.0-billion budget gap for the month of December 2021 similarly expanded by 11.70 percent or P35.4 billion over last year’s level, driven by the 5.21-percent growth in government spending alongside a 3.03-percent contraction in revenue collection,” it said.

The full-year revenue of P3.0 trillion improved 5.2 percent or P149.6 billion a year ago and was 4.3 percent or P124.0 billion better than the P2.9trillion program. Ninety-one percent or P2.7 trillion of the total was generated through tax revenues that grew 9.4 per-

cent from the previous year’s.

Non-tax sources, on the other hand, comprised the remaining 9 percent and posted a 24.4-percent contraction as collections normalized from the previous year. Meanwhile, December collections narrowed to P231.3 billion, 3 percent or P7.2 billion lower than the P238.5 billion raised in the same month a year ago.

The Bureau of Internal Revenue collected P2.1 trillion for the year after deducting P8.2 billion in tax refunds paid to various claimants. BIR’s final collection for the period showed a 6.5-percent or P127.1-billion improvement from a year ago’s performance and was just 0.2 percent short of the P2.1-trillion fullyear program.

Meanwhile, the BIR posted a marginal decrease of 0.6 percent or P1.0 billion in its December 2021 collection, with actual revenue of P162.3 billion.

The Bureau of Customs’ full-year col-

lection reached P643.6 billion (net of the P7.3 billion tax refund), outperforming last year’s achievement (P537.7 billion) and the target (P616.7 billion) by 19.7 percent and 4.4 percent, respectively.

“The Customs’ strong performance was credited to sustained enforcement activities, improved valuation, as well as improvement of importation volume.

BOC brought in P60.3 billion for December 2021, also growing by 32.93 percent or P14.9 billion year on year,” the Treasury said.

Likewise, the Bureau of the Treasury’s income amounted to P125.3 billion and reflected a full-year contraction of 43 percent or P94.3 billion, mainly due to lower dividends on national government shares of stocks, interest on advances from government-owned and -controlled corporations, and other government service income.

Despite this, the Treasury overshot its full-year program of P74.7 billion by 67.8 percent or P50.6 billion as dividend remittances remain robust along with higher income from BSF investment and interest income from national government deposits.

BTr’s collection for December 2021 similarly slowed down by 43.4 percent or P3.6 billion largely due to lower dividend remittances and income from BSF investment for the month.

Treasury raises P457.8b from retail treasury bond offering THE Bureau of the Treasury said Tuesday it raised P457.8 billion from the offering of five-year retail treasury bonds.

It closed the offering period for the 27th tranche of the RTBs, of which P120.8 billion was awarded during the rate-setting auction on Feb. 15. An additional P337.0 billion was added throughout the two-week offer period. The RTB 27 is set to be settled on March 4 with a coupon rate of 4.875 percent.

“By our funding activities in the domestic space, we are shielding our debt portfolio from volatility in the global financial markets, all while taking advantage of the commitment of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas for supporting the country’s economic recovery,” National Treasurer Rosalia De Leon said in a statement.

The Treasury said it teamed up with the Department of Foreign Affairs to conduct webinars with overseas Filipi-

nos to discuss the features, advantages and how to invest in RTBs over the twoweek offer period.

Financial literacy sessions for OFWs were conducted in more than 30 cities and countries around the world, including those in East Africa, South America and Europe.

It said that together with RTB 27 issue managers, it conducted online and hybrid webinars for local investors. Aside from the regional briefings, the BTr held oneon- one investor briefings with the local media, individual investors and cooperatives in key cities in Baguio, Pampanga, Naga, Cebu, Laguna, Batangas and Davao.

The RTB offering was made available for as low as P5,000 through the traditional over-the-counter placement in bank branches and digital channels such as the BTr’s RTB Online Ordering Facility, the Bonds.PH mobile application, the Overseas Filipino Bank Mobile Banking app and the Landbank Mobile Banking

app.

“The BTr’s pursuit for financial literacy and inclusion continues to be the backbone of many of our investor-centered initiatives. This year, we strive to improve not only our ordinary investors’ access to government securities but to also help them understand the value behind developing a habit of investing,” De Leon said.

Proceeds from the issuance will help the country respond to the challenges posed by the pandemic and support various programs for economic resiliency and recovery, it said.

State-run Development Bank of the Philippines and Land Bank of the Philippines are the joint lead issue managers for the 27th RTB offering. They are joined by BDO Capital & Investment Corp., BPI Capital Corp., China Bank Capital Corp., First Metro Investment Corp., Security Bank Capital Corp. and Union Bank of the Philippines as joint issue managers. Julito G. Rada

RCBC says GDP may grow 7% in 1st quarter

RIZAL Commercial Banking Corp., one of the biggest lenders in the country, is not discounting the possibility of a 7-percent gross domestic product growth in the first quarter of 2022, especially with the easing of the alert level 2 status in Metro Manila and 38 other areas to alert level 1 from March 1 to 15 amid the declining cases of new COVID-19 infections.

In an online briefing on Tuesday, RCBC chief economist Michael Ricafort said GDP growth in the January-to-March period might range from 6.5 percent to 7 percent.

“Of course it is coming from a low base.

Definitely for the full year, [GDP growth might be between] 6 to 6.5 percent... that could still go up but we are realistic about the recent developments, especially the Ukraine crisis... that could offset whatever gains we have,” Ricafort said. “... We are not ruling out any surprises because the geopolitics is very volatile... it remains uncertain..., “ Ricafort said.

He said one of the growth drivers this year might be election spending and the tourism industry. “We may even see a 7-percent growth in the first quarter... ,” Ricafort said. Julito G. Rada

Meralco Group eyes P5-b solar projects

ONE Meralco Group plans to invest up to P5 billion in solar projects this year as the group expands its renewable energy portfolio, an official said Monday.

“For the One Meralco group power generation, we are looking at around (P4 billion to P5 billion) as far as solar projects are concerned. For thermal plants, we have not yet decided for 2022,” Meralco PowerGen Corp. and Global Business Power Corp. president Jaime Azurin said.

Azurin said Meralco’s power generation group led by Meralco PowerGen Corp. plans to increase its RE generation in the coming years.

“Solar battery storage and wind 75-MW solar in Baras, Rizal, which is expected to commence operations in Q3 this year. The 68-MW solar in Ilocos Norte is expected to commence (operations) by Q1 2023. The 45-MW Cordon, Isabela, EPC (negotiations) are already in progress You can expect more RE projects in the coming years as we endeavor to provide cleaner and sustainable energy supply to the market,” Azurin said.

Alena Mae S. Flores

Yanson Group vows to support recovery

THE Yanson Group of Bus Companies on Tuesday vowed to support economic recovery as it committed to provide mobility and transportation solutions to millions of Filipino passengers.

Olivia V. Yanson, co-founder and administrator of the Yanson Group, said it was ready to provide the riding public with the most reliable means of public transportation and help the country in its economic recovery.

The company operates Vallacar Transit Inc., Rural Transit of Mindanao Inc. (RTMI), Bachelor Express Inc. (BEI), Ceres Transport Inc. (CTI), Gold Star Bus Transit Inc., Southern Star Bus Transport Inc. (SSBTI), Mindanao Star Bus Transport Inc. (MSBTI) and Countryside Food Resources Corp.

Olivia Yanson, Leo Rey Yanson, Ginnette Y. Dumancas, Charles M. Dumancas, Anita G. Chua, Arvin John V. Villaruel, Rey C. Ardo and Daniel Nicolas Golez were re-elected as members of the board during the Countryside Food annual meeting on March 1. Darwin G. Amojelar

Manufacturing registers fastest growth in 38 months

By Othel V. Campos

BIODIVERSITY CONSERVATION. Metro Pacific Investments Corp., the country’s leading infrastructure investment company and the ASEAN Center for Biodiversity, sign an agreement to collaborate toward biodiversity conservation, social development and nature-based solutions in Southeast Asia following the triple bottomline approach. MPIC and ACB will provide the needed support for each other’s initiatives and promote the importance of mainstreaming biodiversity in core business processes. The partnership aims to implement joint programs that communicate the values of biodiversity and ecosystem restoration.

THE manufacturing sector posted its fastest growth in more than three years, as the Philippines purchasing manager’s index rose to 52.8 in February 2022 from 50.0 in January.

IHS Markit Philippines said its analysis showed that it was the highest jump of the PMI in 38 months, which gauges the output of the manufacturing sector since December 2018.

Trade Secretary Ramon Lopez attributed the growth in the manufacturing output to the continued easing of economic restrictions amid the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“The climb in the country’s PMI in February is a result of the consistent and sustained efforts, together with the continued cooperation of our countrymen, in working towards the recovery of our economy. Last month’s performance is an indication of the sector’s solid growth in output, new orders and exports thanks to easing of mobility curbs as the Omicron

surge fades,” he said.

Lopez said even before the country shifted to Alert Level 2, manufacturing and export activities were allowed at 100-percent operating capacity.

“Thus, with the recent de-escalation of Metro Manila and other provinces to Alert Level 1, we expect March PMI to remain above 50 on sustained manufacturing growth recovery, underpinned by economic reopening and greater mobility,” Lopez said.

The PMI considers new orders, output, employment, suppliers’ delivery time and stock. Readings above 50 signal growth and below that, a contraction.

The latest report showed a resumption of improvement in the Philippines manufacturing sector and indicated the strongest improvement in the health of the sector since December 2018.

Growth was centered on expansions in both output and new orders with the rate of increase in the former the quickest for over three years.

PSA: Boxing, weightlifting associations to be feted THE two sports federations responsible for the country’s monumental campaign in the Tokyo Olympics won’t be missed out in the March 14 San Miguel Corporation-Philippine Sportswriters Association Annual Awards Night.

Samahang Weightlifting ng Pilipinas and the Association of Boxing Alliances in the Philippines are both going to be honored with the National Sports Association of the Year Award as they played crucial roles in assuring the Philippines’ most glorious Olympic campaign ever.

Weightlifter Hidilyn Diaz delivered the historic first Olympic gold medal for the country, while boxers Carlo Paalam, Nesthy Petecio, and Eumir Marcial accounted for three other medals to cap the Filipino delegation’s most productive stint in its history of Olympic participation.

SWP president Monico Puentevella and ABAP prexy Ricky Vargas are expected to receive the award in behalf of their respective associations during the special event presented by the Philippine Sports Commission, Philippine Olympic Committee, and Cignal TV. Vargas had since been succeeded by former executive director Ed Picson as head of the country’s governing body for boxing.

This marks the first time the weightlifting association will be honored with the recognition by the country’s oldest media organization, while ABAP is going to be feted with the same award for the third straight year.

As expected, the 31-year-old Diaz was the hands down choice as the 2021 Athlete of the Year by the country’s oldest media organization during the gala night at the Diamond Hotel and backed by MILO (official choco milk), 1Pacman, Philippine Basketball Association, Philracom, Rain or Shine, ICTSI, Chooks To Go, MVP Sports Foundation, and Smart.

Paalam and Petecio, meanwhile, provided a pair of silver, and Marcial a bronze to join Diaz in the Olympic podium.

For their feat, the three boxers will be honored each with a Major Award during the traditional awards night.

The three medals won by ABAP is also the most by the federation in its long history of competing in the quadrennial showpiece. AFP

Sports

WITH guidance from the Philippine Basketball Association, the University Athletic Association of the Philippines returns with its 84th season on March 26 under safe conditions.

Participating athletes, coaches and team officials will be transported to the game venues by designated vehicles and back to their respective school premises and places where they train at the end of every game day.

These safety and health protocols, which have been used by the PBA over the the last two years, will be implemented all throughout the season.

“For now, we are included to maintain the bubble, and the training done by athletes in their respective schools and dorms. They will be shuttled straight to the venues and back,” said UAAP executive director Rene “Rebo” Saguisag Jr., adding the league has been in discussion with the PBA in the past months over their plans to restart.

Over the last two years, the PBA has been able to stage at least one tournament under a bubble-type setup.

With the country in various stages of quarantine in 2020, the PBA held the Governors’ Cup under a bubble setup at the Angeles University Foundation Sports and Cultural Center.

Last year, the PBA did the Philippine Cup and the Governors’ Cup at the Don Honorio Ventura State University on Bacolor, Pampanga using a similar setup.

So far, COVID-19 vaccinations have begun for student-athletes belonging to member-schools of the UAAP starting in October.

The women’s volleyball event is being planned after the Holy Week when basketball action is over.

The plan to start Season 84 under a bubble setup will still be implemented even though the National Capital Region is now at Alert Level 1, with many restrictions lifted.

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 2, 2022

C1

The mother federations of Hidilyn Diaz and boxers Carlo Paalam, Eumir Marcial and Nesthy Petecio (inset) have been chosen as co-National Sports Associations of the Year by the Philippine Sportswriters Association.

PH boxing community joins support for Ukraine

By Randy Caluag

S

EVERAL Filipino boxing personalities have joined the international sports community in expressing support for Ukraine, which is now under attack by Russia.

UAAP promises safe conditions in return, with PBA’s guidance

By Peter Atencio

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

Former world heavyweight champion Vitali Klitschko, now mayor of Kyiv, Ukraine, with Filipino boxing promoter Johnny Elorde during the 2018 World Boxing Convention in Kyiv. (Photo from Liza Elorde Facebook)

Liza Elorde of the famed Elorde Promotions posted pictures of her husband Johnny Elorde with former cruiserweight champion Vitali Klitschko during the 2018 World Boxing Convention in Kyiv, Ukraine where the latter serves as mayor.

“Mayor Vitali Klitschko who was a former world heavyweight champ here with Johnny (asks for prayers). He is now in full battle gear fighting the Russians. Let us offer prayers, especially for the children caught in this war,” said Liza.

Positive comments both from boxing and nonboxing personalities have poured in calling for peace and prayers.

Ring official Jerrold Tomeldan and trainer Glenn Mondol and lady boxer Renalyn Daquel also called for prayers and peace in support of Ukraine, which has produced big names in professional boxing like Vitali and his brother Vladimir, heavyweight champion Oleksandr Usyk and Vasiliy Lomachenko.

The four prominent Ukrainian boxing champs have joined their country’s military forces to fight the invading Russians.

Usyk, currently the unified heavyweight champion

after beating Anthony Joshua last September, left a comfortable life in the United Kingdom to help fight for his country.

Lomachenko has secured his family’s safety in Greece and came back to Ukraine to don the military uniform.

The World Boxing Council also responded to Russia’s action by suspending “all WBC boxing in Russia until and unless this conflict gets resolved agreeably.”

“We condemn this war in the strongest terms, demand peace in the region. After careful deliberation, we are committed to taking this action to back up our words,” said the WBC, headed by its president Mauricio Sulaiman, in a statement.

Other boxing world bodies later joined WBC in calling for peace.

The heads of the four major bodies signed a unified statement, namely Sulaiman, Daryl Peoples of the International Boxing Federation, Francisco Valcarcel of the World Boxing Organization and Gilberto Mendoza of the World Boxing Association.

“Just as the world claims for cease of fire, our organizations have decided to not sanction any boxing championships in Russia. Just as this war has put a stop to boxing in Ukraine, our organizations will not sanction fights in Russia until further assessment of the situation,” the statement said.

The International Olympic Committee has also called on international sports federations and organizers to ban athletes from Russia and its ally Belarus.

Even before IOC’s appeal the word federation for football, FIFA, was among the first ones to condemn Russia’s attack on Ukraine.

Go for Gold riders to challenge veterans YOUTH-LADEN Go for Gold seeks to challenge the cream of the crop of Philippine cycling as it sees action in the 10-stage LBC Ronda Pilipinas 2022 that starts in Sorsogon on March 11 and ends in Baguio on March 20.

“Same with others, we want to win but we are more excited because we know the competition will be stiff this year,” said Go for Gold coach Ednalyn Hualda.

Hualda said the team desperately wants to perform well this edition since three of their best riders—Daniel Carino, Ismael Grospe and Jericho Jay Lucero—are graduating from the team built for promising young riders aged 23 years old and below.

The other members of the Jeremy Go-

managed squad are Dominic Perez, Boots Ryan Cayubit, Jonel Carcueva and Ronnilan Quita.

“We really want to win this year because most of my riders are on their last year with us,” she said.

Go for Gold actually fared well in the last staging of this annual event—the 10th Anniversary Race—two years ago after Carino, Carcueva and Grospe all wound up in the top 10.

And there is a chance they would fare better this year.

“We want to win but I think we have a chance of getting one of our rider to finish in the top three,” said Hualda.

Go for Gold will contend against a

strong field, headed by the mighty Navy Standard Insurance, which will be spearheaded by George Oconer and Ronald Oranza, the last two Ronda kings.

Also seeing action are Excellent Noodles, which will be led by former Ronda winners Jan Paul Morales and Santy Barnachea, Philippine Army, Team Nueva Ecija, Dreyna, Eagle Cement, Champ Café, Bike Kings Laguna, Vantage Ilocos Norte, VPharma, Team Quezon Province and Team Ilocos Sur. A total of P3.5 million will be given away as cash prizes with P1 million going to the overall individual champion, P400,000 to the runner-up and P200,000 to the second runner-up.

The team champion gets P200,000 in this race presented by LBC Express, Inc. and supported by MVP Sports Foundation, Quad X, Twin Cycle Gear, Standard Insurance, Print2Go, Elves Bicycles, Elitewheels, Orome, Maynilad and Garmin.

Petron Boy Kanin, Green Planet Bikeshop, Prolite, Black Mamba, Lightwater and LBC Foundation are also backing the event along with the PhilCycling and Games and Amusements Board.

Ronda will unfold with a Stage One Individual Time Trial and Team Time Trial on March 11 in Sorsogon followed by the 163-kilometer Sorsogon-Legazpi City Stage Three on March 12 and 189.1km Legazpi-Daet Stage Four on March 13.

Denice dishes on brother Drex’s victory, rematch with Ham

Denice Zamboanga

WHILE people were doubting Drex “TRex” Zamboanga’s choice to move up two weight classes, his sister Denice never wavered from her belief in him.

Drex couldn’t have dreamt of a better start, knocking out Rahul “The Kerala Crusher” Raju in just 65 seconds at ONE: FULL CIRCLE on February 25 to remain undefeated in The Home of Martial Arts.

Denice—the no. 2-ranked ONE Championship women’s atomweight contender —is over the moon after her older brother kicked off his lightweight campaign with a bold statement.

The Zamboanga siblings have unbreakable support for each other in victory and

defeat. But the “Lycan Queen” is delighted that Drex issued an emphatic response to his naysayers.

“My brother Drex has been training well, and I’m proud that he just proved to all the haters that he can also excel in the lightweight division,” she said. “He showed a statement there last Friday night. I can’t wait for him to slowly but surely become one of the best contenders in his new division.”

While her older brother is getting some rest in the Philippines, Denice is in Thailand preparing for her rematch against Ham Seo Hee at ONE X on 26 March.

Ham defeated Denice in a controversial victory in the quarterfinals of the ONE

Women’s Atomweight World Grand Prix last year.

Even if Denice and Drex are countries apart, the support they have for one another will always remain intact.

“He has been my training partner since then, but in this rematch with Ham [Seo Hee], it will be a bit different as I’m not training with him,” Denice confirmed.

“After his fight in Singapore, he went back to the Philippines, but he still gives so much support and makes me feel like he is always beside me.”

It’s been months since the 25-year-old Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu expert stepped into the Circle. But even when she wasn’t actively competing, the grind continued.

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Sports

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 2, 2022

MotoGP opens ‘marathon’ season Sunday PARIS—MotoGP opens a marathon season on Sunday in Qatar with champion Fabio Quartararo trying to hold off Francesco Bagnaia on the faster Ducati, while both glance back anxiously at Marc Marquez.

Marquez has made it clear he is chasing a man who has left the circuit. Valentino Rossi retired at the end of last season after racing in the elite category since 2000, two years before MotoGP was created.

The Italian won seven top-class world titles. At a few days past his 29th birthday, Marquez has six.

“My goal is to fight for the title,” Marquez said at the Honda team presentation, but he added that the competition would be tough.

“Fabio was champion, and he deserves to be because he was the most consistent, but Pecco Bagnaia ended the year being the fastest with the Ducati.”

Marquez returned last season after crashing a few laps into the 2020 campaign. For much of last season, he struggled and he sat out the last two races with double vision.

With one good arm, he still won three races, all at tracks with an emphasis on leftturning corners, which the Spaniard preferred even before smashing his right arm.

“Today everything looks good, the vision is perfect, the arm is better too,” he said in February.

Worryingly for his rivals, the revamped Honda seems to be quicker. The second factory rider, Pol Espargaro, set the best time at pre-season testing in Indonesia and then declared: “I’ve never been so fast.”

That might not be an entirely a good thing for Marquez. In previous seasons, the Honda bikes have been set up to suit his risky and aggressive riding style.

Quartararo, a 22-year-old Frenchman, has also made a habit of winning with bikes on which others struggle. Last season he collected 278 points while the other three men who raced factory Yamahas over the season collected just 31.

After winning five of last season’s first 12 races, Quartararo struggled to keep up with the accelerating Ducatis as Italian Bagnaia won four of the last six. AFP Republic of the Philippines REGIONAL TRIAL COURT National Capital Judicial Region Branch 86, Quezon City FERDINAND J. RECTO, Petitioner, -versus-

Civil Case No. R-QZN-19-12690-CV For: Declaration of Nullity of Marriage

ELIZABETH M. COSME, Respondent. x---------------------------------------x

ORDER For resolution is the Manifestation/Compliance with Motion to Resolve Petitioner’s Motion for Leave of Court to Effect Service of Summons by Publication. Petitioner avers that in the Order dated August 19,2020, the court deferred the resolution of his Motion for Leave of Court to Effect Service of Summons by Publication pending submission of a better address of the respondent or proof that latter said in the address indicated in the Petition. He claimed that he exerted diligent efforts to obtain the current address of the respondent but it was in vain. He further claimed that the address of the respondent in their Marriage Certificate is the same as that what he stated in his petition.

Petitioner cited Sections 3 and 16 of Rule 14 of the 2019 Amendments to the 1997 Rules of Civil Procedure to support his motion. He prayed that his motion be granted.

Acting on petitioner’s motion, the court resolves to GRANT his Motion for Leave of Court to Effect Service of Summons.

Section 16, Rule 14 of A.M. No. 19-10-20-SC (2019 Proposed Amendments to the 1997 Rules of Civil Procedure) provides: Section 16. Service upon defendant whose identity or whereabouts are unknown. - In any action where the defendant is designated as an unknown owner, or the like, or whenever his or her whereabouts are unknown and cannot be ascertained by diligent inquiry, within ninety (90) days from the commencement of the action, service may, by leave of court be effected upon him or her by publication in a newspaper of general circulation and in such places and for such time as the court may order.

Any order granting such leave shall specify a reasonable time which shall not be less than sixty (60) calendar days after notice, within which the defendant must answer.

Considering the above provisions, let Summons by Publication be issued for the service of Summons to respondent Elizabeth M. Cosme. Also, pursuant to Section 16, Rule 14 of A.M. No. 19-1020-SC, the respondent is given sixty (60) calendar days from the publication of this Summons to file her Answer.

WHEREFORE, in light of the foregoing, petitioner’s Motion for Leave of Court to Effect Service of Summons by Publication is GRANTED. SO ORDERED. Quezon City, February 11, 2021.

(Sgd.) HON. ROBERT P. BUENAVENTURA Presiding Judge

Republic of the Philippines Regional Trial Court National Capital Judicial Region Branch 86 Quezon City FERDINAND J. RECTO, Petitioner, -versus-

IOC calls for Russia ban; FIFA throws team out of World Cup G ENEVA—The International Olympic Committee on Monday urged sports federations and organisers to exclude Russian and Belarusian athletes and officials from international events following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Just hours later, FIFA kicked Russia out of the 2022 World Cup as football’s global governing body and UEFA joined forces to expel Russian national teams and clubs from all international competitions.

Russia were due to take part in World Cup play-offs this month, but plans to play on neutral territory were dismissed as “unacceptable” by their rivals Poland, Sweden and the Czech Republic.

“Football is fully united here and in full solidarity with all the people affected in Ukraine,” FIFA and UEFA said in a statement.

Rugby’s world governing body

banned Russia and Belarus from all international rugby “until further notice” on Tuesday.

Russia’s membership of World Rugby was also suspended indefinitely, meaning the country’s slim hopes of qualifying for next year’s World Cup in France are over.

The Badminton World Federation (BWF) on Monday also cancelled all sanctioned tournaments in Russia and Belarus, banned them from hosting future tournaments “until further notice” and ordered their flags and anthems banned from all BWF tournaments.

The IOC, meanwhile, said it faced a

Russia’s players react after losing the Japan 2019 Rugby World Cup Pool A match between Scotland and Russia at the Shizuoka Stadium Ecopa in Shizuoka. Russia and Belarus were suspended on March 1, 2022 from all international rugby “until further notice”, the world governing body said, as it announced “full and immediate” sanctions following the invasion of Ukraine. AFP

Magic Morant spurs Grizzlies; Heat win LOS ANGELES—Ja Morant produced a virtuoso 52-point performance as the Memphis Grizzlies defeated the San Antonio Spurs 118105 in the NBA’s Western Conference clash on Monday.

Morant made 22 of 30 shots from the field in a magical display for Memphis, who bounced back in style following their defeat to the Chicago Bulls on Saturday.

Morant’s masterpiece included two dazzling season highlights—an astonishing dunk over the Spurs’ Austrian player Jakob Poeltl.

He then topped that on the stroke of halftime with a gravity-defying fadeaway jump shot after plucking a length-of-the-court pass from Steven Adams out of the air.

The win leaves Memphis in third in the Western Conference with 43 wins and 20 defeats, trailing the Golden State Warriors (43-18) and the leading Phoenix Suns (49-12).

Elsewhere on Monday, the Miami Heat shut down DeMar DeRozan to rout the Chicago Bulls 112-99 in their top-of-the-table Eastern Conference clash.

Gabe Vincent and Tyler Herro scored 20 points apiece while Jimmy Butler and Bam Adebayo each had 15

points as Miami’s balanced offense completed a convincing victory.

But Miami’s hard-nosed defensive display also played a huge role in the win, with the Heat ending DeRozan’s remarkable run of 10 consecutive games with 30 points or more.

DeRozan was held to 18 points and was never allowed to settle into his rhythm by a rampant Miami, who improved to 41-21 at the top of the conference standings. The Bulls remain in second at 39-23.

DeRozan ‘blitzed’ “We set multiple things for him— we blitzed him, we tried to give him everything we had and make him uncomfortable,” Vincent said of Miami’s defense of DeRozan.

“He made some shots despite it, but we came out with the win.”

The emphatic win kicks off a challenging run of games for Miami, who play the NBA champion Milwaukee Bucks on Wednesday and the Philadelphia 76ers on Saturday either side of a road game against the struggling Brooklyn Nets.

“This means a lot—we’re playing a lot of tough teams this week,” Vincent added. “We wanted to set the tone for the week we want to have.”

Zach Lavine led the scoring for

Ja Morant of the Memphis Grizzlies drives to the basket during the game against the San Antonio Spurs at FedExForum in Memphis, Tennessee. AFP

Chicago with 22 points while DeRozan and Ayo Dosunmu both had 18 points each. Nikola Vucevic was held to 14 points. AFP

LOS ANGELES—The Tampa Bay Buccaneers will be one of the teams in the first ever regular season NFL game to be staged in Germany, the league announced on Monday.

The 2021 Super Bowl champions will face as yet undetermined opponents at Bayern Munich’s Allianz Arena, the NFL said as it revealed first details of next season’s international schedule.

The Green Bay Packers will play their first ever international overseas game when they travel to London, which will also host games involving the New Orleans Saints and Jacksonville Jaguars.

The Arizona Cardinals meanwhile will be one of the teams involved in the regular season game due to take place at Mexico City’s Azteca Stadium.

The exact dates of the international fixtures and the identities of all teams involved was not released.

“We are ver y excited to be st agi ng f ive games outside the United States in 2022, and thank the clubs for their continued commitment to growing the sport internationally,” NFL executive vice president of club business and league events Peter O’Reilly said.

“Our fans in Germany, Mexico and the UK can look for ward to seeing some of the most iconic names and biggest stars in the League and enjoying an incredible series of events.”

The Cardinals will travel to Mexico City 17 years after playing in the NFL’s first regular season game outside the United States in 2005.

Mexico has not hosted an NFL game since the Kansas City Chiefs played the Los Angeles Chargers at the Azteca in 2019.

The Packers and Saints meanwhile will play their games at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium while the Jaguars will play at Wembley. AFP

Johnson confirmed as US Ryder Cup captain

ELIZABETH M. COSME, Respondent. x---------------------------------------------x TO : ELIZABETH M. COSME 142 Fabella Street 1550 Mandaluyong City GREETINGS: You are hereby required to file with the Branch Clerk of Court, at Rm, 110 Ground Floor. Hall of Justice, Quezon City, within fifteen (15) days from receipt of this Summons your ANSWER to the Petition, copy of which is hereto attached, together with the annexes. You shall furnish petitioner a copy of your ANSWER within the same fifteen (15) day period. If you fail to answer within fifteen (15) days, petitioner shall take action as authorized under Rules of Court the relief applied for in the said petition.

You are reminded of IBP-OCA Memorandum on Policy Guidelines dated March 12, 2000 to observe restraint in filing a motion to dismiss and instead alleged the ground thereof as defenses in the answer.

The Respondent in an action for Annulment of Marriage, Declaration of Nullity of Marriage, or Legal Separation must strictly observe the above-prescribed period to file answer.

WITNESS my hand under seal of the Court, this 9th day of SEPTEMBER 2019 in Quezon City, Metro Manila, Philippines.

(MStandard - February 16, 23,& Mar. 2, 2022)

ranking Russian officials, including President Vladimir Putin.

ROC says IOC ‘contradicting’ Olympic spirit Stanislav Pozdnyakov, the president of the Russian Olympic Committee, said the IOC’s recommendations “contradict” the Olympic charter and the “spirit of the Olympic movement”.

“We strongly disagree with them,” Pozdnyakov said in a statement.

The IOC said that if it is not possible for “organisational or legal reasons” to prevent Russian and Belarusian athletes competing, sports officials should do “everything in their power” to stop athletes from the two countries taking part under their country’s flags.

It is a matter of particular urgency in relation to the Paralympic Winter Games, which begin Friday in Beijing.

The body “reiterated its full support for the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) and the Games”. AFP

Bucs to join German NFL game; Packers play in London

CIVIL CASE No. R-QZN-19-12690-CV SUMMONS

(Sgd.) HON. ROBERT P. BUENAVENTURA Presiding Judge

“dilemma which cannot be solved”.

“While athletes from Russia and Belarus would be able to continue to participate in sports events, many athletes from Ukraine are prevented from doing so because of the attack on their country,” it said in a statement.

“In order to protect the integrity of global sports competitions and for the safety of all the participants, the IOC EB (executive board) recommends that International Sports Federations and sports event organisers not invite or allow the participation of Russian and Belarusian athletes and officials in international competitions.”

If international federations follow the IOC’s advice and football’s action en masse, Russia would join the Yugoslavia of Slobodan Milosevic and South Africa under apartheid rule as major sporting pariahs.

The IOC also withdrew the Olympic Order, its highest award, from all high-

Zach Johnson and wife Kim Barclay pose after Johnson was announced as United States Ryder Cup Captain for 2023 during a press conference at PGA of America Headquarters in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida. AFP

MIAMI—Zach Johnson will captain the United States when they defend their Ryder Cup crown against Europe in Italy next year, the PGA of America confirmed Monday.

Johnson, a member of five Ryder Cup teams and vice-captain for the last two editions of the biennial team tournament, was named by PGAA president Jim Richerson.

“I am confident that Zach’s appointment will be wildly popular with the players as well as throughout American golf circles,” Richerson said in a statement.

“He checks every conceivable leadership box and we anticipate that the U.S. Team in Italy will reflect the hard work, grit and selfless determination that have long defined his stellar playing career.”

The next Ryder Cup takes place at the Marco Simone Golf and Country Club

in Rome from September 25-October 1 next year.

Johnson, 46, posted a 8-7-2 overall match record in Ryder Cup play and was part of winning teams as a player in 2016 and as a vice captain in last year’s pandemic-delayed edition.

“To accept this captaincy, to lead this United States Ryder Cup Team abroad after what we accomplished last year at Whistling Straits is simply the greatest honor of my professional career,” said two-time majorwinner Johnson.

“To win, we will have to outplay a European team that will have both ample talent and motivation on their side. I am anxious to dig in and begin the process of putting our team in the best possible position to succeed.”

The US hold the Ryder Cup after thrashing Europe 19-9 last year. AFP

Entertainment

Nickie Wang,, Editor Patricia Taculao, Editorial Assistant E-mail: lifeandshow.manilastandard@gmail.com WEDNESDAY, MARCH 2, 2022

Grateful Maymay Entrata pursues studies in Canada

Maymay Entrata is the new face of MEGAN Beauty

BRINGING together the people who matter and who have been with her every step of the way has been one of Maymay Entrata’s long-term goals during the pandemic.

Serving as a way to give back and to keep herself grounded, the singer-actress, who’s known for holding sold-out concerts and packed mall shows and screenings, admits that nothing beats face-to-face encounters.

But the virtual meet and greet last February 27, which was organized by her Megan Beauty family, was more than enough for Maymay to feel recharged and excited to carry on with her next endeavor in her professional life.

Present in the event is several fan groups and select members of the press who all had a colorful Sunday as they participated in the fun Bring Me and Whisper Challenge

games.

With catching up as the afternoon’s main theme, both the media and the fans were able to get up-close-and-personal anew with the “Amakabogera” singer as they threw fun jokes and queries during the question-andanswer segments.

Maymay who is currently in Canada to pursue her studies recalled that her February has been really special for her.

“Matagal na matagal ko ng talagang plinano na mag-study abroad at alam na yan ng nanay ko kahit hindi pa ako artista. Ayun nangyari na siya kaya masaya ako. Ang buong February ko, masayang masaya. Yung puso ko masaya kasi kasama ko ang espesyal sa puso ko. Tapos isa na din, itong February na ito, marami sa pamilya ko ang nag-birthday kaya punong-puno ng selebrasyon. Halos araw-araw rin kaming nagco-communicate eh, kaya masaya. Ang isa rin na kumumpleto sa saya ko this February dahil nadagdagan

kami ng isang miyembro sa pamilya namin.

Kakapanganak lang ng pinsan nung isang araw kaya masayang-masaya ang Pebrero ko,” Maymay shares.

Apart from her supporters, Maymay accounts for the trust of her endorsements, such as local personal care and beauty brand MEGAN Beauty, as her confidence booster amidst being part of a very volatile and demanding industry.

“Hindi naging madali para talagang maging fully confident ako sa sarili ko. Kaya ang laki ng tulong sakin ng MEGAN family kasi lalo na nung first two years, isa sila sa napakalaking rason kung bakit naniniwala ako sa tunay kong ganda. Isa sila sa mga unang naniwala sa gandang meron ako,” Maymay started.

“So parang ako rin, na-push ko rin yung sarili ko na, ‘Okay, dahil may naniniwala sa ganda ko, maniniwala rin ako,’” she explains.

But Maymay stressed that being confident is not an overnight process.

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“Siyempre hindi naman sa isang salita lang magiging confident kana sa ganda mo. Base sa experence ko talaga kapag dapat hindi mo din-define yung ganda base sa sinasabi ng ibang tao na stadard ng beauty. Dapat dine-define mo ang ganda sa kung paano mo siya dine-define. Kasi kapag nagre-rely ka sa ganon hindi ka talaga masa-satisfy talaga.Be yourself lang talaga at acceptance sa sarili mong ganda,” she says.

Finally, grateful for all the love and support that she’s been receiving, Maymay encourages her supporters to, like her, always choose to be happy.

“Sa mga taga-suporta ko na nandito ngayon sa meet-and-greet, sana nag-enjoy kayo kahit hindi man tayo in-person. Sana mangibabaw kung ano man ang nakakapagpasaya ng puso natin. Huwag na huwag po tayong matakot na mag-risk sa kung ano ang magpapasaya sa atin kasi sinasabi ko sa inyo magiging worth it talaga ‘yun,” she ends.

TV5 inks blocktime partnership with Kumu, Cornerstone Entertainment NCAA representatives at the Kapuso Bigay Premyo Panalo

GMA launches Kapuso Bigay Premyo Panalo Season 3

(From left) Kumu Chief Commercial Officer Luis Paolo Pineda, Vice President and CEO of TV5 Robert P. Galang, Cornerstone Entertainment President Erickson Raymundo, and Cornerstone Entertainment Vice President Jeff Vadillo

I

N LESS than two years after its return in entertainment production scene, TV5 continues to give platform to premium content through formidable content collaborations.

The latest of which is its blocktime partnership with multimedia company Cornerstone Entertainment and streaming platform Kumu.

Pinoy hosts and mentors who are known globally for their body of work to guide and prepare our dreamers for the world stage. There will also be some exciting surprise guests.

Meanwhile, Jeff Vadillo, Cornerstone Entertainment’s Vice President, stated that the goal of the show is to discover and build up future P-Pop icons.

“Coming from a talent management perspective, we’ve handled a lot of some of the country’s biggest stars. And, through this show, we aim to get to create you know, the future of P-pop icons.

That’s the goal. With proper training and with the experience that we have in terms of discovering talents and honing and training them, we feel that we have a good chance of really raising up the future of P-Pop through this show,” Vadillo said.

Catch this generation’s newest P-pop boy group on Kapatid Network, TV5, and on the official account of Top Class on Kumu http://app.kumu.ph/topclass.

The media companies have partnered that go into making Top Class as for Top Class, The Rise to P-Pop Stardom, the ultimate show that will find this an original talent hunt survival series that generation’s “it” P-pop boy group.” will delve into the world of future male “With the growing popularity of Kumu, superstars and chart their trail into fame the Pinoy live streaming app built for the and glory in the entertainment industry.

Millennial and Gen Z Filipinos, the move The show will highlight young to discover the next P-pop group will aspirants who will take on challenges and empower more content creators around push them to their limits as they compete the world to showcase their talents,” the for the coveted prize of becoming the next statement continued.

Filipino boy idol group.

The talent series will feature top-notch With 30 dreamers’ lives on the line, the number of hopefuls will be whittled down to the final spots that will punch through the top and spearhead what could be the next wave of Pinoy talents that will set fire to the world of showbiz.

In a statement sent to Manila Standard Entertainment, the Kapatid Network said that “The collaboration between TV5, Kumu, and Cornerstone Entertainment heralds the creative prowess between these mass media giants and the manpower and resources Kumu, TV5, and Cornerstone Entertainment executives at the contract signing

#TiktokChallenge

Socmed platform allows users to upload videos up to 10 minutes

TIKTOK on Monday began letting users upload videos as long as 10 minutes, ramping up the young platform’s challenge to veteran titan YouTube.

TikTok, owned by ByteDance in China, launched with a one-minute limit on uploaded videos but bumped the cap to three minutes last year.

“Today we are happy to start rolling out the ability to upload videos up to 10 minutes long. We hope this will further stimulate the creativity of our creators around the world,” TikTok said in response to an AFP inquiry.

TikTok more than tripling the length of videos comes as YouTube and Facebook-parent Meta strive to counter the rival with short-form content

options and incentives to creators whose posts draw audiences.

“YouTube is still ahead of TikTok in terms of time spent, but its not immune to the ‘TikTok effect’,” Insider Intelligence analyst Jasmine Enberg told AFP. “The gap in time spent between the two platforms is narrow, and longer videos could help TikTok catch up in terms of both eyeballs and engagement.”

Longer videos could also enable TikTok creators make more money and boost the platform’s advertising business, the analyst added.

YouTube recently laid out goals for this year that included making the

TikTok is more than tripling the length of shared videos to 10 minutes

lives of creators easier and boosting a popular format that rivals TikTok. The video-sharing platform is investing in short-form and live video, along with tools to help creators make money and produce fresh content, according to chief product officer Neal Mohan.

“YouTube creators are the heart and soul of the platform. To give them every opportunity possible, we’ll continue to invest across our multiple formats,” Mohan said in a blog post. AFP

GMA Network opens with a winning salvo to 2022 with the launch of Kapuso Bigay Premyo Panalo Season 3.

The first in GMA Promos history to be launched this early in the year offers a fresh new vibe in its danceable music video featuring representatives from member schools of National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA).

On February 26, GMA kicked off the 10-week raffle promo that continues to extend help and give hope to Filipinos as it gives away over P 8 million worth of prizes. Over 2,000 winners stand to win any of the daily cash prizes, weekly “pangkabuhayan at sari-sari store paninda” cash packages, and a brand-new house and lot from Camella in the grand draw.

To join, participants must simply follow these easy steps: Bumili: Buy any of the participating products: Aji-Ginisa Flavor Seasoning Mix, Nescafe Original, Bear Brand Fortified Powdered Milk Drink, and Dady’s Choice. Enclose the required proof-of-purchase and piece of paper with complete contact details in a plain white envelope. The participant can also write the name of his or her sari-sari store partner, store address, and store owner’s contact number for a chance to win additional prizes. On the envelope, write “Kapuso Bigay

Premyo Panalo,” the brand of the enclosed proof-of-purchase, and area of residence (NCR, Luzon, Visayas, or Mindanao); Ipadala: Submit the entries through designated drop boxes in selected Mercury Drug branches nationwide or at the GMA Network Annex Building in Quezon City. The promo now has more drop boxes nationwide to extend its reach to Kapuso participants; Panalo: Wait for the announcement of promo winners which will be done weekly via Facebook Live on the official GMA Promos Facebook Page www.facebook.com/GMAPromos.

Participants can also visit www. gmanetwork.com/GMAPromos to get the complete list of winners, detailed mechanics, and other promo details.

Sending of entries will run until May 6. The announcement of grand winners will be on May 28. The public is also reminded to be careful of scam texts and fake Facebook accounts using the names of GMA Network, GMA Promos, or Kapuso Bigay Premyo Panalo to solicit money. GMA will notify winners via voice call and SMS using its official numbers, and will not ask for money or anything in exchange to claim prizes.

(Per DOH-FDA-CFRR Permit no.

2125 Series of 2021)

Cinema One hits milestone on YouTube CINEMA One continues to grow its digital reach after surpassing one million subscribers on YouTube where netizens can enjoy watching some of their favorite films, documentaries, and other original content on-demand.

Since its launch in 2015, the online platform has become a goldmine of various entertainment content like clips from comedy (Joke Ba Kamo), romance (Kilig Scenema), drama (Reel Drama), classic (Takilya Throwback), and horror (Scream-O-Meter) movies; features from the magazine show CinemaNews and FYE Channel shows like The Best Talk and PopCinema; exclusive interviews, and behind-thescenes specials.

Currently, viewers can watch Barbi: Maid in the Philippines, Dagitab, Da Dog Show, and Ligo Na U, Lapit Na Me as well as 2012 Cinema One Originals film Slumber Party starring Markki Stroem, Archie Alemania, and RK Bagatsing, and 2016 Cinema One Originals’ movie Baka Bukas led by Jasmine Curtis-Smith and Louise delos Reyes on the digital channel until April 30.

Meanwhile, Cinema One has also steadily expanded its presence on Facebook that now has almost three million followers. Aside from repurposed clips, netizens are also hooked on the posts on the page that turn scenes from local movies into amusing memes.

Cinema One started as a cable channel of ABS-CBN’s Creative Programs, Inc. (CPI) in 1994 dedicated to showcasing local and foreign movies to Filipino audiences. Aside from its original production CinemaNews which will start airing its new season on Friday (March 4) at 9:00 p.m., the channel has also ventured into launching digital shows via @fyechannel on kumu such as The Best Talk, PopCinema, On Ztage, and Rated Z.

‘The Best Talk’ host Boy Abunda

Nickie Wang, Editor Patricia Taculao, Editorial Assistant E-mail: lifeandshow.manilastandard@gmail.com

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WEDNESDAY, MARCH 2, 2022

Life The exhibit is part of SM’s commitment of Artworks on display demonstrate sustainability mitigating the impact of climate change and by recycling materials such as wood, brass, and other environmental problems copper

Artworks by Ral Arrogante

The Builders by Victorio Edades

Why are museums still relevant IN A time when historical revisionism is rampant when fake news and lies cloud the judgments of some, museums serve as anchors of truth.

With meticulous documentation of artefacts, careful preservation of historical evidence, and factual presentation of social records, museums have never been so relevant today.

Next to traditional markets, I always make it a point to visit museums wherever I travel. I enjoy looking at a fossil, a piece of ornament, or a fragment of a historical object, while reading the explanations about them and eventually realizing why they are important.

And for every visit, I always discover something new, something interesting that I didn’t catch on the previous visit.

While museums preserve the history and culture of a nation and reflect our society, they don’t have to remain antiquated and archaic.

In order to survive globalization and keep up with the changing times, museums need to keep up with their strategies or they might lose their audience.

Modernizing our past, broadening our cultural narratives, and breaking the mold should be how museums approach the new normal.

More than building new structures, museums should incorporate diverse methods of presenting their collections and capitalize on new technologies.

In a contemporary time when people are always in cyberspace 24/7, you give them better access. If they can’t go to the museum, then bring the museum to them.

The key? Digitalization.

The Cultural Center of the Philippines (CCP) recently launched its digital museum called 21AM, or the 21st Century Art Museum.

Its name, 21AM, recalls the Art Museum, CCP’s original visual arts department circa 1969. The original CCP Art Museum was known during its early decades for germinating the mid-20th century visual arts avant-garde. Conceptualism and Installation Art found their first avatars in the first directors of the Art Museum.

The new museum was conceptualized in 2018 as part of the 50th anniversary of the cultural center. But because of the COVID-19 pandemic, it took three years to make it into fruition.

As its name implies, the new museum is intended as a dedicated space of critical inquiry and artmaking that confronts the 21st century.

An online museum built to present contemporary art exhibitions that probe cyberspace and interrogate its capacities to alter human reality, 21AM opens the domain of art to the global arena where complex ethical issues surface in light of massive, technologically-driven shifts in the contests over truth.

To be managed by the CCP Visual Arts and Museum Division (CCP VAMD), the new museum will present exhibitions of artworks created to investigate how the character of cybernetic space facilitates the manipulation of truth; but also how such manipulations can be understood, arrested, engaged by the imagination.

21AM will operate exhibitions, run public programs and a 24/7 chat room, and a Digital Human Rights Hub.

The series of exhibits on disaster resiliency and sustainability are held in select SM malls across the country

By Nickie Wang

CCP’s digital art museum titled 21AM

As it launches itself into cybernetic futures, 21AM also sets itself up as an entity with a vast memory.

The entire CCP Collection of Modern, Contemporary, ethnographic, and ethnomusicological art and cultural materials will be accessible in the near future through 21AM. In the immediate term, access will be available to a number of data fields.

The work to establish the museum importantly included the custom-built design of this new Accession Record System that consolidates the CCP Collection.

The design updates museum databasing conventions that hardened, for the world, during the colonial period. Old and now untenable hierarchies (notably, the art/ craft divide) are absent from the new software design.

Aiming to facilitate the entry of contemporary artists into the intensifying ways digital technology is re-shaping reality, it was conceptualized for the CCP by independent curator and cultural critic Marian Pastor Roces, who worked with the CCP’s Visual Arts and Museum Division and Chris Millado, CCP Artistic Director.

TAOINC designed the accession system based on Roces’ curatorial guidance and undertook a preliminary conservation assessment of part of the CCP Collection.

••• To communicate the new museum’s mission of participating in the character and arcs of contests for truth, 21AM opened on February 25, an important day in Philippine history. It is the day of commemoration of the EDSA People Power.

And it is only apt to launch with an inaugural exhibit that probes and exposes the excesses of the Ferdinand and Imelda Marcos regime.

In “The Jane Ryan and William Saunders Jewelry Collection: Augmented Reality,” artist couple Pio Abad and Frances Wadsworth Jones produced and distributed digital replicas of Imelda Marcos’s contested jewelry collection using 3D scanning and AR technologies.

For those who don’t know, Jane Ryan and William Saunders were the pseudonyms the Marcoses used to open their accounts in Credit Suisse Zurich in 1968, where they siphoned off money from the national treasury to their private accounts.

Curated by Kenneth Paranada, the exhibit is a radical act of digital restitution.

Artist Abad and designer Wadsworth Jones enact a moment of return that raises the calcified but under-acknowledged ghosts of the Philippine past towards more conscious futurism.

As artist Abad puts it, let’s make the past our future.

The Jane Ryan and and William Saunders Jewelry Collection: Augmented Reality at CCP’s front lawn

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N A joint initiative, SM Prime Holdings, Inc. (SM Prime) and the Department of Science and Technology (DOST) are holding a series of exhibits in select SM malls across the country.

Launched at SM Mall of Asia on February 24 – where the works of Juno Galang, Badz Magsumbol, and Ral Arrogante are on display – the exhibits focus on the sustainability and disaster resilience initiatives of the two organizations, especially those related to addressing climate change.

Being a responsible and trusted member of the community, SM Prime knows the importance of sustainability and disaster resilience in mitigating the impact of climate change and other environmental problems on our planet. As a trusted integrated property developer and one of the biggest in Southeast Asia, SM Prime is committed to promoting these advocacies in all its properties, and the exhibit is the latest to be implemented as part of this commitment.

“DOST and SM Prime have enjoyed a long-standing partnership in promoting sustainability and disaster resilience in the

Connecting today to tomorrow

SM Prime, DOST launch mall exhibit series focused on sustainability, disaster resilience

country. In recent years, working together with visionaries like Undersecretary Dr. Renato Solidum, we have made great strides in facilitating discussions and creating long-term solutions in line with these two advocacies, and we hope to continue building on these achievements toward a more sustainable and disaster-resilient Philippines,” said SM Supermalls President Steven Tan. Speaking about the exhibit, Tan cited the leadership of Hans Sy that has inspired the company to “always look at ways on how we can make it better for the people and for the planet.”

Joining SM Prime are its numerous business units, each with its own sustainability and disaster resilience initiatives. These include SM Supermalls, SMDC Residences, the Commercial Property Group, engaged in the development and leasing of office spaces; Leisure Resorts (Tagaytay Highlands and Pico de Loro) and the Hotels and Convention Centers business unit, which develops and manages hotels and convention centers across the country.

Sustainability and disaster resilience are at the core of SM Prime’s business. In line with this, the company continuously allocates 10 percent of its capital expenses in features in its properties supporting these

The collaboration between SM and DOST focuses on their sustainability and disaster resilience initiatives

two advocacies, from rain catchment facilities to renewable energy sources and everything in between.

“It is our commitment to develop and provide science and technology and innovation services that will influence our leaders to employ scientific and evidencebased decision-making, that will boost how our businesses operate and prevent further losses in our economy, that will improve the way Filipino communities adapt to risks, and lastly, innovations that will make our country a model of resilience and sustainability,” said DOST Usec. and PHIVOLCS OIC Dr. Renato Solidum.

SM Prime, one of the leading integrated property developers in Southeast Asia, remains committed to its role as a catalyst for economic growth, delivering innovative and sustainable lifestyle cities, thereby enriching the quality of life of millions of people.

Sustainability and Disaster Risk Reduction and Resilience form part of SM Prime’s core business strategies. It ensures that its risk-informed investments catalyze sustainable development and positive change in the communities where it operates. To learn more about SM Prime’s Sustainability and Resilience, please visit www.smprime.com/sustainability-overview.

The ribbon cutting ceremony at MOA with SM Prime and DOST executives

Book campaign highlights best of Philippine visual art mural-size paintings depicting the IN CELEBRATION of National Arts joyous celebrations in Angono that Month in February, SM recently showcapture the faces of real people in cased the life and works of some of the most fascinating visual artists from Ritown. His masterpiece, Pag-ahon zal at the My City, My SM, My Art book ng Pagoda, a depiction of the fluvial exhibits at SM City Masinag and SM parade of the San Clemente fiesta in City Taytay the 1970s was obtained by the RockThe exhibit featured pages from the efeller Foundation in New York. book, which is a compilation of the My Angono Town Fiesta shows more City, My SM, My Art campaign highthan 100 figures at various states of lighting the best of Philippine visual delight and celebration during the arts – painting, sculpture, printmaking, The My City, My SM, My Art exhibit at SM City Taytay include feast of San Clemente, Angono’s PaJose ‘Pitok’ Blanco’s memorabilia of photos of the artist at photography, and filmmaking. tron Saint.

During its three-year cultural jour- work, attending significant events, and his achievements Pitok’s children, Glenn, Noel, and was named the most distinguished pracney from 2016-2019, My City, My SM, Michael, Joy, and Peter Paul, My Art featured masters, modernists, and titioner of his time. In panels like those of who are second-generation artists, also millennials in a roadshow around the SM his masterpiece, Filipino Struggles through gave mallgoers a glimpse of their works Supermalls as far north as the Cordilleras History at the Bulwagang Katipunan at the during the exhibit. Also featured was AnManila City Hall, Botong turned fragments gono KUTA Arts Group founder Isidro and as far south as General Santos.

Named after our National Hero, Dr. Jose of the historic past into vivid records of the “Manong Jon” Santos whose works are Rizal, the province has been known as the legendary courage of the ancestors of his free-flowing abstract forms that fuse into randomly recognizable images that are ofCradle of Philippine Art for its artist com- race.

Also highlighted was a capsule collec- ten visually arresting and have a window munities and folk festivals. Rizal is also known as the hometown of National Artist tion from Carlos “Totong” Francisco II, a to his imagination.

Carlos “Botong” Francisco and Master Art- full-time artist and the grandson of Botong My City, My SM, My Art is the latest ediFrancisco, who is also the estate keeper of tion in the My City, My SM series, which ist Jose “Pitok” Blanco.

Today, cultural spaces like the Pinto Art the Francisco Family collection and assets. celebrates the beauty, culture, traditions, At SM City Taytay, the My Art book ex- and great people in cities around the PhilMuseum in Antipolo serve as gateways for modern and contemporary art. And a new hibit showcased the life and works of Maes- ippines where SM has malls. This comes generation of artists is being nurtured in art- tro Jose “Pitok” Blanco. after My City, My SM, which highlights Jose “Pitok” Blanco is known for his tourism; My City, My SM, My Cuisine, oriented schools like the University of Rizal System (URS). which features heirloom During the exhibits, mallrecipes from prominent goers had a rare glimpse of families around the counthe book at the My Art house, try, and My City, My SM, which is inspired by Luzon’s My Crafts, a celebration of Bahay na Bato. traditional arts and modern At SM City Masinag, the Philippine design. larger-than-life book pages Visit https://mystorymysm. showcased the life and works com/mycitymysmmyart/ of National Artist for Painting and https://www.youtube.

Carlos “Botong “Francisco. com/MyCityMySMMyArt Known as the Poet of Ango- (From left) Rizaleño artists Erwin Leaño, Pogs Samson of Pinto Art Museum and to learn more about the My no, Botong single-handedly re- Carlos ‘Totong’ Francisco II, grandson of National Artist Carlos ‘Botong’ Francisco City, My SM, My Art camvived the art of mural painting during the recent ‘My City, My SM, My Art Book Exhibit’ at SM City Masinag paign.