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(Story on A4) LAGUESMA, OPLE TAPPED TO HEAD LABOR, MIGRANT WORKERS' PORTFOLIOS Susan Ople

Sara hands-off on appointments

By Rey E. Requejo PRESUMPTIVE president Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. has asked former Labor Secretary Bienvenido “Benny” Laguesma and migrant workers' advocate Susan "Toots" Ople to be part of his administration. His spokesman, Vic Rodriguez, said Tuesday Marcos had talked to the two before leaving the country for Australia for a "much needed rest and vacation" after a grueling

PRESUMPTIVE vice president Sara DuterteCarpio said Monday she will neither lobby for officials hailing from Davao nor interfere in the appointment of Cabinet secretaries of presumptive president Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. Next page

campaign. Laguesma was asked to lead the Department of Labor and Employment, while Ople was asked to take the helm of the newly-created Department of Migrant Workers. "Both are respected in the field of labor and employment,” Rodriguez said. He said both Laguesma and Ople “accepted the invitation warmly” even as they asked for some time to consult first

Bienvenido Laguesma

Congress set to canvass votes BBM camp seeks respect for people's will amid plea to stop tally

By Rey E. Requejo, Vito Barcelo, Maricel V. Cruz and Macon Ramos-Araneta

ONGRESS will start the canvassing of votes for the presidential and vice presidential races from May 24 until May 27.

House of Representatives Secretary General Mark Llandro Mendoza said the canvassing will begin on May 24 at 2 p.m., while from May 25 to 27, it will be scheduled from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. Under the Constitution, the election returns for president and vice president, duly certified by the Board of Canvassers of each province and city, shall be transmitted to Congress. Upon receipt of the certificates of canvass, the Senate President shall, not later than 30 days after the day of the election, open all certificates in the presence of the Senate and the House in joint public session, and the Congress, upon determination of the authenticity and due execution thereof in the manner provided by law, canvass the votes. Meanwhile, the camp of presumptive president Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. issued a statement asking petitioners,

VOL. XXXVI • NO. 91 • 3 SECTIONS 12 PAGES • P18 WEDNESDAY, MAY 18, 2022 • www.manilastandard.net • mst.daydesk@gmail.com

New law gives honorarium to SK members By Vito Barcelo and Maricel V. Cruz ALL Sangguniang Kabataan (SK) members are now entitled to a monthly honorarium and other privileges after President Rodrigo Duterte signed Republic Act 11758, which states that SK officials should receive a monthly honorarium chargeable to the village-level youth organization’s funds. Duterte signed the law to expand the functions of the SK and revitalize the youth’s participation in local governance. The President also signed three other measures—on foundlings, firearms licenses, and cybercrime—into law, while issuing an executive order transferring control of the National Irrigation Administration (NIA) from the Office of the President back to the Department of Agriculture (DA) (see related story on A2 – Editors). Republic Act (RA) 11768, signed by Duterte on May 6, directs the formulation of internal rules and procedures within 60

'COC' LOCKED. A total of 141 Certificates of Canvass (COCs) for President and Vice

President, or 81.50 percent of the total 173 COCs expected to be transmitted to the Senate, are delivered to the chamber on Tuesday. Meanwhile, lawyer Vic Rodriguez (inset), spokesman of presumptive President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., asks petitioners to 'respect the will of the people' in a press conference at BBM headquarters in Mandaluyong City. Senate PRIB

Cray paces paltry 4-gold haul, PH still 3rd in SEAG By Riera U. Mallari HANOI—Ageless runner Eric Cray, cue artist Rubilen Amit, taekwondo jin Kurt Barbosa, and a muay thai duo saved the day for a Philippine contingent that stepped on the breaks Tuesday and

remained stuck at third spot behind host Vietnam and Thailand in the 31st Southeast Asian Games. Of the four gold achievers for the day, Cray was the most impressive. Running in pain with a hamstring Next page

Speaker Velasco backs Romualdez as his successor By Maricel V. Cruz

POOL STARS.

Carlo Biado (left) and Rubilen Amit (right) sealed more gold medals for the Philippines in the Vietnam Southeast Asian Games on Tuesday by dominating their respective events in 9-ball billards for men and women, respectively.

ENDORSED. Speaker Lord Allan Velasco (right) gives his blessing to House Majority Leader and Leyte Rep. Martin Romualdez to succeed him on Monday night. Romualdez (center, top photo) later met with neophyte congressmen led by Agimat Party List Rep. Bryan Revilla (5th from right) and Cavite Rep. Jolo Revilla (4th from left) at Lakas-CMD/HNP Headquarters in Mandaluyong City. Ver Noveno

SPEAKER Lord Allan Velasco on Tuesday endorsed House Majority Leader and Leyte 1st District Rep. Martin Romualdez as his successor in the 19th Congress. "I believe that his election as Speaker of the 19th Congress will ensure that the legislative agenda of the incoming administration will be pursued and completed. Majority

Micro, pandemic-hit firms may seek pay hike relief MICRO businesses as well as pandemichit firms may apply for exemption from the wage increase, the Department of Labor (DOLE) said Tuesday. This followed the National Wages

and Productivity Commission (NWPC) NWPC executive director Criselda ruling out Monday the possibility of Sy told a virtual briefing the granting of exempting all micro-enterprises from blanket wage hike exemption was beyond granting pay increases to employees. the mandate of the commission. Next page

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‘Best AFP officers for highest posts’ By Macon Ramos-Araneta

“The principal objective of this law is to allow general officers sufficient time, i.e., three years time-in-grade, to do their jobs. If they are not promoted to the next higher grade, they are retired,” he said in a statement.

“This ensures that only the best officers ascend the ladder of leadership. This also puts an end to the revolving door system in the AFP leadership that resulted from the retirement law passed in 1979,” Lorenzana added.

President Rodrigo Duterte signed the law last April 13. RA 11709 is “An Act Strengthening Professionalism and Promoting the Continuity of Policies and Modernization Initiatives in the Armed Forces if the Philippines, by Prescribing Fixed Terms For Key Officers Thereof, Increasing the Mandatory Retirement Age of Generals/ Flag Officers, Providing for a More Effective Attrition System, And Promoting Funds Therefore.” “We would like to thank the members of Congress, especially Sen. Dick (Richard) Gordon, Sen. Ping (Panfilo) Lacson and Cong. Boboy Tupaz for advocating

Congress...

ilies and Friends of Political Prisoners; Ma. Edeliza P. Hernandez, executive director of the Medical Action Group, Inc.; Celia Lagman Sevilla, secretary general of the Families of Victims of Involuntary Disappearance, Inc.; Roland C. Vibal of the Philippine Alliance of Human Rights Advocates; and Josephine Lascano, executive director of the Balay Rehabilitation Center, Inc. The petition, which was filed May 16, assailed the May 10 resolution of the Commission on Elections en banc, which ruled against the disqualification of Marcos in the May 9 presidential election. The petitioners named as respondents the Comelec, Marcos, the Senate, and the House of Representatives. The Supreme Court had no full session on Tuesday. Under the rules, the petition has to be raffled off to a justice who will be the justice-in-charge of the case. However, even without a session, the SC justice-in-charge may recommend action on the plea for TRO and with the approval of Chief Justice Alexander G. Gesmundo, the restraining order may be issued. Comelec Commissioner George Erwin Garcia said it was within the petitioners’ rights to seek redress from the Supreme Court.

Comelec acting Spokesperson John Rex Laudiangco, on the other hand, said that until the Court issues an order, Congress would continue to perform its functions as the National Board of Canvassers (NBOC) for President and Vice President. However, he said the Comelec would respect whatever decision the Supreme Court reaches on the petition. The Comelec also said Tuesday it would continue the canvassing of votes for the Senate and party-list races, unless it receives an order from the Supreme Court suspending the counting. Deputy Speaker and Cagayan de Oro City Rep. Rufus Rodriguez said Congress should proceed with the canvassing next week unless the Supreme Court stops them. “We have a constitutional duty to perform, and we should do it unless the Supreme Court stops us,” Rodriguez said. Marcos was on top of the partial and unofficial count of votes with 31,104,175 votes based on data from the Comelec Transparency Media Server. His running mate, Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte, also maintained a huge lead among other vice presidential candidates with 31,561,948 votes as of May 13. In other developments: • The Commission on Elections said

it has invited top officials led by President Rodrigo Duterte for the proclamation of the 12 winning senators in the 2022 national elections scheduled for May 18. Aside from President Duterte, other top officials invited include Vice President Leni Robredo, Senate President Vicente Sotto III, House Speaker Lord Allan Velasco and Chief Justice Alexander Gesmundo. • Senator Aquilino Pimentel III urged the Comelec to investigate the alleged massive vote-buying during the national and local elections last May 9. Speaking in an interview over CNN, Pimentel said he received reports from different parts of the country about the prevalent vote-buying. He said some witnesses even showed him photos of money attached on some sample ballots and leaflets. • The Marcos camp said reports from several diplomatic posts and the Comelec Transparency Server showed Marcos received 330,231 votes from overseas Filipinos, much higher than the 89,624 garnered from his closest rival. * Rizal Rep. Fidel Nograles backed the Department of Education (DepEd)'s proposal to the Comelec to provide an additional P3,000 pay for teachers who served extra hours to handle and address technical glitches and other issues during last week’s national elections.

continue” Rodriguez said. For his part, Dindo Manhit, president of research firm Stratbase ADR Institute, said Marcos must transform his popular support into a Cabinet reflective of his message of unity. "He had a strong message of unity, it worked and brought about that strong support from the public. Now transform that legitimate support into a government that's formed with technocrats," he said in an interview on ANC. "He will be inheriting a government that is challenged with debt, demand of the Filipino people to address what I consider economic consequences of this pandemic so we need really technocrats, we need people who are qualified on one hand, not political in nature because you will need to make decisions that’s not political," Manhit added. Rodriguez, who heads Marcos' transition team, said they are also looking at the possibility of tapping candidates who lost in the May 9 polls after the oneyear ban. "We're looking at some possible personalities, but I think most of them would rather enjoy their much-needed vacation for one year," he said. Party color is not a consideration in choosing Cabinet appointees, Rodriguez said, "After May 9, we are no longer talking about political color. Our call for unity is not just a campaign messaging," he said.

Sara...

would meddle, she would also be disappointed. Duterte said Marcos Jr. has a search committee that is now looking for people who would fit in certain cabinet positions, and who would also push for the continuity of President Duterte's administration as well as Marcos Jr.'s own vision for the country. The presumptive vice president also said she is planning to establish satellite offices around the Philippines. "We have a lot of parallel groups in various areas in the country. Actually, I think we have parallel groups in almost all provinces," she said. "Our plan is to harness the passion, the spirit to help, and the volunteerism in our parallel groups. We will create a base in their area wherein we can continue helping their community through the vice president's office," Duterte-Carpio added.

ITH Republic Act 11709 officially a law, only the best officers in the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) can assume the highest posts in the military, Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana said Tuesday.

From A1

who asked the Supreme Court to prevent the Senate and the House of Representatives from canvassing the votes for Marcos and proclaiming him the 17th President, to “respect the will of the people.” "I appeal to those who keep on pursuing this divisiveness. The people have spoken. The Filipino people have spoken, and an overwhelming majority has voted president-elect Bongbong Marcos and vice president-elect Inday Sara Duterte into office as president and vice president," spokesman Vic Rodriguez said. "We're all limited to 24 hours in a day. Allow us to be more productive and learn to respect the will of the Filipino people," he added. The group of human rights advocates had asked the Court to issue a temporary restraining order to stop Congress from canvassing the votes for Marcos during the joint session of the Senate and House when they convene as the National Board of Canvassers on May 24 until May 27. The petition was filed Fr. Christian B. Buenafe, co-chairperson of the Task Force Detainees of the Philippines; Fides M. Lim, chairperson of the Kapatid-Fam-

Laguesma,... From A1

with their families, friends, and other people they trust. “They were honored,” he said. Laguesma was DOLE Secretary from 1998 to 2001 under President Joseph Estrada – a position also held by Ople’s father, Blas Ople, under President Ferdinand Marcos Sr. from 1978 to 1986. Toots Ople, who heads the Blas F. Ople Policy Center and Training Institute, was an undersecretary of DOLE under President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo from 2004 to 2009. She was her father’s chief of staff in both the Senate (from 1992 until 2002) and the Department of Foreign Affairs (in 2003). Earlier, the Marcos camp announced the first two Cabinet members of the incoming administration: presumptive vice president Sara Duterte-Carpio for the Education post and former Metropolitan Manila Development Authority chairman Benhur Abalos to lead the Department of the Interior and Local Government. Rodriguez earlier said their camp is moving “in the right direction, with the appropriate speed” in forming a "responsive" team amid the challenges besetting the country. "I know people are excited about who else’s names will be released, but the interview process and vetting will

Cray... From A1

injury, the 33-year-old Eric Cray extended his reign as the region’s 400m hurdles king with another blazing show against younger runners to clinch his seventh career SEAG gold medal at the My Dinh National track. The Philippines kept its hold on third place overall in the medal standings with 34 golds, 37 silvers and 47 bronzes, with second placer Thailand threatening to move away with a 40-40-62 haul. Host Vietnam continued to widen its lead with a 95-62-62 count, with Singapore in fourth (27-31-32), followed by Indonesia (25-38-35). Filipino athletes also bagged four silver medals, two of them in athletics, on top of eight bronzes. A constant source of pride in the international scene, billiards contributed to the paltry haul as Amit defeated Singapore’s Jessica Chan, 7-1, in the women’s finals of 9-ball singles at the Hadong District Sporting Hall. Another sure gold will come from an all-Filipino billiards finale on Wednesday, with Carlo Biado, the reigning US Open champion, facing Johann Chua in the men’s 9-ball singles. Mobbed by Vietnamese fans here everywhere, billiards legend Efren “Bata” Reyes remained in the running in the 1-cushion carom singles, as well as Chezka Centeno, who is still in the hunt in 10-ball-singles where she is the

reigning champion. With Philippine Olympic Committee President and Rep. Abraham “Bambol” Tolentino watching, Barbosa routed Jaijulla Panachai of Thailand, 16-7, in the men’s - 54kg of taekwondo at the Tay Ho Gymnasium, adding to the golden win of Jocel Lyn Ninoble in women’s poomsae last Sunday. The Muay Thai tandem of Islay Erika Bomogao and Rhichein Yosorez delivered the fourth mint for the day by topping the women’s waikru mai muay contest. Given up for dead by critics for failing to join the Tokyo Olympics’ team due to injury, Cray was back with a vengeance, as he submitted a time of 50.41 seconds to clinch his fifth straight 400m hurdles SEAG gold in a reign that began during the 2013 biennial meet in Myanmar. His other two came in the century dash during the 2015 Singapore games and the 4x100 mixed relay in the 2019 edition at home at the New Clark City Stadium in Tarlac. Cray’s time fell short of the 50.21 he did in the 2019 Philippine SEA Games, but was enough to foil the challenge of a hometown favorite at the peak of his powers, 27-year-old Cong Lich Quach, who finished with 50.82. Meanwhile, Gilas Pilipinas scored a runaway 100-32 win against the Cambodians at the Thanh Tri Gymnasium, while the Gilas women, bolstered by a rousing opening-day win over Indonesia, faces a big test Wednesday when it battles a Thai side seeking revenge.

From A1

In an interview over Davao City Disaster Radio, Duterte said only the President has the sole responsibility of appointing Cabinet officials, and the success and failure of those appointees rest on him. "The Cabinet position is a position of trust and confidence of the President. Now, if we interfere with the secretaries that will be appointed by the President, he will be made accountable for its success or failure because the president is the appointing authority," the daughter of President Rodrigo Duterte said in Cebuano. In the ABS-CBN report, the current Davao City mayor said that even if she were the President and her vice president

New... From A1

days from the assumption of SK officials to office. Under the measure, all SK members, including the treasurer and secretary, should receive a monthly honorarium at the end of every regular monthly SK meeting, provided that it should not exceed 25 percent of the SK’s funds and should not exceed the compensation received by the SK chairperson. Their respective local government units may also provide additional pay and social welfare contributions and hazard allowance to the SK chairperson and other elected and appointed members of the youth council through local ordinances. Their honorarium would be subject to the post-audit jurisdiction of the Commission on Audit. Duterte directed the Department of Budget and Management to issue the necessary guidelines for the law’s implementation. Based on RA 11758, elected and appointed SK officials were also exempted from taking any components of the National Service Training Program during their incumbency.

Micro,... From A1

The daily minimum wage of workers in the National Capital Region will increase by P33 while those in Western Visayas will be up by P55 to P110, the DOLE announced last weekend. DOLE said under the Omnibus Rules on Minimum Wage Determination small enterprises with few employees and establishments affected by natural calamities or human-induced disasters, including the pandemic, may apply to be exempted from recently approved minimum wage order. “From the 2020 List of Establishments of the Philippine Statistics Authority, micro establishments comprise 88.77 percent% of the total business enterprises in the Philippines,” the department said in a statement.

and espousing this law throughout the legislative process,” Lorenzana said. Senate observers said the new law will cap the key legacies of Lacson to the military and defense establishment. Lacson, who chairs the Senate Committee on National Defense and Security, pushed last September Senate Bill 2376, which with House Bill 10521 forms the basis of what President Rodrigo Duterte signed into law as Republic Act 11709. "Finally, we will see an end to the revolving-door policy in the AFP. (See full story online at manilastandard. net)

They were also excused from attending regular classes during the conduct of regular or special SK meetings. Albay Rep. Joey Sarte Salceda, chairman of the House of Representatives committee on ways and means on Tuesday thanked President Duterte for signing the new law, saying it was “vital to reimagining the role of the SK in skills development, youth employment and learning.” “We have a massive learning gap that by some estimates could result in as much as P41.4 trillion in productivity losses due to the COVID-19 pandemic and school shutdowns,” Salceda said. “We also have an existing skills mismatch. By my estimates, you have 2.4 million existing and potential jobs that could be filled if only we had the skill set required for them. Finally, you have high youth unemployment, at 13.4 percent, more than double the 6.4 percent national average,” the lawmaker added. “The SK has a critical role to play in addressing these massive youth-specific concerns. So, we expanded their mandate and range of covered programs to include skills training, on-the-job training and livelihood assistance, educational assistance, and other productive programs.” “Hence, the exemption will temper the impact of the wage increase on the business operation of retail/service establishments employing not more than 10 workers. The exemption will also provide breathing space for micro, small and medium enterprises that suffered from the pandemic to resume their business operations and to fully recover,” it added. DOLE said businesses in the retail or service sector employing not more than 10 workers shall submit their application for exemption, including their affidavit of undertaking and certified true copy of their business permit, to the Regional Tripartite Wages and Productivity Boards having jurisdiction over their workplace. The required documents must be submitted not later than 75 days from the date of publication of the Wage Order. Vito Barcelo (See full story online at manilastandard.net)

Transmission of Omicron variant confirmed—DOH By Willie Casas THE Department of Health (DOH) on Tuesday said it has detected local transmission of the COVID-19 Omicron subvariant BA.2.12.1 as three more cases have been recorded, bringing the total cases to 17. Two local cases and one returning Filipino with the subvariant were found in Western Visayas, Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire said. “This is not community transmission yet, wherein infection has spread widely, and we can't trace the lineage of the case,” Vergeire said in Filipino. The returning Filipino came from the United States and is fully vaccinated. One of the local cases is also fully vaccinated, and the status of the remaining patient is still being verified, Vergeire said. The first 14 cases in the country of the highly transmissible subvariant were broken down as follows: two local cases in Metro Manila and 12 in Puerto Princesa—made up of 11 foreign travelers and one local, she said. The BA.2.12.1, a sublineage of BA.2, has been detected in 23 countries. It makes up the majority of COVID-19 cases in the United States. At present, it is not a variant of interest or a variant of concern. (See full story online at manilastandard.net)

‘Foundlings’ law, 3 others signed by President By Vito Barcelo PRESIDENT Rodrigo Duterte has signed a law recognizing abandoned children found in the country or in Philippine embassies and consulates abroad, also known as foundlings, as natural-born Filipinos. Under Republic Act 11767 or the Foundling Recognition and Protection Act, an abandoned child found in the Philippines or in Philippine embassies, consulates, and territories abroad is presumed a naturalborn Filipino citizen, regardless of the status or circumstances of birth. "As a natural-born citizen of the Philippines, a foundling is accorded with rights and protections at the moment of birth equivalent to those belonging to such class of citizens whose citizenship does not need perfection or any further act," according to RA 11767 signed by Duterte on May 6. Duterte also signed another law extending up to 10 years the validity period of the license to possess and register firearms by qualified individuals, Malacañang said on Tuesday. Republic Act 11766 amended RA 10591 or the Comprehensive Firearms and Ammunition Regulation Act, and now gives the licensee the option to renew their permit to own guns every 5 years or 10 years, "regardless" of the gun's type or classification. Meanwhile, Financial consumers will now have more protection against cybercrime under a new law signed by Duterte. (See full story online at manilastandard.net)

Speaker... From A1

Leader Romualdez has my support and friendship," Velasco said after their meeting in Makati City. Former Marikina City Rep. Miro Quimbo, incoming Party-list Foundation Coalition Inc. (PCFI) president and Ako Bicol party-list Rep. Zaldy Co, senior Deputy Majority Leader and Cavite Rep. Jesus Crispin Remulla, and Ako Bicol party-list Rep. Alfredo Garbin also attended the meeting. Velasco thanked Romualdez, whom he described as “a steady partner and ally,” for helping him shepherd the House in the outgoing 18th Congress. "His strong leadership and support as our Majority Leader was crucial to the passage of relevant and timely pandemic-response measures and the approval of important and key laws that will have immense impact to stir and sustain our economic growth and development as we continue to navigate to new normal,” he said. “Under his watch, the House was able to carry on and carry out its mandate despite physical limitations due to the pandemic with the passage of priority legislative measures of President Rodrigo Duterte," Velasco added. Romualdez expressed his sincere gratitude to Velasco for supporting him. "I am grateful for your support. From the bottom of my heart, thank you Speaker Velasco," Romualdez said. The two House leaders also discussed the official canvass by Congress of the votes for President and Vice President cast in the May 9 elections during their meeting. (See full story online at manilastandard. net)

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Malacañang page being ‘updated’ T

HE official website of Malacañang, which also stores repositories of the Presidential Museum and Library (PML), is temporarily inaccessible due to updates in its content, the museum administration said on Monday.

The PML released this statement following concerns that historical records, including those of the Martial Law regime, have been deleted from its website. “Please be informed that, contrary to reports that it has been deleted, the website malacanang.gov.ph is merely suspended following measures to update the content therein and improve its

security features,” the PML said on its official Facebook page. The museum administration also assured that all historical records are intact. “Rest assured that the contents of the said website have not been compromised and will be made available to the public at the soonest possible time. Thank you,” it added.

The PML is in charge of preserving, managing, and promoting the history and heritage of the Philippine presidency. Updates on the website came a few days after the May 9 elections and saw presumptive president Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. leading the presidential race by a large margin with more than 31 million votes over Vice President Leni Robredo, with more than 14 million votes. Marcos is the son and namesake of former president Ferdinand Marcos Sr. Former Presidential Communications Development and Strategic Planning Office Undersecretary Manolo

Quezon III was the first to notice that the website had gone down. “malacanang.gov.ph where the repositories of the Presidential Museum and Library were, is gone,” Quezon said in a tweet. However, he said the contents of the website were already archived before June 30, 2016. “To be clear: deleting http://malacanang.gov.ph could be as simple as someone wanting the online real estate for some other government purpose, or lack of interest in a museum site. Content there was archived before June 30, 2016, in site for public access/use so beyond gov’t reach,” he said.

Change in accounting standards led to P843b net loss, SSS says By Rio N. Araja SOCIAL Security System (SSS) president and chief executive officer Michael Regino has clarified the net loss of P843.9 billion shown in its unaudited financial statements for 2021 is a result of a change in accounting standards brought by Philippine Financial Reporting Standards (PFRS) 4. He, however, assured members and pensioners that the said reported losses do not affect the SSS’ current cash flow and funding situation and it remains financially viable in providing benefits to its stakeholders. SSS cash inflows composed of contribution collections and investment and other income for 2021 reached P262 billion, exceeding its cash outflows of P234 billion composed of benefit payments and operating expenses for the same year.

“This increase in net loss from the previous year is due to the recognition of the margin for adverse deviation (MfAD) in our policy reserves. MfAD serves as a buffer for conservatism, which we have considered in our financial statements beginning 2021,” Regino said. Policy reserves are forward-looking estimates of net future liabilities. These include benefit payments that will be disbursed to SSS members and their beneficiaries in the future. “These future liabilities need to be recognized now as these provide us an accurate view of our long-term financial standing, which serves as our guide, as well as for the government in ensuring that we will be able to continuously serve our current and future members and their beneficiaries,” Regino said.

ALERT LEVEL 1 IN METRO MANILA. People walk along Divisoria, a local shopping district in Manila on May 17. The government on Monday declared that COVID-19 Alert Level 1 would remain in Metro Manila and other regions until the end of the month. AFP

‘Pilot’s post on priority landing has no basis’ By Joel E. Zurbano CEBU Pacific Air (CEB) has reprimanded one of its pilots who posted on social media claiming that Vice President Leni Robredo requested for priority landing, causing a diversion of flights at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport last month. The CEB management refused to identify the pilot involved, but it stated he is currently under disciplinary review in accordance with the company rules and standards. “Since becoming aware of the social media post by one of our pilots in reference to a flight of Vice President Leni Robredo, I confirm that the pilot has made it clear to us that he had no basis for his claim and was purely speculative and careless on his part,” said Capt. Sam Avila, CEB vice president for Flight Operations. The pilot, in a post that went viral, claimed his flight was diverted to Clark International Airport in Pampanga last month due to Robredo’s alleged request. However, there were no reported flight diversions at the NAIA in April. The Office of the Vice President (OVP) categorically denied the false story. In a statement, the OVP said “this never happened and is a malicious fabrication.” “During her entire tenure as Vice President, VP Leni has never asked to be prioritized for taking off or landing when traveling by air. Any claim to the contrary is a lie. It is alarming that almost a week after the elections, the disinformation and fake news being spread on social media against VP Leni continue unabated.”

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IN BRIEF Poe cites significance of newly signed FCPA SENATOR Grace Poe on Tuesday cited the importance of the newly Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA), saying the new law was meant to protect and reinforce the Filipino financial consumers’ rights to redress of grievances, access information, and maintain their privacy. “We expect financial service providers to establish and strengthen existing mechanisms to immediately assist consumer complaints, requests or inquiries and provide status on courses of action,” Poe said. The senator also said the law arms regulators with sufficient authority in effectively preventing fraud and timely addressing consumer issues, especially as more turn to digital services. Macon Ramos-Araneta

WAKE UP CALL FOR REFORMS IN MASS TRANSPORT SECTOR. A national

coalition of key players in the public transport industry shows off a manifesto calling the attention of the government, specifically presumptive President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos, on the necessity to institute muchneeded reforms leading to transparent and equitable fuel subsidy distribution, implementation of a viable and gradual vehicle modernization program, and enactment of a law streamlining motor vehicle inspection for both the public and private sector. Danny Pata

ASEAN, US eye changes to SCS code THE code of conduct being formulated by China and the regional bloc in the disputed South China Sea should comply with international law, specifically the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS). This was the position taken by the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and the United States who invoked the relevance of “full and effective implementation” of the 2002 Declaration on the Conduct of Parties (DOC) in the entire South China Sea. China has been accused of violating the DOC for transforming several reefs into artificial islands being claimed by other countries in the region. In place of a legally-binding code, China and the ASEAN which includes the Philippines, Singapore, Vietnam, Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia, Brunei, Cambodia, Myanmar and Laos, settled for a mere declaration in that enjoins claimants to exercise restraint and stop new occupation in the South China Sea. However, certain quarters viewed the declaration as non-binding and lacked provisions to sanction misbehaving claimants, thus the document was useless against aggression. The ASEAN and the US maintained that the UNCLOS “sets out the legal framework within which all activities in the oceans and seas must be carried out.” Both parties asserted that the UNCLOS was also “the basis for national, regional and global action and cooperation in the marine sector, and that its integrity needs to be maintained.” They underscored it in a Vision Statement that was released after the meeting in Washington between ASEAN leaders and US President Joe Biden on May 13.

Cayetano lauds EO on digitized payments

Probe body excludes 29 EJK cases from its list By Rey E. Requejo

HE Inter-Agency Committee on extra-judicial killings (EJKs) has excluded from its list 29 cases due to lack of witnesses and interest on the part of the complainants to pursue the charges.

Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra said most of the delisted cases were in Regions IV and VII. “Most of these cases reached the investigation stage at the PNP (Philippine National Police), CHR (Commission on Human Rights), and NPS (National Prosecution Service) level only,” Guevarra said. Guevarra, who heads the Inter-Agency Committee on Extra-Legal Killings, Enforced Disappearances, Torture and

Other Grave Violations to the Rights of Life, Liberty and Security of Persons, said the decision to drop the investigation on the 29 cases was reached during the committee’s meeting last May 12. However, Guevarra gave assurance that the investigations on the EJKs and enforced disappearances in the other regions “shall continue to be in the active file and the review of unsolved AO (Administrative Order) 35 cases in other regions is still going on.”

During the committee meeting, Guevarra also said that a small working group was created “to move the investigation and prosecution of cases of international humanitarian law violations” on the use of child combatants and the use of land mines, among others. “The working group will initially focus on IHL (international humanitarian law) cases where the AFP (Armed Forces of the Philippines) has provided records of the incidents,” Guevarra pointed out. “They will determine how to proceed with the case build-up, particularly getting the sworn statements of witnesses, and sending subpoenas to armed respondents who have no permanent addresses,” he said.

FLOOD MARKER. With

the onset of the rainy season, a concerned citizen brushes off dirt from a post marked with water levels, an initiative of the Quezon City Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office, to serve as an early warning device in case of potential flash floods spawned by the rains. The site is along Maria Clara St. in Quezon City, considered by the authorities as a flood-prone area. Manny Palmero

Turnover of governance won’t affect devolution process—DILG

THE Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) on Tuesday said the transfer of administration in the local government levels would not affect the full devolution of basic services and facilities from the national government to the local government units (LGUs). DILG Undersecretary Epimaco Densing III clarified that devolution was the

result of the so-called Mandanas ruling of the Supreme Court in 2018 which expanded the LGUs’ internal revenue allotment share to cover all national taxes including those collected by the Bureau of Customs. Meanwhile, some LGUs appeared to be jumping the gun on the turnover of administration to the incoming new officials who won in the recently concluded elections,

NCRPO gets tough on gambling By Joel E. Zurbano NATIONAL Capital Region Police Office director P/Maj. Gen. Felipe Natividad on Tuesday ordered all police station and district commanders in Metro Manila to intensify their campaign against all forms of illegal gambling. “Team NCRPO will intensify its standing policy and campaign against illegal gambling particularly the illegal number game operations. We will also strictly enforce the no-take policy from illegal gambling and other illegal sources. Commanders on the ground in violation of this order will face severe sanctions,” Natividad said.

The drive was launched after Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) Secretary Eduardo Año tapped the Philippine National Police to go after operators of illegal number games, notably the Peryahan ng Bayan. “This is relative to the report that some illegal gambling activities, including the Peryahan ng Bayan, is continuously running and operating,” said Natividad. The NCRPO recently launched a crackdown against the “Online Sabong” following the directive of President Duterte to stop its operation. A total of 123 police operations were conducted by the NCRPO against illegal gambling from May 1 to 15.

Densing said. Other LGUs however were still preparing documents and setting dates for the changing of the guards. “So far, nagmo-monitoring po tayo. Merong mga LGU na nakapagsimula na ng transition sa susunod na administrasyon nila. Yung iba naman, naghahanda pa ng mga dokumento at nag-i-schedule ng turnover,” Densing said at the Lag-

ing Handa public briefing. According to Densing, newly elected local chief executives and other officials would begin their local government work by June 30. The World Bank has said “the government faces a significant risk that the transition process could lead to a large gap in service delivery.”

FORMER Speaker and Taguig City Rep. Alan Peter Cayetano on Tuesday lauded the new executive order (EO) by President Duterte mandating all government agencies to use digital payments for disbursements and collections, saying the financial inclusion it provides is a big benefit to Filipinos. “The President’s EO on digital payments is really a good news. This is what we’ve been advocating for quite some time now, and definitely this will make the efficient and more inclusive,” Cayetano said. Cayetano has been appealing to government agencies to digitize their disbursements to make it easier for people to access state assistance programs amid the lingering effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on the country’s economy as well as higher-than-average inflation. Maricel V. Cruz

Navotas health centers resumes free services THE Navotas City government on Tuesday resumed providing free cervical cancer screening and chest x-ray. An initial batch of city residents aged 21 and above underwent visual inspection of cervix with acetic acid (VIA) screening test conducted in all health centers of Navotas. “Due to the pandemic, our centers temporarily stopped providing VIA test every Tuesday. We have resumed this service in line with the celebration of the Cervical Cancer Consciousness Month and now that our COVID cases are low,” Mayor Toby Tiangco said. Jun David

BI eases entry rules as ‘new normal’ sets in By Vito Barcelo

AFTER two years of operating with restrictive measures, the Bureau of Immigration (BI) has lifted some of the temporary suspensions and exemptions given to aliens that were put in place to curb the spread of COVID 19. BI Commissioner Jaime Morente said while Metro Manila and other provinces remain under Alert Level 1 which allows for less stringent movement of individuals, government services are moving back to normal operations. Morente said the bureau will resume biometrics capturing and fingerprinting of foreign nationals under the Alien Registration Program (ARP) and issuance of Special Security Registration Number (SSRN) as requirements for processing of foreign nationals. During the pandemic, the BI temporarily suspended biometrics capturing in a bid to lessen physical contact during document processing. However, BI Alien Registration Division (ARD) Chief Jose Carlitos Licas, Jr. said biometric capturing remains necessary to ensure alien records are complete and accurate.

REELECTIONIST MAYOR TAKES CARE OF BUSINESS.

Newly re-elected Tabaco City Mayor Krisel Lagman-Luistro addresses the 18 th anniversary celebration of the Holy Face Rehabilitation Center for Mental Health. Norman Cruz

Opinion The 6Gs of PH elections

IF POLITICS is defined as the art of expanding the limits of the possible, Filipino politicians may have outdone themselves in this particular enterprise, if recent elections in our country are any indication. Postwar politics in the country, especially from the Fifties and the Sixties to the present, has been characterized as being dominated by the three Gs: guns, goons and gold. Guns involve the intimidation and outright physical elimination of particularly pesky or intensely political rivals and/or their rabid supporters. Take the recent shooting incident in a town in Nueva Ecija province where five people were wounded and 24 others arrested following a gunbattle between the security forces of rival mayoral candidates. How the men were able to get around with high-powered firearms considering the election gun ban in place in the entire country remains a puzzle.

Guns, goons, gold, glitter, guile, greed In another incident, three security guards were killed on Election Day when gunmen opened fire at a polling station in a restive region of the southern Philippines, where various armed groups operate. As of May 8, there have been 16 validated election-related incidents since the start of the year, including 4 shootings, according to the Philippine National Police, as compared with 133 incidents during the 2016 presidential elections. Goons refer to the private armies or armed groups employed by politicians whether for their own security or to intimidate or kill political opponents. Gold is the money used to buy votes, employ online trolls, and pay campaign staff. More recently, however, three other elements have entered the political landscape. These additional elements have emerged as a result of changing social norms, as well as technological advances, among other factors. There’s glitter, or getting celebrities to endorse candidates for various positions. These can be popular movie stars, professional singers and dancers, among others. There’s also guile, which usually consists of black propaganda against political adversaries; the setting up of a dirty tricks department to engage in rumormongering, character assassination, and similar underhanded tactics. This could also involve setting up troll farms working incognito to spread outright lies against political rivals or to prettify the candidates’ public image.

There’s more: saying one thing and doing another; or lying through one’s teeth during the election campaign by promising heaven and earth, as well as the moon and the stars, to the electorate, especially to the uneducated and the gullible, only to secure votes when the candidates themselves know they cannot accomplish what they promise. Remember the promise to jetski to the South China Sea to plant the Philippine flag in an island we claim as part of our territory? Tomfoolery such as this does not deserve to be part of our elections. And finally, we have a sixth “G”, and that’s greed. How else can we describe those who seek to keep themselves and members of their families in power for an indeterminate period, in part because they want to protect economic or business interests? The party-list system was institutionalized in the 1987 Constitution to allow underrepresented and marginalized sectors, such as workers, farmers, OFWs, women and youth to take part in policy-making. But the party-list system has been hijacked even by the rich, the powerful and the influential to give them backdoor access to a lucrative political career and the pelf and privilege that come with being a member of Congress. What all this shows is that, for both the correct and the wrong reasons, Filipinos take elections seriously—too seriously in fact— that some are all too willing to resort to murder and mayhem, as well as deceit and debauchery, during an election campaign. The 1987 Constitution provides that suffrage or the right to vote may be exercised by all citizens of the Philippines not otherwise disqualified by law, who are at least eighteen years of age, and shall have resided in the Philippines for at least one year and in the place wherein they propose to vote for at least six months immediately preceding the election. No literacy, property or other substantive requirement is imposed on the exercise of suffrage. The fundamental law also mandated Congress to design a procedure for the disabled and illiterate to vote without the assistance of other persons. That’s all well and good, and we saw television footage of ordinary citizens, even those considered persons with severe disabilities, queuing up even under the hot tropical sun or to climb multi-story public school buildings to exercise their right to vote last May 9. But elections in this country, though deemed generally peaceful and orderly, may not truly reflect the will of the people and lead to beneficial reforms and genuine change, or strengthen our democratic system. If our elections do nothing but keep the same families and traditional politicians in power, merely perpetuate the same cycle of poverty and corruption over and over again, and further erode our democratic system, it’s time to elect people who can truly lead the country toward political stability, economic development and social concord, not bring us on the road to perdition. (Email: ernhil@yahoo.com)

How world’s most precise clock could transform fundamental physics By Issam Ahmed US SCIENTISTS have measured Albert Einstein’s theory of general relativity — which holds that gravity slows time down — at the smallest scale ever, demonstrating that clocks tick at different rates when separated by fractions of a millimeter. Jun Ye, of the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and the University of Colorado Boulder, told AFP it was “by far” the most precise clock ever built — and could pave the way for new discoveries in quantum mechanics, the rulebook for the subatomic world. Ye and colleagues published their findings in the prestigious journal Nature on Wednesday, describing the engineering advances that enabled them to build a device 50 times more precise than their previous best clock, itself a record-breaker, built in 2010. It was more than a century ago, in 1915, that Einstein put forward his theory of general relativity, which held that the gravitational field of a massive object distorts space-time. This causes time to move more slowly as one approaches closer to the object. But it wasn’t until the invention of atomic clocks — which keep time by

detecting the transition between two energy states inside an atom exposed to a particular frequency -- that scientists could prove the theory. Early experiments included the Gravity Probe A of 1976, which involved a spacecraft six thousand miles (10,000 kilometers) above Earth’s surface and showed that an onboard clock was faster than an equivalent on Earth by one second every 73 years.

Clocks tick at different rates when separated by fractions of a millimeter. Since then, clocks have become more and more precise, and thus better able to detect the effects of relativity. A decade ago, Ye’s team set a record by observing time moving at different rates when their clock was moved 33 centimeters (just over a foot) higher. Theory of everything Ye’s key breakthrough was working with webs of light, known as optical lattices, to trap atoms in orderly arrangements. This is to stop the atoms

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EDITORIAL

The sin of low wages

HIS week’s announcement of a paltry P33 increase in the minimum wage in Metro Manila confirmed what we gathered from President Duterte’s Labor Day message earlier this month—that Filipino workers will continue to get the short end of the stick.

In his May 1 address, the President sang paeans to “our mighty Filipino workers,” citing their “great passion, integrity and professionalism” as “a source of immense pride”--without once mentioning the need to ensure that they get a decent, living wage. In March, the Department of Labor and Employment urged regional wage boards to expedite petitions for wage hikes to help workers cope with the rising cost of basic goods that have been aggravated by the high prices of fuel products. This week, we saw the stunted fruit borne by the tripartite wage boards—a P33 increase in the minimum wage in Metro Manila.

With the P33 hike, the minimum daily wage will increase to P570 in Metro Manila for the non-agricultural workers and P533 for agricultural workers.

Don’t we, as a society, want our workers and their families to do better than borderline survival? This is a far cry from the P1,000 a day that the Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (TUCP), the country’s largest labor group, sought from the wage board. Before the latest increase, a minimum wage earner’s daily pay of P537 meant a net take-home pay of P493, which, adjusted for inflation, was only P454. Thus, a monthly take-home pay of P13,962 for minimum wage earners in the NCR only had a purchasing power of P12,844, the TUCP said, well below the poverty threshold for a family of five in Metro Manila, which is P16,625 monthly. If rent is factored in, it is difficult to see how P16,625 a month, much less P12,844, will adequately feed a family of five.

But don’t we, as a society, want our workers and their families to do better than borderline survival? In an analysis of minimum wages around the world, Picoldi.com found that workers in the Philippines were among the poorest paid, ranking 57th in a field of 64 countries. In Southeast Asia, we are ranked the lowest. Of course, there are wide variances in the standard of living in these countries, but there is no denying that Filipino workers fare poorly compared to their counterparts in most parts of the world. The administration’s economic managers applaud the paltry increase, saying proudly that it will not raise the rate of inflation. But should their first thought not be if the wage hike can raise our workers out of the poverty threshold. The regional wage boards will never give workers what they need, when two parties in the tripartite boards—the state and employers—agree that wages must be kept low so that we remain “competitive.” In successive administrations, we have sought to deal with poverty with doles and subsidies—a policy that ultimately encourages mendicancy and sloth and works against productivity. We need to break this cycle and pay our workers a decent, living wage. They are, after all, a key factor of production, and one that we have taken for granted for far too long.

The new Manny Villar THIS year, Manuel B. Villar Jr. did two extraordinary things. One, he repurposed his flagship Vista Land and Lifescapes property company and made a strategic shift, away from mass housing, of which he has built more than 400,000 units, into what he calls estates. Villar will now go head-to-head and toe-to-toe against the biggest and oldest company in the business, the once invincible 188-year-old Ayala conglomerate, in the premium and upscale segment of the property market. Not that the soft-spoken ever smiling Manny Villar will be the new Ayala. He is the new Villar. Manny is already the richest Filipino individual with an estimated net worth of $9 billion. Two, three members of Manny Villar’s family now hold very powerful positions in public service. Wife Cynthia Aguilar Villar, is a senator and is vying to be the next Senate president. A son, Mark Villar, has just been elected senator. With his sterling record of having spent nearly P5 trillion in infra Duterte’s Build, Build, Build which created unprecedented 6.5 million jobs, Mark, the Builder, is a good bet for a higher office in 2028. Mark finished economics from Wharton and his MBA from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business. Villar’s only daughter, Camille, has been reelected with an edifying 61 percent of the vote in her dad’s former lone congressional district in Las Piñas City, south of Manila. Mark Villar’s wife, lawyer Emmeline Aglipay Villar, has served as justice undersecretary of the outgoing Duterte administration. Villar’s other son, Manuel Paolo Villar III, also Whartoneducated, is the president and CEO of Vista Land. Manny is a veritable come-frombehind success story. His father was a lowly government bureaucrat; his mother a fish vendor. He was born in Manila’s Tondo poor man’s district and

from falling due to gravity or otherwise moving, resulting in a loss of accuracy. Inside Ye’s new clock are 100,000 strontium atoms, layered on top of each other like a stack of pancakes, in total about a millimeter high. The clock is so precise that when the scientists divided the stack into two, they could detect differences in time in the top and bottom halves. At this level of accuracy, clocks essentially act as sensors. “Space and time are connected,” said Ye. “And with time measurement so

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

as a boy of six used to help his mother selling fish. He managed to earn a business degree from the state University of the Philippines in 1970 and an MBA in 1973. He took on odd jobs as an accountant, an analyst, gravel and sand delivery boy, before striking gold in mass housing. From business, Manny made his foray into politics. He became congressman of his suburban home town, Las Piñas, from 1992-1988 and when it became a city, from 1998 to 2001. Then he ran for senator, serving from 2001 to 2013.

Go head-to-head and toe-to-toe against the biggest and oldest company in the business. Villar is the first Filipino since the war to have been both speaker of the House of Representatives and Senate president. He ran for president in 2010 but lost. He recouped his campaign expenses with capital gains from his stock market IPO within six months from losing. Part of Manny Villar’s quiet charisma is a personality that is warm, engaging, and not at all intimidating, despite his formidable gravitas of power and wealth. Vista Estates are Vista Land’s mixeduse development of prime masterplanned communities to provide life and lifestyle to the middle and upper income classes. “Our mission is to uplift the lives of Filipinos by building unique, premium, sustainable, and amazing lifescapes that provide them with limitless growth opportunities,” gushes the website of Vista Estates. “We build modern-day cities that are inspiring in vision, compelling in creativity, and grand in diversity. Days in Vista Estates can be all business, all fun and relaxation, and all points in between.” Villar is planning three initial public offerings (IPOs) this year. These are: precise, you can actually see how space is changing in real time — Earth is a lively, living body.” Such clocks spread out over a volcanically-active region could tell geologists the difference between solid rock and lava, helping predict eruptions. Or, for example, study how global warming is causing glaciers to melt and oceans to rise. What excites Ye most, however, is how future clocks could usher in a completely new realm of physics. The current clock can detect time differences across 200 microns — but if

VistaREIT (VREIT), The Coffee Project, and small power utility Siquijor Island Power Corp. (SIPCor). VistaREIT is offering up to 3.33 billion firm shares and up to 333.75 million over-allotment option shares at a price of up to P2.50 per share. The final offer price will be determined on May 25, 2022 after the company conducts its book building process. Based on 3.66 million shares and at P2.50 per share, VistaREIT is expected to raise P9 billion for the Villar group. VistaREIT firm is set to be the flagship office and mall REIT of Vista Land and aims to be among the leading diversified commercial REITs in the Philippines in terms of portfolio, profitability, growth, sustainability, and dividend yield. VREIT will have an initial portfolio of 10 community malls and two PEZAregistered office buildings with an aggregate gross leasable area (GLA) of 256,404 sqm. Next in line will be Villar’s small power utilities group (SPUG) SIPCor which has two small power plants in Siquijor and Camotes islands in the Visayas with an existing capacity of 15 megawatts. “I’m optimistic coming in this 2022 and with the optimism, you’ll see a shift, a totally different Vista Land,” Villar promises. Vista Land’s extensive 3,000-ha. landbank is in areas close to major business hubs with 57 percent located within Mega Manila. By building on the fringes, Vista Estates is re-shaping the landscape across the country with cutting-edge megalopolises. As part of the conglomerate with the widest geographic reach, Vista Estates follows suit. “The current 44 estates sprawl across our islands with 13 in Mega Manila, 13in Luzon, eight in the Visayas, and ten in Mindanao. More Vista Estates are on the verge of rising,” Villar says. Vista Estates are a collection of cities-within-cities infused with themes and offerings inspired by the best-loved places in the world and designed to recreate global living and lifestyles. biznewsasia@gmail.com

that was brought down to 20 microns, it could start to probe the quantum world, helping bridge gaps in theory. While relativity beautifully explains how large objects like planets and galaxies behave, it is famously incompatible with quantum mechanics, which deals with the very small, and holds that everything can behave like a particle and a wave. The intersection of the two fields would bring physics a step closer to a unifying “theory of everything” that explains all physical phenomena of the cosmos. AFP

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NOW YOU SEE IT... This combination of pictures created on May 17, 2022 shows views of the ‘Revolution fist’ installation, a symbol of Lebanon’s October 2019 uprising, at the Martyrs’ Square in the capital Beirut (left) as it stood on October 22, 2020 and (right) hours after it was burnt down on May 17, 2022. AFP

Hezbollah loses ground in Lebanon polls S HIITE group Hezbollah and its allies lost their majority in Lebanon’s parliament, official results showed Tuesday, while independents achieved a surprise breakthrough.

Full results announced by the interior ministry two days after the election revealed that no bloc will control the 128seat assembly, a deadlock observers fear could usher in a tense period of political jostling. The polls, the first since Lebanon was

ravaged by its worst ever economic crisis and a cataclysmic explosion at Beirut port in 2020, were seen as a prerequisite for a crucial IMF bailout. The Iranian-backed Hezbollah and its main allies had the support of around 70 lawmakers in the outgoing parliament but will now fall just short of the 65 seats needed to retain a majority. Their strongest opponents in parliament will be led by the Christian Lebanese Forces party of former warlord Samir Geagea, who raked in several new seats on the back of a virulent antiHezbollah campaign. New reformist faces who entered the legislative race on the values of a 2019 anti-establishment uprising made

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a stronger showing that many had predicted. At least 13 independents who backed the 2019 protest movement won seats. Twelve of them will sit in parliament for the first time. Together with independents and other non-aligned MPs who have sometimes supported the now-defunct protest movement’s demands, they could find themselves in a kingmaking position. Analyst Ziad Majed said that the economic context could play in favour of reformists who will for the first time be pushing from within parliament, not just as outsiders. “This will create political and popular pressure for reformists and forces of

change to cooperate,” he said. The temporary monument had beOne of the most notable victories come a visual symbol of the secular notched up by independents was the protests that swept Lebanon in Octoelection in southern Lebanon of Elias ber 2019 and had raised hopes of demJradeh and Firas Hamdan for seats that ocratic change. Hezbollah and its allies had not lost in The movement lost momentum as three decades. Lebanon’s ruling cartel of sectarian poAnother major satisfaction for those litical barons bided their time and one of described in Lebanon as the “thawra” the sharpest economic downturns of our (revolution, in Arabic) candidates, was time muffled popular discontent. the defeat of several reviled MPs loyal The parliamentary elections were a to the Syrian government of Bashar al- first major test for those in the protest Assad. camp who chose to enter the political In what was interpreted by indepen- fray. dents as a gesture of MAGENTA spite by Hezbollah, Hezbollah and its ally Amal retained CYAN YELLOW BLACK a group of youths on scooters descended all 27 parliament seats reserved for on Martyrs Square overnight and burned Shiite lawmakers but other allies lost down the “revolution fist.” ground. AFP

Russia: 265 Ukrainian soldiers surrender RUSSIA’S defense ministry said Tuesday that 265 Ukrainian soldiers, including several dozen wounded, surrendered at the besieged Azovstal steel plant in Ukraine’s port city of Mariupol. “Over the past 24 hours, 265 militants laid down their arms and surrendered, including 51 heavily wounded,” the ministry said in a briefing. It added that those in need of medical care were transferred to a hospital in the town of Novoazovsk. Last month Moscow claimed control of Mariupol after a weeks-long siege, but hundreds of Ukrainian soldiers remained holed up in underground tunnels beneath the huge Azovstal industrial zone, blocked by Russian troops. Ukraine’s defense ministry said late on Monday that 264 Ukrainian fighters were evacuated to Russia-controlled territory, including 53 “heavily wounded.”

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IN BRIEF Japan set to trial small group tours

Ukraine’s Deputy Defense Minister Ganna Malyar said they would be subject to an “exJAPAN will trial small group tours with change procedure.” Meanwhile, in the Ukrainian town of New travellers from the US, Australia, Thaiand Singapore from this month, the York, a four-year-oldCYAN recognized the lowYELLOW whis- land MAGENTA BLACK government said on Tuesday, as it experitle of the Russian artillery shell long before his ments with easing strict COVID border mother had a chance to grab his hand. rules. “Here comes one,” the boy said matter-ofThe country’s borders have been closed factly a few long moments before the blast of to almost all arrivals since the spring of an exploding building echoed across the small 2020 in response to the coronavirus pantown with the big American name. demic. His exhausted 28-year-old mother did not Authorities only recently began allowing some students and business visitors to enter. even bother to duck. There are no plans to lift border restricValeria Kolakevych has heard so many shells tions fully, as other countries have done, whizz overhead in the third month of Russia’s offensive that she knows instinctively how with the trial involving only tourists from the four countries who join package tours close each will land while it is still in the air. with predetermined itineraries, according “It was terrible,” Kolakevych said, without to the Japan Tourism Agency. skipping a beat in her story about a round of “Japanese travel companies will orgafire that had badly damaged four neighbouring nize the tours and local guides will achouses the previous night. AFP company them,” an agency official told AFP. Participants will have to be triple-vaccinated against COVID and have private medical insurance. There will be no change to the current testing requirements for entering Japan, with visitors having to submit a negative COVID test taken 72 hours before departure and to test again upon arrival. AFP

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Italian opera seeks UNESCO nod

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REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINES REGIONAL TRIAL COURT NATIONAL CAPITAL JUDICIAL REGION BRANCH 102, QUEZON CITY Room 505 5th Floor Hall of Justice Annex Bldg., Quezon City Email: rtc2qzn102@judiciary.gov.ph

Landline No. (02) 8639-1607 HECTOR CRUZ CRISOSTOMO, Petitioner, -vs-

Civil Case No.: R-QZN-18-10231-CV For: Nullity of Marriage of Void Marriage

REGINA CARMELA VISMANOS DE OCAMPO, Respondent. x----------------------------------------------------------------------x

DECISION WHEREFORE, premises considered, the marriage between petitioner HECTOR CRUZ CRISOSTOMO and respondent REGINA CARMELA VISMANOS DE OCAMPO solemnized on May 15,1997 in the City of Manila, Philippines, is declared NULL AND VOID for being bigamous and for lack of compliance of the formal requisite. There being no properties to be divided or liquidated, the court shall nonetheless order the dissolution of the property relations of the parties under existing laws. In as much as the Summons, together with the copy of the petition, and its annexes was served by publication, and in accordance with the provisions of Sec. 19 of the Rule on Declaration of Absolute Nullity of Marriages and Annulment of Voidable Marriages, let the dispositive portion of this Decision be published once in a newspaper of general circulation and the Court shall issue a Decree of Absolute Nullity when the finality of this decision shall expire after fifteen (15) days from notice thereof was sent to the parties. Let copy of this Decision be served to the parties, and furnish the same to the Office of the Solicitor General and the Public Prosecutor, and to the Local Civil Registrar of the City of Manila where the marriage was celebrated and to the Local Civil Registrar of Quezon City where’ this Court is located and to the Philippine Statistics Authority for Recording in their Registry of Marriages. SO ORDERED. Done in Quezon City, this 21st of March 2022 (Sgd.) FELINO Z. ELEFANTE Presiding Judge Copy furnish:

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Notice is hereby given that the Heirs of the late DR. WILFREDO G. SALVADOR executed a “Supplemental Declaration of Heirship” for 241 and 104 common shares with the Sun Life Financial Inc. as per Doc. No. 274, Page No. 55, Book No. XXIV, Series of 2020 before Notary Public Atty. Elmer G. Soguilon. (MS-MAY 11, 18 & 25, 2022)

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Notice is TODAY hereby given that CROWN TOWER C O N D O M I N I U M CORPORATION (owner/ developer) has filed with this Board for the change of owner/developer’s name of CROWN TOWER CONDOMINIUM located at 107 HV dela Costa St., Salcedo Village, Makati City, from PILI REALTY CORPORATION to CROWN TOWER CONDOMINIUM CORPORATION, specifically described as Lot 25. Block 2 (LRC) Psd-6086, covered by TeT No. 221291, having a total area of 1,188 square meters. The project has been previously issued Certificate of Registration No. 90-071424 and License to Sell No. 90-07-1528 both on July 06, 1990.

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CUTENESS OVERLOAD. Residents walk past an installation of pandas at a shopping mall in Shenyang in China’s northeastern Liaoning province on May 17, 2022. AFP

Musk: Remove spam accounts on Twitter or else... BILLIONAIRE Elon Musk said Tuesday that his purchase of Twitter would not go ahead unless he was assured that fewer than five percent of accounts on the platform were fake. “Yesterday, Twitter’s CEO publicly refused to show proof of <5%,” tweeted Musk, who has almost 94 million followers on the social network. “This deal cannot move forward until he does.” The chief of SpaceX as well as Tesla, Musk is currently listed by Forbes as the world’s wealthiest person, with a fortune of about $230 billion, much of it in Tesla stock. Seen by his champions as an iconoclastic ge-

Kremlin critic Navalny appeals jail sentence

All papers relative thereto shall upon request and payment of processing fee be available for inspection during business hours by any person having legal interest thereon. Absent any legal impediment, the above-cited project is deemed registered and a certificate, in evidence thereof, shall forthwith be issued after five (5) days from the last day of publication. Quezon City, Metro Manila

SACP Maica L. Guillermo Atty. Noel Bulaong Regina Carmela Vismanos de Ocampo Hector Cruz Crisostomo

(MStandard-May 18, 2022)

(SGD.) COL. JEOFREY DELOS REYES TUPAS (Ret.) Regional Director (MS-MAY 11 & 18, 2022)

nius and by his critics as an erratic megalomaniac, Musk surprised many investors in April with news that he wanted to purchase Twitter. But his $44 billion buy of Twitter remained “temporarily on hold,” pending questions over the social media company’s estimates of the number of fake accounts, or “bots.” Twitter chief executive Parag Agrawal said the platform suspends more than a half-million seemingly bogus accounts daily, usually before they are even seen, and locks millions more weekly that fail checks to make sure they are controlled by humans and not by software. AFP

OPERA originated in Italy, it was sung by Italian patriots and some of the world’s greatest arias came from the peninsula. Now Rome wants credit where credit is due. Home to Scarlatti and Verdi, Italy has put in a bid for UNESCO – the UN’s cultural agency – to recognize the art of Italian opera singing on its list of intangible global heritage. A decision is due at the end of the year. “Opera was born in Italy,” said Stephane Lissner, the French director of the San Carlo theatre in Naples, which opened in 1737 and claims to be the oldest opera house in the world. After various experiments with musical theatre in the 16th century, opera came into being around 1600 in Florence, with the founding of an academy promoting an innovative combination of sung text and music. The first great composer of opera is considered to be Italy’s Claudio Monteverdi, who lived from 1567 to 1643 – and that was just the start. “If you look at the history of opera in the 18th century, there were 400 new compositions during that century” in Naples alone, Lissner told AFP. The southern city was, at the time, the capital of a kingdom run by the Bourbons. AFP

Opposition leader Alexei Navalny

JAILED Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny on Tuesday appealed a nine-year prison sentence he was handed in March on charges that he and his allies say are politically motivated. His hearing comes as Russian authorities seek to silence remaining government critics and Moscow pushes on with its military campaign in neighbouring Ukraine, with thousands killed and some 10 million displaced. A vocal critic of Russian President Vladimir Putin, Navalny in late March had his jail time extended to nine years after he was found guilty of embezzlement and contempt of court. He is already serving two-and-a-half years in a prison some 100 kilometers (60 miles) east of Moscow for violating parole on old fraud charges.

On Tuesday, Navalny joined a hearing at a Moscow court via video-link from behind bars at his prison colony to appeal the extension of his jail term. Wearing a black prisoner uniform, Navalny asked the judge to postpone the hearing by a week so he can have a family meeting before being moved to a different colony, an AFP journalist reported. The judge said the hearing will continue today but the verdict will be announced after Navalny’s planned visit. If his new sentence comes into force, the 45-year-old opposition politician will be transferred to a strict-regime penal colony, which will place him in much harsher conditions, including allowing fewer family visits. AFP

CYAN MAGENTA YELLOW BLACK

CYAN

Business

WEDNESDAY, MAY 18, 2022 || extrastory2000@gmail.com

Thailand’s economy rebounded 2.2% in Q1

PSEi May 17, 2022

TOP GAINERS

LAST % PRICE CHANGE CHANGE

MFC

1010

132

15.03%

2 3

SPNEC SSI

1.75 1.27

0.14 0.1

8.70% 8.55%

4 5 6 7

BSC GMA7 ACR T

0.4 10.46 1.06 0.78

0.03 0.7 0.07 0.05

8.11% 7.17% 7.07% 6.85%

0.128

0.008

6.67%

9 10

BHI AB

0.081 7.49

0.005 0.44

6.58% 6.24%

TOP LOSERS 1 COAL 2 GEO

LAST PRICE CHANGE 0.209 -0.035 0.175 -0.023

% CHANGE -14.34% -11.62%

3 4

I OPM

0.7 0.011

-0.09 -0.001

-11.39% -8.33%

HOME

6.8

-0.6

-8.11%

6 7

HOUSE TFHI

10.5 108.6

-0.7 -6.3

-6.25% -5.48%

8 9 10

NI ARA FDC

0.9 1.68 6.78

-0.05 -0.09 -0.32

-5.26% -5.08% -4.51%

MOST ACTIVE

1 SMPH 2 BDO

VOLUME 17,371,200 4,704,000

VALUE (PHP) 639,947,615 593,399,139

3 4 5

ICT CNVRG TEL

2,658,250 18,482,500 218,700

545,330,978 520,676,630 427,888,055

6 7 8 9 10

MEG MONDE ALI AC SM

143,658,000 26,251,800 10,209,700 434,890 282,150

381,614,260 379,593,510 296,923,925 291,579,445 231,383,435

BANGKOK, Thailand—Thailand’s economy grew 2.2 percent in the first quarter as exports and tourism rebounded after the relaxation of pandemic restrictions, the country’s main economic agency said Tuesday. During the pandemic, Southeast Asia’s second-largest economy suffered its worst economic performance since the 1997 Asian financial crisis, with visitor numbers crashing from roughly 40 million annually. But this month the tourism-dependent kingdom dropped almost all restrictions for fully vaccinated visitors, Foreign tourists walk along the popular Khaosan Road in Bangkok on May 17, 2022. Thailand’s economy grew 2.2 percent in the first quarter following an export and tourism boost after the relaxation of pandemic entry restrictions, the kingdom’s main economic agency including the need for COVID-19 tests to travel. said May 17.AFP “The export sector is good... the tourism industry is getting better due to the relaxation of entry requirements for tourists,” National Economic and Social Development Council secretary general Danucha Pichayanan said. The agency said the economy grew by 2.2 percent in January to March compared with the same period last year, and by 1.1 percent compared with the previous quarter. The figures are a stark turnaround from the depths of the pandemic, which saw the economy contract by Halley of OANDA. percent to P29.45. HE stock market 6.1 percent in 2020. Hong Kong rose by more than 3 SM Investments Corp. of the Sy extended its rally The agency said global market Group climbed 3 percent to P832, while percent, while the mainland’s two involatility from Russia’s invasion of Tuesday along with Megaworld Corp., the biggest lessor of dices—the Shanghai Composite Index Ukraine, and a slowdown in China’s office spaces, increased 2.9 percent to and Shenzhen Composite Index— the rest of Asia on hopes economy thanks to virus lockdowns closed higher. P2.80. that China’s economic across various cities, were affecting Singapore, Seoul, and Sydney were Meanwhile, Hong Kong led a rally the pace of the kingdom’s economic across Asian markets Tuesday. also in the green all day. engine Shanghai will ease recovery. Much of Shnaghai’s 25 million has Tuesday’s rally coincides with the its weeks-long lockdown Ukraine is a key exporter of fertilbeen under lockdown since April as third day in a row that Shanghai has reizer and the war has reduced supply in and gradually reopen Beijing attempts to stamp out an Omi- corded no COVID-19 cases outside of Thailand. cron-fuelled virus surge under its strict its quarantine facilities, Halley said. businesses, though analysts The Thai government has sought to zero-COVID policy. “We should continue watching the caution against any longease the shortage by sourcing fertilizer Vice Mayor Chen Tong said Sunday headline ticker for daily Omicron cases. from Saudi Arabia. term relief. that the city would gradually reopen Most especially, in Shanghai, where if The agency also raised its inflation The Philippine Stock Exchange Index businesses starting this week. literally one case appears again, any reforecasts this year to between 4.2-5.2 jumped 92.54 points, or 1.4 percent, to Though no details were given and lief rally in Chinese markets could dispercent, up from the earlier range of 6,594.66 on a value turnover of P7.3 bil- residents were still in their homes on appear in a puff of smoke.” 1.5-2.5 percent. lion. Gainers beat losers, 109 to 88, with Tuesday, Asian markets have cheered The impact of Beijing’s zero-COVID Danucha attributed the inflation in50 issues unchanged. over the announcement. strategy on the world’s second-largest crease to rising energy prices. Ayala Group issues led gainers af“Hopes that the Shanghai lockdowns economy was revealed Monday when The country has a weekly average of ter a sell-off last week. Conglomerate will ease, along with the ensuing sup- official data showed that retail sales and more than 6,500 daily new coronavirus Ayala Corp. rose 3.4 percent to P675, ply chain disruptions, have been enough industrial production in April on-year infections, although testing is limited. while unit and major property devel- to lift Asian equities as well, which are had slumped to their lowest levels in AFP oper Ayala Land Corp. advanced 3.7 staging a modest bounce,” said Jeffrey more than two years. With AFP

Market extends rally; Ayala issues advance

United States urges India to revert wheat export ban

In this file photo taken on January 31, 1990, Soviet customers stand in line outside the just opened first McDonald’s in the Soviet Union at Moscow’s Pushkin Square. American fast-food giant McDonald’s will exit the Russian market and sell its business in the increasingly isolated country, the company said May 16, 2022. AFP

UNITED NATIONS, United States—The United States hopes India will reverse its ban on wheat exports, Washington’s top diplomat to the United Nations said Monday, warning the move would worsen global shortages of the commodity. “We’re encouraging countries not to restrict exports because we think any restrictions on exports will exacerbate the food shortages,” Linda Thomas-Greenfield said during a ministerial gathering on food security ahead of a meeting of the UN Security Council. The UN meeting—to be chaired by US Secretary of State Antony Blinken—will include Vellamvelly Muraleedharan, India’s minister of state for external affairs. India holds a non-permanent seat on the UN Security Council. “We hope that (India) can, as they hear the concerns being raised by other countries, that they would reconsider that position,” Thomas-Greenfield said. India, the world’s second-largest producer of wheat, on Saturday announced it would ban exports without special authorization from the government in the face of falling production caused primarily by an extreme heatwave. New Delhi—which had previously pledged to supply wheat to countries once dependent on exports from Ukraine—said it wanted to ensure “food security” for India’s 1.4 billion people. Blinken is on Wednesday set to hold another UN meeting also related to food security. AFP

McDonald’s leaving Russia and selling business in country NEW YORK, United States—American fastfood giant McDonald’s said Monday it will exit Russia in the wake of the Ukraine invasion, ending a more than three-decade run begun in the hopeful period near the end of the Cold War. The restaurant chain, which launched in Moscow in January 1990 to great fanfare almost two years before the Soviet Union was dissolved, characterized the withdrawal as difficult but necessary. “The humanitarian crisis caused by the war in Ukraine, and the precipitating unpredictable operating environment, have led McDonald’s to conclude that continued ownership of the business in Russia is no longer tenable, nor is it consistent with McDonald’s values,” the company said in a statement. The chain is looking to sell “its entire portfolio of McDonald’s restaurants in Russia to a local buyer.” The burger giant is one of numerous foreign firms that have pulled out of the country or suspended operations following Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine in late February. Earlier on Monday, French automaker Renault announced it had handed over its Russian assets to the government, marking the first major nationalization since the onset of Western sanctions against Moscow’s military campaign. Russia’s President Vladimir Putin ordered troops into pro-Western Ukraine on February 24, triggering unprecedented sanctions and

sparking an exodus of foreign corporations including H&M, Starbucks and Ikea. In March, citing “unspeakable suffering to innocent people,” McDonald’s closed all of its 850 restaurants in the country, where it says it employs 62,000 workers. But on Monday the “Big Mac” maker went a step further, saying the company “is pursuing the sale of its entire portfolio of McDonald’s restaurants in Russia to a local buyer.” After the sale, the restaurants would no longer be able to use the McDonald’s name, logo, branding or menu, though the company will retain its trademark in the country, it said. Russia currently accounts for nine percent of the company’s revenue and three percent of its operating profit. McDonald’s expects a one-time charge of $1.2 billion to $1.4 billion to write off the investment. A ‘new era’ The withdrawal offers a stark contrast to the optimism that surrounded the arrival of the quintessentially American brand in Russia in the waning days of the Cold War. The company began discussing Russian business at the 1976 Olympics in Canada where McDonald’s let Russian athletes use the “Big Mac Bus” in a sign of good will. That led to 14 years of negotiations, “culminating in the glorious day in January of 1990 when the first McDonald’s opened to so much

hope and excitement in Pushkin Square,” recalled McDonald’s chief executive Chris Kempczinski in a message to employees. “In the history of McDonald’s, it was one of our proudest and most exciting milestones,” Kempczinski said. “After nearly half a century of Cold War animosity, the image of the Golden Arches shining above Pushkin Square heralded for many, on both sides of the Iron Curtain, the beginning of a new era.” In the subsequent decades, McDonald’s operations in Russia expanded far beyond Moscow as the company invested billions of dollars and grew its supply chain. But Kempczinski said the Russia investment was no longer viable in terms of business, or consistent with company values. Still, he closed his message on a hopeful note, saying, “let us not end by saying, ‘goodbye’... (but) ‘Until we meet again.’” The company’s decision to divest “underlines a view that relations with Russia will not soon be normalized,” said Neil Saunders, a retail expert at GlobalData. The conditions of the exit, including the financial challenges facing prospective Russian buyers means “it is unlikely the sale price will be anywhere near the pre-invasion book value of the business,” said Saunders, adding that the departure “will leave a hole” in McDonald’s growth plans “that is not easily filled in the near-term.” AFP

China’s zero-COVID policy to hit recovery of Asian aviation—IATA SINGAPORE, Singapore—China’s zero-COVID policy will hold back a full air travel recovery in the Asia-Pacific region, a top airline industry group warned Tuesday, adding to calls for Beijing to ease its hardline stance. The world’s second-biggest economy is seeking to stamp out the coronavirus entirely, with rapid lockdowns and mass testing, and the measures have hammered both domestic and international air travel. The aviation sector’s recovery in Asia was already relatively slow, and Willie Walsh, the International Air Transport Association (IATA) chief, warned Beijing’s approach made the picture bleaker. “It has been a brutal two years for airlines. But we are seeing signs of recovery now,” he told an aviation conference in Singapore. “Unfortunately, (the) Asia-Pacific region will lag this recovery as China continues to pursue zero-COVID.” In 2021 in Asia, international travel was only seven percent of what it was in 2019, compared with a worldwide figure of 25 percent, he said. While the picture had improved at the start of this year, there was still a “long way to go,” he added. China’s decision to stick with zero-COVID has put it at odds with many Asian governments, which have started reopening borders and dropping quarantine and testing requirements in recent months. AFP

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

WEDNESDAY, MAY 18, 2022

Business

PSE INDEX CLOSING Tuesday, May 17, 2022

92.54 PTS. 6,594.66

TOTAL VOLUME

1,173,140,099

TOTAL TRADES TOTAL VALUE (IN PHP) ADVANCES DECLINES

104,071 7,324,043,526.52 109 88

UNCHANGED

F oreign E xchange R ate Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas • TUESDAY, MAY 17, 2022

Currency

Unit

US Dollar

Peso

United States

Dollar

1.000000

52.4550

Japan

Yen

0.007748

0.4064

Pound

1.232300

64.6403

Hong Kong

Dollar

0.127390

6.6822

Switzerland

Franc

0.998104

52.3555

Canada

Dollar

0.778150

40.8179

Singapore

Dollar

0.718752

37.7021

Australia

Dollar

0.697100

36.5664

Bahrain

Dinar

2.652872

139.1564

Saudi Arabia

Rial

0.266596

13.9843

Brunei

Dollar

0.716178

37.5671

Indonesia

Rupiah

0.000068

0.0036

Thailand

Baht

0.028769

1.5091

UAE

Dirham

0.272287

14.2828

Euro

1.043700

54.7473

Korea

Won

0.000781

0.0410

China

Yuan

0.147341

7.7288

India

Rupee

0.012853

0.6742

Malaysia

Ringgit

0.227480

11.9325

New Zealand

Dollar

0.631000

33.0991

Taiwan

Dollar

0.033656

1.7654 Source: BSP

BDO sells $100-m Blue bonds to IFC to tackle pollution By Julito G. Rada BDO Unibank Inc., the country’s largest lender led by the Sy Group, issued $100 million worth of Blue bonds (about P5.2 billion) through an investment from International Finance Corp., a member of the World Bank Group. BDO said in a statement Tuesday the issuance would expand financing for projects that help prevent marine pollution and preserve clean water resources, while supporting the country’s climate goals. “This marks another milestone for BDO, being the first private sector issuance in Southeast Asia to issue a Blue Bond,” the bank said. “BDO’s issuance reinforces the bank’s commitment to sustainable finance, allowing the bank to provide more support to critical areas such as water conservation, wastewater treatment, plastic recycling, sustainable tourism, fisheries, and sustainable seafood processing among others,” it said. It said the bonds would help BDO expand sustainable finance framework to include projects supporting the country’s blue economy, while establishing a new asset class in the Philippine debt market. The pioneering Blue bonds have a tenor of seven years and will adhere to the International Capital Market Association Green Bond Principle and IFC’s recently launched Blue Finance Guidelines. BDO Capital & Investment Corp. acted as the arranger in the transaction. IFC earlier said its subscription to the Blue bonds would help increase access to finance for blue projects in the Philippines. Solid waste management and marine plastics are key issues for the Philippines, threatening several elements of the blue economy and urban public health. The country is the third largest contributor, with an estimated 0.75 million metric tons of mismanaged plastic entering the ocean every year, according to the Market Study for the Philippines: Plastics Circularity Opportunities and Barriers (World Bank Group, 2021).

South Cotabato lifts open-pit mining ban

THE provincial government of South Cotabato lifted a ban on open-pit mining, removing the final regulatory obstacle for a long-delayed copper and gold project in the country’s restive south, a senior official said Monday. The Tampakan project on Mindanao island has been described by its developer Sagittarius Mines as “one of the largest undeveloped copper-gold deposits in the world.” It was previously estimated to cost $5.9 billion and was due to start operation in 2016. But the project faced numerous problems, including the local government’s 2010 ban on open-cast mining and opposition from church, community and environmental groups. On Monday, the South Cotabato provincial government agreed to amend its environment law to allow open-cut mining, paving the way for the controversial project to start. “The baranggay [village] wanted the project, the municipality wanted the project, only the provincial level of the council had the problem,” said Wilfredo Moncano, director of industry regulator Mines and Geosciences Bureau. “With this lifting of the ban, there’s no more problem.” AFP

Megaworld, BIR discuss tax issue

SECURITY BANK BRANCH. Security Bank Corp. continues to expand its ‘BetterBanking’ footprint by opening its 316th branch in Sta. Cruz, Laguna. Located at the ground floor of Metro Central Mall in Barangay Labuin, the branch is equipped with 24/7 ATM access and includes the bank’s recently launched Cash Recycler Machine. Joining the inauguration ceremony are (from left) Security Bank executive vice president and branch banking group head Leslie Cham, branch channel manager Mian Carriedo, branch manager Marianne Joy Ilao, customer advisor Jaezel De Vera, area sales head John Paulo Arambulo, cluster head Jonathan Manabat, area head Jayson Lontoc, Region 2 area head Ronnie Austria and branch manager Marcial Azada.

Petron set to finish 184-MW Bataan power plant this year By Alena Mae S. Flores

ETRON Corp. is set to complete a 184-megawatt power plant in Bataan province this year as part of its refinery efficiency program, a top executive said Tuesday.

“Construction on our new and more efficient 184-MW power plant in Bataan is nearing completion. The new power plant will do away with the use of fuel oil, allowing the conversion of this feedstock into higher-value fuels,” Petron president and chief executive Ramon Ang said in a report. The refinery solid fuel fired boiler phase 3 project involves additional state-of-the-art circulating fluidized bed boilers which will allow Petron to more efficiently generate steam and power for the refinery without taking from the Lu-

zon grid. Petron owns the country’s lone refinery in Bataan with a capacity of 180,000 barrels a day. The power plant will eliminate fuel oil consumption and convert this into higher-value products such as gasoline and diesel. It is one of the first power plants in the Philippines to use clean coal technology which reduces emissions by roughly 95 percent compared to normal coal plants. “We expect the plant will be operational by the second half of 2022 following testing, synchronization and precommissioning activities,” Ang said. Petron resumed operations of its polypropylene plant in early 2022 after a two-year shutdown following the significant improvement in prices of petrochemicals. “This will allow us to leverage on the projected increase in demand for resins brought about by an improving global economy, shift towards online deliveries and high demand for personal protective equipment,” Ang said. He said that despite uncertainties,

sustaining the financial resilience of Petron helped ensure that the company has the means and capacity to keep growing its business. “Strategic investments in service station expansion, refinery enhancements and supply chain management remain important parts of our roadmap for the future,” he said. The company posted a net income of P6.14 billion in 2021, a reversal of the P11.4-billion net loss it incurred in 2020 when the pandemic first emerged. Consolidated revenues went up 53 percent in 2021 to P438 billion from P286 billion a year earlier. Petron sold 82 million barrels last year, up 5 percent year-on-year as economic activities started to resume in the second half of 2021. “I would like to believe we’ve done much better now. But of course, we are still recovering to reach pre-pandemic level. We are very confident that we will soon have a better outcome than pre-pandemic,” Ang said when asked if Petron fully recovered from the health crisis.

GT Capital, Cosco recorded higher profits in first quarter By Jenniffer B. Austria CONGLOMERATES GT Capital Holdings Inc. of the Ty family and Cosco Capital Inc. of retail businessman Lucio Co posted positive earnings in the first quarter as core businesses delivered strong results. GT Capital said in a disclosure to the stock exchange first-quarter net income rose 7 percent to P4.4 billion from P4.1 billion in the same period last year year. This was driven by Metropolitan Bank & Trust Company whose net income amounted to P8 billion and Toyota Motor Philippines which realized a net income of P2.1 billion in the first three months. “Our financial results show the growth momentum from last year carried over

into the first three months of 2022. At these levels, we have already surpassed our first-quarter 2019 pre-Covid core income by 18 percent,” GT Capital president Carmelo Maria Luza Bautista said. “This is a very encouraging indicator. Despite the headwinds of inflation, higher interest rates, market disruptions caused by the pandemic, and the more recent geopolitical events, we are confident that our recovery momentum is sustainable,” he said. Cosco Capital also reported a 10.9-percent growth in first-quarter net income to P2.7 billion from P2.44 billion a year ago. Consolidated revenues reached P40.68 billion in the first quarter, up 2.8 percent from P39.57 billion in the same period of 2021. The group’s grocery retailing busi-

nesses, Puregold Price Club Inc. and S&R Membership Shopping Club, contributed 68 percent of total core net income, followed by the liquor distribution with 17 percent and commercial real estate segment. Puregold reported 6.5-percent increase in net income to P2.15 billion, while revenues climbed 2.1 percent to P38.5 billion. This was driven by the increase in customer traffic across supermarkets amid the gradual reopening up of the economy and continued easing of the community restrictions and business disruptions. The liquor distribution business under The Keepers Holdings Inc. recorded a 23-percent increase in sales to P2.17 billion, on the back of a 17-percent growth in volume of cases.

SM Foundation expands apprenticeship program SM FOUNDATION, along with the Department of Social Welfare and Development, Department of Labor and Employment and the Technical Skills and Development Authority, is ramping up efforts to open more employment opportunities to the marginalized sector with the launch of the SM Asensong Pinoy Program. Launched in the fourth quarter of 2021, the program aims to increase the employability of Filipinos and address community issues, such as poverty and unemployment, through skills development. The program provides core work skills and industry-based competencies that facilitate transition to the formal sector. Under the SM Apprenticeship Program, participants undergo 900 hours (four-anda-half months) of training to master the skills needed by prospective employers like cashiering, barcoding, responding to customers’ queries and manning customer service booths, among others. The trainees are recommended and endorsed by the DSWD and DOLE’s PESO.

IN BRIEF

Kathleen Agbannawag, who oversees the program, said that SM Foundation taps beneficiaries of the government’s Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program and DSWD’s Sustainable Livelihood Program. The apprentices receive allowances equivalent from 75 percent to 100 percent of the mandated minimum wage rate prevailing in the locality. Agbannawag said that when the first Apprenticeship Program was launched, there were 20 apprentices and the 18 who completed training were immediately hired by SM Markets. The first batch was trained on the different aspects of customer service— from the technical and hands-on training to a module on values formation. Inspired with the success of its initial program run, SM Foundation intends to offer other courses such as Warehousing NC2. After the training, participants will then be assessed, and those who will pass will then be offered employment by SM affiliate companies such as the SM Homeworld.

‘AEROCITY.’ San Miguel Corp. releases a conceptual master plan for its massive,

green-designed and future-ready aerocity development in Bulacan province, envisioned as the ‘pace-setter’ and model for green urbanism in the country. The project is seen as a major boost to both national and local economies as it will complement SMC’s P740-billion New Manila International Airport project. The plan also introduces concepts of waterfront development as a way to protect the site from storm surge that also functions as an environmental sanctuary, submersible green spaces and more frontages that utilize the coastline.

MEGAWORLD Corp. said Tuesday it clarified and resolved an issue with the Bureau of Internal Revenue, which earlier announced a media briefing on the planned closure order against the property developer. Megaworld Corp. compliance officer and corporate information officer Francisco Canuto said the company reached out to the concerned BIR regional office, and that the matter was clarified and resolved. “Megaworld continues to fully support the government’s revenue programs,” said Canuto. BIR regional director Eduardo Pagulayan Jr. said it suspended the planned briefing until further notice. “Representatives from Megaworld Corp. manifested their full cooperation with all the requirements of the Bureau of Internal Revenue,” Pagulayan said. This followed a controversial media advisory issued by the BIR that it would serve a closure order against Megaworld for an undisclosed reason. The withdrawn notice said BIR deputy commissioner Arnel Guballa, regional director Eduardo Pagulayan Jr. and other officials would be present during the serving of the closure order.

PTT reduced 2021 net loss to P22.8m

PHILIPPINE Telegraph and Telephone Corp. said Tuesday it reduced its net loss in 2021 on the back of higher revenues. PT&T said net loss amounted to P22.8 million last year, down 27 percent from P31.3 million in 2020. Revenues rose 19 percent to P520.74 million last year from P438.62 million in 2020. The company attributed the growth in revenues to an uptick in IT service demand and a respectable increase in subscriber base at 9 percent. “The easing of mobility restrictions in 2021 has reopened the economy, providing PT&T further boost to serve more customers with relevant connectivity and IT service bundles, enabling them to adapt and grow their businesses in these challenging times,” PT&T president and chief executive James Velasquez said. PT&T said it was on track towards becoming the partner of choice for broadband connectivity and cutting-edge digital transformation solutions in the markets it serves. Darwin G. Amojelar

SEC okays P4.5-b maiden offering of North Star Meat THE Securities and Exchange Commission approved the P4.5-billion initial public offering of North Star Meat Merchants Inc., a leading frozen and fresh meat supplier in the country. The SEC cleared North Star’s public offering of up to 360 million common shares at up to P10 per share. It said the offering would also include 32 million shares to be sold by shareholder Golden MJTF Holdings Inc., plus an over-allotment option for another 58 million common shares also priced at up to P10 each. The shares will be listed and traded on the main board of the Philippine Stock Exchange. Net proceeds from the offering of the primary shares will use for capital expenditures to expand the company’s cold chain facility in Bulacan and open a cold storage plant in Cebu, which will increase the company’s maximum storage capacity to 8 million kilograms from 2.1 million kg. The company is also looking to expand its financial position to keep up with the growth of key retail partners SM Markets and Waltermart Group and prepare for future potential retail partners. About 90 percent of the company’s business are with SM supermarkets and affiliate stores including Alfamart and Savemore. North Star Meat Merchants is a meat vendor and supplier that operates 360 meat concessions nationwide. It can deliver up to 120,000 kg. of meat daily. North Star recorded sales of P9.28 billion in 2021 and registered a compounded annual growth rate of 39.7 percent since 2019. The IPO will run from May 30 to June 3, with listing on the PSE scheduled on June 10, according to the latest timetable submitted to the SEC. Jenniffer B. Austria

Sports WINNING START. Second seed Alex Eala

started her campaign in the women’s singles tennis event of the 31st Southeast Asian Games with an impressive two-set win Tuesday at the Hanaka Sports and Service Center. Eala, 16, blasted Phonphatehep Philavong of Laos 6-2, 6-1 to advance to the quarterfinals. She will face Singaporean Lynelle En Tong Lim in the next round.

Old man and the SEA Games: th Injured Cray snatches 7 gold By Riera U. Mallari

ANOI—What’s a 33-year-old athlete, way beyond his peak form, hampered by injuries for the past two years and bothered by a tightness in his hamstring hours before his biggest race in years, doing in the Southeast Asian Games dominated by the youth brigade? To win. Running in pain with an injury, ageless Fil-American Eric Cray extended his reign as the region’s 400m hurdles’ king with another blazing show at the track against younger runners to clinch his seventh career SEAG gold medal at the My Dinh National Stadium here on Tuesday. “I had a slight injury, my hamstring in my sciatic nerve. It flared up,” said Cray, who credited his handlers in managing the pain. “Our trainers, with amazing hands, worked on me, got me loose again, and I was able to push a little bit.” And push it good.

Given up for dead by critics for failing to join the Tokyo Olympics’ team due to injury, Cray was back with a vengeance as he submitted a time of 50.41 seconds to clinch his fifth straight 400m hurdles’ SEAG gold in a reign that began during the 2013 biennial meet in Myanmar. His other two came in the century dash during the 2015 Singapore games and the 4x100 mixed relay in the 2019 edition at the New Clark City Stadium in Tarlac. “Man, it’s a blessing (winning his seventh SEAG gold), I thank God for this, I feel that I still got more left in me,” said Cray, whose time fell short of the 50.21 he did in the 2019 Philippine SEA Games, but was enough to foil the challenge of

Eric Cray: Ageless

a hometown favorite at the peak of his powers, 27-year-old Cong Lich Quach, who finished with 50.82. Singapore’s Jun Jie Calvin Quek, 26, bagged the bronze with 51.19. Cray’s feat was the fourth gold for the athletics’ contingent in the biennial meet, to go with Ernest John Obiena’s record-smashing performance in pole vault, William Morrison’s shotput triumph and Clinton Kingsley Bautista’s new national record of 13.78 seconds in the 110m hurdles that broke his own 13.97 set during the 2019 SEA Games. Cray, the 2017 Asian Athletics’ champion and the SEAG record holder at 49.40, is expected to be at it again on Wednesday to shoot for a career eighth SEA Games gold when he runs in the 100 meters, where he used to be king seven years ago. “That would be intense, so I will try to rest up tonight,” said Cray, who at the rate he’s going isn’t about to hang his running shoes yet. After all, you don’t stop running because you get old. You get old because you stop running.

Yulo treats SEAG stint as an Olympic event

Carlos Yulo performs in the rings.

HANOI—Although he is one of the elite athletes in the world, Carlos Yulo refused to look past his opponents in the 31st Southeast Asian Games and treated the artistic gymnastics competition here like he’s competing in the Olympics. “It’s really the Olympics that matters, so I treated this Southeast Asian Games competition like competing in the Olympics,” Yulo said on Monday night, shortly after amassing five gold and two silver medals, giving him a shot at becoming the games’ best male athlete. The 22-year-old former world floor exercise champion and reigning world vault kingp added that he never underestimated his opponents here. “I never do that. My training and approach in the competition will always be at an Olympic level,” he stressed, adding his ultimate goal is to win an Olympic gold, which could likely happen two years from now in Paris, France. A Tokyo Olympian, Yulo dominated the men’s individual all-around last Friday and returned last Sunday to rule the floor exercise and rings. He delivered the coup de grace last Monday by topping the vault and horizontal bar, the latter in a tie with Ding Phuong Thanh of Vietnam. “I want to win an Olympic gold medal. That’s why I treated this like an Olympic competition. This is not a small-time competition,” he reiterated. Yulo was pleased that his national teammates also delivered and praised Fil-Am Alea Finnegan Cruz for

winning the women’s vault individual title and her teammates in the Philippine women’s artistic team that pocketed the team gold. Gymnastics proved to be a gold mine for the Philippines here with a 7-4-1 gold-silver-bronze production, the best finish by the country in recent history. In the 2019 Philippine Games, Yulo won two gold and five silver medals. With his two silver medals in the men’s team event and parallel bars here, Yulo did better than a forgotten sports hero, another gymnast in Rolando Albuera, who won five gold medals in the 1979 Jakarta SEA Games where the Philippines won 24 gold medals and finished fourth overall, and the most recent one, swimmer Eric Buhain, the former chairman of the Philippine Sports Commission, who won five gold medals in the 1991 Manila SEA Games. “It’s my first time to feel something like this. I’m very glad that my fellow Filipino gymnasts also won gold medals,” he said. “I’d like to thank everyone, my coach, ma’am Cynthia (Carrion-Norton, the gymnastics chief), therapist, POC (Philippine Olympic Committee) President Abraham Tolentino and the PSC (Philippine Sports Commission) led by Chairman William Ramirez for the all-out support.” Yulo’s celebration in Hanoi was short-lived, leaving for Japan on Tuesday afternoon along with his Japanese coach, Munehiro Kugimiya, and therapist Jumpei Kunno to resume training in Tokyo for the Asian Championships on June 15 to 18 in Doha, Qatar.

Team PH wears Francis Libiran’s ‘Agila’ at Hanoi SEAG FRANCIS Libiran has been chosen again to be the official designer for the parade uniforms of Team Philippines at the 31st SEA Games in Hanoi, Vietnam. During the opening ceremonies, the athletes wore the Barong Tagalog intricately embroidered with an art deco Philippine eagle, symbolizing strength, power & freedom. In 2019, Libiran’s iconic “The Flag” Barong Tagalog was worn by more than 3,000 Filipino athletes and team members for the grand parade of the 30th SEA Games held in

Manila. The historic design, which featured the elements of the Philippine flag in Francis Libiran style, was also made available to the public in limited stocks. “Having the opportunity to design for Team Philippines for the second time, this time, for the 31st Southeast Asian Games in Hanoi is beyond exciting. I’m ecstatic to once again dress our incredible athletes with my design. I have always been passionate about fusing my own design f lare with our culture.”

“This year, I have named this creation “Agila.” I have thought of featuring the magnificent and soaring Philippine Eagle as the focal point of the Barong. I also made use of Philippine fibers and materials which beautifully highlight my signature art deco embroidery,” Libiran said. The Francis Libiran Agila Barong Tagalog will be available for pre-order via their official website, stores, and social media accounts.

Riera U. Mallari, Editor; Randy M. Caluag, Assistant Editor WEDNESDAY, MAY 18, 2022

Gilas regains invincibility, mauls lowly Cambodians By Randy Caluag THE Gilas Pilipinas squad played near-perfect hoops on Tuesday, clobbering an outclassed Cambodian side, 100-32, for its second straight win in the men’s basketball tournament of the 31st Southeast Asian Games at the Thanh Tri District Sporting Hall in Hanoi. Young recruit Francis “LeBron” Lopez led the way for the Filipinos with a game-high 17 points, to go with five rebounds and two shot blocks en route to the 68-point blowout. Overnight, the Filipinos regained their cape of invincibility following a hard-earned win against a vastly improved Thailand squad in their opening game. Nonetheless, this latest version of Gilas appears headed to its 14th straight gold medal in the regional biennial meet, where the Philippines is branded as “Team USA” in this part of the world. Sidelined in the game against Thailand, Lopez made sure to impress big against the Cambodians as the Philippines raced to a 32-9 lead in the first quarter, where the Cambodians briefly held the lead, 5-6. There was no looking back from there as Gilas Pilipinas closed out the first half with a 57-17 lead. Aiding Lopez were William Navarro, who had 16 points and 7 rebounds, and Jaydee Tungcab with 14 points and five steals. The Filipinos go for their third straight win as they face Singapore next on Wednesday

Thais dash PH’s gold hopes in women’s golf NATTHAKRITTA Vongtaveelap of Thailand stayed on course for a gold medal sweep as she nipped Lois Kaye Go in a playoff, dashing the Philippines’ gold medal hopes in women’s golf team match play at the Heron Lake Golf Course in Vinh Phuc, Vietnam on Tuesday. Vongtaveelap flubbed a six-foot birdie putt on the par-5 No. 9 but watched Go flub her par-bid from just about the same distance, leading Thailand to a gold medal duel with Malaysia. Go earlier trounced Eila Galitsky, 3&1, to force a playoff after Vongtaveelap foiled young Rianne Malixi, 2&1, in their side of the match play. In a duel of the two countries’ top players, Vongtaveelap out-steadied Go, member of the team that won the gold in the 2019 SEAG at Luisita in Tarlac, splitting the fairway in the playoff as Go drove into the left rough. Though the Thai dumped her second shot into the right greenside bunker, she blasted to within birdie range but missed the putt. Go, on the other hand, hit the fairway on her second shot but came up short on her approach then muffed her parbid from six feet, enabling Vongtaveelap to clinch the win for Thailand and stay on course for a gold medal sweep after a dominant stint in individual competition. Malixi, whose campaign is backed by ICTSI, held her ground against Vongtaveelap majority of their semis clash but just couldn’t pull it off in the end. The setback thus dropped the fourth-seeded Phl to a bronze medal duel with No. 2 Singapore, which yielded a 0-2 defeat to third ranked Malaysia in the other semis clash. Mirabel Ting and individual bronze medalist Jeneath Wong eased past Suanne Loh and individual silver medalist Aloysa Mabutas as Malaysia arranged a gold medal clash with fancied Thailand. The two countries will also dispute the men’s team gold after Thailand crushed Singapore, 3-0, and Malaysia nipped Indonesia, 2-1.

Sports

WEDNESDAY, MAY 18, 2022

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Tiger Woods of the United States plays a shot from a bunker during a practice round prior to the start of the 2022 PGA Championship at Southern Hills Country Club on May 16 in Tulsa, Oklahoma. AFP

Tiger buzz builds as rivals see threat at PGA tourney

ULSA—Tiger Woods excited spectators and rivals alike with a back-nine practice round on Monday at Southern Hills, continuing his comeback from severe leg injuries before this week’s PGA Championship. Woods, whose incredible return at last month’s Masters came only 14 months after a rollover car crash, brought a similar buzz to the roars he created at Augusta National. “Just watching him at the Masters, that was unreal, just the crowds and what it does to a tournament when he tees it up,” said Norway’s Viktor Hovland. “Just getting used to big crowds, loud crowds.” Woods played the front nine on Sunday and said his surgically repaired right leg—held together with pins, rods and screws—feels stronger than it did a month ago. “I’m excited,” Woods told reporters Sunday. “I’m not going to play that much going forward, so anytime I do play, it’s going to be fun.” Woods made the cut at the Masters but battled through pain simply to walk 72 holes and faded to his worst-ever Augusta rounds of 78, the 15-time major winner

calling the effort to finish four rounds among his greatest feats. The former world number one, now ranked 818th, won the 2007 PGA at Southern Hills, although the course underwent an $11 million revamp in 2018. If his body has the strength and stamina to walk 72 holes, his skill could make him a major threat. “If there’s ever a question if Tiger can contend, we can all just kind of chuckle at that. Never is he going to be in a field where he can’t contend,” home-state hero Talor Gooch said. “He might not have as good of odds in some places but I think as long as he’s in the field, if he ever gets it slotted, no matter how old he is, no matter what’s going on, he’s always going to have a chance. “I mean, it’s Tiger Woods.” Woods, 46, seeks his 16th career Grand Slam title, two shy of the record set by Jack Nicklaus, and a 73rd US PGA Tour triumph, which would break

the all-time record he now shares with Sam Snead. “When Tiger is in the field... there’s just a different energy,” Gooch said. “Every time he’s in the same field, you just cherish it. We all know what he’s been through.” DeChambeau is coming Bryson DeChambeau, the 2020 US Open winner who underwent left hand surgery last month after missing the cut at the Masters, tweeted Monday he will practice the next two days and see about playing the event. “On my way to Southern Hills CC,” tweeted DeChambeau. “Going to test how I am feeling over these next couple days and decide on whether to compete. Looking forward to being in Tulsa.” Jordan Spieth will try to complete a career Grand Slam by winning the PGA after a second-place finish in his hometown PGA event last weekend and a win last month at the Heritage, his game in rare form. Spieth captured the 2015 Masters and US Open and the 2017 British Open and makes his sixth attempt to join an elite group to complete the sweep that includes Woods, Nicklaus, Ben Hogan, Gary Player and Gene Sarazen. AFP

BLACKLIST International will once again showcase their dominance in the Mobile Legends: Bang Bang, this time, as the Philippines’ representative in the upcoming 31st SEA Games MLBB competition in Hanoi, Vietnam. With #LakadMatatag as their battle cry, the reigning M3 World Champions will vie to snatch the most coveted gold medal for the Philippines. As SIBOL MLBB team’s first match is scheduled tomorrow, May 18, here are some of the ways to support them and receive merchandize items: Cheer for the Filipino athletes Send words of encouragement to SIBOL MLBB athletes through their social media pages. The Philippines is led by Blacklist International world champions Johnmar “OhMyV33NUS” Villaluna as team captain, together with Danerie “Wise” Del Rosario, Salic “Hadji” Imam, and Dexter “DEX STAR” Alaba. Newcomers Kyle “Dominic” Sotto, Howard “Owl” Gonzales, and Russel “Eyonz” Usi are completing the roster. Meanwhile, Kristoffer “BON CHAN” Ricaplaza and Aniel “Master the Basics” Jiandani are coaching the team. Make sure to stream the matches Join the team in their fights by streaming their matches. On May 18, SIBOL MLBB team’s first best-of-two match will be against Malaysia at 9 a.m. It will be followed with a match with Laos team at 12 noon. Their last match for the day is scheduled at 8:30 p.m. with Myanmar. The matches will be streamed through the following pages: MPL-PH YouTube (Filipino) - https://www.youtube.com/c/MPLPhilippines MPL-PH Facebook (Filipino) -https://www.facebook.com/mplph.official MPL-PH TikTok (Filipino) - https://www.tiktok.com/@mplph_official

Nicklaus turns down $100M offer from Saudi golf tour TULSA—Golfing icon Jack Nicklaus said he turned down an offer worth more than $100 million to act as one of the faces of the new Saudi Arabiabacked LIV Golf International Series, US reports said Monday. The 82-year-old 18-time major winner revealed the lucrative offers in remarks published by the Fire Pit Collective website on Monday. The new Saudi-funded series is being fronted by Australian legend Greg Norman, and tees off for the first time at an event outside London next month. Nicklaus said he turned down the offers out of loyalty to the PGA Tour. “I was offered something in excess of $100 million by the Saudis, to do the job probably similar to the one that Greg (Norman) is doing,” Nicklaus was quoted as saying. “I turned it down. Once verbally, once in writing. I said, ‘Guys, I have to stay with the PGA Tour. I helped start the PGA Tour.’” The emergence of LIV Golf has caused shockwaves throughout the golfing world, with several household names believed to be ready to sign up for the series. US veteran Phil Mickelson has not played since the emergence of remarks earlier this year about the new tour’s Saudi backers, who he called “scary” with a “horrible record on human rights.”

Mickelson, who has withdrawn from defending his crown at this week’s PGA Championship in Tulsa, later apologized for the comments. Nicklaus, meanwhile, said Mickelson should be patient as he ponders his next career move. “My advice to Phil? My advice to Phil would be to be patient,” Nicklaus said. “The world is a very forgiving place. But he’s the one he has to decide where he wants to play and what he wants to do.” This week’s PGA Championship was initially due to be held at the Bedminster, New Jersey, course of former President Donald Trump. However, the PGA of America stripped Trump Bedminster of the major last year following the violent assault on the US Capitol by the former president’s supporters. Nicklaus criticized that decision in additional remarks to Fire Pit Collective, describing the move as “cancel culture.” “This move is cancel culture,” Nicklaus said. “Donald Trump may be a lot of things, but he loves golf and he loves this country. He’s a student of the game and a formidable figure in the game. “What he does in the future in golf will depend on what the cancel culture will allow him to do.” Trump Bedminster is set to host a LIV Golf tournament in July. AFP

Lady Spikers hand UP belles 3rd straight loss DE La Salle University dealt the University of the Philippines its third consecutive loss, 25-12, 25-17, 25-19, to rise to the second spot in the UAAP Season 84 women’s volleyball tournament, Tuesday at the SM Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay City. The 1-2 punch of Alleiah Malaluan and Justine Jazareno led the Lady Spikers to a 4-2 slate to move up to solo second in the rankings. The former shouldered the scoring load with a game-high 16 points to go along with five receptions while the latter took charge on defense with 12 excellent digs and 11 excellent receptions. Ahead by three, the Lady Spikers ended the game with a 3-0 rally kick-started by a back-row attack from Malaluan which put La Salle ahead at 23-19. Stephanie Bustillo

then committed an attack error before getting rejected by both Malaluan and Thea Gagate which gave the Taft-based spikers the victory. “UP started strong so coming into this game, double time ‘yung paghahanda ng team so the fact na maglalaro pa lang kami ng first game namin, ‘yung first match 10 o’ clock so ‘di rin namin alam kung paano gagalaw ‘yung team,” said La Salle assistant coach Benson Bocboc after the game that lasted for an hour and 24 minutes. “Buti naman kahit papaano nakapag adjust and then sa tingin ko nahirapan din ‘yung UP sa galawan so nakakuha tayo ng advantage on that,” he added. Fifi Sharma chipped in 10 points for the Lady Spikers while Gagate and Jolina Dela

Cruz each had seven markers. Team captain Mars Alba delivered 15 excellent sets laced with two points to steer the offense. Silenced was UP top scorer Alyssa Bertolano, who was held to just four points in the loss that dropped the Fighting Maroons to 3-3 at the third spot. She also sat out the entirety of the third frame. Nina Ytang paced the team with eight points and six excellent digs while Joan Monares had five points. UP rookie Irah Jaboneta, who played a pivotal role in the team’s 3-0 start, did not suit up for the Fighting Maroons. La Salle will face FEU next Thursday at 6 p.m., while University of the Philippines looks to snap its skid against National University on the same day a 12 noon.

Jols dela Cruz

NBA legend Parker spurred on by first horse racing classic success PARIS—NBA legend Tony Parker said winning the French 1000 Guineas (Poule d’Essai des Pouliches) at Longchamp on Sunday gave him the “same burst of adrenaline” as when he won his four titles. The French sporting icon watched he said “calmly” as his Mikel Delzangles-trained filly Mangoustine denied bold front runner Cachet a Guineas double having won the English edition a fortnight ago. However the impact of the victory soon sunk in as he welcomed back his first classic winner after only a year’s involvement in the sport. “It is enormous this, it is like living a dream,” said Parker, who turns 40 on Tuesday. “I have won a leg of the Triple Crown for the fillies (the French Oaks and the Arc de Triomphe being the other two) inside a year of getting involved. “Some people own horses for 30 years and never enjoy these moments. “I am going to enjoy this moment because you never know it may not happen again,” he added laughing. Parker—whose horses run under the name Infinity Nine a nod to the number shirt he wore

“But when (Mangoustine’s jockey) Gerald Mosse came to challenge Cachet I got the same rush of adrenaline as I did during those championship games. “I am as passionate about this sport as I was basketball. “It is similar in ways because it is not just about me it is also about building a team.” Parker—dressed in smart causal style in a beige Tony suit with no tie—said it had always been on his raParker dar to get involved in the ‘Sport of Kings.’ “I always said when I retired...I mean my sporting career, I would buy horses,” he said grinning. “Living in Texas when I was playing I was surrounded by horses, there were ranches everywhere. “It gave me the appetite to become involved.” ‘Equality in sport’ Parker has bought a stud farm in Normandy— during his playing days—said winning this had with fellow French basketball star Nicolas Batum given him as much pleasure as one of his NBA —the Haras de Quetieville. titles with the San Antonio Spurs. “I always said I was in this for the long term,” he “I was calm as I always was during my playing said. days as the race unfolded, so were the others in my “I am not the type to blow in for two to three years box,” he said. hence buying the stud was a statement of intent.

“I said all this when I presented my package to France Galop (French racing authorities) last year. “For me it was not just about owning horses but also creating a breeding operation. “We already have a mare there (Best Win his first winner) but Mangoustine is a good one in terms of the future when she retires!” Parker’s other filly Zelda finished a creditable sixth under Coralie Pacaut, who was just the fourth woman jockey to ride in the race. Parker had insisted to Zelda’s trainer Jean Claude Rouget that 24-year-old Pacaut, the 2019 champion female jockey, have the ride. “She gave Zelda a great ride,” said Parker. “I am passionate about equality in sport and anything I can do to promote it I will do. “She is a very talented jockey and deserves every chance she can get.” Parker will be unable to sport the chic relaxed look he wore at Longchamp should Mangoustine go to Royal Ascot in June—there top hat and tails will be his compulsory attire. “That would ba amazing to have a runner there,” said Parker. AFP

Entertainment Miss Universe Philippines 2022 Celeste Cortesi is also Miss PLDT Home

BESTING 31 other candidates with her unique beauty, wit, and passion for her advocacies, Pasay City’s Celeste Cortesi clinched the Miss Universe Philippines 2022 crown. The FilipinoItalian beauty is also now the new Miss PLDT Home titleholder. The 24-year-old Cortesi is no stranger to pageants, after representing the Philippines at the Miss Earth competition in 2018. In this year’s competition, Cortesi showed grace, intelligence, and candor in conquering the Miss Universe Philippines stage. “I am excited to be part of the Miss Universe Philippines Organization. I will be working with them to advance my advocacies for women’s

THIS year will Jonathan Cruz. be the 70th birth C r e a t i v e anniversary of an treatments for eminent playwright, set and lighting Bienvenido M. design have been Noriega, Jr., as well conceptualized as his 28th death by international anniversary. Many set designer Ohm will agree that Boy, as David, with exciting he was well known, young, theater was one of the best lighting designer Filipino playwrights Meliton Roxas, Jr. of his generation. It will be a fresh, Erehwon Center for modern staging of a the Arts will honor his classic play. memory by producing Prolific writer one of his bestJose “Butch” known plays, Bayan Dalisay, looks Bayanan: Texts from International set designer Ohm David up to Boy and Home, in partnership describes him as with the Cultural Center of the Philippines. thus, “He understood and magnified the Its premiere will be on the evening of July human condition onstage with uncommon 15, followed by a 7:00 p.m. show on July empathy, and without the histrionics that 16 and a 3:00 p.m. matinee on July 17, at passed for drama in lesser hands.” In 1995, Ateneo de Manila University Tanghalang Nicanor Abelardo. Boy’s close friend, Anton Juan, who posthumously conferred upon Noriega its is multi-awarded as well, will direct the prestigious Tanglaw ng Lahi Award, which play and has given it a refreshing new noted: “The significance of Noriega’s treatment as a musical. New songs have achievement in Theater and Film will be been composed by Juan, himself, along impoverished unless it is put in place with with Cleofe Guangco-Casambre, who his career in banking and government had composed for the play, Rizal’s Sweet service. Here one does not find the Stranger; Russ Narcies Cabico, who is simple case of competition between work also a theater and television actor and and service or between two careers or singer; pianist-composer Andrew Bryan even loves. Noriega was expert in his two Sapigao; and composer-musical arranger occupations—as writer and technocrat…”

Theater lighting designer Meliton Roxas, Jr.

DonBelle’s ‘He’s Into Her’ to premiere on big screen for free HE’S Into Her Season 1: The Movie Cut is premiering at the “Drive-In Cinema One” on May 28 (Saturday) at Vertis North Estate. This summer’s edition of “DriveIn Cinema One: A Drive-Thru Movie Experience,” in partnership with Ayala Malls Vertis North and Vertis North Estate, will showcase on the big screen how the love story of Deib (Donny Pangilinan) and Maxpein (Belle Mariano) unfolds in the phenomenal He’s Into Her season 1. An iWantTFC Original, He’s Into Her: The Movie Cut will be presented in two parts and drivein guests may also

WEDNESDAY, MAY 18, 2022

Uniquely beautiful Celeste Cortesi

Erehwon honors playwright Boy Noriega

Award-winning film director Anton Juan

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

explore mouthwatering food booths in between screenings. The most-watched series on iWantTFC in 2021, He’s Into Her catapulted the DonBelle tandem to stardom. The series is back this summer for its season 2. Join the excitement at the “Drive-In Cinema One” at Vertis North Estate on May 28. Gates open at 5:00 p.m. Visit ticketmelon.com to read the event guidelines and get tickets for free. Donny Pangilinan (left) and Belle Mariano in ‘He’s Into Her’

education and protection of our country’s indigenous people and rich cultural heritage,” she said. Besides her advocacies, Cortesi proves that she’s a queen with a uniquely beautiful heart. Throughout the Miss Universe Philippines pageant, she has been outspoken about her deep love and care for her family. “Since I was a kid, my parents have taught me the power of gratitude and kindness for everyone I meet. I always believe that being grateful creates a ripple effect and in turn, brings the best out of people,” Cortesi shared. The beauty queen further emphasized the importance of strong bonds with family and loved ones. In her winning answer at the final question and answer portion, she said, “If I could stop

time, I would spend it with my family, especially my mother. It’s been two years since I haven’t spent time with my family because they live in Italy, and I came here in the Philippines just by myself. If I had a chance to spend one day, I would definitely be with my mom, and I would just tell her how much I love her and I miss her.” As the newest PLDT Home Ambassador, Cortesi shows that strong connections can powerfully conquer distances. After winning the Miss Universe Philippines title, she even shared a heartwarming tribute for her mom on social media with the caption: “Far from each other, but always connected. To make you proud is the greatest fulfillment of my life.” Joining Cortesi as this year’s Miss

Universe Philippines titleholders are Miss Universe Philippines Tourism Michelle Marquez Dee, Miss Universe Philippines Charity, Pauline Cucharo Amelinckx, Miss Universe Philippines 1st runner-up Annabelle McDonnell, and Miss Universe Philippines 2nd runner-up Ma. Katrina Llegado. PLDT Home is the official broadband partner of Miss Universe Philippines. As the fastest and most powerful internet connection in the country, PLDT Home has been enabling families – just like Cortesi’s – to do things better and to build stronger and more meaningful bonds at home. Cortesi will represent the Philippines at the Miss Universe 2022 pageant to be held in December in San José, California.

Caption: Analyn Baro

Archie Alemania

Analyn Baro

Chariz Solomon

Dasuri Choi

Faye Lorenzo

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Betong Sumaya

It’s more fun

in ‘Bubble Gang’

Michael V.

relaunch

By Patricia Taculao

INCE it first aired in 1995, GMA-7’s awardwinning comedy show Bubble Gang quickly became a favorite among viewers who want to get a good laugh after a long day’s work. The show combines half slapstick and smart comedy to get the audience thinking about the logic behind the joke while also appreciating its simplicity in how it was delivered.

Valeen Montenegro

Kim De Leon

Every year, Bubble Gang does more than just add new segments to delight its viewers. The show also adds a diverse cast of characters who also have the gift of making people laugh. Bang Arespacochaga, a Senior Program Manager at GMA Network, Inc., shared during an online media conference for the show’s relaunch that they’ve planned the relaunch for a bigger and better Bubble Gang on its 25th anniversary, which was two years ago. However, the pandemic kept pushing this plan further. Luckily, as health protocols became laxer this 2022, the network’s plan for their longest-running gag show became achievable. “It’s the best time for us to come up with a new Bubble Gang. We want to offer our viewers something fresh and new, kaya we have new sets of members of Bubble Gang family,” Arespacochaga said. Frasco Mortiz, the director of Bubble Gang, added that he already saw improvements in the show when he first worked with the team and cast. “One of the reasons why they wanted to do this revamp is [because] they wanted to make the show continue to be relevant to the viewers kasi ‘yung mga viewers ngayon, the way they consume content is different from before,” he said.

Kokoy De Santos

Paolo Contis

Unlike before, when people would rush home to catch their favorite shows, viewers can easily access entertainment anytime and anywhere. As a result, Bubble Gang’s production team developed new approaches to work alongside present trends. “I think ‘yung pagpapalit ng cast at saka ‘yung paglalagay ng mga bagong segments, eto ‘yung much needed improvement doon sa show. Hindi kasi pwedeng maging stagnant ‘yung Bubble Gang,” said long-term Bubble Gang member and notable Filipino comedian Michael V., who also works as a creative director on the gag show. The original Bubble Gang cast, including Michael V., Valeen Montenegro, Chariz Solomon, Archie Alemania, Paolo Contis, and more, will also continue to make viewers laugh alongside the show’s new members, which include Tuesday Vargas, Dasuri Choi, and Kim De Leon. Arespacochaga shared that they only chose a small group of people to add to the show because they wanted to focus on the characters and the stories of the new segments. However, she clarified that they can still bring back or add more characters, depending on who’s trending online. Michael V. added that downsizing the cast is also an ideal situation to focus on the existing members so they can have the opportunity and motivation to improve their craft on the show. “It’s a good exercise. It’s a good training ground for the cast to improve their craft, hindi lang sa comedy but sa acting as well,” Michael V. said. Catch the relaunch of Bubble Gang on May 27 at GMA-7.

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Tuesday Vargas

Life

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

WEDNESDAY, MAY 18, 2022

Kristine Lim honors ‘all mothers’ in new installation MOTHER and missionary visual artist, Kristine Lim, remains in full speed with her 3rd Art Installation in Intramuros Manila entitled Ugoy. Mounting the art installation in time for Mother’s Day and the election season, Lim, made 18 beautiful cradle nests to grace the grounds of Intramuros. To breathe further emotion into the project and ignite a more moving experience is the composition of Jonathan Manalo, the Creative Director of ABS-CBN Music. Lim describes Manalo’s song for her art installation as “a beautifully combined and ethereal melody, voice and rhythm we can rest on as we ponder on what it means to be cradled by our motherland we must uphold, honor, and care for. A call for realization that every Filipino, young, old, regardless of gender and status are the real mothers of our nation.” “Eighteen cradle nests representing our 18 regions are scattered in Intramuros to honor the mothers in our country and our motherland. The

past years have been challenging, and through God, who comforts us as a mother comforts a child, we are granted endless source of strength that we may endure our dark days,” Lim says of the installation’s theme. “This ventures on to our election season to remind the Filipinos that it is not just the elected leaders who we should depend on when it comes to caring for our nation. Each and every one of us is the true mother of our homeland. Our patriotism lies not in our loyalty to people but on our loyalty to our country. Our leaders will continue to change, but the soil that we are on will remain,” she adds. During the formal artist reception at the main plaza of Intramuros, Lim also took the opportunity to surprise and honor one of her mentors and dear friends who was her special guest during the event, Dr. Samie Lim. Known as the “Father of Franchising,” Dr. Lim institutionalized Mother’s Day Celebration in the Philippines.

Kristine Lim (right) and Jonathan Manalo posing at the artist’s newest installation in Intramuros

Kristine Lim’s ‘Ugoy’ is dedicated to all mothers, including the motherland

A workplace like no other

The grand staircase of CCP

Artfest combines inspiration with modern technology

Reveal the rainbow art of Scratch Magic with a wooden stylus

Renovations at CCP will start at the Tanghalang Aurelio Tolentino (CCP Little Theater)

••• For those who want to see the building but cannot come over physically to the CCP due to current quarantine protocols or geographic and logistical limitations, the CCP is offering a virtual building and theater tour package. The CCP Guided Virtual Tour was developed to provide online art education and cultural content for everyone. As I did research and interviews for an article, Launched last February during the Pasinaya I learned so many interesting things about the 2022, the CCP virtual tours also address the building that prove why the center is an architectural changes on how people consume arts in the new treasure. normal and usher in a new way to bring visitors For example, did you know that the proscenium back to the Center. of the CCP Main Theater is as high as a two-storey A project of the CCP Venue Operations Division building? This explained how National Artist (under the Production and Exhibition Department), Salvador Bernal was able to design and create the interactive 360 and/or 180-degree guided massive sets for various productions and still able virtual tour takes visitors inside the CCP theaters, to hide them from the audience when the scenes spaces, and other facilities, including the newlyneeded to be changed. built Tanghalang Ignacio Gimenez (CCP Black When the center was consulting some sound Box Theater). engineers for the rehabilitation of the sound Facilitated via Zoom, visitors can see the system and acoustics of the Main Stage, the group interiors of the Tanghalang Nicanor Abelardo was amazed by its quality. They immediately (CCP Main Theater), with its famous stage tapestry recognized the work of Leroy Beranek who was “Genesis” based on an artwork of National Artist known to them as the Father of Acoustics. H.R. Ocampo. You can also head to the Tanghalang We often marvel at the brutalism architecture Aurelio Tolentino (CCP Little Theater) and the designed by National Artist Leandro Locsin, Tanghalang Huseng Batute (CCP Studio Theater). showcasing reinforced concrete, the two-storey Virtual visitors can also take a glimpse behind the travertine block suspended by concave cantilevers stage. on three sides, and/or the massively elevated The 30-to-45-minute tour utilized high resolution podium where the building was built. photography, allowing a real on-site experience as But we don’t talk about how well-planned the if the visitors are walking through every corner of spaces inside the building are. Locsin built it with the artistic spaces with us. both the audience and the artists in mind. In theater, Over 2916 photos, with 489 panoramas and 8 the experience of the audiences who are watching aerial shots were used to build a digital simulation from the orchestra and balcony seats is equally of the actual physical spaces; creating an immersive important as the experience of the artists who are virtual environment. making the magic of live performances happening The guided tour is interactive allowing tour on stage. guests to ask questions and further explore While the architect gave much thought to the featured spaces through the assigned the audience experience with comfortable tour guide. It has embedded videos of seating arrangement and well-studied the Visual Arts & Museum Division’s sightline, he also designed a well-planned CCP Cultural Cache Online episodes and space circulation backstage where the audio descriptions of the CCP visual arts movements of the performers and theater collection displayed across various areas crew unhindered. of the building. The audience doesn’t usually see what’s For tour inquiries email us at ccptours@ happening backstage. It’s really a show gmail.com, call at 8833-2125 or 8832on its own. To make things seamless, the 1125 loc. 1412/1413. space backstage has been optimized. The TotakeasneakpeekoftheCCPvirtualguided loading docks are located at the back of tour, watch here: https://www.facebook. the building, flowing from the parking com/culturalcenterofthephilippines/ area straight to the main stage to make The proscenium of the CCP Main Theater is as high as a two-storey videos/973841733504657. the delivery of theater seats and other building

’VE been working at the Cultural Center of the Philippines for approximately five years now, and yet the Tanghalang Pambansa (CCP Main Building), where our office is located, still surprises me.

The “Artist on a Mission” expressed her admiration and gratefulness to Dr. Lim by gifting him with three mother and child-themed paintings. With her during the turn-over were owner and managing Director of Art Lounge Manila, Susanne Tiausas, and longtime friends and colleagues of Dr. Lim, Bing Limjoco, Sheril R. Quintana, and Yvette Pardo-Orbeta, and friends from Department of Tourism, It’s More Fun In The Philippines, Intramuros Administration, Art Lounge Manila, Philippine Franchise Association, Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry, I Love Mom Movement, Sustainable PH, Christian Collective, Artists on a Mission Workshops, OM Philippines, and AOR Global. Ugoy can be viewed at Fort Santiago, Intramuros, Manila for the whole month of May.

equipment hassle-free. On a few occasions where I get to explore the building, I feel like Alice in Wonderland exploring rabbit holes and secret doors. When CCP administrator Teresa Rances was showing me around and explaining things, I thought I was in a labyrinth. I’d never been to the cooling towers until she brought me there. She also mentioned an opensecret door on the way to Silangan Hall, supposedly leading to the fly system. I wouldn’t know if she didn’t point it out. It looks like just a wall panel to me. Yes, I’m gushing over my workplace because it really is an amazing place. And why not? I really hope the 53-year-old building will get its much-needed rehabilitation. No matter how much we hide them, the wear and tear really show. During the CCP Institutional Presscon, Rances shared that the Administration Services Department (ASD) will execute a three-year rehabilitation plan of the Tanghalang Pambansa (CCP Main Building) from 2022 to 2024. The renovation will start on the fourth floor, roof deck, and the Tanghalang Aurelio Tolentino (CCP Little Theater), culminating within the upper and lower basements. During the pandemic, the ASD has replaced the escalators, retrofitted the CCP Ramp, and changed the Cooling Tower. A new air-conditioning system was installed. Changing the original 350-ton centralized air-conditioning system to sixty 60-ton capacity units. This lowers the electric bill of the center because the engineers can just turn on few units when needed. Beginning this year, the CCP Library and Archives will be relocated to the Design Center Building temporarily to make way for the impending renovation.

ART is the source of healing and hope during difficult and uncertain times. During the pandemic, some found comfort in sketching and drawing while others have unleashed their creativity with some DIY craft kits like Miniature woodcraft, and Slime Making. In this respect, the annual SM Stationery ArtFest – a joint project of SM Stationery, with brands Faber Castell, Sharpie, Elmer’s, Sakura, Artline, and Artherapy – has recently been launched as a contest that encourages shoppers to share their art journey on TikTok to inspire others, and have a chance to win exciting prizes. Every P500 worth of sponsored brands Artherapy, Elmer’s, Artline, Maped, Sharpie, and Faber Castell in-store at the SM Stationery section or online at shopsm.com and at the www. smstationery.com.ph entitles one to join the contest. There are two categories: Adult (ages 18 to 50) and Kids (ages 12 to 17). Prizes include P10,000 worth of SM Stationery items and a Realme Cellphone for two winners in the Adult Category and two winners in the Kids Category. There will also be weekly prizes worth P5,000 for six winners in the Art is Hope raffle. Create an artwork, show the progress of your artwork on TikTok, and show why this signifies that Art is Hope. Upload your art on TikTok and make sure to tag @smstationery and put these hashtags #SMStationeryArtFest2022 #ArtIsHopeContest to qualify. The announcement of winners will be announced on May 31. The SM Stationery TikTok Art Fest 2022: ART IS HOPE is in partnership with Sharpie, Faber Castell, Artline, Artherapy, Elmer’s, Sakura, and Realme. Also, Be one of the lucky winners of the SM Stationery #ArtIsHopeRaffle. Simply, follow @smstationery and their brand partners on TikTok and comment on their post using #SMStationeryArtFest2022 and #ArtIsHopeRaffle hashtags. Winners will be announced on May 31. For more info, visit our website www. smstationery.com.ph and follow us on Instagram and Facebook at smstationeryph.

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