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(Story on A4) MARCOS SETS INDEPENDENT FOREIGN POLICY: FRIENDS TO ALL, ENEMY TO NONE

By Rey E. Requejo PRESIDENT-ELECT Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. on Thursday laid down the foreign policy of his incoming administration, vowing the country’s direction would be independent as “a friend to everyone and an enemy to no one.”

“I think we have to find an independent foreign policy where we are friends with everyone, that’s the only way. We have to be good neighbors and we asked them to be good neighbors to us as well. It is of mutual benefit to us,” he said in a press conference.

The president-elect indicated he would seek to strike a balance between China and the United States, which are vying to have the closest ties with his administration.

"We are a small player amongst very large giants in geopolitics. We have to ply our own way," he said.

"I do not subscribe to the old thinking of the Cold War where we had these spheres of influence where you're under the Soviet Union or you're under the United States," he said.

Specifically, Marcos confirmed he

would uphold an international ruling against Beijing over the disputed South China Sea, insisting he would not let China trample on Manila's maritime rights.In his strongest comments yet on the longstanding source of tensions between the two nations, Marcos said he would not "allow a single millimeter of our maritime coastal rights to be trampled upon."

"We have a very important ruling in our favour and we will use it to continue to assert our territorial rights.

It is not a claim. It is already our territorial right," he said.

"We're talking about China. We talk to China consistently with a firm voice."

But he added: "We cannot go to war with them. That's the last thing we need right now."

Outgoing President Rodrigo Duterte fostered warmer ties with his more powerful neighbour by setting aside the ruling in exchange for promises of trade and investment, which critics say have not materialized.

Former Ambassador Albert Del Rosario, who played a role in earning Next page

VOL. XXXVI • NO. 100 • 3 SECTIONS 12 PAGES • P18 FRIDAY, MAY 27, 2022 • www.manilastandard.net • mst.daydesk@gmail.com

BBM powerhouse team shaping up Diokno (DOF), Medalla (BSP), Pascual (DTI), Bonoan (DPWH), Lagdameo (SAP)

By Rey E. Requejo, Julito G. Rada, Othel Campos and Maricel V. Cruz

Diokno to focus first on debt, tax hike talk on hold

P

RESIDENT-ELECT Ferdinand Marcos Jr. came one step closer Thursday to completing his economic team, designating Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas Governor Benjamin Diokno as his secretary of Finance and naming Felipe Medalla as Diokno’s replacement at the central bank.

BENJAMIN DIOKNO

FELIPE MEDALLA

ALFREDO PASCUAL

MANNY BONOAN

Incoming govt no tolerance for graft, corruption

By Rey Requejo WHILE his administration won’t shelve any pending corruption cases, Presidentelect Ferdinand Marcos Jr. said “let’s forget the past” in relation to prevailing corruption at the Bureau of Internal Revenue and Bureau of Customs.

Marcos clarified he would only go after those personalities who will be involved in corruption activities under his term. He stressed there should be no place for corruption in the government.

“Let's forget about the past. I'll say, 'That's not under my watch, it's not under my administration.' Now that it's my administration, corruption will have no place,” he said.

“If there's still corrupt individuals, we will go after them,” Marcos stressed.

"Kalimutan na lang natin 'yung nakaraan.

(Let's forget the past.)”

Sought for clarification, lawyer Trixie Cruz-Angeles, picked by Marcos to be the incoming Press Secretary, said the president-elect does not want to focus on the "sins of the past” but “pending cases Next page will continue.”

Marcos also tapped former University of the Philippines president Alfredo Pascual as his Trade and Industry

PRESIDENT-ELECT Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. on Thursday said President Rodrigo Duterte asked him to continue the government's antidrug campaign “his own way.”

secretary and Manuel Bonoan to head the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH).

Diokno’s appointment as Finance secretary will cut short his term as BSP governor, which is set to end in July 2023.

“It is an honor to serve the Filipino people in my current and any future capacity. I am grateful and humbled by the President-elect to help his administration manage the country’s fiscal affairs,” Diokno said in a statement.

“As Finance secretary, I will strive to continue prudently and carefully balancing the need to support economic growth, on one hand, and to maintain fiscal discipline, on the other,” Diokno added.

In accepting the top post at the Department of Finance, Diokno emphasized the importance of policy continuity.

“Prior to the pandemic, the Philippines

THE newly named Finance chief of the incoming Marcos administration said he would study the fiscal consolidation plan proposed by the outgoing government, but said it was “to early to talk about raising taxes.”

"Maybe the first order of business will be [looking at] the sustainability of public debt. While our debt-to-GDP ratio is above the 60-percent limit, I don't think that is a cause of concern," said Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas Governor Benjamin Diokno, who President-elect Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has picked as his Finance secretary.

"As long as we grow 6 to 7 percent, we can outgrow our debt... So it is important to look at the sustainability of the debt... We must [also] show that we are serious in consolidating our resources,” Diokno said.

Diokno said he will look at the fiscal consolidation plan proposed by the

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ANTON LAGDAMEO

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55 winning party-lists proclaimed, Tingog gets 2 seats

By Maricel V. Cruz THE Commission on Elections, sitting as the National Board of Canvassers, proclaimed late Thursday the winning 55 party-list groups led by ACTCIS, which secured three seats, with

2,111,091 votes, and Tingog, which garnered two seats.

1-Rider or Ang Buklod ng mga Motorista ng Pilipinas was also in second spot and received two seats like Tingog, along with the 4Ps or Pagtibayin at Palaguin ang Pangkabuhayang Pilipino.

Tingog will be represented again by Rep. Yedda Marie K. Romualdez and her former chief of staff, Jude Acidre, who is the group's second nominee.

Tingog finished strong in the recently-concluded polls, placing third with 886,959 votes.

"We express our sincere gratitude to all our supporters who stood for Tingog until the proclamation day. We will never forget your support and kindness," Acidre said.

Romualdez is the chairperson of the House committee on welfare of children and a registered nurse. Next page

WINNERS ALL. The Commission on Elections proclaims the winning party-list organizations, with ACT-CIS garnering the most number of votes to secure three seats in the 19th Congress. Danny Pata

Rody welcome to join Cabinet as drug czar

By Rey E. Requejo, Joel E. Zurbano and Rio N. Araja

By Julito G. Rada and Vito Barcelo

Marcos, in a Facebook Live interview with select media on Thursday, said it would not be a problem if Duterte wants to join his administration as the anti-drugs czar.

Asked if this was a standing offer, the President-elect clarified that he and the outgoing Chief Executive have yet to discuss the matter.

"No, we have not talked about it. But I am open to anyone who is able to help in the government,” Marcos said, noting that the two of them have been friends for a long time.

The President-elect said he and Duterte have met more than once, with at least one of those meetings happening before the May 9 elections. Next page

DOH designates isolation facilities as monkeypox spreads fast abroad

By Willie Casas THE Research Institute for Tropical Medicine (RITM) will be the main isolation facility for suspect, probable, and confirmed monkeypox cases, the Department of Health said Thursday.

The DOH indicated that its Field Implementation and Coordination Team

(FICT) and the One Hospital Command Center (OHCC) are working on the specific designation of isolation facilities with the priority to ensure compliance with requirements.

“According to DOH Department Memorandum 2022-0220 Interim Technical Guidelines for the Implementation Next page

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News

FRIDAY, MAY 27, 2022

mst.daydesk@gmail.com

Expanded 2nd booster shot starts The Health Technology and Assessment Council (HTAC) earlier this May recommended another additional dose to medical workers and senior citizens.

Following HTAC’s recommendation, messenger RNA vaccines such as Pfizer and Moderna will be given at least 4 months after the administration of the first booster dose, according to the Department of Health.

In a ceremonial rollout in Mandaluyong City, Mayor Benjamin Abalos Sr., three medical frontliners, and three senior citizens were given a Pfizer jab as their second booster.

The health workers received a homologous booster, or the same brand of

vaccine as their first additional dose, while the elderly were given a heterologous shot from a different brand.

There are 1.09 million health workers and 2.14 million senior citizens eligible for second booster shots as of May 19, according to the DOH data.

“The second booster for our health workers and senior citizens will enhance protection given by the first booster and the primary series against all variants, including the recent omicron subvariant BA.2.12.1," Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire earlier said.

"Everyone eligible can get the second booster jab done at the LGU vaccination sites nearest you. They are safe, effective,

and free of charge,” Vergeire said.

Government initially rolled out the second booster to immunocompromised persons following HTAC's recommendation and has so far administered it to 30,912 members of the vulnerable sector as of May 18, according to Health Undersecretary Myrna Cabotaje.

As of Monday, some 69 million or 76.76 percent of the eligible 90 million population in the country have been fully vaccinated against the respiratory disease, according to Malacañang. Of those with primary doses, 13.89 million have received their booster shots.

Meanwhile, the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority urged frontline health workers and senior citizens to get their second booster shot of vaccine to strengthen their immunity against COVID-19.

The MMDA joins other agencies and local government units in declaring full support to the Department of Health’s “Sabay SaVaxx Kontra COVID” campaign, which kicked off

BBM...

2001 during the administration of ousted President Joseph Estrada.

Pascual is the head of the Management Association of the Philippines (MAP) while Bonoan is the president and chief executive officer of SMC Tollways.

Earlier, Marcos named Arsenio Balisacan to head the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA), a post he also held under the Aquino administration.

Marcos also said during a press conference a day after his proclamation that he wants his long-time friend, former lawmaker Anton Lagdameo, to be his special assistant.

Senator Christopher “Bong” Go held that position under the Duterte administration before he was elected to the Senate in 2019.

Marcos, meanwhile, said he was still waiting for House Deputy Speaker Rodante Marcoleta and retired professor Clarita Carlos to say which government post they felt they could be “most useful.”

Marcos said he always asks potential appointees the question, "Where do you feel the most useful?" before deciding where to place them in his incoming administration.

"I asked the same question to Ka Dante Marcoleta and I'm still waiting for his answer," he said in a press conference.

Marcoleta was part of Marcos's 2022 Senate slate before he withdrew his candidacy. The move exempts him from the ban on appointing losing candidates to government posts up to one year after election day, a poll official earlier said.

He was also one of the lawmakers who pushed to deny ABS-CBN of a fresh broadcast franchise in 2020.

Trade Secretary Ramon Lopez on Thursday said he is leaving the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) in capable hands, after Marcos named Pascual as the new DTI secretary.

Pascual is the 73rd president of the MAP since its inception in 1950.

“With his competence, integrity, energy and a wide range of experience in different industries, I know he will steer DTI towards greater heights in the years ahead. He is an excellent choice,” Lopez said.

A governance advocate, Pascual currently serves as the lead independent director (ID) at SM Investments Corp.

He is also an ID at other publiclylisted companies, including Megawide Construction and Concepcion Industrial.

From 2011-2017, he served as president and co-chair of the University of the Philippines.

Before becoming UP president, Pascual was Alumni Regent on the UP Board. He also served as a trustee at the

International Rice Research Institute and the Philippine Institute for Development Studies.

The Makati Business Club pledged its support for the new appointments to the incoming administration’s economic team.

“The appointment of these experienced, well-known leaders should boost the confidence of local and foreign businesses, from MSMEs to big players, that the new administration will promote liberalizing but inclusive policies that will accelerate job creation, competition, and economic recovery,” said the MBC. Rep. Joey Sarte Salceda of Albay said Diokno's appointment to the Finance department rounds up the composition of a “powerhouse” team that will oversee the country's economic progress in the next six years.

“All in all, the Diokno, Balisacan and Medalla appointments are solid choices and I expect to work with the economic team more closely in the weeks ahead,” Salceda said.

Diokno, Salceda said, is “by far, the strongest appointment President-elect Ferdinand Marcos Jr has made. He is well respected internationally, and has the gravitas and experience necessary to steer the country's finances through the headwinds it is facing.”

talk about raising taxes at this time," he said.

Diokno also said it is very important to raise the level of economic growth because the higher the growth of the economy, the more revenues that may be generated.

On Wednesday, outgoing Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez III warned that any inaction by the next administration on the fiscal consolidation plan prepared by the Department of Finance, which aims to reverse the P3.2-trillion COVID-related debt and recover from the economic crisis, would bring serious consequences.

Dominguez said in a briefing the DoF was readying to present to the incoming administration with a fiscal consolidation and resource mobilization plan that is “critical” to helping the government continue its productive spending, grow out of its pandemic-induced debt, and provide substantial buffers to respond to lingering

and future economic shocks.

This new series of measures aims to reverse in a span of 10 years the additional P3.2 trillion debt incurred by the Philippine government due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The country's total outstanding debt as of end-March 2022 further increased to a record P12.68 trillion from P12.09 trillion in end-February 2022, due to more government borrowings to finance infrastructure projects and COVID-19 response efforts, the latest data from the Bureau of the Treasury show.

Dominguez said in a Viber message that he was planning to meet with Diokno next week to "discuss the transition issues."

Diokno announced on Thursday that he has accepted the invitation of Marcos to serve as Finance secretary of the incoming administration.

The Palace said it is up to the next administration to decide whether to impose

a new tax on some goods to pay for the country’s COVID-19 debt.

Acting presidential spokesman Martin Andanar said that Dominguez’s proposed fiscal consolidation and resource mobilization plan was a “doable” set of measures that is “fair, efficient, and corrective” to make up for the P3.2 trillion debts incurred for the country’s pandemic response.

“To raise this amount, the DOF proposed to “raise revenues, improve tax administration, and cut unnecessary spending with fiscal reforms” in its fiscal consolidation and resource mobilization plan,” he said, noting that “the move aims to raise the much-needed government revenues.”

“However, we leave this matter, and other ways to mobilize resources, to the wisdom of the President-elect’s economic team,” the Palace spokesman said.

Marcos is scheduled to assume office on June 30.

problem, as the West Philippine Sea is a critical part of trade routes for shipping in the region.

“The partnerships that we make within the region, with ASEAN, are going to be of critical importance. And that’s why we have to forge partnerships," he said.

"It will be the partnerships that will keep things stable,” he added.

Marcos assured the Philippines will deal with conflicts diplomatically.

“We continue to discuss with them the conflicting claims that we have with China and that China has with other ASEAN members. This is what I mentioned when I talked to President Xi (Jinping) when he called me to congratulate me on winning the elections,” Marcos added.

He also said that the arbitral ruling issued by the tribunal in The Hague which favored the Philippines can be used to assert the country’s territorial rights.

However, Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin said Beijing's position on the international ruling had not changed.

"China is willing to continue communication and dialogue with the Philippines to appropriately handle differences, and together uphold the peace and stability of the South China Sea region," Wang said. (See full story online at manilastandard.net)

55...

Acidre was the 2021 JCI Philippines President and a former youth leader, community volunteer and political affairs consultant from Barugo, Leyte.

Tingog reiterated its commitment to sustain its core advocacies for change, hope and progress, respectively — by empowering and improving quality of life and outcomes for many Filipino families and communities in the margins of society, starting with its home region of Eastern Visayas.

The following groups will have one seat each: Ang Probinsyano; Uswag Illonggo; Tutok to Win; Cibac; Senior Citizens Partylist; Duterte Youth; Agimat; Kabataan; Angat; Marino; Ako Bisaya; Probinsyano Ako; LPGMA; API; Gabriela; CWS; Agri; P3PWD; Ako Ilocano Ako; Kusug Tausug; An Waray; Kalinga; Agap; Coop Natcco; Malasakit@Bayanihan; BHW; GP Party; BH; ACT Teachers; TGP; Bicol Saro; Dumper PTDA; Pinuno; Abang Lingkod; PBA; OFW; Abono; Anakalusugan; Kabayan Magsasaka; 1-Pacman; Apec; Using Pinoy; TUCP; Patrol; Manila Teachers; Aambis-Owa; Philreca; Alona; and Voice of Voters.

Based on the NBOC Resolution 00522, the voting from Shanghai, China, with

1,991 registered votes, will no longer affect the results and ranking of the winning candidates of party-list groups.

The Comelec earlier suspended the overseas absentee voting in Shanghai, the epicenter of China's worst COVID-19 outbreak to date.

The resolution also stated that under the tabulated National Tally Sheet Report 8, the United Senior Citizen’s Party-list has garnered enough votes to entitle it to one seat.

The resolution, however, noted that the United Senior Citizen’s Party-list shall not be included among those to be proclaimed as winning party-list groups due to pending resolution of its motion for reconsideration of the denial of its registration.

Comelec chairman Saidamen Pangarungan said party-list groups have enabled Filipinos, particularly those “marginalized, underrepresented, and lacking well-defined political constituencies,” to be represented in the Congress.

“Such groups are given a stronger voice so that all sectors may be included as our nation moves towards development and prosperity. It is a hallmark of how Philippine democracy unites us all for a common purpose and a shared brighter tomorrow. The Comelec is proud of giving life to this system of representation,” Pangarungan said.

concentrate too much on fault-finding or on the sins of the past," Cruz-Angeles said.

Marcos, meanwhile, believed that there is a need to "codify our tax" to make it simpler and more understandable for Filipinos.

"Now in my discussions with our

legislators yesterday, we are trying to create some fiscal space. So that to reduce the load on ordinary citizens and maybe move the load up, the tax load up and there’s also distribution of wealth implications to that which are very very important. It’s one of the areas that I think we have to work on very

hard," Marcos said.

He is also eyeing to reduce tax collections on sectors still suffering from the COVID-19 pandemic.

"That means MSMEs, the agricultural sector and transport, we will reduce the tax collections on those sectors,” Marcos said.

By Willie Casas and Joel Zurbano

T

HE Philippines rolled out Thursday the second COVID-19 booster shots to the elderly and health workers.

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was poised to transition into an uppermiddle-income economy, thanks largely to sound economic policies put in place over decades by multiple administrations.

As the country transitions to the next administration, it is my view that continuity of sound macro and fiscal policies is important to achieve the stronger post-COVID Philippine economy that we all aim for,” he said.

Before his appointment to the BSP under the Duterte administration, Diokno had served his second term as secretary of the Department of Budget and Management (DBM).

He first served as DBM secretary under the Estrada administration and was Budget undersecretary from 1986 to 1991 under then-President Corazon Aquino.

Medalla, on the other hand, served as a member of the Monetary Board since July 2011. He was first appointed by the late President Benigno Aquino III and was given a second term by Duterte in July 2017.

Medalla also served as secretary of socio-economic planning and directorgeneral of the National Economic and Development Authority from 1998 to

Diokno...

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Department of Finance to the incoming administration that includes raising taxes, deferring personal income tax reductions, and expanding the value-added tax coverage to pay for the debts incurred during the Duterte administration.

"We will look at the fiscal consolidation plan... [But] we have a better tax system now than during the previous administration... The focus should be on tax administration... We need more money to service our public debt," Diokno said.

Diokno said it was "too early" for him to make any position on whether to increase taxes or not.

"The tax system we are leaving to the next administration is much better than the previous administration. It is not a perfect tax system... but it is too early to

Marcos...

From A1

the United Nations court’s nod in favor of the Philippines, thanked Marcos for declaring his stand.

“We are deeply thankful that President-elect Ferdinand Marcos, Jr. declared what Filipinos would like to hear: that the 2016 Arbitral Ruling is not a claim but already a right,” Del Rosario said in a statement.

With the ongoing territorial dispute over the islands in the West Philippine Sea, Marcos said having better relations with all nations would be more judicious, as the countries involved are the Philippines’ closest neighbors.

He cited that China, at its closest part, is only 600 kilometers away from his home province, Ilocos Norte.

But Marcos signaled that on foreign policy, he would not adopt the "slightly unorthodox approach" of Duterte, who rattled diplomats with his firebrand rhetoric and mercurial nature.

The incoming president pointed out the importance of forging partnerships with the countries, especially with those in the region and not allowing the territorial dispute to fester and escalate into a severe

Incoming...

From A1

"Pending cases will continue because they're pending cases. I think the approach as he had expounded in previous interviews is simply to not to

From A1

in Mandaluyong City with the rollout of the second vaccine booster shots for healthcare workers and senior citizens.

“This second booster for our healthcare workers and senior citizens will provide added protection to the first and primary doses. It will fortify the defense of our health workers and seniors who belong to the vulnerable sectors,” said MMDA chairman Romando Artes.

To bolster the national government’s vaccination coverage, Artes said the MMDA mobile vaccination team will be deployed in partnership with various LGUs and the private sector to bring the vaccines closer to the public.

“With our continued collaboration with various sectors, we are hopeful that we will reach the endemic stage of this virus,” said Artes.

He added: “The virus is still around, but if we get inoculated, we will be able to protect not only ourselves, but also our community, from all the existing COVID-19 variants.”

Rody...

From A1

“There were several actually, it’s not just a single [meeting],” Marcos said.

“Even before the election, he's been saying that these things, continue them, please, that is the request. He said that is so important to him. And still of course his priority has always been the anti-drug problem,” Marcos said.

“One thing that he was very assertive about was ‘continue the anti-drug syndicate that I started. Do it your own way.’

He really said that,” Marcos said.

“Do it your own way. Change it, do what you want but don't abandon it because our youth are miserable, their lives are really ruined,” Marcos said, quoting President Duterte.

He said he appreciated what the President told him, noting that drugs continue to be a problem.

Duterte won the 2016 presidential race due to his hardline stance against illegal drugs and criminality.

During his term, Duterte came under fire from human rights groups over allegations of summary executions in the drug war.

Meanwhile, government agents assigned at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport seized a smuggled shabu shipment worth P7.4 million in a controlled delivery operation in Bulacan.

The operation conducted by a composite team from the Customs NAIA, Interdiction Task Group and Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) also resulted in the arrest of a claimant.

The importer misdeclared the shipment as water purifier from Laos but upon physical examination, the parcel was discovered to contain 1,092 grams of white crystalline substance.

Further laboratory examination revealed that the substance was methamphetamine hydrochloride, locally known as shabu with a street value of P7,425,600.00.

Meanwhile, the PDEA said it has destroyed P108,674,818.44 worth of illegal drugs at the Geocycle facility of the Holcim Philippines Inc. in Bacnotan, La Union.

DOH...

From A1

of Monkeypox Surveillance Screening, Management, and Infection Control, during the activation of Doors 1 and 2 of DOH’s 4-Door Alert System, the RITM is hereby designated as the main isolation facility for suspect, probable, and confirmed monkeypox cases,” the department noted.

On Wednesday, the health department announced it would carry out a fourdoor strategy, which is the framework of the National Emergency Operational Response Plan to prevent and control emerging infectious diseases.

The FICT and the OHCC shall designate the regional isolation facilities and hospitals catering to other international points of entry.

All government hospitals shall prepare an area for isolation and treatment facilities when Doors 3 and 4 are activated.

“Cases shall be immediately isolated in a private room, preferably with negative air pressure, until signs and symptoms have been resolved,” the DOH said in the message.

Earlier, Health Secretary Francisco Duque III said the government was closely monitoring global developments about monkeypox as it intensifies the country’s border screening.

Health experts say monkeypox is not deadly and its spread is easier to prevent compared to Covid-19.

Vaccines against smallpox may be used to avoid monkeypox and there are proven medications.

Monkeypox starts with fever, then general body aches, malaise, and muscle ache with the first symptoms similar to influenza.

In related developments, the Geneva, Switzerland-based World Health Organization (WHO) said severe cases of monkeypox, a virus transmitted from animals to humans, may affect the younger age group more than others.

“Severe cases occur more commonly among children and are related to the extent of virus exposure, patient health status, and nature of complications. Underlying immune deficiencies may lead to worse outcomes,” WHO said.

“The case fatality ratio of monkeypox has historically ranged from 0 to 11 % in the general population and has been higher among young children. In recent times, the case fatality ratio has been around 3–6 percent,” it added.

The Department of Health, itself, said there were no specific age groups specifically easily infected by the monkeypox.

But it pointed out, referring to the same WHO data, that people younger than 40 to 50 years old might be more susceptible to the virus “due to cessation of smallpox vaccination campaigns globally after eradication of the disease.”

Amid this threat, the DOH said there is no Philippine Food and Drug Administration-approved and authorized vaccine against monkeypox yet, but noted that smallpox vaccines may work through “cross protection,” as well as the adherence to health protocols. With AFP (See full story online at manilastandard.net)

News

FRIDAY, MAY 27, 2022

Blast pierces bus in Koronadal, injures five

SLICE OF LIFE.

To mark the celebration of National Heritage Month (NHM), the Philippine Postal Corp. (Post Office) issues a commemorative stamp honoring cartoonist and National Artist for Visual Arts Larry Alcala, famous for his “Slice of Life” cartoon series. In 1988, “Slice of Life” received the Best in Humor Award and was cited for helping to keep alive the Filipino’s penchant for humor even in the midst of adversities.

Danny Pata

By Nash Maulana

Comelec eyes barangay, SK polls T

HE Commission on Elections (Comelec) will start next month laying the groundwork for the December 2022 barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan (SK) elections despite calls for its postponement, Commissioner George Garcia said on Thursday.

“Definitely this coming June, we will already start the ball rolling for the preparations for the barangay and SK elections. We cannot presume that Congress will not be proceeding with the elections. We still have to prepare,” Garcia said.

“It will be very hard for us if it suddenly pushes through by September and we have not prepared anything,” Garcia

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said in an ANC interview.

The poll official made the remark following a statement of House majority leader Ferdinand Martin Romualdez that more than P8 billion worth of savings could be generated if the barangay elections set this year would be postponed.

Romualdez suggested that the savings could instead be allocated for

COVID-19 response and economic stimulus, as well as aid for those who suffered from the pandemic.

Garcia had earlier said the poll body will heed the decision of Congress on the matter.

He said the P8.6 billion allocated for the 2022 barangay and SK elections was still intact.

“Until today, I can honestly tell you that intact po ang P8.6 billion. Wala pa po kaming releases from the DBM (we don’t have releases from the Department of Budget and Management yet),” he said.

Garcia also noted that the voter regis-

tration is set to reopen by July for those who wish to register or reactivate.

The Comelec will also start working on the printing of election documents, procurement of election equipment, and training of poll workers for the barangay and SK polls, earlier set in October 2016, then reset for October 2017, then again reset for May 2018.

However, the exercise still did not push through and eventually rescheduled for May 2022.

Unlike the national and local elections, which have been fully automated since 2010, the 2022 barangay elections would be done manually.

COTABATO CITY—An improvised bomb reportedly exploded inside a passenger bus while en-route to Cotabato City, tearing off a part of the vehicle’s rear and wounding at least five people.

Police said it was fortunate most of the passengers have already gotten off before the blast which reportedly took place at about 12:20 p.m. on Thursday while the Yellow Bus Liner was cruising along the General Santos City Drive in Koronadal City.

Investigators said another explosion occurred in Tacurong City at about the same time, raising suspicions that the blasts were connected.

Police identified three of the victims as Joseph Rodolfo Valenzuela, Jonalyn Ferrer, and Angel Ferrer. Two others remained unidentified as of presstime.

Police temporarily closed the road section where the explosion happened, causing heavy traffic in the area.

Koronadal City Mayor Eliordo Ogena underscored the need to improve security measures in collaboration with the neighboring towns and cities to better protect the people.

Police Capt. Renjun Bagaman, spokesman of the South Cotabato Provincial Police Office, said a tricycle driver, Wilfredo Tino, who was tailing the YBL bus, was also injured.

Bagaman confirmed that the blast tore through the rear part of the bus an explosive device of the improvised type while it was traveling along General Santos Drive in Koronadal City from Tacurong City.

DENR suspends permits of three quarrying companies in Rizal

By Rio N. Araja THE Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) ordered on Wednesday the suspension of the quarrying permits of three large-scale companies allegedly encroaching on the Masungi Georeserve in Rizal.

In a virtual presser, DENR acting Secretary Jim Sampulna identified the suspended companies as Rapid City Realty and Development Corp., Quimson Limestone, Inc., and Quarry Rock Group, Inc. Despite encroachment allegations, Sampulna clarified however that these companies have been non-operational since 2004.

“Due to the numerous arising issues published in the newspapers, people who are allegedly complaining, so they decided to voluntarily cease operations,” he said.

Separate notices indicated that the

Digital company wants to help fight fake news A GLOBAL digital marketing firm has offered to help the Philippines in combatting the proliferation of fake news and the large-scale disinformation on social media.

SARTiNE chief executive officer Renesar Deunida said this could be done through effective monitoring, a surgical crackdown on fake accounts, and nationwide public information drive on how to spot facts from fakes.

“Social media has become too powerful and can now “make anyone a president,’” Deunida said in a statement made available to reporters covering the House of Representatives.

He noted that even after the official proclamation of the Philippines’ new president and vice president, “public discussions on the spread of disinformation on social media influencing the outcome of the 2022 elections remain very intense.”

SARTiNE is a leading global digital advertising firm that specializes in data-driven campaigns, brand crisis, and marketing services. It is also a leading authority in data analytics, targeted marketing, political road map, and market research services.

In support of all efforts to end disinformation on social media, Deunida said that SARTiNe has offered its expertise and technological edge to help reduce the distribution of fake news and the undeterred proliferation of fake accounts that are dangerously creating alternatives truths.

Maricel V. Cruz

three firms’ Mineral Production Sharing Agreements (MPSA) were “void from the beginning” and “do not have prior rights,” among others.

“I am suspending the operation of those three MPSAs, and removing the companies’ authority to operate to remove the public’s speculation,” he added.

An MPSA is a type of mineral agreement where the state grants the contractor the right to mine over an area, granted that there will be government shares in the contractor’s production.

Meanwhile, the DENR said they will investigate another alleged illegal quarrying in the Upper Marikina river basin protected landscape.

“We will be ordering an investigation if there are any ongoing illegal quarrying operations, despite the suspensions,” Mines and Geosciences Bureau director Wilfredo Moncano said.

HIGH-TECH VENDING. A vendor uses a beep card to transact business at the LRT-1 Balintawak Station in Quezon City as the rail operator, Light Rail Manila Corp., formally rolls out its Tap2Pay campaign allowing for no-contact transactions between the peddlers and their customers. Mike De Juan

PhilHealth says premium rates hike needed to sustain operations

THE state-run Philippine Health Insurance Corp. (PhilHealth) on Thursday defended their proposal to increase its members’ premium rates starting June this year to ensure the sustainability of their operations.”

“We understand that the economy is only starting to gain up now, but we have sustain the program of PhilHealth because we are helping many people

here,” said PhilHealth vice president for corporate affairs Dr. Shirley Domingo.

“During the COVID-19 pandemic, we spent around P22 billion for COVID benefits but we didn’t raise premiums. We have to sustain, we have a lot of benefits lined up for our members,” she said.

The hike in contributions is also in line with the Universal Healthcare Act, which mandates a 0.5 percent increase

in PhilHealth contributions every year until it reaches the 5 percent limit in 2025, Domingo added.

The COVID-19 pandemic prompted the government to defer the rate hike in 2021, following public uproar over some P15 billion in PhilHealth funds that reportedly went missing, which the agency denied.

The four-percent premium rate means

CRAB WHISPERER.

This boy dives for crabs at the lake adjacent the National Road in Obando, Bulacan for scrumptious meal with the family.

QC eyes people participation in governance

QUEZON City is batting for a participatory government through the creation of a People’s Council to promote citizen engagement in governance.

The People’s Council of Quezon City projected to serve as the umbrella arm of 2,232 city-accredited civil society organizations would work with the local government to ensure that every program or policy is indeed responsive to the needs of the QCitizens.

Mayor Joy Belmonte recently led the oath-taking of the interim executive committee officers of the council.

She signed the implementing rules and regulations of City Ordinance SP-1942 of 2009 or the Participation, Accountability and Transparency (PAT) Ordinance that strengthens and institutionalizes the system of partnership of the local government and its constituents. Rio N. Araja

that for those earning P10,000 and below, a P400 monthly premium would be collected from their salaries.

The premium ranges from P400 to P3,200 for those with a monthly basic salary of P10,000.01 to P79,999.99.

It is a flat P3,200 for those who earn P80,000 and above. Employers shoulder half of the PhilHealth contribution.

Willie Casas

Special police entry exams set in Lamitan for MNLF, MILF

THE National Police Commission (NAPOLCOM) has scheduled the conduct of Special Qualifying Eligibility Examination (NSQEE) in Lamitan, Basilan on May 29, 2022 exclusively for members of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) and the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF).

The prospective examinees will have to submit a certification issued by the chairman of the MILF or the MNLF and validated by the ad hoc office on Bangsamoro policing, as prescribed under Executive Order No. 0003, by the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, issued on March 7, 2022.

The ad hoc office should provide general administrative support in the application process set by the NAPOLCOM, and should be responsible for the initial screening of applications for the NSQEE. The ad hoc office should also coordinate with the national government and the Bangsamoro government agencies in the processing of the applicants’ documents, as well as authentication of the certificates of membership issued by the authorized officials of the MILF and MNLF, then endorse and submit the applications for the NSQEE to the NAPOLCOM. The ad hoc office on should also validate and verify information about the applicants, as may be requested by NAPOLCOM; and submit updates, reports and recommendations to the Chief Minister and the Bangsamoro-Intergovernmental Relations Body (IGRB).

A4

FRIDAY, MAY 27, 2022

Rody to show achievements in last six years

News

FINAL RESTING PLACE.

Families, relatives, and friends pay their last respects to the late actress Susan Roces as her remains are brought to her final resting place at the Manila North Cemetery beside the tomb of her husband, Filipino action king Fernado Poe Jr. on Wednesday.

Danny Pata

BBM wants to amend EPIRA law

By Rey E. Requejo

P

RESIDENT-elect Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. on Thursday revealed that he is seriously considering instituting amendments to the Electric Power Industry Reform Act (EPIRA) to bring down the cost of electricity.

“We have to be very strict in enforcing EPIRA, but beyond that, we also have to look at possible amendments to EPIRA”, he said in a press briefing.

He said some provisions of the law are already “outdated.” However, Mar-

cos did not specify which provisions of the EPIRA he wants to be amended.

For years, several attempts have been made to amend the power industry reform law amid criticisms of its ineffectiveness to bring down power costs, but

nothing progressed.

Enacted in 2001, EPIRA, a landmark pro-market reform, aims to ensure reliable and competitively priced electricity in the country.

Among its salient features is the division of the electric power industry into four sub-sectors -- generation, transmission, distribution, and supply – aimed at ensuring a level-playing field among players in the energy sector.

According to Marcos, he has formed a team to look into which items in the electricity bills can be brought down further to ease the burden on consumers.

‘We have talked about anti-BBM tweets in the past’ TRIXIE Cruz-Angeles, the newlynamed press secretary of Presidentelect Ferdinand Marcos Jr. said she discussed her earlier posts on Twitter with the incoming Chief Executive.

Angeles said she is supporting the president-elect despite tweets critical of the Marcos family several years back.

Angeles tweeted on Marcos and his family’s ill-gotten wealth years ago, and the critical posts have resurfaced, following her expected appointment as head of the Presidential Communications and Operations Office (PCOO).

The lawyer said she had discussed these with Marcos himself.

“We have talked about it, I’m a vlogger and we have talked about it extensively on the vlogs, we have conducted several lives about it, and I’ve told my story about how and when I changed my mind about it,” Angeles, in a GMA News report said. “So that’s it, that’s pretty much it. I think evolution is a natural thing even in our consciousness.”

Angeles said she learned of her new designation as press secretary a week ago.

The Marcos camp had said her primary task is to oversee the operations of the PCOO. One of the responsibilities of the PCOO is to conduct of regular press briefings.

“In general, we have begun to see the areas where we will take how to bring down the cost of electricity,” he said.

On the proposal to scrap the valueadded tax on power generation, Marcos said, “That’s one of the things we’re looking at.”

He added that there are other areas where prices can be reduced further such as the spot market and transmission charges.

“I’ve been talking to some of the producers, on our energy production side, they are willing, they understand that this is an emergency,” he said.

PROTECTING SARANGANI BAY. Volunteer

scuba divers from the Department of Environment and Natural Resources and local government units of Sarangani Province lead the underwater collection of the crown-of-thorns starfish which prey on the coral reefs of Sarangani Bay, one of the country’s most biodiversityrich protected seascapes.

Senate ratifies provisions on plastic waste law

By Macon Ramos-Araneta THE Senate has ratified the bicameral conference committee report on the disagreeing provisions of bills institutionalizing the mechanism of extended producers’ responsibility (EPR) on plastic waste packaging.

During a Senate plenary session, Sen. Cynthia A. Villar, Committee on Environment chairperson, pushed for the ratification of the report on Senate Bill No. 2425 and House Bill No. 10696.

Villar said the bill will institutionalize EPR as a practical policy approach to efficient waste management.

“The proposed legislation focuses on waste reduction, recovery and recycling and the development of environment-friendly products that advocate the internationallyaccepted principle on sustainable consumption and production, circular economy, and producers’ full responsibility throughout the life cycle of their products,” Villar said in her sponsorship speech.

She said EPR mandates large enter-

prises also referred to as obliged enterprises, to establish or phase-in programs for the plastic packaging of their products in order to efficiently manage plastic packaging waste and reducing the production, importation, supply, or use of plastic packaging.

“The obliged enterprises may voluntarily organize themselves to form or authorize a producer responsibility organization for the purpose of establishing a viable platform to implement their EPR program,” Villar said.

THE Duterte administration will be thanking the support of everyone and remind Filipinos of President Rodrigo Duterte’s signature “Tapang at Malasakit” (courage and compassion) brand of leadership before the end of his term on June 30.

The Presidential Communications Operations Office (PCOO), through the Office of the Global Media and Public Affairs (OGMPA), will showcase a summary of the Duterte administration’s achievements through the Duterte Legacy Summit from May 30 to 31 at the Philippine International Convention Center (PICC) in Pasay City, the PCOO said in a media release.

“The two-day event will be our last act of thanking and recognizing the ‘Tapang at Malasakit’ governance of President Rodrigo Roa Duterte, his Cabinet members, and all public servants who have brought impactful changes and meaningful developments to the Filipino people,” acting presidential spokesperson and PCOO Secretary Martin Andanar was quoted as saying.

Duterte will share a personal message about the summit via video, while Executive Secretary Salvador Medialdea will deliver the keynote speech and Cabinet Secretary Melvin Matibag will give the closing remarks.

Some Cabinet officials will present their last reports to the public including their accomplishments, policies, and projects that improved the lives of Filipinos over the past six years while beneficiaries of government projects and programs will also share their success stories and testimonials.

The summit will also feature key campaign promises of the Duterte administration that were realized such as the Universal Health Care Law and Malasakit Center, Universal Access to Quality Tertiary Education, Bangsamoro Organic Law, anti-illegal drugs campaign, and migrant workers’ protection.

PH govt needs database for aid distribution

By Maricel V. Cruz A LEGISLATOR on Thursday cited the importance of proper data governance in delivering vital financial aid and social services to Filipinos in the post-pandemic era, saying the databases created by national agencies and local governments should by now be centralized and streamlined.

“Data governance will be crucial to government’s ability to deliver aid and services to our people, because we still have years of pandemic recovery ahead of us,” Taguig City Rep. and Senatorelect Alan Peter Cayetano said.

Cayetano pointed out that having a central database that is administered properly and is available across the entire government bureaucracy will enable government agencies and local authorities to distribute aid more efficiently to Filipinos in need of assistance.

He also mentioned that managing the millions of data sets collected from people throughout the pandemic is instrumental to the development of mobile apps that could make it easier for people to access government aid.

In a recent webinar hosted by the Department of Science and Technology, Ideacorp CEO Emmanuel Llana reportedly pointed out that the national government still scored low on data governance, as shown by the fact that agencies could not exchange data quickly.

Llana was also quoted as saying that the government should work on the interoperability of its databases, and must adopt a “whole-of-government” framework in collecting and managing data.

Drilon cites four issues new admin should focus on

By Macon Ramos-Araneta SENATE Minority Leader Franklin M. Drilon on Thursday outlined the four most pressing issues that President-elect Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. must immediately address.

Drilon said these are the inadequate healthcare system, a pandemic-bat-

tered economy, a failing education system, and a weak rule of law.

He said Marcos should capitalize on the so-called “honeymoon period” and “exercise political will in the first 100 days of his presidency to address these four urgent issues that remain unresolved and define his legislative priorities.”

“First and foremost, the issue of health. The COVID-19 pandemic exposed the weakness and inadequacy of our healthcare system. We lack hospitals. Our health information system is inefficient. We do not provide sufficient protection and benefits to our healthcare professionals both in the public and private sectors,” Drilon said.

Senators to support Duterte request for stimulus bill

By Macon Ramos-Araneta SENATE Majority Leader Migz Zubiri said the request of outgoing President Rodrigo Duterte to pass a stimulus package is part of his legislative priority as a re-elected senator of the 19th Congress.

He said it will have his full support.

“This measure is badly needed to jumpstart our economic recovery and push us to become an Asian Tiger in the region,” also said Zubiri.

He said his campaign promise is to pass a Bayanihan 3 package to provide funding assistance to distressed

industries such as tourism and micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) that were affected by the pandemic.

Comebacking Sen. Loren Legarda also committed to rally behind the proposed stimulus package to be given to small businesses severely affected by

BOOSTER SHOT FOR ABALOS. COVID-19 testing Zcar Secretary Vince Hizon, Mandaluyong Mayor Menchie Abalos, MMDA chair Romando Artes, Antipolo Mayor Casimiro Jun Ynarez III, and SM Supermall president Steven Tan look on as incoming Mandaluyong City Mayor Benjamin Abalos Sr. receives his second COVID-19 booster vaccine during the launch of Sabay Savaxx Kontra Covid at SM Megamall. Manny Palmero

Opinion Judicial notice CUSTOMARILY, every material allegation raising a claim, charge, or defense in court must be proven. However, there are facts readily verifiable, of public knowledge, and have attained a certain level of notoriety that requires no proof. This is known as “judicial notice”.

The purpose of judicial notice is to save time, effort, and money in introducing, identifying, authenticating, and offering evidence. These facts are settled and undisputed; hence, they require no proof. Examples include the Philippine Constitution, laws passed by Congress, the published decisions of the Supreme Court, and the existence of the COVID-19 pandemic.

In a civil action for negligence with claims for damages, the complainant need not prove that “gravity” caused the object to fall on a parked car. However, the resulting damage to the car due to the falling object will have to be proven.

There are facts readily verifiable, of public knowledge, and have attained a certain level of notoriety that requires no proof.

These verifiable facts are the subject of mandatory judicial notice. These facts can be sourced by the judge from reliable books or materials. However, disputed facts or facts in issue cannot depend on judicial notice because they have to be proven.

In the case of Corinthian Gardens Association v. Spouses Tanjangco, the Supreme Court declared that “a court cannot take judicial notice of a factual matter in controversy”. A reasonable amount of rent in a forcible entry case, being a fact in controversy, must be proven by sufficient evidence (G.R. No. 160795, June 27, 2008).

There is also discretionary judicial notice.

This kind covers matters including: (a) those of public knowledge; (b) those that can be unquestionably demonstrated; or (c) those ought to be known to judges because of their judicial functions (Section 2, Rule 129, Rules on Evidence).

Examples of public knowledge are the devastation caused by the typhoon Odette in Visayas and parts of Mindanao; the recently concluded May 9, 2022 National and Local Elections; and the end of term of President Duterte, among others. These facts are common knowledge and do not arise from the personal knowledge of the judge.

The doctrine of judicial notice rests on the wisdom and discretion of the courts. The power of judicial notice is to be exercised with caution; care must be taken that the requisite notoriety exists; and that every reasonable doubt on the subject should have been promptly resolved in the negative (State Prosecutors v. Judge Muro, A.M. No. RTJ-92-876, September 19, 1994).

Respondent Judge Muro, on the basis of a newspaper account (which in itself is sometimes referred to as hearsay evidence twice removed), took judicial notice of the supposed lifting of foreign exchange controls, a matter which was not and cannot be considered of common knowledge or of general notoriety (A.M. No. RTJ-92-876 September 19, 1994).

“Worse, he took cognizance of an administrative regulation which was not yet in force when the order of dismissal was issued. Jurisprudence dictates that judicial notice cannot be taken of a statute before it becomes effective… A law which is not yet in force and hence, still inexistent, cannot be of common knowledge capable of ready and unquestionable demonstration” (A.M. No. RTJ-92-876 September 19, 1994).

In Latip v. Chua, the Supreme Court rejected the judicial notice of the “alleged practice of prospective lessees in the Baclaran area to pay goodwill money to the lessor”. The Court declared that “the requisite notoriety is belied by the necessity of attaching documentary evidence, i.e., the Joint Affidavit of the stallholders…” (G.R. No. 177809, October 16, 2009).

Matters that can be unquestionably demonstrated cover the fields of natural science, natural phenomena, chronology, technology, geography, statistical facts, and other fields of scientific or professional knowledge (Evidence, Francisco).

For instance, the court can easily validate that September 19, 2013 is a Thursday, and that a combination of primary colors (red, yellow, blue) will result in the creation of a secondary color (orange, green, purple).

Discretionary judicial notice on matters which the judge ought to know by reason of his or her judicial functions may overlap with mandatory judicial notice; the reason being that official acts of the judiciary are the subject of mandatory judicial notice. For this author, the use of an allonge under the Apostille Convention is a matter the judge ought to know by reason of his functions.

The Supreme Court disallowed the use of judicial notice to determine the exact boundaries of a lot (Habagat Grill v. DMC-Urban Property Developer, Inc., G.R. No. 155110, March 31, 2005). In another case, the Supreme Court said that “the article in the website cited by the RTC patently lacks a requisite for it to be of judicial notice…” (Juan v. Juan and Laundromatic Corporation, G.R. 221732, August 23, 2017).

Many website articles are not well and authoritatively created and carry a certain level of doubt with them. The Court further said that it “must be remembered that some articles appearing in the internet or on websites are easily edited and their sources are unverifiable, thus, sole reliance on those articles is greatly discouraged” (G.R. 221732, August 23, 2017).

On the other hand, judicial notice was taken of the uniform practice of banks and financial institutions that “before approving a loan, [these institutions endeavor] to investigate, examine and assess would-be borrowers’ credit standing or [their] real estate [when] offered as security for the loan” (Solidbank Corp. v. Mindanao Ferraloy, G.R. No. 153535, July 28, 2005).

Generally, courts are not authorized to “take judicial notice of the contents of the records of other cases even when said cases have been tried or are pending in the same court or before the same judge.” While the principle invoked is considered to be the general rule, this rule is not absolute. There are exceptions to this rule.

In the case of Tiburcio v PHHC, this Court, citing Justice Moran, stated: In some instance, courts have taken judicial notice of proceedings in other causes, because of their close connection with the matter in the controversy. Thus, in a separate civil action against the administrator of an estate arising from an appeal against the report of the committee on claims appointed in the administration proceedings of the said estate, to determine whether or not the appeal was taken on time, the court took judicial notice of the record of the administration proceedings. Courts have also taken judicial notice of previous cases to determine whether or not the case pending is a moot one or whether or not a previous ruling is applicable in the case under consideration (Degayo v. Magbanua-Dinglasan, et al., G.R. Nos. 173148, April 6, 2015).

Not too many are aware that a court or a party in a proceeding may announce its intention, or may file a motion, respectively, to take judicial notice of any matter. This may be the subject of a hearing, to identify the fact or matter that is the subject of judicial notice, but not to present evidence. However, if the trial has been concluded or the case is on appeal, judicial notice will only be allowed if such a matter is decisive of the material issue in the case (Section 3, Rule 129, Rule on Evidence).

Judicial notice is a procedural tool available to the courts to expedite its proceedings.

However, caution must be exercised as it cannot defeat the right of the party to present its case. In case of an error in the court’s taking of judicial notice, the remedy of a party is to appeal after judgment is rendered.

the annual GAA (General Appropriations Act) to practice economy at the expense of DepEd (once known as the Department of Education, Culture and Sports), the 1971 Constitutional Convention mandated that education be allocated the largest share of the GAA. This is as things should be because, with its complement of over 600,000 individuals, DepEd accounts for the bulk of its civil service and its constituency consists of millions of Filipinos enrolled in the nation’s basic and secondary schools. To get a good idea of DepEd’s size and the scope of its administrative mandate, one only has to recall media reports and images of classes being held under mango trees due to budgetary constraints.

The second reason for the pity about education’s not being accorded the highest priority is the role that education plays in the development of Philippine society and the growth of the national economy. At one end of the education spectrum are the three Rs of basic education and at the other end is STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics).

A self-respecting country cannot, in today’s world environment, afford to have an educa-

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EDITORIAL

DepEd head must be a professional heavyweight

AS in past post-election scenarios, the minds of the Filipino people are focused on the appointments to the economic-cluster Cabinet positions (Secretary of Finance, Secretary of Socio-Economic Planning and Secretary of Budget and Management) and comparatively little attention is paid to the incoming President’s choice of DepEd (Department of Education) head.

This is a great pity. DepEd should be accorded very high priority – and the incoming Chief Executive should appoint as Secretary of Education a professional heavyweight for three reasons.

The first of these reasons is administrative in character. Appreciating the importance of education and the tendency of the drafters of

FRIDAY, MAY 27, 2022

T

New economic team

HE incoming administration is basically keeping the character of the Cabinet economic team intact— many of the appointees had worked in previous governments from the late President Corazon Aquino to outgoing President Rodrigo Duterte.

The new members of the economic team will not likely drift from the mindset of their predecessors. They are expected to build on the economic reforms and the policies of the Duterte government and past administrations—meaning President-elect Ferdinand Marcos Jr. will advocate free trade, fiscal discipline, a more open economy and less bureaucratic red tape to boost business activities. In sum, the appointment of the new

They have the perspective and the tools to push the economy forward and keep inflation at bay. economic team assures us of policy continuity and precludes a drastic change in doing business in the Philippines.

Incoming Finance chief Benjamin Diokno is the perfect official to lead the department. He will be the top economic manager in charge of raising revenues to keep the economy and the government afloat amid these trying times. Mr. Diokno will also see to it that the right macroeconomic policies are in place to boost economic growth and create jobs.

With his past immediate job as Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas Governor, Mr. Diokno is very much aware of the challenges facing the Philippine economy. In accept-

ing his new job, Mr. Diokno stressed the continuity of sound macro and fiscal policies to achieve a stronger post-COVID Philippine economy. He vowed to “continue prudently and carefully balancing the need to support economic growth, on one hand, and to maintain fiscal discipline, on the other.”

The Philippines, like the rest of the world, is still facing a pandemic that won’t simply go away. COVID-19 has exacted a toll on the economy and the nation’s fiscal health. The Russian invasion of Ukraine has compounded the world health crisis when it sent oil and commodity prices spiraling.

Many members of the new Cabinet economic team, which include Felipe Medalla as the new BSP Governor and Arsenio Balisacan as chief economic planner and director of the National Economic and Development Authority, are not new to their jobs.

They have the perspective and the tools to push the economy forward and keep inflation at bay. They must also innovate to adapt to the advances of the digital age.

Remulla is an excellent choice for Justice Secretary INCOMING President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. (BBM) did well in choosing Cavite Representative Jesus Crispin “Boying” Remulla for his up and coming Secretary of Justice.

Remulla won re-election as representative of the seventh congressional district of Cavite in the May 9, 2022 elections.

The Cavite solon was preparing for his legislative plans for his district when about three days after election day, the incoming president called him up and asked him to go to the Marcos campaign headquarters for a brief meeting.

At that meeting, the soon-to-be President BBM offered Remulla the Justice Department portfolio.

“From the way you have been comporting yourself in deliberations in the House of Representatives, and from your keen understanding of the law, I am certain you’ll make an ideal Justice Secretary,” the incoming President told Remulla.

Prior to the meeting, Remulla thought that BBM only wanted to consult him about certain legal issues. The offer from BBM came as a complete surprise to Remulla.

Flattered, Remulla expressed his appreciation for having been in the mind of the soon-to-be President, but he asked for time to ponder on the offer. The incoming President acceded to Remulla’s request.

Earlier this week, and after much thought, Remulla finally accepted the offer.

Remulla will not be assuming the helm at the Department of Justice immediately, though. He said he will finish whatever pending legislative work he has in Congress, inasmuch as his current term in the House of Reptional system that produces semi-illiterates and near-morons. “Educate or decline” is the catchphrase of today’s increasingly competitive world.

Real political will is required.

The third of the reasons why DepEd should be accorded very high priority, and why the incoming Secretary of Education should be a professional heavyweight, is the very poor standing of this country’s education system as determined by international development and financial institutions. In one of the cruelest assessments of Philippine education of the World Bank, one of the DepEd’s biggest sounds of financial assistance, declared in 2020 that approximately 80 percent of Filipino basic-education recipients “don’t know what they are expected to know.” PISA, the education rating system of OECD (Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development), has repeatedly given the Philippines a very low score in its periodic rating of developing country educational systems. And there are other bad international assessments of the Philippine education system.

Seen against the background is the nomination of Vice President - elect by Presidentelect Ferdinand Marcos Jr. as Secretary of Education can only be viewed as regrettable.

The nomination of Sara Carpio means two things: (1) that Mr. Marcos does not think that Philippine education has serious problems and (2) that Ms. Carpio is capable of solving whatever problems beset Philippine

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

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

resentatives lasts until June 30.

The veteran lawmaker is a bit ambivalent about leaving his political comfort zone in Cavite, but he is willing to return to the executive branch of the government and give the incoming BBM administration all the help it needs in bringing the country back on the highway to post-pandemic recovery and development.

Before he entered the mainstream of Cavite politics, Remulla was a ranking official under the administration of President Joseph Ejercito Estrada (June 1998 to January 2001).

His late father, Juanito “Johnny” Remulla,

was Cavite Governor during the administration of the late President Ferdinand E. Marcos Sr., BBM’s father. The elder Remulla was a delegate to the 1971 Constitutional Convention, and a loyal supporter of the elder Marcos.

Like his father, Boying Remulla is a lawyer and a natural for political leadership. In his younger days when his dad was still the provincial governor, Boying inquired about the wants and needs of ordinary Cavite folk, and conveyed what he found out to his father and his father’s key people at the provincial capitol. He monitored the remedial steps the provincial government took about the information he gave it.

More often than not, the market vendors, micro-business owners, ambulant peddlers, jeepney and tricycle drivers, street folk and many other ordinary people from Cavite did not even know they were talking to the governor’s son.

Boying Remulla, however, is more than his father’s son. He is his own man.

An alumnus of the University of the Philippines College of Law, Remulla had always had his eyes on public service as early as his college years.

After passing the Bar examination (he was among the top 20 examinees during his time) he established his own law firm and handled many pro bono cases. He dabbled in some real estate business to keep the free legal aid services of his law firm operational.

Politics eventually beckoned and soon, Remulla accepted President Estrada’s invitation to join his administration as a point person in Malacañang.

While in Malacañang, Remulla helped an unemployed future senator from the Liberal Party get a job in the government. After the jobless guy got the help he needed from the palace, the ingrate joined the anti-Estrada frenzy in 2001 and publicly denounced his benefactor, to Remulla’s disbelief.

After the end of the Estrada administration, Remulla returned to Cavite and began his political career as a congressman.

As a legislator, Remulla authored many laws that helped improve the plight of laborers and overseas Filipino workers.

Remulla’s finest hour was in 2020 when he successfully opposed the renewal of the expired legislative franchise of the ABS-CBN broadcasting network.

Almost single-handedly, Remulla exposed the network’s unmitigated misuse of its legislative franchise, and its unauthorized use of another broadcast facility’s franchise, in violation of the Constitution and telecommunications laws.

Even the meddling partylist representative Joselito Atienza, who was lobbying for ABSCBN, could not match wits with Remulla.

Other pro-ABS-CBN solons accused Remulla of abridging press freedom, but they could only whimper against the arguments raised by Remulla on the legislative floor.

In the end, the Supreme Court proved Remulla right when it upheld the unbridled prerogative of the House of Representatives not to issue a new legislative franchise to ABS-CBN. I have no doubt that Boying Remulla will be a valuable asset to the administration of incoming President BBM.

education. Marcos is wrong on both counts.

It is not overstating the case to say that Philippine education is in a very bad state. Its problems are broad and deep. Real political will is required.

It cannot be business-as-usual after June 30, 2022.

Certainly, Philippine education’s status cannot be improved by treating the position of Secretary of Education as a political arrangement.

Sara Duterte-Carpio, a lawyer by training, is undoubtedly a highly intelligent person. And she has abundant administrative experience as mayor and vice-mayor of a mayor of a Philippine city. Plus lots of political smarts.

But those qualifications are not nearly adequate for the task of stopping the rot in Philip-

pine education and raising its standing in the international education arena. Earlier in this piece, I used the phrase professional heavyweight; the profession involved here is educational system management. The Secretary of Education must be a manager of a large body of financial, human, and physical resources.

Sara Duterte Carpio’s Davao City experience has not made her a professional heavyweight.

With a sincerely heavy heart, I say that the appointment of Sara Duterte-Carpio as Secretary of Education is a bad appointment. The Secretaryship of Education is a very big job.

Ms. Carpio will surely do her best, but her best almost certainly will not be good enough.

He will be a valuable asset to the next administration.

On the President-elect’s statement to uphold the 2016 arbitral ruling

By Amb. Albert Del Rosario

Former Secretary of Foreign Affairs WE are deeply thankful that President-elect Ferdinand Marcos, Jr. declared what Filipinos would like to hear: that the 2016 Arbitral Ruling is not a claim but already a right, that our sovereignty is “sacred,” and that he would not “allow a single millimeter of our maritime coastal rights to be trampled upon.”

War has never been an option for the Philippines as war is outlawed by our Constitution and international law.

However, the President, as chief protector of our national territory, has various ways to fulfill his sacred duty to the Filipino people.

Among these are: consistently raising the Award at the United Nations General Assembly and other international for a, consolidating the support of other countries which believe in the Arbitral Ruling and the Rule of Law, making China accountable for the environmental crimes it committed in the West Philippine Sea, and building a minimum credible defense posture to protect our national territory.

In terms of protecting our national territory, we believe that upholding the 2016 Arbitral Ruling is the right thing to do and a correct start.

It is our fervent hope that President-elect Ferdinand Marcos, Jr. will abide by his words to protect our West Philippine Sea for the benefit of our countrymen.

Rolando G. Estabillo Publisher Chin Wong/Ray S. Eñano Joyce Pangco Pañares Jimbo Owen Gulle

Associate Editors News Editor City Editor

Emil P. Jurado

Honor Blanco Cabie Night Editor Lino M. Santos Chief Photographer

Chairman Emeritus, Editorial Board

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FRIDAY, MAY 27, 2022 TODAY mst.daydesk@gmail.com

In Texas, grief turns to anger

IN BRIEF 4 bombs kill 16 in Afghanistan KABUL—The death toll from four bombs that ripped through minibuses and a mosque in Afghanistan has risen to at least 16, officials said Thursday, with some of the attacks claimed by the Islamic State group.

While the number of bombings has dropped across the country since the Taliban seized power last August, several deadly attacks rocked the country last month during Ramadan.

On Wednesday, at least 10 people were killed when three bombs placed on separate minibuses exploded in the northern city of Mazar-i-Sharif, health officials and police said.

“The bombs were placed on three minibuses in different districts of the city,” Balkh provincial police spokesman Asif Waziri told AFP, adding that 15 other people were wounded.

Najibullah Tawana, head of the Balkh health department, said three women were among the 10 killed in the blasts.

Hours after the explosions, the Islamic State group (IS) claimed responsibility for the minibus attacks on social media.

It said on Telegram its “soldiers” were behind the three bombings.

Another bomb exploded inside a mosque in the capital Kabul late Wednesday.

Early on Thursday, Kabul police spokesman Khalid Zadran tweeted that six people had been killed in that blast and another 18 wounded.

In the immediate aftermath of the mosque attack, the interior ministry had said two people were killed and 10 wounded. AFP

after gunman murders 21 U

VALDE—Grief at the massacre of 19 small children at an elementary school in Texas spilled into confrontation Wednesday, as angry questions mounted over gun control—and whether this latest tragedy could have been prevented.

ONE OF 19 ‘ANGELS.’ A woman holds a photo of Nevaeh Bravo, who was killed in the mass shooting at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas during a vigil for the victims on May 25. The tight-knit Latino community was wracked with grief Wednesday after a teen in body armor marched into the school and killed 19 children and two teachers, in the latest spasm of deadly gun violence in the US. AFP

West wary of China South Pacific plan HONIARA, Solomon Islands—Western powers sounded the alarm Thursday over leaked plans to dramatically expand China’s security and economic reach in the South Pacific, in what one regional leader called a thinly veiled effort to lock island states into “Beijing’s orbit”.

If approved by Pacific island nations, the wide-ranging draft agreement and a five-year plan, both obtained by AFP, would give China a larger security footprint in a region seen as crucial to the interests of the United States and its allies.

In a sign of the region’s growing importance to Beijing, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi landed in the Solomon Islands Thursday at the start of a highlevel, eight-nation Pacific tour to present the potentially lucrative offer.

The package would offer 10 small island states millions of dollars in Chinese assistance, the prospect of a ChinaPacific Islands free trade agreement and access to China’s vast market of 1.4 billion people.

It would also give China the chance to train local police, become involved in local cybersecurity, expand political ties, conduct sensitive marine mapping, and gain greater access to natural resources.

The “comprehensive development vision” is believed to be up for approval when Wang meets regional foreign ministers on Monday in Fiji. AFP NOTICE TO THE PUBLIC Notice is hereby given that the estate of the late NAZARIO CONCEPCION ABEJON has been extra judicially settled among his heirs consisting of: · Land property located at Lalaan 1, Silang Cavite (OCT/TCT/CCT/ CLOA # 076-2019008004) · Land property located at Gainesville Subd., Old Bulihan, Silang Cavite (OCT/TCT/CCT/ CLOA # 076-2019006781) · Bank maintained with Silang, Cavite Branch of Metrobank (Pesos and Dollar Savings Account) As per Doc. No. 165; Page No. 34; Book No. VIII; Series of 2022 before Notary Public ATTY. TOMAS B. BAGA, JR.

Zelensky rebukes West; Russia closes in on key city KYIV—Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has issued a bitter rebuke to the West for not doing enough to help Kyiv win the war, as fierce battles rage in the country’s east and Russian troops draw ever closer to encircling a key industrial city.

Calling for help “without limits”, specifically shipments of heavy weaponry, Zelensky also blasted recent suggestions a negotiated peace could include territorial concessions.

Outside the city of Severodonetsk, now the focal point of Moscow’s renewed offensive in Ukraine’s Donbas region, fighting was “very difficult”, said Lugansk regional governor Sergiy Gaiday.

But the industrial centre has yet to

his daily address to the nation.

- ‘Kissinger’s calendar’ Saying the world had been unprepared “for Ukrainian bravery”, Zelensky called out the international community Wednesday for paying too much attention to Russia’s interests and too little to Ukraine’s.

He took specific aim at former US Secretary of State Henry Kissinger and the New York Times for suggesting territorial sacrifices might be necessary to end the conflict.

Kissinger, the 98-year-old champion of realpolitik, this week told World Economic Forum attendees in Davos that a return to the “status quo” before Russia’s February 24 invasion would be ideal. AFP

BACK ON EARTH.

In this handout image, Boeing and NASA teams work around Boeing’s CST-100 Starliner spacecraft after it landed at White Sands Missile Range’s Space Harbor May 25 in New Mexico. Boeing’s Starliner capsule returned to Earth Wednesday in the final step of a key uncrewed test flight to prove itself worthy of providing rides for NASA astronauts to the International Space Station.

AFP

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In Classified Ads section must be brought to our attention the very day the advertisement is published. We will not be responsible for any incorrect ads not reported to us immediately.

(MS-MAY 20,27 & JUN. 3, 2022)

NOTICE OF DISSOLUTION MEGAHARMONY INC. Notice is hereby given that the Amended Articles of MEGAHARMONY INC. with the TIN of 756-284-545-000, shortening the term of its existence and thereby dissolving the said corporation as of January 24, 2022. a Balance Sheet showing that no creditors thereof will be affected by such dissolution, have been filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. All persons having claims against the corporation are required to present the same at its principal office at UNIT 802 PENINSULA COURT BLDG., 8745 PASEO DE ROXAS AVE., BEL-AIR MAKATI CITY for immediate settlement.

This announcement will serve as a notice to all parties concerned of the legal dissolution of the said corporation.

Makati City. Philippines. January 24, 2022 (SGD) ARIEL DELA CRUZ FELICIANO Corporate Secretary (MS-MAY 13, 20 & 27, 2022)

NOTICE OF DISSOLUTION ONEBLUESTAR CORP. Notice is hereby given that the Amended Articles of ONEBLUESTAR CORP. with the TIN of 745-044-729-000, shortening the term of its existence and thereby dissolving the said corporation as of March 9, 2022. a Balance Sheet showing that no creditors thereof will be affected by such dissolution, have been filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. All persons having claims against the corporation are required to present the same at its principal office at UNIT 204 PENINSULA COURT BLDG., 8735 PASEO DE ROXAS AVE., BEL-AIR MAKATI CITY for immediate settlement.

This announcement will serve as a notice to all parties concerned of the legal dissolution of the said corporation.

Makati City. Philippines. March 9, 2022 (SGD) AL MICHAEL M. PATRICIO

Corporate Secretary

(MS-MAY 13, 20 & 27, 2022)

NOTICE OF DISSOLUTION ALTEXPRIME INC. Notice is hereby given that the Amended Articles of ALTEXPRIME INC. with the TIN of 756-583-133-000, shortening the term of its existence and thereby dissolving the said corporation as of March 9, 2022. a Balance Sheet showing that no creditors thereof will be affected by such dissolution, have been filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. All persons having claims against the corporation are required to present the same at its principal office at UNIT 708 MEDICAL TOWERS MAKATI., 103 V.A. RUPINO ST., LEGASPI VILLAGE, SAN LORENZO CITY OF MAKATI for immediate settlement.

This announcement will serve as a notice to all parties concerned of the legal dissolution of the said corporation.

Makati City. Philippines. March 9, 2022

(MS-MAY 13, 20 & 27, 2022)

be surrounded, he said in a video posted to Telegram Wednesday.

Predicting the “coming week will be decisive”, Gaiday added the city was being subjected to a “colossal amount of shelling” by Russian troops attempting to batter it into submission.

Earlier in the day, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba told attendees at the World Economic Forum in Davos his country “badly” needs multiple-launch rocket systems to match Russian firepower in the battle for Donbas.

Zelensky echoed that plea from Kyiv.

“We need the help of our partners -above all, weapons for Ukraine. Full help, without exceptions, without limits, enough to win,” Zelensky said in

(SGD) ROXAN ROLEN BARCELLANO Corporate Secretary

The tight-knit Latino community of Uvalde on Tuesday became the site of America’s worst school shooting in a decade, committed by a disturbed 18-year-old armed with a legally bought assault rifle.

Wrenching details have been steadily emerging since the tragedy, which also claimed the lives of two teachers.

Briefing reporters, Governor Greg Abbott revealed that teen shooter Salvador Ramos—who was killed by police—shot his 66-year-old grandmother in the face before heading to Robb Elementary School.

Ramos went on social media to share his plan to attack his grandmother—who though gravely injured was able to alert the police.

He then messaged again to say his next target was a school, where he headed clad in body armor and wielding an AR-15 rifle.

‘Pure evil’ Pressed on how the teen was able to obtain the murder weapon, the Texas governor repeatedly brushed aside suggestions that tougher gun laws were needed in his state—where attachment to the right to bear arms runs deep.

“I consider this person to have been pure evil,” Abbott said, articulating a position commonly held among US Republicans—that unfettered access to weapons is not to blame for the country’s gun violence epidemic.

Abbott’s stance was echoed by the powerful National Rifle Association gun lobby, which issued a statement labeling the shooter as “a lone, deranged criminal.”

But the governor was called out by a rival Democrat, who loudly interrupted the briefing to accuse him of deadly inaction.

“This is on you,” heckled Beto O’Rourke, a fervent gun control advocate who is challenging Abbott for his job come November.

“You are doing nothing!” he charged. “This is totally predictable when you choose not to do anything.”

O’Rourke’s interruption came a day after President Joe Biden, in an emotional address, called on lawmakers to take on America’s powerful gun lobby and enact tougher laws.

Biden announced Wednesday that he would soon visit Uvalde, as he renewed his plea for “common sense gun reforms.” AFP

UN Council to vote Thursday on tougher North Korea sanctions UNITED NATIONS—The United Nations Security Council will vote Thursday, at the request of the United States, on a resolution aimed at toughening sanctions on North Korea after it fired an intercontinental ballistic missile, diplomats said Wednesday.

The United States, which holds the rotating Security Council presidency for May, has scheduled the vote for the late afternoon, two diplomats told AFP on condition of anonymity.

Earlier, a senior US official said the resolution would notably look at curbing oil imports, although diplomats say Russia and

obviously, (and) of profound importance to our allies Japan and South Korea.”

According to a diplomat who spoke on condition of anonymity, Beijing could be willing to adopt new sanctions in the event of nuclear testing, but not over missile launches.

A spokesperson for the Chinese mission meanwhile told AFP that “We don’t think a resolution as proposed by the US can solve any problem.”

Beijing said it had proposed its own statement on North Korea but it “fell on deaf ears of the US.” AFP

China could exercise their veto power.

The official noted that Security Council Resolution 2397, adopted unanimously in 2017, called for further consequences in the event of another ICBM launch.

“That was a provision of that resolution.

That’s precisely what happened and so we feel it’s now time to take action,” the official said on condition of anonymity.

The official declined to comment on whether Russia and China would veto the text but said, “We think that this resolution will have strong support because this is an issue that’s of profound importance to us,

Pakistan ex-PM issues ultimatum on polls after mass rally ISLAMABAD—Pakistan’s ousted prime minister Imran Khan on Thursday warned the government to stage fresh elections or face more mass protests, after leading thousands of supporters to the capital Islamabad in a showdown with his political rivals.

His morning address was the culmination of a chaotic 24 hours which saw the capital blockaded and clashes break out between police and protesters across the country.

The government had attempted to prevent the convoy from reaching the capital by shutting down all entry and exit points around the city but was forced to allow in the protesters by an emergency Supreme Court order.

Since being removed from power through a no-confidence vote last month, cricket star turned politician Khan has heaped pressure on the country’s fragile new coalition rulers by staging rallies, touting a claim he was

Pakistan ex-premier Imran Khan

ousted from office in a “foreign conspiracy”.

“I want to give a message to this imported government to announce elections within six days. Dissolve the assemblies and call an election in June,” he said to a thinned-out crowd of thousands who later dispersed.

He warned that he would return to the capital with his supporters next week if elections

were not scheduled.

Thousands of supporters of Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party heeded his call to march to the capital from nearby cities on Wednesday.

But political analysts said Khan’s attempt to stage a historic sit-in was a failure, with smaller numbers than expected hobbling his bargaining power.

“With around 30,000 people, it was not a good idea to stay in Islamabad and face the powerful police that broke his momentum,” said Qamar Cheema.

Confrontations erupted between police and protesters throughout, who attempted to remove roadblocks on key highways to join the convoy.

Police repeatedly deployed teargas to disperse crowds in the capital, as well as in the cities of Lahore, Rawalpindi, and Karachi. AFP

CYAN MAGENTA YELLOW BLACK

Business PSEi May 26, 2022

TOP GAINERS

LAST % PRICE CHANGE CHANGE

1 2 3

MJIC BSC ATN

1.43 0.41 0.475

0.43 0.04 0.04

43.00% 10.81% 9.20%

4 5

I WEB

0.75 3.83

0.06 0.25

8.70% 6.98%

6 7 8

NRCP LSC MER

0.65 0.69 360

0.04 0.04 20

6.56% 6.15% 5.88%

98.95 0.225

5.3 0.012

5.66% 5.63%

9 MWP2A 10 APC

TOP LOSERS

1 MBC 2 LMG 3 ALCPC 4 JAS

LAST PRICE CHANGE 7.55 -2.25 3.04 -0.56 100.8 -7.6 1.6 -0.1

% CHANGE -22.96% -15.56% -7.01% -5.88%

5 6

CA ECP

45 4.79

-2 -0.21

-4.26% -4.20%

7 8

GMA7 TUGS

11.52 0.8

-0.46 -0.03

-3.84% -3.61%

9 PHES 10 LTG

0.4 8.34

-0.015 -0.31

-3.61% -3.58%

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FRIDAY, MAY 27, 2022 || extrastory2000@gmail.com

Market climbs; ICTSI, Monde Nissin advance

S

TOCKS rose Thursday as the market welcomed the new economic team announced by president-elect Ferdinand Marcos Jr.

The Philippine Stock Exchange Index climbed 47.76 points, or 0.7 percent, to 6,645.52 on a value turnover of over P6 billion. Gainers edged losers, 96 to 90 with 44 issues unchanged.

International Container Terminal Services Inc. of tycoon Enrique Razon Jr., the biggest port operator, advanced 4.5 percent to P220, while noodles maker Monde Nissin Corp. gained 4.3 percent at P16.46.

Fiber broadband provider Converge ICT Solutions Inc. increased 2.2 percent

to P26.05, while Jollibee Foods Corp., the largest fast-food chain, added 1.2 percent to P213.

Meanwhile, Asian markets mostly fell Thursday as Chinese Premier Li Keqiang warned the world’s number two economy was in some ways worse off now than during the early days of the pandemic.

Hong Kong, Tokyo, Sydney, Seoul, Taipei and Wellington were all down, while Shanghai, Mumbai, Singapore and Bangkok edged up.

Li’s comments dealt a blow to confidence from the start and overshadowed a positive lead from Wall Street fueled by minutes indicating a less hawkish stand from the US Federal Reserve.

The wind was immediately taken out of traders’ sails as they digested the warning, which comes as China persists with a zero-COVID policy to eradicate the fast-

spreading Omicron virus variant.

The economic agony caused by lockdowns and other strict containment measures hammered growth across China and sent shockwaves globally as key supply chains were brought to a halt.

Data in recent weeks have shown that a series of pledges by Beijing to kickstart growth has essentially fallen flat owing to a lack of concrete action, while analysts say the easing of the COVID policy was the only thing investors wanted to see.

“Economic indicators in China have fallen significantly, and difficulties in some aspects and to a certain extent are greater than when the epidemic hit us severely in 2020,” Li told an emergency meeting Wednesday with representatives from local governments, state-owned companies and financial firms. With AFP

MOST ACTIVE

VOLUME

VALUE (PHP)

1 2 3

CNVRG SMPH MONDE

31,448,300 14,964,900 26,113,100

820,538,550 549,969,625 427,019,944

4 5

ALI BDO

14,206,100 3,128,050

403,196,300 385,214,222

6

ICT

1,579,770

344,124,516

7 8

JFC SM

1,203,710 305,010

254,469,260 253,162,210

9 BPI 10 TEL

2,626,460 106,720

251,383,239 207,427,810

CLIMATE FORUM. German Minister of Economics and Climate Protection Robert Habeck (right) and German Minister for the Environment, Nature Conservation, Nuclear Safety and Consumer Protection Steffi Lemke address the media before welcoming ministers for the G7 Climate, Energy and Environment Ministers Meeting in Berlin on May 26, 2022. AFP

DAVOS, Switzerland—WTO chief Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala on Wednesday urged countries not to block or restrict exports of basic foodstuffs after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine worsened tensions on global food markets.

“We’re trying to tell members also on the export prohibition, restriction side, let’s keep it down,” OkonjoIweala told reporters at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.

“We don’t want this to exacerbate and lead to price spikes.”

Her comments followed India’s decision the same day to cap sugar exports at 10 million tonnes in the year to September, following up on a ban on wheat sales abroad.

New Delhi said the decision aimed to “maintain the domestic availability and price stability during the sugar season”.

Moscow’s invasion has disrupted supplies of fertilizer, wheat and other commodities from both Russia and Ukraine.

In response, “we have about 22 countries now with 41 export restrictions or prohibitions on food,” Okonjo-Iweala said.

As well as foodstuffs themselves, “let’s not forget inputs, seeds and fertilizer,” she added.

She highlighted that the WTO hoped its public monitoring of such controls would deter member countries.

“Transparency helps,” OkonjoIweala said. “It helps to put pressure on members or countries that are doing this.

“For security reasons you can do this for periods of time but it has to be temporary, transparent and proportionate, so they know it cannot go on for ever.”

She also said that United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres “is involved” in talks to open corridors through the Black Sea for Ukrainian food exports to reach world markets. AFP

Fed Reserve officials stressed ‘determination’ to reduce inflation—minutes WASHINGTON, United States—US central bankers stressed their “strong commitment and determination” to bring raging inflation under control including with more big interest rate increases, according to the minutes of the latest policy meeting released Wednesday.

With US inflation rising at the fastest pace in nearly four decades, the Fed’s policy committee early this month hiked the key rate by a half point—the

biggest increase since 2000—and most members said similar increases “would likely be appropriate at the next couple of meetings.”

The comments solidify expectations raised after Fed chair Jerome Powell said additional big moves should be “on the table” in coming discussions, and could help quiet critics who have been sounding the alarm about the inflation threat.

But the minutes show members of

the Federal Reserve’s policy committee are fully aware of the danger of rising prices, which erodes incomes, and say they must move “expeditiously” to increase the benchmark borrowing rate and offload the massive bond holdings to tamp down inflation, which they said was “too high.”

While the pace of consumer price increases slowed slightly last month, jumping 8.3 percent compared to April 2021 after hitting 8.5 percent the prior

Russian invasion of Ukraine pushes Brazil toward natural fertilizers

month, Fed officials warned that “price pressures remained elevated and that it was too early to be confident that inflation had peaked.”

The Fed slashed interest rates to zero at the start of the pandemic to prevent a severe economic downturn and also ramped up bond purchases to pump liquidity into the financial system, but began to reel in those measures as prices accelerated as the economy recovered. AFP

Manila

Standard

TODAY

By Morgann Jezequel RIO DE JANEIRO—Fearing Russia’s invasion of Ukraine will disrupt its crucial supply of fertilizer imports, agricultural powerhouse Brazil is increasingly turning to natural alternatives.

Brazil, a top producer of soy, corn, cotton, sugarcane and coffee, is the world’s fourth-biggest consumer of so-called “NPK” chemical fertilizers—nitrogen-, phosphorus- and potassium-based.

It imports around 80 percent of its total supply—and 25 percent of that from Russia, whose exports have now been targeted by Western sanctions over the Ukraine invasion.

That is causing farmers in the South American giant to turn to alternatives, including remineralizers, or “agrominerals”—pulverized, nutrient-rich rocks that are spread on fields before planting.

Brazil, which authorized remineralizers for agricultural use in 2013, is the world leader in the technique, which is also used in the United States, Canada, India and France, among others.

“Brazil is a tropical country, and the rains tend to wash away soil nutrients.

Rock powder rebuilds the soil and renews it,” says Marcio Remedio, mineral resources director at the Brazilian Geological Service.

The technique also “allows plants’ roots to develop better and capture the nutrients they need to grow,” says Suzi Huff Theodoro, a geologist at the University of Brasilia.

“We have rocks with the right profile in various parts of the country, and the cost is significantly cheaper” than chemical fertilizers, she told AFP. Beyond chemicals A study last year found around five percent of farmland in Brazil used remineralizers.

That figure looks set to jump this

WTO chief asks nations not to restrict food exports

NOTICE OF 2022 ANNUAL STOCKHOLDERS’ MEETING The Annual Meeting of the Stockholders of JACKSTONES, INC. will be held on 13 June 2022 at 9:00 A.M. through remote communication to discuss the following agenda:

View of a pile of stone dust at the edge of a field at the Vargem Dourada farm in Padre Bernardo, Goias State, Brazil, on May 19, 2022. Brazil´s agricultural sector is increasingly turning to natural alternatives, including remineralizers, or ‘agrominerals’—pulverized, nutrient-rich rocks that are spread on fields before planting. AFP

year: the country’s 30 suppliers report they are seeing unprecedented demand, says Theodoro.

“Most of them have already sold their entire output for the year, to all kinds of farms—from industrial to mid-sized to small and mostly ecologically minded,” she says.

Farmer Rogerio Vian has almost stopped using chemical fertilizers altogether.

Vian, who runs a 1,000-hectare (nearly 2,500-acre) soy and corn farm in the centralwestern state of Goias, was an early adopter of alternative technologies.

He started out nine years ago making his own products from microorganisms found in native forests.

He pulverized them and applied them while planting to protect against parasites and help his crops absorb nutrients.

Now Vian, who founded the 700-member Association for Sustainable Agriculture

(GAAS), is using remineralizers, too.

“I’ve cut my fertilizer and seed treatment costs by 50 percent, with no loss of productivity,” he says.

“Brazil is a mega-biodiverse country, and that holds enormous potential in terms of tools and techniques for our work, which we’re only just starting to discover.”

‘Unstoppable change’ Brazil will still be using NPK fertilizers for the foreseeable future, but it could dramatically reduce its dependence on foreign suppliers, says researcher Jose Carlos Polidoro of the state-owned Brazilian Agricultural Research Corporation (Embrapa).

“Organic and organomineral fertilizers— made with mining residue, organic agro-industrial residue and sewage sludge—account for five percent of the Brazilian fertilizer market today,” he says.AFP

1. Call to Order; 2. Determination of Existence of Quorum; 3. Approval of Minutes of the 14 June 2021 Annual Stockholders’ Meeting; 4. Re-affirm the validity of the Stockholders’ Resolution approving the Amendment of the Corporation’s By-Laws; 5. Report of the President; 6. Approval of Audited Financial Statements for Calendar Year (“CY”) 2021; 7. Ratification of All Acts and Resolutions of the Board of Directors and Management Adopted from 14 June 2021 to 13 June 2022; 8. Election of Directors (including the Independent Directors); 9. Appointment of External Auditor; 10. Consideration of Such Other Business as May Properly Come Before the Meeting; and 11. Adjournment.

A brief explanation of each agenda item, the detailed Definitive Information Statement for CY2021, the procedures for the registration for the Annual Stockholders’ Meeting and the voting in absentia, and the procedure for attendance by proxy can be accessed in Jackstones, Inc.’s website at https://jackstonesinc. com/index.php/notice-of-annual-and-special-stockholdersmeetings/2022-annual-stockholders-meeting/, or in the Philippine Stock Exchange Electronic Disclosure Generation Technology at https://edge.pse.com.ph/openDiscViewer.do?edge_no=3e723e66 7135cf2e3470cea4b051ca8f.

The Organizational Meeting of the Board of Directors will follow soon after the Annual Stockholders’ Meeting.

By order of the Board of Directors, (sgd) JUAN MIGUEL VICTOR C. DE LA FUENTE Corporate Secretary

(MS-MAY 27 & 28, 2022)

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

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FRIDAY, MAY 27, 2022

VREIT reduces final initial public offering price to P1.75 per share

By Alena Mae S. Flores VISTAREIT Inc., the real estate investment trust company of Vista Land & Lifescapes Inc., pegged the final offer price of its initial public offering at P1.75 per common share.

VREIT said in a report to the stock exchange the IPO now involves 2.750 billion secondary common shares, composed of 2.5 billion in firm shares and an overallotment option for another 250 million in common shares.

“Please be advised that the final offer price for the REIT initial public offering of VistaREIT Inc.’s common shares is P1.75 per common share,” the company said.

This means VREIT was looking at an IPO size of P4.812 billion, down from P9.2 billion based on the previous offering of 3.33 billion firm shares and 333.75 million over-allotment option shares at a price of P2.50 apiece.

“VistaREIT Inc. is still awaiting feedback from the Securities and Exchange Commission on any further disclosures required to be made with respect to the revised offer size,” it said.

Based on the terms previously approved by the PSE, VREIT would conduct its maiden share offering from May 30 to June 3.

The company was expected to list its shares on the maid board of the PSE on June 15 under the trading symbol VREIT. PSE president and chief executive Ramon Monzon earlier said the entry of VistaREIT would further boost the size of the REIT market and broaden the portfolio of mall and office building assets in the local REIT space.

VREIT will be the seventh REIT company to list in the local bourse.

Manila It is also one of the three companies Standard that theTODAY Villar Group plans to list in the stock exchange this year. The two others are Coffee Project and Siquijor Island Power Corp.

Business

PSE INDEX CLOSING Thursday, May 26, 2022

47.76 PTS. 6,645.52

By Darwin G. Amojelar

AN Miguel Corp. said Thursday the foreign contractor for land development works at the P740-billion New Manila International Airport project in Bulacan province secured export credit insurance from the Dutch government.

An ECI policy insures a business against the risk of non-payment by a foreign buyer.

The Dutch government, represented

by Atradius Dutch State Business, extended the ECI to Royal Boskalis Westminster N.V. to cover the 1.5-billion-euro contract for land development works

839,742,960

TOTAL TRADES TOTAL VALUE (IN PHP) ADVANCES

92,250 6,055,394,332.66 96

DECLINES

90

UNCHANGED

44

F oreign E xchange R ate Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas • THURSDAY, MAY 26, 2022

Bulacan airport secures export credit insurance S at the airport project site in Bulakan, Bulacan province.

San Miguel said the approval came after more than a year of rigorous review of the project’s long-term environmental and social impact mitigation measures to ensure that the multi-billion project is done with sustainability in mind and aligned with the country’s climate ambitions.

The NMIA project is the largest in Boskalis’ over 100-year history and is also the largest export credit agency insurance policy granted in the 90-year history of Atradius.

SMC president and chief executive Ramon Ang thanked the Dutch government for its support to NMIA, a project seen to catalyze sustainable economic growth for the Philippines, especially post-pandemic. It is seen to deliver more than a million jobs.

TOTAL VOLUME

“This is a significant milestone not only for San Miguel and the NMIA project, but for the entire country. With this, we are closer to our dream of having a world-class, future-ready and sustainably-built international gateway, proudly built by Filipinos for the Philippines,” said Ang. “This also validates our work with Boskalis to ensure that this project is done right, and will provide long-term economic, environmental, and social benefits to our host communities and Bulacan province,” he said.

As part of the ECI process, a large group of experts from San Miguel, together with Boskalis and four renowned consultancy firms conducted an extensive environmental and social impact assessment in accordance with the highest international standards.

Currency

Unit

US Dollar

Peso

United States

Dollar

1.000000

52.3490

Japan

Yen

0.007860

0.4115

UK

Pound

1.258300

65.8707

Hong Kong

Dollar

0.127392

6.6688

Switzerland

Franc

1.039501

54.4168

Canada

Dollar

0.780336

40.8498

Singapore

Dollar

0.727167

38.0665

Australia

Dollar

0.708600

37.0945

Bahrain

Dinar

2.652661

138.8642

Saudi Arabia

Rial

0.266603

13.9564

Brunei

Dollar

0.724533

37.9286

Indonesia

Rupiah

0.000068

0.0036

Thailand

Baht

0.029193

1.5282

UAE

Dirham

0.272287

14.2540

Euro

Euro

1.068300

55.9244

Korea

Won

0.000789

0.0413

China

Yuan

0.149388

7.8203

India

Rupee

0.012902

0.6754

Malaysia

Ringgit

0.227635

11.9165

New Zealand

Dollar

0.647500

33.8960

Taiwan

Dollar

0.033964

1.7780 Source: BSP

IN BRIEF Alsons spending P6b for renewable projects ALSONS Consolidated Resources Inc., the publicly-listed company of the Alcantara Group, unveiled a capital expenditure budget of P6 billion for 2023 to 2026 to finance most of its renewable energy projects in the pipeline.

“Estimated capex for the group is around P6 billion. As our previous strategy of funding these projects, we shall be funding them through a combination of project finance as well as internally generated funds,” Alsons vice president and group chief finance officer Alexander Benhur Simon said during the annual stockholders’ meeting.

The three-year capex will be spent mostly for the company’s RE projects in the pipeline, particularly the Sindangan and Bago hydro projects.

Alsons deputy chief executive Antonio Alcantara said among the projects in the lineup are the 21-megawatt hydro project in Sindangan River in Zamboanga del Norte and the 42-MW hydro project along Bago River in Negros occidental. “Both are at advanced stages of project development.

Those two projects form part of eight potential hydro projects we are developing,” Alcantara said. Alena Mae S. Flores

EGov transactions grew 467% in 2021

THE use of EGov Pay, a system that enables digital payment for government services, jumped 467 percent to more than 91,000 transactions in 2021 from around 16,000 transactions in 2020, Bangko Sentral ng CYAN MAGENTA YELLOW BLACK Pilipinas Governor Benjamin Diokno said Thursday.

FRIENDSHIP DAY. Australian Ambassador to the Philippines Steven Robinson (fifth from left) leads the opening of Experience Diokno said in an online briefing the Australia at SM Megamall in celebration of the Philippines-Australia Friendship Day. Joining him at the launch of the three-day food, value of EGov Pay transactions increased retail, study and travel festival are (from left) SM Hypermarket president Arnold Daluz, Australian Embassy political, economic and by 300 percent from around P61 million in public diplomacy counsellor James Yeomans, SM Supermarket president Jojo Tagbo, Savemore Market president Genevieve Manalad, 2020 to nearly P246 million in 2021.

“The sustained increase in the use of Australian Embassy senior trade and investment commissioner Christopher Lim, SM Supermalls president Steven Tan and Australian EGov Pay, even after mobility restrictions Embassy deputy head of mission Richard Sisson. were lifted, proves the shifting preference of consumers towards greater adoption of digital payments,” Diokno said.

He said the most common payments processed through EGov Pay are fees for government clearances and taxes. From only two government billers when the facility was launched in 2019, 484 billers were onboarded to EGov Pay as of end-April this ACEN Corp. and subsidiary ACE Endevor Inc. year. signed Thursday an agreement with Greencore The billers include provincial and local 30th Floor, Alliance Global Tower, 36th Street cor. 11th Avenue, Uptown Bonifacio, Taguig City 1634 government units, state colleges and univerPower Solutions 3 Inc. and Citicore Solar Energy sities, water districts, and other government Corp. to extend P2.3 billion in financing for the agencies and offices. Julito G. Rada second phase of the Arayat solar project.

ACEN signs P2.3-b loan to fund Arayat solar farm

NOTICE OF ANNUAL MEETING OF STOCKHOLDERS TO ALL STOCKHOLDERS Megaworld Corporation

NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that the Annual Meeting of Stockholders (the “Annual Meeting”) of Megaworld Corporation (the “Company”) will be held on 17 June 2022 at 9:00 a.m. to be conducted virtually, through the link <https://www.megaworldcorp.com/ asm2022> that can be accessed through the Company’s website, with the following agenda: 1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

Call to Order Proof of Notice and Determination of Quorum Approval of Minutes of the Previous Annual Meeting held on 18 June 2021 Annual Report of Management Appointment of External Auditors Ratification of Acts and Resolutions of the Board of Directors, Board Committees and Management 7. Election of Directors 8. Other Matters 9. Adjournment

Stockholders of record as of 20 May 2022 will be entitled to notice of, and to vote at, the Annual Meeting.

Pursuant to Article 1, Sections 4 and 6 of the Company’s Amended By-Laws and Sections 57 and 23 of the Revised Corporation Code and to conform with the government’s regulation on social distancing and prohibition on mass gatherings, the Company decided to hold the Annual Meeting via remote communication, and allow the stockholders to cast their votes by remote communication or in absentia, or by proxy.

To participate in the Annual Meeting, stockholders must register from 9:00 AM of 27 May 2022 until 5:00 PM of 10 June 2022. The procedure for participation via remote communication and in absentia are contained in the Information Statement.

Stockholders who wish to appoint proxies may submit proxy instruments until 5:00 PM of 10 June 2022, to the Office of the Corporate Secretary at the 10th Floor, Two World Square, 24 Upper McKinley Rd, McKinley Hill, Taguig City 1634 or by email to corporatesecretary@ megaworldcorp.com. Validation of proxies shall be held on 15 June 2022. A sample proxy form will be enclosed in the Information Statement for your convenience.

Makati City, Philippines, May 18, 2022.

ANNA MICHELLE T. LLOVIDO Corporate Secretary (MS-MAY 26 & 27, 2022)

ACEN said along with Endevor, it signed the agreement with Greencore as the borrower for the 43.68-megawatt solar power plant and associated facilities in Arayat and Mexico, Pampanga.

The first phase covering 72 MW of the project, which was energized in April, was also financed by the company through a separate omnibus agreement executed by the parties on Feb. 4, 2021.

The second phase will bring the total capacity of the Arayat project to 116 MW once completed. It will be operational by February 2023.

Under the agreement, ACEN as lender will extend a term loan facility to Greencore in the amount of P2.3 billion to finance the design, engineering, financing, construction, procurement and supply, manufacturing, commissioning, start-up, testing, delivery, ownership, operation and maintenance of the plant.

The loan will be secured by a real estate mortgage over the real assets of Greencore, a pledge over the shares of the Greencore and the cashflows of the project.

Greencore, the special purpose vehicle of the project and the borrower in the agreement, is owned by CSEC with 50 percent of the shares, while ACEN and Endevor hold 45 percent and 5 percent, respectively. Alena Mae S. Flores

PAL readies regular Tawi-Tawi flights PHILIPPINE Airlines said Thursday it will launch regular jet flights between Cotabato City and Tawi-Tawi in June, becoming the first air links within the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao.

PAL said it would deploy Airbus A320 aircraft on the pioneer route, offering a choice of Business Class and Economy seats on the nonstop flights across the Sulu Sea. The new service connects BARMM’s mainland areas to its island region, with Cotabato’s Awang Airport and Tawi-Tawi’s Sanga-Sanga airport as travel gateways.

By taking PAL’s non-stop flights, travelers will save several hours compared to the previous choice of traveling via Manila or other domestic gateways outside BARMM that entail a connection between flights or even an overnight stop.

“We are honored to make history by operating the first flight within the new Bangsamoro region, giving us a new opportunity to serve its 4.9 million people,” PAL president and chief operating officer Captain Stanley Ng said. Darwin G. Amojelar

Megaworld bares General Trias upscale project MEGAWORLD Corp. said Thursday it is building its first upscale residential village inside the 140-hectare Maple Grove township in General Trias, Cavite.

The 22-hectare Maple Grove Park Village will be a luxury resort-inspired residential community that offers 377 lots, ranging in size from 280 square meters to more than 500 square meters.

Megaworld said the village would be ready for turnover to owners by 2026. The company is expected to generate P6.5 billion in sales from the project.

“Maple Grove Park Village is inspired by contemporary tropical architecture that naturally exudes a sense of ease and warmth perfectly suited for a resort-style residential setting,” said Megaworld first vice president for sales and marketing Eugene Em Lozano.

“The Village will be strategically located in the more secluded part of Maple Grove to

give residents utmost exclusivity and privacy, while still allowing them to have access to all the modern conveniences that the township has to offer,” he said.

Nearly 40 percent of the property will be allocated to green and open spaces. It will also have an underground cabling system, with provisions for fiber-optic cables.

Dubbed as “Cavite’ first-ever modern central business district,” Maple Grove features residential condominiums, office towers, a soon-to-rise lifestyle mall, a transport hub and a McDonald’ s store that will be the biggest in Cavite.

The township also boasts of several sustainability features, such as a Rainwater Park, which is a two-hectare tree park designed to be a catchment basin for rainwater runoff, a landscape drip irrigation system, bike lanes, pocket gardens, tree parks and vertical gardens in various buildings around the township.

Sports

Riera U. Mallari, Editor; Randy M. Caluag, Assistant Editor FRIDAY, MAY 27, 2022

Singson stuns pros, wins ladies’ golf crown

Mafy Singson displays her ICTSI Splendido Taal Championship trophies. Manny Marcelo

Muaythai champ Delarmino shifts focus on World Games

By Randy Caluag

A

FTER successfully defending his 57-kg muaythai crown in the recent Southeast Asian Games in Vietnam, Phillip Delarmino has now shifted his focus on the World Games slated for July 7 to 17 in Birmingham, USA.

Delarmino only has a few days left to relish his short vacation as he goes back to the grind to prepare for the prestigious quadrennial event that mostly includes sports that are not part of the Olympics.

“Pahinga muna ng ilang araw, tapos balik training na po ulit,” said the 31-yearold Ilonggo native.

“Isang karangalan po na makapaglaro ulit sa World Games, hindi man tayo pinalad last 2017 games. Ngayon po, paghahandaan nating mabuti at sisikapin natin, this time na makakuha ng medal,” he said.

Delarmino, who has been a member of the national team for more than a decade,

is going all out especially since he secured the World Games slot with impressive victories in the World Championship in Thailand last year.

He beat Russian Alexander Abramov in the championship round to bag the gold.

On the way to the final, he stopped India’s Laishram Bidyachandra Singh in two rounds, before beating Javad Vahid Reza of Sweden on points in the quarterfinals.

Then, he defeated Kazakhstan’s Almaz Sarsembekov in a tight semifinal contest to arrange the final duel with Abramov.

“Lahat po ng mga tumalo sa akin dati ay nabawian ko sila this time,” added Delar-

mino, who expects to face the same opponents in the US competition.

The SEA Games was just part of the journey for the most accomplished member of the national team. But he took it so seriously that he gave it all to win the gold that almost slipped away.

Thanks to the successful protest made

by Muaythai Association of the Philippines secretary general Pearl Managuelod, the gold was rewarded to the rightful owner—Filipino world champion Delarmino.

Delarmino bagged the Philippines’ second muaythai gold and the 52nd overall after a successful protest in the men’s 57-kg combat event, which he initially lost to host Vietnam’s Nguyen Doan Long.

MAP officials contested that Delarmino landed cleaner hits and more points in convincing the organizers to reverse the decision in favor of the Filipino bet, 29-28.

Phillip Delarmino: SEA Games champion

LAUREL, Batangas—Foiled in her crack at a pro crown at least four times, amateur Mafy Singson finally nailed the elusive win, holding off Sunshine Baraquiel, Chanelle Avaricio and Harmie Constantino to snare the ICTSI Splendido Taal Championship by one on a 71 in hot conditions here yesterday.

Not even a bogey-bogey skid from No. 14 could stymie the rising Davaoeña star’s stab at the Ladies Philippine Golf Tour glory as erstwhile leader Baraquiel faded with double bogeys on Nos. 13 and 14 and blew a twostroke lead and Avaricio and Constantino fell short of their playoff bids with pars on the last two holes.

“I didn’t really expect to win. I want to catch up with them (pros) and it was really a close fight, especially at the back,” said Singson, who battled back from two down, went two-up after Baraquiel’s misses and held sway the rest of the way with gutsy pars to prevail with a 215 total.

“I just tried to keep (my lead) and tried to make birdies but they didn’t drop,” added the ICTSI-backed shotmaker, who hones his shotmaking skills under swing coach Bong Lopez at the Manila Southwoods.

But those of her rivals’ didn’t drop as well, enabling the member of the team that snatched the bronze in the recent SEA Games in Vietnam to emerge on top after putting herself in title contention in at least four LPGT events last year. But late-hole stumbles kept the 17-year-old shotmaker out of the top podium finish while settling for low amateur honors.

But with 71 and 72 in the first two rounds of this P750,000 event put up

by ICTSI, she stayed in the hunt, bounced back from a bogey on No. 2 in the final round with birdies on Nos. 3 and 4, fell by one as Baraquiel birdied the 10th but surged ahead as the latter fumbled with her first double bogey coupled with Singson’s birdie on No. 10.

“I learned a lot from the them (pros),” said Singson, whose victory augured well for her next campaign in the US Girls’ Junior qualifying and in a number FCG tournaments in the US.

Alcaraz, Zverev pull off French Open escapes

Monteverde: Win against Ateneo was turning point

By Peter Atencio FOR the University of the Philippines Fighting Maroons, winning their first cage title in 36 years was a learning experience.

For most of the elimination round, the squad was not playing to the level that it wanted to.

But everything changed when the Fighting Maroons snapped the Ateneo Blue Eagles’ winning run at 39 games.

UP coach Goldwin Monteverde said this as he recalled the Fighting Maroons’ journey in the 84th University Athletic Association of the Philippines men’s basketball Goldwin Monteverde tournament.

“We did not play our game the way we wanted it to be at sa gusto kong makita sa team. We took it one game at a time,” said Monteverde some two weeks after they celebrated their 72-69 overtime triumph in Game 3 of their best-of-three finals at the Mall of Asia Arena.

After hurdling Ateneo in the second round, the Fighting Maroons played differently as they got past the La Salle Green Archers twice in the Final Four and went the distance with Ateneo in the finals.

Fans reaching 15,132 at the MOA Arena watched as Monteverde claimed his third crown for a school team. He had earlier coached the National University Bullpups in the high school division back in seasons 81 and 82.

Monteverde recalled that the Maroons were not expected to get past the Blue Eagles in their final eliminationround match, since Ateneo was winning with an average margin of 17 points.

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Spain’s Carlos Alcaraz reacts as he plays against Spain’s Albert RamosVinolas during their men’s singles match on Day 4 of the Roland-Garros Open tennis tournament at the Court Simonne-Mathieu in Paris. AFP

PARIS—Spanish teenage sensation Carlos Alcaraz and third seed Alexander Zverev both saved a match point in fiveset French Open thrillers, while 13-time winner Rafael Nadal and reigning champion Novak Djokovic eased into the third round Wednesday.

Alcaraz, widely tipped as a title contender, rallied from the brink to defeat compatriot Albert Ramos-Vinolas 6-1, 6-7 (7/9), 5-7, 7-6 (7/2), 6-4 after four hours and 34 minutes.

“I feel tired,” said Alcaraz. “It was a great battle, a great match and we fought until the last point.”

The 19-year-old Alcaraz is attempting to become just the eighth teenager to capture a major men’s title, and backed as the man to break the stranglehold of Djokovic and Nadal.

But he was pushed to the limit by the seasoned Ramos-Vinolas, 15 years his elder and whose best performance at a Grand Slam came when he made the quarter-finals in Paris six years ago.

Alcaraz, the tour’s dominant player in 2022 with a season-leading four titles, fought off a match point to break Ramos-Vinolas as he served at 5-4 in the fourth set.

He then clawed his way back from 3-0 in the decider, producing an outrageous backhand pass to retrieve the break and more sensational baseline scrambling to move 5-4 in front before closing out victory with an ace.

Alcaraz goes on to face US 27th seed Sebastian Korda, the last man to defeat him at Monte Carlo in April in what was his only loss in 19 matches on clay this season.

Zverev, a 2021 semi-finalist, dug himself out of a deep hole against Argentina’s Sebastian Baez to avoid his earliest loss at a major in three years.

Zverev overcame Baez 2-6, 4-6, 6-1, 6-2, 7-5 and will play Brandon Nakashima of the US for a place in the last 16.

“I’m happy still being in the tournament right now,” said Zverev, who was match point down on serve at 4-5

Smart brings FIBA Asia Cup trophy closer to Filipinos AS part of its commitment to bring the global basketball experience closer to Filipinos, mobile services provider Smart Communications, Inc. (Smart) welcomes the prestigious FIBA Asia Cup trophy to Manila.

A prelude to the upcoming games in Jakarta, Indonesia on July 12 to 24, 2022, the FIBA Asia Cup trophy will be touring several countries for the first time ever, to help promote the love and excitement for basketball in the region.

Unveiled during the FIBA Asia Cup 2017 Draw ceremony in Beirut, the trophy stands 55 centimeters high and is almost entirely made of silver, and features a silver-plated band engraved with the trophy name.

Smart top executives including Senior Vice President and Head of Consumer Wireless Business and incoming President and CEO of Mediaquest Jane J. Basas, Head of Sports Jude H. Turcuato, and Chief Commercial Advisor Noel C. Lorenzana along with FIBA Executive Communications Manager for Asia Hovsep Seraydarian marked the trophy’s visit to the PLDT head-

The FIBA Asia Cup Trophy

quarters in Makati City.

Present also in the event are Gilas Pilipinas young guns SJ Belangel and Ange Kouame, who played big roles in the team’s

amazing play in the Clark bubble last year to qualify for the upcoming tournament.

Filipino fans will also get the chance to see it up close in the Smart store at the SM

in the final set.

“I was planning my holiday in Monaco, where I was going to go and who I was going to with and that relaxed me, thinking about the beach.

“You just have to find a way.”

It was the third comeback from a twoset deficit in Zverev’s career. He trailed fellow German Oscar Otte 2-0 in the opening round at Roland Garros a year ago before his run to the last four.

Nadal brings up triple century Nadal breezed past French wildcard Corentin Moutet 6-3, 6-1, 6-4 for the 300th Grand Slam win of his career.

Roger Federer (369) and Djokovic (325) are the only men to have more than the record 21-time major champion.

His French Open record now stands at a staggering 107 wins and just three losses since his 2005 title-winning debut.

“I think it was a good match against a very difficult player with lots of talent,” said Nadal, whose build-up to the tournament was hampered by a foot injury. AFP Mall of Asia on Thursday, May 26, from 5:30 p.m. onwards.

“Following the FIBA World Cup trophy tour last February, this is another opportunity for Filipino basketball fans to experience having another prestigious icon up close,” said Jude H. Turcuato, FVP and Head of Sports at PLDT and Smart. “Gilas Pilipinas also had a great run to qualify for the FIBA Asia Cup, and we hope to inspire them as they prepare to play for the trophy in July.”

Smart is a global partner of the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2023. The global event will be jointly hosted by the Philippines, Japan, and Indonesia. The FIBA Basketball World Cup 2023 will hold its final phase here in the Philippines in August next year.

Basketball fans can catch the games through the GigaPlay App, available on the Apple App Store or Google Play Store.

GigaPlay is powered by Smart, the country’s fastest 5G mobile network, as reported

by Ookla, the global leader in mobile and broadband network intelligence.

To download GigaPlay, click smrt.ph/ gigaplay

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Sports

FRIDAY, MAY 27, 2022

Celtics zero in on NBA Finals

M

IAMI—Jaylen Brown scored 25 points and Jayson Tatum added 22 as the Boston Celtics moved to the brink of the NBA Finals on Wednesday by defeating Miami 93-80.

Tatum also contributed game-highs of 12 rebounds and nine assists as the visiting Celtics took a 3-2 edge in the best-ofseven Eastern Conference finals series, which continues in Boston on Friday.

“We can’t think it’s over with,” Tatum said. “We have to go home like we’re down 3-2, with that sense of urgency. Not being satisfied. We’ve got things to clean up, we’ve got to be playing better. The job is not done yet.

“It’s far from over.”

The Celtics, who rallied from a 3-2 deficit to eliminate defending champion Milwaukee in the second round, are one victory from reaching the NBA Finals for the first time since 2010, when they lost to the Los Angeles Lakers.

They have not captured the NBA crown since 2008, when they beat the Lakers.

“This is a great opportunity,” Brown said. “We have an opportunity to do something special.”

The Celtics improved to 6-2 on the road in this year’s playoffs.

A physical, defensive-minded contest was decided late in the third quarter and early in the fourth, when the Celtics went on a 24-2 run, Brown scoring 13 in the spurt and Tatum adding seven.

“We just got it going offensively,” Brown said. “We stopped turning the ball over. We cleaned it up, made more shots and got settled in.”

The Celtics dominated the third quarter, outscoring Miami 32-16 and closing the period with a 10-0 run for the largest lead to that point at 69-58 entering the fourth quarter.

For the game, Brown hit 10-of-19 from the floor, 5-of-9 from 3-point range.

“The game opened up in the second half,” Brown said. “My team needed me to come out and respond.”

Miami went 4-for-22 shooting from the floor in the third quarter.

“The consecutive missed open shots started to affect us on the other end,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said.

“As poorly as we played offensively, we were able to compete defensively and keep them to under 100.”

Boston then opened the fourth quarter with a 14-2 run to seize command at 8360 and the Celtics held off Miami from there, an emphatic slam dunk by Brown serving notice the visitors would not be

letting the Heat make the game dramatic over the final minutes.

“We played great defense in the first half. We played great defense in the second half,” Brown said. “Once we started shooting the ball straight I knew we’d have a good half.”

Bam Adebayo led Miami with 18 points and also added 10 rebounds. But the Heat shot only 30-of-94 from the floor and 7-of-45 from 3-point range.

“We wear teams out defensively and make it hard on them mentally and physically,” Celtics coach Ime Udoka said. “If we do that we’re in good shape.”

- ‘I played terrible’ The Heat’s starting backcourt, Max Strus and Kyle Lowry, were a combined 0-of-15 from the floor, 0-for-12 from 3-point range.

“I’ve got to play better,” Lowry said.

“Tonight I played terrible. When I get on the court I have to be better.” AFP

UP belles thump Lady Red Warriors to snap skid UNIVERSITY of the Philippines snapped its four-game losing streak after sweeping the winless University of the East, 25-23, 26-24, 25-17 in the second round of the UAAP women’s volleyball tournament, Thursday at the SM Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay City “It has been a while. Like I said before, like any other team we struggle, we have to find our rhythm. We want to win, we want to win more games and that’s what we are doing,” said Fighting Maroons head coach Godfrey Okumu as their last win was back on May 10 -- a 25-21, 23-25, 25-21, 25-22 triumph over University of Santo Tomas.

“The last couple of games yes, we didn’t play well. I hope that from now on we’ll continue fighting for better results just like today,” he added after the match that lasted for one hour and 32 minutes.

Alyssa Bertolano led the Fighting Maroons with 14 points to go along with eight excellent digs while Niña Ytang provided the spark with 13 points on 11 attacks and two aces laced with four excellent receptions.

UP team captain Jewel Encarcacion added 10 points in the victory while Marianne Sotomil tossed out 16 excellent sets and scored two points.

The Fighting Maroons built a 10-point advantage late in the third set, 21-11, off a flawless ball drop coming from Ytang. UP never looked back from there, securing its first win in five games to move up to the fifth spot with a 4-4 slate.

On the other hand, no player from the Lady Red Warriors reached double digits in scoring with Lia Pelaga ending up with just eight points. Ja Lana added seven while Dara Nieva and Rhea Manalo each had five markers for UE, who suffered its eighth consecutive loss in as many outings.

Jaylen Brown of the Boston Celtics drives to the basket against Miami Heat’s Jimmy Butler in the 2022 NBA Playoffs Eastern Conference Finals at FTX Arena in Miami, Florida. AFP

PHILIPPINE Sports Commission Chairman William Ramirez expressed his gratitude to the Armed Forces of the Philippines on Thursday for the contribution of military-athletes crucial to the country’s medal finish in the recent 31st Southeast Asian Games in Hanoi, Vietnam.

Olympic champion weightlifter Hidilyn Diaz of the Philippine Air Force, trackster Clinton Bautista of the Philippine Navy and boxers Ian Clark Bautista (Navy) and Eumir Marcial (Air Force) delivered the gold medals in their respective sports.

Joining them are muaythai’s Phillip Delarmino of the Philippine Navy and PH women’s basketball players Janine Pontejos and France Mae Cabinbin of the Philippine Army and Marizze Andrea Cabinbin (Navy).

“We thanked the Armed Forces of the Philippines for these athletes. The contributions of the AFP proved vital to our success in the SEA Games,’’ said Ramirez.

Team Philippines brought home 52 gold, 70 silver and 104 bronze medals and ended up fourth overall in the medal standings, the best finish of the nation in the Games outside of the Philippines since winding up second overall in 1983 Singapore.

The six gold medals coming from these soldier-athletes gave Team Philippines enough cushion from Singapore, which delivered 47 gold medals and settled fifth overall in the medal tally.

“The AFP has been very supportive, not only in our SEA Games campaign, but every time we carry our flag in international competitions,’’ said Ramirez, who also thanked the rest of the 117 enlisted athletes and coaches from the three branches of military service.

Military-athletes also grabbed 11 silver and 16 bronze medals from Hanoi with rowers Cris Nievarez (Army) and Joanie Delgaco (Navy) winning at least two medals each along with WGM Janelle Frayna (Air Force) in chess.

Mondilla stumbles, but remains ahead by 2

Clyde Mondilla is 18 holes away from ending up on top after back-to-back runnerup finishes on the Philippine Golf Tour.

Manny Marcelo

The comeback kid LAST Wednesday, the Philippine Football Federation has made it official that Thomas Dooley, the former Philippine Azkals’ coach, will have another opportunity to lead the team reach the 2023 AFC Asian Cup. “After much deliberation, haggling and intense discussion amongst the committee and the PFF, it was decided that we will have Thomas Dooley as head coach for the Azkals in the qualifiers.

His term of contract will be amended if the Azkals qualify to the Asian Cup,” Dan Palami, team manager, said.

Dooley, who led the Azkals to qualify for the first time in the Asian Cup in the United Arab Emirates three years ago, will coach the team as it aims to grab one of the 11 slots in the third and final qualifying round next month in the biggest continental football event. For the Azkals to return in the Asian Cup, Dooley needs to muster the team to gain favor-

PSC thanks military for support in SEAG

able results against Palestine, Yemen and host Mongolia at the MFF Stadium in Ulaanbaatar from June 8 to 14.

Dooley, who started the national pool’s training camp last Wednesday, was realistic in saying it would be foolish to assume that Azkals will have a picnic in the Mongolian capital.

“It’s very difficult to say because not everybody’s here, which is why we would start the camp formally on the 30th (May). And the Federation said we should start earlier. That’s whywe started a little bit earlier and the good thing is that I can see some of the U-23 players in person. I see them just in the game and have an idea how they are gonna play and what kind of person they are. And in those five or six days before we make a decision for the 30 players [who will go to Mongolia], it is important to get to know them a little bit better,” Dooley said.

On the team’s first day of camp, only 14 were at the Rizal Memorial Stadium and Dooley’s coaching staff was not present due to a miscommunication.

Dooley is also aware that several members of the squad are currently signing up with their new clubs overseas, which only adds to the difficulty of assembling

LAUREL, Batangas—Clyde Mondilla kept the ICTSI Splendido Taal Championship under control despite a late frontside stumble, recouping at the finish to salvage a 72 and move 18 holes away from ending up on top after back-to-back runner-up finishes on the Philippine Golf Tour.

But an uncharacteristic triplebogey on the par-5 No. 9 nearly ruined the day of the stocky Del Monte ace, who birdied Nos. 3 and 10 then bounced back with back-toback birdies from No. 16 from close range after dropping another stroke on the 14.

From seven-up over Tony Lascuña halfway through the P2 million event, Mondilla saw his once formidable the best possible team for Ulaanbaatar.

“Some of the players will not be in the squad [but] they are filling up. So that is that is a positive sign that we can actually do something and I can get to know the players a little bit. The bad part is the timing – in Europe, some of the players are signing in new clubs and that will be very, very difficult and that’s something that will make some of the players to not show up,” Dooley explained.

Despite these challenges, Dooley remains cautiously positive.

“The chances are there. Anything is possible. When you look at the rankings, we are around 133 and Yemen is 150 or 140. We had battles with Yemen all the time and Yemen, since April, is in a camp and training twice a day with everybody. So if somebody thinks that this will be a nice, easy game for us to win against Yemen, that will be the first and the biggest mistake. And then you play against Mongolia. And obviously, Palestine is ranked 100th and we are ranked in the 133rd. If you go by the rankings, we have no chance,” Dooley said.

Dooley has also accepted the fact that even with the most noble intentions from all Azkals playing in different leagues all over the world, some of them will not able to make the team.

“I’m not getting all the players on the 25th. I’m not getting all the players on

lead reduce to two with a 14-under 202 aggregate as Guido van der Valk took the challenger’s role with a solid eagle-spiked 66 in a separate flight for a 204.

Lascuña cashed in on Mondilla’s early meltdown with a fiery 33 to move within two but the multi-titled campaigner slowed down with a one bogey-one birdie card at the back for a 69 and a 206, four strokes behind.

“It happens,” said Mondilla, referring to his solid drive on No. 9 that sailed straight and long but failed to clear a fairway hazard on his 6-iron second shot. He took a drop and overshot the green then three-putted.

“There was pressure but I was able to endure it. Just had an unlucky

the 30th. I’m not getting all the players because we can we can’t force them to come in and I’m okay with that.”

“So we have to deal with the players we have and that’s why we have to select the players and we have to be very, very direct. My philosophy in the camp and that it has to be very, very positive and the energy has to be right,” Dooley said.

Dooley was first tapped to coach the Azkals in 2014. During his first year in the team, he led the Azkals to 10 wins, four draws and four losses. He eventually compiled a record of 20 wins, 11 draws and 15 losses in his five-year stay with the Azkals. The team also recorded 72 goals which was a testament to the offense that Dooley brought to the team.

With Dooley at the helm, the Azkals reached its highest ever FIFA ranking with 111 in May 2018. The team is currently 133rd in the March 31, 2022 rankings.

Dooley was fortunate to have Phil Younghusband, Javier Patiño, Misagh Bahadoran and other strikers in the squad then. These Azkals icons are no longer with the team and only a handful remains with squad like Neil Etheridge, Stephan Schrock, Daisuke Sato, and Amani Aguinaldo, among others. The upside, however, is that there are many new Azkals who are hungry and eager to sustain the passion and honor to play for flag and country.

bounce on No. 9,” added Mondilla, who lost to Miguel Tabuena on the second playoff at ICTSI Luisita last March and then lost by four to Zanieboy Gialon in last month’s ICTSI Caliraya Springs Championship.

In both events, he anchored his strong finishes on final day rallies.

But he made sure to start out strong this week although he yielded the first round lead to Tabuena’s late surge Tuesday.

But the 2019 Philippine Open champion, whose campaign is backed

by Luisita Golf and Country Club, took control after 36 holes, dominating the Greg Norman-designed layout with a blistering 63 in the second round.

Which brings us to probably the most unavoidable question that is needed to be asked. Did the PFF commit a mistake when it let Dooley go months before the 2019 Asian Cup? “I told the Federation at that time that it is a mistake when you have a team then at its highest level ever, having won the biggest success in its history, the highest rankings in its history, and then you changing a coach five months before the biggest tournament is suicide. It’s not about me.

It’s about nobody would change the coach when it is that good,” Dooley said.

But that is water under the bridge now.

Dooley says the team needs to focus on the tasks at hand, and foremost of which is to beat Yemen on June 8.

“We’re not focusing on Palestine. We’re not focusing on on Mongolia. We are focusing on Yemen. And I’m focusing from the first day we get into the hotel. Everything will be positive. Everything will be in one direction,” Dooley said.

In these times of uncertainty, staying positive is the best thing we can do right now. It might not be easy, but then again nothing is easy in the first place.

Stay safe. Stay happy peeps!

For comments or questions, you can reach The Designated Kit Man at erel_ cabatbat@yahoo.com or follow his account at Twitter: @erelcabatbat

Entertainment

Nickie Wang, Editor nickie.standard@gmail.com FRIDAY, MAY 27, 2022

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46 Hope St. urges listeners to ‘live like never before’

46 Hope St. inspires listeners to live fully in the present by letting go of past hurts

VERY WANG

R

NICKIE WANG

AFTER what one public servant dubbed as an emotionally charged national election, and with diseases and war bugging the world over, it’s definitely not bad to have our spirits lifted up by an inspiring pop-rock single. Besides, we all need to loosen up and make the most of what we have, which if reduced to one idea is basically—the present.

That’s what the band 46 Hope St. is trying to say in its latest song released called “Live Like Never Before,” written to inspire the listeners “to let go of past hurts and to live fully in the present.”

The song, produced and published

by WidescopeEntertainment, is dropped today, May 27, on digital platforms—up for streaming and downloading.

The trio of Meds Rana (vocals and guitar), Ryan Gonzales (bass), and Aaron Paul Dolleton (drums) is certainly a bunch that knows the essence of pop-rock which embraces universality and sincerity done with the knowledge that pretty noise is music and empowered by the creed that the present life enjoyed to the fullest is what really matters, not the troubled past nor the uncertain future.

Another trio, that of executive producer Vic de Vera, producer Neil Gregorio, and A&R coordinator Ebe Dancel, has the crucial role of turning the aspirations of a young band into a beautiful reality, with its guiding power harnessed by years of music industry practice and proper exposure to the musical landscape of the land.

Frontman Meds, who also composed the song, said his piece neatly and directly through his lyrics: “I heard the news today about the war/ Seems like our hopes are dead and gone/ But giving up on love is worse than that.”

“Live Like Never Before,”

same as the band’s previous singles, had been crafted at the right places and with the right people. The drums and bass parts were recorded at Crow’s Nest Studio by Audry Dionisio, while the vocals and guitars were laid in at Katha Music Studio, NY by Meds himself. Veteran mixing engineer Dante Tanedo then joined the mix and mastered the track for our ears to fully enjoy it.

46 Hope St. released four singles last year and a fifth early this year. To further spread how to “Live Like Never Before,” click this: https://orcd.co/46hopest_ livelikeneverbefore

Keeping it real

EEL and real-life couple Ronnie Alonte and Loisa Andalio admitted that sharing their relationship status with the public was their way of making things clear for their fans.

They wanted their love team to be known as a “genuine pair.”

At the recent press screening of Love in 40 Days, which was also attended by their fans and supporters, the couple, otherwise known as LoiNie, said that they can’t act sweet and romantic in public and tell people that they’re just friends.

“It’s hard to explain our sweetness if we’re The cast and team of ‘Love in 40 Days’ not really in a relationship. So, we decided to Everything seems to be going well in the wishes of his parents Robert and Andrea tell people that we’re a couple in real life,” LoiNie explained, alluding to their decision in Jane’s life, when a sudden twist of fate (Bart Guingona and Mylene Dizon).

However, Jane refuses to let Edward December 2018 to put an end to speculations occurs - a fatal car accident that ends her life.

Jane becomes a ghost and ends up in the succeed as she does everything in her power about their relationship status.

Such sweetness will be seen in the Evergreen Mansion, a transitory place in the to befriend and convince him not to demolish hauntingly cute series Love in 40 Days, which afterlife where souls can settle their grudges the mansion. In her pursuit, Jane and Edward premieres on May 28 on iWantTFC and on and unfinished business within 40 days begin to develop feelings for each other, which will only further complicate their May 30 at 10:00 p.m. on Kapamilya Channel, before they can cross over to heaven.

This is where Jane meets Edward situation when he finds out that Jane is a A2Z, Kapamilya Online Live, and TV5.

The real-life couple shared that they felt (Ronnie), whose third eye was opened due ghost all along.

Directed by Manny Palo and Jojo Saguin, pressured in doing the project, which is their to an accident. Edward is a charming band member and son of a business tycoon who Love in 40 Days also stars Leo Martinez, first series together as the lead stars.

In the story, Loisa plays the role of Jane, owns and operates the biggest funeral homes Lotlot de Leon, Janice de Belen, Ana Abad Santos, Ahron Villena, Maria Isabel Lopez, a hardworking and competitive insurance in the country.

As Jane begins to accept her fate, her plans Renshi De Guzman, Trina Legaspi, Raven agent who makes up for her father’s (William Lorenzo) shortcomings by providing for are ruined by Edward, who makes it his goal Molina, Chie Filomeno, Benedix Ramos, her family while taking care of her younger to expel all the ghosts in the mansion in order Vaughn Piczon, Kobie Brown, Andi Abaya, to open his dream resto-bar, which goes against and Zabel Lamberth. brother Monmon (Josh De Guzman).

Misters of Filipinas kings vow to win international crowns PAGEANT CONCEPT ETON CONCEPCION designers Patrick Isorena and Alan Camarin Dela Fuente, respectively. ***

Inaugural Mrs. Universe Official to be held in Manila

Man of the World Philippines 2021 Nadim Elzein (right) and Runway Model Universe Philippines 2022 Junichi Yabushita

MAN of the World Philippines 2021 Nadim Elzein and Runway Model Universe Philippines 2022 Junichi Yabushita are set to compete in the 4th Man of the World and 1st Runway Model Universe pageants, respectively.

A send-off party was held at B Hotel in Quezon City on Saturday organized

by Misters of Filipinas/PEPPS, led by its president Carlo Morris Galang, in cooperation with Runway Model Universe founder Virgilio Cabillan and national director Marianne Galang.

Elzein, a 23-year-old former UAEbased model and graduate of International Travel and Tourism Management, will play host-candidate to some 30plus delegates from around the world arriving next month. Ray Casa group of companies, headed by CEO Jennelyn Floresca, organizer of Man of the World, is bringing the pageant up north to help promote the beauty, culture, and tradition of the Cordillera province. Finals will be held at the Baguio Convention Center, Baguio City on June 18.

Yabushita, a 26-year-old student of Veterinary Medicine and a registered nutritionist, will compete in Runway Model Universe 2022, a Canadian-based pageant that decided to hold its first international edition in the Philippines, culminating on May 28.

Elzein’s and Yabushita’s national costumes will be made by Filipino

The inaugural Mrs. Universe Official pageant will feature some 70 candidates from all over the world to be held in Manila in October 2022. To be produced and presented by Megastar Production, headed by Ovette Ricalde, Mrs. Universe, a pageant exclusive for married women, is based in Australia and owned by philanthropist Maryrose Salubre.

A series of preliminary competitions will determine the 20 semi-finalists to be announced during the finals in Okada Manila on October 9. Aside from the Mrs. Universe Official winner, five other titles are at stake, namely, Mrs. Charity Queen, Mrs. Diamond, Mrs. Sapphire, Mrs. Ruby, and Mrs. Topaz.

Mrs. Universe Asia 2022 Monique Cantalejo Rivera and Mrs. Universe Australia 2022 Christine Escalante graced the grand launching held Saturday at Pandan Asian Café. Mrs. Universe pageant aims to discover the world’s most outstanding married woman who is looking to make a difference and make her mark in the world.

(From left) Monique Cantalejo Rivera, Maryrose Salubre, and Christine Escalante

Ronnie Alonte (right) and Loisa Andalio will star in their first series together titled ‘Love in 40 Days’

PEOPLE... …are talking about

…are not talking about

Chantal Videla Filipinos are no strangers to K-Pop. They spend time, money, and effort to show their support for their favorite group and bias. There are some instances when Filipinos become part of the highly-idolized K-Pop industry, and one of them is Filipino-Argentinian actress Chantal Videla. Chantal, or Chanty, is now an official member of the K-Pop girl group Lapillus. Even though she just debuted as the group’s newest member, she’s already gaining a fanbase among Filipino stans. What a way to start a career.

Alex Santos Journalists often practice objectivity in their profession to remain unbiased toward a person or group. However, it seems Alex Santos disregarded the code of ethics and focused his platform on trivialities concerning three young adults. Whether it’s his own accord or of the network’s administration, the news bit left a bad taste, especially since they’re basing the report on social media, where people share a plethora of things—including, you know, disinformation.

John Lloyd Cruz We love Lloydie in almost every role he plays on the big and small screens. Recently, fans are falling in love with him all over again as he and his son, Elias Modesto, went viral on TikTok for spending quality time together. It just shows that John Lloyd enjoys having his son around and Elias feels the same way. While Elias’s mother, actress and model Ellen Adarna, also has a quirky side, it’s evident that he also got some of it from his father.

Robert Bolick There’s trouble in paradise as the newly-wed Northport guard is under fire for cheating on his ex, Aby Maraño, disrespecting her choices as a woman, and defending his actions just because he’s a man.

And while the public is roasting him for his actions, his and his wife’s families are unsupportive of their union because it was sudden and just disrespectful. Just how many red flags is the basketball star willing to raise?

Ellen DeGeneres ends pioneering talk show under cloud FOR nearly two decades, The Ellen DeGeneres Show and its openly lesbian host have beamed into homes across America, busting stereotypes and charming daytime TV audiences with a feel-good blend of quirky comedy and celebrity cameos.

But after more than 3,000 episodes, a talk show that came to rival even Oprah Winfrey’s in terms of its cultural impact departs today under a cloud, after allegations of a toxic workplace at stark odds with its “be kind” mantra.

“When we started this show in 2003, the iPhone didn’t exist. Social media didn’t exist. Gay marriage wasn’t legal,” Ellen DeGeneres said last month, after

pre-taping the show’s final episode.

“We watched the world change— sometimes for the better, sometimes not.”

There is no doubt the cultural landscape has been upended since rising comedian DeGeneres came out in 1997 —simultaneously as her character on sitcom Ellen, and in real life with an interview on the cover of Time magazine.

DeGeneres was hailed as a gay icon, but her sitcom was cancelled a year later amid a backlash, and she spent five years in the wilderness before reinventing herself as a talk show host.

“It was a sensation, it was a landmark —and it became a political football,”

Ellen DeGeneres

said Mary Murphy, associate professor of journalism at University of Southern California.

“She led the way. She was probably —and may still be—the most famous LGBTQ person in America.” AFP, Read full story on manilastandard.net

Life

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

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FRIDAY, MAY 27, 2022

How power of education

gave Gwendolyne Fourniol a competitive edge E

DUCATION is a right, not a privilege. Miss World Philippines - Negros Occidental Gwendolyne Bolivar Fourniol says more Filipino children should be given opportunities to finish their studies, as this can uplift the lives not only of their families but also their communities.

Gwen (as she is fondly called) is an example of the power of education to change lives, as her mother was a former beneficiary of the ERDA (Educational Research and Development Assistance) Foundation, which sends underprivileged children to school.

“My mother, Sim, grew up in poverty in Kabankalan, Negros Occidental.

There were seven children in the family and only one sibling was given the opportunity to study. Losing hope for her future,” she shares.

He mom found her way to Manila to stay with a cousin and it was there that she met Fr. Pierre T. Tritz, SJ, who founded ERDA in 1974 to give underprivileged but deserving children the opportunity to study.

With Fr. Pierre’s support, Sim Bolivar obtained a degree in Psychology from the Philippine Women’s University, and was able to work as an au pair (foreign household helper) for a family in Luxembourg where she met Thierry Fourniol at a park.

“If it were not for ERDA, I wouldn’t exist, and my mother would still be living in poverty in Negros,” Gwen adds.

Her mother is currently working as

a nurse in London, while her father is working as a senior analyst in Belgium.

Before joining her first Miss World Philippines pageant last year, Gwen was pursuing an Economics degree at Oxford Brooks in London in the UK. She hopes to join an internship program at JP Morgan after graduation and is also looking toward launching a French tutorial service in the Philippines.

She is using her platform to support ERDA, which has already helped some 800,000 Filipino children receive an education and is calling for equality in education rights.

“There is a misconception that women should be the ones to stay home and keep house and raise the children, and are therefore given less opportunities to study. My mother, because of the opportunity that was opened to her by the ERDA Foundation, was able to send her 6 siblings to school. This says so much about the power of women to uplift their families out of poverty. We should push equal rights for education regardless of gender,” Gwen affirms.

The beauty queen hopeful says that Miss World, with its platform of “Beauty With a

Gwendolyne Fourniol (center) with ProMedia’s CEO Paul Reyes (left) and Director for Operations Jam Aquino

Purpose”, resonates with her advocacies.

Gwen placed in the top 15 of last year’s Miss World Philippines competition and she talks about her pageant journey so far.

“I grew up in France and pageants are not as big there as they are in the Philippines. I did not have that dream of becoming a beauty queen growing up; it was my mother who encouraged me to go for a screening. The first time around, I was very alone because I was very new,” she recalls.

During her first stint, they called her a baby of pageantry. “I didn’t know how

to style myself and I didn’t know how to do makeup. Now, with the support of ProMedia, I feel more confident. I am stronger physically and because of this I am also stronger mentally because when you exercise and treat your body right, it also goes a long way towards your mental health.”

ProMedia is a project management group that is passionate about wholistic beauty (body, beauty, and brains).

At its helm is CEO Paul Reyes, ably assisted by Jam Aquino, director for operations. Aquino is also the CEO of The Belle Salon.

Gwen hopes that with the Miss World crown, this #ExceptionallyEmpoweredFilipina can empower people through education which is the greatest equalizer.

“I want to reach out to humanity and continue the legacy of Fr. Tritz. If one person can transform 800,000 lives in this country, imagine what so many people can do to help millions more in the Philippines and around the world,” she states.

Watch the Miss World Philippines 2022 Beauty Pageant Finals on June 5 at the Mall of Asia Arena. Gwendolyne Fourniol is candidate No. 25.

To infinity and beyond adventure with Miniso X Toy Story

How being alone can make us less lonely

SHERIFF Woody, Andy’s favorite pull-up cowboy doll and the leader of the group; Buzz Lightyear, the space ranger; Bo Peep, the porcelain doll; Hamm, the piggy bank; and Forky, the recycled fork toy. These

are among the well-loved living toys from Pixar-Disney’s iconic Toy Story that kids of all ages can now find in the Miniso X Toy Story collection.

The Miniso X Toy Story Collection

Collect these Disney Pixar Toy Story shopping bags

Relive the infinity and beyond fun with Woody and the gang in Miniso x Toy Story Blind Box Collection

Unleash your adventurous spirit by traveling alone AFTER more than two years of rolling with COVID-19’s punches, we are now experiencing a sense of normalcy so close to what we used to have prepandemic. As things can get overwhelming while we ease into a lot of interactions again, I unearthed a concept I read in a health magazine more than a decade ago.

Being alone is not synonymous with loneliness. I was reminded of this reality while on the road to a series of events on a busy day last week. As a matter of fact, being alone can actually contribute to being a happy and well-functioning individual. Studies show that spending some time away from family and friends leads to a better appreciation of time spent with them.

Backed by science, the idea was better explained by Harvard psychology department’s Adam Waytz, PhD. He said that our highly connected world leaves people “socially stuffed.” This outcome prevents one’s ability to genuinely empathize with others. It can be derived that those who step back and temporarily detach themselves to be alone tend to become more open and empathetic to others.

Prevention magazine in a 2011 issue presented the concept well with an analogy. It said, “Periods of solitude refresh our appetite for togetherness the same way being hungry before a meal can make it seem more delicious.”

Here are some ideas on how to maximize me-time: Unplug and disconnect. With all the social media available these days, we are always within reach. As I write this piece, I can hear notifications popping up on my phone. Unknowingly, technology causes unnecessary stress for us. We can grant ourselves some headspace by disconnecting from all these distractions even just for a day or two.

Travel alone. It sure is fun to explore

Gwendolyne Fourniol is living proof of the power of education

a new city with friends or family but going to a place alone may allow us to have a better appreciation of our surroundings.

We can replace our supposed conversations with reflections. It’s our chance to unleash our adventurous spirit and do what we want right when we want it. We have the final say on how to go about with our schedule, having the luxury of allotting more time for our preferred activities.

Go on a retreat. One of the powerful ways of refreshing the soul is recharging the spirit. No matter what our faith is, there are different ways of reconnecting with our spiritual side. It will be a treat to find someplace peaceful and take time to reflect on our lives or simply commune with nature. Sometimes, taking a look back at our past actions allows us to make better decisions and necessary changes for the future.

Meditate and detoxify. Just like our bodies, our minds also need cleansing and rejuvenation. One good way to declutter the mind is through the art of meditation. Meditation is simply the act of getting us to focus on what is happening by heightening our senses. This saves us from becoming like headless chickens because of crazy schedules. Activities such as yoga and mindful tea drinking provide the benefits of meditation.

Date yourself. Spend some quality time with ourselves as we would with people we love dearly. We can go get a relaxing massage, go to our favorite coffee shop with a good book, or simply watch a movie by ourselves. This is the perfect chance to satisfy both our needs and wants.

Seeking solitude and temporarily detaching from the ones we are always with may seem daunting. But reminding ourselves that it is for a purpose is reassuring. We are staying away for a while so we can get closer to them better.

For your random thoughts, e-mail the author at randomrepublika@gmail.com.

brings together the Japanese lifestyle retailer for the young and the nostalgic Talking toys from Disney-Pixar in a fun collaboration for new generation.

The 1995 iconic movie Toy Story was the first Pixar-Disney collaboration on a feature-length computer-animated film that made childhood classics toys come to life like Mr. Potato Head, Etch-A-Sketch, and toy soldiers on the big screen. The Miniso X Toy Story collection features fashionable yet functional creatively cool items. These include gadget accessories such as mouse pads and earphones; accessories such as bucket hats and caps; sling and tote bags; coin purses, keychains, and other novelty pieces.

Conveniently shop and collect these Miniso X Toy Story items in-store or online via shop.minisoph.com. For more updates, follow MinisoPhilippines on Facebook and Miniso PH on Instagram.

PH’s biggest esports supporter applauds SIBOL’s Sea Games performance MOBILE services provider and staunch esports supporter Smart Communications, Inc (Smart) lauded Philippine esports team SIBOL for bagging two gold medals and two silver medals at the recently concluded 31st Southeast Asian Games in Hanoi, Vietnam.

With their medals, SIBOL placed third in the esports division with Vietnam at the top spot followed by Indonesia.

SIBOL fielded a total of 54 esports athletes across 10 events for titles such as Mobile Legends: Bang Bang, FIFA Online 4, Crossfire, Free Fire, League of Legends (Wild Rift, PC), and PlayersUnknownBattlegrounds (PUBG).

“We at Smart congratulate SIBOL for their momentous feat in the SEA Games.

Their dedication and perseverance are undeniable as they brought honor and pride to our country. We hope that more young Filipinos follow their footsteps and pursue their passions with purpose,” said Jane J. Basas, Senior Vice President and Head of Consumer Wireless Business at Smart.

Back-to-Back Gold for Team Mobile Legends: Bang Bang and League of Legends: Wild Rift

SIBOL snagged two gold medals in their match for Mobile Legends: Bang Bang and League of Legends: Wild Rift.

SIBOL’s Mobile Legends: Bang Bang Team has proven again that they are kings of Southeast Asia as they beat Indonesia in a 3-1 match. The team is composed of Johnmar “OhMyV33nus” Villaluna,

Philippine esports team SIBOL wins two gold medals and two silver medals at the 31st Southeast Asian Games Danerie James “Wise” Del Rosario, Kyle Dominic “Dominic” Soto, Salic Alauya “Hadji” Imam, Lee Howard “Owl” Gonzales, Dexstar Louise “DEX STAR” Cruz Alaba, and Russel Aaron “Eyon” Usi. On the other hand, SIBOL’s all-women League of Legends: Wild Rift team took home the country’s first gold medal for esports after dominating the finals against Singapore with 3-0. The team members are Charize “Yugen” Doble, Gianna “Jeeya” Llanes, Christine “Ray Ray” Natividad, Rose Ann “Hell Girl” Robles, and Angel Danica “Angelailaila” Lozada.

Meanwhile, SIBOL’s League of Legends (PC) and Crossfire teams delivered the silver medals for the PH. Both teams went up against Vietnam in the finals.

Smart’s support for SIBOL is part of its longstanding commitment to the growth of

Philippine esports by partnering with game creators and esports tournament organizers here and abroad, including the recent such as Mobile Legends: Bang Bang Professional League (MPL) Seasons and Liga Adarna, the first female esports tournament in the country.

Aside from organizing the country’s biggest esports events and backing Filipino esports athletes, Smart also supports gamers with relevant data offers and services to level up their gameplay.

“SIBOL’s journey to the 31st SEA Games would not be possible without the generous support of Smart, along with our other partners, who share our belief that Filipinos have what it takes to dominate the global esports stage. We are grateful to Smart and look forward to a brighter esports future with their continued support,” said Brian Lim, PESO President.