LTFRB chairperson Cheloy Garafil noted the last bus fare increase was in 2018, when diesel was just at P44 per liter – now it is averaging P78 per liter, up P30 since the start of 2022. But while the agency sees the need for higher fares, it has yet to consult with the National Economic and Development Authority to ensure a balance on the welfare of both drivers and operators as well as commuters, she added. Bus groups earlier filed a P20 minimum fare increase petition for the first five kilometers in air-conditioned buses from P13 and a charge of P3.40 per By Alena Mae S. Flores OIL prices will likely go down effective Tuesday next week by as much as P2.85 per liter due to the continuing fears of a global economic slowdown. Sources estimated the rollback in local pump prices at P2.85 per liter for diesel, P2.34 per liter for kerosene, and P1.23 per liter for unleaded gasoline for the three-day trading period (Monday to Wednesday).Thisfollowed the rollback implemented by the oil companies on August 9 at P2.10 per liter for gasoline, P2.20 per liter for diesel, and P2.55 per liter for Thesekerosene.resulted in total year-to-date adjustments at a net increase of P17.55 per liter for gasoline, P30.15 per liter for diesel, and P24.75 per liter for kerosene. According to the Department of Energy's latest monitoring report, crude prices fell last week amid heightened fears of recession and demand destruction due to fiscal tightening and rising US-China tensions.
THE National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) is set to review the deal that would allow ABS-CBN to broadcast its programs on TV5 following the former’s failure to renew its broadcasting franchise in 2020. In an interview over Radyo Pilipinas on Thursday, NTC Commissioner Gamaliel Cordoba said there would be a thorough review of the proposed joint venture between the two broadcasting companies due to what he said were ABS-CBN’s violations that were brought up in the investigation conducted by the 18th Congress in 2020. The deal, Cordoba said, would allow ABS-CBN to have part ownership of
FORBES’ RICH LIST NEWS /
Palace says DA usec signing for BBM unauthorized, heads may roll
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By Joel E. Zurbano THE Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) on Thursday announced it will reimplement the Unified Vehicular Volume Reduction Program (UVVRP) or the number coding scheme in the National Capital Region effective August 15, from 7 a.m. to 10 a.m. and 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. on weekdays except for holidays.
Marcos tells DTI to ensure cheap fertilizers for farmers
). Norman
By Rio N. Araja THE Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board is keen on approving a petition to increase the fares for public utility buses amid the high prices of oil products after its second hearing on the issue on Thursday.
RISING SUGAR. A worker stacks different kinds of repacked sugar at a store in Quezon City on August 11, after President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. thumbed down a proposal to import 300,000 metric tons of sugar amid reports of a looming supply shortage. Manny Palmero page SC sets new ruling music Members of the Alliance of Concerned Teachers (ACT) picket at the Department of Budget and Management to demand accountability for the alleged Department of Education (DepEd) laptop anomaly that they said cost P2.4 billion for outdated laptops and deprived thousands of teachers of muchneeded devices for distance learning (see story on A3 Cruz
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LAPTOP PROTEST.
Sugar import order probed
By Vito Barcelo, Vince Lopez, and Othel V. Campos M ALACAÑANG on Thursday said an investigation is underway over the unauthorized signing of a document directing the importation of 300,000 metric tons of sugar.
PRESIDENT Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. has met with Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) Secretary Alfredo Pascual to set out plans to make fertilizers affordable for farmers and improve their productivity. Marcos wants the DTI to make sure that cheaper fertilizers would be made available for farmers, the Office of the President said in a Facebook post on Wednesday night. The meeting was held at Malacañang Palace in Manila, based on the photos uploaded on the OP’s official Facebook page. Marcos, in his official Facebook account, also said he met with Pascual in an effort “to help ease the farmers’ plight and reboot the country’s agriculture industry.”“Wewant to revive the agricultural sector, that’s why we met with Secretary Alfredo Pascual of the Department of Trade and Industry. We want the fertilizers used by our farmers to be affordable,” he said.The OP said Marcos continues to prepare “to secure the food supply in the country.”InJuly, Marcos expressed his intent to pursue government-to-government (G2G) talks to address the increasing prices of Marcos,fertilizers.whoconcurrently heads the Department of Agriculture (DA), said the government could avail of cheaper fertilizers through the G2G deals.
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Next page Number coding scheme back in NCR next week VOL. XXXVI • NO. 177 • 3 SECTIONS 12 PAGES • P20 FRIDAY AUGUST 12, 2022 • www.manilastandard.net • mst.daydesk@gmail.com
“An investigation is ongoing to determine whether any act that would cause the President to lose trust and confidence in his officials can be found or if there is malice or negligence involved,” said Press Secretary Trixie Cruz-Angeles. “In such a case, if such findings are made, then the only determination left will be how many heads are going to roll.” Cruz-Angeles described as “illegal” Sugar Order No. 4 issued
LYDIA DE VEGA DIES, 57; TRACK QUEEN MOURNED SPORTS / C1 ‘COVID CALAMITY STATE DECISION OUT SOON’ NEWS / A2 Another oil price rollback likely as world economy further stalls NTC questions ABS-TV5 joint venture SY
By Rey E. Requejo THE Supreme Court (SC) has ruled that the act of playing radio broadcasts with copyrighted music using loudspeakers (radio-over-loudspeakers) without a license from the copyright owner is considered an infringement of copyright. With the decision, the SC granted the petition of the Filipino Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers, Inc. (FILSCAP) as it reversed and set aside the rulings handed down by both the trial courts and the Court of Appeals (CA), which denied the association’s right to collect license fees and/or royalties over copyrighted works of its member artists. Instead, the high court ordered respondent Anrey, Inc. to pay the FILSCAP P10,000 as temperate damages for the unlicensed public performance of the copyrighted songs on FILSCAP’s repertoire.TheSC also ordered Anrey to pay P50,000 as attorney’s fees, plus interest at the rate of 12 percent per annum from Sept. 8, 2009 until June 30, 2013, and
BUSY BBM. President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. gestures in a meeting with Trade Secretary Alfredo Pascual on Wednesday night in Malacanang on how to ensure more affordable prices of fertilizer for farmers. The next day, Marcos graces the 15th Philippine National Health Research System Week celebration at the Clark Marriott Hotel in Clark Freeport Zone, Pampanga. Presidential Photos SIBS, VILLAR, RAZON TOP A2
SC... From A1 thereafter, six percent per annum from July 1, 2013, until the finality of the high court’s judgment. In a decision penned by Associate Justice Rodil V. Zalameda, the SC ruled held that “a radio reception creates a performance separate from the broadcast, otherwise known as the doctrine of multiple performances, which provides that a radio (or television) transmission or broadcast can create multiple performances at once.”“Thus, on whether the reception of a broadcast may be publicly performed, it is immaterial if the broadcasting station has been licensed by the copyright owner because the reception becomes a new public performance requiring separate protection,” the SC said. The high tribunal ruled that radio reception transmitted through loudspeakers to enhance profit does not constitute, and is not analogous to, fair use. The SC also ordered that a copy of the decision be furnished to the Intellectual Property Office of the Philippines for their guidance and information, as well as to the House of Representatives and the Senate of the Philippines. This would be a reference for possible statutory amendments to the Intellectual Property Code “without violating the State’s commitments under the Berne Convention and the Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) Agreement,” the tribunal added. The PIO said the case arose when a FILSCAP representative monitored between July and September 2008 that the branches of Sizzling Plate Restaurant along Session Road and along Abandon Extension in Baguio City, both owned by respondent Anrey, played copyrighted music owned by FILSCAP.Itsaid that FILSCAP informed the restaurant owners of the unauthorized public performance of copyrighted music and urged them to secure licenses from FILSCAP to avoid prosecution. When its plea was unheeded, it filed a complaint before the Baguio City Regional Trial Court (RTC) for copyright infringement. In its defense, Anrey denied playing any copyrighted music within its establishments and claimed that its establishments played whatever was being broadcast on the radio they were tuned to. (See full story online at manilastandard.net)
The growing friction between the United States and China due to US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan may impact supply chains and demand, which could keep the inflationary pressures going strong further, adding downward pressure to crude prices, sources told the Standard.Other bearish factors include interest rate hikes from the US Federal Reserve and rising inflation. The price decline was tempered by bullish factors like dwindling OPEC+ spare capacity and concerns about Russian gas supply to Europe.
“We have been having discussions with them for over a year. But it is fair to characterize it as we’re in the closing stages,” Pangilinan said. Pangilinan said TV5 will own 65 percent, while the remaining 35 percent will go to CongressABS-CBN.didnotrenew ABS-CBN’s congressional franchise before its expiration date on May 4, 2020. ABS-CBN, upon the directive of the NTC’s shutdown order, ceased its broadcast operations on May 5, 2020.
IN BRIEF DFA backs
By Vito Barcelo, Macon Ramos-Araneta, Willie Casas, and Maricel V. Cruz P RESIDENT Ferdinand Marcos Jr. will consider the recommendations of the Department of Health (DOH) on whether to extend the COVID-19 state of calamity, which expires on Sept. 12, a Palace spokesperson said Thursday. lockdowns even as COVID-19 cases increased.Instead, he wants the government to ramp up its COVID-19 vaccination and booster drive to achieve its target of administering at least 23 million booster shots within his first 100 days in office. Metro Manila and other parts of the country continue to be under Alert Level 1 until Aug. 15. Marking the celebration of Philippine National Health Research System (PNHRS) Week in Pampanga, Marcos reiterated his call for Congress to pass legislation creating the country’s own virology institute and Center for Disease Control and Prevention, as he paid tribute
to Filipino health researchers for their continuing sacrifice and hard work during theMarcospandemic.said the two institutes can help the country prepare for and respond to pandemics.“Asyour President, I hope my presence here today gives a clear signal that this administration continues to support your endeavors so that together, we can create an enabling environment for the Filipino research community that fosters collaboration and cooperation that will yield solutions that will make lives better for our fellow men and women,” he said. (See full story online at manilastandard.net)
NTC... From A1 TV5 and would allow the former to “ride” the broadcasting franchise of the latter (see main story on Business, page B4 – Editors). “They can’t secure their own franchise, so what they will do is ride the franchise of TV5. But until now they are still burdened with their old violations,” he said in Filipino. He announced the release of NTC Memorandum Order 3-06-2022 that would prohibit a “franchise grantee” to enter into “mergers, joint ventures, sale, or any commercial agreement arrangements on matters within the Commission’s mandate and jurisdiction.”“Thefranchise grantee should not be able to enter into a commercial arrangement with an entity that still has obligations with the national and local government,” he said. The franchise grantee, he said, will have to ensure that clearances have been obtained from the “appropriate government agencies” such as the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR), Bureau of Customs, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the NTC.The NTC’s next step would be to have the two companies submit a copy of their signed commercial agreement along with clearances from the said relevant government agencies. He noted that the memorandum states that the NTC would need to approve before “consummation” of such a partnership. To date, he said the NTC is yet to see the details of the partnership agreement to find out whether the deal violates any government regulations. Earlier, the ABS-CBN Corporation announced its plan to acquire 6.46 million new common shares of the TV5 Network Inc., representing 34.99 percent of its total voting and outstanding capital stock for P2.16 billion. Following the acquisition, MediaQuest Holdings, Inc.—the operator of TV5 —will have 64.79 percent of voting and capital stock and would still have controlling stock of the network. SAGIP Party List Rep. Rodante Marcoleta, who had led the antiABS-CBN campaign in the 18th Congress, called on the Philippine Competition Commission (PCC) and the NTC to investigate the deal, calling it a “circumvention of the law.”Last week, businessman Manuel V. Pangilinan said talks for the joint venture were in the "closing stages.”
Sy siblings, Villar, Razon
Newsmst.daydesk@gmail.comFRIDAY,AUGUST 12, 2022A2 “It will depend on the recommendation of the DOH, but we will make the announcement when the time comes,” said Press Secretary Trixie Cruz-Angeles, when asked if the state of calamity, declared by President Rodrigo Duterte, would be extended. The state of calamity was first declared on March 16, 2020 and extended three times. In his first State of the Nation Address on July 25, Marcos promised that he would no longer declare restrictive ‘COVID-19 calamity decision soon’
THE freedom of speech of every Filipino continues to prevail in the country, Malacañang said Thursday. “The freedom of speech is prevailing in this country. It is guaranteed by the Constitution,” Press Secretary Trixie Cruz-Angeles said in a Palace briefing. She made the statement after a Palace reporter asked her “how much of a concern is disinformation to the Marcos administration.” The reporter noted that some critics purportedly believed that the supposed disinformation helped “boost” the presidential campaign of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., who enjoyed a landslide win in the May 9, 2022Respondingelections. to the query, CruzAngeles said: “People can say that. People can talk about it. They can discuss these matters. But no such wrongdoing has been committed.”
This was after members of the Metro Manila Council (MMC), composed of the 17 mayors in the NCR, approved Resolution No. 22-14 Series of 2022, amid the expected increase in the volume of vehicles upon the resumption of faceto-face classes on August 22. The MMC is the governing board and the policy-making body of the MMDA. Under the scheme, vehicles with license plates ending in 1 and 2 are prohibited on Monday, 3 and 4 on Tuesday, 5 and 6 on Wednesday, 7 and 8 on Thursday, 9 and 0 on Friday during the said coding hours. The re-implementation of the number coding scheme in the NCR will reduce traffic volume by 20 percent during the morning and afternoon to evening peak hours, the agency said. Before the COVID-19 pandemic, the average number of vehicles plying EDSA daily was at 405,000. Based on the latest vehicle volume count conducted by the MMDA Traffic Engineering Center on August 4, approximately 387,000 vehicles traversed EDSA. The volume is expected to balloon to 436,000, or higher than the prepandemic level. "From August 15 to 17, we will start the dry run and will only remind motorists of the expanded number coding scheme. From August 18 onwards, the MMDA will start apprehending and will issue traffic violation tickets on the ground and through our non-contact apprehension policy," Acting MMDA chairperson Carlo Dimayuga III said.
From A1 by the Sugar Regulatory Administration, which directed the importation of 300,000 metric tons of sugar. “The chairman of the Sugar Regulatory Board is President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. As such, the chairman sets the date of any meetings or convening of the Sugar Regulatory Board and its agenda. No such meeting was authorized by the President or such a resolution, likewise, was not authorized,” she said. Angeles said the resolution appears to have been signed by Agriculture Undersecretary Leocadio Sebastian on behalf of Marcos. “He was not authorized to sign such a resolution because the President did not authorize the importation,” Angeles said. She said agricultural importations were a sensitive matter. “Sugar is one such importation which we take great care with. It is a balancing act. The importation has to be carefully studied to protect both the consumer against the rising prices of basic commodities (and) ensuring at the same time that we do not destroy the local industry,” she Meanwhile,said.the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PCCI) is worried that consumers would once again shoulder the cost of increased prices of goods such as beverages, breads, and processed meats owing to the sugar shortage."Atthis point in time, there's really a (sugar) shortage. Even the harvest will not cover up the shortage,” said George Barcelon, PCCI chairman. “I think (manufacturers) don’t have a choice; they need to raise their prices. We also don’t want (sugar) farmers (to suffer), they are suffering. But if you think about the number of people in the sugar plantation compared to the number of people consuming, it's up to the government to weigh on these factors," he added in a television interview. A farmers’ group, the Samahang Industriya ng Agrikultura (Sinag) earlier lauded Marcos’ decision to reject the importation of 300,000 MT of sugar. Sinag Executive Director Jayson Cainglet said the SRA and the Department of Agriculture should heed the order of the chief executive to support local production.Another group, the United Sugar Producers Federation (Unifed), nixed the planned importation, saying some local sugar producers harvested sugarcane early and that five local millers were already accepting orders for milling. Manuel Lamata, president ng Unifed, told ABS-CBN local producers could make up for the supposed shortage if weather conditions did not hurt the quality of their sugar. "If we import, it should be refined. If we’re importing raw sugar, imagine that’s 150,000 metric tons. Where would we sell our new produce of raw sugar? If we did, our prices would be super low," Lamata added. On Wednesday evening, Cruz-Angeles said Marcos had rejected an SRA proposal to import 300,000 metric tons of sugar. Agriculture Undersecretary Kristine Evangelista had said the Philippines needed to import 300,000 metric tons of sugar to stabilize the market amid rising prices.She said there was a shortage of sugar after Typhoon Odette damaged sugarcane crops.The SRA, in an order dated Aug. 9, said it has approved the plan, which sought to import raw and refined sugar for delivery no later than Nov. 30. It said raw sugar production for the crop year ending this month is expected “to drop from 16 percent to 1.8 million metricSRAtons.”Administrator Hermenegildo Serafica earlier said in a radio interview that the SRA was looking at importing 300,000 metric tons of sugar to replenish the country’s supply, which he said was near depletion. In a separate interview, Serafica said the SRA is looking at importing sugar from Thailand, Vietnam, Malaysia, and Indonesia.Community bakers said they supported the President’s decision to junk the importation plan. “I was encouraged by the statement from the Palace. I think the President is thinking of some means of coping with the inflationary price of sugar other than importation,” said Asosasyon ng Panaderong Pilipino president Lucito Chavez.“Iguess there is something wrong and that wrong is being corrected by the Office of the President. I assume the President is thinking of a plan to lower the price of sugar and, maybe, ways of augmenting supply,” he added. The group called also called on the government to release the rest of the sugar quedans (proof of ownership of a certain amount of sugar), if there are still any left, to give consumers a break from the high cost of the commodity. “Only the SRA can say if there are still stocks left. And if there are no more stocks left, the Palace should address this. Importation should be the last recourse if all known means to augment supply and lower the cost have failed,” Chavez said. One way of dealing with the crisis, he suggested, is to reformulate the constitution of breads, especially pandesal by using less sugar, as European bakers are doing with their breads. “In that sense, we stay true to the nature of pandesal being a salty bread instead of a sweet bread. This will also address some health concerns like obesity and diabetes,” Chavez said. Sugar is a major ingredient in bread making, next to flour. Prices have doubled in the last few months due to scarcity of supply. Sugar retails at a range of P97 to P115 per kilogram for refined sugar and P85 to P98 for washed sugar. In other developments: • Senator Imee Marcos has condemned the unauthorized and fraudulent use of the Office of the President to justify the importation of sugar. Marcos described it as “ultimate proof that thick-faced agricultural smugglers are lording it over at the Department of Agriculture.” She lauded her brother’s rejection of the importation plan and called for an immediate reshuffle of the department “to dismantle criminal syndicates within the government.”•AlbayRep. Joey Sarte Salceda, chairman of the House ways and means committee, welcomed the President’s move as well. "The President’s decision highlights just how sensitive this issue is. The sugar sector needs 1.3 workers per hectare cultivated, versus just 0.7 workers for the agriculture sector in general, and 0.6 workers for rice," Salceda said. He said imports would hurt sugar workers even more than rice farmers. Salceda also noted that 150,000 MT of the proposed 300,000 MT was supposed to be for bottler’s grade sugar, or sugar that sweetened beverage makers use. Without such imports, the beverage makers will likely resort to other sweeteners, such as high fructose corn syrup. HFCS-sweetened beverages are taxed at higher excise tax rates (P12/liter) than sugar-sweetened beverages (P6/liter) and these taxes can benefit the domestic sugar sector, he said. With Macon Ramos-Araneta and Maricel V. Cruz
top 2022 Forbes rich list Sugar...
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By Jenniffer B. Austria THE Sy siblings, heirs to the fortune built by the late retail tycoon Henry Sy Sr., took the top spot in the Forbes Magazine Philippines’ 2022 rich list with a combined net worth of $12.6 billion -- despite a 24-percent drop from their $16.6-billion worth last year. Property billionaire Manuel Villar retained his second spot with a net worth of $7.8 billion in 2021, up 16.4 percent from $6.7 billion in 2021. Enrique Razon Jr. retained the No. 3 ranking with a total fortune of $5.6 billion. The port and casino tycoon is expanding with a new integrated resort and casino in Quezon City and recently signed an agreement to invest in two casino properties owned by businessman DennisRoundingUy. up the list of 10 richest Filipinos are Lance Gokongwei and siblings ($3.1 billion), the Aboitiz family ($2.9 billion), Isidro Consunji and siblings ($2.65 billion), Tony Tan Caktiong and family ($2.6 billion), Jaime Zobel de Ayala and family ($2.55 billion), RamonAng ($2.45 billion), and Andrew Tan ($2.4 billion). (See full story online at manilastandard.net)
Marcos... From A1 He is communicating with China, Indonesia, United Arab Emirates, Malaysia, and Russia for the country's procurement of fertilizers. Marcos earlier directed the agriculture officials to provide data on the source and price of fertilizers, as well as the DA’s distribution plan during the planting season.
LTFRB... From A1 kilometer beyond five kilometers. The first hearing for their petition was held last July Petitioning28. groups include the Southern Luzon Bus Operators Association, Nagkaisang Samahan ng Nangangasiwa ng Panglalawigang Bus sa Pilipinas, and Samahang Transport Operators ng Pilipinas Inc. The petition also called for an increase in the minimum fare in the ordinary buses from P11 to P15 with a P2.70 charge per kilometer.Asfar as provincial buses are concerned, the petitioners requested a P15 minimum fare for ordinary buses with a charge of P2 per kilometer. For air-conditioned ones, their recommended charge is P2.50 per kilometer for regular air-conditioned buses, P2.60 per kilometer for deluxe buses, P2.70 per kilometer for super deluxe, and P3.60 per kilometer for luxury buses. Garafil said that during the hearing, president of Lawyers for Commuters Safety and Protection Ariel Inton’s position was to agree to at least P2 increase bus fare increase for the first five kilometers. But he said the fare hike for succeeding distances should be tempered as it will have an impact on commuters. According to Garafil, they have yet to hear the position of NEDA before they could submit the petition for resolution. The LTFRB chief said the second hearing is the last hearing that will be conducted by the agency for the bus fare hike petition, adding that the regulatory body is awaiting NEDA’s position before deeming the petition as “submitted for resolution.” “We need the position of the NEDA because the LTFRB doesn’t want to add on the inflation as any increase, although minimal, still has an effect that’s why we need the guidance of the NEDA on this,” she said. “We will balance it out… because we cannot just side with one party, we have to balance. While we recognize that oil prices have increased since the last fare hike for buses, we also recognize this will have an impact on passengers. That is why we are very very careful in crafting a resolution for this case,” Garafil said. The LTFRB chief said increasing fares will help bus operators since "many of them are out of business because of high prices of fuel and there are routes which were cut, so this will help them.” “Our primary consideration is to get a balance on how to help them [bus operators] at the same time it won’t be too burdensome for passengers,” she said.
THE Department of Foreign Affairs has backed a legislative measure seeking to institutionalize the use of the term “West Philippine Sea” to pertain to the air space, seabed, and subsoil on the western side of the Philippine archipelago. DFA spokesperson Ma. Teresita Daza stressed that while the “West Philippine Sea” was already defined in 2012 United Nations Administrative Order No. 29, DFA still recognizes what the legislation can do in terms of clarity and institution building. “We look forward to supporting the process should we be invited to do so,” Daza said. Rey E Requejo
President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. has submitted to the Commission on Appointments (CA), for confirmation, the ad interim appointment, and its consent to the nomination of the following officials: Department of Science and Technology (DOST) 1. MR. RENATO UMALI SOLIDUM JR SECRETARY, DEPARTMENT OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) 2. MS. MYLENE J. GARCIA-ALBANO AMBASSADOR EXTRAORDINARY AND PLENIPOTENTIARY TO JAPAN, with the salary and emoluments of a Chief of Mission, Class I The public may submit any information, written report, or sworn/ notarized complaints or oppositions to the above ad interim appointment and nomination in seven (7) copies to the CA Secretariat, 6th Floor, PNB Financial Center, D. Macapagal Blvd., Pasay City, Metro Manila. For the schedule of the public hearings, the CA Secretariat can be reached through telephone numbers 8834-2713, 8831-1824, 8831-0527, 8832-9830, 8834-2706 and 8551-1989. 11 August 2022. HECTOR A. VILLACORTA (MS-AUG. 12, 2022) 2
By Rey E. Requejo JUSTICE Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla has ordered the National Bureau of Investi gation (NBI) to create an elite team to probe the deaths of eight high-profile inmates of the New Bilibid Prison (NBP) in 2020, pur portedly due to COVID-19. “I tasked NBI director Medardo de Lemos to form an elite team to look into this matter. This should be given priority because their deaths are very suspicious, so we need to find the real answers,” Remulla said in a radio inter view on Wednesday. The eight prisoners, also called “persons deprived of liberty” (PDLs) who reportedly died of COVID were identified as Fran cis Go, Shuli Zhang, Hung Kin Sing alias Jimmy Ang, Eugene Ho Chua, Benjamin Marcelo, Sherwin Sanchez, Amin Imam Boratong, and Willy Yang. Sanchez was convicted of murder, while the seven others were found guilty of drug Remullatrafficking.saidhedirected the NBI to get to the bottom of what really transpired inside the walls of the NBP in Muntinlupa City. “There is reportedly a witness who could attest that these inmates did not die of COVID-19… So we have asked the NBI to conduct a case build-up to know what really happened inside the NBP,” Remulla said. The DOJ chief narrated that personnel from the Philippine National Police (PNP) manned the NBP’s Site Harry which was the facility’s COVID-19 Center. The NBI conducted an earlier investiga tion and filed murder complaints before the DOJ against 22 personnel of the National Capital Region Police Office (NCRPO) who were reportedly assigned to the NBP at the time of the death of the eight prisoners. Remulla pointed out on the “timing” of the filing of the complaints which hap pened “a few hours before I assumed” the position as Justice Secretary. YELLOW BLACK CYAN MAGENTA YELLOW BLACK Standard TODAY REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINES COMMISSION ON APPOINTMENTS A N N O U N C E M E N T President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. has submitted to the Commission on Appointments (CA), for confirmation, the appointments of the following officials:
MR. BENJAMIN DE CASTRO ABALOS JR. SECRETARY, DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR AND LOCAL GOVERNMENT MR. ARSENIO MOLINA BALISACAN SECRETARY, NATIONAL ECONOMIC AND DEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY MR. JAIME JIMENEZ BAUTISTA SECRETARY, DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
Citing feedbacks from the teachers, the COA reported that the laptops were “too slow because the processor is Intel Celeron, which is outdated.” DepEd spokesman Michael Poa said the agency would look into the allega tions that the laptops were slow, adding that they would invoke the warranty clause of the purchase, and if necessary, would ask the supplier to fix or replace thePoacomputers.saidthe DepEd also asked DBM for documentation on the procurement. In a statement, the joint venture Sun west Construction and Development Corp. and LDLA Marketing & Trad ing, Inc. said the laptops fully complied with all technical specifications provid ed by the DepEd and the Procurement Service-Department of Budget and Management (PS-DBM). “The PS-DBM solicited bids for the supply and delivery of laptop comput ers with very specific technical re quirements. As qualified bidders, we made an offer and won the comprehen sive and competitive bidding fair and square. As of early this year, all units have been delivered to DepEd regional offices throughout the Philippines,” the consortium said.
Present during the contract signing were (L-R) United Neon Head of Transit Advertising Operations Philbert Chua; United Neon Chief Commercial Officer Michael Mendoza; United Neon CEO Daniel Lim; LRMC President and CEO Juan F. Alfonso; LRMC Head of Business Development John Kelly F. Tan; and LRMC Head of Corporate Finance & Treasury, and Corporate Planning Franz C. Sia
13. MS. SUSAN VASQUEZ OPLE SECRETARY, DEPARTMENT OF MIGRANT WORKERS
14. MS. AMENAH FLAMINIANO PANGANDAMANSECRETARY, DEPARTMENT OF BUDGET AND MANAGEMENT
MR. MANUEL MANLIGAS BONOAN SECRETARY, DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC WORKS AND HIGHWAYS MS. ROSE BEATRIX L. CRUZ-ANGELES SECRETARY, PRESIDENTIAL COMMUNICATIONS OPERATIONS OFFICE MR. BENJAMIN ESTOISTA DIOKNO SECRETARY, DEPARTMENT OF FINANCE MR. CONRADO MASONSONG ESTRELLA III SECRETARY, DEPARTMENT OF AGRARIAN REFORM MS. MA. ESPERANZA CHRISTINA CODILLA FRASCO SECRETARY, DEPARTMENT OF TOURISM MR. BIENVENIDO ESTUDILLO LAGUESMA SECRETARY, DEPARTMENT OF LABOR AND EMPLOYMENT MR. RAPHAEL PERPETUO MERCADO LOTILLA SECRETARY, DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY MS. MA. ANTONIA YULO LOYZAGA SECRETARY, DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENT AND NATURAL RESOURCES
CYAN MAGENTA YELLOW BLACK Manila Standard TODAY CYAN MAGENTA
15. MR. ALFREDO ESPINOSA PASCUAL SECRETARY, DEPARTMENT OF TRADE AND INDUSTRY
Azurin also promised to pursue close cooperation with community officials for the treatment and rehabilitation of drug users. A total of P89.79 billion worth of narcotics, includ ing P77.01 billion worth of shabu, have been seized na tionwide, as of last May 31, or a month before Duterte stepped down from office. According to statistics released by the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA), a total of 345,216 drug sus pects have been arrested since July 2016 up to May 2022.
Meanwhile, the supplier of the 39,583 laptops distributed to public school teachers maintained however that the gadgets it delivered to the Department of Education (DepEd) met all technical specifications imposed by the govern ment, and were competitively priced. Pimentel has filed a resolution urging the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee to conduct an inquiry on the transaction, claiming that the computers as procured by the Depart ment of Budget and Management (DBM) were overpriced and outmoded. The probe was meant to pinpoint accountability and introduce reforms in the government’s procurement laws andSen.processes.RisaHontiveros said she would also file a resolution seeking a similar investigation.SenateBlue Ribbon Committee chair Francis Tolentino has yet to respond to media queries regarding the request to look into the laptop procurement. The DepEd earlier said it welcomed congressional inquiries on the purchase DOJ tasks NBI to probe ‘suspicious’ deaths of high-profile NBP inmates
LAYOUT 1 LAYOUT
LRMC inks partnership with media firm United Neon SWEET MESS. A vendor repacks sugar in his stall at the Quinta Market in Quiapo, Manila, apparently unaware of the ongoing investigation into alleged anomalous importation of some 300,000 metric tons of sugar as disclosed by Press Secretary Trixie Cruz-Angeles. Norman Cruz By Joel E. Zurbano MALACANANG gave assurance on Thursday that the Marcos administration would adhere to the rule of law while sustaining the campaign against illegal drugs. Meanwhile, Bureau of Customs (B0C) agents assigned at the Ninoy Aquino International Air port on Thursday intercepted three packages of illegal drugs valued at P14.7 million. “The campaign against illegal drugs contin ues,” Press Secretary Trixie Cruz-Angeles said in a press Angelesbriefing.saidPresident Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has directed Philippine National Police (PNP) chief Gen. Rodolfo Azurin Jr. to come up with policies ensuring that the anti-narcotics drive remained within the limitations prescribe by the law. “He gives his trust to the PNP chief in set ting policies and directives on anti-narcotics campaign. The PNP chief has said the operation continues, and they will be compliant with the law pursuant to this,” Angeles said. Marcos’ predecessor, former President Rod rigo Duterte launched the intensified but bloody campaign against illegal drugs. Duterte, in his last days in office, repeatedly urged his successor to support all initiatives that Palace: Anti-drugs drive will adhere to the rule of law
LRMC and United Neon commit to work together for mutual benefit to generate, optimize, and maximize ancillary revenue via sale of advertising, brand, and commercial partnerships in the LRT-1 Cavite Extension covering the permitted sites in the following five stations: Redemptorist Station, MIA Station, Asia World Station, NAIA Station, and Dr. A. Santos Station, which are targeted to be operational in 2024. Gen-4 trains are currently undergoing trial runs and expected to be used for commercial service by Q4 For2022.more updates and info on the LRT-1, follow LRMC on Facebook at facebook.com/ officialLRT1, Twitter at @officialLRT1, or download the ikotMNL mobile app for free on Google Play and App Store
THE Philippine Iron and Steel In stitute (PISI) continues to monitor the selling practices of steel retail ers through “test buys” campaign to promote consumer awareness on substandard steel products.
In a letter to Bureau of Philippine Standards director Neil Catajay, PISI president Ronald Magsajo said steel manufacturers would continue to support efforts by government regu lators to crack down on manufactur ers and sellers of substandard, de formed and re-rolled steel products. “The institute remains to be an advocate and industry partner in promoting safety and adherence to Philippine national standards,” Magsajo said. The PISI has been helping regu lators go after erring retailers and manufacturers as inflation, along with the rising costs of fuel and en ergy, causes less efficient mills to produce substandard products. Magsajo said the proliferation of substandard steel poses a risk to pub lic safety as low-quality steel bars could compromise the structural in tegrity of homes, buildings and pub lic infrastructures. Othel V. Campos Villar bill shields OFW money vs malpractices SENATOR Cynthia Villar eyes stronger state protection for the hardearned money of overseas Filipino workers who send it to their respec tive families in the Philippines. Toward this end, Villar filed Senate Bill No. 101 labeled “Over seas Filipino Workers (OFWs) Re mittance Protection Act” which seeks to shield the OFWs’ remit tances from malevolent forces. In filing the measure, Villar cited the government’s declaration of policy recognizing the significant contribution of OFWs to the nation al economy through their foreign exchange remittances. She noted that the state should adopt measures to protect the hard-earned money the OFWs send back home against usuri ous interests and exorbitant fees charged by financial institutions that deplete the value of the remit tances. Macon Ramos-Araneta of the laptops. In its 2021 audit report on the com puter deal, the COA described the lap tops as “pricey” at P58,3000 per unit, despite the education agency’s initial estimated cost of around P35,000. The laptops were intended for pub lic school teachers involved in distance learning, but the alleged excessive cost reduced the number of recipients from the original target of 68,500 to only 39,583.
Koko eyes probe on P2.4-b laptop deal
MR. LUIS ENRIQUE AUSTRIA MANALO SECRETARY, DEPARTMENT OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS
LRT-1 private operator Light Rail Manila Corporation (LRMC) officially sealed partnership with the United Neon Media Group (United Neon) as its exclusive ancillary revenue partner for the advertising platforms of LRT-1 Cavite Extension (Phase 1) stations and its brand-new Generation-4 (Gen-4) trains from 2022 until 2027. Under the partnership, United Neon will be in charge of commercializing all non-fare box revenues that include station-based advertising, digital advertising, marketing activities, such as but not limited to selling and non-selling activations, street level pillars, railway viaducts and bridges, and Gen-4 train sets. “Both LRMC and United Neon value innovation by promoting a culture of encouraging new ideas and technologies. We see an exciting time ahead of us, and we have full confidence in bringing innovative advertising solutions for LRT-1 Cavite Extension assets with them being the leader in the field of advertising and having expertise in maximizing business potential of various advertising media,” LRMC President and CEO Juan F. Alfonso said. “We thank LRMC for the trust they have placed in United Neon. This partnership unlocks a powerful avenue through which we can continue to connect our clients with their customers especially by implementing spectacular executions and by using data to show the impact of advertising campaigns. As mobility restrictions ease, we anticipate a lot of growth in the out-ofhome advertising sector and the economy as a whole,” United Neon CEO Daniel C. Lim said. The United Neon Media Group is the largest out-of-home advertising company with diversified interests in digital marketing, media, and technology development. Since 1937, the company has enabled both local and foreign brands to grow in the Philippine market by connecting them with their target audiences.
TAKING CARE OF BUSINESS. Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) acting chair Carlo Dimayuga (standing, fifth from left) presides over his first meeting with mayors of the National Capital Region discussions of which included the proposed reimplementation of the expanded number coding in preparation for the opening of face-to-face classes this month. Manny Palmero would put an end to the narcotics trade in the country to keep Filipinos safe from the menace. On Aug. 3, Azurin said the anti-narcotics drive will remainAzurinrelentless.ordered an audit of the drug situation in the country, focusing on areas where prominent drug per sonalities were killed. He said the PNP would partner with other government agencies to ensure that the drug supply chain in the coun try would be “reduced, if not cut totally.”
FRIDAY, AUGUST 12, 2022 A3News IN BRIEF PISI helps gov’t go after erring traders
By Julito G. Rada S ENATE Minority Leader Aquilino ‘Koko” Pimentel III is seeking an investigation into the government purchase of P2.4 billion worth of laptops which the Commission on Audit (COA) has flagged as substandard and overpriced.
THE House of Representatives Committee on Ways and Means will conduct an inquiry, in aid of legislation, into the probable tax liabilities of DITO Telecommunity Corporation.
The panel’s chairperson, Rep. Joey Sarte Salceda said the congressional inquiry is in response to allegations that DITO is bypassing its interconnect agreements with other telecom munications companies, causing foregone interconnection payments of around P2.5 million daily, or around 1000 inter national voice calls allegedly masked as local calls. Salceda said that the government could be losing “at least P7.5 million monthly due to this bypassing, if the figures al leged by the other telecom companies are true.”
T HE Commission on Audit (COA) has flagged the Procurement Service of the Department of Budget and Management-(PS-DBM) on contracts for the procurement of personal protective equipment against COVID-19 worth P1.386 billion without the safety requirement In a 2021 report, state auditors said purchase orders for PPEs such as surgi cal masks, face shields, aprons, gloves, coveralls, head and cover gowns, and respirators were made even if the sup plier did not submit the necessary Cer tificate of Medical Device Notification (CMDN), ABS-CBN News reported. The CMDN is a requirement for im porters and manufacturers under the Food and Drug Administration circu lar dated Nov. 3, 2020, along with the
THE Makati City govern ment has announced it will in stall solar panels in all public schools in the city to promote a greener, cleaner, and more sustainable community. During the Brigada Esk wela at Comembo Elementary School on Wednesday, Mayor Abigail Binay said her admin istration wants to be the pioneer in using renewable energy to power public schools and local government offices. She said that the use of so lar panels will significantly cut down energy consumption and costs while pushing the city’s advocacy for sustainability and lower greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in the country’s pre mier financial district. Binay said that by having its own source of energy, the city can continue to supply electri cal power to schools and offices even during calamities. This is also helpful during the summer months when the supply in the metropolis is low. Binay said the installation of solar panels in public schools can be done in batches and that Comembo Elementary School will be one of the pilot sites. Makati City has 25 elementary schools, 10 junior high schools, and 8 senior high schools which would benefit from the use of solar panels.
Deputy Speaker and Batangas Rep. Ralph Recto meanwhile called on Budget Secretary Amenah Pangandaman to con duct what he tagged as “post mortem on delayed and bungled” procurement activi ties of the PS-DBM. “I have no doubt that the highly ca pable Secretary Pangandaman will do what is right,” Recto said, stressing that the COA -discovered irregularities in PS-DBM operations “did not happen during her watch.” “These are problems she inherited and I think that she will not allow these to continue,” the Batangas lawmaker said. Maricel V. Cruz
A4 FRIDAY, AUGUST 12, 2022 News
license to operate. The COA further said of the P1.386 bil lion contract, all items were fully delivered and paid by PS-DBM, except for a purchase order worth P505.7 million which was not delivered nor paid as of the end of 2021. “The PS did not exercise due dili gence in procuring the personal protec tive equipment items, neither in crafting the TSs nor in the review and evaluation of the technical capacity of the supplier to deliver the goods to be procured us ing the non-discretionary criteria,” the COA, quoted by ABS- CBN News, said. The COA further said without the CMDN, the personal protective equipment were not authorized for sale or public use. The PS-DBM management however countered that the CMDN is only re quired if the PPE “is to be commercial ly sold in the local market” adding that PPEs were procured “during extraordi nary times and community lockdowns.”
COA flags P1.38b COVID PPE contract
Makati City to install solar panels in public schools
Congress to probe probable tax liabilities of DITO Telecom
IN BRIEF Padilla measure seeks to allow same-sex couples’ civil unions
COURTESY CALL. Department of National Defense officer-in-charge and retired Lt. Gen. Jose Faustino Jr. (left) and Armed Forces of the Philippines chief of staff Lt. Gen. Bartolome Vicente Bacarro (right) pay a courtesy call Wednesday night to House Speaker Martin G. Romualdez at the House of Representatives. Ver Noveno
SEN. Robin Padilla has filed Senate Bill 449 aiming to to in stitutionalize the civil union of same- sex couples. Under his proposed measure, Padilla seeks to recognize the civil union between two persons of the same or opposite sex to be able to enjoy the rights, protection, and privileges afforded in this bill “This representation firmly believes It is high time that the Philippines provides equal rights and recognition for couples of the same sex with no prejudice as to sexual relationships are protected and recognized and given access to basic social protection and security,” he said. Providing equal rights and privileges for same-sex couples, he said, will in no way diminish or trample on the rights grant ed to married couples. He noted that the Philippines still lacks legislative measures to afford equal rights and privileges for same-sex couples that is enjoyed by different-sex couples. Macon Ramos-Araneta
Under Section 120 of the National Internal Revenue Code, Salceda cited a 10 percent tax on “every overseas dispatch, message or conversation transmitted from the Philippines by telephone, telegraph, telewriter exchange, wireless and other communication equipment service.” Maricel V. Cruz
By Joel E. Zurbano
Amnesty may be opposed by the military, but granting amnesty is a political decision that must be made by the civilian government itself. The tougher challenge lies, however, in convincing the rebels themselves that the government is sincere in implementing thoroughgoing reforms. Lasting peace and sustained development are impossible in a situation where armed rebels and government troops are lunging at each other’s throats in the countryside. The new government would be taking a big risk if it goes ahead and proclaims an unconditional amnesty for rebel groups. But this could well be the risk that must be taken if the nation is to heal the wounds of war and to move forward. (Email: ernhil@yahoo.com)
A general amnesty would show in no uncertain terms that the government is sincere in its policy of national reconciliation and unity and reaching out to those who have taken up arms against the government.Thegrant of amnesty to all political offenders— including those who have been charged with illegal possession of firearms and other common crimes in furtherance of rebellion—could help in putting an end to the 54-year-old armed rebellion that has already claimed the lives of many Filipinos on both sides and torn civil society apart. We understand that there are more than 400 political prisoners convicted of common crimes such as murder now languishing behind bars in the New Bilibid Prison and other detention facilities. Releasing them through amnesty would send the message that the government is willing to bend over backwards and give them a new lease on Welife. have no illusion that amnesty by itself would lead to the cessation of armed hostilities. Amnesty should be accompanied by a genuine program of sweeping reforms, including agrarian reform, and an equally determined campaign to stamp out corruption. In other words, amnesty should spark a common effort on both sides to work towards peace based on the resolution of political, economic and social problems faced by the nation.
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EDITORIALAmnesty Published
soaring inflation rate, the disruption in the global supply chain caused by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the lingering pandemic. Some would argue that the eco nomic growth slowed from the more robust 8.2-percent expansion in the first quarter of the year. That might be true but the lower gross domestic product growth fig ure in the second quarter came from a high base in the same quarter last year. The economy grew at a faster rate of 12.1 percent during the com parative period in 2021. The Philippine economy actually fared well amid the headwinds buf feting Asia and the rest of the world. The nation’s GDP growth was the second fastest in this corner of the world, next to Vietnam’s 7.7 per cent. It was faster than Indonesia’s 5.4 percent and China’s 0.4 percent. Elections spending and the easing of COVID-19 restrictions greatly contributed to increased economic activities in the second quarter. Lowering the COVID-19 alert level status allowed more Filipinos to go out, dine in restaurants and travel to tourism spots. Living with the virus, as Economic Planning Secretary Arsenio Balicasan puts it, is possible and has led to a higher level of economic activity. Fitch Solutions, a unit of interna tional rating agency Fitch Group, is impressed with the economic per formance of the Philippines. It just raised its 2022 growth fore cast for the Philippines to 6.6 per cent from its previous estimate of 6.1 percent, taking into account the robust expansion in the first two quarters.ThePhilippines could have ex panded more in the second quarter if it reopened further the economy. The resumption of face-to-face classes, for one, is certain to create more economic activities and job opportunities for the informal sec tor.The easing of restrictions has also stabilized the unemployment rate at 6 percent in June. The joblessness level was the same a month ago but much lower than 7.7 percent in the same month last year. The Philippine economy, it seems, is poised to expand further in the coming months given the strong performance in the second quarter. It has shown that it can grow despite COVID-19.Authorities now should allow the economy to expand further by reducing the virus restrictions to a bare minimum. Monday to Sunday by Philippine Manila Standard Publishing Inc. at 6/F Universal Re Building, 106 Paseo de Roxas, corner Perea St., Legaspi Village, Makati City. Telephone numbers 8-5646225 and 8-5646229 (connecting all departments), (Editorial) 832-5554, (Advertising) 2933, Manila Central Post Manila.
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DAPPER, warm, good looking, elegant and awe some, the brothers Jaime Augusto Zobel de Ayala, 63, and Fernando Zobel de Ayala, 62, have the gravitas of a distinguished heritage: business sav vy, management skills, and adherence to global standards of ESG. JAZA and Fernando are at the helm of Ayala Corp., the Philippines’ oldest business house. JAZA is chairman. Before that, he was AC CEO for 26 years. Since 2021, Fernando has been presi dent and CEO. Says JAZA of his sterling 26-year stint as CEO: “Since 1995, our market capitalization expanded more than sixfold; our net income similarly grew more than 6 times. Since 1995, we rewarded our shareholders with dependable returns that aver aged at 15 percent per annum. “Over that period, we cumulatively paid P118 billion in dividends to our common shareholders.”
Website: www.manilastandard.net MEMBER Philippine Press Institute The National Association of Philippine NewspapersPPI can be accessed at: manilastandard.net
WHAT better way for the Marcos administration to walk the talk and demonstrate its commitment to “unity” that it raised as its overarching theme during the recent electoral campaign than to give even the perceived “enemies of the state” the chance to rejoin mainstream society through a general amnesty? Take it from someone who’s gone through the whole rigmarole of fighting the government and then seeking pardon for his decision to take part in a coup d’etat against the Cory Aquino administration in 1989. Presidential Peace Adviser Carlito Galvez Jr. is pushing for the grant of amnesty for communist and Moro rebels through the National Amnesty Commission (NAC) that will process applications forHeamnesty.cited the late former President Fidel V. Ramos who pursued peace with various rebel groups, including soldiers who participated in numerous coup attempts against the Cory Aquino. “I will forever be grateful to FVR because he gave me and my fellow officers a second chance in life. It was through that amnesty proclamation that I was able to revive my military service,” said Galvez, who later became chief of staff of the Armed Forces of the Philippines. “With the creation of the NAC, we hope to provide former rebels with an opportunity to fully reintegrate themselves into mainstream society as peaceful, productive, and law-abiding individuals... More importantly, the national government would like to send a clear and strong message that through the grant of amnesty, it is determined to address the roots of the armed conflict in the country and provide a better life for former combatants,” he added. The seven-member NAC was created by the Duterte administration through Executive Order 125 issued in February 2021. Duterte also issued Presidential Proclamations 1090, 1091, 1092, and 1093 which granted amnesty to members of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF), Rebolusyonaryong Partido ng Manggagawa ng Pilipinas/Revolutionary Proletarian Army/Alex Boncayao Brigade-Tabara-Paduano Group now known as Kapatiran, and the Communist Party of the Philippines–New People’s Army–National Democratic Front (CPP-NPA-NDF), respectively, who committed crimes in the course of their armed struggle. The House of Representatives concurred with the proclamations but the Senate withheld concurrence on the grant of amnesty for communist rebels. It’s not just the Presidential Peace Adviser who is in favor of amnesty to rebels. Even the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-Elcac), which figured in controversial Red-tagging of various legal organizations identified with the mainstream Left during the previous administration, is also recommending that amnesty be offered to the CPP-NPA-NDF.Accordingto National Security Adviser Clarita Carlos, “the NTF-Elcac’s efforts to ensure peace and development for all Filipinos will continue.”
Former Chief Justice Reynato S. Puno Board Member & Chief Legal Adviser Anita F. Grefal Treasury Manager Baldwin R. Felipe Head—Ad Solutions Edgar M. Valmorida Circulation Manager
JAZA has a BA degree from Harvard College (1981), and MBA from Harvard (1987). On Sept. 27, 2007, he was conferred Harvard Business School’s highest honor, the Alumni Achievement Award, for “his innovative, entrepreneurial style of management (that) has benefited both Ayala and an island nation that faces significant social and economic challenges.”] He is the first Filipino to receive this Fernandoaward.hasBA from Harvard College (1962) and a certificate in international management from INSEAD.WithP1.4 trillion in assets and net worth of P583 billion, Ayala Corp, is one of the largest con glomerates in the Philippines. Ayala’s main businesses are: real estate thru Ayala Land, banking thru Bank of PI, telco thru Globe Telecom, power thru AC Energy, water (Maynilad Water), industrial technologies (AC Industrial Technology, Inc.), infrastructure (Aya la Infrastructure Holdings), health care (Ayala Healthcare Holdings), and education (AC Educa tion).Additionally, Ayala has a social commitment arm, Ayala Foundation, which is focused on bet tering the lives of Filipinos primarily by strength ening education, youth leadership, sustainable livelihood, and arts and culture in the country. The Zobel Ayala family owns 47.88 percent of Ayala Corp., thru Mermac, Inc., a private family holding company. A long time partner, Mitsubishi Corp. owns 6.09 percent, the SM group 1.7 per cent.Half of Mermac is owned by the heirs (seven) of former Ambassador Jaime Zobel de Ayala led by JAZA and Fernando; the other half by the heirs (two) the late Enrique Zobel led by his son Iñigo Zobel. Iñigo has let his cousins JAZA and Fernan do run the show. JAZA and Fernando have reshaped and repur posed the Ayala Group which heretofore had been focused on property and banking into a hugely diversified conglomerate taking advantage of the potential one of the fastest growing economies in Asia and the world’s 12th largest consumer mar ket. The diversification enabled Ayala to unlock opportunities, develop new ideas, incubate new businesses, and explore prospects for disruptive innovation.TheAyala portfolio has enabled the group to defy if not profit from downsides and solidify the industry leadership of Ayala Land, BPI, and Globe Telecom, while building a presence in power through AC Energy.
AGGRIEVED individuals or companies seek the assistance of a lawyer to help them enforce or pro tect a right, and to prevent or correct a wrong. While these parties want to know how their case will be handled, it is more important for them to learn how they can obtain a favorable judgment. Ordinarily, a civil action would take around 20 months from the commencement of the action to the rendition of judgment in the trial court. This period would include the period to file an Answer and to set the case for Pre-Trial, and the holding of a mediation or judicial dispute resolu tion, with some leeway for allowable extensions of time to file an Answer or to postpone hearings. Trial periods should be contained in the esti mated 20 months to terminate a case. The trial period must be completed within 10 months or 300 calendar days. However, if there are no third-party complaints, counterclaims, or cross-claim, the presentation of evidence must be terminated within six months or 180 days (Rule 30, Section 1, Amended Rules of CivilTheProcedure).casemust be resolved by the trial court within a period of, and not exceeding, 90 days from the date the case is submitted for resolution (Rule 30, Section 1). The period to render a final judgment or order is also included in the estimated 20 months to ter minate a case. The final judgment or order is served to the par ties by personal service or registered mail. It may be served by accredited courier to any party upon ex-parte motion at the expense of the concerned party (Rule 13, Section 13). The under standing of the service of judgments in relation to the running of the reglementary period is impor tant in the determination on whether the judgment is final and executory. Despite a favorable judgment, the winning par ty will not be able to satisfy or execute the judg ment if the losing party avails of post-judgment remedies, such as motions for reconsideration or appeals.Inthe latter instance, the winning party will have to patiently wait for the appellate court’s resolution, which may take additional time. Upon the expiration of the period to appeal or if no appeal has been filed, the execution of the judg ment shall issue as a matter of right; at this point, the judgment is final and executory. To satisfy or execute the judgment, the winning party must file a motion for execution in the court of origin or before the appellate court, when the interest of justice so requires (Rule 39, Section 1). If the court grants the motion, a writ of execu tion containing the dispositive portion of the judg ment or decision will be issued. The writ is that document which the sheriff presents to the losing party to execute or satisfy the judgment. However, if the judgment is not yet final and executory, a motion for discretionary execution may be filed and may be issued only for good rea sons (Rule 39, Section 2). The gauge used is the presence or the ab sence of these good reasons, which may consist of exceptional circumstances of such urgency as to outweigh the injury or damage that the losing party may suffer should the appealed judgment be reversed later (G. R. No. 136805 - January 28, 2000).“Good reason imports a superior circumstance that will outweigh injury or damage to the ad verse party”. In the Diesel Construction v. Jollibee Foods case, Diesel Construction (Diesel) failed to show “paramount and compelling reasons of ur gency and justice.” Diesel cited as good reason the fact that “it is a small-time building contractor that could ill-afford the protracted delay in the reimbursement of the advances it made for the aforesaid increased-costs of . . . construction of the [Jollibee’s] buildings” (G. R. No. 136805 - January 28, 2000). The Supreme Court declared that Diesel’s al leged precarious financial condition is not by itself a compelling circumstance warranting immediate execution. The financial distress of a juridical entity is not comparable to a case involving a natural person, such as a very old and sickly one without any means of livelihood, an heir seeking an order for support and monthly allowance for subsistence, or one who dies (G. R. No. 136805 - January 28, 2000). The alleged financial distress of a corpora tion does not outweigh the long-standing general policy of enforcing only final and executory judg ments.Certainly, a juridical entity like Diesel has, other than extraordinary execution, alternative remedies such as loans, advances, internal cash generation and the like to address its precarious financial condition (G. R. No. 136805 - January 28, 2000). A final judgment or final order disposes of the action or proceedings and leaves nothing to be done or However,remedied.aninterlocutory order “does not determine the issues (at trial) but directs some further proceeding preliminary to a final decree” (Barron’s Law Dictionary). The judgment should not be mistaken for an in terlocutory order which is also issued by the court handling the proceedings. Some examples of interlocutory orders are the grant or denial of a motion for bill of particulars, motions for intervention, or motions to amend a pleading. Interlocutory orders are not appealable but may be included in the matters raised on ap peal.There are different ways of satisfying or ex ecuting final judgments or orders. For judgments concerning monetary payment, the sheriff or officer must first make a demand for the losing party to pay the winning party the full monetary award including the other lawful fees (Rule 39, Section 9). If the losing party cannot pay the monetary award in cash, the sheriff or officer shall levy upon his or her properties. The losing party will be given the option to choose which property he proposes to be levied upon. If the option is not exercised, the levy shall first proceed against his or her personal properties (Rule 39, Section 9). The levy does not mean that the properties are delivered directly to the winning party; these are earmarked in preparation for a public sale. Hence, it is irregular for the winning party to appropri ate the levied properties without participating in a publicAnothersale.mode to satisfy the monetary award is to garnish the bank deposits, financial interests, royalties, or commissions of the losing party in the possession or control of third parties. The garnishee shall make a written report to the court. Thereafter, the garnished amount shall be delivered to the winning party within ten work ing days from the service of the notice requiring delivery (Rule 39, Section 9). Not all judgments are for the recovery of sums of money; these may also be for the conveyance and delivery of deeds, delivery or restitution of real property, removal of improvements on real property, or the delivery of property. However, if the judgment is for the demolition or removal of improvements on real property, it must be executed via a special order of the court after the winning party files a motion (Rule 39, Section 10). While the sheriff or officer may levy on the properties of the losing party, there are some prop erties exempt from execution, such as the family home or homestead in which he or she resides, or dinary tools or implements in trade or livelihood, clothing or articles for personal use, or the librar ies of professionals, among others. The exemption does not extend to judgments to recover its price or to foreclose on a mortgage (Rule 39, Section 13).
Office,
Honor Blanco Cabie, Editor mst.daydesk@gmail.com FRIDAY, AUGUST 12, 2022 B1Opinion
THE feat.quarterPhilippinesregisteredeconomic7.4-percentgrowthbytheinthesecondof2022isnomeanTheeconomyexpandeddespite
Emil P. Jurado Chairman Emeritus, Editorial Board Chin Wong/Ray S. Eñano Associate
Editors Joyce Pangco Pañares News Editor Jimbo Owen Gulle City Editor Rolando G. Estabillo Publisher Honor Blanco Cabie Opinion Editor Lino M. Santos Chief Photographer Not all judgments are for the recovery of sums of money; these may also be for the conveyance and delivery of deeds, delivery or restitution of real property, removal of improvements on real property, or the delivery of theAsiaheadwindsfaredeconomypropertyThePhilippineactuallywellamidthebuffetingandtherestofworldLasting peace and countrysideother’saregovernmentarmedsituationimpossibledevelopmentsustainedareinawhererebelsandtroopslungingateachthroatsinthe JAZA and Fernando The diversification enabled Ayala to unlock innovationforexplorebusinesses,incubatedevelopopportunities,newideas,newandprospectsdisruptive Judgments and their execution OPINIONMOREONLINE (www.manilastandard.net) Killing won’t end illegal drugs Aggrieved property buyer wins case against DMCI Imaginary university breaks PH internet
Buoyant economy
ACEN is the listed energy platform of the Ayala Group. It has 3,000 MW of attributable capacity in the Philippines, Vietnam, Indonesia, India and Australia. ACEN’s share of renewable capacity is 80 percent, among the highest in the region. These four businesses are Ayala’s core value drivers. In addition, Ayala went into industrial technologies, infrastructure, healthcare, and edu cation.Asof end-2021, Ayala had a market capitaliza tion of ₱515 billion, P431 billion as of Aug. 8, 2022.Also listed are Ayala companies ALI (P382.56 billion market cap), BPI (P432 billion market cap), Globe (P269 billion), ACEN (P351 billion), MWC (P42.69 billion), iPeople, Integrated Micro-Elec tronics, Inc. (IMI) , AREIT, Inc. (AREIT), Aya laL and Logistics Holdings (ALLHC or formerly known as Prime Orion Philippines Inc. (POPI) and ACE Enexor, Inc. (ACEX) are likewise publicly listedCombiningcorporations.thevisioning by its owners and the talent of outside professionals Ayala has demon strated immense capacity for reinvention, and nimbleness at navigating challenges. The owners’ long-term vision is consolidate strength in its traditional businesses while build ing scale and profits in growth areas like energy, industrial technologies, infra, and health care. biznewsasia@gmail.com
FRENCH FIRE. A firefighting aircraft sprays fire retardant over trees during a wildfire near Belin-Beliet in Gironde, southwestern France, on August 10. AFP PLEADING THE FIFTH. Former US President Donald Trump waves while walking to a vehicle outside of Trump Tower in New York City on August 10. Trump on Wednesday declined to answer questions under oath in New York over alleged fraud at his family business, as legal pressures pile up for the former president whose house was raided by the FBI two days ago. AFP
The toll is one of the bloodiest in Mali’s decade-long insurgency, which has spread from the north of the country to the center and south and into neighboring Burkina Faso and Niger. A document naming the dead was authenticated to AFP by several senior military officials, while the govern ment later confirmed the toll in a state ment that said 22 soldiers were injured and 37 “terrorists” were neutralized. The attack occurred on Sunday in the town of Tessit, in the troubled “threeborder” region where the frontiers of the three nations converge. On Monday, the army had said 17 soldiers and four civilians had died. Relatives of the victims, speaking on condition of anonymity, said that some of the civilians had been elected officials.Monday’s statement pointed the finger of blame at the Islamic State in the Greater Sahara (ISGS), saying its members had deployed “drone and ar tillery support and (used) explosives and an explosives-laden vehicle.” AFP
Strikes near Ukraine nuke plant kill 14
AFP AGUJITA, Mexico—A soldier made a brief incursion on Wednesday into the flooded coal mine in northern Mexico where 10 workers have been trapped for a Equippedweek. with an oxygen tank and dressed in a uniform and helmet, the soldier descended into one of the mine shafts in a metal basket, emerg ing minutes later with his clothes vis ibly wet. The governor of Coahuila, Miguel Riquelme, later said on Twitter that a military diver had descended into shaft number four of the mine but encoun tered “obstacles in being able to enter the galleries.”
AFP KYIV BLAMES RUSSIA ANEW FOR ROCKET VOLLEY
WorldFRIDAY, AUGUST 12, 2022B2 mst.daydesk@gmail.com
Taiwan holds live-fire military drill after China repeats controlSoldierthreatsmakes brief descent into Mexico mine
42 Mali soldiers killed in suspected jihadist attacks with drones, artillery SEOUL—The powerful sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un accused the South of causing a CO VID outbreak in the country and warned of “retaliation” as Pyongyang declared “victory” over its outbreak, state media said Thursday. North Korea has previously said that “alien things” near the border with the South caused the Covid out break in the isolated country, a claim that Seoul has rejected. Despite a ban that took effect in 2021, South Korean activists have for years flown balloons containing pro paganda leaflets and US dollars over the border, which Pyongyang has longOnprotested.Thursday, Kim Jong Un’s sister, Yo Jong, blamed these activities for the country’s Covid outbreak, saying they were a “crime against human ity”, the official Korea Central News Agency (KCNA) reported. She said that many countries— and the World Health Organization —have acknowledged “the danger of spreading an infectious disease through contacting contaminated ob jects”, according to the report. “It is very worrisome that South Korea is sending leaflets, money, sloppy brochures and items into our region,” she said. Yo Jong warned that Pyongyang was considering “a strong retaliatory response”, adding that if the balloons continued, “we will respond by eradi cating not only the virus but also the South Korean authorities”. Seoul last month said there have been “no officially verified cases of COVID infections via post or materials”.Kim’scomments come as her brother declared a “shining victory” in the battle against COVID-19, after officials reported no new cases of the virus for nearly two weeks. North Korea has one of the world’s worst healthcare systems with poorly equipped hospitals, few intensive care units, and no COVID-19 treat ment drugs or vaccines, experts say. Even Kim Jong Un apparently suf fered from Covid, according to Yo Jong’s comments.
The strikes came a day after major blasts at the Saki airfield, a key military base on the Russian-annexed Crimea peninsula. AFP
Riquelme said efforts to pump water out of the mine would continue. Five workers managed to escape in the initial aftermath of the accident on August 3, but there has been no contact with the others. The civil defense system said on Twitter that drone flyovers had been conducted to “map the location of worksites and obtain georeferenced in formation” from the rescue area. Two underwater drones have also been deployed in the operation in Agu jita, in the northern state of Coahuila, as have hundreds of soldiers and other rescuers, 25 water pumps and seven drills.
army held another live-fire drill Thursday after Beijing ended its largest-ever military exercises around the island and repeated threats to bring the self-ruled democracy under itsBeijingcontrol.has raged at a trip to Taiwan last week by US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi -- the highest-ranking elected American official to visit in decades -- staging days of air and sea drills that raised tensions to their highest level in years.Taiwan has accused China of using the Pelosi visit as an excuse to kickstart drills that would allow it to rehearse for an invasion. Lou Woei-jye, spokesman for Taiwan’s Eighth Army Corps, told AFP its forces fired howitzers and target flares as part of the defensive drill on Thursday. The exercise in Taiwan’s southern most county Pingtung began at 08:30 am (0030 GMT) and lasted about an hour, he Artillerysaid.tucked in from the coast was lined up side by side, with armed soldiers in units firing the howitzers out to sea one after the other, a live stream showed.Taiwan held a similar drill on Tues day in Pingtung. Both involved hun dreds of troops, the military said. The military has played down the ex ercises’ significance, saying they were already scheduled and were not in re sponse to China’s war games. “We have two goals for the drills, the first is to certify the proper condition of the artillery and their maintenance con dition and the second is to confirm the results of last year,” Lou said, referring to annual drills. Taiwan routinely stages military drills simulating defense against a Chi nese invasion.
LONDON—A British man accused of be ing part of an Islamic State (IS) kidnapand-murder cell known as the “Beatles” has been charged with terrorism offenses after returning to the UK, police said Thursday.“A38-year-old man has been charged with various terrorism offenses following an investigation by the Met’s Counter Ter rorism Command,” police said in a state ment. The Metropolitan Police, which leads anti-terror investigations in the UK, offi cially named the man Aine Davis and said he has been remanded in police custody. They said they arrested Davis after he landed at Luton airport on a flight from Turkey. The suspect, who does not have a fixed address, was set to appear at a court in cen tral London on Thursday morning. He was allegedly a member of the IS cell, which held dozens of foreign hostages in Syria between 2012 and 2015 and was known to their captives as the pan.Russia,NewBritain,Unitedersand27ductingaccused“Beatles”membersBritishbecause“Beatles”oftheiraccents.ThefouroftheareofabatleastjournalistsreliefworkfromtheStates,Europe,Zealand,andJa AFP
WELCOME SHOWER. A Syrian boy reacts as he gets sprayed with water in a portable swimming pool set up by volunteers, at a camp for the displaced in the rebelheld town of Kafr Yahmul in the northern countryside of Idlib on August 10. AFP
Trump declines to answer questions in NY civil probe
“I am asking and begging you... Don’t let the Russians kill you,” he wrote. A woman died after Russian missiles slammed into a village in the Zapor izhzhia region on Wednesday morn ing, local governor Oleksandr Starukh wrote on Telegram. Most of the casualties were in the town of Marganets, just across the Dni pro River from the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, Europe’s biggest. Regional council head Mykola Lu kashuk said the strikes had hit a local power line, leaving thousands of people without electricity. G7 call over nuclear plant Ukraine and Russia have accused each other of recent shelling around the plant, which has six reactors. Ukraine says Russia has stationed hun dreds of troops and stored ammunition at the facility since taking it over on March 4, shortly after starting its invasion. The tensions have revived memories of the 1986 Chernobyl nuclear disaster in Soviet Ukraine, which killed hun dreds of people and spread radioactive contamination over much of Europe. The Group of Seven industrialized na tions condemned Russia’s occupation and called on Moscow to immediately hand back full control of the plant. Ukrainian staff operating the plant must be able to work “without threats or pressure” and Russia’s control of the plant “endangers the region”, the G7 foreign ministers said in a statement.
According to authorities, the flood occurred as miners were carrying out excavation work and hit an adjoining mine full of water. The focus so far has been on pump ing out water from the 60-meter (200feet) deep, crudely constructed mine. The water in the shafts had fallen significantly, from more than 30 me ters, but needed to be reduced by sev eral meters more before it was safe to enter, civil defense national coordina tor Laura Velazquez said earlier on Wednesday.Velazquez said that “all rescuers have the necessary equipment to be able to enter at any time.” AFP
Kim Jong Un’s sis warns Seoul of ‘retaliation’
NEW YORK—Donald Trump on Wednesday declined to answer ques tions under oath about alleged fraud at his family business, as legal pressures pile up for the former president whose house was raided by the FBI just two daysTrumpago.said he had “no choice” but to invoke the Fifth Amendment -- which allows individuals to remain silent un der questioning -- during hours of de position at the New York attorney gen eral’s office in Manhattan. “I declined to answer the questions under the rights and privileges afforded to every citizen under the United States Constitution,” Trump said in a state ment.“When your family, your company, and all the people in your orbit have become the targets of an unfounded, politically motivated Witch Hunt sup ported by lawyers, prosecutors, and the Fake News Media, you have no choice.”After about six hours, Trump emerged from the office building where the deposition took place, wav ing through the closed windows of his vehicle at a small crowd of onlookers as his motorcade pulled away. “A very professional meeting,” he wrote his Truth Social site. “Have a fantastic company with great assets, very little debt, and lots of CASH. Only in America!”
The deposition followed a Federal Bureau of Investigation search earlier this week at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resi dence in Florida, signaling an escala tion of legal woes for the 45th presi dent.Trump on Wednesday again took aim at the search, decrying what he called a lack of “moral and ethical bounds of decency.” AFP
Alleged British IS ‘Beatle’ charged after arrest in UK
CYAN MAGENTA YELLOW BLACK Manila Standard TODAY ESTATESETTLEMENTEXTRAJUDICIALOF–LATEYANGUANTY
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BAMAKO, Mali—Forty-two Malian soldiers died in a sophisticated week end attack by suspected jihadists using drones and artillery, authorities said Wednesday, the latest violent incident to rock the troubled Sahel country.
KYIV—Ukraine on Wednesday accused Russia of carrying out rocket strikes that killed 14 civilians in areas near a nuclear power plant, as the G7 warned that Russian control of the facility “endangers the TAIPEI—Taiwan’sregion”.
Overnight strikes in the Dnipropetro vsk region in central Ukraine killed 13 people and injured 11, with five report ed to be in serious condition, regional governor Valentin Reznichenko wrote on“ItTelegram.wasaterrible night,” he said, urg ing residents to shelter when they hear air raid sirens.
Singapore cuts ‘22 economic growth forecast on strong global headwinds
The below-forecast reading on US consumer prices came on the back of a sharp drop in energy costs and provid ed a much-needed boost to risk assets across the board. Wall Street enjoyed a surge that saw the Nasdaq pile on more than two per cent and push it into a technical bull market—having spiked more than 20 percent from its June lows—while the dollar dropped against its peers. And Treasury yields—a gauge of fu ture interest rates—dropped. Trading floors had been nervous go ing into Wednesday’s release, as many had feared a forecast-topping figure would beef up pressure on the Fed to announce another bumper rate hike at its September meeting. Fears that the bank’s monetary tight ening drive would send the world’s top economy into recession have dragged markets lower for months, with the mood already darkened by several is sues including the Ukraine war, supply chain snarls and worsening China-US relations.Thepositive energy from New York filtered through to Asia, where Hong Kong jumped more than two percent, while Shanghai, Sydney, Seoul, Taipei and Jakarta all rose more than one per cent. Singapore, Wellington and Mum bai also rose. But while sentiment was positive, analysts warned against getting overexcited as inflation was still high and would take some time to get under con trol, while figures on producer prices— which could have a bearing on future CPI readings—will also be closely watched. With AFP
Elon Musk sells nearly $7-b worth of Tesla shares WASHINGTON, United States— Elon Musk has sold nearly $7 billion worth of Tesla shares, according to legal filings, amid a high-stakes court battle with Twitter over a $44-billion buyout deal. The billionaire offloaded about 7.9 million shares in the electric carmak er between August 5 and 9, according to documents filed with the Securi ties and Exchange Commission on Tuesday. “In the (hopefully unlikely) event that Twitter forces this deal to close and some equity partners don’t come through, it is important to avoid an emergency sale of Tesla stock,” Musk, the world’s richest man, said on Twitter late Tuesday. The social media network is locked in a legal battle with the mercurial Tesla boss over his effort to walk away from the April agree ment to buy the company, and a judge has ordered the trial to begin in October. Musk has filed a countersuit, ac cusing Twitter of fraud and alleg ing the platform misled him about key aspects of its business before he agreed to a $44-billion deal. The latest move comes after Musk sold around $8.5 billion worth of Tesla shares in April as he was pre paring to finance the Twitter deal. He tweeted at the time: “No further TSLA sales planned after today.” Tesla had gained 2.2 percent to $868.34 by midday Wednesday, while Twitter jumped 3.4 percent to $44.28.Musk has now sold about $32 bil lion worth of Tesla shares since No vember. Dan Ives de Wedbush Securities said he thinks the Twitter purchase will go ahead in the end. “Musk has now sold enough TSLA stock to fund the Twitter deal which looks more likely,” he told AFP. “This selling pressure has been an overhang on Tesla’s stock and for now the pressure is gone as the agita is gone.” But he notes in an analysis that there are multiple options to the drama. AFP
WASHINGTON, United States—Redhot US inflation cooled slightly in July, which could open the door for the Fed eral Reserve to dial back its aggres sive interest rate hikes while bringing a much-needed boost to President Joe Biden just months before crucial mid termHelpedelections.bythe drop in energy costs dropping in recent weeks, the annual consumer price index dipped to 8.5 percent last month, the Labor Depart ment reported Wednesday, lower than markets were projecting. That 12-month increase soared 9.1 percent in June, the highest in 40 years, fueled by aggressive consumer spend ing of pandemic savings, global supply chain snarls, domestic worker shortag es and Russia’s war on Ukraine. But the big surprise was that the lat est data showed the key inflation index was flat compared to June, a dramatic shift from the steep jump the prior month. Other than the drop in prices seen at the start of the pandemic, it was the first time monthly CPI was un changed since June 2019. “Today we received news that our economy had zero percent inflation in the month of July. Zero percent,” Biden said at a White House event. “We are seeing signs that inflation may be beginning to moderate,” he said, although he acknowledged that the global challenges remain and the economy could face “additional head winds.” When volatile food and energy pric es are excluded from the calculation, the so-called core CPI rate rose just 0.3 percent in the month—the smallest in four months—according to the re port. But the annual increase remained stuck at the same level as June. Soaring prices have squeezed fam ily budgets—and by extension Biden’s popularity—with many costs still ris ing, especially food and housing. Biden’s opponents accuse the presi dent of precipitating the inflation ary spike with a gigantic $1.9-trillion coronavirus relief package, enacted in March last year shortly after assuming office. AFP Brazil farmers bet on environmentally friendly cotton
Business FRIDAY, AUGUST 12, 2022 || B3 extrastory2000@gmail.com Market surges; Jollibee, Ayala Land lead gainers THE stock market surged Thursday as investors breathed a sigh of relief after data showed US inflation finally easing from a four-decade high, giving the Federal Reserve some room to slow down its pace of interest rate hikes. MOSTVOLUMEACTIVEVALUE (PHP) 1 ALI 26,664,300 737,412,735 2 SMPH 18,498,700 709,459,165 3 AEV 8,888,500 526,793,169 4 SM 480,450 401,566,695 5 ICT 2,193,540 401,131,904 6 BDO 3,264,940 375,226,249 7 CNVRG 17,659,300 371,910,475 8 JFC 1,607,980 367,497,590 9 AC 435,070 311,755,110 10 MBT 5,070,160 258,718,090 TOP LASTGAINERS % PRICE CHANGE CHANGE 1 KPHB 10.6 3.35 46.21% 2 MAHB 0.91 0.1 12.35% 3 MG 0.12 0.013 12.15% 4 HTI 0.97 0.1 11.49% 5 GMAP 11.1 0.96 9.47% 6 RLC 19.3 1.56 8.79% 7 MAC 4.69 0.36 8.31% 8 HOME 5.3 0.4 8.16% 9 COAL 0.232 0.017 7.91% 10 JFC 233 15 6.88% TOPPRICELASTLOSERS%CHANGECHANGE 1 KPH 6.32 -1.18 -15.73% 2 KPPI 2.15 -0.25 -10.42% 3 APC 0.217 -0.02 -8.44% 4 RLT 0.212 -0.013 -5.78% 5 NI 0.91 -0.04 -4.21% 6 ALLDY 0.345 -0.015 -4.17% 7 BKR 1.73 -0.07 -3.89% 8 CROWN 1.4 -0.05 -3.45% 9 TFHI 111.1 -3.9 -3.39% 10 TECH 3.32 -0.1 -2.92% PSEi August 11, 2022 US easedinflationinJulyamidfallingcrudeprices
By Marcelo Silva De Sousa CRISTALINA, Brazil—The road through Cristalina, Brazil is in the middle of the tropics, but the fields on either side look like they are covered in snow—little white puffs of cotton stretching to the horizon. The alabaster plants interspersed with the corn and soybean fields out side the central-western town are part of a silent revolution in Brazil: facing negative attention over the agribusi ness industry’s environmental impact, farmers are increasingly turning to cotton and adopting sustainable tech niques to produce it. After increasing exports 15-fold in the past two decades, Brazil is now the world’s second-biggest cotton supplier, after the United States— and the biggest producer of sustain able cotton. No less than 84 percent of the cot ton grown in the South American agri cultural giant is certified by the Better Cotton Initiative (BCI), an internation al non-profit group to promote sustain able cotton farming. “Consumers have changed. Peo ple don’t want to buy products any more that don’t respect nature and its cycles,” says entomologist Cristina Schetino of the University of Brasilia, who specializes in cotton farming. The industry is trying to improve the international image of Brazilian farm ing, tarnished by a history of slave labor, heavy pesticide use and the de struction of the Amazon rainforest for agriculture, a trend that has accelerated under far-right President Jair Bolsona ro—an agribusiness ally.
AFP The Philippine Stock Exchange Index jumped 208.84 points, or 3.2 percent, to 6,680.68 on a value turnover of P8.6 billion. Gainers overwhelmed losers, 144 to 51, with 43 issues unchanged. Jollibee Foods Corp., the biggest fast-food chain, advanced 6.9 percent to P233, while major property develop er Ayala Land Inc. of the Ayala Group climbed 6.4 percent to P28.05. SM Investments Corp. of the Sy Group rose 4.4 percent to P845, while Aboitiz Equity Ventures Inc. of the Aboitiz Group increased 4.1 percent to P59.70 The rest of Asian markets rallied Thursday.
SINGAPORE, Singapore—Singa pore on Thursday narrowed its eco nomic growth forecast this year after the economy contracted in the sec ond quarter compared to the previous three months due to rising inflation and tighter monetary policies, the government said. Moves by central banks worldwide to tighten borrowing costs in order to deal with rocketing prices have weighed down on global demand for Singapore’s exports, with the government painting a grim picture for the rest of the year. Economists often see the perfor mance of the city state’s open, tradedriven economy as a barometer for global trading activity. Singapore’s economy is now project ed to expand by 3.0 to 4.0 percent this year, trimmed from a 3.0 to 5.0 forecast earlier, the trade ministry said in a state ment. The economy grew by 4.4 per cent year-on-year in the second quarter to June, faster than the 3.8 per cent growth recorded in the previous quarter, it said. But compared to the previous three months, the economy contracted by 0.2 per cent, reversing the 0.8 percent ex pansion in the first quarter. “Since May, the global economic en vironment has deteriorated further,” the ministry said. “Stronger than expected inflationary pressures and the more aggressive tight ening of monetary policy in response are expected to weigh on growth in ma jor advanced economies such as the US andChina,Eurozone.”akey market for global ex ports, “continues to grapple with a deepening property market downturn and recurring domestic COVID-19 out breaks,” it said. “Notwithstanding recent signs of a slight easing in global supply disrup tions, the disruptions are likely to per sist for the rest of the year as underlying factors such as the Russia-Ukraine con flict and China’s zero-COVID policy remain,” it added. AFP
INAUGURAL FLIGHT. Passengers wait to board a Norse Atlantic Airways inaugural flight to Oslo, Norway from Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) in Los Angeles, California, on August 10, 2022. AFP
Switching to sustainable techniques is “a re-education process,” says Abrapa’s executive director, Marcio Portocar reiro. “At first, farmers tend to think mainly about the impact on their bottom line. But when they get past that phase... they realize that farming sustainably gives them a guaranteed market,” he told AFP. Added value Located outside Cristalina, around 130 kilometers (80 miles) south of Brasilia, the capital, Fazenda Pamplona is one of Brazil’s biggest proponents of sustainable cotton. The 27,000-hectare (67,000-acre) op eration, run by agribusiness giant SLC Agricola, is like a small city in the mid dle of the countryside, with a banquet hall, a children’s park, sports fields and housing for employees. The farm aims to retain workers by creating a home where they will want to stay, says production coordinator Diego Goldschmidt.Hestandsin front of two enormous bales of cotton, labeled with QR codes that detail their harvest. “These are already sold,” he beams. The farm produced more than 600,000 tons last year, 99 percent of it for export. Sustainable cotton sells for prices up to 10 percent higher than conventional cotton. AFP A combine harvests cotton in a field at Pamplona farm in Cristalina, Goias State, Central-West Brazil, on July 14, 2022. While Brazil is the world’s fourth cotton producer and the second largest exporter only after the United States, it is the world leader in Initiative.Bettergovernancemulti-stakeholderbybeingofwithcottonsustainableproduction,84percentitsproducecertifiedthenon-profit,groupCotton
In 2005, the Brazilian Cotton Pro ducers’ Association (Abrapa) launched a sustainability training program for farmers and introduced protocols on ef ficiently using water and pesticides and phasing out toxic products in favor of biological fertilizers. A new tracing program launched with Brazilian clothing brands, meanwhile, lets consumers check how cotton goods were produced. Last season, cotton farmers in Bra zil replaced 34 percent of chemical pesticides with biological ones, Abra paTheysays.have also started using drones to apply pesticides more efficiently.
SPNEC board OKs change in name SOLAR Philippines Nueva Ecija Corp. said Tuesday its board of directors approved a change in its corporate name to SP New En ergy Corp. to reflect the expanded business. SPNEC said in a disclosure to the stock exchange the change in the corporate name “reflects the company’s expansion from a single project in Nueva Ecija to a portfolio that includes operational projects and other developments” in line with its goal to de veloping 10 gigawatts of solar projects by 2025.The change in name is still subject to stockholders’ and regulatory approval. SPNEC said it would move forward with its planned asset for share swap with parent company Solar Philippines. The transaction involves SPNEC’s issuance of 24.37 billion shares at P2. 50 per share in exchange for shares of Solar Philippines in over 20 com panies.The company said upon the completion of the asset-for-share swap, SPNEC would gain a portfolio of projects including over 400 megawatts of projects operating or un der construction. Jenniffer B. Austria Phoenix Petroleum earned P201m in Q1
CIGNAL-SKYCABLE DEAL. Cignal Cable Corp. signs an agreement with Sky Vision Corp., ABS CBN Corp. and Lopez Inc. to acquire 38.88 percent of the total issued and outstanding capital stock of Sky Cable Corp. for P2.862 billion. At the signing ceremony are (from left) PLDT Inc. and Smart Communications Inc. president and chief executive Alfredo Panlilio, Mediaquest Holdings chairman Manuel Pangilinan, Mediaquest Holdings president and chief executive Jane Basas, Sky Cable Corp. president and chief executive Antonio Ventosa, ABS-CBN chairman Mark Lopez and ABS-CBN president and chief executive Carlo Katigbak.
By Jenniffer B. Austria FAST-FOOD chain operator Jollibee Foods Corp. said Thursday net income surged 185.8 percent in the second quarter to P2.78 billion from P976 million in the same period last year as all brands bounced back with easing quarantine restrictions. Jollibee said in a disclosure to the stock exchange second-quarter system-wide sales, a measure of all sales to consumers from companyowned and franchised stores, climbed 44.8 percent year-on-year to P73.15 billion.Same-store sales for the Philippine business increased 51.5 percent in the second quarter on improvement in dine-in sales and continued growth in delivery sales. The international business also increased 6.9 percent despite a 29.5-percent decline in the China business same-store sales growth due to COVID-related restrictions. The robust second-quarter results pushed first half net income to P5.09 billion, up 352 percent from P1.12 billion posted a year ago. First-half revenues rose 33 percent to P94.9 billion from P71.3 billion. Jollibee opened 230 new stores in the first half and closed down 130 stores. It was operating 6,297 stores worldwide, including 3,239 in the Philippines and 3,058 overseas as of end-June.“Weare pleased with our strong top line growth led by our Philippine business which delivered better-thanexpected sales for the second quarter and got back to its pre-pandemic sales level. We are encouraged to see further improvement in dine-in sales while at the same time sustaining growth in our delivery business,” Jollibee group chief executive Ernesto Tanmantiong said.
B4 FRIDAY, AUGUST 12, 2022
Monde’s noodle sales fall 15% after EU warnings
ABS-CBN acquiring 34.9% stake of rival TV5 Network
Ray S. Eñano, Editor Roderick T. dela Cruz, Assistant Editor extrastory2000@gmail.combusiness@manilastandard.net
By Darwin G. Amojelar ABS-CBN Corp. on Thursday announced the acquisition of a 34.9-percent stake in TV5 Network Inc. that will expand the former’s audience reach, while helping the latter controlled by PLDT Inc. grow and strengthen its free-to-air service.ABS-CBN and TV5 said they execut ed on Aug. 11 the investment agreement that will allow the Lopez-led company to acquire 34.9-percent stake in TV5 for P2.16Afterbillion.thetransaction, PLDT’s Media Quest Group will remain the controlling shareholder of TV5 with 64.79-percent share.The two companies also executed a convertible note agreement in which ABS-CBN will invest in a convertible note with a face value of P1.84 billon to be issued by TV5. The convertible note will allow ABSCBN, subject to obtaining applicable regulatory approvals, to acquire addition al primary common shares of TV5 after eight years to no more than 49.92 percent.
UNIONBANK INNOVATION. Union Bank of the Philippines is poised to become the first universal banking entity in the country to offer virtual asset exchange services through its mobile banking app, marking another major milestone toward future-proofing the bank while creating customer-centric solutions powered by technology and innovation. Through the new feature, UnionBank customers can now purchase and sell Bitcoin directly from the UnionBank mobile banking app without the need for a third-party virtual asset wallet. This eliminates the need for multiple apps and makes buying and selling BTC easier and convenient.
Converge posted 21% increase in first-half income to P3.95b
Fitch Solutions hikes PH growth forecast to 6.6% IN BRIEF
Jollibee’s profit jumped by 186% to P2.78b in Q2
“We at Fitch solutions have raised our forecast for real GDP growth in the Philippines to 6.6 percent yearon-year in 2022, from 6.1 percent previously, following the recent growth print of 7.8 percent year-onyear in H122 [first half of 2022],” it said.Itsaid mounting headwinds from a combination of softer global demand, elevated energy prices and tightening monetary policy would continue to see growth decelerate in the second half.“Overall, GDP growth in the first half benefited from the re opening of borders in February and election-related spending. Moreover, a relatively accommo dative central bank has also sup ported consumption and invest ment to some extent,” it said. Fitch Solutions said these tailwinds helped offset external headwinds stemming from elevated energy pric es, a slowdown in the world economy and tightening global monetary con ditions.“However, we believe that these tailwinds will continue to fade over the coming months, while growth headwinds intensify, leading to slow er growth in H222,” it said. Economic Planning Secretary Arsenio Balisacan said the secondquarter performance was the second best in the region next to Vietnam’s 7.7 percent. It was faster than Indo nesia’s 5.4 percent and China’s 0.4 percent.
PHOENIX Petroleum Philippines Inc. an nounced Thursday its return to profitability with a net income of P201 million in the second quarter, its highest since the onset of theThepandemic.company said it gradually recovered from the P262.7-million loss it suffered in the first quarter. Phoenix posted gains from overseas busi nesses and continued operational expense discipline across the group. Earnings before interest, taxes, deprecation and appreciation grew by 67 percent quarter-on-quarter. “We had a difficult start this year, but we’ve gained some traction and are seeing favorable results from our strategies. Im proved margins and our sustained prudence are paying off, and we are in a better posi tion to cultivate growth as the market further recovers,” said Phoenix Petroleum president Henry Albert Fadullon. “We are glad to emerge from the second quarter stronger and are more determined to stay on the path to recovery,” said Fadullon. Alena Mae S. Flores Home Credit pays tribute to Publico
PSE
MONDE Nissin Corp. said Thursday noodle sales fell 15 percent in July after several European countries issued health warnings and product recall against the company’s top-selling Lucky Me! brand. Monde Nissin chief executive Henry Soesanto said in a news briefing the decline in noodle sales in July would have “dampening effect” on the company’s third-quarter results. “Our noodles sales for July declined 15 percent from the previous year, making overall domestic sales for the month flat. This will have a dampening effect on our third-quarter results; however, our sales and marketing teams are working hard to regain lost momentum and to position us for future growth,” Soesanto said. Food safety regulators in the European Union and Taiwan said in July Lucky Me! instant noodles and pancit canton produced in Thailand were found to contain traces of unauthorized chemical ethylene oxide. The Philippines Food and Drugs Administration also conducted an inquiry and reported that all tested products in the country complied with localMonderegulations.Nissinreported an 8.7-percent increase in core net income attributable to shareholders in the second quarter to P1.96 billion on higher revenues mainly from domestic business. Asia-Pacific branded food and beverage domestic business registered an 18.9-percent increase in secondquarter revenue on the back of price increases and volume growth across all categories.Thecompany implemented an average of 5-percent to 8-percent increase in prices across brands to reflect the rising cost of inputs in April. Monde Nissin’s meat alternatives reported a 2.3-percent decline in revenues on weaker sales in the United Kingdom.Jenniffer B. Austria
HOME Credit Philippines recognized the invaluable contributions of Atty. Rodolfo Publico to the company and to the finance industry.Publico served as an independent direc tor of Home Credit Philippines since the company started operations in the country in 2013. Publico’s wisdom and guidance helped HCPH succeed and build the brand’s reputation as the leading consumer finance company, providing access to practical, af fordable and responsible financial solutions to over 8 million Filipinos. As an independent director, Publico was one of the most vital members of the board responsible for setting HCPH’s strategic di rection and risk appetite. He was part of the board committee that developed the compa ny-wide strategic, risk, financial, regulatory and reputational affairs. Publico’s expertise and experience pro vided valuable insights to the HCPH board of directors and the board committees as the basis for making critical decisions. He was chairman of the risk management com mittee from 2020 to 2021, a member of the corporate governance committee and inter nal audit committee from 2019 to 2021 and a member of the compensation committee in 2015 and 2016. INDEX Thursday, August 11, 2022 208.846,680.68PTS. F oreign e xchange r ate Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas • THURSDAY, AUGUST 11, 2022 Currency Unit US Dollar Peso United States Dollar 1.000000 55.7520 Japan Yen 0.007527 0.4196 UK Pound 1.221900 68.1234 Hong Kong Dollar 0.127437 7.1049 Switzerland Franc 1.061458 59.1784 Canada Dollar 0.782779 43.6415 Singapore Dollar 0.730514 40.7276 Australia Dollar 0.707800 39.4613 Bahrain Dinar 2.652872 147.9029 Saudi Arabia Rial 0.266028 14.8316 Brunei Dollar 0.727855 40.5794 Indonesia Rupiah 0.000067 0.0037 Thailand Baht 0.028305 1.5781 UAE Dirham 0.272279 15.1801 Euro Euro 1.030200 57.4357 Korea Won 0.000771 0.0430 China Yuan 0.148710 8.2909 India Rupee 0.012650 0.7053 Malaysia Ringgit 0.224467 12.5145 New Zealand Dollar 0.640000 35.6813 Taiwan Dollar 0.033452 1.8650 Source: BSP TOTAL VOLUME 917,289,439 TOTAL TRADES 92,916 TOTAL VALUE (IN PHP) 8,625,958,346.80 ADVANCES 144
The proceeds of the subscription in the primary common shares and the convertible note in the total amount of P4 billion will fund the capital expen ditures and operating expenses of TV5. “This transaction is clearly trans formational for both companies and is envisaged to significantly enhance sig nificantly TV5’s capability to deliver content and coverage to the Filipino public in the areas of entertainment, news, sports and public services,” ABSCBNThesaid.transaction is expected to be completed this month, while closing is subject to fulfillment of certain closing conditions.ABS-CBN said it would use the pro ceeds from the sale of SkyCable Corp. to Cignal Cable Corp. of PLDT Group to finance the investment in TV5. Cig nal will initially acquire 38.88 percent of SkyCable for P2.8 billion. Cignal also signed a debt instrument agreement with SkyCable worth P4.38 billion which would allow the former to acquire the remaining 61.12-percent share in the Lopez-led cable company after eight years. “We welcome the entry and invest ment of ABS-CBN in TV5, as ABSCBN has always been the leading de veloper and provider of Filipino-related entertainment content not only in the Philippines but overseas as well,” Me diaquest Holdings chairman Manuel PangilinanABS-CBNsaid.chairman Mark Lopez said the partnership is an opportunity to help TV5 grow and strengthen its freeto-air“Fornetwork.ABS,it presents a fantastic plat form for us to achieve synergies in pro duction content and talent management as well as maximizing our content delivery. We look forward to be of greater service to the public as we come together in tak ing TV5 to the next level,” he said.
CLOSING
CONVERGE Information and Com munications Technology Solutions Inc. said Thursday net profit climbed 21 percent in the first half from a year ago on strong demand for reliable high-speed broadband. The company posted a net profit of P3.95 billion in the first six months, up from P3.25 billion in the same period lastConsolidatedyear. revenues grew 36.3 percent in the first semester to P16.05 billion from P11.78 billion in the same period last Residentialyear.revenues went up by 37.9 percent to P14.08 billion from P10.21 billion, driven by higher subscriber base. Converge ended June with 1.81 million residential subscribers. Revenues from Enterprise business grew by 25.5 percent year-on-year in the first half and reached the milestone of more than P1 billion quarterly rev enues in the second quarter. “We expect that strong demand for reliable high-speed broadband will result in continuous growth of our residential subscriber base to ap proximately 2 million by the end of 2022, lower than our initial guidance of approximately 2.4 million, due to higher than expected churn in first half of 2022,” Converge co-founder and chief executive Dennis Anthony Uy“Convergesaid. continues to be on track to deliver enterprise revenue growth of 20 percent YoY, in line with our initial guidance. The revised outlook for our residential business results in a consol idated YoY revenue growth guidance of 25 to 30 percent for 2022,” he said. Uy said the company reduced its capital expenditures to between P21 billion and P23 billion this year from an initial guidance range of P26 billion to P28 billion following the acceler ated network rollout in the previous quarters.“Thiswill also reduce the need for Converge to draw further debt during this high interest rate environment,” heConvergesaid accelerated its network rollout by deploying 1.2 million new FTTH ports nationwide in the first half, putting the company on track to reach its adjusted goal of about 55 per cent nationwide household coverage by 2023. Darwin G. Amojelar
By Julito R. Rada FITCH Solutions, a unit of Fitch Group, raised on Thursday its 2022 growth forecast for the Philippines to 6.6 percent from its previous estimate of 6.1 percent, taking into account the robust expansion in the first two quarters.FitchSolutions said in a report the slowdown in the second-quarter GDP growth to 7.4 percent from 8.2 per cent in the first quarter was in line with expectations, “although the pace of deceleration... was more modest than we had predicted.”
Business
Romualdez,1993. on Thursday also condoled with the family of the retired Filipino sprinter, who died at the age of 57. Lydia de Vega was one of the greatest and the most decorated Filipino athletes. She brought honor and pride to our country by winning numerous medals in the Southeast Asian Games, Asian Games and Asian Athletics Championships,” RomualdezPhilippinesaid. Olympic Committee president Rep. Abraham “Bambol” Tolentino also joined the country and his fellow sports leaders in grief. “Another sad day for Philippine sports, and although we lost a great icon, she made an imprint on the hearts of all the people she inspired,” Tolentino said on Thursday. “Her story will always be a success story to all athletes that Filipinos are capable of being in the pedestal specially to those who dream and pursue it.”
Para athletes to get P12m in afterincentivesAPGstint
Muros: Lydia inspired generations of young athletes
Gen. Prawit Wongsuwan, president of the National Olympic Committee of Thailand, was among the first to convey his“Hercondolences.legacycontinues to live on. May she Rest In Peace,” Wongsuwan said. Singapore National Olympic Council president Tan Chuan-Jin said: “Our deepest condolences to the POC and the family of the late Lydia de Vega. Who can’t forget the iconic Queen of the track?” De Vega-Mercado’s last public appearance was during the opening ceremony of the 2019 30th SEA Games at the New Clark City, where she carried the Philippine flag, together with fellow sports icons. The Straits Times of Singapore also carried the news about the demise of Asia’s track queen in the 1980s, quoting Philippine athletics’ chief Terry Capistrano.“Welostone of our own, one of our best, but her spirit will live on in our hearts,” he said. with Vince Lopez, Macon RamosAraneta and Maricel V. Cruz
PSC Officer-in-Charge and Executive Director Atty. Guillermo Iroy, Jr. FIDEsaid.Master Sander Severino of the national para chess team, who has the distinction of being the most bemedalled Filipino athlete in the Games shall receive P500,000 cash reward after winning 4 gold and 2 silver medals in individual and team categories. Para swimmers Angel Otom and Ariel Joseph Alegarbes will get P450,000 each for their medal-winning performance of 3 golds apiece. Paralympian Ernie Gawilan gets P382,500 for his 2 gold, 1 silver and 1 bronze. “We hope that this reward will give them an extra morale boost to keep reaching for their dreams. We thank all our national para-athletes for all their sacrifices and taking pride in raising our flag here and in their coming competitions,” Iroy said. Deputy Chef de Mission Tricia Rana credits the support of the PSC in the success of the team. The PSC has given para-athletes equal benefits, allowances, and incentives with regular athletes, which they see as one of the biggest morale boosters. “Aside from the determination of our athletes, plus nag-inspire sa kanila to give honor and to give back to what the government through the Philippine Sports Commission is giving them. Malaking tulong po talaga ang ginawa ng PSC,” said DCDM Rana.
KingWhale-Taipei’s twin victories coupled with PLDT’s (2-2) skid and Cignal (1-2) shaky semis outing actually gave the former three chances for the finals. Even if they drop their last two matches, including against Cignal tomorrow (Saturday), they could still barge into the finals depending on their performance against Creamline and Cignal via tiebreak. Young Lian Yi-Jen and Carvalho have anchored the team’s surge with superb playmaking and hitting, respectively, while the likes of Wang Yu-Wen, Chen Li-Jun, Chen Chieh and Tsai Qin-Yao and the rest have provided the solid backup which they need to showcase against the Cool Smashers. Tots Carlos, Alyssa Valdez, Jema Galanza and setter Jia de Guzman can’t wait to test the Taiwanese mettle with Meneses also likely to test on new combinations from among Michelle Gumabao, Celine Domingo, Pangs Panaga and Risa Sato in an attempt to sustain their win run all the way to the finals, a winner-take-all match on Sunday, back at the MOA Arena.
By Peter Atencio TRACK star Elma Muros-Posadas was moved to tears upon learning that sprint queen Lydia de Vega-Mercado has passedTearsaway.continued to flow from her eyes since learning that De Vega-Mercado, also known an as Diay, died due to complications of Stage 4 breast cancer last Wednesday.“Iyunglegacy niya sa lahat. Marami siyang naiwan na alaala,” said MurosPosadas, who was once the “Long Jump Queen” of the Muros-Posadas,Philippines.now the women’s coach of the University of the PhilippinesDiliman track team, said De Vega-Mercado’s retirement and achievements have inspired generations of young athletes to strive for excellence. The 55-year-old Muros-Posadas rose to fame at the same time Diay became known as Asia’s Fastest Woman when the latter was reaping international honors as a national athlete from 1981 to 1993. Muros-Posadas, trained and competed alongside De Vega as they were both members of the Gintong Alay Track and Field program, which began in 1979. The camaraderie and the times they spent training together helped develop a bond between them, along with other members of the national athletics’ team. “Ang buhay atleta ay mahirap ipaliwanang. Ipag-pray na lang natin siya. I-let go na lang natin. At least nasa mabuting kamay na siya,” said Muros-Posadas. De Vega-Mercado first made a splash in the 1981 Southeast Asian (SEA) Games held in Manila with gold-medal performances in the 200- and 400-meter events, which surpassed records set at the Asian Games at that time. Then, De Vega-Mercado came away with the gold medal in the 100-meter dash in the 1982 New Delhi Asiad, before repeating the feat in the 1986 Asiad, where she clocked 11.53 seconds. “Malayo man, nakagsakripisyo naman siya,” said Muros-Posadas as De VegaMercado moved to a teaching career in Singapore when she finally retired. Muros-Posadas recalled one athlete, Joba Botana from Tacloban, who won a gold medal in the 2009 Palarong Pambansa in the elementary girls’ 200-meter sprintsBotanaevent.was gifted with a neon orange running shoes, which De Vega-Mercado used during her stints in the Asian Games the following year. This inspired Botana to train harder as she eventually won medals in the initial staging of the Batang Pinoy and later excelled in track events in the Palarong Pambansa’s secondary level. More podium finishes followed for Botana, while wearing De Vega-Mercado’s running shoes when she stepped into college at the University of the East and with Muros-Posadas guiding her. Her neon orange shoes got retired when Muros-Posadas’ protégé decided to quit and finish college with honors. As for De Vega-Mercado, she won the gold in the 100 meters at the SEA Games (1987, 1991 and 1993), and ruled the 200-meter events in 1981, 1983, 1987 and
KingWhale-Taipei targets finals vs Creamline
THE Philippines celebrated amazing achievements in various sporting fronts in the jolly month of July. Pole vault ace EJ Obiena, the women’s football team Filipinas, karate stalwart Jun na Tsukii, and new pro boxing champ Dave Apolinario took turns bringing honors to the country, earning the nod from the Philippine Sportswriters Association as the top performers in the glorious month. Obiena vaulted to a new Asian-high mark of 5.94 meters, eclipsing his own 5.93m-standard, on his way to capturing a historic bronze medal in the World Athletics Championships in Oregon. The feat strengthened the 26-yearold’s standing among the elite and lifted him to No. 3 in the latest world rankings. Not long after clinching a qualifying ticket to the prestigious FIFA Women’s World Cup, the rampaging Filipinas carved their names into the record books by ruling the Asean Football Federation Women’s Championship. The Pinay booters, drawing added fire from a roaring home crowd at Rizal Memorial Stadium, brought down holder Vietnam in the semis, 4-0, then met their date with destiny with a 3-0 title clincher over four-time champ Thailand. Tsukii continued ‘woman power’ in her triumphant campaign in the World Games in Birmingham, Alabama. The Fil-Japanese upstaged world No. 2 Yorgolis Salazar of Venezuela, 2-0, to cop the women’s -50kg gold medal for Team Philippines. Like a breath of fresh air, the undefeated Apolinario captured the IBO flyweight title with a cracking first-round knockout of home bet Gideon Buthelezi in East London, South Africa. Apolinario (17-0 with 12 KOs) filled the void after Mark Magsayo lost the Philippines’ remaining world title earlier in the Filipinomonth.youngsters also scored big as the future Hidilyn Diazes harvested 15 gold medals in the Asian Youth and Junior Weightlifting Championships in Taskhent.
ALMOST P12 million worth of cash incentives will be given out by the government through the Philippine Sports Commission and the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation to the medalists of the 11th ASEAN Para Games (APG) held in Solo, Indonesia,Eightyrecently.Filipino para-athletes from nine sports namely; archery, athletics, badminton, basketball, chess, judo, powerlifting, swimming, and table tennis achieved their mission in APG, winning a total of 104 medals—28 gold, 30 silver, and 46 bronzes, good for a fifth-place finish overall in the 11-nation showpiece. It was the best performance recorded by the country since the 2009 Games in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia with 24 gold, 24 silver, and 26 bronzes. Under Republic Act No. 10699 or the Expanded National Athletes and Coaches Incentives and Benefits Act, gold, silver, and bronze medalists from the ASEAN Para Games are entitled to receive cash incentives worth P150,000, P75,000, and P30,000, respectively. “Our para athletes showcased their grit and hunger for success in the APG. The support of the Filipino people provided through the PSC are truly reciprocated.”
Tributes pour in for Diay
Filipinas, Obiena lead July PSA achievers
Game today (Friday) (Filoil EcoOil Centre) 4 p.m. – KingWhale vs Creamline
FRIDAY, AUGUST 12, 2022 C1 Riera U. Mallari, Editor; Randy M. Caluag, Assistant Editor
Sports
Several of Tolentino’s fellow national Olympic committee leaders expressed their grief over the Filipina icon’s passing. “On behalf of Brunei Darussalam NOC, I would like to convey our sincere condolences to the Philippines NOC and the family of the late Lydia de Vega,”said Brunei NOC president Prince Haji Sufri Bolkiah. “Our deepest condolences to the family of the late Lydia de Vega and all Philippines NOC,” said Indonesia Olympic Committee president Raja Sapta Oktohari, who like Tolentino also heads his country’s cycling federation. “May she rest In peace.”
The Philippine Sports Commission paid tribute to Asia’s former sprint queen and Philippine track icon Lydia De Vega-Mercado by putting up a LED billboard outside Rizal Memorial Sports Complex in Vito Cruz, Manila on Thursday. De Vega-Mercado died on Thursday following a long ght against cancer. Danny Pata
MercadodeLydiaVega-
President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. led the tributes as he offered his “condolences and mourning” for De Vega-Mercado’s family. “I join the entire nation in mourning the untimely demise of former Asian sprint queen Lydia de Vega, after a four-year battle with breast cancer,” Marcos said. “My sincerest condolences to her family and loved ones.” Marcos also recognized the Olympic career of De Vega, known by her nickname Diay, when she placed the Philippines on the Olympic Map during her gold-medal feat in the 100-meter sprint of the Asian Games of 1982 and 1986. “Lydia was once touted as the fastest woman in Asia and she placed the Philippines in the map of international athletics. She won the 100-meter gold medal in the 1982 and 1986 Asian Games,”the PresidentLegislators,said.led by Speaker Martin G. By Randy Caluag TRIBUTES from local and international leaders poured in for former Asian track queen Lydia de Vega-Mercado, who died on Wednesday after a long bout with Stage 4 cancer.
A STRAIGHT-SET escape and a five-set reversal have pushed KingWhale-Taipei closer to a dream finals appearance—and a nightmare of sorts for two local squads—and the visiting team sets out for a third straight victory and a crack at the Premier Volleyball League Invitational Conference crown. “The competition made us learn and it taught us many things,” said KingWhale coach Teng Yen-Min after the Taiwanese stunned the PLDT High Speed Hitters in a big fifth set rally to hack out a 23-25, 25-20, 25-23, 20-25, 1513 victory at the SM MOA Arena last Tuesday. The win came on the heels of their 26-24, 2518, 26-24 triumph over the Army Lady Troopers Monday, giving the Taiwanese a clear shot at the second championship berth. But they are in for a tougher session today. Ranged against Creamline, KingWhale-Taipei will need to draw the best from its mix of old and young crew, led by heavy-hitter Bea Carvalho, to complete a surprising semis campaign in the mid-season conference of the league organized by Sports Vision. The lone match is set at 4 p.m. at the Filoil EcoOil Centre in San Juan with the Cool Smashers, who benefitted from the Taiwanese win over the High Speed Hitters and headed straight to the finals with a 3-0 card, fancied to get past the guest squad. But Creamline coach Sherwin Meneses doesn’t want to take any chances and is expected to make full use of his powerhouse roster despite being assured of a second straight finals appearance, describing the Taiwanese “a very exciting team.”
Chen Chieh (7) has helped anchor KingWhale-Taipei’s surge with her A-game
NEW YORK— A jersey worn by basketball legend Michael Jordan during Game 1 of the 1998 NBA Finals, his last title victory, is set to be auctioned off in September for an estimated $3-5 million, Sotheby’s announced Wednesday.
Jordan’s ‘Last Dance’ jersey to be auctioned for $3 to $5m
AFP MONTREAL—Nick Kyrgios rallied to topple world number one Daniil Medvedev at the ATP Montreal Masters on Wednesday as the top three seeds tumbled in the second round. Australia’s Wimbledon finalist beat Medvedev 6-7 (2/7), 6-4, 6-2 to produce his second career upset of a reigning number one after ambushing Rafael Nadal at Wimbledon in 2014. Unseeded American Tommy Paul also came from a set down to send second-seeded Carlos Alcaraz of Spain packing 6-7 (4/7), 7-6 (9/7), 6-3 while unseeded Briton Jack Draper beat third-seeded Stefanos Tsitsipas of Greece 7-5, 7-6 (7/4). Kyrgios started the landslide. The mercurial Aussie produced his usual oncourt antics, complaining about a high bounce, hitting a ball into the stands to draw a warning and bickering with his player box in moments of tension. But after gathering his formidable resources, the 27-year-old ranked 37th finished off Medvedev in exactly two hours. “I don’t go in looking at the rankings, j ust the guy in front of me,” Kyrgios said. “I had a clean objective today —play a lot of serve and volley and execute better. “Hopefully I can keep this rolling and keep on winning.” Both players were coming off weekend title wins, Kyrgios at the Washington 500 on Sunday and Medvedev at Los Cabos, Mexico, on Saturday. Kyrgios has won 14 of his last 15 matches to improve to 29-7 for 2022. Medvedev lost for the 11th time in 2022, but by reaching the final at Los Cabos—where he lifted his first trophy of the season—he is assured of taking the number one ranking into his US Open title defense later this month. He was barred from Wimbledon as the tournament excluded Russian and Belarussian players over Russia’s invasion of Alcaraz,Ukraine.who like Medvedev enjoyed a first-round bye, fared no better in his opening match, with the teenager admitting pressure got to him.
THE National teams in the recent 44th Fide World Chess Olympiad in Chennai, India did well considering their rankings and the opposition in the tournament.Alast-day heroics of International Master Paulo Bersamina enabled the men’s team to shock third-seed Norway, 2.5-1.5 in the final round of the tournament. Bersamina’s much-needed win came at board 4 when he upset GM Olav Olsen Urkedal for the full point in their encounter. The win enabled the Filipinos to place 32nd in the tournament, a big difference from the 52nd seeding before the start of the Olympiad. The Designated Kit Man used to cover Bersamina when he was younger, in fact he was still in high school when he showed much promise in tournaments organized by GM Jayson Gonzales, the executive director of the National Chess Federation of the Philippines (NCFP) and also the women’s team coach in the Olympiad. The women’s team, seeded 39th in the competitions, also gave a good account of themselves, harrowingly missing a historic Top 10 finish after a loss in the final round against number 14 seed Cuba, 1.5-2.5 in the last playing day. Nonetheless, it was valiant effort for the ladies. Again, I was able to cover Janelle Mae Frayna before she earned her GM norms. Coached and mentored by Gonzales, Frayna made history when she became the country’s first womanThanksGrandmaster.toGonzales and efforts by the GM Eugene Torre, GM Rosendo Balinas and the NCFP, the future of Philippine Chess remains bright despite losing GM Wesley So to the American Chess Federation. Personally, I’m so proud of Bersamina and Frayna, who used to play as kids in local tournaments before and are now holding their own against the best chess players in the world. Other members of the men’s team include GM Mark Paragua, GM John Paul Gomez, GM Darwin Laylo and GM Rogelio Barcenilla Jr. Aside from Frayna, Woman International Master (WIM) Jan Jodilyn Fronda, WIM Marie Antoinette San Diego, WIM Kylene Joy Mordido and Woman Fide Master Shania Mae Dizaon also competed for the women’s side. Good job, teams! Speaking of another wonderful development, the Philippines Football League got off to a good start despite the heavy rains last weekend. Defending champs and AFC Cup compaigners Kaya FC Iloilo scored goal late in the game against Azkals Development Team to start the tournament. I am hoping that more fans will come to Rizal Football Stadium, the Imus City Grandstand in Cavite, Biñan Football Stadium in Laguna, Cebu City, Iloilo City, and New Clark City Stadium. Let us continue to support our own domestic football league. Before ending this piece, allow me to offer some prayers and condolences to the family of Lydia De Vega-Mercado -- one of my local sports heroes back when people read the newspapers, especially the sports pages, with gusto and much passion. Growing up in the early 80s, the name Lydia De Vega was synonymous to both national pride and honor. The Bulakenya was once the sprint queen of Asia, winning back-to-back gold medals in the Asian Games in New Delhi, India in 1982 and in Seoul, South Korea four years later, both in the 100-meter dash. She also won two gold medals in the Asian Athletics Championships in 1983 in Kuwait and another in Singapore in 1987 in the 100m and 200m dash. She was also a consistent source of gold medals at the Southeast Asian Games from 1981 up to 1993, all-in-all bagging nine gold medals in the 100, 200 and 400-meter races and even a gold in the long jump during the 1987 Jakarta SEA Games in Indonesia. She also competed in the 1984 Olympics in Los Angeles, California and in the 1988 Summer Olympic Games in Seoul, South Korea. She was the athlete, the idol and the ultimate superstar of her time. Her exploits in the tracks were more than enough for ordinary Filipinos to forget their daily problems then, with the mere mention of the long-legged lass winning another gold medal for the country. Just imagine how many Instragram and Facebook followers and likes she would have had if these social media platforms and other online channels were already present then. Anything about Lydia then was big news. She would have been an online celebrity then, on and off the tracks. Not like what we have nowadays where socalled celebrities and influencers would do almost anything, even to the point of distorting history and common sense, just forWhileclout.
This undated handout image provided by Sotheby’s shows Michael Jordan’s Game-Worn 1998 NBA Finals ‘The Last Dance’ Jersey, from Game 1, which is set to be auctioned in New York. The jersey, which will be auctioned from September 6 to 14, is estimated at $3 to 5 million, marking the highest auction estimate for any piece of Michael Jordan memorabilia. AFP Nick Kyrgios of Australia hits a return against Daniil Medveded during Day 5 of the National Bank Open at Stade IGA in Montreal, Canada. AFP
SportsFRIDAY, AUGUST 12, 2022C2
For comments or questions, you can reach The Designated Kit Man at erel_ cabatbat@yahoo.com or follow his account at Twitter: @erelcabatbat Kyrgios beats no. 1 Medvedev; Alcaraz, Tsitsipas fall
semisbest-of-3D-Leagueon
De Vega’s personal life then was also scrutinized, she kept her critics quiet by performing her best in the tracks. No drama, just letting the opposition eat her dust. There were no trade-offs then, which is difficult to say nowadays. Sadly, not too many young people now know about the exploits of Diay as she was fondly called then during her heyday. And who could forget the beef between her father-coach Tatang and Michael Keon, the director of Gintong Alay then? If not for some breaking stories mentioning her battle against breast cancer in the past weeks, we won’t probably know what happened to her in this age that everything you would want and not want to know are blasted on various social media platforms.Butonthe positive side, De Vega will always be remembered as one of those once-in-a-lifetime athletes, who made ordinary Filipinos proud, whenever they set foot, literally on the ground. She was one of us. She represented the yearnings of a country hoping to triumph against everyday trials, challenges and other concerns.Shewill always be remembered as someone we are all proud of. Rest in peace,StayDiay…safe.Stay happy peeps!
Vanessa Bryant alleges she suffered emotional distress because personnel from the Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department and firefighters snapped pictures of the scene, which they later shared with friends and first responders. “At least 11 (sheriff’s) personnel and a dozen firefighters shared the photos within 24 hours of the crash,” Bryant’s attorneys wrote in court papers. “In the following weeks, one (sheriff’s) deputy flaunted photos of remains at a bar, another texted photos to a group of video game buddies, and (county fire) personnel displayed photos at an awards gala.” Lawyers for Los Angeles County do not dispute that the photos were taken, but insist they have never been made public and have now been deleted. Mira Hashmall, representing the county in the civil litigation, said the case hinged on this issue of public dissemination.“Fromthe time of the crash to now, the county has worked tirelessly to prevent its crash site photos from getting into the public domain,” she said. “Over two and a half years later, no county photos have appeared in the media, none can be found online, and the plaintiffs admit they’ve never seen them.”
Alcaraz came into the event with two prestige Masters 1000 titles from Miami and Madrid and holding a 42-7 record this season. “It was the first time that I couldn’t handle the pressure,” Alcaraz said. “I felt the pressure (of being) the number two seed and number four in the world. “It was the first time that I felt this pressure.”Theyoungster added: “I had chances, I was a break up in the second set, had chances to win the match. “He played really good in the tough moments. He played great, and I couldn’t show my best.” Comfortable tennis The 34th-ranked Paul claimed victory on a volley winner after holding off the Spaniard’s charge from 5-2 down in the third set. “It was nice to finish this match at the net,” said Paul, who fired 36 winners to Alcaraz’s 33. “I did a lot of things well today. “I played a good level of tennis, comfortable tennis.” Tsitsipas completed the hat-trick of losses for the tournament elite. Draper, 20, earned his first career win over a top-10 opponent as he reached the third round in just over two hours with five breaks of the Tsitsipas serve. AFP
Rest in Diay…Peace,
played in Monterey, California before being shipped to New York, where fans will also have the chance to view it during the online auction which runs from September 6-14. Though the estimate by Sotheby’s is lower than the record set in May for the most expensive sports memorabilia ever sold—$9.3 million for soccer star Diego Maradona’s “Hand of God” jersey—it would be the highest price ever for one of Jordan’s artifacts. The New York auction house, owned since 2019 by French-Israeli telecom magnate Patrick Drahi, previously sold a pair of Jordan’s sneakers for nearly $1.5Themillion.retired basketball star currently owns the Charlotte Hornets, located in his childhood home of North Carolina, and reportedly still earns millions in royalties each year from sales of Nike’s Air Jordan brand of sneakers. AFP
LOS ANGELES—A court case brought by Kobe Bryant’s widow over graphic photographs taken by first responders at the site of the helicopter crash that killed him got under way in the United States on Wednesday. The basketball superstar and his teenage daughter were among nine people who died when their chopper smashed into a hillside near Los Angeles in January 2020.
The iconic red Chicago Bulls jersey, with Jordan’s number 23 on the back, is only the second worn by the star during his six championships to be sold at auction.Most of Jordan’s NBA Finals jerseys remain in private hands, according to Sotheby’s, although he has donated one to the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture. Jordan, now 59, spent the bulk of his basketball career with the Bulls, with whom he won all six of his titles, but came out of retirement in 2001 to play two seasons with the Washington Wizards. His final season with the Bulls was detailed in the ESPN/Netflix documentary “The Last Dance” released in “The2020. 1997-1998 season is perhaps one of the most popular among Jordan fans, as Michael was reaching the height of his abilities while simultaneously pursuing what he understood would be his last chance at an NBA Championship with the Chicago Bulls,” said Brahm Wachter, head of streetwear and modern collectables at Sotheby’s, in a press release. The jersey will first be publicly disTHE last four teams standing begin their best-of-three semifinals series in the 2022 PBA D-League Aspirants’ Cup Friday at Smart Araneta Coliseum. Apex Fuel-San Sebastian and Marinerong Pilipino collide at 9 a.m., while EcoOil-La Salle tries to extend its mastery against Adalem Construction-St. Clare at 11 p.m. The Golden Stags, the unlikely top seed this conference, are coming in well rested, but coach Egay Macaraya remains weary acknowledging the tough challenge they have to hurdle. “Mabigat pa rin silang kalaban kaya dapat prepared pa rin kami lalo na sa depensa,” said the Apex Fuel-San Sebastian mentor who will lean on his motley crew of Romel Calahat, Rhinwil Yambing, and Ichie Altamirano. Macaraya’s fears are substantiated given that the Skippers are only one of the two teams to score a victory over the Golden Stags this conference, taking the 86-64 win last July 9. But Marinerong Pilipino coach Yong Garcia also knows well that the Apex Fuel-San Sebastian crew they are facing in the semis is different from the one it played way back in opening day. “Mas mahirap silang kalaban kasi solid na team talaga sila at kita mo naman dun sa five-game win streak nila,” said the mentor, who will once again bank on Juan Gomez de Liano, Jollo Go, and Kemark Carino for the clash. The fourth-seed Skippers, though, are well prepared after their big 75-66 win over Centro Escolar University last Friday to earn their seat in the semis. “Sana lang ‘yung na-build naming momentum, madala namin dito,” said Garcia. Meanwhile, the second-seed Green Archers are heavily favored over the Saints on the strength of their 72-69 win against the same team last July 27 in the eliminations. Kevin Quiambao, Michael Phillips and new recruits Evan Nelle, Mark Nonoy, and Schonny Winston remain the key pieces for La Salle. Still, coach Derick Pumaren refuses to rest on his laurels, acknowledging that games are won on the court and not on paper.
Vanessa Bryant’s case has been combined with a similar case brought by Chris Chester, whose wife and 13-year-old daughter also died in the crash.Ajury of six women and four men were selected Wednesday, CNNRelativesreported.ofseveral other victims were last year granted $2.5 million in compensation over the photo-taking. An investigation into the crash found the pilot had probably become disorientated after flying the Sikorsky S-76 into fog.
Trial on Kobe death crash photos starts Games Friday (Smart Araneta Coliseum) Game 1 of Best-of-3 Semifinals 9 a.m. - Marinerong Pilipino vs Apex FuelSan Sebastian 11 a.m. - EcoOil-La Salle vs Adalem Construction-St. Clare
Nickie Wang Editor Patricia Taculao, Editorial Assistant
Sean de Guzman (left) and Cloe Barretto headline ‘The In uencer,’ Director Louie Ignacio’s rst lm for Vivamax Supermodel son is Philippine bet in Manhunt International
The winners of Miss Philippines Earth 2022 Joshua Raphael de Sequera is a model and son of supermodelactress Marina Benipayo film tops 2022 MBC short film fest
JOSHUA Raphael de Sequera, a 25-year-old model and son of former Supermodel and Binibining Pilipinas Maja/World 1992 Marina Benipayo was appointed Mr. Manhunt Philippines 2022. De Sequera, a student in Hotel, Restaurant and Institution Management at De La Salle College of Saint Benilde and a member of the university’s NCAA season 93 volleyball team, currently works as executive property analyst. De Sequera, who grew up in Angeles, Pampanga, was the winner of Global Asian (Male) Model Philippines in 2019. Standing at 6’4” and with striking Pinoy looks, De Sequera is preparing hard and wants to give his best shot at the Manhunt International 2022 pageant to be held in the Philippines, from September 24 to October 1.
Brod Pete After 43 years in showbiz, the comedian is finally bowing out of the industry because he says he’s no longer relevant in today’s society. Many will miss his humorous comebacks and quick wit, but his dignified exit may pave the way for the next generations of comedians to make a name for themselves. It’s sad to see him go, but it’s time to accept that the world is changing and hope for better days ahead. Karla Estrada Leaving the morning talk show Magandang Buhay to pursue a political career was her personal choice that many respected. However, Karla isn’t an exception from the malicious talk as some showbiz Maritess (a colloquial term for gossiper) claims she’s getting drunk on fame. Karla has yet to address the rumor, but she seems blissful as her recent project, Maid in Malacañang , remains the talk of the town.
Entertainment FRIDAY, AUGUST 12, 2022 C3 E-mail: lifeandshow.manilastandard@gmail.com
(From left) Sean de Guzman, Cloe Barretto, and Director Louie Ignacio during the special preview of ‘The In uencer’ Director Louie Ignacio highlights abuse in his first Vivamax film
ADVANCED Media Broadcasting System, Inc.’s (AMBS) flagship radio station, K-lite 103.5 FM, goes live in its new home studio at Level 2 of Starmall Shaw Boulevard in Mandaluyong City. K-lite, a popular FM radio station since 1995 hits the airwaves with an expansive genre of rhythmic contemporary music hits from the 90s up to the present. “This marks the beginning of our venture into the entertainment business. We only look forward to recovery, especially after the pandemic and we hope to be able to help our fellow Filipinos through this venture particularly in generating jobs. I’m proud and grateful at the same time,” says Manny Villar, Chairman of the Villar Group. The radio station offers original funk vibes of the ‘90s to recent hits. Live stream is also available on channel 3 of Planet Cable TV in parts of Mega Manila and Region 4 CALABARZON subscribers. Listeners from around the globe can also tune in and stream live online through its website klite1035.com. By Patricia Taculao ABUSE is rampant in today’s society. Although social media is a tool for disseminating information and raising awareness, not everyone knows the truth and what happens behind closed doors. Vivamax’s The Influencer sheds some light onWrittenthat.by Quinn Carillo, the movie revolves around how some influencers are different in real life from their online persona, how they sometimes abuse their fame, and the dangers of having obsessive fans. It also marks Louie Ignacio’s first film in Vivamax. In creating the movie, Ignacio did his fair share of research on scandals and controversies involving abusive influencers to make his depiction more accurate and somehow disturbing. More importantly, he wanted to show that violence knows no gender and anyone could be a victim. ph or by downloading the Twitch app. K-lite features the captive voices of two in-house disc jocks DJ Jaybee Jariol and DJ Aly Esplana. DJ Jaybee, one of the original DJs of K-lite who recently made a comeback in April this year brings us her daily dose of lite favorites daily from Monday to Friday from 9:00 a.m. to 12:00 noon. DJ Aly, on the other hand, a newbie radio talent and a certified streamer slash gamer is the latest voice to jam during rush hour afternoons daily from 5:00 to 9:00 p.m. weekdays in a segment packed with a lively upbeat playlist. K-lite’s comeback also includes a fresh format of a youth-inspired lineup as it opens exciting promotions such as the search for the next “K-lite Kampus Krew” open for all qualified students looking for an internship program and the “DJ Kampus Hunt” that is open to all aspiring voice talents aged 18 to 25 years old. Mechanics for the promotions are found on K-lite socials on Facebook, Youtube, and Twitch. Meanwhile, the station’s Tiktok page also hosts the “Do It, Duet Challenge” where participants can stitch their duet entry to DJ Jaybee’s sample for the student DJ search. Listeners can also enjoy their favorite hits on 80s Wednesday and relax on the soothing playlist of Sunday slow weekends. True to keeping the warmest music vibe, followers may catch their favorite artists in live performances on a live jamming segment which was recently graced by top billers such as The Lily band, Ronnie Liang, Rachel G, and Silent Sanctuary as K-lite DJs shared the spotlight with an entertaining and lively Q&A delighting fans from anywhere across the country. K-Lite’s regular programming is heard from 6:00 a.m. to 12:00 midnight from Monday to Sunday.
Chairman of Villar Group Manny VillarK-Lite’s new home studio at Level 2 of Starmall Shaw Boulevard …are talking about ...are not talking about PEOPLE
Maraming abusadong lalaki kaya marami ding babae ang kayang gawin yung ginagawa ng lalaki. So ako kasi, fair yung laban. Dapat lahat ng tao equal,” Ignacio said. He added that he doesn’t use sex and nudity for the sake of exposing skin or boosting views. Instead, he uses them to show how intense the scene is. Sure enough, towards the end of The Infl uencer , viewers are left holding their breath as the plot twists and thickens. The Influencer stars Sean de Guzman as Yexel Santos, the main character who’s a famous social media influencer with a notorious reputation among girls and a secret he finds embarrassing. While out with his friends, he meets Nina, played by Cloe Barretto, and finds her attractive. Little did Yexel know that Nina also had a secret that would jeopardize his life. Sean had several steamy scenes throughout the movie, but there’s a particularly controversial one. Sean shared that he trusted the director and his judgment when doing the part. It’s a good thing then that Ignacio values the safety of his actors and doesn’t ask them to do anything without good reason. As the director, Ignacio also films the sexy scenes on a closed set, with only him, the actors, and the cinematographer present to ensure that the sequences go as planned. On the other hand, Cloe had another memorable time playing an unbalanced character, as she did in another Vivamax original film, Tahan. She sees her representations as an avenue to raise awareness of people who suffer from mental instability and encourage them or their community to seek professional assistance when needed. Like in Tahan, Cloe also had the opportunity to work with veteran artists. In The Influencer, she shared a few intense scenes with Elizabeth Oropesa and Ruby Ruiz The sexy actress also learned a thing or two from the pair in acting. She and Sean gave a thrilling performance in The Influencer as they tackled themes of violence and inequality. However, they share a different relationship off-screen since they see each other as siblings who grew up under the same management. Their closeness allowed them to give their all during the scenes, no matter how intense it was. The Influencer premiered on Vivamax on August 1.
Jenny Ramp proves that being a newbie isn’t a problem in pageantry after bagging the Miss Philippines Earth crown from 37 other candidates
Regional
‘Proud’ by Are Jay Peralta wins Best Animated Film at the 2022 MBC Short Film Festival
Liza Soberano Is it finally Liza’s breakthrough in Hollywood entertainment? Netizens are abuzz about the Filipina actress landing a role in the film Lisa Frankenstein directed by Zelda Williams, the daughter of the late Robin Williams. It stars Kathryn Newton and Cole Sprouse. Although Liza nor anybody from the movie’s production team confirmed the reports, Filipinos are showing their love and support for Liza as she continues exploring new avenues in her career. Janella Salvador The teaser trailer for Mars Ravelo’s Darna showed Janella in a different light as the Pinoy villainess Valentina. She broke the internet again as she walked down the red carpet for the media conference for Darna with a snake curled around her forearm. It goes to show that Janella took her role seriously. Everyone’s excited to see how Janella improved as an actress and how she’ll make the role of Valentina her own.
K-Lite finds new home in AMBS media center
* * * Fil-Am model crowned Miss Earth Philippines 2022 Jenny Ramp, a Filipino-American beauty from Santa Ignacia, Tarlac, bested 37 other candidates and was crowned Miss Philippines Earth 2022 during a rainy Coronation final held at the Island of Coron, Palawan on Saturday. Ramp, a 19-year-old BS Psychology student is a newbie in pageants having only competed in and finished as 3rd runner-up in Binibining KanLahi Festival 2022. Ramp, who is a cross-between Shamcey Supsup and Celeste Cortesi, was trained by Rodgil Flores’s Kagandahang Flores beauty camp that has produced the Miss Earth Philippines for the last 15 consecutive years. She was crowned by outgoing Miss Earth Philippines 2021 Naelah Alshorbaji. “The battle that I am facing is against myself. Every single day, I strive to be the better version of myself and during this pageant, I certainly battled myself. I dealt with insecurities. I felt alone. But this empowered me to do better, to do better for myself, for my family, for my friends, and for the environment,” Ramp answered when asked ‘what battle or battles she’s facing in life,’ during the Q&A portion. Ramp’s elemental court of honor include Miss Philippines Air 2022 Jimema Tempra of Jasaan, Misamis Oriental, Miss Philippines Water 2022 Angel Santos of Trece Martires City, and Miss Philippines Fire 2022 Eryka Vina Talavera Tan of Legaspi City. Nice Lampad of Bayugan, Agusan del Sur was named Miss Philippines Eco Tourism. Finishing among the Top 10 were Kiara Liane Wellington (Cebu City), Jennifer de Asis (Mandaluyong City) Micaela Legarda (Muntinlupa City) Jarizz Borcelas, (Sagay, Negros Occidental) and Jasmine Paguio (Toronto, Canada). The 22nd Miss Earth Philippines was hosted by Robi Domingo. The judges included Evangeline Pascual, Michelle Bautista Tañada, Joyce Hufton, Artemio Manalo Abu, Eileen de Guzman-Reyes, Maria Grace Mansueto Lim, and Lorraine Schuck. DALUYONG, an entry by a young filmmaker from Quezon Province, was named Grand Prix winner of the 2022 MBC Short Film Festival. Directed by Ervie Jay Torzar, and set among the native fisherfolk in Atimonan, the movie depicts the heartwarming story of an aspiring rapper who fishes by day to help augment the family income, only to have his dream cut short when his mother succumbs to the COVID-19 virus. Daluyong bested four other finalists in the Short Feature category before copping the grand prize over Gio Gonzalvez’s Kambalingan which was this year’s Best Documentary, and Are Jay Peralta’s Proud, which was declared Best Animated Film. The three category winners, who receive P100,000 each, lorded it over an original field of 153 entries, which were later trimmed down to 15 finalists. Torzar gets an additional P100,000 for his Grand Prix win. Garnering the most number of online votes from July 15 to 29, Jericho Rimando’s The Transfi guration of Marya won the Viewers’ Choice award. Like Peralta, Rimando also competed under the aegis of the University of Makati. The 2022 MBC Short Film Festival featured a stellar line-up of jurors, led by Cannes World Film Festival Best Director Epy Quizon, Disney Animation’s Head of Story Josie Trinidad, and former USIS Audio-Visual Specialist Agnes Caballa, who is now creative consultant for GMA-7. Category jurors included Sundance Grand Prix winner Don Josephus Raphael Eblahan Khavn dela Cruz, Nicole Yulo, Sari Dalena, Jewel Maranan Miker Rivero Mars Cabrera Martin Macalintal of the French Embassy, and Gary Thomas of the British Council. MSFF 2022 is a project of Manila Broadcasting Company with generous support from Dito Telecommunity, Solbac, Beko, the Asian Institute of Computer Studies, Zuki by SB Finance, and Alfonso Light Brandy.
Zoey Taberna at the Press Play relaunch event of the Taberna Group of Companies.
S HE was warm, friendly, and articulate. Had I not been updated about her health battle, I would have simply looked at the smiling 13-year-old Zoey Taberna as an ordinary teenager. She is the eldest daughter of broadcast journalist and radio anchor Anthony “Ka Tunying” Taberna and his wife, entrepreneur, and producer Rossel
At the “Press Play” relaunch event of the Taberna Group of Companies last July 31, young Zoey looked lovely in an off-shoulder dress that looked identical to what her mom and sister Helga were wearing. The family had a lot of reasons to celebrate that night –Rossel’s birthday, Tune In Kay Tunying Youtube channel launch, Catering by KT launch, the return of Outbox Media, and Zoey’s healing. Zoey confirmed that she is now cancer-free af ter her almost three-year battle. In 2019, she was diagnosed with leukemia and initial treatments went well. Unfortunately, Zoey’s case turned into a more dangerous and fatal form in December 2021. The situation eventually led to a bone mar row transplant in Singapore. Zoey’s younger sister Helga became her donor. “It’s actually like a blood transfusion po. They took her stem cell and then they transferred it to me after they wiped out all of the cells in my bone marrow po,” Zoey explained to us the procedure that she and her sister underwent. “Her blood is basically in my body,” she added. Well-mannered, the young survivor peppers her sentences with the customary po and opo even when answering in English. “Sometimes, I still cannot believe that I went through like that po. Like sometimes, I just think that when I wake up, everything is going to be rewound to 2019 and all these are just part of a dream,” Zoey opened up about realizing the grav ity of her and her family’s ordeal and the tempo
I hope Zoey gets to write her own story one day so that more people will be blessed by a life that is filled with small acts of love that led to a big miracle. For your random thoughts, you may e-mail the author at randomrepublika@gmail.com
SM Stationery offers essentials for students whether they are bound to attend face-to-face or virtual classes COS × Anatol Knotek is the latest collaboration by the London-based fashion brand. In continued dia logue with the creatives who inspire COS’ designs, the collection captures Austrian artist’s typographic elements and monochrome color palette. Partially color-blind, Anatol’s artwork replaces color and drawn lines with words, instead work ing with language to create impact. Anatol’s ap parently simple artwork usually conveys a hidden message, often incorporating a sense of humor. His artwork, aptly named, The Solution, forms the foundation of the capsule, where the poem arises from the Craftingproblem.simple yet powerful works of visual poetry, Anatol comments, ‘The nature of literature is descriptive, and the nature of visual art is sen sual – this gives plenty of room for experiments withTheexpression.’unisexcollection comprises one of the time less COS signatures: the classic relaxed-fit T-shirt used as the canvas for two T-shirt designs in in verted colorways. The collection is available in-store for a limited time only. COS in Manila is located in SM Aura Premier, McKinley Parkway cor 26th Street, Fort Bonifacio. Inspired by contemporary culture, COS is known for iconic wardrobe pieces, elevated essen tials, and innovative designs that are made to last. Dedicated to quality and sustainability, COS takes a bespoke approach to design, creating unique col lections that combine function with timeless style. Meanwhile, visual and concrete poetry, installa tion, and conceptual art are at the center of Anatol Knotek’s artistic work, which has been exhibited internationally. His concrete and visual poems have been published in journals, chapbooks, schoolbooks, and anthologies. He is a member of the Austrian art association.
COS × Anatol Knotek collection replaces color and drawn lines with words that usually convey hidden messages, often incorporating a sense of humor. rary disbelief that she conquered it. Ka Tunying and his wife Rossel revealed during the launch how they almost sold a house to shoulder Zoey’s medical expenses. But help, through the kindness of a lot of people, started pouring in. Faith in humanity and in God kept the Tabernas going. They held on to each other and surrendered everything to God. “I fought for my family and for God,” Zoey shared how she overcame the fears of the un known. While she knew how some people who went through a similar battle ended up dying, Zoey still powered through, reassured of her parents and sister’s love. She added, “Almost everything I did po was not for myself but for my loved ones. That was my mindset.” Aside from her family and God, Zoey also turned to entertainment for a much-needed boost. She said, “I found comfort din po in KPop. I’ve been very interested in Korean pop culture since 2017 or 2018. Specifically BTS po. BTS, ENHY PHEN, those groups po, they helped me.” Also on her list of things that made her happy during her days at the hospital are American series Friends and Grey’s Anatomy As things are starting to shape up for Zoey, the third year junior high school student is looking for ward to experiencing school in the flesh. “I just re ally want everything to be back to normal because even if I’m cancer-free po, there’s still a pandemic. I just want to be able to experience high school in per son because the entire time po that I’ve been in high school po, it’s been online. And I want to experience life po in general.” Zoey’s eyes sparkled with hope and excitement as she talked about what lies ahead. The aspiring writer and music producer hopes to lift the spirits of others who may still be going through what she went through. She wishes to tell anyone struggling, “You can do it. Just keep your faith. Don’t lose hope and just keep on praying no matter what your religion is, or even if you don’t have one. Take as much help as you can from your family and your doctors.” It was easy to forget that our interviewee was a 13-year-old as she sounded so wise beyond her years. I just snapped back to reality when Zoey shared how, recently, she and her sister were only allowed by their mom and dad to use their gadgets after turning in their 500-word essays on any topic that they like.
Zoey and Helga Taberna Zoey was filled with love during her cancer journey.
Zoey with her parents Anthony and Rossel Taberna.
It’sseasonback-to-schoolatSMStationery
C4 FRIDAY, AUGUST 12, 2022 Nickie Wang, Editor E-mail: lifeandshow.manilastandard@gmail.com LifePatricia Taculao, Editorial Assistant
Fashion brand embraces the power of ‘the written word’
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How love kept Zoey Taberna alive
WHETHER your kids are bound to attend face-to-face or virtual classes, SM Stationery has all the school stuff a student needs for the back-to-school season. Keeping up with the times, there are digital accessories ideal for e-learning. These include a wireless mouse, keyboard, headset, tripod, and monitor riser. These can make virtual schooling easier and more convenient for kids. A desk lamp would be the light stuff for your home school area. And of course, there are notebooks to keep one on track with lessons and schedules. Keep your kids creative with writing pads, pens, as well as sketchpads for budding artists. Fun and fashionable backpacks, totes, and carry-all bags will help keep their things organized as they head off for school. All these and more are available at SM Stationery located in all The SM Store branches nationwide. For a more convenient shopping experience, check out https://smstationery.com.ph/ or ShopSM. Follow @smstationeryph on Facebook and @ smstationeryph on Instagram for more exclu sive deals and updates.
