Manila Standard - 2022 December 2 - Friday

China sea claim nips oil deal

PBBM: Gov't must look beyond Beijing to tap WPS for energy reserves

By Vito Barcelo

THE Philippines is finding ways to explore for oil and gas in the South China Sea even without a deal with China, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. said Friday, adding that the country has the right to exploit energy reserves in the contested waterway.

Marcos: MDT review looks at PH territorial protection

By Vince Lopez and Maricel V. Cruz

under negotiation” and undergoing evolution because the conditions are changing.

this

By Macon Ramos Araneta and Vito Barcelo

JUSTICE Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla has asked the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) to probe the use of fake stamps at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) in facilitating the departure of trafficked individuals.

“We’re already investigating that. We’re asking the NBI to investigate it,”

In August, Foreign Affairs Secretary Enrique Manalo said Manila was open to new talks with Chi na on oil and gas exploration, but said any deal must comply with Philippine laws. But on Friday, the President said the Philippines could veer away from government-to-government discussions in favor of partnerships with private companies.

“The Philippines was saying that our laws must be followed, while the Chinese were saying, ‘No, that’s ours so our laws are what we must follow,” the Presi dent said.

“That’s the roadblock, it is hard to see how we can resolve that. I think there might be other ways so it does not have to be [government-to-government].”

By Alena Mae S. Flores and Macon Ramos-Araneta

THE Department of Agriculture (DA) said Thursday it might resort to importing red onions if local producers do not cooperate to bring prices down.

DA spokesperson Rex Estoperez said the agency is waiting for the cold storage inventory of red onions.

(food)

“Hopefully by then, the prices of commodities in the market will have ‘normalized,’ (which) is what I call it, that won’t change so much.

to worst, we will import [onions]," Estoperez said, adding that red onion has been priced as high as P280 per kilo.

He said the DA had asked the Bureau of Plant Industry to talk to farmer traders who bought red onions in August and September and placed their stock in cold storage.

Estoperez said they expect to complete stock inventory by Friday to determine the exact supply situation.

GSIS, SSS to issue bonus to pensioners

By Willie Casas

THE Commission on Population and Development (POPCOM) is concerned about the increase of teenage pregnancies in the Philippines, saying it may be considered a national social emergency.

Rio N. Araja

PRESIDENT Ferdinand Marcos Jr. on Thursday said the 1951 Mutual Defense Treaty (MDT) between the Philippines with the United States is "continuously

Mr. Marcos made

remark in an interview on the sidelines of the Kadiwa ng Pasko project in Quezon City. The President added that the Americans

KEEPING PRICES DOWN. President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. takes a look at rice sold at P25 per kilogram at the Kadiwa ng Pasko caravan in Quezon City on Thursday.

The Chief Executive said the Kadiwa stalls will continue operating even beyond the holiday season to provide more affordable products to Filipinos. Rey S. Baniquet

TRAINS A-SINGIN’. Juan Alfonso (third from left), Light Rail Manila Corp. president, listens to Light Rail Transit-1 staff sing Christmas carols as the train system’s private operator welcomes the holiday season with the much-awaited LRT-1 Christmas Themed Train. Three-dimensional decals featuring different genres of music will adorn a third-generation LRT-1 train set. Norman Cruz

KADIWA POP-UP markets will continue beyond Christmas until the country gets to a point when it’s no longer necessary and prices in public markets are the same as in the government-run stores, hopefully by March next year, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. said Thursday.

“As it stands right now, in terms of

supply, we’re okay until at the very least, February, March of next year,” the President said as he graced the Kadiwa sa Pasko stores at the Quezon City Hall.

NY, Singapore world’s costliest cities

NEW York and Singapore are jointly the world's most expensive cities after inflation soared this year, an annual survey showed Thursday.

The pair displaced last year's number one Tel Aviv, which fell to third place this time round in the Worldwide Cost of Liv ing index from London-based Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU).

Manila or other Philippine cities was not mentioned in the summary of the study made available to the media. The full city-to-city report requires a purchase from the EIU store.

The survey revealed "the soaring cost

China...

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“The Philippines has actually worked with many partners before but the nego tiations with China were halted due to the latter’s claim on the disputed territorial waters,” Mr. Marcos said.

“That’s a big thing for us, that is why we need to fight (for what is ours) and take advantage if there really is oil there,” the President said when asked if the coun try has already partnered with China, the United States or Australia to explore the West Philippine Sea for oil and gas.

He said talks over joint energy explo

Marcos:...

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have made “many requests and proposals” under the enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement (EDCA), which allows US forces access to five Philippine bases and is seen as an expansion of the MDT.

The treaty guarantees that Manila and Washington will come to the aid of the other should one of them come under attack.

"So, all of that is under study now to see what is really feasible and what will be the most useful for the defense of Philippine territory," the President said.

Mr. Marcos said concerns on security and defense were among the topics tackled during his meeting with US Vice President Kamala Harris, who visited the country last week.

“We covered that and many more subjects. But essentially, on security, what we looked upon were their proposals, the joint military exercises and EDCA, the use of our bases, all of these. We are in the middle of that," the President said.

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Remulla said during an ambush interview on Thursday.

During a Senate hearing on Tuesday, an alleged human trafficking victim revealed that someone at the airport would escort them and expedite their departure using fake exit stamps to bypass the BI.

Alias “Paulo” said he had been recruited to work as a customer service representative in Thailand but found out he would be sent to work as a scammer in Myanmar.

Remulla said they were using the hearing as the starting point.

In related developments, BI Commissioner Norman Tansingco urged airport authorities to investigate the rising cases of attempted trafficking involving fake entry passes.

Tansingco issued an order to BI Port Operations Division Chief Carlos Capulong to coordinate with the Manila International Airport Authorities (MIAA) to request a thorough investigation of the issue.

The concern came after airport security and police intercepted three victims earlier last month.

The victims reportedly used fake airport

GSIS,...

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one-month pension up to a maximum of P10,000.

This coincided with the announcement by the Social Security System that its pensioners shall be receiving their 13th month and December 2022 pensions as early as the first week of December.

SSS president and chief executive officer Michael Regino said the pension fund would release P29.74 billion covering 3.36 million pensioners.

“This year, we have also pushed for the early crediting of the 13th month and December 2022 pensions so that our pensioners can withdraw them ahead of the holiday rush,” he said.

Qualified to receive the Christmas cash gift under the GSIS program are old-age and disability pensioners under Republic Act 8291 (GSIS Act of 1997);

Presidential Decree 1146 (Revised GSIS Act of 1977); and Republic Act 660 (“Magic 87”) who are receiving their regular monthly pensions and are living

of living in the world's biggest cities as the war in Ukraine and continuing pan demic restrictions disrupt supply chains, particularly for energy and food."

New York hit the top spot for the first time, while Damascus and Tripoli re mained the cheapest cities.

Prices rocketed by an average 8.1% in the 172 major cities covered by the EIU survey, conducted between August and September.

ration between Manila and Beijing in the South China Sea had been terminated by the previous government in June, citing constitutional constraints and issues of sovereignty.

The Philippines relies heavily on im ported fuel for its energy needs, making it vulnerable to supply shocks and rising oil prices, which have helped push up infla tion to a near 14-year high.

The President said the Philippines needs the energy from the West Philippine Sea more now than China.

In November 2018, the Philippines signed a memorandum of understanding with China on joint oil and gas develop ment in the West Philippine Sea.

During their meeting at the Palace on Nov. 21, Harris assured Mr. Marcos that the US would always stand with the Philippines in defense of international rules and norms as it relates to the highlycontested South China Sea.

Harris also stressed that any armed attack against Philippine forces in the South China Sea would prompt the United States to honor its commitments under the MDT.

National Security Adviser Secretary Clarita Carlos earlier said the government has already created a group to study and review the 1951 Mutual Defense Treaty.

The group, according to Carlos, is composed of officials from the National Security Council, the Department of National Defense and the Department of Foreign Affairs.

The 1951 MDT, the longest-running defense pact, aims to step up the defense and security cooperation between the Philippine and US troops.

The Armed Forces of the Philippines said the US is looking at building five additional joint military facilities in the Philippines under EDCA.

access passes, pretending to be employees of various airport concessionaires, to be able to enter the boarding gates.

Earlier, the Manila International Airport Authority (MIAA) said it was not dismissing the possible involvement of its personnel in the plot.

For her part, Immigration spokesperson Dana Sandoval said they have yet to find links tying BI personnel to the issue, but they are open to an investigation.

Sandoval said the BI also believes that the individuals or syndicate behind the alleged use of fake passes may be in cahoots with airport personnel.

Meanwhile, Sen. Risa Hontiveros, chair of the Senate Committee on Women, Children, Family Relations, and Gender Equality, gave assurances her committee would continue its probe to hold liable groups or individuals in the Bureau of Immigration and MIAA involved in the smuggling of Filipinos to Myanmar.

She also stressed that the border control in the Philippines should be strengthened to ensure that Filipinos would not fall victims to syndicates.

"We also need to bring back to the country Filipinos who were trafficked to other countries to do scamming," she said. (See full story online at manilastandard.net)

as of November 30, 2022.

In particular, they are the pensioners who availed themselves of the five-year lump sum benefit and who resumed their regular monthly pensions after December 31, 2021 (following the fiveyear period), and members who separated from the service from 2006 to 2022 before reaching the age of 60 who started receiving their regular monthly pension from 2018 onward, and who have been regular pensioners for at least five years.

Old-age and disability pensioners who are on suspended status as of December 31, 2022 due to non-compliance with the Annual Pensioners Information Revalidation (APIR) will also receive their cash gift after they have reactivated their status.

Meanwhile, the following are ineligible to receive the cash gift: pensioners who availed themselves of the five-year lump sum but will receive their regular monthly pension after December 31, 2022; survivorship and dependent pensioners; pensioners who retired under Republic Act 7699 (Portability Law); and those receiving pro-rata pension. (See full story online at manilastandard.net)

The survey "also shows the impact of the strong US dollar on our city rank ings," it noted.

A total of 50,000 worldwide prices were converted into dollars.

The US currency has jumped this year as the Federal Reserve hikes interest rates by large amounts to try and tame decadeshigh inflation.

In addition to New York, Los Ange les and San Francisco moved into the top 10.

The biggest upward movers were Moscow and St Petersburg, "which shot up by 88 and 70 places respectively as prices soared amid Western sanctions

However, the Duterte administration terminated the talks on June 30 because of constitutional constraints and disagree ments over sovereignty.

The Department of Foreign Affairs in September this year said the two coun tries have so far made "initial and general discussions" on possible joint explora tion, but said these have not progressed to “working-level talks.”

On July 12, 2016, the Philippines won its petition against China before the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague, Netherlands after the court in validated Beijing’s expansive claims over nearly the entire South China Sea, includ ing the West Philippine Sea.

AFP chief-of-staff Lt. Gen. Bartolome Vicente Bacarro said two sites are expected to rise in Cagayan, and one each in Isabela, Zambales, and Palawan. EDCA, signed under the administration of former President Benigno Aquino III, allows US forces access to five Philippine bases to help counterbalance the growing Chinese presence in the South China Sea.

Also on Thursday, Albay Rep. Joey Sarte Salceda told US officials that“a strong way forward” for the special relationship between the two countries is a strong Philippine defense industry with US investments.

During a meeting with US Embassy officials, particularly Samantha Parkes and John Avrett of the political and economic sections, respectively, Salceda said the country “needs a strong local defense industry in order to protect its territorial and regional interests without having to invoke the Mutual Defense Treaty.”

“Right now, we have no choice but to invoke the MDT between the US and the country, when we are confronted with

DA...

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DA Assistant Secretary Kristine Evangelista said early this week that consumers could buy cheaper-priced onions at P170 per kilo at Kadiwa stores nationwide.

Evangelista said the agency continues to open more Kadiwa stores to help ease the burden of consumers amid the steep increase in onion prices.

"Based on the inventory of our cold storage facilities, there is enough supply. But by now, we are seeing that the red onions came from the cold storage," she said.

Evangelista said farmers are looking at harvesting onions in December, and the DA is looking at the harvest volume and whether it will be big enough to increase supply and lower prices.

But Senator Imee Marcos said local onion farmers in at least eight provinces face a bleak Christmas if the government’s plan to import the crop coincides with December harvests.

She noted that farmers in Regions 1 to 3 have said they are ready to harvest by the second week of December, particularly in Ilocos Norte, Ilocos Sur, La Union, Pangasinan, Batanes, Nueva

POPCOM:...

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According to a report on “24 Oras,” Philippine Statistics Authority data showed that 31 out of every 1,000 who gave birth in 2020 were aged 15 to 19.

In the report, a girl named Ana, 15, said at a young age she was already taking care of her two-month-old baby. She said she got pregnant by her drinking buddy.

The POPCOM said pregnancy among those aged 15 to 19 slowed down in 2020. However, pregnancy among 10 to 14-year-olds increased in 2021.

According to POPCOM, one of the reasons for teenage pregnancy may contribute to a lack of access to the right information.

Apart from the right information, it is also important to have access to reproductive health to avoid teenage pregnancies.

This was also raised by the AIDS Healthcare Foundation, including the use of contraceptives such as condoms.

“It is a tool to prevent not only

and buoyant energy markets supported the rouble".

Upasana Dutt, who headed the re search, said "the war in Ukraine, Western sanctions on Russia and China's zero-CO VID policies have caused supply-chain problems that, combined with rising in terest rates and exchange-rate shifts, have resulted in a cost-of-living crisis across the world."

"We can clearly see the impact in this year's index, with the average price rise across the 172 cities in our survey being the strongest we've seen in the 20 years for which we have digital data," she added. AFP

China has repeatedly refused to recog nize the PCA decision.

China reinforced its stance by build ing artificial islands over some contested reefs and installing weapons on them.

Mr. Marcos earlier said the Philippines would use the Hague ruling to assert its territorial rights.

In October, in the face of rising world oil prices, he said the government would revive the oil drilling operations of Nido Petroleum Philippines in Palawan.

He added that the Cadlao oil field could lead to early oil production towards the second half of 2023. The area last pro duced oil in the 1990s with over 11 mil lion barrels, he said.

a serious breach of our territory. That is dangerous for the world, because wars between superpowers are always bad for all concerned,” Salceda said.

“A strong local defense sector is critical to ensuring our strategic sovereignty. We don’t need to drag others into our own conflicts. It also ensures some degree of deterrence,” he added.

Salceda has advocated the development of the country’s weapons manufacturing and defense production sector.

“Consider producing weapons in the Philippines. They already produce chips here. As a strategic treaty partner, we would be well within our rights to allow the US defense industry to locate here.”

The lawmaker said the approach “might even be better than increasing the number of US bases here under the Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement, since it protects the country’s integrity without hosting foreign troops.”

Salceda also said that military support for the Philippines, particularly for high-technology defense weapons, is “most welcome.”

Ecija, Nueva Vizcaya, and Tarlac.

"More than 43 percent of red onion harvests in the next three months will take place in December, with Mindoro’s harvests to follow in January,” Marcos said.

The Bureau of Plant Industry reported that the expected yield of redonions in December is 5,537.3 metric tons, out of a total expected yield of 12, 837.9 MT until February next year.

But the bureau said the sum of next month’s expected yield plus the 13,043.37 MT in monitored stock still point to a December supply shortage due to crop damage from Typhoon Paeng in October and increasing consumer demand toward the holiday season.

Amid high market prices of P280 to P400 per kilo, the Department of Agriculture’s attached agency has recommended the importation of onions.

"Have we forgotten our farmers? High consumer prices are being addressed but what happens to our farmers who are reeling from farmgate prices that are half the production cost?” Marcos asked.

Farmgate prices in mid-November stood at P25 to P27 per kilo, compared to the P45 to P55 per kilo that farmers’ groups say they need to break even at harvest time, not yet including the cost of cold storage. (See full story online at manilastandard.net)

pregnancy, not only STD, but rather it is a tool that provides you safety,” Nenet Ortega, country manager of AHF Philippines, said.

Several lawmakers have pushed for House Bill 79 or the prevention of adolescent pregnancy bill to create a national policy to prevent teenage pregnancy and give protection to teenage parents.

“Adolescent pregnancy is no longer just a norm. This is a global concern which should be addressed by legislators and implementers,” Albay Rep. Edcel Lagman said.

Meanwhile, a health expert from the Department of Health said a stronger sex education among the population particularly the youth was needed to prevent the spread of HIV and other sexually transmitted infections.

During a webinar in observance of World AIDS Day, HIV and AIDS program expert DOH-Disease Prevention and Control Bureau Program Expert Roland Sardan said there was a lack of proper education on the use of prevention methods such as condoms and lubricants. (See full story online at manilastandard.net)

PH bet Cruz wins Ms. CosmoWorld beauty pageant

By Eton Concepcion

MEIJI Cruz of the Philippines was crowned Miss CosmoWorld 2022 on Wednesday night, besting over 20 candidates from all over the world during finals held at The St. Regis in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

Cruz, the 2nd runner up in the Binibining Pilipinas 2021 pageant, won the grand cash prize of USD100,000 (about P5.6 million).

The 28-year-old is a graduate with three degrees—in broadcast journalism, psychology, and guidance and counseling —from St. Scholastica’s College Manila, and is currently pursuing a Master’s Degree.

Miss Uzbekistan Amaliya Shakirova was named first runner up, while Miss Thailand Onnapun Chiangmai was second runner up.

“I support all kinds of sports as they promote discipline, camaraderie, and sportsmanship. Just like what I learned here in CosmoWorld, the teamwork we have, we have the same vision. And as they say, 'the teamwork makes the dream work,” Cruz answered when asked “Which sport do you support and why?"

P21-m lottery winner bets on children’s ages

A RESIDENT from Rizal, after playing the lottery for 15 years, finally claimed her P21-million jackpot prize of the Mega Lotto 6/45 draw on Nov. 4, the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO) said on Thursday.

In a statement, the PCSO said the 39-year-old seamstress from Taytay town could not hold back her emotions when she arrived at the PCSO General Manager's Office in Mandaluyong City on Nov. 7.

Anna Katrina Nicole Contacto, Executive Assistant VI, representing PCSO general manager Melquiades Robles, handed over the check worth P21,436,089.60 to the winner, who got the draw's winning combination of 1613-02-19-11-07.

“When I saw on the post of the PCSO Facebook Page that my number had won, I was speechless, I was already breaking out in a cold sweat and I was about to cry for joy. Almost like that happened to me in two days. I've been playing the lottery for 15 years. In the last 9 months I decided to estimate the age of my children and unexpectedly I achieved my dream,” she said.

The winner has a small tailoring business that was affected by the coronavirus pandemic. (See full story online at manilastandard.net)

Kadiwa...

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So, I think we’re okay until then. That’s our best projection,” Mr. Marcos added.

The President was asked about the Kadiwa program living on beyond the holidays and what his plans were to make the government stores sustainable for both producers and consumers, with prices in public markets still spiraling out of control.

“For us what we are looking at— once we get to a point where it’s no longer necessary, where the prices in the markets are the same as what we can give in the Kadiwa, then we don’t need the Kadiwa anymore,” he said.

The President said Kadiwa stores could exist as food distribution venues for far-flung areas in the country, following its original mode as a mobile or rolling store.

“So maybe we’ll get—but we’re not yet there at that point, we are still spreading it around the country right now,” Mr. Marcos said.

The Kadiwa program was relaunched in November to allow the public to buy agricultural products at lower prices amid higher inflation.

An initiative of the President, who also heads the Department of Agriculture, the program allows farmers, fishers, and microentrepreneurs to sell their products directly to consumers and give Filipinos an alternative amid the rising cost of goods. Vince Lopez (See full story online at manilastandard.net)

to

OATH-TAKING.

director Pompom Vasquez, corporate secretary Atty. Aileen Amor, associate director Nelson Mendoza, and president Robert Young as new officers of the Foreign Buyers Association of the Philippines (FOBAP) at the Manila Golf and Country Club Thursday morning.

This coincides with Thursday’s celebration of the FOBAP’s 45th anniversary.

Ver Noveno

Bautista: PH to collaborate on maritime efforts

DEPARTMENT of Transportation

Secretary Jaime Bautista said the government is looking at opportuni ties to collaborate with other coun tries to strengthen Philippine mari time capabilities.

Bautista made the statement dur ing the Pilipinas Conference 2022, organized by think-tank Stratbase ADR Institute.

Bautista said recognizes that the Philippine maritime industry is a crucial component in the country’s socio-economic rebound from the global pandemic.

However, he also noted how the country’s maritime industry “has re mained underdeveloped because of divergent policies and lack of consist ency in project implementation”.

“The Philippines aims to be a major maritime nation that values the safety and protection of marine life and ma rine environment. We look at oppor tunities to forge collaborations with maritime-related agencies of other countries to benchmark our efforts at raising our maritime industry to glob al standards,” he said.

“I think it’s very important we col laborate with more countries, more agencies, for us to be able to ensure maritime safety and security in Phil ippine waters. Because this will also help our ships that traverse over inter national waters to be secure and safe.”

Bautista also welcomed the partner ship between the Philippine and Aus tralian governments in enhancing the country’s maritime capabilities.

Australia meanwhile is invest ing P3.5 billion in regional mari time programs, and the Philippines will be benefiting from this funding through training, capacity building, vessel sustainment, and marine en vironment projects.

PBBM says he is ‘satisfied’ with acting DOH, DND chiefs

By Vince Lopez

PRESIDENT Ferdinand Marcos Jr. on Thursday expressed his utmost satisfaction with the performance of the temporary heads of different agencies, foremost of which are the Departments of Health (DOH) and the Department of the National Defense (DND).

Mr. Marcos, in a chance interview in Qu ezon City, said he is not yet keen on appoint ing new health and defense chiefs since DOH officer-in-charge (OIC) Undersecre tary Maria Rosario Vergeire and DND OIC Undersecretary Jose Faustino Jr. are able to fulfill their respective mandates.

The President said he would let Ver geire lead the DOH in the meantime, considering that the acting health chief is “doing a fine job.” He added that he

is being “careful” because the country is still grappling with the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) pandemic.

“Wala pa kaming DOH. Wala pa kam ing inino-nominate. (We have yet to nom inate someone as DOH secretary). Usec. Vergeire is doing a fine job. Let her do [the work for now] kasi (because) we are still not out of the pandemic. So, we have to continue to be careful,” Marcos said.

“For the Department of Agriculture,

the Department of National Defense, I think, I am very happy with the situa tion as it is now. We’ll see. These things are revisited, especially every year at the end of the first year. I don’t think that’s a secret to anyone that at the end of the first year, the other nominees, they will now join the mix of possible nominees,” he added.

The current DND-OIC is Senior Un dersecretary Jose Faustino, a former Armed Forces chief of staff and mem ber of the Philippine Military Acad emy’s “Maringal Class” of 1988.

Mr. Marcos also vouched for the competence of Faustino who could only serve as DND OIC because of a oneyear appointment ban. He said he is set to review the list of candidates for the DND top post. With Maricel V. Cruz

‘NO’

IN BRIEF

US senator’s staff visits De Lima at PNP center

STAFF members of an American senator on Thursday visited former Senator Leila de Lima in her quar ters at the Philippine National Police (PNP) Custodial Center.

In a press statement, the PNP Public Information Office said de Lima, a per son under PNP custody, was visited by Chris Homan, senior adviser on national security and foreign policy of US Demo crat Senator Dick Durbin, and three oth ers assisted by US Embassy personnel around 9:40 a.m. Thursday.

The visit was allowed by the Muntinlupa Regional Trial Court (RTC) Branches 204 and 256 and was coordinated by the US Embassy in Manila with the PNP.

Poe to DOTr: Explain ‘beep’ card shortage

SENATOR Grace Poe said the De partment of Transportation should ex plain the scarcity of ‘beep’ cards that is burdening commuters using trains, She said the time spent lining up for every single-journey ticket is a moment wasted for our already wea ry commuters.

“The department should also shed light on reports that many have resorted to buying the cards online at a steeper price,” she said. Macon Ramos-Araneta

Duterte to PhilHealth: Use digital innovations

REP. Paolo Duterte of Davao City has called on the new leadership in the Philippine Health Insurance Cor poration (Philhealth) to incorporate digital innovations in its objective to provide medical insurance and ensuring affordable and accessible healthcare services for all Filipinos.

Duterte made the appeal as he filed House Bill (HB) 4808 which aims to establish this digital-based sys tem that is designed to complement and improve the delivery of physical healthcare services. Reps. Eric Yap of Benguet, and Edvic Yap and Jeffrey Soriano of ACT-CIS partylist group co-authored Duterte’s bill.

Duterte said utilizing digital tools to deliver better health outcomes, especial ly in far-flung communities, should be reinforced with the approval and imple mentation of a congressional proposal to establish a national electronic health (eHealth) system. Maricel V. Cruz

Students get eyeglasses in donation drive

This is under the free eyeglasses for students and teachers special project of the Pineda family, the official said.

Pineda-Cayabyab said the program aims to assist students and teachers to make studying and teaching easier.

Villar files bill giving 13th month pay to gov’t contractual workers

ployment status.

He acknowledged that contractual workers (COS) and job order (JO) person nel play a vital role in government service.

The proposed bill mandates the pay ment of 13th-month pay to all govern ment employees regardless of their em

“They fulfill their duties diligently and passionately comparable to perma nent government employees. Notwith standing, they are not entitled to midyear and year-end bonuses, such as the 13th-month pay, among other benefits,”

“During my tenure as DPWH Secre tary, I have seen the government em ployees’ need for this benefit. Now as a Senator, I have proposed a bill that gives

PPA will start probe on insurance ‘fees’

THE Philippine Ports Authority (PPA) said it has started investigating incidents of additional fees being charged to passengers as ‘ínsurance.’

PPA spokesperson Eunice Samonte, quoted by GMA News, said “actually, we have cases under in vestigation because of what we’re hearing. This is based on the complaints of the public and on our Fa cebook page.”

Samonte said the public is also being reminded that there are no charges for the insurance as it is already included in what the passengers paid for.

She also urged the public to immediately report such cases to the port police. “If someone asks them to pay for port insurance, they should immediately inform our police officers,” the official said.

The PPA meanwhile said though delays are expected in international ports amid the Christmas season, the

agency is giving its assurance to the public that there will be no congestion in ports across the country.

“We are expecting a slight delay in international ports like what happened previously at the Los Ange les and China ports,” Samonte said, adding that “the Philippine Ports Authority will ensure that we have no congestion.”

The official said the country’s ports have a yard utilization rate of 84.98%. “This means that there is still space and we have no backlog in our ports),” Samonte said.

She said balikbayan boxes can arrive within a week or for as long as two months.

“For domestic packages, we can expect it within one week and for foreign or international packages, around one to two months. So we are advising our countrymen to send out their cargos early,” she said.

a mandatory 13th-month pay to our na tional and local government workers,” Villar said.

He added that “in light of the persis tent rise in the inflation rate, which led to an extraordinary increase in prices of food, fuel, and other commodities, Fili pino workers, including contractual and job order personnel of the government face greater hardships in their lives.”

Pineda-Cayabyab said a team of ophthalmologists and nurses con ducted eye checkups for students and teachers in 80 public schools in Pam panga. A total of 2,947 students and teachers received free graded eye glasses from November 10 to 25.

The beneficiaries included 280 stu dents and teachers from Bacolor South (10), 418 from Bacolor South (6), 237 from Bacolor South (1), 408 from Aray at East (16), 290 from Sta. Ana (2), 429 from Arayat West, 467 from Mexico West and 398 from Mexico South.

Pampanga Board Member Mylyn PinedaCayabyab said close to 3,000 students and teachers in the province’s different public schools who suffer from poor eyesight have received free eye checkups and grad ed eyeglasses this November.

By Macon Ramos-Araneta

SENATOR Mark A. Villar has filed Senate Bill No. 1528 or the 13th Month

Pay Law for Contractual and Job Order

Personnel to provide benefits to all gov ernment workers.

Villar said in his explanatory note.

JOs and COS government employees do not receive benefits such as mid-year and year-end-bonus received by regular or permanent government employees, he said.

‘DISTINGUISHED ALUMNUS.’ Philippine Columbian Association chair and Manila Standard columnist Atty. Tranquil Gervacio Salvador III (left) receives the “Distinguished Alumnus Award for Private Practice” from the Ateneo Law Alumni Association on November 25.

TO POWER HIKES. Multisectoral groups protest San Miguel Corporation’s (SMC) bid to impose high electricity rates to consumers. The groups also called the Court of Appeals’ issuance of a temporary restraining order suspending the Energy Regulatory Commission’s denial of SMC’s rate hike petition as ‘economic sabotage.’

Manny Palmero

Speaker Martin G. Romualdez administers the oath (from right to left)

associate

House facilitates passage of MWF bill

By Maricel V. Cruz

THE House of Representatives Committee on Banks and Financial Intermediaries on Thursday approved a proposed law creating the P275-billion Maharlika Wealth Fund (MWF).

Meanwhile, some members of the Joint Foreign Chamber which is com posed of business groups from the Unit ed States, Canada, Australia, New Zea land, Europe, Japan, and Korea, said the MWF could work, but it might not be necessary to bring in foreign direct in vestments (FDI) at this time.

The panel chaired by Manila Rep. Irwin.Tieng adopted the amendments

Taguig lights up ‘Christmas by the Lake’ showcase

By Joel E. Zurbano

THE Taguig City government opened on Thursday its “Christmas by the Lake,” a family-friendly out door attraction that showcases the city’s holiday spirit.

The new six-hectare facility is the biggest lights park in the coun try that features around a million Christmas lights using an energy-ef ficient technology to symbolize lo cal resident’s “faith and resilience to rise from the darkness brought about by the pandemic.”

“This newest attraction from the city is something we should all be proud of because it reflects not only our identity as a probinsyudad, but also our values as a community,” said Mayor Laarni Cayetano.

She added that more than the dec oration and the lights of the park, “is the real meaning of Christmas: Christ, who became a man to save the world. He is the true light in our lives.”

Apart from Christmas tree lights, residents can enjoy lit-up Christmasthemed installations, including Little Drummer Boy and Nativity scenes.

The facility also features other family-friendly rides, activities and shows. A village train and walking tour will take visitors through the three zones of Christmas by the Lake, namely, the Lights of the City, the Heart of Christmas and the Spirit of Christmas.

presented by a technical working group led by Albay Rep. Joey Sarte Salceda, chairman of the House Committee on Ways and Means.

Tieng’s panel ratified a motion to sub mit a committee report and refer House Bill (HB) 6398 to Salceda’s committee for its tax provision and the Committee on Appropriations for its budgetary aspect.

Salceda vowed to approve the meas

ure on Monday.

HB 6393, authored by Speaker Mar tin Romualdez, proposes the creation of the MWF patterned after the sovereign wealth fund (SWF) of other countries, to maximize the profitability of investi ble government funds for the benefit of the Filipino people.

Other authors of the measure were House Majority Leader Manuel Jose Dalipe, senior Deputy Majority Lead er Ferdinand Alexander Marcos, and Tingog party-list Reps. Yedda Ma rie Romualdez and Jude Acidre, and Marikina City Rep. Stella Luz Quimbo.

Under the original bill, four large government financial institutions (GFIs) were mandated to put up equity

for a combined total of P250 billion to start up the fund.

The Government Service Insurance System (GSIS) will provide an initial investment of P125 billion, P50 billion for both the Social Security System (SSS) and Land Bank of the Philippines (LBP), and P25 billion from the Devel opment Bank of the Philippines (DBP).

With amendments, it mandates the Treasury of the Philippines to chip in P25 billion as equity.

Quimbo stressed that the initial in vestment which the FGIs will raise for the MWF would not have any negative impact on the delivery of services or benefits to the members and stakehold ers of these institutions.

New rules are out on Feast of Black Nazarene

LIFE-size replicas or images of the Black Nazarene that are more than two feet in height are not allowed at the “Walk of Faith” procession on January 8, 2023, the eve of the feast of Quiapo Church’s most revered religious icon.

Quiapo Church adviser Alex Irasga, said traditional activities to celebrate the Black Nazarene feast on Jan. 9 would be held except for pahalik (kissing), pasan an (carrying) and the procession of the image, called Traslacion.

“Our goal is to be able to conduct an orderly ‘Walk of Faith” or proces sion with a high level of piety to af firm the devotion in the faith of our Lord Jesus Nazarene,” Irasga said in a press briefing.

The Nazareno 2023 organizers ex pect the procession to start at 2 a.m. and to last in less than two hours after leaving the Quirino Grandstand.

“We will not allow images that are more than two feet, only allowed are replicas that can be carried by hand. We have already contacted the police that there will be checkpoints on the roads entering the Grandstand and Quiapo, and all those who are carry ing huge images will not be allowed,” Irasga told reporters.

Before holding the Walk of Faith, Fr. Rufino Sescon Jr., rector of the Minor Basilica of the Black Nazarene (Quiapo Church) will celebrate the midnight Mass on Jan. 8.

They also encourage devotees who will attend the procession to wear face masks, bring alcohol and practice so cial distancing.

“You can bring a handkerchief, you can bring a candle, wear face masks, bring a disinfectant,” Sescon said.

On the other hand, Irasga urged the devotees to bring all replicas to Pla za Miranda for the priest’s blessings from Dec. 27 to 29.

“There will be blessing of imag es in the morning and in the after noon,” he added.

On Jan. 9, Manila Archbishop Car dinal Jose Advincula will preside over the feast day Mass at midnight at the Quirino Grandstand.

The image of the Black Nazarene will be at the grandstand starting Jan. 7, 2023.

House committee ratifies religious freedom measure

Rep. Eddie Villanueva of CIBAC was referring to House Bill 2213, or the proposed Magna Carta on Reli gious Freedom Act, that was approved by the House Committee on Human Rights last Tuesday. The bill was ap proved on 3rd reading during the pre vious 18th Congress.

The measure provides for an imple menting law that will protect and pro mote the right of Filipinos to choose their religion.

OPAPRU aims to promote global peace document

By Nash B. Maulana

THE Office of the Presidential Advis er on Peace, Reconciliation and Unity (OPAPRU) seeks to generate and pro mote public awareness in the Philip pines on a vital document on peace and brotherhood sealed by Pope Francis and Grand Imam Ahmad Al-Tayyeb of the Al-Azhar University in the United Arab Emirates in 2019.

OPPAPRU Secretary Charlie Gal

vez underscored the need for a “sense of awareness” among the Filipinos that the Human Fraternity Document exists.

It may be recalled that President Fer dinand Marcos Jr. warned that an “in creasing geo-political polarization” was a threat to “hard-won peace in the AsiaPacific.”

Addressing the 77th Session of the United Nations General Assembly in New York last September 21, the Mar cos offered his country’s peace-build

CEB issues friendly reminders to air passengers

THIS serves as a reminder from the Cebu Pacific Air (CEB) to air trave lers to make their trips less stressful this holiday season when passenger traffic is expected to swell.

“Passengers must be at the NAIA Terminal 3 and 4 at least three two hours before departure for domes

tic flights, and three hours for international flights. Passengers traveling to Dubai are allowed to check in as early as seven hours before departure,” the CEB man agement said in a statement.

Travelers were also required to bring a copy of their COVID-19 vacci

nation cards for local destination and VaxCertPh for international travel.

This month, according to the Ma nila International Airport Authority (MIAA), there will be more than 15 percent increase in passengers at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport. Joel E. Zurbano

Manila gov’t starts giving away Xmas food boxes

THE Manila City government will start distributing Christmas food boxes to its residents starting December 1.

Manila Mayor Honey Lacuna-Pangan inspected the food boxes at the San Andres Sports Complex on Wednesday, the Manila Public Information Office (MPIO) said.

At least 695,000 families will receive Christmas food boxes.

The giveaways contain rice, corned beef, spaghetti noodles and sauce, cheese, fruit cocktail and milk.

A total of 160,000 gift boxes will be distributed to senior citizens.

Meanwhile, as the people start to plan their activities for the upcoming holidays, a health expert Wednesday recommended conducting them in open spaces to avoid

the risk of COVID-19 infection.

In a public briefing, former Philip pine Medical Association president Dr. Benito Atienza, now the vice president III of the Philippine Federation of Pro fessional Association, was asked for ad vice in order for Christmas gatherings not to become COVID-19 superspread er events. Willie Casas

ing experience with the Bangsamoro to the UN Security Council on Tuesday.

Galvez expressed this during a peace forum held at the Ateneo De Davao University in Davao City.

The forum was the first Philippine platform in which the document was revisited and adopted in the context of Filipino diversity with the theme, #BrotherandSisters: Human Fraternity as a Guide in Living in Peace and Es tablishing Peaceful Communities.

“With this bill, Filipinos will be en couraged to pursue spiritual growth by affording them the freedom to conduct their lives in accordance with their faith or religious belief without the fear of persecution, threat, or pun ishment,” Villanueva said in his spon sorship speech.

“Moreover, this measure also aims to promote a free market of religious ideas in the country where no religion is suppressed or quelled over the other. By leveling the playing field for the propagation of different religions, Fil ipinos are afforded the full spectrum of varying faiths and the freedom to choose to which they will subscribe,” he added. Maricel V. Cruz

A PARTY-LIST lawmaker has lauded the approval at the committee level of a bill protecting the right of the public to freedom of religion.

CHRISTMAS VILLAGE IN TACLOBAN. Tingog party-list Rep. Yedda Marie Romualdez is all excitement as she mingles with her constituents, particularly the children, at the Christmas Village her party founded several years ago. The park is open 6 a.m. to 9 p.m. Mondays to Thursdays, and from 6 p.m. to 10 p.m. on Fridays to Sundays. (Inset)

Tingog distributed 300 backpacks filled with school supplies and snacks at the Tacloban North Resettlement.

Miko Noveno

CHRISTMAS BY THE LAKE. Taguig Mayor Lani Cayetano and Senator Alan Peter Cayetano light up the Christmas by the Lake theme park featuring, among others, a train ride, interactive murals, and food stalls at the Lakeshore Area on Laguna Lake Highway in Barangay Lower Bicutan. The park sparkles with more than a million light bulbs using energy-efficient technology, with laser beam animation and a larger-thanlife walkthrough kaleidoscope to boot.

ROTARY TOP LADY IN MANILA. Jennifer Jones (right) president of Rotary International winds up her weeklong humanitarian visit from Nov. 23 to 29 in the Philippines as part of her “Imagine Impact Tour.” Jones, the first lady president of the 117-year-old organization was welcomed by leaders from 10 Rotary Districts in the country including Michelle De Castro Manuel (left), president of Rotary Club of Southern Mandaluyong.

EDITORIAL BBM

A FEW few days from today, the University of the Philippines Board of Regents (UP BOR) will elect the next UP President.

The UP BOR is composed of 11 members: the chairman of the Commission on Higher Education (CHEd); the UP President; the chairmen of the House of Representatives and the Senate Committees on Education, respectively; four regents representing the alumni, faculty, students and administrative personnel; and three appointees of the President of the Philippines.

Two candidates for UP President should be exposed to the Filipino people for what they truly represent, outside of their publicly proclaimed platforms. Before I go to that, allow me to revisit some facts.

As I mentioned in my column published on October 28, these are bad times for UP because the recent Times Higher Education’s World University list states that UP is no longer the number one university in the Philippines.

UP’s embarrassing, unprecedented slide in its world ranking was substantially caused by the alarming influence of communists in the administration, faculty and student population of UP.

That problem is compounded by the strategic alliance of the reds and the pinklawans in UP. The pinklawans are rabid and violent partisans of the discredited Liberal Party.

Many UP students who were enticed to abandon their studies to take up arms in the countryside ended up as sacrificial lambs at the altar of godless communism

Instead of teaching and doing pioneering research work as mandated by the UP charter, the communists and pinklawans in UP are focused on partisan politics.

UP itself has become a recruitment ground for young communists, and its largest campuses host many safehouses for red recruiters.

Many UP students who were enticed to abandon their studies to take up arms in the countryside ended up as sacrificial lambs at the altar of godless communism.

Communists in the UP administration, faculty and student population are intolerant of views and opinions that do not conform to anti-government, radical or subversive idealogy.

Many of them use bullying tactics, violence even, against anyone who dares contradict their political constructs.

Although UP claims it is a bastion of academic freedom and that its campuses are “democractic spaces” open to all, those with pro-government ideas are routinely threatened and harassed on campus and online, and are not welcome inside UP’s campuses.

Worse, UP thinks it is above the law, as seen in its

condescending refusal to allow policemen inside its campuses, even if those campuses are public places to begin with.

That obviously misplaced sense of entitlement is a perfect recipe for lawlessness and the continuing decline in UP’s ranking as a tertiary educational institution in the Philippines.

In the end, parents who can afford private college education for their gifted children prefer to send them to universities other than UP.

As a collective consequence, many of those who enter and graduate from UP are average, woefully misinformed, biased, gullible to propaganda, and inarticulate.

If the next UP President is a red or a sympathizer of the local communist movement, or is a pinklawan partisan himself, the UP will continue its retrogression.

To repeat, two candidates for UP President must be exposed for what they really represent, in contrast to what they claim to be.

One is Fidel Nemenzo, considered by many as a communist or red sympathizer. Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, there were nasty rumors (repeat, rumors) about his alleged substance abuse.

The other is die-hard pinklawan Angelo “Jijil” JImenez.

Jijil Jimenez was a member of the UP BOR in 2019 when UP officially allowed the use of valuable real estate inside UP Diliman for a controversial “martial law museum.”

He was appointed to the UP BOR by President Noynoy Aquino, his political patron.

The partisan “martial law museum” will exhibit the alleged abuses supposedly committed during the administration of the late President Ferdinand Marcos Sr.; praise local communists who tried to overthrow the democratic government; and, ultimately, sanctify Corazon Aquino as the savior of the Philippines from Marcos.

It memorializes the strategic alliance of the reds and the pinklawans in UP, even if the UP Charter does not allow the use of UP real estate for a partisan “martial law museum.”

Jimenez probably allowed the “martial law museum” so he can pay homage to Corazon Aquino, his patron’s mother.

He also has no substantial administrative work experience in UP.

Supporting Jimenez are outgoing UP President Danilo Concepcion and, according to my sources, CHEd Chairman Prospero de Vera II, who are both ex officio members of the UP BOR.

Jimenez also has the vote of Senator and ex officio UP Regent Senator Francis “Chiz” Escudero, his fraternity brother.

Escudero lost in the vice presidential election of 2016. During that election, Escudero referred to the late President Ferdinand Edralin Marcos Sr. as a dictator.

President Bongbong Marcos can prevent UP from falling into the hands of either communists and pinklawans by urging those in the UP BOR to not to vote for either Nemenzo or Jimenez.

Uniqueness of an interpleader action

THE action for interpleader is a “remedy whereby a person who has… property in his possession, or an obligation to render… without claiming any right…, comes to court and asks that the per sons who claim the… property or who consider themselves entitled to demand compliance… be required to litigate among themselves” (Alvarez v. The Commonwealth of the Philippines, G.R. L-45315, February 25, 1938).

The purpose of the action is to determine who is entitled to the property and who can demand the performance of an obligation.

“The remedy is afforded not to protect a per son against a double liability but to protect him against a double vexation in respect of one liabil ity” (G.R. L-45315, February 25, 1938).

In simpler words, the action for interpleader protects the plaintiff from cases that may be insti tuted against him by either or both of the disputing parties.

By filing an action for interpleader, the plaintiff seeks for the court to determine the rights of the disputing parties, and not to enforce a right that was breached or violated against them since, there is none.

In one Supreme Court case, Lui Enterprises leased a parcel of land in Davao City to Zuellig Pharma Corporation (Zuellig).

During the lease, Zuellig was informed by the Philippine Bank of Communications (PBCom) that it is the new owner of the property and subse quent rental payments should be made to the bank directly (Lui Enterprises, Inc. v. Zuellig Pharma, et al., G.R. 193494, March 12, 2014).

Zuellig informed Lui Enterprises of PBCom’s claim.

However, Lui Enterprises insisted on its right to collect the rentals from Zuellig.

Due to the conflicting claims of Lui Enterprises and PBCom, Zuellig filed a complaint for inter pleader with the Regional Trial Court of Makati and consigned the rental payments in court.

Earlier, Lui Enterprises filed an action against PBCom for the nullification of the deed of da tion in payment with RTC Davao which it later claimed bars the filing of the interpleader case. The subject of the nullification case were the properties used by Lui Enterprises to pay its obli gations to PBCom.

The Supreme Court said the case to nullify the dation in payment was filed by Lui Enterprises against PBCom, but that the interpleader case was filed by Zuellig against Lui Enterprises and PB

Com (G.R. 193494, March 12, 2014).

Different plaintiffs and reliefs were sought in the two cases, thus, litis pendentia (pendency of similar cases) is absent.

In another case, Don Luis Dison Realty, Inc. (Don Luis Realty), as lessor, executed lease con tracts with several tenants on its units in San Luis Building, Ermita, Manila.

The tenants were paying their rentals to Francis Pacheco (Pacheco), then General Manager of Don Luis Realty (Pasricha v. Don Luis Dison Realty, Inc., G.R. 136409, March 14, 2008).

After Pacheco was replaced by Roswinda Bautista, the tenants stopped paying the rentals, claiming their refusal to pay was due to the inter nal squabble in Don Luis Realty as to the person authorized to receive payments.

Hence, Don Luis Realty instituted an action for ejectment against the tenants.

While the main issue in the case is the propri ety of the ejectment action instituted by Don Luis Realty against the tenants, the Supreme Court said the internal squabble did not justify the tenants’ failure to pay their rentals.

They should have consigned their payments and commenced an action for interpleader (G.R. 136409, March 14, 2008).

In yet another case, an interpleader action was filed by Bliss Development Corporation (BDC) against Edgar H. Arreza (Arreza) and Montano M. Diaz (Diaz) in RTC Makati regarding the latter’s conflicting claims over a property.

The judgment which later attained finality was in favor of Arreza (G.R. 133113, August 30, 2001).

As a result, Diaz had to deliver the property together with all of its improvements to Arreza.

Thereafter Diaz filed a complaint against BDC and Arreza in RTC Makati to hold them liable for the reimbursement of his acquisition cost and im provements on the property.

The issue to be resolved was whether Diaz’s claims for reimbursement against BDC and Ar reza were barred by prior judgment (res judicata) in the interpleader case.

Creaky public transport system

IF IT’S the Christmas season already and you’re stuck for hours in horrendous traffic at all times of the day whether you’re’ motorist or a commuter, you can probably be forgiven for blaming no one else but government planners for their egregious failure to solve Metro Manila’s public transportation and mobility problems.

In fact, if an international study called 2022 Urban Mobility Index conducted by the think-tank Oliver Wyman Forum, in partnership with the University of California in Berkeley in the United States, is to be believed, Metro Manila is among the cities with the worst public transportation system in the world.

The study looked at the public transport situation in 60 cities.

These were evaluated based on their readiness for future mobility disruptors, taking into consideration how public transport systems are being managed and used, and what efforts are being exerted to build more sustainable mobility ecosystems. The bad news is that we ranked at No. 56 over-all.

Now that the health situation has started to ease up, it is time for the pubic and private sectors to tackle mobility challenges, particularly in mass transportation, consistent with a clear program for resilient and sustainable economic rebound

Here are the top 10 countries with the worst public transport systems: (1) Cairo; (2) Abu Dhabi; (3) Casablanca; (4) Quito; (5) Cape Town; (6) Manila; (7) Johannesburg; (8) Riyadh; (9) Nairobi; (10) Jeddah.

Aside from having one of the worst public transit systems in the whole wide world, Manila also ranked low in the following categories of the index: 58th in urban mobility readiness, and 48th in sustainable mobility.

Here’s what the report said: “The potential domino effect of a desolate public transit system is staggering: economic fallout from poor revenue and lost jobs to operate it, increased congestion associated with more private travel, likely more road fatalities, and worse noise, light, and air pollution.”

And the report’s conclusions should have more than enough for the DOTr and other agencies to chew on while they sit in their cushy offices: “Public transit is the most efficient and sustainable way for cities to transport large groups of people compared to private means of transit, and an efficiently

7% GDP growth this year

WHAT lies ahead for the Philippine economy?

For the National Economic and Develop ment Authority (NEDA), the prospects are good. Perhaps even very good.

The economy will likely grow by over seven percent this year, and be comparatively strong next year even as there are external and domes tic challenges, according to the economic plan ning agency.

The optimistic projection by NEDA, how ever, runs counter to the less-than-rosy pre dictions by multilateral lenders, such as the International Monetary Fund and Asian Devel opment Bank.

The two lending institutions see slower eco nomic growth for next year compared to this year due to global shocks as well as high infla tion and interest rates that may affect demand.

The administration’s economic managers have set a 6.5 to 7.5 percent gross domestic product growth target for this year.

In the third quarter, the economy grew by 7.6 percent, which is faster than the seven percent growth posted in the same period last year, and also higher than the revised 7.5 percent growth in the second quarter.

The economy just needs to grow by 3.3 to 6.9 percent in the fourth quarter to meet the growth target for this year.

For next year, the government is aiming for a 6.5 to eight percent GDP growth.

Is this target doable? We think so, especially if the 2023 budget recently approved by the House of Representatives passes muster at the bicameral conference committee level.

The proposed P5.268-trillion 2023 Gen eral Appropriations Bill contains a whopping P77 billion in institutional amendments by the House to augment the budget for education, health, transportation and other vital social services.

The various institutional amendments seek to directly uplift the people’s welfare.

Chief among these is the Department of So cial Welfare and Development’s P12.5 billion that will fund the Assistance to Individuals in Crisis Situations or AICS (P5B); upgrade of the senior citizens’ pension through the National

The action for interpleader protects the plaintiff from cases that may be instituted against him by either or both of the disputing parties

Diaz avers that an interpleader action is noth ing more than the determination of rights over the subject matter of the case while his reimbursement case involves recovery of money and damages.

The Supreme Court explained that “[T]he sec ond paragraph of Section 5 of Rule 62 of the 1997 Rules of Civil Procedure provides that the parties in an interpleader action may file counterclaims,

Commission of Senior Citizens (P5B); and the implementation of the Sustainable Livelihood Program (P2.5B).

The Department of Transportation will get P5.5-billion for programs addressing the rising cost of fuel: the fuel subsidy program (P2.5B), Libreng Sakay (P2B) and bike lane construc tion (P1B).

The economy just needs to grow by 3.3 to 6.9 percent in the fourth quarter to meet the growth target for this year

Meanwhile, the Department of Labor and Employment will have at its disposal P5 bil lion for the Tulong Panghanapbuhay sa Ating Disadvantaged/Displaced Workers (TUPAD) program as well as for livelihood generation.

The Department of Health will be kept busy all year long since it will get P20.25 billion more for various programs, such as Medical Assistance for Indigent Patients (P13B), health care and non-healthcare workers and frontliners (P5B); support for specialty hospitals (P2B); and the Cancer Assistance Program (P250M).

At the same time, the Department of Educa tion has been allotted an extra P10 billion for its school and classroom construction and special education programs (P50M).

The Commission on Higher Education gets P5 billion for its Tulong Dunong Program, while the Technical Education Skills and De velopment Authority can spend P5 billion for its training and scholarship programs.

For its part, the Department of Public Works and Highways will receive P10 billion for the construction of water systems in underserved

cross-claims, third party complaints and responsive pleadings thereto, ‘as provided by these Rules’” (G.R. 133113, August 30, 2001).

The second paragraph of the same Section 5 “expressly authorize[s] the additional pleadings and claims enumerated therein, in the interest of a complete adjudication of the controversy and its incidents.

Hence, Diaz should have filed his claims against Arreza in the interpleader action” (G.R. 133113, August 30, 2001).

Having asserted in the interpleader action his al leged rights as a buyer in good faith, Diaz should have crystallized his demand into specific claims for reimbursement by Arreza. Diaz’s failure to set up his claim for reimbursement in the interpleader action being in the nature of a compulsory coun terclaim is now barred (G.R. 133113, August 30, 2001).

The crux of Diaz’s reimbursement case is in the nature of an unpleaded compulsory counterclaim.

There being a prior final judgment in the in terpleader case which acquired jurisdiction over the same parties, the same subject property, and the same cause of action, the subsequent reim bursement complaint should be dismissed on the grounds of res judicata (Arreza v. Diaz, G.R. 133113, August 30, 2001)

run system can not only encourage workers and tourists to travel through cities but can provide more equal opportunity access to additional mobility modes, jobs, shopping centers, and more.”

It is lamentable, as the report pointed out, that Metro Manila and other cities failed to take advantage of the disruption caused by the pandemic to improve their public transport systems.

Now that the health situation has started to ease up, it is time for the pubic and private sectors to tackle mobility challenges, particularly in mass transportation, consistent with a clear program for resilient and sustainable economic rebound.

At any rate, which cities emerged as the top 10 with the best public transit systems in the world?

These are: (1) Hong Kong; (2) Zurich; (3) Stockholm; (4) Singapore; (5) Helsinki; (6) Oslo; (7) Tokyo; (8) Paris; (9) Berlin; (10) London.

So there. And don’t you just wish you would rather live in any of the top 10 cities with the best public transport systems?

upland barangays, while the National Electrifi cation Administration will get added funding in the amount of P50 million for its barangay and sitio electrification program.

And not to forget, the Department of Infor mation and Communications Technology can definitely use an additional P1.5 billion for its national broadband project that will boost ef forts to shift to a digital economy.

The Department of Trade and Industry can also rely on an extra P250 million to assist the creative industry pursuant to Republic Act 11904.

“We really feel that these institutional amendments will redound to the benefit of the people. And we are confident that the Senate and the House bicam members will see eye-toeye on this. Our objectives are the same: to pass a people’s budget that reflects President Mar cos Jr.’s 8-point economic agenda that will help the country bounce back from the pandemic,” House Speaker Martin G. Romualdez said.

House Appropriations Committee chair man and Ako Bikol Party-list Rep. Elizaldy Co worked in tandem with Speaker Romualdez to lend substance to the administration’s pledge to improve the delivery of social services to Fili pinos:

“Our amendments can speak for themselves. What we did was to allocate more funds for pro-people initiatives without sacrificing our job creation programs. You can see that is in deed pro-people and pro-development as we prioritized health, education and transporta tion. We are confident that if the Senate and the House approve these amendments, we can re cover well from the pandemic in 2023.”

With the legislative and executive branches of government working together as a team and collaborating on a pro-people and pro-develop ment national budget, expect the economy to recover even faster from Covid-19 in 2023 and even well beyond.

(Email: ernhil@yahoo.com)

Macron rips Biden subsidies at start of 2nd US state visit

WASHINGTON—France’s President Emmanuel Macron fired a volley at his American hosts on the first day of a rare state visit to Washington, telling law makers Wednesday that US industrial subsidies are “super aggressive” against French competitors.

“This is super aggressive for our busi ness people,” an AFP reporter heard Macron tell members of Congress and business leaders, who had invited him to lunch ahead of the main part of the state visit on Thursday, when the French leader will spend most of the day with President Joe Biden.

Macron was referring to Biden’s sig nature policy called the Inflation Reduc tion Act, which is set to pour billions of dollars into environmentally friendly industries -- with strong backing for USbased manufacturers.

The White House touts the IRA leg islation as a groundbreaking effort to reignite US manufacturing and promote

renewable technologies, but European Union governments are crying foul, threatening to launch a trade war by sub sidizing their own green economy sector.

Macron’s blunt assessment, saying he just wanted “to be respected as a good friend,” tore some of the veneer off a carefully choreographed state visit in tended to celebrate historic US-French ties—and also tackle the trickier parts of the US-EU transatlantic alliance.

“I don’t want to become a market to sell American products because I have exactly the same products as you,” said Macron, stressing that France had its own middle class in need of employment.

“And the consequence of the IRA is that you will perhaps fix your issue but you will increase my problem. I’m sorry to be so straightforward,” he said.

The White House responded by insisting that the state visit is about the two presidents’ “warm relationship.” AFP

FOR UKRAINE WAR

EU eyes special court to try Russia

the idea, saying: “Russia will pay for crimes and destruction.”

But the initiative faces formidable le gal and political obstacles.

On the ground, Russia said it had captured a few settlements in eastern Ukraine, eager for a win after a series of setbacks since invading its pro-Western neighbour in late February.

Von der Leyen suggested a special ised tribunal to prosecute Russian of ficials over the conflict that has killed thousands and displaced millions from

their homes.

“While continuing to support the International Criminal Court, we are proposing to set up a specialised court backed by the United Nations to inves tigate and prosecute Russia’s crime of aggression,” she said.

The chief of staff to Ukraine’s Presi dent Volodymyr Zelensky welcomed

The main problem is that the Inter national Criminal Court (ICC) does not have jurisdiction over Russia’s “crimes of aggression”—its invasion and war in Ukraine—because Moscow is not a sig natory to the court’s treaty.

That tribunal can therefore only judge specific cases of war crimes and crimes against humanity perpetrated in Ukraine, but even then Russian President Vladi mir Putin and his prime minister and

foreign minister enjoy immunity from prosecution while in office.

The only way the ICC can be called in to judge Russia’s war is through a decision by the UN Security Council —something that is impossible because Russia, with its permanent seat on the council, would veto it.

‘Marginal’ Russian gains Von der Leyen is instead proposing to have a court set up in an EU country that could tackle Russia specifically on the crime of aggression, while leaving war crimes and crimes against humanity to the ICC. AFP

UN launches record $51.5-b funding appeal

Prince William,

Kate in US for visit overshadowed by new race row

BOSTON—Prince William and wife Kate began their first visit to America in eight years Wednesday under the cloud of a fresh racism row after his godmother quit the royal household for repeatedly asking a Black British woman where she was “really” from.

The Prince and Princess of Wales met Boston mayor Michelle Wu and governorelect Maura Healey at the city hall and then sat courtside at a Boston Celtics versus Miami Heat NBA game as they kickstarted their three-day trip focused on climate change.

The beginning of the visit— which comes after racism claims from William’s brother Harry and mixed-race sister-in-law, Meghan— was however overshadowed by the resignation and apology of 83-yearold Susan Hussey, one of William’s six godmothers.

“Racism has no place in our society,”

Chile-Bolivia river dispute set for UN court ruling

THE HAGUE—The International Court of Justice will give its judgement on Thursday on a climate change-fuelled row between Chile and Bolivia over the use of a crucial cross-border river.

Chile took its South American neighbor to the UN’s top court in 2016, asking the ICJ to declare the Silala an “international water course” and give it equal rights to the river.

It is the latest in a series of watersharing disputes between parched Chile and landlocked Bolivia, which have been rowing over access to the Pacific Ocean for nearly 150 years.

The Silala rises in Bolivia’s highaltitude wetlands and crosses the border with Chile, flowing for around eight kilometres (five miles).

Bolivia however says the waters flow artificially into Chile due to a system of canals built to collect water from springs, and has demanded its neighbour pay compensation.

Judges at the Hague-based ICJ, which was set up after World War II to rule on disputes between UN member states, will hand down their judgment at 3 pm (1400 GMT).

The court in 2018 sank Bolivia’s bid to gain access to the Pacific, which it lost to Chile in the 1879-1884 War of the Pacific.

Former Bolivian president Evo Morales had previously sought to use the river dispute as a bargaining chip in its fight for a route to the ocean. AFP

a spokesman for the royal couple told reporters in Boston.

“These comments were unacceptable, and it’s right that the individual has stepped aside with immediate effect.”

William was not involved in the decision but “believes it’s the right course of action to be taken”, the spokesman added.

The trip is the royal couple’s first one overseas since the 40-year-old William became heir to the throne in September, when his father succeeded queen Elizabeth II to become King Charles III.

They last visited the United States in 2014 when they went to New York and Washington, in a trip that included a reception at the White House with the then-president Barack Obama and his deputy, Joe Biden.

The White House said Biden will meet the royal couple on Friday. AFP

Hong Kong court delays trial of pro-democracy tycoon

HONG KONG—Jailed pro-democracy media tycoon Jimmy Lai’s trial under Hong Kong’s national security law was delayed Thursday as the government asked Beijing to bar Lai from being represented by a British lawyer.

Lai and several executives from the now-shuttered Apple Daily newspaper are being prosecuted for “colluding with foreign forces”, an offence under the law imposed on the city after huge and sometimes violent protests in 2019.

After local courts said London-based lawyer Tim Owen could represent Lai, Hong Kong’s leader asked China’s top lawmaking body to decide whether

overseas lawyers could participate in national security cases.

The trial was set to start Thursday but was adjourned to December 13 for prosecutors to come up with a new timetable, pending any move from Beijing.

Defence lawyers also revealed that Hong Kong immigration authorities had “withheld the extension” of Owen’s current work visa without disclosing a reason.

Owen had already been granted a visa as he was working on another Hong Kong case, the defense said, but did not specify when the visa will expire.

AFP has contacted the Immigration Department for comment.

Lawyers from common law jurisdictions are able to work within Hong Kong’s legal system, particularly in cases where their specific expertise may be required.

Owen is a king’s counsel—a senior trial lawyer in Britain—and has previously worked on high-profile criminal cases in the financial hub.

The government earlier argued in court that letting overseas lawyers work on national security cases posed a risk, as there was no way to ensure the confidentiality of state secrets. AFP

GENEVA—The United Nations appealed for record funds for aid next year, as the Ukraine war and other conflicts, climate emergencies and the still-simmering pandemic push more people into crisis, and some towards famine.

The UN’s annual Global Humanitarian Overview estimated that 339 million people worldwide will need some form of emergency assistance next year—a staggering 65 million more people than the estimate a year ago.

“It’s a phenomenal number and it’s a depressing number,” UN aid chief Martin Griffiths told reporters in Geneva, adding that it meant “next year is going to be the biggest humanitarian programme” the world has ever seen.

If all the people in need of emergency assistance were in one country, it would be the third-largest nation in the world, after China and India, he said.

And the new estimate means that one in 23 people will need help in 2023, compared to one in 95 back in 2015.

As the extreme events seen in 2022 spill into 2023, Griffiths described the humanitarian needs as “shockingly high.”

“Lethal droughts and floods are wreaking havoc in communities from Pakistan to the Horn of Africa,” he said, also pointing to the war in Ukraine, which “has turned a part of Europe into a battlefield.”

‘A lifeline’

The annual appeal by UN agencies and other humanitarian organisations said that providing aid to the 230 million most vulnerable people across 68 countries would require a record $51.5 billion.

That was up from the $41 billion requested for 2022, although the sum has been revised up to around $50 billion during the year—with less than half of that sought-for amount funded.

“For people on the brink, this appeal is a lifeline,” Griffiths said.

The report presented a depressing picture of soaring needs brought on by a range of conflicts, worsening instability and a deepening climate crisis. AFP

SHANGHAI—Mobile apps and state media websites turned black-andwhite, flags on some government buildings in Beijing were at half-mast, and flowers were laid as China on Thursday mourned the death of former leader Jiang Zemin.

State media said Jiang had died of leukemia and multiple organ failure in Shanghai on Wednesday at the age of 96 after all medical treatments failed, and that funeral preparations had begun.

Floral tributes were laid in Jiang’s hometown of Yangzhou and nearby Shanghai, where police were deployed in force on Thursday morning around the intersections near the hospital where he was rumored to have died,

AFP reporters saw.

At around 12:45 pm (0445 GMT), they saw a convoy of vehicles coming from the direction of the hospital, headed by a car bearing what appeared to be a wreath of yellow flowers on its bonnet.

The convoy then headed toward Hongqiao airport.

An hour earlier, police ordered pedestrians to leave the intersection as bussed-in bystanders gathered around the crossroads wearing drab-colored clothing and face masks.

Pictures sent to AFP by someone living along one of the major roads nearby showed people lining the pavement holding white chrysanthemums, a traditional Chinese funeral flower. AFP

China mourns former president Jiang as nation’s funeral preparations begin

BRUSSELS—European Union chief Ursula von der Leyen on Wednesday floated the idea of a “specialised court” to put Russia’s top officials on trial over the war in Ukraine.

BREAD TALK. French President Emmanuel Macron holds a baguette while speaking during a reception honoring the French community in the US, at the French Embassy in Washington, DC, on November 30. AFP

FROZEN HARVEST. A Kashmiri farmer dips in cold waters braving subzero temperatures to extract lotus stems, locally known as Nadur, at Anchar Lake in Srinagar on November 30. AFP

FAREWELL, MR. PRESIDENT. A large video screen in Beijing shows A news broadcast featuring an image of former Chinese leader Jiang Zemin, who died November 30 at the age of 96, state media reported. They hailed him as a great communist revolutionary who helped quell the 1989 pro-democracy protests. AFP

10.7 12.02%

4 COL 3.24 0.29 9.83%

5 LPC 0.169 0.015 9.74%

6 MB 0.3 0.025 9.09%

7 APX 1.73 0.13 8.12%

8 PBB 8.64 0.64 8.00%

9 HOME 1.64 0.11 7.19%

10 DWC 1.38 0.08 6.15%

TOP LOSERS

LAST % PRICE CHANGE CHANGE

1 MBC 5.92 -0.87 -12.81%

2 MJC 1.3 -0.15 -10.34%

3 V 0.73 -0.08 -9.88%

4 APO 0.62 -0.06 -8.82%

5 MG 0.111 -0.01 -8.26%

6 PGOLD 33 -2.5 -7.04%

7 RLT 0.191 -0.014 -6.83%

8 MAHB 0.7 -0.05 -6.67%

9 WLCON 30.2 -1.95 -6.07%

10 ALI 29.6 -1.9 -6.03%

MOST ACTIVE

VOLUME

1 GTCAP 2,450,710 1,096,201,604

2 SM 1,052,130 1,014,352,830

3 JFC 2,420,790 594,842,528

4 BDO 4,450,430 591,628,411

5 ICT 2,612,970 526,067,022

6 ALI 15,749,700 476,804,615

7 URC 3,439,080 462,319,089

8 SMPH 11,513,300 409,125,305

9 CNVRG 24,993,200 395,513,284 10 BPI 3,353,290 344,809,068

US economy slows on pessimism over high interest rates

WASHINGTON, United States—US economic activity eased in recent weeks, while uncertainty and “increased pessimism” clouded the country’s outlook amid high prices and rising interest rates, a report published by the Federal Reserve said Wednesday.

The Fed’s latest “beige book” survey of economic conditions comes as the US central bank pushes on with its all-out effort to cool surging inflation, although Fed chief Jerome Powell also signaled Wednesday that it was likely time to slow aggressive rate hikes soon.

“Economic activity was about flat or up slightly” since the last report in midOctober, said the latest release.

While five of the Fed’s 12 districts reported small gains in activity, the rest “experienced either no change or slightto-modest declines,” added the report, which surveys firms and other contacts.

“Interest rates and inflation continued to weigh on activity, and many contacts expressed greater uncertainty or increased pessimism concerning the outlook,” the report said.

Consumer spending was mixed but eked out slight gains, with inflation nudging some buyers towards lowerpriced goods, while tourism saw some improvement as well.

Higher interest rates took a toll on home sales, which fell “steeply” in some districts.

In the labor market, demand weakened overall, according to the report, which noted there were “scattered layoffs” in the technology, finance, and real estate sectors.

At an event in Washington on Wednesday, Powell said, “the time for moderating the pace of rate increases may come as soon as the December meeting” of Fed policymakers.

Markets welcomed the news with US stocks rallying, but Powell also stressed that the Fed would “stay the course until the job is done,” given that history cautions strongly against loosening policy prematurely. AFP

Stocks retreat; Peso reaches 3-month high

STOCKS retreated from a six-day rally, while the peso strengthened to a three-month high against the US dollar after US Federal Reserve boss Jerome Powell flagged a rate hike slowdown and China signaled a softer approach to fighting Covid.

The PSE index, the 30-company benchmark of the Philippine Stock Ex change, lost 45 points, or 0.7 percent, to close at 6,734.99 Thursday, as three of the six subsectors advanced.

The broader all-share index also dropped 12 points, or 0.4 percent, to settle at 3,501.03, on a value turnover of P10.1 billion. Gainers outnumbered losers, 112 to 77, while 40 issues were unchanged.

Four of the 10 most active stocks ended in the green, led by SM Invest ments Corp. which climbed 4.4 per cent to P980.00 and Converge ICT Inc. which went up 3.5 percent to P16.00.

Meanwhile, the peso gained P0.34 or 0.6 percent Thursday to close at 56.22

against the US dollar from 56.56 Tues day. Wednesday was a holiday in the Philippines.

It was the local currency’s strongest level since it settled at 56.145 a dollar on Aug. 31, 2022. Total volume turn over reached $898.7 million, down from $1.030 billion previously.

Rizal Commercial Banking Corp. chief economist Michael Ricafort said earlier the peso might sustain its gains against the greenback in the coming weeks amid the expected increase in remittances, coupled with higher export sales in December.

He said the peso’s weakness in the past few weeks could be attributed part ly to the seasonal increase in imports by

some manufacturers primarily meant to prepare for the seasonal growth in de mand for many businesses in the fourth quarter.

“But the seasonal increase in importa tion [is] already at the tail-end, before the seasonal increase in OFW remit tances and export sales in Q4 that could provide some support for the peso ex change rate especially towards the end of the year, based on the consistent pat terns for many years,” Ricafort said.

The Fed is now expected to have smaller rate increases with the easing of inflation in the world’s biggest economy.

Economists earlier said the latest 75-bps rate hike by the Bangko Sentral ng Pili pinas could support the peso against the US dollar.

A growing sense of hope that months of sharp monetary tightening around the world is finally reining inflation back from its decades-long highs sent equi ties surging in November, even as poli cymakers warned more work had to be done.With Julito G. Rada, AFP

Remittances to low-income countries ease

WASHINGTON—Cash transfers to low- and middle-income coun tries eased this year, with rising prices taking a toll on migrants’ incomes, the World Bank said Wednesday.

Remittances to lower-income countries rose around five percent to $626 billion, lower than the 10.2 percent jump in 2021, the bank added in a report.

While the reopening of econo mies as the pandemic receded helped with employment, rising costs “adversely affected mi grants’ real incomes,” the Wash ington-based development lender said.

And in 2023, the increase of such remittance flows is projected to slow further to two percent as GDP growth in wealthier coun tries moderates.

“Downside risks remain sub stantial, including a further dete rioration of the war in Ukraine, volatile oil prices and currency exchange rates, and a deeperthan-expected downturn in major high-income countries,” said the World Bank in its report.

Meanwhile, rising oil prices and continued demand for migrant workers boosted remittances to Central Asian countries, while the ruble’s appreciation against the US dollar translated into a higher value of outward transfers.

But in Europe, a weaker euro had the opposite effect, the report said.

In Ukraine, remittance growth is pegged at two percent, lower than earlier estimates “as funds for Ukrainians were sent to coun tries hosting them, and handcarried money transfers likely increased,” the bank added.

Meanwhile, India is on track to receive over $100 billion in year ly remittances in 2022. AFP

French baguettes get UNESCO intangible cultural heritage status

By Olga Nedbaeva and Eric Randolph

PARIS—The French baguette—“250 grams of magic and perfection”—in the words of President Emmanuel Macron, and one of the abiding symbols of the nation—was given UNESCO heritage status on Wednesday.

The bread, with its crusty exterior and soft middle, has remained a quintessen tial part of French life long after other stereotypes like berets and strings of gar lic have fallen by the wayside.

More than six billion are baked every year in France, according to the National Federation of French Bakeries, and the UN agency’s “intangible cultural heri tage status” honors the tradition.

“It celebrates a whole culture: the dai ly ritual, a structural element of a meal, synonymous with sharing and convivial ity,” said UNESCO director-general Au drey Azoulay.

Speaking from Washington during a visit to the United States, Macron praised the UNESCO recognition of French “know-how.”

“This is something inimitable,” he said.

The baguette’s newfound status comes at a challenging time for the industry.

France has been losing around 400 artisanal bakeries per year since 1970, from 55,000 (one per 790 residents) to 35,000 today (one per 2,000).

The decline is due to the spread of in dustrial bakeries and out-of-town super markets in rural areas, while urbanites increasingly opt for sourdough and swap their ham baguettes for burgers.

At least one artisan was unimpressed with the award at a time when his col leagues are struggling with spiking prices.

“It’s a joke,” said Francois Pozzoli, an award-winning baker in the major city of Lyon.

“At a time when baking is in an un precedented crisis, this feels poorly timed. Flour is up 10-15 percent, butter around 40 percent, and eggs 50-60 percent... Bak ers need support.”

Honeycomb and cream Still, it remains an entirely common

sight to see the French with a couple of sticks under their arm, ritually chewing off the warm end as they leave the bakery, or “boulangerie.”

There are national competitions during which the bread is sliced down the middle to allow judges to evaluate the regular ity of its honeycomb texture as well as the color of the interior, which should be cream.

But despite being a seemingly immortal fixture in French life, the baguette only of ficially got its name in 1920, when a new

law specified its minimum weight (80 grams) and maximum length (40 centime ters).

“Initially, the baguette was considered a luxury product. The working classes ate rustic bread that kept better,” said Loic Bi enassis, of the European Institute of Food History and Cultures, who helped prepare the UNESCO dossier.

“Then consumption became wide spread, and the countryside was won over by baguettes in the 1960s and ‘70s,” he said. AFP

Musk describes Twitter clash with Apple’s

SAN FRANCISCO, United States— Twitter owner Elon Musk said he met with Apple chief Tim Cook on Wednesday and “resolved the misunderstanding” that prompted him to declare war on the iPhone maker’s App Store.

“Among other things, we resolved the misunderstanding about Twitter potentially being removed from the App Store,” Musk tweeted.

“Tim was clear that Apple never considered doing so.”

Musk also tweeted a video clip of “Apple’s beautiful HQ” in Cupertino, California, noting that he had had a “good conversation” with Cook.

Apple did not reply to AFP requests for comment.

The world’s richest person opened fire on the planet’s most valuable company early this week over fees and rules at the App Store, saying Apple had threatened to oust his recently acquired social media platform.

The billionaire CEO had tweeted that Apple “threatened to withhold Twitter from its App Store but won’t tell us why.”

Apple, which has not issued a public statement on the matter, typically tells developers if fixes need to be implemented in apps to conform to App Store policies.

App Store a ‘misunderstanding’

Analysts told AFP the clash might have come down to money, with Musk irked that the App Store takes a commission on transactions such as subscriptions.

Musk has delayed the relaunch of the Twitter Blue subscription tier intended to have users pay for perks such as account verification checkmarks.

Twitter rolled out Blue early in November but pulled the plug after impersonators paid for check marks to appear legitimate in what former head of safety and security Yoel Roth referred to as “a disaster.”

Both Apple and Google also require social networking services on their app

stores to have effective systems for moderating harmful or abusive content.

But since taking over Twitter last month, Musk has cut around half of Twitter’s workforce, including many employees tasked with fighting disinformation, while an unknown number of others have quit.

He has also reinstated previously banned accounts, including that of former president Donald Trump.

Describing himself as a “free speech absolutist,” Musk believes that all content permitted by law should be allowed on Twitter and has described his actions as a “revolution against online censorship in America.” AFP

French Junior Minister for Public Accounts Gabriel Attal (center) looks on as a baker produces loaves of Baguette bread during a nocturnal tour to meet night shift workers, in Brou near Chartres, southwest of Paris, on Dec. 1, 2022. AFP

POSTAL WAREHOUSE. US Postal Service employees, some wearing Santa hats, sort mail at the Los Angeles Processing and Distribution Center in preparation for another busy holiday season on Nov. 30, 2022, in Los Angeles. The center operates 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, in a warehouse the size of 22 football fields. AFP

ACEN signs deal to buy solar project

By Alena Mae S. Flores

ACEN Corp. said Thursday it execut ed a share purchase agreement with Sungrow Power Renewables Corp. and Havilah AAA Holdings Corp. for the 60-megawatt Sinocalan solar project in Pangasinan province.

ACEN said in a disclosure to the stock exchange its board approved on Sept. 28 the acquisition of Sungrow and Havilah shares in Sinocalan Solar Power Corp., the developer of the solar plant.

“Completion of the acquisition is expected to occur by Dec. 15, 2022, subject to agreed conditions prec edent. The company will wholly-own SSPC upon completion of the acqui sition,” ACEN said.

The ACEN board earlier approved the execution of a technical services agreement with Sungrow, a leader in the research and development of so lar inverters and a broad product port folio offering PV inverter solutions, energy storage systems and floating PV plant solutions.

ACEN also signed a subscription agreement with Natures Renew able Energy Devt. Corp. early this week. The company will subscribe to 57,750 redeemable preferred shares A with a par value of P2,820.51 per share or an aggregate par value of P162,884,452.50 and 42,000 redeem able preferred shares C with a par value of P2,585.55 per share or an aggregate par value of P108,593,100.

NARDECO will use the funds to develop the 133-MW Cagayan North solar power project (Phase 1) in Lallo, Cagayan.

NAREDCO is a special purpose vehicle for the development of the Cagayan North Solar Power Project, ACEN’s joint venture with Cleantech Renewable Energy 4 Corp.

ACEN is aggressively expanding its RE projects to reach its goal of becom ing the largest listed renewables plat form in Southeast Asia, with 20,000 MW in renewable capacity by 2030.

ACEN, the listed energy platform of the Ayala Group, has about 4,000 megawatts of attributable capacity in the Philippines, Vietnam, Indonesia, India and Australia, with a renewable share of 87 percent, which is among the highest in the region.

SMC unit adopts program to reduce expressway stops

SMC Infrastructure said Thursday it rolled out a program to significantly cut traffic at its expressways ahead of the holiday season.

The tollway unit of San Miguel Corp. said it implemented the “Seam less Southern Tollways” program to eliminate the need for northbound and southbound motorists to do multiple toll stops within the expressways.

It said that for years, it expected travel pattern of Southern Luzonbound motorists, including stopping for toll and encountering traffic build ups at the South Luzon Expressway’s Calamba toll plaza, the SLEX-Green field toll plaza, Sto. Tomas exit and Southern Tagalog Arterial Road.

SMC president Ramon Ang said the program, which its infrastructure arm has been working on since early this year, would make travel along STAR, SLEX and the entire Skyway system (Stages 1,2,3) faster.

It is part of the company’s continu ing efforts to implement operational improvements to minimize traffic and enhance motorists’ user experience along its tollways.

“Our goal when we started was to cut down toll stops from five to just two—entry and exit—whether for electronic RFID or cash payments, for both southbound and northbound vehi cles across all our southern tollways,” Ang said.

“With this, we can make trips for motorists faster, more seamless, and less stressful, as they will no longer need to endure long queues at multiple toll plazas within the expressways,” he said.

Ang said that in the current scheme, southbound motorists coming from the north and heading to as far as Batangas in the south, usually have to make five stops: entry via the Del Monte Skyway 3 toll plaza, then another three stops at the Calamba, SLEX Greenfield and Sto. Tomas toll plazas, and a final stop at their exit point. Darwin G. Amojelar

NLEX offers to build 1.2-km link to SMC’s Skyway Stage 3

By Darwin G. Amojelar

NLEX Corp. said Thursday it is willing to build a 1.2-kilometer road at a cost of P2 billion to link its ongoing eight-km NLEX Connector Road to San Miguel Corp.’s 18-kilometer Skyway Stage 3.

Metro Pacific Tollways Corp. chief fi nance officer Christopher Lizon said the new road will help expedite the comple tion of NLEX Connector. MPTC is the parent company of NLEX Corp., the op erator of North Luzon Expressway.

“We wrote the DPWH [Department of Public Works and Highways] two weeks ago. We told them that we are willing to do the 1.2 kilometers [of road] to connect to Skyway,” Lizo said in a news briefing.

Lizo said his company would spend an additional P2 billion to construct the 1.2-kilometer road and the project would be completed within two months, if there were no right-of-way issues.

The P23-billion NLEX-SLEX Con nector traverses the alignment from C3 Road on 5th Ave. to Espana Boulevard (5.15 kilometers) for Section 1 and from Espana to PUP Sta. Mesa (2.75 kilome ters) for Section 2. From this point, the connector should link up with the Sky way Stage 3 that leads to SLEX.

SMC started works on a 1.2-km. road in January but the project faced delay amid ROW problems.

The NLEX Connector’s segment from Caloocan to Espana is now 96 per cent complete, while the Espana to Sta. Mesa is 26-percent finished.

The Caloocan-España section of the NLEX Connector, which is targeted to open this month, has on and off ramps and toll pla zas along C3 Road and España Boulevard, crosses over the Blumentritt Station of Light Rail Transit Line 1 and Dimasalang Bridge and uses steel box girders for its curved and highly-elevated areas.

The new road, which is also a part of the Luzon Spine Expressway Network, offers a recourse to shorten the travel time of cargoes going to and from the north and south of Luzon.

The whole eight-km. Caloocan-Sta. Mesa stretch of the NLEX Connector would be fully operational by the sec ond quarter of 2023, according to the company.

Designed to cater to all vehicle classes including trucks, NLEX Connector intends to spur economic progress by improving the travel of motorists especially those in the logistics sector as the new road will shorten the travel time of cargoes.

NLEX expects at least 35,000 vehi cles to benefit from the new road each day. The poject is also expected to im prove the connectivity between airports and seaports.

Once fully completed, this will re duce travel time from NLEX to South Luzon Expressway to 20 minutes from the usual two hours, while travel from Clark to Calamba will be reduced to 1 hour and 40 minutes, instead of three hours.

6,734.99 PTS.

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United

1.00000056.5980 Japan Yen 0.0072450.4101 UKPound1.20590068.2515 Hong KongDollar0.1280467.2471 SwitzerlandFranc1.05741859.8477 CanadaDollar0.74576842.2090 SingaporeDollar0.73459241.5764 AustraliaDollar0.67860038.4074 BahrainDinar2.652731150.1393

Saudi Arabia Rial 0.26602815.0567 BruneiDollar0.73190441.4243 IndonesiaRupiah0.0000640.0036 Thailand Baht 0.0284781.6118 UAE Dirham0.27227915.4104 EuroEuro 1.04090058.9129 Korea Won 0.0007680.0435 ChinaYuan0.1409867.9795 IndiaRupee0.0122910.6956 MalaysiaRinggit0.22507312.7387 New Zealand Dollar 0.62940035.6228 TaiwanDollar0.0324631.8373

Source: BSP

DMCI book orders drop on bidding slowdown

D.M. Consunji, Inc., the construction arm of DMCI Holdings Inc., reported a moderate decline in its order book on the slowdown in project bidding and contract awarding from the public and private sectors.

DMCI Holdings said in a disclosure to the stock exchange Thursday that its order book declined by 8 percent in the first nine months to P45.3 billion from P49.3 billion as of the end of 2021.

DMCI bagged P8.4 billion worth of con tracts and P1 billion in change orders in the nine-month period versus the P13.3 billion in construction accomplishments.

“We expect formidable headwinds over the medium-term on persisting high infla tion, rising interest rates, and anemic de mand for commercial and office spaces,” said DMCI president and chief executive Jorge Consunji.

“Public infrastructure projects could pro vide some upside, but it would still depend on the rollout strategy and spending priori ties of the national government,” he said. Jenniffer B. Austria

PAL launches flights to Cotabato, Tawi-Tawi

PHILIPPINE Airlines on Thursday launched flights between Cebu and the Bangsamoro Region ahead of the holiday season.

“Our new Cebu- Cotabato- Tawi-Tawi service brings good news for our Cebuano and Bangsamoro compatriots, in time for the holiday season and the new year,” PAL vice president for sales Bud Britanico said.

“We hope to connect families, spur holiday travel, and stimulate business in the BARMM [Bangsamoro Autonomous Region of Mus lim Mindanao]. We look forward to serving them well in the months ahead,” he said. The PAL service adds Cotabato City and Tawi-Tawi to the growing network of inter-island flights out of the flag carrier’s Mactan-Cebu hub, supporting the recovery and resurgence of domestic tourism and economic development throughout the Phil ippines.

Travelers can also travel more conve niently between Cotabato City and Boracay, Coron, Bacolod, Cagayan de Oro, Clark, Iloilo, Puerto Princesa, Tacloban, Siargao, Baguio (from Dec. 16) and Borongan (from Dec. 19) by connecting through PAL’s Cebu hub, rather than via Manila.

Darwin G. Amojelar

AUB teams up with Alipay+ for cross-border payments

hotel

By Jenniffer B. Austria

CENTURY Properties Group Inc. said Thursday it will open this month the 152-room Novotel Suites Manila in Mandaluyong City, its first hospitality venture.

CPG said in a statement Novotel Suites Manila would open its doors to guests on Dec. 15 to take advantage of the travel boom expected during the holiday season.

“December is an opportune time for Novotel Suites Manila to open as Century Properties can actively participate and address the demand surge for tourism and leisure travel, which is also in line with the government’s thrust to promote the industry,” CPG president and chief executive Marco Antonio said.

Antonio also said the increased number of multinational companies based in Taguig and Makati provided Century Properties a chance to accommodate the demand for intimate gatherings and meetings given the hotel’s strategic location.

CPG said the hotel opening was timed with the easing of movement restrictions and the government’s continued push for tourism.

Novotal Suites Manila, which was conceptualized in partnership with hotel powerhouse Accor, will be the sixth and final tower of Acqua Private Residences.

The tower’s upper floors are allocated for residential condominium units, which have been sold out. The mid-scale hotel will be wholly-operated by CPG.

PH, European Union agree to extend partnership

By Julito G. Rada

THE Philippine government and the Eu ropean Union agreed to continue their partnership through development coop eration during the second meeting of the Sub-Committee on Development Coop eration held in Manila on Nov. 23.

This was part of the annual bilateral dialogs under the European Union-Philippines Part nership and Cooperation Agreement.

Both sides discussed the attainment of the EU’s development programs in the Philippines and their contributions to the country’s socioeconomic development and peace process in Mindanao.

Other areas the Philippines and EU au thorities jointly identified as priorities for cooperation are disaster risk management and digital cooperation, including the future Team Europe Initiative on Digital Transformation and Connectivity, to build on the Copernicus National program.

The Philippines also discussed the instru mental role of the PH-EU and ASEAN-EU

cooperation, which provides the opportu nity to access favorable financing to bring much-needed upgrades to the country’s digital, energy, transport, health and educa tion infrastructure with the ASEAN Team Europe Initiative on Green and Sustainable Connectivity, which are crucial for the post pandemic economic recovery.

The subcommittee discussed the key goals and components of the Team Eu rope Initiative on Green Economy. The EU will finance this program with 60 mil lion euros, targeting solutions at both the national and the local levels to contribute to reduce plastic waste, including marine litter; implement effective waste manage ment; and support renewable energy.

As part of the Team Europe Initiative on Green Economy, the Philippine gov ernment also welcomed the EU’s initia tives on enhancing skills to match the de mands of a modern sustainable economy; supporting the creation of green jobs; and taking full account of vulnerable parts of the population.

Hotel room sizes range from 32 to 87 square meters. Guests will be treated to various amenities including a pool, a restaurant and bar, a lounge cafe, a pastry shop and a fitness center once the hotel opens. Meeting rooms are also available for small-scale business events.

“We are excited to welcome tourists, as well as residents and their guests at Acqua Private Residences so that they can enjoy the hotel’s F&B offerings,” Novotel Suites Manila general manager Raul Aquino said.

The hotel is accessible via various points in Makati and Mandaluyong cities, mainly via the Estrella-Pantaleon and Makati-Mandaluyong bridges that cross the Pasig River. A few minutes away is EDSA, which has a direct link to the airport via the Skyway.

ASIA United Bank teamed up with Alipay+ to enable its HelloMoney for cross-border payments and to provide a seamless pay ment experience for users when traveling overseas for leisure and business.

This development makes AUB the first Philippine bank with an e-wallet that can be used overseas.

HelloMoney will be made available and accepted first in South Korea and Japan through the collaboration where users can pay at local merchants accepting Alipay+ for shopping, dining, convenience stores, trans portation and other travel-related activities.

AUB executive vice president and head of operations and information technology Wilfredo Rodriguez Jr. said AUB has been building a digital arsenal that includes pio neering initiatives and innovations — from end-to-end digital account opening to en abling clients to make banking easy through their mobile phone and merchants to sustain their businesses even with restricted mobil ity during the pandemic.

“With Alipay+’s global presence through its integration with local merchants world wide, our HelloMoney users will have a wider reach in payment acceptance while ensuring a safe and secure digital transac tion,” he said. Julito G. Rada

BPI’S MILESTONE. The Bank of the Philippine Islands achieves a new milestone in the sustainable banking operations, as BPI Iloilo Solis and BPI Loyola Katipunan earn Excellence in Design for Greater Efficiencies certification of the International Finance Corp.

EDGE is a green building certification with quantitative metrics, providing cost-effective strategies to reduce energy use, water use and embodied energy in materials. Attending the awarding ceremony are (from left) IFC senior country officer for the Philippines Thuy Thu Bui; IFC senior investment officer Aileen Ruiz-Zarate; IFC country manager for the Philippines Jean-Marc Arbogast; Philippine Green Building Initiative EDGE program director Ramon Aguilos; BPI president and chief executive Jose Teodoro Limcaoco; BPI chief finance officer and chief sustainability officer Eric Luchangco; and BPI executive vice president and head of consumer banking Ma. Cristina Go.

CARGO SERVICE. A new regular train service commences between Croatia’s Port of Rijeka and Enns in Austria, allowing major Austrian shippers to be directly connected by rail to Adriatic Gate Container Terminal, operated by a unit of International Container Terminal Service Inc. in Rijeka. The first train for Container Terminal Enns departed from AGCT on Nov. 11. Shown are AGCT officers, with Maersk representatives. The block train is operated by Maersk Line with CD Cargo Adria providing rail services. In March 2011, ICTSI forged a 30-year strategic partnership with Luka Rijeka D.D. for the operation, management and development of AGCT at the Port of Rijeka, Croatia’s main seaport.

Sport s

Padilla’s daughter pleads for understanding: He’s old

By Randy Caluag

ADAUGHTER of former top-notch boxing referee

Carlos Padilla has made a plea “to the boxing community of the world” for understanding and to spare from ugly controversy “an 88-year-old man, who is just that—old and aging.”

In a letter received by the World Boxing Council from Padilla’s eldest of six children, Suzy Padilla Tuano, she said that her father might have been taken out of context and was misinterpreted.”

Padilla, who refereed fights for the likes of Muhammad Ali, Marvin Hagler, Sugar Ray Leonard and Tommy Hearns, recently hogged the spotlight for the wrong reasons.

He supposedly admitted that he “assisted” Filipino boxing icon Manny Pacquiao in his WBC international super bantamweight title bout with Australian Nedal Hussein at the Ynares Center in Antipolo back in 2000.

Fil-Am Tan preaches value of hard work to fellow fencers

Jolo-born Filipino-American fencer Lance Tan said this after he joined the practice sessions of the national men’s fencing team and conducted an International Olympic Committee-backed seminar recently at the Philsports Complex.

“I told them that if you put in the hard work, it has to be every day of your life.

Whether it’s fencing, or your studies, or anything in your life, it will be the turnout that you want if you put in the hard work,” said Tan following a four-day visit in Manila.

Some 20 advanced-level fencers from the Philippines attended the clinic, held to help improve the skills of fencers.

The fundamental skills that Tan shared to the fencers can help them prepare for international competitions and may even provide more opportunities for scholarships in the National Collegiate Athletic Association in the future.

Tan plays for the Sacred Heart University Pioneers in the Northeast section of the US NCAA Division 1.

The 21-year-old was chosen last year as one of the 25 Young Leaders by the IOC. He also saw action for the Philippines in the 2018 Youth Olympic Games.

Joining the national squad at the moment was not among his goals since he is in his final year in college.

And he is preparing for his last season with the Pioneers, who won 10 of 23 matches during the NCAA fencing championships. Tan ended up in 14th place in the individual foils with Andrew Chung of Harvard University taking the gold medal.

The Philippines has another fencer playing in the US NCAA in Samantha Catantan, who placed 13th at Mid-Atlantic/South Regionals last season with Penn State University. Peter Atencio

Padilla said he prolonged the customary eight-round count to give Pacquiao more time to recover. The retired referee’s admission, which was posted on Youtube, drew mixed reactions from boxing fans.

The Hall of Fame referee, who shot up to prominence when he officiated the “Thrilla in Manila” heavyweight fight between Muhammad Ali and Joe Frazier at the Araneta Coliseum in 1975, also admitted ruling a head-butt as a legitimate punch that caused Hussein’s cut in the head.

“Communications can be misconstrued, and well-intentioned words can be misinterpreted. The present situation is

one such glaring example of what might have actually been saying and what may have been taken out of context,” said Suzy.

“My father is a decent and honorable man. He dedicated his life to boxing and boxers and cared for them their well-being, regardless of nationality and circumstance.

He has been retired and has been out of the spotlight for as long as I can remember. But he loves to talk and entertain because, like any other human, he still yearns to be relevant,” Suzy wrote.

She also vouched for his father’s credibility and asked everyone to ask his former “peers, promoters, fighters, referees and anyone from his era and learn about my father’s true character.”

“He has proven his worth and we, his family, would appreciate if people respect his contributions to the boxing community he so loved by giving him some welldeserved consideration,” she continued.

WBC Mauricio Sulaiman said a panel will be created to review the “situation” about Padilla.

“I, as president of the WBC, as well as a human being who has known Mr. Padilla since I was 10 years old, can certainly empathize with Suzy and the contents of her letter to the boxing Community.”

Meanwhile, in an interview with CNN Philippines, the now 45-year-old Hussein said he wants Padilla to be stripped of his Nevada Boxing Hall of Fame title for his “criminal act.”

Angels repel HD Spikers to zero in on 2nd PVL title

Games Tuesday (Philsports Arena)

2:30 p.m. – Creamline vs Chery Tiggo 5:30 p.m. – Cignal vs Petro Gazz

HEAVY-HITTING Lindsey Vander Weide pounded Cignal’s defense with sharp blows that the HD Spikers couldn’t stop, including a barrage of hits in a gripping third set battle that lifted the Petro Gazz Angels to a 25-21, 27-25, 37-35 victory and closer to retaining the Premier Volleyball League Reinforced Conference crown at the Smart Araneta Coliseum Thursday night.

Vander Weide unloaded six blasts to spike the Angels’ last 11 points in a thrilling duel of power, wits and poise at endgame, including three that saved them the set with her last piercing hit getting stuck between Fatima General’s arms and knees to cap Petro Gazz’s thrilling one-hour, 48-minute victory.

The fiery American finished with 31 attacks for a 34-point output and drew 10 points apiece from Myla Pablo and Aiza Pontillas, who took over with three straight hits when Vander Weide rotated to a back row position that made it 33-32 for the Angels, who stunned the Creamline Cool Smashers in sudden death to rule this conference in 2019 at the Ynares Center in Antipolo.

But the HD Spikers kept fighting back behind Tai Bierria, Roselyn Doria and Ces Molina, moving at set point last at 35-34 on a rare Vander Weide attack error. But the latter also kept coming back, translating Djanel Cheng’s last two feeds into the marginal points that moved the Angels a win away from keeping the franchise’s lone PVL crown.

“That was stressful, but I just knew whatever ball I got I had to score,” said Vander Weide.

She did, and more—as she added two blocks and an ace.

The Angels go for a sweep on Tuesday, back at the Philsports Arena in Pasig.

Though the match ended up in three, the first two sets could’ve gone either way, only the Angels flashed their championship poise in the clutch, out-steadying their counterparts who were in their first finals after finishing thir d in the Open Conference and Invitational.

Pacio wants to extend undefeated streak in PH

By Peter Atencio

3.

Brooks did most of the talking in his prefight faceoff with Pacio, promising to give the reigning champion a big problem with his wrestling and grappling.

And he could have other tricks up his sleeves after spending six months training in other styles of fighting in jiujitsu and and kickboxing.

The 26-year-old Pacio, who has been spending time at the gym sparring against the much heavier Stephen Loman, has stayed quiet and calm when Brooks talked about how he will make their encounter difficult.

“My edge is clearly in wrestling and grappling. And definitely Team Lakay has been struggling with grappling in the past,” said

Brooks during a big presentation at The Theatre at Solaire on Wednesday night.

Brooks has done this in his encounters with Lito Adiwang, Hiroba Minowa, and Bokang Masunyane. And this kept the American fighter undefeated for six straight fights.

Still, Pacio is not expected to go down that easily with a hometown crowd rooting for him.

“I have been undefeated here in my country, in the Philippines. And I plan to do that again this December 3rd,” said Pacio.

So far, Pacio has avoided getting taken down on the floor in his last 14 fights. He will try to remain standing on the floor against Brooks, who is also known as the Monkey God.

“I’m definitely going to show the world,” said Brooks, as Pacio remained tightlipped on the American’s taunts.

If he Pacio wins, he will add up to his record of 20 victories against three setbacks.

He last prevailed over Yosuke Saruta by technical knockout in 3:39 of the first round during ONE: Revolution in September last year.

Manila Southwoods crowned Fil-Am golf seniors’ champ

By Adrian Flores

The

last staged three years ago.

“My rookies delivered,” said Southwoods captain Freddie Mendoza, referring to Jun Plana and Manfred Guangko, who played the seniors’ event for the first time after being with the regular team for many years.

Plana, who has been in the Fil-Am for around 25 years now, was the top gunner for the Cavite-based squad

in all four days. Yesterday, he ended with a 29 to emerge as the best scorer in Seniors I. Judd Roy and Raul Muñoza each shot 26 and Gunagko added 25. Luisita got 29 from Chino Raymundo, 28 from Rodel Mangulabnan, 26 from Benjie Sumulong and 23 from Dan Cruz.

“Marty (Ilagan) got his baptism of fire as a rookie. We gave it our best shot. We will come back stronger next year,” said non-playing skipper Jeric Hechanova.

The Alpha Phi Omega Golfers (107-379) captured the crown in the Am-Championship over SrixonIMG (109-374) at the Camp John Hay Golf Club.

Dugong Bughaw (101-372), Manila Southwoods-2 (105-354) and Megafiber (94-353) completed the top 5.

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

BAGUIO—Manila Southwoods marched to the crown without much challenge from Luisita in the final round at the close of the seniors’ tournament in the 72nd Fil-Am Men’s Invitational.

rivals matched output of 106 that netted Southwoods 463 points and Luisita 452, ending another chapter of an exciting action that was

JOSHUA Pacio did not say much, but he will most likely let his performance do the talking when he meets Jarred Brooks in ONE 164 for the Filipino’s Strawweight World Championship belt at the Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay City on Dec.

THERE’S no substitute for hard work.

The ecstatic Petro Gazz Angels celebrate their 25-21, 27-25, 37-35 win over the Cignal HD Spikers.

Manila Southwoods players (Raul Miñoza, Jun Plana, Judd Roy, Theody Pascual and Manfred Guangko) ash the No. 1 sign.

Joshua Pacio

Carlos Padilla (Youtube)

UP, La Salle lead UAAP athletics tournament

REIGNING champion University of the Philippines found itself on top of the UAAP Season 85 Collegiate Men’s Athletics Championships, taking a 6460 close lead over National University at the close of Day 1, Thursday at the Philsports Oval in Pasig, City.

In the women’s side, De La Salle University flexed its might over the field to separate early from the pack that includes reigning champion University of Santo Tomas.

The Fighting Maroons dominated the track events of the day -- 100 meters and 800 meters -- to hold on to a lead over the Bulldogs on the men’s side.

Rookies Rhyan Labita and Clint Neri finished at 1-2 to take the gold and silver for UP in the 100 meters with 10.99 and 11.04 seconds, respectively. Edwin Giron then bagged his second straight UAAP 800m title with 1:53.56 to fend off Adamson University’s Edgar Carado and NU’s Erwin Mancao.

NU came close to taking the lead with a rousing showing at the shot put with Tyrone Flores leading the way with a record-breaking heave of 14.14, smashing his own record of 14.07 set in Season 81 at the same venue.

Francis Obiena collected his third straight UAAP title at the pole vault event with 4.10 meters to claim the other gold of the day.

Powerhouse Far Eastern University and Adamson were also neck and neck at third to fourth places with 37 and 31, respectively.

On the other hand, the Lady Green Tracksters pulled off a stunning opener to pace the women’s side with 81 points, led by Bernalyn Bejoy’s win in the 800 meters with 2:14.15.

La Salle also took the silvers in the high jump, 5000-m walk, and 100 meters to put up a 31-point gap against the closest pursuers UST’s 50 and NU’s 49.

NU’s Alexie Caimoso bagged the high jump gold with 1.60 meters, while UST’s Lianne Pama took the 100 meters title with 11.74 seconds. La Salle’s Princess Desepeda (high jump) and Jessel Lumapas (100m) collected the silvers in the respective events with 1.53 meters and 12.17 seconds.

UP’s Sally Campus won the other gold of the day in the 5000m walk with 28 minutes and 32.38 seconds over DLSU’s Jeante Wangkay’s 28:35.46.

Nueva Ecija, Zambo 5s start finals showdown

THE Nueva Ecija Rice

Vanguards will have

Zamboanga Family’s Brand Sardines when the National Finals of the OKBet-MPBL (Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League) 4th Season begin on Friday, December 2 in Palayan City.

Nueva Ecija boasts a deeper roster, a better overall record and will be playing in front of the hometown crowd at the Nueva Ecija Coliseum.

The Rice Vanguards have tasted defeat but once in 27 games en route to the South division crown, while Zamboanga needed

to rally from 19-points down in the third quarter to snatch the North division title from Batangas City.

According to Coach Jerson Cabiltes, Nueva Ecija’s lone loss to San Juan in the opener of their North title series was a “blessing in disguise” as it took off the pressure for them to sweep the tournament.

Cabiltes said he would rather suffer that loss than fail to capture the national title for team owner Bong Cuevas, team manager Ivan Cuevas and Palayan City Mayor Rianne Cuevas.

Opposing Coach Vic Ycasiano doesn’t mind the underdog tag and is focused on the task entrusted to him by Zamboanga Family’s Brand Sardines team owner Anita Kaw.

“Our goal is to win one on the road,” said Ycasiano, also referring to Game 2 which will again be held in Palayan City on December 5. “We’re going to play with our hearts and our balls.”

If Nueva Ecija manages to win both,

the Rice Vanguards will be gunning for a sweep of the best-of-five playoffs at the Mayor Vitaliano Agan Coliseum in Zamboanga City. If necessary, Game 4 will be played at the same venue. In case the series goes the full route, Game 5 will return to Palayan City on December 16.

The Rice Vanguards are so star-studded, Cabiltes can field all 15 players at his disposal without suffering a serious drop in terms of talent and experience.

For the National Finals, however, Cabiltes is expected to give longer playing time to John Bryan Villarias, Hesed Gabo, Bill McAloney, Michael Mabulac, Michael Juico, Chris Bitoon, Renz Palma, JR Taganas, Jay Collado and Jonathan Uyloan.

Ycasiano, on the other hand, will again lean on MPBL All-Star MVP Jaycee Marcelino, his twin brother Jayvee, Jhapz Bautista, Jhaymo Eguilos, Chris Dumapig, Addy Santos and Chito Jayme.

Tigers stay unbeaten; Oragons rebound

DEFENDING champion Davao Occidental-Cocolife averted what could have been a huge meltdown, hacking out a 105-91 victory over hard-fighting Manila on Wednesday night to remain unscathed in the Pilipinas Super League Pro Division Second Conference Dumper Cup at the AYSN Sports Center in San Juan.

Larry Rodriguez tallied 19 points and grabbed three rebounds for the Tigers, while Keith Agovida chipped in 18 markers and seven boards.

John Wilson also had 16 points, nine rebounds, and three assists. Bonbon Custodio and Renzo Subido finished with 14 and 11 markers, respectively for Davao, which scored a big follow-up to an 88-85 decision over Boracay in the league’s opening match last week and rose to 2-0 in the tourney presented by Dumper party-list, Winzer, and Converge and supported by Wcube Solutions Inc., MDC, Unisol, Don Benitos, and Finn Cotton, with PBA and Gilas Pilipinas great Marc Pingris serving as Commissioner.

Later, veteran guard James Martinez dazzled with 31 points to steer Bicol to an 88-83 win over gritty Cagayan De Oro-PSP.

The 35-year-old Martinez added two caroms and two dimes, while Alwin Alday provided ample help with 13 markers and six rebounds as the Spicy Oragons redeemed themselves from a 74-78 loss to Batang Kankaloo-Caloocan four days ago and improved to 1-1.

A runaway triumph seemed to be in the bag for the Tigers after a Subido three-pointer stretched the difference to as much as 77-54 at the 3:04 mark of the third canto.

Refusing to lie down and die, the Stars battled back in the final stanza and razed the deficit to just 90-96 on a Rence Alcoriza triple with 2:58 to go.

TRUE to the country’s premier air base’s catchword “LIPAD PAF,” the Villamor Golf Club has soared to greater heights the past 11 months or so with a makeover that turned the quaint military layout not just into a top championship course but also a leading golfing destination. No less than the country’s top pros have marveled at the transformation of the tight, challenging course into one true test of golf during the recent ICTSI Villamor Match Play Invitational.

“It’s more than ready to stage the (Philippine) Masters again,” said Tony Lascuña, who ruled the men’s side of the first headto-head clashes on the Philippine Golf Tour calendar.

Through the initiative of Col. Roelito Nolasco, PAF, GSC (Ret.) who was re-appointed as adviser for administration, under PAF CG (Commanding General) Lt. Gen. Connor Anthony Canlas, the par-72 course and the entire VGC underwent a major facelift to the course and its infrastructure.

“If ICTSI will include the Philippine Masters in its future calendar of events, VGC will be more than glad to support it,” said Nolasco, hinting at the success of the recent ICTSI Villamor Match Play as prelude to the Masters return on the PGT schedule starting next year.

Long regarded as one of local golf’s versions of the four Majors, ICTSI and the PGT revived the PH Masters in 2017 after a 17-year wait with Clyde Mondilla claiming the top honors and Jerson Balasabas topping the 2018

The new Azkals’ coach and the virtue cycle

revelation in terms of their pace and how quick they move the ball around. We expect that enthusiasm, determination, speed and athleticism will offset the lack of experience in some players,” Palami quipped.

Palami likewise said that several foreignbased Azkals will be arriving in the next few days to join the camp at Rizal Memorial Stadium. The team will also make its first cuts on who will remain in the camp.

BEFORE this week ends, the Philippine Azkals will have a coach that will lead the young team against Vietnam in a friendly on December 14 and against Cambodia, when the AFF Mitsubishi Electric begins on December 20, 2022.

In a quick chat with The Designated Kit Man, Dan Palami, team manager of the Philippine Azkals, said the new Azkals’ coach will be arriving today, while his assistant is already in the country. He flew into the Philippines yesterday.

Palami said the new coach will be formally introduced soon and his assistant will take over the training sessions of the squad starting today and lead them for the next phase of the preparations.

Palami refused to reveal who the new coach and his assistant are. He, however, gave several hints. The coaches are relatively young compared to previous mentors of the team. One of them was born in the early 80s.

“They worked in the Barcelona Academy before. They have coached professional clubs as well, so we are okay. What I want to achieve and what I want to have is a young motivated coach that will complement the squad that we have because it’s composed of young players,” Palami said.

He also added that he is quite happy with the way the players are performing in the training camp right now.

“These young players have been quite a

“There will be a couple, who will be coming in starting next week. But even now, we will be trimming the number of players who are in the pool. Compared to the first week where the emphasis was to get the players back to their competitive levels, the next phase will focus on tactics. Now that we have a regular coach, we can now move into the tactical aspects which will necessitate the cutting down the list of those who are in training,” Palami explained.

Palami said they will use the tuneup game against Vietnam to know the readiness of the team. He said he can’t blame the fans for expecting much from the new generation of Azkals.

“The friendly against Vietnam is meant to gauge ourselves prior to the actual group stages. And I think that even in that game, both teams will not go full throttle, because we want to preserve the players for the actual tournament. We also want to avoid injuries and be ready for the first day of competitions,” he added.

Regarding the team captain position of the team, Palami said he would like Stephan Schrock to lead the team simply because of what he has done in the past few months in leading the young Azkals Development Team (ADT) in the domestic league and his impact on the young players in the training pool right now.

“I’ve seen how he has led the ADT squad and how well he has guided the young players. I think it will be a good fit for the team. If he does what he is doing in ADT, he would best suit the role. Moreover, this will be his transition from player to coach. Even as a player, we can still see his passion, he can still make a positive impact on the team,” Palami said.

While the team is young and inexperienced, I would like to share and support Palami’s optimism that the Azkals are capable of pulling off surprises in the tournament. Things will be difficult, which is a fact, but the team has to restart now and reboot somewhere, somehow. A good show in the Mitsubishi Electric Cup might be the spark the team needs to move forward and reclaim its mighty bark and bite.

Speaking of positive impact, The Designated Kit Man had the opportunity to visit some friends in Mission Hills Havila in Antipolo City. With most communities bearing the brunt of the impact of quarantine protocols due to the COVID pandemic, homeowners in Mission Hills somehow turned the challenge into something positive.

Led by three residents, the community is now thriving with various sports activities that will even outdo the sports programs of several local government units or even a national sports entity.

As of now, Sta. Catalina in Mission Hills has at least a kendo, archery, karting, football, taekwondo, basketball and swimming. Residents are also planning to put up a birdwatching club, owing to the many and colorful birds that have been regular visitors in the area.

Resident and professor Cadz Malbarosa, Marq Hernandez, corporate secretary and Joel Espineli, former homeowners’ association president, were the prime movers behind

edition

Touring pros hope to see it again on the calendar next year.

To make VGC more challenging and be able to bring out the best and the worst from the weekend hackers, low handicappers and even the pros, Nolasco said they plan to adjust the height of the rough, relocate pin placements and tee markers, maintain the required thickness of the bunkers, and add sand traps, water hazards and trees.

the dynamic transition of the subdivision from just neighbors to friends and responsible and active members of the community. They have accelerated the transformation of their community from a silent and in denial into something that faced the COVID pandemic restrictions, locked onto its horns and kicked it eventually outside their doors.

And they did it with less expense and zero care for politics and negativity.

“We started in pockets, initially with several neighbors bonding together for an outreach program to help other communities struggling to cope with the pandemic.

Namigay kami ng bigas, nagtayo ng mga community pantry. At ‘yung sports ang isa sa mga outreach namin na ang epekto ay nagpalalim lalo ng aming samahan. It started with good will that generated more good will. Dito ang nagsimula ang tinatawag naming virtue cycle sa aming komunidad,” Malbarosa said.

From a small football pitch in the community, several other sports clubs came out to cater to the interests of the young members of the community. The youngest in the pitch is just three years old and never misses the training sessions every Saturday morning.

The homeowners also made partnerships with several semi-professional clubs in Antipolo providing them with access to their facilities. These partners, in return, have agreed to send their coaches and players to train the kids and even adults of Sta. Catalina for free.

“Nagsimula lang kami simple lang. Laro laro lang para sa mga bata pero eventually marami ang naging intresado. Marami tumulong kasi nakita ang mga potential ng mga bata sa sports whether archery o football man. Mas naging masaya kasi at mas naging lively ang community dahil there are more reasons for people to get together,” Espineli added.

But more importantly, relationships between neighbors have improved so much in the challenging years of the pandemic as compared to before COVID changed people’s lives.

“Bago itong mga programa namin, I don’t

in

being

Nagkaroon kami ng chances na magkakakilala at maging magkakaibigan. Ngayon mahigit 1,000 na ang kilala ko at marami diyan ka-close ko na,” Hernandez revealed.

Because of the success of the community, other subdivisions in the area are asking Malbarosa, Hernandez, Espineli and other members of Sta. Catalina to share the lessons and experiences they gained. They want to know how they brought back the meaning of magkakapitbahay, magkakaibigan at magkakasama. More importantly, they want to know how they managed to bring back trust in their community.

“While they are there for security reasons, the gates and walls of the subdivision should only exist in our minds. At the end of the day, we are all neighbors and we should help other communities to find the means to make them stronger and even happier in these challenging times,” Malbarosa added.

This lesson should not only apply to Mission Hills, but hopefully to more communities all over the country. Mangangarap din lang sagarin na natin. Kidding aside though, let’s have more sports and less politics and negativity. Simply because we deserve more.

To know more about the sports programs in Mission Hills, please tune in to 3PTS–Pambansang Tambayan ng Sports this coming Sunday, December 4, 2022, from 2 to 3 p.m. at DZME 1530. The Designated Kit Man and partner Rommel Miranda will have an update from Prof. Cadz Malbarosa, Marq Hernandez and Joel Espineli on what’s next for their community.

Stay safe. Stay happy peeps!

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

via playoff over Dutch Guido Van der Valk.

built-in advantages over

have friends here prior to joining and

active

our sports programs.

JC Marcelino of Zamboanga (left) and Will McAloney of Nueva Ecija will play key roles for their teams in the National Finals.

PAF CG Lt. Gen. Connor Anthony Canlas (right) with Col. Roelito Nolasco

John Wilson

Star-studded Korean action drama ‘Decibel’ unspools in local theaters

DO-YEONG, former navy commander (Kim Rae-Won) receives a phone call from an anonymous man. The caller states that he has set up bombs in locations filled with people, including a soccer stadium and a water park. The bombs are “sound bombs” that will detonate when nearby ambient sounds surpass 100 decibels. The former navy commander desperately tries to stop the terror attacks.

This is the premise of the film Decibel topbilled by Kim Rae-Won and Lee Jong-Suk Jung SangHoon, Park Byung-Eun, and Cha Eun-Woo complete the star-studded ensemble of Korea’s finest and award-winning actors.

As the story progresses, Do Yeong, with his knowledge and skills as a former part of the Navy, stops the bomber’s tricky and clever way of triggering the bomb and saves hundreds of innocent lives. But the mystery man behind the threatening phone call remains to be unknown and has vowed

Korina Sanchez exchanges views with new co-hosts in soft news, light-hearted talk show

TALK becomes lighter and funnier yet more relevant as One PH launches TikTalks, the newest talk show with a casting coup of prominent personalities in broadcasting, lifestyle, entertainment, society, comedy who will share their expertise, varying sensibilities, and funny banter on today’s latest news and issues.

Premiering tomorrow, December 3, and airing every Saturday at 8 p.m. on One PH, simulcast on TV5 and Radyo Singko 92.3 News FM (with catch-up airing on One News every Sunday at 7 p.m. starting December

4), TikTalks is led by veteran broadcast journalist Korina Sanchez who

is joined by a group of hosts from diverse backgrounds – magazine editor and LGBTQIA+ advocate G3 San Diego, actress and singer Kakai Bautista , columnist and radio/TV host Pat-P Daza , and stand-up comic and comedy writer Alex Calleja

“I first tried to learn as much as I could about them before I asked them to join me. I’m glad I didn’t fail using the formula I’ve picked. Eventually, we learned to love each other. We clicked. Maybe because we’re like-minded in many ways, and that there’s mutual respect,” Korina said of her co-hosts.

Tiktalks is a light-hearted show that raises awareness on relevant topics and issues in the country. With five diverse hosts who are known to be strongwilled crusaders with funny and amusing personalities, expect a lot of witty exchanges and constructive disagree-

Seven titles at stake in 52nd Mutya ng Pilipinas

THE 40 candidates of Mutya ng Pilipinas 2022 (52nd edition) were presented to the press at the poolside of Citadines Bay City Manila, presided by Cory Quirino, president of Mutya ng Pilipinas organization and Mutya ng Pilipinas 2019 Miss Asia Pacific International Klyza Castro.

At stake are seven titles, Mutya ng Pilipinas 2022, Mutya ng Pilipinas 2022 Tourism International, Mutya ng Pilipinas 2022 World Top Model, Mutya ng Pilipinas 2022 Overseas Communities, Mutya ng Pilipinas 2022 Luzon, Mutya ng Pilipinas 2022 Visayas and Mutya ng Pilipinas 2022 Mindanao. Coronation night is set at Filoil Arena, San Juan City on December 4, 6 p.m., to be hosted by actor Marco Gumabao Voted as ‘Darlings of the Press’ during the press presentation were Iona Gibbs of Bataan, Katherine Topsnik of Guindulman, Bohol, and Bea Margarett Madea of Muntinlupa City.

The rest of the official candidates are Eloisa Lanuzga, Albay; Nathalie Griffiths, Australia; Eirine Juliane Granada, Bacolod; Charisse Anthea Abanico, Batangas City; Shindell Atibula, Biliran; Angelli Mae Garcia, Bohol; Juvel Cyrene

bet in Mutya ng Pilipinas 2022. Breana was spotted at her recent birthday party in a hotel by the Mutya Quezon City franchise holder and said yes right away if she wanted to be the representative of QC in the pageant. *

Giving

Join this new gang of cool and witty ‘TikTalkers’ on TikTalks, every Saturday at 8 p.m.on One PH (Available on Cignal Channel 1, SatLite Channel 1, and on Cignal Play app), simulcast on TV5 and Radyo Singko 92.3 News FM, and every Sunday at 7 p.m. on One News (Available on Cignal Channel 250 HD and 8 SD, SatLite Channel 60 and on Cignal Play app).

beauty queens who graced the event were Christine Escalante and Faye Tangonan Megastar Productions, owner of Mrs. Tourism beauty pageant, successfully held the 5th Mrs. Tourism 2022 pageant in Bangkok, Thailand. The winners were Mrs. Tourism The Queen Mother 2022 Jacqueline Jensen Mochinaga (Phil Japan), Mrs. Tourism Universe 2022 Angkanang Shakira Bumrumsorn (Thailand), Mrs. Tourism World 2022 Kristi Wischnack (USA), Mrs. Tourism International 2022 Maria Victoria Landry (Phil USA), Mrs. Tourism Earth 2022 Coco Blake (San Diego USA) and Mrs. Tourism Globe 2022 Harshala Yogesh Tamboli (India).

intense scenes, Kim Rae-Won had no stunt doubles and did it all by himself, “I talked with the director and we agreed that action scenes including car chases would be performed by a stunt double. But we had the discussion again on the set and I decided to perform the scenes myself to create a better film.”

Meanwhile, Lee Jong-Suk shares his experience on how he prepared to portray the role of the villain and how he connected with his character “The character has an underlying sadness. I didn’t think he is simply a villain, but I tried to think of him as a character that has various emotions that are concentrated.”

With great casting, a unique concept of a sound-triggered bomb, and a wellwritten screenplay with its director, Hwang In-Ho, as also one of the screenwriters, expect Decibel to be another popular Korean movie that will make it to your top list as one of the best action movies.

Decibel is now screening in theaters nationwide.

Bea’s career isn’t the only one skyrocketing as her personal life also sees several milestones thanks to her hard work and dedication. Nonetheless, the renowned actress is happy with her nationality and has no intention of applying for residency, even though it’s an option. Who knows where Bea’s smarts and skills will take her next?

...are not talking about

Herlene Budol

The host turned actress turned beauty queen left the public torn after announcing the end of her pageant career. Despite initial naysayers, like the former Miss Manila Alexandra Abdon, Herlene proved she has what it takes to bring home a crown – from the prestigious Binibining Pilipinas competition, no less! Nonetheless, vying for a title must’ve impacted Herlene as she takes a step back from pageantry. May she eventually find a new calling in life.

GMA Network launches new lifestyle digital channel

AS the ‘YOLO’ or ‘You Only Live Once’ attitude becomes more popular nowadays, GMA Network introduces a lifestyle channel on YouTube via Adventure. Taste. Moments. that will have a launch livestream on December 4. Ever since the pandemic began, people have been focusing more on their health while trying to live their best life. Through “Adventure. Taste. Moments.” or ATM, the audience will discover everything under the sun from nutritious recipes and styling tips to travel ideas and exciting events.

Viewers who are on the move to search for places and culture would surely envision their next dream destination on ‘ATM!’ Watch out as the Sparkle sweethearts YsaGuel or Miguel

Furthermore,

Those

Meanwhile,

Moments.”

Devoted followers of fashion should also look forward to the newest lifestyle channel as it brings to light the fashion and makeup trends suited to everyone’s taste.

Catch the launch party livestream of ATM at 2 p.m. after All-Out Sundays.

Nickie

Bea, Bulacan; Arianne Galenzoga, Cagayan de Oro; Jesi Mae Cruz, California; Carla Tobias, Caloocan City; Jeanette Reyes, Camarines Sur; Janine Ahmad, Camarines Norte; Margaret Anne Rodrigo, Canada; Jessica Holz, Catanduanes; Rachel Andrea Olivo, Cavite; McKaye Dela Cruz, Cebu; Erica Kyla Punsalan, Concepcion, Tarlac; Joycee Lavida, Iloilo City; Precious Enriquez, Kidapawan; Megan Campbell Lapu-lapu; Shannon Robinson, Makati; Ilyssa Mendoza, Melbourne; Pia Malabanan, Mindoro; Arianna Kyla Padrid, Northern California; Abiah Dicdican, Ormoc; Kyle Celine Dorado Laughead, Pampanga; Karla Mae Casco, Parañaque; Sophia Torres Pasig; Breana Asher Macalinao, Quezon City; Anjeanette Japor, Quezon Province; Ma. Flordeliz Mabao, Rizal; Jaya Jarabejo Sorsogon; Priya Mundi, Southern California; Jirah Bantas, Tantangan, South Cotabato; Michele Angela Okol, Surigao del Norte; Marcelyn Bautista, Tarlac City; and Zeah Nestle Pala, Tarlac Province.

Meanwhile, Kim Chiu loo-alike, Breana Asher Macalinao, the reigning Ms. Tourism Bulacan 2022 and former Philippines Teens Supermodel 2019, is Quezon City’s

…are talking about

Tanfelix and Ysabel Ortega share stories about their much-anticipated live-action remake Voltes V: Legacy ATM is also perfect for entertainment seekers who want to know the latest news about celebrities. Tune in as Gabbi Garcia talks about her five big roles in GMA.

Watch out for Kapuso personalities who will face fun challenges in the channel such as the ATM Surprise Box. Sparkle love team Mavy Legaspi and Kyline Alcantara explore what’s inside the mystery box.

ATM will treat the viewers with a sneak peek behind the scenes of Kapuso programs and events such as TiktoClock, All-Out Sundays, Sarap, ‘Di Ba?, Farm to Table, The

Clash, and JulieVerse concert.

music enthusiasts must also stay tuned as Bey Pascua covers the live concert scene and interviews some of the most exciting foreign artists who are performing in the Philippines.

foodies out there will learn food hacks from Chef JR Royol and Chef Jose Sarasola. They can even rewatch the mouthwatering episodes of Taste Buddies and Taste MNL via “Adventure. Taste.

to inflict even more harm by hiding bombs in other public places where the noise level is difficult to control and could result to even more casualties. The situation becomes even more

personal for Do Yeong when his own family is threatened to be one of the targets of this terrorist attack. With stealth moves and careful planning, Do Yeong chases and tracks

down this ticking and sound-operated bomb and tries to save everyone. Korean superstars Kim Rae-Won and Lee Jong-Suk shared how each prepared for their roles. With his action and

ments on this unique talk show that would entertain viewers and encourage them at the same time to be more knowledgeable and involved in the country’s current events.

‘TikTalks’ is the newest talk show that brings together prominent personalities who share their expertise and opinion on latest news and issues

Veteran broadcast journalit Korina Sanchez

back this Christmas Megastar Productions headed by Ovette Ricalde, held a Christmas Party with Media & Queens, recently, jointly with the birthday celebration of Mrs. Tourism Universe 2021 Hemilyn Escudero Tamayo. Other Megastar

Mutya Ng Pilipinas 2022 candidates with Cory Quirino

Valeen Montenegro Thanks to her segment with Chariz Solomon in Bubble Gang Filipinos enjoy laughing with Valeen. Even her social media pictures receive witty comments from that comedy segment. Valeen’s wedding announcement isn’t exempted from the fun as netizens congratulated her through humorous quips. The public’s support mirrors the actress’s joy when her non-showbiz boyfriend popped the question, maybe because it’s not every day someone finds their better half.

Bea Alonzo Watch out, Teddie! Bobbie is now a resident of Spain!

AJ Raval Rumors about her pregnancy with Aljur Abrenica have yet to die down. Instead, it became more intense when showbiz reporter Ogie Diaz claimed that the sexy star has just given birth to a son. AJ’s side has yet to confirm or debunk the rumors. However, the development comes at an unlikely time since Aljur expressed an interest in rekindling his relationship with his exwife Kylie Padilla.

Julie Anne San Jose (left) and Rayver Cruz bringing ‘kilig’ vibers during

Kim Rae-Won as former navy commander Do-Yeong Lee Jong-Suk plays the villain in the film

Cha Eun-Woo joins the starstudded cast of ‘Decibel’

Lovi Poe headlines Mega BeautyCon

SCREEN star Lovi Poe, the beauty ambas sador, and endorser for Ready Set Glow, will be at the Mega BeautyCon this Sunday, De cember 4. The event will be held at the Palm Drive Activity Center in Glorietta 2.

Lovi will proceed to this event after her appearance in the Sunday musical variety

show ASAP Natin ‘To , where she prom ises to deliver another jaw-dropping per formance.

“She will talk about tips and secrets that make her an iconic beauty and a soughtafter award-winning star,” the cosmetics brand said in a statement sent to Manila

Standard Lifestyle

“Wearing them makes me feel strong, inde pendent, and beautiful,” confesses Lovi. “It’s a perfect fit for me.”

Among the products, Lovi’s favorite is the multi-use Face Tint which can be applied to her eyes, face, and lips.

Feng Shui Queen declares 2023 as the Year of Letting Go

Fashion innovators gather at 2022 textile congress

THE Department of Science and Technology - Philip pine Textile Research Institute (DOST-PTRI) brought the KatHABI Fashion Innovation Event to the 2022 National Science and Technology Week celebration on November 25 at the World Trade Center, Pasay City.

The KatHABI Fashion Innovation Event showcased the latest innovations in textiles and apparel. Collec tions from designers like Anthony Cruz Legarda Bayo, Creative Definitions, Maison Metisse, and Stu dio Regina that feature natural textiles and dyes and Philippine weaves hit the runway.

The event also highlighted up-and-coming design ers’ creations from the recently concluded Fashion Innovate X (F I X): A Fashion Design Exhibition of the recently concluded Philippine Textile Congress. The collection of students from textile, clothing, and fashion design universities and colleges-Central Luzon State University, De La Salle College of St. Benilde, Fashion Institute of the Philippines, iAcademy, Iloilo Science and Technology University, Philippine Wom en’s College of Davao, Samar State University, SoFA Design Institute, and the University of San Carlos. The collection highlight Philippine Tropical Fabrics con taining natural textile fibers for uniforms.

Before the fashion event, the DOST-PTRI signed memoranda of agreement with various partners as part of the R&D and technology transfer programs of the Institute. Collaborations will be forged with the fol lowing textile stakeholders- House of Representatives of the Republic of the Philippines, Bayo Foundation, DTI’s Design Center of the Philippines, Base Bahay Foundations, Inc., and Fivecent Global Corporations. This event was participated by Senator Loren B. Le garda and Honorable Carlito S. Marquez, the Chair person of the Philippine House Committee on Science and Technology and 1st District of Aklan.

CLAD in her bright pink dress, international feng shui master Marites Allen hosted an intimate media gathering at the Manila House Private Club last Monday. The Feng Shui Queen, as she is popularly known, let us into updates on her practice.

While she announced the exciting things to look forward to, I couldn’t help but stare at the golden bun nies printed on her customized shawl. It was part of the theme. Her annual Feng Shui Updates event to usher in the new Chinese New Year is titled “Hop, Skip, and Jump in the Year of the Water Rabbit 2023.”

“The year 2023 is the year of letting go,” Marites boldly declared. She laughed as soon as she was dis tracted by the giggly responses from the crowd who made references to love. The expert further explained that it is just time to let go of things that no longer serve us and people who do not bring peace into our lives. She was quick, however, to clarify that the center sec tor of 2023 has romance at its core.

“This is the year that a lot of people who may have separated may reconcile. For some who may be delay ing their weddings because of COVID, this may be the time to do it,” Marites explained. She then added that there are mixed insights on tourism, the economy, and other societal sectors. “It depends on which side of the coin you are. We will discuss more on December 17,” she teased. Her annual Feng Shui Updates is going online again this year but with new and improved fea tures, taking into consideration the participant’s needs and convenience.

Annually, Marites thoroughly covers the different zodiac signs and their readings. She says that auspi cious prospects vary every year for every animal sign in terms of career, business, health, and relationships.

“For some animal signs, the year could pose challenges in different life aspects. The Rat, Tiger, and Rooster animal signs are known to conflict with the Rabbit. They may face some difficulties next year,” revealed Marites.

In the event, proper feng shui interventions are rec ommended for people born in the conflict years. Event participants are treated to an insider view of how to harness the lucky energies of 2023.

Internationally recognized for Feng Shui and Chi nese astrology, Marites brings with her a wealth of training under various masters from Malaysia, Singa pore, Thailand, Hong Kong, and China. She is the first Filipina to be awarded the prestigious title of “Master in Feng Shui” by the International Feng Shui Associa tion in 2013. Marites has also been an international Feng Shui consultant for over 20 years and has fre quently appeared in the global press, radio, and TV, in cluding This Morning, the Sun, the Express, and CNN. She lives in London with her family and splits her time between the UK and South East Asia.

More than the certifications, Marites’ credibility lies in how she applies feng shui in her personal life. This year, 2022, has been particularly difficult for the Year

sponded, “ I could have died this year!” She went on to share how she entered a phase of internal healing.

“What I did was, I went through a lot of training. I did a lot of yoga. I went to a retreat in Bangkok. I had this very special monk who did a blessing for me,” Marites cut her speech by laughing, recalling how she worked on asking for blessings amid a difficult year. “I went to the healing church and I have also been working on getting a certification from the Tao Healing Hands,” she added. Tao Healing Hands’ Dr. Sha Tao, according to Marites, is one of the world’s renowned healers.

“I don’t know about you but I’m a person who does not easily cry. If not for Korean drama [series] like Crash Landing On You, I find it hard to cry. It’s just here,” Marites pointed to her heart and continued to talk about her journey. “Sometimes, it’s difficult to release. The best way for me is to meditate and that’s when I get to cry. Cleansing starts from the soul.”

As Marites immersed herself in different kinds of meditation and practiced yoga, she excitedly revealed designing her yoga mantra retreat to be held on her beach property in El Nido, Palawan. The people she met on her healing journey made an impact on her. “They are executives from all over the world who talked about working so hard and asking themselves, ‘For what?,’” the Feng Shui Queen said.

She talked about how cleansing worked wonders for them at the retreat. Marites reminded, “You have to love yourself first because once you love yourself, you are strong enough to get through any obstacle in life. And of course, I do a lot of prayers!”

Marites Allen is set to share more about her healing process, latest ventures like getting into the metaverse, exploring blockchain technology, AR and VR, and NFTs, the release of her internationally published book, and the latest copies of her authored feng shui refer ences on December 17 and 18. Tickets for the online event are still available via the Frigga websites at www. frigga.com.ph or www.frigga.co.uk. For further inquir ies, please call 0920-9509390, or visit Marites Allen’s Facebook page or her official website www.maritesal len.com

Spend a magical day of fun and enjoyment at Araneta City’s returning theme park

FOR the millennials and the generations before them, when it comes to fun, there is no place like Fiesta Carnival. With its varied rides and attractions, kids and kidsat-heart all trooped there to spend an entire day of unadulterated joy – a memory that remains imprinted on everyone’s minds and hearts.

Many still wax poetic about the glee and delight that Fiesta Carnival brought countless Pinoys. That’s why for this year, Araneta City revives the feels of the clas sic Fiesta Carnival in time for the happiest time of the year!

Last November 18, the City of Firsts opened the Mini Fiesta Carnival to capture the vibe of the iconic theme park. This time, the carnival is situated in an open space, welcoming more people to see and experience the unique brand of fun that only the legendary theme park can bring.

Its many rides and attractions will surely bring joy to every single person in every family or barkada visiting.

Mini Fiesta Carnival features a variety of attractions. Kids will enjoy a great time at the Boat Pool, Mini Trampoline, Walk ing Dino, and Jurassic Adventure. The whole family or barkada will have fun together at the Happy Cars and the Carou sel. There’s also the Happy Chopper ride, a Snow Globe for IG-worthy photos, and an exciting Road Train which goes outside the Carnival and roams around Araneta City

“Our Mini Fiesta Carnival promises to make the holidays merrier and more joyful with many rides, sights, and attractions,” Marjorie Go, AVP for Marketing of Aran eta City, said. “We revived the essence and feel of the Fiesta Carnival from our child hood, and updated it for modern times. We are sure that you will love the time you’ll

spend at Fiesta Carnival this Christmas season.”

The Mini Fiesta Carnival also features an array of holi day attractions. Apart from the exciting rides and games, the carnival also features the iconic Giant Christmas Tree, and the returning Christmas on Dis play! Food stalls are also found inside Mini Fiesta Carnival, so you can enjoy some great food and beverages while having the time of your life.

Araneta City’s Mini Fiesta Carnival is open from 2:00 p.m. to 11:00 p.m. every day until January 8. Entrance fee costs P50 with free food or drink. Tickets for each attraction vary, but a try-all-you-can pass is also available at P500.

“We are all about bringing our custom

ers a Christmas like no other. The reopen ing of our well-loved Fiesta Carnival is our holiday gift to Filipino families who long for an accessible holiday destination where everyone can have fun. So, please visit the Fiesta Carnival and create lasting memories with us at the City of Firsts,” Go concluded.

of the Monkey-born practitioner. When asked how she powered through the conflict year, Marites jokingly re

International feng shui master Marites Allen

Actress Lovi Poe is also the beauty ambassador and endorser for Ready Set Glow

The event also highlights up-andcoming designers’ creations

The 2022 Textile Congress also showcases the latest innovations in textiles and apparel

Marites’ credibility lies in how she applies feng shui in her personal life

Kids can enjoy a fun ride on the carousel