Manila Standard - 2023 January 3 - Tuesday

PRESIDENT SUSPENDS PHILHEALTH PREMIUM RATE HIKE, INCOME CEILING

By Vince Lopez

PRESIDENT Ferdinand Marcos Jr. on

Monday ordered the Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (PhilHealth) to suspend the increase of its premium rate and income ceiling for the calendar year 2023, the Palace announced on the eve of Mr. Marcos’ trip to China.

This was confirmed by the Office of the Press Secretary and the Office of the Executive Secretary.

The memorandum, signed by Execu-

tive Secretary Lucas Bersamin, refers to the “scheduled increase of the premium rate from 4 percent to 4.5 percent, and income ceiling from P80,000 to P90,000 for CY (Calendar Year) 2023 under Section 10 of Republic Act No. 11223.”

“In light of the prevailing socioeconomic challenges brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic, and to provide financial relief to our countrymen amidst these difficult times, please be informed that the President has directed

PBBM off to China for three-day trip, sea issues up in talks with Xi Jinping

By Vince Lopez

Marcos Jr. is set to raise important issues affecting bilateral ties between the Philippines and China -- including maritime concerns in the West Philippine Sea -- as he leaves at 1 p.m. today (Tuesday) for a

three-day state visit to Beijing.

Mr. Marcos, who will have a meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping, will also witness the signing of 14 bilateral agreements on trade and investments, agriculture, renewable energy, infrastructure, development cooperation,

Dozen countries set heightened restrictions for Chinese travelers

BEIJING—Travelers from China now face restrictions when entering more than a dozen countries as concern grows over its surge in Covid-19 cases, with Australia the latest to demand a negative test before arrival.

Last month, Beijing abruptly began dismantling its “zero-Covid” containment policy of lockdowns and mass

testing, three years after the coronavirus first emerged in the city of Wuhan.

As Covid overwhelms Chinese hospitals and crematoriums, officials have insisted that the wave is “under control” despite acknowledging that the true scale of infections is “impossible” to track.

By

MALACAÑANG on Monday said concerned agencies are conducting a thorough investigation following the temporary shutdown of the country’s airspace on New Year’s Day.

“A thorough investigation is being conducted by appropriate agencies,” Office of the Press Secretary officerin-charge Cheloy Garafil told reporters in a message.

The Philippines will need at least 72 hours to normalize incoming and outgoing flights, Manila International Airport Authority (MIAA) General Manager Cesar Chiong said.

“[NAIA is] not really fully (operational). Prior to yesterday, we accept about 20 arrivals per hour. Right now, we are only accepting 15 arrivals per hour, but there are no limits on the departures,” Chiong said in a television interview.

Aviation authorities are now investigating the air traffic management system glitch from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Tighten border controls urged as China COVID surged

for travelers from China, a public health advocate said, even as the Department of Health insisted Monday

that imposing additional restrictions or revising travel protocols should be science- and evidence-based. This developed as reports surfaced that hospitals in Metro Manila have or-

DA banks on coming harvest for P170/kilo of onions

By Macon Ramos-Araneta

Joel E. Zurbano, Darwin G. Amojelar, Vito Barcelo, Macon Ramos-Araneta and Maricel V. Cruz

Agriculture

dered their staffs to resume wearing full personal protective equipment (PPE) to protect against the anticipated surge of COVID cases after the holidays amid

PRESIDENT Ferdinand

By Alena Mae S. Flores

pump prices will kick off the new year for motorists today (Tuesday) with oil firms implementing a price hike of as much as P3.05 per liter for kerosene.

prices will go up by P2.90

liter while diesel will go up by P2.10 per liter, according to Petron Corp., the country’s biggest oil company. Aside from Petron, Seaoil Philippines and PTT Philippines also issued their latest price advisories, while other companies are expected to follow.

STILL JAMPACKED. Passengers fill the check-in area at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) Terminal 3 as they wait for further announcements after flights were cancelled due to technical issues with the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP) air navigation facilities on Sunday. Meanwhile, workers of the Manila International Airport Authority (MIAA) give emergency aid, food and water to those stranded at the airport over the last two days (inset photos). Norman Cruz

Danny Pata

NOT FREE ANYMORE. Passenger queue at a waiting shed at the EDSA Bus Carousel Taft-EDSA station on Monday, as a poster announced that the buses under the Libreng Sakay program of the Department of Transportation (DOTr) and the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) will now charge passengers. Danny Pata

Chinese President Xi Jinping

President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.

Gov’t vows full digital services in ‘23

THE Marcos administration on Monday vowed to make government services fully digital this year for the public to access and use them more easily.

In a statement, Malacañang said improving bureaucratic efficiency is among President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s socioeconomic agenda in the near term, “putting a premium on digitalizing, harmonizing, and standardizing government data.”

“In 2023, the government shall remain steadfast and continue to pursue streamlining initiatives to ensure the delivery of efficient government services to the people and fight corruption by eradicating all forms of red tape,” the Palace said in its yearend report.

The administration said it would strengthen TradeNet, a one-stop online shop aimed to reduce processing time and harmonize the permitting procedures involved in import and export in the country.

The Anti-Red Tape Authority (ARTA), with the help of other government agencies, will pursue the National Policy on Regulatory Management System (NPRMS) that provides a common framework for good regulatory practices, and enforcement and compliance

strategies, the Palace said.

“The government plans to advance NPRMS components such as the Philippine Business Regulations Information System (PBRIS) to provide stakeholders and government agencies access to proposed and existing government regulations and avoid overlapping,” it added.

The Marcos Jr. administration would also push the Anti-Red Tape Electronic Management Information System (ARTEMIS) to provide a live database and mapping of government services.

Also included in the effort to digitalize government services are the Department of Trade and Industry’s Green Lane for Strategic Investments system, assisting local government units, and

eted P124 million to upgrade the system this year.

the Philippine Identification System and electronic Business Permits and Licensing Service (eBPLS).

“The administration will also address the fragmentation of the justice system through the implementation of the National Justice Information System and Middleware Exchange Platform,” the Palace said.

Mr. Marcos earlier repeatedly vowed to digitalize government services, as it would help the Philippines move forward in a “post-pandemic world.”

“If we are to survive, and even more so if we are to flourish in the post-pandemic economy, we must digitalize… as quickly as possible,” he said in a speech last December.

A third of world economies face recession IMF

ONE-THIRD of the world’s economies are expected to go into recession this year, according to the International Monetary Fund’s managing director.

“Even countries that are not in recession, it would feel like recession for hundreds of millions of people,” IMF’s Kristalina Georgieva told CBS news on Sunday.

The year ahead will be tougher than 2022 for most of the world economy as the United States, European Union, and China are slowing down, said Georgieva.

Australia’s health minister on Sunday cited Beijing’s “lack of comprehensive information” about Covid cases as the reasoning behind the travel requirement, which will take effect on January 5. The move will “safeguard Australia from the risk of potential new emerging variants,” he said.

In recent days, Canada, the United States, the United Kingdom, France, Italy, Spain, Japan, South Korea and Taiwan have also imposed either a negative Covid test requirement or testing upon arrival for travelers from China.

Canada cited “the limited epidemiological and viral genomic sequence data available” on recent Covid cases in China for its negative test demand.

Meanwhile, Morocco moved to ban all arrivals from China on Saturday, “to avoid a new wave of contaminations in Morocco and all its consequences”.

The flurry of global travel restrictions began as countries anticipated a surge in Chinese visitors after Beijing announced a mandatory quarantine for inbound passengers would end on January 8.

The World Health Organization has called the precautionary measures “understandable” in light of the lack of outbreak information provided by Beijing.

But the European branch of the International Airports Council -- which represents more than 500 airports in 55 European countries -- said the restrictions were not justified or risk-based.

European countries will meet next week to discuss a joint response to the issue, with incoming EU presidency holder Sweden saying it was “seeking a common policy for the entire EU when it comes to the introduction of possible entry restrictions”. AFP

on Sunday that affected more than 360 flights and 65,000 passengers in Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) alone.

A team from the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines-Aerodrome and Air Navigation Safety Oversight Office (CAAP-AANSOO) was tasked to investigate the incident.

“The main cause of the power supply problem is still being determined and is subject for investigation,” the CAAP said in a statement Monday.

Meanwhile, the Department of Transportation (DOTr) said it will need more than P13 billion to replace the outdated communication, navigation, and surveillance system that was the cause of massive flight cancellations at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) on Sunday and Monday.

“I mentioned this to the President, that we really need to have a backup system that is located in a different location that is not near the existing system,” Transportation Secretary Jaime J. Bautista said.

“We are studying it through a feasibility study and present this to NEDA (the National Economic and Development Authority) because it is an important system to have,” he added.

Senators, meanwhile, called for an investigation into the technical problems that triggered hundreds of cancellations and delays that affected almost 60,000 passengers.

Senators Grace Poe, JV Ejercito and Jinggoy Estrada said an investigation should be done to avoid a recurrence of the chaos of the last few days.

Also on Monday, more flights in NAIA were canceled. Authorities had said flight operations returned to normal following the restoration of the Manila air traffic management system after aviation authorities successfully resolved the power outage problem that affected flights to, from and within the Philippines.

The system was procured by the government in 2010 and was supposed to be completed in 2013 but the project was delayed and was only inaugurated on Jan. 16, 2018 and began operations on July 26, 2019.

Meanwhile, PLDT Inc. Chairman Manuel Pangilinan, who was among the thousands of air travelers affected by Sunday’s outage of the Air Traffic Management Center (ATMC), on Monday offered to collocate backup systems in the group’s data centers.

Pangilinan said the group would be happy to participate in the collocation of the second or even third redundancies in its nationwide data centers, as well as provide the required connectivity and redundant power supply protection.

Tamayo said one of the uninterruptible power supplies (UPS) failed at around 9:50 a.m. on Sunday, and troubleshooting had to be done. Backup systems were not immediately available.

Once the system was reconnected to the power supply, however, over-voltage warnings were released at around lunchtime.

This then affected the very small aperture terminal (VSAT), which also had to be addressed. The system was partially restored at 4 p.m. on Sunday, and operations have since resumed.

“Although the system was introduced in 2010 it was only implemented in 2018. So the system is in midlife and we need to improve or modernize it. Maybe we can use it but we need to upgrade this to a better system,” Bautista said.

The CNS/ATM project aims to enhance the safety, reliability, and efficiency of air traffic and airspace systems in the Philippines.

The country’s three domestic carriers said their passengers should expect more flight delays as they are carrying out recovery flights.

“We aim to complete the return of these flights to the Manila hub within the day. This creates a domino effect -in the form of flight delays for today’s flights as these planes are being assigned for flight duty today,” she added.

PAL suspended 17 domestic and five international flights in NAIA on Monday. These include flights to and from Davao, Cebu, Puerto Princesa, Legazpi, Dipolog, and Caticlan; and in Bali, Honolulu, and Los Angeles.

“We advise you to check the status of your journey before proceeding to the airport,” said PAL spokesperson Cielo Villaluna.

Villaluna reminded the travelers that a flight’s status is updated in real-time, and there is no need to call the PAL contact center to verify the information.

“We encourage you to continue monitoring the status of your flight using the Flight Status self-service tool on our website so that we can keep our contact center hotlines free of congestion,” she said.

“Please do not proceed to the airport if your flight is canceled, but instead, avail of the rebooking options,” she added.

Cebu Pacific Air (CEB) also made cancellations in NAIA affecting passengers going to and from Cebu. It also suspended its Cebu flight to Clark.

“Cebu Pacific continues to review its operations following the technical glitch. The system has been restored, however, available seats for immediate travel remain limited due to the peak travel period,” said CEB Corporate Communications Director Carmina Romero.

“We thank everyone for their patience and understanding as we work with the authorities to restore our network at the soonest time possible. We will provide updates as more information becomes available,” she added.

While the US is the most resilient of those three and may avoid recession, Georgieva said this may be a “mixed blessing.”

“If the labor market is very strong, the Fed may have to keep interest rates tighter for longer to bring inflation down,” she cautioned.

Noting that the EU was “very severely” hit hard by the ongoing war in Ukraine, Georgieva said that half of the bloc would be in recession next year.

She added that the outlook for emerging markets in developing economies was even direr due to interest rate hikes and a strong US dollar.

The IMF chief noted that the world’s second-largest economy, China, was likely to expand at or below the global growth rate for the first time in 40 years as COVID-19 cases climb after the relaxation of restrictions.

“That has never happened before. And looking into next year for three, four, five, six months, the relaxation of COVID restrictions will mean bushfire COVID cases throughout China,” she explained.

and people-to-people ties.

“We do not wish to preempt or second guess what the president will say, but the president will raise important issues affecting our bilateral relations... The president has said the maritime issues don’t define the totality of our relationship with China, but he acknowledges the importance of this issue,” Foreign Affairs Assistant Secretary Nathaniel Imperial said in a press briefing ahead of today’s state visit.

Mr. Marcos, who will be in Beijing from Jan. 3-5, is the first state leader to visit China this 2023.

The higher pump prices followed the decrease in cooking gas or liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) implemented by the oil companies on Jan. 1.

Oil firms cut the price of LPG by P3.09 per kilo or P33.99 per 11-kilo tank to reflect the lower contract price of LPG in the world oil market.

The Department of Energy said last week that oil prices would likely increase by as much as P3.30 per liter on increased global oil demand due to holiday travels and the EU’s ban on Russian oil products.

China’s demand recovery as restrictions loosened also drove world oil prices up, but the increasing COVID-19 infections and fears of renewed global COVID surge from Chinese travelers dampened this.

On Dec. 28, oil firms cut the diesel price by P0.20 per liter, while gasoline and kerosene prices increased by P0.95 and P0.50, respectively.

Bautista said the existing Communications, Navigation and Surveillance/ Air Traffic Management Systems Development (CNS-ATM) was funded by a loan from Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) amounting to P13 billion.

“We will need more than P13 billion to replace the existing CNS-ATM,” he said.

Manuel Tamayo, director general of the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP) said the agency budg-

Philippine Airlines management said it will take some time for the airline to fully restore normal schedules “as we reposition aircraft that had been held back or diverted to other airports and adjust flight timings based on revised clearances in coordination with the local authorities.”

PAL said 244 flights, affecting 24,000 passengers, were affected by the outage of CNS-ATM last Sunday.

“Today, we are focusing on recovery fight operations into the Manila hub. These are the planes and passengers stranded in various international and domestic outstations,” Cielo Villaluna, PAL spokesperson said.

the memorandum read.

PhilHealth to suspend the above-mentioned increase in premium rate and income ceiling for CY 2023, subject to applicable laws, rules, and regulations,”

“I hope it will be less than P170. I hope we can see months wherein we see P80.

But the thing is, we are also looking at price stability. We’re trying to help our farmers make price points at which their farm gate prices will be stable. They know how to spread their losses as well, and to come up with price points that will be stable all throughout the year, considering also the cost of cold storage facilities,” Evangelista said in an interview on ANC.

By the middle of January, the DA said it is expecting a lower price of onions amid efforts to boost the supply in markets.

“Jan. 15 is the start of harvest. Of course the peak is March and April, but with the better supply, then we can see prices going down,” she said.

The Agriculture Department on Thursday set the suggested retail price (SRP) of red onions per kilo in the wet markets in the National Capital Region (NCR) at P250—but the actual price of the commodity has reached three times that amount in one Cebu City public market.

In Blumentritt Market in Manila where red onions go for P640 a kilo, some consumers have resorted to buying sliced onions because the cost of whole onions is so high, a GMA News report said.

Vendors said they could not comply with the P250/kilo SRP because they bought the red onions at P440 per kilo from wholesalers in Balintawak.

In the Senate, Minority Leader Aquilino Pimentel III urged President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. to appoint a fulltime secretary of Agriculture, as the price of onions continued to skyrocket.

Meanwhile, Philhealth has argued that the impending 4.5-percent increase in premiums would enable the country’s health insurance corporation to sustain the benefits currently enjoyed by its members.

Under the Universal Healthcare (UHC) law, it mandates the increase in

Philippines AirAsia said it is implementing additional flight adjustments through a recovery flight on Jan. 3 as the airline strives to normalize operations in all its airport destinations.

Manila International Airport Authority chief information officer Consuelo Bungag said airport personnel continued to provide food and kits to passengers affected by the flight disruptions in NAIA caused by a system failure of the traffic management system, which is under the supervision of CAAP.

Bautista said at around 9:49 a.m. Sunday, the Air Traffic Management Center (ATMC) which serves as the facility for controlling and overseeing all inbound and outbound flights and overflights within the Philippine airspace went

member premiums by 0.5 percent every year, starting in 2021 until it reaches its 5-percent limit in 2025.

In 2021, Mr. Marcos’ predecessor, former President Rodrigo Duterte, also postponed the increase in PhilHealth member contributions due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

big hospitals had already ordered full PPEs, a common sight at the height of the pandemic.

Aside from his bilateral dialog with Xi, he will also meet with the chairman of the standing committee of the National People’s Congress of China Li Zhanshu and Chinese Premier Li Keqiang.

He is also expected to renew the Philippines’ accord in its participation on the “Belt and Road” initiative of China.

A highlight of the state visit is the planned memorandum of understanding on the creation of a direct communication plan between the Department of Foreign Affairs and of the Chinese Foreign Ministry to avoid “miscalculations and miscommunications in the WPS issue.”

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin said the timing of the state visit, which was upon the invitation of Xi, reflected the “high importance” accorded by both Manila and Beijing to bilateral relations.

“It fully demonstrates the high importance China and the Philippines attach to bilateral relations,” Wang said. “Leaders of the two sides will have in-depth exchanges of views on bilateral relations and regional and international issues of mutual interest,” he added.

implementation of quarantine and isolation protocols as warranted,” the DOH said in its memo.

relaxed restrictions across the country.

“Several countries, more than 10, including the United States, through their Centers for Disease Control, already required a negative RT-PCR, 48 hours before arrival, particularly for travelers from mainland China,” cardiologist Dr. Tony Leachon said in a television interview.

“We should follow this because even if we go on heightened alert, the RTPCR is still the confirmatory test. So, we need that,” he added.

The Private Hospitals Association of the Philippines (PHAP) had yet to issue a statement on the situation of its members in the National Capital Region, but sources told the Standard a handful of

The DOH earlier issued an extremely urgent memo ordering a “heightened alert” to intensify monitoring at all ports of entry.

All airport and seaport terminals have also been alerted for a possible reestablishment of testing requirements for arriving travelers from China and other countries tagged as “high-alert” for COVID-19.

At present, however, the beefed-up protocols do not include requiring a negative COVID-19 test result from inbound passengers.

“Particularly for incoming vessels with history of travel from China, we have imposed meticulous process to assess vaccination status, exposure, and symptoms. This shall be met with strict

Leachon, a former government advisor, said the current protocols in response to the COVID-19 situation in China during the holidays are not enough.

DOH officer-in-charge Maria Rosario Vergeire said the country’s health protocols remain effective against any COVID-19 variant, including that of Omicron subvariant BF.7 which has been driving up infections in the mainland.

“Our current protocols remain effective against COVID-19, regardless of the variant,” the DOH said in a statement.

Former health secretary Janet Garin, for her part, said she still sees no need to restrict the entry of travelers from China as fatalities from the illness had been reduced by COVID-19 vaccinations. Willie Casas

DOH: 74 injuries due to fireworks from Jan 1 to 2

THE Department of Health (DOH) reported on Monday an additional 74 more injuries related to fireworks, bringing the overall tally to 211 for Jan. 1 and 2.

Of the total injuries, 109 cases occurred on the streets.

Sixty sustained eye injuries while there were 11 cases of blast injuries that required amputation. The National Capital Region logged the highest number with 102 cases.

Western Visayas also reported 25 cases; Central Luzon, 20; Ilocos Region, 13; Calabarzon, 11; and Bicol Region, 11.

The latest case bulletin stated that the figure is 16 percent high-

er than the 182 cases during the same period last year.

“The 182 cases were 30 percent lower compared to the five-year average of 300 cases during the same period,” the DOH said.

“Kwitis,” a skyrocket type of firework that is legal, was the most common cause of injury with 45 cases.

Meantime, “boga” (improvised cannon) caused 27 injuries; triangle-shaped firecracker 5-star, 19 injuries; and fountain fireworks, 12 injuries.

There were no reported cases of fireworks or firecrackers ingestion nor fi reworks-related deaths.

NDRRMC confirms 51 deaths due to rains, severe floodings

THE National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) reported that 51 individuals died from the rains and severe fl ooding during the Christmas season.

The NDRRMC also added that 19 people remain missing. The state weather bureau PAGASA earlier said the intense rains during Christmas season were because of the shear line and the Northeast Monsoon or amihan.

The rains affected areas in Eastern Visayas, Surigao del Norte, Dinagat Islands, Camiguin, Southern Palawan, as well as some parts of Mindanao during the Christmas weekend, ABSCBN News reported.

Further, the NDRRMC said a total of 149,957 families or 595,693 individuals were affected by the shear line in 966

barangays across the country, noting that 2,811 families or 8,666 individuals remain in evacuation centers as of Monday.

The NDRRMC said assistance worth P48.49 million was provided to affected individuals. Meanwhile, 4,540 houses were reported damaged, 3,704 of which were “partially damaged” while 836 were “totally destroyed.”

Damage to infrastructure was pegged at P1.13 billion, while damage to agriculture was estimated to be at P243.03 million.

The Department of Education (DepEd) meanwhile reported that P363 million worth of damage in schools were record-

ed in several schools in Mindanao due to the rains and floods brought by the shear line and low pressure area (LPA).

Based on the agency’s education cluster report as of December 30, 2022, 36 schools based in Zamboanga Peninsula, Northern Mindanao, and Caraga sustained infrastructure damage.

Twenty-five of these schools were in Northern Mindanao, 10 in Caraga, and one in Zamboanga Peninsula, GMA \ News reported.

An estimated P363.50 million would be needed for the repair and reconstruction of these learning institutions, according to DepEd.

DepEd spokesperson Michael Poa, quoted by the GMA News report, said there were no learners who reportedly died or went missing due to the effects of the shear line and LPA.

However, eight students sustained injuries, while 2,548 others were displaced. There were 51 schools also being used as evacuation centers as of Friday, but Poa said that the figure is already “probably lower” on Monday.

“On the part of DepEd, we will be providing response interventions to affected schools, learners and personnel,” Poa said in a message to reporters.

A total of 51 individuals reportedly died due to the shear line rains since the Christmas weekend, according to the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) on Monday.

Damage to infrastructure worth P1.137 billion and to agriculture worth P243.029 million were reported due to the rains and floods. The National Irrigation Administration also reported over P2 million of damage.

2.6 million tourists arrived in the country in 2022—DOT

THE Department of Tourism (DOT) said 2.6 million tourists arrived in the Philippines in 2022.

This is due to the opening of borders to all international travelers in February, the DOT added, quoted by a GMA News report.

The DOT said some P173 billion tourism revenue was recorded in 2022 and more than 628,000 arrivals are returning Filipinos. The top arriving international tourists were from the US, South Korea, Australia, and United Kingdom, GMA News reported.

Tourism Secretary Christina Frasco said the DOH is targeting to have 4.8 million international visitors this 2023.

The Department of Migrant Workers (DMW) meanwhile said 3,000 overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) were assisted with their rebooking flights after hundreds of flights were disrupted on Sunday due to technical issues in the airport.

DMW Undersecretary Hans Leo Cacdac, quoted by a GMA News report, said most of the stranded OFWs had flights supposedly going to the Middle East and other Asian countries.

“By our count, roughly around 3,000 OFWs were assisted with their rebooking insofar as getting themselves flights today and up to the next two or three days is concerned,” he said.

Over 280 flights were canceled, diverted, or delayed on New Year’s Day as the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP) recorded a the technical issue at the Philippine Air Traffic Management Center.

Cacdac said many of the affected OFWs were given assistance by their airlines and recruitment agencies. They were also provided aid in terms of food, transport, and hotel accommodation.

PNP to deploy more cops for Sinulog

CEBU CITY—More police personnel will be deployed starting this week to secure socio-cultural and religious activities for this year’s Sinulog Fiesta—the first in-person celebration in three years due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Lt. Col. Mark Gifter Sucalit, deputy director for operations of the Cebu Police Provincial Office (CPPO), said 600 of the 2,000-strong police force in the province will augment personnel from the Cebu City police and other law enforcement units.

“It’s a big challenge to secure the Sinulog. So it takes resources, which means personnel, for the deployment,” Sucalit said in a mix of Cebuano and English.

The personnel who will secure major activity areas, including the downtown area all the way to the Basilica Minore del Sto. Niño will be presented on Tuesday in a traditional send-off ceremony.

Sucalit assured residents in other parts of the Cebu province of police response even if more than a quarter of the personnel will be sent as augmentation force in this city.

The barangay peacekeeping action team will help police stations in securing their areas of responsibility, he said.

Meanwhile, the Augustinian friars of the Sto. Niño Basilica said the Fiesta Señor will officially start at dawn on Thursday through the traditional penitential “walk with Jesus” where thousands of devotees are expected to join the procession from the Fuente Osmeña Rotunda to the 457-year-old church.

Fr. Nelson Zerda, rector of the Basilica, will preside a solemn Mass for the fiesta opening salvo at 5 a.m. that will also mark the first day of novena in honor of the Holy Child.

The

DHSUD says gov’t housing to go full-blast

By Rio N. Araja

THE Department of Human Settlements and Urban Development (DHSUD) is optimistic that President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s Pambansang Pabahay para sa Pilipino Program will go full blast with the initial construction of housing projects this year.

DHSUD Secretary Jose Rizalino Acuzar said following the positive traction gained by the program, he expects the initial construction phase to commence within the first semester of 2023.

The actual construction of mid- and high-rise buildings may take up to two years, he noted.

“I am optimistic that we can start with the construction of the projects with complete documentary and legal requirements in a few months,” he said.

“And we expect to go full blast within the year,” he added.

Since its launching in September or a few weeks after Acuzar’s assumption into office, the Pambansang Pabahay para sa Pilipino Program has already attracted interest of 47 local government units with the signing memoranda of understanding with the agency.

Of the 47 LGUs from Luzon, tye Visayas and Mindanao, 12 have already broken ground for their housing projects.

Mr. Marcos spearheaded the latest groundbreaking ceremony in Palayan City, Nueva Ecija on Dec. 21.

The flagship housing program got the support of several government financial institutions, such as the Home Development Mutual Fund or PagIBIG Fund that allocated P250 billion for the program, Land Bank of the Philippines, Government Service Insurance System, Development Bank of the Philippines and Social Security System.

DOT holds test run of Cordillera World War 2 journey

The

According

will help create awareness among municipal governments on the need to rediscover and develop

86 communist rebels surrender to gov’t

BALER, Aurora—At least 86 former members of the Communist Party of the Philippines - New People’s Army (CPP-NPA) and their supporters in the provinces of Nueva Ecija and Aurora withdrew their support from the terrorist group and pledged allegiance to the national government in 2022.

The withdrawal of support was facilitated by the Philippine Army’s 91st Infantry “Sinagtala” Battalion (91IB) whose area of jurisdiction covers this province and three towns of Nueva Ecija—Bongabon, Gabaldon, and Laur.

Lt. Col. Julito B. Recto Jr., commander of the 91IB, said on Monday that the continuous joint efforts of the Regional Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (RTF-ELCAC) and its persistent campaign against terrorism resulted in the realization by the surrenderers of

the futility of their armed struggle against the government.

In an interview, Recto emphasized, “the whole-of-nation approach to win peace and progress, instead of just defeating the enemy in military combat.”

He said that those who formally cut their ties with the CPP-NPA were former NPA fighters, members of the Militiang Bayan and their supporters.

Likewise, Recto said 13 assorted firearms were turned in by the rebels and eight NPA lairs were discovered in this province alone from January last year to date.

Recto cited the active engagement of the 91IB troops, in partnership with the local government units, in various operational fronts of civil-military operations, disaster relief and rescue operations, anti-illegal logging operations and other activities.

their historic spots to rekindle patriotism and pride of place among locals.

She said that some of the World War 2 sites can be incorporated into existing tour packages to enhance the heritage component of the travel itineraries, and complement similarly-themed tours in the nearby Ilocos, Central Luzon and Cagayan Valley regions.

Taking part in the event were members of the Philippine Tour Operators Association (Philtoa), universities in Baguio City, and local tour operators and guides.

AS part of its continuing product development and heritage advocacy, the Department of Tourism – Cordillera Administrative Region recently held a test run of its World War 2 Historical Journey which retraces the crucial events of the Pacific War.

three-day caravan started in Baguio City, where World War 2 started in 1941 and ended in 1945, covering Baguio Museum, the Mirador Jesuit Villa Retreat House and Eco Park, the Our Lady of the Atonement Cathedral, Teachers’ Camp, The Mansion, Wright Park, and Bell House at Camp John Hay where the

Welcome Dinner was held.

Journey also motored to Camp Maj. Bado Dangwa in La Trinidad, Benguet; Lepanto Consolidated Mining Corp. in Mankayan, Benguet; Bessang Pass Natural Monument in Cervantes, Ilocos Sur; Camp Lt. Geronimo Montes in Bontoc, Mountain Province; Hungduan Heritage Village, and Kiangan National Shrine in Ifugao.

to DOT regional director Jovi Ganongan, the tour

SEEKING GUIDANCE. Manila Police District director Brig. Gen. Andre Dizon leads a prayer before conducting patrol operations around Manila on Monday. Norman Cruz

WORLD WAR TOUR. At the closing ceremonies at the Kiangan Shrine are project researcher and historical reenactor Bernard Supetran, Philtoa president Fe Abling-Yu, Ifugao vice governor Glenn Prudenciano, DOT regional director Jovi Ganongan, Ifugao provincial board member Joselito Guyguyon, Kiangan vice mayor Michelle Baguilat, O ce of the Presidential Assistant for Peace, Reconciliation and Unity (OPAPRU) consultant Brig. Gen (ret) Ramon Yogyog, and Cordillera World War 2 Journey tour director Karlo Altomonte.

HOMEWARD BOUND. After spending the holidays in Metro Manila, hundreds of passengers queue at the JAC Liner bus terminal along Epifanio de los Santos Avenue corner Mapagmahal Street in Quezon City on Monday to go home to their respective provinces.

Joey O. Razon

Solon urges gov’t to remain focused on PPP amid MIF

By Maricel V. Cruz

HOUSE Deputy Minority Leader and Bagong Henerasyon party-list Rep. Bernadette Herrera on Monday urged the government not to lose sight of the benefits of public-private partnership (PPP) in big-ticket development projects once the proposed Maharlika

Meanwhile, Surigao del Sur Rep. Johnny Pimentel foresees the planned state-run Maharlika Investment Fund (MIF) venturing into infrastructure development solutions, instead of merely holding passive assets such as fixedincome instruments, equities and bonds.

“Let us not forget PPP and the indispensable role of the private sector as the main engine for national growth and development,” Herrera said.

A brainchild of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., the MIF can be used to finance big-ticket infrastructure projects, highreturn green and blue projects, and countryside development. It is also expected to muster substantial investments and secure intergenerational benefits such as potential earnings from extracted natural resources.

President Marcos also cited as one of his legislative priorities during his first State of the Nation Address the measure strengthening PPP which, just like the

MIF bill, was recently approved by the House of Representatives on third and final reading.

Being one of the authors of the PPP bill, Herrera wanted the government to prioritize PPP over the proposed sovereign wealth fund (SWF).

Herrera believed the intention of the proposed SWF can be achieved more effectively through established measures such as the PPP wherein substantial project risks are assumed by the private sector.

“I hope this (SWF) will not in any way affect the PPP because PPP is really an important vehicle para magtuloy-tuloy ang Build, Build, Build ng ating bansa,” Herrera said during her interpellation on HB 6608 earlier this week.

Proponents of the MIF bill initially planned to put up P275 billion for the MIF which will be derived from pension funds under the Government Service Insurance System (GSIS) and Social Security System (SSS), as well as funds of state-owned Land Bank of the Philippines and Development Bank of the Philippines (DBP).

Amid mounting protests, the proponents decided to drop the GSIS and SSS as contributors to the MIF and replaced it with Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP). The proposed seed money was then cut by more than half to P110 billion.

Congress allots P254m cash gift for centenarians

According to Campos, the House of Representatives earmarked P254 million in the 2023 General Appropriations Act to bankroll the one-time cash gift of Filipinos who reached the age of 100 years old.

The amount is 43 percent higher than the P178 million appropriation for the same purpose under the 2022 national budget.

“We in Congress are absolutely determined to sustain the annual funding required for the P100,000 cash gift of every Filipino who turns 100 years old,” said Campos, the House appropriations committee vice chairman.

“In fact, since 2017, we’ve set aside an aggregate of over P1 billion, including the sum allocated for this year, to pay for the cash grant of more than 10,000 Filipino centenarians,” Campos said.

Under the Centenarians Law of 2016,

or Republic Act No. 10868, every Filipino citizen who reaches 100 years old, whether residing in the Philippines or abroad, is entitled to receive the P100,000 tax-free gift plus a congratulatory letter from the President.

The funds are to be distributed through Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD).

Over 11.2m SIM Cards so far registered—NTC

MORE than 11 million cellular phone owners have registered their SIM cards in six days of the implementation of the SIM Card registration Act, the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) reported on Monday.

Data released by the NTC showed there were 11,219,722 SIM cards registered as of January 2, 2023, broken down as 1,017,012 with DITO Telecommunity Corp., 5,030,649 with Globe Telecom Inc., and 5,172,061 with Smart Communications Inc.

The new law which took effect last Dec. 27 of the SIM Card Registration Act took effect on December 27, mandates all public telecommunications entities (PTEs) to establish their own registration platform where they will accommodate users who

problems encountered by users during the registration.

On Day One of the registration, Globe made its registration portal temporarily inaccessible to ensure a better experience for its customers, asking the NTC for a maximum of 72 hours to ensure stability.

Smart likewise reported heavy volumes of registrants, while DITO said the registration process was smooth with over 200,000 subscribers successfully registered during the day.

To register their SIM cards, users of DITO Telecommunity Corp. can visit https://dito.ph/registerDITO, Globe Telecom Inc. at https://new.globe.com.ph/ simreg, and Smart at https://smart.com. ph/simreg.

Citations rained on

chief in year just passed

By Rio N. Araja

Jr.

The largesse is on top of all other rewards that centenarians may receive from their respective local governments or from other sources.

The Makati City government, for instance, also hands out a one-time cash gift of P100,000 to residents of the city who breaks the 100-year-old barrier. Hence, the recipient gets a total of P200,000 bonanza

Since 2016, Makati has rewarded 79 resident centenarians with P100,000 each.

THROUGH the initiative of

Vianca Venzon-Gozon, 968 DOLE Tupad Program beneficiaries mostly fisherfolks and farmers got their wages for ten days before new year.

A LEGISLATOR from the Bicol Region on Monday expressed optimism over the establishment of the Virology and Vaccine Institute of the Philippines (VVIP) in the coming months.

Camarines Sur Rep. Luis Raymund Villafuerte cited the VVIP bill on third and final reading at the House of Representatives before the chamber went on a holiday recess on Dec. 16.

Villafuerte, president of the National Unity Party (NUP), said the speedy approval of the consolidated House Bill (HB) 6452 was assured because, on top of the VVIP bill’s inclusion in the common legislative agenda (CLA) of Malacañang

and the bicameral Congress, the Executive Department had already set aside an initial P669.3 million plus a five-hectare lot for its research and development (R&D) projects and facilities at the New Clark City (NCC) in Tarlac.

“The VVIP is expected to be up sooner than later following its inclusion among the 30 priority bills in the CLA that was drawn up by President Marcos with Senate President Juan Miguel Zubiri and Speaker Martin (Romualdez) during the first LEDAC (Legislative Executive Development Advisory Council) meeting convened last Oct. 10,” Villafuerte said.

The House passed the bill on final read-

ing by a 216-0 vote with no abstention. The lower chamber-approved HB 6452 had consolidated 42 similar bills, including HB 10 that was principally authored by four solons led by Speaker Romualdez, and HB 308 that was introduced by Villafuerte and three fellow lawmakers from Camarines Sur.

Romualdez’s co-authors were Senior Deputy Majority Leader Ferdinand Alexander Marcos and Tingog Sinirangan Reps. Yedda Romualdez and Jude Acidre; while HB 308 was introduced by the NUP president with CamSur Reps. Miguel Luis Villafuerte and Tsuyoshi Anthony Horibata, and Bicol Saro Rep. Nicolas Enciso VIII. Maricel V. Cruz

HELP IS AT HAND.

Frontline

Balanga Agriculture Office said beneficiaries coming from various barangays each earned P4,500 wage.

The fund came from the Office of Bataan 2nd District Congressman Abet Garcia. The congressman has been continuously supporting the city.

The Tupad program was conducted in the city in coordination with Balanga PESO and Balanga Agriculture Office.

Beneficiaries thanked Mayor Garcia and Vice Mayor Gozon, and Cong. Garcia for the program especially that they received their wages in time for New Year celebration.

Butch Gunio

ANTI-narcotics agents of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) have reportedly seized some P3.4 million worth of shabu following a buy-bust operation in General Trias, Cavite.

The operatives also nabbed a lone suspect identified as Jalil Ayonan who had to spend the New Year behind bars.

A search of the suspect’s body yielded an additional 300 grams of shabu worth more than P2 million, the PDEA Region 4A office said.

The suspect has refused to give any statement.

-

FOR her “world-class” achievement in public service and legal jurisprudence, Public Attorney’s Office (PAO) chief Persida RuedaAcosta has received at least 21 awards in 2022.

Nonetheless, Acosta vowed to work harder to further improve public service delivery in 2023.

The country’s 2,500 public lawyers are committed to serve the poor and those aggrieved under the Rule of Law, she said.

Acosta received the Gawad Filipino 2022 Hero Award and the Gawad Dangal Filipino Award as an outstanding public servant.

Even the Philippine Fashion Circle Association gave Acosta the PFCA Award, “the first in Philippine fashion,” along with the PFCA Women of Significance Award.

Acosta was also honored during the Joint Commencement Exercises of Justice College of the Philippines, and by the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office in recognition of her unwavering support to gender equality and women empowerment.

She likewise received the 5th Philippines Empowered Filipino Men and Women Award, the Crystal International Women Award, the World-Class Excellence Japan Outstanding Award in Public Service, the Maharlikang Filipino Award in Leadership, the Elite Business Award, the Asian Sterling Award in Most Outstanding Individual Achievement in Legal Practice and Public Service, the Best Magazine Six Outstanding Men and Women Award, the Gawad Filipino Icon Award and the Diamond Excellence Award as an outstanding host #PALA.

The rest were the Global Iconic Aces Award as the Attorney of the People and Ace Public Attorney, the Hall of Fame Award (Filipino Faces of Success), the 35th Aliw Award, The Outstanding Filipino Award from the Junior Chamber International Senate Philippines, the Metro Excellence Leadership Award and the Aspire Magazine Award for her inspiring personality.

In 2004, the PAO chief received the highest presidential award for Outstanding Public Service — the Lingkod Bayan Award.

present valid identification cards. Users are given 180 days to register their SIM cards, else face the risk of having these deactivated.

The PTEs have said they were set for the registration process, but birth pains as expected cropped up during the initial stages. The NTC has since ordered the PTEs to report any

Investment Fund (MIF) is established.

Mayor Francis Garcia and Vice Mayor

Rep. Luis Campos

Balanga Francis Garcia (left) and Vice Mayor Vianca Venzon-Gozon

ENTERPRISING FAITHFULS. Their religious faith has also yielded a business opportunity for this enterprising man who sells T-shirts with the image of the Black Nazarene and and another fellow who vends mini figurines of the icon ahead of next week’s celebration of the Feast of the Black Nazarene of the Quiapo Church in Manila. Norman Cruz

REACHING OUT IN TIMES OF NEED. Navotas City Mayor John Rey Tiangco visits and distributes hot meals, relief goods and hygiene kits to fire victims at North Bay Boulevard North Covered Court. Andrew Rabulan

responders composed of personnel of the Bureau of Fire Pro

tection and the Philippine National Police, among others, assist victims of the flood in Claver, Surigao del Norte, and delivered relief goods, bottled water, and blankets to the displaced families. BFP

EvEryman

NAKEM Conferences and the cause of linguistic justice

By Cynthia Addawan

EVEN as a teacher, I must say there are many things I am not aware of.

One is the existence of NAKEM Conferences, an advocacy group that has been around for 17 years and organized in that span 17 academic conferences on several themes and two Ilokano language summits and congresses in 2014.

I know the Ilokano word “nakem” from the Ilokanized version of my iKalinga self.

Among others, I know “nakem” is a measure of one’s person, one’s capacity to do things right and just and fair.

Then I discovered that is the very source of what NAKEM Conferences really means: a National Alliance for Knowledge, Empowerment, and Meaning.

And this NAKEM Conferences organized in Honolulu was founded by Dr. Aurelio Solver Agcaoili of the University of Hawaii at Manoa, who has his roots from Ilocos Norte.

With some 200 participants in each of these 17 conferences they had convened, organized, and held, more than 3,400 teachers, cultural workers, intellectuals, researchers, educationists, and writers have benefited from these annual exchanges of ideas, experiences, practices, and ruminations. They also had a midterm conference on “Amianan and Ilokano Life, Language, and Literature” at the Philippine Consulate General in Honolulu in 2009, with many of the Amianan language groups participating to define and understand the notion of “Amianan” as a category to understand the more than 40 ethnolinguistic groups that make up the Northwestern Philippines.

It is necessary that we need to reframe that act of decolonizing to account what was missing, and what continues to be missing

NAKEM’s annual conferences have been held in different places, with several in Hawaii, organized and hosted by the University of Hawaii Ilokano Program.

I have scoured documents from the Internet and other platforms and interviewed those in the know, and I realized that there is so much history here that I have not known.

I want to know more. I am a teacher, and thus, I must know more.

As an iKalinga, born and raised and nurtured with that Kalinga spirit and soul and earth, I am beginning to realize that the very things I am most uncomfortable talking about are those that NAKEM Conferences has courageously confronted since its founding in 2006 in Honolulu.

I know the temporal origin: the 100th year of the arrival of the first 15 Ilokanos, the indentured plantation workers that would be the beginning of more Ilokanos going to Hawaii as plantation workers until the last batch of workers reached the shores of Hawaii in 1946.

When the flyer of the International Conference on Languages, Cultures, and Histories 2022 also called ICOLCH 2022 came out, I read through it; I was hooked.

I wanted much to take part and exchange ideas

with kindred spirits.

I just finished my master’s in education with a thesis on the foundational issues of sustainability and climate change from the perspective of basic education learners and I wanted to share what I discovered in this conference.

The ICOLCH 2022 was the handiwork of Kalinga State University, but I saw other hands collaborating to put the conference together like NAKEM Conferences and the University of Hawaii Ilokano Program.

Then I saw those names that initially were unknown to me who would grace the international conference as keynote speakers: Dr. Aurelio Solver Agcaoili of the University of Hawaii, Dr. Alma Trinidad Ouanesinouk of Portland State University, and the Rev. Dr. Shierwin Cabunilas of San Beda University Graduate School of Law and San Pablo Seminary.

I was hooked a second time.

I now realized more and more how serendipitous this turn of events had been for me as a neophyte in international conferences.

I had never been to one before despite my long years of service as a public school teacher.

This constancy of seeing the same names and organizations that, for the life of me, I have not had the chance for a real personal encounter left we with that burning desire to be part of the ICOLCH 2022 and listen to those who have something to say about the theme of the conference: about indigeneity and about the need to empower our communities by affirming their stories, languages, histories, and cultures.

These things have become so familiar to me. But they remained distant, too.

I wanted to exchange ideas with these three speakers too.

For the first time, I reviewed how to put together an abstract the conference required.

The abstract selection committee saw the potential of my research and assigned me a slot in the parallel session.

The multitude of research – and the fecundity of brilliant ideas in the exchanges – made me more driven to embark on more research projects so that I can continue to join the NAKEM Conferences.

But the first day – at the first speech of Dr. Agcaoili – I could not believe I have not been aware of the systemic injustice that resulted in the impoverishment of our indigenous languages, cultures, and histories.

He argued that our focus – on decolonization, that act of purging from our collective memories the evils of our layered experience of colonization by the Spaniards, the Americans, and the Japanese – is insufficient.

It is not enough that we decolonize, he said.

It is necessary that we need to reframe that act of decolonizing to account what was missing, and what continues to be missing.

He offers a theory: a post-decolonialization strategy that assesses the errors of decolonization alone including the surreptitious advocacy for just one and only one language from the center of power.

This is all wrong, Dr. Agcaoili continued, and I remember why our iKalinga people have been forced to speak the Tagalog of a people so far away from our people’s mountains.

I continue to ruminate on his “postdecolonialization” theory and strategy.

I now see why, of all the people I have known, he had been personally involved in this fight for linguistic justice in the Philippines and elsewhere.

I still have a lot to learn.

But I will keep my eyes and mind open because I must serve my iKalinga people.

(The author, a public schools basic education teacher of Tabuk, Kalinga and mother of three daughters, holds a master’s degree whose thesis tackled climate change and sustainability.)

Children forced to grow up fast in Ukraine’s frontline towns

By Cecile Feuillatre

LISA Shtanko, eight, stood on the side of a muddy road watching Ukrainian soldiers pass by, one of only a few children left in a town hit hard by Russia’s invasion.

There was hardly any heating or electricity. Most of her friends were long gone. And just that morning a strike had landed outside Lisa’s house.

“Today I’m not in a good mood because of the shelling,” she told AFP as her father, Viktor Shtanko, looked on.

Children living on the frontline of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine have to learn to manage unceasing stress, with experts warning of long-term disorders.

The Shtankos’ hometown, Lyman, endured four months of Russian occupation that left most of it in ruins and turned the surrounding forests into minefields.

Ukrainian forces regained control of Lyman in October, but fighting continues nearby.

“Of course she’s scared,” said Viktor, a 42-yearold electrician.

“There’s nothing scarier than death lurking around you. But she’s fine with her dad.”

The upcoming New Year’s Eve and Orthodox Christmas holiday on January 7 could provide some distraction from the war, but the only toy Viktor will be able to offer will be donated by a humanitarian group.

These hardships have spurred most families with children to leave, and many have “no reason to return”, said Kostya Korovkin, father of six-year-old Nastya.

Kostya told AFP he has nowhere to go, meaning Nastya is forced to spend long days in the basement of their building, occasionally wandering out onto

streets where only stray dogs roam.

Sometimes she heads up to the building’s sixth floor, the only place where she can get an internet signal and attend classes online.

In front of the entrance to her building, someone has set up a small Christmas tree and placed candies on the branches.

“But,” Korovkin said, “there are no children left to pick them.”

No thought for the future

While Lyman no longer sees active fighting, other towns in the eastern Donetsk region still have the war on their doorstep.

Bakhmut, where President Volodymyr Zelensky paid a daring surprise visit last week, has been pounded by a months-long Russian assault that shows no sign of letting up.

At the back of one basement where 20 people have been sheltering for eight months, 14-year-old Gleb Petrov greets visitors with a firm handshake and a serious look on his face. Full text at www.manilastandard.net

EDITORIAL

Godspeed, Mister President

THE eyes of allies and critics will be on President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. once again, this time during his three-day state visit to the People’s Republic of China which begins today, at the invitation of President Xi Jinping.

This visit, the first outside of Southeast Asia – he was previously in the United States and Belgium on an official visit – will be his seventh as head of state and is certain to invite the attention of political and diplomatic as well as military observers.

Nearly two months ago, the 65-year-old President said he was keen on bringing up the country’s position on territorial disputes in the West Philippine Sea in a future discussion with Xi, four years the President’s senior.

The President talked of the Code of Conduct, which aims to manage tensions in the South China Sea, a resource-rich and strategically important waterway interlaced with overlapping claims from China and several ASEAN countries including the Philippines.

ASEAN, founded in 1967 in Bangkok, Thailand, has developed friendly relations and mutually beneficial dialogues, cooperation and partnerships with countries and sub-regional, regional and international organizations and institutions.

At the Summit of the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations in Cambodia last November, Mr. Marcos, in a chance interview with media on board PR001 en route to Phnom

The President’s China visit is part of his government’s bid to animate ties with China and Chinese President Xi’s relationship with the Philippines under a second Marcos president

Penh, where the 40th and 41st ASEAN Summit was held, talked about the Code of Conduct, with observers believing this might be raised during the meeting between the two leaders in Beijing.

Presidents Marcos and Xi first met during a bilateral meeting on the sidelines of the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation Summit in

Bangkok in November 2022.

“I think the Code of Conduct has not moved forward, it’s not really moving forward. Maybe we can [talk about the West Philippine Sea] using that, the Code of Conduct,” said Mr. Marcos then.

The President is making the three-day visit despite concerns over the renewed spread of COVID-19 in China, but Philippine officials have said there are some visits that cannot be postponed.

Department of Foreign Affairs Assistant Secretary Nathaniel Imperial told media during a briefing on December 29 the importance and urgency of the trip was understandable, adding it would “set the tone of bilateral relations between the two countries in the next five to six years.”

Given recent developments in the West Philippine Sea, where there have been confrontations between the Philippine military and the Chinese Coast Guard/maritime militia vessels, the proposal to set up a direct communication line between the top diplomats of the two countries to prevent any escalation of maritime disputes is well timed.

China is competing for influence – political, economic, and cultural – in the world stage, with the Asia Pacific being among the key arenas.

The President’s China visit is part of his government’s bid to animate ties with China and Chinese President Xi’s relationship with the Philippines under a second Marcos president.

In the meanwhile, we watch with our eyes and ears close to the echoes of the north wind.

What to expect in 2023

THERE are good and bad things to be expected by the country this year.

Among the bad things, first and foremost, is the continued high inflation which has caused the prices of prime commodities, especially affecting the bulk of the nation like the poor.

We expect the continuation of the food crisis which means that we have to import rice and other prime commodities.

Another bad thing that inflation has caused is the continuous demand for higher wages, still pending before the Labor Department, and also the high price of transport fares because of the continuous increase of prices of gasoline and diesel, including kerosene.

The looming energy crisis is also something to watch out for this year, which will challenge President Marcos Jr.

Another bad thing to expect this year is the continued COVID-19 pandemic.

Although there are reports that COVID-19 cases have been declining nationwide, there is the threat of the recurrence every now and then of a possible surge COVID-19 cases.

This could only mean that COVID pandemic in the Philippines will continue this year.

On the other side of the coin, we could expect the economy to recover because of sound fundamentals and the economic recovery this year.

And with the recovery of the economy, we can expect the generation of more jobs, especially so with President Bongbong Marcos having gotten so many pledges from foreign investors during his many trips abroad.

To me, Bongbong Marcos is still the greatest salesman of the country.

Another good thing to expect this year is the final approval of the Maharlika Investment Fund which could be used by the government to invest in infrastructure and other high profit projects.

Another good thing we can expect is lower prices for the almighty onion.

My only wish this year is that, despite the continuous COVID-19 pandemic, the country will not go into recession , unlike so many other countries that expect a recession this year.

I am just relying on the economic managers of BBM who have promised to make the Philippines an investment destination.

***

While the nation celebrates the Christmas holidays, hundreds of families in the Bicol region, Eastern Visayas and more especially in Northern Mindanao, particularly Misamis Occidental, where torrential rains poured and flooded villages, had to spend their Christmas in evacuation centers or had to stay home to protect their things from looters.

Santa Banana, it is a tragedy for those affected Filipinos in the midst of cheers and happy reunions. My gulay, there was even a tragic landslide that killed many people, not counting the deaths caused by floods in those areas.

Amidst all these tragedies, the much needed and clearly imperative bill, which has long been lingering in the Senate remains not enacted because President Bongbong Marcos has refused to certify the bill creating the Department of Disaster Resilience or DDR that could well handle calamities and disasters nationwide.

From my point of view, it’s doubly tragic that there is only one senator, Christopher Lawrence “Bong ‘’ Go, pushing for the creation of a DDR. I really don’t know what the other senators are thinking, but it’s obvious they don’t realize the imperative and critical need for a DDR.

This latest tragedy, which resulted in 44 deaths and many more injured or missing, caused by continuous rains and landslides, is the latest example of a disaster and calamity that the

Philippines is prone to. There are so many super and killer typhoons and cyclones that hit the country regularly, killing people by the hundreds, devastating agriculture and livelihood, infrastructure and causing the loss of billions of pesos in their aftermath.

Speaking of priorities, I am amazed that while Bongbong Marcos is pushing for the creation of a nationwide water resources department, he’d rather have an agency under his office created for disaster rather than a DDR. This time I blame BBM for his lack of a sense for what is really a priority and imperative, knowing full well what has been happening in a country prone to disasters and calamities, like floods, landslides, earthquakes, storm surges, volcanic eruptions and their tragic aftermath.

Common sense calls for some sense of priorities, like the imperative and critical need for a DDR that can focus and strategize all the needs of the country...

I have been praising BBM, but this time, I believe his sense of priorities is wrong.

Common sense calls for some sense of priorities, like the imperative and critical need for a DDR that can focus and strategize all the needs of the country in the wake of much devastation and destruction, more especially with so many lives lost simply because we do not have a DDR.

Yes, we have the NDRRMC or National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council, which has since devolved into regional and provincial councils.

But they are only “ad hoc” bodies that can be called upon when calamity and disasters happen, my gulay!

And this NDRRMC is only “ad hoc” ( temporary) under the Office of the National Defense, an agency of the Department of National Defense.

Santa Banana, what we need , like yesterday, is a department devoted solely in the rescue, relief and rehabilitation of people who are in the path of typhoons, cyclones and floods and landslides and their disasters and calamities.

We need a DDR which has its own budget to take care of relief immediately, instead of a NDRRMC or RDRRMC or PDRRMC like we have, always depending on donations and foreign relief in the aftermath of a disaster or calamity, which usually have victims crying out for relief in the aftermath.

And this DDR could well put up evacuation centers, instead of victims having to seek shelter in school buildings and indoor gymnasiums without the necessary facilities.

If the Marcos administration is worried about funds allocation for the DDR, Bongbong could start right-sizing the bureaucracy now.

My gulay, there are so many useless and needless agencies that could well be abolished.

To mention a few, there’s the Movie and Television Review and Classification Board, which has been made just a dumping ground of political proteges.

The MTRCB is truly useless because producers of movies and television could well rate and classify their own productions, as they have been doing.

Santa Banana, is there a need to rate and classify NETFLIX or HBO? That would be senseless.

If I recall correctly, the MTRCB was created during the administration of Bongbong’s late father because of fear that insurgents and members of the communist party could use movies and television to criticize the government. With the onset of modern communication and information technology, my gulay, with just a tap on your touchscreen, one can access any TV network worldwide and watch all the foreign productions in all the television channels. There is also the Presidential Commission on Good Government, the first act of the late President Cory Aquino to go after reported alleged hidden and unexplained wealth of the Marcoses.

Members of the PCGG board could well be absorbed by the Department of Justice.

To me, the PCGG is a useless agency, wasting government money to go after the Marcoses, and losing in fact all its cases against the Marcoses and their cronies. What a waste of government resources!

Then, there is the Office of the Government Corporate Counsel , which has become a virtual hotbed of corruption.

In fact, when a former OGCC chief wanted to stop corruption in the agency, he became the target of political proteges, and he was replaced.

Another useless agency is the Climate Change Commission composed of a board with a chairman having the rank of a department secretary and board members having the rank of cabinet undersecretaries and receiving their respective salaries.

And, Santa Banana, what do they do for climate change?

Nothing, absolutely nothing, but attend conferences abroad on climate change. My gulay, what a waste of money! ***

Transportation Secretary Jaime Bautista has proposed that the Ninoy Aquino International Airport be privatized.

This has been proposed for many recent years following much criticism against NAIA worldwide.

If only to stop all the bad news that NAIA has become the worst airport in the world, and regionally the most depressing international airport, we need a game-changing international gateway, unlike NAIA.

I am sure there are tycoons and taipans just waiting for a government bidding for privatization.

There had been proposals from conglomerates to improve NAIA, but unfortunately they soon pulled out for unknown reasons.

Reports have it that the terms of reference set by the government could not be accepted by the conglomerates.

But, with the Asian Development Bank helping out the Department of Transportation in adopting the terms of reference, I am sure that there are conglomerates just waiting for the chance.

International gateways around the world have already privatized their international airports. And it’s time the Philippines should catch up. Go for it, Mister President.

We, Filipinos, deserve to be proud of our main international gateway.

Santa Banana, every time I travel abroad, it breaks my heart to see other international airports so modern be jealous of.

But, every time I come home, I am ashamed of NAIA so antiquated, my gulay, that I become depressed.

It’s a good thing that a game changer like the P740 billion Bulacan airport of San Miguel Corporation is coming up, but not until four years from now.

President Marcos Jr. should realize that this is what we need now, an international gateway we can be proud of to show to foreign investors. That’s a must, Mister President.

Rolando

Psychologist Alyona Lukyanchuk stressed that the children of Bakhmut were in a state of ‘permanent insecurity’

Russia hits Kyiv with new attacks

KYIV—A fresh aerial strike targeted Kyiv in the early hours of Monday, after a New Year’s weekend marked by dozens of Russian assaults that killed at least four people.

The Ukrainian capital and other cities came under fire from missiles and Iranian-made drones on Saturday, killing three people, and a new attack Sunday killed one in the southern region of Zaporizhzhia.

Kyiv was once again rocked by an air raid on Monday morning, with the city’s military administration ordering residents just after 1:00 am (2300 GMT) to retreat to “stay in shelters”.

“The air defence (system) is work-

ing... Fragments of balconies and windows in a high-rise building were damaged in Desnyanskyi district,” Serhiy Popko, head of the city’s administration, said on the Telegram messaging app.

Oleksii Kuleba, head of the Kyiv region military administration, said there were “waves” of attacks by Iranianmade Shahed drones.

“They are targeting critical infrastructure facilities,” he said.

Lula returns vowing to rebuild, reunify Brazil under new term

BRASILIA—Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva took office Sunday for a third term as Brazil’s president, vowing to fight for the poor and the environment and “rebuild the country” after far-right leader Jair Bolsonaro’s divisive administration.

The 77-year-old veteran leftist, who previously led Brazil from 2003 to 2010, took the oath of office before Congress, capping a remarkable political comeback for the metalworkerturned-president less than five years after he was jailed on controversial, since-quashed corruption charges.

A sea of red-clad supporters braved the scorching heat to flood Brasilia, exuberantly cheering Lula as he was driven through the ultra-modern capital in a black convertible Rolls-Royce, accompanied by First Lady Rosangela “Janja” da Silva and Vice President Geraldo Alckmin.

Giving a blistering overview of the

past four years under Bolsonaro -- who snubbed the ceremony, in a break with tradition -- Lula said his government would work to undo a legacy of economic decline, surging poverty and funding cuts in health, education and science.

“Upon these terrible ruins, I pledge to rebuild the country, together with the Brazilian people,” he said, vowing to fight for poor Brazilians, racial and gender equality, and zero deforestation in the Amazon rainforest, where destruction surged under Bolsonaro.

The swearing-in began with a minute of silence for Brazilian football legend Pele and former pope Benedict XVI, who both died in recent days.

Wearing a blue suit and tie, the charismatic but controversial Lula was then driven from Congress to the Planalto presidential palace, escorted by dozens of bodyguards. AFP

Nearly three hours later, the capital and its surrounding region lifted the air alert. The city’s military administration said 20 air targets had been shot down.

Mayor Vitali Klitschko reported an explosion in Kyiv’s northeastern Desnyanskyi district and said emergency services were dispatched.

“An injured 19-year-old man was hospitalised in the Desnyanskyi district of the capital,” he said. Authorities later said he was cut by the falling debris.

Russia’s New Year assaults -- which targeted downtown areas of large cities -- show a change in tactics, said an adviser to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.

“Russia no longer has any military goals and is trying to kill as many civilians as possible and destroy more civilian facilities,” Mykhailo Podolyak tweeted. “A war to kill.”

The attacks came as President Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine enters its 11th month.

- Hospital strike -

On Saturday, Russian artillery hit the village of Naddniprianske outside the city of Kherson, severely wounding a 13-year-old boy.

Then the Russian army struck the hospital where the boy was lying in intensive care, smashing the windows. AFP

Body of ex-pope Benedict to lie in state at Vatican

VATICAN CITY—Catholics will on Monday be able to pay their respects in the Vatican to former pope Benedict XVI, whose body will lie in state for three days at St Peter’s Basilica before his funeral.

The German theologian, who died on Saturday aged 95, led the Catholic Church for eight years before becoming the first pope in six centuries to step down in 2013.

His successor Pope Francis will lead the funeral on Thursday in the vast St Peter’s Square, before his remains are laid to rest in the tombs beneath St Peter’s Basilica.

Benedict died at the Mater Ecclesiae monastery inside the Vatican gardens, which had been his home for the past decade.

His body will early Monday be transferred to the basilica where, for three days during the daytime, the faithful will be able to say goodbye.

The Vatican on Sunday released photos of his corpse, dressed in red papal mourning robes and wearing a gold-edged mitre on his head, on a catafalque in the monastery chapel.

Benedict’s shock resignation created the extraordinary situation of having two “men in white” -- him and Francis -- at the Vatican.

His funeral will also break new ground.

Papal deaths usually trigger the calling of a conclave of cardinals to elect a successor, but this time Francis remains in post, and will lead proceedings.

Benedict’s funeral will be “solemn but simple”, the Vatican has said, after which he will be buried in the papal tombs under St Peter’s Basilica.

The Vatican has yet to release details of the guest list, beyond saying that it will include delegations from Italy and Benedict’s native Germany. AFP

Colombia strikes 6-month ceasefire deal with 5 main armed groups

announced the truce on Twitter.

BEIRUT—The Israeli army carried out a missile strike on Damascus International Airport on Monday that killed four people, including two Syrian soldiers, according to a human rights monitor.

This is the second time in less than seven months that the Damascus airport, where Iranian-backed armed groups and Lebanese Hezbollah fighters are present, has been hit by Israel.

The attack -- which occurred around 2:00 am (2300 GMT) -- put the country’s main airport out of service, according to Syria’s state news agency SANA.

Israel carried out the strike with “barrages of missiles, targeting Damascus International Airport and its surroundings”, a military source told SANA, which reported that two Syrian soldiers were killed.

But the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights -- which relies on a wide network of sources on the ground in Syria -- said a total of four people had died in the early morning attack.

“Four fighters including two Syrian soldiers were killed” by the Israeli strike, Rami Abdul Rahman, head of the Observatory, told AFP.

The missiles also hit “positions for Hezbollah and pro-Iranian groups inside the airport and its surroundings, including a weapons warehouse”, Abdul Rahman said. AFP

BOGOTA—Colombia’s government has agreed to a six-month ceasefire with the five largest armed groups still active after a 2016 peace pact failed to bring an end to violence in the conflictriddled country.

President Gustavo Petro, Colombia’s first-ever leftist president, who has said he wants “total peace” in the country,

“We have agreed to a bilateral ceasefire with the ELN, the Second Marquetalia, the Central General Staff, the AGC and the Self-Defense Forces of the Sierra Nevada from January 1 to June 30, 2023,” Petro tweeted on New Year’s Eve.

The ceasefire was declared “extendable depending on progress in the negotiations.”

Despite the peace pact that saw FARC guerrillas disarm in 2017, armed groups remain locked in deadly disputes over drug trafficking revenues and other illegal businesses, according to the Institute for Development and Peace Studies (Indepaz), an independent think tank.

Colombia is the world’s largest cocaine producer.

The government, in a statement Sunday, said the ceasefire would be monitored by the United Nations, Colombia’s human rights ombudsman and the Catholic Church.

Peace talks had been suspended under the government of Ivan Duque (20182022), but Petro resumed negotiations soon after taking office on August 7. AFP

Court orders influencer Tate held for 30 days

BUCHAREST—A Romanian court on Friday ordered the 30-day-detention of controversial influencer Andrew Tate following his arrest for alleged human trafficking, rape and forming a criminal group.

Ramona Bolla, a spokeswoman for Romania’s antiorganised crime and terrorism directorate (DIICOT), told AFP Friday that four suspects had been placed in pre-trial detention for 30 days following their arrest late Thursday.

They are former professional kickboxer Tate, who is a British-US national, his brother Tristan and two Romanian citizens.

Swiss Jan. heat record broken for Alps north side

southwest.

Tate and his brother were initially detained for 24 hours, but prosecutors had asked a Bucharest court to extend the detention of all four suspects as part of their ongoing investigation.

GENEVA—Switzerland

recorded its highest-ever January temperatures north of the Alps Sunday, thermometers hitting 20.2 degrees Celsius (68.4 degrees Fahrenheit) in the town of Delemont.

MeteoSwiss, Switzerland’s national weather and climate service, said January heat records fell at several monitoring stations on the north side of the Alps mountain range, due to warm winds from the

“For the first time, 20 C in January on the north side of the Alps!” it tweeted.

The 20.2 C temperature recorded in Delemont was due to mild southwesterly winds combining with the Foehn effect -- a dry, warm, downslope wind on the downwind side of a mountain range -- coming off the Jura mountains, said the agency. AFP

Since the beginning of 2021, the prosecution has been investigating the suspects and had already searched Tate’s villa in April.

The four suspects allegedly recruited and exploited women by coercing them into “forced labour... and pornographic acts with a view to producing and disseminating such material” online to “obtain substantial financial benefits”. AFP

BENEDICT AT REST.

This handout photograph released on January 1, 2023 by the Vatican Media shows the body of Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI in the chapel of the Mater Ecclesiae Monastery in the Vatican. Benedict, a conservative intellectual who in 2013 became the first pontiff in six centuries to resign, died on December 31, 2022, at the age of 95. AFP

NOKOR ARMS. This picture taken on December 31, 2022 and released from North Korea’s official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) on January 1, 2023 shows a ceremony of donating 600mm Super-large Multiple Launch Rocket System in the yard of the headquarters of the Central Committee of the Workers’ Party of Korea in Pyongyang. AFP

Canada bans home-buying foreigners

OTTAWA, Canada—A ban on foreigners buying residential property in Canada took effect on Sunday, aiming to make more homes available to locals facing a housing crunch.

Several exceptions in the act allow individuals such as refugees and permanent residents who are not citizens to buy homes.

In late December, Ottawa also clarified that the ban would apply only to

city dwellings and not to recreational properties such as summer cottages.

The temporary two-year measure was proposed by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau during the 2021 election campaign when soaring prices put home ownership beyond the reach of many Canadians.

“The desirability of Canadian homes is attracting profiteers, wealthy corporations, and foreign investors,” his Liberal Party said in its election plank at the time.

“This is leading to a real problem of underused and vacant housing, rampant speculation, and skyrocketing prices. Homes are for people, not investors.”

Following their 2021 election victory,

the Liberals quietly introduced the Prohibition on the Purchase of Residential Property by Non-Canadians Act.

Major markets such as Vancouver and Toronto have also introduced taxes on non-residents and empty homes.

Despite a recent heyday, the country’s real estate market has cooled for sellers as mortgage rates followed the Bank of Canada’s aggressive monetary policy in a bid to rein in inflation.

According to the Canadian Real Estate Association, average home prices have fallen from a peak of more than Can$800,000 (US$590,000) at the start of 2022 to just over Can$630,000 (US$465,000) last month.

Many experts have also said the ban on foreign buyers -- who accounted for less than five percent of home ownership in Canada, according to the national statistical agency -- would not have the desired effect of making homes more affordable.

Rather they point to a need for more housing construction to meet demand.

The Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation—the national housing agency— said in a June report that close to 19 million housing units will be needed by 2030. That means 5.8 million new homes must be built, or 3.5 million more than are currently anticipated to be built to meet that demand, it said. AFP

New president vows to steer Swiss through Ukraine fallout

GENEVA—Switzerland’s new president Alain Berset pledged to steer one of Europe’s major economies through the inflation and energy crises triggered by the war in Ukraine, as he took office on Sunday.

Berset, 50, started his one-year term acknowledging that members of the government had their differences but said they would work together to tackle the Alpine nation’s challenges.

“A new year has begun. And we start it with impatience, joy, and also a little bit of apprehension because recent times have been difficult,” Berset said in a New Year speech at the Swiss National Museum in Zurich.

“First there was the pandemic, which came with a lot of suffering and daily difficulties at home, at school, at work, and during our time off.

“And now there is a war in Europe which also has strong repercussions on our daily lives, whether in terms of energy or inflation.”

But he said the “years of crisis” had shown that Switzerland was flexible and that its institutions and public finances were solid.

“The problems of others will sooner or later become our problems,” said Berset.

“But many of us, in Switzerland and around the world, want to face them. Enough of us remain optimistic and look to the future with confidence.”

Venezuela, Colombia finalize border opening after dispute

1.32 -0.08 -5.71%

8 LC 0.109 -0.006 -5.22%

9 MEG 2 -0.1 -4.76%

10 MAXS 4.88 -0.21 -4.13%

623,110 563,146,580

10,155,300 310,850,835

220,875 290,977,700

2,536,840 268,152,889

1,111,840 223,217,766

11,920,200 188,032,638

15,875,700 185,052,382

European COVID checks on Chinese arrivals unjustified

Beijing has abruptly ended its draconian “zero COVID” policy, resulting in an explosion of infections in the country.

In response, France, Italy, Spain, and Britain, along with the United States and South Korea, decided this week to impose Covid testing requirements on travelers from China.

“These unilateral actions are at odds with all the experience and evidence gained over the past three years... imposing other restrictions for travelers from this country is neither scientifically justified nor risk-based,” ACI Europe said in a statement.

The federation, which represents more than 500 airports in 55 European countries, was highly critical of the “chaotic” health restrictions in different countries at the height of the pandemic.

“We are once again plunging back into a patchwork of unjustified and uncoordinated travel restrictions, which have no basis in scientific fact... These travel restrictions do not work, and current arrangements for EU coordination have failed once again,” said Olivier Jankovec, ACI Europe’s director general.

The European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control, one of the EU’s health agencies, said Thursday that systematic screening of travelers was “unjustified” given the level of immunity in Europe and the presence on the continent of the same variants as in China.

Cars honked and passengers waved

as vehicles with license plates from the two South American countries traversed the Atanasio Girardot bridge—previously blocked by shipping containers amid high tensions.

Also known as Tienditas, the bridge was the final step necessary for a full reopening of the border since the countries restored diplomatic ties last year.

A ceremony, which included a blessing by bishops, was held Sunday to reinaugurate the border crossing, with officials from both sides in attendance wearing white guayaberas and carrying balloons with their countries’ shared national colors—yellow, blue and red.

The neighbors share a 2,200-kilome-

ter

Transport over the border was partially closed seven years ago and then completely blocked in 2019 when Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro broke off diplomatic ties after Colombia under then-president Ivan Duque questioned his 2018 re-election.

Many other countries, including the United States, did not recognize Maduro’s victory in an election widely condemned as rigged.

After assuming power last year as Colombia’s first-ever left-wing president, Gustavo Petro immediately sought to re-establish ties with Venezuela and pushed to reopen the border.

On September 26, goods trucks were allowed through border crossings that had been open only to pedestrians.

Silvano Serrano, governor of Colombia’s Norte de Santander department where the bridge is located, said that “as a single territory, today we join the historical, cultural and social brotherhood that has always identified us.”

The countries hope to reinvigorate trade, which stood at $7.2 billion in 2008, but has since collapsed.

The Atanasio Girardot bridge connects the Venezuelan city of Urena with Cucuta in Colombia and had been blocked by shipping containers placed there by the Venezuelan army. AFP

CES gadget extravaganza to display next-generation tech

By Glenn Chap

SAN

United States

FRANCISCO,

—The latest leaps in artificial intelligence in everything from cars, robots to appliances will be on full display at the annual Consumer Electronics Show (CES) opening Thursday in Las Vegas.

Forced by the pandemic to go virtual in 2021 and hybrid last year, tens of thousands of show-goers are hoping for a return to packed halls and rapidfire deal-making that were long the hallmark of the annual gadget extravaganza.

“In 2022, it was a shadow of itself —empty halls, no meetings in hotel rooms,” Avi Greengart, an analyst at Techspotential told AFP.

“Now, (we expect) crowds, trouble getting around and meetings behind closed doors - which is what a trade show is all about.”

The CES show officially opens on January 5, but companies will begin to vie for the spotlight with the latest tech wizardry as early as Tuesday.

CES will be spread over more than 18 acres (seven hectares), from the sprawling Las Vegas Convention Center to pavilions set up in parking lots. Ballrooms and banquet rooms across Sin City will be used to hustle up business.

With transportation now computing’s new frontier, next generation autos, trucks, boats, farm equipment, and even flying machines are expected to grab attention, according to analysts.

“It’s going to feel almost like you’re at an auto show,” said Kevan Yalowitz, head of platform strategy at Accenture.

More than ever, cars now come with operating systems so much like a smartphone or laptop computer, Accenture expects that by 2040 about 40

percent of vehicles on the road will need software updated remotely.

And with connected cars come apps and online entertainment as developers battle to grab passenger attention with streaming or shopping services on board.

Electric vehicles enhanced with artificial intelligence will also be on display “in a big way,” Greengart said.

“What has really been the buzz is personalized flying machines,” said independent tech analyst Rob Enderle.

“Basically, they are human-carrying drones.”

Metaverse momentum?

Led by Zuckerberg’s Meta, immersive virtual worlds referred to as the metaverse are seen by some as the future of the ever-evolving internet, despite widespread criticism that the billionaire CEO is over-investing in an unproven sector.

After being a major theme at CES

last year, virtual reality headgear aimed at transporting people to the metaverse are expected to again to figure prominently.

Formerly known as Facebook, Meta will be allowing selected guests to try its latest Oculus Quest virtual reality headset, trying to persuade doubters that the company’s pivot to the metaverse was the right one.

Gadgets or services pitched as being part of the next-generation of the internet - or “Web 3” - are also expected to include mixed reality gear as well as blockchain technology and NFTs.

Web 3 promises a more decentralized internet where tech giants, big business or governments no longer hold all the keys to life online.

“The idea of how we are going to connect is going to be part of the big trend at CES,” said Creative Strategies analyst Carolina Milanesi. AFP

Besides Russia’s war in Ukraine, the Covid-19 pandemic recovery, and the economic and energy turmoil in Europe, Switzerland must also work on smoothing strained ties with the surrounding European Union in 2023.

Ties between Brussels and Bern have been strained since Switzerland suddenly decided in May 2021 to end years of discussion toward a broad cooperation agreement with the bloc.AFP

In his petition,

things, that he is of legal age, Filipino citizen, married and a resident of 39 1st St., New Manila, Quezon City; that he is the legitimate brother of full blood of the late Michael S. Sy (“Decedent Michael S. Sy”) who died on 30 August 2021 in Quezon City and at the time of his death, he was a resident of 38 1st St., New Manila, Quezon City. A copy of his death certificate is thereto attached as Annex “A”; that Decedent Michael S. Sy’s wife, Rosa L. So (the “Decedent So”), predeceased her husband by about four (4) months as she died on 06 April 2021 also in Quezon City. A copy of her death certificate is thereto attached as Annex “B”; that Decedent Michael Sy and Decedent So had no issue or children; that to the best of Petitioner’s knowledge, the Decedent left the following personal properties estimated to have a gross value of Four Million Five Hundred Thousand Pesos (Php4,500,000.00).

Petitioner further alleged that as neither of the Decedents left any will, this Petition is being filed to judicially settle their intestate estates pursuant to Section 1, Rule 73 of the Revised Rules of Court; that as stated, Decedent So predeceased her husband. Decedent Michael S. Sy, and died without a will, and thus the latter succeeded to the entire estate of the former, the spouses having had no children during their marriage; thus, in turn Decedent Michael Sy’s siblings shall succeed to his entire estate pursuant to Article 1003 of the Civil Code; that Decedent Michael

survived by his eight (8)

UREÑA—Venezuela and Colombia reopened the last stretch of their shared border Sunday after settling a diplomatic dispute that had kept it closed for years.

flags

(1,350-mile) border through a region riddled with armed groups contending for lucrative drug trafficking and smuggling routes.

Air links have also since resumed. Brotherhood

“We have taken important steps,” Maduro said in an interview broadcast Sunday on Venezuelan state TV.

BRUSSELS, Belgium—The European branch of the International Airports Council on Saturday denounced Covid checks imposed by several European countries on passengers coming from China as “scientifically unjustified” and “uncoordinated.”

2023 TRADING. South Korean financial officers celebrate below inflatable figures of a bull (left) and a rabbit during a ceremony celebrating the New Year’s opening of the South Korea stock market at the Korea Exchange in Seoul on Jan. 2, 2023. AFP

In this file photo taken on Jan. 5, 2022, Morgan Roe, director of operations at Engineered Arts, speaks about the Engineered Arts Ameca humanoid robot with artificial intelligence as it is demonstrated during the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, Nevada. AFP

DOE to prioritize energy security, rate reduction

By Alena Mae S. Flores

THE Department of Energy said Monday it will protect the Filipino families’ purchasing power and mitigate socioeconomic scarring by ensuring energy security, reducing transport and logistics costs and bringing down energy prices in 2023.

The department disclosed its priorities for 2023 including pursuing contingency measures and activities to ensure energy supply during critical periods such as the next dry months.

It said that as the oversight agency for the sector, it would ensure that committed power projects, transmission line facilities and liquefied natural gas infrastructure would be completed and delivered on time.

Among the critical transmission projects are the Mindanao-Visayas Interconnection Project, the CebuNegros-Panay Backbone Project and the Hermosa-San Jose Transmission Line in Bataan that will support the entry of around 711.54 megawatts of additional renewable energy capacity and 1,120-MW battery energy storage systems in the Luzon grid.

It also vowed to keep a tight watch on the commercial operation of LNG facilities towards the first half of 2023.The DOE approved six applications for LNG import terminal projects as of December 2022.

It said Linseed Field Corp. and the FGEN LNG Corp. were expected to be operational by March and June 2023, respectively.

The DOE said its key priorities in 2023 would be in line with the Marcos administration’s development strategy. It will update the Philippine Energy Plan to be aligned with the Philippine Development Plan 20232028.

The National Economic and Development Authority formulated the PDP 2023-2028, where energy forms part of Chapter 12 (Expand and Upgrade Infrastructure) together with connectivity and water resources.

The DOE said it would also promote the development and utilization of RE resources by conducting the second round of the Green Energy Auction Program.

Business

Tourism receipts jumped 24 times to P208b in 2022

By Othel V. Campos

THE tourism sector posted a strong recovery, as international receipts from February to December jumped 24 times to P208.9 billion from P8.5 billion in 2021, data show.

The Department of Tourism said in a report Monday, international visitor arrivals reached 2.65 million in 2022, exceeding the 1.7 million target for the year by nearly 1 million more tourists. The agency did not record arrivals in January as leisure travel had yet to resume at that time.

International visitor arrivals are expected to further increase in 2023 to 4.8 million, according to the DOT.

Tourism Secretary Kristina Frasco said the industry gains achieved in the first six months of the Marcos administration helped increase confidence in international and local travel.

“On behalf of the Department of Tourism, we wish you all a New Year filled with abundance, optimism and hope. Moments of great difficulty are also moments of great opportunity,” she said.

“In the past, we have overcome a global pandemic, survived various calamities and thrived through a host of many other challenges, yet, the Philippine tourism industry has managed to exceed expectations and our tourism partners and frontliners continue to offer the best of Filipino grace and hospitality to the world,” said Frasco.

Data from the DOT showed that of the total international visitor arrivals in 2022, about 2 million tourists were foreigners while 628, 445 represented returning or visiting migrant Filipinos.

The country’s top tourist markets in 2022 were the US with 505,089 arrivals; South Korea with 428,014; Australia, 137,974; Canada, 121,413; the United Kingdom, 101,034; Japan, 99,557; Singapore, 53,448; India, 51,542; Malaysia,

46,805; and China, 39,627.

China used to be among the top three markets before the pandemic, but it was only in December that China lifted border restrictions among its travelers.

The Philippines started to reopen its borders for all types of travelers in February 2022.

The DOT also expected a surge in arrivals during the holiday season from Filipinos abroad who were eager to spend Christmas and New Year with family and relatives.

Frasco said the efforts made by the DOT, together with its partners, were part of the administration’s vision to further develop tourism as a catalyst for economic resurgence, providing jobs and attracting more investments.

“Therefore, we welcome 2023 with gratitude and excitement for Philippine Tourism to bounce back stronger than ever. We shall welcome with warmth and that distinct Filipino smile visitors from all over the world as they visit our award-winning beaches, experience the richness of our culture, and enjoy our world-renowned Filipino Brand of service excellence,” she said.

BSP, bank executives promote cyber hygiene

THE Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas teamed up with the Bankers Association of the Philippines and the Bank Marketing Association of the Philippines to roll out the “Check-Protect-Report” information drive to foster cyber hygiene among Filipinos.

“Check” is about being careful when sharing information as legitimate banks and financial institutions will only ask for personal data when they are contacted by their clients. “Protect” means safeguarding and not sharing personal data to senders of random text messages or emails, while “Report” enjoins financial consumers to urgently inform their banks or FIs about suspicious transactions.

The communication campaign aims to equip Filipino financial consumers with the information needed to protect themselves against online scams.

“Amid the rise in digital transactions, the CPR campaign encapsulates what we encourage the public to cultivate as a habit. It is expected to enhance financial consumer welfare, further strengthen confidence in the use of electronic payments, and therefore promote growth,” BSP Governor Felipe Medalla said in a statement Monday.

“Bolstering public trust in the payment system is supportive of the BSP’s goals under the Digital Payments Transformation Roadmap, which aims to digitalize half of the volume of retail payments and onboard 70 percent of Filipino adults to the formal financial system by 2023,” he said. Julito G. Rada

SEC warns investors against 2 companies

THE Securities and Exchange Commission warned the public from investing in Tether Pay Ltd. and Ground Zero Poultry Agricultural Corp. which it said were found soliciting investments without the necessary registration and license from the commission.

It said in an advisory posted on its website Ground Zero was enticing the public to invest in its poultry farm business for a low as P20,000.

The company guarantees between 36 percent to 80 percent return on investment for a lock-in period of six months to one year.

It said while Ground Zero is an SEC registered company, it had not secured a license to sell securities or investment contracts to the public.

Meanwhile, the SEC said Tether Pay was also soliciting investments for foreign exchange and cryptocurrency trading to the public. It allegedly entices the public to invest up to P1.672 million with a guaranteed return of 10 percent in daily profit for a period of 70 days.

“Tether Pay appears to be engaged in a fraudulent scheme of offering and selling unregistered securities in the form of investment contracts in violation of Section 8 and 26 of the Securities Regulation Code,” the SEC said. Jenniffer B. Austria

SSS disbursed P236.3-b benefits in 11 months

THE Social Security System said it disbursed P236.3 billion in benefits from January to November 2022, up by 13.2 percent from P208.8 billion it released in the same period in 2021.

SSS president and chief executive Michael Regino said the rise in disbursements in 2022 was driven by the increases in number of benefit claims, number of members and pensioners and amount of benefit releases for retirement, disability and death.

“For the first 11 months of 2022, we have received 4.58 million benefit claims. This is 7.3-percent higher than the 4.27 million benefit claims we received for the same period last year,” Regino said.

“Our pensioners, which stood at three million in 2021, grew to 3.18 million by November 2022, while our retirement, disability and death benefit monthly disbursements, which averaged at P16.6 billion in 2021, increased to P19.53 billion for January to November this year,” he said.

The fund said that from 2016 to 2021, the amount of benefit disbursements and the number of claims also grew by an average of 11.4 percent and 7.9 percent, respectively, despite the 1-percent decrease in in 2020 due to the pandemic.

ERC to pursue review of power generation rates

PH to restart negotiation with China for railway financing

By Darwin G. Amojelar

THE Department of Transportation said the government asked China to resume negotiations for the multibillionpeso loan to fund the first 380 kilometers of the Philippine National Railway Bicol Project from Banlic, Calamba to Daraga, Albay.

“Actually, the Department of Finance submitted a letter to China last December, telling them that we are ready to reopen the discussion for the loan to finance the Bicol railway project,” Transportation Secretary Jaime Bautista said.

“The first letter of the DOF is only for the Bicol project,” he said.

The DoTr in January 2022 signed a

P142-billion contract with Chinese companies to build the first 380 km. of the Philippine National Railway Bicol Project.

The agency through former Secretary Arthur Tugade signed the designbuild contract with the joint venture of China Railway Group Ltd., China Railway No. 3 Engineering Group Co. Ltd. and China Railway Engineering Consulting Group Co. Ltd. covering the design, construction and electromechanical works of the project.

The first 380 kilometers of PNR Bicol will span 39 cities and municipalities, four provinces and two regions. It will involve the construction of 23 stations, 230 bridges, 10 passenger tunnels and a 70-hectare depot in San Pablo, Laguna.

The DOTr was also looking at resuming negotiations for the Mindanao Railway Project and the SubicClark Railway Project initiated by the Duterte administration

The P83-billion Mindanao Railway Project: Tagum-Davao-Digos segment is expected to reduce travel time from Tagum City, Davao del Norte to Digos City, Davao del Sur from 3.5 hours to 1.3 hours once it starts operations.

The P51-billion Subic-Clark Railway Project is expected to provide high-capacity freight service to support the industrial areas along the Subic-Clark corridor by serving as the link to the airport at Clark Freeport Zone and the seaport at the Subic Bay Freeport Zone.

THE Energy Regulatory Commission said Monday it expects to complete the review of distribution utilities’ generation charges, including the results of the power supply agreement caravan, within the first half of 2023.

ERC chairperson Monalisa Dimalanta said this is one of the major priorities of the commission this year.

Dimalanta said the agency aimed to continue the “process by the first quarter”, referring to the generation rate review for pass-through charges, including the results of PSA caravan, and “complete them within the first half of 2023.”

The ERC launched in December an investigation on the accuracy and reasonableness of the generation rates being passed on by DUs to consumers.

The investigation, prompted by the recent increases in electricity rates and the numerous complaints received from consumers, will cover private utilities and electric cooperatives and their respective power suppliers under the PSAs.

The data validation requires the submission of documents to support the detailed calculation of fuel charges that account for a significant portion of the increases in electricity rates since January 2022.

INFORMATION technology and business process management companies are looking forward to a possible extension of the deadline for the paper transfer of registration from the Philippine Export Zone Authority to the Board of Investments.

This followed the request filed by Rep. Joey Salceda with the Fiscal Incentives Review Board for a one-month extension of the deadline.

The IT and Business Process Association of the Philippines said in a statement it constantly coordinated with PEZA and the BOI during the application period for updates on the progress of submissions from the IT-BPM registered business enterprises.

“During the same period, we were aware of RBEs who would rather not undertake the paper transfer of their registration to BOI and stay solely with PEZA as their investment promotion agency,” the

IBPAP said.

It said the reported number of applicant enterprises seeking the paper transfer might also be due to the expectation of many RBEs on the possible continuing validity of the 30-percent work-fromhome arrangement enabled by the letters of authority issued by PEZA. The matter is being clarified by PEZA through a legal opinion sought from the Department of Justice.

The BOI gave IT-BPM firms until Dec. 31, 2022 to transfer their registration, while PEZA set the cut-off period on Dec. 16.

“We have so far not received requests from members asking to extend the 16 December 2022 deadline, and we understand that PEZA has already accepted a few applications filed after the said deadline,” the group said.

Othel V. Campos

It said the investigation aimed to confirm whether the charges passed on to the consumers were eligible costs and whether there were no hidden and extraordinary charges.

Dimalanta said one of the core functions of the ERC is consumer protection. She said upon the release of the findings, the DUs would not only be required to refund the excess amount collected, but might also face appropriate penalties when warranted.

Dimalanta said ERC would also complete the reset of National Grid Corp. of the Philippines’s rates by the first quarter for the 4th regulatory period and the second and third quarter for the 5th regulatory period.

BPO group awaits possible extension of deadline for BOI registration transfer

Eala makes Grand Slam pro debut at Aussie Open

By Randy Caluag

Interestingly, she bowed to her French Open doubles’ partner Oksana Selekhmeteva of Russia, 6-3, 4-6, 4-6 in the second round of the Canberra netfest.

At 17 years old, Eala will embark on her Grand Slam pro debut in the Australian Open Qualifiers set January 9 to 12.

The year 2022 was a memorable season for the Filipina teener, who climbed from more than 300 notches no. 214 in the world ranking.

She opened the year with a victory over Marcela Zacarias of Mexico, 6-3, 7-6 on new year’s day in the opening round of the W60 Canberra International, her warm-up tournament before her Aussie Open qualifier.

“Starting off the new year with a good win and a new partner,” Eala posted on her social media page, referring to the Bank of Philippine Island as her newest sponsor.

Nonetheless, Eala is set to make a big impression, hoping to carry with her all the experiences and knowledge gained as a scholar of the Rafael Nadal Tennis Academy since she was 13.

But she vowed not to let her feet firmly planted on the ground.

She proved that by speaking in Filipino after winning the US Open Juniors’ Open last November.

“If I think about it, it will get to my head. I try not to make it a big deal. There’s always going to be someone more famous. I’m still not where I want to be, and that, most of all, is what keeps me grounded—the motivation to improve and the motivation to achieve my bigger goals,” she told WTA in an interview.

Baltazar, Gozum to bolster Strong Group in Dubai tilt

play internationally.”

“They’re all very talented individuals who can complement and play specific roles that the team needs,” he added.

Team owner Jacob Lao was elated with the inclusion of the two tested players, saying: “They’re all winners in their own ways and their experience will surely help the team for them. But very excited for all of them because it is a rare opportunity for these players to further grow and learn a new style of

The two other welcome additions to the team are BJ Andrade and Inand Fornillos.

They will be joining former Golden State Warriors player Nick Young, exSan Miguel import Renaldo Balkman, naturalized player and former Ateneo center Ange Kouame, and Fil-Am guard Sedrick Barefield.

Coach Charles Tiu said the Dubai

Former FEU standout Tan, Canadian Ma win ITTF crown

Ma, a former member of Canada’s national pool from 1998 to 2005, was also proud of her partnership that led to a championship.

Before plunging into the championship stage, Tan and her 45-year-old partner from Vancouver, Canada, swept Chinese Shi Shuqin and American Patty Martinez-Wasserman, 11-8, 117, 11-9, in the semifinal phase.

Tan, a former Far Eastern University table tennis varsity member in 2009 before settling in the United States, teamed up perfectly with Ma in the final round to defeat the American pair of Stacy Zhang and Yude Chan, 11-9, 118, 14-12.

“It’s really huge for us,” the 40-year-old Tan of Rancho Cucamonga California, said. “I would like to thank my partner for giving her best since the start of the competition, up to the championship round. It’s really memorable winning over different countries.”

On the other hand, Chan and Zhang outlasted Rita Jain of India and Aussie partner Belgin Bennet, 11-8, 5-11, 11-9, 11-8, in the other semifinal round to enter in the championship match of the women’s doubles’ over-40 division participated in by 30 women’s players.

Meanwhile, Tan settled for the bronze medal in the United States Open Table Tennis Championships’ 40-and-over Hardbat women’s division a few days later, also at the same venue.

event will Baltazar the opportunity to prove his worth after a forgettable stint with the Hiroshima Dragonflies in the B. League.

“Balti is going to be big for us, he wasn’t given much of a chance in Japan but the kid is a great player and I plan to use him as a big wing and power forward, but of course it all remains to be seen on how it will look when we start practicing,” said head coach Charles Tiu.

Gozum is no stranger to Tiu’s coaching style having played under him for College of St. Benilde.

Denver mauls Boston in war of conference NBA leaders

WASHINGTON—Nikola Jokic delivered a triple double with 30 points, 12 rebounds and 12 assists to spark host Denver over Boston 123-111 in a Sunday showdown of NBA conference leaders.

Two-time reigning NBA Most Valuable Player Jokic made 10-of-13 shots from the floor, including both 3-point attempts, and went 8-for-8 from the free throw line to produce his ninth triple double of the season.

The Nuggets improved to 24-12, stretching their Western Conference lead to one game with a 10th win in 12 contests and snapping Boston’s fourgame win streak.

“We’re playing a good brand of basketball,” said Denver’s Andrew Gordon, who contributed 18 points, six rebounds and seven assists.

“It’s about handling business. We ended up handling business. It’s not about the other team. It’s about the standard that we hold ourselves to. Tonight we held that standard.”

Denver, 14-3 at home, defeated the Celtics for the first time since November 2019.

Bruce Brown added 21 points for Denver while Michael Porter Jr. added 19.

Jaylen Brown led Boston with 30 points and eight rebounds while Jayson Tatum contributed 25 points, seven rebounds and six points for the Eastern Conferenceleading Celtics, who still have the best record in the NBA at 26-11.

Gordon defended the Boston stars much of the night.

“Those are special players,” Gordon said. “You try to make it difficult for them. You really aren’t going to be able to stop them. You try to make it uncomfortable for them, make their shots difficult, and that’s what we did.”

A broken rim halted the game for 34 minutes with 6:43 remaining in the fourth quarter with the Nuggets leading 110-97.

Japan’s Rui Hachimura came off the bench to score a game-high 26 points in leading the Washington Wizards to a 118-95 victory at Milwaukee.

Latvian center Kristaps Porzingis added 22 points and Kyle Kuzma contributed his second career triple double with 10 points, 13 rebounds and 11 assists for the Wizards (17-21). AFP

Final farewell for Pele, Brazil’s football ‘King’

SANTOS, Brazil—Brazilians bid a final farewell this week to football giant Pele, starting Monday with a 24-hour public wake at the stadium of his long-time team, Santos.

The oceanside home of the team nicknamed “Peixe”—“fish” in Portuguese—is expecting a huge influx of fans looking to honor the “King” of football, who died aged 82 on Thursday after a long battle with cancer.

Stadium doors will open at 10:00 a.m. local time (1300 GMT). The coffin bear ing the remains of the only player to have won three World Cups will be displayed in the center of the field.

Known as Vila Belmiro after the neighborhood where it is located, the black-and-white stadium has a capacity of 16,000 people.

In the stands, three giant flags could be seen Sunday, one with an image of Pele displaying the famous number 10 on his jersey.

Another bore the message “Long live the king”; the third said simply, “Pele 82 years.”

Entry to the stadium will be allowed until 10:00 am Tuesday, officials said.

After that, a procession will be held through the streets of Santos, a port city about 75 kilometers (47 miles) from the state capital Sao Paulo.

The parade will pass the house of Pele’s mother, 100-year-old Celeste Arantes, who is unaware that her world-famous son has died.

“She doesn’t know,” Pele’s sister Maria Lucia do Nascimento told ESPN on Friday. “She is not conscious.”

The procession will end at a cemetery in Santos, where Pele will be interred in a special mausoleum. AFP

IS Alex Eala going to be the greatest Filipina tennis player?

FORMER collegiate standout Christine Tan and Canadian Maggie Ma displayed great tenacity to cop the women’s doubles’ over40 crown in the International Table Tennis Federation World Veterans Tour recently at the Ontario Convention Center in Ontario, Canada.

Randy M. Caluag,

NUGGETS WIN. Marcus Smart of the Boston Celtics drives against Kentavious Caldwell-Pope of the Denver Nuggets during the first quarter at Ball Arena on in Denver, Colorado. The Nuggets routed the Celtics, 123-111, in a Sunday showdown of NBA conference leaders. The Nuggets improved to 24-12, stretching their Western Conference lead to one game with a 10th win in 12 contests and snapping Boston’s four-game win streak.

Alex Eala: I’m still not where I want to be

JUSTINE Baltazar and Will Gozum have been added to the roster of Strong Group-Philippines that will see action in the Dubai 2023 International Championship set Jan. 27 to Feb. 5.

Justine Baltazar

Christine Tan (left) and Maggie Ma

Djokovic given hero’s welcome in Adelaide

ADELAIDE—Tennis fans gave Novak Djokovic a raucous welcome during his first match in Australia in almost two years when he made a rare doubles appearance at the Adelaide International on Monday.

Playing with Canada’s Vasek Pospisil, they lost to doubles specialists Tomislav Brkic and Gonzalo Escobar 4-6, 6-3, 10/5 but enjoyed overwhelming crowd support along the way.

The Serbian superstar was deported from the country before the 2022 Australian Open for not being vaccinated for Covid and was subsequently barred from re-entering for three years.

But the ban was lifted in November and he will be attempting to win a 10th Australian Open title later this month.

The match was played on a packed outside court, with the spectators who managed to get in firmly behind Djokovic.

He walked out to loud cheers and fans chanting “Novak, Novak”.

While there were plenty of Serbian flags courtside, it became obvious that everyone was barracking for the 35-yearold, who stayed behind to sign autographs and pose for selfies after the match.

Djokovic will now focus on his first singles of the year, against Frenchman Constant Lestienne. AFP

Brady sparks Bucaneers into playoffs; Giants win

WASHINGTON—Tom Brady threw for three touchdowns and ran for another to lift Tampa Bay into the NFL playoffs on Sunday while the New York Giants also booked a post-season berth.

Seven-time Super Bowl champion Brady, 45, completed 34 of 45 passes for 432 yards and scored on a 1-yard touchdown run with 1:58 remaining as the Buccaneers beat Carolina 30-24.

Mike Evans made 10 catches for 207 yards—including touchdown grabs of 30, 57 and 63 yards from Brady—and the Bucs (8-8) took the NFC South crown for Brady’s 19th career division title.

“It felt great. Happy to win the division,” Brady said. “Really proud of our guys. We battled through a lot of tough things this year.”

Bucs punter Jake Camarda grabbed a bad snap and managed a kick in the dying seconds to avoid giving Carolina the ball with great field position, saving the triumph.

“Wish they wouldn’t be as exciting as we made them but happy we got the win,” Brady said. “Nice to qualify. We’ll try to finish strong.”

The Giants reached the playoffs for the first time since the 2016 season thanks to a 38-10 home victory over Indianapolis.

Daniel Jones threw for 177 yards and two touchdowns and ran for 91 yards and another two scores to seal a wildcard spot

for the Giants (9-6-1).

The Philadelphia Eagles (13-3) squandered a chance to capture the NFC top seed —and a first-round bye plus home-field edge—for the second week in a row with a 20-10 home loss to New Orleans.

The Saints (7-9) sacked Gardner Minshew, filling in for injured Jalen Hurts, six times and got a 12-yard interception return touchdown from Marshon Lattimore.

“Our defense did a phenomenal job,” Saints defender Cameron Jordan said.

The Eagles would still take the top spot by beating the Giants next Sunday.

Buffalo (12-3), which plays at Cincinnati on Monday, was overtaken for the top AFC spot when Kansas City edged visiting Denver 27-24.

Patrick Mahomes threw for 328 yards and three touchdowns for the Chiefs (13-3).

The Miami Dolphins, playing without concussion-sidelined quarterback Tua Tagovailoa, suffered a 23-21 defeat at New England.

Miami’s fifth straight loss came after Tagovailoa’s replacement, Teddy Bridgewater, exited with a finger injury.

Mac Jones threw for 203 yards and

two touchdowns to spark the Patriots, who matched Miami at 8-8 and could make the playoffs by winning next week at Buffalo.

The Pittsburgh Steelers kept their playoff hopes alive by winning 16-13 at Baltimore on Kenny Pickett’s 10-yard touchdown pass to Najee Harris in the final seconds.

Lions rout Bears

Washington (7-8-1) dropped a 24-10 home contest against Cleveland as Deshaun Watson threw three touchdown passes for the Browns (7-9).

Detroit (8-8) moved ahead of Washington in the playoff fight by routing Chicago 41-10 as Jared Goff threw for 255 yards and three touchdowns and Jamaal Williams ran 22 times for 144 and a touchdown.

Green Bay reached 8-8 with a 41-17 home rout of Minnesota and the Packers, who started 4-8, will reach the playoffs if they win at home over Detroit next Sunday.

“A lot of things have gone our way,” Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers said. “I knew we’d figure it out at some point.”

Buffalo, Kansas City, Cincinnati, Baltimore and the Los Angeles Chargers had already clinched AFC playoff berths.

Philadelphia, Minnesota, Dallas and San Francisco had already secured NFC postseason spots.

Three vacant playoff berths remain and Jacksonville has the inside track for one after a fourth straight victory, stomping host Houston 31-3. AFP

Fritz crushes struggling Zverev at United Cup

German two-time ATP Finals champion Zverev slumped 6-1, 6-4 in just 64

to the world number nine in Sydney as he continued his return from serious injury.

It followed a straight-sets loss to 81st-ranked Czech Jiri Lehecka on Saturday in his first competitive match since tearing three right ankle ligaments during his French Open semi-final against Rafael Nadal in June.

“It was tough to judge my level because I feel he’s coming back from injury, he’s a bit rusty, he was giving me a lot of free points,” said Fritz, who had a breakthrough year in 2022 with titles at Indian Wells, Tokyo and Eastbourne.

“But I’m really happy with it. I’m sure it won’t take him too long to fully get his form back.”

The mixed-team tournament features 18 countries playing in Sydney, Brisbane and Perth.

The winners of the two groups in each city advance to a city final on Wednesday, with whoever comes through that making the final four.

Madison Keys followed teammate Fritz’s lead with a dominant performance of her own, sweeping past Jule Niemeier 6-2, 6-3 for her second win of the season.

It ensured the Americans will face Britain in the Sydney city final.

“I think overall I played really solid,” said Keys. “I just tried to make as many first serves as possible to make things as easy as a tennis match could be.”

Zverev struggled with his movement, not chasing at full throttle, and appeared lacklustre in the first set, which was over in just 21 minutes -- he didn’t win a single point off Fritz’s first serve and only two off the American’s second.

Olympic champion Zverev, who has dropped to 12 in the world from a career-high two before his injury, put up more of a fight in the second set as his confidence grew. AFP

Sainz wins Dakar 1st stage; Sunderland crashes out

YANBU, Saudi Arabia—Three-time winner Carlos Sainz took the overall lead in the Dakar Rally on Sunday after winning the first stage despite suffering a puncture early on.

Sainz, 60, seeking to add this year’s edition to his wins in 2010, 2018 and 2020 collected his 42nd career stage win as he finished 23 seconds faster than fellow former world rally champion, Sebastien Loeb of France.

Saturday’s prologue winner and Sainz’s Audi hybrid team-mate Mattias Ekstrom was third, 47sec adrift.

However, Ekstrom was later slapped with a 15-minute penalty for missing a crossing point. Saudi driver Yazeed Al Rajhi moved up to third in the stage just under two minutes slower than the winner.

Sainz leads Loeb by 10sec in the overall standings with Al Rajhi in third.

“Everything went smoothly except for a puncture near the start of

Doctors rule sailing tourney at Taal Lake

AFTER a two-year suspension due to the pandemic, competitive sailing has returned to Taal Lake Yacht Club, with the holding of the recent 2022 Philippine Hobie 16 National Championships, the country’s longest-running Hobie sailing tournament.

Situated by the lakeshores of Talisay, Batangas and a jump-off point to Taal Volcano, TLYC has been dubbed by Lonely Planet as the country’s “sailing mecca” because of its ideal winds the whole-year round.

For the tournament’s 24th edition, two doctors proved their mettle outside the medical field as they dominated the five-race competition.

Ophthalmologist Michael Ngu of the Manila Doctors Hospital, along

with crew Lindo Pahayahay, topped the tournament which determines the year’s top Hobie 16 sailor.

Sunpower Philippines general manager Glenn Everett, crewed by wife Jana, came in at second place.

Rounding up the winning circle at third place is Dennis Cruz, a Makati Medical Center ophthalmologist and former Philippine Eye Doctors Association president, and his local crew, Jason Mendoza.

The awards were presented by Talisay municipal Mayor Nestor Natanauan.

The Hobie 16 National Championships started in 1995 at its TLYC homebase, and was rotated around Subic Bay, Laiya Beach in San Juan,

Cebu, Anvaya Cove in Bataan, and Punta Fuego and Tali Beach in Nasugbu, Batangas.

In an adjunct tournament held the next day, TLYC commodore Peter Capotosto and Jazmine Lucero topped the Governor’s Cup, a new single race format which sailed around Taal Volcano.

Named in honor of the provincial chief executive of Batangas, the Cup is the annual yearend multi-race tourney which showcases the sports tourism potential of Taal Lake.

Gov. Hermilando Mandanas, a tourism champion in the Calabarzon region, awarded the top winners.

The sailing

the special, which also meant I was extra cautious the rest of the stage,” said Sainz.

“From then on we had no problems and the car worked like a charm. We’ll see what approach we take tomorrow.”

For 48-year-old Loeb—who is seeking to go one better than last year’s runners-up spot—it was a largely satisfying day.

“It was a nice special overall, but there were big rocks at the beginning, so we stayed vigilant to avoid punctures,” said Loeb, who won a record nine world rally titles.

“I took it easy in this part, but then we upped the pace gradually.

“We lost just under a minute due to navigation, but it was no big deal, so it was a good special for us.

“Tomorrow we will be second on the road, which is probably not a great place to be if you want to attack.”

Defending champion Nasser al-At-

tiyah is already seven minutes behind Sainz.

There will be a new winner of the motorbike category as 2022 champion Sam Sunderland came to grief on the 52nd kilometre of the 368km ride down the west coast of Saudi Arabia.

The 33-year-old Englishman suffered a concussion and a broken shoulder when he came off his GasGas bike.

“The only thing he (Sunderland) recalls is he fell but he does not know why,” said the team.

The motorbike stage was a messy one overall with Sunderland’s Australian team-mate Daniel Sanders stripped of the victory.

Sanders, second-placed Pablo Quintanilla of Chile and Spaniard Joan Barreda were given time penalties for exceeding the speed limit of 160km per hour.

Their punishments resulted in Honda’s American rider Ricky Brabec being awarded the stage win. AFP

were

SYDNEY—Taylor Fritz inflicted a second straight defeat Monday on struggling former world number two Alexander Zverev at the United Cup as the United States powered into a playoff match against Britain.

minutes

events

sponsored by San Miguel Beer, Club Balai Isabel,

Participants of the Philippine Hobie 16 National Championships are shown here. Barako Coffee, and Active Boating and Watersports as media partner, and supported by the Municipality of Talisay and the Province of Batangas.

Audi’s hybrid Spanish drivers Carlos Sainz of Spain and co-driver Lucas Cruz of Spain compete during Stage 1 of the Dakar 2023 around Sea Camp by the Red Sea in Yanbu, Saudi Arabia. AFP

Tom Brady of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers celebrates after scoring a touchdown during the fourth quarter against the Carolina Panthers at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Florida. AFP

King of Talk starts year in new home

nagbabalik sa Kapuso Network. Si Boy ang King of Talk na marami ang gumagaya ngunit hindi siya napapantayan. I am confident that Boy’s future in GMA Network will be nothing but success.”

AFEW months ago, Boy Abunda revealed that he wanted to return to television. Talking to the members of showbiz press, the King of Talk made it clear that he was already in talks with some networks about his plan to make a comeback on the small screen underscoring the “different kind of magic that television brings to people,” and to himself as TV host.

“As to the question if I’m moving, actually, I keep on moving. I just want to move. But at this point, I have not much to say,” Abunda told the press leaving more speculations whether of not he’s jumping from one network to another for his much-anticipated return.

On December 15, Abunda signed an exclusive contract with GMA Network. Present during the event were top executives led by the network chairman and CEO Atty. Felipe L. Gozon.

“It comes from this whole notion that you go back to where you started. I have come full circle because I started my talk show career with GMA and I am back right now. It’s fulfilling, but it humbles you because you didn’t do it alone,” Abunda said revealing that he was happy and grateful to return as a Kapuso, The award-winning talk show host also teased the viewers about his upcoming project in GMA, “We started to brainstorm. We started to talk about content. Ano ba ang ginagawa ngayon, what’s happening in the environment now, kailangang aralin. I’d like to be able to have meaningful and fun conversations with [various Kapuso personalities].

Meanwhile, GMA President and Chief Operating Officer Gilberto R. Duavit, Jr. highlighted the lasting accomplishments of Tito Boy, “Nagumpisa si Boy noon as a budding publicist and over the years, I’ve seen him grow and evolve to become what he’s now referred to as the icon. It’s a great pleasure for all of us that you’re coming back home. We are all proud to have you back.”

GMA Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer Felipe S. Yalong also expressed his excitement over Tito Boy’s return to television, “I’d like to formally welcome you to GMA Network and hope that you will enjoy your stay with us. I’m pretty sure again that you would set a trend as far as these types of shows that you would be in.”

GMA Senior Vice President for Entertainment Group Lilybeth G. Rasonable, on the other hand, reminisced about their long journey with the King of Talk, “It was all worth it. Isa lang ang masasabi ko, welcome home Kuya Boy and I’m so excited about all the things that we will be doing together. It will be really an exciting and entertaining year next year for us here in GMA and thank you for deciding to come back to your home network.”

Nowadays, more and more people seek information and entertainment from reputable influencers just like the one and only King of Talk, Boy Abunda.

His wit and knowledge are wellregarded by the audience and celebrities. He delivers showbiz news based on facts and maintains his exclusive access to stories that social media alone cannot provide.

Boy Abunda has indeed become a credible talent manager, star builder, brand and imaging expert, entertainment journalist, or simply called the authority.

Killer-doll ‘M3GAN’ plays in local cinemas ‘Avatar’

M3GAN is a marvel of artificial intelligence, a life-like doll programmed to be a child’s greatest companion and a parent’s greatest ally. Designed by brilliant toy-company roboticist Gemma (Get Out’s Allison Williams), M3GAN can listen and watch and learn as she becomes friend and teacher, playmate, and protector, for the child she is bonded to.

AVATAR: The Way of Water took in an estimated $82.4 million this holiday weekend in North America, pushing it past a global total of $1 billion in near record time, industry watcher Exhibitor Relations reported Sunday.

The four-day domestic take for the sci-fi flick brought its domestic total to $440.5 million, on top of $957 million earned overseas; only a half-dozen films have passed the $1 billion mark in their first two weeks.

But director James Cameron has estimated that the high-budget 20th Century movie needs to make twice that much just to break even. The original Avatar took in a record $2.9 billion.

Second place in North American theaters went to Universal’s family-

From

Memories and experiences which are for keep

Another blockbuster sequel, Disney’s Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, earned $6.5 million to place third; its domestic total rose to $439.6 million in its eighth week out.

In fourth place was Sony biopic Whitney Houston: I Wanna Dance With Somebody at $5.4 million. English actress Naomi Ackie portrays the late superstar.

And in fifth was Paramount’s comedydrama Babylon, at $3.6 million. Brad Pitt and Margot Robbie star in director Damien Chazelle’s over-the-top

“talkies.” AFP

We also got the chance to visit the King Power Mahanakhon and experience their premium attractions —Thailand’s highest observation deck located on the 78th floor. Thinking about it now, while writing this article, I was actually brave for stepping on that glass tray above the beautiful skyline of Bangkok. Meanwhile, The Peak offers amazing 360 panoramic views. The deck also has its own rooftop bar where you can order your drinks while appreciating the beauty of the city. Tip: Best to go there at night time.

One of the highlights of my trip to Thailand was when I decided to skip the Thai massage activity in exchange for getting lost (not literally lost, though) in the streets of Bangkok for almost two hours. I kept telling myself that I could have the massage back home but who knows if I would be given the chance to explore Bangkok again.

With a pair of earphones on while listening to my favorite Thai band, Scrubb, without a clue, I just let myself have a walk for a while and tried searching for malls (again) near the spa.

Later on, I found myself exploring the city. From a 13-minute walk, I found myself at the biggest branch of Big C Supercenter and bought my favorite Thai noodles. Across it is the middleclass, seven-storey shopping center, centralwOrld, where you can find luxurious brand stalls and even BTS In The Soop Pop-up Store. The two malls are

When Gemma suddenly becomes the caretaker of her orphaned 8-year-old niece, Cady (Violet McGraw The Haunting of Hill House), Gemma’s unsure and unprepared to be a parent. Under intense pressure at work, Gemma decides to pair her M3GAN prototype with Cady in an attempt to resolve both problems—a decision that will have unimaginable consequences.

As M3GAN and Cady develop an unbreakable bond, Gemma grows more and more terrified that the very creation she invented to help Cady heal is learning at an exponential rate… and that M3GAN may be perceiving “threats” to Cady that do not exist. M3GAN also co-stars Ronny Chieng (Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings) as David, Gemma’s C.E.O. at the toy company that bankrolls what will become M3GAN and is directed by Gerard Johnston

James Wan, who also helmed Aquaman and visited the Philippines for the film’s world promotion tour shared that his latest-produced horror movie M3GAN began with the conversation that there are not enough killer-doll movies.

“That led me to say, ‘It’s funny. There is a perception that I make those kinds of films. Strangely enough, none of my dolls kill anyone. They are a conduit for a supernatural entity or a demonic force that lives within. For example, in the case of

both located on Rachadamri Road, one of the main streets of the capital.

Amazing offering of Thailand’s rich cuisine

We all know that the best part of going to an unfamiliar place is trying out its food. Honestly, I am not a fan of spicy food, and knowing Thailand, they really love spicy food. But surprisingly, I got to enjoy some of their dishes.

I tell you, the overjoy I felt as they welcomed us with a Shrimp Pad Thai meal partnered with Chatramue’s authentic milk tea as we rode our shuttle going to our hotel. Finally, a legit pad Thai dish.

During my visit to the centralwOrld, there’s also a Bangkok Street Food bazaar outside the mall where you can find the rich culinary tradition of Thailand

Saw, Jigsaw has a puppet that he talks through as a mouthpiece. Wouldn’t it be cool if we did a killer-doll movie that was Annabelle meets The Terminator,” Wan says.

On a broader cultural level, the film explores our increasing dependence on technology to run our lives … and the potential threat if that tech begins to exceed our control.

“The science and the A.I. aspects were fascinating with which to play, as they are so relevant to today’s world,” Wan continues. “We rely on technology so much in everything we do. For these devices to turn around and attack us would be horrifying. That’s the thing that we wanted to try and capture with M3GAN.”

M3GAN

perfect for those who are into exploring Thai food like me. Being the first-timer that I was, I almost jumped for joy because of excitement. I just usually see this in Thai series or travel vlogs. I got to finally try the authentic milk tea sold in Thai streets.

We also tried eating at The Neverending Summer located near Chao Praya River and ICONSIAM. This open kitchen offers authentic Thai dishes such as Som Tum Ta Lay, Tom Kha Kai, Por Piah Tod, and Yam Som-O.

But if you wanted to experience a more diverse and traditional Thai food crawl, go to ICONSIAM’s food court called Sook Siam. It features stalls that sell authentic Thai dishes and delicacies from 77 provinces. And believe it or not, it has a floating market in it.

What left me in awe was the moment we got to have our dinner whilepassing by the landmarks of the city through the Bangkok Night Bus Food Tour.

Meanwhile, upon arriving in Pattaya, we had our dinner at Shell Tangkay Seafood giving us a kind of beachfront vibe while enjoying some seafood dishes.

I couldn’t believe I’m saying this but Rennaissance Hotel’s 609 Kitchen has the best dishes for me—from its appetizers down to its dessert. Going there to try their Tom Kha Gai and Mango Sticky Rice is one for the books.

Our last dinner in Thailand was spent at The Sky Gallery, located also in Pattaya. What a perfect way to end the day, eating a heavy meal after a long, tiring day of walking. And we couldn’t let the trip end without trying Thai Nom Yen (Pink Milk).

Because you deserve to experience Thailand and its charm

The pandemic has taken over two years of our

lives and if you have the means to travel, why would you restrict yourself from exploring other places, especially the ones that you’ve never been to? After all, we have been through a lot during the past years and it’s already time to treat ourselves to a place that is worth visiting.

Elephants inside Nongnooch Tropical Botanical Garden

GMA Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Atty. Felipe L. Gozon equally shared how fortunate

GMA is to welcome Boy Abunda once again as a Kapuso, “Kami ay nagagalak na si Boy Abunda ay

oriented Puss in Boots: The Last Wish, a computer-animated spin-off of the popular Shrek franchise. It took in $22 million for the Friday-through-Monday period.

tribute to an early Hollywood struggling with the transition from silent films to

FROM the most prolific minds in horror—James Wan, the filmmaker behind the highly-successful Saw, Insidious, and The Conjuring franchises, and Blumhouse, producer of the Halloween films, The Black Phone and The Invisible Man— comes M3GAN, the fresh new face in terror.

A Universal Pictures International feature film,

unspools in cinemas on January 8.

Seasoned TV host Boy Abunda faced the press shortly after signing an exclusive contract with GMA Network

The ‘Avatar’ sequel joins five other films that have passed the $1 billion mark in their first two weeks.

James Wan’s horror thriller will hit local cinemas on January 8

Boy Abunda and GMA Executives

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

By Angelica Villanueva

WHENEVER I would get the opportunity to travel, whether it’s for work or personal leisure time, I always look forward to visiting places that can captivate me because of their interesting cuisine, their prominent landmarks, and their charming local culture.

It was unfortunate that we couldn’t leave our homes during the height of the pandemic. And while everyone was forced to stay at home, I was watching travel vlogs most of the time.

Among those places that I’ve been eyeing to visit was Thailand. Most of the travel vloggers and people I know kept saying that if given a chance, they would go to this fascinating country. And I wanted to know why.

Fortunately, AirAsia Philippines and the Tourism Authority of Thailand invited some members of the press to a journey to remember. Yes, I was able to tick Thailand off my bucket list.

Now that I’ve already gone there, I’m telling you, I would not stop talking about this country for there are a lot of reasons why you should experience Thailand on your own and not just by watching travel vlogs. But let me sum it up for you.

Easy to get there

Now that travel restrictions across the globe have been slowly easing out, it is now easier for us to travel outside the country. With only three and ten minuteflight from Manila, you can already reach Thailand’s capital, Bangkok, via Don Mueng International Airport or Suvarnabhumi Airport and enjoy the beauty of the city.

Considered their top international destination, AirAsia Philippines underscored their partnership with the local tourism of Thailand to sustain the demand and because of that, the lowbudget carrier is now offering a P1, 612 one-way base fare for bookings made until January 8. To add more good news for you, a one-way base fare of P1,173 is also offered for DMK-MNL bookings for travel until June 30. That’s more reasons to visit Thailand!

You’ll get to experience its rich culture and lifestyle

Do you know the feeling of being at home while you’re far away from home? I think that’s why Thailand is so special to me. It made me feel like I’m no stranger to this country because of its people. There were times when I would greet them in Thai and you could see genuine smiles on their faces. Definitely deserved to be called the Land of Smiles.

Equivalent to Manila’s flower market, Dangwa, Pak Khlong Talat is the perfect

High-end sports resto bar opens in Makati

MANSION Sports Bar & Lounge had a soft-launch event that gathered prominent members of the media, online personalities, popular local personalities, and well-known DJs in the metro. Maria Ozawa and Chef Sean delighted the attendees with a gastro-satisfying food-tasting event highlighting its continental social cuisine offering and an exclusive tour of the bar.

Located at the heart of Makati City’s central business district (C. Palanca, Legazpi Village, Makati), Mansion Sports Bar & Lounge is a high-end bar and lounge venue highlighting sports and bar entertainment, bringing together friends and sports enthusiasts over good food, drinks, and music.

The establishment also features a billiards bar that was constructed in coordination with Filipino world champion and legend, Efren “Bata” Reyes, Jr.

Mansion Sports Bar & Lounge exudes a relaxing and vibrant atmosphere where people from all walks of life can come together anytime for its wide variety of premium beers and spirits, as well as a hearty selection of classic and modern European dishes helmed by

Six reasons why you should visit Thailand on your next getaway

find tons of shopping malls or convenience stores. I promise wherever you go, wherever you look, left or right, it’s either you’ll see a shopping center or a 7-Eleven.

From a two-hour drive from the busy districts of Bangkok, we got to explore the beauty of the province of Pattaya. Near where we checked in, stands one of the most beautiful malls I had ever gone to – Terminal 21. Each floor is designed accordingly to city capitals around the world such as London, Paris, and Tokyo.

place to spot fresh and vibrant flowers delivered from the provinces nearby the city. At the end of the street, you would get to see The Floral Café Napasorn where you could have your afternoon tea while creating your own garland.

The Sanctuary of Truth in Pattaya, meanwhile, showcases a manually-carved wooden castle that would introduce you to the Seven Truths of Life through its wooden sculptures. As you walk around the museum, you will be learning a more depth history of Thailand’s religion.

Hundreds of places to visit Strolling in Thailand in a day is not possible.

It’s no secret to anyone that Thailand is known for its Buddhist temples. And when they say temples, it means 40,000 temples.

Our first destination was Wat Suthat Thepwararam, a royal Buddhist temple constructed during the reign of King Rama I. Upon entering, you will see the 25-foot-tall Phra Sri Sakyamuni Buddha. According to Thai Buddhist cosmology and Hinduism, Wat Suthat was built as a

symbolic

Another temple that we visited was Wat Arun Ratchawararam Ratchawaramahawihan or the Temple of Dawn located on the west bank of the Chao Phraya River. Its name was derived from the Hindu god Aruna.

More than temples, I think, it would be best to describe Thailand as a place where you can

To have a glimpse of Pattaya’s nightlife, you should try strolling on The Walking Street, the red-light district of the city where neon lights and loud music live. It has numerous bars and restaurants that mostly feature seafood dishes and live music bands. Now that we’re talking about entertainment, the province also has the Nongnooch Tropical Botanical Garden – a 625-acre garden where varieties of plants are planted. What excites me during our visit was seeing the elephants having their lunch and having a quick tour of the whole garden through a sightseeing bus.

Of course, a quick trip to Pattaya would never be complete without a side getaway to one of its treasured beaches. We boarded a catamaran via the Ocean Marina Yacht Club to reach Sai Kaew Beach, the most popular beach on Koh Samet Island – where clear waters almost touch the clouds of the bluish sky. Turn to C3

Al Mulla starts brewing Philippines’ largest homegrown coffee brand

Warmth of wood in the City of Gold

Chef Sean.

Get to enjoy beer and billiards at M Bar, sponsored by Budweiser; watch your favorite sports events from the gigantic TV wall at Mansion Sports Bar or the Tequila Bar, sponsored by Patron; experience an intimate evening at the M Lounge, the cocktail lounge sponsored by Chivas Regal. Two VIP rooms are also available for exclusive and private functions. VIP room 1, named after Maria Ozawa, is sponsored by Martell, and VIP room 2 is sponsored by Royal Salute.

Additionally, the bar houses a karaoke facility and other forms of entertainment, making it the go-to-place for viewing parties and big celebrations. Mansion Sports Bar & Lounge also hosts popular DJs and their famous mixes for a more exciting night. Indeed, Mansion Sports Bar & Lounge is not just a sports bar. It is where food is redefined, where drinks are reconstructed, and where fun is reimagined.

As a treat to everyone, Mansion Sports Bar and Lounge opened its doors to the public for its New year countdown event on December 31.

For more information, visit the Mansion Sports website at www. mansionsports.com

THE Philippines’ largest homegrown coffee brand, Bo’s Coffee, is now officially brewing in Dubai’s most prominent shopping mall, The BurJuman Mall.

Bo’s Coffee in Dubai is a partnership with Al Mulla Business Group that’s bringing the Philippines’ homegrown coffee chain and its Filipino Brand of Hospitality to the UAE. The love, warmth, and care of the Filipino shine through exceptional, unparalleled service, promoting the Filipino culture with a Philippine Coffee Experience in the UAE.

Signature brand of Filipino Hospitality

The Experience Bar showcases different brewing methods with a wide range of Philippine Coffee Origins presented right in front of coffee enthusiasts. EmiraHs can now raise the bar with their Philippine coffee experience while Filipino patrons are welcomed to feel like they are home again.

With both cultures’ love for coffee crossing territories and enjoying a cafe culture boom, Al Mulla selected Bo’s Coffee in its foray into food & beverage because of the brand’s pride in coffee and its unique brand of Filipino hospitality.

“Bo’s Coffee demonstrates the Filipinos’ unique brand of hospitality that hits so close to home. Being a staple in the UAE, coffee has always been ingrained in our culture, with a coffee pot or what we call a ‘dallah,’ that’s proudly shown and featured in our currency,” shares Maryam Khalid, Al Mulla CEO.

The signature warm, cozy vibe across Bo’s Coffee stores in the Philippines are brought in to tell stories of bean origins, coffee culture, and Bo’s Coffee’s pride in Philippine Coffee. Complemented by exquisite murals, the store is a fusion of both the Philippines’ and Dubai’s cultures.

With Dubai considered the gateway to the world for global trade, the arches at the main entrance coming from the mall side represent the portal that is the City of Gold.

The gold trimmings and accents around the store, along with the sand dune slopes that inspired the ceiling design of the main dining, are odes to the city that exudes luxury and magnificence.

Brilliantly blended with the Solihiya in select spaces, the humble Ravan plant that’s long been used as a material for furniture in the Philippines, and the differing wood slats in the Experience Bar express the varying mountains of the Philippines where Bo’s Coffee gets its

homegrown beans, both represent home.

The Dubai Cafe Lifestyle

One thing that Dubai does exceptionally well is its cafe scene. Al Mulla and Bo’s Coffee just opened the perfect cafe vibe for an aWer-shopping coffee break, a fancy remote working place, or simply a hang-out hub to enjoy the city buzz.

Serving classic, best-selling Signature Beverages, the Cold White Brew and Iced Creamy LaVe alongside delicious, freshly-baked pastries and savory dishes, EmiraHs and Dubai-based Filipinos might as well build a caffeine tolerance strong enough to still sleep soundly after a late nightcap.

“We’ve never been more excited with this partnership because it doesn’t only bring over the quality Philippine Coffee to the EmiraJs, but we share in their love of coffee with the warmth of our homegrown beans,” says Steve Benitez founder of Bo’s Coffee.

Opening a string of stores across the seven emirates over the next decade, Al Mulla is already set to open the second Bo’s Coffee in the city at Sahara Centre in Sharjah very soon.

Bo’s Coffee has long been a proponent of Philippine Coffee, putting a spotlight on local coffee traders and farmers and carefully selecting social enterprises to collaborate with to develop world-class products. Bringing this passion along with its presence in the UAE, Bo’s Coffee sets the bar high in bringing Philippine Coffee quality and the Filipino Brand of Hospitality to the world.

Nickie

representation of Mount Sumeru which is a sacred mountain existing in the center of the universe where God Indra is dwelling. Right across the temple, you will see another prominent landmark where a red, giant swing stands.

A serving of 609 Kitchen’s Tom Kha Gai

The imposing facade of the Sanctuary of Truth

Sample local delicacies like this centralwOrld Bangkok Street Food Thai Milk Tea Phra Sri Sakyamuni Buddha inside Wat Suthat

Maria Ozawa entertaining the guests (Teddy Pelaez)

Bo’s Coffee in The Burjuman Mall in Dubai