Manila Standard - 2023 February 6 - Monday

REDS WARN VS. US-CHINA PROXY WAR OVER EDCA

COUNTRIES DISTRUST CHINA OVER INCURSIONS’

Onion, garlic hoarders face raps

Speaker sets House probe vs. supply exploiters for economic sabotage

By Rio N. Araja

Macon Ramos-Araneta

THE government will go after unscrupulous traders and hoarders of onion and garlic, whose days are numbered, House Speaker and Leyte Rep. Martin Romualdez said Sunday.

US shoots down China ‘spy balloon’ off Atlantic

THE US military shot down an alleged Chinese spy balloon off the US Atlantic coast on Saturday, triggering an angry response from China, which said it reserved the right to make “necessary responses.”

The craft spent several days flying over North America before it was targeted off the coast of the southeastern state of South Carolina with a missile fired from an F-22 plane, Pentagon officials said, falling into relatively shallow water just 14 meters deep.

US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin called the operation a "deliberate and lawful action" that came in response to China's "unacceptable violation of our sovereignty."

But China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs blasted the US action in a statement Sunday morning, saying the downing of the "civilian" aircraft was "clearly overreacting and seriously violating international practice."

In Manila, a professor of international studies at De La Salle University, Renato de Castro, told GMA News that a suspected Chinese surveillance balloon was spotted over the Philippines last year.

He said there were photos of the suspected spy balloon in Pangasinan and Baguio.

De Castro also linked those sightings with reports of the Philippine Air Force that unidentified aircraft earlier entered Pangasinan from Bolinao.

“We received information that these people are hoarding onion, and more recently even garlic, to create an artificial scarcity in supply and induce price increases,” he said. “This is economic sabotage.”

Despite the ongoing harvest season and the entry of imported onions, retail

prices remain high, Romualdez said. He said he has already instructed the House committee on agriculture and food, chaired by Quezon Rep. Wilfrido Mark Enverga, to conduct an investigation and, if warranted by evidence, to recommend the filing of criminal charges against the people behind the scheme.

The House panel will also consider recommending to President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. the “calibrated importation” of onion and garlic to force these hoarders to unload their stocks and drive prices down. This importation, however, should not in any way prejudice the welfare of local farmers, he said.

PBBM assures OFWs of gov't support for their families

PRESIDENT

Marcos Jr.

workers that the government is working to ensure the families they left behind in the Philippines are cared for through housing and scholarship programs, among others.

“Our approach now for our OFWs is

not just to help our OFW but their family as well here in the Philippines," the President said in his vlog on Saturday.

“So, things like housing and scholarship programs—we will make sure we are able to give these to the children of our OFWs," he added.

Mr. Marcos said there are also programs for OFWs who wish to return to the Philippines for good.

“If they are looking for a new job here, we can help them through our training programs. We have what we call reskilling and upskilling especially since most jobs

now require highly technical skills. We need to retrain our OFWs to make them competitive in the global market," he said. The President said has also been working to improve bilateral ties with countries where Filipinos are staying.

Ex-trade minister Roberto ‘Bobby’ Ongpin, 86

By Jenniffer B.

Rollback forecast: Diesel P3.10/liter, gas P2.40/liter

OIL firms are expected to slash the pump price of diesel by P2.60 to P3.10 per liter on Tuesday, ending three straight weeks of price hikes.

An industry source told GMA News prices of gasoline will also go down by P1.90 to P2.40 per liter to reflect the

movement of prices on the global market.

Once implemented tomorrow (Feb. 7), the latest price movements will result in an estimated total net increase this year of P4.80 per liter for gasoline and a net decrease of P0.05 per liter for diesel.

Department of Energy (DOE) director

for the Oil Industry Management Bureau Rodela Romero said she expects the price rollback based on the four-day trading in the world oil market.

Romero attributed the price cut to the "ongoing recessionary fears, the threat of

UN forensic expert to help probe ’wrongful deaths’

By Rey E. Requejo and Macon Ramos-Araneta

JUSTICE Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla on Sunday said the visit of forensics expert Dr. Morris Tidball-Binz

to the Philippines this month will help the government with its investigation of what he described as “wrongful death tragedies” in the country.

Remulla stressed that Tidball-Binz would not come to the country as a United Nations Special Rapporteur on

extrajudicial killings, but as an expert in the field of forensic pathology to help in the country’s capacity-building for its medical corps.

“We need more capable doctors in our country to assist our law enforcement

LAKAS LEADERS. Speaker Ferdinand Martin G. Romualdez, Vice President Sara Duterte-Carpio, and former President and current Deputy Speaker Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo (seated, fourth

left)

Ferdinand

has assured overseas Filipino

Sunday (see related photos on A4). Danny Pata

and

Austria BUSINESS tycoon and former Trade Minister Roberto “Bobby” Ongpin passed away Saturday night. He was 86. Ongpin’s nephew, former broadcast journalist Rafael Alfonso “Apa” Ongpin, said in a Facebook post that his uncle died in his sleep on Saturday in Balesin Island, a high-end exclusive resort devel-

CPP warns vs. proxy US-China war

THE Communist Party of the Philippines on Sunday warned the Philippines can get caught between the US and China should a war break out between the two superpowers, after expanding America's access to four more military sites in the country under the Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement (EDCA) and restarting joint patrols in the South China Sea.

“In doing so, (President Ferdinand) Marcos Jr. is more and more allowing the Philippines to be used by the US as a launching pad for its provocations against China. He is practically allowing the imperialist US to drag the Philippines into a war against its own interest,” CPP Chief Information Officer Marco Valbuena said in a statement.

He said the agreements reached during last week's visit of US Defense Secretary

Onion,...

From A1

“It is very important to ensure that any importation should consist of such quantity and be done well ahead of the harvest season to avoid any adverse effect on the livelihood of our local farmers,” he said.

Romualdez also wants the appropriate government agencies to monitor the prices of onion and garlic in the local markets.

“People are still trying to recover from the (COVID-19) pandemic. The last thing we need is an unreasonable rise in food prices,” he said.

He said the government should equally address the smuggling of onion and other agricultural products that stifles the local industry.

US...

From A1

A spokesperson for the Armed Forces of the Philippines, however, later told GMA News the reports were unconfirmed.

Saturday afternoon was the US military's first chance to take down the balloon "in a way that would not pose a threat to the safety of Americans," a senior defense official told reporters, while still allowing authorities to collect the fallen debris from US territorial waters.

In eyewitness video posted to social media, the balloon appeared to disintegrate in a white puff before its remnants dropped vertically into the Atlantic Ocean below.

Twitter user Haley Walsh posted that she "heard and felt the explosion" in Myrtle Beach, a popular resort town in South Carolina.

President Joe Biden, who earlier Saturday had promised "to take care" of the balloon, congratulated the fighter pilots involved.

"They successfully took it down.

UN...

From A1 agencies in their work. This is an enormous step towards that goal,” Remulla said. He said Tidball-Binz’s accomplishments would “pave the way for forensic pathologists and enhance their practice to achieve international standard practices.”

“Dr. Tidball-Binz’s visit will help us identify the intricacies of wrongful death tragedies,” Remulla said.

Remulla met with Tidball-Binz in Geneva last November, where he attended the Universal Peer Review of the United Nations Human Rights Council.

Remulla then invited the UN Special Rapporteur and asked for his help “in assisting the law enforcement agencies in the Philippines to investigate cases of extrajudicial killings and enforced disappearances” in the Philippines.

“He has provided closure for families of victims of extrajudicial killings

Lloyd Austin III were “part of the US government's continuing strategy of preparing the war theater against China.”

Austin earlier said the joint maritime patrols in the South China Sea aimed to "help address (security) challenges.”

Valbuena said the Philippines should continue to prevent a potential war from breaking out between the US and China.

“The Filipino people, together with peoples of Asia and the world, must

continue to demand a stop to imperialist war mongering and an end to war preparations especially by the US," he said.

"They must demand the dismantling of all US military bases and call for the removal of US and other foreign military troops in the country, as well as the dismantling of Chinese military facilities within its maritime territory," Valbuena added.

For his part, Defense Secretary Carlito Galvez Jr. on Sunday thanked senators backing the designation of four new sites under EDCA and the continuation of joint sea patrols.

"I thank our lawmakers for expressing their support for EDCA and the resumption of joint Philippine-US maritime patrols. It is truly encouraging that our distinguished senators are aware of the importance of

EDCA and joint maritime patrols to our national interest. I thank them again for their support," Galvez said.

Sen. Jinggoy Estrada on Sunday expressed confidence that the government has thoroughly studied and weighed all possible repercussions of the EDCA expansion.

He added the EDCA was "not directed toward any country" after China cautioned the Philippines against allowing itself to be dragged into troubled waters by the US.

"EDCA aims to boost our AFP’s defense capabilities in asserting regional territorial claims. EDCA sites are also primarily earmarked for humanitarian assistance and disaster response facilities...

Therefore, it’s not directed toward any country," he added.

Macon Ramos-Araneta

Lowest COVID cases logged in 1,052 days

THE Department of Health on Sunday logged just 36 new COVID-19 cases across the country, the smallest tally in 1,052 days and the sixth straight day there have been fewer than 200 new cases reported.

It was the lowest daily total since 13 were reported on March 20, 2020— two years, 10 months, and 16 days ago near the start of the pandemic.

Active cases have also decreased to 9,378, the lowest in 218 days since 9,105 active cases were reported on July 2 last year.

The new cases bring the country's caseload to 4,073,826, according to the DOH's COVID-19 tracker. Total recoveries increased by 217 cases to 3,998,597, and the death toll rose by 12 to 65,851.

The region with the greatest number of new cases over the last fortnight is Metro Manila with 614 cases, followed by Calabarzon with 268; Region XI with 175; Region VI with 151; and Region III with 138.

Independent monitoring group OCTA Research said the country's positivity rate—the percentage of people who were found positive for COVID-19 among the total number of individuals tested—dropped to 1.8% on Friday.

Meanwhile, Senator Risa Hontiveros called on the government to support local farmers as she met with onion growers of San Jose, Occidental Mindoro, which is in Region 4-B, the nation's largest onionproducing region together with Region 3.

Hontiveros and Francis Pangilinan, the former senator and presidential assistant for food security and agricultural modernization, consulted with farmers in Mamburao and Bulalacao, Oriental Mindoro, who told them insufficient cold storage facilities have contributed to their harvest and revenue losses.

The farmers also said the onion price should not fall below P100 per kilogram for them to recuperate their capital.

Hontiveros urged the Department of Agriculture (DA) and the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) to develop new

And I want to compliment our aviators who did it," Biden told reporters in Maryland.

The controversy erupted Thursday, when American officials said they were tracking a large Chinese "surveillance balloon" in US skies.

That led Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Friday to scrap a rare trip to Beijing designed to contain rising USChina tensions.

After initial hesitation, Beijing admitted ownership of the "airship," but said it was a civilian weather balloon that had been blown off course and that it "regrets" the episode.

But after Saturday's operation, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs expressed China's "strong dissatisfaction and protests against the use of force by the United States to attack the unmanned civilian airship."

Instead of responding in a "restrained manner," the ministry said in its statement, "the United States insisted on using force, clearly overreacting."

"China will resolutely safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of relevant enterprises and reserve the right to make further necessary responses," the state-

and enforced disappearances. We are hoping for the same when he visits the Philippines.”

Tidball-Binz is expected to arrive in the Philippines on Feb. 6 and stay here until Feb. 9.

Besides Remulla, Tidball-Binz is set to meet with Foreign Affairs Secretary

Enrique Manalo, Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) DirectorGeneral Moro Virgilio Lazo, Philippine National Police (PNP) Chief Police General Rodolfo Azurin Jr., and National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) Director Medardo de Lemos.

In January, the International Criminal Court (ICC) said it had authorized the reopening of an inquiry into former President Rodrigo Duterte's anti-drugs campaign.

The ICC said it was “not satisfied that the Philippines is undertaking relevant investigations that would warrant a deferral of the court's investigations.”

But Remulla called the ICC's actions an “unwelcome irritant,” saying he

cold storage facilities in Mindoro, Nueva Ecija, Ilocos, and Pangasinan to decrease these losses and to help farmers obtain higher prices for their produce.

“We should give farmers what they need. Before the budget hearings in the Senate, the DA and DTI should allocate funds so our farmers will have enough storage facilities for their agricultural products,” Hontiveros said. She asserted this will ease the burden not only of the farmers, but also the consuming public.

She also noted that the country can also adopt the practice in India where the government provides concessional financing so the private sector will build more cold storage facilities.

This way, she said, the small farmers can be prioritized and the investment will

ment added.

The balloon first entered US airspace over Alaska on Jan. 28, Pentagon officials told reporters Saturday, before drifting over Canada and then back into the United States days later.

It was not the first time in recent history such an aircraft had flown over US territory, the senior defense official said, though this was the longest time one had spent in the country. Three balloons were spotted during Donald Trump's presidency and another one earlier in the Biden administration.

Biden told reporters he had on Wednesday ordered the craft shot down "as soon as possible."

"They decided – without doing damage to anyone on the ground... that the best time to do that was as it got over water," Biden said.

According to the senior defense official, the military determined the airship was not a major threat to the United States during its flight, and "the surveillance balloon's overflight of US territory was of intelligence value to us," he added, without providing details.

Teams were already working on recovering the balloon's remains, a senior mili-

would not stand for any antics that would tend to question Philippine sovereignty. Government records showed that at least 6,200 drug suspects were killed in police operations from June 2016 until November 2021. But several human rights groups claimed the actual death toll was around 12,000 to 30,000.

Duterte's former aide, Senator Christopher Go, said there was no need for foreign courts to meddle in the country’s internal affairs as the country's independent judicial system is working.

"We don't want other countries to interfere in our judicial system. We have our own courts, we have our own judicial system,” he said.

The former spokesperson for Duterte, lawyer Harry Roque, said the former president would never submit himself to the authority of any foreign body since doing so would be an insult to the competence and impartiality of the Philippine justice system.

happen in the first years even if the facility utilization may be low towards the end of the year.

Eventually the availability of cold storage facilities will be a catalyst to produce other seasonal farm produce, she said.

She also pointed out that a microfinance program is essential so that farmers without cash on hand to pay for cold storage facilities are not compelled to sell their produce at a much lower price.

On Saturday, the DA said only 3,500 metric tons (MT) of the more than 21,000 MT of onions authorized for importation have arrived in the country.

The importation had been approved in January to fill a supply gap ahead of the onion harvest.

tary official said Saturday.

The balloon had flown over parts of the northwestern United States – including the state of Montana – that are home to sensitive airbases and strategic nuclear missiles in underground silos.

"We are confident it was seeking to monitor sensitive military sites," the senior defense official said.

Republican lawmakers had quickly pounced on the balloon incident, casting Biden – who has largely preserved, and at times expanded, Trump's hawkish policies on China – as weak.

By late Saturday afternoon, the Federal Aviation Administration had opened the airspace off the coast of the Carolinas, after three southeastern airports were temporarily shut down over a "national security" effort.

Another suspected Chinese spy balloon was seen over Latin America, the Pentagon said Friday, without providing details.

"Over the past several years, Chinese balloons have previously been spotted over countries across five continents, including East Asia, South Asia and Europe," the senior defense official said Saturday. AFP

Rollback...

From A1 further interest rates and the build-up in US inventories of crude, petrol, and distillates."

Sources said world oil prices were also influenced by reports that Russian exports remained strong and the decision of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies not to cut production, contrary to market expectations.

On Friday, the DOE also said it will release an energy storage system (ESS) policy on Feb. 14.

Energy Undersecretary Rowena Guevara said this would take into account an increase in renewable energy, which can be affected by many variables.

For example, she said, for wind energy, if the wind dies down, the output of energy will go down as well, so an energy storage system would compensate for the lack of wind.

These energy storage systems would also help transmission and distribution providers because they need to stabilize their system, she added.

The DOH last week said that it expects the arrival of bivalent vaccines—second-generation jabs formulated to target the Omicron variant—donated by the COVAX facility and other countries by the end of March.

Willie Casas

PBBM...

From A1

“The only thing I can give in return, in exchange for your invaluable contribution, is to ensure you are protected and improve the lot of the families you have left behind in our country," he said.

As this developed, the remains of Filipina household worker Jullebee Ranara, who was killed in Kuwait last week, were buried on Sunday morning at the Golden Haven Memorial Park in Las Piñas City.

The case of Ranara, whose burned body was found in the desert in Kuwait, prompted the government to seek a review of its labor pact with Kuwait.

Ranara was reportedly raped and impregnated by the suspect, the 17-yearold son of her employer who is now under police custody.

President Marcos said a bilateral meeting is being scheduled with Kuwait to check if there are "weaknesses" in the labor agreement between the two countries.

Ex-Trade...

From A1

Ongpin, who served as trade minister during the term of the late President Ferdinand Marcos Sr., is the chairman of Alphaland Corp. and listed firm Atok-Big Wedge Co., Inc.

He is survived by his wife Monica, his children Stephen, Anna, Michelle, and Julian and four grandchildren.

A certified public accountant with a master’s degree in business administration, Ongpin started his professional career with Procter & Gamble before joining accounting giant Sycip Gorres Velayo & Co from 1964 to 1979.

After serving as trade minister from 1979 to 1986, Ongpin focused on building his business empire.

He ranked 23rd on Forbes Magazine’s richest Filipino list in 2022, with a fortune of $830 million, and a peak personal wealth of $1.7 billion in 2020.

"After leaving government, he built and rebuilt empires, including making the deals that brought the Shangri-La Group into the Philippines, Tagaytay Highlands, PhilWeb, and culminating in Alphaland Corporation, where he built his crown jewel, Alphaland Balesin Island Club," Apa said.

“He never retired, and remained sharp and undiminished by age, all the way to his last day," the younger Ongpin added

DRUG STING. Agents of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency process the scene around the body of a still unnamed suspected drug lord who died after a shootout with the PDEA Region 10 team at Ward 2, Barangay Kakai Renabor, Tubod, Lanao Del Norte on Sunday. The alleged drug lord was one of the suppliers of shabu in Lanao Del Norte, Lanao Del Sur, Iligan City, and Cagayan de Oro, the agency said. PDEA photos

IN BRIEF

Gatchalian seeking probe on anti-bullying bill

SEN. Win Gatchalian has filed a resolution seeking a Senate inquiry on the status of the implementation of the Anti-Bullying Act of 2013 (Republic Act No. 10627).

Gatchalian, chairperson of the Senate committee on basic education, said they can also recommend policy and legislative interventions for its effective enforcement.

The senator filed Senate Resolution No. 454 in the wake of a series of incidents related to bullying in schools, including a fatal stabbing involving two students from Culiat High School in Quezon City. Macon Ramos-Araneta

Lawmaker hails Imee for aid to Aklan farmers

AKLAN Rep. Teodorico Haresco

Jr. has lauded and thanked Senator Imee Marcos and the Department of Agriculture officials for their efforts to extend financial assistance to 7,000 farmers in the province.

“We are very grateful that Senator Imee Marcos is here in Aklan to reassure our local farmers of the strong commitment of the government to support the much-needed development of our agricultural sector,” he said.

Under the DA’s Rice Competitiveness Enhancement Fund-Rice Farmers Financial Assistance (RCEF-RFFA) program, a P5,000-financial aid is given to a farmer-beneficiary whos own not greater than two hectares of arable agricultural land. Rio N. Araja

Sen. Go leads opening of Mariveles health site

SENATOR Christopher Bong Go led the opening of Super Health Center in Mariveles.

He was accompanied by Gov. Joet Garcia, Bataan 3rd District Congresswoman Gila Garcia, 2nd District Congressman Abet Garcia, Mariveles Mayor AJ Concepcion, Vice Mayor Lito Rubia, and Sangguniang Bayan members, among others on Thursday.

The new health facility is located along MAAP Road, Barangay Alasasin, Mariveles.

The mayor has vowed to provide accessible health services to Mariveles residents, an initiative supported by the Sangguniang Bayan headed by Vice Mayor Lito Rubia. Butch Gunio

Asian countries distrust China for WPS incursions

CHINA would not be able to match the US influence in East Asia and Southeast Asia because of the former’s expansionist actions, including its military presence in the West Philippine Sea, that alienate its neighbors, according to Richard McGregor, senior fellow for East Asia at Lowy Institute in Australia.

“China simply does not have the trust of its neighboring countries to allow it [to] exercise the kind of role that Americans have. That’s why I think we are sort of moving into a very difficult period as these quite natural and quite intractable conflicts try to work themselves out,” McGregor, who is also a non-resident senior associate at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in the United States, said in a recent forum hosted by think tank Stratbase ADR Institute in Makati City.

McGregor, a former journalist with extensive experience writing about high-level politics in East Asia, said many countries in the region distrust China because of its expansionist actions, including its incursions into Philippine territorial waters.

He said the US has no territorial disputes in the region, in contrast to China’s actions that have caused maritime disputes with many countries.

“So you look at China and you look at the Air Defense Identification Zone, you look at the Exclusive Economic Zone of

SC overturns Sandigan on ex-Siquijor gov

By Rey E. Requejo

the SEA, you look at actual territory. China has disputes with South Korea, Japan, Vietnam, Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines, Indonesia, and that’s all of course without thinking of Taiwan,” McGregor said.

McGregor said while only a few countries trust China and have worked out their disputes with China, the maritime situation in Asia will be “highly unstable in the next decade or two.”

He said while top Chinese leaders discuss diplomacy in international meetings, it appears that its military actions are a separate thing.

“Obviously because China is richer, therefore they can do all sorts of things they wanted to do, they are more confident in using their military in a sort of arm in their diplomatic toolkit,” said McGregor.

THE Supreme Court (SC) has overturned a Sandiganbayan decision and instead ordered the acquittal of former Siquijor governor Orlando Fua Jr. on a charge of obstruction of justice.

In a decision, the SC reversed the January 19, 2017 decision of the antigraft court that declared Fua guilty of violating Section 1 (e) of Presidential Decree No. 1829 which penalizes obstruction of apprehension and prosecution of criminal offenders.

The Sandiganbayan had ordered Fua to pay a fine of P6,000 with equivalent imprisonment if not paid. He was perpetually disqualified to hold any public office, prompting him to challenge the Sandiganbayan’s decision before the SC.

In granting Fua’s petition, the SC ruled that “the prosecution miserably failed to prove beyond reasonable doubt that petitioner (Fua) committed acts in violation of Section 1 (e) of PD 1829.”

However, the SC admonished Fua “to be more circumspect in his actuations and dealings which may taint the integrity of the public office.”

By Macon Ramos-Araneta

TWO senators want to build Mental Health Offices (MHOs) in schools to address the mental, emotional, and developmental needs of learners and personnel of the Department of Education (DepEd).

Sen. Jinggoy Estrada wants to put up MHOs on the campuses of all state universities and colleges (SUCs) while Sen. Lito Lapid wants it in every school division.

Estrada, who is pushing for Senate Bill 1508, said there have been a lot of studies showing the worsening mental shape of our youth today.

He cited the World Health Organization (WHO) report on adolescent mental health, which showed suicide as the fourth leading cause of death among adolescents aged 15 to 29 years old. In the same report, WHO said the failure to address adolescent mental health conditions extends to adulthood, impairing both physical and mental health and limiting opportunities to fulfilling lives as adults.

DICT

“Wherefore, the decision dated January 19, 2017 and the Resolution dated March 2, 2018 of the Sandiganbayan in SB- 14-CRM-0001 are reversed and set aside. Petitioner Orlando A. Fua, Jr. is ACQUITTED for failure of the prosecution to prove his guilt beyond reasonable doubt,” the SC said, in a ruling penned by Associate Justice Henri Jean Paul Inting.

Court records showed that the charge against Fua was filed before the Office of the Ombudsman (OMB) by Police Inspector Reynaldo Espina Valmoria.

chief says 28M subscriber modules registered as of Sunday

DEPARTMENT of Information and Communications Technology (DICT)

Secretary Ivan John Uy said 28 million

Subscriber Identity Module (SIM) cards have been registered as of Sunday.

“So far, as of today, there are 28 million SIM cards already registered,” Uy, quoted by a GMA News report, said.

Uy said some 150 million SIM cards

were issued by telecommunications companies. However, there are buyers of prepaid SIM cards, such as scammers, who used such cards only once and threw them away afterwards, GMA News further reported.

“We currently do not know how many SIM cards out of the 150 million were thrown away after being used once. More or less 120 million SIM

cards would be left that would have to be registered,” the official said.

The guidelines of the SIM Card Registration Act took effect on December 27, after the measure was signed into law by President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. last October.

The law mandates all public telecommunications entities (PTEs) to establish their registration platforms where they

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

Uy reminded the public that there is no limit to the number of SIM cards a subscriber can register, as it is possible that an individual has more than one SIM card and cellphone.

Villar: MIF needed for investments

By Macon Ramos-Araneta

SENATOR Mark Villar on Sunday said the government can use the Maharlika Investment Fund (MIF) to respond quickly to investment opportunities.

Villar also said the MIF will be advantageous for the government and could lead to higher investments, adding that the MIF will serve as another source of funds to speed up big-ticket projects.

“We learned a lot from the first hearing. First of all, the purpose of the fund is to widen the funding sources available to the government,” Villar said.

Villar, the chairperson of the Senate Committee on Banks and Financial Institutions, said the government has the option

to allocate the national budget to programs and projects that may directly affect the welfare of the people.

“It will complement the usual modes of funding for major infrastructure projects, like GAA, ODA and PPP. This will boost our push for infrastructure development. ” he added.

Aside from infrastructure and foreign investments, he also said that other benefits from the MIF would include more jobs for the Filipinos, intergenerational benefits, and the transfer of technology and knowledge.

“At the end of the day, more projects and investments through the MIF will translate into more jobs for the Filipino people” Villar said.

‘PH schools need mental health centers’

NHA suspends applications at QC head office

THE National Housing Authority on Sunday said it has temporarily stopped accepting applications at its main office in Quezon City “to pave the way for a more systematic procedure of doing such” with help from the local government units.

In its official announcement, the NHA cited its mandate to provide quality and affordable housing units for the informal settlers; those living along danger areas such as waterways, railways, and those affected by government projects; families affected by the mandamus order of the Supreme Court to clean up the tributaries of Manila Bay; and victims of calamities and accidents.

“NHA is coordinating with the local government units to identify qualified beneficiaries for an affordable housing unit,” it said. “In the coming days, NHA will issue an easier procedure of application.”

It warned the public to transact only with the concerned agencies.

Last Feb. 3, NHA headquarters was flooded with over 3,000 applications for a housing unit.

The administration of President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. has stepped up efforts to address housing woes with the kick-off of its flagship program aimed at constructing over 6 million houses, which is expected to benefit some 30 million Filipinos.

The Pambansang Pabahay para sa Pilipino (4PH) Program envisions to construct 6.15 million housing units over the next six years and involves the transformation of informal settlements into prime residential sites and waterfronts and the rehabilitation of esteros, according to the administration’s 2022 year-end report.

TOURIST SITE.

Boatmen follow a line as they cross toward the famed Sunken Cemetery with tourists in tow off the coast of Catarman in Camiguin Province on Sunday.

Robert Glips

Rio N. Araja

QC solon pushes 30-day paternity leave for fathers

QUEZON City Rep. Marvin Rillo is pushing for an increase in the fully paid paternity leave benefit of every working father to 30 days to enable dads to “effectively lend support to the mother and their newborn during childbirth.”

He filed House Bill No. 4430, citing the month-long paternity leave credit with full pay would also cover every unmarried working father living in with the child’s mother for as long as there is no legal impediment for them to wed.

“We should not discriminate against the unmarried working father in the grant of paid paternity leave credits so long as he is living in with the mother and the couple are free to marry or stay together,” Rillo said.

He cited the mandate of the 1987 Constitution for the State to reinforce family solidarity and foster the total development of every family.

Currently, the Paternity Leave Law of 1996 provides that “every married male employee in the private or public sectors shall be entitled to a paternity leave of seven days with full pay for the first four deliveries (childbirth or miscarriage) of the legitimate spouse with whom he is cohabiting.”

The bill seeks to remove the word “married” and supplant with “his partner” the reference to “the legitimate spouse” in the above-mentioned provision of the law. Rio N. Araja

OFW KIN’S GRIEF. The family and relatives of slain overseas Filipino worker Jullebee Cabilis Ranara take her remains to be buried at a cemetery in Las Piñas City on Sunday. Ranara was allegedly killed by her employer’s 17-year-old son in Kuwait (see related story and photo on A1).

Norman Cruz

Lakas-CMD elects national officers

By Rio N. Araja

THE Lakas Christian Muslim Democrats (Lakas-CMD) has elected its new national officers and members of its executive committee and national advisory council.

The election is contained in Resolution No. 1 of 2023, approved by party members and confirmed by its incumbent officers, led by Speaker Ferdinand Martin Romualdez and Vice President Sara Duterte-Carpio, who reassumed the positions of president and chairperson, respectively.

Romualdez said the installation of the new Lakas-CMD leaders “will strengthen and reinvigorate our party in support of the administration of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. and his agenda for prosperity and socio-economic roadmap.”

“We hope to further grow our membership with new recruits who share our ide-

als, programs and goals, and aspirations for our people and our nation,” he added.

Lakas-CMD now counts 68 congressmen as members, aside from hundreds of governors, city and town mayors, provincial board and city and municipal council members, and other local officials.

Elected with Romualdez and Duterte were former President and Senior Deputy Speaker Gloria Macapagal Arroyo of Pampanga as chairperson emeritus, former Speaker Jose de Venecia Jr. as co-chairperson emeritus, Senator Ramon Revilla Jr. as co-chairperson,

Capiz Gov. Fredenil Castro as vice chairperson, and House Majority Leader and Zamboanga City Rep. Manuel Jose Dalipe as executive vice president.

The other officers are Rep. Jose Aquino ll of Agusan del Norte as secretary general, Rep. Samantha Santos of North Cotabato as deputy secretary general, and Rep. David Suarez of Quezon as treasurer. They were also chosen as members of the national executive committee.

The party formed a national advisory council “to support the executive committee.”

Davao de Oro quake infrastructure damage hits P21 million, OCD says

THE magnitude 6 earthquake that hit Davao de Oro on Wednesday caused P21.463 million in infrastructure damage, the Office of Civil Defense (OCD) said Sunday.

Aside from 543 houses, the quake also damaged 203 other structures, according to the latest OCD-National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) disaster bulletin.

However, no roads or bridges were seriously damaged. There were also no major communication and water interruptions, and all affected power lines were repaired.

Meanwhile, 340 people or 83 families were affected by the earthquake, the epicenter of which was 12 kilometers northeast of New Bataan, Davao De Oro.

The OCD said there were no fatalities nor missing people due to the quake, but 16 people were reportedly injured. A total of P360,000 worth of assistance had been provided to affected individuals. Search and rescue teams were on standby, while assessment, coordination, and monitoring between OCD regional offices and local DRRMOs was continuous.

Recto: House boosts budget for cancer treatments to P1.56 billion

FROM zero funding in the proposed 2023 national budget, the House of Representatives has boosted to P1.56 billion the line-item funding for two cancer funds in this year’s General Appropriations Act, Batangas Rep. Ralph Recto on Sunday said.

“This is the result of a multipartisan, bicameral push,” he said in a statement.

Lodged under the budget of the Department of Health, about P1.054 billion

would fund cancer prevention, detection, treatment and care pursuant to Republic Act 11215 or the National Integrated Cancer Control Act, the Batangas lawmaker said.

Specifically, it would fund the “procurement and delivery of cancer, supportive care and palliative care medicines covering the eight treatable cancer types” as stipulated by a special provision in the 2023 GAA, the former sena-

tor added.

On top of this is the P500 million for cancer assistance fund for cancer prevention, detection, treatment, diagnostics, and care for eight priority cancer types.

Recto, however, said the assistance pool cancer patients can tap is bigger than the two programs’ combined P1.56 billion.

First, there is a P32.6-billion “medical assistance to indigent and finan -

SBMA turns over P178.7m to neighboring LGUs

SUBIC BAY FREEPORT—

The Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA) officials met with the local chief executives and representatives of this premier Freeport’s neighboring local government units (LGUs) to distribute a total of ₱178.7-million revenue shares due them.

During the event, SBMA Chairman and Administrator Rolen C. Paulino welcomed the mayors and their finance officials at the Terrace Hotel for a short program.

“This is the second time we are doing it face to face since restrictions of the Covid-19 pandemic eased up. And as we slowly go back to our usual activities, I hope that these revenue shares would greatly help augment developments in their respective communities,” Paulino said.

“Because the SBMA and LGUs support one another, extending to them their share of our revenue is just appropriate. After all, we all are committed to protect the Freeport for our future generations,” he stressed.

cially incapacitated patients” in the 2023 GAA.

Up from P21.3 billion in 2022, the fund would be administered by the Health department.

The validity of 2022 cancer assistance program’s P529.2-million appropriation has been extended until the end of 2023 pursuant to a joint DOH-Department of Budget and Management memorandum. Rio N. Araja

Senior Citizen party-list eyes nutrition program

SENIOR Citizen party-list Rep. Rodolfo Ordanes has filed a counterpart bill to Senate Bill 1799 to lay down a comprehensive nutrition program for the elderly.

“I have just filed a counterpart bill to the Senate Bill 1799 of Senator Francis Tolentino on an annual nutrition program for seniors. These bills seek to establish the mandates. Execution details can be in the implementing rules and regulations,” he said.

“I am concerned about making sure the nutrition program can be implemented well and would not be too cumbersome for the implementors so I trust that the Department of Health and Department of Interior and Local Government will include necessary provisions in the implementing rules and regulations when SB 1799 and HB 7064 become (a) law,” Ordanes added.

The implementing rules and regulations must include the senior citizens’ desk, medical doctors, nurses, nutritionists, barangay health workers, and barangay health centers as implementors, he said.

The Office of Senior Citizens Affairs of cities and municipalities do not have the ground level personnel for home visitations and monthly monitoring reports, Ordanes noted.

Accountability and authority in the IRRs should be vested in the mayors, OSCAs, barangay chairpersons and barangay councils, he added. Rio N. Araja

Meanwhile, SBMA Senior Deputy Administrator lawyer Ramon Agregado disclosed that the SBMA performance has improved in 2022—with higher revenues generated, and more business projects in the pipeline.

FUNDING FOR LGUS. SBMA Chairman and Administrator Rolen C. Paulino (third from right) stands with Mayor German Santos Jr. (second from left) of Dinalupihan, Bataan, Mayor Rolen Paulino Jr. (third from left) of Olongapo City, and Mayor Jeffrey Khonghun (second from right) of Castillejos, Zambales after distributing the towns’ share of the income from the Subic Bay freeport. Joseph Muego

THE Brits have a way of describing a seeming quandary, where there is no easy solution, and they say one caught in such a situation is “in a pickle.”

Sometimes, in sarcasm, they say “in a fine pickle.”

The president faces some very difficult situations where finding the right course of action, right not in terms of moral or even legal considerations, but more political than anything.

One comes from the “pakialamero” International Criminal Court or ICC.

Recently, the ICC’s pre-trial chamber granted the request of its prosecutor Karim Khan, and announced it would open a preliminary investigation on our drug war where thousands died (the numbers are in dispute).

The ICC said it is “not satisfied that the Philippines is undertaking relevant investigations that would warrant a deferral of the Court’s investigations based on the complementarity principle.”

It added the Philippine government’s efforts to probe the drug war deaths “do not amount to tangible, concrete and progressive investigative steps” that sufficiently mirror the ICC investigation.

It was so interesting watching Sen. Chiz tear down the contortions of the economic managers and their factotums in a recent committee hearing on the Maharlika ‘whatever’ bill

Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla retorted we have a functioning justice system and the ICC has no business judging our internal affairs. Solicitor General Meynard Guevarra said we will appeal the pre-trial chamber’s decision.

A very terse reaction came from the chief legal counsel of our president, Juan Ponce Enrile, who will be turning 99 years old this Valentine’s Day, but whose legal acumen is as sharp as ever.

“I am telling you … I will not recognize the jurisdiction of the ICC,” said Enrile.

“If they come here, if I were to be followed, I will cause their arrest. They interfere too much in our internal affairs,” the former Senate President declared.

The president has declared he will not allow the country to resume membership in the ICC, from which his predecessor withdrew on March 17, 2019. But the ICC maintains we were still a signatory to the Rome Statute when cases were filed regarding our bloody drug war.

But what if the ICC sends its investigators to the country, and they land in our territory using their UN-issued diplomatic passports?

If we do not allow them entry, or as Enrile said, arrest them even, we would be creating an international incident. That would be a fine pickle indeed.

Though unrelated, our president in the Malacanang vin d’honeur, advanced before the diplomatic community, his desire for the Philippines to have a non-permanent seat in the UN Security Council come 2007-2008, and asked for their government’s support in our bid.

This writer is sympathetic to our justice secretary’s position that we should not allow the ICC to transgress or run roughshod over

By Amb. Albert del Rosario

WE highly welcome the news where the Philippines and the US reached strategic agreements which enhance our longstanding alliance and particularly improve the Philippines’ deterrent capacity against unlawful incursions in its national territory.

To begin with, based on survey results, Filipino preference for the US is over 90 percent whereas preference for China is 20 percent.

Moreover, a majority of Filipinos are in favor of the building of a credible defense posture against unlawful incursions in their national territory.

We welcome the talks on the joint patrols in the West Philippine Sea to protect our Filipino fishermen and to support the efforts of Filipinos to develop their country’s energy resources. We also welcome the addition of four

OPINION

our functioning justice system, no matter how slow it may be.

But the ICC is not likely to write finis on the matter, which would put President Marcos Jr. in a bind, and, sooner or later, that is forthcoming.

***

Another “in a pickle” situation, although easier to resolve, is a scenario where warrants of arrest are issued against Pastor Apollo Quiboloy, the self-appointed “son of God.” on FBI’s criminal charges for “conspiracy to engage in sex trafficking by force, fraud and coercion” involving even children, as well as “bulk cash smuggling.”

As these “crimes” are punishable under Philippine laws as well, they fall under the scope of our extradition treaty with the US of A.

How shall our president react when the issue comes to a head?

We ought to respect the extradition request, although we could perhaps dribble, or temporize, utilizing to the full the snail pace of our justice system. What are the domestic political implications?

Even more significantly, how would this impact on our relationship with our ally, which our president describes in glowing terms as “I cannot imagine a future of the Philippines without the United States of America”?

***

We have expanded our Enhanced Defence Cooperation Agreement to include temporary basing facilities for American troops in four new agreed locations, on top of previously agreed sites in Palawan, Cagayan de Oro, Pampanga, Nueva Ecija, and Cebu.

Though no formal announcement has been made during the visit of US Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin, these are expected to be in northernmost Luzon (Cagayan), in Isabela, another in Palawan, and in Subic Bay, site of the former naval base of the Americans.

As the confrontation between the US and China heats up on the issues of Taiwan and the South China Sea, and with our own West Philippine Sea conflicts, the recent enhanced security cooperation developments present another “in a pickle” situation for our leadership.

But that is a continuing saga, and deserves another full article in the near future.

As we write, a “spy balloon” which China calls a “civilian” weather instrument has been shot down over the Atlantic shores of South Carolina upon orders of President Biden, after traversing the entire North American continent from west to east.

Interesting times.

“In a pickle” situations, truly.

***

During President Erap’s conflicted and shortened tenure, then Rep. Joker Arroyo, who failed to bag the speakership after the president threw his support to Rep. Manny Villar, organized a noisy opposition group who called themselves the “Spice Boys.”

They became the noisy de facto opposition.

In return, presidential son, and now Sen.

JV Ejercito organized a group of young congressmen whom he called “Bright Boys,” led by then young congressmen, and now still young senators -- Chiz Escudero and Alan Peter Cayetano.

It was so interesting watching Sen. Chiz tear down the contortions of the economic managers and their factotums in a recent committee hearing on the Maharlika “whatever” bill.

That bill, which was rushed in the HoR in time for the president to preen about it in Davos, has mutated several times, and, in the hands of Chiz and later Alan Peter, is likely to be “Humpty Dumpty” as we wrote about in a recent article in this space. President Marcos Jr. has himself said it is up to the Senate to introduce a better version of the HoR bill, which was introduced in the Senate by his Davos companion, Sen. Mark Villar.

Interesting how it will evolve.

By then, the economic and business community will not know how best to describe Maharlika -- wealth or investment fund, sovereign or private, and whatever else.

Pro-poor programs

WITH the current administration focused on achieving single-digit poverty level by the end of its term of office in 2028, it stands to reason that it should start accelerating the pace of delivery of programs for the disadvantaged and marginalized Filipinos.

A step in the right direction is the directive by the President to the Department of Social Welfare and Development to continue giving cash grants to poor households and individuals who are the most adversely affected by the rising prices of goods.

The cash grants coursed through the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program are part of the government’s social protection initiatives aimed at reducing hunger and poverty in the country. These will also help poor households to provide for their health needs and the education of their children.

At the recent anniversary of the DSWD on January 31, the President urged the agency to ensure their services should “reach those in need wherever they may be,” that people should not have to travel to urban areas to access government services.

The chief executive also asked the DSWD to enhance the social pension program for indigent senior citizens as a means to augment their daily subsistence and medical needs.

Providing cash assistance and subsidized housing to the poor and marginalized sectors will give them hope that a much better future awaits them than where they are now

Reducing poverty and hunger is among key objectives of the national government as it seeks to achieve upper-middle-income status by 2025.

Yet another pro-poor initiative of the national government that deserves public support is the Pambansang Pabahay Para sa Pilipino Housing (4PH) Project.

At the recent groundbreaking ceremony of the Batasan Development and Urban Renewal Plan, the President committed to secure the needed housing interest support this year to assist poor families get decent and affordable housing units.

This is in recognition of the fact that not all the beneficiaries of housing projects may be able to afford the monthly amortization for the units.

During the same occasion, the President told the audience he had reached an agreement with Secretary Jerry Acuzar of the Department of Human Settlements and Urban Development to put up a subsidy fund for the government’s housing program with P1 billion seed money.

The success of the mass housing program will depend on the capability of the DHSUD to strengthen partnerships with other government agencies and the private sector.

Here, local governments play an important role as they will identify suitable lands for housing, select the qualified beneficiaries, and see to it that mass housing beneficiaries comply with requirements.

Providing cash assistance and subsidized housing to the poor and marginalized sectors will give them hope that a much better future awaits them than where they are now.

Playing the Indo-Pacific game of deterrence

He pointed out how the economic success of China has enabled it to aggressively assert its expansionist ambitions and has built its military capacities to a level that can be used as “a sort of arm in their diplomatic toolkit” as more focus and preparations are aimed at its priorities: Taiwan, the South China Sea including the West Philippine Sea.

THE high-level meetings recently between President Marcos Jr., US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin III and Defense Secretary Carlito Galvez, Jr. demonstrate the strong ties of the two nations that share a deep history of alliance strengthened by the enduring economic, cultural, and direct relationships between its peoples.

But the context of the Austin visit is linked to the evolving geopolitical situation pertaining to the continuing expansion of China’s military footprint in the disputed waters of the South China Sea, tension with Taiwan, and continuing violations of Philippine sovereignty and territorial rights in the West Philippine Sea.

The timely forum of geopolitical experts hosted by the Stratbase ADR Institute provides in-depth analyses on the dynamics and anticipated scenarios in the Indo-Pacific and insights on how the Philippines should position and prepare in the event, God forbid, a military clash should break out.

Mr. Richard McGregor, a Senior Fellow for East Asia of the Lowy Institute of Australia, explained how Chines President Xi Jinping has firmly established a one-man rule and was able to eliminate term limits so he can lead for life.

The top leadership of the Politburo, the top decision making and controlling institution of the Chinese government, are all loyal to Xi.

McGregor showed an animated graphic on how fast China has expanded its foreign trade and become dominant across continents since joining the World Trade Organization in December 2001.

Experts predict China’s rise as an economic power will eventually be as big as America and will be the US strongest competitor not only in this region but globally.

Experts are seeing a more unstable maritime situation in Asia

McGregor commented on the doubletalking of Xi Jinping, citing how the Chinese President used words such as open border, win-win cooperation, integration, during speeches in the World Economic Forum at Davos which is completely different from his internal messaging in China.

He said, “The internal focus of China is getting the lead in technology so it can do to America what it thinks America is doing to it. So, it’s about using your power.” This is about using China’s economy and technology as an “instrument of power.”

On the probability of war between the US and China and how it will impact US allies, Japan, South Korea, Australia and the Philippines, his thinking is though the Chinese military are planning, preparing resources, and training for it, “they don’t want to invade Taiwan and nor does the Chinese leadership.” He feels a more likely scenario is a blockade of Taiwan with China simply declaring the island as part of the China Custom Zone and will control anything going in or out. This will immediately affect the Philippines.

Rear Admiral Rommel Jude Ong (Ret.), Professor of Praxis of the Ateneo School

of Government and Trustee of the Foundation for National Interest, spoke on how the Philippines should have a maritime defense strategy being a “strategic real estate” (sic) in the middle of Indo-Pacific tensions.

He cited the importance of alliance partnership management with the US, Japan, Australia, and the EU states particularly France.

He recommends establishing “supply chain defense strategic cooperation” with countries like India and South Korea. Like the US strategy in the Pacific, the Philippines should have its own hub and spoke system of partnerships built around national interests.

Furthermore, he emphasized the need to enhance the counterintelligence posture to counter influence operations by China, break down institutional blocks preventing cooperation and synergy of Philippine agencies, establish a robust military supply chain and domestic defense, and channel friendly foreign direct investments to vulnerable LGUs particular in the Northern regions.

Mr. Richard Heydarian, Non-Resident Fellow of Stratbase ADR Institute and Senior Lecturer at the University of the Philippines – Asian Center maintains that as allies of the US, the Philippines cannot be neutral in this ongoing “game of deterrence” where no one wants a war.

That in building deterrence capabilities, the more unlikely that there will be war.

He said the focus should be on intelligence and security with the help of our allies the US, Australia, Japan, and France. and from them, we can learn “how to make sure that we can protect the integrity without undermining our democratic institution.”

Experts are seeing a more unstable maritime situation in Asia.

As the Philippines is at the strategic center of this Indo-Pacific game of deterrence, our play should be to engage our allies in joint maritime patrols and to quickly build the defense capabilities of our Navy and Coast Guard.

Welcoming PH-US ‘strategic agreements’

new sites under the Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement.

The United States expressed gratitude to President Ferdinand Marcos, Jr. for allowing the US military to broaden its presence in the Philippines, to the mutual benefit of both the Philippines and the US.

In this context, we note the clarification made by former US Secretary of State Michael Pompeo, former US Ambassador Sung Kim and the present Secretary of State Anthony Blinken that, under the Philippine-US Mutual Defense Treaty, the US is committed to back the Philippines in the event of a Chinese armed attack against Philippine armed forces, public vessels or aircraft which are rightfully stationed or transiting in the South China Sea, including the West Philippine Sea.

We look forward to the following:

We are very grateful for all these constructive developments and we hope that all these will advance peace and stability in the region to protect the rules-based international order

To obtain multilateral support, it behooves us to bring our overwhelming Arbitral victory to the U.N. General Assembly. When I asked a very senior diplomat

why we had not successfully done this, the response was that over time they observed that our issue had lost support. Since there was no support from the last administration to begin with, why help a country which refuses to be helped?

We look forward to the possibility of revisiting other approaches such as operational leases for acquiring newer military assets that are faster and maybe cheaper for the defense of Philippine waters and territory.

Since its independence, India has developed very effective ballistic missiles including BrahMos.

As we had previously said, we are opposed to war – as we should be.

But if threatened by the use of force, we should be ready to inflict, at the very least, a bloody nose on any attacker who is out to harm us.

We believe the BrahMos missiles for

the Philippines will significantly improve our deterrent capacity against unlawful incursions in our territory.

We are very grateful for all these constructive developments.

We hope all these will advance peace and stability in the region to protect the rulesbased international order.

(ADR, Chair, Stratbase ADR Institute, was the Secretary of Foreign Affairs of the Philippines from 2011 to 2016. On July 7, 2015, del Rosario appeared before the Arbitral Tribunal in The Hague to present “Why the Philippines brought this case to Arbitration and its importance to the region and the world.” On February 8, 2016, del Rosario announced he would resign as DFA Secretary, citing health reasons. He stepped down on March 7, 2016, nearly four months before the end of President Aquino’s term).

‘Western arms won’t be used to hit Russia’

“There is a consensus on this point,”

Chancellor Olaf Scholz said in an interview with the weekly Bild am Sonntag.

Ukraine’s Western allies have pledged to arm it with precision rockets and missile systems, as well as tanks, as it tries to push back Russian troops in its east.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has compared the intervention of countries such as Germany with his nation’s struggle during World War II.

“Again and again, we are forced to repel the aggression of the collective West,” he said Thursday on the 80th anniversary of the Soviet victory at the Battle of Stalingrad.

But Scholz rejected the comparison.

“His words are part of a series of absurd historical comparisons that he uses to justify his attack on Ukraine,” he said.

“But nothing justifies this war.

“Together with our allies, we are supplying battle tanks to Ukraine so that it can defend itself. We have carefully weighed each delivery of weapons, in close coordination with our allies, starting with America.”

He said that such a consensus-based approach “avoids an escalation.”

On Friday, the Pentagon said a new $2.2 billion US arms package for Ukraine includes a new rocket-propelled precision bomb that could nearly double Kyiv’s strike range against the Russians.

Pentagon spokesman Pat Ryder said the new package includes the groundlaunched small-diameter bombs (GLSDB), a munition that can fly up to 150 kilometers (93 miles), which would threaten Russian positions and depots far behind the front lines.

“This gives them a longer-range capability... that will enable them to conduct operations in defense of their country and to take back their sovereign territory,” Ryder said. Ukraine had been asking the United States for munitions that can fly farther than the HIMARS rockets with an 80-kilometer (50-mile) range.

The GLSDB potentially gives Ukraine forces an ability to strike anywhere in the Russian-occupied Donbas, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson regions, and the northern part of occupied Crimea.

That could threaten key Russian supply lines, arms depots and air bases. AFP

or sovereignty, and,

was born on August 6, 1998, in Manila Philippines. I have been a resident of the Philippines since birth. At present, I am a citizen or subject of People’s Republic of China (P.R.O.C.)

4. My father's name is TAN KIAN TING A.K.A. JAMES B. TY and he was born on January 26, 1960, in Manila. He is a citizen or subject of People’s Republic of China. My mother's name is ZHUANG WEIXUAN and she was born on March 11, 1978 in Fujian,

CYAN MAGENTA YELLOW BLACK

11. I have enrolled my minor children of school age in the following public schools or private educational institutions duly recognized by the Department of Education, Culture and Sports (DECS), where Philipine History, government and civics are taught and prescribed as part of the school curriculum and where enrollment is not limited to any race or nationality: Name of Child Name and Place of School Date of Enrollment N/A N/A N/A

12. I shall never be a public charge. I am of good moral character. I believe in the principles underlying the Philippine Constitution. I have conducted myself in a proper and irreproachable manner

predominance of one's ideas. I am not a polygamist nor a believer in the practice of polygamy. I have not been convicted of any crime involving moral turpitude. I am not suffering from mental alienation or from any incurable contagious disease. The country of which I am a citizen or subject is not at war with the Philippines and grants to Filipinos the right to be naturalized citizens or subjects thereof.

It is my true and honest intention to become a citizen

POPE Francis appealed Sunday to the people of South Sudan to lay down their “weapons of hatred” at an openair mass on the final day of his pilgrimage to a country blighted by violence and poverty.

Large crowds of ecstatic worshippers streamed into the John Garang Mausoleum in the capital Juba to see the 86-year-old pontiff, who has made peace and reconciliation the theme of his three-day trip to the world’s newest nation.

“Let us lay down the weapons of hatred and revenge...

Let us overcome the dislikes and aversions that over time have become chronic and risk pitting tribes and ethnic groups against one another,” he said in his homily.

People waved national flags and sang “Welcome holy father to South Sudan” as the Argentine pontiff moved through the crowds in his popemobile before delivering the

Pope urges end to ethnic hatred in South Sudan IN BRIEF

mass to an audience local authorities put at around 70,000.

Francis is on the first papal visit to the largely Christian country since it achieved independence from mainly Muslim Sudan in 2011 and plunged into a civil war that killed nearly 400,000 people.

Despite a peace deal signed in 2018 between President Salva Kiir and his deputy Riek Machar, many of its conditions remain unmet and violence continues to roil the country, driving people from their homes into displacement camps.

The wheelchair-bound pontiff, who himself tried to broker peace during the civil war, has received a rapturous welcome throughout his visit.

“I came to see the pope bring change to the country. For many years we’ve been at war, but we need peace. We want the pope to pray for us,” said James Agiu, 24. AFP

Pakistan’s former military ruler Pervez Musharraf dies—Army

PAKISTAN’S former military ruler Pervez Musharraf has died in Dubai aged 79 after a long illness, the army said Sunday.

Musharraf seized power in a 1999 bloodless coup, ruling as “chief executive” when the 9/11 attacks on the United States took place, before becoming president in 2001.

He was America’s chief regional ally during its invasion of neighboring Afghanistan, but resigned in 2008 and was forced into exile after a backlash over his constitutional overreach.

Senior military chiefs “express heartfelt condolences on sad demise of General Pervez Musharraf,” a brief statement released by the military’s media wing said. “May Allah bless the departed soul and give strength to bereaved family.”

The four-star general died in hospital in Dubai on Sunday morning, according to media reports and a senior security official who spoke to AFP. AFP

US cargo train derails, causing massive fire

A CARGO train derailed in the midwestern United States, sparking a massive fire and triggering the release of small amounts of vinyl chloride, a hazardous chemical, officials said Saturday.

No injuries or fatalities were reported after around 50 cars of the 140-car train came off the tracks late Friday near the Ohio-Pennsylvania state border.

The Norfolk Southern train was shipping cargo from Madison, Illinois, to Conway, Pennsylvania, when it derailed in East Palestine, Ohio. Ten of the cars that derailed carried hazardous materials, including five with vinyl chloride, the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), the lead federal investigating agency, said in a tweet Saturday night.

Vinyl chloride, a colorless gas, is deemed carcinogenic by the US National Cancer Institute. It is used to make the white plastic PVC pipes commonly used in plumbing.

“We have not confirmed that vinyl chloride has been released other than from the pressure release devices” installed on some cars, the NTSB tweet said.

The devices relieve a buildup of pressure in the tanker cars to prevent explosions.

Several explosions were heard as the cars continued to burn into Saturday.

“It’s an active fire scene,” said NTSB board member Michael Graham.

Low temperatures hampered the effort, as fire trucks pumping water froze up.

Firefighters wore hazmat suits as they tackled the blaze.

Roughly 2,000 residents – about half of the town’s population – were asked by authorities to evacuate their homes.

Officials asked anyone living within a onemile (1.6-kilometer) radius of the scene to leave. They also enforced a shelter-in-place order for the entire town.

“We cannot stress enough that we need everyone to stay away from the scene,” East Palestine’s town manager wrote in a letter posted on Facebook. AFP

9 missing after fishing boat capsizes in Sokor

RESCUE workers were searching by sea and air for nine people missing after a fishing boat capsized in waters off South Korea’s southwestern coast, authorities said Sunday.

The 24-tonne vessel overturned in waters off the coast of Sinan county late Saturday night, according to the interior ministry.

Three crew members were rescued by a nearby boat, but nine others—including two foreigners—remained missing, the ministry added in a statement.

More than a dozen vessels and three aircraft from the coastguard and the navy had been deployed to search for the missing people, it said.

Most of the crew are believed to have left the capsized boat, Yonhap news agency reported, citing Interior Minister Lee Sang-min.

President Yoon Suk-yeol urged maximum efforts for the rescue operation, ordering the mobilization of “all available resources” to widen the search area, his office said. AFP

CYAN MAGENTA YELLOW BLACK

UKRAINE’S President Volodymyr Zelensky agrees that weapons supplied by the West will not be used to attack Russian territory, Germany’s leader said in an interview Sunday.

RELIGIOUS PIERCINGS. A Hindu devotee with multiple piercings takes part in a procession to mark the Thaipusam festival in Singapore on February 5, 2023. The festival, which commemorates the day when Goddess Pavarthi gave her son Lord Muruga an invincible lance with which he destroyed evil demons, is celebrated by some two million ethnic Indians in Malaysia and Singapore. AFP

Pervez Musharraf

PSEi February 3, 2023

TOP GAINERS

GIGAFACTORY PROTESTERS.

Protesters hold up a placard reading ‘Battery Factory Hungary Stop’ during a demonstration against the plans of Chinese battery giant CATL to build Europe’s largest gigafactory, in Debrecen, Hungary on Feb. 4, 2023. The construction of the factory outside Debrecen already started a few days ago. AFP

TOP LOSERS

MOST ACTIVE

Analysts see stock market moving sideways this week

By Jenniffer B. Austria

SHARE prices may move sideways this week with an upward bias, as investors await the release of January inflation rate, which could provide a hint to the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas’ next policy direction.

Analysts said the January inflation would be a crucial indicator for the BSP’s policy decision in its meeting slated this month and could indicate the trend in the first half of the year.

The BSP earlier said January inflation likely accelerated to 8.3 percent from a

Integral human development in Blessings Seminary Bakeshop

LAST year, I inherited the stewardship of a 29-year-old bakeshop owned by the Diocese of Imus, the Blessings Seminary Bakeshop. My turn to manage the Bakeshop is also a blessing. I am still in the process of convincing myself. I have frequented this bakeshop since I was a seminarian. I was then assigned to get the bread that was about to expire. We eat them as our merienda. And I was informed that the tradition continues. The seminarians are spoilage-saviors.

My first visit as the general manager of the Bakeshop was different. I was like an inspector, checking every corner to find what needed to be fixed and the areas that needed to be improved. A friend accompanied me, and I remember whispering to him, “Ang pinaka magandang gawin ay isara ang bakeshop, gibain ang building at magtayo ng commercial spaces.” The area is in a residential barangay in Imus, Cavite. Hundreds of villages and subdivisions surround the seminary compound. The idea of having a commercial building is very promising.

My joke about closing Blessings Bakeshop was met with a slap in the face. A framed history of the BSB hangs on the wall, handwritten on parchment but already faded. Reading the first lines of the bakeshop’s early beginning humiliated me. The story is not a narration of how a business enterprise got started. It narrates the vision of its founder. It tells the story of integral human development. It is indeed a story of BLESSINGS.

“Out of a great and deep pastoral concern inspired by an infectious desire to help the less-privileged, Msgr. Felix Paz Perez, D.D., then Bishop of Imus, embarked on putting up various livelihood projects to bolster a certain degree of improvement in their lives and, at the same time, for these projects to become effective venues for values formation and these to become trumpets echoing God’s providential care.” The dream was to improve the lives of the community.

Barangay Buhay na Tubig is a community in the middle of nowhere. The priests at that time were laughing at the idea of buying property there to build a seminary. The road was not cemented. There was just one single sari-sari store and no public transport. It was even a place where salvage victims were thrown. These heightened Bishop Perez’s dreams. The Church, through the presence of the seminary, ought to serve as a tiny spark of hope in a very dark community.

Green LiGht

14-year high of 8.1 percent in December on the back of higher prices of electricity, fuel and food items.

Online brokerage firm 2TradeAsia.com said while the US Federal Reserve’s decision to implement smaller rate hikes fueled enthusiasm among investors, investors should not be too optimistic about the prospects of rates going down.

“We maintain our view that equity holders are better off expecting rates to remain elevated than project a pivot over the next three to six months, as macro indicators have shown little to no evidence that rates should be lowered anytime soon,” 2TradeAsia.com said.

The online brokerage firm noted Philippine Stock Exchange index’s staying power at the 7,000 level, accompanied by decent turnover and foreign buying. It said the level was supportive of a healthy correction needed to achieve the

7,500 level.

It said the start of the earnings season would also boost investor sentiments as companies were expected to report strong fourth-quarter performance. Companies may report lower capital spending and dividend guidance for 2023 which could dampen investor sentiments.

“Earnings confirmation over the short term may force participants to break from this broad-based exuberance in favor of asset-specific fundamentals,” it said.

The PSEi closed lower by 0.35 percent last week to 7,027.38 on Friday, while the broader all-share index rose 0.21 percent to 3,705.46.

Menwhile, Wall Street stocks declined Friday after a blowout January jobs reports raised fresh questions about the outlook for monetary policy as markets digested disappointing earnings.

SAN FRANCISCO, United States—

Jurors on Friday cleared Elon Musk of liability for investors’ losses in a fraud trial over his 2018 tweets falsely claiming that he had funding in place to take Tesla private.

The tweets sent the Tesla share price on a rollercoaster ride, and Musk was sued by shareholders who said the tycoon acted recklessly in an effort to squeeze investors who had bet against the company.

Jurors deliberated for barely two hours before returning to the San Francisco courtroom to say they unanimously agreed that neither Musk nor the Tesla board perpetrated fraud with the tweets and in their aftermath.

“Thank goodness, the wisdom of the people has prevailed!” tweeted Musk, who had tried but failed to get the trial moved to Texas on the grounds jurors in California would be biased against him.

“I am deeply appreciative of the jury’s unanimous finding of innocence in the Tesla 420 take-private case.” Attorney Nicholas Porritt, who represents Glen Littleton and other investors in Tesla, had argued in court that the case was about making sure the rich and powerful have to abide by the same stock market rules as everyone else.

“Elon Musk published tweets that were false with reckless disregard as to their truth,” Porritt told the panel of nine jurors during closing arguments.

Porritt pointed to expert testimony estimating that Musk’s claim about funding, which turned out not to be true, cost investors billions of dollars overall and that Musk and the Tesla board should be made to pay damages.

But Musk attorney Alex Spiro successfully countered that the billionaire may have erred on wording in a hasty tweet, but that he did not set out to deceive anyone. AFP

The seminary fathers then initiated livelihood programs: babuyan, manukan, palaisdan. All these endeavors involved the seminarians and the very small community in the area. It was indeed a venue for the formation of values for future priests. That was how they were taught about the Church’s social doctrines. They understood the lesson not in the classroom but by relating to and living with the community of Buhay na Tubig.

“The vision and dream of seeing people given prime focus, empowered, spiritually filled and lives improved drove Bishop Perez toward going around the Diocese and establishing farmers cooperatives, agricultural ventures, and the like. He believed that given the opportunity and proper guidance of the Church, people will learn to appreciate the value of self-determination through hard work that instills honesty and active participation, discouraging laxity, passivity and fatality.”

I never had the opportunity to meet Bishop Perez. I was just in Grade 1 when he died. But his story lives on. He is the bishop who shaped and influenced the character of the Diocese. He cared so much about the people’s lives that his pastoral care for the Church always involved the integral dimension of the human person. He patterned his ministry after that of the Good Shepherd himself. He preached in the streets. He joined rallies. He was a frontman on the picket lines. He was once bombed with a water cannon. He did all this because he believed the human person was not just a soul to be saved.

The human person has a body. The human person gets hungry, sick, tired and lost. He responded to the call of the Second Plenary Council of the Philippines for a renewed integral evangelization.

To be continued.

The author is an MBA student at the Ramon V. del Rosario College of Business, DLSU. He can be reached at reinier_ dumaop@dlsu.edu.ph.

The views expressed above are the author’s and do not necessarily reflect the official position of DLSU, its faculty, and its administrators.

Jurors clear Musk in fraud trial over 2018 tweets, auto firm’s shares rise

FR. REINIER R. DUMAOP

Ayala-led group shows interest in NAIA modernization

By Jenniffer B. Austria

CONGLOMERATE Ayala Corp. said it remains interested in the Ninoy Aquino International Airport modernization project after the government revived offers for the redevelopment of the country’s main gateway.

Ayala chief finance officer Alberto de Larrazabal said in a recent interview the conglomerate was looking at the project, together with other members of the NAIA Consortium.

“It is something we are looking at. It obviously needs help, and if there is an opportunity for us, then we will gladly help the government,” De Larrazabal said.

“It will still be with the NAIA consortium,” De Larrazabal said, when asked if the company would participate in the NAIA modernization through the previously formed “super consortium”.

The NAIA Consortium, which included Aboitiz InfraCapital Inc., AC Infrastructure Holdings Corp., Alliance Global Group Inc., Asia’s Emerging Dragon Corp., Filinvest Development Corp. and JG Summit Holdings Inc., submitted a proposal to rehabilitate NAIA for P102 billion in 2018.

Members of the consortium dropped the project after two years of negotiations over unresolved issues with the government and the financial viability of the project amid the pandemic.

Megawide Construction Corp. and partner India-based GMR Infrastructure Ltd. also submitted a proposal to rehabilitate and upgrade NAIA for $3 billion with a contract period of 18 years.

The Marcos administration expressed willingness to entertain new proposals for the multibillion-peso rehabilitation

BRIEF

LandBank’s profit grew

38% to P30.1b last year

STATE-RUN Land Bank of the Philippines posted a 38.2-percent increase in net income in 2022 to P30.1 billion from P21.7 billion in 2021 and surpassed by almost P5 billion its full-year target of P25.7 billion.

LandBank president and chief executive Cecilia

Borromeo said in a statement over the weekend the bank also breached the P30-billion mark in total net income for the first time, driven by the substantial interest income from loans and investments, alongside earnings from fees, commissions and foreign exchange, among other income sources.

“LandBank’s strong performance in 2022 represents another milestone year, with a solid balance sheet that continues to overcome external headwinds and yield sustainable growth,” Borromeo said.

“We look forward to a more favorable economic environment this year, as we take on a more prominent role in nation-building as a development institution,” she said.

Assets posted a double-digit expansion of 21.5 percent to P3.1 trillion from P2.6 trillion. The increase was driven by deposits, expanding by 21.8 percent to P2.8 trillion from P2.3 trillion in 2021. Julito G. Rada

PH and S. Korea in talks for supply of green metals

THE Philippine government is in talks with South Korea on three economic cooperation agreements on green metals processing, new industries and renewable energy, according to the Department of Trade and Industry.

“As we transition into a greener and more sustainable future, the importance and prominence of green metals are needed to empower RE. Korea is trying to secure their supply. We have the green metals, Korea doesn’t,” said Trade Undersecretary Ceferino Rodolfo over the weekend.

The DTI has a standing proposal to Korea to establish a processing facility in the Philippines that may include electric battery manufacturing. The Philippines is among the few major sources of iron ore—one of the green metals needed to manufacture electric batteries.

About 70 percent of the Philippines’ nickel exports go to China. The Philippines is also a major supplier of cobalt and copper. Othel V. Campos

NEA reviews ratings of electric cooperatives

THE National Electrification Administration plans to amend the categorization process of electric cooperatives to focus on their financial performance.

“I want a reflection of the true state of operations both on the technical and financial management,” NEA administrator Antonio Mariano Almeda said.

“The department that undertakes the categorization and I will be implementing major amendments into the criteria involved because I have to put emphasis on the financial management,” Almeda said.

“Financial management is the bulk for me, because I am taking it from the idea that it is the consumers’ money...It’s in my mandate that I have to protect the money of the consumer-members,” he said.

Almeda said some ECs would likely be affected by the new categorization especially those with unpaid debt with the government and the Power Sector Assets and Liabilities Management Corp.

He said some electric cooperatives would likely go down in categorization. “One coop is rated triple AAA, but from the books of PSALM, they have a debt of P1.5 billion,” he said. Alena Mae S. Flores

and upgrade of the NAIA.

The project aims to alleviate the worsening air traffic congestion at the main gateway and resolve capacity constraints by reconfiguring and renovating facilities and enhancing operation and maintenance. This will allow for the accommodation of more traffic.

The rehabilitation project also aims to broaden NAIA’s role as a key economic and tourism driver for Metro Manila and the whole Philippines, deliver capital infrastructure investment to improve the airport’s efficiency and increase its capacity to meet the growing passenger demand from the Philippines and the Asia Pacific region.

The Department of Transportation signed last week three transaction advisory service agreements with the Asian Development Bank to expedite the privatization of the operations and maintenance of the Ninoy Aquino International Airport and development of two major railway projects.

DOTr Secretary Jaime Bautista said the agency was working with the ADB in preparing the terms of reference for the NAIA operation’s privatization. He said only the operations and maintenance would be privatized, but the regulatory function would remain with the government.

“The government will have a say in the rates that the operators will impose,” said Bautista, a former president of Philippine Airlines, said.

DIGITAL CHAMPIONS. Outstanding microentrepreneurs and microfinance institutions who have successfully transitioned their business to harness digital solutions receive recognition at the 1st Digital Financial Inclusion Awards. The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas and Citi Philippines headed the virtual awarding of the 1st DFIA, which aims to strengthen financial inclusion through digitalization of the microfinance sector in the Philippines. The program evolved from the Citi Microentrepreneurship Awards which MCPI implemented for 18 years starting in 2002.

PSE INDEX CLOSING

Friday, February 3, 2023

41.19 PTS.

7,027.38

F oreign e xchange r ate Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas •FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 3, 2023

Currency UnitUS DollarPeso United States Dollar 1.00000053.9550

Megawide unit spending P5b to build second transport terminal in Parañaque

By Darwin G. Amojelar

MWM Terminals Inc., a subsidiary

of Megawide Construction Corp., is spending P5 billion to build a new transport terminal near Parañaque Integrated Terminal Exchange—the country’s first landport.

Megawide said the PITX Lot 2 development project would include four levels, with commercial leasing assets occupying the floors above the bus staging area.

“The project is currently undergoing design revision and reconceptualization and is being modified to serve its best use under the new operating environment,” Megawide said. It said developments over the last six months were fluid and encouraging.

Megawide said it had identified several areas as potential landport locations, with advanced discussions already taking place, to scale up its existing transport-oriented development portfolio, including PITX.

“The company expects to make more

concrete headway and visibility with other projects in this segment within the next six to 12 months that will require initial funding,” it said.

Megawide also said the development of Lot 2 (1.8 hectares) would further improve terminal operations by providing a staging area for buses. It will also offer additional employment and business opportunities through the construction of office towers and retail establishments inside the facility.

MWM Terminals won the 35-year contract to construct and operate PITX in 2015.

PITX is a 4.5-hectare development and its Lot 1 (2.7 hectares) houses the transport terminal, commercial spaces and office buildings under one roof. With a rated capacity of 100,000 passengers daily, PITX offers seamless connections to and from the southwest portion of Metro Manila, via multiple modes of transportation, from provincial to in-city buses, taxis, jeepneys and UV Express shuttles.

BPI’s income soared 66% to P39.6b in 2022

By Julito G. Rada

BANK of the Philippine Islands, the third-largest lender in terms of assets, posted a record net income of P39.6 billion in 2022, or 66 percent higher than in 2021, driven by strong loan growth, higher net interest margin, lower provisions and a gain from a property sale.

BSP said in a statement over the weekend the remarkable performance translated into a return on equity of 13.14 percent and return on assets of 1.59 percent.

SCHOLARSHIP PLATFORM. ABC TECH Ventures Inc. chairman and chief executive Arvin Arik Carranceja (left) signs a memorandum of agreement with WOOP Solutions Inc. chief executive Honesty Tagiobon (center) and chief strategy officer Kevin Tagiobon to provide financially-challenged Filipino students hope for the future. ABC Tech has invested heavily in the Windows of Opportunity scholarship matching platform which employs user-friendly means to ensure accessibility to scholarships. WOOP focuses on breaking barriers and providing avenues for financially-challenged but driven and deserving Filipino students, thereby bridging the gap between those who endeavor to help and those in need of securing scholarships from the private sector.

Meralco prepares to secure 480-MW supply for dry months

By Alena Mae S. Flores

POWER retailer Manila Electric Co.

said over the weekend it expects to conclude the competitive selection process for the combined 480 megawatts of supply ahead of the dry season.

Meralco first vice president and head of regulatory management Jose Ronald Valles said the company needed to secure 300 MW for its peaking requirement from Feb. 26 to July 25, 2023 and 180-MW baseload supply from Feb. 26 to Feb. 25, 2024.

“Both are still undergoing CSP. Hopefully, we can conclude the CSP in time for the start of delivery of supply on March 26,” Valles said.

He said four companies expressed

STATE-RUN Government Service Insurance System reported a recordbreaking P6.8-billion gross premiums written in its non-life insurance business in 2022, the highest achieved by the fund in its history.

GSIS said the 2022 GPW increased by 15 percent from P5.9 billion in 2021. It also recorded a 33-percent or P1-billion increase in net premium written in the same year, from P3 bil-

interest to supply Meralco’s combined power requirements. The bid submission deadline for the 180-MW contract capacity and the 300-MW contract capacity were set on Feb. 1 and Feb. 2, 2023, respectively. Sources, however, said the two CSPs may be declared a failure because of the lack of qualified bidders, forcing Meralco to conduct another round of bidding.

The Department of Energy forecasts thin power reserves in the Luzon grid starting March.

The DOE said yellow alerts would likely occur on the following dates— March 12 to 18, March 26 and April 1, April 23 to 29, the entire month of May, June 1 to June 10, Aug. 17 to Sept. 2, Oct. 15 to 21 and Nov. 19 to 25.

lion in 2021 to P4 billion in 2022. With a net worth of P41 billion in 2022, GSIS is now the biggest nonlife insurer in the country.

“I commend the men and women of GSIS who made this achievement possible. During my oath-taking as head of GSIS in July 2022, one of the marching orders that President [Ferdinand] Marcos [Jr.] gave me was to provide insurance cover to all

It expressed hope there would be no sudden outage of large power plants, which could trigger a red alert and implement manual load dropping leading to power outages.

Energy Secretary Raphael Lotilla said demand-side management is necessary for managing the country’s power supply. DSM focuses on utilizing energy-efficient equipment and appliances and promoting and implementing policies and programs that best fit each industry.

“Let’s save electricity usage so we won’t need additional plants. If our consumption becomes more efficient, we do not need to run the diesel-fired power plants, which are more expensive,” Lotilla said.

government properties. And we have been making headways in complying with the president’s directive,” GSIS president and general-manager Wick Veloso said. Acting on the president’s instruction, Veloso and his general insurance teams immediately embarked on a nationwide aggressive campaign and tripled GSIS’s efforts in marketing its non-life insurance products.

“Excluding the impact of the oneoff gain from the property sale, net income stood at P35.9 billion, up 50.2 percent,” the bank said.

BPI said that in the fourth quarter, net income climbed 41.4 percent yearon-year to P9.1 billion.

The bank generated record revenue of P118.5 billion in 2022, up 21.7 percent year-on-year, boosted by the 22.2-percent growth in net interest income to P85.1 billion, on the back of asset base expansion and improvement in net interest margin by 28 basis points to 3.59 percent.

Non-interest income grew 20.3 percent to P33.5 billion, primarily from the one-off gain on the property sale, higher fees from the credit cards business and transaction banking services and gains from foreign exchange transactions.

Total operating expenses grew 14.3 percent to P58.0 billion, with all categories showing increases, led by technology and marketing. The costto-income ratio was 48.9 percent, but excluding the property sale, the ratio would have been 51.1 percent.

The pension fund chief has been going around the country to meet as many local government officials as possible to convince them to insure their properties with GSIS.

Veloso rallied his insurance teams and motivated them to go out to market their non-life insurance products. He awarded top performers who generated new insurance businesses during the weekly flag-raising ceremony.

Bureau of Customs

Continuing a standard of excellence

By Patricia Taculao

THE Bureau of Customs is both the country’s first and last line of defense —the first shield against smuggled goods or items that need phytosanitary clearance, among others, and the last barrier to protect, for example, Philippine intellectual property rights or endangered species from being illegally brought outside the country.

And this function has been in place long before the Bureau of Customs that we know now was established 121 years ago today.

Historical records show that the country’s customs service began long before eastern and western expeditionary arrived. Because of its strategic position, the Philippines had a flourishing trade with Southeast Asian countries through the indigenous barter system. Datus or rajahs collected tributes from the people before they engaged in trade. Collecting the levies became part of their culture and the customs law of the land.

CRACKING THE WHIP

ON SMUGGLERS

The present-day Bureau of Customs continues to secure the country’s borders while keeping smugglers at bay. Last year was no exception as the bureau, under the leadership of Commissioner Yogi Filemon Ruiz, did not only post a surplus in its revenues but also seized illegal drugs and smuggled goods, including agricultural products, valued at P23.582 billion. Of the total, smuggled agricultural products accounted for P1.226 billion.

The BOC also recorded 107 drug bust operations in 2022, resulting in the seizure of more than P11.953 billion worth of illegal drugs and the arrest of 33 individuals who were turned over to the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency.

A total of P292.490 million in revenue was also collected from Public Auctions conducted by various collection districts nationwide last year. Under its Fuel Marking Program, the bureau has marked 17.63 billion liters of petroleum products and collected an estimated P230.89 billion in revenue from January to December, 2022.

Customs surpasses P65-b revenue target in January

By Joel E. Zurbano

THE Bureau of Customs has surpassed its P65 billion revenue collection goal for the month of January by P5.31 billion, or 8.17 percent more than its target.

Ten of the 17 collection districts, including the Manila International Container Port (MICP), were also able to meet their respective goals and contributed to the P70.3 billion total collection of the agency for the month.

The MICP, one of the three major ports, collected P17,164,356,092 up by P14.206,468.60 or 0.08 percent, against its P17,150,149,623 target. The port in North Harbor Manila is where most of the bulk shipments were handled.

The other ports that surpassed their targets were Legaspi, San Fernando, Iloilo, Cagayan de Oro, Clark, Batangas, Tacloban, Limay, and Subic.

Based on the bureau’s initial January 2023 collection reports, Legaspi posted the highest surplus collection with 76.3 percent followed by Tacloban (51.8 percent) and San Fernando (36.1 percent).

Batangas is also up by (29.5 percent) followed by Limay (23.2 percent), Clark (17.8 percent), Cagayan de Oro (6.8 percent), Subic (4.5 percent), and Iloilo (0.9 percent).

PURSUING CASES, HOLDING

ACCOUNTABLE

PEOPLE

The Bureau of Customs has also filed 11 criminal complaints against officials of several forwarders before the Department of Justice for failure to lodge the goods declaration or to claim the goods within the prescribed period without valid justification. It has likewise lodged 105 criminal cases before the DOJ against unscrupulous importers and customs brokers for violation of customs laws, rules, and regulations. Likewise, some 21 administrative cases were filed before the Professional

Regulation Commission against errant customs brokers. The bureau also revoked the accreditation of 298 importers and 106 customs brokers as they were found to have violated the provisions of the Customs Modernization and Tariff Act.

DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION

The Bureau of Customs also launched its National Customs Intelligence System (NCIS). The web portal serves as the secure data warehouse of intelligence information from the agency’s intelligence and enforcement offices. The system enables these offices to generate reports with seamless,

transparent, and comprehensive decision-making analysis for a more responsive border control policy.

Aside from the NCIS, the agency implemented six other digitization projects in 2022, namely, the Liquidation and Billing System (LBS), Electronic Customs Baggage and Currencies Declaration (iDeclare) System, Raw Materials Liquidation System, E2M-ETRACC Integration, Payment Application Secure 6 (PAS6), and ASEAN Customs Declaration Document (ACDD) System. The digitalization of procedures within the bureau is now at “91 percent” complete.

On the other hand, the major ports Manila and Ninoy Aquino International Airport, and five other ports Davao, Cebu, Zamboanga, Surigao, and Aparri did not meet their revenue collection targets for the month.

Commissioner Yogi Filemon Ruiz said with a revenue of P58.346 billion posted in January 2022, the bureau under his leadership increased its collection by 20.53 percent or P11.98 billion this year.

In January alone, he said the agency conducted 36 apprehensions and seized approximately P908.137 million worth of various commodities in violation of the Republic Act No. 10863 or the Customs Modernization and Tariff Act (CMTA).

Among the seized goods were P794.463 million worth of smuggled agricultural products and P104.833 million worth of illegal drugs.

Aligned with the priority programs of Ruiz, the Customs bureau sustains its positive performance by heightening border protection measures and strengthening its anti-smuggling program to ensure optimal lawful revenue collection.

DIGITAL SOLUTIONS. The Bureau of Customs, under the leadership of Commissioner Yogi Filemon Ruiz, continues to strengthen the monitoring of the movement and location of containers to secure the transit of imported goods through the intensified implementation of the Electronic Tracking of Containerized Cargo (E-TRACC) System. This enables the real-time monitoring of inland movement of container goods using an ICT-enabled system such as a GPS-enabled tracking device with a state-of-the-art alarm feature than can detect diversion and tampering.

Commissioner Yogi Filemon Ruiz

PNVF names men’s pool members ahead of camp

THE Philippine National Volleyball Federation announced on Sunday the members of the national men’s pool from which the national team to the Cambodia 32nd Southeast Games in May will be culled out.

The pool buckled down to Day 1 of practice at the University of Santo Tomas Quadricentennial Pavilion under head coach Odjie Mamon, according to PNVF president Ramon “Tats” Suzara.

The pool, Suzara said, will then fly to Chinese-Taipei on February 15 for a 10-day training camp, which includes tune-up matches against Taiwanese pro clubs Taipower, Win+Streak, Taichung Apollo and TFMI Falcon in the cities of Kaohsiung, Taichung and Tauyuan.

“This partnership with the Chinese Taipai Volleyball Association, through its secretary-general Chan Jing-Jong, is just part of the various deals or joint programs that the PNVF has forged with our foreign counterparts,” Suzara said.

The members of the pool are Jade Disquitado, Lloyd Josafat, Rex Intal, Rwenzmel Taguibolos, Leo Ordiales, Joshua Umandal, Vince Lorenzo, Jay Rack de la Noche, Madzlan Gampong, Kim Dayandante, Jelex Mendiola, Vince Mangulabnan, Edward Camposano, Jayvee Sumagaysay and Noel Kampton.

Joining Mamon are assistant coach Rommel John Abella, strength and conditioning coach Miggy Samonte, tra iner Mark Alfafara and team manager Jerome Guhit.

They had a huddle with PNVF secretary-general Donaldo Caringal, national team commission chairman Tonyboy Liao and member Oliver Mora at the UST facility on Sunday.

“It’s a mix of young and veteran players but I’m also planning to include five more players in the pool,” Mamon said. “This training exchange program is very important to our SEA Games campaign.”

The men’s pool will have another training camp with the top-tier V.League Division I team Panasonic Panthers in April in Osaka, Japan, according to Suzara.

The PNVF is also expecting the arrival of veteran Brazilian coach Sergio Veloso, who will collaborate with Mamon in handing the men’s team.

IWF wins cement Diaz’s 3rd Athlete of Year award

HIDILYN Diaz is still dominant as ever.

More than a year since giving the Philippines its fi rst gold medal in the Olympics, the Filipina weightlifter hasn’t slowed down yet and reached another milestone in her storied career.

Diaz, 31, finally stamped her class in the IWF World Weightlifting Championships behind a sweep of the women’s 55-kilogram class during the 88th edition of the meet held at the Gran Carpa Americs Corferias Convention Center in the Colombian capital of Bogota.

Behind the golden treble, the Zamboanga City native ruled the snatch with a lift of 93kg and 114kg in the clean-and-jerk, for a total of 207kg and a breakthrough in the world meet following five failed bid in previous campaigns.

The special feat completed Diaz’s bucket list of winning a gold in international events, from the Southeast Asian Games, Asian Games, World Championship, all to the way to the Olympics, an exploit no other Filipino athlete in history had ever achieved.

In recognition of the latest in a long line of honor she brought to the country, Diaz will be bestowed anew with the Athlete of the Year award by the Philippine Sportswriters Association.

The humble Filipina weightlifter will be honored with her third Athlete of the Year trophy in the last five years during the traditional San Miguel Corporation-PSA Awards Night on March 6 at the grand ballroom of the Diamond Hotel.

In all, this will be the fourth Athlete of the Year honor for Diaz, making her only the third person since 2000 to win the award four times after world boxing greats Manny Pacquiao and

Cañiza Women’s Open tennis unwraps with mixed cast

WOMEN’S tennis gets a big boost as the Rina Cañiza Women’s Open gets going Monday with a mix of veteran campaigners and rising stars slugging it out for top honors in individual competition and doubles play at the PCA outdoor courts in Paco, Manila.

La Carlota’s Alexa Milliam topbills the huge 64-player cast that includes Alexei Santos, Justine Maneja, Miles Vitaliano, Althea Ong, Mikaela Vicencio, Kryshana Brazal and Joanna Tan, all geared up in pursuit of the top P50,000 prize staked in singles and another P50,000 in doubles competition of the week-long Group A event presented by Dunlop.

A former national player and an active club campaigner, Cañiza is partnering with the Palawan Pawnshop-Palawan Express Pera Padala to further boost women’s tennis, help raise the level of play in their side of the battle and

produce future national team players.

In fact, Cañiza and the PPSPEPP, led by Palawan Pawnshop president and CEO Bobby Castro, are putting up a six-leg circuit with two tournaments each to be held in Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao.

“Our goal is to boost women’s tennis in line with the PPS junior program. We always believe there’s a lot of players, particularly in the countryside, waiting to be tapped, trained and developed into becoming future stars,” said Cañiza.

Other players tipped to contend for top honors in the event, held in partnership with the Philippine Columbian Association, are Nina Alcala, Dominique Malazarte, Jonamil Prado, Tracy Llamas, Beatrice Gomez, Nicole dela Rita, Sydney Enriquez and Shaira Rivera.

Meanwhile, action shifts to collegiate

level as the National Collegiate Tennis Championship unfolds on Feb. 13, which will likewise feature individual and team plays, also at the PCA courts. For details, contact tournament organizer Bobby Mangunay at 0915-4046464.

Aside from the money purse, also offered in the Cañiza Women’s Open are ranking points from the UTR (Universal Tennis Ranking) and UTP (United Tennis Philippines) with the singles runner-up to receive P25,000. The semifinalists will pocket P10,000 each while the quarterfinalists will get P5,000 each.

Those will reach the Top 16 will receive P2,500 each while the qualifiers will get P1,500 each. The doubles winners will split the top P50,000 purse with the runners-up to get P25,000 and the semifinalist and quarterfinalists to pocket P10,000 and P5,000 each, respectively.

All set for Army Navy Club200 Endurance Race on Feb. 11

IT’S all systems go for the Philippines’ biggest motorsports extravaganza of 2023 – the Army Navy Club200 Endurance Race happening on Feb. 11 at the Clark International Speedway.

Conceptualized by the organizing Club200, the novel motorcycle event will have two-three rider teams sharing just one transponder for the entire run of approximately 200 kilometers, with each participant riding at least 50 laps.

“Everything is set. We expect a thrilling day of motorcycle action at the Speedway, where all participants can live their dreams of riding competitively,” said Red Romero, past president and one of the founding members of the Club200.

“There are a few slots left and so I am inviting all riders of shapes and sizes, excluding those participating in the National Superbikes series, to come in and join this first-of-its-kind motorcycle event,” Romero added.

Registration is ongoing until raceday.

The endurance race is presented by Army Navy, BMW Motorrad Ducati, KTM BGC,

“Hidilyn Diaz was the unanimous choice as Athlete of the Year for 2022 by the Philippine Sportswriters Association. Her latest triumph is a testament to her being a true world-class athlete who continues to be an inspiration to the Filipino people since her historic gold medal win in the Tokyo Olympics,” said PSA president Rey Lachica, sports editor of Tempo.

The gala night presented by the Philippine Sports Commission and Cignal TV, won’t be possible without major backers Philippine Olympic Committee, Tagaytay City Mayor Abraham ‘Bambol’ Tolentino, MILO, Rain or Shine, 1Pacman Rep. Mikee Romero, Philippine Basketball Association, OKBet, and ICTSI.

The year that passed was truly memorable for Diaz, who also won a silver medal in the 2016 Rio Olympics.

An enlisted personnel of the Philippine Air Force with the rank of Staff Sergeant, Hidilyn kicked off her 2022 campaign by retaining the gold in the women’s 55kg event during the 31st Southeast Asian Games in Vietnam last summer.

Two months later, she entered a new phase of her life by marrying long-time coach and fiancé Julius Naranjo in Baguio City.

Following a brief rest, Diaz was back in active competition and soon after, conquered the world with her golden feat in Bogota.

Pros gird for true test at The Country Club

AN elite 30-player cast, made up of five former champions and a host of young guns raring to get going, gears up for four days of battle of talent and skills with emphasis on wits and the ability to endure the challenges that lie in wait at one of the country’s toughest courses.

The P6 million The Country Club Invitational unwraps tomorrow (Tuesday) at the TCC course in Laguna with the winner pocketing a record P2 million prize in what looms to be another survival of the fittest the way it has been on a course that offers lots of high-risk plays.

Pirelli, Angkas, Evo Helmets, APRILIA, Juan Life, Hotel 101, Clutch Moto and Merry Mart, and powered by Wheeltek, Triumph, Harley Davidson of Manila and Motoworld, with Manila Bulletin and C! Magazine as media partners.

A surprise cash prize and a trip to Europe will be given to the champion of the Adventure Class by Clutch Moto, with the group choosing among themselves who the recipient of the awards will be.

Interested riders, who want to join may pay the entry fee (Individual P7,500 /Team P21,000) at the Club200 Riders Association Inc.’s Unionbank, Magallanes Paseo Branch’s account no. 001470007566.

After payment, send a message to the event’s Facebook page (Army Navy Club 200 Endurance Relay Race) https://www.facebook.com/profile. php?id=100084886190715 and the copy of proof of payment (screen shot or photo of deposit slip).

Once the organizer receives the copy of proof of payment, it will send participant an Online Registration Form. Fill up the form, send back and receive confirmation.

“TCC is so difficult that it really is your fight with the course. No matter who plays in the tournament, it’s a tough course for all,” said Guido Van der Valk, the last winner of the Philippine Golf Tour’s flagship tournament in 2020. He edged Clyde Mondilla by one on a seven-over 297 total in a wild finish that has marked each TCC Invitational staging.

The past three editions of the event were also decided via one-shot victories, further underscoring its unpredictability. Tom Kim, now a rising star on the PGA Tour, nipped Keanu Jahns on a 290 total in 2019, Micah Shin foiled Miguel Tabuena in 2018, and Tabuena outlasted Juvic Pagunsan in 2017 on a 13-over 301 total in brutal conditions.

“Your whole game needs to be good – driver and long irons because the course is long, short game because no matter how good you play, you will miss the greens,” added Van der Valk, who scored two victories in last year’s seven-leg PGT to emerge one of the marked players in this week’s championship organized by Pilipinas Golf Tournaments, Inc.

Members of the national pool are (standing from left) trainer Mark Alfafara, head coach Odjie Mamon, Jade Disquitado, Lloyd Josafat, Rex Intal, Rwenzmel Taguibolos, Leo Ordiales, Joshua Umandal, assistant coach Rommel John Abella and strength and conditioning coach Miggy Samonte; (seated from left) Vince Lorenzo, Jay Rack Dela Noche, Madzlan Gampong, Kim Dayandante, Jelex Mendiola, Vince Mangulabnan and Edward Camposano. With them are (standing, middle row from left) PNVF national team commission chairman Tonyboy Liao, Secretary General Donaldo Caringal, national team commission member Oliver Mora and team manager Jerome Guhit.

Nonito Donaire Jr.

La Carlota’s Alexa Milliam braces for a spirited battle against a slew of aces in both the individual and doubles competitions of the first PPS-PEPP Rina Cañiza Women’s Open.

Hidilyn Diaz

SENATOR Ramon Bong Revilla Jr. is overjoyed after his high-rating Agimat ng Agila was adjudged Best TV Mini-Series, after two seasons of patronage by his avid fans and followers.

Agimat ng Agila was one of the shows feted in the 35th Star Awards for Television by the Philippine Movie Press Club, Inc. (PMPC) on January 28. It was one of the numerous awards clinched by GMA 7. Due to the unrelenting patronage by Sen. Bong’s fans and followers of Agimat ng Agila – from its pilot episode to its conclu-

You know it’s going to be a good OPM year when the Pinoy music scene is starting the year with fresh upcoming artists like Ica Frias and her debut single “Ayoko Na.”

With her chill sad acoustic beats, “Ayoko Na” becomes the anthem for the insufferable pain of heartbreak and letting go, making Ica Frias the artist you need to watch out for in 2023.

Ica Frias or also known as “IF” loves expressing deep, heart-breaking emotions in her music. Ica’s heavenly voice makes you linger in the pain of giving up on your love as “Ayoko Na” speaks so much of the heart’s frustrations and the art of letting go –making it a sure bop to Filipino hearts and homes.

You can imagine singing your heart out with lyrics like “Mabalewala lang at masaktan ng paulit-ulit” along with Ica’s soulful voice. You can imagine the future of “Ayoko Na” becoming a household name, screaming these lyrics and belting out in karaoke sessions with friends and family.

Ica started her singing journey at the age of 5, singing non-stop at school events with friends to eventually serving in the music ministry in their church. She started doing live gigs/acoustic sessions in food parks with her friends during her college days just for the love of performing, making use of anything within her reach to find an avenue to showcase and express her talent. Her perseverance to pursue music led her to refine her craft further in songwriting and performing.

To launch her solo career, Ica joins the Manila-based label Off The Record to journey with her in the music scene. She has been performing since early last year with artist friends in the Pinoy music scene – starting with Off The Record’s TugTogTug gig at Saguijo last November 2022 with Daniel Paringit, No Lore, Aster, and many more. She also capped off the year performing in UP’s POLARIS Music Festival, singing among big stars such as December Avenue, Zack Tabudlo, Zild, and Juan Karlos

When asked what “Ayoko Na” is all about Ica simply answers that it “…is about knowing when to let go.” “I wrote this song to express/to bring out my emotions. The pain or the heartbreak I am feeling at the moment,” she added.

What many people don’t know is that she started writing this while in the “moment” “Isang gabi, nafeel ko mag drama so nag try ako gumawa ng song tapos unang sentence na lumabas in my head ay “Ayoko nang isipin ka..” dun na nag start.

“Ayoko Na” was co-written with

‘Agimat ng Agila’ is PMPC’s best drama series

sion, it won the Star Awards ‘Best Drama Mini-Series.’

The awards night was staged at the grand ballroom of Windford Manila Resort and Casino, Manila under the auspices of PMPC President, Fernan de Guzman

Meanwhile, broadcast giant GMA Network took home 26 other awards out of the 45 awards given out—including the Best TV Station honor. Winning Best Drama Anthology was Magpakailanman, hosted by broadcast journalist Mel Tiangco

Jennylyn Mercado took home the Best Single Performance by an Actress award for her role in “Sa Kamay ng Fake Healer” episode of Magpakailanman John Estrada was named as Best Drama Supporting Actor for his role in the GMA drama Babawiin Ko Ang Lahat

Top-rating family sitcom Pepito Manaloto won as Best Comedy Show

and one of its lead stars, Manilyn Reynes, was named as Best Comedy Actress. Paolo Contis was hailed as Best Comedy Actor for Bubble Gang

The recognition for Best Horror/Fantasy Program was given to Daig Kayo Ng Lola Ko, while All-Out Sundays was awarded as Best Variety Show. On the other hand, Paolo Ballesteros was recognized as Best Male TV Host for Eat Bulaga

The award for Best Lifestyle Show went to Taste Buddies, which was hosted by Solenn Heussaff and Gil Cuerva Meanwhile, The Clash was once again awarded as Best Talent Search Program and its Clash Masters Julie Anne San Jose and Rayver Cruz, won as Best Talent Search Program Hosts.

Sparkle artists Mikee Quintos and Kelvin Miranda were also given the German Moreno Power Tandem of the Year award. The two Kapuso artists bannered the hit Public Affairsproduced series The Lost Recipe GMA Integrated News and GMA Public Affairs also continue to prove its excellence and credibility with the latest recognitions at

win-

Up-and-coming singer hits listeners with new heartbreak anthem

Unang Hirit won the Best Morning Show award, while its hosts Arnold Clavio, Connie Sison, Susan Enriquez, Nathaniel Cruz, Lyn Ching-Pascual, Suzie Entrata-Abrera, Ivan Mayrina, Lhar Santiago, and Mariz Umali were named Best Morning Show Hosts. Kapuso Mo, Jessica Soho was hailed as Best Magazine Show. Susan Enriquez and Mark Salazar were chosen as Best Magazine Show Hosts for GTV’s IJuander I-Witness took home the award for Best Documentary Program, while Atom Araullo was recognized as Best Documentary Program Host for The Atom Araullo Specials Adding to the long list of GMA’s awards was Wish Ko Lang, which took home the Best Public Service Program award. Meanwhile, the recognition for Best Education Program was given to Born to be Wild, hosted by Doc Ferds Recio and Doc Nielsen Donato Kara David, on the other hand, was named as Best Educational Program Host for Pinas Sarap

Queen of the arts

MISS Universe 2018 Catriona Gray is excited and thrilled as she joins the celebration of National Arts Month (NAM) for three consecutive years as its ambassador.

The Philippines’ fourth Miss Universe and considered by the majority as the best candidate we had who triumphed in the most coveted

title in the number one beauty pageant, Gray was named as NCCA Art Ambassador in 2020.

The Filipina who fits the description of being “the perfect symbol of a nation rich in heritage and love” put her being an arts ambassador to heart and began to partake in various arts and cultural activities such as the Kultura 101 with Catriona, and The Grand Reveal featuring the Metropolitan Theater, Padayon: The NCCA Hour where she became one of the first and most viewed guests, and the Quincentennial Commemorations in the Philippines.

In a custom Filipinana made from inabel sourced from her Ilocos Norte trip paired with a Christian Dior white mini-cali bag, Gray adds elegance, sophistication, and stellar presence to the NAM press conference with NCCA’s new chairman and concurrent executive director of the National Archives of the Philippines, Hon. Victorino Mapa Manalo

Other VIPs in attendance are NCCA executive director Oscar Casaysay, deputy executive director for administration and support services Marichu Tellano, deputy executive director for operation Bernan Joseph Corpuz, NCCA Subcommission on the Arts (SCA) outgoing commissioner Dr. Rolando B. Tolentino, and incoming commissioner Dr. Arvin Manuel R. Villalon with the outgoing and incoming heads of the seven national committees: Architecture

well as underscoring the capacity of the arts to heal, rebuild, and restore in a post-pandemic setting. Promulgated by then President Corazon Aquino in 1991, Presidential Proclamation No. 683 declared February of every year as National Arts Month to celebrate artistic excellence and pay tribute to the uniqueness

Ica’s childhood friend Daniel Paringit who is also one of OPM’S fresh and upcoming artists, Surrounded by a close-knit team of musicians and creatives, Ica flourishes into the artist she has been made for.

With Ricky Ilacad and Daniel Paringit as producers, arranged by Ica, Daniel, and Cluster Ng, mixed and mastered by WORD Entertainment Production, Ica was able to produce a single with excellent musicality and soulful melody, masking the heartbreaking lyrics that speak of release and letting go.

“I want to call attention to the people who experienced the same pain I went through and relive that experience together. The heartache and all the disappointment that comes with hoping for someone who was unable to choose me, and the decision to finally choose myself,” says the 25-year-old singer.

“Ayoko Na” is proof that we will all crave songs that speak the language of our hearts. Whether it is about loving, living, or grieving over lost love, “Ayoko Na” gives us that kind of release. A song we all can truly belt our hearts with. Ica along with Off The Record is pumped up to share to us more of Ica’s songs this year as she is OPM’s Next Big Thing.

Ica’s single “Ayoko Na” dropped on January 20, for streaming, click on this link: https://offtherecordph.lnk.to/ IcaFriasAyokoNa.

and diversity of Filipino heritage and culture.

“I was thinking of what arts month means to me. This is the third time being involved as an arts ambassador during arts month, and arts is really one of the pathways that led me to fall even more in love with my country. It really opened up a pathway for me to know what the Philippines is, its identity, and also to discover my identity as a Filipina,” Gray says in her opening speech.

“February is also known as love month, so I was thinking of the co-relation of the two. Of course, during love month, kung may significant other ka you are thinking of ways to show how much you care about them, to tell them how you appreciate them, and to make them feel loved,” the Queen of the Arts carries on.

She emphasizes that in February we can think of the ways the “Philippine arts and culture is like a love letter to our own country, from Filipinos to our countrymen, it’s wonderful to allow people internationally to see and appreciate and know our arts, but what more so is to allow our kababayans to fall even more in love sa ating bansa through our arts, which is something I can personally testify, it’s very much possible, it allows love to grow, the appreciation to grow that last for a lifetime.”

As always, very well said, Queen Catriona Gray! Thanks for sowing the seeds of love for the arts.

AS music’s elite gather in Los Angeles for the Grammy awards on Sunday (Monday in Manila), one question is playing on loop: Will Beyonce finally win the coveted Album of the Year prize?

The 41-year-old has the most chances at Grammy gold with nine nominations, following the release of Renaissance, her rich, layered ode to club music.

She is a powerhouse contender for the night’s major awards – but the same goes for British balladeer Adele, whose introspective ode to the ugly cry, 30, earned her seven nods.

The face-off has prompted obvious comparisons to 2017, when Adele swept the top prizes at the glitzy music biz gala, shutting out Queen Bey’s culture-shaking Lemonade

Six years later, Beyonce has continued to make history as the Grammys’ winningest woman; with four more victories on Sunday, she could overtake classical conductor Georg Solti for the most victories by any artist.

But when it comes to the big three awards —best album, best record, and best song— Beyonce curiously remains something of an underdog.

She has never won Album of the Year honors and although she has the most Record of the Year nods with eight, she’s never won that prize either.

She only scored Song of the Year once, for 2008’s “Single Ladies.”

But industry watchers including Billboard predict this will finally be Beyonce’s year to take home the Grammy for Album of the Year, arguably the night’s most prestigious prize.

“I sure hope so, because doesn’t she deserve it?” Nile Rodgers, the co-founder of the band Chic who is credited with contributions on “Renaissance,” told AFP Rodgers, the Supremes, Nirvana, and others will receive a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Recording Academy at Sunday’s ceremony. “She’s arguably the most culturally important artist in the world,” Merck Mercuriadis, the music publishing mogul who was once Beyonce’s manager, chimed in at a pre-Grammy gala. AFP

The young artist loves expressing deep, heart-breaking emotions in her music

Her latest song, ‘Ayoko Na,’ speaks so much of the heart’s frustrations and the art of letting go

(right) is known for her chill acoustic beats and heavenly voice

artist Ica Frias during a presscon at Kape Uno

American singer-songwriter Beyonce

Miss Universe 2018 Catriona Gray at the Metropolitan Theater

C4 MONDAY, FEBRUARY 6, 2023

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

LIFE

Rediscovering Makati’s hip and happening side

NOTED for its numerous gated communities, upscale malls, world-class hotels, and bustling central business district, Makati City has a long-held reputation as the place to live and work for society’s rich and famous.

But the city is a hip and happening destination too, and the area that best captures this vibe is the North of Makati—or NOMA to its denizens. A neighborhood teeming with galleries, live music, and one-off dining options, NOMA is also home to The Rise Makati, a 55-story residential condominium that shares the fun and fresh atmosphere of its dynamic location.

Situated along Malugay Street in San Antonio Village, this thoroughly modern development spoils its residents to the hilt with amenities that promise endless hours of leisure and enjoyment: there’s a 28-meter tropical pool, 380-meter private jogging path, a well-being zone called The Nest, lounge space known as The Hangout, a business center called The Workshop, and The Kids Zone, where condo-dwelling children have room to run and play in a 280-sqm space. For variety, residents head outdoors to the vibrant selection of eateries, art spaces, and entertainment that NOMA is known for.

Are you a foodie? Along Yakal Street, continental fare can be had at Chesa Bianca Swiss Restaurant, I’m Angus Steakhouse, and Santi’s Delicatessen. The Pantry on La Fuerza 1 Building along Chino Roces draws the office crowd with its adobo, salpicao, and other Pinoy comfort food. And speaking of Pinoy comfort food, try the bagnet at Bagnet 8065, along St. Paul Road in San Antonio Village: the Ilocano version of lechon kawali is cooked in several iterations – kare-kare, dinuguan,

Fall in love with City of Dreams’ seductive gastronomic o erings

CITY of Dreams Manila highlights seductive offerings set to impress loved ones this Valentine’s season. For a swoon-worthy celebration, the mood at signature restaurants Crystal Dragon, Nobu Manila, and Haliya spells romance, while sweet gifts from Café Society express affection.

Crystal Dragon

Couples will feel special with the curated five-course Valentine’s set menu of premium Cantonese cuisine and regional Chinese specialties. Available for lunch and dinner from February 13

spicy gata, and curry, to name a few.

If you live in The Rise, you can enjoy a careful selection of dining options right outside your doorstep. Visit Assembly Grounds at The Rise, where the roster of restos can satisfy your every food craving, from Filipino (Kuya’s, Zubuchon) to Asian (Yuki, Yi Fang, Tong Yang Shabu Shabu Express, Recipes), Western (Casa Mia, Buffalo’s Wings n’ Things), and alltime favorites (Starbucks Reserve, Bread Talk).

Start your morning with a caffeine fix at Starbucks Reserve or at PICKUP Coffee,

sesh at Lomi Imua Hawaiian Relaxation Spa or get other beauty services at Nisce Skin Medispa for skin treatments and at Pink Parlour for hair removal services.

What’s for dessert? For something out of the ordinary, Patiserrie Bebe Rouge on Sacred Heart Street, San Antonio Village, indulges your taste buds with its Japanese-and-Frenchfusion cakes and pastries. Poison Coffee and Doughnuts in Karrivin Plaza, Chino Roces, tempts with its self-described “dangerous” array of hot and cold drinks and rich doughnuts.

The Rise Makati at NOMA, or North of Makati, is a haven for passionate city dwellers

or witness some serious Pinoy rap battles in Fliptop Battle on Malugay Street. If you and the gang are up for a challenge, sign up at Escape Plan Manila at HPGV Building, Sen. Gil Puyat Avenue, or Mystery Manila at Century Mall, along Kalayaan Avenue. Investing in art? NOMA is the place to be, with its spate of galleries and creative spaces all in La Fuerza Plaza, Chino Roces: there’s Modeka Creative Space on Warehouse 20, White Walls Gallery on Warehouse 12A, Finale Art File on Warehouse 17, and Leon Gallery on Warehouse 14. If it’s wearable art you’re after, drop by Suez & Zapote. The shop on the corners of Suez and Zapote streets in Barangay Sta. Cruz sells clothing by streetwear brand Team Manila and Daily Grind. It also hosts art exhibitions and live gigs, giving you the full-on NOMA experience.

Crystal Dragon’s Wok-fried Beef

Tenderloin with Sichuan pepper, king mushroom, and sauteed mixed vegetables

to 15 for P4,000 net per person, the menu for a couple consists of Ovenbaked Swan Pastry filled with chicken and truffle paste and Deep-fried Stuffed Cheesy Prawn Ball with fragrant coconut roasted eel in crispy bean curd skin for appetizers.

Braised Hot and Sour Crab Meat

Broth with Japanese scallop and shrimp

wonton, Wok-fried Beef Tenderloin with Sichuan pepper and king mushroom with sauteed mixed vegetables, and Crispy Egg Noodles with seared king prawn come after, preceding the dessert of Mangaro Dark Chocolate Dome with ginger crème brulée.

To make the romantic meal lovelier, the menu comes with a complimentary glass of France Chateau d’Esclans Rosé.

Nobu Manila

In this season of love. Nobu Manila’s sophisticated five-course tasting menu for two, is exclusively available for Valentine’s Day dinner at P11,000 net. The romantic gastronomic fete commences with a chef’s selection of zensai (appetizer), followed by the first course of Nobu Canape selection of Oyster with Nobu Salsa, Oyster with Yuzu Granita, Yellowtail with Jalapeño, and Spicy Tuna with Crispy Rice Malibu-Style. It continues with Nobu Seasonal Assorted Sushi of toro (tuna), uni (sea urchin),

then treat your family and friends to dinner at your choice of Pinoy fare at Kuya’s, Asian food at Tong Yang Shabu-Shabu Express, or Western bites at Raging Bull Burgers. End your day with some well-deserved pampering at the salon like Sanbry Men’s Grooming House and /Nook/ Salon or have a quick spa

and ama ebi (shrimp); Seared Scallop with sobagaki (cooked soba dough) and truffle oil; Trio of Wagyu Beef—Nobustyle taco, wagyu skewer with kabotcha (squash), and crispy gyoza. For a sweet conclusion, Blueberry Monkfruit Panna Cotta will be served. As an added Cupid’s treat, the menu includes a complimentary welcome sake cocktail.

Haliya

The modern Filipino restaurant beguiles lovers with its “Araw ng mga Puso” special five-course dinner menu available for P9,000 net for two on Valentine’s Day only. It consists of: The Sugpo (poached annatto tiger prawn, coconut tuille, avocado crema, pickled radish, compressed celery, lemongrass, ginger emulsion, and edible flowers);

Cured Salmon Ensalada (pako or fern salad, crispy kataifi, semi-dried cherry tomato, Mandarin baby red radish, beet fluid gel, and kalamansi-dill cream);

Bell Pepper and Tomato Krema (roasted bell pepper-tomato soup with parmesan heart tuille, crispy smoked pork bacon bits, micro basil, and thyme oil);

Beef Estofado (sous vide carbon neutral

Royal Ranch Beef Tenderloin, ovenbaked stuffed baby eggplant, pork longganisa salsa, sweet potato puree, and estofado jus); Tsokolate Liyag (Haliya’s Valentine chocolate cake, salted caramel, and kesong puti or white cheese).

Haliya elevates the dinner date night with a complimentary cocktail for couples, who can each choose one drink each from the following: Giliw (vodka, espresso shot, ube liqueur, and milk caramel with white meringue and whipped cream); Sinta (rum pineapple juice, orange juice, and strawberry puree, garnished with fresh strawberry and orange peel); and Liyag (rum, red wine, white wine, orange juice, and soda, garnished with grapes and lime peel).

Order them after a savory lunch of ramen or rice bowls. Mochiko in Malugay Street has a menu of different mochi ice cream flavors.

Titania Wine Cellar and Cave Werdenberg Wine Bar, both on Yakal Street. How about some entertainment? Catch

Living in the city doesn’t have to be restricting, especially if you’re living in The Rise Makati that’s situated in the middle of the hip and happening NOMA neighborhood.

Learn more about what makes The Rise Makati your dream home in the city. Visit its website at therisemakati.com and follow @TheRiseMakatiOfficial on Face-

Vancouver… in Washington?

WHILE my sister and I were driving from Seattle to Portland, we passed by a directional sign on the highway bannering the cities of Vancouver and Portland, but pointing towards the same direction.

I know my geography quite well which is why the sign got me puzzled. I know that Seattle is in the middle, and Vancouver in British Columbia, Canada is to its north while Portland, Oregon is to its south. But I didn’t dwell on such “conundrum” because I presumed there probably is a roundabout route to go up to Vancouver while passing by Portland.

Yesterday, my sister told me she’d pick me up after work so she could take me to dinner in Vancouver. That’s when I learned that there is another city, a namesake of the one in British Columbia, and is located in the state of Washington, sitting along its boundary, right at the outskirts of Portland.

Café Society Café Society’s sophisticated array of handcrafted Valentine’s chocolates, pastries, and cakes offered from February 11 to 14, are gifts that are guaranteed to sweeten up the day of recipients. Among these tempting treats are the creatively luscious Valentine pink rose and cranberry chocolate box, granola gianduja love dome, love bear raspberry crunch; or from a range of cakes including Raspberry Lemon Loaf Cake, Spiced Coffee Caramel Passionfruit Cake, and Trio Chocolate Mousse Crispy Feuilletine Cake.

For inquiries and reservations call 8800-8080 or e-mail guestservices@ cod-manila.com For more information, visit www.cityofdreamsmanila.com

Vancouver, Washington has a population of 190,000+ and prides itself on being “close to everything, but far from typical.” It enjoys whatever Portland offers and is, in fact, considered a suburb of Portland. It is often used as the jump-off point by travelers visiting Mount St. Helens, Washington’s active volcano onehour-and-a-half away.

As we entered the city, we were greeted by a large welcome billboard bannering the city’s historical value, and as we reached the downtown area, we immediately saw one of the city’s Instagrammable attractions. The Salmon Run Bell Tower is a glockenspiel, much like a xylophone, which lets out a melodious chime every now and then. It is located in Esther Short Park, the oldest public square in the state of Washington.

The 69-foot Bell Tower got its name from its historical past and a 6-minute diorama emerges from it, telling the story of how the Chinook Indians greeted the first salmon of the year. Originally, the diorama, followed by the chime, comes out at 12 noon, 2:00 p.m., and 4:00 p.m. but the schedule has now changed depending on the season. Our next stop was the 7.3-acre Waterfront Park,

with the V-shaped and 90-foot Grant Street Pier suspended by a massive and architecturally beautiful cable as its focal point. The massive cable structure is suspended over the Columbia River and highlights a 75-foot high beam, designed to look like the mast of a sailboat. What is interesting to note is that all the engineering details of how the structure was built are etched on the base of the beam. It then provides visitors, who are interested in structural engineering, a closer look at how this architectural masterpiece was built.

The 35-acre area which includes the Waterfront Park is filled with seafood restaurants, wine galleries, pubs, ice cream parlors, and residential condominiums, all part of the $1.5 billion development project designed to complement the modern Grant Street Pier on the banks of the Columbia River. My sister and I decided to have dinner at the most popular seafood restaurant in the area.

The Wild Fin American Grill is widely known for serving patrons its fresh catch every day. It also offers a breathtaking view of the large stretch of the Columbia River with the majestic Mt. Hood in the background. Naturally, we didn’t want to miss its culinary specialties and the view. Unfortunately, the dreary day hid Mt. Hood from us but the calming scenic view of the river was good enough for me.

I ordered for the Parmesan Crusted Sole which was three large slices of Oregon Coast Dover Sole, covered with Parmesan pepita breadcrumbs, sitting on a bed of organic farro risotto, fried capers, and butter sauce. This took me to culinary heaven right away! It was the perfect dinner for a cold evening. My sister also enjoyed her Trout Dijon which was a super large slab of garlic-and-Dijon-breaded Idaho trout, with marble potatoes, braised garlic Parmesan Tuscan kale, and Dijon aioli. I don’t know if it was because of the freezing temperature outside or the beautiful waterfront view, we both cleaned our

The V-shaped Grant Street Pier, with its 75-foot-high suspension cable, is de nitely a structural masterpiece

This iconic Salmon Run Bell Tower gives visitors a peek at the city’s history and is located at Esther Short Park, the oldest public square in the state of Washington

plates, and not a morsel was left!

This visit to Vancouver in Washington was the best way to cap my short “escapade” to the Pacific Northwest. Thanks to my younger sister, Esperanza, who is the Director of the Sterile Processing Department of the Oregon Health and Science University Hospital, for showing me around and feeding me with what I like best. My sister should be in the Tourism Industry because enjoys traveling and discovers many beautiful places along the way. She readily takes me or any member of our clan to the beautiful places she has discovered. Not only have I enriched myself with more calories through the many excellent restaurants she has brought me to, I have also enriched my knowledge of geography by discovering through her, these other interesting cities in the northwest corner of the USA. Yes, there is a Vancouver in Washington State.

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YOUR MONDAY CHUCKLE:

Q:  What did the Zero say to the Eight?

A:  Hey…nice belt!

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For feedback, I’m at bobzozobrado@ gmail.com

The colorful Welcome billboard at the entrance to the city

Haliya’s Valentine’s Cocktails

Cafe Society’s Granola Gianduja Love Domes

The author’s sister and ‘favorite tourist guide’ Esperanza