Manila Standard - 2023 February 27 - Monday

PBBM locks in on investments

Tells DTI chief to ensure billions in project pledges are followed through

By Vince Lopez

PRESIDENT

Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. has directed Trade Secretary Alfredo Pascual to ensure that the investment pledges for projects under his administration are followed through.

"The President's marching order is to intensify follow-up to ensure that the investment will be carried out by those who promised to... invest in our country," Pascual said on Sunday.

THE Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) said $4.349 billion (aboutP239 billion) worth of investment projects under the Marcos administration are now being implemented.

Of these investment projects, a total of $29.712 billion or P1.7trillion are in the form of memoranda of understanding (MOU) and letters of intent (LOI).

A total of $28.863 billion or P1.5 trillion worth of investment projects are now in the planning stages.

Marcos earlier announced that his administration has secured about $62.926 billion or P3.48 trillion from his trips to

House leader zeroes in on ‘big’ crimes

SPEAKER Ferdinand Martin Romualdez on Sunday called the Philippine National Police (PNP) and Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) to an emergency meeting today to discuss the spate of high-profile crimes in the country.

"It's alarming because it seems that almost every week there is news about high-profile killings," he said.

"We want to know from the PNP and the DILG what steps are being taken to stop these kinds of heinous crimes)," Romualdez added.

Recently, a mayor of Maguindanao was severely wounded in an ambush in Pasay City.

Speaker pushes one-strike policy on BIR, BOC collectors

By Rio N. Araja

SPEAKER Ferdinand Martin Romualdez on Sunday recommended to President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. the enforcement of a one-strike policy against collectors of

the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) and Bureau of Customs (BOC) should they fail to meet their target revenues. The move would help ensure additional funds for targeted subsidies, hospitalization, education, job creation and other

Kerosene prices are expected to take the biggest cut at P1.50 to P1.80 per liter this week as local oil firms are poised for another round of rollbacks in pump prices by Tuesday, industry sources told the Standard.

Cooking gas prices are projected to dip

A MEASURE seeking to institutionalize the government’s transition to e-governance is one step closer to being passed into law after hurdling the House Committee on Appropriations last week.

The measure aims to boost the use of information and communicationtechnology in transforming government processes, operations, and service delivery.

This will cover all executive, legislative, and judicial offices, including local government units, state universities and colleges,government-owned and -controlled corporations (GOCCs), and other units that provide business and non-business-related transactions.

It also seeks to establish the Philippine

social protection programs for the most vulnerable sectors of society, he said.

“The one strike-strike policy is a key step toward achieving our revenue goals. We need additional funds for assistance, creation of job opportunities through in-

by the end of the month, as interest rates in the United States were raised, Department of Energy Assistant Director Rodela Romero said.

She said diesel prices are estimated to roll back from P1.30 to P1.60 per liter, while gasoline would take the smallest

frastructure projects and other programs to help the people,” Romualdez said. The inability of collectors to meet their revenue goals has compromised the government’s budget for agriculture, health,

cut, from P0.80 to P1 per liter.

"This is because the US came out with a new interest rate hike to its monetary policy to address inflation. Second, the US was seen to have a big build-up to its crude inventory,” Romero said.

Commssion on Elections officials proclaim Crispin Diego Remulla (center) the winner of a special election for the 7th congressional district of Cavite at the Sangguniang Panglunsod Plenary Hall inside the Cavite provincial capitol. He will fill the vacancy left by his father, Justice Secretary Juanito "Boying" Remulla, when he joined the Marcos Cabinet.

SWAN FLOAT. Mall giant SM rolls out a float reminiscent of the swan boats of Burnham Park as it passes by SM City Baguio on Sunday amid the 27th Panagbenga Festival Float Parade, which drew crowds across the length of Session Road as celebrities such as beauty queen Rabiya Mateo ride the other floats (inset). Dave Leprozo

handout photo, rescue teams from the Mayon Mountaineers, Federation of Bicol Mountaineers Inc., and Mountaineering Federation of the Philippines struggle on Sunday to bring down the remains of the victims of the Cessna plane that crashed on the slopes of the Mayon Volcano.

Nat’l gov’t to shift work to BARMM

By Nash B. Maulana

THE national government will soon be transferring several of its operational functions as well as properties to the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM).

This developed as both the national and regional governments agreed to reestablish the Department of Foreign Affairs consular office and set up a Professional Regulation Commission (PRC) regional office in the BARMM.

These were among the key agreements reached in the 13thIntergovernmental Relations Body (IGRB) meeting in Pasig City on Feb. 24.

BARMM Education Minister Mohagher Iqbal, the IGRB co-chair for the Bangsamoro government, underscored the body's goal of bringing government services closer to the Bangsamoro people.

"In essence, we desired to bring government services that are not currently being offered by the Bangsamoro Government, closer to the Bangsamoro people. This further gives meaning to the work that we do in the IGR Body; by not limiting our conversations to matters that present conflict or require non-adversarial dis-

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To address the situation, he proposed that collectors who fail to meet their revenue targets must be removed from their position, and be replaced by competent individuals to ensure efficiency in the administration of tax collection.

“Let us help the government meet its revenue targets. I hope our callwill send a clear message for our collectors to perform at the highest level,” he said.

“Taxes are the lifeblood of government in the implementation of pro-poor programs designed to alleviate poverty and reduce inequality.

It is of vital importance in the government’s effort to provide access to better education, health care and social protec-

E-governance...

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Infostructure Management Corp. (PIMC) which will focus on the delivery of government services through the interoperability and maximization of resources.

“With the establishment of the Philippine Infostructure ManagementCorporation, we can ensure that our citizens will have access to efficient, reliable, and responsive government services,” Committee on Appropriations chair and Ako Bicol party-list Rep. Elizaldy Co said in a statement Sunday.

Following the approval at the committee level, the measure will nowproceed to the plenary for further deliberation and approval.

“The passage of the bill is seen as a critical step toward thecountry’s digital transformation, enabling the government to provide fast, transparent, and efficient services to the public,” Co said.

President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. in October said the country’s system should be digitalized to compete with other countries, with the enhancement of digital infrastructure among the top priorities.

He emphasized the need to hasten the country's digital transformationto enable his administration to provide "fast, transparent, andefficient" services to the public.

During the National Information and Communications Technology (ICT) Summit 2022, Marcos said the government must take "full advantage" of the new technologies and techniques to provide the Filipino people the "best" services they deserve.

"And if we are to succeed in digitalizing our bureaucracy, our government, and to make the way that we do business, the way that we work, the way that we even communicate with one another, we (have) to make it as efficient, as streamlined, and as affordable as possible so that we can provide that extremely important service," he said in a speech at the Manila Hotel.

"This summit is therefore correct, is apt, is timely for what we will discuss here will be instrumental not only in improving our global standing but most importantly, securing the Philippines’ place in the future."

Marcos reiterated his plan to make the government "more adaptive tofastchanging developments," as he lamented that the Philippines has ranked 89th out of 193 countries in the United Nations EGovernment Survey.

pute resolution," Iqbal said. BARMM Interior and Local Governments Minister Naguib Sinarimbo said“several issues were discussed and directives as to concrete steps to take ahead were agreed.”

Budget and Management Secretary Amenah F. Pangandaman, the IGRBcochairperson for the national government, disclosed other major issues that are being discussed by the body's technical working groups.

The IGRB is supported by a Joint Secretariat co-headed by OPAPRU Presidential Assistant Wilben M. Mayor and Bangsamoro Attorney-General Sha Elijah B. Dumama-Alba.

“Two issues on the agenda were resolved including the reestablishment of the DFA's consular office in Cotabato City for BARMM,” Sinarimbo added.

The DFA held a consular office in Cotabato City, but it ceased to operate.

tion programs,” he added.

As far as Congress is concerned, Romualdez said the prudent exercise of its oversight power “would further promote transparency and accountability under the Marcos administration.”

“We will monitor and evaluate the performance of government agencies.

The House of Representatives is committed to working with the government to ensure stable finances for the sustained and efficient implementation of various important projects,” he said.

Specifically, he said Congress would scrutinize how government agencies are using the resources entrusted to them for the implementation of programs in line with their responsibilities.

“It is important to improve the absorptive capacity of all government agencies in the implementation of vital programs,” he said.

The Philippines' current standing is not "encouraging", he said, adding that this shows that the country is experiencing a "regression".

"We are already playing catch up in terms of digitalization to therest of the world. So it is not as if we have a choice here. We don't have a choice that maybe we'll do it, maybe we'll not," he said.

"It is simply not the way that the modern world works. We have to digitalize if we are going to keep up all our plans for the transformation of the economy and our continuing redefinition of the Philippines’ place in the community of nations."

The President said the country could only keep up if hisadministration is able to digitalize government services with the help of the private sector.

Public-private partnership, he said, is vital in realizing the government's bid for e-governance.

He acknowledged that the private sector is the one that "leads the technology."

"Those partnerships are not a business partnership, but I suppose itis a sharing of technologies, a sharing of knowledge. It is a sharing of the state-of-the-art from the private sector, with the public sector, and that working together that will bring us to success," he said.

Marcos also cited the need to adopt a "holistic" approach to harnessing various technologies for the country's digital transformation.

"We have the tools. We have the knowledge. And most importantly, we have the people. All that is left to do is to have the will and the resolve to achieve it. So I reiterate my call to our partners: Let us forge ahead, build a better, brighter, more progressive future for the ICT sector, for the bureaucracy, for the entire Philippines," he said.

Marcos also assured that his administration would facilitate theimmediate passage of the proposed E-Government Act and the proposed E-Governance Act to improve service delivery in the government.

He noted that during the recent Legislative-Executive Development Advisory Council meeting, there was a commitment to consolidate the two bills.

"They are working on it and I have asked them to bring it out as quickly as they possibly can so that we have the framework with which we will digitalize our government, which we will digitalize our bureaucracy," he said.

"The bills that we have asked the legislature to pass will enable to ensure, fast, transparent, and efficient government service for the Filipinos."

Meanwhile, the PRC has no satellite office within the region,and so setting up a satellite office will ease for BARMM professionals their application for renewal of professional licenses.

Other issues taken up, Pangandaman said, were the conduct of the annual Hajj and Umrah; the nationwide recognition of the Bangsamoro Land Transportation Office (BLTO); and the transfer of properties from the national government to the Bangsamoro government.

"With these achievements in only six months’ time, I know that we will soon see a more united Philippines, where no Filipino is left behind, (and) not even those in the farthest areas of BARMM," Pangandaman said.

She expressed hopes that the body will be able to bring prosperity to the region, saying, "There is still much work to be done ahead. But I hope that with these achievements in just a few months’ time, we are all inspired to continue working hard towards our Agenda for Prosperity in BARMM."

Iqbal lauded what he described as “the excellent working relationship between the National and Bangsamoro governments.”

Iqbal cited the IGRB for working

PBBM...

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“We will make sure that the enabling environment is in order, those that need to be done quickly [such as] obtaining permits, obtaining licenses will be expedited. Because of things like that, when there is a delay, our investors [are] turn[ed] off, so we need to fix it,” he said.

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Captain Joel Martin, and Australian consultants Simon Chipperfield and Karthi Santhanam.

But the teams could only bring them to their base camp on Mayon, far from the center of town in Camalig, said Mayor Carlos Baldo Jr.

“We tried to send a chopper to fetch those on the mountain, but there was no chance to land (safely), so we planned to continue on foot. Weneed a new augmentation team because those up there are exhausted already,” Baldo said.

The rains on Sunday made the retrieval efforts more difficult, as there is no clear trail going down the volcano, the mayor added.

Officials of Energy Development Corp., which owned the plane and employed the victims of the crash, expressed hope of bringing down their colleagues’ remains soon.

“It’s been a long wait for all of us, it’s taking its toll especially to our rescuers," Eduardo Jimenez, EDC Bacman Corporate Relations Department Head, said.

Rescuers already verified the bodies and documented the crash site,but the retrieval team also suspended operations on Thursday due to the loose soil and the fogginess in the area. Baldo, the incident commander, confirmed that they have shifted from rescue to retrieval operation upon receiving information and photos confirming the bodies of the passengers.

The shift was made after a five-day full-blast search and rescue operations by the incident command center.

Kerosene...

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Energy Director Rino Abad attributed the price drops to higher inventories in the United States and Russia's plans to cut oil production.

"The rise in the US inventory saw a drop in demand to controlinflation, and the US isn’t letting go of its interest hike policy," Abad said in a Teleradyo interview on Saturday.

Earlier, domestic pump prices were seen to go down by as much as P1.70 per liter next week to reflect the movement of prices in the world oil market.

An industry source told the Standard the forecast of an oil pricerollback is based on the indicative movement of pump prices computed based on four-day trading and foreign exchange

overtime, saying: "Notwithstandingthe President's declaration that today is a special non-working holiday, all of us chose to be present here today as a gesture of mutual commitment to the strong cooperation and coordination between the national government and the Bangsamoro government, in the name of public service."

Also present during the meeting were Defense Secretary Carlito G. Galvez Jr. and Finance Secretary Benjamin E. Diokno.

Under Section 2, Article VI of the Bangsamoro Organic Law, the IGRB was created as a coordinative body tasked to resolve issues between the two parties through regular consultation and continuing negotiation in a non-adversarial manner.

Among the national agencies represented in the IGRB meeting were Office of Special Assistant to the President, Finance, Interior and Local Government, Department of National Defense, Public Works and Highways, Agriculture Senior Transportation, National Economic and Development, and the Office of Presidential Adviser on Peace, Reconciliation and Unity, which was attended by its Acting OPAPRU Isidro L. Purisima.

As of Feb. 9, the DTI-Board of Investments (BOI) has approved P414.3billion in total investment projects. This amount accounts for more than 40 percent of the P1 trillion investment target for the year.

Earlier, Marcos said he believes it is “only a matter of time” before ordinary Filipinos can start to feel the effects of economic growth.

Pascual, who chairs the BOI, revised the bureau’s investment approval targets from P1 trillion to P1.5 trillion this year.

On Thursday, the President issued an executive order establishing a "green lane" for strategic investments in government offices to attract more foreign investments.

"The site has been seen, there is no life there, so we are in a retrieval operation. I hope the day ends today, and the family is also waiting. Even though we've been there, it's not that easy to get down... because we saw how difficult the terrain is, the hardships of those who retrieved up there," Baldo added.

"Rescue teams have kept up their retrieval operations yet are stillunsure of when and where exactly the cadavers can be safely dropped off due to Mayon’s tricky terrain," he said.

Dr. Cedric Daep, Albay Provincial Safety and Emergency ManagementOffice (APSEMO) chief, said earlier they will mobilize another batchof responders to back up the 28-man team that first approached the crash site to complete the mission.

Daep also confirmed that the immediate family members of thepassengers, including the two Australian nationals, were informed about the status of the retrieval operation.

He added that the manner of retrieval still considered severalfactors, including the weather, the Mayon situation, and the pacing of the responders.

"With the full support of the EDC, all throughout, full force, fullsupport them in all resources including vehicles and the needs of the rescuers," he said.

"We mourn the confirmed passing of our dear colleagues, Captain Rufino James Crisostomo Jr., Joel G Martin, Simon Chipperfield, and Karthi Santhanam, who were on board the Aircraft RPC-2080 that was reported missing early Saturday morning shortly after taking off from the Bicol International Airport," Richard B. Tantoco, President and Chief Operating Officer of EDC, said in a statement.

movement. Reuters reported on Thursday that oil prices went up due to expectations of Russian production cuts beginning next month but higher US inventories also affected the movement of prices.

Despite optimism over China’s economic reopening which boosted oil prices, US inflation fears which could affect demand also tempered the upward movement of oil prices, reports said.

On February 21, oil firms raised the price of diesel by P1.05 perliter and P0.90 per liter for gasoline but cut the price of kerosene by P0.25 per liter.

World prices have seesawed in recent weeks due to market volatilities arising from the USUkraine war and demand forecasts from the US and China, the world’s biggest oil consumers. With Alena Mae Flores

Quake drill slated March 9 to prep for ‘The Big One’

A NATIONAL Simultaneous Earthquake Drill (NSED) will be conducted on March 9 to help the public prepare for a possible catastrophic earthquake, or “The Big One,” that may hit the Philippines, the Office of Civil Defense (OCD) said Sunday.

OCD Joint Information Center head Diego Mariano told radio dzBB the NSED will be held quarterly, and the first leg this year will be initiated at Camp Aguinaldo in Quezon City.

“We will have a ceremonial sounding of the buzzer which will be asignal for us to conduct the duck, cover, and hold. This is a very simple protocol but it can save or minimize injuries and casualties in case a strong earthquake occurs,” he said.

Aside from this method, Mariano said that representatives of variousagencies will also practice the tabletop exercise for decision-making scenarios in the event of a strong earthquake.

Following the magnitude 7.8 earthquake that hit Turkey and Syria on February 6, the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) said it is preparing for The Big One by giving seminars and lectures on disaster preparedness and organizing the possible deployment of urban search and rescue teams.

The Philippines earlier deployed an 82-man inter-agency humanitariancontingent to Turkey to join teams from all over the world to provideassistance and help in the search for survivors of the earthquake.

They are set to return to the Philippines on March 1.

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In February, a business couple and their companions in the car were fired upon in Pasay City.

"Politics appears to be the motive behind the recent ambuscades because many of the victims are politicians," he added.

"We will ask the police and the DILG what's the problem? Is it intelligence? How can Congress help in solving these crimes?" he said.

Also in February, the vice mayor of Aparri, Cagayan was shot and killed in an ambush.

Lanao del Sur Gov. Mamintal Adiong survived the ambush in Maguindanao earlier this February, but four of his police escorts were killed. Rio N. Araja

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Panglunsod Plenary Hall inside the Cavite provincial capitol.

His father was appointed Justice secretary by President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. shortly after the May polls last year, resulting in the vacancy.

The younger Remulla, who was the 7th District provincial board memberbefore his poll victory, garnered 98,474 votes, beating former Trece Martires City mayor Melencio De Sagun (46,530), Lito Aguinaldo (1,610) and Mike Santos (1,068).

The total turnout of votes represented 42.11 percent or 149,581 counted votes out of 355,184 registered voters.

On election day, Remulla was accompanied by his wife, Georgia, and father in casting their votes at Tambo Malake Elementary School in Indang.

In an interview, he said they accomplished much during the campaign for he got to know many of his townmates in the district.

However, he refused to comment when asked by the media about thedisqualification case filed against him by De Sagun, saying he had yet to receive a copy of the complaint.

The disqualification case filed on Feb. 23 stemmed from the Trece Martires local government unit’s social media post where he joined a social services event during the campaign period, which, De Sagun said, was a clear violation of the election code.

“It is very premature to conclude at this early stage, but we promise to take a deeper investigation of the disqualification case,” said Comelec Chairman George Garcia, a native of Indang

IN BRIEF

Task force created to hasten COVID drugs

THE Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recently created a task force in order to fast-track and streamline the approval, as well as the evaluation of COVID-19 drugs in the country.

In a statement, FDA Director General Dr. Samuel Zacarte said “Task Force Fleming” was launched to fasttrack the provision of “safe and effective” COVID-19 drugs in the market.

Zacarte said the task force aims to streamline the approval and evaluation of COVID-19 drugs “without compromising efficacy, quality, and safety.”

“Previously, emergency use authorizations (EUAs) were issued for COVID-19 drugs and vaccines subject to certain conditions,” he said. Willie Casas

PAO urges case review of detained Fil-Am

THE Public Attorney’s Office (PAO) has filed a petition for review on certiorari with the Supreme Court in relation to the release of an elderly naturalized Filipino, whom PAO claims is actually a Filipino born in the Philippines.

PAO chief Persida Acosta lamented over the injustice for the arrest of the respondent – Walter Manuel Prescott – who is still languishing in detention under the custody of PAO for seven years without committing any criminal offense.

“WHEREFORE, premises considered, it is respectfully prayed of this Honorable Court that the Decision of the Court of Appeals promulgated on 25 June 2021 and Resolution promulgated on 15 August 2022 be REVERSED and SET ASIDE; that a DECISION be issued REVERSING the DECISION dated 24 May 2019 and the RESOLUTION dated 5 July 2019 of the Regional Trial Court of the City of Manila, Branch 10, and DIRECTING the Bureau of Immigration to permanently RELEASE petitioner Walter Manuel F. Prescott from the detention and for him to be DECLARED as a Filipino citizen,” the 35-page petition read. Rio N. Araja

Group vows support to PBBM housing plan

THE Department of Human Settlements and Urban Development on Sunday disclosed the “unwavering support” of the Philippine Chapter of the prestigious Paris-based International Real Estate Federation (FIABCI) to President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s Pambansang Pabahay Para sa Pilipino Program.

Undersecretary Henry Yap said that during the Feb. 21 Property and Real Estate Excellence Awards, the FIABCI signed a manifesto of support as a pledge “to commit to the noblest form of endeavor” of the President’s shelter program.

He said FIABCI’s national officers believe that the program is “the answer to the long-time clamor to address the housing gap in the county,” and that it branded DHSUD as “the government’s implementing arm to alleviate the living condition of the homeless and pave the way for a progressive future of the next generation.” Rio N. Araja

‘HAPPY WALK.’ Members of various organizations for the welfare of children with Down Syndrome led by SM Prime Holdings chairman Hans Sy participate in the “Happy Walk for Down Syndrome”  parade on Sunday at the SM Mall of Asia Music Hall in Pasay City. The parade is part of the celebrations of National Down Syndrome Consciousness Month. Danny Pata

Koko: Change officials’ GSIS plans

By Macon Ramos-Araneta

SENATE Minority Leader Aquilino ‘Koko’ Pimentel III urged the Government Service Insurance System (GSIS) to allow elected officials and their staff to continue remitting voluntary contributions equivalent to 15 years.

He said there seems to be a glaring disparity between the term limits of elected officials and the minimum requirement to qualify for the government’s pension program, noting that this seems to disregard the service rendered by elected officials and their staff.

“I appeal for our local officials and their staff who have served nine years

in government but cannot qualify for the pension program due to the 15-year minimum service requirement under Republic Act 8291,” Pimentel said in a statement on Sunday.

“I am saddened to learn that there are so many elected officials and public servants holding temporary and co-terminus status on the national and local

levels who would retire without a retirement fund and pension only because they have not met the 15-year minimum service requirement,” Pimentel said.

The senator cited Section 13-A of RA 8291 which states that a member who retires from the service shall be entitled to the retirement benefits provided that he has rendere at least 15 years of service.

“That provision of RA 8291 is very unfair for government employees and elected officials who fall short of the minimum 15-year service required under the law,” he said.

The Constitution provides that local officials such as councilors, mayors,

Sen. Poe backs calls to regulate online content, streaming platforms

By Macon Ramos-Araneta

SEN. Grace Poe has raised the possibility of regulating the content of online sites and streaming platforms.

The lawmaker said the streaming platforms should implement more stringent self-regulation and should be monitored to ensure that their content are age-appro-

priate, especially for young viewers.

Poe also proposed requiring streaming services to secure legislative franchises before being allowed to operate in the country.

Poe, a former Movie and Television Review and Classification Board (MTRCB) chairperson, said she supports measures that would update and

expand the powers of the MTRCB and help the local entertainment industry.

“We want to make sure that MTRCB keeps up with the constantly-changing media industry,” Poe said.

Sen. Jinggoy Estrada said he is supporting Poe and Sen. Robin Padilla to update and enhanced the capabilities of the MTRCB.

Estrada cited the need to keep up with the changes in the film industry brought about by new technologies, including streaming, and digital platforms.

Estrada, a former actor turned politician, commmitted to help the movie industry recover from the slump following the pandemic, long periods of theater closures, and the influx of films.

vice-mayors, governors, vice-governors, and congressmen can only be elected for three consecutive terms or a total of nine years.

Meanwhile, senators are elected nationwide by qualified voters to a six-year term and can serve for not more than two consecutive terms or a total of 12 years.

The President and the Vice President have a term of six years with no provision for reelection.

At the grassroots level, he said it is the local chief executives and members of the council who oversee and address the welfare and interests of citizens.

Without their contribution, development and local commerce will not progress.

Binay seeking probe on plan to use Masungi

By Macon Ramos-Araneta

SEN . Nancy Binay has sought a Senate investigation into the reported plan of the Bureau of Corrections (BuCor) to build and transfer its headquarters--including the New Bilibid Prisons (NBP)--at Masungi Georeserve, an ecotourism and conservation site in Tanay, Rizal.

While the initiatives of the BuCor to have new headquarters and housing for its personnel are reasonable, Binay stressed that it is important to weigh the possible consequences of building its new headquarters in the said area as it may affect the country’s environment and tourism industry.

The Masungi Georeserve is a conservation area and a rustic rock garden tucked in the rainforests of Rizal.

In 2019, it has received international recognition for its sustainable tourism practices at the Annual World Tourism Organization Awards.

Binay said scientists from the National Museum of the Philippines previously noted that developing the relocation site will have expensive consequences for the environment.

In her proposed Resolution No. 495, Binay cited the need for a thorough study on the BuCor plan.

Lawyers hail DOJ on lower bonds for poor litigants

By Rey E. Requejo

A GROUP of human rights lawyers has applauded the action of the Department of Justice (DOJ) to lower the recommended bail for poor litigants in criminal cases and to withdraw cases filed before the first-level courts with “no reasonable certainty of conviction.”

“The Department of Justice’s recent initiatives are certainly welcome,” the National Union of People’s Lawyers said, in a statement.

This came after DOJ Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla issued Department Circular (DC) Nos. 008 and 011 mandating the lowering of bail bond for indigent accused.

The withdrawal of cases before the lower courts with “no reasonable certainty of conviction” is contained in Department Circular No. 008, DC 008 directs prosecutors that “only quality criminal cases backed by credible evidence will be filed in court” or those cases “with reasonable certainty of conviction.”

Group slams Lapid bill to amend agri smuggling law

A CONSUMER group on Sunday called on Senator Lito Lapid to “focus on real consumer problems” instead of acting on behalf of the foreign tobacco industry and the local cigarette lobby, tagging the lawmaker’s efforts to amend the Agri Smuggling Law and include raw and processed tobacco products as “anti-Filipino,”

lacking in real economic benefits, and detrimental to the health of millions of Filipinos.

This after P155 million worth of smuggled agricultural products were confiscated in raids conducted by teams composed of operatives from the Bureau of Customs (BoC), the Philippine National Police (PNP), and the Philip -

pine Coast Guard (PCG), Lapid filed Senate Bill (SB) 1812 last January, seeking to amend Republic Act 10845 or the 2016 Anti-Agricultural Smuggling Act of 2016 to insert tobacco and tobacco products and place them in the same category as rice, sugar, vegetables, and essential food items entitled to protection against smuggling.

RICE INVENTORY. A worker conducts an inventory of rice to be delivered to a Lucena City public market to augment the supply of rice from the city’s rice mills. Diana B. Noche

‘BIDA’ FUN RUN. Hundreds join the “BIDA Bayanihan ng Mamamayan Fun Run” spearheaded by the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) Secretary Benhur Abalos Jr. at the Mall of Asia complex in Pasay City. The Buhay Ingatan, Droga’y Ayawan’ (BIDA) program of the DILG is part of the anti-illegal drugs campaign by the agency. Norman Cruz

Tingog holds thanksgiving concert in QC

By Rio N. Araja

THE free thanksgiving concert sponsored by the Tingog party-list held Saturday night at the Amoranto Sports Complex, Quezon City has proven to be a blockbuster, drawing thousands of supporters and music lovers from all over the National Capital Region.

Dubbed “Tingog ng Pasasalamat,” the event was the third leg of the series of concerts as a gesture of the party-list’s gratitude for the support it received in the May 2022 elections.

The party-list got two seats in Congress with Representatives Yedda Marie Romualdez and Jude Acidre.

“It’s our way of saying thanks to all the people who trusted and supported us and that we are doing our best to serve them,” Romualdez said.

The concert featured a diverse lineup of talented performers who brought their unique brand of entertainment to the stage.

A pre-show that featured social media sensation and singer DJ Loonyo, beauty queen and singer-actress Ali Forbes, and Joe Joe & Joe set the energy and the party atmosphere for the night.

The concert showcased the performances of the ILT (I Love Tacloban) and Plethora bands, singer-actress

Karla Estrada, master rapper Andrew E and Pinoy rock icon Bamboo.

Cebu City was the first leg of the free concerts on Feb. 12, while the second was staged in Tagum City, Davao Del Norte on Feb. 17.

The final leg of Tingog’s free thanksgiving concerts is slated to be held on March 4 in Tacloban City.

A CELEBRATION OF LIFE AND LOVE.

Veteran journalist and former Manila

Standard editorin-chief Jullie

Yap-Daza hands a copy of the book ‘Taos Puso’ to Hans Sy of the SM Group of Companies.

The book, written by Ivy Mendoza, chronicles two decades of philanthropic work of CHILD Haus led by entrepreneurphilanthropist Ricky Reyes. Danny Pata

Recto: Spend road users’ tax on bike paths

BATANGAS Rep. Ralph Recto on Sunday said the government must tap the P82-billion road users’ tax for urban elevated walkways and bike paths.

He expressed disappointment that sidewalks and bike lanes have been “sidelined and waylaid” in the government’s infrastructure menu, adding that these “active mobility” facilities should be mainstreamed.

He said the motor vehicle registration fees, which had an unspent balance of P82.2 billion as of December 2021, could be a source of funding for pedestrian-centric pathways.

Through an amendment of the law creating the Motor Vehicle Users Charge, the administration of collections has been transferred to the Department of Public Works and Highways.

Recto said the DPWH should now include pedestrian and bike ways as “a pillar” of its activities.

“It is time to elevate wide pedestrian and bike lanes, whether ground-level or elevated, covered or not, to the league of major construction works,” he said.

He noted that at present, safe pathways for people biking or walking are being built by the Department of Transportation.

“But I think DPWH should get into the act, because these projects fall under its mandate more than it does DOTR,” he said. Rio N. Araja

THANKSGIVING.

Tingog party-list Rep. Jude Acidre congratulates Mark Anthony Rejuso of Payatas, Quezon City for winning a brand new Honda Click motorcycle, the grand prize in the raffle held during the Tingog ng Pasasalamat free concert Saturday night at the Amoranto Sports Complex. Also in the photo is social media sensation DJ Loonyo (right). Roy Pelovello

‘Con-con too costly to amend Charter’

By Macon Ramos-Araneta and Rio Araja

SEN. Robin Padilla has appealed to members of the House of Representatives to consider amending the Constitution’s economic provisions through a constituent assembly (Con-ass).

In an interview on dzBB Sunday, Padilla said the House’s preference to amend the Constitution through a constitutional convention (Con-con) may take years and need billions of pesos to accomplish.

“I have humbled myself and gone to the Lower House and paid them my due respects. I have discussed this with

them. And if need be, I will do it again,” said Padilla, who chairs the Senate Committee on Constitutional Amendments and Revision of Codes.

He said amending the Charter through Con-con will cost at least P11 billion. Padilla said Con-ass is still the most practical way to amend the economic provisions of the Charter, so the pro -

posed changes can be brought to the public via a plebiscite timed with the barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan election in October.

“We need to move fast. If the economic amendments are approved in October, they can take effect immediately and Congress can pass new measures to open our economy to investments,” he said.

“If we were not having a difficult time economically, I would have preferred a Con-con. But now that we are living on borrowings, we must prioritize the economic provisions,” he added.

Padilla also sought to abolish the party-list system if the time comes to

amend the Charter’s political provisions through a Con-ass.

“If we reach a constitutional convention, the party-list system should be the first to go. It has lost its relevance as wealthy people are allowed to become party list representatives,” he said.

“It has become funny that we have wealthy people voted as party-list representatives to represent the marginalized,” he added. Padilla likewise pushed for the strengthening of the party system so people would vote for candidates based on their party advocacy, instead of based on popularity or wealth.

Salceda urges DTI, DA to talk to canned fish stakeholders

ALBAY Rep. Joey Salceda on Sunday urged the Department of Trade and Industry as well as the Department of Agriculture to engage the canned fish sector over supply concerns, especially with sardines, during the close of the fishing season in the Zamboanga Peninsula.

“It looks like supply levels remain manageable, as the industry was able to meet the 75,000 metric tons it is required to store during the closed season. But I also expect demand for canned sardines to pick up this year,” he said.

The closed fishing season happens every year from Dec. 1 to Feb. 28. Salceda said his proposal would enable sardines to reproduce and “to ensure that there is no shortage of canned sar-

dines during the subsequent season.”

“And there remain underlying issues, like the Suggested Retail Price being below the cost at which some of the canners produce. With marketing costs, the price is P20, which is above the P18 suggested retail price,” Salceda said.

The most immediate probable result is the lack of supply of some brands in the supermarkets, especially as manufacturers try to skip shelf-space fees in supermarkets, he noted.

“So I am requesting the DTI and DA to engage in dialogue with the industry and with small players and stakeholders as soon as possible, so we can prevent this potential problem from materializing,” he said.

‘Rise in minimum catastrophe insurance rates will incentivize cartels’

AGRI party-list Rep. Wilbert Lee said the move of the Insurance Commission to increase the minimum catastrophe insurance rates is an anti-competitive policy that will just incentivize cartels while passing on additional burdens to consumers.

The lawmaker stated this during the Feb. 21 hearing of the House Committee on Banks and Financial Intermediaries on his House Resolution No. 632

which questions the abrupt increase in the said insurance premium.

“How do non-life insurance companies compete? By offering higher or lower insurance premiums? If it is by offering lower rates, then why does the Insurance Commission want to regulate the minimum rates of insurance premiums?”

“Setting the minimum rates of insurance premium is a form of price control.

By doing so, you are favoring cartels in the insurance industry,” he added.

During the hearing, Anti-Red Tape Authority (ARTA) Secretary Ernesto Perez confirmed that IC Circular Letter No. 2022-34, which imposed the catastrophe insurance rate adjustment, failed to comply with the requirement stated in the law.

“I would like to remind our colleagues from the Insurance Commission of the

HEALTH MICROFINANCE APP.

SureServ President Juan Carlos Bondoc introduces the new healthcare mobile app, ‘SureServ,’ which features a wide network of merchant partners, doctors, diagnostic clinics and hospitals and gives clients access to a closed loop revolving healthcare credit line. Bondoc is joined by Darvin Angelo Tuazon, John Erwin Lavilles and James Mauricio Aujero. Norman Cruz

DOH backs HIV/AIDS literacy campaign

By Willie Casas

THE Department of Health has affirmed its partnership with the “FREE TO BE U” campaign that promotes healthy behaviors to protect Filipinos from the Human Immunodeficiency Virus and Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome.

“We are thankful to the DOH for showing their

strong support for People Living with HIV (PLHIV) by partnering with the FREE TO BE U campaign during this Festival of Luv event. The inclusion of Free to Be U in DOH’s comprehensive health education campaign Healthy Pilipinas is a major milestone that brings the country closer to the global goal of ending the HIV/AIDS epidemic by 2030,” said Teresita Marie Bagasao, Project Director of EpiC Philippines.

requirement under Section 5 of the Ease of Doing Business and Efficient Government Service Delivery Act or Republic Act 11032… which requires that before any regulation will be proposed or implemented, it should be subjected to Regulatory Impact Assessment to ensure that the regulation does not cause undue regulatory burden, not only to the agency but to the transacting public as well,” Perez said.

Hike skills retooling fund for public teachers solon

QUEZON City Rep. Marvin Rillo has sought to double to P1.5 billion the annual funding for the in-service skills retooling of public school teachers to reinforce their competencies to deliver lessons in English, mathematics, and science.

“In the national budget, Congress has been allocating only an average P746 million per year for the inservice training of our teachers. We should at least double that amount to P1.5 billion every year starting in 2024,” he said.

“Our teachers deserve more support in terms of continuing professional development courses and other interventions so that they can improve their abilities to teach English, math and science more effectively,” he added.

The Department of Education has partnered with public and private institutions to implement the in-service training programs to upgrade the expertise of teachers.

These partners included the University of the Philippines, Philippine Normal University and the Development Academy of the Philippines.

“If necessary, the DepEd should also enlist the help of educators from the best private K-12 schools to help in the training courses,” Rillo said.

The House committee on basic education and culture earlier endorsed for approval House Bill No. 238, which proposes, among others, to create a Teacher Education and Training Committee to boost recruitment and training. Rio N. Araja

That ‘sayang’ feeling

as reason, and then as afterthought, added the historical significance of EDSA should be maintained.

Anyway, it was politically correct on the part of Malacanang to declare a special holiday, even if for obvious reasons, the President could not take part in commemorative events. Hying off to the warm embrace of his fellow Ilocanos was quite understandable.

ONE of the regular members of our Thursday Lunch Group is former Sen. Gregorio “Gringo” Honasan, acclaimed as an EDSA Revolt hero while a colonel in the active military service.

Our Thursday Lunch Group is now a 20-year old institution, having begun in 2003, first on a Friday, until one of our now deceased members, a brilliant Muslim congressman, requested that we move it to a Thursday, because Friday was a solemn day in their religion.

We would discuss anything under the sun over some two to three hours of a sumptuous lunch hosted by a generous businessman, and curated by a creative advertising executive who always makes sure we have the best food on the table.

I do not have permission to name the regulars of the Thursday Group, some of them having made highly successful careers in politics, business and other endeavors.

Just before lunch was served, Sen. Greg, along with a TV and movie director and I were reminiscing about the historic four days that started February 22 and culminated in the swearing-in of Cory Aquino and

Missed during the Ilocos Norte festivities was Sen. Imee Marcos, who, after stating she could not commemorate a date that she disdains, came up with a very appropriate statement: “For beyond the lesson of people power … or even the endless clash of elites, to me the truth of EDSA is that we owe millions of Filipinos still living in squalor and insecurity, ignorance and hunger – the promise of change.”

That was right on the dot.

As Sen. Gringo told this writer, history must not be about leaders and players, it should be about people.

Still, while the Aquino family declared the spirit of EDSA is alive, some of those who trooped to the shrine last Saturday morning mouthed the same demands, that “rhetoric (referring to the call for unity and reconciliation of the president) won’t matter if there is no act of repentance for the sins of the Marcos regime,” and decried “efforts to revise our history.”

The divisiveness continues. Still and all, the victors, in this case the politically-resurrected Marcos family, must pursue the call for unity and reconciliation.

Yet it must not be a reconciliation among the major players, the self-proclaimed leaders, or what Senadora Imee calls the endlessly clashing “elites.”

It must be a realization that whether it was the long night of the Marcos rule, or the faded glow of the EDSA people power revolution, the plight of the teeming millions of Filipino poor remain the same.

That is why there is this “sayang” feeling about EDSA.

HOW does the Philippines fare in knowledge production?

According to the London-based nonprofit organization Knowledge 4 All Foundation (K4A), which recently released its 2022 Global Knowledge Index, there’s bad news: Not so well.

Based on K4A’s survey of 132 countries, the Philippine ranked No. 77 in seven areas: (1) pre-university education; (2) technical and vocational education and training; (3) higher education; (4) research development and innovation; (5) information and communications technology; (6) economy; (7) enabling environment.

That we are at the bottom half of all countries surveyed on these sub-indices shows we have to catch up with the top half of those countries doing well in knowledge production.

In the NGO’s ranking, the Philippines obtained a score of 44.1 out of 100, describing it a "moderate performer in terms of its knowledge infrastructure."

The score is below the world average of 46.47.

The United States topped the rankings with a score of 68.37, while Chad was at the bottom of the list with a score of 21.4.

The country's ranking dropped 21 places down compared to last year's 56th out of 123 countries, and 60th out of 138 in 2020.

But there’s also good news.

The international NGO noted advances made by the Philippines, such as increased government expenditure in primary education in the last three years, as

chemistry, and armaments.

The country's areas of improvement, meanwhile, include the financing gap in its micro, small, and medium enterprises, and the exposure of citizens exposure to natural hazards like earthquake, tsunami, flood, tropical cyclone, and drought.

K4A also looked into how the country's 15-year-old students performed in math, science, and reading, individuals with standard ICT skills, and its ICT patent applications in the categories of audio-visual technology, basic communication processes, computer technology, digital communication, IT methods for management, semiconductors, and telecommunications.

well as the number of students attending college school regardless of age and the unemployment rate with its vocational education.

The foundation also took note of the country's number of graduates from information and communications technology (ICT) programs, along with its hightechnology trade, or imports and exports of computers, electronics, telecommunications, pharmacy, scientific instruments,

the private sector.

Doy Laurel at the Club Filipino as president and vice-president on February 25.

Later on that same day, Pres. Ferdinand E. Marcos Sr. and his family left Malacanang, brought by helicopters to the Clark Air Base, and thence flown by the US Air Force to Hawaii.

I had my own story to tell of those dangerous four days, as I was active in the opposition campaign for the Cory-Doy ticket during the snap elections, and even before that, in the 1984 Batasang Pambansa elections where a third of parliament was won by UNIDO candidates, of which I was a deputy secretary-general.

It was at this point that Sen. Greg said maybe the TV and movie director could come up with a film about the impact on ordinary people’s lives of historic events like EDSA.

“We always describe history from the point of view of leaders, of major players. Why not about ordinary Filipinos who may have participated in these events, even as mere spectators, but whose lives may have changed, for better or worse, after these epochal events?” mused Sen. Greg, the “Gringo” hero of EDSA.

We cut off our recollections when the other members of the Thursday Group arrived, and after the exchange of usual pleasantries, the lunch from Chef J Gamboa of El Cirkulo was served.

Seated beside another colonel, Medal of Valor awardee Ariel Querubin, I wondered if February 25 was declared a holiday, to which Querubin noted that since the 25th was a Saturday, there would perhaps be no special holiday. Later Thursday evening, a news bulletin from Malacanang declared Friday the 24th a special holiday to commemorate the 37th anniversary of the EDSA event. The announcement came a tad too late, and the DOLE was supposed to announce the holiday for the private sector even when their Thursday office hours had ceased.

Even the proclamation of the special holiday, first bandied “holiday economics”

THE other day, we heard seven-year-old Milek Andrey in conversations with his grandfather, where the former said he could not locate the pair of scissors he was using to make 12 months of a Gregorian calendar.

“I guess I'm really old,” he told his grandfather, whose sense of humor is often heard in the echoes of his grandson's easy, if quick, crosstalk.

A day earlier, we heard the line “senior moments” from friends when they forgot something which they think they should have not – underlining an instance of momentary forgetfulness or confusion attributed to the aging process.

We are as well aware of an instance when a friend from an old broadcast newsroom castigated his wife of nearly 50 years for forgetting her purse he said contained their elderly IDs when they started placing their lunch order at a mall restaurant. They had to return home, all of 10 kilometers one way, to locate their IDs to avail themselves of 20 percent discount at the shopping zone in

Cory Aquino, in her determination to restore the forms and institutions of democratic space, got the people to ratify a flawed Constitution, almost without reading and with very little public debate, in which her own vice-president, Doy Laurel, cited many errors and contradictions later to support its ratification reluctantly for the sake of “unity.”

The flaws have exacted wages upon our suffering poor, enlarging them at the expense of what has become a powerless middle class.

The political elites have become monstrous dynasts, political parties have become mere flags of convenience for their ambition and greed, and in tandem with the oligarchs and syndicates who finance them, control fully the levers of power where the poor multiply in endless misery.

Which is why EDSA’s “debt” to the people for the last 37 years and counting, must be repaid with the first step --- revisiting the Constitution of 1987, correcting its flaws and contradictions, and coming up with a political structure that makes good governance possible and political leaders responsible.

It is right that Congress seems minded to legislate a convention for the purpose, rather than a constituent assembly among themselves.

But it is better that, heeding the advice of the respected CJ Reynato Puno, we guard against proxies of the dynasts monopolizing the convention through lopsided elections.

Until and unless we accept that however well the intentions of its framers may have been, the 1987 Constitution, just like its 1973 predecessor, has not served the ends of real democracy well --- that of providing equal opportunity under a regime of good governance.

Otherwise, we will continue to wallow in what Jean Baptiste Alphonse Karr observed: “Plus ca change, plus c’est la meme chose.” Or, “the more it changes, the more it's the same thing.”

The more things change, the more they remain the same.

That is what EDSA has meant to the majority of our people. That is what is so “sayang” about it.

THE public’s consciousness of the looming planetary risks of climate change is shifting the behavior of Filipino consumers to buy products and services that are environmentally friendly.

This is an interesting revelation that Pulse Asia President Ronald Holmes reported in a November 2022 survey commissioned by the Stratbase ADR Institute during the hybrid forum on “The Philippine Circular Economy Agenda: Integrating Sustainable and Strategic Waste Management Systems” organized by the institute in partnership with the Philippine Business for Environmental Stewardship (PBEST).

Data from the survey showed that 83 percent responded positively on the question, “As a consumer, do you prefer to patronize products and/or services of brands or enterprises that you believe have environmentally friendly operations and products?”

This is a strong message for the manufacturing and service sectors.

Consumers are now making the connection between the increasing frequency and intensity of extreme weather and how pollution and wasteful behavior will upset the now precarious balance of the environment and affect each human not just economically, but existentially.

The government is responding with new policies such as the recently enacted Extended Producer Responsibility or EPR law which requires large enterprises to adopt and implement policies for the proper management of plastic packaging wastes that would result in minimal dumping in landfills, and most important, minimize if not stop leakage into the environment.

In his keynote address, Department of Environment and Natural Resources Undersecretary CP David expressed optimism when he reported that more than 500 private companies have registered since the EPR program was launched, reflecting an enthusiastic response from

Recognizing that implementation will be key in the success of the EPR program, USec David vowed to make procedures “as straightforward as possible” with initial focus on registering all plastic producers.

DENR-Environmental Management Bureau Director Gilbert Gonzales espoused a shift to a circular economy and sees “the need for a more transformative approach and recognizing the multiple benefits that transitioning to secularity can offer including economic growth, more equally shared benefits and more sustainable relationship with nature.”

The government must respond with operationally-viable policies that will allow reasonable transition timelines for compliance

Director Gonzales said the goal is “Zero waste in Philippine waters by 2040,” supporting the DENR’s vision for a “Philippines free of marine litter through shared responsibility, accountability, and participatory governance.”

“Shifting to a circular economy would be to the best interest of the Philippines and aligns very well with the global and national agenda on climate resilience and sustainable growth” as affirmed by Ms. Nazrin Castro, the branch manager of The Climate Reality Project Philippines founded by 2007 Nobel Peace Prize awardee for “informing the world of the dangers posed by climate change” and former US President Al Gore. “Nations and stakeholders across all levels need to strengthen measures and innovate ways to address the mounting waste and pollution from plastics,” Ms. Castro said. Vice President, Management Association of the Philippines Alexander Cabrera pointed out there is a moral, humanitarian, and intergenerational obligation to be conscious about the environment for the following generations.

Humoring the aging brain

the metropolis – only to discover the IDs were in fact in the husband's clutch bag all along.

Last weekend, in one of our free space, off the deadline writing speeches for other people, we had the opportunity to read what appeared to be a wellresearched material which initially gave us the time to appreciate the brain of an elderly person.

The article said the director of the George Washington University School of Medicine argues the brain of an older person is much more practical than is generally believed.

At this age, the interaction of the right and left hemispheres of the brain becomes harmonious, which expands a person's creative possibilities.

This is why among people over 60 you can find many personalities who have just started their creative activities.

The article added: “Of course, the brain is not as fast as it was in youth. However, it becomes more flexible. As a result, with age we are more likely to make the right decisions and we are less exposed to negative emotions.

“The peak of human intellectual activity

occurs around the age of 70, when the brain begins to function fully.

“Over time, the amount of myelin in the brain increases, a substance that facilitates the rapid passage of signals between neurons. As a result, intellectual capacity increases by 300 percent over the average.”

It is interesting to note that after the age of 60, a

person can use two hemispheres at the same time. This allows a person to solve much more complex problems.

Professor Monchi Uri, from the University of Montreal, believes the brain of the elderly chooses the path that consumes the least energy, eliminates the unnecessary and leaves only the appropriate options to solve the problem.

A study was conducted in which different age groups participated. The young people were very confused when they passed the tests, while the over 60s made the right decisions.

We took note of the material's bulletin on the characteristics of an older person's brain.

We read the lines:

1.The neurons in the brain do not die, as everyone around you says. The links between them simply disappear if you don’t engage in mental work.

2.Distraction and forgetfulness occur because of an overabundance of information. Therefore, you don’t need to concentrate all your life on useless trifles.

3.From the age of 60 onwards, a person does

The Global Knowledge Index, supported in part by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), is considered "an important addition to the global repository of knowledge-based development, providing updated, comprehensive, and reliable data that better enable countries and decision makers to understand and respond more clearly” to the challenges in this particular field?

The question that needs to be answered by our leaders is: What steps should our government now take to improve our knowledge-based development, since our performance here leaves much to be desired?

He proposed a combination of “compulsion and incentive” to address the dominantly post-consumer waste problem in the Philippines.

“There must be incentive integrated with collecting plastic and repackaging. There should also be the compulsion in taxing which will force people to reinvent their packaging because they don’t want to pay tax,” Mr. Cabrera said.

Mr. Carlo Chen-Delantar, circular economy pioneer of the Ellen MacArthur Foundation Philippines, emphasized the need to localize the implementation of EPR programs and the importance of traceability and understanding the workings of the supply chain and “industrial symbiosis”.

Stratbase ADRi President, Prof. Dindo Manhit, believes integrating circular economy frameworks and mechanisms at scale needs a whole of society approach that would require the support and participation of all stakeholders in order to succeed.

“Industry players equally make a valuable contribution through their investments and programs that are aligned with circular business models,” Prof. Manhit said.

PBEST Secretary General Felix Jose Vitangcol joined the panel of environmental advocates’ call to shift away from the traditional linear economy model and to treat material waste as resource that is essential in product manufacturing and other economic and industrial processes.

He recognized the role of civil society in achieving circularity by raising awareness and engaging stakeholders to ensure that circular economy initiatives are inclusive, participatory, and responsive to the needs of the communities.

Many of the top business groups in the Philippines are already integrating Environmental, Social, Governance practices in their corporate values, operations, and community interventions.

The government must respond with operationally-viable policies that will allow reasonable transition timelines for compliance – mindful of maintaining the accessibility, safety, and affordability of products and services for consumers.

For us consumers, we just need to simply stop littering and dispose of all our waste responsibly.

We must all be stewards of the environment.

not use one hemisphere at a time, like young people, but both when making decisions.

4.Conclusion: if a person leads a healthy life, moves, has a viable physical activity and has a full mental activity, intellectual capacities do not decrease with age, they simply grow, reaching a peak at the age of 80-90.

So don’t be afraid of old age. Strive to develop intellectually.

Our Pavlovian reaction was to start a conversation with our daughter Hermione Mary Anne, a doctor of medicine and a certified clinical research professional, who quickly but prudently offered her thoughts based on her experiences with the geriatric and elderly population.

After a few paragraphs from her father, she straight off said the article is very general, and added “The brain has a multi-faceted cognitive ability: memory, spatial orientation, abstraction, orientation to space, time, person…calculation, language, etc.

“These areas of cognition may decline over time after the brain reaches maturity and a decline in some areas may not be pathological; it becomes pathological only when it significantly disturbs and affects activities of daily living.”

Full text at www.manilastandard.net

It is right that Congress seems minded to legislate a convention for the purpose, rather than a constituent assembly among themselves

She said, ‘aging is a normal part of our biological systems. Nobody can change that basic medical fact’

WHITEOUT. A truck drives along a road in the Haven Estates neighborhood of Rancho Cucamonga, California. Heavy snow fell in southern California as the first blizzard in a generation pounded the hills around Los Angeles, with heavy rains threatening flooding in other places. AFP

Blinken eyes US inroads in C. Asia

US SECRETARY of State Antony Blinken is heading to Central Asia hoping that greater US engagement will reassure former Soviet republics rattled by the Ukraine war, although Russia’s historic clout limits the extent of cooperation.

Days after the anniversary of the Ukraine invasion, the top US diplomat will hold talks Tuesday in Kazakhstan and then Uzbekistan and meet jointly with foreign ministers of all five exSoviet Central Asian states in Kazakhstan’s capital Astana.

Donald Lu, the top US diplomat for South and Central Asia, said the United States was realistic that the five nations were not going to end their relationships with Russia or their other giant neighbor, China, which has been boosting its own presence.

But he said Blinken would show that the United States is a “reliable partner” and different from Moscow and Beijing.

PUTIN ACCUSES MEMBERS OF ARMING KYIV

‘NATO taking part in Ukraine war’

RUSSIAN President Vladimir Putin has accused NATO members of taking part in the Ukraine conflict by donating arms to the country and said the West planned to break up Russia.

“They are sending tens of billions of dollars in weapons to Ukraine. This really is participation,” Putin said in an interview with the Rossiya-1 channel aired on Sunday.

40 migrants dead after boat wreck off Italy—media

AT LEAST 40 migrants died after their boat sank at dawn off the Italian coastal city of Crotone in the southern region of Calabria, Italian media reported on Sunday.

News agency ANSA said at least 40 people were believed to have drowned.

The search for survivors was continuing, hampered by stormy seas.

AGI news agency quoted a rescue worker as saying a baby of just a few months old was among the victims.

It said the migrants’ vessel was overloaded and had split apart because of the violent waves.

Italian coast guards declined to comment when contacted by AFP.

The latest such tragedy comes just days after the hard-right government pushed through parliament a controversial new law on rescuing migrants.

Far-right president Giorgia Meloni, the leader of the post-Fascist Brothers of Italy party, won power in October, partly on a promise to stem the flow of migrants reaching Italian shores.

The new law forces migrant aid vessels to make just one rescue attempt at a time, which critics say risks increasing the number of drownings in the central Mediterranean.

The route is considered the most dangerous crossing in the world for people seeking asylum in Europe.

A large number of people flee conflict and poverty for what they hope will be a better life in Europe cross from Africa via Italy. AFP

“This means that they are taking part, albeit indirectly, in the crimes being carried out by the Kyiv regime,” Putin said. He said Western countries had “a single aim – to break up the former Soviet Union

and its main part – the Russian Federation.”

“Only then will they maybe accept us in the so-called family of civilized peoples but only separately, every part separately.”

Putin was speaking on the sidelines of a patriotic concert in Moscow on Thursday on the eve of the first anniversary of the start of Russia’s fullscale offensive in Ukraine.

In the interview, Putin also reiterated

his calls for a multipolar world and said he had “no doubt” that this would happen.

“What are we against? Against the fact that this new world that is taking shape is being built only in the interests of just one country, the United States.”

“Now that their attempts to re-configure the world in their own likeness after the fall of the Soviet Union have led to this situation, we are obliged to react.” AFP

Israelis in new mass rally against judicial reforms

FLAG-WAVING Israelis gathered in a massive protest for the eighth straight week on Saturday to press their opposition to government legal reforms critics see as a threat to democracy.

Israeli media reported the crowds were again in the tens of thousands, after lawmakers this week took a step towards approving the reforms which are a cornerstone of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s latest administration, which took office in December.

Netanyahu, who is on trial for corruption, made coalition deals to form the most rightwing government in the history of Israel.

Critics, including Supreme Court president Esther Hayut, have condemned the reforms as an assault on the independence of the judiciary.

Some Netanyahu detractors have also tied the proposals to his trial on charges of bribery, fraud, and breach of trust. He denies those charges and any link between the reforms and his own court case.

Hostages freed in PNG after week-long abduction

A NEW Zealander and two other hostages have been freed in Papua New Guinea, the country’s prime minister said Sunday, after they were held for a week in the highlands by an armed group.

“It took us a while but the last three have been successfully returned,”

Prime Minister James Marape said

in a statement. Police said they were returning to the capital Port Moresby with the three freed hostages Sunday afternoon, where Marape would greet them.

The New Zealand man – a professor at an Australian university – and two Papua New Guinea women were tak-

“We are very afraid we will become a fascist country. We are fighting for our country, for democracy, for equal rights for everyone,” one protester in Tel Aviv, Ronit Peled, a 68-year-old retiree, told AFP.

“Democracy! Democracy!” others shouted, vowing not to give up.

Netanyahu has presented the judicial reforms as key to restoring balance between the branches of government, arguing judges currently have too much power over elected officials. AFP

en hostage at gunpoint last Sunday in a remote and densely forested region.

Police had been negotiating with the hostage takers, who initially demanded a ransom of US$1 million – an enormous sum in one of the Pacific’s poorest nations – before dropping the asking price and abandoning a 24hour deadline. AFP

US papers drop ‘Dilbert’ after creator’s racist remarks

MANY US newspapers have decided to no longer publish the popular “Dilbert” comic strip, after its creator posted a racist video earlier this week calling Black people a “hate group.”

Scott Adams, who rose to fame in the 1990s with his satirical take on

white-collar office life, has increasingly stoked controversy with his views on social issues.

But in a video posted on Wednesday, Adams took issue with a recent poll conducted by conservativeleaning Rasmussen Reports, whose results show that a small majority of

Black respondents agreed with the statement, “It’s okay to be white.”

“That’s a hate group and I don’t want anything to do with it,” he said.

“Based on the current way things are going, the best advice I would give to white people is to get the hell away from Black people.” AFP

“We have something to offer in terms of engagement economically, but we also have something to offer in terms of the values that we bring to the table,” Lu told reporters.

After a year of traveling the world to rally support for Ukraine, Blinken’s mission may be his most subtle yet.

Diplomats and experts say that Central Asian leaders are walking a tightrope due to formal security agreements with Moscow and Russia’s overwhelming security and economic influence, including as a destination for laborers.

All five abstained or did not vote as the UN General Assembly on Thursday demanded that Russian forces leave Ukraine.

For the United States, “the sky is the limit in Central Asia right now,” said Jennifer Brick Murtazashvili, an expert on the region at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace and the University of Pittsburgh. AFP

Man charged with murder for dismembering wife in Paris

A MAN who has admitted to killing his wife whose dismembered remains were found in a Paris park was charged Saturday with spousal murder, his lawyer and prosecutors said.

The man from Montreuil, just east of central Paris, denied having wanted her dead, his lawyer Dominique Beyreuther-Minkov told reporters.

Detained by police since Thursday morning, the man reported his wife to police as missing on February 3, the lawyer said.

He had been posting about her disappearance on social media since January 31.

French news channel BFMTV reported last week that police were suspicious about inconsistencies in the husband’s story.

On February 13, park workers discovered a plastic bag containing her lower torso and thighs in the ButtesChaumont park in northeast Paris, a popular spot for picnicking families and joggers.

Further remains including the woman’s head were found in a search the following day, and later identified using fingerprints.

Police had opened a probe for murder, tampering with a corpse and concealing a corpse on February 17. AFP

DEFIANT. Israelis take part in ongoing protests against controversial legal reforms being touted by the country’s hard-right government in Tel Aviv on February 25, 2023. AFP

EMPTY GRAVES. This photo shows empty graves after the exhumation of bodies from mass graves dug during the Russian occupation in the town of Izyum, Kharkiv region, amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine. AFP

PH stock market likely to continue moving sideways

By Jenni er B. Austria

LOCAL stocks are expected to continue moving sideways this week as investors contemplate the central bank’s next policy decision to fight the stubborn inflation.

the macroeconomic environment.

No G20 joint statement after China raises objections

BENGALURU, India—G20 finance ministers failed Saturday to adopt a joint statement on the global economy at talks in India, after China sought to water down references to the Ukraine war.

Russia, for its part, accused the United States, the European Union, and the G7 nations of disrupting the ministers’ meeting by trying to force through a joint statement on Ukraine.

“We regret that the activities of the G20 continue to be destabilized by the Western collective and used in an antiRussian... way,” Russia’s foreign ministry said.

After no agreed-upon final statement was reached, current G20 president India issued a “chair’s summary” which said “most members strongly condemned the war in Ukraine” and that there were “different assessments of the situation and sanctions” at the two-day meeting in Bengaluru.

A footnote said two paragraphs in the

summary about the war, which it said were adapted from the G20 Bali Leaders’ Declaration in November, “were agreed to by all member countries except Russia and China”.

Spain’s representative Nadia Calvino had said earlier that because of “less constructive” approaches by some unspecified countries at the talks among the world’s top 20 economies, agreeing on a statement was difficult.

China wanted to change the language of the declaration from November, officials told AFP, with one saying on condition of anonymity that Beijing wished to remove the word “war.”

Previous meetings of G20 finance ministers and central bank chiefs have also failed to produce a common communique since Russia, a member of the grouping, invaded its neighbor last February.

Senior Indian official Ajay Seth said the Chinese and Russian representatives did not want to sign up to the wording on Ukraine because “their mandate is to deal

Facebook-owner Meta unveils more cautious approach to ChatGPT frenzy

SAN FRANCISCO, United States—Facebook-owner Meta on Friday unveiled its own version of the artificial intelligence behind apps such as ChatGPT, saying it would give access to researchers to find fixes to the technology’s potential dangers.

Meta described its own AI, called LLaMA, as a “smaller, more performant” model designed to “help researchers advance their work,” in what could be seen as veiled criticism of Microsoft’s decision to release the technology widely while keeping the programming code secret. Microsoft-backed ChatGPT has taken the world by storm with its ability to generate finely crafted texts such as essays or poems in just seconds using technology known as large language models.

LLM is part of a field known as generative AI that also includes the capacity to execute images, designs or programming code almost instantaneously upon a

GREEN LIGHT

JAMES MARIUS N. BOLINAO

“WHAT do you want to be when you grow up?” As kids, I’m sure all of us encountered this question countless times. Little dreamers as we were back then, we answered in the most confident yet innocent ways we knew how.

Some of us dreamed of becoming doctors, pilots, or engineers; others wanted something out of this world, like becoming superheroes with the power to fight crime and protect the innocent. Regardless, we, as children, once dared to dream.

Allow me to begin by sharing a story from 17 years ago. On the 25th of March, 2006, I stood in front of a crowd to give my first graduation speech. At the time, I was a pre-schooler. There were no teleprompters, so I just memorized the speech written by my mom and rehearsed the delivery for weeks with my dad.

However, at the time, I must admit that I didn’t understand what I was saying at all. Looking back, maybe the message was just a little too deep for a 6-year-old to understand. But just recently, I found a copy of my speech from way back when. As I read it 17 years later, now a bit older and a bit wiser, I think I finally understand the message now, and I would like to read a passage from that same speech:

simple request.

Usually the more staid actor in big tech, Microsoft has deepened its partnership with OpenAI, the creator of ChatGPT, and earlier this month announced the technology would be integrated into its Bing search engine as well as the Edge browser.

Google, seeing a sudden threat to the dominance of its search engine, quickly announced it would release its own language AI, known as Bard, shortly.

But reports of disturbing exchanges with Microsoft’s Bing chatbot -- including it issuing threats and speaking of desires to steal nuclear code or lure one user from his wife -- went viral, raising alarm bells that the technology was not ready.

Meta said these problems, sometimes called hallucinations, could be better remedied if researchers had improved access to the expensive technology. AFP

Since the beginning of the school year, I have been counting the days until graduation. As the countdown went on, the excitement grew. I began to ask, “Why am I so excited to graduate, am I [finished] with my ABCs and 123s, the vowels and consonants, addition and subtraction? Whatever the reason, I believe great challenges are ahead and we are now ready to hurdle the [next] level.

We have been working toward this moment since that first-ever day of school; some of us cried as we [left] our parents, while others eagerly rushed to our pastel-painted classrooms. Today, our parents will truly say, “How time flies.” Their “little babies” are now growing up, and I know they are proud of what we have accomplished today.

Indeed, time has passed. The little babies and the little dreamers have now grown up, and all roads have led to where we are today—De La Salle University. Each of us has a story to tell, and every story has a beginning, a middle, and an end. Mayroong simula, mayroong gitna, at mayroong dulo. Today, I would like to share my message beginning at the end.

Magsisimula tayo sa dulo. Many of us thought that this day would never come. At some point, in the middle of the pandemic, I’m sure that many of us accepted the fact that we might not be able to graduate in person or experience the so-called “road to PICC.”

with economic and financial issues.”

“On the other hand, all the other 18 countries felt that the war has got implications for the global economy” and needed to be mentioned, Seth told a closing news conference.

China has sought to position itself as neutral on the conflict while maintaining close ties with strategic ally Russia.

State news agency Xinhua quoted top diplomat Wang Yi on Wednesday as saying China was willing to “strengthen strategic coordination” with Russia after meeting President Vladimir Putin in Moscow.

On Friday, the first anniversary of the invasion, China published a 12-point paper calling for a “political settlement” to the crisis that was met with skepticism from Ukraine’s allies.

G20 host India has also refused to condemn Russia, which is New Delhi’s biggest arms supplier and has become a major source of oil for India since the invasion. AFP

Analysts said the looming rate hikes by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas continue to weigh on market sentiment as the US Federal Reserve is also expected to keep raising interest rates to bring down infl ation rate in the world’s largest economy.

BSP Governor Felipe Medalla earlier said the government would monitor inflation on a month-on-month basis to determine its next policy movement.

“A rate cut is almost certainly out of the picture given leading indicators, and the BSP in particular may contend with not only demand-pull inflation but also cost-push inflation,” online brokerage firm 2TradeAsia.com said.

Analysts said while food supply was expected to improve in the coming months, consumers would still contend with unsteady agricultural prices, higher fuel costs and rising electricity rates with the onset of the dry season.

Meanwhile, the influx of earnings results of listed firms could provide the investors some optimism on the market.

“Earnings calls should remind markets that while external factors partly shape fundamentals, ultimately, corporate leadership strategy and product/ service quality relative to competition is what drives value,” 2TradeAsia said.

The market’s sideways movement with a downward bias could provide opportunities for investors to accumulate stocks that are expected to quickly recover from

The bellwether Philippine Stock Exchange index fell 93 points last week to close at 6,685 on Friday amid the anemic trading because of lack of positive leads.

Trading was shortened last week after President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. declared Feb. 24 as a special non-working holiday to commemorate the EDSA Revolution.

Meanwhile, US stocks finished an ugly session decisively lower Friday after another round of hot inflation data exacerbated worries over monetary policy.

The Fed’s preferred gauge of inflation, the personal consumption expenditures price index, rose 5.4 percent last month from January 2022.

The report is the latest indicator to suggest the central bank still faces significant challenges in addressing sticky pricing pressure.

The yield of the 10-year US Treasury note climbed closer to four percent in a sign of rising expectations for more Fed interest rate hikes.

“It’s hard to suggest that this data is not concerning,” said Tom Cahill of Ventura Wealth Management, who questioned whether the Fed’s actions will “drive the economy into recession.”

The broad-based S&P 500 finished at 3,970.04, down 1.1 percent for the day and 2.7 percent for the week. With AFP

PSEi February 23, 2023

TOP GAINERS

we have finally reached the end of the road in a new normal. We entered the Philippine International Convention Center as DLSU students one last time. Later, we will leave this place as Lasallian graduates, ready to face the world with passion and purpose. At the end of it all, we are here, sharing this very moment with our friends, educators, and loved ones, as one Lasallian community. Pumunta naman tayo sa gitna. Every good story has its plot twists, and all of us here know that our batch experienced some of the most challenging ones in the middle of our student life. For many of us here, we were the pioneering batch of the K-12 curriculum. Now, for my fellow students: Try to recall your first year in Senior High School. How did it go? How did you feel?

I began my Lasallian journey in 2016, as a student in the first batch of Senior High School students at the Manila campus. I vividly remember many firsts at DLSU; commuting to Manila, tapping my ID at the old South Gate, and, my personal favorite, studying at the library to watch the sunset by the Manila Bay. Of course, the learnings inside the classrooms were highlevel, as expected of DLSU’s quality of education; expectations were high, projects were challenging, and subjects were aligned with my chosen strand.

MySenior High days gave me some semblance of clarity for my career path; however, I still couldn’t help but

feel a lingering uncertainty.

They say that uncertainty is always associated with change; the educational system was facing a difficult yet necessary shift, armed with new subjects and standards to improve the quality of our education. However, people often call our batch the “guinea pigs”—test subjects of an experimental curriculum. Even worse, other people would say something along the lines of “Minalas ‘yung batch mo; sayang, graduate ka na sana ngayon.”

Despite all of this, we did not let misfortune define us—we studied, persevered, and upheld the responsibility of becoming standard-bearers for younger generations of Filipino students—an honor that we will carry with us for the rest of our lives.

To be continued.

James Marius N. Bolinao is an Applied Corporate Management graduate of the Department of Management and Organization, Ramon V. Del Rosario College of Business, De La Salle University - Manila. Chosen to speak on behalf of the graduating class, he delivered this speech during the 194th Commencement Exercises of De La Salle University on February 18, 2023. He can be reached at marius.bolinao@ gmail.com.

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

TOP LOSERS

MOST ACTIVE

G20 MEETING. India’s Finance Minister Nirmala Sitaraman (center) addresses a press conference along with the Governor of Reserve Bank of India, Shaktikanta Das (right) and Secretary of Department of Economic Affairs, Ministry of Finance Ajay Seth after the G20 Finance meetings under India’s G20 presidency in Bengaluru on Feb. 25, 2023. AFP

AGRICULTURE FAIR. French President Emmanuel Macron (right) and Minister of Agriculture Marc Fesneau meet with bakers during the International Agriculture Fair in Paris on Feb. 25, 2023, on the rst day of the 59th edition of the fair. The 2023 edition of the International Agriculture Fair runs in the French capital from Feb. 25 to March 5, 2023. AFP

ALI plans to raise P60b from debt market to fund P85-b capex for 2023

By Jenni er B. Austria

PROPERTY developer Ayala Land Inc. plans to raise P60 billion from the debt market to partially fund its P85-billion programmed capital spending for 2023, a top executive said.

ALI chief fi nance offi cer Augusto

Bengzon said in a recent interview the group was planning to issue P22 billion worth of five-year and 10-year bonds in April.

The company is in talks with seven banks to be the joint lead underwriters for the fund-raising activity, he said.

“The credit spreads look attractive. We are currently looking at credit spread of 25 basis points for the fiveyear bonds and 30 to 50 basis points for the 10-year bonds. It is very attractive for us to take out term debt because short-end curve is quite elevated,” Bengzon said.

ALI also plans to raise P60 billion

from creditor banks to fund maturities and term out its short-term debts. The property firm is initially finalizing a 10year facility for P5 billion.

“There is quite a nice window for us to take on long-term fixed rate debt, and we are following a rule of spreading out our maturities wherein there will be no single year wherein we have excessively large amount of maturities,” Bengzon said.

ALI earlier announced capital expenditures of P85 billion for 2023, up 18 percent from the 2022 level, to fund the expansion of its residential, mall, office and hotel businesses.

It said bulk of this year’s capital spending would be allotted for the residential business which was planning to launch P110 billion to P130 billion worth of projects.

The company said it remained optimistic about the property business despite the high-interest rate environment.

SOLID BANKING. Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas Governor Felipe Medalla (front row) says the banking system is strong, stable, resilient and responsive to the evolving needs of the growing Philippine economy during the annual gathering of bank executives, business leaders, diplomats and government o cials with the theme ‘A Future-Ready Philippines: Digital, Sustainable, Inclusive’ at the BSP’s head o ce in Manila on Feb. 24, 2023. With Medalla are (from left) Monetary Board members Anita Linda Aquino, Peter Favila, Finance Secretary Benjamin Diokno, Antonio Abacan Jr., and Eli Remolona.

BSP remains hawkish, weighs new rate hike

By Julito G. Rada

BANGKO Sentral ng Pilipinas Governor Felipe

Medalla said monetary authorities remain hawkish and are ready to act accordingly if inflation in February does not decelerate from a 14-year high of 8.7 percent in January.

Medalla said in an interview at the sidelines of the 2023 annual reception for the banking community Friday night monetary authorities would have no reason to raise the policy rate if inflation would show a slowdown in February, but would act if it would continue to rise.

“If we saw that prices are lower in February than in January, why should

Domestic airline passengers hit 76% of 2019 levels

By Darwin G. Amojelar

THE Civil Aeronautics Board said over the weekend domestic air passenger traffic in 2022 returned to 76 percent of the 2019 levels, a strong rebound from 2020 and 2021 amid the easing of travel restrictions.

Data from the CAB showed that domestic passenger volume reached 22.50 million last year, up from 5.53 million domestic passengers in 2021. In 2019, domestic passengers totaled 29.53 million.

The Philippines lifted most travel restrictions in the first quarter of 2022 to help in the economic recovery from the pandemic.

Cebu Pacific remained the country’s leading domestic airline with 11.39 million passengers flown last year, higher than 2.68 million in 2021.

The budget airline of the Gokongwei Group returned to 87 percent of its 2019 levels.

It was followed by PAL Express with 3.84 million domestic passengers, Philippines AirAsia with 3.63 million and Philippine Airlines with 2 million.

Cebgo, a unit of Cebu Pacific, carried 1.36 million domestic passengers, while AirSwift Transport Inc. flew 212,059.

International passenger traffic returned to only 32 percent of the 2019 levels. International passenger volume reached 9.83 million last year, higher by 348 percent than 2.19 million in 2021.

Data showed that of the total, domestic airlines carried 3.99 million international passengers, while foreign carriers flew 5.83 million international passengers.

PAL carried the most number of international passengers last year with 3.34 million, followed by Cebu Pacific with 435,841 passengers; Philippines AirAsia, 198,093; Royal Air Charter Service, 11,385; and Astro Air International, 119 passengers.

By Othel V. Campos

THE Department of Trade and Industry and the Board of Investments are set to establish a one-stop-action-center to serve as a single point entry for all projects classified under strategic investments.

This is in line with Executive Order No. 18 or the measure creating green lanes for strategic investments. As part of the government’s digitalization ef-

we? We are still hawkish… If the February infl ation is bad, we will act. But we are hawkish for a reason…It is the data,” Medalla said, referring to economic data such as the consumer price index and the gross domestic product growth.

“The most likely scenario is maybe one more [hike]… But if I see a negative month-on-month [inflation], I may

change my mind… We are hoping that non-monetary measures will reduce inflation,” he said.

Medalla did not say whether inflation peaked in January. He said if non-monetary measures started working, then the January figure would be the highest.

“We are looking now at month-onmonth… The main scenario is that February inflation will be lower than January,” Medalla said.

Finance Secretary Benjamin Diokno, a member of the Monetary Board, echoed Medalla’s observation. “Definitely, February inflation will be lower than in January… That is my guess. [The] price of oil has stabilized. The peso has also stabilized. What remains is food. Sugar imports have arrived, and it is just a mat-

ter of distribution,” he said.

Diokno said importation was not the only answer to cool down inflation. He said goods should reach the markets and should be strictly monitored.

“That is the role of LGUs [local government units] because if there are people [monitoring] the markets, it affects the behavior [of traders]...

So we are doing everything. Even rice has no significant impact on inflation,” Diokno said.

Medalla said a 75-basis-point rate hike was quite unlikely “because the main impetus behind inflation is not demand…What is happening is what we call second-order effects…Prices are rising because previous increases influence future increases,” he said.

“I’m not ruling out anything but if

PSE INDEX

you look at 0, 25, 50 and 75 [bps], the extremes are less likely,” Medalla said. Medalla said the data was fluid, making it hard to forecast the next action of monetary authorities. “What we are seeing is unusual because historically, in the past, 15 straight months of headline [inflation] above 4 [percent] is the longest already… Now, the way it looks, it could be as long as 18 to 19 straight months,” he said.

The BSP raised on Feb. 16 the benchmark interest rate by 50 basis points to 6 percent to rein in infl ation that blew past the target range last year and accelerated to 8.7 percent in January 2023. The interest rates on the overnight deposit and lending facilities were also raised to 5.5 percent and 6.5 percent, respectively.

AgriNurtue eyes P5-b fund-raising activities

AGRINURTURE Inc., a publicly-listed agribusiness firm led by Antonio Tiu, plans to raise P5 billion from the equities and bond markets to fund expansion plans.

ANI president Antonio Tiu said in a recent interview the company would push through with its P280-million stock rights offering this year, which was delayed because of the pandemic. Tiu said ANI would soon submit to regulators the final prospectus for the stock rights offering at the rate of one rights share for every 2.5 shares held. ANI’s board of directors approved the offering in February 2020.

The company engaged Abacus Capital and Investment Corp. as the underwriter for the offering.

JTI’S TAX CONTRIBUTION. The Bureau of Customs-Post Clearance Audit Group recognizes JTI Philippines as its Top 2 Taxpayer for 2022 during a simple awarding ceremony at the bureau’s main o ce. Attending the awarding ceremony are (from left) JTI Philippines government relations manager Rafael Ledesma, BOC-PCAG director Fernandino Tuazon, BOC assistant commissioner Vincent Maronilla, JTI Philippines tax manager Idessa De Leon, JTI Philippines media and public a airs manager Dennis Gadil and PCAG audit team leader Melvin Banzon. JTI Philippines was also acknowledged for “supporting the e orts of the Post Clearance Audit Group in promoting voluntary compliance among importers.”

Tokyo Gas plans to bring green hydrogen technology to PH

By Alena Mae S. Flores

JAPANESE gas supplier Tokyo Gas Co.

Ltd. plans to bring green hydrogen technology to the Philippines, its local partner

First Gen Corp. said.

“Tokyo Gas is doing a lot of studies on hydrogen, e-methane they call it. I think they want to bring that technology here as well,” First Gen chairman Federico Lopez said in a recent interview. Green hydrogen is fuel created from renewable energy.

Tokyo Gas owns a 20-percent stake in FGen LNG Corp., its joint venture with

First Gen.

FGen LNG owns an interim offshore liquefied natural gas terminal project in Batangas City which is eyed for completion this year.

“That’s the beauty [of it]. Eventually, as that tech becomes viable, it can even be used to re-power your nat gas [natural gas] plants.

forts, the order requires all concerned government agencies to enable electronic submission of application for and issuance of license, clearance, permit and certification including payments.

“This EO complements our efforts to facilitate a robust economic recovery and expansion. It promotes ease of doing business as national government agencies including its regional and provincial offices, as well as local government units, are now mandated

Many of the nat gas-fired plants we’re putting in are capable of firing on blended with hydrogen, if it were available today,” Lopez said.

He said combined cycle gas turbine power plants could eventually run on hydrogen if it is commercially available.

“That’s part of our perspective. That’s why we think CCGT plants are probably the best complement for this transition,” Lopez said.

He said hydrogen as a fuel is still expensive, but he is optimistic that “things will move very fast”, especially with the US Inflation Reduction Act that may spur more capital to innovate and speed up innovations in many green technologies.

Lopez said Tokyo Gas may also come in once demand justifies a need for an offshore LNG terminal.

“We are still at that stage of interim offshore terminal...We watch the de-

to create green lanes that will fast track the process of securing necessary licenses and permits for strategic investments, it increases the attractiveness of our country as an investment destination” said DTI Secretary and BOI chairman Alfredo Pascual.

The EO, signed by Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin on Feb. 23, 2023, is consistent with the Marcos administration’s 8-point socioeconomic agenda and serves as a crucial part of efforts to implement policy reforms to facilitate

mand. The moment more is needed, we are going to start building the onshore terminal,” Lopez said.

He said the original plan was to build an onshore terminal but they shifted to an interim offshore because it is faster and cheaper to build.

“We also want to make sure that we give priority if there’s Malampaya or if there’s more Malampaya, we sort of give that priority and adjust our volumes for import as we move forward,” Lopez said.

He said offshore LNG terminal was expected to be completed by March, while the floating storage regasification unit or vessel would come by June or July.

“That’s still the target. All of that is still very early, relative to our Malampaya,” Lopez said. First Gen is a power generation company of the Lopez Group and one of the largest natural gas consumers in the country.

ease of doing business in the Philippines. It covers all national government agencies and their regional and provincial offices, government-owned or controlled corporations, local government units and other government instrumentalities.

Under the EO, strategic investments are classified into highly desirable projects, foreign direct investments and projects or activities under the Strategic Investment Priority Plan.

ANI also plans to convert its 75-millioneuro green bond offering into a peso-bond offering because of rising interest rates overseas. The company said it was planning to use the proceeds from these fund raising activities to fund the group’s agricultural project expansion related to climate change adaptation and reduced environmental footprint, and for the improvement of production and trade of organic produce. Jenniffer B. Austria

GMA Network shifts to widescreen format

GMA Network Inc. invested P139 million to upgrade its traditional screen format to widescreen format starting Feb. 27 this year as part of its strategy to provide better viewing experience, a top executive said over the weekend.

“Recognizing that a majority of TV homes in the country have already shifted to wider flatscreen TVs from the traditional box-type, and more importantly that our viewers deserve the best that we can offer, GMA will now provide its viewers with a true widescreen viewing experience for all its TV channels,” GMA Network first vice president and head of postproduction Paul Ticzon said.

“The 16:9 widescreen format allows content creators of GMA to provide better storytelling which translates to a more immersive viewing experience for our audiences. Through a higher spatial resolution, there is more freedom in composition and visual expression,” he said.

The 16:9 widescreen format would be made available on GMA and GTV as well as on digital channels Heart of Asia, Hallypop, I Heart Movies and Pinoy Hits. Kapuso abroad can have the same viewing experience via GMA international channels GMA Pinoy TV, GMA Life TV and GMA News TV. Darwin G. Amojelar

Alternergy bags Tablas wind energy contracts

Alternergy Holdings Corp. said over the weekend it was granted exclusive rights to explore, develop and utilize wind resources in the wind-swept Tablas Strait separating Oriental Mindoro and Antique.

The Department of Energy awarded three separate wind energy service contracts to Alternergy’s wind arm Pililla AVPC Corp. last month for the Tablas Strait offshore wind power project covering about 120,000 hectares.

“The Tablas Strait Offshore Wind Power Projects awarded to PACO were subjected to rigid technical, legal and financial review by the DOE since July 2022,’’ PACO chief executive and Alternergy director Knud Hedeager said. Alena Mae S. Flores

Rookie propels Fuel Masters to 106-103 win over FiberXers

By Peter Atencio

ROOKIE guard Encho Serrano played with confidence as he drilled in the winning basket for the Phoenix Super LPG Fuel Masters in their 106-103 stopping of the Converge FiberXers Sunday night in the Philippine Basketball Association Governors’ Cup at the Araneta Coliseum.

Serrano scored on a layup in the last 19 seconds, pushing the Fuel Masters out of trouble, 105-103, and helping propel the Fuel Masters to their third win in eight games.

“Inisip ko na gusto kong tumulong. Kaya, iyun, nu’ng pinasok ako ni coach Jamike (Jarin), iyung confidence ko ay ‘di naman nawawala,” said Serrano.

Playing off the bench at the start of the second half, Serrano went on to finish with a season-high 28 points for the Fuel Masters.

Serrano fired 17 points in the fourth period, with his two charities in the last 2:08, allowing Phoenix to stay in front, 99-98. His basket shattered a 103-all deadlock, which Serrano also forced with his split charity in the last 43 seconds.

Jarin said their weeklong rest after their 125-100 triumph over Terrafirma Dyip gave the Fuel Masters enough energy to pull off the win.

DuVaughn Maxwell added 19 points and 15 rebounds for the Fuel Masters, who will next clash with the Rain or Shine Elasto Painters on Wednesday.

Jamaal Franklin knocked in 30 points for the FiberXers, but he misfired with two three-pointers in the remaining time.

The Scores:

PHOENIX 106 —Serrano 28, Maxwell 19, Perkins 16, Tio 16, Muyang 8, Mocon 7, Camaco 4, Jazul 3, Manganti 3, Garcia 2, Alejandro 0 CONVERGE 103 —Franklin 30, Stockton 11, Balanza 11, Racal 11, Teng 11, Ahanmisi 10, Arana 8, Ebona 4, Tratter 4, Browne 0 QUARTERS: 23-24, 42-49, 66-69, 106-103

World champ karter leads PSA’s Siddayao awardees

A CHAMPION karter and a charming jiu-jitsu world title holder lead the youth brigade to be feted in the San Miguel Corporation-Philippine Sportswriters Association Annual Awards Night a week from now at the grand ballroom of the Diamond Hotel.

William John Riley Go and Aleia Aielle Aguilar are two of the nine recipients of the Tony Siddayao awards in the March 6 gala night organized by the oldest media organization in the country headed by its president Rey Lachica, sports editor of Tempo.

Joining Go and Aguilar in the list of awardees given to outstanding or promising athletes 18 years old and below are archer Miguel Carlos, siblings Karl and Elaiza Yulo, karate bets Heleina Dominique So and Robert Dayanan Jr., swimmer Micaela Jasmie Mojdeh, and the Philippine junior chess team.

Revived after two years following the COVID-19 pandemic, the award was named in honor of the late Antonio ‘Tony’ Siddayao, the former senior

Tropang Giga complete grand slam in PBA 3x3

TNT sealed its date with history as it became the first team to complete a grand slam in the annals of PBA 3x3.

Lervin Flores stood tall to lead the Tropang Giga’s charge in a 21-18 victory over hard-fighting San Miguel Beermen in the finals of the Third Conference Sunday as Season 2 formally came to an end at Robinsons Place in Las Pinas.

The veteran big man finished with 11 points, grabbed five rebounds, and shot 7-of-9 from the field as he stole the limelight away from the ever reliable Almond Vosotros for a change.

Vosotros, the league’s undisputed scoring king, had a quiet seven points, while Ping Exciminiano and Samboy De Leon round out the scoring and help the telecommunication franchise achieved the special feat in the young history of the two-year-old standalone league.

The victory was worth P750,000 for coach Mau Belen and her team, which won its fourth straight conference title dating back to the Third Conference of Season 1.

The Beermen were beaten but unbowed, giving the top seeded team all they could handle before falling short in the endgame. They brought home the runner-up purse of P250,000.

Earlier, Barangay Ginebra took third place and the P100,000 prize money behind a 21-18 win over J&T.

It was the second third place finish for the Kings in a season grand finals following the same place they achieved during the second conference of Season 1.

The Beermen climbed their way to the pool ladder as the no. 8 seeded team, initially gaining a seat in the knockout stage by finishing second behind J&T in Pool B during the early morning games.

In the quarterfinals, Ken Bono powered his way with nine points to lead San Miguel to a 21-19 upset of no. 2 Cavitex, before Tonino Gonzaga and Wendell Comboy took over in the semis as they combined for 17 points in a 20-18 victory over the Express.

TNT sneaked its way to the finals by disposing 10th seed Purefoods, 2115, in the quarterfinals, and turned back the stiff challenge of no. 4 team Barangay Ginebra, 21-16, to clinch the first finals berth.

FEU buries woeful past with win on opening day

prominent personalities honored with the award during the past editions of the traditional celebration presented by the Philippine Sports Commission and Cignal TV and with Philippine Olympic Committee, Mayor Abraham ‘Bambol’ Tolentino, MILO, Smart, MVP Sports Foundation, Rain or Shine, 1Pacman Rep. Mikee Romero, Philippine Basketball Association, OKBet, ICTSI, and the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation as major backers.

The 14-year-old Go won a world title in the Super ROK in Lonato, Italy to highlight his 2022 campaign in the racing track that also included a silver medal finish in the FIA Karting Academy in Genk, Belgium.

Aguilar on the other hand, became the youngest jiu-jitsu world champion when she captured the gold in the kids’ 1 under-16kg event of the Abu Dhabi World Jiu-Jitsu Championships.

The five-year-old Aleia is the daughter of mixed martial arts champions Alvin Aguilar and Maybelline Masuda.

CPS beats UVL Hornets, praises Muñoz team for bravery

CALIFORNIA Precision Sports

made short work of a United Volleyball League Muñoz Hornets side that played short-handed for the second straight day, 25-7, 25-7, to go 3-0 won-lost in girls’ Pool C of the Philippine National Volleyball Federation (PNVF) Under-18 Championships Sunday at the Rizal Memorial Coliseum.

But CPS head coach Dr. Obet Estrella Vital praised the Hornets for putting up a gallant stand with a depleted lineup.

“They’re not a bad team and we praise them for their bravery and valiant effort for stepping up despite being shorthanded,” Vital

said. “You cannot underestimate this team—just what they showed against Marikina.”

“Facing a team like them is very dangerous,” he added.

Santo Niño de Praga Academy of Trece Martires City beat Ateneo de Manila (0-3) of Quezon City, 25-13, 25-15, in Pool D to stay in stride the CPS with three straight victories, while Angeles City (2-1) defeated the Parañaque Thunderbolts Volleyball Club (1-2), 25-23, 25-21, in Pool B.

The Hornets were depleted in half for their two matches during the weekend after a rented van ferrying their players from the Science City of Muñoz in Nueva Ecija to Manila fig-

ured in a minor crash with a tricycle in Baliuag in Bulacan.

Despite short of personnel, specifically a legitimate libero and a middle blocker, the Hornets gave Marikina Titans Volleyball Club a scare before yielding, 21-25, 25-20, 25-18.

Vital used his younger players who’re no older than 15 against the Hornets of head coach Raven Miguel Fabro in the match staged in the second weekend of the tournament organized by the PNVF headed by Ramon “Tats” Suzara and supported by the Philippine Olympic Committee, Philippine Sports Commission, PLDT, Rebisco and Akari.

FAR Eastern University registered a 25-16, 23-25, 25-17, 26-24 win over University of the Philippines to open its UAAP Season 85 women’s volleyball campaign at the SM Mall of Asia Arena, Sunday.

The victory ended the Lady Tamaraws’ 11-game skid dating back to last year in Season 84.

“Naka-let go na kami I think. This win is supposedly ito ‘yung nagse-separate sa amin sa ghost (of last season). This one is a big win for us,” said debuting FEU head coach Tina Salak.

The Fighting Maroons started the fourth set on fire, racing to a 12-6 lead but FEU clawed back and even took a three-point lead late, 22-19.

UP though came back through Euri Eslapor and Alyssa Bertolano, with the former sending them to set point with a crosscourt kill, 24-23.

Alyzza Devosora though was clutch for the Lady Tamaraws with a down-the-line kill for the deuce before a backrow attack for the match point.

Stephanie Bustrillo then sent her attack long to give FEU the win - its first since May 10, 2022.

“It’s a good start for the team, sa program, and also doon sa community even nagstra-struggle kami sa training and past experiences, we have proven na kaya namin maovercome,” added Salak, an FEU legend herself.

Jovelyn Fernandez topscored for the Tamaraws with 18 points while Chenie Tagaod chipped in 13 points. Devosora did it all with 12 points on six attacks, three blocks, three aces, 12 digs, and four excellent receptions. Bertolano posted a triple-double of 14 points, 14 digs, and 11 excellent receptions for the Fighting Maroons, who also got 13 points from Nina Ytang off five blocks.

TNT’s Ping Exciminiano celebrates the title conquest of the Tropang Giga in the PBA 3x3 Third Conference on Sunday at Robinsons Place in Las Piñas.

Encho Serrano

William John Riley Go with his trophies

Grandmaster Wesley So, cage stars Kiefer Ravena and Jeron Teng, golfer Doti Ardina, Olympic bronze medalist Eumir Marcial, and US Open junior girls champion Alex Eala were some of the

Nueva Ecija, Zambo dispute

MPBL crown, P3-m prize

NUEVA Ecija and Zamboanga Family’s Brand Sardines posted contrastijng victories on Saturday night to forge a title duel in the 2023 MPBL (Maharlika PIlipinas

Basketball League) Preseason Tournament at the Lagao Gym in Brgy. Lagao, General Santos City.

The Nueva Ecija Rice Vanguards routed the Sarangani Marlins, 112-89, while the Zamboanguenos bested the Imus SV Squad, 89-82, in the knockout semifinals to stage a repeat of their championship showdown in last year’s MPBL national finals won by Nueva Ecija.

Showing their vaunted depth and strength, the Rice Vanguards of Coach Jerson Cabiltes sealed the outcome midway of the fourth quarter, 103-74, before cruising to victory.

The Zamboanguenos, on the other hand, were barely ahead, 77-75, before Judel Fuentes, Dexter Maiquez, Jayson Grimaldo and Jaycee Marcelino put the final touches for Coach Vic Ycasiano.

Fuentes, a prized acquisition from San Juan, tallied 21 points, 9 rebounds and 6

BingoPlus lends support to golf, too

BINGOPLUS, the first and only livestreaming bingo in the Philippines, now supports golf tournaments to follow through on its commitment to promote Filipino sports entertainment and other favorite Pinoy recreational activities.

The brand has been an active sponsor of professional basketball conferences, sports teams, beauty pageants, musical performances, and performers as well as traditional Filipino cultural festivals like the Sinulog in Cebu and MassKara in Bacolod, BingoPlus has made golf its pet project this February.

To foster more partnerships, BingoPlus is one of the Platinum sponsors of the 51st Golden Tee Invitational Tournament at Manila Golf and Country Club, which was held on February 9. In addition, as a sign of commitment BingoPlus will be one of the Titanium Sponsors of the Third Zamora Cup Invitational Tournament at the Wack-Wack Golf & Country Club on February 23.

AB Leisure Exponent Inc. President Jasper Vicencio said BingoPlus is really trying its best to fulfill its mission of promoting the country’s different types of leisure activities because it wants to contribute to a society with a good work-life balance.

“The nature of our business is leisure and offering the Filipino ways to live a relaxed, well-balanced life gives us fulfillment in what we do. Golf is about the three C’s of camaraderie, connections, and charity. It is a strategic game as well as a game of skill, accuracy, and concentration that imparts many values. We want to give back to the community by participating in this mental, highlevel game that allows us to contribute to charitable causes.”

Vicencio added that BingoPlus is honored to be supporting the two prestigious golf tournaments because it will allow the brand to reach out to privileged groups and sectors that they to help out.

assists while Marcelino, last year’s MVP, contributed 20 points. Grimaldo added 16 points and 7 rebounds, Will McAloney 14 points and Addy Santos 13 points.

John Bryon Villarias shone for Nueva Ecija with 18 points, including 5 triples, followed by Pamboy Raymundo with 15, Jonathan Uyloan with 12 and Michael Mabulac with 10.

Sarangani got 18 points from Nemesis Dela Cruz, 11 points from Orin Catacutan and 10 each from Alex Desoyo and Marc Poole.

Unlike Sarangani, Imus put up a tough fight against Zamboanga through veteran Mac Cardona, John Sherick Estrada, Jaymar Gimpayan and Bryan Faundo, never allowing the Zamboanguenos to lead by twin digits.

Cardona posted 24 points, Estrada 19, Gimpayan 17 and Faundo 1

The eight-team, weeklong event takes a break on Sunday before Nueva Ecija and Zamboanga dispute the title and the P3 million that goes with it at 9 p.m. on Monday. Imus and Sarangani will clash for third place and P300,000 at 7 p.m.

CLERMONTFERRAND, France

—Armand Duplantis of Sweden set a new world pole vault record of 6.22 metres at an indoor meeting in France on Saturday, describing it as “almost an out-of-body experience”.

Olympic champion Duplantis improved his own record of 6.21m that he set in winning the world title outdoors in Oregon last year.

Competing at the All-Star Perche meeting in Clermont-Ferrand, central France organised by 2012 Olympic pole vault champion Renaud Lavillenie, Duplantis cleared the new record at his third attempt to the delight of the 4,000-strong crowd.

Duplantis, 23, said: “When you have moments like this, when the energy is so high, and you’re going down there

Duplantis breaks world pole vault record again

for the record, it feels like levitating, it feels like my body never even touched the ground the whole jump.

“There’s something about it that just feels overwhelming right now, and I really think it’s because Renaud means so much to me, he’s meant so much to me since I first started, he’s been my biggest inspiration, biggest idol.

“He really motivated me, made me believe that I could break the world record. So for me to break the world record here, his hometown, his competition that he hosts…”

US-born Duplantis entered the competition at 5.71m, clearing that height at

his first attempt.

He passed at 5.81m and managed 5.91m on his second try before winning the competition by clearing 6.01m on his first attempt before having the bar raised to the record height.

It was the sixth time that Duplantis has broken the world record.

He set the first in Torun in February 2020, when he cleared 6.17m to add a centimetre to Lavillenie’s previous world record of 6.16m that had stood since 2014.

“Each world record feels like it brings something a bit different out of me,” Duplantis said. “Maybe the first one might have been a bit crazier, but

this might be number two right now, it’s really unbelievable.”

He said re-writing the record books no longer left him with any nerves.

“The pressure doesn’t really feel the same anymore to me. I’ve proved a lot the past few years, the past two years especially, and I know what kind of jumper I am, what I am capable of.

“I know that I am deserving to be in the spot that I am.”

Duplantis is giving the European Indoor Championships in Istanbul next month a miss so will focus on the outdoor season and winning back-toback world outdoor titles in Budapest in August. AFP

Founders’ champ Cebu vows to bounce back next year

CEBU—Carl Almario and the rest of the Cebu Country Club squad won’t be going home empty-handed after falling short in the overall race of the Philippine Airlines Senior Interclub

“Back to Ignite” tournament on Saturday.

“We’re happy winning the Founders (division),” Almario who tallied 95 of Cebu CC’s 564 points for the week, said during the awarding ceremony. “But of course, it (overall title) would have been the icing on the cake. But you know, in golf, you cannot win them all.”

The Cebuanos were in control of the overall race for two days starting the second round, only to falter on the final day at Alta Vista by tallying just 141 points as Luisita completed a rally by pooling 151 that easily erased a two-point Cebu CC lead at the start of the day.

Cebu CC was just eight points shy of Luisita’s Championship divisionwinning total of 572 points.

It would have been the second time in recent history that the club would have pulled off the feat, doing it, also on home soil, in the Regular Men’s division which Almario was also a member of.

“I just wished we could have played better,” Almario said. “That’s how

the cookie crumbles, I guess. Luisita played well. They shot decent scores and they deserved to win.” Cebu CC won the Founders by 34 points over Orchard, their division decided as early as the third round after a 133 at Club Filipino in Danao. Eric Deen shot a five-over-par 77 worth 49 points to lead Cebu CC in the final day, even as Kenneth Kim fired 55 to lead Orchard’s closing 140 for second place, four points better than Riviera Golf, which fired 137.

Mimosa, meanwhile, hung on to rule the Aviators class after firing a final round 97 led by the 36 of Dominico Hermoso over at Club Filipino. Mimosa finished with a 471 total, nipping SF Maharlika by three points even after shooting a 132 on the final day.

Zamboanga was another six points behind in finishing third after a 120.

Club Filipino was victorious in the Sportswriters bracket, winning it by 43 points over MSU Marawi Golf and Country Club with a 457 total. CF

totaled a final round 114 at Alta Vista after getting 48 points from Nilo Seno, 36 from Leonard Arevalo and 30 from Elias Espinosa.

San Juanico Golf and Country Club was third another 13 points adrift, even as Malaysian Eagle Hunters ruled the Friendship division by 27 points over Canphil Golf Association with a 408 tally.

The annual event, considered the country’s unofficial national team championship, was shelved for two years due to the coronavirus pandemic, and the 74th staging of the event is supported by platinum sponsors ABSCBN Global, Asian Journal, Airbus, and NUSTAR Resort and Casino.

Gold sponsors include Radio Mindanao Network, Mastercard, MemoRieS FM 89.9 Cebu, University of Mindanao Broadcasting Network, PLDT/Smart, and Konsulta MD.

Joining the event as silver sponsors are Philippine National Bank (PNB), Biocostech, and VISA.

Minor sponsors are Bollore Logistics, Manila Standard, Tanduay Brands International, and Asia Brewery while donors are Department of Tourism, Ogawa, Newport World Resorts, Rolls Royce, and Boeing.

Champs spice up IRONMAN 70. 3 Davao pro chase

PORTUGUESE Filipe Azevedo and fellow IRONMAN 70.3 champion Tuan Chun Chang of Taiwan beef up the men’s pro cast in the Alveo IRONMAN 70. 3 Davao, both seeking to bring their winning act to the premier endurance race unfolding March 26 at Azuela Cove.

The event, which will mark the IM 70.3 Philippines’ return to the king city of the south after a three-year hiatus due to pandemic, has drawn 1,019 athletes from 48 nations one full month before it is fired off, underscoring the sport’s popularity both in the local triathlon scene and abroad.

Hong Kong has accounted for the biggest number of foreign entries thus far with 44 while England and Singapore are fielding in 28 and 26 athletes, respectively, followed by the US (23), Japan (22), India (14) and France (13).

Australia, whose world-class bets have

dominated the local IM 70.3 and full IM races for years, is putting up an 18-athlete contingent, led by top women’s pro contender Dimity-Lee Duke, a multi-5150 race winner who placed third in the first IM 70.3 Davao in 2018 and wound up fourth in the following year.

Registration is ongoing. For details, log on to ironman.com/im703-davaophilippines-athletes.

Up for grabs are $30,000 purse for winners in both the men’s and women’s pro divisions of the event powered by Petron and sponsored by Active, Fulgaz, Hyperice ROKA, Vinfast, Breitling, Gatorade, Qatar Airways, Santini and Wahoo.

Portugal has only one entry but Azevedo isn’t after the quantity but the quality of performance he hopes to dish out in the 1.9k swim-90k bike-21k run distance race, the lone

pro event slated in this year’s series of triathlon races organized by The IRONMAN Group/ Sunrise Events, Inc.

Now based in Dubai, Azevedo dominated the 2019 IM 70.3 Shanghai and topped his country’s Middle Distance Triathlon National Championships last year.

But the 30-year-old does expect a stiff challenge form a host of top-notch rivals, including Chang, who ruled the IM Taitung in record fashion (3:52.48) and topped the Taipei Triathlon National Championships, both last year.

Also in the fold are Aussies Matthew Tonge and Nick Carling, runner-up in last year’s World Triathlon Long Distance Championship Samorin, Spain’s Eneko Elosegi and Juampe Garcia, Jayden Kuijpers of New Zealand, Michael Raelert and Ognjen Stojanovic of Germany and Japan’s Kaito Tohara.

Swedish athlete Armand Duplantis clears the bar as he sets a new world record (6.22m) during the men’s pole vault event of the International indoor athletics meeting All Star Perche, at the Sports Hall in Clermont-Ferrand, central France. AFP

Cebu CC displays the Founders’ division trophy.

Filipe Azevedo

Kylie Padilla plays Gem, a career-driven rookie cop

Michelle Dee completes the star-studded cast

J, the head writer for GMA’s latest prime series

, had

Mga Lihim ni Urduja one main goal when he wrote the groundbreaking drama set in precolonial and modern worlds.

Manila Standard

rview with Entertainment, Nones said that the series is as colorful as the Philippines’ rich history. And its main focus is to uplift the viewers’ spirit and let everyone know that there’s so much talent and colorful stories in the Philippines.

Nones viewers’ spirit and let everyone know that but our ancestors were warriors, are more colorful than our neighbors,” the Nones consultants,

“Sometimes we’re wrong about how we think of ourselves, our race, of our country. For the longest time, we were made to believe that we’re just victims, but our ancestors were warriors, mga maharlikang palaban at matatapang. We wanted the youth to unders tand that sometimes our stories, culture, and sociopolitical history are more colorful than our neighbors,” the television writer started. said that according to the series’ consultants, pre-colonial Filipinos had advanced societies compared to our neighbors or even to some countries in some parts of the world – the Philippines being the hub of commercial expansion during the pre-Spanish era.

“But most Filipinos don’t know that. They thought we were just underdogs and that we were victims. Actually, we’re so much more than that. And that’s what we would like to do with Mga Lihim ni Urduja. We wanted to awaken that spirit in our youth and make them feel proud of

our culture and history,” Nones carried on.

Mga Lihim ni Urduja, which premieres tonight on GMA Network, follows the story of Gem (Kylie Padilla), a career-driven rookie cop, and Crystal (Gabbi Garcia), a budding entrepreneur and jewelry designer. They were assigned to work in a special law enforcement operation to recover priceless heritage jewelry. The said jewels are believed to have been used as magical amulets of the legendary Hara Urduja

Gabbi Garcia is Crystal, a budding entrepreneur and jewelry designer

Also joining the cast of ‘Mga Lihim ni Urduja’ is Arra San Agustin

Reimagining history in

‘Mga Lihim ni Urduja’

(Sanya Lopez).

The operation becomes more difficult because of their personal differences –Gem is a bit uptight while Crystal can be too spontaneous. But aside from their clashing personalities, they must also navigate through combat challenges and deadly opponents. Will they succeed amid the presence of bounty hunters who are out to possess Urduja’s jewels?

Meanwhile, the show also takes the

viewers inside the Kingdom of Tawalisi located in the pre-colonial Philippines. There lives Hara Urduja, a mystical warrior queen who rules an army of strong, skillful, and extraordinary women. She holds a big responsibility to lead her followers and maintain peace in their land. But will Hara Urduja be able to protect herself from people who want to dethrone her and use her power in vain? How will the lives of Gem, Crystal, and Hara Urduja intertwine in this epic-modern adventure?

“We created this series because we wanted to connect to a generation that speaks the same language. We aim to reach out and try to connect to the youth not just in aesthetics, not just in lingo or in music,

Courage and truth

inventions, neither are they creations of an everfertile imagination, since what is flicking before you are archival news footage, well-preserved radio recordings, and vintage newspaper front pages and inside stories, that show and remind the troubled and tumultuous time in the Philippine politics and history.

“YOU can’t handle the truth!” exclaimed Jack Nicholson, as Colonel Nathan Jessup, in the pivotal court confrontation scene, where Tom Cruise, lieutenant junior grade Daniel Kaffee interrogates in the intense scene in Rob Reiner’s military drama A Few Good Men

The exclamation of Nicholson pops into my mind as I sit silently, enjoying, engrossed, enchanted with every bit and morsel of the many things and situations on the silver screen as Bagong Siklab Production’s Oras de Peligro, written by Bonifacio Ilagan and Eric Ramos, under the direction of Joel Lamangan

The biggest merit of the latest Lamangandirected motion picture is the truth that it courageously presents. On screen are not

The archival footage, radio recordings, and news articles are truths that cannot be contained and denied, for it happened during a not-so-distant event that started with the call of President Ferdinand Marcos for a snap election, its magic and mayhem, the whys and wherefores and its dramatic conclusion.

The research and what footage and other historical materials to use in the motion picture is most apparent and the most apparent personalities that were part of the “bloodless revolution” seeing and hearing them on screen, the fight they mounted, and who and what they against, bring shivers to the spine, make your goosebumps appear, and one cannot help but wonder, what has become of us now that four days is just a recollection?

The second strongest merit of the film is

Cherry Pie Picache (left) and Allen Dizon on the set of ‘Oras de

French documentary, Spanish girl clinch top prizes at Berlinale

THE Berlin film festival on Saturday awarded its Golden Bear top prize to a documentary by French director Nicolas Philibert and its best acting award to an eight-year-old girl in what jury chief Kristen Stewart described as a "boundary-pushing" event.

On the Adamant, coming more than 20 years after Philibert's acclaimed education documentary To Be and To Have, is about a floating day-care center for people with psychiatric problems on the Seine in Paris.

Thanking the jury, Philibert, 72, said "that documentary can be considered to be cinema in its own right touches me deeply".

On a night full of surprises, the festival's gender-neutral acting prize was awarded to an eight-yearold, Spain's Sofia Otero

Eight-year-old Sofia Otero wins the festival's gender-neutral acting prize

The young actress won the prize for playing a transgender child in 20,000 Species of Bees, the feature debut from Spanish director Estibaliz Urresola Solaguren Critics have lavished praise on the film. Screen Daily, for one, predicted that “arthouse audiences worldwide should respond to the pathos, breadth, and humanity of a film that takes a while to build but, when it does, never loses its grip.”

Otero, who fought back tears when collecting the award, later told journalists she was "very grateful,

very happy".

Stewart, at 32 the youngest president in the festival's history, said the jury had been asking themselves all week “what makes a movie a movie.”

They had set aside "invisible parameters" in awarding the Golden Bear, she said, because "when you focus too much on what something is you tend to lose track of what it does.

Garrel dedicated the prize to his children and to French-Swiss director Jean-Luc Godard, "a great master for many of us,” who died last September.

Second prize went to Afire from German director Christian Petzold about a group of friends whose holiday retreat to the Baltic coast goes horribly wrong.

Variety called it "wincingly wellobserved and acidly funny, ”while the Hollywood Reporter said it was "a deceptively simple and straightforward but emotionally layered film.”

Coming in third was Bad Living by Portugal's Joao Canijo, about several female members of the same family who run a dilapidated hotel and are also struggling with their relationships with one another.

On the Adamant offers an intimate glimpse into the lives of adults and their carers in the Parisian day-care center, which puts an accent on offering them a creative outlet. The film is "an attempt to overturn the image we have" of people with psychiatric problems, Philibert said. AFP

the story written by Ilagan and Ramos. Weaved seamlessly into the historical unfolding, the main narrative of the film centers on the life of the Marianas family. Allen Dizon a jeepney driver, is the patriarch. Cherry Pie Picache plays Beatriz, wife, mother, and domestic helper of an affluent woman. Dave Bornea and Therese Malvar, are siblings Jimmy and Nerissa, and the farmer and father of Dizon, Nanding Josef as Ka Elyong.

The emotional roller coaster ride that happens to this representation of the common Filipino family of that time, the complications, troubles, and heartbreak of the Marianas family because of a tragedy, triggers all sorts of feelings, frustrations, and that nagging query of what has become of us now that four days in history has been reduced to elements of a movie?

The strongest merits of the film are the acting prowesses of the cast and Joel Lamangan’s astute and sensitive direction.

To say that Picache is brilliant and brave as Beatriz is an understatement. Her crying scenes affect her. Her helplessness makes you want to lend a Beatriz fast assistance and relief. Her resolve, you only not get, understand.

but in many other aspects. This is the show that I allowed myself to be in it and to represent ‘me,’ my generation as well,” director Jorron Lee Monroy said of the series’s main objective. Completing the star-studded cast are Zoren Legaspi, Jeric Gonzales Arra San Agustin Rochelle Pangilinan Pancho Magno Winwyn Marquez Michelle Dee, Kristoffer Martin, and Vin Abrenica Mga Lihim ni Urduja – under the helm of director Jorron Lee Monroy and co-director Dominic Zapata with associate director Ralf Malabunga – airs weeknights at 8:00 on GMA and at 9:40 p.m. on GTV.

Short and sweet is the screen time of Dizon but the integrity and emotional truth he gave Dario is beyond compare. And the gravitas and power that Tata Nanding infuses into Ka Elyong is authentic, hard-hitting, and nuanced.

Bornea reveals that he has more to share and not just another pretty face young matinee idol and Malvar, as always, competent, sincere and there are no small roles for this petite yet big actress.

Some of Philippine theater’s finest portray cameos in the film and the most memorable are the legend that is Joe Gruta and Topper Fabregas as Atty. Capistrano.

It cannot be denied that the film is director Lamangan’s love letter to the Filipinos. This is a premiere example of cinematic art presenting the truth.

One feels the care and respect that Lamangan gave the screenplay of sirs Ilagan and Ramos, and all the actors in it, pour their love and emotional truths into their respective characters, that is why the result is a film that makes the heart scream, stirs the soul, and open up the mind with the hope that you are not only ready but can handle the truth.

Oras de Peligro challenges us not to forget, and makes us remember how we all got here, and yes, the clock of peril, continues to tick.

All roads lead to Araneta City for PPopCon 2023

Members of 1st.ONE, DIONE with GK, and Gateway Gallery staff

ARANETA City welcomes P-Pop fans to the return of the first and largest event that celebrates local pop music. Expected to be bigger, better, and bolder, the music festival at the Pinoy Pop Convention (PPOPCON) 2023, happening on March 18 to 19, brings together P-Pop artists and fans for a celebration filled with fun activities. Now in its second year, PPOPCON is making the event more meaningful for fans with highlyentertaining fanbase activities, booths, official merch selling, games, and P-Pop performances at the New Frontier Theater. Capping off the whole celebration is a mega concert featuring today's biggest

This year’s PPOPCON will bring the P-Pop idols closer to their fans with several mall shows in Araneta City

and rising P-Pop idols at the Araneta Coliseum.

PPOPCON is also bringing the P-Pop idols closer to their fans this year with the series of mall shows in Araneta City. The mall tour kicked off on February 4 with 6ENSE and YARA at Ali Mall. Another one was scheduled on February 26 with Valfer, MONA VER5US HYV BLVCK FLOWERS, and SMS at the Gateway Mall.

P-Pop idols will also participate in charity days to bond with kids being supported by the J. Amado Araneta Foundation. Groups 1st.

One and DIONE spent time with kids from Gawad Kalinga for a history tour at the Gateway Gallery

on February 24. Another visit was set at the Art in Island together with VXON G22, and YML PPOPCON was first staged in April 2022 to celebrate the rising global recognition of P-Pop talent. It symbolically marked the return of live music entertainment in the Philippines, which was temporarily halted by the COVID pandemic. For 2023, the celebration continues as today's favorite P-Pop artists – SB19 BGYO, BINI, 4TH IMPACT, MNL48, 1ST. ONE, ALAMAT, PRESS HIT PLAY, VXON, G22, KAIA, and more –showcase their talents and interact with fans in one ultimate gathering. Tickets are now available at Ticket Online (www.ticketnet.com.ph)

Peligro’

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

LIFE

Reigniting the yacht lifestyle at the 10th Punta Fuego Regatta

THE yachting lifestyle offers the pinnacle of luxury at Punta Fuego, Landco’s pioneering and premier seaside development along the coastline of Nasugbu, Batangas. On a yacht, enthusiasts find a sense of freedom and pleasure in the invigorating open sea of Nasugbu Bay.

Landco together with Anya Hospitality Group, co-presented the 20th annual Punta Fuego Regatta, elevating the yacht experience to a thrilling competitive sailing event.

The sail fest, which featured a windward leeward routine and the exciting Fortune Island Race, is organized by the Punta Fuego Yacht Club and the Philippine InterIsland Sailing Foundation (Phinsaf).

Thrill seekers among the country’s top yachtsmen-business executives engaged in a series of races between boats of different classes, shared their love of sailing, and forged stronger ties with like-minded

individuals who enjoy this water sport.

This two-day weekend sailing event is one of the country’s longest-running yachting competitions and a top sports tourism event in southern Luzon.

Jun Villanueva’s Ice 52 Belatrix, Pablum Lobregat’s Beneteau First 30

Hotel hopping in the Metro

IREMEMBER when I was new here in Manila many, many decades ago, my new-found friends and I would embark on our favorite pastime every weekend – hotel hopping, as that was the time many new five-star hotels opened in the metro.

We all felt we were enjoying the “lifestyle of the rich and famous” as the hotels’ facilities and services would take us to a world of luxury and fun.

Last week, my Houston-based elder brother visited me. It’s been close to 60 years since the last time he visited Manila so I felt the need to take him around –hotel hopping!

Out of curiosity, we checked on three hotels and what special offering they had for that red-letter day.

The Manila Hotel

At the hotel’s famous Café IlangIlang, they had an extensive collection of buffet delights. As they were expecting an overflow crowd, they offered two dinner seatings, first from 5:30 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. and the other from 8:00 p.m. to 11:00 p.m.

I also checked on the Champagne Room because that’s my favorite venue in the hotel. The romantic design and décor of this fine-dining restaurant is always something to marvel at. On the menu was a sophisticated culinary landscape of delectable European fare. I was almost tempted to sit down and partake of the P6000-menu but my brother preferred the buffet at the other restaurant.

The hotel also has an ongoing super-discounted promo rate for a de luxe room for only P10,000 nett, inclusive of a breakfast buffet for two and a dinner buffet for two. On our way out of the hotel, I saw, at the lobby, a crowd lapping up the hotel’s well-loved pralines and chocolate hearts which are perfect gifts for friends, family, or loved ones.

HOTEL101 Group, the hospitality arm of DoubleDragon Corporation, and the Philippine Esports Organization (PESO), the national governing body for esports in the Philippines, sealed its partnership on February 24 to support the Philippine esports industry and Filipino esports national athletes.

“We are happy to launch this groundbreaking partnership with Esports in the Philippines, represented by PESO and its officials, in anticipation of the upcoming major esports events and activities hosted by the Philippines this year,” says Hotel101 Group General Manager Gel Gomez

“Furthermore, we are equally thrilled that Hotel101 – Manila is now the official hotel partner to be endorsed by PESO to all its member organizations and all its esports activities this year,” GM Gomez adds. Hotel101 Group GM Gel Gomez and PESO executive director signed a partnership agreement at Hotel101 –Manila, which was accentuated with a turnover of a commemorative jacket given to both PESO and Hotel101 executives.

“We are excited and thankful for Hotel101’s commitment to supporting the growth of Philippine esports as a whole by becoming PESO’s key partner in our various events and initiatives aimed to further improve and develop

Conrad Manila

As we entered the hotel, we went straight to its signature buffet, at the Brasserie on 3, to check on what they had to offer.

They greeted guests with Welcome Canapés and had a rich ensemble of gastronomic creations, including Slow-Roasted Rib Eye, Seafood Platter, and Whole Fish Salted Crusted Salmon, among many others, thanks to Executive Chef Warren Brown.

Since my brother and I were already full from the dinner we had at the other hotel, we decided to check if the hotel’s specialty restaurant, China Blue by Jereme Leung, had something light to offer.

Chairman Jerry Rollin, and Mario Daga, Senior Tourism Operations Officer, Department of Tourism – Calabarzon, graced the awarding ceremony.

Club Punta Fuego, managed by Anya Hospitality Group (AHG), is the luxurious private Batangas beach resort

that is the gemstone of the 88-hectare seaside residential community of Peninsula de Punta Fuego.

The sprawling luxury property is developed by Landco Pacific Corporation, known for pioneering premium landscapes for more than 30 years.

Executive Chinese Chef Eng Yew Khor specially prepared a luxuriously scrumptious five-course Valentine’s set menu with premium highlights such as Wok-fried Lobster with Salted Egg

Pumpkin Sauce, Sautéed U.S. Premium Beef and Stuffed Mushroom with Black Olive Red Bell Pepper Sauce, Pan-fried Scallop Green Ginger Spring Onion Sauce and served with Onion Rice Mushroom Truffle Broth, among others. Still looking for a lighter repast, my brother and I ended up at the C Lounge, where they had a Seafood Tower made up of the freshest clams, oysters, prawns, and scallops, paired with two glasses of sparkling wine, with the appetizing and captivating view of the bay to boot. As we left the hotel, we saw at the

A typical room available at Manila Prince Hotel for staycationers, at such a bargain

hotel’s Welcome Lobby a kaleidoscope of attractive signature cakes and chocolates, perfect gifts for people we treasure. My brother and I could have bought some but we are both single, with nobody to share sweet moments with. Manila Prince Hotel

A block away from home is another hotel so we decided to drop by it to see what they had. The Manila Prince Hotel is a subsidiary of The Manila Hotel, and has 300 well-appointed rooms, six function rooms, an elegant lobby, a business center, a swimming pool, and gym access. Its all-day dining restaurant is Marcelino Street Café and the hotel is connected to the UN Square Mall. At the Café, they had a specially

Hotel group partners with esports body to support Filipino national athletes

The Manila Hotel’s popular buffet at Café Ilang-Ilang, which can accommodate 300 guests

crafted rich menu which was offered at a real bargain. In fact, they were offering a Valentine Promo which included overnight accommodations for two, breakfast buffet for two, buffet dinner for two, and two glasses of red wine, all for only P3400 nett. A real bargain indeed.

Since it was way past our bedtime, we decided to call it a night. It was very interesting to see how these hotels attract guests with their unique offerings that make life in the metro more enjoyable.

If you’re free on weekends, hotel hopping could be a fun way to while the time away.

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

the state of competition in the country,” shares PESO Executive Director Marlon Marcelo

This partnership is a kickoff of what Hotel101 has planned for the esports industry, with a roadmap that would benefit both our Filipino esports athletes and the industry in general.

“We also thank them for hosting team SIBOL, the Philippine National Esports Team, before we fly out and represent the country in the 32nd Southeast Asian Games in Cambodia this May,” Marcelo adds.

“With the Filipino’s Bayanihan spirit, supporting these proud Filipino athletes in any way we can, we also take a stake in the next generation, and build a legacy, as what we also want to do with our brand,” GM Gomez closed.

PESO is the official National Sports Association (NSA) for Esports in the Philippines, recognized by both the Philippine Olympic Committee (POC) and the International Esports Federations – Asian Esports Federation (AESF) and International Esports Federation (IESF) HOTEL101 Group operates Hotel101 – Manila, Injap Tower Hotel in Iloilo City, Jinjiang Inn – Ortigas, Jinjiang Inn – Makati, and Jinjiang Inn – Boracay Station 1, and aims to make Hotel101 the first global Filipino hotel chain.

Ultra, and Roman Azanza’s Fountaine Pajot 40 won the Racing, Cruising, and Ocean Multihull classes, respectively, at this year’s Punta Fuego Regatta.

Club Punta Fuego General Manager Edgar Krohn, Landco Sales and Marketing Manager Charisse Santiano, Phinsaf

Sailboats on a race at the 20th Punta Fuego Regatta

Landco co-presents the 20th annual Punta Fuego Regatta with the Anya Hospitality Group