A FORMER police officer has been convicted over the killings of Carl Anthony Arnaiz and Reynaldo De Guzman, alias “Kulot” in 2017, who were teenagers at the time.
In an 80-page decision, Navotas Regional Trial Court Judge Romana Lindayag Del Rosario sentenced excop Jeffrey Sumbo Perez to reclusion perpetua or imprisonment of up to 40 years without eligibility for parole for
THE House of Representatives begins hearings today (March 14) into the failure of the police to protect Negros Oriental Gov. Roel Degamo, who was gunned down and killed along with eight others in his own home on March 4 in a brazen day-time attack.
IN CELEBRATION of Women’s
Month, the House of Representatives yesterday featured an allwomen ensemble of officers— from the presiding officer to the majority leader---leading the plenary session.
“It is an honor to be present today (Monday) with fellow women who work tirelessly to make the Philippines a
better place for our countrymen,” said Tingog party-list Rep. Yedda Marie Romualdez in her brief opening remark before the plenary sessions.
“Women are powerful agents of change, and the advancement of women in the society, including increased leadership and decision-making roles, is a positive indicator of progress for all of us,” she added.
Based on existing House rules, Speaker Martin Romualdez designated women lawmakers – Yedda Romualdez, Linabelle Ruth Villarica, Florida Robes, Rosanna Vergara, Lorna Silverio,
By Vince Lopez
PRESIDENT Ferdinand Marcos Jr.
By Macon Ramos-Araneta and Maricel Cruz
THE oil spill from the sunken tanker M/T Princess Empress has spread to an area the equivalent of “around a thousand football fields,” the environmental group Greenpeace Philippines said.
“Based on our satellite imagery from our mapping team in Greenpeace International, we have seen as of March 8, around 6.2 kilometers worth of oil is continually being spilled,” Greenpeace Philippines campaigner Jefferson Chua told ANC in an interview.
“This is equivalent to around a thousand football fields. So, we can imagine how big that is,” Chua added. The tanker, which was carrying 800,000 liters of industrial fuel oil, sank on February 28 off the waters of Naujan in Oriental Mindoro.
“With their projection of around a thousand barrels a day being spilled, we will see all of that 800,000 liters spilled,
on Monday directed the Inter-Agency Council Against Trafficking (IACAT) and the Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Commission (PAOCC) to harmonize government and private sector efforts in combating human trafficking.
The President said human trafficking could compromise the country’s economy and national security.
“The IACAT and the PAOCC must
take the lead in harmonizing government initiatives, public private partnerships to thwart the business of human trafficking in its multifarious operations on the ground and now becoming more and more important online,” Mr. Marcos said during a briefing at Malacañang.
The President specifically directed the Presidential Communications Office (PCO) to assist the IACAT in launching a communication campaign
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COMRADES IN ARMS.
Philippine Army Brig. Gen. Leodevic Guinid, US Army Brig. Gen. Jeffrey Vanantwerp, Philippine Army chief Lt. Gen. Romeo Brawner, Commanding General of the US Army Corps Lt. Gen. Xavier Brunson, and Philippine Army Brig. Gen. Alvin Flores, Salaknib exercise control group director, link arms during the opening ceremony at Fort Magsaysay, Nueva Ecija (see story on A2). AFP
HOLLYWOOD—Surreal sci-fi film
“Everything Everywhere All at Once” dominated the Oscars on Sunday, winning seven golden statuettes including best picture, Hollywood’s most coveted prize. The unorthodox but beloved movie
Sta. Rosa City Rep. Dan Fernandez, chairman of the House committee on public order and safety, said his panel has invited Interior Secretary Benjamin Abalos Jr., Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla, Philippine National Police chief Rodolfo Azurin Jr., and the PNP official responsible for the governor’s police escorts, five of whom did not report to duty on the day of the attack.
THE Department of Justice on Monday vowed to build a database of police officers or military personnel who were dismissed or went absent without leave.
“So that if ever they will be part of any security forces, they should have good identification and they will have
By Maricel Cruz and Macon Ramos-Araneta
THE head of the House panel pushing for Charter amendments yesterday urged the Senate to consider the assessment of Fitch Solutions that constitutional economic reforms will improve the country’s investment and business climate.
-- which features multiple universes, sex toys and hot dog fingers -- also won best director, best actress, best original screenplay, best editing, and both the best supporting actor and actress prizes.
Michelle Yeoh, who is Malaysian, becomes the first ever Asian woman to win best actress, for her portrayal of an exhausted Chinese laundromat owner embroiled in battle with an inter-dimensional supervillain -- who happens to be her daughter.
“Thank you to the Academy, this is history in the making!” she said.
Senator JV Ejercito, however, said there are only four to five senators who are supportive of the move, echoing an earlier statement of Senate President Juan Miguel Zubiri that Charter change advocates do not have the numbers in the Upper Chamber.
“The Senate cannot and should not ignore our initiative, which is an expression of the people’s consensus we gathered in our recent nationwide public hearings and consultations,” said House Committee on Constitutional Amendments chairman Rufus Rodriguez.
On March 6, the House overwhelmingly voted to approve Resolution of Both Houses No. 6 which calls on
DOJ, PNP vow to build ex-AFP, ex-cop database
pushes senators to talk ‘Cha-cha’ over
‘Oil spill covers space of 1,000 football fields’OSCAR WINNERS. Ke Huy Quan, Michelle Yeoh, Brendan Fraser, and Jamie Lee Curtis (from left) pose with their Oscar trophies in the press room during the 95th Annual Academy Awards at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood, California on March 12. AFP Tingog Party-List Rep. Yedda K. Romualdez stands on the Speaker’s podium as she and other women legislators took the reins of the House of Representatives on Monday in celebration of National Women’s Month.
SOME 3,000 Filipino and American soldiers are participating in the three-week long Army-to-Army annual Salaknib Exercise that opened yesterday.
Philippine Army chief Lt. Gen. Romeo Brawner Jr. said whereas previous Salaknib exercises focused on internal threats such as communist guerillas, this year’s joint exercises are geared toward external challenges.
“We are seeing the near of the end of [communist groups] in the country. We are shifting towards territorial defense. In our scenarios in Salaknib together with the US forces, we will be training on scenarios that will allow us to work
THE Bureau of Customs on Monday announced the seizure of at least 18 container vans loaded with smuggled red and yellow onions from China worth P77 million.
Commissioner Bienvenido Rubio and other Customs officials inspected the containers over the weekend upon the request of Manila International Container Port - Customs Intelligence and Investigation Service (MICPCIIS) chief Alvin Enciso after his office received derogatory information about the shipments from its country of origin.
Based on bills of lading and other documents, the importer described the shipments as “pizza dough and fishballs.”
On Monday, MICP District Collector Arnoldo Famor issued Warrants of Seizure and Detention (WSD) against the shipments.
Rubio said his agency remain committed to the directive of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. to protect the country’s borders against any form of illegal importation of goods, especially agricultural products.
and operate together to face adversaries from out of the country,” Brawner said.
The exercises will be held in two phases: the first from March 13 to April 4, and the second during the second semester of the year.
“In addition to the normal exercises and trainings we have, we will infuse more programs and training exercises that involve tactics we are learning from the Russia-Ukraine conflict,” he added.
As this developed, Senator JV Ejerci-
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Fernandez also said representatives of the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG), National Bureau of Investigation (NBI), and the missing police escorts themselves are being invited to Tuesday’s panel proceedings.
“Basically, what we’re after here in the hearing is about the lapses of the security personnel,” Fernandez said.
He said they have not invited Negros Oriental 3rd District Rep. Arnolfo Teves Jr., who has been linked to the attack and who is still abroad.
Speaker Martin Romualdez over the weekend noted reports that five out of the six police escorts assigned to Degamo did not show up for duty on March 4, when a group of gunmen attacked his house and killed him, along with eight others.
“Governor Degamo had earlier reported to the police about the threats to his life so it stands to reason that his security detail should have implemented stricter measures to ensure his safety,” Romualdez said as he called on Fernandez’s committee to investigate the matter.
“That’s why it’s highly suspicious
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to on Monday cautioned against taking China’s statements at face value where the West Philippine Sea is concerned.
“I don’t trust China anymore… I just don’t trust what their government is saying,” Ejercito said.
“They have been very aggressive and hostile. We have to have freedom of navigation in those seas, in the West Philippine Sea,” he added.
For his part, Sen. Jinggoy Estrada, chairperson of the Senate committee on national defense, said China’s misgivings over the designation of four new sites under the PH-US Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement are inevitable given the rising tension between Beijing and Washington.
“In agreeing to expand the EDCA lo-
[that] these police escorts were missing on the day he was killed.”
“It appears that the perpetrators were aware of the fact that Governor Degamo had practically no protection so they could easily accomplish their mission to assassinate him,” he added. Fernandez said beyond the missing escorts, there might be a bigger problem within the PNP.
Romualdez on Monday said he has not heard yet from Teves, whose travel authority expired on March 9.
“I expect congressman Arnie to heed my appeal and report for work as soon as possible. His stay outside the country is no longer authorized by the House of Representatives,” Romualdez said.
Teves, who went to the US based on his travel clearance filed in the House of Representatives, has been named a respondent in complaints filed by the police in connection with several killings that took place in 2019.
Police raided some of Teves’ homes in Negros Oriental in search of illegal firearms last week.
One of the gunmen arrested by the police said “Cong Teves” had hired them to kill Degamo—an accusation the congressman has denied.
cations, President Marcos said that he does not want this issue to cause tension in the South China Sea or consider this move by our government as an act of aggression or anything that will be seen as provocative to anyone,” Estrada said.
“Our Balikatan exercises are only exercises for the defense of the country and not for the invasion of China. We are not waging a war against China,” he added.
The Chinese Embassy in Manila on Sunday said the United States was dragging the Philippines into its issues with China by establishing additional military bases in the country and warned that this may “seriously harm” Manila’s national interests and regional peace and stability.
Romualdez assured Teves that he would be safe if he returns to face the charges.
“Police officials have spoken. They are willing to provide security to protect him from bodily harm. All congressman Arnie needs to do is make the appropriate request,” Romualdez said. “Our law enforcers cannot extend this protection outside the Philippines,” he added.
The Teves camp on Monday maintained his innocence, adding that the lawmaker wanted to return to the Philippines to face the charges against him, but feared for his life.
Teves’ lawyer Ferdinand Topacio, along with the other counsel, Roberto Diokno Jr. and Edward Santiago, at a no-holds barred Pandesal Forum at the Kamuning Bakery in Quezon City, decried as “illegal and irregular” the series of raids on his homes and resort, claiming authorities planted guns and explosives as evidence.
He appealed for fairness and said Teves must get due process. Topacio said two months ago, Teves publicly complained about intelligence reports warning him that his properties would be raided for no apparent reason, adding it would be impossible for him to still keep such weapons in his properties.
Gas up P1/l, diesel and kerosene down
DOMESTIC pump prices will have a mixed price movement effective 6 a.m. Tuesday with gasoline increasing by P1 per liter while kerosene and diesel prices will be rolled back by P0.60 per liter to P0.10 per liter, respectively.
“Petron will implement the following price adjustments effective 6 a.m. on March 14: P1 per liter increase for gasoline; P0.10 per liter rollback for diesel and P0.60 per liter rollback for kerosene. These reflect movements in the international oil market,” Petron Corp. said in its advisory.
Seaoil Philippines, Phoenix Petroleum Philippines, Cleanfuel, Chevron Philippines, PTT Philippines, Jetti Petroleum, and PetroGazz also adjusted pump prices.
Unioil Petroleum Philippines on Saturday said gasoline prices will increase by P0.80 to P1 per liter while diesel may go down by P0.10 per liter or with no price movement.
Alena Mae S. Flores
THE Joint Foreign Chambers of the Philippines on Monday called on Congress to pass much-needed air transport reform legislation, in support of recommendations contained in Senate Committee Report No. 39 on the Air Traffic Management System glitch at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport on New Year’s Day.
CR No. 39 recommended, among others, the amendment of the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP) charter to strengthen CAAP as an agency.
It also pushed to decouple CAAP’s conflicting functions as regulator, operator, and investigator, along with the passage of bills creating the Philippine Transportation Safety Board (PTSB) and the Philippine Airports Authority to allow for more efficiency and transparency in the sector. Othel V. Campos
asked to prosecute eight police officers in Lambayong, Sultan Kudarat for murder and other criminal charges, in connection with their involvement in the alleged shootout that left three teenage boys dead last December.
clearances. We’re building everything we can,” Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla said, in an interview.
On Monday, the Philippine National Police also launched its digital booking system or “e-booking” to facilitate easy access to crime data as part of efforts to modernize crime solution operations.
Late last month, MICP-CIIS men also intercepted shipments of smuggled onions, sugar, and cigarettes worth more than P104 million in Manila North Harbor.
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which will put it way beyond the Guimaras oil spill that is considered the worst in Philippine history,” Chua said.
In 2006, an oil tanker sank off the coast of Guimaras and spilled more than 500,000 liters of bunker fuel.
Greenpeace Philippines also raised the alarm that the oil spill may reach the Verde Island Passage — considered the center of marine biodiversity in the planet.
For his part, Puerto Galera Mayor Rocky Ilagan said there are no traces of the Mindoro oil spill yet in the island destination.
“If the oil arrives, we are ready,” Ilagan said.
The University of the Philippines Marine Science Institute on Sunday showed the results of a recent simulation model on the oil spill crisis.
The simulation focused on the tanker’s location from March 10 to 16 and claimed that the non-stop discharge of oil from the alleged seepage area and the weakening of the northeast monsoon or “amihan” may lead the oil to flow northwards toward Verde Island.
The oil trajectory will also affect the coastal areas of Calapan and some parts of Batangas, the UP MSI study noted.
So far, more than 137,000 people or 30,000 families living in the Mimaropa and Western Visayas regions— nearly double than previously reported—have already been affected by the oil spill, the government said.
From A1
Arnaiz’s death. Perez was sentenced to suffer the same for De Guzman’s killing.
The Public Attorney’s Office welcomed the favorable decision of the Navotas City court in the murder of
Remulla said the need for such a database became apparent after the killing of Negros Oriental Governor Roel Degamo.
Degamo and five others were killed in the attack. The death toll went up to nine the following day as those who were seriously wounded died.
Thirteen others were seriously injured in the shooting.
Meanwhile, the DOJ said it has been
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“Ladies, don’t let anybody tell you, you are ever past your prime,” added the 60-year-old, whose career began decades ago with martial arts films in Hong Kong.
Brendan Fraser won best actor for
From A1
Anna York Bondoc, Ma. Lucille Nava, Ruth Mariano-Hernandez, Midy Cua, Ysabel Maria Zamora, and Margarita Nograles as presiding officers during yesterday’s session.
From A1
Congress to convene a constitutional convention to propose amendments to the Constitution. It is scheduled to vote on Monday on House Bill No. 7352, which implements the resolution.
“Inter-chamber courtesy calls that the
teenagers amid the drug war of thenPresident Rodrigo Duterte.
“We have been fighting for this case ever since,” PAO chief Persida Acosta told reporters.
The court ordered Perez to pay the following amounts to the victims’ kin:
Arnaiz’s family: actual damages (P90,000); civil indemnity (P100,000); moral damages (P100,000); and exem-
Named respondents in the complaints filed by the parents of the victims were Lambayong police chief Police Major (PMAJ) Jenahmeel Tonaco, Police Senior Master Sergeant (PSMS) Syril Mahaddi, Police Corporal (PCpl) Elpedio Garlit, PCpl Joffrey Apalla , patrolmen Nicol Dion Toreja, Basser Mako, Mario Rombaoa Jr., and Roldan Claveria.
The respondents were all assigned at the Lambayong Municipal Police Station.
playing a morbidly obese teacher in “The Whale,” capping a remarkable career comeback.
Fraser was a major action star in the late 1990s with films like “The Mummy,” before largely disappearing from the public view.
“I started in this business 30 years ago, and things -- they didn’t come easily to me,” he said.
Rep. Yedda – the Speaker’s wife -said different facets of society are becoming more aware of the significant benefits of gender balance and diversity, recognizing that societies thrive where women are given equal opportunities and respect.
“Today, in line with our celebration of all womanhood this National Women’s
Senate tackle any measure passed by the House, especially if it is approved by an overwhelming vote and requires urgent attention, and vice versa,” Rodriguez said. Zubiri, however, was blunt in rejecting the House initiative.
“It would be useless for senators to tackle Charter change since there would be no vote for it in his chamber,” the senator said over the weekend.
plary damages (P100,000).
De Guzman’s kin: Civil indemnity (P100,000); moral damages (P100,000); and exemplary damages (P100,000).
In 2017, Arnaiz was killed by Caloocan police officers on August 18 after allegedly staging a hold-up against a taxi driver.
Meanwhile, De Guzman, Arnaiz’s companion, was later found dead with
Under the system, the police force would fully digitalize the booking process of arrested persons which makes the collection and cross-matching of fingerprints through the Automated Fingerprint Identification System (AFIS) faster and more efficient.
PNP chief Gen. Rodolfo Azurin Jr. said police investigators and intelligence operatives will now have easy access to the data storage system which covers arrested law offenders across the country. Rey E. Requejo
He thanked director Darren Aronofsky for “throwing me a creative lifeline and hauling me aboard the good ship ‘The Whale.’”
‘American Dream’
“Everything Everywhere,” comfortably the night’s biggest winner, is a wordof-mouth smash hit that has grossed $100 million at the global box office. AFP
Month, I welcome you all in this year’s all-women Session here in Congress. May this simple gesture of handing over power to the women be the platform for positive change as we continue to lead our nation to a kinder and gentler world for the next generation of women,” she said.
Throughout the world, Rep. Yedda said women have been shattering glass
But Rodriguez said Zubiri should not be afraid of the result of the Senate vote on the proposed Charter change.
“Let the people know who are against and who are for reform that could result in more foreign companies investing or expanding their businesses in the country,” he said.
In its report, Fitch Solutions said the present economic provisions of the Constitution have always been a “chal-
From A1 Cop...
30 stab wounds on his body in a creek in Gapan, Nueva Ecija.
His head was wrapped in packaging tape.
The Caloocan Regional Trial Court in November 2022 found Perez guilty beyond reasonable doubt for the torture and planting of evidence on the two teenagers.
Arnaiz and De Guzman went missing on Aug. 17, 2017. Arnaiz’s body was later found on Aug. 28 in a funeral parlor
that will educate the public about the danger posed by syndicates engaged in trafficking of persons (see related story on A5 – Editors).
Mr. Marcos believes that good information spearheaded by the PCO is a key element “in preventing all the terrible abuses being committed against victims of human trafficking.”
“So heightened public awareness is key. That’s what we spoke about a little bit earlier. The Presidential Communications Office must assist IACAT in its communication campaign against trafficking in persons to amplify the effort,” the President pointed out.
Mr. Marcos directed the agencies to halt the operation of human traffickers who exploit physical and economic weaknesses of vulnerable people especially women and children.
ceilings and laying down a path for other women to walk on, from fighting for the right to suffrage to being able to lead nations and influence economies.
“Women have become trailblazers and powerful figures in their own fields of specialization and the world can no longer deny us of our rightful place in society’s leadership,” she said.
lenge” for foreign investors.
As this developed, all members of the National Unity Party (NUP) in the House of Representatives voted for the passage of RBH No. 6. Camarines Sur Rep. Luis Raymund Villafuerte, the party’s president, said the NUP is in full support of the House leadership’s initiative to amend certain economic provisions of the 1987 Constitution.
in Caloocan City with gunshot wounds.
In November 2022, a Caloocan Regional Trial Court found Perez guilty of two separate counts of torturing Arnaiz and De Guzman, and of planting plastic sachets of marijuana, shabu, and a revolver.
Authorities accused Arnaiz, a 19-year-old student at the University of the Philippines, of robbing a taxi driver and was killed in a shootout.
THE Gabriela Women’s Party on Monday filed a bill mandating a P750 across-the-board and nationwide increase in the salary rate of employees and workers in the agricultural and nonagricultural enterprises in the private sector to attain a living wage.
Assistant Minority Leader Arlene Brosas, the nominee of the Gabriela party-list group, said that the workers’ call for a P750-wage increase is justified, as the amount represents the average gap between current minimum wage levels and the family living wage across various regions.
“This yawning average minimum wagefamily living wage gap of P750 across regions starkly represents the vast sea of unfulfilled basic necessities of ordinary Filipino families, which thenational government should urgently address through substantial wage increasesamid historic inflationary surges,” she said.
According to the BusinessWorld Top 1000 Corporations in the Philippines report, Brosas saidthe aggregate gross revenue of the top companies jumped 17.5 percent in 2021 (or P13.44 trillion), from the P11.44 trillion posted during the height of the pandemic in 2020. This was thefastest gross revenue growth since the 24.4 percent expansion recorded in 2001.
As for micro and small enterprises, the women’s group said a wage subsidy program will be instituted to assist them in complying with the proposed significant wage increase.
“Significant wage increase is long overdue,” Brosas said.
The Gabriela party-list group urged President Marcos Jr. to certify as urgent House Bill 7568 to bring direct and concrete relief to millions of Filipino workers across the country. Maricel V. Cruz
nabbed
A TOTAL of 1,494 motorists and motorcycle riders were flagged down in the first four days of a dryrun of the implementation of a motorcycle lane policy along Commonwealth Avenue in QuezonCity. Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) chair Romando Artes said the numbers offlagged-down cars and motorcycles continued to decline during the first four days of the dry run activity.
He added that motorcycle riders and drivers of four-wheel vehicles alike are getting used to thepolicy set to be fully implemented on March 20.
On the first day of the dry run (March 9), MMDA traffic enforcers caught 276 motorcycles and 61 four-wheel vehicles. The next day, 368 motorcycles and 201 four-wheel vehicles or total of 569 vehicles were flagged down.
On March 11, 177 riders and 186 drivers of four-wheel vehicles or a total of 363 vehicles were apprehended while on Sunday, the enforcers caught 128 motorcycle riders and 97 fourwheel vehicles. Joel E. Zurbano
The Philippines has logged 1,454 new HIV cases in January or an average of 46 cases per day, the Department of Health (DOH) reported. Of the total reported cases, 79 were adolescents aged 10 to 19 years old and 7 were children less than 10 years old, the DOH said. Almost all of the reported adolescent
cases acquired HIV through sexual contact, except one case with no data on the mode of transmission. Those children aged 2 to 9 at the time of diagnosis acquired the disease through vertical transmission or mother-to-child transmission while 1 had no data on the mode of transmission. The report said 444 of the reported cases in January were among the youth aged 15 to 24, of which 96 were reported to have advanced HIV infection. Meanwhile, 76 of the total reported cases were Filipinos who worked
overseas within the past 5 years, whether on land or at sea.
In January, 138 of the newly reported cases were also engaged in transactional sex within the past 12 months.
Based on the January 2023 HIV/AIDS & ART Registry of the Philippines, some 1,383 cases or 95 percent were male while 71 or 5 percent were female.
A majority acquired HIV through sexual contact wherein male-to-male sex is the most common with 998 cases. There were 6 who acquired HIV through mother-tochild transmission and 3 through sharing
of infected needles.
The DOH said the National Capital Region, Calabarzon, Central Luzon, Central Visayas, and Western Visayas were the “regions with the most number of newly reported cases”.
These regions comprise 69 percent of the total number of cases. In January 2023, there were also 39 reported deaths due to any cause among people diagnosed with HIV.
Since the first reported HIV infection in the country in 1984, there have been 110,736 confirmed HIV cases and 6,383 reported deaths recorded to the HARP.
TWO vehicles bearing the same plate number are registered in the foreign-made information technology (IT) platform of the Land Transportation Office (LTO) - the Land Transportation Management System (LTMS).
This was discovered when a private vehicle owner from Cebu City, Cecil Labang was barred from renewing the registration of her Toyota Avanza with plate number NEU 1976.
According to media reports, Labang sought the assistance of the Highway Patrol Group-Central Visayas (HPG7) after the LTO found in its database that another Toyota Avanza but with a different color carried the same plate number as hers. Labang purchased her vehicle through an auto dealer in Cebu City last year and was able to register it with the LTO.
Meanwhile, the other vehicle owner who refused to divulge his identity, claimed that he also bought his vehicle from the same auto trader. He only learned that his plate number was registered with another vehicle when his application for an RFID sticker to access the Cebu- Cordova Link Expressway was denied due to a double entry of plate number.
The HPG-7 initially reported that the double plate incident is a possible scheme of criminals from Luzon and that one of the two vehicles might be stolen.
*** *** ***
In my earlier column, I urged the government to rectify a big error and a great injustice committed to Mindanaoans and Visayans by having only national heroes from Luzon mentioned and written about in history books, Santa Banana!
The reason for this is that authors of Philippine history books used for public and private schools have been written only by historians of Luzon.
regarding Degamo’s death.
FOLLOWING the government’s effort to modernize the jeepney industry, I recall how it all started with the legendary iconic jeepney, with all its features and trimmings being distinctly Filipino. Santa Banana!
Bangkok also has its prototype -- the “Tuk-tuk” —which is a four-seater tricycle which is more like our own tricycle, except that the Bangkok ``tuk-tuk” can seat four passengers.
Well, the iconic Filipino jeepneys began during the early fifties when the United States military dumped all their jeeps in vacant lots at Guam and the Marianas in the Pacific, and started selling them by lot, not per piece.
An enterprising businessman named Emilio Yap from Tacloban, Leyte started buying the surplus American jeeps and brought them all to the Philippines.
Envious Filipino businessmen soon enough accused him of smuggling those jeeps, not aware the enterprising businessman from Leyte, was also a visionary, having plans of making those surplus jeeps the kings of the road.
Yap had the vision he shared with a small Filipino car repair shop in Las Pinas, and converted those bare surplus jeeps into what we know as jeepneys with all their trimmings and decorations which are distinctly Filipino, complete with seating arrangements for 10 passengers facing each other.
I saw those first jeepneys and they became a big hit to commuters.
The country needs a permanent DA secretary since the President is already preoccupied with other problems of the nation
I, too, during my college days at the Padre Faura ruins of the old Ateneo, was a commuter.
Well, what could I do with only P1 as daily allowance -- 30 centavos fare via the jeepney to and from the Ateneo, and 70 centavos for a Ma Mon Luk siopao.
It was really a miracle at being an Ilocano how I could save enough for flowers and greeting cards that I used to send to my favorite Assumptionistas, Assumption College being separated only by a wall from the Ateneo.
As I said, that’s how it began with the distinctly Filipino jeepney which is now being phased out to give way to modernization.
Personally, I believe the efforts of the government to modernize the iconic jeepneys are ill-advised because these old iconic jeepneys are typically and distinctly Filipino, the only one of its kind in the world.
To make them roadworthy for the purpose of modernizing them is to not remove their distinctly Filipino features.
By modernization, all the government has to do is to check all their engines to make them roadworthy.
President Marcos Jr. would do well not to use the word “phase-out” in modernizing the iconic legendary jeepney.
Well, as I said earlier, as a young journalist at the time when Emilio Yap had to face a series of congressional hearings, it was the fault of envious businessmen when they saw an enterprising trader bringing in to the Philippines most of the surplus American jeeps and had them converted into passenger jeepneys.
As a young journalist at that time being the Business Editor of the now defunct Philippines Herald, the only mistake of Yap was he was a very good friend of then Speaker Daniel Romualdez, who had nothing to do at all with the beginnings of the iconic jeepney.
It would not be complete not to say that Emilio Yap later on was also the chairman of a bank, chairman of Philippine President Lines, and the owner of the Manila Bulletin, which he bought from Swiss national Hans Menzi when Menzi was the aide de camp of then President Ferdinand E. Marcos Sr. The rest is history as they say.
By Francois BeckerLAURA Poitras has made herself the conscience of the United States with groundbreaking films about the occupation of Iraq, tech surveillance, and now the opioid epidemic. She is proud to call herself a troublemaker.
“I think it’s so important to document histories of struggle,” the 59-year-old filmmaker told AFP during a visit to Paris to promote her latest film, “All the Beauty and the Bloodshed.”
The documentary, which won the Golden Bear in Venice and is up for an Oscar on Sunday, tells the story of renowned photographer Nan Goldin and her fight to shame the Sackler family who own the pharmaceutical firm behind painkiller Oxycontin, blamed for hun-
The country is fortunate, however, that we have a Vice President, Sara Duterte, former mayor of Davao City and a Senate President, Migz Zubiri, two high officials, from Mindanao.
It is for this reason, my gulay, to give and to do justice to past Mindanao and Visayan heroes who struggled against the Spanish and American colonial powers to make this rectification.
I’m not a Visayan or Mindanaoan, but an Ilocano, and I would appreciate Visayan and Mindanao historians also to make an effort to make this historical correction for the sake of truth because the only historical figure in Philippine history from the Visayas I can think of was Lapu-lapu, the chieftain of Mactan, who killed Magellan.
Unfortunately, the only thing we can remember of Lapu Lapu is the fish lapu lapu, who I believe richly deserves a better remembrance in Philippine history. *** *** ***
We have the Senate findings on that unfortunate and embarrassing international incident last January
1, New Year’s Day, when our airspace went zero because our navigational, communication and security systems didn’t function, leaving some 6,500 passengers at NAIA stranded and some 315 flights in and out of the international gateway cancelled.
It was an international embarrassment to say the least.
And yet, all Senator Grace Poe, the Senate chairman of Public Service, after a series of Senate inquiries by the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee, could say was it was due to incompetence and negligence.
However, there are no findings of accountability by the Civil Aviation Authority since people had expected some heads rolling.
My gulay, no accountability ?
What kind of a Senate do we have, and what kind of a senator is Grace Poe when it is clear it was incompetence and negligence that brought about that fiasco.
However, at a later date, Senator Grace Poe said those responsible must be held accountable.
Sure, the system under the watch of the CAAP is old and antiquated that brought about that fiasco, and we can only blame past and present air transport people, especially the one directly responsible, particular;yu the CAAP officials.
Shall the Senate just leave things at that without establishing accountability?
Is there a guarantee a fiasco which was an international embarrassment will not happen again?
So, what can be done, my gulay?
Replace the system with a new and better system.
But, the Senate finding cleared the CAAP officials that it was all because of incompetence and negligence and that there is nothing that can be done.
Santa Banana, replace the system with a new and better system, that’s what!
It does not take too much matter between the ears to see the need for it, Santa Banana! *** *** ***
President Marcos Jr. has been in Malacanang for eight months now, and still we do not have a secretary of health, only an officer-in-charge of the Department of Health.
Since Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergiere appears to be doing well as DOH officer- in-charge, it would do well for BBM to name her DOH secretary.
More importantly, President Marcos Jr. has been acting secretary of the Department of Agriculture.
Why can’t he name a permanent DA secretary? For the last eight months that BBM has been acting as DA secretary, I am sure he knows the problems of the department and the need for updating the agriculture department to attain food self-sufficiency.
More immediately, BBM should crack down on the food prices cartel that has been responsible for the smuggling of products that caused the surge in prices.
That cartel operates like a Mafia-led syndicate and is responsible for too much smuggling and hoarding of agricultural products ,giving rise to high prices.
The country needs a permanent DA secretary since the President is already pre-occupied with other problems of the nation, not only those that threaten development but also national security.
I believe that eight months as head of the DA is long enough for anybody to know the problem of food security.
What BBM did with the presidential communications office by having former LTFRB head Atty.
Cheloy Garafil as the head of the Presidential Communications Office was well thought of and having a press briefer is also a good idea, but Santa Banana, eight months for the President to be a temporary secretary of a department is long enough.
THE other day, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. ordered security authorities to create a joint task force to gear up law enforcement operations in Negros in the Visayas, where a provincial executive and eight other civilians were slain 10 days ago.
Negros Oriental Governor Roel Degamo, 56, was shot dead just outside their family residence compound while attending an event for 4Ps beneficiaries, with suspects immediately fleeing the scene aboard two SUVs. We are heartened by the statement of PNP spokesperson Col. Jean Fajardo the joint special task force is nearing the resolution of the case.
“With the pieces of evidence at hand, the special task force believes we are nearing the solution of these cases. We are just fine-tuning and finalizing some of the evidence at hand, including material revelation and pieces of evidence like evidence collected by the Forensic Group of the PNP,” she said.
“The STF is really confident that in the coming days, we can unmask already the people behind this heinous crime,” she added.
Four suspects are now in the custody of law enforcement authorities, while a fifth was killed in what authorities described
as an encounter, hours after Degamo was killed. We also add our voice to the call of House Speaker Martin Romualdez on Rep. Arnolfo ‘Arnie’ Teves Jr., implicated in the brazen killing, to return to the Philippines since his travel clearance to America had expired. According to Romualdez, Teves should use this opportunity to answer allegations
DURING his first Lenten sermon in 2023, Cardinal Raniero Cantalamessa, O.F.M. Cap., the Preacher of the Papal Household, spoke about the importance of the newness of the Spirit and the need for constant renewal and conversion, both at the individual and Church level.
He emphasized the problem is not the novelty itself, but how we handle it.
According to the Cardinal, the Holy Spirit is the Church’s unfailing guide towards a path of life and enlightenment.
He emphasized the Lenten series for this year aims to promote the integration of the Holy Spirit into the Church’s overall existence, particularly in the ongoing synod.
The Cardinal suggested that the Church should seek guidance from the Spirit, just as the early Christian community did in all aspects of their lives.
He emphasized the Second Vatican Council’s efforts to revitalize the Church’s teachings, particularly with regard to the participation of lay people.
Additionally, he acknowledged that synods or decrees alone cannot solve Church issues, as the acceptance of these teachings often involves finding a balance between a desire for continuity and a desire for innovation.
Biblical history demonstrates the important role of the Holy Spirit in the formation and expansion of the early church, contributing significantly in various ways.
Firstly, the Holy Spirit empowered believers during Pentecost, enabling them to preach the gospel with courage and speak in tongues.
The Holy Spirit continued to empower believers to perform miracles, heal the sick, and even raise the dead throughout the book of Acts.
Secondly, the Holy Spirit provided guidance to the early church in important decisions such as choosing leaders and accepting Gentiles into the church.
Acts 15 highlights the council at Jerusalem where the Holy Spirit guided the apostles and elders in making a critical decision that would shape the future of the church.
Thirdly, the Holy Spirit comforted and strengthened early Christians, especially during times of persecution and adversity.
Acts records instances where the Holy Spirit provided encouragement and comfort to believers experiencing challenging circumstances. Finally, the Holy Spirit unified the early church by bringing together people from different cultures and backgrounds.
The Holy Spirit facilitated understanding among people speaking diverse languages during the Pentecost gathering.
In summary, the Holy Spirit played an indispensable role in the development and advancement of the early church, by empowering, guiding, comforting, and unifying believers across language and cultural barriers.
Cardinal Cantalamessa emphasized the significance of the Holy Spirit in steering the early Christian community’s actions, particularly in making communal decisions.
“It’s better for Cong. Arnie to come home so that he can face allegations against his family related to the death of Gov. Roel Degamo,” Romualdez said.
Teves Jr. has denied any involvement in the killing, saying someone is trying to pin the blame on him, adding he had expected he and his brother, Henry Teves, would be implicated in the death of Degamo, their political rival.
We know the authorities are using a fine-tooth comb to resolve the case to help crush the culture of impunity.
It’s not yet clear how strong the shock waves would be if the solon would have his stay overseas extended.
At best, we know two of the suspects revealed they have a video conversation with the person who ordered the killing, but none could say who the person was.
Four arrested suspects in the case and are staying at the National Bureau of Investigation detention center in Manila – Joric Garido Labrador, Joven Calibjo Javier, Benjie Buladola Rodriguez, and Osmundo Rojas Rivero.
The suspects, from different places outside Negros, including Mindanao, told investigators they had been shadowing Degamo as early as December last year.
They were briefed in a safe house and waited for an “opportune time” to carry out the hit.
However, Cardinal Cantalamessa noted that issues in the Church are not resolved solely by synods or decrees, but by the reception of those teachings.
The teachings of the Church need to be received and embraced by the faithful, which sometimes requires compromises between a desire for continuity and a desire for novelty.
The Church must balance the need for continuity with the need for renewal, ensuring that it remains faithful to its traditions while adapting to the changing needs of the times.
In essence, the Cardinal emphasized the importance of the Holy Spirit in guiding the Church’s decisions and the need for constant renewal and conversion.
He suggested that the Church should embrace the teachings of the Second Vatican Council and strive to integrate them fully into its life and mission.
He also emphasized the need for the faithful to receive and embrace the teachings of the Church, recognizing that compromise and balance are necessary to achieve this.
The early Christians put their trust in the Holy Spirit to direct them in every aspect of their lives, including settling conflicts and reaching crucial verdicts like admitting gentiles into the Church.
The Cardinal recommended that the contemporary Church should similarly seek the guidance of the Holy Spirit to make significant ecclesial decisions.
The Cardinal also praised the Second Vatican Council’s efforts to renew the Church’s teachings, particularly regarding the role of lay people.
The Council emphasized the importance of the participation of lay people in the life and mission of the Church, recognizing their unique role as baptized members of the Church.
The Council’s teachings opened up new possibilities for lay people to participate in the life of the Church, including in areas such as liturgy, evangelization, and social justice.
dreds of thousands of deaths.
From the Oscar-winning “Citizenfour” about whistle-blower Edward Snowden, to “Risk” about Wikileaks founder Julian Assange, and “My Country, My Country” about the US occupation of Iraq, she sees all her films as “an indictment of US power and the US government.”
In the case of her new film, “we have a company and a family that have been promoting a drug that is getting people addicted and causing mass overdoses, and (the government) did nothing, and there was evidence going back two decades that it was killing people,” she said.
Though she was nervous about sharing the most intimate details of Goldin’s traumatic life, it was naturally a less terrifying process than her work on “Citizenfour.”
Though protected by her status as a journalist, she has faced harassment—placed on a watchlist following the release of 2006’s ‘My Country, My Country’
“This was more of a collaboration than my relationship with Edward Snowden,” she said.
“In both cases there was a huge responsibility... but with Edward Snowden I literally
had his life in my hands. If I made a mistake he could be imprisoned or worse.”
‘Outrageous’
Born into a wealthy family in Boston, it was the aftermath of the attacks of September 11, 2001 that catalysed Poitras’s career.
“Watching this kind of global dominance and occupation and torture and ‘black sites’— these things were outrageous and I guess I felt I needed to respond to that,” she said.
“Good journalism should be troublemaking. Bad journalism is about getting access to power... those people aren’t really troublemakers.”
Although her portrait of Assange in 2017’s “Risk” was far from entirely positive, she says the efforts to extradite him to the United States as “the biggest threat to journalism today.”
He recalled the role of St. Peter in mediating between competing concerns in the early Church, a role that is continued by the Popes as Peter’s successors.
In conclusion, Cardinal Cantalamessa emphasized the importance of kindness and being good to others while being strict with oneself.
He proposed looking at issues from other people’s points of view as a remedy to polarization and division in the Church.
The Cardinal suggested that instead of judging others with condemnation, we should remove the poison from our judgment and turn it into an act of love, thanks to the gift of the Spirit.
He concluded his sermon with the prayer “Make me an instrument of your peace,” sometimes ascribed to St. Francis of Assisi. This Lent, and in all seasons, let us listen to the Holy Spirit.
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“I’m guilty of violating the Espionage Act. If you’re going to target Julian then you’re targeting anyone who’s done national security reporting and exposed documents.
“People have been so silent (on Assange’s case). Europe should step in and provide asylum,” she added.
Though protected by her status as a journalist, she has faced harassment— placed on a watchlist following the release of 2006’s “My Country, My Country,” leading to frequent detentions for questioning at airports.
“I think I hit a nerve, but I’m proud that I hit the nerve,” she said.
Does she think the Biden administration is still watching her?
“That’s a question for the government,” she said with a smile. AFP
By Maricel V. Cruz and Rey E. Requejo
A PARTY-list lawmaker on Monday expressed outrage over a Department of Foreign Affairs’ (DFA) report revealing that 27 deaths of overseas Filipino workers in the last 10 years were caused by foul play.
Meanwhile, Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla on Monday raised serious concern over the plight of some 2,000 Filipinos who became victims of human trafficking in Southeast Asia over the first two months of 2023.
At the same time, Rep. Ron Salo of the Kabayan party-list group called on concerned government agencies, through competent lawyers, to closely monitor the cases and ensure conviction of the perpetrators.
The deaths included eight in Saudi Arabia, five in South Africa, four in Kuwait, and three in Cyprus.
Salo, chair of the House’s Committee
on Overseas Workers Affairs, lamented that “it has now become more evident that the cases of Jullebee Ranara, Joanna Demafelis, and Jeanelyn Villavende are not isolated, and this is unacceptable.”
“This matter should deeply concern us Filipinos because it tells of the extreme risk to life that our overseas workers find themselves in while trying to make a decent living for their families,” he lamented.
Salo cited the need for government to take a more proactive direction to ensure that justice is swiftly served to the perpetrators, proposing that “we must engage competent lawyers to handle these cases and consistently monitor the process to ensure a successful prosecution and conviction of the perpetrators,” Salo explained.
“I have said this time and again—convictions of these criminals will deter future aggressors against our Kabayans, for they will know that our government is there to protect them,” Salo emphasized.
THE Commission on Human Rights (CHR) on Monday appealed to the government to provide full indemnification and and seek apology from the Japanese government for the suffering inflicted by Japanese soldiers on Filipinas who were made as sex slaves, also called “comfort women,” during World War II.
Meanwhile, Senator Risa Hontiveros filed a resolution urging the government to ensure “just and meaningful reparations to Filipino comfort women and their families.”
The CHR made the appeal in light of the recent remarks by the UN Committee on the Elimination of Dis-
THE Light Rail Transit Authority (LRTA) on Monday said the operations of LRT Line 2 will be suspended on Holy Thursday until Easter Sunday (April 6 to 9).
The rail authority also said a day before the suspension of operations (Holy Wednesday) it will implement a shortened operating schedule.
The shortened operating schedule will be at 7 p.m. only for both Recto and Antipolo routes.
LRTA administrator Hernando Cabrera said the four-day shutdown will give the rail firm enough time to conduct thorough maintenance on LRT-2 trains, station facilities, and equipment to ensure the system’s reliability and safety.
“We normally take advantage of the Holy Week to perform our yearly maintenance activities. With this, we appeal for understanding from the riding public and request that they plan their trip and take alternative transportation during this period,” Cabrera said.
After the Holy Week, normal operations of the LRT-2, which connects Recto and Antipolo, will resume next Monday, April 10, with trips starting at 5 a.m. Darwin G. Amojelar
BUREAU of Customs (BOC) agents arrested a passenger from Madagascar who was allegedly carrying P40.8 million worth of shabu upon arrival at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) on Sunday.
The Customs X-ray Inspection Project (XIP) team detected the prohibited substance from Harisoa Sandra upon her arrival at the NAIA Terminal.
Initial investigation showed that the foreigner arrived from Hong Kong on board Ethiopian Airlines flight ET644, and was originally from Madagascar, East Africa as
crimination against Women (CEDAW) that the Philippines violated the rights of victims of sexual slavery committed by the Japanese Army during the war.
“CHR urges the government of the Philippines to seriously consider and act on the recommendations of the Commit-
tee, particularly on providing the victims ‘full reparation, including recognition and redress, an official apology, and material and moral damages’ proportionate to the physical, psychological, and material damage suffered by them and the gravity of the violation of their rights experienced,” the CHR said in a stat ment.
The agency pointed out that the 1987 Constitution prohibits the use of torture, force, violence, threat, and intimidation or any other means which vitiate free will; and mandates the compensation and rehabilitation of victims of torture or similar practices and their families.
The CHR also reminded that the Philippines is a state party to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) which mandates the right to remedy and repa-
rations for violations of human rights.
“To a larger, nobler end, providing reparations to Filipina ‘comfort women’ pursues transitional justice, where largescale and systematic human rights violations are addressed so that the nation and its people can move towards peace and reconciliation,” the Commission added.
It also expressed willingness to assist the government in crafting a policy and the supporting mechanism for proposed reparation for the “comfort women.”
The CHR recommended that the government seek an apology from the Japanese government and restore the comfort women statue that once stood on Roxas Blvd. in honor of the stories and struggles of these “comfort women” and as a reminder of the abhorrence to the violence of war.
MORE than 90 million official ballots to be used in the forthcoming Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan Elections (BSKE) have been printed, the Commission on Elections (Comelec) announced on Monday.
Meanwhile, SEN. Jinggoy Estrada seeks to institutionalize special polling precincts accessible for persons with disabilities (PWDs) and senior citizens.
Comelec spokesman John Rex Laudiangco said the National Printing Office (NPO) in Quezon City has printed 90,613,426 ballots for the BSKE polls.
ANGELES City—A total of 15,000 housing units will be built here as part of the government’s massive housing program to provide decent and affordable homes to the less fortunate Filipino families.
her port of origin. X-ray scanning showed that Sandra’s luggage, which was also subjected to K9 and physical examination, contained six kilograms of shabu.
“Through the intensified screening operations by Customs NAIA X-ray Inspection Project (XIP) personnel, a suspicious image inside the luggage was reported and was eventually physically examined by duty Customs examiner,” the Port of NAIA stated in its report released on Monday.
The suspect is now in the custody of Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency and will be charged with violation of Republic Act 9165 (Dangerous Drugs Act) and RA 10863 also known as the Customs Modernization Act (CMTA).
Just recently, XIP examiners also detected a shipment of shabu worth more than P79.9 million at a Customs bonded warehouse in Pasay City. Joel E.
ZurbanoBUREAU of Immigration operatives have arrested an overstaying American who allegedly maltreated a delivery boy in Cebu City.
BI Commissioner Norman Tansingco identified the suspect as Phillip Justin Bean, 43, who was collared at a hotel room in Day-as, Barangay Zapatera, Cebu City on March 1.
Follow-up investigations showed that Bean was already overstaying in the country for almost one year.
BI records showed that his last extension of stay was on April 7, 2022, thus he already overstayed his tourist visa by 11 months.
“He has no right to verbally and physically abuse a Filipino. His actions show that he is abusing the hospitality of our country. He should be deported for being an undesirable alien,” Tansingco said. The BI chief said the foreigner also appears to be an illegal worker as it was learned that he works as a duty manager in a bar in Cebu City without the required work permit and visa.
He added that Bean will be included in the immigration blacklist to perpetually ban him from re-entering the Philippines. Vito Barcelo
“The ballots numbering over 90 million have been 100 percent printed. Those in the initial voters’ list have a ready been fully printed,” Laudiangco said during the Laging Handa briefing. He said a total of 66,973,949 barangay ballots and 23,639,477 SK ballots that would be used in the Oct. 30 polls have been prepared.
“We will just need to print those for new voters numbering about 1.6 million. These are those that applied from December 12 to January 31,” he added.
According to him, the poll body currently finalizes the number of success-
ful voter applicants.
Under the Voter’s Registration Act, all applications for voter registration should be heard, processed, and approved by the Election Registration Boards (ERBs).
Laudiangco also reported that other poll supplies and paraphernalia have been delivered and are ready for deployment.
He said they will just need to conduct training for those that will serve as members of the Electoral Boards (EBs).
“We can really say that your Comelec is 100 percent ready (for the BSKE),” added the Comelec spokesperson.
Republic Act 11935, which was passed by Congress and signed into law by President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr., moved the Dec. 5, 2022 village and youth polls to the last Monday of October this year.
Estrada wants the special polling precincts put up in public schools, town halls or plazas, civic centers, community centers, or other similarly designated special venues or areas and preferably those designed with special features to ensure their safety and comfort.
Macon Ramos-Araneta
This ambitious housing program will be carried out under the national housing flagship program of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., called “Pambansang Pabahay Para sa Pilipino” (4Ps) which aims to address the country’s housing backlog by setting up 6.5 million houses in six years.
Angeles City Mayor Carmelo Lazatin Jr. signed on Monday a memorandum of understanding with the Department of Human Settlements and Urban Development (DHSUD) led by Secretary Jose Acuzar in Quezon City to formally kick off the project. Under the project, 12 22-storey buildings will be constructed in the city to accommodate the qualified beneficiaries.
Lazatin said this is a landmark and milestone project as Angeles City is among the foremost beneficiaries of the 4Ps.
“I cannot thank you enough for this opportunity of a lifetime. An opportunity for my cabalens to have decent housing. Thank you very much as well for making Angeles City a part of President Marcos Jr.’s one million housing units per year,” Lazatin said in a statement.
The mayor also said he is happy to continue his father’s legacy through the help of President Marcos, Secretary Acuzar, and the whole DHSUD.
The mayor’s late father, former Angeles City Mayor and First District Representative Carmelo Lazatin established the Local Urban Poor and Housing Affairs Office (LUPAHO), and was able to provide 15,000 decent housing to indigent families here during his administration.
With this new project, he said the city government could help more people.
Under the MOU, the city government will provide the land for the project while DHSUD will be in charge of its implementation in collaboration with other key agencies.
The city government will also carry out the beneficiary listing, which shall include but not be limited to, social preparation, census enumeration, socio-economic profiling, and the establishment of social parameters.
THE Philippines on Sunday logged 144 new COVID-19 cases, the fifth straight day that the country has recorded over 100 new infections a day, according to the Department of Health (DOH) reported.
The latest report reflected an increase of 144 cases recorded on Saturday, bringing the country’s active caseload to 9,117. This is the fourth straight day of the country’s active cases exceeding 9,000. There were more new cases reported
than recoveries, as total recoveries rose by 92 to 4,002,577 from 4,002,485.
Eight deaths were recorded to bring the total fatalities up to 66,210 from 66,202, marking the third straight day that the country had fewer than 10 new deaths.
In terms of regions, Metro Manila had the biggest number of cases in the past two weeks with 463, followed by Davao with 253, Calabarzon with 200, Soccsksargen with 163, and Northern Mindanao with 110. The most cases were in Davao Del
Sur with 161, Quezon City with 103, Manila with 88, South Cotabato with 86, and Rizal with 73.
The Philippines also registered a bed occupancy rate of 16.4 percent as of Friday, March 10, with 4,059 out of the 24,741 beds across 1,884 facilities occupied. Government data showed that there were 181,137,103 COVID-19 vaccine doses administered as of March 9, 2023, consisting of 76,593,692 first doses; 79,812,930 complete doses; and 24,730,481 booster doses.
SEOUL—North Korea said Monday it had test-fired two strategic cruise missiles from a submarine, as South Korea and the United States kicked off their largest joint military exercises in five years.
Nuclear-armed Pyongyang said the test verified its “nuclear war deterrence means in different spaces” as it slammed the drills—known as Freedom Shield— which will run for 10 days from Monday as part of the allies’ drive to counter North Korea’s growing threats.
“The two strategic cruise missiles precisely hit the preset target on the East Sea of Korea,” the official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said.
North Korea is not technically banned from firing cruise missiles under current UN sanctions—although tests relating to its nuclear arsenal are not allowed.
The KCNA report said the test was linked to the United States and South Korea “getting evermore undisguised in their anti-DPRK military manoeuvres”, referring to the North by its official name.
The South Korean military said it had detected the launch of at least one unidentified missile from a North Korean submarine Sunday morning.
Photos and video released by North Korean state media showed the submarine, the “8.24 Yongung”, and a missile flying into the sky from the water, trailing white smoke and flames.
Analysts said “huge doubts” remain about how advanced the North’s submarine programme is.
Park Won-gon, a professor at Ewha University in Seoul, said the state media images suggested the missile was fired from above the water.
“Then there is no point in shooting from a submarine because there is no
KYIV—Fierce fighting was raging for control of the centre of Bakhmut in eastern Ukraine, the longest-running and bloodiest battle of the war, both sides said on Monday.
“Wagner assault units are advancing from several directions, trying to break through our troops’ defensive positions and move to the centre of the city. In fierce battles, our defenders are inflicting significant losses on the enemy,” the Ukrainian military said in a morning briefing, referring to the Russian mercenary group that has claimed to be leading Moscow’s offensive.
Wagner meanwhile said: “the enemy is battling for every meter, the closer we are to the city centre, the harder the battles.”
Meanwhile, Swiss neutrality is more important than ever, President Alain Berset said in an interview published Sunday, defending the controversial ban on transferring Swiss-made arms to Ukraine.
“Swiss weapons must not be used in wars,” he told the NZZ am Sonntag weekly.
The long tradition of neutrality has been hotly debated since Russia’s fullscale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
While the wealthy Alpine country, which is not a member of the European Union, has followed the bloc’s lead on sanctions targeting Moscow, it has so far shown less flexibility on its military neutrality.
Despite pressure from Kyiv and its allies, Switzerland has continued to block countries that hold Swiss-made weaponry from re-exporting it to Ukraine. To date, requests from Germany, Spain and Denmark have been rejected under the War Materiel Act, which bars all re-export if the recipient country is in an international armed conflict. Berset told NZZ the policy was based on “commitment to peace, to humanitarian law, to mediation where possible”.
Switzerland’s role as the seat of the International Committee of the Red Cross and the Geneva Conventions, as well as of the United Nations’ European headquarters “is reflected in our laws, including those relating to the export of weapons,” he said. AFP
stealth,” Park told AFP.
“North Korea says the weapons are deployed, but whether we believe it with credibility is another matter.”
Defensive drill
The Freedom Shield drills “involve wartime procedures to repel potential North Korean attacks and conduct a stabilisation campaign in the North”, the South Korean military has said.
It emphasised that the exercise was a “defensive one based on a combined operational plan”.
But North Korea views all such exercises as rehearsals for invasion and has repeatedly warned it would take “overwhelming” action in response.
“North Korea has been speaking in missiles against joint drills,” said Go Myong-hyun, a researcher at the Asan Institute for Policy Studies in Seoul.
“It wants to emphasise that the reason for developing missiles is for selfdefence purposes.”
More to come
The foreign ministry in Pyongyang also released a statement Monday slamming the United States over what it called “the US vicious ‘human rights’ racket”, after Washington said it would hold a UN meeting this week on abuses in North Korea.
Last year, North Korea declared itself an “irreversible” nuclear power and fired a record-breaking number of missiles.
Leader Kim Jong Un last week ordered his military to intensify drills to prepare for a “real war.” AFP
WASHINGTON—President Joe Biden meets Monday with the leaders of Australia and Britain at a California naval base for an expected announcement of a nuclear submarines deal aimed at stabilizing the Asia-Pacific region as it faces a rising China.
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Britain’s Prime Minister Rishi Sunak will join Biden at the base in San Diego 18 months after their countries formed an alliance called AUKUS with the principal goal of bringing Australia into the fold of navies possessing nuclear-powered submarines. While Australia has ruled out deploying atomic weapons, its acquisition of the nuclear-powered vessels will transform its role in a US-led project to maintain the decades-old balance of power in the Pacific.
nuclear-powered submarines will be sold to Australia over the next decade, The Washington Post reported. Australia and Britain would then both embark on building a new submarine model, using US propulsion technology and dubbed the SSN-AUKUS, with delivery in the 2040s.
While the plan will require years to come to fruition, it marks an ambitious shift from Australia and the United States as they contemplate the rapid expansion of Chinese military power, including Beijing’s building up a sophisticated naval fleet and turning artificial islands into offshore bases.
CRATER LIGHT. Lava spews out of Mount Merapi, Indonesia’s most active volcano, as seen from the Kaliurang Selatan village in Srumbung, Magelang, Central Java on March 12. AFP
According to US media, Biden will announce a long-term, multi-stage plan destined to make Australia a full partner in fielding top-secret US nuclear technology previously only shared with historic ally Britain.
As many as five Virginia-class US
Diplomatic spat with France Australia had previously been on track to replace its aging current fleet of diesel-powered submarines with a $66-billion package of French vessels, also conventionally powered.
The abrupt announcement by Canberra that it was backing out of that deal and entering the AUKUS project sparked a brief but unusually furious row between all three countries and their close ally France. AFP
STOCKHOLM—Arms imports into Europe almost doubled in 2022, driven by massive shipments to Ukraine, which has become the world’s thirdlargest destination, researchers said Monday.
With a 93 percent jump compared to the year before, imports have also increased due to accelerating military spending by European states including Poland and Norway, said the report by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI).
And the rate of imports is expected to accelerate further, it said.
RAMADAN NEAR. A child blows soap bubbles as she stands in front of a wall painted in vivid colors with Arabic calligraphy that reads ‘Ramadan Karim’ as part of an initiative by a Palestinian artist in the Zeitun district of Gaza City, on March 12. Muslims across the world will start fasting later this month to mark the holy month of Ramadan, during which believers refrain from eating and drinking from dawn to dusk. AFP
“The invasion has really caused a significant surge in demand for arms in Europe, which will have further effect and most likely will lead to increased arms imports by European states,” Pieter Wezeman, a senior researcher at SIPRI, told AFP.
Ukraine was until last year a negligible importer of arms.
But in 2022 it very quickly became the third-largest arms destination in the world, behind Qatar and India, as Western nations delivered arms following Russia’s invasion. Ukraine alone accounted for 31
percent of arms transfers to Europe and eight percent of world deliveries overall, according to SIPRI’s data.
Ukraine’s imports, including donations, grew more than 60-fold last year, the institute found.
The deliveries to Ukraine were mainly weapons lifted from stockpiles.
Among them were some 230 artillery pieces from the US; 280 Polish armoured vehicles; and more than 7,000 British anti-tank missiles, as well as more newly produced pieces such as anti-aircraft systems, SIPRI said. AFP
TAIPEI—A Taiwanese soldier who went missing last week while stationed on an island near China has been found in the mainland, the government said Monday.
The soldier, identified only by his family name Chen, was reported missing on Thursday after morning roll-call on Erdan Island, which lies just five kilometres (three miles) off the mainland coast.
“It has been confirmed that he is in mainland China,” said Chiu Tai-san, head of the Mainland Affairs Council, Taiwan’s top policy-making body on China.
When asked if Chen had deserted his post, Chiu said the government will “follow up on the situation”.
“The defense ministry has relevant mechanisms for identifying deserters,” he added.
The defense ministry, which formed a special task force to search for the soldier, has so far not commented on his presence in the mainland.
Defence Minister Chiu Kuo-cheng said Friday that it was too early to conclude if the soldier was “running away”.
Chen is a staff member in a kitchen at the Lieyu Garrison Battalion on Erdan, according to the Taiwanese military. AFP
TOKYO—Tokyo’s High Court ordered a retrial on Monday for an 87-year-old former boxer, dubbed the world’s longest-serving death row inmate, nearly six decades after he was convicted of murder.
Lawyers for Iwao Hakamada left the court after a brief session and unfurled banners reading “retrial” as supporters shouted “Free Hakamada now”.
“I was waiting for this day for 57 years and it has come,” said Hakamada’s sister Hideko, who has campaigned tirelessly on her brother’s behalf.
“Finally a weight has been lifted from my shoulders,” the 90-year-old said.
Hakamada spent nearly five decades on death row and was certified the world’s longest-serving death row inmate, before a lower court ordered a retrial and freed him while his case proceeded.
He was sentenced to death in 1968 for robbing and murdering his boss, the man’s wife and their two teenage children.
He initially denied the accusations but later confessed after what he subsequently claimed was a brutal police interrogation that included beatings.
His attempts to retract the confession were in vain and his verdict was confirmed by the Supreme Court in 1980.
After a prolonged battle, a district court in the central city of Shizuoka granted a retrial in 2014, finding investigators could have planted evidence.
But Tokyo’s High Court overturned the lower court ruling four years later, and the case was sent to the Supreme Court on appeal. AFP
PARIS, France—Diplomats from nearly 200 nations and top climate scientists begin a week-long huddle in Switzerland Monday to distill nearly a decade of published science into a 20-odd-page warning about the existential danger of global warming, and what to do about it.
The UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s synthesis report -- to be released on March 20 -- will detail observed and projected changes in Earth’s climate system; past and future impacts such as devastating heatwaves, flooding and rising seas; and ways to halt the carbon pollution pushing Earth toward an unlivable state.
“It’s a massive moment, seven years since the Paris Agreement and nine years since the last IPCC assessment report,” Greenpeace Nordic senior policy advisor Kaisa Kosonen, an official observer at IPCC meetings, told AFP.
Since its creation in 1988, the IPCC -- an intergovernmental body staffed by hundreds of volunteer scientists -- has released six, threepart assessments, the most recent in 2021-2022.
“It is scientists telling governments how they are doing during these crucial defining years,” Kosonen said.
The report card is not good: global greenhouse gas emissions have continued to grow, even as science has cautioned that deadly consequences are coming sooner and at lower levels of warming than previously thought.
Since the late 19th century, Earth’s average surface temperature has risen more than 1.1 degrees Celsius, enough to amplify a crescendo of weather catastrophes on every continent. AFP
STOCKS fell for a third day even as the US tried to soothe concerns about the financial sector following the closure of two banks over the weekend.
The PSE index, the 30-company benchmark of the Philippine Stock Exchange, tumbled 45 points, or 0.69 percent, to close at 6,544.45 Monday, as four of the six subsectors registered losses. It was also down 0.33 percent since the start of this year’s trading.
The index, encompassing all shares, also shed 21 points, or 0.61 percent, to settle at 3,518.83 on a value turnover of P25.52 billion. Losers outmatched gainers, 124 to 58, while 47 issues were unchanged.
Only one of the 10 most active stocks ended in the green. Robinsons Land Corp. gained 2.42 percent to P14.40.
SM Prime Holdings Inc. and SM Investments Corp. closed flat, while the rest lost value.
The peso closed higher at 54.93 against the US dollar Monday, compared to 55.17 on Friday, on expectations the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas would remain hawkish to contain inflation. Higher local interest rates tend to attract investors looking for increased yields.
The collapse Friday of Silicon Valley Bank, which specialized in venture-capital financing largely in the tech sector, came after a huge run on deposits left it unable to stay afloat on its own.
That came in response to its announcement of a stock offering and sale of securities to raise much-needed cash. Its shares collapsed 60 percent in New York on Thursday and trading was sus-
pended Friday morning, before regulators said they had closed it down.
SVB is the largest retail bank to fail since the 2008 financial crisis.
Its problems had built up as the US Federal Reserve’s interest rate hikes meant securities it owned were selling for significantly less—a problem other banks could face.
On Sunday, New York regulators said they had closed another lender, Signature Bank.
The crisis forced the Fed, the Treasury Department and Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. to promise to fully protect all depositors and give backup to any lenders struggling to find cash, providing easier terms on short-term loans.
In a joint statement, they said SVB depositors would have access to “all of their money” starting Monday, March 13, and that taxpayers will not have to foot the bill. With AFP
BRUSSELS, Belgium—The EU must urgently lower energy prices and ease regulations to stop industry fleeing the continent, European businesses said on Monday, as Brussels prepares plans to stimulate the green economy.
The European Union is racing to make Europe more attractive for the companies that could be tempted by massive US and Chinese subsidies and lower energy costs.
This week the European Commission, the EU’s executive arm, will present plans to reform Europe’s electricity market, to boost the green transition and guarantee the supply of critical
raw materials.
But BusinessEurope, the EU’s main business lobby group, said Brussels’ efforts were insufficient and too slow.
“The risk of deindustrialization in Europe is real,” warned Markus Beyrer, director general of BusinessEurope.
Many companies are already
“partially or totally relocating their production outside Europe”, said BusinessEurope, which represents employers’ associations from 35 countries.
The commission on Thursday loosened state aid rules for companies in sectors that help reduce carbon emissions as part
of its response to subsidies offered elsewhere.
BusinessEurope however called for more action including cutting taxes on energy and keeping them low to reduce businesses’ bills.
“Policy-makers should not be fooled by ... declining energy prices,” Beyrer said, adding: “They will remain higher than for our main competitors.”
The business lobby might be expected to demand cost cuts but some real-world impact of the problem has already been seen.
German chemical giant BASF said in February it would close several units in Germany because
of high energy prices affecting competitiveness in Europe.
Beyrer also pointed to tougher regulation as their top problem after high energy prices, according to a recent survey of its members.
“For 2023 alone, the European Commission plans to table 43 new policy initiatives on top of already 116 pending proposals ... an increasing number without a proper impact assessment,” Beyrer added.
The “regulatory burden” pushes companies and investments away from the continent and “harms Europe” as a place to do business, he warned. AFP
By Michael Mathes with Thomas Urbain in New York
WASHINGTON—US authorities unveiled sweeping measures Sunday to ease fears over the health of the banking system following the failure of Silicon Valley Bank, as regulators took over a second troubled lender.
Regulators stepped in to ensure depositors still had access to their funds at SVB and promised other institutions help in meeting customers’ needs after markets were rattled by the bank’s sudden collapse.
In Britain, banking giant HSBC bought SVB’s UK division for just £1 ($1.2) in a rescue deal overseen by the Bank of England and the government.
Amid fears over the wider sector, President Joe Biden vowed to hold “fully accountable” the people responsible for “this mess” and said he would deliver remarks on Monday morning on maintaining a resilient banking system.
“The American people and American businesses can have confidence that their bank deposits will be there when they need them,” Biden said.
In a joint statement, financial agencies including the US Treasury said SVB depositors would have access to “all of their money” starting Monday and that American taxpayers will not have to foot the bill.
The Federal Reserve, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), and Treasury added that depositors in Signature Bank, a New York-based regional-size lender with
significant cryptocurrency exposure which was shuttered on Sunday after its stock price tanked, would also be “made whole.”
The Fed also announced it would make extra funding available to banks to help them meet the needs of depositors, which would include withdrawals.
“We are taking decisive actions to protect the US economy by strengthening public confidence in our banking system,” the statement said.
“The US banking system remains resilient and on a solid foundation,” due in large part to reforms and banking industry safeguards undertaken after the financial crisis of 2008, they added.
“Those reforms combined with today’s actions demonstrate our commitment to take the necessary steps to ensure that depositors’ savings remain safe.”
Avoiding ‘contagion’
The FDIC move guarantees deposits -- but
A customer stands outside of a shuttered Silicon Valley Bank headquarters on March 10, 2023, in Santa Clara, California. AFP
only up to $250,000 per client and per bank.
Federal banking law, however, would allow the FDIC to protect uninsured deposits if a failure to do so would pose systemic risks, the Washington Post reported.
Regulators on Friday took control of SVB -a key lender to startups across the United States since the 1980s -- after a huge run on deposits left the medium-sized bank unable to stay afloat on its own.
Hours before Sunday’s joint statement, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said the government wants to avoid financial “contagion” from the SVB implosion, as it ruled out a bailout.
With the bank’s future, and its billions in deposits up in the air, officials from the three agencies raced to craft a solution just hours before financial markets opened in Asia, and to avert a potential financial panic. AFP
BEIJING—China’s new Premier Li Qiang warned Monday it would be “no easy task” for the country to hit its annual growth target, already one of Beijing’s lowest in decades.
“I’m afraid that reaching our growth target of around five percent will be no easy task, and will require that we redouble our efforts,” Li said at a press conference in the Chinese capital.
The modest figure “has been determined after a comprehensive consideration of various factors”, Li said in front of assembled domestic and international media as the annual meeting of China’s rubber-stamp parliament drew to a close.
He warned of “many new challenges” to growth, but added that he thought most people “don’t fix their sights every day” on China’s GDP figures.
Instead, they care more about “specific issues close to them” such as housing, employment, income, education and health, he said.
Li, one of newly reanointed President Xi Jinping’s closest allies, was confirmed as premier on Saturday in a nearly unanimous vote during a meeting of the National People’s Congress.
He has taken over from Li Keqiang, who served in the position during Xi’s first decade in power.
Before handing the reins to his successor and near-namesake, Li Keqiang announced at the opening of the NPC that China would aim to grow its GDP by “around five percent” this year.
The world’s second-largest economy expanded by just three percent last year, one of its weakest performances in decades, as Covid curbs and a grinding property crisis chipped away at economic vitality. AFP
China’s annual growth target not easy to hit, says PremierMONGOLIA MINE. Mongolia Prime Minister Luvsannamsrai Oyun-Erdene (left) shakes hands with Rio Tinto Group chief executive Jakob Stausholm at the Oyu Tolgoi copper mine in Khanbogd, Ömnögovi Province, in southern Mongolia. AFP
LOCAL automotive sales sustained a doubledigit growth in February on the back of strong demand, reflecting the industry’s recovery from the pandemic, data from two industry groups show.
The Chamber of Automotive Manufacturers of the Philippines Inc. and the Truck Manufacturers Association said in a joint report Monday vehicle sales grew 27.2 percent in February from a year ago, following the 42-percent rise in January and 33-percent increase in 2022.
Members of the two groups sold 30,905 vehicles in February, up from
24,307 units delivered in the same month last year.
“The industry demonstrated anew positive sales growth of 27.2 percent in February 2023 on a year-on-year basis—a clear indicator of a continuously progressing auto industry from the course of the pandemic,” said CAMPI president Rommel Gutierrez.
Passenger car sales increased 21.6
percent in February to 7,189 from 5,914 units a year ago, while commercial vehicle sales went up 29 percent to 23,716 from 18,370.
Data showed that industry sales also increased 4.8 percent month-on-month despite the fewer days in February.
Passenger car sales slowed 4.22 percent from 7,506 units sold in January, while commercial vehicle sales picked up 7.8 percent from 21,993 units.
Combined sales in the first two months of 2023 accelerated by 34 percent to 60,404 units from 45,069 units. Passenger car sales in the two-month period went up by 25.6 percent to 14,695 from 11,698 units, while commercial vehicle sales climbed 37 percent to 45,709 from 33,371.
THE Department of Energy warned of possible higher electricity rates during the dry months in case a tight supply would necessitate the operation of oil-based power plants.
Passenger cars refer to sedans and hatchbacks, while commercial vehicles include crossovers, multi-purpose vehicles, sports utility vehicles, pick-up trucks, vans, jeepneys and trucks.
Gutierrez said members of CAMPI and TMA were expecting total sales in 2023 to grow by 10 percent to 15 percent to about 395,000 units from 352,596 vehicles sold last year. The number is on top of sales by other industry groups.
“The favorable various economic indicators are prevailing, leading to improving the overall outlook of the economy alongside increasing consumer demand for new motor vehicles,” he said.
“If we are going to run the oil-based power plants, then it will necessarily cause an increase in power prices,” Energy Secretary Raphael Lotilla said at the sidelines of the Makati Business Club’s F2F with Cab Secs Forum. Lotilla said the DOE is seeking everyone’s cooperation, given the anticipated yellow alerts expected during the dry months. “It’s not the case where it is inevitable, but after looking at the available supply and the maintenance schedules of power plants, it is something we are asking everyone’s cooperation to manage,” he said.
Lotilla underscored the need for demandside management such as avoiding using electricity during peak hours.
“If demand is high, the plants that we will have to run are oil-based power plants. And if you use oil, as you know, the prices are much higher than the use of other fuels,” Lotilla said. Alena Mae S. Flores
ACEN Corp., Ayala Group’s listed energy platform, said Monday it is investing $250 million in equity and performance guarantees, in a new venture in India.
ACEN said it signed a partnership with USbased renewable power company BrightNight LLC to develop, construct and operate largescale hybrid wind-solar power projects in India.
“With this partnership, we are significantly strengthening our foothold in India’s fastgrowing market as we shift from pure solar play to multi-technology renewables. We look forward to working with BrightNight’s highly experienced local team as our combined expertise will help India progress towards their energy transition goal and spur the global transition towards a Net Zero economy,” ACEN International chief executive Patrice Clausse said.
ACEN’s investment, through subsidiaries ACEN Renewables International and ACEN International, will help BrightNight’s existing portfolio and future growth and accelerate the development of over 1.2 gigawatts of power portfolio in India, including a differentiated 100-MW co-located, wind-solar project in Maharashtra. Alena Mae S. Flores
AIRASIA Philippines said Monday forward bookings jumped 95 percent to 475,000 for the month of March from a year ago.
The budget airline said the top three destinations for domestic and international bookings include Cebu, Boracay, Tacloban, Taipei, Bangkok and Seoul.
THE slight slowdown of February infla-
tion to 8.6 percent a 14-year high of 8.7 percent in January may not be enough to convince the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas to abandon its hawkish stance, which favors monetary tightening, in the succeeding policy meetings, a unit of Moody’s Corp. said Monday.
Inflation averaged 8.6 percent in the first two months, above the target range of 2 percent to 4 percent.
“Despite the slight easing of the headline figure, core inflation, which excludes selected food and energy items,
rose to 7.8 percent from 7.4 percent in January,” Moody’s Analytics said in a report.
“Inflation in the Philippines is uncomfortably strong and has likely not yet peaked; the odds are high that the country’s monetary policy tightening cycle is not over,” it said.
National statistician and civil registrar general Dennis Mapa said earlier that among the 13 commodity groups, transport was the sole driver of the downtrend of the overall inflation in February.
Nine commodity groups showed higher inflation rates which included food and non-alcoholic beverages at
10.8 percent; alcoholic beverages and tobacco, 11.0 percent; clothing and footwear, 4.8 percent; furnishings, household equipment and routine household maintenance, 6.2 percent; health, 4.0 percent; information and communication, 0.8 percent; recreation, sport and culture, 4.4 percent; restaurants and accommodation services, 8.1 percent; and personal care, and miscellaneous goods and services, 5.3 percent.
Moody’s Analytics earlier said the Bangko Sentral would be aggressive in tackling inflation early in 2023, adding that monetary policy tightening cycle “will run for longer in the Philippines
than elsewhere in Asia given stubbornly elevated inflation.”
BSP Governor Felipe Medalla said in a previous interview monetary authorities were ready to act accordingly if inflation in February would remain high.
“We are still hawkish… If the February inflation is bad we will act… but we are hawkish for a reason…It is the data,” Medalla said.
“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.
THE Energy Regulatory Commission said Monday it started the review of the secondary price cap imposed at the spot market, but conceded that its removal may have an impact on consumer protection.
It said in a statement it began conducting a review of the SPC which was first implemented a decade ago to protect consumers from the unwarranted increase in electricity prices brought about by inherent volatile market price movements at the Wholesale Electricity Spot Market.
The regulator said Republic Act No. 9136 states that generation prices should be market-driven or dictated by market forces.
It said its initial analysis showed that with SPC in place, price signals are distorted and actual market results do not necessarily reflect the true cost of generation. This blurs planning exercises on energy security and dampens
investors’ interest to in the Philippine power generation sector, it said.
“The ERC needs to do a balancing act, as is the role of the regulator in our system. We need to ensure that the regulatory framework incentivizes investors to pour in more capital by building additional power plants to bolster the country’s supply requirements,” ERC chairperson Monalisa Dimalanta said.
“At the same time, we cannot discount the fact that the price cap is a preventive measure to protect the consumers from the immediate impact of high market prices,” Dimalanta said.
The SPC removal is one of the proposals of the Private Sector Advisory Council, which met with President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. on March 9, 2023.
Energy Secretary Raphael Lotilla earlier said DOE was also studying removing the SPC imposed in 2013 “but this has been difficult to lift at this time because of the impact on prices but we will have to deal with this if we want to get more investments down the
CONGLOMERATE
third quarter at an indicative price of P75 per share. The group said it would use the proceeds
for general corporate purposes, including but not limited to repayment of debt. The Series 2 preferred shares, which could be issued in tranches, are perpetual, cumulative and non-voting and redeemable at the option of the company. It will have a fixed coupon rate.
The preferred shares, equivalent to less than 5 percent of the total outstanding capital stock of the company, will be listed on the Philippine Stock Exchange.
SMC’s major subsidiaries including Ginebra San Miguel Inc., Petron Corp. and San Miguel Food and Beverage Inc. reported positive earnings in 2022.
GSMI said net income in 2022 jumped 9 percent to P4.5 billion from a year ago despite the challenging headwinds caused by global supply chain disruptions, high inflation and the weak peso.
GSMI said in a statement consolidated sales rose 11 percent year-on-year
to P47.3 billion, boosted by growth in sales volume and higher selling prices.
Income from operations reached P6 billion, up 13 percent from previous year’s level.
“GSMI is one of the few companies that continued to grow despite the challenges of the past years. This is genuine proof of the company’s strength and true resiliency,” said GSMI president and chief executive Ramon Ang.
”AirAsia’s competitive pricing is still seen as among the top motivators for guests choosing to fly with us. Our effort of mounting different online and on-ground travel promos is our way of providing the best value for our guests’ hard-earned money,” said AirAsia Philippines communications and public affairs head Steve Dailisan.
He said to sustain the growth momentum and excite more travelers to book their flights earlier, AirAsia Philippines is offering another round of P1SO Sale. Available for booking from March 13 to 19, guests can enjoy a P1 one-way base fare to Boracay, Bohol, Puerto Princesa, Bacolod, Davao, Kalibo, Cagayan de Oro and Roxas from Manila; and Boracay, Puerto Princesa, Davao and Cagayan de Oro from Cebu-Mactan International Airport. Darwin G. Amojelar
ASIAN Terminals Inc. said Monday
net income grew 35.3 percent last year on the back of higher cargo and passenger volume handled by its ports in Manila and Batangas.
The port operator said it posted a net income of P3.03 billion in 2022, up from P2.24 billion in 2021, as revenues went up 22 percent to P13.62 billion from P11.16 billion.
Revenues from international container port operations in Manila and Batangas increased 19.2 percent and 12.7 percent, respectively, on account of higher boxed cargoes compared to the previous year.
It said revenues from non-container port operations in Batangas grew 65.9 percent, led by record volume of international rolling cargo and robust increase of passengers transiting through the modern Batangas Passenger Terminal.
ATI’s Manila South Harbor and Batangas Port handled over 1.4 million TEUs (twenty-foot equivalent units) in 2022, or 4.5 percent higher than in 2021.
It said that in the non-containerized segment, Batangas Port’s car carrier terminal set new operations milestone, as it ended the year handling over 230,000 completely-built car units, up by 73 percent from 2021 and eclipsing the previous record of 201,000 CBUs in 2016.
The Batangas Passenger Terminal, the country’s biggest and most modern interisland transport hub, facilitated the safe transit of over 2.2 million outbound passengers and nearly 360,000 domestic roll-on/roll-off vehicles, with the continued easing of travel restrictions.
CALIFORNIA Precision Sports was a class act while De La Salle Lipa had to go the extra mile to rule the Philippine National Volleyball Federation Under-18 Championships at the Rizal Memorial Coliseum on Sunday.
CPS made Antipolo City proud by winning the girls’ crown of the tournament revived by the PNVF at the expense of Gracel Christian College Foundation of Taguig City, 25-14, 25-16, 25-18.
De La Salle Lipa, on the other hand, was extended to a fourth set before booking a 23-25, 25-20, 25-13, 25-15 victory over Laguna team Santa Rosa City, which has started to establish itself as one of the county’s volleyball hotbeds.
Middle blocker Jenalyn Umayam had 18 kills, two service aces and a block for 21 points, while Most Valuable Player and Best Outside Hitter Casiey Monique Dongallo peppered GCC’s porous defense with 15 hits and Joyce Soliven contributed nine points on marked with three service aces for CPS.
But CPS coach Obet Vital made special mention to his team’s veteran Kizzie Madriaga—named the tournament’s Best Setter—for providing stability when it mattered most.
“She [Madriaga] is the quarterback of our team, she knows where to give the ball,” Vital said. “She delivers and scores well. Definitely, she did an outstanding job whoever was in the floor with her, she’s a playmaker.”
The CPS girls won the crown undefeated in seven matches beginning from the pool play. They also didn’t give up a set in their title run.
PNVF Ramon “Tats” Suzara was impressed on how the teams played in the three-weekend tournament supported by the Philippine Olympic Committee, Philippine Sports Commission, PLDT, Rebisco and Akari.
“It proves that volleyball is very much alive in the grassroots and the way these boys and girls played, Philippine volleyball has a big mass base for future members of the national team,” said Suzara, who also congratulated technical director Yul Benosa and competition director Oliver Mora for successfully organizing the tournament.
A total of 36 teams—20 girls and 16 boys—played in the tournament, which will be preceded by the PNVF Under-23 Championships in August also at the Rizal Memorial Coliseum.
A CREW of young turks, including locals who could well represent the future of Philippine pro golf, sets out for an early impact in their first foray in the big league as they vie in the ICTSI Negros Occidental Classic presented by MORE Power beginning Wednesday at the Marapara Golf and Country Club in Bacolod.
Former national team standouts
Gab Manotoc, Kristoffer Arevalo and Jonas Magcalayo, along with Russell Bautista, Josh Jorge, Leandro Bagtas and Elee Bisera expect a rocky start to their pro debuts but all hope to rise to the challenge and give their respective new careers a shot in the arm.
Hyun Ho Rho actually heads a mix of young and seasoned campaigners who made the grade in the recent Philippine Golf Tour Q-School in this week’s P2.25 million championship with the 18-year-old Korean also to be sized up by the elite field after bagging the medal honors in the four-day elims at Splendido Taal.
But while these new kids on the block pack the power and skills needed to pose a threat, the veterans – with their experience and sheer talent – are still tipped to dominate the 72-hole championship put up by ICTSI, which ushers in the new PGT season.
They include multi-titled Tony Lascuña, Clyde Mondilla, Jhonnel Ababa and Jay Bayron with former Order of Merit champion Jobim Carlos and leg winners Reymon Jaraula, Michael Bibat, Zanieboy Gialon and Ira Alido and legend Frankie Miñoza beefing up the cast.
FILIPINO gymnast Carlos Yulo had a phenomenal performance when he finished his campaign in the Baku leg of the 2023 FIG Artistic Gymnastics World Cup Series with two gold medals on Sunday in Azerbaijan.
Gymnastics Association of the Philippines president Cynthia Carrion said this when Yulo won by fractions of a point after taking the men’s vault gold and added to his parallel bars’ triumph in a similar manner last Saturday.
The 23-year-old Yulo’s execution of a handspring double front pike for 15.033 points, followed by a Lopez vault for 14.833 points, gave him an average 14.933 points for the championship trophy.
“He is phenomenal. He is going to win medals in the Olympics,” said Carrion after talking to Yulo on the phone.
Yulo was ahead of Great Britain’s
Harry Hepworth, who settled for silver with a score of 14.816, with the Filipino standout winning by just a fraction of a point.
Wai Hung Shek of Hong Kong settled for the bronze medal with a score of 14.716.
“He (Yulo) said that he is more motivated now to be an Olympic champion. And when he puts his mind on what he is doing, nandu’n na siya,” added Carrion.
Earlier, the 23-year-old Yulo came up with a more challenging stint in Day 1 when he upset multi-titled Ukrainian Illia Kovtun’s winning run
in the parallel bars.
Kovtun, who was heavily favored after having won six straight World Cup crowns on the apparatus, was second behind Yulo.
The other weekend, Yulo took second place in the parallel bars in the Doha meet.
This time, Yulo showed a more superior execution marks to win by fractions of a point to the Ukrainan with a score 15.400 to Kovtun’s 15.366.
“The judges from Europe were looking for perfection and Carlos had to be perfect with his execution,” added Carrion. The 4’1” Yulo returns to the Philippines on Tuesday for a short break and to be with his family.
Next month, he continues his quest to improve on his routine and his preparations
to qualify for the Olympics when he joins the fourth and last edition of
PATRICK Bren Coo kicked off his campaign to qualify for his first Olympics in Paris 2024 with a silver medal finish in the Indonesia BMX 2023 Round 1 at the Pulonas International BMX Center in Jakarta on Sunday.
“It was very, very close to the gold, but it’s racing,” said the Filipino-American Coo, the Asian Juniors champion in 2021. “But it’s racing, you know what it is.”
Indonesia’s Gusti Bagus Saputra won gold in 33.919 seconds, with Coo finishing only .20 second behind and another Indonesian, Rio Akbar, settling for the bronze with a time of 34.346.
Eleven riders raced in the final with Indonesia qualifying five more riders, South Korea with two and Thailand with one.
The humidity tolled on most of the foreign riders with the athletes and coaches from the foreign teams complaining about the short break in between the motos and the quarterfinals and finals.
“It was so hot and was super hard to cool down,”
said Coo, who turns 21 on March 17. “We were given only some 15 minutes break in between races, unlike in other races and in the US where there are breaks are one hour or more.”
Coo earned 86 International Cycling Union points out of the possible 100 points.
Up next for Coo, whose family is Ilonggo, will be the Thailand BMX Cup 2—also a C1 UCI race that offers ranking points like the Jakarta event—on March 19 in Coo and Daniel Caluag are hoping to qualify for the Paris Olympics.
The Rio de Janeiro Olympian Caluag is focused on securing a ticket to Paris from the Hangzhou 19th Asian Games in September.
Caluag, 36, won the country’s only gold medal in the Incheon 2014 Asian Games and also owns an Asian Games bronze medal from Jakarta 2018 and Southeast Asian Games gold medal from Naypyidaw 2013, silver from Philippines 2019 and gold from the Singapore 2013 Asian championships.
THERE is no room for complacency for Coach Cholo Villanueva’s Batangas City Embassy Chill in the upcoming Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League.
While his team reached the southern division finals last year, he said that the new season is a totally different ballgame.
“We start from the ground up. It’s back to zero. It doesn’t mean that because we were in the division finals last year, we’re guaranteed to be in it again this year,” the former Green Archer pointed out.
Among the things that Villanueva wants the team to build on is their composure down the stretch, especially when they have a big margin.
“Knowing how to execute and finish the game strong are things we need to improve on this year,” Villanueva shared.
He also wants the team to have a quicker pace and, at the same time, continue with its defensive identity of limiting bigger opponents.
Batangas City Embassy Chill still has its core players— Rudy Lingganay, Jeckster Apinan, Cedrick Ablaza, John Rey Villanueva, and King Importante, and they are beefing up their lineup with new firepower.
“After last year’s performance, we assessed the needs of the team. We added another guard CJ Isit, who can help with our guard rotation. We also added two versatile forwards, Oneal Arum and Raffy Oktubre. Overall, we should be better than last year with these additions.
They can also help us achieve what Coach Cholo wants to develop, that is playing at our own pace,” said Batangas City Em-
bassy Chill Team Manager Jean Alabanza.
Villanueva added, “Last year, we were number two in our division. We want to be number one this year, so we can’t give games away. If we have a chance to win every game, we’ll make sure to win it.”
The team will be playing its first game this March 14 at its home court, the Batangas City Coliseum, against Pasay.
Continuing Lucio Tan, Jr.’s Legacy Team Manager and Tanduay Distillery General Manager Gerry Tee shared that they are fortunate to have the unwavering support of Batangas City Representative Mario Vittorio “Marvey” Mariño and
Mayor Beverly Rose Dimacuha since they started in the league in 2018, where they emerged as champions.
“They share the same passion and commitment to grassroots sports development with Sir Lucio Tan, Jr.,” he said.
The late Tan is known for being a patron of sports development, particularly basketball. Tee shared that his former boss would always emphasize the importance of good health through sports and wanted to give talents from the barangay level the chance to make it in the bigger leagues.
“He would also remind us to make sure that discipline, sportsmanship, and camaraderie are in all our undertakings. He values winning and he sees losing as a lesson. He used to say that it is only in losing that you can truly value success, whether in basketball or business, and he wanted our players to keep this in mind,” Tee said.
THE Premier Volleyball League returns to Iloilo City on Tuesday after four years with a pair of matches featuring a number of homegrown talents at the University of San Agustin Gym.
Petro Gazz, led by Aiza Maizo from Passi City and Negrense Jonah Sabete tangle with Chery Tiggo in the 4 p.m. opener with the latter to be bannered by Ilonngas Shaya Adorador and Buding Duremdes.
Creamline, meanwhile, faces Akari in the 6:30 p.m. main dish with the Cool Smashers seeking to cap their elims romp and head to the Final Four on a winning mode and the Chargers, spearheaded by Ilongga Dani Ravena and Negrense Joy Soyud, going allout to mark their exit on a big note.
The country’s premier women’s volley league, organized by Sports Vision, played an official game in Iloilo on Oct. 5, 2019 that featured Army versus Choco Mucho, also at the San Agustin gym.
Today’s matches, however, could prove anti-climactic with Petro Gazz, with a 5-2 card, already assured of a stint in the semis with a superior tiebreak ratio in case of a triple tie at 5-3.
F2 Logistics has also clinched a semis seat with a four-set win over Army last week for a 6-2 record.
PLDT also totes a 5-2 mark and will close out its elims campaign against ousted Choco Mucho on Thursday back at the Philsports Arena in Pasig.
With a 4-3 slate, Chery Tiggo’s slim hopes rely on a sweep of Petro Gazz coupled by a PLDT loss to Choco Mucho in three although it will still depend on the result of the contending teams’ point ratios at the close of the elims.
THE coming 2023 Philippine Athletics Championships in Ilagan, Isabela will be discussed in the resumption of the Philippine Sportswriters Association Forum on Tuesday at the Rizal Memorial Sports Complex.
Philippine Athletics Track and Field Association secretary general Edward Kho and National Training Director Renato Unso are gracing the 10 a.m. session to talk about the March 21 to 26 event also known as the National Open.
The weekly public sports program is presented by San Miguel Corporation, Philippine Sports Commission, MILO, Philippine Olympic Committee, and the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation.
The Forum is livestreamed via the PSA Facebook page fb.com/PhilippineSportswritersAssociation and aired on a delayed basis over Radyo Pilipinas 2, which also shares it on its official Facebook page.
YOUNG Ma. Caroliean Fiel flourished with her brand of play and pulled off a pair of victories to upstage fancied Kimi Brodeth for MVP honors in the Mayor Nacional “Nikko” V. Mercado National Juniors Tennis Championships at the Maasin City Tennis Club in Leyte over the weekend.
Brodeth also scored an expected two-title romp in the girls’ 16- and 18-U divisions, but Fiel’s romp in the 10-unisex and girls’ 12-U finals netted her the overall top honors she shared with Gio Manito, who dominated the boys’ side of the Group 2 tournament presented by Dunlop.
PARIS—Organizers of the 2024 Paris Olympics say they plan to make the Games the world’s first ‘climate positive’ sporting event, a boast experts claim is ‘misleading’.
“We want to show that we can do these Games with half the emissions,” Georgina Grenon, Paris 2024’s director of environmental excellence, said with 500 days to go before the world’s biggest sporting extravaganza gets underway in the French capital.
“Within the limit of what is technically feasible in 2024, we will have made every effort to cut, cut, cut.”
But for Lindsay Otis Nilles of Carbon Market Watch, “to say that an event has a positive impact on the climate is misleading.
“The event itself generates greenhouse gases which are bad for the climate. The financial support of the organizers for external projects does not change this.”
Paris organizers say their calculations are based on reducing greenhouse gases and offsetting residual emissions linked to the event, in addition to financing projects to offset the effects of pollution.
Organizers insist they can halve CO2 emissions from the estimated 3.5 million tonnes generated during the 2012 London and 2016 Rio Games.
The construction footprint is limited thanks to 95 percent reliance on existing venues.
Most of the polluting will be linked to travel, with 25 percent of total emissions from spectator transit alone, and operations, including accommodation, security and catering. ‘Offsetting emissions’
Organizers have also favoured the use of electricity from renewable energy sources, with most venues near to public transport, and serving spectators “low-carbon” dishes with less meat at venues.
“By offsetting even more CO2 emissions than those we are going to emit, we will become the first major sporting event with a positive contribution to the
climate,” organizers said.
Environmental compensation includes financing the planting of trees to absorb carbon dioxide, and projects to conserve and restore forests and oceans.
However, these ventures on five continents including providing more efficient cooking equipment in Africa where kindling is still often used, are hard to verify and have been criticized by UN experts.
Sports ecology expert Madeleine Orr, a professor at Britain’s Loughborough University, praised the efforts being made but remains cautious on talk of a “sustainable” games.
“All sport events have an impact. The most sustainable sport event is the one that doesn’t happen,” she said.
“There’s also the challenge of travelfor athletes and spectators - which is really out of the organizers’ hands.
“We’re waiting on the transport sector, mainly airlines, to sort out electric travel options.
“So, for now, offsetting is an acceptable option. I think the Paris 2024 organizers have the right idea here.” AFP
Fiel, one of the rising stars from talent-rich Ormoc City, toppled Pete Niere from Bogo City, Cebu, 4-2, 4-0, to rule the youngest category then held off Beatrice Celeste, also from Ormoc, 6-2, 7-5, for the 12-U crown in the event sponsored by Mayor Mercado as part of the city’s youth sports program’s continuing effort to produce talents like Maasin native and former Davis Cupper Ringo Navarrosa, who is also a former PCA Open titlist.
Manito, on the other hand, outdueled Kenzo Brodeth in a tense-filled finale, 6-4, 3-6, 10-5, to capture the 16-U plum then the Pardo, Cebu find crushed Allain Ocat, 6-0, 6-3, in the 18-U finals.
Brodeth, meanwhile, lived up to the hype and took the 16-U trophy with a 6-1, 6-0 rout of Davanee Velasco then posted a shutout victory over Corazon Lambonao, 6-0, 6-0, to add the 18-U plum to her growing trophy collection in the country’s longest talent-search put up by Palawan Pawnshop president/ CEO Bobby Castro.
Other winners were Kenzo Brodeth, who dispatched Xian Calagos, 6-1, 6-1, for the 14-U crown with local bet Molly Tan bagging the girls’ diadem with a 6-2, 6-1 victory over Celeste.
Meanwhile, action in the junior circuit, backed by ProtekTODO, PalawanPay, the Unified Tennis Philippines and UTR (Universal Tennis Rating), shifts to Baybay City beginning Thursday (March 16) with Ormoc City hosting the third Visayan
NATIONAL team standout Jarvey
Gayoso netted his eighth goal of the season as Kaya FC Iloilo continued its stellar run with a 3-0 drubbing of Stallion Laguna FC Sunday, March 12, in the Philippines Football League brought to you by Qatar Airways at Biñan Football Stadium in Biñan, Laguna.
The former Ateneo star opened the scoring in the fourth minute, pouncing on a fine ball from Japanese midfielder Daizo Horikoshi to give Kaya a dream start.
Mar Diano, who starred for the University of the East in the UAAP, bagged his first goal for Kaya in the 13th minute, before ex-Far Eastern U standout Arnel Amito completed the rout in the second minute of second half stoppage time.
“We’re still building up and we
MIAMI—American Scottie Scheffler
won The Players Championship at TPC Sawgrass by five strokes on Sunday to return to number one in the world rankings.
Scheffler ran away with the US PGA Tour showdown at Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida, after making five straight birdies between the eighth and 12th holes while his closest rival, Australian Min Woo Lee imploded.
The defending Masters champion, who ended on 17-under par 271, will replace Spain’s Jon Rahm atop the rankings on Monday. Rahm withdrew from the event due to illness.
The 26-year-old from New Jersey won four events on the tour last year, including at Augusta, and now has two more already this season, having won in Phoenix last month.
“I’m just trying to get a little bit better at a time, not over-think things, and fortunately to be able to see some good results and enjoy some wins and I’m very thankful,” he said.
The wind might have become a fac-
tor in a closer battle but by the time he reached the testing final holes, Scheffler had wrapped things up.
“It was a lot of fun. Long day, tough day,” he said. “I knew the conditions were going to get really hard late and I did a really good job of staying patient, not trying to force things, and then I got hot kind of in the middle of the round and tried to put things away as quickly as I could.”
Scheffler began the day with a twostroke lead over Lee, who immediately reduced the deficit with a birdie on the opening hole.
When Scheffler bogeyed the third, the pair were in a tie for the lead but it was soon to change dramatically when Lee had a nightmare on the par-4 fourth hole, where he made a triple bogey.
Lee found the rough off the tee and took his medicine, chipping out back on to the fairway but that cautious decision was followed by his approach shot ending in the water.
A double bogey on the 11th, where he got in trouble in the trees, saw Lee fall to-
tally out of contention and by then Scheffler was in his groove and moving away from the field.
“It happened really quick,” said the Australian.
“It’s one of those things where it’s Sunday and you just make a couple bad decisions and it all kind of falls down.
“To make a seven there, it was pretty gut wrenching after I started really well.”
After his streak of birdies, which got under way when he chipped in to birdie the par-three eighth, it was a victory procession for Scheffler over the final holes.
He crowned his victory in style with a superb 21-foot putt on the 18th.
Excited for ‘hard test’
Scheffler becomes only the third player to hold the Masters and Players titles at the same time after Jack Nicklaus and Tiger Woods and said the bigger events raise his game.
“I think I get excited for a good hard test,” he said. “I feel like I can find a way to make pars and hang in there. This week I think I had five bogeys for the whole week. Around this place that’s really hard to do and that’s
probably what I’m most proud of is just playing so solid.”
England’s Tyrrell Hatton finished second after a sensational close with five straight birdies to complete the back nine in 29, the lowest score on the back section in a final round.
Hatton ended on 12-under par after his 65 with Norway’s Viktor Hovland and American Tom Hoge tied for third, a further two strokes back.
“It was just a pretty mad two and a half hours in the end, from standing on the 10th tee” said Hatton, who birdied seven of his last nine holes.
Japan’s Hideki Matsuyama shot a fourunder 68 to finish fifth, 9-under for the week, with his fine round undone by a double bogey on the 14th where he got in trouble in the rough.
Australia’s Cam Davis was third on the leaderboard overnight but had to settle for sharing sixth after shooting 74.
World number three Rory McIlroy had missed the cut. AFP
know we can still improve,” said Kaya head coach Yu Hoshide, whose team extended its lead at the top of the table to eight points.
Cebu is in second spot behind Kaya with 31 points, while Stallion remained in fifth with 16 points after suffering its seventh loss of the season.
Over at the Imus Grandstand, bottom team Maharlika Manila notched a first win of the season after Zachary Ford’s 30th minute goal secured a 1-0 win over Mendiola 1991 FC.
Ford turned on the jets on the left side before firing low from a tight angle to beat Mendiola’s Michael Asong on goal.
The victory ended a run of 13 losses for Maharlika, which moved within two points off Mendiola at sixth spot.
BRENDAN Fraser’s best actor Oscar win on Sunday for his powerful performance as a morbidly obese man in The Whale caps a remarkable career comeback for the charismatic leading man.
The former star of 1990s hits such as The Mummy endured a decade in the Hollywood wilderness before winning over Academy voters with his portrayal of a reclusive teacher who eats compulsively as he is tormented by grief.
“So this is what the multiverse looks like,” an emotional Fraser told the audience at the Dolby Theatre.
“I started in this business 30 years ago, and things – they didn’t come easily to me, but there was a facility that I didn’t appreciate at the time until it stopped,” he said, referring to his long absence from the big screen.
“Thank you for this acknowledgment.”
In Darren Aronofsky’s The Whale, Fraser plays Charlie, a 600-pound (250-kilogram) English teacher whose only regular contact with the real world is
By Patricia TaculaoAMONG the many South Korean actors who captured the attention of K-drama fans worldwide is
Lee Je-hoon, the lead star of the revenge-themed series Taxi Driver His performances often captivate his audiences, making him a favorite to viewers.
Je-hoon plays Kim Do-gi, a deluxe taxi driver who works for a company that offers a “revenge-call” service. Although his character seems unapproachable and scary, Je-hoon’s personality is the opposite. Still, they share the same respect for others.
Earlier this month, Je-hoon visited the Philippines for his fan meet titled Vacation. During his visit, he got a taste of the rich Filipino heritage. It began with his trip to the country. Upon flying to the Philippines via Philippine Airlines, he had the opportunity to eat adobo served on the flight. He found it delicious and compared it to the Korean meal galbi jjim or braised short ribs.
However, it’s not Jehoon’s first time visiting the Philippines as he did back in 2015. He was in Cebu to help typhoon victims. Now that he’s back, he hopes to travel to Palawan, Siargao, and Manila Bay because he learned how beautiful the beaches are in the country. Yet besides wanting to frolic on the picturesque Philippine beaches, Jehoon also wants to work on local projects.
“If there are good projects here in the Philippines, I am willing to join the project, and I will take the opportunity,” he said during a press conference before the fan meet.
gorging on delivery food, and resisting Liz’s pleas to seek medical help for his rapidly deteriorating health.
The drama follows Charlie’s attempts to secretly reconnect with his rebellious and aloof teenage daughter Ellie, while he is also visited by a young missionary who is seemingly determined to save him. Fraser delivers an intense performance, imbuing his character with depths of regret and agony which are punctuated by bursts of passion and hope sparked by Ellie’s presence.
“Charlie is by far the most heroic man I’ve ever played,” Fraser said at the film’s world premiere in Venice last year. “His superpower is to see the good in others and bring that out in them.”
In claiming his first Oscar, Fraser saw off Austin Butler (Elvis), Colin Farrell (The Banshees of Inisherin), Paul Mescal (Aftersun), and Bill Nighy (Living). Meanwhile, Michelle Yeoh made history by becoming the first Asian woman to win the best actress Oscar, for her exuberant portrayal of an immigrant business owner thrust into a zany multiverse in the
The Hollywood veteran won over Academy voters with her complex take on Evelyn Wang, a Chinese American laundromat owner who is mired in a tax audit, stuck in a crumbling marriage, and struggling to connect with her daughter Joy. Oh, and she ends up traversing multiple universes to evade a powerful supernatural enemy, who happens to be an iteration of... her daughter.
“For all the little boys and girls who look like me watching tonight, this is a beacon of hope and possibilities. This is proof that.... dream big and dreams do come true,” Yeoh said as she accepted the award.
“And ladies, don’t let anybody tell you you are ever past your prime. Never give
up,” she said to cheers. Yeoh won top honors over strong performances from Cate Blanchett (Tar ), Michelle Williams (The Fabelmans), Andrea Riseborough (To Leslie
The South Korean actor is grateful for the support from his fans, called Hoonists, which motivates him to perform exceptionally in current and upcoming projects. Je-hoon admitted to getting pressured when he filmed the first season of Taxi Driver. But now, he has become more comfortable on set and dropped jokes on set during script reading.
He added that it’s relevant for people to overcome their nervousness to pursue their passions. With enough effort and commendable performance, they would also achieve their dreams.
As an actor, Je-hoon believes his willingness to push his limits makes him outstanding in his craft. Going beyond his comfort zone allowed him to pursue his dream despite
DAVID Licauco is thankful for all the doors of opportunities that opened for him because of his inclusion in the highly-successful drama Maria Clara at Ibarra. Now, he is being referred to as the “Pambansang Ginoo.”
“It’s pressure-filled so I try not to think about it,” David reacts. “Definitely, it was given to me for a reason. Perhaps, I just have to do my best at all times to be able to live up to that heavy name.”
The 28-year-old is very thankful for his recently-concluded TV show, which somehow made him a household name.
“Around five months ago, you wouldn’t tell that I’d get this far. If not for MCI’s popularity, I wouldn’t receive offers for brand endorsements. So, I’m simply grateful.”
“You just have to stay grateful considering that not every actor is given the same opportunities that I experience at present. So, even if there are times when you find it difficult and you’re feeling tired, you need to remain grateful because you also dreamt of this before,” David points out.
David admits that there are things that he finds hard to do now that he’s more recognizable to the public.
“Personally speaking, showbiz is like any other job. I treat it as work. So for example, when there are moments when I like to go out or hang out with friends, I would read comments that state that I should not be going out anymore because of my present stature. For me, I don’t find anything wrong with that as long as I’m not doing something
Amid his current popularity, David vows that he will not change.
“I’m still my old self back when I was ten or twelve years old. I just have more responsibilities now, especially with the ‘Pambansang Ginoo’ title that was bestowed upon me. This is something I didn’t expect to happen. So, as I’ve mentioned earlier, I just
have to do my best at all times to become a good example to those who support me, especially the youth.
“I would say that I have more conscious effort now to protect my image. I’m a public figure and many look up to me. So, I really need to be careful with all my moves,” ends David.
***
Arra San Agustin feels blessed and proud to be part of GMA’s newest primetime offering Mga Lihim ni Urduja
“It’s a huge honor to be part of this ambitious project. Before this, I was also cast in Lolong which turned out to be a ratings winner. That’s why I’m very thankful to my home studio for their continued trust in my talent so that I’ll be able to give inspiration and entertainment to the viewing public.”
Does she feel any pressure since the timeslot they occupy is that of Maria Clara at Ibarra, which was a chart-topper, ratingswise?
“Of course, there is pressure. But nevertheless, I trust our whole production, from the stars to our director to the production team. I’m certain that we have good material to offer.”
For the charming actress, it’s just okay to feel pressure. “That only shows that we care. People will see that we want to make the show more appealing. I’m happy because this team is collaborative. They listen to our suggestions.
Yes, I can say that we have creative freedom on the set. It’s definitely a huge thing for actors like us,” Arra states.
Besides going to the Philippines for work, Je-hoon hopes to visit some of the country’s popular beaches
rejections early in his career.
Besides Taxi Driver, Je-hoon is known for his roles in Where Stars Land, Tomorrow With You, and Signal. Among his works, Bleak Night is one he won’t easily forget
Je-hoon is open to accepting Filipino projects, depending on the conditions
because he learned how to smoke to portray his character.
Eventually, Je-hoon wants to land drama projects because he believes it would best highlight his acting skills as the genre often requires numerous and intense emotions to efficiently deliver a scene. He even wants to play professionals like lawyers or doctors in future roles.
During his fan meet in Manila last March 3, Friday, at the New Frontier Theater, the South Korean actor interacted with his fans eagerly. If given a chance, the South Korean actor would love to meet more Filipino fans closely. Je-hoon left a memorable experience for Filipino Hoonists, who would again want him to return to the country.
FANS in Barcelona who have waited for ABS-
CBN artists in a live event since the Kapamilya
Fiesta World in 2017 ended up partying at the G! Kapamilya tour's first concert stop held yesterday at the Aribau Multicines. The majority of the crowd in the venue were millennials who flew from all over Europe to watch the show.
The excited crowd greeted the energetic cast of reel and real-life close friends Zanjoe Marudo, love team Daniel Padilla and Kathryn Bernardo Joshua Garcia, and comedian Eric Nicolas who hosted the show.
From the opening number to the finale, the mostly millennial audience members were singing and dancing to the performances of the cast. Zanjoe, Daniel, Kathryn. Joshua and Eric did not disappoint, giving their all during their numbers while staying cool and game throughout the show. Platinum ticket holders who had access to the rehearsals and had group photo ops and signed posters were already screaming and cheering
in excitement to see the stars. It was clear that everyone was in a party mood and ready to have a good time.
From start to finish, the audience was highly engaged, dancing and singing to the numbers in the fast-paced program. There was no lull in the show; as the brand G! Kapamilya stands for, it was go-go-go for everyone all throughout. The mostly millennial audience members came from all over Europe: Barcelona, Madrid, London, Paris, Oslo, Berlin, Dublin, and Vienna.
“I’m very confident that the turnout in Barcelona augurs well for Milan today and Abu Dhabi on March 18,” said ABS-CBN Global Head of Events and Managing Director for Europe, Asia, and North Africa Joseph Arnie Garcia. “We are very thankful to all who supported the G! Kapamilya kick-off in Barcelona yesterday. We were delighted to see the youth represented in a big way at that event. We are excited for Milan today and we look forward to seeing our Kapamilya there.”
JUST in time for summer, Kultura’s Filipino Design Studio showcases tropical-inspired finds in a setting of earthy neutrals and natural materials that conjure up idyllic Philippine getaways. This pops up at SM Aura Premier from March 16 to April 2, after its successful debut at Kultura at The Podium in September last year.
Envisioned as a space of inspiration and community, the Filipino Design Studio aims to highlight and support exceptional local talent. Here, Kultura endeavors to bring a specially curated roster of guest brands alongside its house brands. Discover beautifully crafted local finds in fashion, beauty, home, personal care, modern Filipiniana, and pasalubong -worthy goods, all in one dreamy space.
Kultura’s Filipino Design Studio gives patrons all the reasons to love local. Have fun in the sun with uniquely Filipino fashion finds: Gwapitos’ island life-inspired looks from Siargao, the country’s surfing capital; NiñOFRANCO’s effortless blend on modern fashion with traditional
ethnic hand embroidery from the T’boli tribe of Mindanao; Matthew and Melka’s fun, fresh accessories featuring the colors of local flora and fauna; Anmari & Co’s handmade bags made from buntal , raffia , rattan , and tikog sourced all over the country. Many of the Design Studio items support communities: Eva Marie’s vibrant, handwoven accessories and home décor are made from tikog grass by the women of Samar; 11th Earth Home Décor’s earth-friendly collection using upcycled materials are crafted by indigent communities in the provinces; Luid Lokal celebrates the natural beauty and texture of wooden ware handmade by communities in Pampanga; Rurungan sa Tubod Foundation. Caftans and wraps are made with fabrics handwoven on traditional looms by women from fishing and farming villages in Puerto Princesa.
Kultura’s Filipino Design Studio: Summer PopUp is available from March 16 to April 2, located on the 3rd Level Atrium (across the Kultura store) SM Aura Premier, Bonifacio Global City.
By Gabriella Andrea Tresvalles and Kyla Marie Victoriano
ACCORDING to IKEA
Philippines’ report, modern Filipinos focus their concerns on their health, well-being, and housing situation. It claims that 79 percent of Filipinos are prioritizing their emotional and physical well-being, and 70 percent are trying to find ways to improve their home.
In some ways, the two go hand-inhand because a well-decorated home could help boost a person’s mood and encourage them to better care for themselves.
In previous years, interior design trends shifted to welcoming more cozy and comfortable designs because of its benefits to the residents who want nothing more than to relax within the confines of their personal spaces. People opted for natural materials and
Through the BASTUA Collection, Marimekko and IKEA want to promote the joys and pleasure brought by selfcare rituals that have been relevant in today’s generation by making a better
BRITISH brand Marks & Spencer (M&S)
successfully launched its Spring 2023 Collection in Glorietta 4 – Ayala Center in Makati City last Friday, March 10.
combines Marimekko and the Swedish furniture retailer’s design aesthetics. In addition to the typical IKEA Scandinavian design items, the BASTUA collection features 29 unique pieces with four bold patterns and colors from Marimekko, which were created and established by designers Maija Louekari and Sami Ruotsalainen These prints include Raparperi (rhubarb), Höyrykukka (steam flower), Pötkö (bar stripe), and Puuleikkaus (woodcarving).
The brand presented its swimwear lineup for the summer, showcasing a wide selection of swimsuits for women, polo shirts, and quick dry shorts for men. Fabrics for these garments came from recycled nylon or polyester. Moreover, M&S claimed that its Sun Smart UPF50+ technology is used in their swimwear collection, protecting wearers from harmful UV radiation, a vital element with summer fast approaching in the Philippines.
Its (clothing)
& Spencer, and we are now introducing embroidery, a small detail that we didn’t have in the past. It makes it more premium, more Marks & Spencer,” Singson added. Alarice Francisco, the senior marketing staff of M&S, stated that the company envisions being an establishment free from carbon emissions by 2040. It coincides with the Paris
earthy tones for their furniture and fixtures.
This year, IKEA Philippines unveils a new collection that could elevate any room while bringing an extra dash of comfort by following a stylish and familiar theme that most people associate with relaxation – a sauna.
Made in partnership with Marimekko, a design house celebrated worldwide for its original prints and colors, the latest limited collection, dubbed BASTUA, draws inspiration from nature and the self-care rituals of the Nordic sauna.
According to the Sweden Ambassador to the Philippines, Annika Thunborg, Swedish saunas are heated rooms or buildings that bring families together after a long day of doing chores or work.
Besides being influenced by the Nordic sauna culture, the collection, taken from its original Swedish term, “Bastu,” also represents the Nordic heritage. IKEA is famous for its minimalistic furniture, decorations, and other household items, which use eye-catching patterns to bring vibrancy and character to any room through its other fabric products.
life for everyone. As the collection aims to bring color and joy to lives and homes everywhere, Marimekko’s mission naturally complements IKEA’s goal to create a better everyday life for many people, sharing the identical value of making great design accessible to everyone.
The limited edition collection
From P200 to P3,990, IKEA shoppers can acquire a limited collection of pieces that can brighten their homes with vibrant, aesthetic Nordic-inspired designs. The BASTUA Collection also boasts aesthetic yet practical and sustainable elements that spruce up one’s living space. It will allow residents and homeowners to turn their spaces into a sauna, and reap its cozy benefits, without the costly renovation. They can also bring in a touch of sustainability and feel as if they’re closer to nature through the well-curated designs of the pieces.
The BASTUA collection is available now for a limited time at IKEA Philippines store in Pasay City.
functionality meets versatility, according to the Marks & Spencer design brief. So, it’s about heritage pieces with a modern British look for the season,” Gretty Singson, M&S Merchandise Manager, said. M&S also introduced its new lineup of denimwear. For adults, the brand offers a denim collection of jeans, dresses, overshirts, and jumpsuits, which also its cotton-made versions. The brand also has new selections of Oxford shirts and jumpers. There are also selections for children, like pull-on denim cargos to dungarees and cotton-made floral outfits and leggings.
M&S denim collection consists of jeans, dresses, overshirts, and jumpsuits
Climate Agreement, which aims to reduce the global warming effect.
Currently, a significant percentage of their carbon footprint traces back to the indirect emissions of their value chain – production and logistics. The remaining forms came from their operations which are direct emissions such as fuel and electricity.
“So, the preppy stripe and, of course, the denim shirt are key lines for the season. The striped shirts are also key (line) and sleeve stripes. You’ll see a lot of detail for Marks
M&S developed a roadmap, a multistakeholder plan, which immediately prioritizes certain areas o bring their vision to reality. These initiatives will encourage everyone to get involved in their products, from suppliers to customers. They will also play a role in their plan to reduce their carbon emissions to zero.
MAYBE you’ve heard of Drink
Water Rivera. No? The Filipino university student and his unique name have been trending recently, thanks to the internet’s obsession with all things unique.
The truth is, Drink Water is just a regular guy who knew, from the day he was born, that hydration is life. But there are times when he prefers to rehydrate with something else other than water.
Ever wondered what your body’s sweating out when you work out? Turns out you lose more than water when you sweat, so, you need electrolytes to replenish the fluids you lost.
Drink Water is just a regular guy who knows that hydration is life
This is something Drink Water is aiming to teach us with a new mockumentary that sees him reach for something different from his default choice.
We follow Water throughout his life, drinking water on every occasion. At some point, he realizes that actually, water is life, but he chooses something else during exercise. That’s where Gatorade
No Sugar comes in, with all the electrolytes, and no sugar and calories.
Drink Water is truly the ultimate hydration influencer, with this mockumentary showing us the benefits of hydrating with more than just water during active occasions.
Because as Gatorade No Sugar’s newest endorser and his new favorite drink both know, hydration is life.
