Manila Standard - 2023 March 18 - Saturday

By Alena Mae S. Flores

CONSUMER groups have asked the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) to closely monitor any power rate changes in the Manila Electric Co. (Meralco) franchise area following the decision of San Miguel Corp. to terminate its 2021 power supply contracts with the distributor.

Former ERC commissioner Alfredo Non also said Meralco consumers are supposed to enjoy lower rates based on his computation of refunds totaling

about P100 billion.

SMC Global Power Holdings, Inc. on Friday decided to terminate its power supply agreements with Meralco totaling 1,800 megawatts that were supposed to be delivered starting in 2024.

SMC has not issued a statement why it decided to withdraw from the PSA as of press time, although sources told the Standard its 2021 Power Supply Agreement with Meralco has not yet been approved by the ERC.

Oil spill reaches Calapan City

Groups press gov't to act faster on containment; ASEAN assistance eyed

By Charles Dantes, Rio N. Araja, Rey E. Requejo, and Macon Ramos-Araneta

OIL from the MT Princess Empress, which sank with its cargo of 800,000 liters of industrial fuel on Feb. 28, has reached Calapan, the capital city of Oriental Mindoro, local officials said Friday, as conservationists pressed the national government to act more quickly.

In a radio interview, Oriental Mindoro Gov. Humerlito “Bonz” Dolor confirmed reports that the oil slick from the tanker has reached Calapan City, about 500 meters from the shoreline.

Dolor said the trajectory of the oil flow remained on point with simulations run by the University of the Philippines Marine Science Institute. At this rate, the oil spill might get to the northern part of Mindoro and other rich marine reserves if the “amihan” or the northeast monsoon

By Jimbo Gulle

DESPITE President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s optimism to fulfill a campaign promise, a lot of dominoes must fall before his administration can successfully bring down the price

DOJ: Teves in ‘flight’ if not home soon

By

Rey

E. Requejo

and Maricel V. Cruz

and consumer

THE Department of Justice will consider it as “flight” if Negros Oriental Rep. Arnolfo "Arnie" Teves Jr. refuses to return

to the Philippines, Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla said Friday.

“We have a strong legal adage for that matter: Flight is an indication of guilt. We will consider this a case of flight if he refuses to return to the country," Remulla

said in an interview with radio DZBB. Remulla said this when asked what the DOJ would do if Teves will not return to the country while the government investigates the killing of Negros Oriental

By Joel E. Zurbano

CONSUMERS can expect an oil price rollback of as much as P1.80 per liter next week amid fears of an economic crisis in the United States and Europe.

An industry source told the Standard pump prices will go down by P1.50 to P1.80 per liter for diesel and P0.90 to

P1.10 per liter for gasoline, based on the four-day trading and the movement of the peso week-on-week.

"There will be an expected rollback for the prices of gasoline, diesel, and kerosene by next week. This is attributed to the fear

As PNP shuffles, CIDG-NCR chief denies sacking

By Charles Dantes and Maricel V. Cruz

THE chief of the police Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) in Metro Manila denied he was sacked over allegations of corruption involving his men in a raid in Paranaque City.

In a statement, Police Col. Hansel Marantan said that contrary to reports, he voluntarily offered to be relieved of his position to dispel any doubts or insinuations that he might influence the investigation into his officers.

“As a law enforcement officer, I take responsibility for the men undermy command. When one’s professionalism and integrity are questioned, one has to voluntarily hand in his resignation,” he said. “This will also dispel doubts that the investigation will be influenced.”

Marantan said this move is in support of the government’s campaign to root out corruption among government officials and those in the police force.

Earlier reports said Marantan was relieved from his post due to a “questionable” raid conducted by CIDG-NCR in Manila.

SLICK WORK. Oil coats the sides and tools of the BRP Bagacay as members of the Japan Disaster Response Expert Team and the Philippine Coast Guard work on Friday to contain the oil spill from the tanker that sank off Naujan, Oriental Mindoro over two weeks ago. The area of the spill’s reach now covers an area of around 80,000 square kilometers, according to an estimate using Google Maps (inset photo). PCG Photo

‘Tokhang’ survivor wins court case

By Rio N. Araja

THE Quezon City Metropolitan Trial Court has acquitted a “tokhang” survivor under the Duterte administration of direct assault charges filed by the police for insufficiency of evidence.

QC METC Branch 133 Judge Gloria Monica Lopez-Lao ruled that the prosecution “fell short as well of proving that accused Efren Morillo seriously resisted

Oil...

From A1

In an interview with CNN Philippines last night, Theresa Mundita Lim, ASEAN Centre for Biodiversity Executive Director, said it's veryimportant to work together with the region to address marine disasters such as oil spills.

Lim said there is an ASEAN cooperation on oil spill response that was signed in 2018.

“This is an opportunity to operationalize this agreement among ASEANmember-states in the face of this disaster in the Philippines,” she said.

In a statement, the center added that further studies are needed tofind out the trajectory of the oil spill and if it could affect nearby countries.

“We cannot focus only on immediate response, we need to start talking about prevention and reducing such risks from ever happening again,” the ASEAN body said, adding regional leaders are talking about “nature-based solutions” to address marine disasters.

The conservationist group Protect the Verde Island Passage (VIP)called for stronger action from President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. and the national government to safeguard what it described as one of the most productive ecosystems in the world.

Fr. Edwin Gariguez, Protect VIP convener and director of the Diocesan Social Action Center of Calapan, said local groups and volunteers can only do so much.

“We do not want the oil response to suffer the same fate of the sunken tanker —the captain must steer the ship toward safety and that someone should be the President,” he said.

The City of Calapan is considered a major economic center ofOccidental

DOJ:...

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Governor Roel Degamo, who was laid to rest on Thursday. Teves was cleared to leave the Philippines for a personal trip to the United States from February 28 to March 9. Remulla previously said Teves is currently “somewhere in Asia.”

Teves' legal counsel, lawyer Ferdinand Topacio, earlier said his client has yet to return to the country due to concerns about his security. The House Committee on Ethics and Privileges is set to hold another hearing on Monday to discuss the fate of Teves as House member.

The ethics committee has given Teves until Monday, March 20, to respond to its letter explaining his failure to return to the

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infrastructure—to provide cheap fertilizer, seeds, and post-harvest facilities, and ensure year-round irrigation—that would help bring down current prices, two Department of Agriculture officials said in television interviews.

The President is also the concurrent Agriculture Secretary, and on Thursday said he is still hopeful that his dream of P20 per kilo of rice for Filipinos will come true, noting that Kadiwa stores organized by the government were already selling the commodity at P25 a kilo.

But Rosendo So, president of the group Sinag, said farmgate prices of palay or unhusked rice were currently at P23.50 a kilo—twice as high as the ideal price that rice traders would buy it from farmers to turn it into rice and still make a profit.

Palay bought at this amount leads to at least P40 per kilo of milled rice, he added.

“For markets to sell rice at P20, traders must buy palay at P12 (a kilo), and we don’t see that happening during this cropping season,”

So said in an interview with ABSCBN.

"If the price of fertilizer falls back to

Morillo is in order,” Lopez-Lao said in a decision penned on March 3 but released just yesterday.

Policemen Emil Garcia, Allan Formilleza, James Aggarao, and Melchor Navisaga filed direct assault charges against Morillo for resisting arrest and attacking other police officers during an Oplan Tokhang operation in Barangay Payatas in August 2016.

fore the Office of the Ombudsman.

“The Prosecution was not shown to have conducted its Oplan Tokhang on the day of the incident in compliance with PNP Rules,” Lopez-Lao said.

TUCP, Jinggoy clash on P150 wage hike bid

and attacked the police operatives.”

“None of the prosecution witnesses saw accused Morillo fire his gun. Forthwith, the acquittal of the accused

Mindoro, Oriental Mindoro, Marinduque, Romblon and Palawan, he said.

“The only way to achieve the President’s hope to clean up the oil spill in four months is to compel government agencies to direct all resources for containment. We are also in support of the consensus raised during the Senate hearing for the need to assign an oil spill response chief,” Gariguez said.

“Mr. President, the Verde Island Passage is a crucial contributor to the Philippine economy. You must move now,” he added.

Protect VIP has been adamant in its stance to demand full accountability from companies at fault: RDC Reield Marine Services as the owner of the MT Princess Empress, and SL Harbor Bulk Terminal Corp., a subsidiary of San Miguel Corp.

“The government is moving, but not fast enough. Half a month has passed already and the… remote operating vehicle (ROV) will not arriveuntil next week. In the short term, we need to identify who would compensate the affected residents and pay for the environmental damage to VIP.”

“In the long run, our policymakers should not just look at oil spills from sunken ships, but also how to minimize the traffic of ships carrying poisonous cargo through this vulnerable area,” Gariguez said.

Fisher groups in the provinces surrounded by the Verde Island Passagehave expressed worries about their livelihood and the effectiveness of the response.

“We do not only worry about the oil spill, but we fear for what kind of support and response we can get. We have seen the plight of our fishermen in Pola and Naujan. We fishermen in Batangas within the Verde Island Passage are upset. We are one with the other fisher

Philippines after his travel clearance expired.

COOP NATCCO party-list Rep. Felimon Espares, who chairs the committee, confirmed to GMA News that Teves' office has already received the committee's letter. The media was not furnished a copy as it is confidential.

Espares said the committee can vote on its next step on Monday if Teves does not respond to the letter, or if the panel is not satisfied with his response.

The party-list lawmaker said he is hoping that his committee can rule on the case immediately and forward it for plenary action before Congress goes on recess from March 25 to May 7. In an interview on Unang Balita on Friday, Topacio stressed there is no direct evidence linking Teves to the killing of Degamo, his political rival, and urged authorities to look at all angles and not at just one person.

P800 (a kilo) and fuel (diesel) costs go down to P32 (a liter), and if they give seeds to farmers for free, we think we can get to P25, realistically within one and a half years," he added.

While Kadiwa stores were currently selling rice at P25 a kilo, the private sector was still supplying them with the grain, and in limited supply, explained DA Assistant Secretary Rex Estoperez.

The private suppliers also could not make the prices of rice supplied to Kadiwa stores uniformly across the country since their procurement cost “varied by island,” Estoperez explained. “In Manila, they are getting rice at P38 to P42 per kilo (for selling at Kadiwa).”

He echoed the impossibility of hitting the P20 target this harvest season since the price of fertilizer alone—an imported commodity—was still high owing to the effect of the Russia-Ukraine war, thus would not affect Filipino rice farmers’ productivity this year.

Another DA executive, Asec. Kristine Evangelista, told ABS-CBN that once the correct post-harvest facilities and irrigation systems are in place, local rice production would increase. A reduction in rice wastage would also help the government bring down the price of palay,and thus the price of rice. (See full story online at manilastandard.net)

just received a courtesy resignation from him, being the regional chief of the NCR field unit.

Morillo played dead to save his life when he was shot in the chest. In March 2017, he then filed an administrative complaint against the police officers be-

folkin the call for a swift, complete, and long-term support from the local government unit and the national government,” said the Bukluran ng Mangingisda ng Batangas in a statement.

The Verde Island Passage is a strait that separates the islands ofLuzon and Mindoro and that provides food, livelihood opportunities and other benefits to more than 2 million people.

As the center of global shore-fish biodiversity, it is also home to charismatic species, such as whale sharks, sea turtles, nudibranchs, and an impressive array of corals.

The Center for Energy, Ecology, and Development (CEED), a sustainability think-tank and Protect VIP convenor, deployed a team to survey the affected areas in Oriental Mindoro, noting that a no-fishing ban was imposed within those areas.

“It’s not just fisher folk. These (affected) barangays depend on theseas to bring in money for trade, transport, and tourism, and soon, the whole country would feel it, too,” the group’s executive director,Gerry Rances, said.

“The fishing sector in the Verde Island Passage area, which includes Oriental Mindoro, was valued at P11.8 billion in 2021, while in 2019, its tourism industry generated P3.5 billion. There must be decisive action to minimize the impact and demand accountability from thecharterer and ship owner which seem to be heading toward a bailout based on how the Senate hearing last week went,” Rances said.

In other developments:

• Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla on Friday said he will consider recommending the grounding of the three sister vessels of MTPrincess Empress. “These vessels should be grounded especially they belong to the same owner,” Remulla said. “MT Princess Empress is the newest licensee. These

"There are many angles to a story, not only one, so don’t be fixated by one person only and let us follow all leads,” Topacio said.

Despite assurances from Remulla and the Philippine National Police that he will be secured in the country, Teves has asked the House leadership to grant him a twomonth leave of absence, citing a "very grave threat" to his life and his family.

Topacio also said he himself will urge Teves to return to the country once charges are formally filed.

“It’s up to him but as his lawyer, I would advise him to come back.

This is the job of a lawyer, to advise his client to return,” he said.

“Of course, the course of action is entirely left to the discretion of the client. We are only here to advise,” Topacio stressed.

Remulla also said the DOJ is also

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The company has also been embroiled in a legal dispute over its 2019 PSA with Meralco totaling 1,000 MW. Non said in an ABS-CBN interview that Meralco's distribution rates have not changed for the past decade.

"From 2012 to 2015, around P22 billion (is owed to consumers) excluding interest. Next period, 2016 to 2022 around P90 billion,excluding interest," Non said, referring to his possible refund computations.

Meralco spokesman Joe Zaldarraiga, for his part, assured the power retailer's tariffs are under stringent review and are only implemented once approved by the ERC.

Meanwhile, Terry Ridon of InfraWatch said the rates of SMC's two contracts with Meralco "will certainly change upon the re-bidding of the power supply gap left by the termination of the power supply contracts."

"We have yet to see whether the new contracts will result in higher prices, but the ERC should ensure the least cost based on market conditions during the rebid," Ridon said. Gerry Arances, Convenor of the

have been named to new posts after the Philippine National Police gave its gosignal to the latest reshuffling of personnel.

“In this case, the operatives cannot be presumed to have in the valid performance of their duties due to the irregularities in their operations as they failed to coordinate with agencies and thebarangay. As a consequence, the validity of their operation is tainted and the presumption of regularity no longer applies,” it added.

are four vessels. The owner just didn't place them in one permit. This early, we should stop them before the same incident happens again,” he added. Earlier, Remulla said the MT Princess Empress had been misrepresented as a new vessel. Despite galewarnings, the vessel left the port of Feb. 28 and eventually sank. Remulla said an inter-agency panel will be formed in the case-build up to determine civil and criminal cases that may be filed against the owners of the MT Princess Empress.

• The Maritime Industry Authority (Marina) said it was also considering grounding other ships of the owner of the sunken tanker.

• Senator Risa Hontiveros said the latest findings by the Department of Justice confirm the initial findings during a Senate probe that officials from the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) and MARINA should be held accountable for their “undeniable negligence and nonfeasance” in the incident. She said PCG officials who directly allowed this “scrap ship” to depart from Bataan on Feb. 28, despite its failure to meet all the PCG’s pre-departure checklist. “They should answer not only for this incident, but also for the alleged eight other times that the scrap ship had been allowed to sail."

• Senator Sherwin Gatchalian expressed alarm over a possible fishshortage and livelihood loss for the residents of Oriental Mindoro, where fishing is a primary source of livelihood. He said locals fear more fishers will bear the brunt as some 13,000 fishers and theirfamilies in Mindoro alone have already been affected. Fish production,the senator said, is expected to decline in the coming months as the oil spill has now reached Antique and Palawan and could possibly reach Romblon and Aklan, where the country’s premier tourist destination of Boracay is located.

looking into other evidence, even though statements taken so far in the investigation have "inevitably" led to Teves.

“Well, statements inevitably lead to him, but we will look at the other evidence,” he said.

“Because this is not just an accusatory process without evidence.

We'll look at other evidence. We'll look at the facts so that our fairness will not be questioned,” Remulla added.

On March 4, Degamo and seven others were killed while several others were injured in an attack while the governor was distributing aid to his constituents at his residence in Pamplona, Negros Oriental. The death toll later increased to nine.

Arrested suspects in the killing later named a certain “Cong Teves” as the person who ordered the killing. (See full story online at manilastandard.net)

Power for People Coalition, said that as Meralco seeks to hold a rebid, "it now has a chance to ensure genuinely leastcost electricity for consumers."

"We advise Meralco to ensure that it uses straight energy pricing in its terms of references for the new contracts, and for DOE to mandate fixed pricing in all PSAs, or else face the outrage of consumers," Arances said.

SMCGP on Friday decided to terminate its power supply agreements with Meralco as confirmed by Meralco and the ERC.

Meralco said it is studying its options including the possibility of requesting the Department of Energy for approval to conduct another CSP (Competitive Selection Process).

ERC chairperson Monalisa Dimalanta said they were informed by Meralco through text message that they received from San Miguel Corp.'s Excellent Energy and Masinloc Power Partners the notices of termination of the PSAs for 1,200MW from Excelent Energy and 600MW from MPPCL, respectively.

"According to Meralco, they will jointly file with EE and MPPCL the appropriate pleadings with ERC by Monday for the withdrawal of the PSAs," Dimalanta said. (See full story online at manilastandard.net)

THE Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (TUCP) welcomed Senate President Juan Miguel Zubiri's bill which seeks to increase the minimum wage of private workers by P150, saying the proposed adjustment is “badly needed” by workers.

However, Sen. Jinggoy Estrada ruled out Friday the possibility of passing a law that would grant the P150 daily wage hike to minimum wage earners by Labor Day or May 1. Estrada, chairman of the Senate labor and employment committee, saidthe bill filed by Zubiri needs to undergo a thorough public consultation.

“We welcome these various initiatives to increase wages of workers because these many proposals, especially spearheaded by the SenatePresident, underscore the badly needed wage adjustment in light of theerosion of the purchasing power of workers’ wages due to inflation," TUCP representative and Deputy Speaker Raymond Democrito Mendoza said in a statement.

The labor group said the current rates "are not decent wages that can sustain the health, productivity, and decent life of working Filipinos and their families trapped in the subsistence conditions as the stubbornly high inflation persists." (See full story online at manilastandard.net)

The CIDG-NCR operatives allegedly extorted money from a group of Chinese nationals who were arrested in Paranaque.

CIDG chief Brig. Gen. Romeo Caramat Jr. also denied reports that Marantan was dismissed. “In fairness to Col. Hansel Marantan, I

Maybe so as not to influence the investigation we are doing regarding the robbery extortion activity,” Caramat said.

“The matter is now being investigated.

Their relief is an SOP (Standard Operating Procedure) so as not to have undue influence over the case,” he added.

Meanwhile, 11 new police officials

On orders of PNP Chief Gen. Rodolfo Azurin Jr., Central Visayas Police Regional Office Director Brig. Gen. Jerry Bearis was reassigned to the Aviation Security Group and would be exchanging posts with Brig. Gen. Anthony Aberin. Also covered by the directive were

Maj. Gen. Oliver Enmodias who was relieved from the Area Police Command (APC) Northern Luzon (NL) and would now head the Directorate for Research and Development, while Brig. Gen. Mafelino Bazar from PRO Cordillera has been assigned to to APC-NL; and Brig. Gen. Alden Bacarra Delvo from APC-Eastern Mindanao has been moved to PRO 11 (Davao). (See full story online at manilastandard.net)

THE wife of slain Negros Oriental Governor Roel Degamo appealed to authorities on Friday to freeze the accounts and properties of the province’s Rep. Arnolfo Teves Jr.

“His account and properties should be frozen because that can still be translated to liquid money,” Janice Degamo, who is also the town mayor of Pamplona, said in a “24 Oras” report on GMA TV on Friday.

Two arrested suspects earlier said a certain “Cong Teves” ordered the hit on Degamo, who was killed at his residence in Pamplona on March 4 (see story on A1 –Editors).

Teves denied that he and his brother Henry were involved in the killing of Degamo amid allegations that the incident was politically motivated.

The Teveses are political rivals of the Degamo family.

Mayor Degamo also asked for an investigation into the other killings linked to Teves.

“The DAR (Department of Agrarian Reform) should look into the killings in Negros due to land grabbing,” she said.

Oil...

From A1 of economic crisis happening in the US and Europe, as influenced by the weakening of the financial market," Rodela Romero, Department of Energy director for the Oil Industry Management Bureau, said.

"Volatility in oil prices is seen in the next few weeks with the lingering factors that would push it to go down or go up," Romero said.

On March 14, the oil companies implemented a price cut of P0.10 fordiesel and P0.60 for kerosene but raised the price of gasoline by P1 per liter.

These resulted in a year-to-date net decrease for diesel at P1 perliter and kerosene at P1.65 per liter. Gasoline, on the other hand, has a net increase of P6.70 per liter. Alena Mae S. Flores

Freeze Rep. Teves accounts, Degamo wife appeals gov’t Airport...

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“This strategic organizational reform initiative will include the transfer of Security Screening Officers (SSOs) from the National Capital Region to other regional airport stations in Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao, and vice versa,” Marquez said.

Apart from personnel re-assignment, the OTS took sweep actions toaddress the recent spate of theft incidents at the airport security screening checkpoint.

To ensure adequate supervision and the needed check and balance in security screening operations, Marquez said, the OTS tapped “more responsible and capable regional chiefs, terminal chiefs, shift supervisors and checkpoint supervisors.”

The OTS also deployed eight National Aviation Security Auditors toNAIA to conduct regular audits and inspections to ensure the sustained implementation of security measures.

Marquez said since the assumption of the present administration, there were drastic measures implemented centered on a three-pronged approach: Preventive (awareness and advocacy program), Corrective (spot-on corrections and subjecting personnel to re-training), and Punitive (imposition of administrative sanctions and ultimate penalty of dismissal). (See full story online at manilastandard.net)

IN BRIEF

Solon says no distressed OFWs in Bahrain

KABAYAN Party-list Rep. Ron Salo on Friday expressed elation over what he said was the good situation of Filipino workers in Bahrain saying “there are no distressed Filipinos needing shelter in that country.”

“I was satisfied that in my recent visit, I did not see any homeless and distressed OFWs in Bahrain needing refuge in the Bahay Kalinga. This is a good sign that our OFWs are taken good care of in Bahrain,” Salo said.

Salo, who chairs the House Committee on Overseas Workers Affairs, had a consultation meeting with the Filipino community in Bahrain when he attended the 146th Assembly of the Interparliamentary Union (IPU). In his visit, he was warmly by Ambassador Anne Jalando-On Louis and Labor Attache to Bahrain Vicente Cabe.

“I am honored to have the opportunity to visit our kababayan in Bahrain and listen to their stories,” Salo said. “I am impressed by their resilience and hard work. Thus, we need to ensure that their welfare and protection are prioritized, and I will work towards this goal as chairman of the Committee on Overseas Workers Affairs,” he added. Maricel V. Cruz

Fast-track land e-titling process, DAR chief says

DEPARTMENT of Agrarian Reform (DAR) Secretary Conrado

Estrella III on Friday said he has assigned officials from the central office in every region to fast-track the processing of individual electronic land titles (e-titles) and their corresponding hectares of agricultural land for redistribution to farmerbeneficiaries under the Support to Parcelization of Land for Individual Titling (SPLIT) project.

All undersecretaries and assistant secretaries have been tapped and given specific assignments to work closely with regional directors to ensure that the processing of the individual e-land titles under the SPLIT project is on schedule.

“We need to hasten the distribution of e-titles since our ARBs are aching to till their respective shares of farm lots,” Estrella said. Rio N. Araja

PAO looks forward to move HQ to QC

THE Public Attorney’s Office (PAO) is hoping to transfer to a building of its own at a 5,175-square-meter property at the National Government Center along Commonwealth Avenue in Quezon City.

“I am humbled and honored to share this stage with Undersecretary Maria Catalina Cabral and National Capital Region Loreta Malaluan,” PAO chief Persida Acosta told the Gender and Development Forum of the Department of Public Works and Highways held at the Philippine International Convention Center.

“It’s been five years already, and yet the construction of our (new) building on Commonwealth Avenue is not yet completed. Now, I see hope that something good is going to happen,” she said. Rio N. Araja

AFP, ADF meet for defense pact

By Charles Arvin Dantes

RANKING officials of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) on Friday met with the delegates of the Australian Defense Force (ADF) to plan for this year’s Indo-Pacific Endeavor 2023 (IPE23) which is scheduled to run in various nations from June to October.

The Philippines is included in this year’s iteration of IPE23, AFP public affairs office chief Col. Jorry Baclor said in a statement.

“Vice Chief of Staff, AFP Lt. Gen. Arthur Cordura met with the IPE23 commander, Air Commodore Anthony McCormack, at the AFP General Head-

quarters today, 17 March,” he added. The ADF team for IPE23 is in the country to plan for the Philippine leg of the activity which is expected to be held in August. Primarily, IPE23 will focus on territorial defense and island maneuver operations. In the meeting, Cordura conveyed the AFP’s support to IPE23 and its openness

to more engagements with the ADF.

IPE23 is Australia’s flagship regional engagement activity with 14 Southeast Asian and Northeast Indian Ocean countries, including the Philippines.

It will also feature senior leadership engagements, information exchanges, sporting events, seminars, and other capacity-building activities.

Department of National Defense (DND) chief Carlito G. Galvez Jr. meanwhile reiterated that the security sector’s commitment to eliminating “peace spoilers” in society.

Galvez made the remark during the 11th oversight committee meeting of the National Task Force for the Dis-

Groups urge Palace to give more incentives to electric vehicles

SEVERAL advocacy groups are urging Malacañang to amend an existing executive order (EO) granting import incentives to include electric motorcycles as an affordable alternative for Filipinos to shift to zeroemission commuting. Think-tank Stratbase ADR Insti -

tute president, Prof. Victor Andres Manhit in a posted statement said that “EO 12 as it is now, excludes motorcycles from import tax exemptions but covers vehicles with four wheels – which are afforded only by higher-income individuals.”

“Millions of working Filipinos opt

for two and three-wheel vehicles because of their income limitations. They are the most vulnerable to the increase in prices of fuel and other basic commodities. Making electric motorcycles more affordable means no more worries on spiking petroleum prices and pollution-free transportation for the masses,”

Manhit said.

Engineer Felix Vitangcol, Secretary General of Philippine Business for Environmental Stewardship (PBEST), said Executive Order 12, which grants tax incentives to those purchasing fourwheeled electric vehicles, is a step in the right direction -- but is lacking.

bandment of Private Armed Groups (NTF-DPAGS) on Wednesday.

“Senior Undersecretary Galvez reiterated that the issue of private armed groups in the country was brought to the fore with the recent spate of violence against local chief executives. He assured the public that the DND and the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP), along with the PNP (Philippine National Police) and all member agencies of the NTF-DPAGs, remain committed to their mandate of eliminating peace spoilers to ensure that the people can live free of violence and fear thereof,” DND spokesperson Arsenio Andolong said in a statement Friday.

By Rio N. Araja

THE Commission on Human Rights (CHR) on Friday raised alarm over incidences of violence against women and children, saying violence, in whatever form, is never acceptable.

The CHR also called on the government to take proactive measures to address the root causes of violence, such as poverty, inequality, and social exclusion, while ensuring justice for all victims of human rights abuse and violations, and effective support to victims and survivors as a crucial component of fulfilling its human rights obligations.

It specifically took into account four separate reported cases from March 9 to March 13 targeting women and children, one of the most vulnerable sectors.

The first case involved a 67-yearold woman who was found dead in an isolated area in Norzagaray, Bulacan. The victim was beaten on the head allegedly by her son and was then stuffed inside a box.

The CHR also cited the brutal killing of 22-year-old Kimberly Achas by her live-in partner Elson Jamisola, who beat and stabbed the former.

The CHR cited the supposed rape of a 13-year-old student by her own grandfather since she was nine, and denounced the killing of four siblings, aged six to 14, in Trece Martires, Cavite by their stepfather.

Motorcycle lane plan extended in Commonwealth

By Joel E. Zurbano

THE Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) announced on Friday that it is extending for another week the dry run of the exclusive motorcycle (MC) lane along Commonwealth Avenue in Quezon City to give way to the

ongoing road works of the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) in the area.

The move, according to MMDA chair Romando Artes, also aims to give more time to the motorists to be familiar with the policy.

Artes said the DPWH will continue its patching works that start -

ed last week in response to the request of the MMDA based on the social media concerns received by the agency from motorists that the highway has uneven portions and has potholes.

He also said the extended dry run activity will give more time for the information drive regarding the policy.

Sen. Villar urges public to do part in fire prevention

By Macon Ramos-Araneta

SENATOR Cynthia Villar is urging the public to do their roles in preventing fires, as the country observes “Fire Prevention Month,” this March. “I believe that every individual

should be early in identifying the causes of fires and avoiding its dangers rather than being fully dependent on our firefighters,” Villar said.

The senator was the Guest Speaker during the 2023 Fire Prevention Month with the theme- “Sa Pagiwas sa Sunog, Hindi ka Nag-iisa”

held at Villar SIPAG, C5 Extension road, Pulanglupa 1, Las Piñas City on March 16.

Villar said that every year, the Villars together with Villar SIPAG in coordination with the Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP) – Las Piñas, has been focussing on fire prevention.

CHR alarmed at rising violence vs. women, kids

FISHMONGERS. Workers push a cart with buckets of fish at the Navotas Fish Port in Metro Manila on March 17. Jam Sta. Rosa/AFP

MILITARY CEREMONY. Presidential Special Envoy to Japan Reghis M. Romero II together with a group of Japanese businessmen march during a wreath-laying and military honors ceremony at the Rizal Monument in Manila. Norman Cruz

Suarez urges senators to back House initiatives on economy

QUEZON Rep. David Suarez on Friday urged senators to keep an open mind and not easily set aside the overwhelming push of lawmakers at the House of Representatives to open inclusive economic provisions of the Constitution to boost foreign investments into the country.

Suarez cited the resounding 301 “ayes” that House Bill No. 7352 got when it was put into a vote in the House plenary speaks volumes.

“I am appealing to our honorable senators to consider how HB 7352 passed its third and final reading with a resounding

301 votes. This is an overwhelming vote from the members of the House of Representatives,” Suarez said.

“As duly elected officials representing all districts from Mindanao, Luzon and Visayas, our counterparts in the Senate should study their position and acknowledge the need to revise the economic provisions of our Constitution.

I urge our senators to review HB 7352, calendar it for plenary debates and vote on it instead of immediately saying that it is not a priority,” he added.

Suarez said while measures that ease restrictive provisions of the Constitution have been ratified during the past

Win wants

excluded as fund source for MIF

SENATOR Sherwin Gatchalian seeks the exclusion of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) as a fund source for the proposed Maharlika Investment Fund (MIF) bill.

Meanwhile, Albay Rep. Joey Sarte Salceda filed House Bill 7653 that criminalizes tax racketeering on top of “usual tax evasion,” as a “means of empowering the Bureau of Internal Revenue in prosecuting more systematic cases of tax fraud.”

Gatchalian enunciated his stand on the MIF measure in a four-page letter addressed to Senator Mark Villar, chairman of the Senate Committee on Banks, Financial Institutions and Currencies, Villar’s committee is currently hearing a Senate version MIF bill.

According to Gatchalian, the BSP’s declared dividends should be removed as a source of funds both for the capitalization of the MIF and the Maharlika Investment Corporation (MIC), envisioned to be an independent body that would govern and manage the state fund.

“By approving the proposal to include BSP as a source of MIF, we will be exposing our financial system to uncertainties,” Gatchalian said.

“We will be hindering the BSP from enabling itself to meet the challenges to the economy since anything can happen in a span of 17 years,” he added.

The senator pointed out that it will take 17 years for the BSP to fully realize its capitalization requirements if the central bank is mandated to contribute its dividends to the MIF.

He cited as an example the current liquidity crunch facing the banking sector in the United States, triggered by the collapse of the Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) and the Signature Bank, shaking investor confidence across the globe.

Reports said the SVB’s shutdown was caused by concerns about the bank’s solvency, causing a wider sell-off in stocks and prompting an increase in clients pulling out their deposits.

Concerns over the health of the global financial system were further stoked by Credit Suisse’s largest single-day sell-off on US and European markets.

These developments are reminiscent of the 2008 collapse of Lehman Brothers that prompted a market meltdown and a global recession, leading central banks all over the world to execute dramatic easing of monetary policy rates, Gatchalian said.

Instead of fortifying and readying the BSP to handle crises facing the banking sector, the proposed MIF bill weakens the very institution capable to quickly intervene and take action during a banking crisis, Gatchalian noted.

It constrains BSP’s capability to take extraordinary measures to reduce bank run risks and shore up confidence in the financial system during uncertain times, he added.

Congress, these were not enough to encourage the entry of more foreign investments that the government needs to address the economic setbacks caused by the COVID-19 lockdowns and restrictions.

“We are all in agreement that most of our laws covering foreign investments are very restrictive and has kept our hands tied for decades. These restrictions prevent us from creating more jobs and getting investments from other countries,” Suarez said.

“Senators should consider the gains that our country will get if our economy is opened up further. Data from numerous studies are undeniable.

If we want to compete and be globally relevant, we need to unburden our country,” he added.

“

Pakinggan po sana ating mga senador ang boses ng nakararami sa mababang kapulungan ng Kongreso na nagnanais na makatulong sa pagbangon ng ating ekonomiya mula sa pagkakasadlak nito nang dahil sa COVID-19 pandemic.

Ito ang tamang panahon para ipakita ng mga mambabatas na sa lahat ng pagkakataon, kapakanan ng taumbayan ang pangunahin namin adhikain, hindi personal na ambisyon,” Suarez said.

Senate to Lower House: Enforce 3 new economic laws before Cha-cha

By Macon Ramos-Araneta and Maricel V. Cruz

SENATE leaders have maintained that three new laws on the national economy should be implemented first before pushing amendments to the 1987 Constitution.

At the House of Representatives, Camarines Sur Rep. Luis Raymund Villafuerte challenged the senators to rally behind the Charter change (Cha-cha),

saying the issue has gained a groundswell of support at the Lower House. Senate President Juan Miguel Zubiri and Majority Leader Joel Villanueva asserted that the new laws on the economy would entice foreign investors to come to the Philippines. Proponents of the Cha-cha argued however, that amending the economic provisions of the Constitution will attract foreign investors to partake of the country’s growing economy. Zubiri and Villanueva noted that the amended Public Services Act allows for 100-percent foreign ownership in the telecommunications, airlines, and railways industries.

They also cited the amended Retail Trade Liberalization Law which lowered the foreign investors’ initial capital to engaged in the retail business million from P125 million to only P25 million.

The third new law, the Foreign Investment Act, enables foreigners to own 100 percent of small and medium enterprises, Zubiri and Villanueva said.

They also said these laws were yet to be implemented due to the absence of implementing rules and regulations (IRR) which should come from the Executive department, particularly the National Economic Development Authority (NEDA).

Zubiri also questioned the delay in the issuance of the IRRs “if indeed, we want the

foreign investors’ entry into the country.” He pointed out however, that he does not favor foreign ownership of land in the Philippines. Villanueva also noted the benefits to be gained from the three laws, citing President Marcos’ state visits where he invited foreigners to invest in the Philippines. With the overwhelming formal support at the Lower House for immediate constitutional reforms, Villafuerte said “the ball is now in the Senate’s court.” Villafuerte was adverting to the bicameral Congress to help sustain the country’s outperforming economy’s postCOVID growth momentum by revisiting the economic provisions of the 1987 Charter.

THE Philippines recorded some 470,000 cases of tuberculosis last year, the Department of Health (DOH) said.

Dr. Ronald Allan Fabella, TB advisor of the DOH’s disease prevention and control bureau, noted that COVID-19 affected the government’s TB detection and treatment program. “Nakapagtala tayo ng around 470,000 na nagsimula ng gamutan,” Fabella said in a virtual town hall forum.

He pointed out however, that the figure might not be accurate, citing a World Health Organization (WHO) findings that around 700,000 Filipinos were afflicted with TB in 2022.

For TB, a drop in the number of cases does not indicate success, the physician noted.

THE results of the 2022 online and regionalized Bar examinations are expected to be released during the Supreme Court’s summer sessions in Baguio City that start on April 11.

After the release of the Bar exams results, the SC will announce the date of the oathtaking of the successful examinees and the signing of the Roll of Attorneys.

Starting with the 2022 Bar passers, the SC has increased the Bar admission fee from P3,500 to P5,000.

By Willie Casas

THE COVID-19 positivity rate in Metro

Manila, also called the National Capital Region (NCR), has increased to three percent as of March 15 from 2.1 percent a week ago, the independent monitoring OCTA Research Group said on Friday.

In a social media post, OCTA Research

fellow Dr. Guido David said the region’s weekly COVID positivity rate slightly went up to three percent on March 15.

Positivity rate refers to the percentage of people who were found positive for COVID among the total number of individuals tested.

“Seven-day positivity rate in NCR has been rising. At this time, I expect it to

increase further but not to the levels seen in 2022,” David said.

The Department of Health (DOH), logged a total of 261 new COVID cases on Thursday, while the active tally went up to 9,231.

The nationwide caseload is currently 4,078,480, while the number of active cases climbed from 9,068 on Wednesday.

The SC said “the subject increase covers the imminent surge in the operation costs, particularly the cost of the venue for the oathtaking, roll signing ceremonies, and other logistical expenses, as well as the allowance of concerned personnel.”

The High Tribunalt also said the increase “is also concomitant to the innovations that will be implemented in the said Court proceedings.” Rey E. Requejo

JAILs across the country are overcrowded by an average of 370 percent, according to the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology (BJMP).

Meanwhile, Rizal Rep. Juan Fidel Nograles cited a project meant to put up libraries in jails as part of the rehabilitation of persons deprived of liberty (PDLs).

In a televised public briefing, BJMP spokesman Javier Bustinera hinted that it was a huge improvement, saying the jail congestion rate used to be 600 percent.

In July 2022, Interior and Local Government Secretary Benhur Abalos Jr. said the congestion rate at the BJMP was 387% as of June 2022.

To address the problem, Bustinera said the BJMP was building bigger jails and releasing more inmates through the good conduct time

allowance (GCTA).

On Tuesday, the BJMP launched a program meant to set up libraries in selected jails to boost its rehabilitation program for the prisoners or PDLs.

According to Bustinera, reading in the jail library would contribute to the GCTA of prisoners.

“I laud the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology for this project.

With the help of this library project, our PDLs will be given the opportunity to learn and become more productive members of society,” Nograles said.

The BJMP, in partnership with the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, this week launched the project, dubbed Read Your Way Out. Maricel V. Cruz

THE Authority of the Freeport Area of Bataan (AFAB) held on Friday the groundbreaking ceremony of its first-ever FAB Expansion Area in the municipality of Samal as it inaugurated developments for the rise of the Samal Ecozone.

The AFAB said the Samal Ecozone was envisioned to be a key driver of economic growth where various companies, businesses, and industries are anticipated to flourish and open up opportunities for the people of Samal and its neighboring towns.

The event also marked the cooperation between the municipality of Samal under Mayor Alexander Acuzar, and the leadership of High Tech Global Cement Corporation (HTGCC), a major developer of the ecozone’s 27.53-hectare site and infrastructure developments AFAB marketing chief Kelvin Rae Rodriguez expressed the continued support and cooperation of the agency in ensuring the successful establishment and growth of the ecozone. Butch Gunio

STRAWBERRIES. Baguio City, dubbed the “summer capital of the Philippines,” is also reputedly the hub of fresh and luscious strawberries that never fail to capture the attention of tourists, foreign and domestic. Dave Leprozo

MARRIED IN TAIPEI. A newly wed Filipino couple indulges in a photo session in front of the Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall in Taipei. Sam Yeh/AFP

SHELTER CARAVAN. Quezon City Councilor Mikey Belmonte leads the signing of a memorandum of understanding with various government offices and private partners on the “Buhay at Bahay: Urban Poor and Human Settlements Caravan” program at the Commonwealth High School in Quezon City, Manny Palmero

‘No longer safe’ from quakes: Fear of ‘Big One’ grips Istanbul

By Remi Banet

THE helmet-topped engineer drove his pointy instrument into the concrete to test whether Durmus Uygun’s building will crumble when the feared big quake finally strikes Istanbul.

“I’m pretty confident but my children aren’t convinced, so we’re having this test done,” said Uygun, who lives in one of the Turkish megalopolis’s poorer and more densely packed neighborhoods.

“If the result is good, we will live in peace. But who knows where we will be when the earthquake hits? We may be at the supermarket or at work -- that’s what scares us.”

In his fifties and wearing a black beret, Uygun is far from the only one living in fear in Istanbul.

Turkey’s cultural and economic capital is home to up to 20 million people, many still haunted by memories of the last “Big One” that struck just east of the city in 1999. More than 17,000 people died, including 1,000 in Istanbul.

Anatolian Fault, which is distinct from the equally active East Anatolian Fault on which last month’s quake struck.

Seismologists have calculated a 47-percent chance of an earthquake with a magnitude above 7.3 hitting Istanbul within 30 years.

Two blocks from Uygun’s building, hardware store owner Ali Nezir has started selling whistles to locals who fear getting trapped under tonnes of concrete.

“People are scared,” said Nezir, whose small shop is on the ground floor of a 12-storey tower. Whistles and water bottles

Some residents say they have started storing biscuits and water bottles at the foot of their beds in case the quake comes in the middle of the night, leaving them trapped.

Uygun has prepared some emergency bags for his family containing enough to survive on while waiting for help.

Ugur Erisoglu, an Istanbul wholesaler, offers earthquake survival bags for 200 lira ($10) containing torches, blankets, medical kits and neck braces.

“We used to sell 1,000 a month,” Erisoglu said. “We have received 15,000 orders since the earthquake, including 8,000 from Istanbul.”

The sudden reminder of the threat hanging over Turkey’s main city is forcing some to seriously contemplate moving home.

Discount privileges for nat’l coaches, athletes

ONE of the best forms of gratitude the Philippine government could offer for its more than a thousand national athletes is the provision of discounts from various establishments—from hotels, restaurants, transportation, and pharmacies to sports shops and recreation centers all over the country.

But two years after the Bureau of Internal Revenue Revenue came out with Resolution 13 in 2020 granting the implementation and regulations of R.A. 10699 on coaches’ and athletes’ discount privileges, most establishments are not yet aware of this law which is under the Republic Act 10699 or the “National Athletes and Coaches Benefits and Incentives Act.

It was under the previous administration of Philippine Sports Commission chairman Butch Ramirez that the benefit IDs and booklets were distributed to athletes when the county was still under strict COVID 19 restrictions.

It was the best time, according to Ramirez, to provide comfort for athletes during the pandemic.

Since then, the PSC has been providing the benefit ID cards and booklet every year. In the beginning, athletes complained some establishments did not recognize the privileges and refused to grant discounts.

Store frontliners are more familiar with

Why

giving discounts to senior citizens and Persons with Disabilities (PWDs), whose combined numbers probably run by hundreds of thousands.

Why do some establishments rarely encounter discounts for athletes?

Because there are only a little more than a thousand qualified beneficiaries, those who are bona fide members of the national training pool from nearly 50 National Sports Associations under the Philippine Olympic Committee.

PSC chairman William Ramirez, who is on top of these efforts, believes in the positive implication of this progress to the national athletes and coaches, most especially in this time of the pandemic.

With the Cambodia Southeast Asian Games just around the corner, the athletes are training at least three times a day beginning with an early morning run, then drills just before lunch, and another in the afternoon.

Some elite and motivated athletes go the extra mile by adding their own extra routines early in the evening.

Our national athletes have given their youth as gift to our national flag.

“Noong kami ang naglalaro, talagang lahat ng sakripisyo, pagod, luha, pati pera ginugugol naming para lang manalo sa competitions and make our country proud,” relates former Asian long jump queen Elma Muros.

To maximize these discount benefits for our sports heroes, the PSC and other related agencies like the BIR and government media networks should make extra efforts to promote to the public and business establishments the benefit discounts for athletes and coaches. National athletes and coaches should not be left to fend for themselves in enforcing the discount law. More efforts and activities should be done to let business establishments get to know more about this law that has corresponding penalties for those who refuse to grant the discount benefits.

How to be healed of our blindness

The city has grown substantially since then, becoming a magnet for people attracted by its booming economy--and oblivious to the active fault line running along its southern edge.

That changed on February 6, when a 7.8-magnitude earthquake killed more than 48,000 in southeastern Turkey and nearly 6,000 over the border in Syria, leaving entire cities in ruins.

A state of collective psychosis has since gripped Istanbulites, who have requested more than 140,000 checks of the type being conducted on Uygun’s apartment building.

Disaster a 47-percent chance

By the municipality’s own admission, nearly 100,000 buildings will collapse or be seriously damaged in the event of a 7.5-magnitude quake.

Fifty teams of engineers have been roaming the city since last month’s disaster, measuring the quality of concrete and the width of steel reinforcement bars.

If the risk to the building is deemed “very high”, it could be condemned to demolition and occupants forced to move out.

Some of Istanbul’s southern districts lie just 15 kilometers from the North

By Nonnie Pelayo

IT WAS during a “dry” day in 1986 when a damn all defense reporter played a prank on a fellow newshound, who often arrived at the beat late (about 4:00 p.m.) and had the impudence to ask those present at the Public Affairs Office, “Ano ang balita?”

When someone answered, “Wala pang malaki,” the reporter shot back “Ano, hapon na wala pa kayong balita?”

And, this was from someone who relied on the generosity of fellow reporters.

On that “dry” day, when aside from the usual killings and mayhem, nothing “really big” was happening in the security sector, the risque reporter took a press release sheet of the Armed Forces of the Philippines Public Information Office and composed the following story:

“The Armed Forces of the Philippines, particularly the Army and the Marines, will soon use limited nuclear warfare against rebel groups, both Moro separatists and communists, as the United States has agreed to supply the Philippine military with nuclear tipped ammunition.

“Brig. Gen. Jose Lucban, AFP deputy chief of staff for logistics (J-4) said the Joint US Military Group-Philippines, has secured the US Departments of Defense and of State authority to provide the AFP with the new type

“There is strong demand for northern districts of Istanbul, further from the fault line, and for individual houses,” said Mehmet Erkek, the general manager of Zingat, a real estate listings platform.

Searches have also exploded for cities such as Edirne and Kirklareli, located in a less quake-prone region 200 kilometres northwest of Istanbul.

‘Always on alert’

Nil Akat, a clinical psychologist, says she has been receiving patients “who are making very concrete plans to move out of Istanbul.”

“Many no longer feel safe at home. They are on high alert, always on alert. Out on the street, they pick out safer looking sidewalks in case a building should collapse.”

Akat said she spoke to some colleagues who told her: “Some (of our patients) can no longer think rationally.”

This fear can grip anyone, without distinction for age or social class, she said.

Cisel Aktimur, a young Istanbulite who enjoys a breathtaking view of the city from her 12th-floor apartment, had been thinking of leaving for some time.

Last month’s disaster has made moving a “priority”, she said.

“Even if nothing happens to my building, I probably wouldn’t be able to bear what I see,” she said. AFP

IN TOMORROW’S gospel, the Fourth Sunday of Lent, Jesus meets a man who was born blind. His disciples asked if his blindness was a result of his or his parents’ sin, but Jesus said neither. He healed the man by putting clay on his eyes and telling him to wash in the Pool of Siloam.

The man could see again, and his neighbors were amazed.

The Pharisees questioned him about his healing and criticized Jesus for doing it on the Sabbath.

They summoned the man’s parents, who confirmed he was their son but did not know how he was healed.

The man told the Pharisees that Jesus was a prophet and that if he were not from God, he would not be able to perform such miracles.

The Pharisees expelled the man from the synagogue. Jesus found the man and revealed himself as the Son of Man, and the man believed and worshipped him.

Jesus stated that he came to bring sight to the blind and judgment to those who claim to see but remain in sin.

The man who was healed believed in Jesus and his ability to heal, which allowed him to receive the miracle.

Similarly, the Pharisees who were skeptical of Jesus were unable to see the truth of his power and message, and remained blinded to it.

The gospel emphasizes the power of Jesus to heal and bring sight to those who are blind, both physically and spiritually.

This physical healing is not just a demonstration of Jesus’ power, but also a symbol of his ability to bring spiritual sight to those who are blind to the truth.

The blind man shows faith and obedience by following Jesus’ instructions to go wash in the pool of Siloam, and his healing is a result of his willingness to trust and obey Jesus. Similarly, as the story progresses, the man’s faith in Jesus grows, and he becomes a bold witness for Jesus, even in the face of opposition from the religious leaders.

The story also emphasizes the conflict between Jesus and the religious leaders of the time.

The Pharisees, who were the religious leaders, were skeptical of Jesus’ healing and accused him of being a sinner.

This conflict demonstrates the rejection of Jesus’ message and the power of his miracles by those who were supposed to be the spiritual leaders of the time.

Jesus not only heals the physical blindness of the man born blind, but he also takes the opportunity to heal the spiritual blindness of those who witnessed the miracle.

As Christians, we can take comfort in the knowledge that no matter who we are, God sees us and cares for us.

The Bible teaches us that not even a sparrow falls to the ground without God knowing it, and he knows how many hairs we have on our heads.

Knowing this, we can be assured that God is calling us to develop a close relationship with him.

It is up to us to answer that call and experience the love and care that he has for us, regardless of our status or circumstances.

The man’s blindness provided Jesus with an opportunity to display the power of God.

Despite the undeniable evidence of Jesus’ power, the Pharisees, the religious leaders of the time, were blinded by their pride and prejudices and refused to acknowledge him as the Messiah.

During the time of Christ, people with physical infirmities such as blindness were often considered a burden on society.

Many were abandoned by their families and forced to beg for food and money on the streets. They were looked down upon and considered among the lowest classes in society, lacking wealth and power.

However, Jesus was different.

Despite being expected to notice only the rich and powerful, he saw even the least among us, including the blind man.

The gospel tells us that as Jesus passed by, he saw a man who was blind from birth. This occurred even as Christ was fleeing from a mob that wanted to kill him.

When we trust God instead of focusing on our losses, he can use our trials and tribulations to bless us and make us a witness of faith to others.

The disciples were unable to see the potential in the situation. All they saw was a poor beggar who had been blind from birth.

They were the ones who were blind. In many ways, we are also blind to the potential that God has placed in our difficult circumstances.

But if we trust in God and believe in his power, he can use even our struggles to bring about blessings and transformation. We can become a witness of faith to others, showing them the incredible power of God to turn our hardships into opportunities for growth and spiritual renewal.

We are all blind. But we can be healed through faith.

Website: tonylavina.com. Facebook: tonylavs Twitter: tonylavs

of ammunition.

“Maj. Gen. Teddy Allen, JUSMAG chief, said the ammunition will go a long way in quelling insurgency in the Philippine countryside.

“The nuclear tipped ammunition comes in 7.62 by 51 mm cartridges or caliber 30-06 and can be fired from M-14 rifles or M-60 machineguns.

“The newly-developed ammunition can destroy an area of 200 by 200 meters and has an effectiverang of 1,500 meters, thus the danger of collateral damage as well as injury to the firer is minimized.

“Delivery of the new ammunition is expected in the first quarter of 1987, Lucban said, quoting Allen.” The self-willed reporter photocopied his “masterpiece” several times and left the copies in the press release basket.

The patronizing new reporter soon arrived and asked in a loud voice, “May balita na ba?”

Another person in the office answered the question “Ayan, o” and pointed at the press release basket with his mouth.

Upon reading the “press release,” the snooty reporter bolted out the door to return to the office.

The next day, the “story” merited good treatment on page one in Snooty’s newspaper.

Snooty was never seen in the camps since. That is an example of fake news that is so

prevalent nowadays. If that reporter only covered the beat properly, the disaster would not have happened.

As it was, the AFP logistics chief at the time was Brig. Gen. Antonio Lukban (with a K) and Allen had been transferred to Greece the previous month. By the way, Jose Lucban was the National Bureau of Investigation director of then President Ferdinand E. Marcos.

sometimes plain pique or even nastiness, some reporters had (or still have?) the habit of planting fake stories called “kuryente” on unwary peers.

(Editor’s Note: Proverbs 16: 27 says: Idle hands are the devil’s workshop; idle lips are his mouthpiece, literally, “A worthless man devises mischief; and in his lips there is a scorching fire.”

Why is it called ‘kuryente”? Let me quote part of a column of Dick (Federico) Pascual in the Philippine Star some years ago:

“This is the background of that term, as I knew it at the time.

“A police reporter of a major daily came too late to cover a big fire (don’t be caught calling that a “conflagration,” a million-dollar word) in a congested squatter section of Pasay.

“In such a situation, with a deadline to beat, a reporter who was caught “natutulog sa pansitan” (“sleeping in the panciteria,” another term) would ask his colleagues for hurried notes.

“ELECTROCUTED: The reporter failed to notice that all the facts seemed to have been too neatly packaged for him. But he was in a hurry and collecting such basic data is a procedure that one cannot skip.

“He had no more time to locate and interview victims and fire personnel sifting through the debris, so he relied on good old imagination for the rest of the story.

“After all, if you have seen one big fire, you have seen all of them (or so it seems when deadline is just minutes away).

“He fell back on the de cajon formula for a fire story saying ‘Five persons were killed yesterday by live wires that snapped during a fire that razed (never say “razed to the ground”) a squatter area in… et cetera.’

“The victims,” his masterpiece continued, ‘were identified by the police as … (he gave their names, ages, addresses).’ Oh yes, he added that they all died after being electrocuted during the fire.

“By this time, I think you know the rest of the story.”

(Editor’s Note: The editors of Snooty’s news organization were not entirely spotless. They failed to spot the wrong spelling in Lukban’s family name, for a starter. And stories like that would merit several editor’s questions to plug what were blatantly contentious issues. But they went to town with the unedited material.) Out of idleness, St. John Bosco said “The idle mind is the devil’s workshop” or

“Fellow reporters, especially those who owe you one, usually help with enough details to start with. But they keep the more juicy details for their own paper.

“Our tardy reporter was told that five persons (not “people”) died in the fire. He was given the names (comma) ages (comma) and addresses. He was casually told also that the five fatalities were electrocuted during the fire.

That is the story of “kuryente” in newsmen’s lingo. “Fake news” is the new name for “kuryente.”

(The author was a reporter for 20 years before spending 24 more years as news editor of Today newspaper and later the BusinessMirror).

Nil Akat, a clinical psychologist, says she has been receiving patients ‘who are making very concrete plans to move out of Istanbul’

Frenchmen furious as Macron pushes new pension law

PARIS – French President Emmanuel Macron on Friday faced intensified protests and accusations of anti-democratic behaviour after pushing through a contentious pension reform without a parliamentary vote.

Using a special constitutional power to pass legislation without a vote amounted to an admission that the government lacked a majority to hike the retirement age from 62 to 64, a change which has met strong resistance across the country.

The Senate had adopted the bill earlier Thursday, but reluctance by right-wing opposition MPs in the National Assembly to side with Macron meant the government faced defeat in the lower house.

“We can’t take the risk of seeing 175 hours of parliamentary debate come to nothing,” Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne told MPs as she announced the move amid jeers and boos from opposition MPs, who also sang the national anthem.

Aurelien Pradie, an MP with right-wing opposition party the Republicans, said the government’s move ran “the risk of a democratic rupture in this country”.

“We have a problem of democracy. This law – which will change the lives of the French –has been adopted without the slightest vote at the National Assembly,” Pradie told BFM TV.

Trains, schools, public services and ports have since January been affected by strikes against the proposed reform, amid some of the biggest protests in decades.

A rolling strike by municipal garbage collectors in Paris has caused about 7,000 tonnes of trash to pile up in the streets, attracting rats and dismaying tourists.

On Thursday, thousands gathered outside parliament to protest the government’s move.

“I’m outraged by what’s happening. I feel like I’m being cheated as a citizen,” said Laure Cartelier, a 55-year-old teacher.

“In a democracy, it should have happened through a vote.”

At around 8:00 pm (1900 GMT), police used tear gas and water cannon to clear protesters

after a fire was lit in the centre of the historic Place de la Concorde. Even after the rally was dispersed, some protesters started fires and caused damage to shop fronts on side streets, according to AFP reporters.

By 11:30 pm, Paris police said 217 people had been arrested on suspicion of seeking to cause damage.

Similar scenes unfolded across France.

Several stores were looted during protests in Marseille while clashes between protesters and security forces also erupted in the western cities of Nantes and Rennes as well as Lyon in the southeast, according to AFP correspondents.

- ‘Total failure’ -

Trade unions and political analysts had warned that adopting the legislation without a vote – by invoking article 49.3 of the constitution – risked radicalising opponents and would undercut the law’s democratic legitimacy.

“It’s a total failure for the government,” far-right leader Marine Le Pen told reporters.

“From the beginning, the government fooled itself into thinking it had a majority.”

According to polls, two-thirds of French people oppose the pension overhaul.

Some opposition parties including Le Pen’s are set to call a vote of no confidence in the centrist government on Friday, but Borne’s cabinet is expected to survive, thanks to backing from the Republicans.

Unions immediately called for another day of mass strikes and protests for next Thursday, calling the government’s move “a complete denial of democracy”.

Antoine Bristielle, a public opinion expert at the Fondation Jean-Jaures think tank, told AFP that enacting such an important law without a parliamentary vote risked further antagonising the country and deepening anti-Macron sentiment. Opinion polls showed that roughly eight out of 10 people opposed legislating in this way, while a growing number of people were losing faith in French democracy, he said.

With tensions rising, head of the ruling faction in parliament Aurore Berge wrote to Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin to ask him to ensure the protection of MPs, according to a letter seen by AFP. AFP

NIAMEY, Niger -- US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Thursday offered new aid as he threw his support behind Niger on a rare visit, holding up the Western military partner and new democracy as a model in a jihadisttorn region where Russia is making inroads. Blinken is the highest-ranking US official ever to visit the former French colony, where both France and the United States maintain forces to battle insurgencies in the troubled Sahel region.

“Niger is a young democracy in a challenging part of the world,” Blinken told a news conference in the capital Niamey. “But it remains true to the values we share. Niger has been quick to defend the democratic values under threat in neighbouring countries.”

After talks with President Mohamed Bazoum, Blinken announced $150 million in new humanitarian assistance for the Sahel region including Niger, one of the world’s poorest countries. The funding, which brings the total for the Sahel to $233 million for the fiscal year, includes food aid and support for migrants who have fled to war-ravaged Libya, he said.

Niger, one of the world’s poorest countries, has seen stability since a democratic restoration in 2011 as military regimes have taken over in neighbouring Mali and Burkina Faso.

Mali has shifted decisively into Russia’s orbit, hiring the Wagner mercenary group after French troops withdrew following a nine-year military operation.

Burkina Faso, which saw two coups last year alone, has also fallen out with France, although both the country’s military leader and Russia have denied claims including from democratic Ghana that Wagner is operating there.

Nigerien Foreign Minister Hassoumi Massoudou, speaking alongside Blinken, said he had no proof of Wagner activities in Burkina Faso but he warned against any movement to the group.

“Our hope,” he said, “is that it does not go down this trajectory towards this organisation which we consider criminal and mercenary,” he said.

“We see that Wagner is only present in failed or failing states,” he said.

“Our democratic institutions can defeat terrorism. In fact, there is no alternative,” he said.

Unlike many African diplomats, he also offered a full-throated condemnation of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, noting Niger’s own history as a former colony.

- Reintegrating fightersBlinken began his visit by meeting former violent extremists who have been rehabilitated through vocational training backed by $20 million in US funding. The programme is about “giving them a better choice” and is “from our perspective, very much a model that others can look to”, Blinken said afterwards. Blinken also said that the United States was committed to working with Niger on environmental challenges.

Niger is one of the countries hit hardest by climate change, losing 100,000 hectares (250,000 acres) of arable land each year to desert, according to the United Nations.

The Biden administration launched its bid for greater engagement in Africa in the face of rising investment by China, seen as the top rising challenger to the United States, but concerns have grown more recently about Russia. AFP

Kim Jong Un, daughter oversee latest North Korea ICBM launch

SEOUL – North Korean leader Kim Jong

Un, accompanied by his daughter, personally oversaw the recent test-firing of the country’s most powerful intercontinental ballistic missile, state media images showed Friday.

The launch on Thursday – Pyongyang’s second ICBM test this year – involved a Hwasong-17 missile, the official Korean Central News Agency reported, adding that it was fired in response to “frantic” US-South Korea joint military drills.

Photographs in the official Rodong Sinmun newspaper showed Kim watching the blackand-white Hwasong-17 – dubbed a “monster missile” by analysts – blast off into the sky.

Some of the images showed him watching the launch with his daughter – never named by state media but identified as his second child Ju

Ae by South Korean intelligence.

State media also released images showing the Earth from space, purportedly taken by a camera mounted on the ICBM.

KCNA said the launch “confirmed the war readiness of the ICBM unit”, adding that it “had no negative impact on the security” of neighbouring countries.

South Korea had previously said the missile was fired on a lofted trajectory – up instead

Biden to mark St. Patrick’s Day with Irish PM

WASHINGTON – President Joe Biden and Ireland’s Prime Minister Leo Varadkar will paint the town green on Friday at a series of Saint Patrick’s Day events celebrating strong US-Irish links – and Biden’s personal love for the country.

The Irish leader’s White House visit is a cherished annual tradition.

That has never been truer than under Biden, who frequently trumpets his family roots in Ireland and sprinkles quotes from Irish poems through his speeches.

Varadkar’s day will start with breakfast at Vice President Kamala Harris’s residence, with “eggs Saint Patrick” on the menu, according to the White House. Varadkar and Biden will then have lunch at the US Capitol, hosted by Republican speaker of the House, Kevin McCarthy.

At the White House, Varadkar will then present Biden with the traditional shamrock

– a sprig of clover representing Ireland.

Entertaining the revelers will be Irish pop star Niall Horan, a former member of mega boy band One Direction, now a singer-songwriter. There will be weightier issues on the table, however.

Biden says he will visit Ireland and the British north soon – possibly to mark the 25th anniversary of the US-brokered Good Friday Agreement, which ended the violent unrest known as the Troubles in Northern Ireland.

The Biden administration watched closely as Britain, Ireland, the European Union and leaders of the British province of Northern Ireland hashed out a compromise – the Windsor Framework –on how to manage cross-border trade, now that Britain is out of the EU, which includes Ireland. Biden and Varadkar will stress their “support

for the Belfast/Good Friday Agreement as we approach its 25th anniversary and welcome the recent agreement between the UK and EU on the Windsor Framework as an important step in preserving the Agreement’s peace dividend,” the White House said.

- Invitation to Northern IrelandSome 32 million Americans – almost 10 percent – claim ancestral roots in Ireland. Given the long history, the fates of the island country and the troubled northern province play outsized roles in US politics. Biden on Monday said he intends to visit both the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, who met Biden in California this week, said he was inviting him to Northern Ireland to “commemorate the anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement.” AFP

Venezuela court decriminalizes homosexuality in armed forces

CARACAS – Venezuela’s Supreme Court on Thursday annulled a controversial article of the military justice code that had criminalized homosexuality within the armed forces.

The court annulled the provision, which had provided for a penalty of up to three years in prison, “for lacking sufficient clarity and legal precision with regard to the conduct it intended to punish,” the court stated on its website.

It had called for punishment against members of the military who committed “sexual acts against nature” but failed to define what that meant, the

statement said.

The article was not compatible with the constitution or progress in human rights, the court added.

Members of the LGBTQ community in conservative Venezuela welcomed the decision.

“After so many years of struggle we have achieved the nullity of the article of the military justice code,” activist Leandro Viloria told AFP.

A military officer who was expelled after the armed forces learned he was gay told AFP that the annulment of the article opens the possibility for him to request his reinstatement. AFP

of out, typically done to avoid overflying neighbouring countries.

Last year, North Korea declared itself an “irreversible” nuclear power, and Kim recently called for an “exponential” increase in weapons production, including tactical nukes.

Overseeing the Thursday launch, Kim said North Korea would “react to nuclear weapons with nukes” and called for “irreversibly bolstering up the nuclear war deterrent”, according to KCNA.

He also highlighted the country’s “rapid response posture... to cope with any armed conflict and war”, KCNA said. - ICBM threat -

In theory, the Hwasong-17 ICBM can reach the continental United States, and with this latest launch, North Korea is trying to emphasise the advanced level of its weaponry, analysts said.

“With the photos of the Earth, Pyongyang seems to be trying to show that it can accurately hit any target the regime wants with its ICBM,” Cheong Seong-chang, a senior fellow at the Sejong Institute, told AFP.

The next step will likely be North Korea firing the missile “at a normal angle”, he said, which would demonstrate it can survive reentry into the atmosphere. AFP

PHNOM PENH – Cambodian leader Hun Sen unveiled a collection of stolen Angkor crown jewelry on Friday which was recently returned to the kingdom after decades in Britain, pleading for other long-lost treasures to be handed back.

Gold crowns, necklaces and amulets were among the trove of treasures from the Angkor period, which ran from the ninth to 14th centuries AD when the Khmer empire dominated vast parts of Southeast Asia.

The Cambodian culture ministry characterized the items – expected to go on display at the national museum –as “priceless cultural heritage”.

“I appeal to museums, institutions and Khmer artefact collectors to continue to return those items voluntarily to Cambodia,” Hun Sen told the ceremony.

“Heritage items should be returned to their country of origin.”

The culture ministry last month discreetly received 77 pieces from the family of the late, disgraced British art dealer Douglas Latchford.

Two 10th-century sculptures

recently returned by the United States were also displayed on Friday.

Dominic Williams, the British ambassador to Cambodia, tweeted that it was an “extraordinary privilege to see these previously stolen artefacts displayed in their ancestral home”.

When he died in 2020, Latchford was awaiting trial in the United States for art trafficking, and the same year his family agreed to return the antiquities to Cambodia.

The family returned five stone and bronze artefacts in 2021.

Thousands of antiques and artefacts were stolen from Cambodia during the conflict and genocide of the Khmer Rouge regime in the 1970s.

Last year, the United States returned 30 looted items, including bronze and stone statues of Buddhist and Hindu deities that were carved more than 1,000 years ago.

The Cambodian government has been negotiating with other countries, including the United States, and private collectors to return more Khmer artefacts to the kingdom. AFP

As Russia expands, US bolsters Niger support

‘Priceless’ stolen Angkor jewelry returned as Cambodia rejoices

CRACKER PROTEST. Police officers stand in front of fireworks fired by protesters during a demonstration after the French government pushed a pensions reform through parliament without a vote, using article 49,3 of the constitution, in Lyon on March 16. AFP

AERIAL CLASH. This handout image taken from video released by US European Command (USEUCOM) on March 16 shows onboard footage from a U.S. Air Force MQ-9 drone as it is approached the first time by a Russian SU-27 aircraft jettisoning fuel, over The Black Sea on March 14. Moscow said it would try to retrieve the wreckage of a US military drone that crashed over the Black Sea in a confrontation Washington blamed on two Russian fighter jets. Russia also warned that it would react ‘proportionately’ to any future US ‘provocations’ as tensions simmered and Moscow denied its Su-27 military aircraft had clipped the propeller of the unmanned Reaper drone. AFP

CYAN MAGENTA YELLOW BLACK

BUSINESS

Budget surplus reached P45.7b in January

By Julito G. Rada

ADOUBLE-DIGIT growth in revenue collection, combined with a nearly flat spending, enabled the government to post a budget surplus of P45.7 billion in January, the Department of Finance said Friday.

Finance Secretary Benjamin Diokno said Friday the budget surplus in January was a reversal of the P23.38-billion deficit incurred in the same month last year.

“This favorable outcome was a result of revenues outgrowing government spending: revenues grew by 25.2 percent while spending rose by 0.3 percent,” he said.

Revenues in January jumped by

IN BRIEF

BSP confident on domestic banks’ strength amid turmoil

THE Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas is confident that the domestic banking system will continue to be strong amid the latest financial turmoil happening in the global markets.

It said in a statement the Philippine banking system remained safe and sound. “We have shown our resilience through the pandemic, and we continue to be strong in the face of the ongoing turbulence in the global markets,” it said.

It said it recognized the actions taken by banking supervisory authorities to address the potential contagion risk from the closure of banks. “Nonetheless, we will respond accordingly as market conditions evolve,” the BSP said. The BSP said the longstanding efforts in consultation with the industry in setting prudent standards and executing risk practices remained the key pillar in safeguarding the interests of the Filipino people. “We reiterate our earlier statement that our banks do not have any material exposure to the failed institutions,” it said. Julito G. Rada

Upson prices initial public offering at P2.40 per share

GADGET retailer Upson International Corp. priced its initial public offering at P2.40 per share, a huge discount to the maximum indicative price of P5.50 apiece amid the volatile market conditions.

Upson chief executive Arlene Louisa Sy said in a letter to the Philippine Stock Exchange the company also reduced the number of offer shares to 625 million primary common shares, with an over-allotment option for another 62.5 million secondary common shares.

The company initially planned to sell up to 888.157 million common shares, with an over-allotment for 98.684 million shares. The reduction in offer price and number of offer shares will reduce the overall value of the IPO to P1.65 billion from P5.4 billion.

The offer period will be on March 21 to 27.

Jenniffer B. Austria

Clark airport firm names

Bingcang new president

CLARK International Airport Corp. announced Friday the appointment of Joshua Bingcang as the company’s new president and chief executive.

Bingcang previously served as senior vice president of the Bases Conversion and Development Authority. He replaced CIAC officer-in-charge Darwin Cunanan.

A subsidiary of the BCDA, CIAC is mandated to ensure the development of the Clark civil aviation complex under the supervision by the Department of Transportation.

Under the Marcos administration, the DOTr gave CIAC regulatory supervision and oversight of activities occurring within the aviation complex, including Clark International Airport.

Bingcang was himself appointed officer-in-charge of the Clark aviation firm from 2019 to 2020, months after the privatization of the Clark International Airport. Othel V. Campos

P70 billion to P348.167 billion from P278.075 billion a year earlier. Taxes, accounting for 87.73 percent of the total collection reached P305.4 billion, up by 19.48 percent year-on-year, while nontax revenue with a 12.27-percent share, surged 90.37 percent from a year ago.

The Bureau of Internal Revenue collected P234.819 billion in January, rep-

resenting an increase of 20 percent from P195.775 billion in the same month last year. The Bureau of Customs’ collections went up 21 percent to P70.59 billion from P58.34 billion, while income generated by the Bureau of the Treasury surged by 60 percent to P17.753 billion from P11.117 billion.

Government spending barely grew to P302.418 billion from P301.457 billion. Net of interest payments, the national government’s primary surplus hit P92.7 billion in January, or more than double the P42.2-billion posted in the same month last year.

Data from the DOF showed the budget deficit narrowed by 3.35 percent in 2022 to P1.6 trillion from a P1.7-trillion

shortfall in 2021. The full-year deficit was within the P1.7-trillion full-year program and was equivalent to 7.33 percent of the gross domestic product, down from 8.60 percent in 2021 and below the 7.58 percent program.

Revenue effort in 2022 improved to 16.10 percent of GDP from 15.48 percent in 2021 and better than the 15.17 percent program. Tax effort also increased to 14.62 percent of GDP from 14.13 percent a year ago and was above the 14.42 percent target.

The Bureau of Internal Revenue managed to improve its overall collection in 2022 by 12.39 percent or P257.5 billion to P2.3 trillion. Collections by the Bureau of Customs

LT Group’s income climbed 24% to P25.14b in 2022

By Jenniffer B. Austria

LT GROUP Inc., the listed holding company of tycoon Lucio Tan, said Friday net income in 2022 jumped 24 percent to P25.14 billion from P20.25 billion in 2021, with tobacco business contributing the biggest share.

LT Group said in a stock exchange filing tobacco business accounted for P15.28 billion or 61 percent of total attributable income. The tobacco industry volume was estimated at 51.8 billion sticks in 2022, down 6.1 percent from 2021.

“The decline is largely attributed to the industry-wide price increases implemented in first quarter of 2022 to pass on the increase in excise taxes,” the company said.

Republic Act No. 11346 imposed a P5-per-pack increase in excise taxes on cigarettes to P55 starting Jan. 1, 2022. PMFTC Inc., a joint venture of Philip Morris International and LT Group, reported sales volume of 32.2 billion sticks in 2022, down from 2021’s 34.4 billion sticks. As a result, the group’s tobacco business reported a 12-percent drop in net income to P15.34 billion.

LT Group’s banking unit Philippine National Bank contributed P6.61 billion to total net income, while liquor firm Tanduay Distillers Inc. added P1.47 billion. Asia Brewery Inc. delivered P580 million, while Eton Properties Philippines Inc. contributed P372 million.

LT Group’s 30.9-percent stake in Victorias Milling Company Inc. accounted

Woman entrepreneur innovates health and beauty industry in PH

A MARKETING and communications executive is transforming the health and beauty industry in the Philippines using European solutions, proving that female entrepreneurs are changing the game in many fields.

“I find joy in bringing health to the people,” said i3 Inc. chief executive and chief innovator Katherine Alejar, the exclusive distributor of Vital Dome—a wellness solutions technology from France.

“I didn’t plan on being an entrepreneur. My dream was to climb up the corporate ladder. However, I couldn’t find a job that would be able to pay my asking salary; so, I decided to start my own business,” said Alejar who started i3. An alumna of De La Salle University,

she majored in the humanities and the first steps in her career path led her to advertising and marketing before forming i3.

The company has expanded its scope of services beyond the marketing communications agency in-charge of Visa’s point of sale marketing requirements since 2014. In 2019, it introduced and popularized Vital Dome and is now building new products and innovative ways for people to stay healthy and beautiful.

A fitness and wellness buff, Alejar’s wellness journey started at a young age. Then, she sought out solutions that would improve her appearance and keep her body toned and strong. But external beauty fades if one doesn’t take care of their internal health, so she began to seek solutions that would help boost

one’s energy in a healthy and non-toxic manner and thus improve productivity and vitality. That is when she discovered Vital Dome.

“It’s not just a machine for beauty and, in the post-pandemic scenario, it’s timely because this is exactly what we need. After living under the specter of COVID-19, we need to think of ways to live healthier lives. The Vital Dome is one such way,” she said.

The far infrared rays generated by the carbon panels within the Vital Dome help reduce internal inflammation—a necessary factor for managing chronic pain, mitigating the impact of aging on one’s joints and muscles and rehabilitating those recovering from injuries or the wear and tear of repetitive movement.

climbed to P862.4 billion (net of P4.8 billion tax refund) in 2022, outperforming the P643.6 billion raised a year ago by 34.01 percent or P218.9 billion, and 19.53 percent or P140.9 billion above the P721.5 billion 2022 target. Income collected and generated by the Bureau of the Treasury for the year hit P154.8 billion, far exceeding the P63.4 billion full-year program by P91.3 billion and was 23.48 percent or P29.4 billion more than the 2021 revenue performance. Total government disbursements in 2022 expanded to P5.2 trillion from P4.7 trillion in 2021. Interest payments last year reached P502.9 billion, a 17.10-percent or P73.4-billion increase from P429.4 billion in 2021.

PSE INDEX CLOSING

for P491 million.

PNB’s net income went down by 65 percent in 2022 to P11.77 billion from the previous year’s P34.02 billion, which included a P33.44-billion gain from transferring real estate assets into PNB Holdings Corp.

TDI’s net profit rose 18 percent in 2022 to P1.47 billion from P1.24 billion on the back of higher sales volume. Liquor volume increased 16 percent to 27.49 million cases from 23.69 million cases.

ABI’s net income also climbed 23 percent in 2022 to P583 million on improved sales volume.

Meanwhile, Eton booked a 32-percent decline in net income to P373 million. Income in 2022 was largely from leasing operations.

PLDT, Frontier sign over P12.1-b deal for sale of 1,012 towers

By Darwin G. Amojelar

PLDT Group said Friday it is selling 1,012 telecommunications towers and associated passive infrastructure to Frontier Tower Associates Philippines Inc., a unit of Pinnacle Towers Pte. Ltd., for over P12.1 billion. PLDT Inc. said in a disclosure to the stock exchange wireless unit Smart Communications Inc. signed a share purchase agreement with Frontier for the telecommunications towers and associated passive telecommunications infrastructure in Luzon.

It said the transaction, set to be completed this year, brings the total number of towers monetized via sale and leaseback transactions to over 7,500 for a total consideration of more than P98 billion.

“This transaction cements our relationship with one of the largest independent tower companies in the country, providing the group with another important partner to support our expansion, while unlocking additional value,” PLDT chairman Manuel Pangilinan said.

UBS AG acted as exclusive financial adviser to PLDT and Smart on the transaction.

PLDT and Smart president and chief executive Alfredo Panlilio said the transaction represents another important milestone in the company’s asset-light strategy focused on operational efficiencies and best-in-class customer experience, supportive of the government’s digital roadmap for the Philippines.

“Our partnership with PLDT is built on a foundation of trust: trust that we can continue to deliver long-term value in operating and expanding PLDT’s world-class network in an environmentally sustainable manner,” said Frontier chairman and chief executive Patrick Tangney.

Alsons obtains PRS Aa credit rating for P3-b commercial paper issuance

By Alena Mae S. Flores

ALSONS Consolidated Resources Inc. said Friday it sustained its issuer credit rating of PRS Aa minus (corp.) with a stable outlook from the Philippine Rating Services Corp. in relation to its P3-billion commercial paper issuance.

PhilRatings said a company with a PRS Aa rating “has a strong capacity to meet its financial commitments relative to other Philippine corporates.”

The rating agency assigns a stable outlook when a rating is likely to be maintained or to remain unchanged in the next twelve months.

PhilRatings cited several reasons for maintaining Alsons’ credit rating, includ-

ing the commencement of the Wholesale Electricity Spot Market in Mindanao and the upcoming completion of the Mindanao-Visayas Interconnection Project that “may possibly broaden the company’s market reach to Luzon and Visayas.” Alsons is Mindanao’s first private sector power generator, providing electricity to over eight million people across 14 cities and 11 provinces.

Philratings also cited Alsons’ “planned expansion projects which will further diversify its generation mix,” “the company’s ability to establish joint ventures with strong partners for particular projects,” and its “ample liquidity, supported by positive operating cash flows.”

Roderick T. dela Cruz, Editor Alena Mae S. Flores, Assistant Editor business@manilastandard.net extrastory2000@gmail.com

i3 Inc. CEO and chief innovator Katherine Alejar showcases Vital Dome, a wellness solutions technology from France.

ENERGY FORUM. Energy Regulatory Commission chairperson Monalisa Dimalanta (left) responds to questions from the media during the Pandesal Forum at the 84-year-old Kamuning Bakery in Quezon City. With Dimalanta is Pandesal Forum moderator Wilson Flores. Teddy Pelaez

Avaricio wins title with 70 as Ababa goes sky-high

BACOLOD—Chanelle Avaricio pulled off one of the most stirring comebacks in the Ladies Philippine Golf Tour history, rallying from eight strokes down and edging Sarah Ababa by one to snatch the ICTSI Negros Occidental Golf Classic crown at the Marapara course here yesterday.

With Ababa too far ahead of the field after 36 holes, Avaricio focused on fighting for runner-up honors against a horde of contenders. But she found herself back right in the title hunt with a two-under card after 10 holes in third-to-last flight.

She bogeyed two of the next seven holes but banged in a clutch par-putt from 12 feet on the 18th to salvage an even par 70 for a 221 worth P105,000.

Back in the final group, Ababa hung on to the lead despite a frontside 40 marred by a double bogey on No. 4. But the two-day leader failed to check her skid and bogeyed four of the last five holes, missing forcing a playoff from just about the same distance where Avaricio buried her last putt.

She skied to a 79 and instead wound up second at 222 and settled for P75,250.

“I didn’t expect it. It (Ababa’s 8-shot lead) was pretty big, so my mindset was just to play well, play my best. Since I didn’t see the scores, I was just trying to go for second place,” said Avaricio, who racked up three victories in a prolific campaign on the Pilipinas Golf Tournaments, Inc.-organized circuit last year.

Beermen crush Painters to end elims on high note

By Peter Atencio

THE San Miguel Beermen

limited the Rain or Shine Elasto Painters to just 15 points in the final period to pull off a 129-116 crushing on Friday in the 2023 Philippine Basketball Association Governors’ Cup at the Philsports Arena in Pasig.

Mo Tautuaa struck with 10 of his game-high 23 points in the fourth period, to help carry the Beermen to a 9-2 win-loss record at the end of the preliminaries.

Tautuaa’s back-to-back baskets in the last 8:23 allowed the Beermen to post one of their biggest leads, 113-93.

Vic Manuel also had 23 points for the Beermen, who will now wait for the outcome of the game between the TNT Tropang Giga (9-1) and Barangay Ginebra (8-2) to determine its seeding entering the quarterfinals.

“It was just the defense. We just relaxed again on defense. The usual thing, we were up by 13 and then we relaxed again. They had a lot of open three-point shots that weren’t contested,” said Beermen coach Jorge Gallent.

CJ Perez finished with a double-double of 20 points and 12 rebounds, while Cam Clark and Marcio Lassiter also made 20 each, while Jericho Cruz added 12.

The Beermen wasted no time in taking command early. With the count tied at 21-all in the first period, Tautuaa’s drive and triple found their mark during a 15-2 burst, sending SMB ahead, 36-23, at the end of the quarter.

In the second period, Lassiter made eight points as the Beermen stayed ahead by six, 62-56, at halftime.

The Scores: SAN MIGUEL 129 – Manuel 23, Tautuaa 23, Lassiter 20, Clark 20, Perez 20, Cruz 12, Bulanadi 5, Herndon 3, Enciso 2, Faundo 1, Brodnial 0, Canete 0, Ross 0 RAIN OR SHINE 116 – Mamuyac 23, Borboran 15, Belga 12, Torres 12, Demusis 12, Namabatac 9, Asistio 7, Nieto 7, Ildefonso 7, Nieto 7, Santillan 6, Yap 4, Caracut 2, Clarito 0, Ponferrada 0 QUARTERS: 36-23, 62-56, 100-91, 129-116

Big guns force 4-way ICTSI golf logjam

BACOLOD— Guido van der Valk and Zanieboy Gialon battled back from seven strokes down with a pair of 66s in the wind while Tony Lascuña mounted his own fightback with a 68 as they forced a fourway tie with Frankie Miñoza to set up a wild, frantic finish in the ICTSI Negros

Occidental Golf Classic presented by MORE Power here yesterday.

Minoza, who surged ahead by three after 36 holes on 68-69 cards, actually threatened to blow the field away with birdies in the first two holes for a huge five-shot lead. But he failed to sustain his charge at the tricky Marapara layout, which bit back and the multi-titled campaigner hobbled with four bogeys and a double bogey against one

more birdie for a 73.

That enabled Van der Valk, Gialon and Lascuña to crowd Miñoza at 210 with Jay Bayron and Rupert Zaragosa, who matched 71s, and Albin Engino, who carded a second straight 72, lurking at 212; Jhonnel Ababa closing in at 213 despite a 72; and Clyde Mondilla likewise staying within striking distance at 214 after a 72 marred by three bogeys in the last six holes.

“You really have to play extra cautious here because it’s tough, especially with the wind,” said Minoza, who fought back from miscues on Nos. 3 and 5 and a double bogey on No. 11 with a birdie on the 13th to regain control.

But he stumbled with bogeys on Nos.

15 and 17, and Van der Valk and Lascuña pounced in on those miscues in separate flights with steady finishes to earn clear shots at the crown worth P405,000 in this kickoff leg of this year’s Philippine Golf Tour put up by ICTSI.

Gialon actually solo control from seven with a blistering sixafter 13 holes. But while Van der Valk spiked his four-under feat with an eagle on No. 12, Gialon marred his 32-34 round with closing back-to-back bogeys, denying the runaway winner at Caliraya Springs last year the solo lead and a cushion needed in

an expected furious final round skirmish at the challenging par-70 layout.

Formula E Resultado Racing Team vows to give PH karting a boost

BORNE out of their passion for motorsports and belief that Filipinos have what it takes to conquer the international racing stage, esteemed motorsports racer and coach Elson Carpio and team principal Theo Zaragoza of Resultado Co. have formed the Formula E Racing Team, which they envision to give the Philippine go-kart industry the boost that it needs.

The team traces its roots from the Formula E Racing Management, established in 1999 by Carpio and has produced some of the top go-karting champions in the country, such as Asian Formula 3 Champion Tyson Sy, Asian Karting Open Champion Javi Benitez, ROK GP Overall Champion CJ Tsui, Asian and National MINIROK Champion Hwarang Kim, and National MINIROK Champion Miguel Angeles.

In 2022, Carpio met Zaragoza, a former jet ski racer, private pilot, and motorcycling enthusiast, who wanted to learn competitive go-karting. When Zaragoza was under Carpio’s wings, the racing mentor was already contemplating retirement and had no plans of expanding the team.

However, Zaragoza saw that Carpio was not just a superb coach but also passionate about developing international go-kart champions.

With motorsports booming in the country, Zaragoza

believed that losing a coach like Carpio would be a waste, prompting him to distill his coach’s vision and goals for the go-karting industry. Creating a foundation for a strong team made Carpio see potential in Zaragoza to be team principal, thereby formalizing their partnership in creating Formula E Racing Management as a team.

“Our mission is to create an environment that will put the Philippine go-kart industry on the map. We hone racers ready to take on the global arena and establish the country as a destination for international go-kart racing,” said Zaragoza, who was able to gather some of the best and up-and-coming karting racers in the country today.

“The plan is to dominate the local karting scene and win championships in Asia and beyond. We thank our major sponsors, Pacific Island Trading Inc. and Malayan Insurance, for supporting the team so we can do just that,” said Zaragoza. “We also want to welcome international racers to try our local circuits, so we can promote the country and increase local go-karting competitiveness.”

To achieve its mission, Formula E is set to change the game, such as creating developmental programs for its racers.

Fifteen-year-old Senior Category Expert Danzel Waytan captains the Formula E Racing Team, the Overall 1st

Runner Up in the Junior Category of the 2021 EHPAF Karting Series, 2022 ROTAX Max Challenge, and 2022 ROK GP. Co-captain is 17-year-old Senior Novice racer Von Viray, the 2nd Runner Up, Intermediate Class in the 2022 ROTAX Max Challenge.

“We know camaraderie, shared knowledge, and healthy competition build teamwork. This is why we chose our captain and co-captain carefully. Even at their young age, Danzel and Von show maturity, level-headedness, and initiative to help their teammates succeed,” Zaragoza said. “We commend captain Danzel for going beyond his tasks of just being a good racer. He was planning to quit go-karting and join the Vios Cup by the end of 2022, but was approached by Formula E to lead its team as captain. Given the opportunity to be coached by Papa Els, Danzel agreed and made his comeback in go-karting.”

Other team members are Cadets 8-year-old Tino Zaragoza, 9-year-old Lucio Reyes, and 10-year-old Gia Chan; MINIROK 9-year-old Andretti Santos; Juniors 12-yearold Akhina Santos, 13-year-old Luis Segundo, and 13-year-old Ryan Sy; Senior Novice 16-year-old Mikel Fuentes; and Senior Expert 14-year-old Gabriel Chan. The 45-year-old Senior Expert Zaragoza, the Overall 1st

“I played well at the front (one-under) and from there I was hitting good shots. But it was only on No. 16 when I saw the scores,” added Avaricio, who moved to within one with two holes to play in hot, windy conditions.

“I just tried to keep myself composed and play through the round,” she said. “I got nervous in the last two holes. But while I bogeyed the 17th, I was able to save par on the last.”

In contrast, Ababa cracked under mounting pressure, missing shots in the last two holes which she bogeyed, enabling Avaricio to snare the championship that in a long stretch had looked like in the bag for the Davaoeña shotmaker.

Ababa opened a four-shot lead over Avaricio with a superb 69 Wednesday and padded her lead to six over Pamela Mariano despite a second round 74, moving her 18 holes away from finally scoring a follow-up to her first and only victory in LPGT’s Sherwood Hills leg in 2015.

Rianne Malixi took the amateur honors with a second straight 73 as she tied Mariano, who carded a 75, at third at 224, while Daniella Uy also wavered with a 75 for fifth at 225, followed by Chihiro Ikeda, who pooled a 227 after a 76, Harmie Constantino, who assembled a 230 after a 78, and amateur Laurea Duque, who shot a 79 for joint ninth at 233 with Florence Bisea, who made an 82.

Baby Tams reclaim cage crown

FAR Eastern University-Diliman outlasted Adamson University, 77-76, to annex the UAAP Season 85 high school boys basketball crown Friday at the Filoil EcoOil Centre.

The Baby Tamaraws won the series, 2-0, for their 8th championship overall in the division.

In his final high school game, John Rey Pasaol produced 21 points, eight assists, four rebounds and four steals while VJ Pre was also huge with 16 points and seven rebounds.

“’Yung sinulat ko sa white board kanina, ‘yung ‘effort is the key’.

From jumpball pa lang, nakita ko sa kanila ‘yung effort na gusto nilang kunin ang series na ito,” said coach Allan Albano after FEU-Diliman reclaimed the throne it last won in the 2016-17 season.

It was a sorry loss for the Baby Falcons, who reached the Finals for the first time since 2003, as Justine Garcia’s shot clock-beating bank shot was nullified after Albano won the coach’s challenge and Earl Medina bungled the potential game-winning triple in the dwindling seconds that would have sent the series to a deciding Game 3.

“Saludo rin ako sa Adamson. Hindi sila nag-give up until the final buzzer. Hindi basta-basta ibinigay ang series na ito,” said Albano. Finals MVP Kirby Mongcopa flirted with a triple-double of 13 rebounds, nine assists and nine points to go along with five steals. He had a 2020 outing in last Tuesday’s opener. The Baby Tamaraws took a 7776 advantage with 28.5 seconds remaining after Pasaol nailed four straight free throws and were able to regain possession after Garcia’s basket was canceled.

Garcia finished with 20 points, six rebounds and three assists while Carlo Bonzalida chipped in 15 points and nine boards for the Baby Falcons.

Chanelle Avaricio kisses her championship trophy. Manny Marcelo

Zanieboy Gialon Manny Marcelo

SMB’s Mo Tautuaa dominates inside.

HOME/DESIGN

Alsons Dev launches new township in Sarangani

GENERAL SANTOS,

—From afar, the once agricultural vista is now flattened out. Half a dozen tractors crisscross the wide dusty plain, marked along its edges by billowing blue flags—the color of nearby Sarangani Bay— emblazoned with the word “Avia.”

Alsons Development and Investment Corp. (Alsons Dev) is carving out a 121-hectare mixed-use township on this windswept land located in Alabel, Sarangani, province in southern Philippines, where towering mountain ranges from a distance provide a picturesque backdrop for future homeowners and commercial locators.

A subsidiary of the Alcantara Group, one of the largest Filipino-owned conglomerates based in Southern Mindanao, Alsons Dev is plunking a cool P1 billion, just for starters, to develop this township, about 15 kilometers from General Santos. It is the company’s first real estate venture out of Davao City where it has built high- and upper midrange residential and commercial projects over the last 60 years.

CREATING A NEW LIFESTYLE DESTINATION

Dubbed Avia Estate, the planned community is currently being built for the first 32 hectares that will have single-detached homes in the Narra Park Residences, a commercial center, parks and open spaces, community amenities, a branch of the Abba Orchards School, and a public safety complex that will house police and fire stations. It will be along a wide highway that leads to beach destinations in Sarangani Bay. The 1.2-kilometer frontage of the complex is also planned to be a commercial strip.

“Sarangani has always been a valued region to the Alcantara family because

SHOWING HOW TO DO IT (URBANIZATION)

we believe in its potential for growth and development,” said Alsons Dev Director Miguel A. Dominguez during the Avia Estate launch.

The diversified Alcantara Group’s aquaculture and agribusiness ventures are mainly located in Sarangani.

“We want to be part of that growth, and we are committed to helping lead Mindanao’s progress by creating a new lifestyle destination that will serve as a growth hub and create more opportunities for the people residing here,” said Dominguez, who served as governor of the province for three terms in 2004-2013.

Units Group, said during the launch that they target to start turning over residential units by late 2025.

For the commercial segments, Ms. Soriaga said negotiations are ongoing for locators and partners, and shops could open as early as end-2023.

Alsons Dev’s partners in its Davao City projects include CityMall Commercial Centers, Inc.

STARTING WITH A BLANK SLATE

Architect and urban planner Paulo

G. Alcazaren, who led in designing the estate, said the project is what planners consider a “tabula rasa.”

uncooperative neighbors, unsupportive local governments, contested boundaries.”

Alcazaren, a staunch advocate of quality-of-life features e.g. wide open spaces, sidewalks, parks and urban greenery, also said that since Alabel — which is adjacent to the commercial center of Gensan — and Sarangani are not yet highly urbanized areas, they have the opportunity to learn and avoid the mistakes of the Philippines’ big cities.

“This is the opportunity for areas other than Manila to show how to do it (urbanization) correctly,” he said.

Good governance is key

doing business, recognizing that good governance is key to attracting investors such as Alsons.

“I thank the Alcantara group for seeing the possibilities of our town,” he said.

“We are confident that this partnership will lead to many opportunities that will improve the lives of our residents and put Alabel on the map as a dynamic growth hub in Sarangani,” the mayor said. Sarangani is part of the Soccsksargen Region composed of the provinces of South Cotabato, Cotabato, Sultan Kudarat, and Sarangani, and General Santos City.

Jolla A.

Soriaga,

assistant general manager for Alsons Dev’s Business

It’s a “blank slate,” Alcazaren explained. “Unencumbered by the usual developer problems of unsuitable and

Alabel Mayor Vic Paul M. Salarda said the local government has continuously been pursuing policies on ease of

For more information about Avia Estate, visit bit.ly/AviaEstate or its Facebook page.

Mouth-watering Lime El Nido

tastes of the three major islands of the Philippines,” said Chef Sau. His menu offerings will be available from March 15 to June 30, 2023.

The wonderful spread includes some of these mouthwatering delights: Kinilaw na Mayamaya, Pinoy Style Caesar Salad, Chorizo & Citrus Chicken Jus, Sous-vide Lengua Pastel, Lamb Shank Caldereta, Sisig, and Deconstructed Halo-halo.

LIVING WITH NATURE. Environmentalists are into properties that are energy-efficient and environmentally friendly. They prefer properties with green features such as solar panels, energy-efficient appliances, and water-saving fixtures. They also like homes with access to nature and homes constructed with sustainable materials. Greenfield Development Corporation’s Trava is the perfect property for ecologically conscious people. From solar panels and rainwater harvesting systems to other sustainable features, every detail has been considered to minimize the properties’ environmental footprint. The properties also feature lush green spaces and landscaped gardens that provide an urban oasis and help promote biodiversity. Greenfield is one of the Philippines’ largest property ownership and land holding companies, backed by its heritage from Unilab and a 50-year legacy of land stewardship and city building.

RLC BAGS FIABCI PH PLUMS. RLC Residences and its mother company Robinsons Land Corporation (RLC), recently won accolades at the recently concluded 2022 FIABCI Philippines Property and Real Estate Excellence Awards.

Two RLC Residences properties took home distinctions in the coveted Residential High Rise category. The Residences at The Westin Manila, a branded luxury condominium in Ortigas, received the Gold trophy. The Sapphire Bloc, also in Ortigas, got the Silver award in recognition of its modern art-deco architecture and walkable lifestyle offering. RLC was hailed the 2022 D’ Excellence Developer of the Year. RLC President and CEO Frederick D. Go received the Achiever’s Circle accolade given by the acclaimed members of FIABCI Philippines recognizing his achievements in the real estate industry. At the FIABCI awards were (from left to right): SVP and Business Unit General Manager John Richard B. Sotelo; Sr. Business Development Officer Vida Liorah Ventura; RLC President and CEO Frederick D. Go; Executive Secretary Leslie Lim; and Marketing Head and Chief Integration Officer Karen Cesario.

SYNONYMOUS to an island retreat is good food. Lime El Nido Resort aims for locals and guests alike to have a total feast of the senses with the Celebrity Chef Series which will kick off this March featuring guest Chef Sau del Rosario of Sawsaw and Cafe Fleur.

Chef Sau has refined his culinary craft not only in the Philippines but also in other parts of the world. “I am pleased to collaborate with Lime Hotel and Resorts for the Celebrity Chef Series. ‘Arkipelago: Featuring Food From Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao’, brings together the unique mix and

Lime El Nido Resort is about 15-20 minutes away from the airport and Lio Beach. For more information and reservations, visit www.lime.ph

CORRECTLY. Alsons Dev Director Miguel A. Dominguez with Avia Estates urban planning consultant Paulo G. Alcazaren, at the Avia Estate launch last week.

Chef Sau del Rosario of Sawsaw and Cafe Fleur

Crispy Pork Belly with Macadamia Kare-kare Sauce

GERMAN auto giant Volkswagen on Wednesday unveiled a new budget electric vehicle, as the competition in the EV sector revs up.

The ID. 2all models, with front-wheel drive and a range of up to 450 kilometers (280 miles), will be priced under US$26,300 when it hits the European market in 2025, the manufacturer said.

It is one of 10 new electric models the company plans to roll out by 2026 as it sharply boosts investment in electrification and digitisation.

Volkswagen said the new models would give it “the widest range of electric vehicles compared with its competitors” with the aim “to achieve an electric car share of 80 percent in Europe”.

“We are implementing the transformation at pace to bring electric mobility to the masses,” VW Passenger Cars CEO Thomas Schaefer said in a statement.

Thomas Schmall, a member of VW’s board of directors, said the company was confident it could maintain the low price point through “economies of scale” achieved with high sales volume.

Volkswagen had said on Tuesday it would invest 122 billion euros in the shift towards electric vehicles over the coming years. “As early as 2025, every fifth vehicle sold worldwide is expected to be one with an all-electric drive,” the group said.

VW said “a major reason” for the spending increase was its push to build a series of battery factories, as well as expenses linked to securing raw materials for batteries.

It plans to focus its spending efforts over the coming years on “growing its presence in the North America region”.

The company also wants to increase its competitiveness in key market China, where it has fallen behind US rival Tesla and local manufacturers of electric cars. In 2022, batterypowered cars accounted for a record seven percent of the VW group’s deliveries, amounting to just over 572,000 units globally.

VW expects EVs to make up around 10 percent of its car sales in 2023. AFP

Volkswagen previews new ‘budget’ electric car

Lalamove launches new vehicle rental program in partnership with QSJ Motors

LALAMOVE Automotive and QSJ Motors Phils Inc. recently inked their partnership for Lalamove’s newest Vehicle Rental Program. The program offers existing and future Lalamove partner drivers and fleet operators with a host of options to rent or rent-to-own a vehicle, enabling them to start their profitable delivery business with Lalamove.

The said partnership was formalized in a Memorandum of Agreement

Signing Ceremony at the QSJ Motors Philippines office in Angeles City. Present at the signing were representatives from Lalamove Automotive and QSJ Motors Philippines, including Lalamove Automotive General Operations Manager, Jeff Balanga; and Kim Yuan Jiang, Owner of QSJ Motors Phils. Inc.

“This joint venture makes vehicle ownership for Lalamove much easier and more flexible than ever in a short-term period. Lalamove Automotive and QSJ Motors are indeed making the impossible possible as we help more Filipinos jumpstart a new livelihood through Lalamove,” said Jeff Balanga, Lalamove Automotive’s general operations manager.

Lalamove Automotive’s Vehicle Rental Program is now available to existing and aspiring partner drivers and fleet operators seeking to earn as much as PHP

170,000 with their trucks, or are looking to build their delivery fleet at minimal costs. Qualified partner drivers and fleet operators can choose from short-term and Rent-to-Own payment options to incrementally own their vehicles, with two primary options:

1. Short Term Rent:

DFSK K01 Truck (600kg) - Rent this vehicle for a minimum of six months, for as low as PHP 16,000. This option can be renewed every six months.

DFSK C31 Truck (1000kg) & FAW Tiger V Truck (2000kg) - Rent these vehicles for a minimum of twelve

An interesting invasion

A SLEW of Chinese brands suddenly came out recently and introduced their respective vehicles in the country.

Among them were Chengu Dayun, Geely, Greatwall, Foton, Changan, Chery, Jetour, and very recently FAW Hongqi, the apparent “Rolls Royce of China.”

Various cars and commercial vehicles were introduced, some of them were either made of internal combustion engine (ICE), hybrid (using gas and electric battery), and fully electric vehicle (EVs).

The sudden influx of Chinese-brand vehicles to the country is not unusual since one of the major international motor shows being held in the country – the Manila International Auto Show (MIAS) –is happening next month.

Each of these Chinese brands is expected to make their presence felt here as early as now in order to make headway in terms of marketing when the MIAS start.

MIAS, as we all know, is the major place where many Chinese brands promote their products in order to be seen by the car-crazy local consumers. By now, those participating brands have already haggled for the prized location at the World Trade Center where they can showcase their products.

Yes, this has been the case in many major motor shows around the world since getting the centerpiece space in any venue would certainly command big attention from the visitors. Here in the country, MIAS and the other one – the Philippine International Motor Show (PIMS) – are really very popular not only for local consumers and car-lovers but also for simple men on the street. Paying P100 in the past is not a problem even to an ordinary guy since they can see lots of stunning new cars and also a bevy of beautiful

models in every participating booth.

(12) months for as low as PHP 20,000 (1,000kg) and PHP 28,000 (2,000kg). This option can be renewed annually.

2. Rent-to-Own Options:

DFSK C31 Truck (1,000kg) & FAW Tiger V Truck (2,000kg) - Rent their vehicles for a minimum of 36 months for as long as PHP 20,000 (1,000kg) and PHP 27,000 (2,000kg).

How to Apply for the Lalamove Automotive Rental Program:

1. Apply & Reserve. Sign-up through the Vehicle Rental Form (https://bit.ly/ LalaAutoRentalForm) and wait for a call from our Sales Team to discuss the process

and next steps.

2. Assessment & Evaluation. Submit all the requirements for the application to be processed. Kindly wait for the results after one week.

3. Approval & Release. Once approved, pay the guarantee deposit and wait for the schedule of vehicle release.

4. Lalamove Accreditation & Onboarding. After vehicle release, the Lalamove Automotive team will assist approved renters with their fleet and driver registration (should they have employed drivers) to the Lalamove platform.

5. Start to drive & earn! Take orders right away!

Requirements for interested applicants are: two (2) government-issued identification cards (IDs); proofs of billing; and proofs of income worth at least three (3) months for new applicants or e-wallet screenshots, or one (1) month’s worth of transaction history for existing Lalamove partner drivers.

Ready to rent a vehicle? Visit Lalamove’s website to learn more about their Rentto-Own Vehicle Rental Program. Be a Lalamove partner driver now and enjoy the exclusive Panalomove Driver Benefits program. Catch the latest updates about Lalamove and other promos by visiting its official Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok accounts.

Isuzu Tagum turns 2; hosts mini truck fest this weekend

ISUZU Tagum, Isuzu Philippines Corporation’s (IPC) dealership in the northern part of Davao Region, is celebrating its second anniversary with a mini truck fest in its dealer showroom until tomorrow (March 19, 2023).

Isuzu Tagum dealership, under the management of Image Motors Davao del Norte Inc., is one of the first dealerships to bear the Isuzu Outlet Standard (IOS) design. The dealership boasts a spacious showroom and an expansive service center that can simultaneously accommodate up to nine light-commercial vehicles and four trucks.

There is one intriguing question that many have quietly asked with this recent entry of Chinese-brand vehicles: Why introduce ICEs, hybrids, and EVs when the focus of the Chinese vehicle manufacturers in China is to go full electric?

There is no question on the capability of the Chinese manufacturers in churning out quality electric vehicles these days. On a regular basis, various Chinese manufacturers are coming out with successful news in finding new technologies to lengthen the mileage of their electric batteries one after the other.

There is no doubt that the Hongqi E-HS9, for example, will not only be a head-turner when it hits the local roads but will also be considered by the consumers of electric cars in the near future because of its better mileage per full charging.

But why did Hongqi choose to bring in the H5, which we think is really a good rival to those major Japanese sedans in the market today when it hit the local road soon? The H5 is not an electric car but uses an internal combustion engine or gasoline-powered.

These Chinese brands might also be thinking that the local Philippine market is still too young for the electric vehicle and that the gas-or diesel-powered cars and vehicles are still the main focus of the local consumers.

There would not be any question on the quantity of the cars those Chinese brands can bring into the country. The question is on how those EVs would fare in the long run when the consumers of ICEs are still prevailing in the local market.

GRAB Philippines welcomed a huge crowd of TNVS aspirants in the second leg of its GrabCar-AVAN last March 4, 2023. GrabCarAVAN is the leading superapp’s initiative to help fill the 4,000 TNVS slots opened by LTFRB last January 09.

Almost a thousand TNVS applicants flocked to GrabCarAVAN which took place in the Grab Philippines Partner Center in Marikina City. The leading superapp attributes the increase in applicants to the removal of the Certificate of Conformity among the requirements of the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) for TNVS franchise application.

TNVS applicants no longer need to submit the bank-issued COC for the application of the Certificate of Public Convenience (CPC) after the passing of LTFRB’s Board Resolution No. 005 Series of 2023 last March 02.

Among the applicants during the recent GrabCar-AVAN leg was 52-year-old Gregorio Garcia. Garcia has been a GrabCar driver-partner since 2016, paying ‘boundary’ to rent a car from an operator. But thanks to Grab’s partnership with Toyota Financial Services, Garcia was able to get his own car this January, allowing him to process his TNVS franchise as the owner. Formerly a jeepney driver, Garcia now plans on getting another unit to rent out to his fellow TNVS drivers. “Talagang malaki ang tulong na naibibigay sa akin ni Grab, unang una sa pinansyal – halos lahat ng pangangailangan namin nakukuha namin rito gaya ng mga gastusin sa bahay, pambayad ng kuryente at tubig. Ngayong may sarili na kong unit, nag-paplano na ako na makakuha ng isa pa sa mga susunod na taon para maging negosyo ko na siya talaga. Maraming salamat sa Grab,” shares Garcia.

A virtual grand opening ceremony was held to commemorate the official opening of its doors to the public in 2021. “For the past two years since our grand opening, we couldn’t hold face-to-face events due to COVID-19 restrictions, so this year, we would like to invite everyone, especially our fleet customers to come visit our showroom and celebrate our second anniversary with us. Everyone is welcome to check out our mini truck fest where we prepared programs and promotions for everyone to enjoy,” said Isuzu Tagum Dealer Principal Walter Alvarez.

Isuzu TRAVIZ and trucks ranging from light-duty to heavy-duty with various custom body applications will be displayed during the mini truck fest, together with mu-X and D-MAX. Test drive units will be available to give customers a full experience of Isuzu units. Isuzu Tagum will also launch anniversary promotions to commemorate its second anniversary.

“I would like to congratulate Isuzu Tagum on their second anniversary. I also commend their team for celebrating the dealer’s anniversary with customers thru mini truck fest. By giving customers first-hand experience of Isuzu units through events like this, we get to inform our customers about the great value for money that we offer through our quality products and services,” stated IPC president Tetsuya Fujita.

Visitors take pictures of the new ID 2 electric car model, during its presentation at the Congress Center in Hamburg. AFP

GrabCar-AVAN draws hundreds of TNVS applicants as LTFRB removes COC requirement

By Riera U. Mallari

IHAVE been a fan of wireless earphones for many years now, because I hate those dangling cables that obstruct my movement. Worse, one little nick on the wire and you can’t use them anymore, which is a total waste.

And so when the true wireless earbuds (known by a different name for a specific brand) became the thing, I immediately jumped on the bandwagon, because, well, why not? They’re compact, easy to use and much sturdier than those with wires.

But practicality dictates that a pair must not burn a hole on one’s pockets. The most money that I will allow for a pair is P6,000. That’s it.

I own quite a few, but my go-to pairs are from a popular American audio equipment brand (slightly worth over P5,000) for my “me” and quality time when I need to savor my favorite music down to the last guitar note and drum roll; and a relatively unknown Chinese brand specializing in audio tech (worth slightly below a thousand pesos) for my everyday use, like zoom meetings, calls, etc.

And then I got to test the OnePlus Buds Pro 2 – which drastically changed the way I looked at TWS (true wireless stereo) earbuds.

The thing is, I was completely satisfied with my US made earbuds as my listening experience with it has always been good. Never did I realize that sound from a pricier brand will produce way better results.

The OnePlus Buds Pro 2 did that to me.

Snug Fit

First thing that matters when you get a new TWS buds is how it fits into your ears. With the OnePlus Buds Pro 2, this is never a problem because included in the unit are various silicone tip sizes for various ear sizes. Mine were super snug and even when I was practically headbanging to rock music, there was no danger of them falling out at any point.

It is also splash-resistant just like the previous generation (OnePlus Buds Pro), so no worries if you get caught in a torrential downpour or if sweat has

OnePlus Buds Pro 2: Impressive sound, great fine-tuning options

accumulated around your ears during a heavy workout.

Battery life

According to its press release, the OnePlus Buds Pro 2 delivers 6 hours of playback + 19 extra hours in the case (for 25 hours total battery life). If you turn ANC off, you should get around 9 hours from the buds and 30 extra hours from the case (39 hours total). We were not able to test it for long hours, but battery life looks legit, as we haven’t charged it since using it for a week.

This

Bluetooth

2023 iteration of the OnePlus Buds Pro has Bluetooth 5.3 support, like most other premium buds, meaning they can get connected to two different devices at once. Pairing with my smart-

phone is always a breeze.

Hey Melody App

And, like other premium brands, the OnePlus Buds Pro 2 has a dedicated app called Hey Melody, where you have a bunch of different control settings and can play around with the noise control and the equalizer to suit your listening styles.

In the app, there is also the Golden Sound, Zen Mode Air, Spatial Audio and Game Mode, which is self explanatory.

In Golden Sound, you can actually create a personalized soundscape, where it plays several different pitches, and you just need to adjust the onscreen slider until you can’t hear the noise anymore. And then after all that, you’ll have your own personal audio profile to boost the areas that you would otherwise struggle to hear.

Golden Haven Memorial Parks connects Filipinos nationwide thru Virtual Open Park

THE integration of digital platforms and virtual spaces in our daily lives has progressed rapidly over the last two decades; high-speed broadband at affordable rates has helped make this not only possible, but also easy for everyone. With technology creeping into practically every facet of our existence, industry leaders are expected to maximize its power to best serve their customers and stakeholders.

Indeed, constant technological innovation is how Golden Haven Memorial Parks has further solidified its status as the most trusted name in the Philippine deathcare industry. Just recently, Golden Haven successfully held its Virtual Open Park, a well-attended nationwide event that was facilitated by Golden Haven’s Digital Marketing team.

Held via Zoom on Feb. 25, the Virtual Open Park showcased seven of Golden Haven’s beautiful memorial parks located across the country, namely Las Piñas; Norzagaray, Bulacan; Bauan, Batangas; Cebu; General Santos, Cotabato; Zamboanga; and Cagayan De Oro—and featured its various amenities and services as well.

The Virtual Open Park enabled clients and customers who missed an earlier organized on-site event to catch up with Golden Haven’s updates on its various memorial properties. They were also given a chance to avail amazing promos and discounts, including exclusive offers for those who purchased memorial lots that day.

Featuring a stunning edgeless 6.7inch HONOR FullView Display and a 100MP triple camera system, the HONOR X8a raises the bar for display and photography performance in the a ordable segment.

With just a few clicks, attendees were able to experience the serene and beautiful environment of Golden Haven’s memorial parks during the Virtual Open Park event. They were treated to a virtual tour of each location, showcasing the verdant settings, lush nature views, and carefully curated themes that went into the design and landscaping of each park. As attendees watched, enrapt, the event hosts conveyed the importance of pre-needed investments in memorial properties. They emphasized the value of securing a final resting place for loved ones before property values appreciate, providing families with the security and peace of mind they need during difficult times.

For those new to the industry, this was an excellent opportunity to ask questions and gain valuable insights into the memorial park industry. Golden Haven’s sales team were on hand to provide attendees with information about the various amenities and services offered by Golden Haven, as well as answer any questions they had about the properties.

Inspired by the success of the event, Golden Haven is poised to hold another Nationwide Virtual Open Park and feature its memorial properties in other parts of the country.

Spatial Audio, the fad these days, is a technology, which transcends typical left-right stereo setup and tricks your brain into perceiving instruments and sounds as if they are taking up actual space somewhere around you. Many will love it, but for the purists, ‘old-school’ stereo sound is the only thing.

On the other hand, the Zen Mode Air is very valuable if you feel a little bit stressed out. You just have to long press one of the buds’ stems for around four or five seconds and then it will start pumping in nice relaxing sounds to soothe you.

Ain’t that cool?

Quick controls

For the quick control of the earbuds and if you’re kind of lazy to open your smartphone, you can do a quick squeeze of either of the buds’ stems. One squeeze will either pause or play your music, a double squeeze will skip the music forward, while a triple squeeze can skip back a track. You can also do

a long squeeze in order to quickly cycle between the noise cancellation boards and the transparency modes. The only real complaint is that there’s no volume controls using the stems.

Noise cancellation

The noise cancellation in the OnePlus Buds Pro 2 is also one of the most impressive I’ve tried with its 48 decibel noise cancellation support. Cancel kung cancel. The only outside “noise” that you’d hear is your breathing. Of course, it all boils down to the sound that you hear. With the OnePlus Buds Pro 2, there is a perfect balance of bass and treble, and clear vocals, with the sound staying sharp and undistorted even at max levels, delivering an impressive listening experience. So yes, you can shell out a couple of thousand pesos more for the OnePlus Buds Pro 2, which retails a shade under P10,000. The additional peso spent will be all worth it.

AWARD-WINNING and leading challenger bank Rizal Commercial Banking Corporation (RCBC) has made online purchases more convenient than ever as it entered into agreements with payment gateway providers SwiftPay and Dragonpay.

Online consumers and merchants now enjoy more options to make digital payments.

The latest step is part of RCBC’s commitment to fast-track digitalization in the country in line with the Digital Payments Transformation Roadmap led by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP). RCBC customers can use their mobile banking

applications to pay for online shopping, a feature encouraging more Filipinos to embrace digital banking and payments. “We are happy to see RCBC as the first bank joining and integrating SwiftPay through its innovative one-click payments via mobile banking app,” said James Allan To, President of SwiftPay. To be optimistic that RCBC’s move is a fundamental surge towards a digital future, “We do hope that RCBC’s aggressive digital push will accelerate the adoption of this new innovative payment method in the country.” “Dragonpay was founded with the goal of making e-commerce easily accessible by all Filipinos. We support RCBC’s vision of reaching out to the financially underserved through their DiskarTech mobile app. We believe this collaboration between Dragonpay and RCBC DiskarTech will make ecommerce even more accessible to Filipinos from all walks of life,” said Robertson Chiang, President, Chief Operating Officer and Chief Technology Officer of Dragonpay. “What is most important about such partnerships is that there will be thousands of Philippines businesses that will benefit from this,” says Lito Villanueva, the Executive Vice President and Chief Innovation and Inclusion Officer of RCBC. The Philippines’ top FinTech visionary and thought leader expounded, “The emergence of e-commerce in the Philippines is an important event for thousands of mSMEs, and these partnerships are our gift to help businesses run by ordinary Filipinos to enjoy the fruits of a fast-developing digital economy.”

HONOR X8a: Most a ordable 100MP ultra-clear camera

GLOBAL technology brand HONOR today announced the launch of the HONOR X8a in the Philippines.

As the latest addition to HONOR’s X Series line-up, the HONOR X8a is a reliable all-rounder, featuring an eye-catching design, a large display offering superb visual quality, and robust photographic capabilities, all available at an affordable price point. The HONOR X8a will be available in the country at P10,990 with FREE HONOR Gift Earbuds worth P1,590 when you buy during pre-order from March 14 to 24, 2023.

“Our newest phone is perfect for the style conscious shoppers. The new HONOR X8a offers a very elegant edgeless display that is really nice to grip. To top it, its ultra-clear 100

MP camera captures DSLR-like photos which is great if you are into photography. All these and more for only Php 10,990,” said Stephen Cheng, HONOR Philippines Vice President. Immersive Display Technology, Packed in a Stylish Device A delight to carry around, the HONOR X8a is slim and lightweight, measuring just 7.48mm and 179g, making daily tasks a breeze while on the go. The device’s clean flat-edge design and smooth shimmering coating on the back panel gives the HONOR X8a a chic look while delivering a secure and comfortable grip, offering the perfect balance between form and function. The HONOR X8a allows us-

ers to view and enjoy content on a large screen thanks to its 6.7inch HONOR FullView Display with a superior screen-to-body ratio of 93.6%. Equipped with HONOR

Display Color Calibration technology which tunes color temperature frame by frame, the HONOR X8a further elevates users’ viewing experience with true-to-life colors. Certified by TÜV Rheinland, the device is also packed with low blue light technology to reduce harmful blue light, ideal for those who spend long hours for visual entertainment use. Featuring a screen refresh rate of up to 90Hz, the HONOR X8a can display more frames per second for smoother visuals to meet users’ daily use.

Powerful Camera System Delivers Stunning Shots, Everytime

The HONOR X8a boasts a 100MP triple rear camera system, the highest megapixel count ever on the X Series. Comprising a 100MP Main Camera, a 5MP Wide & Depth Camera and a Macro Camera, the HONOR X8a can capture high-definition images in vivid clarity, even when shooting complex scenes. The HONOR X8a also features a 16MP Front Camera to ensure users can capture spectacular, high-definition selfies. Paired with industry level artificial intelligence (AI) technology which optimizes images, the HONOR X8a enables users to take striking clear photos with greater ease in over 20 scenarios.

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Lito Villanueva (left, EVP and Chief Innovation and Inclusion O cer of RCBC) and Robertson Chiang (president, COO and CTO of Dragonpay) seal partnership with a handshake.