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VOL. XXXVII • NO. 113 • 3 SECTIONS 12 PAGES • P20 • THURSDAY, JUNE 8, 2023 • www.manilastandard.net • mst.daydesk@gmail.com
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SENATORS vowed to keep a keen eye on economic managers crafting the implementing rules and regulations (IRR) of the Maharlika Investment Fund (MIF) bill once it is enacted into law and warned of “criminal consequences” if the Congressapproved measure is tampered with in any way.
Senate Majority Leader Joel Villanueva warned economic managers not to attempt to invest pension funds into the MIF whether directly or indirectly.
“No matter what they do, they can’t deviate from the spirit of the law,” said Villanueva.
The economic managers, he said, “were not elected to debate, to amend, or to remove (provisions) in this law,” as he underscored the need to closely watch the IRR crafting.
If the government’s economic team -- Finance Secretary Benjamin Diokno, Budget Secretary Amenah Pangandaman, Bureau of Internal Revenue Commissioner Romeo Lumagui Jr. and other officials -- will “tinker” with the MIF law, the Senate leader
Next page
Lawmakers hail Speaker for ‘taking moral high road’ amid attacksLEADERS of the House of Representatives have lauded Speaker Martin Romualdez for remaining focused on his countless responsibilities while he
“It’s time to honor them because they are leaving,” Herbosa said in a mix of English and Filipino. “They’re getting jobs in oter countries that [are] paying them higher. We need to solve this; this is my priority.”
He committed to making sure that the Department of Budget and Management and DOH will be able to issue the benefits due to health workers.
“I’ll look into that, make sure that all those who worked and gave their services will be given their benefits,” he said.
He said President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. was “very clear” about the need to address the increasing cases of TB (tuberculosis), teenage pregnancy, and HIV among the youth.
He also said the President wanted to push specialty hospitals.
Before the Congress adjourned sine
been on the receiving end
of Vice President Sara Duterte’s
defended the Speaker, saying Romualdez never said a bad thing about the Vice President despite being “the obvious subject” of her “vicious insinuations” following the alleged attempt to oust him.
On Monday, the Vice President refused to mention President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s middle name, Romualdez, in her speech for the Office of the Vice President (OVP)’s thanksgiving event
By Charles Dantes and Macon Ramos-Araneta
NEWLY appointed Defense chief Gilbert Teodoro said the Philippines is not a pawn in the geopolitical maneuvering in the South China Sea.Reacting to Chinese criticism of recent moves by the administration, Teodoro said the Philippines should not be questioned in its initiatives to bolster its defensive capabilities.
“Just like we do not question the build-up of defensive and offensive capabilities of other countries, they should not question ours, and they should not tie up our build-up of our capabilities to any question of whether it is Taiwan or what not,” Teodoro said in an interview with ANC.
Returning to lead the Department of National Defense after more than a decade, Teodoro insisted that the Philippines’ partnerships with other nations should not be linked to the territorial
FILIPINO ambassadors should look continuously for
Meeting with the recently appointed chiefs of mission and ambassadors in
Malacañang, the President urged them that with the current global situation amid the “pandemic economy” that altered the dynamics of world dealings, the Philippines must cope with the changing times and not be left behind.
“We are constantly now -- after all the changes that have been imposed upon us, like the pandemic economy
THE government on Wednesday said it aims to privatize the management and operation of the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) by the first quarter of 2024. “That is a very tough and tight schedule. We can say that is doable in the first quarter of next year,” said Transportation Undersecretary for Aviation and Airports Roberto Lim. “That takes time. If there is more than one participant, we will have to talk to all of them. It will take time,”
will insist on their stand barring the use of pension and health funds to be used as seed capital in the fund, noting they have the oversight.
“We can always call on them, if they have the plan to deviate (from the spirit of the bill),” said Villanueva.
Villanueva, however, earlier agreed with Diokno that the Government Service Insurance System (GSIS) and Social Security System (SSS) may invest in projects that also involved the Maharlika Investment Corp.
The Senate hopes to transmit the enrolled MIF bill to the Palace within the week.
Once it becomes an enrolled bill, it will be signed by Senate President Juan Miguel Zubiri and House Speaker Martin Romualdez and will be sent to Malacanang for President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. to either sign or veto and send back to Congress.
“This is an urgent and priority measure of the President,” Villanueva said.
His opposition counterpart, Senate Minority Leader Aquilino Pimentel III,
warned of the criminal consequences of tampering with the MIF bill, as Villanueva noted the measure was still undergoing “finishing touches” like correcting typos and clerical errors by the Senate Secretariat before being submitted to the President.
“Do not change anything in it. This is not OK and may even amount to a crime if words are changed to ‘perfect’ a bill, as the perfecting exercise should have been done on the floor only by the elected members of the Senate,” Pimentel said.
Senators on Tuesday stood firm on their position that state-run pension and insurance institutions are absolutely prohibited from investing in the proposed MIF, as Pimentel admonished Diokno for his “play on words” when he claimed the GSIS and SSS can invest in projects backed by the MIC.
“That is why it is a great privilege to be a member of the Philippine Senate, only 24 individuals at one given time are given this great opportunity and privilege. No unelected staff should be allowed to change the work of the elected members of the Senate,” explained the former Senate President.
However, changing section numbers of an approved bill from the sequence
of, for example, 48, 50, 49, 50, into section numbers 48, 49, 50, 51 may be allowed, Pimentel said.
“But to change the words, the content of the version approved on third and final reading will amount to falsification. The word ‘final’ will have lost its meaning,” he added.
Senate staff cannot change the entries in a bill, like deleting some words or adding new words, he said.
“They cannot change meanings or nullify some expressed idea. They are not allowed to replace their ideas for the words of the senators,” said the minority leader.
He noted that no one else can perfectly express the sentiment and intent of the Senate other than the elected members of the Senate.
“When they said the final version was approved, then that’s it, that is the final version,” he pointed out.
Meanwhile, Villanueva said there were several privileged speeches “that do not contain the essence of our law. There was a miscommunication at the end of the day.”
In a media briefing, Villanueva maintained that the MIF bill passed in the Senate was clear, “wherein
annual appropriations in the country’s budget.
our people, institutions, and pension funds are protected.”
“We will definitely monitor and make sure the IRR would also adhere to the position of the members of the Senate,” the majority leader assured.
He noted that this will be beneficial not only to the government, but also to ordinary citizens.
Sen. Risa Hontiveros also said the Senate will likewise exercise its oversight function to ensure that safeguards for the protection of pensioners’ and contributors’ hard-earned money are enforced.
“It is clear: the Senate’s version of the bill, which was later on adopted (by the House of Representatives), orders the absolute prohibition of the use of funds of the GSIS (Government Service Insurance System), Social Security System (SSS), PhilHealth, and other insurance and pension institutions,” she pointed out.
The task of the Executive Branch “is to carry out laws that have been passed by the legislature,” Hontiveros said.
“What Congress intended should be the standard for how the law is implemented. The Executive is not allowed to change, expand, or limit it based on its own interpretation,” she added.
and the world situation, looking for what we sometimes referred to as nontraditional partners in trades, of any kind, in security and defense issues. (For) all these things, we are always looking for partners,” the Chief Executive told the diplomats.
Present during the meeting with the President were Chief of Mission Carlos Deymek Sorreta, Permanent Representative of the Philippines to the United Nations in Geneva, Switzerland; Ambassadors Henry Sicad Bensurto Jr. (Republic of Turkiye), Renato Pedro Oabel Villa (Kingdom of Saudi Arabia), Raul Salavarria Hernandez (Sultanate of Oman), Paul Raymund Pasion Cortez (Portuguese Republic), Joel Francisco Ignacio (Republic of India), and Maria Angela Abrera Ponce (Malaysia).
The President, however, pointed out his administration remains neutral in terms of foreign policy, not siding with the views of any other country.
“We do not subscribe to any notion of a bipolar world. We only side, of course, to the Philippines, not to the US, not to Beijing, not to Moscow. That’s very much being independent in what we do,” Mr. Marcos said.
for its partners dubbed Pasidungog (Tribute) at a hotel in Manila.
The President’s mother, former First Lady Imelda Romualdez-Marcos, is the aunt of the Speaker.
“Hindi ko na banggitin ang middle initial niya… Mahal ko si Apo BBM (I will not mention his middle initial… I love Apo BBM),” said the Vice President in conveying her respect for the President -- the cousin of the Speaker.
At the height of the rumors of the alleged coup against Romualdez last month, Duterte posted a cryptic message on her social media accounts.
“In your ambition, do not be ‘tambaloslos,’” Duterte said, without naming the person she was referring to.
“The Speaker held his horses and remained focused on his job as the leader of the House of Representatives amid this political rift. He never fired back with insults of his own. That shows strength of character,” said Barzaga, chair of the House Committee on Natural Resources.
Barzaga said the support of various political parties for Romualdez’s leadership enabled the House to approve the priority bills of President Marcos and the Legislative-Executive Development Advisory Council (LEDAC), including the proposed Maharlika Investment Fund (MIF).
He said political bickering is the last thing the country needs, especially since Mr. Marcos ran and won on a platform of unity with Duterte, who has already resigned from the ruling Lakas-CMD, of which Romualdez is the president.
Barzaga, a former president of the National Unity Party (NUP), pointed out that Romualdez helped tremendously in pushing for the vice-presidential candidacy of Duterte, who was eventually recruited to join Lakas.
Villafuerte, the current NUP president, echoed Barzaga’s support to Romualdez and his leadership even as he called for greater unity in the Congress and the executive department. He warned that political discord would only risk the level of cooperation and hard work of the supermajority alliance in the legislature that has helped President Marcos get ahead in his first year in office.
“Improving the lives of all Filipinos, as committed by President Marcos, is the priority in the House on the watch of Speaker Martin (Romualdez), in lieu of divisive politics, hence the need for greater unity,” he said.
Villafuerte said greater unity is crucial to sustaining the close working relationship of Malacañan Palace with the Congress, most especially with the House of Representatives.
Under the leadership of the Speaker, the House has passed in a year’s time most of the priority bills of President Marcos meant to flesh out his “Agenda for Peace and Prosperity.”
“Lest we forget, 31 million Filipinos gave President Marcos the biggest ever electoral mandate in our history in 2022 after capturing their collective imagination with his call for national unity behind his Bangon Bayan Muli (BBM) pledge to lift all boats,” Villafuerte said.
“Our nation’s leaders would break faith with this broad and deep public support for national unity were we to waste our time with vacuous political discord that could only break apart the supermajority coalition in both the House and the Senate—and wreak havoc on the ‘Agenda for Peace and Prosperity’ of President Marcos to improve the lives of all Filipinos,” he added.
dispute in the Asia-Pacific region.
“The Philippines is for the Philippines and we leverage that. And I think other countries want to help us because they view it as... standing strong with democratic values,” he said.
“The Philippines is a value proposition by its own self, and is not a pawn of anybody else in the geopolitical battle that’s raging within our area now,” he added.
In April, China condemned the Philippines for expanding the number of military bases in the country that US troops can use under the Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement.
The Philippines and the US added four new military sites, with two of them near Taiwan.
President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. defended the decision on EDCA, saying the bases will not be used for any offensive attacks and would be focused on disaster response and humanitarian aid.
Teodoro bared that Marcos admonished him to keep any agreements with allies purely defensive.
He said his first order from the President was to reform the military and uniformed personnel (MUP) pension system.
Teodoro said Mr. Marcos instructed him to work with other agencies, lawmakers, and economic managers to find a sustainable MUP scheme.
T he current MUP system is fully funded by the government through
Last month, Finance Secretary Benjamin Diokno deemed the current MUP system “financially unsustainable” and said it might cause a fiscal collapse in the near future.
But some lawmakers and military officials said that the changes in the current pension system might demoralize the morale of the troops and affect the recruitment rate.
Teodoro’s predecessor, Carlito Galvez, had said that at least 70 to 80 percent of enlisted personnel might retire if the proposed MUP scheme is adopted.
Teodoro said he will consult with all the stakeholders in the DND to come up with the most appropriate system.
“A self-sustaining pension system scheme needs time. You need to build up the fund, and we will need to find sources in order to raise capital for the fund, and we need to grow the fund,” Teodoro said.
On the other hand, Teodoro said that he will lobby Congress for a separate budget for the Defense department’s capital outlay.
“We cannot continue to have a Department of National Defense without a capital outlay for our own department. We need to build up the capabilities of this department as part of the national defense family, and I would like to state that is one of my goals, to build up the capabilities of the national defense proper,” he said.
He said that having a capital outlay for the DND would boost its military capabilities and national defense, and help
manage its attached agencies, including the modernization of the Armed Forces of the Philippines.
“In the modernization, the AFP set the horizons. What we will do is to make sure that they get the best at the most affordable cost with the most sustainability as possible,” he added.
Teodoro also said he opposed reopening peace talks with the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP).
“To enter into peace talks, I have always been against that,” Teodoro said.
“Why will we enter into peace talks when they can go back and run for public office? This is really a violation of our democratic process,” he added.
Teodoro pointed out that if the concerns of the CPP are a substantial issue, there are existing political processes under the Constitution for them.
“It cannot take up arms and just violate the Constitution, in the same way as we do not want rightists also to take up arms against the government. It works both ways,” he said.
When he served as DND secretary during the Arroyo administration Teodor said the CPP’s struggle was not about ideology but about taking power.
He also said the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC), which has been accused of red-tagging government critics, was doing its job well.
“Well, naturally any violation of law is reprehensible and should be disciplined. However, we cannot also deny the gains made by the NTF-ELCAC in dismantling communist fronts,” he said.
Mr. Marcos also urged the envoys to explore and discuss with him some opportunities or undertakings that might be substantially beneficial to the country and to Filipinos.
“I’m sure you have heard that we are prioritizing agriculture, energy, all the infrastructure development, and digitalization. Now, if there are opportunities that would come up, you should explore them and if they’re promising enough, then we’ll take it up,” the President said.
“We’ll try to see if something can come up. There’s no harm in trying and whatever happens, at least we tried,” he said.
“So let us keep looking at those areas. And also, what I found out many times, you go there and you talk about agriculture and something else comes up.”
Wednesday due to the high level of “vog,” or volcanic smog, being emitted by Taal, the local government said.
In a Facebook post, the Laurel LGU said affected classes were those from 10 a.m. onwards.
In a public briefing, OCD Information Officer Diego Mariano said: “Anytime that just in case the situation worsens, we are ready to evacuate (residents near Mayon). Even the assistance we can extend to our countrymen that would be affected is also ready.”
die last week, the Senate passed on third and final reading a bill to create specialty hospitals in every region of the country.
Herbosa also said the DOH would not bring back the Dengvaxia dengue vaccine, despite the statement last year by officer-in-charge Maria Rosario Vergeire that they were open to studying the evidence on the shots.
From Jan. 1 uo to May 13, the DOH logged 48,109 dengue cases in the country, 38 percent higher than the 34,963 cases during the same period in 2022.
There were also 176 dengue-related deaths in the same period, representing a 0.4 percent case fatality rate.
The Dengvaxia controversy arose in November 2017 when its manufacturer Sanofi Pasteur announced that the vaccine may lead to severe symptoms if one has never been infected by dengue prior to vaccination.
Due to this, the Philippine Food and Drug Administration suspended the sale, distribution, and marketing of Dengvaxia vaccine and ordered its withdrawal from the market. But by then, the government was already conducting a widespread dengue vaccination program under then Health secretary Janette Garin.
Herbosa said he would focus on the government’s priority projects, including the implementation of the Universal Health Care Law.
He also denied allegations that he pushed to privatize government hospitals, saying that the Aquino administra-
to operate as a body that will regulate [and] oversee,” he said.
tion had merely sent him to study public-private partnerships in health care.
The Alliance of Health Workers (AHW) accused Herbosa, who was Health undersecretary under the Aquino administration, of being the promoter and cluster head of NCR and Southern Luzon Public-Private Partnership Projects, which included the sale of Philippine Orthopedic Center and the abolition of Fabella Hospital. The alliance also tagged him as being behind the privatization to some extent the operations of government hospitals during his term.
“Privatization of public hospitals and other public health services will result in higher income generation by collecting higher fees from the patients while health workers will be subjected to more inhumane working conditions,” the AHW said.
Mariano added that the quick response fund and standby fund are ready to be disbursed to aid affected residents should there be any eruptions, as the OCD continues to monitor the status of volcanoes in the country.
“We are ensuring that there are no people at the permanent danger zones and that our preparedness measures are in place, in case the alert levels for these volcanoes rise,” he added. In its 11 a.m. bulletin, Phivolcs said a visible upwelling of volcanic fluid in the crater and a voluminous 2-kilometerhigh, steam-rich plume caused significant volcanic smog (vog) since Tuesday.
Taal emitted an average of 7,680 tons/day of volcanic sulfur dioxide (SO2) gas on Tuesday and 9,291 tons on Monday.
“Vog can be expected to persist over the Taal region while degassing activity, weak wind movement, and humid atmospheric conditions prevail,” Phivolcs said.
senger experience,” Poe said.
he added.
Lim said privatization would have its upside in terms of efficiency in passenger and flight movement, and would generate income for the government.
“There is a lot of upside when you upgrade NAIA. You introduce efficiencies. That means you can process more passengers, you can take in more flights, and more revenues—[which] means a larger share for the government,” he said. Lim also clarified issues surrounding the airport’s privatization, including the role of the Manila International Airport Authority (MIAA) once the privatization takes place and the airport employees.
“The relationship between MIAA and the concessionaire will be regulator-operator. The MIAA will continue
“Generally [there will be] no loss of employment. Airport employees will be offered the opportunity to work when the airport facilities are privatized,” he added.
Lim said that all airport assets at the NAIA still belong to the government with the private concessionaire limited to an operations and management role.
On Friday, the Department of Transporation (DOTr) and MIAA submitted a joint proposal for the NAIA solicited Public Private Partnership (PPP) Project for approval by the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) Board, giving the private concessionaire 15 years to operate the airport and recover its investment.
Senator Grace Poe said if the airport operations had been privatized earlier, the country might have avoided many of its problems.
“We could have averted the glitches
that messed up the flight schedules and inconvenienced thousands of travelers had the modernization of the airport’s air traffic control and operations been undertaken years ago,” Poe said.
The proposal to enlist a private concessionaire to operate the country’s main gateway, she said, was one of her priority recommendations in the committee report on the NAIA power glitches.
“Like any concessionaire, we need to ensure that this private entity lives up to its commitment to improve air services in the country,” said Poe, who chairs the Senate committee on public services.
She noted the government should require an accomplishment timeline, performance matrix, and penalties for any default.
“We have seen how the transformation of the Mactan-Cebu International Airport by a private consortium and its improved services and facilities have positively impacted on tourism and pas-
She said this could be a template for the modernization of the NAIA operations.
“It’s time to start fixing our country’s premier gateway. Filipinos and foreign travelers deserve a better airport,” she said.
The Bureau of Immigration (BI) welcomed the proposal to modernize NAIA, saying it will facilitate the delivery of faster and efficient immigration services to the traveling public.
Immigration Commissioner Norman Tansingco said the BI fully supports a joint proposal recently submitted by the DOTr and Manila International Airport Authority to NEDA to undertake the NAIA modernization.
The proposal seeks to upgrade the facilities of the country’s premiere airport through a public-private partnership scheme that will be undertaken by a private concessionaire who will invest in the project.
APAMPANGA trial court has convicted a policemen and a former errand boy of the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) for kidnapping and killing of a South Korean businessman in 2016.
The Angeles City Regional Trial Court (RTC) Branch 60, in a 192-page decision, found SPO3) Ricky Sta. Isabel and his accomplice Jerry Omlang guilty beyond reasonable doubt of the special complex crime of kidnapping with homicide.
They two were sentenced to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole.
THE Supreme Court (SC) has ruled that the submission of complete Statement of Contributions and Expenditures (SOCE) within the 30-day period after the national and local elections is mandatory, and cannot be extended by the Commission on Elections (Comelec) through a mere resolution.
In an en banc decision written by Associate Justice Mario Lopez, the SC declared as void Comelec Resolution No. 10147 issued on June 23, 2016, extending the deadline for the filing of the SOCEs from June to June 30, 2016. The SC held that the Comelec committed grave abuse of discretion in issuing the said resolution and resetting the SOCE deadline.
“The arbitrary extension of the deadline for the submission of the SOCEs effectively condoned erring candidates and political parties from administrative liabilities even if the law does not provide any exempting circumstances,” the SC noted.
The High Tribunal stressed that the Comelec’s blanket extension of the period to file SOCEs “amounts to usurpation of legislative power.”
Nonetheless, the High Court ruled that the SOCEs submitted within the extended deadline set under Comelec Resolution 10147 were deemed timely filed based on the doctrine of operative fact.
The doctrine recognizes the effects of the law or executive issuance prior to its invalidation when relied upon by the public in good faith.
“Here, the candidates and political parties that submitted their SOCEs following the extended deadline acted in good faith. They honestly believed on the resolution that was issued pursuant to the COMELEC’s rule-making authority,” the SC said.
The SC also noted that the Comelec even previously extended the deadline for the filing of SOCES in the 2010 and 2013 national and local elections, which were not questioned until the present case.
“Accordingly, the effects of accomplished acts prior to the invalidation of Comelec Resolution No. 10147 should be allowed to stand. The SOCEs submitted within the extended period or until June 30, 2016 are deemed timely filed,” the tribunal said.
The decision stemmed from the petition filed by the Partido Demokratiko Pilipino-Lakas ng Bayan (PDP-Laban) on July 7, 2016 questioning the validity of Comelec Resolution No. 10147.
It argued that the Comelec exceeded the limits of its delegated rule-making authority and violated Section 14 of R.A. 7166 (An Act Providing for Synchronized National and Local Elections…) that SOCE must be filed within 30 days after the elections.
“The Court finds that the prosecution was able to prove that SPO3 Ricky Sta. Isabel and Jerry Omlang aka Jerry are guilty beyond reasonable doubt of the special complex crime of kidnapping with homicide,” the ruling stated. The Court also directed Sta. Isabel and Omlang to pay the heirs of their victim, Jee Ick Joo, a total of P250,000
in damages, plus P100,000 as civil indemnity.
The Court also found Sta. Isabel and Omlang guilty of kidnapping and serious illegal detention and sentenced them to another life term.
“There being no aggravating or mitigating circumstance in the commission of the offense, they are hereby sentenced to suffer the penalty of reclusion perpetua together with the accessory penalties,” the ruling read.
They were also directed Sta. Isabel and Omlang to pay Jee’s housemaid, Marisa Dawis Morquicho, P150,000 in damages and P75,000 as civil indemnity.
The Court likewise sentenced Sta. Isabel and Omlang to imprisonment for 22 years to 25 years for the crime of carnapping.
“Although Jee was forcibly taken, the information charging the accused with carnapping did not state that it was committed by means of violence against, or intimidation of, any person, or force of things,” the Court said.
“Therefore, accused Sta. Isabel and Omlang can only be convicted of simple carnapping and sentenced to suffer the penalty of imprisonment of 22 years to 25 years,” the Court explained..
On the other hand, the Court acquitted Supt. Rafael Dumlao of the charge
DEPARTMENT of Foreign Affairs
(DFA) Secretary Enrique Manalo said Wednesday that the inclusion of the Philippines in Canada’s Electronic Travel Authorization (ETA) program marks an “important milestone” between the two countries’ relations, which came after the recent visit of Canadian Foreign Minister Melanie Joly to Manila.
Manalo lauded the development, saying the Philippine inclusion in the ETA was “a striking indication of Canada’s growing friendship and trust in the
Philippines as well as the great value it attributes to the Filipino community that has contributed to its diversity and dynamism.”
“The new policy is expected to spur travel, stimulate more business opportunities, and foster greater interest for family reunification efforts,” Manalo added.
The Canadian government announced on Wednesday the inclusion of 13 countries, including the Philippines, in its ETA program.
The program allows holders of those countries to enter Canada for up to six months for either business or leisure, considering that they have been issued a Canadian visitor visa in the past ten years or have a valid non-immigrant US visa.
“The Philippines considers Canada as a close partner due to its wellestablished people-to-people ties and looks forward to charting a new era of engagement under this new policy,” Manalo stressed. Rey
E. RequejoTHE Makati City government on Wednesday announced the release of P36.4 million in cash incentives to 21,245 Blu Card holders.
Mayor Abigail Binay said the first batch of recipients conveniently received their cash incentives because they have updated their GCash accounts.
“Prior to the release of the mid-year cash incentives, we announced the need to update their GCash accounts through our My Makati Facebook page. We did this to ensure that the account is under their name and other relevant information are accurate and complete,” she said.
The city opened the Proud Makatizen portal for the updating of the Blu Card
holders’ GCash accounts from May 15 to 28, 2023.
Under the Blu Card program, registered senior citizens will receive their cash incentives twice a year—in June and December. For the mid-year, seniors 60-69 years old will receive P1,500; 7079 years old, P2,000; 80-89 years old, P2,500; and 90-99 years old, P5,000. Centenarians aged 101 and above will also receive P5,000 as mid-year cash incentive provided that they have been a Blu Card holder for at least five years. If not, the beneficiary will only be receiving P2,500 mid-year cash incentive.
Mayor Binay urged Blu Card holders without GCash accounts to set up their own account and keep it updated to be able to receive their benefits. Those who already have a GCash account but have not yet updated it are advised to regu-
larly visit My Makati Facebook page and wait for announcements on GCash account updates.
Since last year, the cash incentives have been directly sent to the GCash accounts of the recipients to ensure safe, convenient, and fast delivery of their mid-year gift.
On June 1, the city revived the free movies program for the Blu Card holders.
Senior citizens who are active Blu Card members and Makatizen Card holders only need to download their Makatizen Virtual Card at https://mymakatizencard.ph/virtualcard and have their Makatizen Virtual Card QR codes scanned by cinema partners to avail themselves of the free cinema tickets.
To date, there are 82,617 active Blu Card holders in the city.
THE Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) will augment the revenue resource-based operational capability of municipal local government units (LGUs).
Minister Naguib Sinarimbo of the BARMM Ministry of the Interior and Local Governments said some of the region’s municipalities had not been allocated with Internal Revenue Allotment (IRA) since their creation under the now- defunct ARMM.
Governor Abdulraof Macacua of the newly created Maguindanao del Norte province has welcomed the launch of REAL (Revenue Enhancement Assistance for Local Government Units) in two of the province’s 12 municipalities, saying the design and implementation of the REAL program was very timely
of kidnapping for lack of sufficient evidence.
The Court said the prosecution failed to prove that Isabel, Omlang, Dumlao, and SPO4 Roy Villegas were guilty beyond reasonable doubt of kidnapping for ransom with homicide.
Jee was abducted, along with his house help Morquicho, from his Angeles City home on October 18, 2016, by armed men purportedly carrying out an anti-drug operation.
The victim was strangled to death right inside the Philippine National Police headquarters in Camp Crame. His remains were allegedly burned and flushed down the toilet.
THE Taguig City government is investigating the source of contamination that resulted in the food poisoning of at least 40 people in Barangay Upper Bicutan last Tuesday.
The City Health Office (CHO) padlocked the stall believed to have sold the toxic food that may have caused the mass poisoning.
The CHO s that the store would remain closed until the probe was completed and the source of the toxic food determined.
Mayor Laarni Cayetano ordered her men from the Incident Management Team and the City Epidemiology and Disease Surveillance Unit (CEDSU) of the CHO to take immediate action in coordination with barangay officials in the area.
Joel E. ZurbanoBOC seizes kush worth
P2.4m in Port of Clark
THE Bureau of Customs (BOC) has intercepted more than 1.5 grams of kush worth P2.4 million in a shipment declared as “denim jeans” at the Port of Clark, in Pampanga.
The contraband was discovered after the shipment was X-rayed and subjected to K9 sniffing by the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) K9 Unit, confirming the presence of dangerous drugs.
Port of Clark district collector Elvira Cruz said a physical examination was conducted by Customs examiner and representatives from the Customs Anti-Illegal Drugs Task Force, Enforcement and Security Service, Customs Intelligence and Investigation Service, XIP, and PDEA.
“Three jog sealed bags containing dried leaves and fruiting tops were found,” she said.
Vito Barcelo Chedeng intensifies a bit, but no heavy rains seen TROPICAL storm “Chedeng” slightly intensified, but not expected to cause heavy rainfall over the country over the next three days.
The Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services (PAGASA) said it was moving east northwest over the Philippine Sea.
“Although the current forecast scenario for this tropical cyclone may result in the enhancement of the southwest monsoon, the timing and intensity of monsoon rains over the country (especially in the western portion) may still change due to the dependence of monsoon enhancement on the forecast movement and intensity of “Chedeng” as well as its interaction with the other weather systems surrounding it,” the PAGASA bulletin read. Rio N. Araja
especially for the “IRA-less” municipalities.
It can be recalled that the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) in 2008 had disapproved the IRA budgetary allocations for municipalities created under the ARMM. Those towns have since been known in the region as the “IRA-less” municipalities.
Sinarimbo said the MILG-BARMM has launched its Revenue Enhancement Assistance for Local Government Units (REAL) Program which is being piloted in Sultan Mastura, Buldon and Datu Blah Sinsuat, both in Maguindanao del Norte, and Pualas and Binidayan in Lanao del Sur.
He said REAL will have a budget allocation component to augment for some basic programs commitment of the national government to the communities, and second for capability building for specific LGU officials.
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PRESIDENT Ferdinand Marcos Jr. honored overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) in commemoration of Migrant Workers’ Day as he vowed to look after OFWs’ welfare abroad by fostering better ties with their host countries.
In a video message uploaded on his official Facebook page, the President said the Philippine government is keeping its “stronger” ties with the host countries to make sure that the OFWs would be accorded a safe working environment.
“Your contributions have enriched the lives of countless individuals and societies to your different professions and capacities. Despite the miles that separate us, your heart and soul remained firmly rooted in our homeland and your unwavering love for our nation shines bright,” the President said.
“We understand the challenges that you faced being far from your loved ones, adjusting to new cultures, and overcoming barriers,” he added.
“That’s why this administration will continue to foster stronger ties with countries that host our migrant workers, ensuring safety, welfare, and wellbeing.
As you build your dreams in far-off lands and seas, do know that you are not alone,” President Marcos said.
As of 2021, there are about 1.83 million OFWs worldwide, according to the data released by the Philippine Statistics Authority in December last year.
Migrant Workers Day is celebrated every June 7 in commemoration of the signing into law of Republic Act 8042 or the Migrant Workers Act of 1995.
The law mandates the celebration of Migrant Workers Day in recognition of the valuable contributions of OFWs to the country.
PRESIDENT Ferdinand Marcos Jr. underscored the “necessary partnership” that the Philippine government has with Filipino-Chinese businesses in revitalizing the country’s economy.
President Marcos said this during the oath-taking of the new set of officers of the Federation of Filipino-Chinese of Commerce and Industry, Inc. at the Kalayaan Hall of Malacañan Palace.
In his speech on Wednesday, Mr. Marcos emphasized his administration’s policy of maintaining “critical partners” when it comes to the transformation of the Philippine economy.
“As in every mutually beneficial partnership, the Federation will rest assured that this administration will continue to support this healthy relationship,” the chief executive said.
“It is not only a healthy relationship, it is one that we consider to be a necessary partnership, and I think it has been made clear that the policy of this administration is to have the critical partners in the transformation of our economy as critical partners in the private sector and as leaders in the private sector. Then we will look once again to you for your assistance, your partnership, and your continuing commitment to make the lives of ordinary Filipinos better,” he added.
He noted that the government and the federation have the same idea when it comes to strengthening the economy.
Mr. Marcos said his administration would continue to harness its partnership with the Filipino-Chinese groups for the betterment of the public.
HIGHGRADE.
The Bureau of Customs Port of Clark, under the leadership of District Collector Atty. Elvira Cruz, intercepted 1,514 grams of highgrade marijuana or “kush” worth P2,498,100 in a shipment declared as “denim jeans” on May 15.
THE Department of Justice (DOJ) will start on June 13 its preliminary investigation on the murder and other criminal charges filed against Negros Oriental 3rd District Rep. Arnolfo “Arnie” A. Teves Jr. in connection with the March 4, 2023 killings of 10 persons, one of them Gov. Roel R. Degamo.
Senior Deputy State Prosecutor Richard Anthony D. Fadullon on Wednesday said summons to file counter-affidavits have been issued against Teves and his five co-respondents on charges of 10 counts of murder, 14 counts of frustrated murder, and four counts of attempted murder.
The DOJ panel of prosecutors headed by Senior Assistant State Prosecutor Mary Jane E. Sytat expects the counter-
affidavits would be filed by Teves and his co-respondents on or before June 13. Teves, who is suspended for another 60 days as a legislator – has been abroad despite the expiration of his travel authority to travel on March 9, 2023.
The lawmaker filed a petition for political asylum before the Timor-Leste government, but denied his plea. He was also reported to have appealed the denial
before Timor-Leste’s Supreme Court.
Teves has been tagged as “one of the masterminds” in the killing of Degamo. He has denied all allegations against him.
The criminal charges against Teves were filed by the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) before the DOJ on May 17, 2023.
His co-respondents were identified in the complaint as Angelo V. Palagtiw, Neil Andrew Go, Capt. Lloyd Cruz Garcia, Nigel Electona, and a person identified only as “Jie-An,” who was reported to be a sister of Palagtiw.
Besides Teves and the five respondents, 11 detained suspects have already been charged before the Manila Regional Trial Court where all the cases involving Degamo’s killing have been ordered transferred by the Supreme Court (SC) on the request of Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin C. Remulla.
JAILED Philippine human rights ac-
tivist Leila de Lima was denied bail Wednesday on the remaining drug trafficking charge filed against her during former president Rodrigo Duterte’s administration, her lawyer said.
De Lima, one of the most outspoken local critics of Duterte and his deadly drug war, has been detained for more than six years on charges she insists were fabricated to silence her.
“Sad to inform you that the Court de-
nied Sen. Leila’s bail application,” her lawyer Filibon Tacardon said in a message to journalists, adding he was “in shock” at the decision.
The ruling followed another court’s verdict on May 12 that acquitted the former senator and justice minister of a separate drug trafficking charge.
The 63-year-old is accused of taking money from inmates inside the country’s largest prison in exchange for allowing them to sell drugs while justice minister
from 2010 to 2015 under then-leader Benigno Aquino. She initially faced three charges. Two have been dismissed as the prosecution’s case falls apart, with multiple witnesses dying or recanting their testimonies. De Lima, a mother of two, faces life in prison if she is convicted on the remaining charge. In denying the bail application, Judge Romeo Buenaventura said the evidence against de Lima and her co-accused was “strong”. AFP, Maricel Cruz
THE Government Service Insurance System (GSIS) must collect overdue loan obligations from principal loan amounts of P45 billion from its members and even loans granted to private companies of P2.114 billion, according to the Commission on Audit (COA).
It cited that the P2.114-billion outstanding principal of private companies accrued interest of P823.153 million through the years.
Its 2022 report is a reiteration of the audit observation made in 2021 with a total of P22.119 billion in private loans to 25 companies.
The amount was lessened to P2.114 billion as of Dec. 31, 2022, due to the ac-
count settlement of three companies.
State auditors, in the audit report, did not disclose the name of the firm with projects of Water Fun in Muntinlupa City and iQuezon City, 102 units in St. John Condominium in Quezon City, 366 lots in Mary Homes Subdivision in Cavite, and rights to 240 units in Metro Homes, Manila.
“Based on the available data, the outstanding balance of Company 1’s loan (including principal, interest and surcharge) as of Dec. 31, 2022, could not be determined,” the report read.
The “unsound investment and inefficient collection” from 21 companies led to missed opportunities to invest the P2.144 billion in other ventures that could have yielded millions or billions of pesos.
SENATE President Pro Tempore Loren Legarda emphasized the significance of maintaining the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Centrality in prioritizing the welfare of the regional bloc. This is amid matters on minilateralism that continue to contribute to shaping the region’s interest.
As one of the speakers in the Special Session on Balancing AsiaPacific Minilateralism and ASEAN Centrality at the 20th International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS) in Singapore on June 3, Legarda said that while ASEAN remains a driving force in forging regional and multilateral cooperation on various issues, the Association should recognize minilateral groups and arrangements for its potential in creating a conducive environment that is beneficial among ASEAN Member States and its partners.
“These minilateral arrangements can also be seen as a welcome opportunity to initiate discussion among like-minded entities on various economic, social, security, and defense issues. Minilateral cooperation can thus be seen as an arrangement that can complement and supplement ASEAN regional initiatives,” the senator said.
Macon Ramos-AranetaBICOL Saro Rep. Brian Raymund Yamsuan has proposed a “wholeof-government” in responding to environmental disasters including oil spills. Yamsuan cited the need to for government to establish interagency protocols that would bring government agencies in close coordination with each other to swiftly mobilize and address the impact of environmental disasters on affected communities and ecosystems.
“The idea of ‘whole-of-government’ approach aims to change the current ‘reactionary’ mindset in government of addressing the widespread and debilitating effects of environmental hazards and catastrophes, such as the oil spill from the sunken MT Princess Empress, which capsized in the waters off Oriental Mindoro last February 28,” Yamsuan said in a statement.
Maricel V. Cruz
GABRIELA Women’s Party called out Grab Philippines’ repeated disregard for compliance orders from regulatory agencies, including the refund order imposed by the Philippine Competition Commission (PCC) in 2019.
Assistant Minority Leader Rep. Arlene Brosas said that the recent additional P9 million fine imposed by the PCC should not have surprised Grab, given its history of noncompliance.
“As of April last year, only 73.80% of the total P25.45 million refund has been returned to Grab customers. It is unacceptable that the full amount has not been refunded yet. Imposible namang walang kinikita ang Grab sa laki ng singil nila sa mga mananakay,” Rep. Arlene Brosas stated.
ONE of the truly outstanding appointees of this administration is a young man with the unusual name of Rexor. He gave up his elective post as representative of Valenzuela City to assume the offered role of DSWD secretary, extremely important in a country where poverty reigns and disasters visit every so often.
The initial appointee could not muster approval by the Commission on Appointments because of foreign citizenship and other impediments, and so Malacanang had to scout for a replacement.
Fortunately, in one of those inspired moments, they chose Gatchalian.
Listening to him communicate his thoughts and policies so soon after assuming his post, and watching how he responds to people’s needs in times of disaster, prepositioning relief goods and mobilizing his personnel when PAG-ASA warns of visiting typhoons, such as the recent Mawar which fortunately spared us, one cannot but admire this Cabinet member.
Watching him recently on a Karen Davila interview, I saw the business-like approach when he said he was thinking of bidding out relief goods procurement, along with its distribution in affected localities, to purveyors such as supermarket chains which have the needed manpower and logistics to do the work effectively, rather than have to procure centrally along with carrying costs such as warehousing, transport and other logistical requirements.
Dynamism has come to an oft-looked down agency of government with an image of being a mere ‘ayuda’ distributor, hogging the headlines only in times of calamity
Few in government make as much sense as this young man who clearly disdains scandal-ridden PS-DBM and PITC buck-passing, and would rather decentralize operations efficiently and effectively.
And then this idea of giving food stamps to the poorest of our poor, rather than merely dispensing “ayuda,” to ensure that Filipinos, especially our young, can escape hunger and get the nutrition their bodies and minds need.
Surveys, even the most recent ones, estimate that some 10 percent of Filipino households experience involuntary hunger, having nothing to eat in the first three months of the year.
Although these numbers are declining marginally through time, it is still most worrisome.
Distributing food stamps to needy families isn’t exactly an original idea yet nobody in DSWD thought of adopting it until Rex came along.
Gatchalian’s “food stamp” is really an acronym – Food Provision through Strategic Transfer and Alternative Measures Program, a flagship program which intends to provide food augmentation to families experiencing involuntary hunger due to poverty.
Targeted beneficiaries will be given an Electronic Benefits Transfer (EBT) card that will be loaded with a specific amount and can be used to purchase a selected list of food items from registered local retailers.
One nice condition in the program is that the EBT cannot buy liquor or alcoholic beverages. May we suggest they also bar purchase of heavily sugared drinks, particularly soda or soft drinks?
The aim is to ultimately address household gaps in energy and nutritional needs, so that members can perform daily work that directly and indirectly contribute to human utilization in nation building.
Although still in the design phase with pilot implementation targeted for July this year, the Asian Development Bank saw merit in the plan such that they have given it initial funding of US$3 million.
The pilot implementation will initially cover some 3,000 families in NCR, Caraga and the BARMM, targeting the urban and rural poor as well as calamity-stricken areas.
Target beneficiaries are families with incomes of 8,000 pesos or less, to whom the EBT cards loaded with 3,000 pesos worth of food credits.
They will coordinate with the Food and Nutrition Institute (FNRI) in crafting the program, where a designed basket of goods will include 50 percent carbs, 30 percent protein and 20 percent fats, with beneficiaries choosing say, rice, fish, veggies, cooking oil, etc.
There is a conditional work component to the plan, so those who sign up will be required to seek employment to continue receiving the benefit.
This is to prevent findings where 4Ps or conditional cash transfer beneficiaries, especially in the countryside, become content with the cash they receive and disdain work.
Likewise some heads of families use up their “pantawid pamilya ayuda” to buy liquor, or even bet in sabong or jueteng.
We wish the DSWD and Gatchalian success in their pilot project so that their food stamp program can roll out to benefit more and more needy families, and dependency on laziness-inducing“ayuda” diminishes in time.
Already, Albay representative Joey Salceda has suggested that DSWD coordinate with the Department of Agriculture so that farmers’ surplus produce, which dampens their ex-farm prices, can be synergized with the food stamp initiative.
Salceda likewise suggested that revenues from the sweetened beverage tax be used to fund the food stamp program. Great!
Congress may also want to take a second look at the 4Ps program, and if Gatchalian’s food stamp program works well, perhaps it would be time to stop giving cash to beneficiaries, and substitute food commodities instead, wholly or partially.
Rex Gatchalian properly stated his mission when he said that most people look at DSWD in terms of welfare, forgetting the more important word, which is development.
Developing young minds through proper nutrition and reducing hunger amongst our teeming poor would eventually result in meaningful and genuine economic development.
Finally, dynamism has come to an oftlooked down agency of government with an image of being a mere “ayuda” distributor, hogging the headlines only in times of calamity.
It’s all about leadership.
MANY will be watching the full swing and listening to the statements of Secretary of National Defense Gilberto Teodoro, named to that post this week by President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.
Functionally, Teodoro, a corporate lawyer and a licensed commercial pilot who turns 59 on Wednesday next week, is not new to the post he once held when he was 43 years old under the administration of then President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo. Admittedly, there have been changes in the defense topography, given the dynamics of the times. But he is returning to the post, with cool, if arresting, credentials, not to mention the full trust of the appointing authority, six years his senior.
He will be sailing across the West Philippine Sea, where China’s growing aggression has been unambiguous, with his eyes and mind glued on the radar screen.
At the back of his mind are the ruling on July 12, 2016 by the Paris-based International Court of Arbitration in favor of the Philippines and President Marcos’ statements the Philippines cannot concede “any of the territorial claims being made against our established territory.” The PCA voided China’s claim to more than 80 percent of the sea based on a 1940s map.
But Teodoro is returning to the post, with cool, if arresting, credentials, not to mention the full trust of the appointing authority, six years his senior
Manila-Beijing relations have recently been dominated by the territorial disputes in the West Philippine Sea, which has escalated since the naval standoff over the Scarborough Shoal in April 2012 and aggravated by issues including Chinese
AS EXPECTED, the Maharlika Investment Fund Bill was passed by both houses of Congress, the controversies despite, in record time. Like previous Presidents who can make things happen if they wanted to, PBBM clearly showed his clout in this undertaking and he did not even have to do any overt arm twisting to any lawmaker to get it done.
But judging from what we are reading in the papers, the fight is not yet over. Critics of the bill will almost certainly bring the issue to the Supreme Court when it becomes a law.
In the meantime, supporters and critics alike will be battling it out in the court of public opinion to promote views. Senator Koko Pimentel, one of those who opposed the bill, started even when the ink was not yet dry by asking the President to veto the bill which obviously is not going to happen.
NEDA Secretary Arsenio Balicasan, who initially kept quiet when the MIF was proposed, came out giving his thumbs up to the MIF, touting its benefits to the country.
This was followed by Finance Secretary Ben Diokno, who, speaking ex-cathedra like the Pope who is infallible when it comes to faith and morals, pronounced that the BSP will remain stable in spite of its earnings going to the MIF and there is nothing to fear. He also said all the negative comments are simply panic reactions.
He came out as the most outspoken advocate of MIF. Since he is the main money man of the government and has spoken ex-cathedra, maybe we should all chill and take his word for it.
As I have written a few months ago, there is nothing inherently wrong with the establishment of an investment or sovereign fund for the country.
Other countries like Norway have one which has grown to over a trillion dollars and is now benefiting the country.
Others like Malaysia became the milking cow of certain corrupt politicians resulting in one former Prime Minister going to jail with his wife.
Let us hope that if the MIF will finally hurdle all the objections together with a possible Su-
preme Court challenge, that it will indeed benefit the whole country and people instead of a few enterprising corrupt public officials who might try to dip their fingers into the cookie jar.
If one goes over the provisions of the proposed law, they appear to have good intentions.
But what is bothersome to most people is that time and again our political leaders have shown they have a very poor track record when it comes to handling huge amounts of public funds.
It is also worrisome when high ranking gov-
Diokno will now have a lot of explaining to do for contradicting what PBBM said and putting him on the spot
ernment officials would aggressively come out guaranteeing the soundness of an untested undertaking as if they can foretell what will happen in the years to come.
We should all remember that old aphorism that the road to hell is paved with good intentions.
Let me cite a couple of examples.
One is the Coconut Levy Fund established during the Martial Law years.
The intention of the CLF was to accumulate funds to benefit the tens of thousands of coconut farmers who continued to live in poverty.
At that time, copra was one of our biggest agricultural exports. But almost 50 years later, where are all those funds that have been collected?
Does anyone even know exactly how much money there is or if the intended beneficiaries ever received anything at all?
I say the beneficiaries are people other than the coconut farmers for whom the CLF was intended.
illegal occupation, and unlawful establishment of infrastructures.
China, which asserts ownership over most of the resource-rich waters, has overlapping claims with the Philippines and fellow ASEAN members Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, and Vietnam as well as Taiwan.
Another monstrous challenge in front of Teodoro is climate change, since he is the concurrent chairperson of the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council.
In 2009, when tropical storm Ondoy killed at least 921 and caused $1.15 billion in damage, Teodoro was the incumbent defense chief as the weather disturbance caused widespread flooding in the metropolis and surrounding provinces.
He will not fail to hear President Marcos’ phrasal verbs, who said in one of his speeches that climate change is the greatest threat affecting various nations and that its effects are uneven and reflect historical injustice, stressing “Those who are least responsible suffer the most.”
In 2021, the Philippines committed to reduce 75 percent of its emissions by 2030 and quickly scale up efforts to adapt to a changing climate, setting itself one of the most ambitious targets among Southeast Asian countries.
President Marcos Jr., in December last year in Brussels, also called for “more progress” in the commitment of rich nations to set up a “loss and damage” fund to support poorer countries severely impacted by climate change.
The other example was the well-meant PDAF program. The PDAF was supposed to allow lawmakers to allocate funds that they control to benefit their constituents. Unfortunately, as it is often the case, the funds went to the wrong beneficiaries.
To be fair, cases were filed in court, ending in some lawmakers spending time in jail but, in the end, their cases were dismissed and the conduit and facilitator is the one languishing in jail.
Unfortunately, when it comes to money cases, usually the little Indians end up spending time in jail and the masterminds getting off the hook.
Of course, Congress believes it has put enough safeguards in the bill to deter would-be corrupt officials down the line who will not be afraid of raiding the funds for other purposes.
But there are doubters in this regard.
For one, after PBBM gave his assurance that pension funds will not be used to capitalize the MIF, Secretary Ben Diokno comes out from out of the blue to create a tempest by saying that both SSS and GSIS can in fact invest in the MIF.
So, what is really the score? Will SSS and GSIS funds be used or not? Whom should the public believe now?
We do not know if the good Secretary misspoke, overstepped his mandate or just simply duplicitous but the integrity of that government has now been put into question.
He will now have a lot of explaining to do for contradicting what PBBM said and putting him on the spot.
He will also have to soothe the feelings of many lawmakers who are now understandably furious for rekindling what was supposed to have been a settled issue.
If there is anything to take from what Ben Diokno just did, it is that it strengthens the hands of those against.
Let us hope this can be corrected and the correction will be believed by the public. Otherwise, there will be problems.
IN THE dynamic landscape of business, networking has emerged as a key catalyst for growth and progress and become an essential tool for success in the business realm.
From enriching collaborations and discovering new opportunities to exchanging ideas and building a strong professional support system, networking has the potential to open doors and propel careers to new heights
At its core, networking is the art of building and nurturing relationships with individuals who share common interests or goals.
It goes beyond exchanging business cards at events; rather, it goes beyond developing meaningful connections and developing mutually beneficial collaborations.
In today’s digital age, the power of networking has expanded beyond traditional face-to-face interactions to encompass a boundless lineup of online platforms and tools.
One may ask, what is the significance of networking in the modern business world and what are the strategies and benefits it offers.
Growth of networking
Networking, once limited to in-person events and conferences, has undergone a remarkable revolution with technology’s jump.
The advent of social media, professional networking platforms, and virtual communities has opened up new horizons for businesses to connect with like-minded individuals across the globe. These digital networks have made it easier
than ever to establish meaningful connections, exchange knowledge, and tap into a vast pool of opportunities.
Building trust and credibility
Networking is not solely about expanding one’s contact list; it is as well about building relationships grounded in trust and credibility.
Profound connections are the bedrock of successful networking, as they provide a solid foundation for collaboration, knowledge sharing, and support.
By actively engaging with peers, industry leaders, and experts, professionals can nurture long-term relationships that open doors to new prospects, mentorship, and strategic alliances.
Networking for professional advancement
Networking has become a crucial asset for professionals seeking career growth and advancement.
Attending industry conferences, seminars, and trade shows offers opportunities to interact with industry thought leaders, gain insights, and enables them to stay updated on the latest trends.
By keenly participating in professional associations and online communities, individuals can position themselves as subject matter experts, expand their knowledge base, and enhance their professional reputation.
For entrepreneurial success
For entrepreneurs, networking plays a decisive role in establishing and growing their ventures.
By engaging with investors, industry influencers, and potential partners, entrepreneurs can gain access to funding, strategic guidance, and market insights.
Networking also provides an avenue for collaboration, helping entrepreneurs find complementary skill sets, secure partnerships, and reach new markets.
Networking is the art of building and nurturing relationships with individuals who share common interests or goals
Leveraging networking events and pitch competitions can help entrepreneurs showcase their innovations, build a customer base, and establish their brand presence.
Role of technology
The rise of digital technologies has revolutionized the networking landscape, reshaping the way individuals and organizations connect, communicate, and collaborate. It has become the backbone of modern networking, facilitating seamless connections across borders and time zones.
From video conferencing tools to virtual networking platforms, technology has enabled professionals to transcend geographical barriers and engage in meaningful interactions making it easier for professionals to establish virtual connections and pull global opportunities.
This shift has created a level playing field, allowing small businesses and entrepreneurs to compete with larger counterparts by leveraging their networking prowess. Additionally, advancements in data analytics
and artificial intelligence have empowered businesses to leverage network data for targeted marketing, customer relationship management, and personalized experiences. Strategies and best practices
• Define your goals: Before diving into networking, it is crucial to define clear objectives.
By clarifying your goals, you can tailor your networking efforts and maximize their impact be it for career advancement, seeking mentorship, or exploring new business opportunities.
• Develop genuine connections: Authenticity is key when establishing connections. Approach networking with a genuine interest in others, actively listen, and engage in meaningful conversations. Show support and offer help when appropriate, as building relationships is a reciprocal process.
• Maximize digital platforms: In the digital age, online networking platforms have become invaluable resources. Platforms like LinkedIn, Twitter, and industryspecific forums provide opportunities to connect with professionals globally, engage in discussions, and showcase expertise. Actively participating in relevant online communities can help expand your network and visibility, as well.
• Attend industry events and conferences: Physical events and conferences provide a unique environment for networking. They bring together professionals from diverse backgrounds, creating an ideal setting for forging new connections and staying updated on industry trends. Be prepared with your elevator pitch, and actively engage in conversations.
• Join professional organizations and associations: Membership in professional organizations
allows individuals to network with peers, attend industry-specific events, and access exclusive resources.
These communities provide a supportive network of like-minded individuals who can offer advice, mentorship, and potential collaborations.
• Be proactive and consistent: Networking is an ongoing process. Actively seek out opportunities to network, both online and offline. Engage in regular conversations, follow up with contacts, and cultivate relationships over time. Building trust and rapport takes effort and consistency.
• Be prepared and professional: Always be prepared to present yourself professionally. Have a well-crafted elevator pitch, maintain an up-to-date online presence, and ensure that your personal branding aligns with your professional goals. Dress appropriately for networking events and maintain a positive attitude.
• Follow up and show gratitude: After connecting with someone, it is crucial to follow up and express gratitude for their time and insights.
A personalized email or message can help solidify the connection and set the foundation for future interactions.
Remember to reciprocate and offer your assistance whenever possible.
• Build a diverse network: A diverse network expands your horizons and provides fresh perspectives.
Seek connections outside your immediate field or industry to promote cross-pollination of ideas.
(HLBC is former Marketing Manager and President of an International multi-level-marketing firm. He is owner of Bernardo’s Habanero Food Processing Phils. & Artisan Hub Creative Designs).
ONE of the train services involved in a triple collision in India’s deadliest railway disaster in decades was set to resume Wednesday, as officials revised the death toll up to 288.
“The Coromandal Express is back on track,” railway spokesman Aditya Kumar Chaudhary told reporters, with the train set to depart Shalimar station near Kolkata on Wednesday afternoon on a 25-hour journey south to Chennai.
The service was one of three trains involved in the crash near Balasore in the eastern state of Odisha on Friday.
Odisha’s chief secretary Pradeep Jena said late on Tuesday the official death toll had risen to 288, up from an earlier official total of 275.
At least 1,175 people were injured, many of them in critical condition and still being treated in hospital.
Jena said the revised toll came after deaths were tallied from both hospitals and mortuaries and noted that 83 bodies remain unidentified.
Medical centres were overwhelmed by the number of casualties and there are fears the death toll could rise further.
The Coromandal Express was diverted onto a loop line when it then slammed into a stationary goods train.
The collision flipped the carriages of the Coromandal Express onto another track.
The derailed compartments then struck the rear carriages of another train, the Howrah Superfast Express from India’s tech hub Bengaluru, which was passing in the opposite direction. AFP
UKRAINE was evacuating thousands of people Wednesday after an attack on a major Russian-held dam unleashed a torrent of water, inundating two dozen villages and sparking fears of a humanitarian disaster.
Washington warned there would be “likely many deaths” as Moscow and Kyiv traded blame for ripping a gaping hole in the Kakhovka dam, which is located on the frontline and provides cooling water for Europe’s largest nuclear plant.
Kyiv said the destruction of the dam – seized by Russia in the early hours of the war – was an attempt by Moscow to hamper its long-awaited offensive, which Ukraine’s leader stressed would not be affected.
The UN Security Council held an emergency meeting on Tuesday following requests from Russia and Ukraine.
“Today’s news means the plight of the people in Ukraine is set to get even worse,” the UN’s top humanitarian official Martin Griffiths told the meeting.
The UN warned that hundreds of thousands could be affected on both sides of the frontline.
People in Kherson, the largest population centre nearby, headed for higher ground as water poured into the Dnipro River.
“There is shooting, now there is flooding,” said Lyudmyla, who had loaded a washing machine onto a cart attached to an old Soviet car.
“Everything is going to die here,” added Sergiy as water from the dam poured into the city, which was the scene of heavy fighting in 2022.
Ukrainian authorities said 17,000 people were being evacuated and a total of 24 villages had been flooded.
“Over 40,000 people are in danger of being flooded,” Prosecutor General Andriy Kostin said, adding that 25,000 more people needed to be evacuated on the Russian-occupied side of the Dnipro.
“The evacuation will continue tomorrow and in the coming days – by bus and train,” presidential adviser Oleksiy Kuleba said late Tuesday.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky accused Russia of detonating an “environmental bomb of mass destruction,” saying authorities expected up to 80 settlements to be flooded and urging the world to “react.”
“This crime carries enormous threats and will have dire consequences for people’s lives and the environment,” Zelensky said.
But the explosion would “not affect Ukraine’s ability to de-occupy its own territories”, he added.
Last October, Zelensky accused Russia of planting mines at the dam, warning that its destruction would spur a new wave of refugees into Europe.
Kyiv said 150 tonnes of engine oil had spilled into the river, and the agricultural ministry said about 10 thousand hectares of farmland on the right bank of the river would be flooded and “several times more” on the left bank.
Western powers also blamed Russia for the damage, with EU chief Charles Michel calling it a “war crime,” while NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg said the dam breach was “outrageous.” AFP
REPUBLICAN former New Jersey governor Chris Christie jumped into the 2024 race for the White House on Tuesday, positioning himself as a political knife-fighter and the only candidate willing to take on frontrunner Donald Trump.
Christie, who filed his paperwork with the Federal Election Commission before an evening announcement in Manchester, New Hampshire, presents a novel challenge as the only Republican contender so far willing to land genuinely damaging blows on the former president.
The 60-year-old Newark native came sixth in New Hampshire seven years ago and eventually endorsed Trump, serving as a key advisor before the pair fell out over the tycoon’s refusal to accept his 2020 election defeat.
At his announcement in New Hampshire Tuesday evening, Christie depicted Trump as self-obsessed and dishonest.
The former US president, Christie said “always finds someone else and something else to blame for whatever goes wrong, but finds every reason to take credit for anything that goes right.”
And Christie argued last month that
the de facto Republican leader was “afraid” of debating serious opponents.
Trump has indicated that he may skip at least one of the first two Republican primary debates, expressing a reluctance to share the limelight with lowerpolling rivals.
“If he really cares about the country – and I have deep questions about that –but if he really cares about the country, then he’s going to get up there, and he shouldn’t be afraid,” Christie told conservative radio host Hugh Hewitt.
Christie has assailed Trump on all manner of issues, highlighting the es-
calating criminal probes targeting the embattled billionaire, trashing his false claims of election fraud and dubbing him “Putin’s puppet” over his isolationist stance on Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
John Ellis, a former head of the Fox News Election Night Decision Desk, told AFP that while a bigger field benefits Trump, Christie’s candidacy could put the top-polling candidate on the back foot.
“Because he will attack Trump relentlessly, Christie’s campaign will get a ton of coverage in the mainstream press,
MEXICAN authorities said that human remains discovered in bags in a ravine in the western state of Jalisco last week belong to eight call center employees reported missing. The gruesome discovery was made last week at the bottom of a 40-meter (120-foot) ravine in the municipality of Zapopan, a suburb of Guadalajara, a large industrial hub.
The authorities had launched a search for two women and six men, all aged around 30 years, who had been reported missing since around May 20. Forensic evidence “confirms that (the remains) correspond to the young people who... had been reported missing,” the Jalisco state government said in a statement Tuesday. Authorities did not indicate how the victims may have died.
The missing person reports for each one of the employees had been made separately on different days, but investigators found that they all worked at the same call center.
Initial inquiries suggested the call center could have been involved in illegal activities.
SPAIN’S elBulli, repeatedly voted the world’s best restaurant before it closed over a decade ago, is set to reopen as a museum dedicated to the culinary revolution it sparked.
Nestled in an isolated cove on Spain’s northeastern tip, the museum is dubbed “elBulli1846” – a reference to the 1,846 dishes ground-breaking chef Ferran Adria says were developed at the eatery.
“It’s not about coming here to eat, but to understand what happened in elBulli,” the 61-year-old told AFP near the kitchen of the restaurant he ran for over two decades.
The museum will open on June 15, nearly 12 years after the restaurant served its final dish to the public.
Visitors will be able to see hundreds of photos, notebooks, trophies and models made of plastic or wax that
emulate some of the innovative dishes which were served at the eatery.
Adria pioneered the culinary trend known as molecular gastronomy, which deconstructs ingredients and recombines them in unexpected ways.
The results are foods with surprising combinations and textures, such as fruit foams, gazpacho popsicles and caramelized quails. Under Adria’s watch elBulli achieved the coveted Michelin three-star status and was rated the world’s best restaurant a record five times by British magazine The Restaurant.
“What we did here was find the limits of what can be done in a gastronomic experience,” Adria said.
“What are the physical, mental and even spiritual limits that humans have? And that search paved paths for others.” AFP
A UN court has ruled that ageing Rwandan genocide suspect Felicien Kabuga is unfit to stand trial, calling instead for an “alternative” legal procedure that would not end in a conviction.
The Haguebased International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals said in an order late Tuesday that it “finds... Mr Felicien Kabuga is unfit to participate meaningfully in his trial and is very unlikely to regain fitness in
the future.”
Judges said they wanted to “adopt an alternative finding procedure that resembles a trial as closely as possible, but without the possibility of a conviction.”
This would “ensure respect for his rights” at the same time as achieving the goals of the court, they said.
One judge gave a dissenting opinion.
Kabuga, 90, went on trial in September last year, with prosecutors accusing him of setting up hate media that urged ethnic Hutus to kill rival Tutsis and supplying death squads with machetes.
The businessman refused to appear in court or appear remotely at the start of his trial and has subsequently followed proceedings via video-link from
a wheelchair at the court’s detention centre.
The court put the trial on hold in March over health concerns.
Kabuga was arrested in Paris in 2020 after decades on the run and sent for trial in The Hague. He has pleaded not guilty to charges of being involved in an infamous Hutu radical radio station urging people to kill Tutsi “cockroaches” during the 1994 slaughter in which 800,000 people died. He also denied supplying machetes and otherwise supporting the murderous Interahamwe Hutu militia.
Kabuga is one of the last Rwandan genocide suspects to face justice, with 62 convicted by the tribunal so far. AFP
Relatives of the missing have criticized authorities, saying they had been too slow to find their loved ones and to investigate the call center.
In recent years, human remains have been found in bags or unmarked graves in different areas of Jalisco.
The Jalisco New Generation cartel operates in the state and is one of the most powerful organized crime groups in Mexico, and is embroiled in disputes with other drug syndicates.
Mexico has recorded more than 340,000 murders and some 100,000 disappearances, the majority attributed to criminal organizations, since the launch of a controversial military anti-drug offensive in December 2006. AFP
TWO people were killed and five injured during a shooting near a high school graduation in the US state of Virginia, police said, the latest in an epidemic of mass shootings plaguing the country.
The shooting took place around 5 pm (2100 GMT) outside a theater in the state capital of Richmond, where students from a local high school were celebrating their graduation, Richmond interim police chief Rick Edwards told reporters.
The deceased included an 18-year-old graduate and a 36-year-old man, he added.
Of the five injured, one remained in critical condition.
“People scattered, it was very chaotic at the scene,” Edwards said.
A nineteen-year-old suspect fled the scene, but was soon arrested and is to be charged with second-degree murder, Edwards said.
The official did not name a possible motive for the crime, but said the suspect knew at least one of the victims.
Several handguns were recovered from the scene. With more firearms than inhabitants, the United States has the highest rate of gun deaths of any developed country—49,000 in 2021, up from 45,000 the year before. AFP
‘World’s best restaurant’ reopens as a culinary museum in SpainGAPING HOLE. This combination of SkySat handout images by Planet Labs shows (top) a SkySat image taken on June 4, 2023 released on June 6, 2023 showing the undamaged Kakhovka HPP dam and (bottom) an image taken on June 6, 2023 showing water flowing through the damaged Kakhovka HPP dam. The partial destruction of the major Russian-held dam in southern Ukraine unleashed a torrent of water that flooded two dozen villages forcing mass evacuation, sparking fears of a humanitarian disaster near the war’s front line. 2023 Planet Labs PBC / AFP ART IMITATES LIFE. Photo shows plastic reproductions of dishes displayed at the former El Bulli restaurant transformed into ‘elBulli1846’ Museum, in Roses, near Barcelona, Spain. AFP MOST WANTED. A red cross is seen drawn on the face of Felicien Kabuga (left), one of the most wanted fugitives from the 1994 Rwandan genocide, on a wanted poster at the Genocide Fugitive Tracking Unit office in Kigali, Rwanda on May 22, 2020. AFP
STOCKS rebounded Wednesday after the World Bank raised its 2023 growth outlook for the Philippines to 6.0 percent from 5.6 percent and investors held out hope the US Federal Reserve will skip an interest rate hike this month.
The PSE index, the 30-company benchmark of the Philippine Stock Exchange, gained 84 points, or 1.31 percent, to close at 6,564.70 as all six subsectors advanced, led by holding firms.
The broader all-shares index went up 26 points, or 0.75 percent, to settle at 3,495.65 on a value turnover of P4.1 billion. Gainers led losers, 97 to 79, while 44 issues were unchanged.
Nine of the 10 most active stocks
ended in the green, led by Ayala Corp. which climbed 2.90 percent to P674.00 and PLDT Inc. which rose 2.44 percent to P1,259.00.
The peso also advanced 0.22 percent Wednesday to close at 56.098 against the US dollar from 56.22 Tuesday.
Meanwhile, Asian markets were mixed Wednesday. Reports that US Secretary of State Antony Blinken will visit China provided optimism for a thawing of relations between the superpowers, but with a lackluster Wall Street performance and few catalysts to drive business, regional traders moved cautiously. Meanwhile, a World Bank warning on the global economic outlook gave some food for thought as it lowered its growth expectations for next year. Traders are keeping tabs on China, with reports saying authorities have asked the country’s biggest banks to lower their deposit rates in a bid to boost the economy as it struggles to recover from years of zero-Covid lockdowns.
Analysts said such a move could indicate the People’s Bank of China was considering an interest rate cut as soon as this month.
The need for fresh help was highlighted Wednesday by data showing Chinese exports tumbled more than seven percent in May, far more than expected and the first drop since February.
The reading follows figures showing shrinking factory activity and showed the uphill task officials have in kickstarting the economy. And while imports performed better than forecasts, there remain concerns over consumer activity.
The report was “yet another disappointing data which will raise growth concerns and intensify expectations of more policy support”, said Khoon Goh, at Australia and New Zealand Banking Group.
Figures also showed China’s total trade with Russia hit $20.5 billion in May, its highest level in a single month since Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine. With AFP
PARIS, France—The OECD slightly raised its growth outlook for the world economy on Wednesday as inflation eases and China has dropped Covid restrictions, but it warned the recovery faces a “long road”.
The Paris-based organization forecast an economic expansion of 2.7 percent, up from 2.6 percent in its previous report in March, with upgrades for the United States, China, and the eurozone.
But it is still under the 3.3 percent growth recorded in 2022. “The global economy is turning a corner but faces a long road ahead to attain strong and sustainable growth,” OECD chief economist Clare Lombardelli wrote in the OECD’s Economic Outlook.
“The recovery will be weak by past standards,” Lombardelli wrote.
The growth forecast for 2024 remains unchanged at 2.9 percent.
A drop in energy prices, the untangling of supply chain bottlenecks and China’s sooner-than-expected reopening are contributing to the recovery, the OECD said.
But core inflation, which strips out volatile energy and food prices, is higher than previously expected, according to the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development.
The OECD said this may force central banks, which have already raised interest rates in efforts to tame consumer prices, to further hike borrowing costs.
“Central banks need to maintain restrictive monetary policies until there are clear signs that underlying inflationary pressures are abating,” Lombardelli said.
At the same time, the organization warned that higher interest rates around the world are “increasingly being felt”, notably in property and financial markets.
“Signs of stress have started to appear in some financial market segments as investors reassess risks, and credit conditions are tightening,” the report said.
The banking sector was rocked in March by the collapse of US regional lender SVB, whose demise was partly blamed on high rates bringing down the value of its bond portfolio. AFP
THE Philippines’ premiere gateway may soon fade into obsolescence unless something is done quickly to solve all the challenges besetting the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA).
From congestion to technical malfunctions, this central piece of our national infrastructure seems to have it all, with everything coming to a head during its infamous power outage—of all times—in the New Year, stranding tens of thousands of tourists and kababayans for almost nine hours.
NAIA has failed to play catch-up with its rivals in this part of the world after years of neglect and underinvestment. Worse, with the pandemic nearly over and international travel strongly bouncing back, NAIA is poorly positioned to meet increasing passenger demand with sufficient levels of service. The airport, thus, is in no shape to assure the health and safety of passengers, and employees as well.
The Philippines in the month of April this year, according to the Manila International Airport Authority, posted the highest passenger volume and flight movement in a single month since the COVID-19 pandemic, with NAIA registering over 3.6 million passengers, up 50 percent year-on-year. The Philippine tourism sector is expected to book 55 million passengers by 2028, clearly a logistics nightmare if no immediate fixes are are done with our airports.
Rival airports in Southeast Asia, Hong Kong, China, Japan and Korea are expected to beef up their facilities amid the surge in foreign travel. In contrast, our main airport could become a handicap to our tourism industry and economic ambitions, especially when there is no alternative primary gateway for the rest of this decade. Clearly, we need a comprehensive solution for NAIA now. Real and ready solutions offered by trusted groups should be a strong and primary consideration.
The unsolicited proposal submitted by the Manila International Airport Consortium (MIAC) offers the first concrete and immediate solution to seeing the long overdue upgrade finally begin.
Six of the country’s biggest conglomerates—Aboitiz InfraCapital Inc., AC Infrastructure Holdings Corp., Asia’s Emerging Dragon Corp., Alliance Global-Infracorp Development Inc., Filinvest Development Corp. and JG Summit Infrastructure Holdings Corporation—have pledged their financial muscle to see the project through.
The consortium members, along with US-based Global Infrastructure Partners—one of the leading infrastructure investors and airport operators in the world—are firmly established local and international players in infrastructure development, with technical expertise to manage long-term proposals of this nature.
The consortium offered to rehabilitate and modernize NAIA at a cost of at least P100 billion (US$1.8 billion) with no required subsidies and guarantees, meaning no taxpayers’ money will be involved in the upgrade.
The proposal is straightforward. The government is set to benefit as the arrangement entails substantial proceeds and investment into the airport immediately, including an upfront payment to the national government as well as investments in new facilities and technology. The consortium assured NAIA would have the ability to serve up to 70 million passengers a year efficiently, or more than double its current capacity.
With the tourism sector bouncing back and well on its way to recovery, time is of the essence in order to create more job opportunities and expand the economy. The Philippines, according to the Department of Tourism, logged a revenue of P1.784 trillion in 2022 from both international and domestic travel. The DOT says domestic travel market will experience 100-percent full recovery this year and that the country is on track to reach the 4.8 million 2023 target after logging over 1.87 million visitor arrivals as of May.
Can the Philippines catch up? The world’s hunger for flight can only be satisfied if the overall travel experience ticks off all the essential boxes—it should be safe and secure, comforting, convenient and punctual. This is where Philippine falls short, spelling dire consequences not only for our tourism industry but also for our broader economic prospects as trade and investments gear up in the long post-pandemic recovery ahead.
The immediate improvement of NAIA as proposed by MIAC at no cost to the government offers an immediate win-win-win for the Filipino people—something we have long been hoping to happen for our beleaguered but still beloved airport.
This ready solution to NAIA’s woes should be strongly considered by the government as its first priority for the airport.
E-mail: rayenano@yahoo.com or extrastory2000@gmail.com
9. Election of the 2023 Board of Directors
the Current Year
10. Other Matters 11. Adjournment Only stockholders of record as of 10 June 2023 are entitled to notice and to vote at this meeting.
For the health and safety of the stockholders and all persons in light of the risks associated with the COVID-19 pandemic, the Company will not hold a physical meeting and will instead conduct the meeting via Zoom webinar. Stockholders can therefore only attend and participate in the meeting by remote communication. Stockholders also have the option to vote in absentia or appoint the Chairman as proxy. The meeting will be presided by the Chairman in the Principal Office of the Company at Brgy. Ungka, Jaro, Iloilo City. Stockholders who intend to attend by remote communication shall inform the Company by email to corpsec@apmciloilo.comon or before 23 June 2023 subject to the procedure set in the Information Statement which will be posted in the Company’s website www.apmc-iloilo.com.In the same website, stockholders may access the following: (a) Minutes of the Meeting on 29 September 2022 and (b) Proxy Form for Attendance at Meeting and other meeting documents required under Section 49 of the Revised Corporation Code. The link for the Zoom webinar will be sent to the email address of the stockholders who registered to attend via remote communication.
To those who would opt to participate by voting through the Chairman as proxy, the deadline for submission of proxies will be at 5:00 pm of 23 June 2023. Those who are unable to join the meeting via remote communication but wish to vote on items in the agenda may appoint the Chairman as proxy with specific voting instructions which will be duly counted. Proxies can be submitted to the Office of the Corporate Secretary or via email to the aforementioned address. For individual stockholders, the submission must be accompanied by a copy of a government-issued ID as proof of identification. For corporations, the submission must be accompanied by a certification from its Corporate Secretary stating the corporate officer’s authority to represent and sign on behalf of the corporation. Kindly submit to the Office of the Corporate Secretary the original signed and notarized documents within a reasonable time after the resumption of regular business operations.
During the meeting, the Company shall entertain questions and comments from the stockholders after the presentation of the Annual Report. Questions which were not answered during the meeting shall be forwarded to the Office of the Corporate Secretary for the appropriate response via email. For ASM-related queries, you may send an email to corpsec@apmciloilo.com or contact the Office of the Corporate Secretary at 3215748, 09292703169 and 09452331438. For concerns regarding shareholdings, please contact Toni Dinah Cheer D. Fernandez of the Investor Relations Office at 3215748, 09292703169 and 09452331438 or via email directly to corpsec@apmciloilo.com
SGD. MAYLENE B. VILLANUEVA, CCO, AICD Corporate Secretary
ELECTRONIC commerce in the Philippines is expected to grow 15 percent to $16 billion in 2023 from $14 billion in 2022 across all major platforms, albeit slower compared to the compounded annual growth rate of 67 percent in the last four years.
Locad co-founder and chief executive Constantine Robertz said there remained significant growth potential for Philippines brands in regional and global markets despite a slowing down of e-commerce in the new normal.
“To grow in percentage term is not as exponential anymore as it was in the pandemic. We’re still seeing growth on a much higher base than what we had last year and and even more so in the first few years in pandemic and pre-pandemic,” he said at the Philippine Global e-Commerce Summit 2023 at the SMX Convention Center Wednesday.
A market research study organized by logistics solutions provider Locad Philippines with Cube Asia estimates the Philippine e-commerce would reach $24 billion, with 17-percent growth through 2025.
The study reveals that the Philippines’ share is close to a tenth of the combined e-commerce value in Southeast Asia and Australia of $170 billion.
The US controls a sixth of global ecommerce at $1.1 trillion compared the expected global value of $6.3 trillion in 2023.
“With a thriving local e-commerce scene and promising global outlook, Filipino and regional brands face opportunity to grow through cross-border commerce,” Robert said.
He said key challenges such as massive competition in the regional market, more so in the global market, logistics and fulfillment, financial payment methods and regulatory barriers, face Philippine brands and players.
Globe Telecom Inc. president and chief executive Ernest Cu (left) shakes hands with Aboitiz Group president and chief executive Sabin Aboitiz after signing the sale and leaseback agreement between Globe and Unity Digital Infrastructure, a joint venture between Aboitiz InfraCapital and Partners Group, at the Globe Tower in BGC, Taguig City. Under the agreement, Unity will acquire 447 Globe telecom towers in Luzon.
THE World Bank on Wednesday raises its 2023 growth projection for the Philippines to 6.0 percent from 5.6 percent on robust consumer spending amid the improving labor market conditions and sustained inflows of remittances from Filipinos working overseas.
Its updated forecast was contained in the Philippine Economic Update for June 2023 and represented the low end of the government’s target range of 6 percent to 7 percent for the whole year. It was also a reversal of the bank’s move in April when it cut the forecast to 5.6 percent from 5.8 percent made in October 2022.
“Bucking global trends, strong do-
THE Philippines’ gross international reserves declined to $101.3 billion as of end-May 2023 from $101.8 billion in April as the government settled some of its foreign debt, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas said Wednesday.
It said the GIR level in May represented a more than adequate external liquidity buffer equivalent to 7.6 months’ worth of imports of goods and payments of services and primary income. It was also about 5.9 times the country’s short-term external debt based on original maturity and 4.2 times based on residual maturity.
“The month-on-month decrease in the GIR level reflected mainly the national government’s net foreign currency withdrawals from its deposits with the BSP to settle its foreign currency debt obligations and pay for its various expenditures, and downward adjustments in the value of the BSP’s gold holdings due to the decrease in the price of gold in the international market,” the BSP said in a statement.
Rizal Commercial Banking Corp. chief economist Michael Ricafort said the GIR would be supported by the continued growth in remittances, BPO revenues, exports and tourism revenues in the coming months.
Julito G. Rada
LMG stake
MAJORITY shareholders of LMG Corp. agreed to sell their controlling stake in the company to financial technology firm Maxwealth Infinity Holdings Corp. for P402 million.
LMG said in a disclosure to the stock exchange
Wednesday principal shareholders Ann Marrieta
Sytin, Robinson Siao and Value Quest Securities Corp. signed a share purchase agreement for the sale of their combined 67-percent stake to MIHC headed by businessman Alfonso Huang.
The acquisition price is equivalent to P3.10 per share, a 7.5-percent discount to the stock’s closing price of P3.35 per share on Tuesday.
LMG said MIHC would conduct a tender offer to the remaining minority shareholders within the next 60 days. Established in 2021, MIHC is primarily engaged in various financial and information technology companies. The company ventured in financial technology in 2022.
The group has been working on providing agricultural financial services and an e-wallet project that includes an online payment system. Jenniffer B. Austria
PRIMELECTRIC Holdings Inc., an affiliate of MORE Electric and Power Corp., plans to invest about P4 billion in its joint venture with Central Negros Electric Cooperative.
Primeelectric and CENECO signed a joint venture agreement that will benefit more than 200,000 consumers. Primeelectric president and chief executive Roel Castro said the JVA was signed on June 3, giving birth to Negros Electric and Power Corp.
“For the asset purchase, what we signed in the JVA, around 70 percent of P2.4 billion, so that’s P1.8 to P1.9 billion. That is for the asset purchase then working capital of around P2.2 billion,” Castro said. The JVA will still go through a referendum on June 24 and June 25 to gain the approval of the member-consumers.
Once the JVA is approved by the member-consumers, the National Electrification Administration will certify it. “But since we want the JVA to have a new franchise, we will have to go to Congress and apply for new franchise,” Castro said.
Castro said they wanted to share with Negros consumers the improvements made in the electric distribution system in Iloilo City run by MORE Electric. Alena Mae S. Flores
mestic demand in the Philippines is expected to propel its economy to a 6.0 percent growth in 2023 and 5.9 percent the following year. Strong domestic demand is underpinned by consumer spending drawing strength from the continuing jobs recovery and the steady flow of remittances,” the bank said in the report.
The World Bank said fixed capital
investment would contribute to growth, anchored on upbeat domestic activity and improved business confidence.
It said the services sector would continue to support growth, buoyed by spillovers from China’s reopening. The recovery of international tourism will also contribute to boost growth of transportation services, accommodation, food services and wholesale and retail trade services.
The information technology-business process outsourcing industries will continue to bolster the services sector, as foreign companies outsource their business operations to the Philippines to reduce costs, it said.
The Philippines economy expanded by 7.6 percent in 2022, faster than 5.7 percent growth in 2021 on reinvigo-
rated economic activities as the government continued to relax mobility restrictions. Data showed that in the first quarter this year, the economy grew by 6.4 percent.
The World Bank said the implementation of recently passed reforms – such as the amendments to the Public Service Act, Foreign Investment Act and Retail Trade Liberalization law which allow greater foreign participation in the economy—would encourage private investment and strengthen growth in the country over the medium term.
Ndiame Diop, World Bank country director for Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines and Thailand, said there remained persistent global and domestic risks that could hinder recovery and poverty reduction.
By Darwin G. AmojelarGLOBE Telecom Inc. on Wednesday
commercially launched a prepaid product to provide an affordable and flexible fiber-speed internet to underserved customers.
The telecom unit of the Ayala Group said the GFiber Prepaid would significantly widen the market for fiber in the Philippines, given its prepaid nature and diverse plan options.
Specifically designed for the mass market, it aims to bridge the digital divide and enable economic growth and personal development.
“Globe At Home has always championed the spirit of the madiskarteng Pinoy— the hardworking and opportunity-seeking head of the family. The launch of GFiber Prepaid is a testament to our commitment to providing fiber
By Jenniffer B. AustriaREPOWER Energy Development Corp. moved its planned P1.15 billion maiden share offering to July after it recently extended its book-building period.
REDC said in the amended offer timetable posted on the Philippine Stock Exchange’s website it would announce the final offer price on June 23.
The new offer period will be from
internet connection that empowers everyone to seize new opportunities,” said Raymond Policarpio, vice president of Globe at Home broadband business.
“Whether it’s for work, education, or setting up an online business, GFiber Prepaid is here to make that leap possible, all while staying within budget,” he said.
GFiber Prepaid aims to democratize access to fiber connectivity, offering a trio of No Lock-Up, Unli Pay-Per-Use promos and Buy Now, Pay Later options with GCash. With GCash’s Buy Now, Pay Later feature, customers can pay in up to a 24-month installment using the app or pay with a credit line of up to P50,000.
Customers can acquire a GFiber Prepaid service with a special introductory offer of a one-time fee of P1,499, inclusive of installation and seven days of
June 28 to July 14 instead of the previous date of June 6 to 16. The shares will be listed on the main board of the PSE on July 24.
REDC plans to sell 200 million common shares, with an over-allotment option for another 30 million shares at a maximum price of P5 each.
The company said it would use the proceeds from the IPO to fund the equity portion of its hydropower projects,
unlimited internet.
They can also choose from a selection of UNLIMITED on-demand promos, including GFiberSURF299 for seven days, GFiberSURF549 for 15 days and GFiberSURF999 for 30 days.
GFiber Prepaid will be available nationwide, subject to serviceability.
Globe earlier booked a net income of P7.3 billion from January to March, down 47 percent from P13.7 billion last year.
Excluding the one-time gain, which related to the partial sale of Globe’s data center business, normalized net income would have been P5.1 billion, or flat year-on-year.
Globe closed the first three months of the year with consolidated service revenues amounting to P40 billion, up 2 percent from the same period last year despite all the macroeconomic headwinds.
the development and/or acquisition of renewable energy projects and operating and working capital requirements.
REDC is the hydropower arm of Pure Energy Holdings led by businessman Dexter Tiu. The company operates six hydropower plants with a combined capacity of 10.146 megawatts.
China Bank Capital Corp. is the sole issue manager, lead underwriter and sole bookrunner for the transaction.
KEY interest rates are expected to remain untouched in the next policy meeting of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas this month on continued slowdown in inflation rate after peaking at 8.7 percent in January 2023, CITI said in a report Wednesday.
“We maintain our expectation that the policy rate would remain unchanged at 6.25 percent at the June 22 meeting, given a steady downward trend in inflation,” CITI economist for the Philippines Nalin Chutchotitham said.
Inflation reached 5.8 percent last year and surpassed the target range of 2 percent to 4 percent. It peaked at 8.7 percent in January 2023, but started to ease to 8.6 percent in February, 7.6 percent in March and 6.6 percent in April.
Inflation slowed further to 6.1 percent in May on slower increases in the prices of transport, food and non-alcoholic beverages. This was the slowest since inflation settled at 6.1 percent in June 2022.
Inflation, however, remained elevated compared to 5.4 percent in May 2022. This brought the average in the first five months to 7.5 percent, above the target range.
Chutchotitham said the key risk factor to watch is the BSP’s response to the Fed’s potential rate hike, although the BSP might have less concerns over interest rate differential with easing actual inflation and foreign exchange volatility.
“We continue to see limited chance of rate cuts before 2024, even if inflation is expected to return to target in Q4’23, since robust economic expansion may cause price pressures to rebuild,” Chutchotitham said. Julito G. Rada
PHNOM PENH, Cambodia—The Philippines rode on Angel Otom’s brilliance as it unleashed a nine-gold juggernaut on Wednesday to hike its total to 27 gold medals in the 12th ASEAN Para Games here.
Otom, 19, claimed her third and fourth gold medal at the Morodok Aquatics Center with a pair of stunning victories in the women’s 50m butterfly and freestyle S5 events to become the country’s first quadruple gold medalist.
The magnificent Olongapo lass made her effort more meaningful by setting a new Games’ record of 47.33 seconds in the 50m butterfly after shattering her 48.07 performance last year in Surakarta, Indonesia.
Meanwhile, woodpusher Darry Bernardo outclassed the men’s standard B2B3 competition by copping the individual gold as well as the team title, alongside Menandro Redor and Arman Subaste.
Bernardo’s earlier triumphs came in rapid individual and team Sunday. He could emerge as the most bemedalled Filipino athlete, if not the whole of the Games itself, if he could add the individual and team blitz gold medals on Thursday at the Royal University.
Also striking gold were Evaristo Carbonel (discus throw F11) and Jerold Mangliwan (200m T52) at the Morodok Techo National Stadium while tanker Ernie Gawilan chipped in a gold in the 200m individual medley SM7.
At press time, the Philippines stayed at fifth and already amassed 27 golds, one shy of replicating its 28-gold haul last year.
Gawilan also pocketed the silver medal in the 50m buttterfly (34.72), finishing second to Singapore’s Wei Soong Toh (30.78). Vietnam’s Nguyen Hoang Nha (34.84) was third.
THE University of the Fighting Maroons have found another big man who can fill up a big hole in their depleted roster.
This is what is expected of 6’7” Filipino-American Gani Stevens, a transferee from the University of the East.
Stevens is expected to do a lot of things for his new team after Fighting Maroons’ coach Goldwin Monteverde confirmed the team’s latest addition to the squad.
“Adding another young, hardworking center in Gani will certainly give us more versatility in our frontcourt as we continue to build our program in the seasons to come,” said Monteverde.
The Fighting Maroons are in a rebuilding mode following the departures of nine mainstays, which include Carl Tamayo, Zavier Lucero, and James Spencer.
They now boast of a towering roster which will support the efforts of graduating Malick Diouf under the boards.
Diouf won’t be around in Season 87 and they will most likely rely on Stevens by then.
Stevens normed averages of 9.4 points, 6.3 rebounds, and 1.0 assists as a starter in his lone season for the University of the East Red Warriors.
UP’s tall roster has the likes of 6’5” Francis Lopez, 6’8” Seven Gagate, 6’7” Luis Pablo, 6’5” LA Andres and 6’9” Sean Alter, as well as 6’4” Aldous Torculas and 6’5” Mark Belmonte.
State U basketball program director Bo Perasol said their present lineup will ensure continuity in their system in the next four years.
“Nagiging bihira na lang ang players na tinatapos ang five years sa college ngayon, so we want to be prepared whenever one of our players plays well, tapos gets offers sa international or sa pro,” said Perasol. Peter Atencio
SEVERAL marquee players selected for the FIBA World Cup-bound Gilas Pilipinas national men’s 21-player pool were not available when the team began practicing Wednesday evening at the Meralco Gym.
Utah Jazz star Jordan Clarkson for instance will be available to the team six weeks before the FIBA tournament, to be hosted by the Philippines, opens on Aug. 25. NBA prospect, Kai Sotto, meanwhile, is in the United States hoping to play in the NBA Summer League next month.
Jordan Clarkson and Kai Sotto Junemar Fajardo, RR Pogoy and Japeth Aguilar, on the other hand, are still recovering from injuries and won’t be able to
join the team anytime soon.
Life goes on, however, for members of the Gilas pool as they eventually move
over to the INSPIRE Sports Academy in Calamba in the coming days.
After this, they will go through a European training camp and play friendlies against several European national teams and clubs.
Clarkson, Justin Brownlee and Ange Kouame, three naturalized players, are among the top candidates named to the pool, where the final 12 will come from. Others in the pool are University of Toledo Rockets’ center AJ Edu and Philippine Basketball Association cagers, namely Ginebra’s Jamie Malonzo and Scottie Thompson; Meralco Bolts’ Chris Newsome; San Miguel Beermen’s CJ Perez; and TNT Tropang Giga’s Poy Erram, Calvin Oftana.
Kiefer and Thirdy Ravena, Jordan Heading, Ray Parks Jr. and Dwight Ramos, all playing in the Japan B. League, also made the cut.
On the other hand, Rhenz Abando is taking his time off from playing for Anyang KGC in the Korean Basketball League and has made himself available.
SURPRISES are expected when the election of members of the board of trustees of the Philippine Swimming Inc. is held Thursday.
Officials of the Philippine Olympic Committee-designated electoral committee said this as the World Aquaticsordered polls get going starting at 11 a.m. at the East Ocean Palace Restaurant in Parañaque City.
The new members of the board of trustees will come from 19 representatives of over 300 swimming clubs, which earlier participated in the National Congress held last May 25.
Back then, the clubs elected the 19 board representatives, with two-time Olympian and now Batangas congressman Eric Buhain, emerging as a duly-elected regional representative of Region IV-A and is tipped to be a top candidate for PSI presidency.
Others seeking posts are Cecile “Bing” Doromal (Region 4B); Bing Rosales (Region 5); Cris Bancal (Region 6); Jess Arriola (Region 7); Rex Dela Cruz (Region 8); Gib Sing Wong (Region 9); Leo Sanchez (BARMM); Angel Leonardo (Region 10); Jun Rodriguez (Region 11); Michael Talosig (Region
12); Willie Yu (CARAGA); Coach Emmanuel (CAR); Isagani Corpuz (Region 1); Elmer Corpuz (Region 2); Biboy Asturias (Region 3), Michael Vargas and Fred Galang Ancheta (National Capital Region) and Marie Dimanche (Sectoral Representative).
“It will be a surprise on who will be part of the board of trustees, as the nominees will elect among themselves,” said Atty. Wharton. Chan, who spoke on behalf of the electoral committee in an interview with the Manila Standard.
The committee is headed by POC secretary general Atty. Edwin
Gastanes, with Atty. Avelino Sumagui and Atty. Marcus Antonius Andaya as the other members.
Chan explained that the geographical sectors will cover two each from the Area 1 (National Capital Region), Area 2 (Regions 1, 2, 3 and Cordillera Autonomous Region), Area 3 (Regions 4-A, 4-B and 5), Area 4 (Regions 6, 7 and 8) and Area 5 (Regions 9, 10, 11, 12, CARAGA Region and Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao). POC president Abraham Tolentino said they are keenly awaiting the outcome of the polls. Peter Atencio
ANTIPOLO—Amateur Mafy Singson made a huge 10-stroke turnaround to jump from the middle of the pack to the top of the heap with a superb three-under 69, driving past Chihiro Ikeda and Korean amateur Min Yeong Kim and closer to a second pro crown in the ICTSI Valley Golf Challenge here yesterday.
Not a bit fazed by a seven-over 79 showing in the first round Tuesday, Singson exploded early in a big backside 33 start then picked herself up from a double-bogey on No. 3 with a birdie on the next then gained another stroke on the par-5 seventh for the second straight day following a two-hour delay due to lightning.
In a flash, the many-time national team mainstay found herself towing the field with a four-over 148 as Ikeda and Kim, who had kept a two-shot lead when play was stopped with three holes to play, made two bogeys each at the finish, holing out with 75 and 73, respectively, and dropping to a three-way tie instead with Daniella Uy at 149.
Just a stroke off Ikeda after 18 holes, Uy took charge with a two-birdie, two-bogey card after 11 holes but made two more bogeys in the next five and wound up with a 74 that however kept her within a stroke off the new leader with 18 holes left in the P750,000 championship.
“My driving wasn’t so good (in the first round). In this course, you really need to drive well to be in the fairway
all the time. I drove a lot better today (yesterday) but still not good although I was able to save more (pars) and made more putts,” said Singson, who upstaged the top pros to snatch the LPGT Splendido Taal crown last year. But so-so finishes had marred her stints and ruined
her bid for a second pro crown in this year’s edition of the ICTSI-backed circuit but her blistering second round assault in difficult conditions, coupled with Ikeda and Kim’s late-hole meltdowns, put her back in the conversation.
“I’m excited. But I’m hoping for the best tomorrow (today). I hope to play steady and well,” added the ICTSI-backed shotmaker.
Ikeda fell off the leaderboard with an error-riddled start in hot conditions but as her rivals also tumbled one after the other while facing severe tests at Valley South in dark skies early in the afternoon, the reigning Ladies Philippine Golf Tour Order of Merit champion birdied the 11th to regain control.
She bogeyed No. 14 for the second straight time but came up with a chip-in birdie from 40 yards on the next, only to come up cold at resumption of play.
“I had no problem with the delay. In fact, I was able to relax since I was already tired. But the course is really tough,” said Ikeda.
Rookie pro Mikha Fortuna, meanwhile, also moved into strong contention with a 71 for a 150, just a couple of shots off Singson at fifth, while Martina Miñoza also remained in chase despite a 76 for a 151 and three-peat seeking Harmie Constantino and amateur Lois Kaye Go matched 152s after a 76 and 74, respectively, to guarantee a wide-open finish.
Andrei Kuizon of the Philippines competes in the javelin F54/34 nals at the Morodok Techo National Stadium in the 12th Asean Para Games in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. Kuizon registered 19.03 meters for the silver. AFPDHON Reverente canned his two free throws with 27 seconds left as Pasay withstood a fiery rally by Bataan and prevailed, 77-76, in the OKBet-MPBL (Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League) Fifth Season elimination round at the Cuneta Astrodome in Pasay.
Bataan had an opportunity to reverse the outcome, but Jason Castro missed a jumper and even though Jamil Gabawan was able to snag the offensive rebound with four seconds to go, the Risers were unable to launch another shot, handing the Pasay Voyagers their ninth win against three losses in the 29-team tournament.
The Voyagers survived an onslaught by Yves Sazon, who scored 17 of Bataan’s 19 points in the fourth quarter, including four triples and a jumper that shoved the Risers ahead, 76-75, with 36 seconds to go.
Pasay was led by Jeric Serrano with 15 points and 11 rebounds, followed by Laurenz Victoria with 15 points, Reverente with 14 points plus 10 rebounds, and Alejandro Inigo with 12 points.
Sazon wound up with 30 points for Bataan, which fell to 6-7. The Risers also got 11 points and 8 rebounds from Arvie Bringas.
Earlier, Rob Celiz drilled in a buzzer-beater jumper to lift Makati OKBet past Marikina, 73-71. The Shoemasters dropped a 5-point salvo, capped by Jason Strait’s basket with six seconds left to knot the count at 71.
Celiz wound up with 19 points, 8 rebounds, 4 blocks and 2 assists to earn best player honors for Makati, which improved to 8-4. He was supported by Emman Calo with 13 points plus 4 rebounds, Matthew Daves with 10 points plus 6 rebounds, and Billy Robles with 9 points plus 10 rebounds.
Marikina fell to 5-8 despite the 22-point, 10-rebound effort of Felipe Chavez, the 18-point, 8-rebound output of Marwin Tolentino, and the 15-point, 3-rebound contribution of Joe Gomez De Liano.
Bacolod City of Smiles subdued Oriental Mindoro, 69-60, in the opener and climbed to 5-8.
MIAMI—Denver coach Michael Malone doubled down on his demand that the Nuggets play with more discipline as they seek to regain the upper hand over the Miami Heat in the NBA Finals.
A furious Malone had questioned his players’ effort and discipline after their game-two defeat in Denver, and he said the players were in full agreement.
“Our players owned it,” Malone said after the team trained in Miami ahead of Wednesday’s game three. “I asked them after the game, Why did we lose tonight. And they told me we didn’t play hard enough. They told me we weren’t disciplined enough.”
Malone had already warned after the Nuggets won game one that a lackluster defensive effort had allowed Miami too many scoring chances that the Heat just
didn’t capitalize on.
On Wednesday he noted that Denver had dominated both games through three quarters—but said the Heat were dominating in the fourth.
“They’re averaging 33 points a game in the fourth quarter, shooting over 60% from the field in the fourth quarter and over 50% (from threepoint range),” he said.
“We have to learn from game two to use it to our advantage,” he said. “What I know about our group is for years now we’ve handled adversity very well. I have no doubt that tomorrow night will be a much more disciplined, urgent team
THE 13th edition of Basketball Without Borders Asia began its final day with campers taking part in a Q&A with NBA veterans Taj Gibson (most recently with the Washington Wizards) and Rodney McGruder (most recently with the Detroit Pistons) and Detroit Pistons assistant coach Jim Moran.
During the session, Gibson expressed the importance of having the right mentality when playing, while McGruder and Moran both shared the determination, will and focus needed for players to reach the NBA.
Upon the conclusion of the panel, campers proceeded to warm up and prepare for the playoffs, which saw the Boston Celtics (coached by NBA Global Academy’s Marty Clarke) face the Indiana Pacers (Pacers assistant coach Mike Weinar) and the Dallas Mavericks (Mavericks assistant coach Sean Sweeney) match up against the Brooklyn Nets (Nets assistant coach Ryan Forehan-Kelly) in the boys division.
After advancing to the boys championship game, the Boston Celtics defeated the Brooklyn Nets in the finals, 24-22, after Jacob Furphy made the game-winning three-pointer to cap off an incredible comeback.
for 48 minutes.”
Malone said it would start with better communication.
“A saying I learne d a long time ago, communication is concentration,” he said. “For me to communicate, I have to know what the hell t say. If I’m not concentrating and I’m not focusing, I don’t know what to say.
“We had way too many examples, for an NBA Finals game, where we had guys not on the same page because of a lack of communication.
“Their ball movement, their body movement, obviously they do a really good job with that,” Malone said of the Heat but added: “Think about this— going into the fourth quarter they had 75 points, they were shooting 43% from the field and we’re up eight.
“So now it’s just a matter of sustaining it for a lot closer to 48 minutes.” AFP
SOUTHEAST Asian Games veterans
Almond Vosotros and Lervin Flores provided the big plays down the stretch to lead the TNT Triple Giga to a 21-20 beating of Cavitex on Saturday in the 2023 Red Bull 3x3 Basketball Half Court Challenge at the Taguig Community Center Courts.
Confidence gained from competing in international meets served the Triple Giga well as they earned a slot to the world finals in Serbia, together with the Uratex cagebelles in the women’s side.
Vosotros and Flores, who were part of the Gilas 3x3 men’s squad that settled for a silver medal to Cambodia in the SEA Games, struck hard in the halfway mark of their 10-minute encounter to put their squad ahead for good.
Flores forced a 12-all deadlock with his driving shot before Vosotros struck with two deuces to push the Triple Giga ahead, 16-14.
But Cavitex stayed in the thick of the
fight and forced two more ties, the last at 20-all off Tonino Gonzaga’s outside shot in the final 2:22.
Then, a drive by Vosotros in the remaining 2:11 allowed the Triple Giga to
reach match point and win the contest.
“For me, its not about the winning shot, but our effort in defense and offense,” said Vosotros, who knocked in nine points in his final game.
Triple Giga joined the Uratex women’s team in making it to Serbia for the World Finals, which is slated from Sept. 16 to 17.
“As you see, it went down the wire, up to the last second, grabe ang effort nila sa offense at rebounds,” said Triple Giga coach Mau Belen.
Vosotros, Flores, and their teammates Gryann Mendoza, and Ping
Exciminiano earlier put TNT Triple Giga in the finals after they won over FILA in the semifinals, 22-15.
They made it past the quarterfinals after prevailing over EGS, 22-17.
In the women’s final, SEA Games silver medallist Kaye Pingol shot eight points for Uratex cagebelles in their 16-13 stopping of FILA, 16-13, Pingol’s big games proved to be some sort of an upset as her Gilas women’s teammates Clare Castro, and Nicole De Los Reyes, and Raiza Palmera-Dy suited up for FILA with Hazel Yam.
“Masaya kami. We have waited all this time to have a shot at the finals,” said Uratex coach Kat Quimpo.
On the girls’ side, the playoffs featured the Chicago Sky (Bulls assistant coach John Bryant) against the Washington Mystics (Wizards assistant coach Ryan Richman) and the Las Vegas Aces (NBA Basketball School Dubai’s Phil Galvin) against the New York Liberty (Pistons assistant coach Jim Moran). The girls final saw the Las Vegas Aces outlasting the Chicago Sky, 28-17, which were led by Yeseul Choi and Rebecca Moors combining for 15 points.
The 13th BWB Asia Camp culminated with the Awards Ceremony, which recognized Sienna Harvey and Jacob Furphy as the Kim Bohuny BWB Asia 2023 Camp MVP for the girls and boys division, respectively. The event was attended by Ralph Rivera (NBA EME Managing Director), Kosta Iliev (FIBA National Federations & Sport Senior Manager), HE Saood Al Hosani (Undersecretary, Department of Culture and Tourism Abu Dhabi) and HE Salah Mohamed Al Geziry (Director General for Tourism, Department of Culture and Tourism Abu Dhabi).
In addition to the camper activities, BWB Asia featured basketball development programming for local basketball stakeholders, including referees and coaches.
ANTIPOLO—Reymon Jaraula shouldered himself past erstwhile joint leaders Ira Alido and Angelo Que with a rare two-eagle feat for a brilliant 66 but had to endure a two hour-long wait before formally claiming a two-stroke lead over Alido midway through the ICTSI Valley Golf Challenge here yesterday.
Lightning just past noon forced the organizing Pilipinas Golf Tournaments, Inc. to suspend play, minutes after Jaraula had turned in a nearflawless 32-34 card marked by eagles on Nos. 7 and 17, and moments after Alido and Que took different routes following a spirited battle of shotmaking, putting and poise to stay at the helm for the second straight day.
Nobody did.
But while Alido struck back from bogeys on Nos. 2 and 4 with birdies in the next two holes to get into 3-under in the day and seven-under overall, Que, who matched Alido’s first round 68 on a last-hole birdie for a one-stroke lead over Jaraula and three others, fell with a thud with bogeys on
Nos. 4 and 6 before play was stopped.
But seven flights ahead, Jaraula was already on his way out of the Valley Golf Club, head held high, together with his confidence, after assembling a nine-under 135 largely behind a sterling round he laced with three birdies that buried a lone mishap on No. 18 and despite dealing with his putting stroke early on.
“I struggled with my putting early on and missed some putts. Although I recovered on some holes, I also failed to sink a couple of putts from short range,” said Jaraula in Filipino.
Alido did knock a third straight birdie at the resumption of play but gave up the stroke on the par-3 No. 8 and finished with a 69 for a 137 although the next two pursuers lay five strokes off the new leader heading to the last 36 holes of the P2 million championship.
“It was a long wait and I lost my momentum from that point but it was still a good round,” said Alido, who turned in a solid four-under card Tuesday. “I made a lot of birdies today (yester-
day) but also made too many mistakes.”
Those included bogeys at the front that halted a four-birdie, one-bogey charge from No. 10 although he racked up three straight birdies from No. 5 to re-ignited another run before dropping a stroke on the eighth.
“I wasn’t really worried about it,” said Alido of his miscues. “I knew that I could make up for it and make a couple of birdies down the stretch.”
Korean Chon Koo Kang missed closing in on Jaraula with two bogeys in the last four holes as he ended up with a 71 for joint third at 140 with Tony Lascuna, who put in a second straight 70, while Que, who had an even-par card with three holes to play, holed out with a bogey on the ninth and slipped farther back to joint fifth at 141 after a 73.
Joining him at three-under overall are Zanieboy Gialon, who matched par 72, and Korean Min Seong Kim, who fired a 69, and Japanese Atsushi Ueda, who blew a three-under card with a double-bogey on No. 15 and wrapped up his round with three straight pars for a 71.
Action series ‘Walang Matigas na Pulis sa Matinik na Misis’ stars Beauty Gonzales, Senator Ramon ‘Bong’ Revilla Jr., and Max Collins
GMA Network commemorates its 73rd anniversary by highlighting the enduring “power of love” that has solidified its position in the industry. The network celebrates the deep connection shared between itself and its loyal audience, emphasizing that this has been instrumental in withstanding the test of time.
The broadcast giant, once again, aims to captivate its beloved viewers with exciting new offerings and surprises “made from the heart.”
On June 4, television viewers witnessed the premiere telecast of the action-packed series Walang Matigas na
Among the most-awaited show of the Kapuso network is the 'Battle of the Judges' hosted by Alden Richards
tion with his deep love and "fear" for his feisty wife, Gloria (Beauty Gonzalez).
When he teams up with Elize (Max Collins), a beautiful and determined woman, to track down a kidnapping syndicate, things get even more exciting. The show also features Sparkle artists Kate Valdez and Kelvin Miranda
Sparkle Sweethearts Mavy Legaspi and Kyline Alcantara are set to spread kilig to viewers as they try to find true love in the upcoming series, LUV IS: Love at First Read.
Airing on June 12, the series is the second collaboration project of GMA Network and Wattpad WEBTOON Studios.
The story is based on the hit web novel by author “Chixnita,” which has over 23
Dingdong Dantes will lead the crime mystery series 'Royal Blood'
Pulis sa Matinik na Misis starring Senator Ramon "Bong" Revilla, Jr. as Police
Major Bartolome 'Tolome' Reynaldo.
The series follows Tolome's thrilling journey as he balances his fearless reputa-
million views on Wattpad. It revolves around Kudos (Mavy), a secret romantic searching for the perfect girl, who believes that Abby (Kyline) is the one for him.
AFTER bidding their emotional farewells as hosts of the noontime show Eat Bulaga in GMA, the iconic and comedic trio of Tito Sotto, Vic Sotto and Joey De Leon, collectively known as TVJ, are now part of TV5.
Joining them are the Dabarkads who consist of the former hosts of Eat Bulaga, including Maine Mendoza, Ryan Agoncillo, Ryzza Mae Dizon, Paolo Ballesteros, Wally Bayola, and
Jose Manalo, to name a few. They exited Eat Bulaga immediately after TVJ.
The Mediaquest Group released a statement saying that they entered into an agreement with TVJ to “produce content for TV5 and other Mediaquest platforms.”
“I’m happy that Tito, Vic, and Joey will now call TV5 their home,” said Jane Basas, president and CEO of Mediaquest Holdings. TVJ and Dabarkads' time slot and show have yet to be announced.
In the meantime, Eat Bulaga continues to air on GMA with its new hosts, Buboy Villar, Paolo Contis, Alexa Miro, and Cassy and Mavy Legaspi among others.
Tito Sotto, Vic Sotto, and Joey de Leon, otherwise known as TVJ, sign partnership with TV5
and is next to my grandfather Joao Gilberto," Sofia Gilberto wrote on social media early Tuesday.
The singer died at home in Philadelphia, in the United States, where she had lived since the 1960s, according to Brazilian news site G1
Gilberto was born in Salvador, capital of Brazil's northeastern state of Bahia, in 1940 and was married to Joao Gilberto, a pioneer of the bossa nova genre who died in 2019.
Brazilian singer Astrud Gilberto
ASTRUD Gilberto, the Brazilian singer whose soft, beguiling voice made "The Girl from Ipanema" a worldwide sensation in the 1960s and provided a huge boost to the budding bossa nova genre, has died at age 83, her family said.
"I come bearing the sad news that my grandmother became a star today
Astrud Gilberto recorded 19 albums in her career, but she had little professional music experience when she turned "The Girl from Ipanema" – the now-classic song by Tom Jobim and Vinicius de Moraes – into a global smash, singing the English verses alongside American saxophonist Stan Getz and her guitar-playing thenhusband.
The version made Astrud Gilberto the first Brazilian to be nominated for a Grammy – which she won, for song of the year, in 1965. AFP
Meanwhile, beginning June 19, viewers further feel the importance of love for family through the crime mystery series Royal Blood. The upcoming masterpiece is bannered by Dingdong Dantes. Joining the stellar cast are Megan Young, Mikael Daez, Dion Ignacio, Lianne Valentin, and Rhian Ramos, together with the special participation of Tirso Cruz III Royal Blood follows the story of Napoy (Dingdong), a bastard son of a business tycoon and a loving single father, who becomes the primary suspect in his father’s death.
GMA Afternoon Prime also boasts of its upcoming show Magandang Dilag– premiering June 26 – that will inspire viewers to love their true beauty even more. Starring Herlene Budol and Benjamin Alvez, with Rob Gomez, the series revolves around Gigi (Herlene), an optimistic woman who inherits enormous wealth from her estranged father but is fooled by her most beloved man.
Kapuso supporters will also love the intense competition from the actionpacked talent-driven entertainment series, Battle of the Judges, hosted by Alden Richards.
Premiering on July 15, this exciting program will be joined by celebrity judges Boy Abunda, Bea Alonzo, Jose Manalo, and GMA Network Senior Vice President for Programming, Talent Manage-
Julie San Jose and Rayver Cruz team up in GMA Public Affairs’‘The Cheating Game’
ment, Worldwide, and Support Group and President of GMA Films Atty. Annette Gozon-Valdes. Together, they must select and then champion talented performers from every entertainment genre.
The world-class lineup of anniversary offerings is made even more special as Julie Anne San Jose and Rayver Cruz team up for the very first time on the silver screen in GMA Public Affairs’ The Cheat-
ing Game. Hitting the cinemas this July, the movie is an edgy, genre-bending romance about the games people play after getting cheated on.
Adding to the list of exciting anniversary surprises is the GMA Thanksgiving Gala 2023, happening this July. Kapuso fans should watch out for their favorite stars as they come together and walk on the red carpet to a night filled with love to celebrate the Network’s 73rd year.
SEEING someone wearing an outfit crafted by a Filipino designer on a catwalk is already a source of pride for those who appreciate Pinoy ingenuity. And what could be more exciting than witnessing it at a fashion show in the renowned city of Los Angeles? That's right, the largest city in the world-famous state of California, also known as the City of Angels.
that we have. I wanted to showcase the business, tradition, and culture of Lumbeños," he said.
The grand opening of Noble Creations is set to take place on June 11 in Artesia, California. Despite being an architect by profession, Noble realized that he should pursue a business he is passionate about and well-versed in. He is pleased with the growing success of his brand as they incorporate modernism into their designs, appealing to the new generation.
Notable Fil-Am figures, including viral rapper EZ Mil and bloggerpodcaster MJ Racadio, who has been featured on the Blogtalk Hollywood platform and earned spots at the Miss Universe and Golden Globe Awards, have worn wardrobe pieces from Noble's creations.
Up-and-coming band The Purple Smurples is also present to deliver an amazing performance on stage
During the recent Los Angeles Kids Fashion Show (LAKFS) held in North Hollywood, the spotlight was on children who showcased carefully designed and embroidered outfits created by a group of talented Filipino designers. Leading the pack was Amiel Noble, a Californiabased designer originally from Lumban, Laguna, hailed as the "Hand Embroidery Capital of the Philippines."
Joining Noble were Loj Tonacao also from the same province, which was immortalized by lady rocker Sampaguita in the classic folk rock song of the same name. Ronnie Nacua hails from Davao City, known as the "Crown Jewel of Mindanao," and completing the quartet of designers for the show, titled Floral Fantasy, was Suzy Tamasy from Canada.
This was already the second season of LAKFS, following their previous offering titled Precious Moments held last November.
Noble, who moved to the US in 2001, expressed his delight in being part of both seasons as his brand continues to grow.
"I take pride in the craftsmanship
I had the opportunity to witness Floral Fantasy
radiating innocence and sweet vibes on the runway. The event also showcased impressive performances, such as 10-ye ar-old Ysabella Loyola belting out her version of Beyonce's "Listen."
"It's always a thrilling experience to perform, and I'm grateful for the chance to share my love of music with others," expressed the young girl.
The Purple Smurples, an upcoming band, delivered an interesting performance with their captivating stage presence. Marte Productions, the force behind LAKFS, is quickly establishing itself as a fashion cornerstone within the FilipinoAmerican community in Los Angeles and its neighboring areas.
"I want to be the instrument to uplift the confidence of many," stated executive
Young performer Ysabella Loyola sings her own rendition of Beyonce’s ‘Listen’ during the Pride Night baseball game between Angels and Cubs myself, and I can confidently say that the Philippines has a bright future in fashion. The show featured talented and stylish kids,
and serve as an inspiration to other
producer Priscilla Marte, who has overcome personal challenges and apparently grew up without a father and playmates for unknown reasons. Marte found valuable support in LAKFS fashion director Lyndon Apostol, an actor-singer-dancer who, according to a write-up, "teaches children the art of motion." Marte promised, "The Los Angeles Kids Fashion Show will continue to inspire children to develop their confidence, create lasting memories, and serve as an inspiration to other children."
IF you’re in the market for something that can help you stay healthy and young, NMN might be the miraculous medical wonder you’ve been looking for. But what do those three letters stand for?
NMN stands for nicotinamide mononucleotide. It’s not a vitamin or a mineral—it’s a molecule that can help you feel better and live longer. According to Dr. Eduardo Santos MD, NMN has gained a lot of attention lately due to its potential role in various biological processes.
“As you get older, your body’s NAD+ or nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide level drops,” says Dr. Santos. “Low levels of NAD+ have been associated with DNA damage, oxidative stress, infl ammation, and low energy production. These correlate with
the aging process. NMN is a direct precursor of NAD+, and supplementation with NMN can boost NAD+ levels in the body, thereby mitigating the processes associated with aging. Studies have also shown that NMN can improve blood fl ow and cognitive function.”
The growing popularity of NMN paved the way for Orich CEO Mike Atayde to turn it into a unique selling point as his company enters a new chapter in leading the health and beauty market. You can find this miracle molecule in products by Orich, which consist of health and beauty essentials.
Established in 2003, Orich is a Filipino-owned company that specializes in manufacturing, research and development (R&D), and trading in the
food and beverage industry. It takes pride in producing high-quality products made from farm to market while maintaining its status as a trusted industry leader in the Philippines, with millions of loyal customers trusting its wide range of non-alcoholic beverages made from locally sourced herbs, tropical fruits, and vegetables.
According to Atayde, NMN is a game-changer. “Nicotinamide mononucleotide is the new miracle ingredient. I discovered it when I was doing some research. I read the work of Dr. David Sinclair, a Professor at Harvard Medical School and a leading expert on genetics and longevity. That’s how I learned about NMN.”
Atayde envisions a future where NMN—through Orich’s homegrown products—will be a big part of Filipi-
DURING medical checkups, it is common for doctors to ask about our family health history or a record of the diseases and health conditions that run in the family. Often, one of the diseases that tops the list is diabetes.
According to studies, Filipinos are one of the ethnic groups that are at high risk of developing diabetes. Our genetic background, along with our Southeast Asian, Chinese, and Indian neighbors, makes us more prone to diabetes than other groups. It has been found that we are resistant to our own insulin.
The World Health Organization (WHO) defines diabetes as a chronic disease that occurs either when the pancreas does not produce enough insulin or when the body cannot effectively use the insulin it produces. Insulin is a hormone that regulates blood glucose. A common effect of uncontrolled diabetes is hyperglycemia or raised blood glucose or raised blood sugar. Over time, it can lead to serious damage to many of the body’s systems, especially the nerves and blood vessels.
There are three types of diabetes: type 1, where cells in the pancreas that make insulin are destroyed, and the body is unable to make insulin; type 2, often a progressive condition in which the body becomes resistant to the normal effects of insulin or gradually loses the capacity to produce enough
insulin in the pancreas (Some people may be able to significantly slow the progression of the condition through changes to diet and increasing the amount of physical activity), and gestational diabetes, a type of diabetes diagnosed for the first time during pregnancy (gestation), which causes high
nos’ lives. When used in tandem with a healthy lifestyle, it will do wonders for one’s overall health. “I want people to experience the rejuvenating effects of NMN for themselves by including it in their daily routines. That’s why we used it in our food and beverage and personal care lines.”
Expect more news from Orich as it partners with EntrePro. This soon-to-belaunched organization is a distribution and entrepreneurship company set to carry products developed and manufactured by Orich. These products will initially include balms, body butter, essential oils, serums, and soaps—all of which will harness the amazing health benefits of NMN.
help lessen one's risk of having diabetes
blood sugar that can affect pregnancy and the baby’s health. Some of the early signs and symptoms of type 1 and type 2 diabetes include fatigue, increased thirst and frequent urination, extreme hunger, unexplained weight loss, irritability, slow-healing sores, blurred vision, and high blood sugar.
PASCUAL Laboratories, Inc. (PascualLab) celebrates 77 years of providing quality, family-friendly health, and wellness products to Filipinos, spreading #PascualLove, and promoting strong, healthy families.
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Family history, weight, unhealthy diet or poor nutrition, sedentary lifestyle, and ethnic background (as mentioned, although unclear, Asians are at higher risk) are some of the factors that can increase one’s risk of diabetes.
Medical experts have also pointed out high temperatures and humidity as fac-
tors that cause dehydration and affect insulin sensitivity, which can lead to high blood sugar levels and increase the risk
Diabetes can have a significant impact on one’s overall health and lifestyle. It is important to be aware of information from experts on ways to help prevent or manage diabetic conditions. It will also be helpful to share validated information that greatly reduces the risk of diabetes, even when exposed to conditions like extreme heat and COVID-19. Here are four wellness tips:
1. Start Well. Check your overall health if you are prone to or already experiencing symptoms of diabetes. Start by knowing if you are at risk. One way is by taking the DiabeTest.
2. Move Well. Exercise and fitness help improve overall health. For diabetics, this can significantly lower blood glucose levels, boost the body’s sensitivity to insulin, and counter insulin resistance.
3. Eat Well. Boost your immune system with much-needed nutrition, which is key to preventing diabetes and resisting COVID-19. Follow a healthy diet to greatly reduce the risk.
of developing type 2 diabetes. There have been studies suggesting a link between COVID-19 and the development of diabetes. According to research published in the Journal of Diabetes Science and Technology, COVID-19 can cause acute insulin resistance, which can lead to high blood sugar levels and an increased risk of developing diabetes.
4. Think Well. Be mindful and maintain healthy habits. Look for ways to supplement your lifestyle with safe and trusted nutrition interventions that will help you #TreatYourselfWell. Nutritional supplements like Diabetasol deliver benefits that will not only help you keep your blood sugar levels stable but also help reinforce your immune system. This nutrition powder is ideal for diabetics and a great choice for those who want to prevent diabetes risks. It is complete with calcium, fiber, 11 vitamins, and 6 minerals. It comes in three flavors: vanilla, chocolate, and cappuccino. For more information on how you can #TreatYourselfWell, follow Diabetasol Nutrition Philippines on Facebook at https://web.facebook.com/ DiabetasolNutritionPhils
While we have no control over the family history of illnesses, we can always make certain healthy choices to greatly lessen the risk of having diabetes. You can reach me at joba.botana@gmail.com
Keep
SUN exposure contributes to sunburn, hyperpigmentation, and drying out the skin. High humidity also leads to increased sebum production that can make oily skin worse and more prone to breakouts, while dry skin can get flaky and rough. Harmful UV rays can also make fi ne lines and wrinkles more visible.
Staying in air-conditioned rooms, excessive sweating, dehydration, and even the chlorine in swimming pools can dry out the skin’s natural moisture, which can aggravate your current skin woes and make you look dull and tired.
Like they always say during this season, keep hydrated— and that’s true for your skin too. If you find your usual skincare products to be too thick and rich for the tropical climes, it’s time to switch to light hydrating products like those from Japanese cult skincare brand Hada Labo.
Hada Labo’s face lotion is a bestseller, selling out every five seconds in Japan. It is the first step to achieving fresh and youthful-looking skin, known for its soft, bouncy, velvety matte texture and exceptional hydration in any weather. These lotions are formulated without unnecessary additives, colorants, fragrances, and mineral oils, focusing on the most beneficial ingredients like hyaluronic acid, which increases skin hydration by retaining water content.
Gokujyun Hydrating Lotion, Japan’s top face lotion, is ideal for daily use, particularly for dry or normal skin. It now includes five types of hyaluronic acid to deeply hydrate the
Enjoy healthy mochi skin all summer and every season with Hada Labo
skin, replenish moisture, create a moisture-locking shield, enhance absorption of other skincare ingredients like sunscreen, and features the world’s first fermented hyaluronic acid for improved moisture retention deep within the skin.
For oily or combination skin, the Gokujyun Hydrating Light Lotion offers a light and non-greasy formula.
To revive and maintain fresh, hydrated skin, use the face lotion twice a day and apply it by gently patting onto cleansed skin.
For more beauty and skincare tips, visit hadalabo.com.ph