BusinessMirror April 27, 2023

GDP GROWTH IN 1ST QUARTER NOT SEEN DAMPENED

High inflation, rates don’t faze BSP

On Wednesday, BSP Governor Felipe M. Medalla told reporters that GDP growth may be around 6 percent in the January to March 2023 period. This is lower than the 8 percent posted in the same period last year.

“It will still be in the neighborhood of 6 [per-

cent], lower than last year but not too much,” Medalla said. “Well, we never know, right? [My] experience with GDP is [it’s hard to] forecast. In fact, in ation is sometimes hard to forecast,” he

S “BSP,” A

CITYSTATE Properties and Management Corporation (CPMC) held a groundbreaking ceremony for its newest development, Sandari Calatagan, on Wednesday (April 26, 2023) in Brgy. Bagong Silang, Ca-

latagan, Batangas.

The ceremony was attended by government o cials led by Batangas 1st District Representative Eric R. Buhain, Calatagan Mayor Peter Oliver M. Palacio, Vice Mayor

CLIMATE change-triggered events like super typhoons, massive ooding, or landslides can no longer be considered a “force majeure” or an act of God. Hence, insurance companies must learn to adapt and innovate to enhance insurance products and coverages to help people adapt to, and mitigate climate change.

This was stressed by Dean Antonio G. M. La Vina, Associate Director for Climate Policy and International Relations at the Manila Observa-

on Wednesday, April 26, 2023. (PNA/ALFRED FRIAS/ROLANDO MAILO)

BANGKOK—World Trade Organization (WTO) members must make strides in agriculture negotiations to secure a deal in next year’s Ministerial Conference (MC) that would advance food security among nations amid more than two decades of stalled talks on farm trade, its director-general said.

WTO Director-General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala reminded the member-countries they must “make progress” on “reforming agriculture trade,” which she noted has been ongoing for “more than two decades” with limited success.

“We’ve been negotiating on this for more than two decades, with success in eliminating export subsidies. But big issues related to farm subsidies and tari s remain unresolved,” Okonjo-Iweala pointed out in a video message S “WTO,” A

Pork shortage in June possible, may last 39 days, says DA exec

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tory, during his keynote speech at the 16th Philippine Insurance Summit at the Dusit Thani Hotel in Makati City on Wednesday, April 26.

Organized by the Insurance Institute for Asia and the Pacific Inc. with the Insurance Philippines, the event gathered 320 participants representing different insurance firms. It aims to provide a platform to discuss insights, policies, programs, and initiatives designed to help address climate change.

With the summit’s theme: “Climate change—A deadly Threat to Mankind: Taking the Lead Towards Sustainability and Resilience” through the discussion and cooperation among the private sector, government and regulatory bodies, and insurance organizations, organizers of the event hoped to boost the industry’s resilience against climate change-induced calamities and other related risks.

A climate expert and environmentalist, La Vina talked about the climate crisis: the 1.5 limit and the implications of crossing it for the insurance industry.

“Climate change is not an Act of God. It is not force majeure. It is predictable,” La Vina stressed, as he discussed the latest updates from the 6th Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel for Climate Change (IPCC). Interviewed by BusinessMirror, La Vina said the insurance industry, hence, must learn to adapt and to innovate. Massive flooding that causes enormous damage to properties, for instance, is not an act of God as they are now the new normal because of climate change. Hence, he said insurance companies should be able to adapt and innovate to help people cope with the challenges posed by climate changetriggered events.

“The innovation here is that they know that it is predictable and it is going to happen; hence, the premiums should be high enough to cover all the damage. You cannot sell a product if you cannot cover it,” he said.

“It is unequivocal that human influence has warmed the atmosphere, ocean, and land. Widespread and rapid changes in the atmosphere, ocean, cryosphere, and biosphere have occurred,” he said.

According to La Vina, global warming of 1.5 degrees Celsius and 2 degrees Celsius will be exceeded during the 21st century without a deep reduction in carbon dioxide (CO2) and other greenhouse gas emissions in the coming decades.

“If global warming transiently exceeds 1.5 degrees Celsius in the coming decades or later, then many human and natural systems will face additional severe risks compared to remaining below 1.5 degrees Celsius tipping points,” he said. The impacts of human-induced climate change, including more frequent and intense extreme events, have already caused widespread adverse impacts on nature and people, beyond natural climate variability, he added.

According to La Vina, the most vulnerable people and systems are disproportionately affected and poor countries, and poor people, in all countries, impacted.

The impact on public health may mean more pandemics, dengue, and malaria.

With climate change, he said zoonotic diseases or animal diseases are likely to affect humans.

Meanwhile, the rise in weather and climate extremes will lead to irreversible impacts as natural and human systems are pushed beyond the ability to adapt, he added.

On a positive note, there is space and time to address the climate crisis with a whole-ofsociety approach.

Government, private sector, and other stakeholders, he said, should work together to a just transition from coal and other dirty fuelbased energy to a more environment-friendly option in renewable energy systems.

He said the insurance industry should consider the impacts of climate change as a pervasive risk that requires new responses.

It is imperative, hence for the industry to revise its business models and help support its customers, do stress-test total exposure against projected climate hazards, build resilience and rebalance portfolios, help organizations mitigate climate risk, create innovative products to address climate-related risks, and revise their investment strategies.

“A possible pork shortage in June is estimated at 46,104 metric tons, while pork demand is at 145,849 metric tons,” the Department of Agriculture’s National Livestock Program director Ruth Miclat-Sonaco said at the Cargill Animal Nutrition Summit.

Without higher supply, the pork shortage may last at least 39 days, Sonaco said.

She said that as of March 2023, the ASF-affected barangays are 137 from 54 municipalities, 21

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added, in a mix of English and Filipino.

Medalla also said that while the Development Budget Coordination Committee (DBCC) retained the country’s growth targets, main-

provinces and 11 regions.

The cumulative number of affected areas follows: total number of affected regions is 17; affected provinces 63; municipalities 814 and affected barangays 4,418.

The Cargill summit brought together global and local animal nutrition experts, swine farmers and industry partners to discuss market outlook, perspectives, and greatest opportunities in navigating the swine business, particularly pertaining to the Philippine

taining targets this year is not a problem.

However, Medalla said, 2024 may be “too far away” to determine whether the target should be maintained. He said one of the main reasons for this is high inflation here and abroad.

Medalla said sticky inflation in the United States may lead the Federal Reserve to continue its tight monetary policy. While the BSP

market. For his part, Sonny Catacutan, country president of Cargill Philippines and managing director for Cargill’s animal nutrition business said that “at Cargill, we are focused on driving success for our customers and enabling a brighter and more secure future for the swine industry.”

“Our Animal Nutrition Summit provides an avenue for us to connect farmers, producers, customers and consumers, and partner with them to build and advance the growth ambitions of the Filipino hog industry,” he added.

Lower tariffs till yearend

THE reduced tariff rates of imported pork have been extended until December 31, 2023.

The local authorities are mandated to strictly follow the National Zoning implementation and movement plan depending on the level of ASF risks. In Mindanao,

is no longer keen on tracking the movements of the Fed, it will track inflation as it remains an inflation-targeting central bank.

“Some people are pessimistic about next year na very sticky ’yung inflation sa US, mabagal ’yung cuts and its very dangerous for the Philippine central bank to cut faster than the US even if it’s inflation is falling faster because the tendency of the markets to say ‘ay kailangan

the government of Zamboanga plans to distribute sentinel pigs to ASF-affected barangays to confirm the presence of the disease.

In Luzon, Pangasinan rovince has extended the total ban on the entry of live pigs, pork, and pork by-products from ASF affected areas until June 30, 2023.

In Visayas, Antique Province, residents were urged not to import pork and pork-related products from outside the province to avoid the incursion of the disease.

In Cebu Province, the provincial government issued a couple of Executive Orders (EO) after the confirmation of ASF virus in blood samples of pigs in Carcar City. It also established a strict border control in all ports of entry, ordered authorities in all ports to implement the EO, and revoked all livestock transport passes issued for livestock transport vehicles and refer vans from Negros.

mas mataas ang policy rate ng Pilipinas kesa sa US’,” Medalla said.

“We may inherit the tight monetary policy of the US and if you’re pessimistic about the drop of inflation in the US, you would be pessimistic about the Philippine economy in 2024. But it’s too far away, it’s too far away,” he added.

Banks fit for shocks

MEANWHILE, Medalla said Philippine banks remain fit to withstand spikes in inflation, thanks to the lessons of the 1997-1998 Asian Financial Crisis. Medalla said efforts to address mismatches such as borrowing in dollars while earning in pesos have already been addressed.

He added that apart from mismatches, it is important to understand crises from a broader

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Bagong Silang officials led by Barangay Chairman Pacifico Atienza, top company executives led by CPMC Chairman and CEO D. Edgard A. Cabangon, President D. Michelle Cabangon Chua, Executive Vice President Maureen S. Azarcon, officers, staff and salesforce.

Rev. Fr. Edilberto B. Ramos Jr. officiated the blessing of the site, followed by the burying of the time capsule with the site development plan.

In his speech, Congressman Eric R. Buhain extended his appreciation to CPMC for choosing Calatagan as their next business venture. “We are very honored that you have chosen Calatagan as your next venture in the first district of Batangas,” he said.

Meanwhile, Palacio expressed his excitement, appreciation and support to Cabangon and to CPMC for spearheading the newest development in Calatagan. “Ito po ay isang napakagandang development dito sa aming bayan. At lubos po kaming nagpapasalamat kay Sir Edgard Cabangon at sa Citystate Properties and Management Corporation, na hindi nagdalawang isip na mag-invest sa bayan na ito.”

Cabangon thanked the government officials for their warm welcome, and promised to deliver nothing but the best development in Calatagan. “Salamat sa pagtanggap ninyo sa amin sa inyong bayan. In return, we commit to develop Sandari Calatagan into a first-class resort which the city of Calatagan can be very proud of,” he asserted.

Sandari Calatagan is a beach club and wellness residences project that will feature top-ofthe-line amenities and beachfront luxury. The development is poised to become a premier destination for those who value health, relaxation, and upscale living. The project will be situated in the scenic town of Calatagan, Batangas, which is known for its beautiful beaches and rich cultural heritage.

CPMC has been in the real estate industry for 16 years, with Sandari Batulao in Nasugbu, Batangas as its first wellness residences. Sandari Calatagan is just the latest addition to the company’s portfolio of successful developments.

Citystate Properties and Management Corporation is a member of the ALC Group of Companies founded by Ambassador Antonio L. Cabangon Chua and currently chaired by D. Edgard A. Cabangon.

addressed to Southeast Asian and Oceanian journalists attending a regional workshop here. Okonjo-Iweala said the WTO member-countries must also put emphasis on how to “address” the “growing concerns” on food security in the negotiation table.

“We need to look at how the growing concerns regarding food security can be incorporated and addressed holistically in the discussions,” the Director-General said. “I do hope we can find a sensible and pragmatic approach to food security that will set members on the path to further progress in the years ahead,” she added.

Agricultural negotiations at the consensusdriven WTO have been stagnant at best since its member-countries launched the Doha Development Agenda in 2001, which set forth their vision of further reforming farm trade in three areas: market access, domestic support and export subsidies.

The last time that the multilateral body inched close to delivering a substantive package on agriculture talks was in 2013, when membercountries issued a “strong” commitment to observe “utmost restraint” in using any form of export subsidies, which they deemed the “worst distortion” of agricultural trade.

Agriculture negotiations have been a priority for the Philippines since it joined the WTO in 1995. It has been even more active in the recent decade, particularly in the areas of special safeguard mechanism (SSM) as well as public stockholding programs.

In fact, the Philippines has been in the forefront of advancing a new and better SSM in the rules-based trading system. An SSM is a trade tool that allows the country to temporarily raise tariffs to protect domestic agricultural sectors impacted by sudden influx of imports.

The Philippines sought to “strengthen” SSM in the MC 12 held in June 2022 in Geneva, Switzerland; however, the WTO members did not reach a consensus to close a deal on agriculture talks in general. (Related story: https://businessmirror. com.ph/2022/06/13/manila-seeks-wto-dealon-ssm-fisheries)

The draft agreement text on agriculture negotiations at MC 12 stipulated that talks on SSM as well as public stockholding programs shall continue post-MC 12 with the goal of agreeing and adopting certain solutions at MC 13.

Former Philippine agriculture officials, who were part of the country’s negotiation team at MC 12, expressed optimism that the WTO would finally adopt a decision on SSM and PSH come MC 13. (Related story: https://businessmirror.com. ph/2022/06/27/phl-sees-wto-reaching-deal-onssm-and-public-food-stocks-in-2023)

It was in MC 10 held at Nairobi, Kenya in 2015 when WTO members adopted a decision to initiate talks on coming up with a SSM for developing countries.

The MC is the WTO’s highest policy-making body, wherein trade ministers from all 164 member-countries meet biennially to negotiate on matters affecting global trade multilaterally. The next MC will be held in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates in February next year.

Ratify fisheries deal

THE WTO Director-General also urged Southeast Asian and Oceanian countries to fast-track ratification of the fisheries deal that seeks to curb harmful fisheries subsidies that lead to overfishing and illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing. In order for the Agreement on Fisheries to take effect, at least two-thirds of the WTO members must ratify it by depositing their “instruments of acceptance” with the multilateral body.

Earlier this month, the United States became the fourth WTO member-country to ratify the Agreement on Fisheries, since the deal was reached nine months ago. In Southeast Asia, only Singapore has ratified the fisheries agreement so far. Earlier this year, the Philippines pronounced that it is now fast-tracking the ratification of the fisheries accord. (Related story: https://businessmirror.com.ph/2023/01/23/dti-phl-in-processof-ratifying-accord-on-fisheries-subsidies)

“And we need to move quicker on ratifying the agreement reached last June, which will only enter into force once two-thirds of the WTO membership has accepted it,” Okonjo-Iweala said. “I’m happy that Singapore is one of four WTO members that have done so at this time; we need other countries in the region to come on board so that we can start helping our oceans to recover,” she added.

Okonjo-Iweala also prodded WTO members to complete the “second wave” of negotiations on fisheries subsidies “by agreeing on new disciplines for harmful subsidies that contribute to overfishing and overcapacity, while at the same time taking into account the needs of fishing communities in developing and least developed countries.”

The Philippine has supported the fisheries agreement, arguing that it would help in protecting and preserving fisheries stocks particularly in so-called “disputed waters.” (Related stories: https://businessmirror.com.ph/2022/11/01/ amid-protest-bfar-backswto-deal-on-fishsubsidies and https://businessmirror.com. ph/2022/06/15/phl-backs-wto-fund-for-fisheries-subsidies)

AMID the surge of African swine fever (ASF), there is a possible pork shortage in June, a high official said on Wednesday.

The Nation

Labor groups’ coalition sets march on May 1 for wage hike, vs impunity

CITING the delayed government response to the plight of the working class, a super coalition of labor groups will hold a nationwide Labor Day protest next week to demand for better working conditions.

T he All Philippine Trade Unions (APTU) announced the biggest of the demonstrations on May 1, 2023 will be held in Manila, where over 10,000 are expected to hold a march.

Similar Labor Day rallies will also be held in other parts of the country, it added.

Elmer Labog, chairperson of Kilusang Mayo Uno (KMU) and one of the APTU members, said the mobilization aims to compel President Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr. to address their demands, including the completion of the delayed inclusive labor road map.

APTU also called for the granting of substantial wage hikes, an end to the proliferation of contractual employment and government action on its documented 68 trade union killings and hundreds of violations of the right to freedom of association, with the creation of a new presidential body.

“Workers will march on May 1 to press for Malacañang’s position on our demands for an inclusive roadmap to achieve decent work, an immediate action to the popular clamor for immediate wage increase and an end to impunity among other matters,”

Labog said in a news conference last Wednesday.

In a separate news briefing, Labor Secretary Bienvenido E. Laguesma appealed to the labor groups to be more patient as the government addressed their demands.

Among the actions, he said, was the ongoing review of the wage petitions filed by the labor groups, as well as the review of Department Order (DO) 174 series of 2017, prohibiting labor-only contracting.

He also said they have already submitted to the Office of the President (OP) the labor groups’ request to hold a dialogue with the President as well as the recommendation of the International Labor Organization-High Level Tripartite Mission (ILO-HLTM) to create a presidential body to look into reported labor abuses.

“If there is yet an immediate solution [to their demand], we are not doing anything. We already made some action [on those demands], which we are now consolidating,” Laguesmsa said.

Aside from KMU, other members of the APTU are the Nagkaisa! Labor Coalition, Kilusang Mayo Uno (KMU), Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (TUCP), Bukluran ng Manggagawang Pilipino (BMP) and a host of other trade union centers and confederations.

The coalition was created in January to represent the labor sector during the Philippine visit of the ILO-HLTM to look into reported incidents of freedom of association violations.

3 OFWs dead, 5 injured in Taiwan factory fire; repatriation readied

THREE Filipino workers died and five other OFWs were injured in a fire at a famous food factory in Changhua County, Taiwan, on April 25.

T he Manila Economic and Cultural Office’s (MECO) Chairman and Representative Silvestre H. Bello III said the three Filipino workers died from smoke inhalation.

“

’Di sila makalabas sa kuwarto [They couldn’t leave their rooms],” Bello told the BusinessMirror

T he factory of famous food giant Lian-Hwa Foods Corp. caught fire along Sihai Road in Changhua County, central part of Taiwan, around 6:45 am Tuesday, Taiwanese media said.

T he Filipino casualties were identified as:

1. Renato Larua, 30 years old, from Cavite

2. Nancy Revilla from Marinduque

3. Aroma Miranda from Tarlac Five other OFWs were declared out of danger but under observation at different hospitals:

1. Sheila May Abas from Negros Occidental

2. Jessie Boy Samson

3. Maricris Fernando from La Union

4. Rodel Uttao

5. Santiago Suba Jr.

Focus Taiwan News reported that the factory employees apparently thought it would be safe to take shelter inside the cold storage of the factory on the fourth floor. However, the door was made of plastic curtains and the smoke was still able to penetrate the cold storage room.

Four other Taiwanese employees were also dead. Firefighters were able to control the fire after an hour. Twenty employees were rescued, but many were found inside the cold storage.

Bello said the bodies of the three Filipino fatalities were embalmed in Taiwan and the MECO has already notified their next of kin.

M ECO is closely coordinating with Taiwanese police authorities regarding the incident and investigation and the swift repatriation of the remains of the victims.

ASENIOR lawmaker hit the Philippine National Police (PNP) last Wednesday for its slow pace investigation on the anomaly-laden seizure of 990 kilos of shabu in Tondo, Manila, involving alleged “ninja cops.” D uring the investigation of the House Committee on Dangerous Drugs, Antipolo City Rep. Romeo M. Acop said this drug-related issue puts the national police’s reputation at stake. Your investigation would take almost half a year. Your reputation is at stake,” Acop said.

PNP Directorate for Investigation and Detective Management Director Maj. Gen. Eliseo D. Cruz told lawmakers that the national police could not yet provide a timeline to finish the investigation.

Surigao del Norte Rep. Robert “Ace” S. Barbers, panel chairman, said that since October 8 last year, the public, including concerned lawmakers have not been apprised clearly on what had transpired in the PNP’s internal investigations on the incident and who were the officers charged in court for their alleged attempts to recycle 42-kilos of shabu and cover-up the incident.

‘Piece by piece’

THE committee has resumed tackling its motu propio hearing on the drug recycling activities in connection to House Resolution 495, an investigation in aid of legislation of the circumstances surrounding the PNP’s Drug Enforcement Group (DEG) seizure of an estimated 990 kilos of shabu on October 8 last year, in the premises of a lending company owned and operated by a then-active member of the PNP.

The committee will pry open, piece by piece, the events on that day, with the aid of testimonial and documentary evidence in its possession. The committee has a copy of an unauthenticated CCTV footage that we will use to confirm certain activities and presence of certain personalities in and around the premises of WPD lending on October 8, 2022. Through this, we hope to verify the credence of the various statements and pronouncements made regarding this event by several personalities,” Barbers said. Jovee Marie N. Dela Cruz

THE Department of Information and Communication Technology (DICT) said it found “serious lapses” within the Philippine National Police (PNP), which resulted in the creation of its “vulnerable” job search web site.

In an interview with reporters in Malacañang last Tuesday, DICT Secretary Ivan E. Uy disclosed the site was created without their authorization and the approval of PNP officials.

“There were serious lapses in procedure. First, if you want to do that kind of system, you should have gotten the approval of their IT (information technology) department and their agency,” Uy said.

The recruitment site was reported

PRESIDENT Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. watched as combined Filipino and American troops sank a decommissioned corvette of Philippine Navy during the littoral live-fire exercise for the Balikatan in the waters of Zambales last Wednesday.

T he presence of Marcos, much more by a Philippine President, in the joint military exercise was the first in the history of the Balikatan. This year is considered the biggest as a total of 17,600 Filipino and American soldiers participated.

Accompanied by Department of National Defense Officer-inCharge Carlito G. Galvez Jr., Marcos witnessed how forces from both countries sank the BRP Pangasinan, which had been turned into a target as a mock enemy ship.

The sinking in the coastal waters of San Narciso, Zambales of the vintage navy warship that was decommissioned in 2021 was also a first in the history of the biggest

to have been flagged by Jeremaiah Fowler, a cybersecurity researcher, due to its misconfiguration, which rendered the data it stored accessible to the public.

The site contained the personal information of PNP applicants, particularly uploaded copies of their preemployment requirements such IDs, National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) clearances and birth certificates.

“He (Fowler) called the attention of our National Computer Emergency Response team when he made the discovery,” Uy said.

The DICT official reiterated there was no hacking or extraction of data from any government agency as stated by some news re -

ports about the incident.

‘Serious lapses’ found in PNP job-search site Group urges haste in solving brutal killing of labor leader

Upon being informed by the DICT of the matter, the PNP immediately took down the website as it underwent investigation from the National Privacy Commission (NPC).

Once the probe is concluded, Uy said the government will hold accountable anyone, who will be found liable for the defective website.

Republic Act 10173 or the Data Privacy Act imposes fines and imprisonment to those who would violate its provisions.

Uy said they are currently also checking other government sites, which may also lack the necessary security measures similar to the PNP recruitment site. Samuel

Balikatan 2023 chalks up two firsts

US-Philippines bilateral exercise and ended this year’s Balikatan field training event.

Training officials said about 1,400 Marines, soldiers, sailors, airmen and Coast Guardsmen from both countries took part in the “sinking exercise,” which involved “detecting, identifying, targeting and engaging” the corvette using a variety of ground and air-based weapons systems.

“This training increased the exercise’s realism and complexity, a key priority shared between the Armed Forces of the Philippines and the US military,” said Lt. Gen. William Jurney, commander of the US Marine Corps Forces, Pacific, and the US director for the exercise.

“Together we are strengthening our capabilities in full-spectrum military operations across all domains,” Jurney added.

During the exercise, which took place two days before the scheduled end of the Balikatan on April 28, US and Filipino troops delivered coordinated fires on the target ship, using various weap -

ons platforms. The weapons systems included High-Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems, Avenger air defense systems, AH-64 Apache attack helicopters, Philippine Air Force FA-50 Golden Eagle fighter-attack aircraft, F-16 Fighting Falcons, US Marine F-35B Joint Strike Fighters and a US Air Force Special Operations Command AC 130 Spectre gunship.

A US Marine Corps command and control and sensor network enabled the various firing platforms to sense their target, develop firing solutions and deliver precision integrated fires on the target vessel.

Balikatan officials said the training represented a tangible demonstration of the US-Philippine commitment to strengthen military capabilities and interoperability to meet shared modern-day security challenges.

“This significant activity demonstrated new potential and revitalized the strength of our militaries while we continuously forge an ironclad alliance,” said Armed

Forces of the Philippines Maj. Gen. Marvin Licudine, commander of the AFP’s Education, Training and Doctrine Command and the Balikatan 2023 exercise director for the AFP.

“This event enhanced the interoperability of the Philippines and US forces in conducting combined joint operations utilizing both countries’ army, navy, and air force assets in conducting maritime security and territorial defense,” he added.

A day before the littoral exercise, combined forces shot down simulated cruise missiles and drones with Patriot and Avenger air defense systems during a livefire exercise, also in San Antonio, Zambales.

War games officials said a focus point for this year’s Balikatan was a bilateral integration of command and control, sensors and multi-domain fires that enables expanded battlefield awareness, sharing of targeting data between geographically dispersed units and precision strikes in a contested maritime environment.

ALABOR group called on President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. last Tuesday to fast track the investigation on the brutal killing of an officer of the BPO Industry Employees Network (Bien) in Bacolod City days before Labor Day.

Federation of Free Workers (FFW) President and Nagkaisa Labor Coalition (N1) Chairman Jose G. Matula condemned the death of Alex Dolorosa, a paralegal and organizer of Bien, as another incident of attack on trade unions and human rights.

“ The FFW and N1 call for an immediate, thorough, and impartial investigation into Dolorosa’s murder; and for the authorities to hold those responsible accountable for their actions. This senseless violence must not be allowed to continue or become a recurring pattern,” Matula was quoted in in a statement as saying. D olorosa was found dead with multiple stab wounds last Monday in Barangay Alijis, Bacolod City, after being reported missing for three days.

“ This violent attack against a dedicated union organizer and paralegal officer is a tragic example of the ongoing state of impunity and lawlessness in our country,” Matula said.

L ocal labor groups have called on Marcos to implement the recommendation of the International Labor Organization High Level Tripartite Mission to create a new presidential body, which will look into labor-related killings.

T hey noted they were able to register at least 68 incidents of killings of trade unionists.

The climate of fear and intimidation that these attacks create is unacceptable and must be addressed,” Matula said. Samuel P. Medenilla

DOLE hikes target number of workers hired-on-the-spot in Labor Day job fairs

IMPROVEMENTS in the labor market and new policy reforms prompted the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) to raise its expected number of workers hiredon-the-spot (Hots) during the DOLE-led job fairs.

I n a news conference last Wednesday, Labor Secretary Bienvenido E. Laguesma disclosed they are now targeting to achieve over 40-percent Hots rate among the applicants in the job fairs, which will start this weekend. The revised rate is significantly higher compared to the 5-percent to 10-percent Hots rate in previous job fairs the labor department organized. We hope at least half of the vacancies [in the Labor Day Job Fairs] will be filled so we can reduce our unemployment by 30,000, Laguesma said in Filipino.

As of last Wednesday, DOLE was able to register 73,779 vacancies from 808 employers to be offered in the job fairs.

Better chance

LABOR Undersecretary Ciriaco

A. Lagunzad III said the upward tweak of the Hots target was based on data on the country’s laborforce indicators last February, particularly the labor force participation (LFP) rate.

B ased on data by the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA), the LFP last February improved year-on-year to 66.6 percent from 63.8 percent.

“If the [labor] participation rate is rising, we can see the jobseekers are optimistic and that, in their personal assessment, they have a high chance of getting employment,” Lagunzad said.

Laguesma said the reforms,

which he implemented in the conduct of DOLE’s job fairs, will also boost the chances of applicants to be immediately hired. These reforms include cleaning the list of available vacancies so there would be no redundant or outdated positions. Laguesma said holding the job fairs in convenient venues such as malls as well as pre-screening the applicants, are also factors for his optimistic target.

The strategies, particularly prescreening, was used by the DOLE to achieve a 40-percent Hots rate in its specialized job fairs, which cater to specific industries such as tourism, last year.

Quality employment

ASIDE from efforts in providing immediate employment opportunities to applicants, the DOLE is also working on improving the

quality of job opportunities, according to Labor Undersecretary Carmela I. Torres.

C urrently, Torres said, many workers are employed in elementary occupations despite possessing a higher education level or work experience. She said the incongruence is due to the worker’s desperation or lack of other opportunities.

“In the past five years, what happened is the jobseekers were not guided to the right employment [opportunity], especially during the pandemic, so they ended up in elementary occupations,” Torres said.

The DOLE is now trying to remedy the situation by providing better employment opportunities as well as skills training to the affected workers, she explained.

Torres said they are eyeing the

country’s 10 key-employment generators as potential sources of quality employment for the said workers. These generators are: information technology-business process management; wholesale and retail trade; transport and logistics; manufacturing; construction; agribusiness; banking and finance; hotel, restaurant and tourism; education; and, health and wellness.

She also said they work with concerned government agencies to provide the necessary education and skills to jobseekers to help them qualify for quality employment.

The said initiatives, she said, are contained in the Philippine Development Plan 2023-2028 as well as their Labor and Employment plan, which is expected to be completed by June.

Thursday, April 27, 2023

Share of renewables in PHL power mix remained at 29%

THE share of renewable energy (RE) in the country’s power generation mix remained at 29 percent last year, according to a report released by the Department of Energy (DOE).

T he implementation status report for 2022 of the RE law of 2008 (Republic Act 9513) showed that coalfired power plants remain the top source of power in terms of installed capacity, with a share of 44 percent at 12,441 megawatts (MW) in 2022.

Installed capacity from RE increased by 4 percent from 7,914MW in 2021 to 8,255MW in 2022. The growth was mainly attributed to the entry of new solar, biomass, and hy-

dro plants last year.

O il-powered plants accounted for 14 percent or 3,931MW of the capacity mix and natural gas with 13 percent or 3,732 MW.

T he DOE awarded 1,002 RE contracts last year. Of these, 216 are existing facilities, with a total installed capacity of 5,571MW.

Meanwhile, 786 projects with a potential capacity of 80,399MW are still under the pre-development and development stage. Variable RE technologies, such as wind and solar, have the highest combined potential of 67,046MW, comprising 83 percent of the total potential capacity. For ocean energy, 24MW is the potential from 8 proposed projects.

Following the RE Act’s implemen-

tation in 2009, the total investment cost generated from new RE facilities reached P280 billion.

“Accelerating RE development remains a priority of the government toward a sustainable and clean energy future. Utilizing RE reduces emissions and dependence on imported and conventional energy resources. This minimizes the country’s exposure to global price fluctuations, making the supply and delivery of electricity more stable and secure,” the DOE report said.

The DOE is targeting an RE share of 30 percent by 2030 and 50 percent by 2040. To achieve this, the DOE continues to promulgate and implement various policies and programs last year to support the RE industry.

Emergency fix by NEA to cut Occ. Mindoro brownouts by 3 hrs; co-op takeover urged

Last year, the DOE released a circular amending the implementing rules and regulations of the RE Act to allow 100 percent foreign capital in RE projects from 40 percent.

“With the impressive amount of interest, the DOE has been receiving both from the local and foreign investors in RE development, particularly in the offshore wind potential, the State can now directly undertake the exploration, development, production and utilization of RE resources or it can enter into RE service or operating contracts with Filipino and/or foreign citizen or Filipino and/or foreign-owned corporations or associations,” DOE Secretary Raphael P.M. Lotilla had said.

Govt working on ‘harmonized recovery’ for oil spill-hit areas

the Mi-

maropa and Western Visayas regions that were affected by the oil spill in Oriental Mindoro waters.

M imaropa, particularly Oriental Mindoro and Western Visayas, were severely affected by industrial

oil from the sunken MT Princess Empress that sank off the waters of Naujan, Oriental Mindoro. The vessel was said to be carrying some 900,000 liters of industrial oil when it sank on February 28.

T he Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) revealed last April 19 it seeks to “harmonize” the recovery plans of different national government agencies with the overall goal of addressing the oil spill’s “intersecting impacts to the people, environment, tourism and the local economy.”

Environment and Natural Resources Secretary Antonia YuloLoyzaga was quoted in a statement as saying that the recovery plan must be consistent with the “whole-of-government approach,” or “Woga,” espoused by the Marcos administration in responding to the oil spill disaster.

“ We have a convergence framework where we look at each of our mandates, at the point of how we can support the building of resilience for inclusive and sustainable activities,” Loyzaga said.

Bouncing forward

LOYZAGA said the recovery plan should “not only look at bouncing back, but bouncing forward” as it must guarantee the resiliency of communities and ecosystems.

In her opening remarks at the

event last week in Quezon City, Tourism Secretary Christina Garcia-Frasco reported that over 1,600 workers dependent on tourism had already been deprived of their livelihood due to the oil spill.

Frasco, nonetheless, said the Department of Tourism will provide “full support for a cohesive approach on tourism development that is sustainable and regenerative.”

W ith the Office of Civil Defense (OCD) as one of the main agencies leading the recovery efforts, OCD Administrator Ariel F. Nepomuceno recognized that a scientific approach is crucial in these initiatives. Thus, the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) and the OCD will seek more accurate guidance from science-based agencies, such as the Department of Science and Technology, Nepomuceno added.

Recommendations

DURING the event, DENR-Biodiversity Management Bureau Senior Ecosystems Management Specialist Jhorace E. Tupas presented the latest results of the Rapid Biodiversity Assessments in Oriental Mindoro and Palawan for Mimaropa and Semirara Island in Caluya, Antique for Western Visayas. Tupas showed the potential threats of the oil spill to marine life and mangrove ecosystem.

of Occidental Mindoro will get a reprieve from prolonged brownouts after the National Electrification Administration (NEA) announced last Wednesday that at least 23 megawatts (MW) of additional capacity will be sourced from Power Systems Inc. (PSI) and DMCI Power Corp. (DPC).

T he NEA and PSI have agreed to operate a diesel power plant that has a dependable capacity of 5 to 6 MW. The agency said it will shoulder the power plant’s cost of operation for a period of two months.

T he agreement takes effect on April 29. NEA said this would give the residents of Occidental Mindoro roughly six to seven hours of electricity per day from the current four. The situation of 20-hour brownouts has sent residents reeling under extreme heat in summer, and disrupted the local economy, sparking calls for investigations.

L ast Wednesday, Sen. Sherwin

T. Gatchalian advised the NEA to temporarily take over operations of the local supplier, the Occidental Mindoro Electric Cooperative Inc. (Omeco), noting that this is allowed by the Electric Power Industry Reform Act (Epira).

Exemption issued

MEANWHILE, the Department of Energy (DOE) has issued a Certificate of Exemption from the conduct of the Competitive Selection Process (COE-CSP) for the negotiated procurement of 17 MW Emergency Power Supply Agreement (EPSA) between DPC and Omeco.

NEA Administrator Antonio Mariano C. Almeda has requested the DPC to immediately supply power to Omeco.

“ DMCI promised to roll out 10 MW in a matter of 30 days and the 7 MW in two months. The EPSA would last only until March 31, 2024, which would give Omeco time to conclude

its CSP to procure power for its long-term energy requirements,” said Almeda.

Apart from these, the NEA is expecting 4MW of diesel generator sets that will be sent to Occidental Mindoro and another 4MW on standby.

T he said units were procured during the time of former President Benigno S. Aquino III for the Mindanao power crisis in 2013.

A lmeda said the NEA attended an interagency meeting with the Presidential Management Staff (PMS) and updated President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. of the steps taken and are still needed to finally address the energy crisis in Occidental Mindoro.

NEA takeover urged IN Gatchalian’s view, the NEA should step in, using its mandate under the law, and take over the problematic electric cooperative in Occidental Mindoro.

In making the suggestion, the senator invoked the Epira law (Republic Act 9136), which vests NEA with so-called “step-in rights” or the power to take over problematic electric cooperatives until all issues hounding them have been resolved and operations are normalized, or electric supply is stabilized.

O nce NEA takes over—as has been done with other electric cooperatives elsewhere in the country—a task force shall be formed to resolve the problem of supply, with the subsequent calling of an election to determine who should sit on the board of Omeco.

Meanwhile, Gatchalian urged the National Power Corp. (Napocor) to right away deploy generator sets to fill the aching gap in power supply for Occidental Mindoro.

T he Napocor, he stressed, can do this right away— and should do so right away, considering the huge economic toll and the suffering of the people in the province, who are feeling the extreme heat of summer like most of the country. With Lenie Lectura

Report: Aging nations will need more migrants

I n the World Development Report 2023, the World Bank said this is a unique opportunity to make migration work better for economies and people.

T he World Bank said the share of working-age adults will drop sharply in many countries. Apart from demographics, climate change is also expected to fuel the increase in the number of migrants.

Migration can be a powerful force for prosperity and development,” said World Bank Senior Managing Director Axel van Trotsenburg. “ When it is managed properly, it provides benefits for all people— in origin and destination societies.”

T he World Bank said countries like Spain, with a population of 47 million, is projected to shrink by more than one third by 2100, with those above age 65 increasing to 39 percent from 20 percent of the population.

F urther, countries like Mexico, Thailand, Tunisia and Türkiye may also need more foreign workers because their population is no longer growing.

C limate change, the World Bank

said, has led to the tripling of the number of refugees over the last decade. Moreover, about 40 percent of the world’s population—3.5 billion people—live in places highly exposed to climate impacts.

“ This World Development Report proposes a simple but powerful framework to aid the making of migration and refugee policy,” said Indermit Gill, Chief Economist of the World Bank Group and Senior Vice President for Development Economics. “It tells us when such policies can be made unilaterally by destination countries, when they are better made plurilateral by destination, transit and origin countries, and when they must be considered a multilateral responsibility.”

In the report, the Philippines was made an example of the benefits of migration. The country has been exporting workers since the 1970s and has developed systems that facilitate migration from pre-deployment to eventual return and reintegration.

T he World Bank cited the work of Ateneo de Manila University Department of Economics Chairperson Alvin Ang and Deputy Director of the

Global Human Development (GHD) Program at Georgetown University’s Walsh School of Foreign Service, Erwin R. Tiongson.

Based on the paper, the authors said the Philippines entered into 54 bilateral labor agreements (BLAs) to provide better conditions for emigrants. These BLAs, particularly those with Saudi Arabia and other Gulf nations, abolished placement fees to reduce migration costs, among other policies.

T he country, the authors said, also prepares migrants prior to deployment. The Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (Tesda) trains more than 800,000 graduates a year and a number of them become Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs).

T he government also provides

THE 90-day extension for SIM registration will give implementors and SIM subscribers time to address problem of sourcing required identification and other issues, a leader of the House of Representatives said Wednesday, a day after President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. approved the recommendation of the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) and telecommunications companies to extend the deadline beyond April 26.

I requested and suggested only 60 days extension but the President did better by pushing the deadline back by 90 days,” said Party-list Rep. Elizaldy S. Co of AKO BICOL Partylist and chairman of the Committee on Appropriations.

The 90 days leeway should not mean another excuse for SIM subscribers to wait until the last few days of the extension before they register. SIM subscribers must realize that their SIM phone numbers are means of identification and access to essential services as the country becomes more digital,”

stressed Co, who is also president of the Party-list Coalition Foundation Inc.

T he House of Representatives, led by Speaker Ferdinand Martin Romualdez, deems it a key concern to risk “disenfranchisement” of the poor and marginalized who have difficulty with SIM registration. “We do not want them to be shut out of telco service because of their inherent problems stemming from being poor and marginalized.”

A ssistance must be given, he added, “especially to senior citizens who are unfamiliar with technical matters, persons with disability and persons with special needs who have inherent handicaps making them unable to follow online instructions, and solo parents and working parents who are hard-pressed to set aside hours to fall in line at service desks and kiosks.”

T he extension gives the telcos more time to work with the government agencies that have verifiable databases backing the IDs and identification documents they have issued, said Co.

He reiterated his belief that “the major problem is the lack of acceptable

identification,” and repeated his suggestion that the following be deemed acceptable documents because these can be verifiable:

1. Barangay Residence Certification with picture and barcode;

2. Vaccination Card with QR Code;

3 . Filed latest BIR Income Tax Return;

4. School ID with picture and student number;

5 . 4Ps ATM Card with card number;

6. DSWD Social Amelioration Card with barcode;

7. DOLE CAMP identification card; and

8. PhilSys National ID physical card or electronic card. F or these identification documents to be usable for SIM registration, the agencies and entities with custody of the databases should either give the telecom firms access to their databases or they should have a working arrangement for the verification of documents submitted, according to Co.

predeparture orientation programs to inform migrants about the risks and benefits of migration and labor rights and safety measures, as well as information specific to the destination.

Apart from these, the government also works through Philippine Overseas Labor Offices (POLOs) to protect migrants. The POLOs provide labor protection, training, and general support to migrants.

T he government also requires that all OFWs be covered by insurance by way of their employers. However, there are still gaps in the implementation, particularly in light of the pandemic.

Remittance-sending cost

THE cost of sending remittance, meanwhile, is already one of the

world’s lowest because of the efforts of the government and private sector to create digital platforms for remittance services.

“ Despite the significant development impacts of remittances, gaps remain, particularly for children whose parent or caregiver goes abroad. Households relying on remittances may face uninsured shocks from abroad, such as a pandemic,” the report stated.

T he authors also said the government provides support for returning migrants through various reintegration programs. The only caveat is that uptake of these programs has been low at only 4 percent of returnees.

M ajority or 70 percent of returning migrants, Ang and Tiongson pointed out, report that they continue to experience difficul -

ties in finding “a satisfactory job” back home.

Still, efforts to expand assistance for returning OFWs may be under way given the latest Philippine Development Plan (PDP).

T he 2023 to 2028 PDP focuses on returning migrants’ reentry into the economy, and on the management of social impacts, including through health and psychosocial services to migrants’ children.

Earlier, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) reported that the growth in remittances from Filipinos abroad slowed to 2.4 percent in February, the slowest in seven months. In July 2022, remittances posted a year-on-year growth of 2.3 percent. In the first two months of the year, cash remittances grew 3 percent.

T he level of cash remittances also reached P2.569 billion, the lowest level since May 2022 when remittances amounted to P2.425 billion. In the January to February period, remittances amounted to P5.331 billion.

On a year-to-date basis, cash remittances coursed through banks in January-February 2023 amounted to $5.33 billion, up by 3 percent from $5.18 billion recorded in the same period a year-ago.

T he growth in cash remittances from the United States, Saudi Arabia, Singapore and Qatar contributed mainly to the increase in remittances in January-February 2023.

Meanwhile, in terms of country sources, the US posted the highest share of overall remittances during the period, followed by Singapore, Saudi Arabia and Japan.

Lawmaker seeks probe on shortage of plastic IDs

ADEPUTY minority leader has called on the leadership of the House of Representatives to investigate the reported shortage of plastic identification cards (IDs) for driver’s licenses and alleged delays encountered in the procurement of the IDs.

Deputy Minority Leader Bernadette Herrera filed House Resolution 926 after the Land Transportation Office (LTO) announced last April 20 that it will roll out temporary driver’s license documents printed on the back of official receipts, citing an inventory of 147,000 driver’s license cards across the country, which is projected to run out by the last week of April 2023.

I have just filed a proposed resolution calling for an investigation, in aid of legislation and consistent with Congressional oversight over the Executive branch, on the alleged shortage of plastic identification cards for driver’s licenses and alleged delays encountered in the

procurement of the IDs,” she said.

Congress is still in the process of amending government procurement laws. Bills on procurement are pending before the House committee on revision of laws and other committees,” she added.

A ccording to the LTO, the agency will, in the meantime, issue temporary driver’s license documents printed on paper with a unique QR code, which can be scanned for verification purposes by law enforcers.

We want to know specifically and in detail where during the procurement process the Land Transportation Office keeps encountering problems over and over again,” said Herrera.

“ We will welcome suggestions from the LTO and the Department of Transportation [DOTr] on what changes can be made to the procurement process by removing unnecessary documents and stages,” she added.

Herrera said the Anti-Red Tape Authority will also be invited to make sure they have given the House their inputs, findings, and recommendations.

A RTA is the lead agency on removing red tape and streamlining processes in government. We have confidence in the leadership of the LTO in the person of its Chief, Assistant Secretary Jay Art Tugade with DOTr Secretary Jaime Bautista at the helm. We are aware the problem has its origins before he was appointed to the LTO and that he acted with dispatch upon learning of the problem. The reforms he has been implementing at LTO prove Assistant Secretary Tugade is a results-oriented reformer and manager,” she said.

T he lawmaker said LTO claims that it could not have undertaken procurement activities considering that Tugade only assumed office on November 17, 2022.

We also want to know who were incompetent, negligent and grossly negligent in their duties and responsibilities because they should be held liable and accountable. If they are not the right fit for their jobs, then maybe they could be transferred to positions, roles, or offices which are not as critical as the procurement process,” Herrera added.

DOTr urged to check, upgrade security facilities in airports

DAVAO CITY—Two members of the House of Representatives filed a resolution urging the Department of Transportation (DOTr) to check the status of airports and their security facilities to reduce inconvenience and avoid congestion. Rep. Paolo Duterte (Davao City

context. Medalla said a number of crises could stem from “irrational exuberance.”

T his happens when people invest or buy assets just because they think they can easily dispose of these assets, even if situations change.

It is therefore important, Medalla said, to be ready for any eventuality. He noted that the 1997-1998 crisis started in Thailand while the 2007-2008 crisis began in the United States.

First Congressional District) and Rep. Eric Yap (Lone District, Benguet) urged the DOTr to check on the country’s airports “to lessen congestion in passenger terminals and heighten measures on ensuring public safety.”

In a resolution, the two lawmakers

You don’t know where the shock will come from because the world is also too interconnected. One advantage of globalization is greater efficiency because you source your goods from the country that produces it at the lowest cost,” Medalla said. In essence everybody benefits. But then the world now is more interconnected. So in other words, being interconnected to the world has its benefits, it also has its concerns,” he added.

said the DOTr should incorporate in its proposed budget for 2024 the expenditures needed to improve these facilities “given the ever-increasing number of travelers going in and out of the country.”

Duterte and Yap noted that the easing of health and safety proto -

DBCC targets

LAST Monday, the Philippine economic team maintained its growth targets for 2023 at 6 percent to 7 percent while revising macroeconomic assumptions to reflect higher inflation and easing global oil price trends.

“ The average inflation rate assumption for 2023 is increased to 5.0 percent to 7.0 percent from the previous assumption of 2.5 percent to 4.5 percent given the persisting high

cols has led to a significant rise in airline passenger growth especially during the holiday seasons, “which, in turn, has led to a disparity between demand and the number of available security equipment and facilities in the country’s airports.”

The consistent congestion in

prices of food, energy and transport costs,” Secretary Amenah Pangandaman, who chairs the Development Budget Coordination Committee (DBCC), said.

“ We maintained our growth targets at 6.0 percent to 7.0 percent for 2023 and 6.5 percent to 8.0 percent for 2024 to 2028 in consideration of the risks posed by geopolitical and trade tensions, possible global economic slowdown, as well as weather disturbances in the country,” Pan-

these airports necessitates an increase and advancement in airport security facilities and equipment, particularly full body scanners and baggage scanners, to serve a larger number of people as well as ensure public safety in the exercise of every citizen’s right to travel,” they said in

House Resolution No. 921. Yap and Duterte said that part of the duties and functions of the House of Representatives “is to revisit and scrutinize existing laws, regulations, and circumstances that affect the country’s passengers as well as public order and safety.” Manuel T. Cayon

gandaman said.

T he Philippine economy grew by 7.6 percent in 2022, outperforming the DBCC’s growth target of 6.5 percent to 7.5 percent.

“ This high-growth performance is projected to continue until 2028, aligned with the Medium-Term Fiscal Framework,” Pangandaman said as the 184th DBCC Joint Statement was issued.

Moreover, in line with the Philippine Development Plan (PDP) 2023-

2028, the government will focus on modernizing agriculture, expanding agri-business, encouraging private sector participation in infrastructure development, promoting digital transformation, and enhancing the competitiveness of local industries, according to her.

By implementing the reforms and strategies already outlined in the PDP 2023-2028, Filipinos can expect a more robust Philippine economy with a single-digit poverty level.

WITH more countries expected to age, the World Bank sees the demand for migrants rising as aging countries would require migrants to boost their economies.

‘90-day extension of SIM registration to give telcos, subscribers time to sort out issues’

Lavrov warns EU becoming militarized now, like Nato

Pentagon draws lessons from Ukraine war as it eyes possible China combat

THE Pentagon’s No. 2 official said Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is teaching the US valuable lessons for a potential conflict with China, from the need to build a steady ammunition pipeline to innovation in space.

“There are many advantages we’ve gained for a potential Pacific challenge from the Ukraine conflict,” Deputy Secretary of Defense Kathleen Hicks said in an interview. “We’re learning now to grow our industrial base and to study that industrial base, which has been for the last 60 years in a bit of a feast and famine cycle.”

Hicks was addressing one of the biggest challenges the US has faced as it’s looked to keep Ukraine supplied with weapons and ammunition to repel Russia’s invasion: many defense contractors have been wary of ramping up production of munitions if the US decides to stop buying them in a year or two.

Drawing on the 14-month experience of the war in Ukraine, the Pentagon has pushed to give weapons manufacturers more predictability via longer-term contracts.

The Defense Department also secured what’s called a Presidential Drawdown Authority to speed weapons deliveries to Taiwan. That authority allows it to send existing stockpiles of weapons to the island and then replace them later.

“We’re thinking about how we use those authorities right now to generate faster and higher-capacity delivery of munitions to provide our forces in the Pacific,” Hicks said.

Both Ukraine and Russia have faced shortages of key munitions during the conflict and the US has seen its own stockpiles depleted as it sends supplies to Ukraine.

Hicks, 52, is the first female deputy defense secretary confirmed by the Senate and oversees the day-to-day management of the largest federal bureaucracy. Another lesson is the importance of the space domain to future warfare.

The conflict has highlighted the US’s “incredible commercial space innovation ecosystem,” she told Bloomberg News on April 21.

During the course of the war, that ecosystem has helped keep the Internet running in Ukraine. It has allowed Ukrainian forces to detect targets accurately, enabled images of the front lines to reach the outside world, and produced a plethora of satellite images that shed light on Russian troop activities.

“It’s helping us think about the capabilities that make the most sense to invest in,” Hicks said.

The US has committed more than $35.4 billion to Ukraine since Russia’s invasion in February 2022. That assistance includes more than 1,600 of the Stinger anti-aircraft systems made by Raytheon Technologies Corp. and 10,000 Javelin anti-tank systems made by a joint venture between Lockheed Martin Corp. and Raytheon.

The US has exercised the presidential drawdown authority, which pulls hardware from existing US military stocks, 36 times since the war began, most recently in a package valued at $325 million.

Hicks added that the Ukraine conflict has demonstrated the ability of the US to work with its allies to bring economic “pressure” on aggressors and underlined the value of intelligence sharing.

“The ability to talk to our allies, and even Ukraine and even Russia, beforehand, before the invasion to say, ‘hey, we see what’s happening here.’ That is a real advantage,” she said.

Even as the US continues to arm Ukraine in Europe, Hicks said, its primary focus will remain competition with China in the Pacific.

“We’re not trying to weigh between two theaters. We have a clear strategy that’s focused on China,” Hicks said, adding that there are no platforms or weapons systems that the US has not been able to pursue as a result of the war.

Hicks reiterated past US assessments that China isn’t planning an imminent attack on Taiwan.

Some officials have pointed to Chinese statements that the country wants to be capable of an invasion by 2027, though both Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines have said they don’t see any attack as imminent.

“Our focus is making sure that the PRC leadership wakes up every day and says today is not the day to undertake aggression that threatens US interests,” Hicks said, referring to China’s formal name, the People’s Republic of China. “That’s our focus today, in 2027, and in 2035 and 2045.”

She described the national security implications of the recent leak of classified files from the Pentagon as “grievous.”  Earlier in April, the US charged a 21-year-old Air National Guardsman in Massachusetts over the largest leak of intelligence secrets in a decade, including assessments of the war in Ukraine.

Hicks said the Pentagon needs to “go into a much more closed environment” and that it has already taken steps to reduce the dissemination of classified material within the military.

Longer term, she said the department is working to “stress test” the systems through which the US military handles classified information. The goal is to make sure intelligence is shared for operational reasons while making sure there’s no counter-intelligence or insider threat. Bloomberg News

Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov told a news conference he has no doubts that there is now “very little difference” between the EU and Nato.

Lavrov said they recently signed a declaration, which he said essentially states that the 31-member Nato military alliance will ensure the security of the 27-member EU political and economic organization.

He was apparently referring to a Jan. 19 EU-Nato declaration on their “strategic partnership” which calls Russia’s February 24, 2022, invasion of Ukraine “the gravest threat to Euro-Atlantic security in decades.”

It calls the present moment “a key juncture for Euro-Atlantic security and stability” and urges closer EU-Nato cooperation to confront evolving security

threats, saying this will contribute to strengthening security in Europe and beyond. And it encourages the fullest possible involvement of Nato members that don’t belong to the EU and EU members that aren’t part of Nato, but it does not state that Nato will ensure the security of the EU.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has long complained about Nato’s expansion, especially toward his country, and partly used that as a justification for invading Ukraine.

The Russian attack, however, sent fear through its other neighbors, and Finland joined Nato earlier this month, seeking protection under its security umbrella after decades of neutrality following its defeat by the former Soviet Union in World War II.

While Nato says it poses no threat to Russia, the Nordic country’s accession dealt a major political blow to Putin.

Finland’s membership doubles Russia’s border with Nato, the world’s largest security alliance. Sweden, an EU member, is also seeking Nato membership and is hoping for final approval soon.

Nato chief Jens Stoltenberg defiantly declared last week that Ukraine’s “rightful place” is in the military alliance and pledged more support for the country on his first visit to Kyiv since the invasion. The Kremlin responded by repeating that preventing Ukraine from joining Nato is still a key goal of its invasion, arguing that Kyiv’s membership in the alliance would pose an existential threat to Russia.

Ukraine is also seeking EU

membership and in February its leaders pledged they would do all it takes to back Ukraine. But they offered no firm timetable for talks on joining the EU to begin, as Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy had hoped.

Russia’s Lavrov was asked whether the war in Ukraine was a miscalculation since Moscow strongly opposed Nato’s expansion and the invasion sparked Finland’s membership, with Sweden next and Ukraine hoping for a road map to join.

“Nato never had any intention of stopping,” the Russian minister replied, pointing to the recent EU-Nato declaration and actions in recent years that saw non-Nato members Sweden and Finland “increasingly taking part in Nato military exercises and other actions that were meant to synchronize the military programs of Nato members and neutral states.”

Lavrov said Russia was promised on several occasions that Nato would not expand, but said “those were lies.”

“Unbiased assessments that our political scientists as well as those abroad made is that Nato sought to break Russia apart,” he said, “but in the end it only made it stronger, brought it closer together. So, let’s not make any hasty conclusions now as to what this will all end in.”

Neighborhood fights Haiti gangs after vigilante killings

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti—

Armed with machetes, bottles, and rocks, residents in the hilly suburbs of Haiti’s capital fought back against encroaching gangs Tuesday, a day after a crowd burned 13 suspected gangsters to death in a gruesome outburst of vigilante violence.

Tired of relying on an understaffed police department, scores of men in the Canape Vert neighborhood of Port-au-Prince spent the night on roofs and patrolled entrances of their community blocked with big trucks spray-painted with the words, “Down with gangs.”

“We are planning to fight and keep our neighborhood clean of these savages,” Jeff Ezequiel, a 37-year-old mechanic, told The Associated Press. “The population is tired and frustrated.”

The makeshift brigade is the latest example of growing attempts by Haitians to fight gangs on their own. Earlier this year, people elsewhere in Portau-Prince and in the central Artibonite region, which has been hit by heavy gang violence, have lynched several suspected gang members.

Until now, Canape Vert and nearby Turgeau—the site of a major hotel chain and a local university—had largely avoided the gang-fueled violence that has been consuming the capital and surrounding areas since the July 2021 assassination of President Jovenel Moïse.

The United Nations estimates that gangs now control up to 80 percent of Port-au-Prince.

“Gang expansion into areas previously considered safe…has been alarming,” according to a UN Security Council report released on Tuesday.

Reported killings from Janu -

ary to March 31 have risen by more than 20 percent compared with the last quarter of 2022, and 637 kidnappings have been reported so far this year, an increase of 63 percent compared with the last three months of 2022, the report stated.

Meanwhile, Haiti’s National Police has 1.2 officers per 1,000 inhabitants in this country of more than 11 million people.

“The police remain under resourced and face overwhelming odds in their struggle to keep gangs from tightening their grip on the country,” the UN report said.

On Monday, UN Secretary General António Guterres urged the immediate deployment of an international armed force to Haiti—a request Haiti’s prime minister first made in October last year—and warned in a report that violence in Port-au-Prince “has reached levels comparable to countries in armed conflict.”

More than 130,000 Haitians have fled their neighborhoods as gangs break into homes, kill and rape residents in a fight to control

more territory, and nearly 40 percent of them are now living in makeshift shelters lacking basic services, according to the UN.

But on Tuesday, many in Canape Vert returned to their homes after temporarily fleeing the area on Monday when the 13 suspected gang members were killed.

“There’s nowhere to run,” said Samuel, 25, who declined to give his last name out of fear of being killed. “We have to stand and fight back. If there has to be a war, I will be part of it, because authorities are not taking responsibility and are letting everyone die under their eyes.”

He was walking back to his home Tuesday along with other residents, including Sandra Jenty, 26, who took shelter under her bed with her 4-year-old son on Monday night, losing control of her bladder as gunshots rang out in her neighborhood before she fled around dawn.

“It felt like they were shooting inside of my house,” she said. “I’m not hurt by the grace of God.”

She cradled her son as they

walked back to their house, with Jenty confident that the makeshift neighborhood brigade would protect them. Meanwhile, authorities dragged one body of a suspected gang member along the pavement and into a van for removal. It was one of 13 suspected gang members who had been killed with rocks and sticks and burned to death with gasolinesoaked tires.

At one checkpoint in Turgeau, more than a dozen masked men with machetes stood guard. They declined to speak to the AP and warned that no images of them be taken.

It’s a movement that resident Reynald Jean Pierre, 30, said he supports, adding that he was “willing to die” to protect his neighborhood from gangs.

“People are being kidnapped, people are being raped, people are being extorted, but we are not going to let it happen under our watch,” he said. “We don’t have another home to go to.”

The UN said Haitian police estimate that there are seven major gang coalitions in the country and some 200 affiliated groups.

Residents believe that the 13 suspected gang members who were killed by the crowd Monday were members of the Kraze Barye gang, which translates to “Breaking Barriers.”

Ezequiel dismissed concerns about possible retribution by gangs for Monday’s killings, adding that he was saddened by the slayings of the young men he said could have been doing something productive for society.

“We won this fight, but the war is not over,” he said. “We are going to continue searching for gangs, and if they are still hiding, we are going to get them and make sure they don’t leave alive.”

T he Associated Press reporter Dánica Coto in San Juan, Puerto Rico contributed.

UNITED NATIONS—Russia’s top diplomat warned Tuesday that the European Union “is becoming militarized at a record rate” and aggressive in its goal of containing Russia.

editorial

Why Filipinos keep their money at home

The American Bankers Association hatched a brilliant idea in 1997: Teach American children how to save money. That’s how the National Teach Children to Save Day became a holiday celebrated all over the US every 27th of April. The campaign centers around the notion that, if kids develop the habit of saving money at an early age, they build a foundation for a lifetime of saving.

The plan was simple: Help elementary and middle schoolers in America learn good savings habits through free, banker-led outreach opportunities. Of course, the bankers must involve the parents by telling them that if their kids learn the important skill of valuing, using and saving money, they will be ready to face the world!

Throughout the day, American bankers, financial planners, and other bank professionals travel to their local schools to teach students about the importance of money. The recurring theme: “Money can be complicated to deal with for people who don’t know how to handle it. By learning about money, children will be better able to handle their finances from childhood and into adulthood.”

The holiday serves as a reminder to American parents that it’s never too early to get involved with helping children learn about saving. When children are taught to save, they learn early in life that financial responsibility is essential to one’s well being.

On this day, bankers teach American kids financial terminologies such as earning, banking, compound interest, credit and debt, credit cards, and loans. Children are also taught how to create a budget that may include saving for college, planning for big purchases, and differentiating needs from wants.

Sponsored by the American Bankers Association Education Foundation, nationwide activities are meant to be a community effort to help families and schools. The idea is for bankers to help advocate for financial literacy. However, the day is not only about saving, but it also includes important information about spending, donating, and investing money.

American bankers believe that “teaching children how to value the money they have can be an essential life skill that is taught at a very early age!” That’s why giving children the information they need now can help them with difficult situations later, such as unexpected emergencies, loan payments, and other circumstances.

We don’t have a National Teach Children to Save Day in the Philippines. Maybe we should have one so that Filipino kids will also develop the habit of saving money at an early age.

The 2021 Financial Inclusion Survey (FIS) conducted by Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas showed that financial account ownership in the country surged to 56 percent in 2021, up from 29 percent in 2019. This increase is the highest two-year growth since the survey began in 2015. The expansion was spurred by the Covid-19 pandemic, which accelerated the use of digital payments.

The share of Filipino adults with a bank account also rose to 23 percent in 2021 from 12 percent in 2019. Banks remained the preferred formal institution for saving money by a third of those with savings, followed by cooperatives and microfinance institutions.

According to the FIS, six out of 10 Filipinos altered their financial behavior during the pandemic. Filipinos started saving more for emergencies (37 percent), began or increased their usage of online banking and digital payments (17 percent), and borrowed more (15 percent).

Despite BSP’s financial inclusion advocacy, big challenges remain. For example, major barriers to bank account ownership such as lack of income and transaction costs persist. In addition, a large segment of the population still lack the documents needed to open a bank account.

The wisdom of saving money is simple: It allows people to enjoy greater security in life because they have a fallback should something unexpected happen. Without any savings, any emergency expense can put people in debt. Unfortunately, over half of Filipino savers still keep their money at home. This should not come as a surprise because out of the 1,634 cities and municipalities in the country, only 551 have banks within their jurisdiction.

The ball is in the BSP and Bankers Association of the Philippines’s court.

The chairman of the bored

OUTSIDE THE BOX

‘BoriNg: Something so uninteresting that it makes people tired and impatient, causing weariness through lack of excitement. Synonyms—dull, tedious, repetitious, mind-numbing, Philippine Stock exchange.”

I consider myself a risk-taker to the extent that I like to scuba dive, drive fast cars and Jet Ski. But my adrenaline rush has always come from risking money. I never saw the purpose in physically going out in a blaze of glory when I always had other “glories” that I wanted to achieve. Whether it was playing poker or trading the equity/asset markets, the most important reason was the excitement.

In a standard five-card poker game—hold’em, draw, or stud— there are a total of 2,598,960 possible hands. That’s the math. But the excitement comes from knowing that it is how you play the hand you’re dealt that ultimately determines if you win or lose.

What I liked best about the stock market was that every day was different.

The other day I was still piloting guerrilla fighter Dani in his quest

I am glad that Philippine banks are boring. That is what saved the economy in 1997 and again in 2008. But I am tired and impatient with our boring stock market.

by solid loan and deposit growth, robust fee-income generation, and improved asset quality.”

tion and enthusiasm from all the participants; the stock exchange, the stock brokers, the listed companies, and the investors. The same happened coming out of the Global Debt Crisis in 2009.

Lourdes

Lorenzo

Lyn

to take down Yara’s dictator Castillo after the stock market opened. My sons were actively trading, which is still our primary source of food on the table. It was a pleasure to hear that the market was up 50 points in the first hour of trading. A closer look revealed the gain was all BDO and BPI and it stayed like that throughout the day with BDO even at its historic high.

There was some chatter that the stocks of these two financial institutions were booming. Two points. To call either of them “financial institutions” by the 21st century definition is a big exaggeration. They are banks; traditional, conservative banks that take deposits and lend money.

“BDO Unibank Inc. said it had a net income of P16.5 billion in the first three months, some 40 percent higher than the previous year.”

In a disclosure last Thursday, BDO said “the strong figure was buoyed

The reality is that 21st century financial institutions provide venture capital facilitation for start-up companies, actively trade the global markets, and do asset management for clients.

“Institutional Securities” is Morgan Stanley’s biggest moneymaker. JPMorgan Chase makes most of its profit trading government securities. Goldman Sachs’ recent first-quarter profits showed the bulk came primarily from trading and investment banking.

Philippine financial institutions make their money from the spread between low deposit rates and relatively high lending rates, not to mention the zillion “few pesos” from ATM transactions that we all make every day.

I am glad that Philippine banks are boring. That is what saved the economy in 1997 and again in 2008.

But I am tired and impatient with our boring stock market.

From 2004—after President Arroyo fixed the government’s finances —we had an exciting stock market not only because prices moved higher but also because there was anticipa-

Since 1st Quarter 2015, the PSE has been as boring as watching paint dry. Both the Dow Jones and PSEi are up some 25 percent since the 2020 Covid low. But the Dow is seven percent from its historic high while the PSEi is 25 percent below its all-time high.How bad is it? All the former “Stock Market Gurus” are apparently now selling homemade longaniza online. The last innovation from the stock exchange was going back to “full day trading” after the lockdowns. And if you seriously think that trading the PSE through your GCash wallet will bring excitement and a fundamental change to the market, you have my sympathy.

The last “fundamental” change was the listing of the “REITS,” which are all, with the exception of AREIT, CREIT, and PREIT, underwater including with their dividends. All the IPOs going back to September 2021 with the exception of SPNEC and FCG are also losers.

Maybe what the market is lacking is an “endorser” like Captain Barbell or Darna. It couldn’t hurt.

E-mail me at mangun@gmail.com. Follow me on Twitter @mangunonmarkets. PSE stock-market information and technical analysis provided by AAA Southeast Equities Inc.

She got $0 from condo sale. Supreme Court weighs fairness

WAShiNgToN geraldine Tyler, now 94, lost her onebedroom condo in Minneapolis over $2,300 in unpaid taxes, plus interest and penalties. hennepin County sold the apartment for $40,000 and kept every penny.

Tyler’s lawyers say the county violated constitutional protections against having property taken without “just compensation” and excessive fines. The Supreme Court, which hears arguments Wednesday, will decide.

Minnesota is among roughly a dozen states and the District of Columbia that allow local jurisdictions to keep the excess money, according to the Pacific Legal Foundation, which is representing Tyler at the Supreme Court.

At least 8,950 homes were sold because of unpaid taxes and the former owners received little or nothing in those states between 2014 and 2021, according to Pacific Legal, a notfor-profit public interest law firm focused on property rights.

Other states are: Alabama, Arizona, Colorado, Illinois, Maine, Mas-

sachusetts, Nebraska, New Jersey, New York, Oregon and South Dakota, the group said.

There has been no explanation about why Tyler stopped paying her property taxes when she moved from the condo, where she had lived since 1999, to an apartment building for older people in 2010. She moved for “health and safety” reasons, Pacific Legal said.

The county said in court papers that Tyler could have sold the property and kept whatever was left after paying off the mortgage and taxes, refinanced her mortgage to pay the tax bill or signed up for a tax payment plan.

Instead, she did nothing for five years, the county said, until after authorities followed state law and sold the condo. The county wrote: Tyler believes “the Constitution required

The county said in court papers that Tyler could have sold the property and kept whatever was left after paying off the mortgage and taxes, refinanced her mortgage to pay the tax bill or signed up for a tax payment plan.

the State to serve as her real estate agent, sell the property on her behalf, and write a check for the difference between the tax debt and the fair market value.”

Lower courts sided with the county before the justices agreed to step in.

Minnesota and a handful of states and government associations are backing the county, warning that a Supreme Court ruling could tie the hands of local governments that rely on property taxes. But the bulk of support in court filings is with Tyler, including AARP, business groups, real estate interests and other people who have gone through experiences similar to hers.

A Massachusetts man described

his ongoing fight with authorities over a tax bill of $900 on a property he says is worth at least $330,000 in a beach town on Cape Cod Bay. In a filing from New York, property tax attorney David Wilkes and legal services groups wrote that New York’s rules “excessively takes far more than what is due to the government and go well beyond an appropriate deterrent to those homeowners who would ignore a tax delinquency.”

The Biden administration told the court that Tyler’s claim that her property was taken without just compensation, in violation of the 5th amendment, is the stronger of her arguments. The justices should reject the claim that Minnesota’s law violates the 8th amendment’s prohibition on excessive fines, Solicitor General Elizabeth Prelogar wrote.

Not until 2019 did the Supreme Court rule that the “excessive fines” clause applied to the states as well as the federal government.

A decision in Tyler v. Hennepin County, Minnesota, 22-166, is expected by late June.

Cover up

DEMORALIZATION hit the Philippine National Police not once but twice since the presidential election in May 2022. Undoubtedly, the orders were misunderstood, or simply, wrong actions were taken by people in power at Camp Crame.

The first one, of course, came up as a consequence of the DI l G order to the third level ranked officers of the PNP (from Police colonel to all those with stars on their shoulders). Almost a thousand or 953 to be exact, some are due to retire in a couple of months or years.

Unprecedented in its history, DI l G Secretary Benhur Abalos’s order sowed fear and anxiety on those affected even though the principal rationale is to remove the bad eggs in the service, or the policemen involved in the illegal drug trade. Well, many Pinoys contend that some police officials are no different from well-known drug syndicates in notoriety.

The DI l G argues that if and when the officers are cleared by the Five-Man Committee created by President Bongbong Marcos, the clearance will give them the moral ascendancy to lead and institute reforms in the police organization. Nevertheless, the negative impression created by the SI l G (Secretary of Interior and l ocal Government) order to submit courtesy resignation demoralized the ranks, although many Juan de la Cruz, in reality, distrust our police not only because of drug trading but also because of their involvement in so many other crimes.

In the next episode, it was Abalos again causing demoralization when he announced that there was a cover up on the arrest of Police Master Sergeant Rodolfo Mayor Jr. by high-ranking PNP officials in october 2022. Police elements hauled about a ton of shabu in the city of Manila shop of Mayor Jr.

The SI l G, on April 10, 2023, publicly accused three top PNP officers, namely then Chief PNP and now retired Gen. Rodolfo Azurin Jr., P/ ltGen. Benjamin Santos, Jr. and Police Drug enforcement Group Director Narciso Domingo, of massive cover up. Azurin submitted courtesy resignation while Santos and Domingo were relieved from their respective posts. T’was hard. The three officers vehemently denounced the accusation as baseless and strongly denied there was cover up. They asked Abalos to be careful and check on possible mis-

Magalong told the BusinessMirror that “there was no cover up.” He stressed that had Azurin, Santos and Domingo were found to be lying, they (Committee members) would have all resigned, impromptu. Nevertheless, Magalong respects Secretary Abalos’ allegation of cover up because he may have information unknown to them.

information that could have been wrongly fed to him, possibly from drug-connected members of the police force. The SI l G stood pat on his statement that there was cover up. The treatment on Azurin et al. exacerbated the demoralization fever plaguing the ranks.

The Five-Man Committee assigned to handle the cover up issue sat down for days to validate all information related to the Abalos accusation.

According to then CIDG chief and now Baguio City Mayor Benjamin Magalong who belong to the Committee, Azurin, Santos and Domingo were subjected to direct cross-examinations. They evaluated every iota of evidence available, including mobile phone records, etc., and concluded that Gen. Azurin et al. are innocent and did nothing wrong. Absolutely, Magalong told the BusinessMirror that “there was no cover up.”

He stressed that had Azurin, Santos and Domingo were found to be lying, they (Committee members) would have all resigned, impromptu.

Nevertheless, Magalong respects Secretary Abalos’s allegation of cover up because he may have information unknown to them.

n n n lAST week, we wrote a complaint letter to Acting Mayor Artemio Simundac against Mr. Rico Rosales, allegedly an abusive, arrogant and cursing traffic aide under employ by the city government. Rosales reportedly brags that he doesn’t mind being subjected to complaint because he is “malakas” with Muntinlupa City Mayor Ruffy Biazon. We will know the score next week.

Comments@andalbilly@yahoo.com

Why is Biden announcing 2024 bid now, and what will change?

WASHINGTON—President Joe Biden has formally announced he’s seeking reelection. But he’s also still the president, with roughly 20 months left in his term regardless of whether he wins a second one on Election Day 2024.

With Tuesday’s campaign video release, Biden is following through on months of saying he intended to seek reelection. Top Democrats have remained solidly unified behind the president, despite his low approval ratings and many Americans saying they’d rather not see the 80-year-old Biden try for four more years in the White House.

But all that has meant Biden faced relatively little pressure to make his 2024 bid official. Here’s a look at why he announced now and how things will, and won’t, change for him going forward:

Why now?

A FoR MA l reelection announcement means the president is now allowed to raise money directly for his campaign. It’s a change from his speeches at donor events benefiting the Democratic National Committee or other outside political groups that he has given since entering the White House.

Biden will spend campaign funds on salaries and logistics building out a 2024 staff and holding events outside his official presidential business. He plans to have dinner in Washington on Friday with leading Democratic donors and DNC leaders, paying special attention to those who write big checks to ensure his reelection campaign stays well funded.

Some party donors and organizers had begun grumbling about a lack of movement on the reelection front, and the announcement, followed by Friday’s gathering, will allow the president to reassure them.

Another reason why Biden waited

until April was that it allowed him to avoid releasing publicly how much his reelection campaign raised during the year’s first quarter. That’s when donors typically slow down their contributions — and some top Democratic givers wanted a break after a busy election season during last fall’s midterms and before next year’s presidential race kicks into high gear.

President Barack obama waited to announce his 2012 reelection bid until early April of the previous year.

Tuesday also marks the fourth anniversary of Biden’s announcement of his 2020 presidential campaign.

President Donald Trump, meanwhile, first filed for reelection on Jan. 20, 2017, the day of his inauguration, and held his first campaign rally in February 2017. But his second White House campaign didn’t formally kick off until June 2019 with an orlando, Florida, rally that fell roughly four years after he first entered the 2016 presidential race.

What about his age?

BIDeN is the oldest president in US history and would be 86 by the end of a second term. He has acknowledged that age is a “legitimate” concern but scoffed at questions about whether he will have the stamina for another campaign, much less four more years in the White House. “Watch me,” he has repeatedly declared.

Voters will now get the chance to do just that—but that is unlikely to make such questions go away.

Republicans have often highlighted Biden’s age, and even some Democrats have questioned whether the president is living up to promises

he made during the 2020 campaign to be a “bridge” to a new generation of leadership.

one Republican running for president, former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley, has called for mental competency testing for candidates over 75 — a category that would include both Biden and Trump, who announced his own 2024 campaign in November. White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre brushed aside such testing, noting that Biden helped lead Democrats to a surprisingly strong midterm showing.

“Maybe they’re forgetting the wins the president got over the past few years, but I’m happy to remind them anytime,” Jean-Pierre said in February.

Will seeking reelection change how Biden handles being president?

THeR e won’t be big changes, Biden aides insist, at least for now.

The president is still hosting South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol at the White House for a state dinner on Wednesday and planning overseas travel later this summer. As he has done in recent months, Biden also will continue to hit the road domestically to highlight legislation his administration helped push through Congress.

Biden has already visited many parts of the country, highlighting how a bipartisan public works package will help repair roads, highways, bridges, ports and train tunnels and how increased federal spending approved as part of other legislation will bolster US manufacturing, lower prescription drug prices and improve broadband Internet access in rural areas.

Such events often blur the line between official business and promoting the president and his party politically, and the distinction will only get murkier going forward.

Since the weeks leading up to

US economy loses $26.6 billion each year for failing to accommodate menopause

TH e US economy is losing $26.6 billion a year due to lost productivity and health expenses resulting from employees who are managing menopause symptoms, according to a new report.

The study from Mayo Clinic, which analyzed responses from over 4,400 women aged 45 to 60, found that nearly 11 percent reported missing work in the last 12 months due to symptoms like hot flashes and sleep disturbances.

The annual cost for those missed workdays is $1.8 billion, not accounting for reduced work hours, employment loss or early retirement. At least 13% of the women surveyed

reported they’d experienced at least one of the above outcomes due to symptoms. Meanwhile, direct medical costs related to menopause cost this age group an additional $24.8 billion annually.

In 2021, a survey of 2,500 women from telehealth company Gennev found that 99 percent of women in this stage don’t get any menopause benefits at work.

The Mayo Clinic report states that the findings of its survey “highlight a critical need to improve the medical treatment provided to women with menopause symptoms and an opportunity to make the workplace environment more supportive for women going through this universal life stage.”

Women between the ages of

the midterms, Biden has frequently denounced “extreme” Republicans loyal to Trump’s “Make America Great Again” movement as posing a threat to America’s core democracy. It’s a message he will continue to champion as the 2024 race begins heating up.

Will Biden have to compete for the Democratic nomination?

PRoBABlY not much.

Self-help author Marianne Williamson and anti-vaccine activist Robert F. Kennedy Jr. are the only Democrats to challenge the president. Neither of them presents the type of primary opposition that wounded previous incumbents, such as Sen. Ted Kennedy’s campaign against President Jimmy Carter in 1980 or Pat Buchanan’s run against President George H.W. Bush in 1992.

The DNC is so fully committed to Biden this year that it is not planning to schedule primary debates, sparing the president from sharing a stage with Williamson, Kennedy or any other potential challenger. Also benefiting Biden is the fact that South Carolina’s primary is set to replace Iowa’s caucuses in leading off the Democratic primary voting next year. Biden revived his 2020 campaign after losing the first three contests with a resounding South Carolina primary victory, and he personally directed that the state go first in 2024—solidifying his popularity among Democrats there. That may counterbalance Democrats’ deep ambivalence to Biden elsewhere.

An Associated Press-NoRC Center for Public Affairs Research poll last week found that only 26% of Americans—and only about half of Democrats—said they wanted to see Biden run again. But the poll found that 81% of Democrats said they would at least probably support the president in a general election.

45 and 54 make up 20 percent of the female workforce in the US. Women of color are disproportionately affected, with Black women nearly three times more likely to report an adverse work outcome than their White counterparts. Hispanic women also reported higher rates of disruptions than White women.

“Many women in midlife are at a time in their lives when they are experiencing career successes and achieving leadership roles,” according to the report. “That women may opt out of employment, and consequently out of the leadership development pipeline, identifies a potentially unrecognized reason for the leaky leadership pipeline and the paucity of women in senior leader-

ship positions.”

That leaky pipeline is getting worse: Female workers are leaving the top ranks of companies at higher rates than ever before. For every woman at the director level who gets promoted, two female directors are choosing to leave their company, according to an o c tober McKinsey & Co. and l e anIn.org report.

In a 2022 survey of US female workers aged 40 to 55, nearly a third of respondents said they’d think about shifting to part-time from full-time work, while 22 percent said they’d consider retiring early. Another survey out of the UK found 18 percent of women going through menopause are thinking about quitting their jobs altogether.

Politicians should not allow the PHL to be involved in another conflict

PeoPle around the world are tired of the consequences of the Russian-Ukrainian conflict, and they are beginning to understand the truth of the ongoing tragedy in Ukraine and are protesting the actions of Western politicians.

This has been confirmed by famed American journalist, Pulitzer Prize winner Seymour Hersh who said that American mass media has failed to underscore that more than 60 percent of US citizens are against the allocation of funds from state funds to support Ukraine.

According to various estimates, the total amount of US military support alone for the Kyiv regime will soon reach $50 billion. Adding the funds allocated by the european Union will double that amount and this is the reason journalist Hersh said that there are now mass protests in europe against continuing the financing of the war in an in-

terview he made with Chinese TV Channel CGTN.

l ast February, residents of the German capital prevented proUkrainian activists from holding a rally in support of the Kyiv regime’s fighters. Reports said that Ukrainian nationalists set up a rusty, presumably destroyed Russian tank in central Berlin, pointing its cannon in the direction of the Russian diplomatic mission.

However, civilians came to the

scene with peaceful slogans and brought flowers to the tank, thus protesting the continuation of military supplies to Kyiv. Similar protests against military support for the Kyiv regime are also taking place in many other eU countries. The protesters oppose the supply of weapons to the Ukrainian army, which is seen contributing to the escalation of the armed conflict.

Also, 10,000 people took part in the rally against the 59th Munich Security Conference. on February 18 a mass action expressed dissatisfaction with NATo policy and opposed the supply of weapons to Ukraine.

Before that, on January 26 this year, it was reported that hundreds of Munich residents took to the streets with posters and banners against the supply of tanks and weapons to Ukraine after the government announced that Germany intended to transfer leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine.

The inscriptions on the posters and flags of the protesters called for peace and emphasized that they oppose the supply of tanks to Ukraine. At the same time, Western politicians understand that people’s protests against support for Ukraine can provoke complications in europe.  Thus it would seem that Western politicians are now preparing their electorate for a new scenario, namely a war in Asia. In March,

German Defense Secretary Boris Pistorius told Deutschlandfun that, for various reasons, the US may change its policy vector from Ukraine to the Indo-Pacific region. There have been reports that the upcoming US elections may contribute to a new battleground in the IndoPacific region.

This does not seem far-fetched given the expansion of Nato and AUKUS member states’ infrastructure into Asia, which will lead to a state

of confrontation that could last for years to come. Recent events confirm that Nato is no longer exclusively a North Atlantic alliance, trying to expand through contacts with countries in Asia.

For instance, Japan’s decision to open a permanent mission to Nato in Brussels has been known. At the same time, Nato has indicated agreements with South Korea to supply munitions to Nato allies. This may indicate that South Korean ammunition of NATo caliber is (or will be) entering Ukraine at least through third countries.

It has also been reported that Nato has decided to invite Japan, South Korea, New Zealand and Australia to the summit, which is scheduled in July this year and is to be held in Vilnius. on January 28, Mike Minihan, head of the US Air Force Air Mobility Command, believed that a US-China war over Taiwan could begin in 2025.

A worst-case scenario may see the Philippines being dragged into this conflict. This is indirectly confirmed by the words of army chief lt. Gen. Romeo Brawner Jr. on the sidelines of the opening ceremony of military exercise Salaknib at Fort Magsaysay in Nueva ecija when he said: “one thing that we are learning from the Ukraine-Russia crisis or war is that you do not need a really very strong army to defend yourselves. even with a few modern weapons, the more important thing is the will to fight.”

Hopefully, the US is not preparing the Philippines for a war like the ongoing one in Ukraine. It means Filipino soldiers will fight China for Taiwan, and the US will sell weapons for our loans.

Something must be done to keep the terrible trouble from coming to the Philippines.

SM TO SPEND P15B FOR 14 NEW HOTELS TILL ‘28

THE SM Group is spending close to P15 billion in the next five years to build 14 new hotels in the country, under its partnership with the international hospitality firm Radisson Hotel Group (RHG).

SM Hotels & Conventions Corp. (SMHCC) Executive Vice President Peggy Angeles revealed the investment in a news briefing on Wednesday, following their signing of a Master Development Agreement with RHG for the Park Inn by Radisson brand. This would increase RHG’s portfolio in the Philippines to 20 by 2028 and generate 1,250 new jobs. “The first of these new properties,” she said, “will be the 516-room dual-branded property in Cebu City under the Radisson and Park Inn by Radisson brands, which is scheduled to open in 2027.”

T he properties will be adjacent to the SMX Convention Centre and the soon-to-be completed SM Seaside Arena, as well as the SM Seaside City Cebu Mall, a 14-meter tall Seaside Tower, and a church. The first hotel of SMHCC in the province is Radisson Blu Cebu, which opened in 2010.

Untapped potential

THE other new hotels will be located in Cauayan in Isabela, Olongapo City, Laoag, Fairview in Quezon City, Dasmariñas in Cavite, Sta.

Rosa in Laguna, among others.

“Our expansion is outside the NCR (National Capital Region) because we believe there is a need to provide good quality accommodations, affordable, which do not compromise on service excellence, and safety and security.” SMHCC’s hotels are set up adjacent to existing SM malls or retail areas.

R HG’s footprint in the P hilippines remains small compared to other countries in Asia such as Thailand, Vietnam, Indonesia, and India, admitted Ramey Fenianos, Asia-Pacific Chief Development Officer of the firm. “The Philippines has a huge untapped potential. Unfortunately, the Philippines isn’t the first choice for destinations [in Asia]; it’s usually Bali, Vietnam, then the Philippines, which is a shame because we love the country. It’s so diverse — [you have] mountains, the beach; it’s such a beautiful country, that’s why we think there is an opportunity for us.”

W ith the construction of the 14 new hotels, and perhaps more properties beyond 2028, he expressed confidence “the Philippines will soon become a very active market for us. We have  invested as a company and opened a development office. We hope to come with more news at the end of the year.” The partnership of SMHCC with RHG started with Park Inn by Radisson in Davao City, which opened in March 2013, touted as the first of the brand in the Asia Pacific region.

Prepandemic profit this year

ANGELES separately told the BusinessMirror that SMHCC will likely “reach [our] prepandemic net income level by this year,” with the sharp rebound in domestic travel and return of the MICE (meetings, incentives, conventions, exhibitions) market. According to its parent firm, SM Prime Holdings Inc.,  the  Commercial Properties and Hotel and Convention Centers business segment  recorded a net income of P4.9 billion in 2019.

W ith strong hotel occupancy, she noted, “Obviously [our revenue] is already 8-12 percent of our budget of P5 billion this year. Added revenue will come from the opening of Lanson Place in the next few months.”

S MHCC was established in 2008 and now has nine hotel properties with more than 2,200 rooms, and over 42,000 square meters of leasable convention space though the SMX Convention Centers and trade halls. Besides the partnership with RHG, SMHCC has a management contract with Hilton Hotels & Resorts for Conrad Manila, Lanson Place Hospitality Management for Lanson Place at the Mall of Asia, but manages its own properties such as Taal Vista Hotel and Pico Sands Hotel.

R HG has over 1,700 hotels in 120 countries under its brands Radisson Collection, Radisson Blu, Radisson, Radisson RED, Radisson Individuals, Park Plaza, Park Inn by Radisson, Country Inn & Suites by Radisson, and prizeotel.

PHL digital economy now worth over P2T, says PSA

trillion in 2021.

Top contributors

THE top two contributors under Digital-enabling infrastructure were Telecommunication services and Professional and Business services with 30.7 percent and 27 percent shares, respectively.

E -commerce, which accounted for 20 percent of the total digital economy in 2022, grew by 26.5 percent from its previous year’s record of P328.84 billion.

P SA data showed the digital economy in 2022 amounted to P2.08 trillion, an 11-percent growth from the P1.87 trillion recorded in 2021.

However, PSA data showed the digital economy contributed 9.4 percent to the country’s economy or Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in current prices—the lowest share in five years.

“Overall GDP grew faster than the Digital Economy sub sector. GDP at current 2022 growth rate (was at) 13.5 percent,” National Statistician Claire Dennis S. Mapa told BusinessMirror on Wednesday.

So denominator—overall GDP

—grew faster than numerator— digital economy—thereby reducing the share,” he explained.

P SA said the digital economy is composed of digital transactions covering Digital-enabling infrastructure, E-commerce, and Digital media/content.

O f the total amount of digital transactions in 2022, Digital-enabling infrastructure made up the largest share amounting to P1.6 trillion or 77.2 percent.

T he total amount of transactions on Digital-enabling infrastructure in 2022 was higher by 7.5 percent than its amount of P1.49

M eanwhile, the data showed that digital media/content accounted for P57.41 billion or 2.8 percent of the total digital economy. It grew by 11.8 percent in 2022.

T he estimated number of employed persons in the digital economy was 6.05 million in 2022. This count was 8.2 percent higher than the 5.59 million persons employed in the digital economy in 2021.

T he data on the digital economy is based on the results of the pilot study done by the technical staff of the PSA.

Since the methodology is currently being refined for presentation later to the PSA Board, the results are considered preliminary.

300 more Filipinos flee Sudan by bus

AROUND 300 Filipinos were in the process of evacuating war-stricken Sudan on Wednesday on board seven buses hired by the Philippine government to facilitate their land travel to the border of Egypt, the Department of Foreign Affairs said.

T his is the second batch of Philippine government-facilitated extraction since the war erupted in Sudan last April 15.

DFA Undersecretary Eduardo de Vega said the Philippine government is now taking advantage of the 72-hour ceasefire in Sudan.

T he evacuation is being fasttracked by Philippine authorities to take advantage of a limited window offered during a ceasefire. In the rush to tend to the Filipino workers, the vehicle carring top officials of the Philippine Embassy in Cairo—which has jurisdiction over Sudan—figured in an accident at dawn, leaving Vice Consul Bojer Capati with back injuries. He was taken to a local hospital in Egypt.

A mbassador Ezzedin Tago and his driver who were also in the car with Capati were not injured.

T he car, which rolled over twice and hit a road barrier Tuesday 4am (10am Philippine time), was a wreck. The ambassador continued attending to the evacuation tasks right after.

A ccording to Undersecretary de Vega, contracting buses to transport Filipinos out of Khartoum is very challenging. The cost is very

expensive, almost the cost of a plane ticket. Thus, the government was forced to outbid the other foreign embassies or consulates in order to secure buses.

T he Philippine Embassy in Cairo had earlier dispatched a consular team at the border to fetch the Filipinos in Wādī Halfā in northern Sudan. But it turned out, Egyptian authorities have become stricter at the border, stopping a deluge of fleeing refugees coming from Sudan.

D e Vega said Tago’s team was rushing at dawn because the clearance site at the port of entry was about to open.

T he busload of 50 Filipino Islamic scholars who left Khartoum Monday, and another batch of OFWs, were stranded at the border and required additional documentation.

T hen there’s another group of 21 Filipino evacuees who fled on their own volition who have already gone past the Egypt border but are being held. Egyptian immigration authorities are threatening to deport the Filipinos back to Sudan if their papers are not processed.

Many Filipinos left Sudan without valid passports or exit visas to Egypt.

Second batch

IN the latest update, Ambassador Tago is flying to Aswan City, south of Egypt, to personally facilitate the entry of the second batch of Filipinos evacuees.

From Aswan City, he will travel by land to the border in Sudan.

D epartment of Migrant Workers Secretary Susan “Toots” Ople,

Overseas Workers Welfare Administrator Arnel Ignacio, and DMW

Undersecretary Hans Cacdac are also on the way to Cairo Wednesday, after a stopover in Dubai.

A t least 71 Filipinos from Sudan are already at the border of Sudan and Egypt; 50 of them were transported by the Philippine honorary consulate in Khartoum, while the rest fled on their own.

A s thousands of Sudanese and other foreigners flee the war, Egypt has suddenly become more strict with documentary requirements.

M any Filipinos fled the war without valid passports or visas. A consular team from the Philippine Embassy in Cairo was dispatched to assist Filipinos in Aswan City but was overwhelmed by calls for help from Filipinos at different ports of entry at the border.

A number of Filipinos also departed Khartoum and went to Port Sudan, east of the African state.

T he Philippine Embassy is also considering sending a team inside Sudan —to Wādī Halfā near the border with Egypt, and in Port Sudan.

At least 740 Filipinos, mostly professionals, registered at the Philippine Embassy in Cairo. There are also farm workers, students and maids.

O f these, 350 have requested for repatriation; 80 of them were on the first batch or have already left on their own.

S o far, there is no report of Filipinos killed due to the conflict.

T he DFA has confirmed one Filipino was wounded last week, hit by a stray bullet in the hand.

DOH: Omicron subvariant XBB.1.16’s 1st case recovers

THE Department of Health (DOH) on Wednesday said that the first case of Omicron subvariant XBB.1.16 was detected in Iloilo Province and was asymptomatic.

T he case has already recovered, the DOH added.

O n Tuesday, the DOH reported the detection of the first case of XBB.1.16, detected in 33 countries, based on the latest genome sequencing report from April 12 to 17.

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), XBB.1.16 is a

descendent lineage of XBB, a recombinant of two BA.2 descendent lineages.

A t present, the DOH said that the WHO has yet to confirm symptoms of the Omicron sublineage XBB.1.1.6 variant such as “sticky eyes” or conjunctivitis.

“In general, Covid-19 exhibits flulike symptoms such as fever, cough, fatigue, loss of taste or smell, sore throat, headache, body pain, and diarrhea— among others,” the DOH said.

A side from the known flu-like symptoms of Covid-19, other symptoms may vary from case to case and

studies are continuously ongoing of what effects the virus may entail.

What is important is that cases remain manageable,” the DOH said as it reminded the public that for proper diagnosis of symptoms, one should consult with a physician or head to the nearest health facility.  “ To help prevent further transmission of Covid-19, continue observing proper sanitation, masking, distancing, and good ventilation. Further, vaccination remains to be the best defense against severe Covid-19,” the DOH added.

THE value of the country’s digital economy is now over P2 trillion based on the latest data released by the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA).

Companies

B1

Thursday, April 27, 2023

‘Cebu Air will bounce back in 2023 despite headwinds’

In reply to an inquiry from the stock exchange, Cebu Air listed several of its existing initiatives to bring its stockholders’ equity from negative to positive, including its 2021 programs.

These include the stock rights offer and the issuance of convertible bonds to investors International Finance Corp. and Indigo Group.

According to Cebu Air, these two initiatives including the “strong

increase in demand for travel” and the current macroeconomic conditions will propel the company to recovery.

The Gokongwei-led company said its domestic operations are now at 100 percent of the airline’s prepandemic capacity, and this is expected to “increase further into 2023.”

It also registered a “notable uptick in travel demand” for interna-

tional flights.

“The corporation ended 2022 with 2,600 weekly flights, and by the 2nd quarter of 2023, expects to break over 3,000 weekly flights, going beyond prepandemic levels on a systemwide basis. Higher utilization of existing aircraft, together with improvement in both capacity and seat load factors driven by higher bookings, support the outlook for improvement in the corporation’s revenues and profitability margins,” Cebu Air said.

It added that the overall conditions of the economy will support its recovery.

“Macroeconomic conditions are likewise supporting the corporation’s recovery to profitability,” it said, citing the reduction of jet fuel prices in the global market as well as the “sideways” movement of the dollar-peso exchange.

The Philippine Stock Exchange on March 31 asked Cebu Air to de-

tail its plan to bring its stockholde rs equity from negative to positive, citing provisions on listing and disclosure rules of the bourse.

In its annual report, Cebu Air reported that basic/diluted loss per share in 2022 was at P23.80, which was almost half the P40.36 loss per share recorded in 2021.

Cebu Air reported that in 2022 its net loss shrank to P14 billion in 2022 from P24.9 billion the previous year, and operating loss reduced to P11.4 billion, about half of previous year.

It recorded a 261-percent increase in revenues to P56.8 billion in 2022, as its passenger business ballooned 459 percent to P35.1 billion, on the back of higher travel demand, both domestically and internationally, coupled with the easing of various travel regulations.

For 2023, the carrier is “confident in its ability to overcome” its anticipated headwinds.

SMIC allots ₧90B for ‘23 capex

SM Investments Corp. (SMIC), the holding firm of the Sy Group, on Wednesday said it has set aside some P90 billion in capital expenditures (capex) this year, a huge chunk of which will go to shopping mall operator SM Prime Holdings Inc.

The company said this year’s capex is 12 percent higher than last year’s P80 billion.

SM Prime currently has 84 residential projects. It aims to launch 15,000 to 20,000 residential units in 2023.

It is scheduled to open three new malls and expand certain malls in the Philippines this year,

which will provide an additional 200,000 square meters of gross floor area. These new shopping malls will be in Bataan, San Pedro in Laguna and Sto. Tomas in Batangas.

About 10 percent of the capex will be used for leisure developments, office buildings and convention centers.

The rest of SMIC’s capex will be for SM Retail Inc., which is also looking at expanding its store network to around 400 stores this year, largely from food retail and specialty retail stores, such as Alfamart convenience stores. It will add some 200 new Alfamart stores this year.

“Opportunities for growth in the Philippines remain high. Our businesses are well-positioned and have

clear strategies to participate this year,” Frederic C. DyBuncio, SMIC president and CEO, said.

SMIC said growth prospects nationwide are looking “more vibrant” with more people gaining employment. A large chunk of the remittances from overseas Filipino workers are also going to their families in the provinces.

Increasing connectivity and the level of talent are also providing more impetus for expansion among business process outsourcing firms in these areas. BPO revenues are also at par with OFW remittances in amounts that are estimated at over $30 billion, the company said.

“The majority of our expansion is focused on the regions especially

in emerging regional centers outside of Metro Manila,” DyBuncio said.

SMIC has invested in several related businesses in recent years as part of its strategy to participate in emerging high growth sectors.

In 2022, the company increased its involvement in the logistics sector, bringing up its stake in Airspeed to 51 percent. It likewise hiked its stake in geothermal steam for renewable energy generation, acquiring 100 percent of Philippine Geothermal Production Co.

“We are particularly optimistic about these opportunities. Our portfolio investments collectively contributed 11 percent of consolidated earnings last year and we expect this to increase over time,” DyBuncio said.

THE National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) is seeking the assistance of the Supreme Court (SC) in its legal battle against News and Entertainment Network Corp. (Newsnet).

This development comes after the Court of Appeals (CA) insisted on the enforcement of an already inoperative ruling by the AntiRed Tape Authority (ARTA).

“The Court of Appeals decision is not final and the NTC will elevate this case to the SC,” the NTC said in a statement.

The NTC, which has not received a copy of the latest CA resolution, maintained that the mandamus could no longer be enforced after ARTA eventually reversed its February 12, 2022 decision directing the commission to automatically approve Newsnet’s application to install, operate and maintain a local multi-point distribution system (LMDS).

LMDS will enable Newsnet to deliver interactive pay television and multimedia services nationwide in the 25.35GHz-26.35GHz frequency range.

It will be recalled that ARTA, in a resolution dated June 17, 2022 recalled its previous decision favoring Newsnet, a move that was eventually upheld by the Office of the President.

“The [ARTA] has already reversed itself so there is no ARTA Decision that can be subject of mandamus,” the NTC said.

In March, the Office of the

President (OP) dismissed Newsnet’s appeal to reverse ARTA’s order nullifying its earlier ruling on the “automatic approval” of Newsnet’s application.

The OP held that ARTA had no jurisdiction over the assignment of frequencies, the recall of ARTA’s order was only proper having been rendered without jurisdiction, and the expiration of Newsnet’s franchise rendered its application moot.

Meanwhile, the NTC insisted that Newsnet could no longer be allowed to operate and be assigned a radio frequency after its legislative franchise expired in August 2021.

“The Supreme Court, in a long line of decisions, which includes Divinagracia v. Consolidated Broadcasting System & People’s Broadcasting Service, Inc. and Associated Communications and Wireless Services United Broadcasting Networks v. NTC, has put to rest the ‘no franchise, no operations’ doctrine for broadcast companies which include [Newsnet] which will use radio frequencies in its [LMDS] operations,” the NTC pointed out.

“The latest SC decision in point is ABS-CBN Corporation v. National Telecommunications Commission,” it added.

Last year, the NTC already made permanent the cease and desist order against Newsnet, recalling all of Newsnet’s frequencies for lack of a valid congressional franchise. Lorenz S. Marasigan

BALAI ni Fruitas Inc., a bakery operator and a unit of Fruitas Holdings Inc., said its income last year reached P37 million, four times higher than the previous year’s P8.5 million.

Revenues for 2022 more than doubled to P341 million from the previous year’s P149 million. It has expanded the number of stores to 98 by the end of 2022 from the previous year’s 77.

“This is an outstanding accomplishment for Balai. Our dedication to providing outstanding products and excellent customer experience has made us stand out in the market and draw in new clients,” Lester Yu, Balai president and CEO, said.

“Balai’s growth has already surpassed our initial estimates, and we aim to accelerate the growth even more by strategic store expansion, continuous product development, and curating third-party products to be made available through our platform.”

Net margin nearly doubled at 11 percent in 2022 compared to 6 percent in 2021. Despite inflationary pressures, gross profit margin for 2022 settled at 52 percent, an improvement over the 50 percent during the first half of 2022. VG Cabuag

LITE Shipping Corp.’s rollon/roll-off (RoRo) ferry will boost maritime tourism and provide more access to shipping services between Cebu and Bohol as well as nearby areas, according to the Maritime Industry Authority (MARINA).

MARINA said Lite Shipping’s MV Lite Ferry Seven was unveiled during an event in Tagbilaran, Bohol last April 22.

With a length of 72 meters and registered 2,450 gross tons, the new RoRo ferry has a capacity of 300 passengers, 18 ten-wheeler trucks, and 10 cars. The vessel, built in China and completed in 2022, features standard and tourist accommodations classed by RINA of Italy.

During the event, MARINA Administrator Hernani N Fabia highlighted the significance of the launch in Tagbilaran City, noting that it marks a major milestone in the city’s continued growth as a tourist destination in Bohol.

“The MARINA, through the Maritime Industry Development Plan (MIDP), is determined to build a strong foundation and create more catalysts for the development of maritime tourism in the Philippines,” Fabia said in his speech. With Lite Shipping’s fleet ex-

pansion, MARINA granted pioneering status to MV Lite Ferry Seven in the Oslob, Cebu to Dapitan City and Dipolog City routes.

The new RoRo ferry is part of Lite Shipping’s re-fleeting program over the past decade, which includes almost half of the fleet acquired brand new and onefourth of the fleet below 20 years of age upon acquisition.

Lite Ferries operates in 32 destinations, bridging the provinces of Sorsogon, Samar, Northern Sa-

mar, Leyte, Southern Leyte, Cebu, Bohol, Negros Oriental, Negros Occidental, Siquijor, Surigao del Norte, Agusan del Norte, Misamis Oriental, Misamis Occidental, and Zamboanga del Norte as part of the Strong Republic Nautical Highway.

MARINA’s continued support for the development of maritime tourism in the Philippines is expected to bolster Lite Shipping’s efforts in connecting the island of Bohol to the rest of the country.

Cebu Air Inc., the operator of budget carrier Cebu Pacific, said on Wednesday that it is “confident that recovery to positive stockholders’ equity is imminent and forthcoming.”

post-disaster funding key to recovery’

INSURANCE Commissioner Rey-

naldo A. Regalado emphasized that the private-public partnership approach is crucial in establishing climate risk insurance solutions as aegis against extreme weather.

After three years under the grip of the pandemic, it is time for the government and the private sector, to face another huge challenge: climate change and its impacts, Regalado said in his welcome remarks at the 16th Philippine Insurance Summit on April 26.

The IC chief acknowledged that the Philippines is one of the most disaster-prone countries in the world.

Visited by an average of 20 storms a year, he said the occurrence of natural disasters and extreme weather events are seen to increase due to the effects of climate change.

The increase in the global sea temperature is seen to escalate the frequency of the La Niña and El Niño phenomena, resulting in more powerful and potentially more destructive typhoons hitting our country, according to Regalado, a lawyer.

“Drought and extreme temperatures are seen to escalate in the years to come. In recent weeks, actually the past weeks, we experience 46-degrees Celsius in certain parts of the country. Global warming also triggers the melting of polar ice, which threatens much of the developing nations, including our country,” the Insurance Commissioner said.

briefs➜ Bangko Kabayan awarded

As a proven risk and transfer mechanism, Regalado said insurance plays a critical role in improving the country’s resilience to climate change.

“We all know that insurance provides financial protection to the insured and prevents further loss and hardships as disaster strikes. It can help speed up recovery by providing post-disaster funding and liquidity,” he told some 320 participants to the summit.

Regalado said the insurance industry itself, which serves as a safety net for the insuring public, is also being challenged by the domino effect of climate change. The increased occurrence of several weather events “exposes the insurer and the insured to greater risks such as infrastructure and property damages, loss of livelihood and, worse, injury and death,” he added.

Regalado also specified that climate change can have varying effects on non-life insurance firms. The greater exposure to natural catastrophes increases the premiums that needed to be paid by the insured. Moreover, insurers have difficulty finding affordable rates.

“We are being called to take our part in this collective effort to curb the effect of climate change and find a solution to this pressing issue. Our effort in saving nature and reversing the effect of climate change should be coupled with work to provide a sustainable and resilient financial system that the Filipino people could count on, especially in times of dire need,” he said.

Stagflation risks seen to renew ‘risk aversion’ toward PHL peso

Advisory firm Oxford Economics Group Ltd. expects the peso to average P56.3 to the dollar in the next three months and further depreciate to P57 to the greenback by the end of this year. Oxford Economics analysts said stagflation risks could renew “risk aversion toward” the Philippine peso. Stagflation is “an economic condition characterized by slow growth, high unemployment, and rising inflation.”

“We see growing stagflation risks leading to renewed risk aversion towards the PHP [Philippine peso]. Headline inflation remained

PHP weakness, given an improving balance of payments,” Oxford Economics, however, said.

Last Wednesday, BSP Governor Felipe M. Medalla admitted that monetary authorities have been intervening in the foreign exchange market to prop up the peso.

Medalla emphasized it was imperative to keep the Philippine tender competitive compared to the dollar. This is one of the key monetary policy tools that are at the disposal of the BSP.

elevated at 7.6 percent year-on-year in March, higher than the US’s [5 percent year-on-year], driven by prices of food, energy, and services,” Oxford Economics said.

The think tank said the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) has helped keep the peso afloat by raising interest rates following the US Federal Reserves’ policy actions. This was done to maintain a policy rate differential of at least 100 basis points, which is necessary to stabilize the Philippine currency, the 42-yearold firm said.

“That said, we don’t expect major

The BSP said these amendments were made by the Monetary Board on the Currency Rate Risk Protection Program (CRPP). The amendments were made to encourage the use of the hedging facility by increasing its availability, to relieve pressures in the forex spot market.

Documentary requirements have been aligned with the existing regulations on forex transactions and have eliminated the notarial rules to enable expeditious applications.

BANGKO Kabayan Inc. announced having won the “Best MSMEs Development Bank” at the 2023 International Finance Awards organized by the United Kingdom-headquartered International Finance Publications Ltd. “We are honored to receive this award and recognized for our work in supporting MSMEs [microsized, small-scale and medium-sized enterprises],” Bangko Kabayan CEO/President Beatriz B. Romulo was quoted in a statement as saying. “We believe that MSMEs are the backbone of many economies and we are committed to providing them with the resources they need to thrive and grow.” According to Romulo, the private development bank offers financing, technical assistance and training tailored to the needs of MSMEs. “The bank’s continued focus on MSMEs will help drive economic growth and development in the succeeding years,” she added. Rizal Raoul S. Reyes

➜ LandBank grants loan to T’bolis

THE Land Bank of the Philippines (LBP) announced last week it loaned the T’Boli Farm Growers Multi-Purpose Co-operative P224 million to expand the cooperative’s production of pineapples and pineapple fibers. The state lender said the bulk of the loan (P180 million) is expected to augment the co-op’s working capital requirements. About P34 million would go to buying farm tractors, service vehicles, trucks and a backhoe loader and post-harvest facilities for hauling and land preparation, the LBP said in a statement. It added the remaining P10 million will be used to increase the volume of pineapple fibers that the co-op is exporting to the United Kingdom. Raadee S. Sausa

➜ Pag-Ibig awards Ovialand

REAL estate firm Ovialand Inc. (Ovialand) announced last April 17 it was awarded by the Home Development Mutual Fund (Pag-Ibig) as the eighth “Pag-Ibig Fund Accredited Developer for the year 2022.” Ovialand said in a statement it was recognized for significantly contributing to Pag-Ibig Fund’s efforts “of providing every Filipino worker the opportunity to own a home.” This is the fourth consecutive year that Ovialand was named as one of the Pag-Ibig Fund Accredited Developers in the country, having bagged similar recognitions since 2019. The company plans to raise as much as P2 billion through an initial public offering. The proceeds from the offering will be used for initiatives such as building more homes in areas such as Laguna, Batangas, Quezon and Bulacan.

➜ Allianz PNB Life PHL names new CEO

ALLIANZ PNB Life Insurance Inc. recently announced the appointment of Joseph Gross as its new President and CEO. Gross brings over 20 years of experience in the insurance industry, having held various senior leadership positions within the Allianz Group, the insurer said through a statement on April 25. Gross first joined Allianz in 2002 as senior vice president of strategic brand management and head of marketing management in Munich, Germany. In 2010, he was promoted to the role of executive vice president and headed the Group’s market management. Gross joins Allianz PNB Life Philippines from his previous role in Germany as head of global executive strategy and development, where he was responsible for identifying, placing, and developing the top management of the company.

“I will tell you three months after we intervene, whether we intervened or not,” Medalla told reporters in a briefing on April 26. “By the way, hindi niyo ako kailangan tanungin. pag pinuntahan ninyo ang aming web site nandun ang balance sheet namin eh, makikita ninyo.” [You don’t have to ask me. You can see our balance sheet on our web site.]

Earlier, the Monetary Board eased the requirements and expanded the coverage of eligible foreign exchange (forex) transactions, according to the BSP.

Further, forex obligations and transactions eligible for the CRPP Facility have been expanded to include non-trade transactions and investments from the original traderelated coverage.

Other operational amendments include the change in the applicable US dollar-interest rate to be used in the computation of the rate for nondeliverable forwards following the cessation of the Libor benchmark, the removal of the 1 p.m. to 2 p.m. trading window and the change in maximum tenor.

Security Bank’s ESG rating upgraded from ‘laggard’

CREDIT rating agency Morgan Stanley Capital International (MSCI) Inc. upgraded the Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) rating of Security Bank Corp. (PSE: SECB) to BB (average) from B (laggard) for “the overall improvement in its corporate governance and improvements in customer satisfaction.”

The lender said MSCI cited its “strong governance and risk management” system. The bank said the ratings agency found the lender “efficient in addressing customer issues and complaints.”

MSCI ESG Ratings measure a company’s resilience to long-term ESG risks and are based on publicly available data. Organizations are scored on an industry-relative AAA-CCC scale across the most relevant key issues based on a company’s business model.

“This recognition from MSCI lets us know that we are on the right track in our efforts to achieve customercentricity,” Security Bank Sustainability Head Jeanne Nicole B. Lizares was quoted in a statement as saying. “We will continue to get even better as we live out our mission to enrich lives, empower businesses, and build communities sustainably through financial service excellence.”

The bank issued a statement after it was included among local banks that have provided nearly $1.8 billion in financial assistance to coal and gas-fired power projects.

Last year, SECB promised to stop funding coal-fired power projects in the country by 2023 as part of the Philippines’s pledge to international agreements aimed at cutting the country’s emission of pollutants.

The bank said the decision was in line with the framework set by the

2021 United Nations Climate Change Conference of the Parties (COP26) and the 2015 Paris climate agreement to cut greenhouse gas emissions and limit global warming for a more sustainable future.

But the latest report of energy advocacy and bank watchdog group Withdraw from Coal: End Fossil Fuels (WFC-ECC) revealed that as of March, the total amount financed by SECB and five other Philippine banks for coal-related activities and projects reached $867.08 million for April 2022 to March 2023. Majority of the funding was through bonds underwriting of around $594 million while the rest are from loans.

The report’s findings run contrast to SECB’s statements, including one that said its board approved two years ago its sustainability framework, “which outlines its principles in addressing [ESG] issues.”

SECB said its board approved its environmental and social risk management system, which details the policies and enhanced due diligence required for identifying, addressing and mitigating environmental and social risks in the bank’s operations, lending and investing practices and supply chain.

SECB also noted that ATR Asset Management Inc. (Atram) included the lender’s stock in the latter’s Sustainability Development Goal (SDG) Fund portfolio. This inclusion comes after Atram’s data-gathering session where it reached out to over 88 publicly-listed companies with a “robust sustainability framework and an effective roster of initiatives.”

The Atram SDG Fund aims to achieve capital growth by investing in companies who contribute to positive environmental and social change, SECB said. Cai U. Ordinario

PDIC settled nearly 19k deposit insurance claims

WITH the easing of pandemic-related restrictions, the Philippine Deposit Insurance Corp. (PDIC) was able to hasten the payment of deposit insurance claims for the nine banks ordered closed by the Monetary Board (MB) of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) from January to December 2022.

In a statement issued last week, the PDIC said that valid deposit accounts with balances of P100,000 and below that qualified for waived filing of claims were settled within nine days to 20 days during the year.

The PDIC said this is compared with the turnaround time (TAT) of 17 days to 40 days in 2021.

“On the other hand, claims for deposits with balances above P100,000 and those that did not qualify for waived filing were also settled faster, due to the resumption of the PDIC’s field operations claims settlement [FOCS] and implementation of additional payment options for filed

claims,” the PDIC said.

The corporation said it reported the settlement of 18,546 deposit insurance claims totaling P614.2 million during the year. The amount comprised 95 percent of the total estimated insured deposits of P647.9 million in the nine banks ordered closed by the MB in 2022. Claims on the remaining 5 percent aggregating P33.7 million were yet to be filed or were submitted with incomplete or deficient documents as of year-end.

Valid deposit accounts with balances of P100,000 and below that qualified for automatic payment and paid via postal money order (PMO) consisted of 15,454 or 83.3 percent of the total claims settled during the year. With the continued relaxing of Covid-19 health protocols in 2022, the examination of deposits, processing of claims and dispatch of PMO payments were significantly faster compared to 2021.

Relaxed health and safety measures also allowed the PDIC to re-

sume its FOCS activities, i.e., acceptance, processing, and settlement of deposit insurance claims in the premises of seven of the nine banks ordered closed in 2022. The corporation said it settled all 2,670 deposit insurance claims filed during FOCS in 2022 within the target TAT of seven working days from receipt of valid claims or approval of “Report of Validation/Register of Insured Deposits,” whichever comes later. Filed claims with complete documents and updated records can be settled on the same day during FOCS in 2022, which was not possible in 2021. Another mode of filing deposit insurance claims is through the PDIC’s head office claims settlement. For 2022, a total of 422 claims were paid v ia HOCS.

Closed bank depositors who filed claims either by FOCS or HOCS also now have more convenient options to secure payments through the multichannel disbursement facility, an agreement forged with a partner bank

in December 2021. The MCDF allows for payments via electronic transfers to deposit accounts with other banks or accounts with electronic money issuers. Depositors may also be paid via cheque and cash-over-thecounter payments with designated branches of another partner bank.

“Prompt reimbursement of deposit insurance is one of the top priorities of the PDIC, as part of our overarching mandate for depositor protection. That is why we continue to explore various ways to improve our turnaround time and provide more convenience to depositors of closed banks,” PDIC President Roberto B. Tan was quoted in the statement as saying.

As provided for by the PDIC Charter (Republic Act 3591, as amended), depositors of the nine banks ordered closed by the MB in 2022 who have not yet filed their deposit insurance claims have until two years from the date that PDIC took over their bank to do so.

Bitcoin begins to test inflection point while momentum slows after price surge

BITCOIN is beginning to test a closely watched level that some analysts suggest could prove to be a key turning point after this year’s surge in prices.

The largest digital currency is trading around its 50-day moving average, with Paul Hickey of Bespoke Investment Group noting that the level to watch is $27,500. If the level doesn’t hold, prices risk declining.

Bitcoin advanced to $28,776 at

10:30 a.m. in London last Wednesday. It has jumped about 74 percent this year, though the positive momentum has stalled in the two weeks since the cryptocurrency breached $30,000 for the first time since June. Other tokens such as Ether were also little changed, while smaller tokens like Solana and Polygon were slightly lower on Tuesday.

While prices have rallied this year, Bitcoin is still trading at less than half

the record high of almost $69,000 reached in November 2021. A series of industry scandals and bankruptcies last year has lessened the appeal of digital assets to many investors.

“We have seen a decrease in volume, market depth and liquidity, translating into higher volatility,” Ambre Soubiran, chief executive officer of crypto data provider Kaiko, said during a Bloomberg TV interview. “That for now is an indication that

even though there’s a positive sentiment around the price of those assets, market is not back to their pre-2022 crisis amount in terms of volume, and market depth, most importantly.”

Multiple narratives helped fuel Bitcoin’s surge—including how the asset is meant to act as an inflation hedge and how it is supposed to circumvent vulnerabilities found in traditional banking systems. For Bespoke’s Hickey, shifts in the relative

strength of Bitcoin tend to coincide with shifts in the S&P 500, rather than leading the moves in the equity market.

“Comparing the performance of the S&P 500 to the relative strength of Bitcoin versus the S&P 500 shows a loose but unconvincing link between the two series,” he wrote in a Tuesday note. “Although Bitcoin and the crypto space have little to do with the stock market, some traders moni-

tor the space on the belief that they provide a good barometer of overall risk appetite.”

The ratio of Bitcoin to the S&P 500 peaked about two months before the peak of the S&P 500 in late 2021 up to early 2022. But when the benchmark gauge hit its October nadir, Hickey pointed out that it took another two months before the relative strength of Bitcoin began to pick up steam.

THE Philippine peso is expected to weaken in the coming months despite government officials’ bullishness on the performance of the currency this year.

‘Insurers’

Agriculture/Commodities

ban in Mindoro to ensure food safety’

“ To help affected municipal fisherfolk get back to their livelihoods, the DA-BFAR has recommended alternative fishing grounds, in coordination with the Department of the Interior and Local Government,” BFAR said.

T hese are the municipal waters of Paluan, Abra de Ilog, San Jose, and Magsaysay in Occidental Mindoro; Boac and Gasan in

Marinduque; and Concepcion in Romblon.

T he agency said it will provide affected fishers with fuel subsidies as additional assistance.

B FAR has been evaluating contaminant levels in seafood samples from these areas to determine if fish, seaweeds and other marine organisms are safe for public consumption and if fishing grounds

placed under fishing bans should be reopened.

The results of oil and grease analysis in water samples collected from affected areas on April 10 showed that significant increases in amounts from previous analyses, albeit still within the standard of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources based on water classification and use,” the agency said.

Low-level polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons [PAHs] were also detected in all fish samples collected on April 3.”

F urthermore, PAH accumulation was observed in samples collected from the municipalities of Bongabong and San Teodoro; however, there is currently no sufficient data showing an increasing trend.

Tests will be taken to gather needed time-series data and confirm if accumulation is taking place in marine organisms collected from the province.

Seafood exports

MEANWHILE , the Philippine Exporters Confederation Inc. (Philexport) is urging local producers to comply with the restrictions set by Qatar for frozen seafood exports.

Philexport noted that Philippine chilled seafood products will be subjected to some restrictions. This is after the “necessary measures” were said to be taken as a precautionary measure to ensure compliance of shipments.

T he group said the public health ministry of Qatar has required the submission of a Certificate of Conformity issued by third-party preshipment inspection at the country of origin before the products are shipped for export.

T he temporary ban was implemented in November 2022 as a precautionary measure to monitor the risk of contamination of fresh and frozen seafood products with Vibrio cholera bacteria.

It was lifted in March, according

to an advisory issued by the Department of Trade and Industry.

Qatar has also lifted the temporary ban on imports from Afghanistan, Bangladesh, India, Myanmar, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka.

T he Export Marketing Bureau said Philippine exporters should continue their strict compliance with food safety regulations to ensure the continued acceptance of their products in Qatar and other export markets.

I n an earlier advisory published by the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI)-Export Marketing Bureau, the bureau reiterated the provision under the Fisheries Administrative Order No. 210, series of 2001: Rules and Regulations on the Exportation of Fresh, Chilled and Frozen Fishery/Aquatic Products.

T he said provision indicates that only fish products which have been processed in fish processing establishments certified by BFAR to be compliant with the

Neda: Rice cultivation drives agri greenhouse gas emissions

RICE farming is one of the main factors that increase the Philippines’s greenhouse gas emissions (GHG), according to the National Economic and Development Authority (Neda).

In a recent forum, Neda Secretary Arsenio M. Balisacan said the agriculture sector is second only to transportation in terms of GHG emissions and accounted for 29.9 percent of all emissions in 2010.

In Asia and the Pacific, agriculture sector emissions are primarily from rice production, increased use of synthetic fertilizers and energy for irrigation and livestock production,” Balisacan said. “Rice cultivation is, likewise, one of the country’s drivers of agricultural emissions.”

B alisacan said this is an example of how growing food can affect the environment. Innovative solutions are needed as reducing energy for irrigation and synthetic fertilizers could lead to lower agricultural yields. He added that the uncontrolled and unregulated expansion of croplands and grazing areas can lead to deforestation and the conversion of ecosystems.

With this, Balisacan said, greater effort must be exerted to find ways to prevent agriculture from contributing to further GHG emissions while ensuring that all Filipinos and those in the Asia and the Pacific region could meet their food needs.

Technology plays a consider -

THE Marcos government’s economic managers were prodded Wednesday by opposition Senator Risa Hontiveros to justify Malacañang’s move to raise the rice buffer stocks of the National Food Authority (NFA).

Maybe the economic managers should more rigorously justify why raising the stock of rice in NFA warehouses makes more sense than other programs that could protect families that might experience loss of livelihoods and hunger,” Hontiveros said.

I n a statement, the senator stressed: “Dapat munang siguraduhin na may nakalaang ayuda sa mga mahihirap nating kababayan.”

S he recalled that during the 2016 El Niño: “Maraming laman ang mga warehouses ng NFA, pero ang problema ay walang pambili ang mga mahihirap. Hindi na dapat maulit ang

able role in improving existing production processes. These include climate-resilient crop varieties and animal breeds, water-saving irrigation systems and alternatives to synthetic fertilizers,” Balisacan said.

“Controlled environment crop production systems should also reduce natural resource use and production costs. Common interventions include water management practices like AWD [alternate wetting and drying], improved fodder and feed management for livestock and sitespecific nutrient management for crops,” he added.

To complement these interventions, Balisacan said efforts to promote sustainable consumption, including reducing food loss and waste, should also be pursued.

B alisacan added that there is also a need to introduce and implement sustainability and/or eco-labeling as well as providing appropriate incentives are potential mechanisms that can further promote low-carbon consumption.

T he Neda chief also articulated the Philippines’ commitment to allocate resources towards the adoption of profitable, climate-smart and resilient technologies.

“ To realize these strategies, the Philippines seeks to prioritize investment in research, development and extension of climatesmart and resilient technologies, including nature-based solutions. The country also aims to improve the marketability and profitability of low-carbon technologies and

nangyaring karahasan sa Kidapawan dahil ayaw buksan para sa mga nagugutom ang warehouses.”

T he opposition lawmaker also cited reports that sanitary and phytosanitary clearances have already been issued for more than 3 million metric tons of rice to be imported by the private sector and nearly one-third of this has already arrived, adding: “Sapat yan para punan ang inaasahang kakulangan sa lokal na produksyon.”

“ We know that the price of fertilizers has already gone down dramatically and the budgets for inputs and irrigation for the rice sector have been more than doubled for this year. Sapat dapat ito para makapaghanda ng masaganang ani dahil sa dulo pa naman ng taon tatama ang El Niño.”

Should there be additional rice deliveries in the warehouses, she stressed it would be better if it would come from local producers.

products by facilitating linkages and collaboration among innovators, entrepreneurs and industries,” he said.

Balisacan’s views formed part of his keynote speech during the 2023 Asia Pacific Agricultural Policy Roundtable on “Enabling Measures to Mitigate GHG Emissions Toward Resilient Agriculture and Sustainable Rural Development.”

H e emphasized the importance of weighing other important socioeconomic objectives even as an economy pursues the goal of mitigating GHG emissions for the promotion of sustainable rural development.

T he 2023 APAP Roundtable was co-organized by Neda and the Global Agricultural Policy Institute. It was attended virtually

Standard Sanitation Operating Procedures and Hazard Analysis

Critical Control Point system will be exported.

T he fisheries administrative order noted that a fish processing establishment is “any premises where fish products are prepared and processed as chilled, frozen, dried, smoked, canned, packaged or stored.”

A ccording to the fisheries administrative order, HACCP is the “preventive quality management system which identifies, evaluates and controls the hazards which are significant to food safety.”

“A HACCP Plan is a company’s written document delineating the procedures to be followed in accordance with the seven HACCP principles to ensure food safety.”

M eanwhile, SSOP are written procedures to be followed to ensure that the processing and production of a certain product is “carried out under sanitary and hygienic conditions.”

Laguna planters obtain farm equipment via RCEF

THE provincial government of Laguna announced its officials turned over agricultural machinery and equipment to 30 farmer cooperatives and associations.

T he distribution was made possible through the Rice Competitiveness Enhancement Fund (RCEF) mechanization program of the Philippine Center for Postharvest Development and Mechanization (PhilMech).

A ccording to a statement issued by PhilMech, the machinery grants include the following: 37 units of hand tractors; 50 units of floating tiller; nine units of walk-behind transplanter; two units of riding type transplanter; seven units of rice reaper; seven units of rice combine harvester; three units of mobile rice mill; one unit of singlepass rice mill; one unit of recirculating dryer (six tonner); two units of recirculating dryer (12 tonner); and, two units of multi-stage rice mill (1.5 tons per hour).

and in person by a diverse group of experts in the fields of economics, climate change and agricultural and rural development.

T he roundtable was convened to discuss the multifaceted impacts of climate change on food security, existing and emerging investments and initiatives aimed at mitigating emissions in the agriculture sector.

DENR turns over small-water impounding system to LGUs

TO promote soil and water conservation, the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) has recently turned over P16 million worth of infrastructure projects to the local government units (LGUs) of Maddela and Nagtipunan in Quirino Province.

T he infrastructure projects are expected to boost soil and water conservation efforts in the said areas.

T he DENR announced that the two facilities turned over in Maddela include the small-water impounding system, or “Swis,” and gabion wall with a maximum capacity of 50 cubic meters (m3) and 3,000 m3, respectively.

In Nagtipunan town, a Swis with a 100-m3 capacity was turned over to Barangay Disimungal.

Constructed for soil and water conservation, the facilities will provide water supply for a total of 660 hectares of plantations established from 2014 to 2021 within the said municipalities.

“ These facilities that are constructed to store and conserve water will be of great help to agriculture and our agroforestry areas, thus, uplifting the socioeconomic condition of local communities,” DENR Cagayan Valley Regional Executive Director Gwendolyn C. Bambalan was quoted in a statement as saying.

D uring the turnover ceremony, a Tripartite Memorandum of Agreement was signed by officials of the DENR,

municipal and barangay LGUs to define the responsibilities of the parties in sustaining the said infrastructure projects.

“ These projects are of great help to the LGU since our current budget cannot cater to all the needs of our constituents,”

Municipal Planning and Development Coordinator Lemuel

Rey O. Maranion was quoted in the same statement as saying.

In a separate activity, the P13.8 million worth of the newly-constructed building of the Community DENR Office in Nagtipunan was also inaugurated last April 14.

Following the inauguration, Bambalan urged the personnel of said office “to serve clients with the highest degree of professionalism and integrity.”

T he RCEF mechanization program aims to help the farmers to be more competitive when it comes to farming, the machinery grants also aim to benefit the farmers from different cities and adjacent towns of Laguna, a document from PhilMech read.

P hilMech said it distributed 121 units of farming equipment in Laguna, valued at P64.7 million, last year.

L ast month, PhilMech Executive Director Dionisio G. Alvindia said the agency has been getting pleas from local officials and farmers organizations on the need to extend RCEF.

During the social preparation and training phases for qualified farmers’ groups, and the actual distribution of farm machines under the RCEFmechanization program, we get pleas from both farmers and local officials to have the RCEF extended beyond June 2024,” Alvindia said.

PhilMech is implementing the RCEF-Mechanization Program with an allocation of P5 billion per year from 2019 to 2024, representing 50 percent of the P10-billion annual allocation for the fund.

T he remaining 50 percent is allocated as follows: P3 billion for the distribution of high-yielding seeds; P1 billion for training and capacitating farmers; and, P1 billion for credit support.

R CEF was created by Republic Act 11203 (Rice Tariffication Law), which has provisions allocating all tariffs collected from rice imports for programs to benefit Filipino rice farmers and the industry. Raadee S. Sausa

THE Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR), an attached agency of the Department of Agriculture (DA), said Wednesday that fishing bans in oil spill-hit areas in Mindoro should be maintained to ensure food safety.

‘Fishing

Marcos econ managers asked to justify raising NFA buffer stock

4 ways that AI can help students

AS artificial intelligence systems play a bigger role in everyday life, they’re changing the world of education, too. OpenAI’s ChatGPT, Microsoft’s Bing and Google’s Bard all come with both risks and opportunities.

I am a literacy educator and researcher, and here are four ways I believe these kinds of systems can be used to help students learn.

1. Differentiated instruction. Teachers are taught to identify the learning goals of all students in a class and adapt instruction for the specific needs of individual students. But with 20 or more students in a classroom, fully customized lessons aren’t always realistic. Everyone learns differently.

An AI system can observe how a student proceeds through an assigned task, how much time they take and whether they are successful. If the student is struggling, the system can offer help; if the student is succeeding, the system can present more difficult tasks to keep the activity challenging.

This type of real-time feedback is often difficult for an educator or school to do for a single student, let alone an entire class or campus. AI adaptive learning tools have been shown to quickly and dynamically make changes to the learning environment, content and tasks to help individuals learn more and quickly improve.

For instance, researchers at the Human-Computer Interaction Institute at Carnegie Mellon University taught a system how to solve a math problem. The system can follow instructions from a human supervisor to understand mathematical rules and adapt its approach to problems it has never seen before. The system can also identify areas where it had to make multiple attempts before arriving at the correct answer, flag those for teachers as places human students may get confused, and highlight methods the system used to more efficiently arrive at the right answer.

2. Intelligent textbooks. Researchers at Stanford have been developing and testing a prototype of what’s called an “intelligent textbook,” titled “Inquire.”

It is an iPad app that monitors students’ focus and attention while they read by paying attention to how students interact with the app. The interactive text includes definitions of key words accessible by touch or click and allows students to highlight and annotate while reading.

The textbook can also suggest questions about the content and areas for future inquiry that are customized for each individual. It can change the reading level of the text and also include supplemental photos, videos and materials to help students understand what they’re studying.

3. Improved assessment. Educational assessment focuses on how an educator knows

whether a student is learning what is being taught. Traditional assessments—essays, multiple-choice tests, short-answer questions—are little changed from a century ago. Artificial intelligence has the potential to change that by identifying patterns in learning that may not be apparent to individual teachers or administrators.

For instance, the language-learning company Duolingo uses AI and machine learning to create and score tests of English proficiency for universities, companies and government agencies. The tests start with a series of standard questions, but based on how the student does with those, the system will select harder or easier questions to more quickly identify a student’s exact abilities and weaknesses.

Another assessment project, Reach Every Reader, staffed by the Harvard Graduate School of Education, MIT and Florida State University, creates educational games for parents to play with their children while teaching them to read. Some of the games have adults and children role-play as characters based on real-life scenarios. These games can help parents and teachers efficiently determine whether children are reading at their appropriate grade level and get them on track if they are not.

4. Personalized learning. Personalized learning occurs when the students’ interests and goals guide

How to ease your kids into estate planning

WHEN parents talk with their kids at the dinner table, estate planning probably doesn’t come up. But considering we aren’t immortal, it should. It’s worth having ageappropriate conversations to introduce children to the idea of estate planning. As children grow older, parents can provide more specifics about their plans and eventually assist their children in developing their own plans as adults.

RUN THEM THROUGH

YOUR ESTATE PLAN

IF you have an estate plan in place, consider running your children through it so they have an idea of what’s included in one. Camelia Ruffin , an estate planning attorney and founder of The Ruffin Firm in Douglasville, Georgia, suggests parents do a very basic outline, which includes telling children what each document is and what it’s used for.

Talking through your estate plan also gives your children a chance to know important information such as who you’ve chosen as estate executive or administrator—the person who manages your estate after you die— and who has power of attorney for financial and health care decisions. If your children will be executors, that’s more reason to talk them through the plan. Parents with underage kids may want to share information about who will take care of them if something happens prematurely. Ruffin says children should know whom to turn to

and what the next steps are so they’re prepared.

“Parents either get really sick or die and they still have teenagers who don’t know if it’s going to be a grandparent, uncle, godparent or a family friend that’s going to help guide them.” She adds, “It’s very important for parents to talk to kids about money management budgets, what is set aside for them, and how to make sure money lasts them as long as possible and not to run through it.”

Adult children should know where important estate documents are such as the original will, trust, power of attorney, health care directive, and list of accounts and login information.

Estate planning isn’t just financial, it can also be an emotional affair.

Coming to terms with mortality as a child or parent can be challenging, but remember it’s a way to care for yourself and your loved ones, says

learning. The teacher is more of a facilitator, while the what, why and how of learning are mostly dictated by the student. Artificial intelligence systems can provide individualized instruction tailored to each student’s individual interests.

AI adaptive learning systems can quickly identify when a student is struggling and then provide more or different support to help them succeed. As the student shows that they have mastered the content or skill, the AI tool provides more difficult tasks and materials to further challenge the learner. Chatbots have been used to respond to typed or spoken input. Many individuals interact with a chatbot when they ask Alexa or Siri a question. In education, chatbots with artificial intelligence systems can guide students with personalized, justin-time feedback or assistance. These chatbots can answer questions about course content or structure. This helps students keep track of their own learning while keeping them motivated and engaged. Much like an automated playlist of musical or video recommendations, an AI-powered recommender system can generate tailored assessment questions, detect misunderstandings and suggest new areas for a learner to explore. These AI technologies have the potential to help learners today and in the future. THE CONVERSATION

ill or if they unfortunately die,” Ruffin says. One way your children can protect these assets is by appointing a financial power of attorney . It’s a legal document that enables a trusted person to make financial decisions on your behalf.

Young adults could also benefit from having a durable power of attorney for health care, in case they need someone to make health care decisions on their behalf if they’re incapacitated.

“A lot of parents have difficulty helping their adult children who are 18 to 24 because they are adults and therefore you need legal authority to speak on their behalf or to even assist them with minor things,” Ruffin says.

VIrTual arT FEsT WorksHoPs arE baCk In May

EXPLORE your artistic side and express your creativity with SM Stationery’s virtual Art Fest this May. Enjoy fun-filled arts and craft workshops on all weekends starting May 6 to 28. This online art event offers creative activities to explore and enjoy— from workshops and tutorials to competitions and challenges.

Workshops include painting, canvass doodling, slime art, calligraphy, and even a special Mother’s Day card making workshop. There will be a total of seven online classes to choose from hosted by Artherapy, Artline, Elmer’s, Faber-Castell, Paper Mate, Sharpie, and Titus. With workshops and tutorials from top creatives, you can pick up valuable art tips from the pros and get inspired to create something new. Here’s what awaits you:

Sign up for the “DIY Greeting Card for Beginners Workshop with Sharpie” hosted by Alyssa Bartoline on May 6 at 1 pm. There will be experienced instructors to teach participants how to make a gift card for Mother’s Day.

THE Character Illustration online workshop will be an insightful course on character anatomy, and will show participants how to illustrate using a blend of soft watercolor pencils.

Nataki Appolon, an estate planning and business attorney at Warren & Warren Appolon in Huntington, New York. “Estate-planning is self-care. You don’t have all that anxiety around ‘God forbid something happens.’ “

EXPLAIN

THE IMPORTANCE OF AN ESTATE PLAN OF THEIR OWN

IT’S easy for young adults to feel like they don’t need an estate plan. After all, they’re just beginning their lives as adults, so they may have few or no assets. However, Ruffin says parents could start talking to children about plans as young as 14. She adds that any adult in college and entering a career needs an estate plan.

“A lot of these kids are graduating from college or postgraduate programs getting large bonuses, so they need to be aware of where to place that money and how to protect it if they become

She adds that some people don’t realize many of these estate planning documents can be more important when you’re alive than after your death. If your children are worried about the cost of putting together an estate plan, Ruffin says there are estate planning clinics that may do it for free. Also, some estate planning attorneys provide packages for young adults at a reduced cost.

KEEP IT SIMPLE

HOW you approach talking about estate planning with your child often depends on their age. No matter how old, start by keeping it simple. Appolon has started talking to her teenagers about estate planning to get them thinking about it for themselves.

“I don’t want to burden them with anything too heavy, too early,” she says. “It is overwhelming, but you just take it one step at a time.” AP

“Easy Calligraphy with Titus” hosted by Maricar Ramos takes place on May 7, from 1:30 pm. Learn how to write beautiful words and phrases with a calligraphy workshop for kids. “Have Fun with Basics: Doodling Workshop with Paper Mate” will be hosted by Alyssa Bartoline on May 13 at 1 pm. Let creative juices flow freely with a back-to-basics workshop on freehand drawing and doodling as well as the fundamentals of color theory.

There’s more fun up ahead with the “Avalanche Slime Workshop with Elmer’s” hosted by Jill DungoPangilinan on May 20 at 2 pm. Kids can discover and create cool pieces of art with slime. Not to be missed is the “Character Illustration using Watercolor Pencils with Faber-Castell” hosted by Carla Chua on May 21 at 2 pm. This insightful course on character anatomy will show participants how to illustrate using a blend of soft watercolor pencils.

Capping off the fun is the “Kids Painting 101 Workshop with Artherapy” hosted by Valerie Teng on May 28 at 1 pm. Learn how to create beautiful pieces of art with acrylic paints. Experienced instructors will guide kids step-by-step as they create their unique painting pieces.

More information and registration details are available at bit.ly/ArtFest2023

THE sM stationery Virtual art Fest is a great way to explore your creative side and learn new skills with family and friends.

SHERA to build its own manufacturing plant worth P2.5 billion in the PHL

AS part of its commitment to provide more aesthetic architectural products and to provide Filipinos with better living conditions through environment-friendly and superior quality building materials, SHERA Building Solution (Philippines) Corporation is investing P2.5 billion by establishing its own manufacturing plant in the country.

The plant will rise at Tipco Estates Corporation (TECO) Industrial Park, Ninoy Aquino Highway Brgy. Bundagul, Mabalacat City, Pampanga. The contract signing between SHERA Philippines Director Ongek Taechamahaphant and TECO President Jose E. Reyes took place

on April 4, 2023, in Makati City.

A leading brand in green innovative fiber cement (ficem) products, SHERA offers an array of solutions for ceiling, walling, and flooring applications renowned for their durability, water and fire resistance, fastbuilt, and low maintenance requirements, truly an ideal choice for construction projects worldwide.

By becoming a fully localized corporation with trading and manufacturing units in the Philippines, SHERA is building more trust with distributors and customers and is strongly committed to provide the best products available as well as customer service leading to the sustainable growth of the

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company in the long term.

This development is expected to stimulate consumption activities for the local community. The location is strategic for product distribution to customers nationwide both by in-land trucking and by sea. Moreover, SHERA intends to use local raw materials with only 10 percent of its budget allotted to importation. Pampanga’s proximity to many sources of raw materials needed for manufacturing is a big advantage for SHERA.

The move is also seen as an economic advantage to the country. The construction of the plant alone could generate 300 to 500 new jobs in the community and neighboring towns of Pampanga. Since the ficem product is one of the fundamental building materials for most construction types, Filipinos are assured of product availability and price stability as well as better and faster customer service. Reliability on the importation situation especially, during the uncertainty of logistic and global economy impacts such as freight shortage and forex fluctuations shall be lessened.

The ground-breaking rites for SHERA which also signal the start of the construction site are scheduled in mid2023 while the grand opening ceremony is expected to happen in period of next 15 to18 months.

For more information, please visit https://www.shera.com/ph/ or like us on facebook, https://www.facebook.com/ Sheraphl to know more.

Beyond Gin & Tonic: New culinary discoveries at Gilarmi Lounge of Discovery Primea in Makati

LOCATED on the ground floor of Discovery Primea, the Gilarmi Lounge was named after an iconic landmark and famed residential address along Apartment Ridge, which once stood where the five-star hotel is now. The lounge made its mark with its Gin Library, showcasing an extensive collection of gin labels, as well as a thoughtfully curated menu of classic lounge fare and tipples. Its inviting ambience, coupled with a view of the bustling Ayala Avenue, offers a cozy respite to hotel guests, visitors, and city dwellers on any day.

Among Gilarmi Lounge’s well-loved offers is the Burger Library, a selection of simple yet delectable burgers. The secret to its success is that everything is done right from the beginning. From choosing quality ingredients and accompaniments to determining the right burger-to-bun ratio, Discovery Primea’s Executive Chef Luis Chikiamco and his culinary team ensured everything was taken into account to deliver a harmonious blend of flavors. Extensive recipe tests were done to create the perfect homemade buns – toasted on the inside and pillowy on the outside.

Since its launch in 2020, the Burger Library’s best-selling varieties include the Good Ol’ Cheeseburger, The Spanish Quarter, Korean Chicken Burger, and Le Bistro. This April, a new variety of burgers will be introduced for diners to enjoy.

The Le Bistro 2.0: This cheesier, tastier

version of its predecessor features stronger flavors and ingredients such as mozzarella, Parmesan, Emmental cheese and caramelized onion. The Italian Job: Inspired by the blockbusters, this burger aims to be an equally thrilling treat on its own. Savor its Italian-inspired combination featuring beef and prosciutto patty, mozzarella, and tomato fondue.

For mushroom lovers, The Mushroom features crispy mushroom “katsu,” cabbage slaw, and “Bull-Dog” sauce. Each burger is served with a side of freshly cooked homemade chips, and promises an easy, no-frills and enjoyable dining experience.

Priced from P295++ to P495++, the Burger Library is offered a la carte at Gilarmi Lounge for dine in and takeout.

Due to the famed success of the Gin Library, Gilarmi Lounge has become a sought-after destination in Makati for all things related to gin, from classic G&Ts to elaborate cocktails. This summer, Discovery Primea’s seasoned mixologists embark on a new journey by introducing the hotel’s very own barrel-aged Negroni, ideally crafted for gin lovers and modern-day drinkers.

Mellowed to perfection after 30 days, the house-aged Negroni carries the bittersweet notes of the classic cocktail blended with the smooth and distinctive smoky flavors of American oak. Experience this concoction in an elevated fashion at Gilarmi Lounge for P400 nett per glass.

Lastly, Gilarmi Lounge announces a

special partnership with Sebastian’s Ice Cream. Discovery Primea and Sebastian’s Ice Cream, both locally owned and operated, aim to highlight local tastes and flair. Sebastian’s Ice Cream founder Ian Carandang has been changing the game by exploring unique flavors for everyone to enjoy.

This extraordinary collaboration includes specially created ice cream flavors for the hotel, transformed into delightful sweet endings by the culinary team. The dessert menu includes Arroz con Tsokolate, HaloHalo, and Taaaaaahho, all of which are inspired by traditional Filipino desserts but given an exciting twist. Other decadent options are Tea & Cakes, SSSMore’s, Fire & Ice, and Mango Mango Mango, available starting 25 April 2023. Guests are invited to Gilarmi Lounge for a taste of uniquely Filipino flavors translated into elegant desserts, perfect for this season of sunny days.

With all these new offers, Gilarmi Lounge continues to be an exciting and welcoming venue for culinary discoveries.

Gilarmi Lounge is open daily from 10:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m. For reservations and inquiries, guests may call +63 2 7955 8888 or e-mail primea. restaurants@discovery.com.ph For more information on the hotel’s offers and updates, please visit discoveryprimea.com or follow Discovery Primea on Facebook (DiscoveryPrimeaMakati) and Instagram (@discoveryprimea).

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BUILDING a solid career is not an easy process; it requires investment in time, effort, and resources. If getting a degree is already challenging, securing a career with a great development path in the future could be even more challenging. There’s no shortcut or secret formula; it’s a lifelong learning journey that may be full of competition and situations beyond one’s control. In this everchanging world, having in-depth conversations about career resilience and future readiness is crucial and relevant. What does it mean to be future-ready? And what does it take to have a future-proof career?

Rex Education, through Rex Academy and in collaboration with Edukasyon.ph, launched a three-part webinar titled “#FutuReady: Preppin’ Yourself to Face a New World.” This webinar series aimed to help students and fresh graduates who are gearing up to enter the professional world, starting their careers, and contributing to society. The series featured experienced professionals who discussed relevant topics about career and future readiness and industry knowhow. It was divided into three webinars, beginning with #FutuReady Me, followed by #FutuReady for the Industry, and finally, the #FutuReady Community.

The first installment of the series, #FutuReady Me, delves deeper into the anatomy of a future-ready learner. It focuses on understanding graduate attributes and being career-ready in the 21st century.

According to this webinar’s speaker, Jonathan Yabut, an outstanding marketer, a motivational speaker, and an author, there are three crucial skills that every learner should possess: communication skills, leadership, and critical thinking. A future-ready learner should be able to communicate effectively, take the initiative, and think outside the box. Self-learning, being proactive, and constant practice are necessary to develop these skills.

Yabut also emphasized that to have a future-proof career, we must constantly strive to improve ourselves, hold ourselves to the highest standards, and seek the best practices. Preparing for the future is more than just getting a degree and finding a job; it is a lifelong learning journey because everything we learn is another building block for the future.

For the second part of the series, three accomplished professionals from the educational, business, and hospitality sectors explained how to be #FutuReady for the industry and what specific skills are in high demand for a successful career.

Divine Delos Reyes, a human resources expert, believes we must learn to decide on a career path as early as possible to be futureready. We can identify our ideal career by self-assessing our skills and interests, looking for influence and inspiration, and building confidence and passion. Francis Jacob Aragon, a professional trainer and educator, also underlined the importance

of pursuing hobbies because they can be the foundation of a career.

However, many struggle to figure out what they genuinely want to do or what path to take after college. Apa Alviar, a certified strengths coach, reminds everyone not to feel pressured to stick to a particular industry. Whenever we feel dissatisfied with our current job, explore how we can make a difference and take it as a learning opportunity for personal and professional growth. Building a career could be a rollercoaster ride, so it’s important to learn to recover from mistakes and failures. To be future-ready for the industry, we must anticipate challenges and changes.

As we move forward from being a future-ready learner to future-ready for the industry, let us also take a step to be #FutuReady as a whole community. Being future- and career-ready goes beyond personal gains; it should also translate into benefits for the society. Dr. Michele Alignay, a registered psychologist and award-winning author, highlighted the importance of human skills to impact the community positively. Human skills are nontechnical skills; they are our abilities to manage ourselves and interact and relate to one another. Specifically, these are the skills that encompass our well-being and mental health:

Critical thinking or having the mental capacity to think at onr feet or solve problems independently.

Coping and resilience or being psychologically ready to face difficulties and navigate adversities. Collaboration, working with others, leading by example, or being a team player.

Compassion and empathy, showing we genuinely care for others and that we practice self-kindness.

The #FutuReady series is more than just an initiative; it is part of an advocacy to promote building a brighter future for every individual, industry, and community. As Edukampyons and for fellow Edukampyons, REX will continue to collaborate with like-minded organizations to deliver programs that will help every learner unleash their potential, become the best versions of themselves, and reap long-term success in the future.

Be #FutuReady to build a solid, resilient career with Rex Education‘s three-part career conversations‘

Envoys&Expats

DOH, Japan join forces for ICT-based medical & health-care projects, UHC

The Department of Health’s officer in charge (OIC) Maria Rosario Singh-Vergeire welcomed Ambassador Kazuhiko Koshikawa at the DOH Central office in Manila, as they discussed developments on the Japan International Cooperation Agency’s (JICA) projects, as well as areas in the country requiring further improvement in their health-care system.

The courtesy visit tackled latest updates on ongoing JICA initiatives in the country, which include several areas of cooperation such as promoting information and communications technology or ICT in the health-care fields, knowledge sharing on health-care between Japan and the Philippines in the public and private sectors, UHC implementation, and development of human resources, among others.

The meeting also focused on strengthening and guiding support for the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, where

there is an urgent need to develop its current health-care system, as well as supporting other high-gap areas in the country to provide equity in health-care services access.

The Health Department’s OIC and the Japanese envoy also discussed the alignment and strengthening of regulatory standards through partnerships between their countries.

“We are elated with how we are moving forward in this promising partnership with the government of Japan,” said Vergeire. “[We saw the dedication of both nations for the betterment of the Philippines’s delivery of health-care services to Filipinos], and realization of UHC for our people.”

As one of the most renowned in the world for its use of highly-advanced medical technology and management of hospitals, including the incorporated administrative agency system, she thanked the government of Japan for its assistance on the local health-care system.

Mexico observes 70th year of mutual relations with PHL

ON April 14 Mexico and the Philippines commemorated the 70th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic cooperation with the illumination of emblematic buildings and monuments in their respective capital cities, such as the Jose Rizal Monument and the buildings of the Secretariat of Foreign Affairs and the Senate in the former.

These events marked the beginning of commemorative activities throughout the year, such as the “Overview of Mexico-Philippines Relations” conference held on April 17 at the Matías Romero Institute, which is the diplomatic academy of Mexico, and the creation of a special logo for the occasion.

According to the Mexican Embassy, ties that bind the two nations stretch back to the Acapulco-Manila

Galleon, when exchange of goods, ideas and people not only had a profound impact on both, but also on the entire world.

The solidarity between these friendly nations was reinforced by Mexico’s participation in the liberation of the Philippines during World War 2 through the Escuadrón 201 of the Mexican Expeditionary Air Force.

More than 450 years later both remain active players in trans-Pacific trade, with a strong commitment to cooperation. They are part of the World Trade Organization and the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation. The Philippines is also a founding member of Asean, while Mexico is among those who established the Pacific Alliance and the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States.

Also, said nations engage in relevant trade agreements such as the Regional Comprehensive Economic

Partnership for the Philippines, and the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership for Mexico.

Today their mutual relationship is characterized by extensive political dialogues and commonalities at bilateral and multilateral levels, which have led to fruitful collaboration on issues of common interest such as climate change, universal access to vaccines and medicines, nuclear disarmament and nonproliferation, among others.

This way, the commemoration of the 70th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between Mexico and the Philippines highlights their shared history, while setting the tone for further deepening their political dialogue and cooperation for the benefit of both societies, said the embassy.

NZ plant, food research institute forges

‘milestone partnership’ with Midsayap

THE Embassy of New Zealand, with its government and Mindanao Development Authority (MinDA), witnessed the contractsigning ceremony on the “Mango Enhancement and Protection Program” between the New Zealand Institute for Plant and Food Research and the Municipality of Midsayap on April 19, in a partnership considered as a significant milestone for both organizations.

According to the embassy, the Philippines is a significant player in global mango production and exports. In recent years though, the country has seen a decline in fresh mango exports. Produce that does not meet market requirements when inspected on arrival into the market, it said, is downgraded and earns a much lower price. This adversely impacts the profitability of mango production for Mindanao growers and exporters, and has wider economic ramifications for the mangoproducing region. In April 2019 the NZ Institute

for Plant and Food Research, in conjunction with New Zealand G2G, undertook a scoping study in Davao, Mindanao, which found that there were instances where fresh mango exports to Japan failed inspection on arrival in the market, due to

Maximum Pesticide Residue Limit (MRL) violations.

The agreement outlines sharing of New Zealand expertise to help raise production and improve the livelihoods of Mindanao’s mango farmers. Through the project, the

IN April 1943, on the eve of the Jewish holiday of Passover, Germans occupying the Polish capital surrounded the Warsaw Ghetto— the Jewish quarter they had created—in preparation for its final liquidation.

On April 19 the German police and SS auxiliary forces entered the ghetto to complete the extermination. Its residents hid in bunkers and hideouts. Jewish insurgents attacked the Germans with firearms, Molotov cocktails and hand grenades. Two German vehicles were set ablaze with petrol bottles. The surprised occupiers were initially unable to break through the defenders’ fierce resistance.

Faced with strong opposition and early setbacks, the Germans began to systematically burn buildings and turned the ghetto streets into a fire trap. As the fighting continued inside, units of the Polish underground army moved against the Germans on the outside of the ghetto.

T hree sections of the Home Army tried unsuccessfully to breach its walls with explosives. The doomed Jews fought until the beginning of May. The Germans’ demolition of the Great Synagogue on Tłomackie Street in Warsaw was a symbolic final act to mark the fall of the uprising.

The Warsaw Ghetto Uprising was the first metropolitan insurrection and the largest Jewish revolt during the German occupation. On the afternoon of April 19, 1943 combatants symbolically placed the redand-white flag of Poland with the blue-and-white of the ŻZW on the roof of the Jewish Military Union stronghold at Muranowski Square.

The image of the two flags flying together on the roof of the building above the embattled ghetto became a symbol of the inseparable fate of Poles and Jews. Several months later, in August 1944, the Warsaw Uprising broke out: the fight for a free Poland—the largest freedom surge in the history of the Second World War.

Communal identity

IN Polish history, literature, art and culture, there are many references to uprisings. They gave hope, lifted spirits and comforted hearts, but were almost always brutally suppressed by partitioners and occupiers. Although tragic and often inevitable, they built a community identity and usually brought victory years later. They left a deep mark on Polish society and history.

Consequently, they’ve become a frequent theme in literature, painting and film. Although artists portrayed the events in various ways, they hardly ever criticized the idea of the uprising. They advocated the fight for freedom and elevated it to the cultural pedestal.

In April 1941 resettlers poured into the ghetto. The number of people confined within its walls rose to 450,000.

First urban uprising

I’M quoting these figures not without reason. The Warsaw Ghetto was the largest in Europe created by the Germans during the Second World War. In July 1942 the invaders began mass deportation of Jews from the ghetto to the Treblinka extermination camp. It is estimated that between 250,000 and 300,000 Jews were murdered at that time. About 100,000 died in the ghetto from starvation and disease resulting from the inhumane conditions created by the German oppressors.

We say: “Jews,” but we must remember that they were citizens of Poland: the multinational, multicultural Second Polish Republic. It is therefore our common duty to commemorate the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising—the largest Jewish uprising during World War 2 and the first urban uprising in occupied Europe— and to keep in memory the courage of those who resisted the German occupiers.

These days more than 150 events are taking place in Poland to mark the official commemoration of the 80th anniversary of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising. These are organized or funded by the Polish government, including as part of the program implemented by the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage to support activities that preserve the legacy and memory of Polish Jews.

Since the United Right took over the government, we have more than tripled funding for institutions whose activities include preserving the memory, culture and legacy of the multicultural Polish nation— including the Jewish minority heritage in Polish lands, as well as commemorating the Holocaust of Jews perpetrated by the Germans in occupied Poland.

institute will review, recommend and implement changes to have an assured MRL, institute best spray pesticide-application practices, as well as develop a sustainable mangoproduction technology and quality assurance program that will ensure the fruit consistently meets highvalue export-compliant mango requirements.

“I am excited about this signing; it represents a significant step forward for New Zealand agricultural expertise to support Mindanao’s aspirations to become an exporter of high-value fresh mango, as well as positioning [the island-region] to contribute to the strengthening of… Philippine high-value fresh mangoexport industry,” Ambassador Peter Kell remarked.

The project is jointly financed by New Zealand Grant Funded Assistance and the Municipality of Midsayap. Lessons generated from the project will be available to other mango producers through the Mindanao Business Council and the MinDA.

During the Second World War Jews and Poles clashed with German criminals in two uprisings in Warsaw, the capital of Poland. The city was eventually left in ruins, destroyed and burnt down. This proves the strength of the Polish imperative for freedom.

The question may be asked: Why in Warsaw? It is worth recalling that in 1939, on the eve of the German invasion of Poland, almost 370,000 Jews were living in Warsaw. They constituted about 30 percent of the city’s total population. In the year following the outbreak of the Second World War, nearly 100,000 more Jews arrived in the Polish capital, systematically displaced by the Germans from the lands incorporated into the Third Reich and from the occupied territories of Poland.

In the spring of 1940, the Germans began the process of creating a closed-off Jewish quarter. The final sealing off of the Warsaw Ghetto took place in November 1940. Behind the walls, on an area of 307 hectares, some 400,000 Jews were locked.

Among the institutions subsidized by the Polish government are those in the former German death camps: the Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum in Oświęcim; the State Museum at Majdanek (with branches: Museums and Memorials in Bełżec and Sobibór); the Stutthof Museum in Sztutowo; the Treblinka Museum; the Gross-Rosen Museum in Rogoźnica; the KL Plaszow Museum in Kraków.

Also involved are the Warsaw Ghetto Museum, the Ulma Family Museum of Poles Saving Jews in World War 2 in Markowa, the Remembrance Museum of Land of Oświęcim Residents, the POLIN Museum of the History of Polish Jews, and the Emanuel Ringelblum Jewish Historical Institute.

These include institutions that have existed for decades, often underfunded in the past. The first three were built in recent years for the sake of remembrance.

Today Warsaw is a city of the living. Poland is a country of the living. We remember the past, and draw on historical experience to build a better future. But we do not forget those who died or were murdered. The memory passed down through the generations must last forever. And today, we are its custodians.

(Text published jointly with the Polish monthly Wszystko co Najważniejsze (All That Matters. )

We are custodians of this memory: Warsaw Ghetto Uprising’s 80th year

THE Health Department and Japanese government will engage in technology-based linkages on Universal Health Care (UHC) and knowledge-sharing, among others.

Financial costs, stigma are top reasons why Pinoys won’t seek mental health care—study

and suicide attempts at 44.1 percent.

However, the study showed that increases in schizophrenia spectrum and other psychotic disorders at 24.8 percent, substance-related and addictive disorders at 16.6 percent, a nd obsessive-compulsive-related disorders at 13.1 percent were less frequently reported.

Affordability, stigma bar

Filipinos from seeking help

AMonG t he study’s highlights, however, was that it pointed to affordability and stigma as among the major reasons that bar Filipinos from s eeking mental health care.

It’s like having one’s own version of the scarlet letter, a mark that will forever be etched in one’s humanity. But some changes are happening and the Covid-19 pandemic may have had something to do with it. Admittedly, mental health concerns rose at t he height of this globally devastating pandemic, primarily due to the l ong community quarantines and lockdowns that forced millions to stay at home to avoid catching the deadly virus.

Covid also a mental health crisis

I n a study based on a survey conducted among local mental health a nd psychosocial support (MPHSS) providers by the Harvard Humani -

tarian Initiative (HHI) Resilient

C ommunities program, in cooperation with the Philippine Psychiatric A ssociation (PPA) and the Psychological Association of the Philippines ( PAP), majority of the respondents, or about 97.9 percent, said they saw an uptick in mental health concerns in the help-seeking population in the Philippines since the pandemic hit.

Among these concerns, anxiety topped the list at 97.9 percent, followed by depressive disorders at 97.2 p ercent. The other concerns were bipolar and related disorders at 49 percent, trauma-related disorders at 46.2 percent, and the list was capped by suicide risk behaviors such as ideas of suicide (suicidal ideation)

The study revealed that 40 percent of the respondents cited high f inancial costs of mental health care as the top barrier, while the other leading hindrances to seeking mental health care were related t o stigma. About 35.9 percent noted the feeling of embarrassment or being ashamed, 31 percent pointed to t he concern of being seen as “crazy,” while 30.3 percent cited weakness, concerns about family at 23.4 percent, and other people’s reactions at 22 .1 percent.

However, a big number among the respondents, or about 65 percent, said that barriers to access and treatment stigma have decreased since t he advent of Covid-19. Around 62.6 percent stressed that the transition to “teletherapy” or medical consultations done online, ensured care

c ontinuity, according to the study, and in some cases, the expansion of services and service areas were observed as the switch to teletherapy h appened.

“These study findings are promising in that they suggest that in t he face of widespread challenges posed by pandemics or disasters there is a reduction in stigma related to seeking mental health care.

Fu rther, greater accessibility to mental health care services through telehealth create opportunities for providing care for those that may not otherwise seek support because of distance, travel costs, or other similar barriers,” according to d r. Vincenzo Bollettino, Program d i rector of the HHI Resilient Communities.

Upgrade in mental health services recommended TH e respondents were one in saying that enhancing the delivery of mental health services in the Philippines i s very much needed. About 82.5 percent of them recommended more training for mental health providers or staff, 75.5 percent called for more mental health service providers, 72 percent said better internet connectivity is also needed, while 69.9 p ercent wanted a boost in government funding for mental health, and 6 6.4 percent called for an increase in raising awareness for services in order to better reach communities that are in need.

TH e n umber of people living with human immunodeficiency virus (PLHIV) nationwide is expected to double this year, reaching 364,000 cases.

In a recent media forum, d e partment of Health n a tional HIV Surveillance o f ficer n o el Palaypayon said a downward trend in the number of HIV infections was observed worldwide but is on the rise in the Philippines.

“We have already seen a 30 percent decrease in annual infections between 2010 and 2021, looking at the global scale. In 2021, based on HIV global data, there are 38.4 million PLHIVs, 1.5 million were newly infected, and 650,000 have died from AI d S [acquired immunodeficiency syndrome]-related illnesses,” he said.

In the same year, the country logged 21,400 individuals newly infected with HIV, which is a 327-percent increase in annual infections between 2010 and 2021.

“The new infections are projected to continuously increase in the next years. The estimated PLHIVs in the Philippines could reach 364,000 by 2030 which is a two-fold increase from the estimated PLHIV by the end of 2022,” he said.

From 1983 to February 2023, a total of 112,028 HIV cases were recorded nationwide.

The average of newly-diagnosed cases per day increased to 47 this year from nine infections daily in 2012.

“Looking into the trend of infections, nearly half of the new infections  ay galing sa kabataan  [are from the youth] aged 15 to 24 years old,» he said.

The do H ’s latest data registry showed a 16-percent increase in cases among teenagers aged 15 to 19 and a 30-percent increase among young adults aged 20 to 24.

Palaypayon emphasized the HIV epidemic in the country is concentrated on the key and vulnerable populations—men having sex with men, transgender women, female sex workers, people who inject with drugs, young population, and women and children.

He said the cycle of HIV transmission could be ended if the key and vulnerable populations have access to preventive services and are practicing protective behavior. PLHIVs must be diagnosed and placed under antiretroviral therapy, he added.

e a rlier, d oH officer-in-charge und ersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire said both HIV testing and treatment are offered for free at local government units.

The do H a nd the Philippine n at ional AI d S C ouncil have developed action plans to address the high number of HIV cases, harmonized with the previously developed 7th AI d S M edium Term Plan that highlights the five strategic pillars of the master plan: Prevent, Treat, Protect, Strengthen and Sustain.  PNA

Asian Hospital keeps its promise to excellence

Founded on a vision to provide Filipinos with top notch medical service that is at par with international standards, Asian Hospital and Medical Center (AHMC) continues to keep its promise to excellence by winning Healthcare Asia’s Patient Care Initiative of the Year (Philippines) and Clinical Service Initiative of the Year (Philippines).

The Healthcare Asia Awards 2023 lauded the trailblazing initiatives in healthcare that made a remarkable impact amidst the disruption caused by the Covid-19 pandemic. Healthcare providers need to constantly innovate and reinvent, especially now as the world begins recovering from the Covid-19 pandemic.

The healthcare companies that stood out were those who were able to provide quality care to patients and make significant strides in the industry whilst navigating these challenges.

The Healthcare Asia Awards program aims to recognize healthcare facilities like hospitals, clinics and other healthcare organizations that significantly improved the lives of their patients through innovative ideas and projects.

For the Patient Care Initia -

tive of the Year category, AHMC entered “S.T. e P u p ! d o n’t Fall:

AHMC Fall Prevention Success

Story” which highlighted the various exploits of the Fall Prevention Committee in ensuring the decrease of patient fall rates.

AHMC was recognized for its entry “ o p timizing d e livery of Care to Critically-Ill Adult Covid-19 Patients” in the Clinical Service Initiative of the Year.

The entry is the application of evidence-based researches on Covid-19 interventions resulting in higher survival rates.

Nursing excellence

In pursuit of excellence and the sharing of best practices, AHMC nu rsing Services and the un iversity of Sto. Tomas ( u S T) College of nu rsing recently renewed its partnership to develop career opportunities by providing nursing career development programs and related projects and activities. The partnership agreement was signed by AHMC’s d r n i colo Andrei Añonuevo while u S T was represented by d r. Rowena e sc obar Chua.

AHMC also acquired a new partner in St.

o minic College of Asia

These partnerships will provide student nurses with opportunities in the various nursing specialties and the current nursing trends at AHMC highlighting the standards of the Joint Commission International. This will also help student nurses transition smoothly into AHMC’s working environment, giving them an edge over other student nurses.

So far, AHMC has partnered with eight schools including Far e a stern un iversity, Siena College, Philippine Women’s u n iversity and Southville International School and Colleges, among others.

Dental medicine expertise

AHMC brought its expertise in

dental medicine to Cebu as the hospital’s d e partment of d e ntal Medicine conducted a symposium titled “ u p dates on the e s sentials of Comprehensive o r thodontic Treatment: A Lecture and Handson Workshop” which was led by d r. Martin Antonio V. Reyes and d r. Maria Janet Mapa-Pandan last April 18 and 19 at the City Sports Club in Cebu City.

d r. Reyes talked about how e f fective o r thodontic Mechano Therapy is still the key for a successful outcome. d u ring one and a half day workshop, he revisited the essentials in the three stages of o r thodontic treatment: leveling and alignment, space closure and detailing. He also shared how some of the basic tech -

niques have changed over the years as well as reinforce the elements that should not compromised.

d r. Mapa-Pandan, on the other hand, presented cases in her lecture where the combined multi-disciplinary approach helped achieve stable and aesthetic results.

Almost 100 dentists from different clinics and hospitals took part in the symposium.

Commencement exercises

L A ST M arch 10, AHMC held its 7th Residents’ and Fellows’ Commencement e x ercise at The Palms Country Club in Alabang, Muntinlupa. The guest speaker was d r. John Añonuevo, the former chair of AHMC’s d e partment of Internal Medicine.

Present during the ceremony were AHMC President and C e o d r. Beaver Tamesis, Chief Medical o f ficer d r. Jose Acuin, AHMC leadership team and the families of residents and fellows.

d r. Candice Melgar, one of the 25 graduates, noted that a community was born during the pandemic years where residents and fellows had to share bed spaces and supported each other.

o u r Medical Affairs family was the best. They took us in and made us feel the most comfortable here in the hospital. Food was abundant. They took measures to have mental health counselling. The support system we had here was beyond comparable,” she said. She thanked all the doctors who were with them through thick and through thin and that she will always treasure those moments.

“Seeing your faces inside those bubbles, sweating with us, always throwing at each other the most recent studies and looking for solutions—all those moments. That bond will always be with us,” Melgar added.

As AHMC celebrates its 21st anniversary, expect more packages and bundles, programs, events and campaigns to be launched by May and the rest of 2023.

THERE was a time when seeking mental health care was practically taboo among Filipinos. In fact, many of them cringe at the simple thought of going to a professional, a psychiatrist or psychologist, to seek medical help for fear of being branded by neighbors and society in general as a “loonie” or “nut case.”

People living with HIV in PHL to double by 2030

Health&

PHL is polio-free; DOH to conduct measles immunization drive in May

This was the target of the Department of Health (DOH) after the United Nations International Children’s E mergency Fund (UNICEF) indicated that children in the Philippines a re at a particularly “higher risk” of vaccine-preventable diseases.

“We concur with the findings,” DOH officer-in-charge Maria Rosario Vergeire said referring to the r eport of UNICEF which also revealed that the perception of the i mportance of vaccines for children declined by 25 percent.

Polio re-emerged in the country in 2019, according to World Health Organization (WHO) nearly two decades after its last cases were de -

tected. The country was declared w ild polio-free again in 2021.

Intensified campaign

V E RGEIRE s aid that the DOH will intensify their immunization campaign against polio and other diseases. “

First and foremost for polio, we already closed this outbreak and we do not want to reopen this again,” Vergeire said.

Poliomyelitis or polio is a highly contagious viral disease caused by three types of poliovirus (types 1,2 and 3).

The disease can result in irreversible paralysis affecting most com -

monly the leg muscles but for five to 10 percent of acute flaccid paralysis cases, the breathing muscles are also affected which can cause death.

Aside from vaccination, Vergeire said that the DOH continuously conducts waste water monitoring surveillance in high-risk areas as part of its prevention and control measures.

Children under the age of five are most vulnerable to contracting polio.

In the Philippines, children under one year old receive their primary doses of the polio vaccines during routine immunization—three doses of polio drops and one dose of inac -

Concern raised over decline in childhood vaccination

tivated polio vaccine.

Measles

T HE D OH is also set to conduct nationwide supplemental immunization in May to prevent measles.

As of March of this year we already have 225 cases of measles in t he country,” Vergeire said. She added that they observed some clustering of infection in some areas.

“We still couldn’t say it’s an outbreak as of now but it might be and it might continue to become an outbreak if we can’t stop it,” she said.

M easles is a very serious disease. It is caused by a virus and spreads very easily when an infected person breathes, coughs, or sneezes.  Measles spreads so easily that someone who is not protected (either by being immunized or having h ad measles in the past) can get it if they walk into a room where someone with the disease has been in the p ast couple of hours.

2nd Covid-19 booster shot guidelines for healthy adults signed

THE g uidelines on the adminis -

tration of the second booster of coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) vaccines for the general population have been signed.

The vaccines to be used as second booster shots are AstraZeneca, Moderna, and Pfizer.

“We already signed the guide -

With concerted efforts to further enhance support services for travelers with hidden disabilities including Autism, Emirates has rolled out specialized training to more than 24,000 global cabin crew and ground staff, collaborated with Dubai Airport on a useful travel planner and autism friendly route to make the pre-boarding experience more seamless, and implemented additional thoughtful measures to ensure passenger comfort onboard.

More than 24,000 cabin crew and ground staff globally have completed Emirates “ ntroduction to Autism and h i dden Disabilities” training. t h e online course was first launched in 2022 and covers a range of topics from the UAE National Policy for People of Determination, recognizing autism, practical tips on how to assist passengers with hidden disabilities, responding with empathy, and information on the official support systems to help passengers in the airport.

Categorized as a hidden disability, autism spectrum disorder is a neurological and developmental disorder that affects how people interact with others, communicate, learn, and behave. Known as a spectrum disorder because there are wide variations in the types and severity of symptoms people experience, a range of sensory needs can occur. For some travelers, the airport and aircraft experience may feel too noisy, too bright, too unfamiliar, or too busy—and these are some of the areas where Emirates is striving to facilitate planned and positive travel experiences, for customers with autism.

Before the journey begins

E M i r At E s s upports passengers with hidden disabilities by providing as much information in advance as possible, so that families can plan, rehearse, and be reassured about their upcoming travel. Passengers can check the Accessible tr avel page on Emirates.com for information and contact their Em irates local office with queries.

Free Seat Selection and Bulkhead Seat

declare a hidden disability will be facilitated as much as possible in the

lines and we’ll disseminate this to our local government units,” Department of Health Officer in Charge Maria Rosario Vergeire said during a recent media forum.

The jabs would be given to all healthy adults aged 18 years old and above.

Pwede rin pong ibigay sa mga buntis at saka [They may also be given to pregnant and] lactating women of 18 years old and above,” she said. “ Maaari rin

complimentary selection of suitable seats, for example the bulkhead seats at the front and middle of the aircraft for both the autistic passenger and their companion. t h is can be requested via Emirates local office.

Book with ‘DPNA code’ for extra support

A DPNA is an airline industry code for special service request (s sr) for a “passenger with intellectual or developmental disability.” t h e DPNA code can be applied to a booking made in person, via telephone or travel agent and is applied once the hidden disability is declared, so that the passenger will be supported throughout their journey with assistance from trained staff.

Study the ‘Autism Friendly Guide’ to Dubai International Airport

E M i r At E s ha s collaborated with Dubai i nternational Airport on a comprehensive pre-travel planning tool for passengers with hidden disabilities. t h e Autism Friendly g u ide to Dubai i nternational Airport provides a step-by-step explanation and images of every part of the journey through the airport to boarding, and details what services are available.

Pre-order meals

s o M E passengers may need a special meal onboard if they have a sensory sensitivity. t h is can be ordered a minimum of 24 hours in advance on www.Emirates.com or on the Emirates app. t h ere are options to order gluten free meals, bland meals, vegetarian and diabetic meals. For Kids Meals, families who are travelling with an autistic passenger may contact the Emirates local office with their request in advance.

Pre plan what to watch on ice via Emirates app

Do WN lo A D t he Emirates app, and before a flight passengers can spend time planning and pre-selecting their favorite movies, t V shows or music playlists. o n ce the passenger has boarded, their personally curated playlist can be synced immediately to ice, saving time and enabling them to settle into the flight with the comfort of familiar content.

po ibigay sa  [They may also be given to] immunocompromised populations 18 years old and above, regardless of their priority group classification.”

To ensure that the booster shots are accessible to the communities, Vergeire encouraged the local government units to integrate Covid-19 vaccination in their daily health programs and services in the primary health care facilities.

Para hindi na po natin kailangan mag-

Arrival to airport

P E o P l E o f Determination get complimentary parking in all terminals in Dubai i nternational Airport for two hours. People of Determination taxis can also be booked via Dubai ta xi on their toll-free number 80088088.

Collect the Hidden Disabilities

Sunflower Lanyard

t h E h i dden Disabilities s unf lower is a globally recognized symbol for hidden disabilities. Emirates staff with s u nflower pins are easily identifiable and specially trained to assist travelers with hidden disabilities. Passengers are encouraged to declare their hidden disability to these staff and collect a s u nflower l an yard to wear or bring their own from home, allowing for support throughout the airport journey. t h e sunflower lanyard can be collected from the information desk in Departures, te rminal 3 and from dedicated, easily identifiable collection points in te rminals 1 and 2.

Autism Friendly Route

t h E A utism Friendly r o ute through Dubai i nternational Airport (DXB) ensures that People of Determination (P o D) can move through the airport with a dedicated route. t i ncludes access to priority lanes for check-in, passport control, security and boarding; and can be availed when wearing the sunflower lanyard. s p ecially trained staff equipped to support P o D t ravelers will be easily identifiable wearing sunflower pins, allowing for increased visibility, communication and support throughout the airport journey.

Priority boarding or board last if preferred

P E o P l E w ho have declared their hidden disabilities to Emirates staff will be facilitated in boarding the aircraft first if they choose, or last if this more convenient.

Emirates Inflight Experience

E M i r A t E s m akes every effort to seat families with children together, and passengers who have declared their hidden disability will be seated beside their companion or guardian.

upa ng mga  (So that we no longer need to rent) mass vaccination sites,” she added.

As of March 20, a total of 78,443,972 or 100.44 percent of the country’s target population (78,100,578) have been vaccinated against Covid-19, including 8.7 million senior citizens, 10.2 million adolescents, and 5.6 million children.

A total of 23,811,248 or 30.49 percent have received booster shots out of the fully vaccinated population. PNA

Noise cancelling earphones

PA s s E N g E r s with an aural sensory need in First and Business Class will have access to noisecancelling headphones to block out ambient cabin sounds. tr avelers can also bring their own Bluetooth enabled headphones if preferred.

Light Sensitivity

iF t he customer, child or family member informs Emirates cabin crew about a light sensitivity, cabin crew can turn off the passenger’s individual light, close the window blind after take-off, and explain that the cabin lights will be dimmed as soon as the meal services are completed.

Get busy with puzzles in Fly with Me magazine

Yo U N g c hildren onboard who need a screen break or distraction can request a copy of the Emirates “Fly with Me” activity pack, with its own pack of non-toxic coloring pencils, featuring kid-friendly world maps, puzzles, drawing tutorials, coloring pages, educational activities about Dubai and protecting the environment.

Choose your entertainment on ice

PA ss EN g E r s enjoying an Emirates flight can pass the time in a world class entertainment library with more than 5,000 channels of on demand entertainment, over 1,900 movies and 1,500 hours of t V, as well as music, podcasts and audiobooks across 40 languages, 5 channels of live t V i ncluding news from BBC, CNN and s k y News Arabia, and two channels with live sport coverage on s p ort 24 and s p ort 24 Extra. i ce also has up to 100 video games, which can be played by two players in different seats if the game is a multiplayer game.

Emirates continues to collaborate with multiple stakeholders including Dubai Airports, g e neral Directorate of r e sidency and Foreigners Affairs, Dubai Customs, Dubai Police, Dubai Autism Centre and Dubai Economy and to urism to improve the travel experience for passengers with hidden disabilities and is committed to working to help create a world where neurodivergent individuals feel accepted, represented, included, empowered, and heard. World Autism Awareness Day takes place annually on April 2.

hOW important are vaccines to children? Unfortunately, a lot of kids around the world are missing out on their vaccination due to several factors.

According to the State of the World’s Children 2023 report, it warned that a total of 67 million children missed out entirely or partially on their routine immunizations between 2019 and 2022, while vaccination coverage levels dipped in 112 countries.

Of this number, a huge 48 million went “zero dose,” which means that they did not receive a single routine vaccine.

Here in the Philippines, about 1 million children went “zero dose,” the second highest in the East Asia and Pacific region, and fifth highest in the world.

Perception

ALSO, the Vaccine Confidence Project of the UNICEF bared that the perception of the importance of vaccines for children went down by about 25 percent in the Philippines, and more than a third in Korea, Papua New Guinea, Ghana, Senegal and Japan after the start of the pandemic. In contrast, data in countries such as China, India, and Mexico showed that perception on vaccine importance stayed firm or even improved.

Despite the alarming numbers, overall support for vaccines remained relatively strong. Almost half of the 55 countries showed that more than 80 percent of the respondents saw vaccines as important for children.

However, there are many factors that may still contribute to vaccine hesitancy, such as uncertainty about the response to the pandemic, fake news or misleading information, eroding trust in expertise, and political polarization. In the Philippines, vaccine hesitancy can be attributed to cultural factors, and concerns on vaccine safety.

“At the height of the Covid-19 pandemic, scientists rapidly developed Covid-19 vaccines that saved countless lives. But despite this historic achievement, fear, and disinformation about all types of vaccines circulated as widely as the virus itself,” said Catherine Russell, UNICEF Executive Director. “This data is a worrying warning signal. We cannot allow confidence in routine immunizations to become another victim of the pandemic. Otherwise, the next wave of deaths could be of more children with measles, diphtheria, or other preventable diseases.”

Admittedly, the decline in confidence was fueled by the pandemic where childhood vaccination was halted almost everywhere, immunization resources were diverted to Covid-19 vaccination, the shortage of health workers, and the various lockdowns and community quarantines.

Thus, the UNICEF is calling on governments to double-down on their commitment to increase financing for immunization. The agency is also urging governments to work with stakeholders to tap available resources, including leftover pandemic funds, to put in place

and accelerate catch-up vaccination efforts to protect children and prevent disease outbreaks.

Conversations, engagements

FOR Kathleen Solis, UNICEF Philippines Social and Behavior Change Specialist, she believes this is where conversations and engagements will be useful. She said it’s not enough to just tell people or parents what they need to do. “We also need to explain why and then we listen to their issues and concerns, respond properly to their questions in a way that manages their fears and concerns. It’s not really bad when parents ask questions. We want it because it’s also an entry point for us to explain, build and strengthen trust in the healthcare system and trust in the vaccines.”

UNICEF Philippines Communications Officer Marge Francia echoed this, citing what they learned during UNICEF Philippines’ polio campaign in 2019 in terms of countering religious and cultural beliefs. She said that when they were doing the campaign in Bangsa Moro, they gathered, talked to and engaged with religious leaders, one of the most influential people there. “We asked them what the Qur’an says about vaccination. From that discussion we had many sermons that were derived from the teaching of the Qur’an and related to keeping children healthy for them to have a bright future by taking care of their health needs. Those have been very effective and we think that’s one of the things we have done successfully with our partners on the ground.”

The politics in healthcare

WITH regard to politics, Carla Orozco, UNICEF Philippines’ Immunization Specialist, said politics or eliminating it in the country is not possible, especially now that the healthcare services delivery system is devolved to the local government units.

She said it’s really the governors, the mayors, the barangay captains who have the say, especially on the budget for health, even human resources so they are really an integral part in the delivery of immunization services. “It’s not really eliminating politics; it’s about providing them the right information on the urgency of the situation, and that is the importance of vaccination. Once you provide information and they understand what their roles are, then they become allies in the provision of immunization services and other healthcare services as well. I think it’s very important that more political will is advocated. It will be like accountability on their part to their constituents. As they say, good health is good politics.”

Francia reiterated that for UNICEF, their concern is the best interest of the child so they work with different sectors of society. “It’s about the rights of children. That is what we try to get through in our discussions with political leaders. We believe that a healthy population will deliver progress for the Philippines in the future, become leaders of tomorrow. If these children are not healthy, not educated and not able to reach their full potential, what future do we hold for our country? I think that’s an important point to get across.”

The Philippines should remain polio-free after the crippling disease was stamped out in 2021.

Emirates cabin crew, ground staff complete training on hidden disabilities ahead of World Autism Day

& Fitness

Construction now ongoing for St. Luke’s Medical Center’s largest off-site facility

St. Luke’s Medical Center, recognized as the leading and most respected healthcare institution in the Philippines, is currently constructing the largest off-site facility in the country to support their medical personnel. When completed in December 2024, the facility will be able to house up to 2,000 hospital personnel and will have a cafeteria, fitness center and multi-purpose hall.

i n a n interview with BusinessMirror, Dr. a r turo De La Pena, s L Mc ’s President and ceo, s aid the facility, which will be constructed a stone’s throw away from s t . Luke’s Medical c e nter g lobal c ity, is part of the hospi -

tal’s investment in their people, noting that renting an apartment or a room in the vicitinty is quite expensive.

“The facility will be known as the st . Luke’s Medical c e nter o f fsite sup port fa cility and this will be a first of its kind facility. This is our way of helping to improve the living facilities of our employees so that they will be inspired to work. o u r employees will only have to

pay a minimal fee as this will be subsidized by the hospital,” said Dr. De La Pena.

He added that the hospital will also be transferring non-patient rooms like the warehouse to this facility so that the hospital will be able to free up more rooms for patients.

“We will also be setting aside rooms for the relatives of patients who need to be close by to look after

Excellent,

wins TMC 4 accolades at Healthcare Asia Awards 2023

Defining healthcare excellence, The Medical c i ty way. TM c o r tigas bagged Healthcare a s ia’s Hospital of the Year award two years in a row as well as the Marketing i n itiative of the Year award. TM c c l inic won Primary c a re Provider of the Year while TM c s o uth Luzon received its second esg ( e n vironment, s o cial, and g o vernance) Program of the Year award.

their patients,” he added. The off-site facility is expected to be operational by December 2024.

o f ficials from st . Luke’s Medical c enter, Design c o ordinates, John r y an s a ntos, aru P, Quality s olutions and Thaison Builder and Developer were present during the the 1st concrete Pouring ceremony for the st . Luke’s Medical c e nter o f f- site sup port fa cility.

TMC Clinic: Primary Care Provider of the Year

The Medical c i ty (TM c ) i s currently the largest healthcare network in the country with one main facility in o r tigas, Pasig c i ty, four provincial hospitals, and over 50 clinics in Metro Manila and select provinces, all operating under a single brand.

These recent recognitions signify the TM c enterprise’s ongoing commitment to sustain healthcare leadership through its exceptional quality of care and unparalleled leadership in research and innovation.

SM fo undation i n c. (s M f i ) and Watsons recently teamed up to promote the health and wellness of f i lipinos through a series of medical missions in i l ocos n o rte.

With the support of project partners, the two organizations conducted two successful medical missions that brought free diagnostic and medical services to thousands of beneficiaries.

During the first leg of the medical mission in the coastal municipality of c urrimao, s M f i , Watsons, and DM i rie fo undation extended free diagnostic and medical services to over 500 beneficiaries.

fo llowing the success of the first mission, the second health caravan was held in Laoag c ity. o v er 1,800 beneficiaries were provided with free medicines, vitamins, and medical services,

including medical consultations, skincare tests, hair analyses, sugar tests, audiometry tests, cholesterol tests, and uric acid tests. sM f i also dispatched its mobile clinic, which provided ecg s a nd X-ray tests.

The recently concluded medical missions are just some of the

many ways that s M f i and Watsons are working to improve the health and wellness of f i lipinos. a s t hey continue to collaborate with volunteers, project partners and local government units, they are committed to bringing more medical missions and other initiatives to make a positive impact

Discovering the signs of early hair loss can be one of the most stressful parts of adulthood. it ’s not only a signal of aging, but potentially a sign of other issues with the body that need addressing. This is the scenario that biotin supplement Wolvit has highlighted in their two newest digital ads. The first of the videos, “ n i ght o u t,” shows two young men hanging out at a restaurant. When one finds a hair strand in his food and goes to complain, he comes to the unfortunate realization that it is his own hair that has been shedding into the food. Meanwhile, in the video “Hinala,” a married woman becomes suspicious that her husband is having an affair when she finds loose hair on his clothes. When she wakes up to find her pillow covered in loose hair, she realizes that she’s the source and not some mystery woman. Marco e l mer Manus, g r oup Prod -

uct Manager at Kusum Healthcare Pvt. Ltd. Brand o f fice, spoke about how the recent digital ads capture the experience many people have. “When people start to lose their hair, it can be quite a shock. i f y ou don’t know what’s happening to your body, it can lead to a loss of confidence,” said Manus. “That’s why we want everyone to know that it could be a sign of biotin deficiency. This isn’t something many people look out for, and it’s a problem

that can be solved.”

What is Biotin deficiency?

Bio T i n is used by the body to produce important proteins like keratin. The body needs keratin to maintain healthy hair, skin, and nails. s t udies have found that those suffering from biotin deficiency often experience symptoms that could include excessive premature hair loss, brittle nails, and dried out skin.

on the lives of thousands of f i lipinos in need.

Watsons began its medical missions in 2013, providing free medical consultation, laboratory tests, and medicines to the beneficiaries. it h as also forged a partnership with o p eration s m ile and conducts free cleft and palate surgeri es for f i lipino children. Watsons is part of the Health and Beauty s t ore chain of a s . Watson, one of the largest health, beauty, cosmetics, and perfumery retailers.

Meanwhile, through its health and medical programs, s M f o undation upgrades public health centers in its host communities, complemented by its medical caravans across the country. To date, it has renovated more than 170 health and wellness centers and served more than 1 million patients during its medical missions.

How does Wolvit help?

Manus reminds everyone that the more one understands a problem, the better equipped one is to solve it. “When your body is giving you signs, you shouldn’t ignore it. i f y ou’re suffering from biotin deficiency, it’s important to act immediately. e x ercise, eat well, and take Wolvit.” Wolvit works by giving the body the biotin it needs to produce healthy hair, skin, and nails. a recent clinical study conducted in u k raine found that the use of Wolvit has a positive effect on one’s skin, hair, and nails. This makes it ideal for those suffering from biotin deficiency and its various symptoms. a n other study published in s k in a p pendage Disorders, also found that cases where biotin was used to combat hair loss showed evidence of clinical improvement. Wolvit is now available for purchase in drugstores Watsons and Mercury Drug nationwide.

Healthcare is one of the most rapidly changing industries as new data and strategies emerge from time to time. The TM c enterprise is rising to the challenge as its leaders and medical experts relentlessly pursue quality and safety practices, improved care delivery, and better ways to heal and help patients.

While he is grateful to the awardgiving bodies for the accolades, TM c e nterprise President and ceo Dr. e u genio Jose f r a mos says TM c s continuous improvements and advancements are for the people and community it serves.

“ f o r the past few years, The Medical c i ty hospitals have been receiving awards from Healthcare a s ia and other organizations. Like what i always say, we did not embark on this journey toward health care leadership for the sake of the accolades. i t was never about the award or the recognition. i t w as about practicing excellence and compassionate care every day for the people we serve. i t w as about helping the country’s health care system improve for the benefit of the people,” says Dr. r am os.

This is TM c o r tigas’ third Hospital of the Year award, with the first and second awards given in 2020 and 2022 respectively.

Every beat matters: Marketing Initiative of the Year

i n m id-2022, TM c o r tigas launched its # e v eryBeatMatters campaign to promote cardiovascular services through a combination of original music, video, and graphic material.

The music tracks used in the campaign featured BPM (beats per minute) ranging from approximately 150 bpm to 100 bpm to 50 bpm, representing the actual BPM ranges depicting a fetus’ heartbeat during sonograms, an average person’s heartbeat at the high end of normal range or the recommended for c Pr , and an average person’s heartbeat at rest.

This novel use of original music helped TMc engage its audiences with both commercial and medically accurate audio-visual content. it l ikewise provided TMc cardiovascular services its own brand through original music, for use in marketing, patient education, and service delivery not just for TM c o r tigas but for the rest of the enterprise hospitals.

TMc c l inic operates over 50 ambulatory clinics in Metro Manila and in select provinces and offers a wide range of diagnostic and therapeutic procedures. even during the global pandemic, TMc c l inic continued to grow and maintain a total of 52 conveniently located fully-operational clinics equipped with the most sophisticated air safety and purifying systems. That the clinics were positioned as non-covid facilities conveyed equal importance given to all health and medical care concerns. g o ing beyond the basic requirement of organized primary care facilities, TMc c l inic made multi-specialty care even more accessible to patients, addressing the distinct health-seeking behavior of f i lipinos in the community and corporate levels. e a ch clinic is strongly supported by selected specialists— fa mily Medicine and i nternal Medicine—to deliver primary care coordination, and other specialists and subspecialists for coordinated care referrals and follow-up of patients. o v er the past two years, while working to further strengthen the organization, TM c c l inic had also worked to expand its specialized medical care in the ambulatory care setting, including several services in select clinics. These services include Hemodialysis, a m bulatory s urgery (Minor cases), r e habilitation Medicine and Physical Therapy, e n doscopy, c a rdiac r e hab, s l eep Laboratory, Women’s Health, Mental Health, Bone and Joint c l inic, and c orporate c l inic, more popularly known as clinic management services in companies.

TMC South Luzon Red Gala: One Step to End HIV/AIDS e v er Y year to commemorate World a i D s Day, TMc s o uth Luzon conducts lectures and offers free H i v screenings to its employees and patients. i n 2021, TMc s outh Luzon established the ce nter for r e productive Health and s T i Treatment (c res T ) in its pursuit to turn the advocacy into a larger scale. c res T i s a D oH -accredited facility where linkages, diagnosis, treatment, and continuum of care and support for people with H i v are provided.

To launch and promote the center and its advocacy, TMc s L h eld a fundraising event dubbed “ r e d Mask g a la: r u nway for a c a use” on December

1, 2021 at The Monochrome nu vali, s a nta r o sa c ity, Laguna. for its first year, the event featured 50 doctors, employees, and guests who walked the runway wearing their best outfits and the “red masks” that were custom made for the donors. The funds raised benefited two foundations— Project r i bbon’s Duyan: c r adling for c h ildren with H i v and TMc s o uth Luzon’s Young a dult c a re a s sistance Program (Yaca P).

i n its second year, the theme of the event was fi lipiniana and it was titled r e d g a la: un masked” to refer to the easing and lifting of some c o vid-19 protocols.

TMc s L’s c h ief o p erating o f ficer Dr. Jose e n rico Juliano described the fund-raising activity as the hospital’s “small contribution” with artistic expression, while rekindling awareness and advancing progress on H i v/a i D s p revention, treatment and care in the country.

compassionate healthcare

Health& Fitness

CSMC bagS PeoPle-Centered Care CoMMitMent award and PlatinuM Seal of aCCreditation

Cardinal Santos Medical Center (CSMC), one of the Philippines’ leading hospitals, recently bagged two international awards, adding to its growing list of accolades.

a f ter an exhaustive re-accreditation process in n o vember 2022 which looked into the hospital’s systems and its commitment to quality, safety and people-centered care, CSMC was recently honored by a c creditation Canada with two awards: the Platinum seal of accreditation, which is an upgrade from the g o ld accreditation level achieved by the organization in 2019, and People-Centered Care Commitment a w ard, being the first organization in

JOH n S On & Johnson Vision, a global leader in eye health and part of Johnson & Johnson Med tec h, recently announced the launch of 1-Day aC UVUE® MO i S t a nd 1-Day aC UVUE® DEF i n E ® contact lenses in the Philippines.

Vision, the most dominant of our senses, is vital at every turn of our lives. it ’s how we experience the world. ye t, many people often neglect the single most important step to protect their eyes—getting an eye exam. a ccording to a survey conducted by Hello Doctor, eye care was found to be low on the priorities of Filipinos with 26 percent not remembering the last time they had an eye exam.

a t Johnson & Johnson Vision, we are united in our aspiration to partner with eye care professionals to change the trajectory of eye health. Johnson & Johnson Vision has been at the forefront, leading with research, science, and technology to deliver the best outcomes for patients across a lifetime of eye health needs through world-class innovation and customer experience. no w available in the Philippines, the 1-Day aC UVUE® MOi S t contact lens made with L aC REOn ® te chnology, is designed to keep moisture in and irritation out to provide an excellent safety profile and long-lasting

a s ia to receive the award.

a c creditation Canada is a not-for-profit organization that works to improve health care quality and safety in Canada and around the world, providing accreditation services to healthcare organizations. i t s accreditation process includes an extensive evaluation of the organization’s policies, procedures, and practices and on-site visits to assess the quality and safety of patient care.

Leveling up to Platinum sta -

cushion of moisture for up to 20 hours or more. Supporting this technology includes several eye-inspired innovations that give people the confidence and reassurance to wear contact lenses, specifically: class 2 UV blocking to help protect from the transmission of harmful UV radiation to the cornea and into the eye and invisible edge design which are thin-edged lenses that adhere to the shape of the eye so that the eyelids glide over them as if nothing is there.

t h e 1-D a y a C UVUE® DEF i n E ® contact lens, which includes the same L aC REOn ® te chnology is also available in the Philippines. t h e 1-Day

a C UVUE® DEF i n E ® contact lens comes in different colors and designs to enhance one’s natural eye beauty.

i n a r ecent study on contact lenses conducted by Johnson & Johnson Vision, it was found that Millennials and g e n Zs believe that having good eye health is essential to their lifestyle; mainly because their career aspirations and goals in life require them to have good vision. For some, wearing spectacles have hindered them from enjoying activities such as sports, traveling, and expressing their unique style at social gatherings, but they may not be motivated to try contact lenses due to common myths they have heard.

tus and being honored with the People-Centered Care Commitment a w ard is a testament of CSMC’s dedication to upholding

global health standards geared to providing patient and familycentered care as well as consistency in service delivery.

t h is is what Johnson & Johnson Vision aims to address as they launch the 1-Day aC UVUE® MOi S t and the 1-Day a C UVUE® DEF i n E ® contact lenses here in the Philippines.

“Filipinos today are hustlers and achievers in all aspects, however their apprehension around using contact lenses prohibits them from seizing and owning their moments. t h e 1-Day aC UVUE® MOi S t contact lens brings a solution to consumers who have been looking for clear and comfortable vision with daily disposable contacts,” said Jhoanna Marie t i smo, Brand Manager, Vision Care, Johnson & Johnson Vision.

“1-Da y a C UVUE® MO i S t is an iconic product. t h e addition of L a C REO n ® t echnology, with longlasting moisture embedded inside the lens, provides a solution for the most frequently reported complaints of contact lens discomfort—dryness. On top of that, it provides protection against harmful UVa and UVB radiation, giving consumers the freedom and flexibility to enjoy outdoor activities,” she concluded. a d ding to this insight, we spoke to eye care professionals, Dr. Ji g o nzales of Eyeboxx, Dr. Eldeen Baluso of g l obal Eyecare, Dr. Leanne Jeanne Encarnacion of Eye g a llery Optical Clinic Co.,

and Dr. Liz Cua of g e orge Optical, about contact lenses and what new contact lens wearers need to be aware of.

a nd as advised by these eye experts, one should first go through an eye assessment so that they can properly prescribe patients the best contact lenses fit for their needs. From there, the contact lenses should have quality comfort, convenience, and ease of insert and removal—and most likely, should be disposable as well in order to lessen the risk of eye infections.

i believe that every contact lens wearer needs to be assessed thoroughly and managed individually; meaning they have to go through a complete and comprehensive eye assessment for them to be prescribed a specific contact lens for their individual needs,” said Dr. Leanne Jeanne. “With disposable lenses, patients wearing them may benefit from enjoying their daily activities with good vision while making sure that their eyes are fully safe,” she assured.

to f ind an eye care professional and schedule an appointment to try aC UVUE® contact lenses, visit https:// www.acuvue.com.ph/where-buy. For more information about  aC UVUE®, visit https://www.acuvue.com.ph/ and follow @acuvuephilippines on Facebook.

t h e Platinum accreditation is the culmination of the work that we have put in over the last three years since we achieved the g o ld accreditation. i t i s a validation of our unwavering pursuit of excellent quality patient care, and a motivator for us to continue to strive for excellence in all that we do,” Dr. Rosemarie V. Serrano, CSMC’s Chief Quality Officer proudly said up, as she looked back on the hospital’s a C i re -accreditation journey.

CSMC’s President and CEO, Raul C. Pagdanganan, also weighed in on the significance of the People-Centered Care Commitment a w ard. “a t C ardinal Santos, we believe that providing exceptional care is not just about treating the illness, but about treating the whole person. We are thrilled to be recognized

by a c creditation Canada with the People-Centered Care Commitment a w ard, as it highlights our unwavering commitment in providing care that is centered around our patients and their families.”

He further emphasized that t h is award is a testament to the dedication and hard work of our staff and healthcare providers, who go above and beyond to ensure that every patient receives the best possible care. We are proud of this achievement and remain committed to delivering patient-centered care with excellence.”

Cardinal Santos Medical Center is also certified Platinum by i n vestors in People and certified for i S O 9001:2015 Quality Management System standards, by SOCO t E C Certification Philippines i n c.

OMRON Healthcare champions heart health with clinically validated digital blood pressure devices

Staying on top of one’s cardiovascular health is crucial, especially in view of findings by the Philippine Heart a s sociation pointing to a progressive rise in hypertension among Filipinos at a record-high 37 percent prevalence in 2021.

t h e key to maintaining a healthy heart is consistent and accurate blood pressure monitoring. OMRO n H ealthcare, a global leader in trusted and innovative medical equipment and a staunch advocate of better heart health for Filipinos, has announced the clinical validation of two of its automatic blood pressure monitors: the HEM-7120 and HEM-7121. t h e validation, which is conferred by the Philippine Society of Hypertension (PSH), confirms the quality and accuracy of OMRO n Healthcare devices.

The significance of PSH validation

W H E n l ooking for a home blood pressure monitoring device, it is important to choose one that is validated by hypertension experts to guarantee accurate and reliable measurements at home. a clinical validation is also a hallmark of a trusted brand preferred by doctors.

d evices can serve as a partner for healthcare professionals in uplifting Filipinos’ health. i n a ddition to being a trusted provider of quality medical equipment, OMROn has strong advocacy for improving lives,” said OMROn a s ia Pacific Pte Ltd Philippine Branch (Healthcare Division) g e neral Manager yu suke Kato.

PH i LUS a Corporation has established itself as the partner of every Filipino home with several iconic household brands, including RHE a MEDi PL a S t a p ollo, Cleene, Babyflo, a l batross, and g l eam among others. a s t he 100 percent Filipinoowned company celebrates its 65th year, PH i L US a looks to carve new meaning in its positioning as “Katuwang ng Bawat ta hanang Pilipino.”

PH i L US a released on social media a two-part video series highlighting the company’s partnerships with likeminded organizations that advocate for clean water access and the reduction of ocean-bound plastic waste.

t h e goal of PH i L US a is to raise awareness about sustainable sanitation and proper hygiene practices and how to properly look after our environment,” says neogin Evangelista, PH i L US a Corporation President and g e neral Manager. “We want to empower and encourage Filipino households in bringing about positive change and making the world a safer and cleaner home for all of us.”

t he first video, titled “Katuwang sa Kalinisan,” follows PH i LU S a S efforts in promoting basic access to clean water, in partnership with Manila Water Foundation (MWF). Data reveal that

MWF in its mission to improve access to clean and potable water, as well as the promotion of proper hygiene practices in communities. PH i LUS a also partners with MWF in the observance of other related programs, including global Handwashing Day, World toilet Day, and World Oral Health Day.

Meanwhile, the second video, titled “Katuwang sa Kalikasan,” narrates the efforts of PH i LUS a in helping save the environment. a c cording to studies, the Philippines ranks as the 3rd largest contributor of marine plastic waste.  i n its bid to reduce ocean-bound plastic waste, PH i L US a joined hands with the Canada-based social enterprise Plastic Bank. t h e organization is committed to getting rid of ocean plastic while helping improve the lives of plastic collectors. i n j ust a year, Philusa and Plastic Bank collected 2.5 million plastic bottles, preventing them from entering the ocean.

“Besides the goals of these two programs, PH i L US a w ants to convey the message that the fight to save the environment continues,” says Maya Leander, PH i L US a Corporation Marketing Head. “We hope every Filipino household joins us in our continuing mission to take care of our environment and everyone else.”

g e tting validated is no small feat, however. t h e validation of automated blood pressure devices follows a standard procedure and criteria and requires a blood pressure study involving more than 200 participants.

OMRO n Healthcare is the only brand in the country with PSH-validated devices that are proven capable of providing accurate and precise blood pressure readings.

i t i s important that experts and health organizations such as the Philippine Society of Hypertension guide consumers to only use blood pressure monitoring devices that have been validated under an internationally accepted standard. a t t he end of the day, the goal is not just to make our jobs as healthcare providers easier but to accurately give proper care to patients and thus save more lives,” said former PSH President Dr. Leilani B. Mercado- a s is.

Dr. Dolores Bonzon, the current president of PSH, also highlighted the importance of a reliable BPM for health monitoring. “Our hope is that every Filipino will make it a practice to monitor their blood pressure and heart health, not only in a medical setting but even in their own homes. For at-home blood pressure monitoring to be effective, we recommend to our patients to use validated devices such as OMROn s automated blood pressure monitors.” “We are honored that OMRO n

Delivering quality and reliable health monitoring devices aS i DE f rom being clinically validated, the HEM-7120 and HEM-7121 are equipped with state-of-the-art features designed to make at-home blood pressure monitoring as easy as possible for Filipinos. Both models have a Cuff Wrapping g u ide to help the user fit the arm cuff correctly to ensure an accurate and reliable blood pressure measurement. t h e built-in Hypertension i n dicator gives off a signal if the measured systolic or diastolic pressure is outside the standard range. t h e products are designed with OMRO n ’s intuitive i n telliSense te chnology, which automatically inflates the cuff to the ideal level to deliver accurate measurements with comfort and ease. t h is feature is especially useful in obtaining accurate readings in cases of fluctuations in blood pressure. t h e HEM-7120 and HEM-7121 are the latest OMRO n blood pressure monitoring devices to join the brand’s list of clinically validated and trusted devices, which includes trusted models such as the HEM7130 and JP n 1 to g uarantee the accuracy of its monitoring devices, OMRO n undergoes a validation process with PSH every two years.

“Our commitment has always been to provide the Filipino people with accessible and reliable health monitoring devices and to support initiatives that advocate improved healthcare and quality of life. t h e clinical validation of our devices is an invaluable process for us in ensuring our products serve our mission of cultivating a healthy heart for every Filipino,” added y u suke Kato.

OMRO n Healthcare likewise supports the annual May Measurement Month, which aims to raise awareness of the prevalence of hypertension across the world and is also a partner of the i n ternational Society of Hypertension since 2017.

OMRO n Healthcare devices are available in Mercury Drug, Watsons, Southstar Drug, Rose Pharmacy and other leading pharmacies nationwide and in OMRO n ’s flagship Shopee and Lazada stores.

B8 mirror_sports@yahoo.com.ph

Puno takes over as president of natl boxing association

PUNO took over as president of the Association of Boxing

Alliances in the Philippines (ABAP) and vowed to continue the program of his predecessor Ed Picson, who passed away recently.

I can only hope to equal the task he [Picson] has done at ABAP,” said Puno, a congressman from Antipolo City’s First District. “I will never be as good as Ed Picson when it comes to knowledge about sports and the know-how. But I will continue his vision.”

We’re still mourning his death,” said Puno, previously the ABAP vice president.

P icson passed away last week due to cancer. He left a legacy at the ABAP that included a bumper harvest of Carlo Paalam and Nesthy Petecio’s silver medals and Eumir Felix Marcial’s bronze at the Tokyo Olympics then as the association’s secretary-general.

Picson, 69, was elected president on November 25, 2021 replacing long-time chief Ricky Vargas. Puno was elected vice president and Northern Samar Rep. Raul Daza as vice chairman. Vargas was named chairman.

Puno will be in Cambodia for the 32nd Southeast Asian Games next month to oversee the Filipino boxers campaign and improve on the three gold, one silver and five bronze medals from last year’s Games in Hanoi.

T he men’s boxing team is composed of Mark Lester Durens (light flyweight), Rogen Ladon (flyweight), Paalam (bantamweight), Ian Clark Bautista (featherweight), Paul Julyfer Bascon (light welterweight), James Palicte (welterweight), Norlan Petecio (lightweight), John Marvin (light heavyweight) and Marcus Tongco (heavyweight).

T he women’s squad has Olympian Irish Magno (flyweight Petecio (featherweight) and Riza Pasuit (lightweight).

The men are currently in a training camp in Kazakhstan while the women are in Baguio City.

The boxing competition are set May 6 to 15 at the Chrov Changvar Convention Center in Phnom Penh.

BAN ON RUSSIA, BELARUS SOUGHT

GENEVA—European lawmakers urged the International Olympic Committee (IOC) on Tuesday to exclude Russian and Belarusian athletes from the 2024 Paris Games rather than keep seeking ways to let them compete as neutrals in international sport.

The 46-nation Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) held a two-hour session in Strasbourg, France, of its panel for sports issues. It was to help draft a future report on the question of barring the two countries’ athletes and officials from the Olympic movement because of the military invasion of Ukraine.

W ith 15 months until the opening ceremony in Paris, Olympic sports bodies are weighing the IOC’s formal request—a reversal of its advice last year for exclusion—to look at reintegrating some Russians and Belarusians into games qualifying as individuals, but not in team events.

“ Imposing a war has to have a clear consequence. Sport also has

POC taps chef Bruce for Team PHL in SEAG

RENOWNED international chef Bruce Lim will cater to the nutritional needs of members of Team Philippines in the Cambodia 32nd Southeast Asian Games, according to Philippine Olympic Committee (POC) president Rep. Abraham “Bambol” Tolentino.

In as much as we cater to the needs of our athletes and coaches in the competition arena, the POC is also putting premium on their nutritional needs,” Tolentino said. “And we tapped chef Bruce for that purpose.”

Lim was tapped as executive chef by the Philippine SEA Games Organizing Committee when the country hosted the event in 2019. He will be serving the 804 athletes seeing action in the Cambodia Games that start on May 5 and end on May 17.

He is already in Cambodia with Team Philippines deputy chefs de mission Leonora “Len” Escollante and

Paolo

Crispa-Toyota 2.0

nutritional needs of athletes who don’t have access to the Games Mess Hall could be delivered to their hotels or competition venues.

Baluyot, Jones dispose of foes in URCC 84 Rage

to take its responsibility,” Danish lawmaker Mogens Jensen said, adding the “only one clear message to send” was excluding athletes.

The Council of Europe was created after World War II to advocate for freedom and protection of minorities. It expelled Russia as a member last year.

O pening the session Tuesday, PACE president Tiny Kox, a longtime senator in the Netherlands, acknowledged that for many people letting Russians compete at the Paris Olympics was a “totally unthinkable” prospect that could “serve propaganda purposes of the aggressor.”

The IOC was invited and Estonian law m aker Indrek Saar expressed deep regret that the Olympic body’s president Thomas Bach did not come to Strasbourg.

I nstead, the IOC delegation consisted of former Olympic athletes from Armenia and Namibia, plus Francesco Ricci Bitti, who leads the umbrella group of Summer Games sports known as ASOIF.

“It is important for us that the athletes’ representatives’ views are given exposure,” the IOC said in a

statement, noting also that the next pending decisions on athlete eligibility are for ASOIF members and their rules. rack and field’s World Athletics has taken the strongest public stance against Russian athletes, and soccer’s FIFA won a Court of Arbitration for Sport appeal case to uphold its ban on Russian teams.

In statements to the hearing, Ricci Bitti, Armenian wrestler Arsen Julfalakyan and Namibian shooter Gaby Ahrens broadly echoed recent comments by Bach: That sports events cannot just involve nations which agree with each other, that governments deciding which athletes can compete would spell the end of international sports, and that the war in Ukraine is only one of 70 current “conflicts and crises” in the world.

“

That’s no explanation at all,” British House of Lords member George Foulkes said of the claim of 70 conflicts. “We’re here defending democracy. I found the special pleading for sportsmen quite sickening.”

A U N-recognized human rights adviser often cited by the IOC and Bach, Alexandra Xanthaki, who has said exclusion from sport based on an athlete’s passport is discrimination, said in a filmed speech “blanket retribution (against athletes) actually undermines peace.”

Th at view and “the IOC’s heavy reliance on alleged human rights violations (against Russian athletes) is unjustified and without legal merit,” said Ukraine’s deputy minister for sport, Andriy Chesnokov, in a speech delivered online.

L awmakers in the room and British sports minister Lucy Frazer, in a filmed speech, raised concerns about the IOC’s lack of detail defining neutrality, athletes’ support for the war and their contractual ties to military and state security agencies that should bar them from competing. None of the lawmakers voiced support for the IOC’s plan. AP

Beltran elected PSA president

PHILIPPINE STAR sports editor Nelson Beltran was elected as the new president of the Philippine Sportswriters Association (PSA).

BELTRAN

JUJITSUKA

Eros Baluyot survived a grueling bloody bout against fellow black belt Elouie Federic Sevilla while Mariano Jones won as expected during the Universal Reality Combat Championship (URCC) 84 Rage on Tuesday night at the Xylo at the Palace at the Bonifacio Global City in Taguig City.

B aluyot, of Parañaque City, displayed striking skills that surprised mixed martial arts (MMA) fans and dominant wrestling ability to win by unanimous decision over Sevilla in their flyweight match.

I learned how to face and conquer myself first before and during the fight. Good thing I learned how to execute well my striking and wrestling skills,” said the 30-year-old Baluyot.

B aluyot, who underwent an intensified monthlong training in Baguio City to enhance his striking skills, is now unbeaten in two fights.  Sevilla, who was bloodied like Baluyot after the fight, dropped to a 6-4 record.

Jones, meanwhile, ended Arvin Chan’s 12year MMA career with a kimura submission lock three minutes and 45 seconds of the second round of their welterweight battle witnessed by URCC president Alvin Aguilar and vice president Aleks Sofronov.  Chan (8-10) showed up with striking skills and tried to land solid blows but the 26-year-old Costa Rican, called the “Hitman,” made powerful takedowns before catching him with the deadly submission to hike his record to 2-0.

EROS BALUYOT tries to kick Elouie Federic Sevilla.

AAP honors karting champ Go

WILLIAM JOHN RILEY TIU GO was honored by the Automobile Association Philippines (AAP) during its 27th Annual Motorsport Awards for winning the 2022 ROK Super Finals in Italy.

The 15-year-old Cebuano motorsport sensation received the award in the ceremony staged during the World Trade Center Manila International Auto Show last April 13.

At a young age, Go was the first

the group reminisced about old times and past glory, the idea of a Toyota homecoming was brought up.

It was, after all, 50 years since the team crashed out of the dugouts of the Rizal Memorial Coliseum to bask in the bright lights of the MICAA (Manila Industrial and Commercial Athletic Association), which was then the big league of Philippine basketball—like what the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) is today.

F rom that day forward, the Komatsu Komets, later to be famously hailed as the Toyota Comets, Toyota Tamaraws, Toyota Corollas and Toyota Superdiesels, began their bright orbit in the Milky Way of Philippine basketball, stringing a total of nine championships in Asia’s first and oldest professional league—winning a lot of hearts and diehard fans who still gush over their team’s exploits to this very day.

Filipino with podium finishes in three European competitions—he topped the ROK Super Finals in Lonato, Italy, where he also received the Pole Position and Fastest Lap awards, finished second at the FIA Karting Academy in Genk, Belgium, and third at the WSK Euro Series in Lombardia also in Italy.

G uided by his personal mantra

“The Will to Win,” he emphasized the importance of hard work and determination.

“ Winning this award is a testament to the countless hours of practice and our team’s unwavering commitment to the sport,” Go said.

“It is a privilege to be able to wave the Philippine flag on a global stage.”

performing.

to Dante Silverio, the team’s debonair team owner and eventual coach. The latter said: say no more. Of course, he would be most happy to sponsor the Toyota Team’s 50th Anniversary celebration. And so it came to pass.

O n February 18, Toyota glitz and glamour came alive at a sumptuous get-together at the Alfresco Covered Lounge in Makati—site of many memorable Toyota parties past.

Though older now, the Toyota stalwarts who made it to the event still sported that unmistakable mystique that made them the basketball stars that they were in the 70s and 80s.

Mon “El Presidente” Fernandez, Emerito Legaspi, Pol Herrera, Ompong Segura, Oscar Rocha, Ulysses Rodriguez, Joseph Galonga, Roberto “Judge” Concepcion, Arlene Rodriguez and Ed Cordero, Gil Cortez and Dante Silverio, of course, were there. Pasig City Vice Mayor Dodot Jaworski represented his father, the great Big J. Christopher Reynoso represented his father Tino, and uncle Big Boy Reynoso.

REMEMBER that grand Toyota basketball team reunion that happened last February? It came to be because the stars aligned in January when Toyota luminaries Mon Fernandez, Francis Arnaiz, Ricky Relosa, Rino Salazar and longtime import Andrew Fields had a serendipitous meeting in the US of A. Th at meeting wasn’t planned. It was meant to be. And during that warm, happy and hilarious get-together where

S o it was settled. A reunion there must be. The 50 Golden Years of the team’s life must be commemorated and celebrated. And when the El Presidente came home, he passed on stories of the fortuitous volt-in to his other teammates. Gil Cortez—the PBA’s first Rookie of the Year in 1976–took it from there. A superb organizer, Cortez immediately reached out to other teammates here and abroad and talked

It was an evening of unadulterated merrymaking. The team of An Eternity of Basketball (AEOB), a basketball podcast about the PBA of the 70s, 80s and 90s, took care of turning back time—providing photos, trivia and a nostalgic video that showed fuzzy images of on-court action.

G ames, souvenir selfies, short speeches and reminiscences preceded a whole lot of singing and

B eltran, from Valenzuela City and a sportswriter for more than three decades, succeeded Tempo sports editor Rey Lachica as head of the country’s oldest media organization.

The PSA election of officers was held during its general assembly Tuesday at the conference hall of the Rizal Memorial Sports Complex. B eltran’s officers are Francis Ochoa of the Philippine Daily Inquirer (vice president), Jasmine Payo of Rappler (secretary), Gerry Ramos of SPIN.ph (treasurer) and Abac Cordero of The Philippine STAR (auditor).

L achica, as the immediate past president, heads the PSA Board whose members include Jimmy Cantor ( Malaya), Dodo Catacutan (SPIN.ph), Lorenzo Lomibao Jr. ( BusinessMirror), Riera Mallari ( Manila Standard ), Ed Andaya (People’s Tonight), Ramon Bonilla ( Manila Bulletin), Beth Repizo (PSN ), Ramil Cruz ( Abante Tonite), Emil Noguera ( Manila Times), Julius Manicad ( Daily Tribune) and Ferdz Delos Santos ( Abante). l nduction of officers will be during the first PSA Forum after the Cambodia Southeast Asian Games.

Dante Silverio took to the mike and had a mini concert of Beatles songs. (Was this guy really in his 80s? I thought. He could still nail the numbers, and rock and roll!) Others, like Gil Cortez, followed.

The good times really rolled that night so after that February gathering, a couple more Toyota meet-ups took place. But the Golden Boys are preparing for another even more significant reunion this Friday, April 28. AEOB’s Jay Mercado says Dante Silverio wants their “best frenemies,” the Crispa boys in the celebration too.

Toyota has already reached out to Atoy Co, Philip Cezar, Bogs Adornado, Freddie Hubalde, Tito Varela and PSC Commissioner Fritz Gaston. PBA Commissioner Willie Marcial and Philippine Sports Commission Chairman Dickie Bachmann will also be there.

Jay Mercado quoted Gil Cortez as saying Dante Silverio really wants to include their archrivals in the celebration. “Part of the plan is to sell memorabilia, replica jerseys and trading cards and have a grand reunion in a big venue where fans can join and participate in the celebration. Proceeds of the affair would go to a charitable institution to be agreed upon by both parties,” Jay wrote. Th ree cheers for the Crispa Toyota ex-rivalry!