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ROTARY CLUB OF MANILA JOURNALISM AWARDS

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A broader look at today’s business

Saturday-Sunday, December 27-28, 2025 Vol. 21 No. 78

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PHL BOP DEFICITS TO HIT $6.2B IN ’25, $5.9B IN ’26 By Reine Juvierre S. Alberto

ERSISTENT trade-in-goods gap and weaker services receipts will push the Philippines’ balance of payments into deficits in 2025 and 2026, reversing last year’s surplus, according to the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP). Balance of Payments Outlook (2024–2026)

FROM SURPLUS TO DEFICIT +$609M

2024

–$6.2B

–$5.9B

2025

2026 BM Graphics: Ed Davad / Source: Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas

straints such as logistical bottlenecks, skills mismatches and high input costs continue to weigh on export competitiveness, according to the BSP. Services export growth is also seen to be moderating due to rising operating costs in key sectors. The BSP said the business process outsourcing industry faces higher expenses from rents, utilities and wages, while tourism is being weighed down by higher prices of meals and accommodation. Lingering cautious investor sentiment and heightened global financial volatility will continuously drag down foreign direct investment inflows, which are also projected to ease from 2024 levels. Still, the BSP said modest gains could materialize over the See “Deficits,” A2

In 2025, more than twice as many oil price hikes as rollbacks: data Gasoline

Diesel

n 36 hikes n 15 rollbacks Net: +P20.05/L

n 31 hikes n 28 hikes n 18 rollbacks n 21 rollbacks Net: +P20.25/L Net: +P4.95/L

Kerosene

BM Graphics: Ed Davad / Source: DOE • Illustration by Skypixel via Dreamstime

By Lenie Lectura

HERE were more oil price increases than rollbacks this year, resulting in a significant net increase in pump prices. Oil firms adjust their prices weekly to reflect movements in the world oil market. The adjustments, according to the Department of Energy (DOE), were influenced by global supply concerns, demand forecasts, and geopolitical events.

From January 2025 to December 23, 2025, gasoline prices rose 36 times as against 15 price rollbacks. This led to a total increase of P32.35 per liter versus a decrease of only P11.85 per liter. Diesel prices went up 31 times for a total of P37.55 a liter as against 18 times for a total reduction of P17.30 Kerosene prices went up 28 times for a total of P27.7 per liter.

FROM FARM TO FORTUNE With New Year’s Day just around the corner, fruit vendors at the Baguio City Market work at full pace, sorting, weighing, and restocking fresh produce as shoppers begin their annual ritual of buying fruits for the media noche table. Many Filipinos traditionally welcome the New Year with an abundance of fruits—often in round shapes—symbolizing prosperity, good fortune, and a fresh start. Sourced directly from nearby farms in Benguet and neighboring provinces, the colorful displays signal both brisk trade and rising demand as households prepare to usher in 2026 on a hopeful note. MAU VICTA

FROM CAGAYAN TO SILICON VALLEY

Dado Banatao, Pinoy tech visionary, 79 By Bless Aubrey Ogerio

IOSDADO “DADO” BANATAO, the Filipino mind behind some of modern computing’s most pivotal breakthroughs, left an indelible mark on Silicon Valley. An engineer whose vision helped shape the personal computer, Banatao’s name became synonymous with semiconductor innovation. He passed away on December 25 at 79, just five months short of his 80th birthday, after battling complications from a late-life neurological disorder. Even in his absence, Banatao’s legacy endures. He was behind landmark developments such as the first 10-Mbit Ethernet CMOS chip, system logic chipsets for IBM’s PC-XT and PC-AT, the first graphics accelerator chip, and the pioneering local bus architecture. Beyond invention, he

IMF sees BSP dealing total 50 bps rate cut in Q1

F co-founded influential firms including Mostron, Chips & Technologies, and S3 Graphics. Later, through Tallwood Venture Capital, he nurtured startups and mentored a new generation of engineers who continue to push technology’s boundaries.

Small beginnings

IN the streets of Iguig, Cagayan, Dado was a barefoot boy who threaded his way to school each morning, clutching a notebook that See “Banatao,” A2

AVORABLE inflation conditions and rising downside risks to economic growth would warrant a further reduction by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) of the key policy rate by a total of 50 basis points in the first quarter of 2026, according to the International Monetary Fund (IMF). In its latest country report following the 2025 Article IV consultations, the IMF said inflation is seen to return to the midpoint of the BSP’s target band in 2026, while an emerging negative output gap in 2025 would justify the BSP’s cutting interest rates. “Policy will need to remain guided by the impact of the new incoming data on the inflation outlook amidst prevailing uncertainties around the output gap and the natural rate and two-sided risks to inflation,” the IMF said. Philippine authorities have said there is room for a “more See “IMF,” A2

BUMBLEEDEE | DREAMSTIME.COM

Based on BSP’s estimates, the country’s BOP is seen posting deficits of $6.2 billion in 2025 and $5.9 billion in 2026, in contrast to the $609- million surplus recorded in 2024. “Foreign direct investments and external loans have also moderated amid lingering global policy uncertainty,” the BSP said in a statement on Friday. The BOP measures the country’s economic and financial transactions with the rest of the world. Merchandise trade is expected to stay soft due to weaker global demand, lower commodity prices and slower domestic growth. While frontloading in anticipation of the US tariffs in the first half of the year has helped provide a temporary boost to merchandise exports in 2025, structural con-

BASIS POINTS

The total policy rate reduction recommended by the IMF for the first quarter of 2026, given favorable inflation conditions and rising downside risks to economic growth.

Trade deficit narrows despite higher November trade flows By Bless Aubrey Ogerio

HE country posted a smaller trade deficit in November 2025 even as the total value of goods traded with the rest of the world increased, according to the latest government data. The Philippine Statistics

Authority (PSA) reported that the country’s balance of trade in goods stood at a deficit of $3.51 billion in November, narrower by 28.8 percent from the same month last year. This followed a similar trend in October, when the trade gap declined by 27.9 percent year on year, reversing the expansion re-

corded in November last year. The total external trade in goods reached $17.33 billion in November, up 6.1 percent from $16.33 billion a year earlier. Imports accounted for 60.1 percent of total trade, while exports made up the remaining 39.9 percent. Export receipts climbed to See “Trade,” A2

Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA), on trade deficit trend: “The country posted a smaller trade deficit in November 2025 even as the total value of goods traded with the rest of the world increased.”

Continued on A2

PESO EXCHANGE RATES n US 58.7520 n JAPAN 0.3771 n UK 79.4562 n HK 7.5566 n CHINA 8.3862 n SINGAPORE 45.8177 n AUSTRALIA 39.3756 n EU 69.2099 n KOREA 0.0407 n SAUDI ARABIA 15.6651 Source: BSP (December 26, 2025)

A2 Saturday-Sunday, December 27-28, 2025

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In 2025, more than twice as many oil price hikes as rollbacks: data Continued from A1

They also went down 21 times for a total of P22.75 per liter. According to the Department of Energy (DOE), the net increase for gasoline from January to December 16 stood at P20.05 per liter, P20.25 for diesel, and P4.95 for kerosene. The numbers are higher compared to 2024—P12.75 for gasoline, P11 for diesel, and P7.5 for LPG (liquefied petroleum gas). On the other hand, kerosene recorded a net decrease of P2.7 last year. The key triggers for oil price hikes this year were the major conflicts between the Russia and Ukraine war and tensions between Israel and Iran. These disrupted key production and shipping regions, which drove up prices due to market speculation. Furthermore, the DOE explained, the decision of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies (OPEC+) to limit production tightened the global supply and exert upward pressure on prices. “Among others, these were the relevant news in the international oil market that contributed to pump price movements,” said DOE – Oil Management Bureau Director III Rodela Romero. Though the downstream oil industry is deregulated, the DOE keenly monitors oil price movements us-

ing benchmarks like the Mean of Platts Singapore (MOPS) and Dubai crude prices. It also coordinates with other agencies and oil companies to mitigate the impact on consumers through staggered price adjustments, coordinating the rollout of fuel subsidies for affected sectors, and monitoring for potential unfair trade practices through the DOEDepartment of Justice task force. Petron Corp., the country’s lone oil refiner, said geopolitical tensions, shifting policies, and lifting of supply cuts significantly impacted oil prices. Dubai crude remained rangebound at $70 per barrel in the third quarter of 2025, following a drop to $64 per barrel in May from $80 per barrel in January this year. The regional pricing benchmark averaged $71 per barrel from January to September, marking a 13-percent decline compared to last year. “As a refiner, we’ve had to balance financial resilience with delivering value across every aspect of our business. This year, the market has presented even greater challenges, yet we’re proud of how we’ve stood against external pressures and even competition. “Our performance over the past three quarters has been a testament to this, and we remain optimistic about maintaining this momentum through the rest of the year,” said Petron President and

CEO Ramon S. Ang. Petron remains the country’s largest oil company, with over 1,000 service stations. The second largest oil company, Shell Pilipinas Corp. (SPC), has maintained the company’s growth momentum across key segments despite a “hyper-competitive environment.” “We are transforming our downstream business to deliver more value with fewer emissions while focusing on areas of competitive strength. Shell Pilipinas is dedicated to creating lasting value as the preferred energy partner and the most customer-focused energy marketer,” said SPC president and CEO Lorelie Quiambao Osial. SPC also said its non-fuel businesses remained strong in terms of diversification and cash generation. These include lubricants and bitumen, which are utilized to produce asphalt for various infrastructure projects such as highways, airports and commercial developments. “We intend to finish the year stronger, setting a solid base for 2026,” she added. Oil firms adjust their pump prices every week to reflect movements in the world oil market. While they implement the same price adjustments, this move may seem a form of collusion but, according to DOE Secretary Sharon Garin, this “practice” could just be a “coordina-

tion” among oil companies “to protect their own businesses.” “I don’t think it’s an issue of why their increases or reductions are the same . . . I think our issue here at the DOE is how do you compute your increase or decrease,” Garin had said. “Unfortunately though, we are not given the authority, not even just to disclose or to investigate their reporting, we just need to monitor if it matches the increases of the adjustments in the international market,” she added. Romero said the weekly pump price adjustments are correct as far as the benchmark Mean of Platts Singapore (MOPS) for finished petroleum products and Dubai crude are concerned. “The range really matters at the end of the day for gas stations. For instance, gasoline in this area, despite the same adjustment, the price is still low in that particular area. That’s why we have the socalled competition on the ground level. There are price wars in particular areas,” Romero said.

Banatao… Continued from A1

held more dreams than lessons.

He was one of four children in a humble household—a rice farmer for a father, a housekeeper for a mother. Despite hardships in life, he devoured knowledge wherever he could find it. The tech pioneer moved from Ateneo de Tuguegarao to the Mapúa Institute of Technology, where he graduated cum laude in Electrical Engineering. Given such, offers from big companies beckoned, but Dado chose a path less ordinary. He had a stint as a trainee pilot with Philippine Airlines, followed by a leap across the Pacific to Boeing, where he helped design the iconic 747. However, it was at Stanford University that his world truly expanded. He joined the Homebrew Computer Club, a crucible of creativity where the likes of Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak were plotting the future. But even as his inventions transformed Silicon Valley, Dado never let go of home. With his wife Maria, he seeded scholarships, built a computer lab at his childhood school and supported research initiatives like CITRIS and the Bana-

The energy chief, however, thinks it possible that some oil companies continue to engage in anti-competitive behavior. “I would say that there’s still some form of anti-competitive behavior in some, not all. I would not say that there is no cartel but who they are, that is something to confirm, but if there is no cartel, there’s no purpose for OIMB [Oil Industry Management Bureau] to be on guard all the time.” Republic Act 8479, also known as the Downstream Oil Industry Deregulation Act of 1998, defines cartelization as any agreement, combination or concerted action by oil firms to fix prices, restrict output or divide markets in restraint of trade or free competition. Anti-competitive behavior concerns are being handled by the Philippine Competition Commission (PCC). “We just monitor, observe and report, if any, to the proper agencies,” such as the PCC, Bureau of Customs, and Bureau of Internal Revenue, the energy chief said.

tao Institute at UC Berkeley.

Memory lives forever

DADO is survived by his wife Maria and their three children—Rey, Desi and Tala. In a heartfelt social media post, Rey reflected on the family’s loss: “We are mourning his loss, but take comfort from the time spent with him during this Christmas season, and that his fight with this disease is over.” Former Finance Secretary Cesar Purisima also remembered Banatao’s steadfast belief in Filipino talent. “He believed deeply in Filipino talent and often emphasized that talent was never the problem. What mattered was opportunity and access to world-class technology education,” Purisima wrote in his Facebook post. He recalled Banatao’s oft-repeated words: “My story could be your story,” a simple yet powerful reminder that perseverance and education can transform lives. In his honor, the family is encouraging donations to the Philippine Development Foundation (PhilDev), which Banatao co-founded. The foundation continues his mission, supporting Filipino scholars, innovators, and startups to overcome barriers and drive meaningful economic growth.

Trade deficit narrows despite higher November trade flows Continued from A1

$6.91 billion, an annual increase of 21.3 percent, compared with a 20.3-percent rise in October. By contrast, imports declined by 2 percent to $10.42 billion, following similar contractions in previous months. Electronic products led export growth, posting the largest annual increase in value at $1.41 billion. Machinery and transport equipment followed with a gain of $72.07 million, while gold exports increased by $61.16 million. The country’s top export was still electronics, earning $4.19 billion or 60.7 percent of total export revenues for the month. Manufactured goods as a whole accounted for 83.3 percent of total exports. From January to November 2025, total export earnings reached $77.39 billion, up 14.5 percent from $67.60 billion in the same period last year. On the import side, the steepest annual declines were recorded in metalliferous ores and metal scrap, which fell by $475.85 million; followed by mineral fuels and related materials at $247.32 million, and cereals and cereal prepa-

rations at $192.38 million. Despite the decline, electronic products remained the country’s largest import, valued at $2.87 billion or 27.6 percent of total imports. On the other hand, raw materials and intermediate goods made up the biggest share of imports at $3.94 billion, or 37.8 percent. Year to date, imports totaled $122.59 billion, up 4.1 percent from $117.78 billion in the same period last year. Hong Kong was the country’s largest market on the export side, accounting for $1.17 billion or 16.9 percent of total exports, followed by the United States, Japan, China and the Netherlands. Meanwhile, China was the Philippines’ largest source of imports in November, supplying $2.90 billion worth of goods, or 27.8 percent of total imports. South Korea, Japan, Indonesia and the United States completed the top five suppliers. The PSA’s International Merchandise Trade Statistics cover the movement of goods between the Philippines and other countries by sea or air, including goods for commercial, government or private use.

Deficits… Continued from A1

medium term with the passage of key reform measures, including the CREATE MORE law, the Capital Markets Efficiency Promotion Act, the Investors’ Lease Act, the Enhanced Fiscal Regime for LargeScale Metallic Mining Act, and digital connectivity initiatives such as the Konektadong Pinoy Act.

Resilient remittances

OVERSEAS Filipino remittances, however, are expected to remain resilient, supported by strong global labor demand and the sustained use of formal transfer channels. The Central Bank added that the impending US tax on remittances is expected to have only a minimal impact on inflows. Moreover, the Philippines remains resilient to external shocks as of the fourth quarter of 2025, based on the latest results from early warning systems (EWS) on currency crisis and debt sustainability. Manageable external financing needs and ample level of reserves also continue to support external sector resilience, the BSP added. “The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas will continue to engage proactively with external stakeholders and promote macroeconomic stability, closely monitoring emerging risks that impact the external sector,” it said.

IMF… Continued from A1

accommodative” monetary policy stance, citing weaker growth prospects partly due to the impact of recent governance issues surrounding public infrastructure spending on business confidence, as well as delayed project implementation in the near term. The central bank also stressed that monetary policy decisions will remain data-dependent, adding that it continuously evaluates its estimates and will remain attentive to emerging risks. The BSP has cut its benchmark rate by 25 basis points at its December 11 rate-setting meeting, bringing the Target Reverse Repurchase (RRP) Rate to 4.50 percent; while the overnight deposit and lending facility rates were lowered to 4.00 percent and 5.00 percent, respectively. BSP Governor Eli M. Remolona Jr. has said that the BSP could still deliver one more 25-basispoint rate cut next year to help support demand amid a weakening economy. When considering any future adjustments to the reserve requirement ratio (RRR), the central bank should continue to closely monitor liquidity and inflation risks in making decisions, the IMF said. “Clear and effective communication remains important to manage expectations. The BSP’s discussion of alternative scenarios in its latest Monetary Policy Report is welcome in that regard,” it added. Meanwhile, authorities noted that while they have yet to formally model inflation dynamics and policy responses under weather-related shocks, they are working to integrate broader climate considerations into monetary policy analysis. On foreign exchange operations, authorities said intervention would remain limited to episodes of sharp and sizable peso depreciation that threaten to push up inflation or de-anchor expectations, stressing that the local foreign exchange market is “deep and has not faced liquidity issues.” Authorities have also stressed their strong focus on developing the capital market, and the need to accelerate the expansion of the relaunched interest rate swap market, including through more education for potential participants. Reine Juvierre S. Alberto

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Agri food hubs in ‘26 budget seen to boost Mindanao as food basket By Butch Fernandez

GRI food hubs in the 2026 budget are seen to boost Mindanao’s track to be the country’s top food basket. Senator Francis “Kiko” Pangilinan noted the expanded funding fo Agricultural Food Hubs in the 2026, saying the Department of Agriculture (DA) budget is a critical step toward unlocking Mindanao’s potential as the country’s primary food basket and stabilizing food prices nationwide. Under the bicameral conference committee report, funding for Agricultural Food Hubs rose from P2.125 billion to P2.625 billion, and these would build facilities for aggregation, storage, cold chain, processing, and distribution in major production areas such as Mindanao. “Mindanao grows much of the country’s food. When we’ve put in place the system that moves that food efficiently from farms to markets, Mindanao will become known as the food basket of the Philippines,” Pangilinan said, partly in Filipino. He said poor logistics, high transport costs, and post-harvest losses have long prevented farmers in Mindanao from fully benefiting from their productivity, while consumers elsewhere face higher food prices. According to the DA, priority areas for building these agriculture food hubs for 2026 are Bukidnon

(Region X), Camarines Sur (Region V), Quezon (Region IV-A), and Pampanga (Region III). Pangilinan said that strengthening food hubs, alongside farmto-market roads and ports, would reduce spoilage, cut layers of middlemen, and allow farmers and fisherfolk to earn more while keeping food affordable. “When food rots and is thrown away before it reaches the market, we all lose: the farmer and the fisher, the consumer, and the economy,” he said. The senator said the emphasis on Mindanao aligns with his broader food security agenda, which calls for treating logistics and regional equity as central to hunger reduction. “ T he countr y, he stressed, cannot achieve food securit y i f it s “m a i n fo o d - pro duc i ng regions remain disconnected. A ll of the Philippines, not just Mindanao, will benefit if the region becomes a food basket,” Pangilinan said. However, the senator said, food hubs must be paired with strong governance and transparency to ensure funds are spent on functional facilities, not idle or underutilized infrastructure. “We’ve seen too many projects that look good on paper and Powerpoint presentations but fail on the ground. Agri food hubs must move food, raise incomes, and lower prices; if not, they fail their purpose,” Pangilinan said.

BARMM social welfare links up with GCash for cash aid delivery By Manuel T. Cayon

AVAO CIT Y–The Bangsamoro Ministr y of S ocial S er vices and Development (MSSD) has partnered with G-Xchange Inc. (GCash), entrusting to the latter the financial delivery of cash aid to indigents and other beneficiaries to ensure faster and smoother delivery. “The partnership is part of the Financial Assistance System Transformation [FAST] Project, an MSSD initiative designed to modernize traditional, manual payout methods with secure e - governance solutions,” the MSSD said. Lawyer Raissa Jajurie, MSSD minister, signed the collaboration through a Memorandum of Agreement in Taguig City on December 16 and Edgardo Layug, Jr., head of GCash for Business, affixed his signature. Jajurie described the collaboration as a “major leap” in the Ministry’s search for improved service by digitalizing service delivery, ensuring smoother processes for the Ministry’s program beneficiaries. “ B y i nte g rat i n g G Ca s h’s d i g i t a l infrastructure, the Ministr y aims to eliminate the logistical hurdles frequently faced by residents in remote areas, providing a safer, more accessible gateway to government support,” it added. “With GCash, we are building a more efficient, dignified, and inclusive future for the women, children, persons with disabilities [PWDs], senior citizens, and indigent individuals we serve,” Jajurie said. Layug said that through “our digital platform, we look forward to making a real, positive impact on the lives of every Bangsamoro beneficiary,” he stated.

Bangsamoro expenditure program

IN Cotabato City, meanwhile, Interim Chief Minister Abdulraof Macacua signed into law on December 17 the 2026 Bangsamoro Expenditure Program reaching P114.07 billion budget. Parliament Speaker Mohammad Yacob also signed Bangsamoro Autonomy Act No. 85, or the 2026 General Appropriations Act of the Bangsamoro (GAAB). The 2026 GAAB sets the regional

g o v e r n m e n t ’s s p e n d i n g p r i o r i t i e s , including funding for essential public ser vices, suppor t for economic activities, and the continued delivery of basic programs across the Bangsamoro region, the Bangsamoro Information Office said. “The General Appropriations Act of the Bangsamoro is not just about numbers and budgets; it is a blueprint for our collective growth and development,” Macacua said. H e s a i d t h e b u d g e t p r i o r i t i ze s education, health, infrastructure, and social services, with education receiving the largest allocation at P26.49 billion through the Ministry of Basic, Higher, and Technical Education. He added that the timely approval of the GAAB ensures the uninterrupted delivery of public services across the region. “This appropriation act demonstrates our growing maturity as a parliamentary government and our unwavering focus on accountability, peace, and discipline,” Yacob said. “More impor tantly, this budget is a promise to our people, a promise that the resources entrusted to us will be used wisely to uplift communities, empower our youth and women, and ensure that no one is left behind,” he added. During the signing ceremony, Macacua also announced the grant of Special Appreciation and Merit Incentives worth P40,000 each for qualified Bangsamoro government employees. The 2026 GAAB will take effect 15 days after its publication in at least one newspaper of general circulation in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao.

Saturday-Sunday, December 27-28, 2025

PHL facing ‘extraordinary’ challenges under a ‘new normal’–DENR chief By Jonathan L. Mayuga

EPARTMENT of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) Secretary Raphael P.M. Lotilla said the extreme weather events brought about by the new normal bring extraordinary challenges that require extraordinary interventions. The DENR, in its yearend report to the media, said the year 2025 saw Metro Manila experiencing several severe flooding events. Citing the weather bureau’s report, he said that in Quezon City, even in the absence of an active tropical cyclone, 134.2 mm of rainfall was recorded on August 30, almost equivalent to a week’s worth of rain based on the monthly normal. Meanwhile, during Typhoon Tino, Mactan City in Cebu recorded 183 mm of rainfall from November 3 to 4, nearly equivalent to one and a half months’ worth of rain for that area. The DENR chief said it would take a whole-of-society approach to address these extraordinary challenges. During the briefing, Lotilla highlighted the DENR’s accomplishments and shared the agency’s priorities for next year.

Increased forest cover, net forest gain

IN 2025, the Philippines was cited by the United Nations Specialized Agency, the Food and Agriculture Organization for the increase in its forest cover. From 2022 to September 2025, the DENR chief said 62 million seedlings across almost 99,000 hectares were planted, prioritizing critical watersheds and waterstressed areas, while providing more than 760,000 jobs to local communities.

The NAMRIA’s 2025 data confirms a net forest gain of 53,952 hectares in Luzon or 1.33% since 2020, he said.

Forest for life

TO institutionalize these gains, the DENR said it launched the Forests for Life: The 5 Million Trees by 2028 campaign and implemented the Sustainable Forest Land Management Agreement to improve tenure governance. “The Forests for Life, while its initial target is 5 million trees, has already attracted many from the private sector that is now going to increase to 10 million trees. We also strengthened enforcement by filling up more than 2,000 Forest Ranger positions,” he said. Still, he said the 2,000 rangers cannot protect every hectare of the country’s forests. “The ideal ratio would be one forest ranger for every 1,000 hectares. But right now, this is closer, the ratio is closer to one ranger to 7,000 hectares. So this is why enforcement is a shared responsibility not only among DENR agencies and regional offices, but with the local government units, with communities, with the law enforcement agencies and private partners to amplify our efforts,” he said.

Agricultural patents

MEANWHILE, Lotilla said the DENR a lso m ade sig n if ic a nt advances in land management. From July 2022 to September 2025, more than 63,000 Agricultural Patents covering more t h a n 4 0,0 0 0 hec t a res; more than 63,000 Residential Patents; 3,189 Special Patents for school sites, for LGUs, and national government agencies. “We also reaffirmed our partnership with the Department

Prices of homes still rising as of Q3, but at slower pace By Reine Juvierre S. Alberto

RICES of homes in the Philippines continued to rise in the third quarter of 2025, but at a slower pace, according to the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP). Based on the Residential Property Price Index (RPPI) for the third quarter of 2025, the median price for all housing types in the Philippines amounted to P3.462 million. The amount is slightly lower than the median price for condominium units at P3.469 million, but above the median price for houses at P3.292 million. Residential property prices across various types of housing units in the Philippines grew by 1.9 percent yearon-year in the third quarter of 2025, moderating from the 7.5-percent increase in the previous quarter. The RPPI is a measure of the average change in the prices of various types of housing units over time, calculated from banks’ data on actual housing loans. It is among the key indicators that the BSP monitors in assessing the country’s

real estate and credit market conditions. By location, residential property prices in the National Capital Region (NCR) led the overall increase, posting a 2.3-percent year-on-year growth. Meanwhile, property prices in Areas Outside the NCR (AONCR) rose by 1.6 percent to P3.383 million during the period. Driving up the prices are condominiums that have a median price of P3.405 million and houses, P3.164 million. The median price of housing units in the Balance Greater Manila Area; Metro Cebu; and Metro Mindanao settled at P3.4 million and P3.596 million, respectively. This includes both condominiums and houses. Condominiums in Balance GMA cost P3.405 million, while houses are cheaper at P3.360 million. In Metro Cebu, houses cost more at P3.975 million in the second quarter of the year, while condominium units were priced at P3.452 million. BSP data also showed that the median prices of housing units in Metro Mindanao were at P3.230 million. Condominiums cost P3.342 million while houses are also cheaper a P2.989 million.

of Education for the systematic surveying and titling of all public school sites by 2028. Just recently, Secretary Angara reached out to the Department to recognize our Handog Titulo program, which issued special patents to schools in various provinces, particularly in Negros Oriental,” he said.

Water security, flood management

MEANWHILE, Lotilla said the c ou nt r y ’s w at e r c h a l l e n ge s , whether scarcity, pollution, or flooding, became a central theme of governance in 2025. He said the DENR’s approach has shifted from sector-based interventions to an integrated framework. “Through the Water Resources Management Office, the DENR has demonstrated clean water solutions for water-stressed and underserved communities. Very modest start, but things that we can sustain over a longer period of time. In 2024, desalination and filtration systems were completed for initially six island barangays. But for 2025, we targeted and began 28 additional island barangays, w ith installations scheduled for 2026 to benefit at least 28,000 people.” Lotilla said the agency strengthened interagency coordination to ensure that infrastructure agencies align with the Integrated Water Resources Management Plan, river basin plans, and multi-purpose water strategies. Flood mitigation, as the President has constantly stressed, must begin at the headwaters, with forests, wetlands, and watersheds, not merely at the point where these waters overflow.

Solid waste management

LOTILLA also reported that 2025 marked a year of clearer account-

ability. At the local level, more than 12,000 Materials Recovery Facilities now serve 49.3 percent of barangays, and 49 percent of cities and municipalities are covered by sanitary landfills. T he Phi l ippines’ Ex tended Producer Responsibility Act (Republic Act No. 11898), enacted by Congress in July 2022, places the Philippines among countries with advanced EPR systems that mandates plastic producers as obliged enterprises to reduce production and use of low-reusable, low-recyclable, or low-retrievable plastic packaging, and achieve plastic neutrality through recovery and diversion schemes. “And these targets are going to be increasing progressively through the years. We do not, of course, forget the informal sector, which derives its source of livelihood from some of the recycling activities. And we are working closely with industries and with LGUs to be able to make sure that new rules are not going to marginalize these workers,” he said. As of October 2025, based on the compliance reports submitted by obligated enterprises, the Philippines has already achieved some notable diversion results: 120 million kilograms of rigid plastics and 124 million kilograms of flexible plastics for the compliance period 2024. L ot i l l a re p or te d t h at t he countr y has achieved an initial 56.12-percent recovery and diversion rate, exceeding the mandatory 40 percent for 2024. We continue to work with all concer ned, inc lud ing issuing showcase orders to more than 155 establishments and large enterprises that have so far not complied with EPR requirements imposed by law.

AEV, Global Infrastructure Partners ink ₧13.7-B deal

BOITIZ Equity Ventures Inc. (AEV) and Global Infrastructure Par tners (GIP), a par t of BlackRock, have completed the definitive agreements formalizing their strategic partnership in Aboitiz InfraCapital, Inc. (AIC), a company statement said Friday. AIC develops, operates, and manages investments in critical infrastructure across airports, water and wastewater, and digital infrastructure, providing

platform governance and shared services across its portfolio. “GIP brings deep global expertise a c ro s s e n e rg y, t ra n s p o r t, d i g i t a l infrastructure, and utilities, which will strengthen AIC’s ability to scale, deliver faster, and create long-term value,” the statement quoted Sabin M. Aboitiz, Aboitiz Group CEO, as saying. See “AEV,” A4

Saturday-Sunday, December 27-28, 2025

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Palace says Fajardo’s exit from ICI expected, drive vs anomalies goes on By Samuel P. Medenilla

ESPITE the recent “expected” departure of former SGV & Co. country managing partner Rossana A. Fajardo as member of the Independent Commission for Infrastructure (ICI), the government’s campaign against public works anomalies will push through, according to Malacañang. Acting Presidential Communications Office (PCO) Secretary Dave M. Gomez said Fajardo’s role as a financial forensic investigator in the three-man ICI was temporary and focused on “specific tasks.” “Ms. Fajardo was brought in for a clear financial forensic purposeto closely review the money linked to the projects under investigation

and help trace where public funds went. That work is now finished,” he said in a statement. Fajardo announced her resignation, which will take effect on 31 December 2025, from the factfinding body tasked to look into flood control project irregularities last Friday. She said she decided to leave the ICI with the completion of its foundational goals, which includes “comprehensive approach for evidence gathering, prepared detailed work plans, and supervised volunteer efforts.” However, party-list Rep. Leila de Lima had a more pessimistic view of the development. “This can very well be the end of ICI. Dapat kasi meron nang ICAIC [Independent Commission Against Infra-

structure Corruption] by now,” de Lima said, referring to the permanent body being proposed in separate bills in the House and Senate. PCO Secretary Gomez said Fajardo’s contribution in the ICC has led to the filing of charges against individuals, who were linked to substandard, non-existent, and overpriced flood control projects, including Ako Bicol Party list representative Elizaldy “Zaldy” Co and contractor Cezarah Rowena “Sarah” Discaya. “Her full findings will form part of the ICI’s recommendations to the Ombudsman and will also be turned over to the proper government offices, including the Commission on Audit, so the process can move forward,” he said. The PCO official, however, as-

sured that the ICI will continue with its mandate even after Fajardo leaves the body. “Her role was always meant to be temporary and focused only on this mandate. As the Commission continues its work in the coming months, the focus is now on final reports and the proper handover of documents to offices like the Office of the Ombudsman for the next steps,” Gomez said. Palace Press Officer Claire Castro recognized the contribution of Fajardo to the ICI. “ The administration recognized the crucial role played by ICI Commissioner Rosanna Fajardo in gathering, studying, and assessing important evidence to hold those involved in anomalous flood control projects accountable,” she said

in a separate statement in Filipino. “She has already accomplished her tasks based on her mandate. But the investigation is still ongoing with other investigating bodies. The administration’s fight against corruption is not over yet,” she added. Fajardo was the third official of the ICI, who left the fact-finding panel who resigned. Among those who left the ICI were former Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) Secretary Rogelio “Babes” L. Singson, and Baguio Mayor City Mayor Benjamin B. Magalong. With Fajardo and Singson’s resignation as ICI commissioners, only former Supreme Court (SC) Justice Andres B. Reyes Jr. was left as chair of the Commission.

‘Funding of DA digital agriculture to prevent ghost farmers, projects’

AN the shenanigans that hounded the infrastruc ture projec ts, especially flood control, be prevented in the farm sector, which in the

past has also had its share of scandals? The chief of the Senate agriculture committee thinks so, especially given the robust funding for digital agriculture in the

2026 Department of Agriculture budget. This additional P100 million, said Senator Francis “Kiko” Pangilinan, would help prevent the kind of corruption and leakage seen in recent infrastructure scandals, including the controversial flood-control projects. The bicameral committee raised digital agriculture funding from P500 million to P600 million, supporting more precise, efficient, and evidence-based farming and food value chains. DA’s digital agriculture aims to use data, online platforms, and smart technologies to support systems for farmer and fisher registries, traceability, monitoring, and data-driven planning. It would also have data dashboards that give the DA realtime visibility over production, inputs, infrastructure, and risks. “No stealing happens when the public is watching. Digital makes it difficult to hide the truth, effectively protecting all of us who pay taxes,” Pangilinan said, partly in Filipino. The technology, he added, “can ensure that subsidies, insurance, and other support go to real farmers and fisherfolk, not ghost beneficiaries.” According to the senator, integrating See “DA,” A15

AEV. . . Continued from A4

For his part, Ray Nadarajah, Emerging Markets Partner at Global Infrastructure Partners (GIP), said, “We are very pleased to partner with Aboitiz InfraCapital as we work together to help accelerate i n f ra s t r u c t u re d e ve l o p m e nt i n t h e

China slams US Defense Act, PHL gains $3.5-B military aid By Malou Talosig-Bartolome

HINA voiced strong opposition to the US National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for Fiscal Year 2026, signed into law by President Donald Trump on December 18, 2025, saying the measure contains “negative provisions related to China” that interfere in its internal affairs and undermine its core interests. While Beijing’s statement did not specifically mention the Philippines, the law’s $3.50-billion (P205.5 billion) defense package for Manila — alongside measures tied to Taiwan, Japan, and wider IndoPacific strategy—is seen as part of Washington’s effort to counter Chinese coercion in the region. (See related story: https:// businessmirror.com.ph/2025/12/22/ phl-secures-historic-3-5-b-u-sdefense-aid-via-ndaa-2026/) See “NDAA,” A15

No coverup, Palace insists, explains why it’s not grabbing ‘Cabral Files’

by dawn, of December 25 as the line reached as far as the Puan, about a kilometer from the ancestral home of the Dutertes in Taal Street at the middle-class subdivision of Royal Valley in Bangkal, south of the city. Random interviews by reporters on the eve of Christmas disclosed that some families and elders were already in Bangkal as early as the morning of December 24, some of them thinking that the gift-giving would happen on

ALACAÑANG stressed on Friday there is no coverup in the investigation of anomalous flood control projects after it deferred “accepting” the “Leviste List” or “Cabral Files” as proof of irregularities in the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH). Palace Press Officer Claire Castro made the statement after Senate President Pro Tempore Panfilo “Ping” M. Lacson said that the Palace allegedly “prematurely dismissed” the documents released by Batangas 1st District Rep. Leandro Leviste. These supposedly showed that some high-ranking government officials, including Cabinet members, allegedly benefitted in the 2025 infrastructure budget insertions. Among those included in the list was First Lady Louise “Liza” Araneta Marcos, according to a news report from Bilyonaryo News Channel. The list was allegedly sent by the office of late Public Works Undersecretary Maria Catalina Cabral to Leviste before she recently died, though some accounts in social media said the congressman got hold of the documents in a questionable means. Cabral was found dead below a ravine in Benguet after sustaining traumatic injuries last week.

See “Duterte,” A15

See “Cabral files,” A15

and Purchase Agreement and Shareholders’ Agreement covering GIP’s investment in AIC. Under the agreements, GIP is expected to invest a total of PHP 13.7 billion through a combination of a secondary share purchase from AEV and a primary share subscription in AIC. Upon completion of the transaction, GIP is expected to hold 40 percent of AIC, while AEV will retain a 60-percent controlling interest.

The transaction remains subject to the satisfaction of customary closing conditions and the receipt of required regulatory approvals. The partnership builds on the July 2025 disclosure and reflects strong confidence in the Philippine infrastructure sector, supporting the continued growth and longterm development of Aboitiz InfraCapital’s diversified infrastructure portfolio.

Dutertes’ gift-giving tradition draws 45,000 crowd–police By Manuel T. Cayon

AVAO CITY–The annual giftgiving tradition of the Duterte family drew a crowd of more than 45,000 people, including residents from nearby cities, and with some of them coming as early as December 24, the Davao City Police said. Major Genesis P. Oriel of the Talomo Police Station and the designated ground commander, estimated the crowd at 30,000

Philippines. This collaboration reflects our shared commitment to supporting long-term, sustainable growth across the country. By combining our global investment capabilities with Aboitiz’s deep local expertise, we aim to help deliver essential infrastructure that strengthens communities, drives economic progress and creates lasting value.” The parties signed the Share Subscription

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Drones, robots make control of pest, disease infestations in corn, onion go high-tech

DRONE-ENABLED crop monitoring system research project is set to mitigate pest infestations and outbreaks in corn and onion through PEST D-Tech. The project from Central Luzon State University (CLSU) will later establish data integration and cooperation between Unmanned Ground Vehicle (UGV), or land-based robotic system, of Taiwan and Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV), or drone, of the Philippines. Led by Dr. Gella Patria L . Abella and Dr. Elaida R. Fiegalan, the project integrates drone tec h nolog y w it h a g r ic u lt u re through normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) analysis using drone imagery to enable

precise monitoring of crop health of corn and onion. The project is supported by the Department of Science and Technology through the Manila Economic and Cultural OfficeTaipei Economic and Cultural Office Joint Research Program, and monitored by the Philippine Council for Agriculture, Aquatic and Natural Resources Research and Development of the Department of Science and Technology. To capture high-resolution images of corn and onion fields and to gather multispectral data of

CENTRAL Luzon State University Project team members deploy drones in the trial site for onion crops. CLSU

vegetation vigor and stress, CLSU deployed UAV equipped with powerful multispectral cameras and sensors in selected municipalities of Tarlac and Nueva Ecija. The mapping of NDVI results are being done through the use of the Quantum Geographic Information System (QGIS) which

supports the viewing, editing, and analysis of geospatial data. These maps serve as crucial tools for targeted intervention strategies, allowing for efficient allocation of resources and proactive management efforts in vulnerable zones. With two comprehensive pest

‘The best gift ever’: Baby is born after the rarest of pregnancies

UZE LOPEZ holds her baby boy on her lap and marvels at the remarkable way he came into the world. Before little Ryu was born, he developed outside his mom’s womb, hidden by a basketball-sized ovarian c yst—a dangerous situation so rare that his doctors plan to write about the case for a medical journal. Just 1 in 30,000 pregnancies occur in the abdomen instead of the uterus, and those that make it to full term “are essentially unheard of—far, far less than 1 in a million,” said Dr. John Ozimek, medical director of labor and delivery at Cedars-Sinai in Los Angeles, where Ryu was born. “I mean, this is really insane.” Lopez, a 41-year-old nurse who lives in Bakersfield, California, didn’t know she was pregnant with her second child until days before giving birth. When her belly began to grow earlier this year, she thought it was her ovarian cyst getting bigger. Doctors had been monitoring the mass since her 20s, leaving it in place after removing her right ovary and another cyst. Lopez experienced none of the usual pregnancy symptoms, such as morning sickness, and never felt kicks. Though she didn’t have a period, her cycle is irregular and she sometimes goes years without one. For months, she and her husband, Andrew Lopez, went about their lives and traveled abroad. But gradually, the pain and pressure in her abdomen got worse, and Lopez figured it was finally time to get the 22-pound cyst removed. She needed a CT scan, which required a

SUZE LOPEZ, and her son, Ryu, in California in October 2025 LOPEZ FAMILY VIA AP

pregnancy test first because of the radiation exposure. To her great surprise, the test came back positive. Lopez shared the news with her husband at a Dodgers baseball game in August, handing him a package with a note and a onesie. “I just saw her face,” he recalled, “and she just looked like she wanted to weep and smile and cry at the same time.” Shortly after the game, Lopez began feeling unwell and sought help at CedarsSinai. It turned out she had dangerously high blood pressure, which the medical team stabilized. They also did blood work and gave her an ultrasound and an MRI.

The scans found that her uterus was empty, but a nearly full-term fetus in an amniotic sac was hiding in a small space in her abdomen, near her liver. “It did not look like it was directly invading any organs,” Ozimek said. “It looked like it was mostly implanted on the sidewall of the pelvis, which is also very dangerous but more manageable than being implanted in the liver.” Dr. Cara Heuser, a maternal-fetal specialist in Utah not involved with the case, said almost all pregnancies that implant outside the uterus— called ectopic pregnancies—go on to rupture and hemorrhage if not removed. Most commonly, they occur in the

fallopian tubes. A 2023 medical journal article by doctors in Ethiopia described another abdominal pregnancy in which the mother and baby survived, pointing out that fetal mortality can be as high as 90 percent in such cases and birth defects are seen in about 1 in 5 surviving babies. But Lopez and her son beat all the odds. On August 18, a medical team delivered the 8-pound (3.6-kilogram) baby while she was under full anesthesia, removing the cyst during the same surgery. She lost nearly all of her blood, Ozimek said, but the team got the bleeding under control and gave her transfusions. Doc tors continually updated her husband about what was happening. “The whole time, I might have seemed calm on the outside, but I was doing nothing but praying on the inside,” Andrew Lopez said. “It was just something that scared me half to death, knowing that at any point I could lose my wife or my child.” Instead, they both recovered well. “It was really, really remarkable,” Ozimek said. Since then, Ryu—named after a baseball player and a character in the Street Fighter video game series—has been healthy and thriving. His parents love watching him interact with his 18-year-old sister, Kaila, and say he completes their family. With Ryu’s first Christmas, Lopez describes feeling blessed beyond measure. “I do believe in miracles,” she said, looking down at her baby. “God gave us this gift—the best gift ever.” Laura Ungar/Ap Medical Writer

PIDS names Searca among 2025 top research contributors

H E Philippine Institute for Development Studies (PIDS) has recognized the Southeast Asian Regional Center for Graduate Study and Research in Agriculture (Searca) as one of the top contributors to its Socioeconomic Research Portal for the Philippines (SERP-P) database in 2025. PIDS is the government’s primary socioeconomic policy think tank, and the SERP-P database is an online resource containing studies and materials from PIDS and other academic and research institutions. Bernice Anne De Torres of Searca’s Research and Thought Leadership Department, and Stoix Nebin Pascua of Searca’s Education and Collective Learning Department-Training for Development Unit received the recognition on behalf of the Center during the “25th SERP-P Anniversary and Annual Networking Meeting” held at a hotel in Parañaque City. Since becoming a SERP-P Network member in May 2013, Searca has steadily contributed studies, policy briefs, journals, and other knowledge products to the portal,

BERNICE ANNE DE TORRES and Stoix Nebin Pascua of Searca receive the Center’s recognition as one of the top contributors to its Socioeconomic Research Portal for the Philippines database in 2025. The event was held during the “25th SERP-P Anniversary and Annual Networking Meeting” held at a hotel in Parañaque City. SEARCA PHOTO

with updates managed by Mina Talatala, Library and Archives Associate, Knowledge Management Unit. This year’s citation affirms Searca’s continued impact, following five earlier recognitions from PIDS—in 2018 and from 2021 to 2024—as one of the network’s most

active contributors. “Searca has been consistently recognized as one of SERP-P’s most active and valuable contributors,” said Ezekiel Nicomedes, SERP-P Coordinator and Project Manager. Nicomedes explained that one of the key roles of a SERP-P Network member is

contributing content by uploading research outputs to the online portal, thereby making these resources more accessible to policymakers, educators, students, development practitioners, and the wider public. He added that network members are also encouraged to support knowledge-sharing and collaboration by participating in forums, roundtable discussions, and research advocacy initiatives organized by PIDS and SERP-P. Searca’s active participation in SERP-P strengthens evidence-informed policy dialogue and scales digital knowledge dissemination, which are touchstones of its 12th Five-Year Development Plan focused on Sustainable Transformation of Agricultural Systems through Innovation in Southeast Asia. By widening access to Searca studies and knowledge products, the Center helps deliver on its target outcomes—increasing farmers’ income (Pocket), improving food security and nutrition (Plate), building climate-resilient agri-food systems (Place), and empowering people and institutions (People).

and disease infestation maps already developed by the project team, farmers and agricultural officers are provided spatially explicit maps that provide a detailed visual representation of the distribution and intensity of key pests and diseases affecting their agricultural areas.

UGV are also going to be explored and deployed by the project in its third implementation year. With the use of the robots farmers and other stakeholders can quickly and efficiently assess large fields, detect early signs of diseases or nutrient deficiency, and make data-driven decisions for targeted irrigation, fertilization, and pest control. The project is set to be completed by March 2026. It will be creating tailored strategies for managing crop pests and diseases for corn and onion. The development of this initiative is expected to benefit municipal agricultural officers, cooperatives, and nongovernment stakeholders as it can proactively prevent widespread infestations and outbreaks through the timely release of pest and disease advisories for farmers. Thea Mariel N. Valdeavilla & Maria Teresa L. De Guzman/S&T Media Services

Scientific research pushed for fire-safe bamboo, other construction materials

OW safe is bamboo against fire? The recent fatal fire incident in Hong Kong has sparked discussions over the use of bamboo poles in construction. In response to this serious concern, the Forest Produc ts Research and Development Institute of the Department of Science and Technology (DOST-FPRDI) has been advancing research initiatives to ensure that bamboo remains not only a sustainable and affordable construction and building material, but also a fire-safe component. DOST-FPRDI Director Dr. Rico J. Cabangon, a bamboo expert, noted that similar to any organic material, bamboo is naturally combustible when exposed to fire. “With proper testing, drying, treatment, and the use of fire-safety technologies, the risk of ignition and flame spread can be significantly reduced,” he added. Bamboo has been used as a versatile construction material due to its properties. As some species can be harvested in just a few years, it is a more sustainable option than timber. This nontimber forest product also naturally absorbs carbon dioxide throughout its growth, helping reduce the environmental footprint. Compared to metals and other conventional materials, it is much more cost-effective in terms of processing and labor costs. The Institute has been exploring ways to develop fire-retardant technologies that will slow down or stop the spread of fire and reduce its intensity by interfering with combustion. One of DOST-FPRDI’s previous studies focused on developing a fire-retardant using nano-sized montmorillonite clay— an affordable, less toxic alternative to imported chemicals. It is a protective layer designed to slow ignition and minimize flame spread. According to the study, the application of nanoclays on wood products can enhance their fire resistance. While this patented study was initially focused on wood, the same technology is now being considered for bamboo applications. Building on these efforts, the Institute is also developing bamboo-based cellulose nanofiber aerogel from kauayan-tinik (Bambusa spinosa Roxb.) as a sustainable and less hazardous fire-retardant additive for construction insulation, including bamboo materials. Designed to be safe for humans and the environment, this technology can potentially help builders, homeowners, and communities make safer homes. Ensuring that every material meets safety standards, the Institute also operates

DOST-FPRDI’s Fire Testing Laboratory evaluates samples under ISO 119252 (Ignitability) and American Society for Testing and Materials E69 (Combustibility) standards. DOS-FPRDI PHOTO

the Fire Testing Laboratory. The lab evaluates the fire resistance of wood and nonwood materials, including bamboo, by applying a small match-sized flame to vertically oriented specimens for 15 seconds or 30 seconds. It examines ignitability, which determines how easily a material catches fire, and combustibility, which assesses how easily a material ignites and burns by exposing it to heat. In the next years and with more advanced machines, the laboratory will expand its capabilities to test larger materials for local building contractors and construction materials developers. “We understand the concerns people have about bamboo and fire safety, which is why we have been taking proactive steps to address them,” Dr. Cabangon said. “Through expanding our testing services and research, we aim to ensure that bamboo remains a credible material for building and construction.” Meanwhile, DOST Secretary Renato U. Solidum Jr. noted that DOST has long-running programs suppor ting bamboo, including efforts to ensure its safety not only in construction, but in other applications. He noted that “while hazards cannot always be predicted, they can be mitigated through research and appropriate technology.” Looking ahead, the Institute aims to intensify its research in this area to support stakeholders in the construction industry, as well as the general public, to ensure a safer and more reliable use of bamboo and other forest products. Angelique B. Evangelista/S&T Media Services

Faith

Sunday

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Card. Advincula: ‘Worship’ of wealth, power empties Christmas meaning Religion, man and history By Chairman Lee Man-hee

CARDINAL Jose Advincula celebrates Christmas Eve Mass at the Manila Cathedral on December 24. PHOTO FROM MANILA CATHEDRAL/ERIC PAUL GUANLAO

ARDINAL Jose Advincula of Manila warned Christmas celebrations risk becoming “shallow and empty” if society replaces humility with pursuits of wealth and power. In a Christmas message, he said imitating K ing Herod, a biblical figure linked to fear and violence, shows lost humility and readiness to worship power. “If obsession with wealth and intoxication with power rule our society, how can we ever set right our distorted systems and the unceasing abuse of the public trust?” Advincula said. The Catholic bishops in the country are calling on the faithful to join the campaign against corruption as evidence on stealing of f lood control and other funds emerges. Preaching on the Nativity, he highlighted an overlooked ritual at Christmas Mass: kneeling at the words “He was made flesh” in the Profession of Faith. T he gest u re, t he c a rd i n a l stressed, is not merely ceremonial

but a call to humility, gratitude and conversion. “All too often, we fail to give due weight to this seemingly ordinary gesture,” he said, urging the faithful to reclaim its deeper meaning as an act of opening oneself to God and making room for Christ in daily life. As Christians mark Jesus’ birth, he urged them to walk away from darkness and sin and resist forces that destroy the future, citing injustices and abuses. Adv incula also encouraged the faithful to imitate shepherds and wise men, kneeling in reverence and offering faith, love and hope at the manger, churches and homes.

Tagle decries corruption

VATICAN—Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle said corruption contradicts

CARDINAL Luis Antonio Tagle, pro-prefect of the Dicastery for Evangelization, delivers his homily during the Simbang Gabi Mass at St. Peter’s Basilica in the Vatican on December 21. GOI VILLEGAS/CBCP NEWS

God ’s plan as he led a Simbang Gabi Mass for Filipinos at St. Peter’s Basilica. Tagle urged the faithful to align life decisions with God’s will, rejecting consumerism, personal gain and shallow measures of success. “When the opportunity to steal and cheat comes knocking, why are so many wide awake? When the plan is corruption, no one sleeps. But when it is God’s plan, everyone is asleep,” said Tagle, pro-prefect of the Dicastery for Evangelization. He called on Filipinos to examine whether their ambitions reflect God’s saving plan revealed in Jesus. “Is your life plan connected to God’s plan? Or perhaps our plans in life lead only to destruction— bringing harm to ourselves, to others, to society and to creation?” Tagle said. The cardinal pointed to the Virgin Mary and St. Joseph as models of faithf u l planning , describing them as the original witnesses of Advent and Christmas who adjusted their lives in obedience to God. He a lso said Chr istmas should not be reduced to memories, material pursuits or financial goals, but lived daily

through faith, service and moral responsibility. “We were not created to cling to piles of money. We were not created to cling to countless followers. We were not created to hoard all kinds of things to buy, only to realize after ward that we do not really need them,” Tagle added. More than a thousand Filipinos from across Rome and other countries attended the Mass, filling the basilica with hymns and prayers reflecting a deeply rooted Advent tradition. The celebration was organized by the Sentro Pilipino Chaplaincy (SPC) in Rome and drew clergy, religious and lay faithful, including Philippine Ambassador to the Holy See Myla Grace Macahilig and Philippine Ambassador to Italy Nathaniel Imperial. Fr. Ronan Ayag, SPC chaplain, said the Simbang Gabi celebration is especially meaningful for Filipino migrants in Rome. “This is important for us Filipino migrants in the Diocese of Rome,” Ayag said. “It strengthens our faith, especially since we are far from our loved ones as Christmas approaches, and it gives guidance to our faith.” CBCP News and Goi Villegas

N the beginning, God created heaven and earth and all things, and created man in His image. He then entrusted all things to man, placing him in charge. However, this man became lazy and corrupted, departing from God and departing from order and principles. This was the sin of Adam, the man that had been created. God has been working to restore sinners to their original state and this work has continued for 6,000 years. Man’s departure from God brought suffering and death to man. To restore these sinners, God sent His only begotten Son to bear the cross for the sins of the world. When the New Testament, Revelation, is completed, everything that God wills will be fulfilled and restored to its original state. Therefore, man can live only by following the will of Heaven. At the time of Jesus’ first coming, he told the sinners of this world to be born again (John 3:3-5). And Jesus said he is the “resurrection and the life” and that whoever believes in him “will live, even though they die,” and whoever lives and believes in him “will never die” (John 11:25-26). Our hope and what we long for are in Jesus. Therefore, believers live by faith. Those who believe in Jesus, who is the resurrection and the life, will live again even if they die, just like Jesus. It is said that if one adds to or takes away from the New Testament Book of Revelation, one will not enter heaven and

CHAIRMAN Lee Man-hee leads Shincheonji Church of Jesus the Temple of the Tabernacle of the Testimony, which is testifying about the fulfilled realities of the Book of Revelation. He also leads the Heavenly Culture World Peace Restoration of Light, an international organization that promotes world peace through interfaith harmony, international law and peace education. will receive curses (plagues) (Revelation 22:18-19). Jesus’ prophecies, which are his promises, will all be fulfilled at the appointed time. Therefore, even if there is a delay, we must wait. Jesus, who sowed the seed of God at his first coming, said that there will be a time to harvest the ripened grain of the seed. Do sinners know this harvest time? If they fail to be harvested at this time, their destination would be hell. Those who desire salvation must believe in and keep the new covenant which is the promise of Jesus. The reason one does not understand even if he reads the Bible, which contains the words of promise, is because he does not have the Holy Spirit in him. Believers must be with God’s Word and the Holy Spirit to understand all things and attain their hope. Amen.

Nativity scenes protest ICE raids with zip ties, gas masks D EDHAM, Massachusetts— One baby Jesus lies in a manger in the snow, wrapped in a silver emergency blanket with his wrists zip-tied. Mary stands nearby outside the Lake Street Church in Evanston, Illinois, wearing a plastic gas mask and flanked by Roman soldiers in tactical vests labeled “ICE.” In another Chicago suburb, not far from an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) facility that has drawn protests over detentions, a sign at the manger outside the Urban Village Church says “Due to ICE activity in our community the Holy Family is in hiding.” And more than a thousand miles away, the Christ child went missing from a Nativity scene at St. Susanna Parish in Dedham, Massachusetts, replaced by a handpainted sign: “ICE was here.” These and other stark reimaginings of Christ’s birth are drawing praise and outrage as churches turn the Christmas tableau into a commentary on federal immigration enforcement under the Trump administration. Their creators say they are placing the ancient story in a contemporary frame, portraying the Holy

Family as refugees to reflect on the fear of separation and deportation that many families—including their own parishioners—are experiencing today. Supporters of the displays say the Bible is on their side, but critics call the scenes sacrilegious and politically divisive, accusing the churches of abusing sacred imagery and some arguing they should lose their tax-exempt status. The archdiocese in Massachusetts ordered that the manger must be “restored to its proper sacred purpose.” The debate comes as immigration enforcement intensifies in states and cities whose leaders object to the immigration crackdown. In September alone, a combined total of at least 2,000 people were arrested in Illinois and Massachusetts, according to federal arrest figures released by immigration authorities.

‘A grave scandal for Catholics’

FOR churches, Christmas is a time “when we have public art out on the lawn and we get an opportunity to say something,” said Rev. Michael Woolf, senior minister at Lake Street.

A DOLL representing the baby Jesus is zip-tied in the Nativity scene outside of Lake Street Church of Evanston on December 10, in Evanston, Illinois. AP/ERIN HOOLEY

Another Nativity scene created by the Baptist congregation one recent year showed Jesus in rubble— a “plea for peace” in Gaza, he said. St. Susanna parishioners locked baby Jesus in a cage in 2018 to protest how President Donald Trump’s first administration was separating families at the border. Another year, they depicted the infant floating in water polluted with plastic to highlight climate change. Boston Archbishop Richard Henning ordered this year’s display taken down. As of Thursday, Father Steve Josoma was seeking a meeting and had yet to comply. “The people of God have the right to expect that, when they come to church, they will encoun-

ter genuine opportunities for prayer and Catholic worship—not divisive political messaging,” a diocesan spokesperson said. Some Catholic activists want the priest punished. “This is really a grave scandal for Catholics, and I think he’s playing with fire,” said C.J. Doyle, director of the Catholic Action League of Massachusetts. “The archbishop can remove him as pastor, suspend him from active ministry—he can even close the parish and sell the property right out from under him.”

The community’s reality

JOSOMA said the display’s purpose is to move “beyond static traditional figures and evoke emo-

tion and dialogue” in response to the fear many parishioners face as federal forces arrest more than undocumented immigrants, sweeping up longtime legal residents and spreading anxiety. In Illinois, the detention campaign has left bystanders choking on chemical sprays and children traumatized at the site of neighbors and teachers being taken away, prompting state and local investigations. “We wanted to reflect sort of the reality that our community is experiencing,” said Jillian Westerfield, associate minister at the church in Evanston. After the figure of Joseph blew down and was damaged, leaving Mary alone with the baby, they put up an explanatory sign: “Joseph didn’t make it. We hold this space to honor and remember all the victims of immigration enforcement terror.” Critics either don’t fully understand the message or “find it really challenging to their conscience and are lashing out at the art rather than engaging with what the actual message is,” Westerfield said.

‘Not a stunt’

PHIL MANDEVILLE, who sits

on St. Susanna’s Parish Council and coordinates a multi-church refugee support committee, said long-standing relationships make the parish resolute about keeping the display. The committee has worked with about 10 refugee families since 2019, helping them find housing, enroll in school, learn English and secure work. Much of the effort is done in partnership with the federal government, which puts families through extensive vetting before they arrive, he said. “Just to emphasize the reason for all of this—it’s not a stunt,” Mandeville said. “We work on a daily basis with refugees. But people get upset about a bit of plaster. I care more about individuals than I do a manger scene. I understand what it represents—I don’t understand why no one cares about these human beings.” “Look at the Gospel just before Christ was executed—that was political,” he added. “We were always taught: when you’re unsure how to act, ask, ‘What would Christ do?’ Now we’re doing that, and it doesn’t seem to jibe.” Leah Willingham And Laura Bargfeld/ Associated Press

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Editor: Lyn Resurreccion

A DIVER strikes a pose beside healthy, colorful corals in Mabini, Batangas. DANNY OCAMPO

THE once colorful corals turn white as a result of coral bleaching DANNY OCAMPO

ALL that’s left in an area heavily fished by basnig (large, boat-operated lift nets) in Tanon Strait are small wrasses, triggerfish, and goatfish that aren’t commercially viable but fishermen still catch them to put food on the table. GREGG YAN

Save reef fishes by saving coral reefs

By Jonathan L. Mayuga

ORAL bleaching has been occurring worldwide, posing a significant threat to marine biodiversity. Worse, there is the unabated hunting of herbivore fishes, such as parrotfish, surgeonfish, grass carp, and pacu. Herbivore fishes play an important role in their ecosystem. The decline in the population of herbivores has a cascading effect on marine ecosystem. Herbivore fishes feed on algae that grow in corals. Without the fishes, corals are bound to die as algae prevent corals from breathing. The excessive and uncontrolled fishing, driven by increasing demand for protein, the illegal encroachment of commercial fishing vessels into municipal fishing grounds, and the use of destructive fishing methods, such as the use if dynamite and cyanide, have contributed to the decline in the population of herbivores. Citing the mutual relationship of corals and herbivores, however, is an oversimplification. Herbivores can actually help revive dying corals, except that today, even these colorful, seemingly ornamental species that depend on these corals are now overfished.

Coral bleaching

OCEAN conservation advocate Oceana Philippines has said that coral bleaching poses a threat to the livelihoods of millions of Filipinos who rely on healthy reefs for food and economic survival. Coral bleaching events in the Philippines have increased in frequency and severity primarily because of rising sea surface temperature and intensified El Nino. The nongovernment Oceana recorded multiple severe coral bleaching events in the Philippines in 1998 that hit the Tubbataha Reefs, Bolinao, Sulu Sea, and North Palawan; an event in 2010 that hit the Verde Island Passage; a strong El Nino event that caused bleaching in Batangas, Palawan and Sul Sea in 2016; and in 2020 that struck in Lian, Batangas, and other parts of Luzon. The Philippines is among 82 countries most severely affected by the ongoing fourth Global Mass Bleaching Event. Severe bleaching

was observed in the West Philippine Sea, Palawan, and the Visayas.

Sunken food factories

ENVIRONMENTALIST Gregg Yan described coral reefs as sunken food factories. “Coral reefs are our sunken food factories. A study by the late Dr. Angel Alcala estimated that reefs accounted for a fifth of the country’s total production of seafood— at least in the late 1990s,” Yan told the BusinessMirror via Messenger on December 15. He said today, fisherfolk still pull lapu-lapu (groupers), dalagang bukid (fusiliers), maya-Maya (snappers), talakitok (trevally), loro (parrotfish), and other types of fishes from Philippine reefs.

A bigger, serious threat

YAN, founder of Best Alternatives, said a controversial ruling by the Supreme Court has recently allowed large commercial vessels to fish in nearshore areas—including the shallow-water reefs that have sustained small-scale artisanal fishers for generations. “Compared to artisanal fishers who take only a few kilograms of fish, commercial fishing vessels can wipe out entire fish schools in one go,” he explained. “When most of the big fishes have been caught, subsistence fishers catch and eat isdang bato or whatever small reef fishes are left.” Instead of intensifying fishing effort, Best Alternatives recommends the continued farming of high-value native freshwater

fish like bangus (milkfish), while intensifying research to more effectively farm and market less popu lar species like ay ung in (silver perch). “This might give our coral reefs and other marine habitats a precious reprieve, particularly from the relentless onslaught of commercial fishers and larger, more systemic challenges like climate change,” he pointed out.

Coastal protection

BESIDES being home to small fish and other marine life like a children’s nursery, healthy coral reefs offer coastal protection from storms. They act as natural barriers that reduce waste energy and erosion, while supporting biodiversity. Coral reefs are also tourist magnets in many areas. Across the country, local tourism offices promote diving to showcase the beauty of the country’s diverse corals. While they may be affected by coral bleaching, these corals could recover fast if the ecosystem is healthy, Vincent Hilomen, a marine biologist and expert in marine science told the BusinessMirror on December 5. “Like for instance, what happened in Tubbataha and in Pangasinan. In Tubbataha, the recovery of the corals was faster than in Pangasinan, because of the healthy marine ecosystem. And because there are still plenty of herbivores there to help,” he explained.

Herbivore fish moratorium

INTERVIEWED at the sidelines of the eighth Asean Heritage Parks Conference in Vietnam, Hilomen, an Asean Centre for Biodiversity (ACB) expert, underscored the need to regulate fishing that specifically targets herbivores, such as parrot fish and rabbitfish. “If possible, it should be stopped completely. Their population is dwindling fast, and soon, we’ll have no more parrot fish left to care for our corals,” he told the BusinessMirror. While acknowledging the economic importance of these fish to local fishermen, Hilomen said there’s a need to give herbivore fishes time to grow, breed, and repopulate.

Dwindling fish catch, diminishing sizes

HE said overfishing has already led to dwindling fish catch, and the fishes are becoming smaller and smaller. “Fisheries target big fishes, the ones that breed. Because the catch has been dwindling, the smaller fishes are being targeted. Those who have the genetic disposition to become mature at a smaller size are all that are left,” he said partly in Filipino. This fishing pressure is adversely affecting the country’s fish production capacity. And the smaller the fish, the cheaper they sell at the market. Hilomen cited Cebu, where rabbit fish are harvested uncontrollably. Now, Cebu’s famous danggit

(rabbitfish) is becoming smaller. “The catch is becoming smaller. There might come a time when they would disappear,” he said in Filipino. Hilomen, a professor in marine biology, said the population decline of these all-important fishes is alarming, considering the frequency and severity of mass coral bleaching affecting the Philippines in recent decades. He said herbivores, particularly parrot fish, have the capacity to revive even dying corals, given their uncanny ability to scrape.

‘White sand producer’

MARIGIO LARIRIT, assistant director of the Biodiversity Management Bureau of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), known as a “resort biologist,” said parrot fish need to be protected. Interviewed on December 10, she agreed that parrot fish created the white sands that the country’s world-famous beaches, like Boracay, are known for. However, more than that, the ecosystem functions of parrot fish cannot be over-emphasized as they feed on algae that smother the corals, allowing them to breathe and survive. “As far as the DENR is concerned, we agree on the call for the protection of herbivore fish, because like gardeners, they take care of the corals,” Laririt said. She said parrot fish is among the few remaining beneficial fishes that protect, saying many others have already become rare, if not extinct.

Solar panels over crops may boost farmworkers’ comfort What’s an atmospheric river weather phenomenon?

EW ORLEANS—Putting solar panels above agricultural crops may do more than produce food and clean energy on the same land: It can also significantly augment quality of life for farmworkers, according to new research to be presented at AGU’s 2025 Annual Meeting in New Orleans. Worker-repor ted benefits include shelter from the sun, cooler drinking water and reduced fatigue, while physical measurements indicate the panels can help farms avoid conditions conducive to dangerous heat stress. “In a lot of [food] sustainability conversations, we’re thinking about resource use and not about farmworkers and their bodies,” said Talitha Neesham-McTiernan, a human-environment researcher at the University of Arizona who led the research. She presented her research on December 15 at AGU25, joining more than 20,000 scientists discussing the latest Earth and space science research.

A bundle of overlooked, but crucial, benefits

HYBRID solar-food fields, better known as “agrivoltaics” systems, typically involve solar panels mounted at or above head height, spaced among crops to allow sunlight to pass through the gaps between. In addition to making efficient use of land, these systems can benefit crops by reducing both sun damage and water lost

to evaporation—and even by trapping some heat near the ground during colder months, Neesham-McTiernan said. In her four years of fieldwork on farms, often during brutal Arizona summers, Neesham-McTiernan noticed a pattern: Researchers and farmworkers alike would strategically plan to work in the panels’ shade during the hottest hours. “It just seemed to be something that people in these systems were doing, but nobody in the research area was talking about it,” she said. That struck her as odd, as farmworkers are 35 times more likely to die from heat-related illness than non-agricultural workers. With climate change pushing that figure higher, making any tool to reduce heat stress would be increasingly valuable. To end that silence, Neesham-McTiernan and her coauthors asked seven full-time farmworkers at Jack’s Solar Garden, a small agrivoltaics farm near Longmont, Colorado, how their experiences differed from those on traditional farms. The biggest reported perk, by far, was shade. One worker, Neesham-McTiernan said, confessed they found it hard to imagine ever going back to work on traditional full-sun farms—where, they added, their favorite crops had always been tomatoes, because of the shade the tall plants offered. “By 9 a.m., in the summer, you’re just

cooking,” Neesham-McTiernan said. “Being able to take that direct heat load off makes such a difference.” Shade keeps drinking water cool too, the workers noted—a crucial benefit, given water’s role in mitigating heat stress. “They can pop their bottles under the panels and they stay cool all day,” NeeshamMcTiernan said, “rather than it being, as one of the farmworkers described it, like drinking tea.” Another worker said these benefits helped them feel less exhausted by day’s end, leaving more energy for social life and allowing a faster recovery for the next day’s work. Others said simply knowing shade was nearby reduced their mental stress.

To tell the full story of heat stress, gather stories and numbers alike

THE researchers also recorded air temperature, wind speed, humidity and solar radiation to quantify heat stress metrics, such as wet bulb globe temperature, which is commonly used to identify dangerous outdoor work conditions. Compared to open-field farms, they found, agrivoltaics reduced wet bulb globe temperature by up to 5.5 degrees Celsius (10 degrees Fahrenheit)—the difference, Neesham-McTiernan estimates, between stop-work conditions and simply requiring a break every hour. AGU.org

TMOSPHERIC rivers are massive plumes of moisture carried across the sky that can dump heavy rains or snow over land. Here’s a look at the phenomenon:

Where do atmospheric rivers come from?

ATMOSPHERIC rivers generally form in tropical regions, where warm temperatures can cause water vapor to rise into the atmosphere, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). The winds aloft then carry that moisture to northern and southern latitudes. They occur globally but are especially significant on the West Coast of the United States, where they create 30 percent to 50 percentof annual precipitation and are vital to water supplies but also can cause storms that produce flooding and mudslides, according to NOAA.

Formed by winds associated with cyclones, atmospheric rivers typically range from 400 to 600 kilometers in width and move under the influence of other weather. Many atmospheric river events are weak. But the powerful ones can transport extraordinary amounts of moisture. Studies have shown they can carry seven to 15 times the average amount of water discharged daily by the Mississippi River, according to the US Geological Survey. They’re also getting bigger, wetter and more frequent as Earth’s atmosphere warms, according to a 2025 study.

that falls as rain or snow, according to NOAA. While traditional cold winter storms out of the north Pacific build the Sierra snowpack, atmospheric rivers tend to be warm. Snow may still fall at the highest elevations but rain usually falls on the snowpack at lower elevations. That can quickly prompt melting, runoff and flooding and decrease the snowpack needed for California’s water supply.

What happens when an atmospheric river reaches land?

Where did the term atmospheric river come from?

WHEN the moisture-laden air moves over mountain ranges such as the Sierra Nevada along the California-Nevada line, the water vapor rises and cools, becoming heavy precipitation

What is a pineapple express?

IT is a nickname for a strong atmospheric river that originates in the tropical Pacific near Hawaii.

THE name came from research published in the 1990s by scientists Yong Zhu and Reginald E. Newell of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Atmospheric rivers are often referred to as ARs. AP

A8 Saturday-Sunday, December 27-28, 2025

Education

COLLEGE PROSPECTS Junior and senior high-school students visit information booths of

participating colleges and universities in the Fourth College Fair of the Mandaluyong City Hall on December 6. A total of 41 educational institutions participated to help incoming college students decide on their future. PNA/JOAN BONDOC

BusinessMirror

TOP MINDS The National Academy of Science and Technology-Philippines handed out top awards for the 2025 National Science, Technology, and Innovation Week and the 2025 Magsaysay Future Engineers/Technologists in Quezon City on December 5. The five awards were given to Dr. Eva Maria Cutiongco-De la Paz (Outstanding Science Administrator, University of the Philippines-Manila-National Institutes of Health) (from left); Julieta Anarna and Dr. Violeta Villegas (Outstanding Technology Commercialization, UP-Los Baños-Institute of Plant Breeding); Dr. Joseph Basconcillo (Outstanding Research and Development; Department of Science and Technology-Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration); as well as MFET awardees Ivan Perry Cabayanan (Ateneo de Manila University) and Kernel Emerson Raquel (UP-Visayas). PNA/BEN BRIONES

SAFE REVELRY The EcoWaste Coalition launched the “Iwas Paputoxic” campaign at Pinyahan Elementary School in Quezon City on December 15. Representatives from the Bureau of Fire Protection and Philippine National Police advised children to just make noise instead of using firecrackers. PNA/JOAN BONDOC

Philippine Studies Program in Portugal imparts Filipino history & literature to Europe’s scholars

ILIPINO and Portuguese scholars gathered for a full-day academic event showcasing publications on Philippine history and the contemporary Global South.

The event on December 9 at the Biblioteca Palácio Galveias in Lisbon highlighted intellectual connections across Asia and Europe, then further strengthened the Philippines’ presence in Lisbon’s academic and cultural landscape. Entitled “Sea of Stories: Exploring Waves of Influence and Winds of Change in the Euro-Asian Nexus,” the program featured nine scholarly publications and drew more than 70 participants, who included academics, diplomats, as well as members of the Filipino, Portuguese, and Brazilian communities. Discussions included an examination of Rizal’s complex intellectual legacy, including the challenges of translating his book Noli Me Tangere into Portuguese and his nuanced views on reform, identity,

and nation-building. Ambassador Paul Raymund P. Cortes welcomed the Portuguese translation of Noli…, as he noted that it “dismantled linguistic barriers, and reintroduced the Filipino identity and perspective into Portuguese intellectual discourse.” Cortes also emphasized the importance of decolonizing shared histories and challenged scholars to ensure that academic discussions translate into ideas that resonate beyond universities and research institutions. “It has to be something that someone like Tom or João can understand,” he said, stressing the need to make scholarship meaningful to broader audiences. Dr. Stephanie Marie R. Coo, lead organizer of the workshop, presented her new book Seams of

THE workshop featured books on the Philippines and Lusophone worlds. FB: PHILIPPINE EMBASSY IN PORTUGAL

Sedition: Sartorial Symbols in Rizal’s Noli Me Tángere, which explores how clothing and material culture in the novel reveal social hierarchies, colonial power relations, and Filipino responses to Spanish rule. Her work links these sartorial details to the broader political, economic, and cultural currents of the 19th-

New format for industry learning

UNLIKE traditional conferences, the bootcamp was intentionally designed to be hands-on and applicable. Participants interacted with one another, challenged ideas, and worked on personalized action plans they could immediately bring back to workplaces. “This is not a day of Cinderella stories,” Trinidad emphasized. “We want attendees to walk away with tools, frameworks, and—after today—actual feedback from our team instead of a generic ‘thank-you’ email.” The program reflected CCA’s evolving role in the industry: from culinary school to collaboration hub. “We started as a school. But the industry needs more from CCA now,” Trinidad added. “CCA Connect is our way of supporting hospitality professionals through community, leadership training, and access to expertise.”

Deep-dive conversation ONE of the highlights was a wideranging conversation with Ryan Cruz, who serves as president and CEO of the Nippon Hasha Group—the company behind well-loved concepts such as Mendokoro Ramenba, Ramen Yushoken, and others. Known as a leading thinker in experiential dining, Cruz shared deep insights on leadership, consistency, and the realities of the local food and beverage landscape. “Every business has struggles. You eventually choose the set of problems you’re willing to live with,” he said. “For me, I remind myself that my purpose is service.”

NBDB & Filipino Critics Circle unveil 43rd National Book Awards finalists

century Philippines. The event forms part of the Department of Foreign Affairs’ Philippine Studies Program in Portugal, which aims to deepen understanding of Philippine history, culture, and society while fostering academic collaboration between Filipino and Portuguese scholars.

The initiative of the Philippine Embassy in Portugal was supported through partnerships with Ateneo de Manila University, the Universidade Nova de Lisboa Faculty of Social and Human Sciences and its Centre for the Humanities, alongside the Foundation for Science and Technology.

CCA Manila bridges gaps in local hospitality sector via ‘CCA Connect’ OP culinary school CCA Manila successfully concluded its firstever CCA Connect Bootcamp— a one-day intensive program designed to equip hospitality professionals with practical tools in leadership, service design, and operational excellence. The event also celebrated CCA Manila’s 29th year. Held at Brittany Hotel in Taguig City, the bootcamp brought together restaurant owners, chefs, managers, and emerging leaders for a day of high-impact learning anchored in real-world industry challenges. The program is part of the school’s new initiative “CC A CONNEC T ” aimed at encouraging community relations and knowledge-sharing among hospita lit y sta keholders. While CCA Manila has spent nearly three decades developing culinary talent, the event marked a broader commitment to help elevate the country’s hospitality standards through education, collaboration, and systems-driven thinking. “This bootcamp was borne from conversations with restaurant owners and hospitality professionals who repeatedly told us the same thing: they needed people, they needed training, and they needed support,” said CCA Manila Communications Director Ana Beatrice Trinidad. “CCA Connect Bootcamp brings everyone together not just to learn from our speakers, but from each other. It’s our way of breaking the culture of gatekeeping and raising the bar of Filipino hospitality as a community.”

Editor: Mike Policarpio

CCA Manila’s Ana Beatrice Trinidad and Ryan Cruz of Nippon Hasha Group Cruz also pointed out the importance of “guest obsession,” describing it as the backbone of longevity: “If you’re not obsessed, you’ll quit before you get things right. We read the onestar reviews more than the five-stars. The five stars tell you what you already know—the one-stars show you where the opportunities are.” His discussion on leadership drew nods from participants. One of his most echoed statements was: “Standards aren’t what you say—they’re what you allow.”

Commitment to culture THE visionary team behind the acclaimed restaurants Hapag and Ayà— Chef Thirdy Dolatre, Chef John Kevin Navoa (aka Chef Nav), and Service Di-

rector Erin Recto—also shared insights into their success following Hapag’s achievement of its first Michelin star and Recto’s win of the Michelin Service Award. The trio emphasized that their feats are “rooted in a distinctive, culturefirst approach that prioritizes team well-being, accountability, and a deeply personal style of Filipino hospitality. [We built] not just a restaurant that chases stars, but one where people actually want to work, where they eat together and look out for each other.” They said a positive culture is nonnegotiable for delivering exceptional service. Recto articulated the frontof-house philosophy: to be the “best picture frame to a chef’s work of art,” ensuring every detail of the dining experience is harmonious. The team’s approach to service moves beyond traditional models by incorporating deep personalization. They encourage staff to be themselves, allowing their individual personalities and candid communication styles to shine, which builds genuine confidence. The restaurant even employs “responsible stalking”—researching guests' preferences and needs upon reservation to anticipate requirements, such as placing setups for a left-handed person. This dedication, coupled with ensuring the staff has deep product knowledge—always being the first to taste new dishes—enables them to share the stories behind Filipino cuisine with authority and a personal touch.

Consistency is key

A RECURRING theme emerged: Hospitality isn’t just food, ambiance, or accolades; it is the invisible labor: systems, training, humility, and service that enable consistency. According to Trinidad, this mindset is at the very heart of CCA Connect: “Great dining experiences are created long before the guest sits down. We want to give professionals both the inspiration and the operational tools to build sustainable, intentional hospitality.” The bootcamp’s success signaled CCA Manila’s strategic shift for deeper sector involvement. While the school remains the pioneer in culinary education, it is now extending its expertise to aid restaurant operators, hospitality teams, and future leaders. “This is just the beginning,” said Trinidad. “Today proves that the industry wants community, not competition. They want systems, not guesswork. They want conversations that move us forward.” CCA Manila plans to hold more CCA Connect programs in 2026, with additional bootcamps, workshops, industry meetups, and knowledgesharing sessions. As the first CCA Connect Bootcamp concluded, one thing was clear: CCA Manila is bridging the gaps in the hospitality industry—connecting leaders, connecting ideas, and connecting the future of Filipino dining. For queries, follow CCA Manila on FB and IG: @ccamanila and @ccaconnectph.

HE National Book Development Board (NBDB) and the Filipino Critics Circle (FCC) have released the roster of finalists for the 43rd Annual National Book Awards, which honors the most outstanding books written, designed, and published in the Philippines. For the 43rd edition, 139 titles were chosen as finalists out of a total of 385 titles submitted. The number of titles is deemed by the NBDB as “a milestone,” since it represents an 80-percent increase from the 213 submitted four cycles earlier. According to the board, “this could signal that more books are being produced in the country, which is a healthy sign for the local book publishing industry.” The finalists are in 30 categories, with titles written in four languages: English, Filipino, Hiligaynon, and Kinaray-a. Now in its 43rd edition, the National Book Awards honors books across several categories: from fiction and non-fiction such as poetry, graphic novels and comics, translation, science, philosophy, history, humor, sports and lifestyle, spirituality and theology, art, food, design, journalism, and business, to name a few. For the NBDB, which has been co-administering the awards since 2008 with the Filipino Critics Circle, the awards represent the health and the direction the local book publishing industry will take. “The finalists and their literary creations show that Filipino writers and publishers continue to raise the bar for the Philippine book publishing industry,” noted Executive Director Charisse AquinoTugade of NBDB. The National Book Awards and the FCC continue to actively support the book sector, while sustaining the credibility of the awards for over four decades now, together with the independent judgment of critics, scholars, and writers. Awarding of the winners of the 43rd National Book Awards will be held in early 2026. For the complete list of finalists, visit https://books. gov.ph, or follow the NBDB through its social media accounts on Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, and X.

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The pleasures of cinn

HERE’S a “cinful” side of me and I take great pleasure in it. I like to sprinkle cinnamon powder on my hot coffee, at home or in a coffeehouse when it’s available. Not only because it makes my coffee more flavorful, but also because it is healthful.

When you hear the word “cinnamon,” what probably comes to your mind are images of cinnamon rolls, cinnamon buns, cinnamon sugar, cinnamon swirls, cinnamon twists, cinnamon cake and the like. In other words, cinnamon conjures up “sweet” and “fatty” goodies. It’s a no-no for diabetic and figure conscious people. While this may be true, cinnamon isn’t really all that bad in and of itself. As a matter of fact, cinnamon’s long history as a spice has always been associated with both cooking and, more importantly, medicinal purposes. So taken as a roll or not, cinnamon is actually good for us. Traditionally, we use cinnamon to make sweets and flavor beverages and some meat dishes. Cinnamon comes from the tree belonging to the Cinnamomum family, the

inner bark of which, when dried, is what is used as a spice. Of the several different varieties of cinnamon, the two most popular are the Ceylon cinnamon and the Cassia cinnamon. Ceylon or “true cinnamon” is slightly sweeter than Cassia, but Cassia is the common kind that we find in grocery stores and spice racks in many kitchens. Cinnamon is available either in rolled-up stick form known as quill or in ground or powdered form. Sticks usually have a shelf life of a year and ground can last for half a year. If you have cinnamon in your kitchen shelf, rest assured it can retain its flavor and scent even up to as long as four years if it’s in an airtight bottle and it’s stored in a cool and dry place. Since ancient times, cinnamon, aside from its use as a flavor enhancement, has always been known for its health and medicinal benefits. Over a span of 4,000 years, cinnamon has been recognized by ancient cultures and Egyptian, Roman, Chinese and Indian healers for its healing properties and medicinal value. Today, doctors and scientists have been conducting numerous studies and research on how cinnamon can be effective against some of

the most common health conditions we face. According to Natural Therapy Pages, “The healing abilities of cinnamon come from the three basic types of components in the essential oils found in its bark. These oils contain active components called cinnamaldehyde, cinnamyl acetate, and cinnamyl alcohol, plus a range of other volatile substances.” Used as a home remedy, cinnamon can help cure a number of afflictions. As a carminative agent and digestive aid, cinnamon can soothe the digestive system and combat diarrhea, morning sickness, nausea, bloating, wind and distension. It also contains a compound known as propanoic acid that can provide relief for stomach ulcers. Aside from its antibacterial, antifungal, and antiparasitic qualities, cinnamon also has an anti-inflammatory property that is used as traditional remedy for arthritis pain, rheumatism and muscle ache and injury. Additionally, cinnamon has an anti-clotting effect in that it prevents blood platelets from collecting and therefore improves the flow of blood that is beneficial to our cardiovascular health. On top of all that, cinnamon is also a great source of dietary fiber that can help relieve constipation and irritable bowel syndrome. What surprises me most is that, contrary to my assumption, a widely known belief about cinnamon is its healing properties, particularly its ability to help combat diabetes, particularly Type 2 diabetes. While indeed there may have been extensive studies done on this matter, so far, the results have proven to be inconclusive, as found by WebMD. “Studies on the use of cinnamon for diabetes have been mixed. But most research does not support cinnamon for treating diabetes.” Still, with all the many other health benefits that cinnamon provides, there really is no harm in taking cinnamon either way. And with cinnamon, there’s always the bonus that it makes everything taste better, in any case. Just because cinnamon is good for our health doesn’t mean we’re supposed to start taking large amounts of it, however. After all, cinnamon can be toxic in large portions. In addition, we don’t need to take a cinnamon roll or two for dessert after every meal just because

Editor: Angel R. Calso • Saturday-Sunday, December 27-28, 2025 A9

PSA registers 6,597 Iloilo seniors in mobile ID drive By Perla Lena

LOILO CITY—The Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) reported that it has registered 6,597 senior citizens in Iloilo through its house-to-house registration activities since October 1 until the middle of December this year. “PSA Iloilo is continuously implementing National ID mobile houseto-house registration activities across Iloilo to ensure that senior citizens and persons with disabilities (PWDs) who have difficulty visiting fixed registration centers are not left behind,” Iloilo Supervising Statistical Specialist Jerry Dolutan said in

an interview on Thursday. He said they are closely coordinating with local government units and other stakeholders to reach out to more sectors, particularly the elderly and PWDs, and let them know of the benefits of the National ID system. PSA Iloilo has six teams for mobile registration and two teams at

110-YEAR-OLD Jovita Aranga from Barangay Ilongbukid in San Rafael, Iloilo enlists for the National ID system through the houseto-house registration of the Philippine Statistics Authority on December 12, 2025. The house-to-house registration served 6,597 senior citizens in Iloilo from October 1 until the middle of December this year. PHOTO COURTESY OF PSA ILOILO

Borongan City octogenarians, nonagenarians get cash aid

the registration centers at its office and at SM City Iloilo. “Our mobile registration, which also includes the house-to-house registration, is ongoing until December 22. But our registration centers at PSA Office and SM City Iloilo will continue until December 29,” he said. Dolutan said they target to have at least 280 registrations daily. Meanwhile, among those enlisted through the house-to-house campaign was a 110-year-old resident of San Rafael town. A team visited Jovita Aranga at her residence in Barangay Ilongbukid in San Rafael town on December 12. “Having lived through generations marked by typewritten records and handwritten identification, Aranga’s registration symbolizes the transition to a secure, digital, and unified National ID System,” Dolutan said. PNA

Manila starts P1,000 monthly allowance for 56,000 PWDs

ESIDENTS of the City of Manila who are members of the vulnerable sector, particularly persons with disabilities (PWDs), numbering more than 56,000, will now begin to receive their monthly allowance. In a video message posted on social media, Manila Mayor Isko Moreno said the P1,000 monthly allowance for July and August is ready for release. “We started releasing the PWD allowance on December 11. We are ready to give your allowance. That’s why we are updating our obligation,” he said. A total of P55,898,000 was released by the local government unit, which will benefit 56,406 adult and minor PWDs. The city has 46,784 adult PWDs who will receive P46,699,000, and 9,622 minor PWDs, who will receive P9,199,000. “Just wait for the announcement of your barangay officials to get the said allowance,” the mayor said. PNA A SENIOR citizen receives his cash incentive in Borongan City in Eastern Samar during a cash assistance distribution on December 18, 2025. A total of 174 qualified senior citizens in the city received P10,000 each from the national government during the distribution activity. PHOTO COURTESY OF BORONGAN CITY INFORMATION OFFICE By Roel Amazona

ACLOBAN CITY—A total of 174 qualified senior citizens in Borongan City, Eastern Samar received P10,000 each in cash assistance from the national government during a distribution activity held last week. The city government, in a statement on Monday, said the assistance was granted to octogenarians and nonagenarians through the National Commission of Senior Citizens (NCSC). Beneficiaries included senior citizens who turned 80 and 85, as well as those aged 90 and 95, between March and December 2024 and from June to September 2025. The distribution was facilitated by representatives from the NCSC regional office, in coordination with the City Social Welfare and Development

Office and the Office for Senior Citizens Affairs. Barangay senior citizen presidents were also present to assist beneficiaries from their respective communities. Senior citizens who were unable to personally claim their cash gifts were allowed to authorize a family member or representative to receive the assistance on their behalf. “A centenarian also received P100,000 from the national government in accordance with Republic Act No. 10868, or the Centenarians Act of 2016, which grants additional benefits to Filipinos upon reaching the age of 100,” the city government said. In addition, the Borongan City local government unit awarded a separate cash incentive of P50,000 to the city’s centenarian pursuant to Ordinance No. 129, Series of 2017, which honors and provides additional benefits to Boronganon centenarians. PNA

MANILA City Mayor Isko Moreno in a social media post on December 11, 2025, said persons with disabilities in the city will now begin to receive their monthly allowance, amounting to P1,000 for July and August. SCREENGRAB FROM MANILA PUBLIC INFORMATION OFFICE VIDEO

Japan’s isolated elderly leave record sums to govt By Sarah Hilton & Mari Kiyohara

it has cinnamon in it. There are a number of ways we can enjoy cinnamon both for its wonderful taste and health benefits that won’t prove harmful to us in the end. Added in small, mild dosages to our everyday meals, drinks and snacks, the benefits of cinnamon can indeed go a long way in improving our general health. So, the next time you hear the word ‘cinnamon,’ you can relax instead of letting alarm bells go off in your mind. So go ahead and cinn more! Diabetic or not, it’s ok to indulge in a cinnful life.

RECORD amount in unclaimed inheritances ended up in Japanese government coffers last year, as the aging population sees soaring numbers of deaths and more people reach the end of their lives with no immediate family. About ¥129 billion ($833 million) in unclaimed assets reverted to the Japanese treasury in 2024, according to data from the Supreme Court of Japan. That’s almost four times the ¥33.6 billion registered in 2013 when records began. Japan’s trove of heirless fortunes appears to reflect twin problems: a decreasing population and isolation among the elderly. Japan’s population has been steadily contracting since around 2009. Among older

Japanese who pass away, a rising number are unmarried and without close relatives, the Japan Research Institute says. Unclaimed assets have ballooned in the past few years. “The increasing number of deaths each year could be a

factor,” said Koji Nambu, a partner at law firm Miyake & Partners. Deaths rose sharply in 2022, government data show, and have continued to surge, reaching 1.6 million last year. Japan’s relatively low rate of will preparation could also play a part,

Nambu added. Succession challenges are plaguing Japan more broadly. Abandoned homes, known as akiya, are perhaps the most visible sign. Around 9 million akiya stand unoccupied, left by heirless owners or relatives who don’t want the financial burden of upkeep. With marriage rates dropping, the lack of heirs can be linked to a lack of blood relatives and the weakening of family ties, said Makiko Okamoto, deputy chief researcher at JRI. The country’s population pyramid shows swelling numbers of older generations at the top who need increasing levels of care. “Supporting one’s closest relatives is often all people can do,” Okamoto says. “It’s important for elderly people without family to entrust their wishes to someone in advance.” Bloomberg

A10 Saturday-Sunday, December 27-28, 2025 • Editor: Gerard S. Ramos

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The rise of deepfake cyberbullying poses a growing problem for schools PHOTO BY EMILIANO VITTORIOSI ON UNSPLASH

BY HEATHE� HOLLINGSWO�TH The Associated Press

CHOOLS are facing a growing problem of students using artificial intelligence to transform innocent images of classmates into sexually explicit deepfakes. The fallout from the spread of the manipulated photos and videos can create a nightmare for the victims. The challenge for schools was highlighted this fall when AI-generated nude images swept through a Louisiana middle school. Two boys ultimately were charged, but not before one of the victims was expelled for starting a fight with a boy she accused of creating the images of her and her friends. “While the ability to alter images has been available for decades, the rise of A.I. has made it easier for anyone to alter or create such images with little to no training or experience,” Lafourche Parish Sheriff Craig Webre said in a news release. “This incident highlights a serious concern that all parents should address with their children.” Here are key takeaways from AP’s story on the rise of AI-generated nude images and how schools are responding.

MORE STATES PASS LAWS TO ADDRESS DEEPFAKES

THE prosecution stemming from the Louisiana middle school deepfakes is believed to be the first under the state’s new law, said Republican state Sen. Patrick Connick, who authored the legislation. The law is one of many across the country taking aim at deepfakes. In 2025, at least half the states enacted legislation addressing the use of generative AI to create seemingly realistic, but fabricated, images and sounds, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. Some of the laws address simulated child sexual abuse material. Students also have been prosecuted in Florida and Pennsylvania and expelled in places like California. One fifth grade teacher in Texas also was charged with using AI to create child pornography of his students.

DEEPFAKES BECOME EASIER TO CREATE AS TECHNOLOGY EVOLVES

DEEPFAKES started as a way to humiliate political opponents and young starlets. Until the past few years, people needed some technical skills to make them realistic, said Sergio Alexander, a research associate at Texas Christian University who has written about the issue. “Now, you can do it on an app, you can download it on social media, and you don’t have to have any technical expertise whatsoever,” he said. He described the scope of the problem as staggering. The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children said the number of AI-generated

“THE Girl with Golden Kite,” Kyaw Thu, OPPO Find X8 Ultra

OPPO ANNOUNCES GLOBAL WINNERS OF 2025 PHOTOGRAPHY AWARDS

child sexual abuse images reported to its cyber tipline soared from 4,700 in 2023 to 440,000 in just the first six months of 2025.

EXPERTS FEAR SCHOOLS AREN’T DOING ENOUGH

SAMEER HINDUJA, the co-director of the Cyberbullying Research Center, recommends that schools update their policies on AI-generated deepfakes and get better at explaining them. That way, he said, “students don’t think that the staff, the educators are completely oblivious, which might make them feel like they can act with impunity.” He said many parents assume that schools are addressing the issue when they aren’t. “So many of them are just so unaware and so ignorant,” said Hinduja, who is also a professor in the School of Criminology and Criminal Justice at Florida Atlantic University. “We hear about the ostrich syndrome, just kind of burying their heads in the sand, hoping that this isn’t happening among their youth.”

TRAUMA FROM AI DEEPFAKES CAN BE PARTICULARLY HARMFUL

AI DEEPFAKES are different from traditional bullying because instead of a nasty text or rumor, there is a video or image that often goes viral and then continues to resurface, creating a cycle of trauma, Alexander said. Many victims become depressed and anxious, he said. “They literally shut down because it makes it feel like, you know, there’s no way they can even prove

that this is not real—because it does look 100 percent real,” he said.

PARENTS ARE ENCOURAGED TO TALK TO STUDENTS

PARENTS can start the conversation by casually asking their kids if they’ve seen any funny fake videos online, Alexander said. Take a moment to laugh at some of them, like Bigfoot chasing after hikers, he said. From there, parents can ask their kids, “Have you thought about what it would be like if you were in this video, even the funny one?” And then parents can ask if a classmate has made a fake video, even an innocuous one. “Based on the numbers, I guarantee they’ll say that they know someone,” he said. If kids encounter things like deepfakes, they need to know they can talk to their parents without getting in trouble, said Laura Tierney, who is the founder and CEO of The Social Institute, which educates people on responsible social media use and has helped schools develop policies. She said many kids fear their parents will overreact or take their phones away. She uses the acronym SHIELD as a roadmap for how to respond. The “S” stands for “stop” and don’t forward. “H” is for “huddle” with a trusted adult. The “I” is for “inform” any social media platforms on which the image is posted. “E” is a cue to collect “evidence,” like who is spreading the image, but not to download anything. The “L” is for “limit” social media access. The “D” is a reminder to “direct” victims to help. “The fact that that acronym is six steps I think shows that this issue is really complicated,” she said.

Tomb Raider set for old and new adventures BY PATRICK VILLANUEVA BELOVED British adventurer and archeologist Lara Croft is set to journey on adventures this coming 2026 and 2027 with back to back games, with one of the games delving on nostalgia with its retelling. During the Game Awards at Peacock Theater in Los Angeles, California, “Tomb Raider” developer

IMAGE from the soon-to-be-released “Tomb Raider: Legacy of Atlantis”

Crystal Dynamics announced “Tomb Raider: Legacy of Atlantis” and “Tomb Raider: Catalyst” to be their next installments for the franchise. “Tomb Raider: Legacy of Atlantis” (2026) will be a retelling of the original “Tomb Raider” game first published in 1996, 30 years after its initial release. The story follows Lara as she explores cities lost to time to find scattered pieces of Scion—an artifact said to have immeasurable power. The first game was released on a Sega Saturn, now re-releasing with modern graphics and a fresh take of the iconic game that will merge its fans’ love for nostalgia but with a more advanced level of play. Meanwhile, in “Tomb Raider: Catalyst (2027),” Lara will be visiting beneath the fractured landscape of Northern India to discover ancient secrets before the world’s most notorious hunters use it for their own game. In the collision of the modern and ancient world, Lara will have to decide who to trust to prevent a calamity. During a post awards interview, posted by Video Games Chronicler, a news outlet for gaming updates, head of studios for Crystal Dynamics Scot Amos said that “Legacy of Atlantis” is “a love letter by fans, all of us, for fans.”

“Looking at the opportunity we had with this, we knew the 30th anniversary was coming up and wanted to do something special to both celebrate that moment, but still pay an honor to all of Core Design’s original DNA and intent from this amazing title that launched the franchise,” he added. Crystal Dynamics game director Will Kerslake explained that the two Lara Crofts will be different adventurers of the same character. “‘Legacy of Atlantis’ is a reimagining of that original game.... Meanwhile, ‘Tomb Raider: Catalyst’ is a brand-new adventure, it’s the top-of-her-game, experienced Lara Croft. So it is the same character, but at two distinct periods in her life.” British actor Alix Wilton Regan will take over the role of Lara Croft, replacing Camilla Luddington. She is best known in her video game roles from the Female Inquisitor in “Dragon Age: Inquisition,” Alt Cunningham in “Cyberpunk 2077,” and Aya in “Assassin’s Creed: Origins.” The game will be published by Amazon Game Studios. Both games are expected to be available for PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X|S. No official announcement has been made yet for Nintendo Switch.

GLOBAL tech brand OPPO has announced the global winners of the 2025 OPPO Photography Awards, its annual international competition celebrating creativity, storytelling, and the power of mobile photography. The 2025 edition attracted nearly 2 million entries from 87 countries, making it the largest in the contest’s history. Winning works were showcased at the global finale in Cairo, Egypt, on December 18, 2025, bringing together creators from around the world. “Mobile photography is more than a tool—it has become a global stage for creative voices,” said Ling Liu, OPPO Overseas CMO. “Through the OPPO Photography Awards, we aim to support creators, let their perspectives be seen worldwide, and inspire audiences to discover the extraordinary in everyday life—the true essence of ‘Super Every Moment.’” This year, 10 photographers were honored with Gold, Silver, and Bronze Awards for their exceptional visual narratives. This year’s Gold Award goes to boooya for “Dialect—The Fading Voice,” a compelling visual project that transforms an auditory cultural crisis into powerful imagery. Through a series of mobile photographs, the creator documents the fragile present and uncertain future of dialect culture—from traditional opera performances to scenes revealing the widening linguistic gap between generations. The series stands out for f its conceptual clarity and emotional resonance. The jury highlighted its social importance: “The disappearance of language is the disappearance of culture.” In recognition of boooya’s outstanding work and thoughtful artistry, the grand prize comprises USD 25,000 along with OPPO’s latest flagship devices to support his creative work. Together, this year’s top works reflect the humanistic depth, cultural insight, and technical finesse that mobile photography can now achieve. As one judge remarked, “I’m impressed by all of the photographers’ remarkable control over the frame and rich spectrum of emotions their works evoked. It is a pure delight for me to experience all the entries, and almost hard to believe they were captured with a mobile phone camera.” The 2025 OPPO Photography Awards introduced expanded submission categories, covering moments from fleeting beauties to profound human connections. This year, 60 photographers were recognized across Category Awards, as well as the newly added Honorable Mention, Audience’s Choice, and Regional Award, reflecting OPPO’s commitment to highlight global creative talent and provide a platform for their voices to be seen worldwide. This year’s diverse perspectives reaffirm OPPO’s view that meaningful stories are found in everyday life—and that mobile photography is a powerful way for people to express themselves and preserve what matters. Powered by the LUMO Image Engine, OPPO devices deliver more natural rendering of light, depth and detail, enabling creators to tell stories that feel intuitive, human, and true to life. Now in its third year, the OPPO Photography Awards has grown into a global stage that not only recognizes distinctive visual narratives but also supports emerging creative voices. To learn more about this year’s winning works and about the OPPO Photography Awards, more information can be found at lumo.oppo.com/en.

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Editor: Gerard S. Ramos • Saturday-Sunday, December 27-28, 2025

Up your Christmas shopping game with AI tools BY KELVIN CHAN AND ANNE D’INNOCENZIO The Associated Press

HOPPING assistant chatbots were a novelty a year ago. Now, they’re everywhere. After rolling out AI-powered assistants, online retailers and tech companies have been adding more artificial intelligence features to make online shopping easier and more convenient. The latest crop of AI-powered shopping services and tools made their debut in recent weeks, just in time to kick off the holiday shopping season. Here’s a rundown of existing and newly released AI services that can help with your search for the perfect gift in the run-up to Christmas:

RETAIL CHATBOTS

AMAZON led the way by rolling out its Rufus chatbot in 2024. Other ecommerce websites followed with their own AI assistants to enhance the online shopping experience. Walmart’s Sparky chatbot is available on the retail giant’s app and can synthesize reviews or offer product recommendations based on occasions, such as Christmas. Target recently unveiled a gift finder chatbot on its app, but it’s only available for the holiday season. Ralph Lauren partnered with Microsoft on the “Ask Ralph” chatbot to provide style recommendations. The aim of deploying chatbots is to make it easier for people to find what they’re looking for. Instead of entering search terms and keywords, you can type or use voice dictation for a conversational back-and-forth. The results, in my experience, can be mixed. I tried Rufus recently to find a replacement aftermarket stainless steel pot for my rice cooker, as well as a protective trivet for my kitchen sink faucet. In both cases, the results weren’t quite right and didn’t seem to capture the wide range of products available. Sometimes the results were completely unsuitable. I ended up doing a more painstaking search of product listings’ pictures and specifications to find the right items. The problem, I suspect, is partly because I was looking for generic products. Searches for name-brand products may produce better results.

AI-POWERED BUYING ADVICE

PERHAPS you don’t want to limit yourself to a single retailer’s website in your Christmas shopping search. Or you’re not sure where exactly to find that perfect gift. Tech platforms have rolled out AI-powered shopping tools that can cast a wider net by searching multiple sites. OpenAI added a new “shopping research” feature to ChatGPT last week that can provide personalized buying advice for products that are heavy on detailed specs, like electronics or appliances. The feature will activate if you ask ChatGPT a shopping-related question or manually turn it on in the chat window. OpenAI says it can go beyond simple questions, such as checking a price or feature that regular ChatGPT can easily answer. Google users can get a similar experience when they use its search engine in AI Mode, which recently got a big update for shopping searches. The company says users can describe what they’re looking for as if talking to a friend and get an “intelligently organized response” based on 50 billion product listings, with pictures alongside prices, reviews and inventory info. Google added similar shopping features to its Gemini AI chatbot app for US users last month. Meanwhile, Perplexity unveiled its own shopping assistant feature last week that can tailor recommendations based on previous searches. I asked all three to find a soft cotton flannel shirt. Both ChatGPT and Perplexity asked me for specific requirements, such as budget and must-have features. ChatGPT’s response was the most detailed, with options from six brands including its top pick, and included pictures, prices and point-form summaries for each shirt. It also compiled the results into a comparison table. Results from Google, which didn’t ask follow up questions after my initial request, felt the most general. Perplexity’s results fell in between.

TRY IT ON VIRTUALLY

SO, you think you’ve found a stylish cardigan for your spouse. But you’re not sure about the silhouette or vibe. Generative AI “try on” tools let users see what a piece of clothing might look like on the wearer.

Existing virtual dressing room tools have relied on complex 3D rendering, real photoshoots and augmented reality. Often, shoppers were limited to picking a model that best fit their body type to see how clothes fit. Google is now tapping AI to allow shoppers to virtually try on garments and shoes using pictures of themselves in simple poses. Among the exceptions: accessories like hats or jewelry, bathing suits and lingerie. To use this feature, which is available through Google’s shopping desktop search and mobile app in Australia, Japan Canada and the US, just tap the “Try it on” button on a product’s photo and then add a full-length photo of yourself. You can then save the image of yourself with the tested item or share it. The original photo is also saved to your account so you don’t need to keep uploading fresh images. If you’re shopping for a gift for someone, Google says you can upload their photo, but only if you have their permission.

AI AGENTS BUY IT FOR YOU

NOW that you’ve figured out what exactly to get for those special people on your Christmas gift list, it’s time to buy. But if you want to outsource some of the legwork involved, there are “agentic AI” tools that can help. Amazon users can use an “AI agent” to buy a product on their behalf if the price falls to a desired level. Google has launched its own “agentic checkout” feature, which can automatically buy a product you’re keeping an eye on with its price-tracking feature. Google’s feature has rolled out to a small group of retailers, including Wayfair, Chewy and Quince. Both companies say they’ll always confirm with you before the AI agent makes the purchase.

Amazon is taking it a step further by allowing shoppers to buy items that aren’t in stock directly from other brands’ websites. If you see a product on the Amazon Shopping app with a “Buy For Me” button, you can buy it through the usual Amazon checkout page but the AI agent will then carry out the transaction on the other brand’s website with your encrypted payment details. The feature was in test mode but is being rolled out more widely.

AI CALLS FOR AVAILABILITY

PREFER to buy in person? It’s a good idea to make sure a bricks-and-mortar shop has the product you want before heading over. Google has launched an AI service that will call local stores to ask. It’s only available in the US for toys, electronics and health and beauty products. When doing a Google search for the product you want, add “near me” to the end of your search query. Then, if you see “Let Google Call” when scrolling through the results, you can tap the “Get started” button. Answer some questions about what you’re shopping for, whether you want updates by email or text. Google will then contact stores near your location to ask if the item is in stock. The bot works swiftly but results might be limited. When an AP reporter in New Jersey asked Google to call around about a specific Acer monitor, the agent returned quickly with a reply from a local computer repair shop that sold refurbished monitors. It appeared to ignore nearby big-box outlets selling electronics. According to Google’s text update, the local repair shop didn’t have the monitor, but did have a similarsized one—sans the other bells and whistles—for a lower price.

Sony, Anicorn partner for PlayStation Watch; sell out First PlayStation Limited Edition FOR PlayStation’s 30th year, Sony, a well-known technology brand, honors their gaming leg with collection watches, and also a First Playstation Limited Edition. Partnering with Anicorn, a watchmaker and designer company, Sony unveiled the First Playstation Limited Edition. Its design features the iconic triangle, square, circle, and cross symbol on its dial, while the hands were synonymous with the Start and Select buttons. The watch is also colored similarly to the PS1, with its matte gray and rubber strap. It has the Miyota automatic movement. The watch is housed on a 316L stainless steel, 42.8mm x 48.0mm, height 11.8mm, and exhibition caseback, and uses sapphire glass. Its running time is 42 hours on a full charge. Meanwhile, the back shows a design inspired by the PlayStation’s optical drive, along with a PS1 memory cardshaped certificate to bring back the nostalgia of its user. The item is also water-resistant for about 50 meters. The item has since been sold-out, as only 600 pieces were made available for purchase. However, in their post announcing its status, fans complained about how making

only a few made it susceptible for resellers and hoarders who will sell it at a higher price. “This is not fair for us real humans. We shouldn’t be subjected to hustlers and crooks to beat us to the punch just to resell on eBay,” a user complained. And indeed, eBay listings for a pre-sale of the watch ranged from $2,000 to $2,535, about three times its original price of $780. However, if you still want to purchase a PlayStation watch, Anicorn and PlayStation offer more than its limited edition watch as the Play Symbol collection is still up for grabs as of press time. Inspired by the console’s iconic symbols, the watch offers a Japanese Miyota 2035 Quartz movement and is housed on 316L stainless steel, diameter 39mm case, height 10.0mm, with mineral glass. It also contains floating icons with its Oil Injection Display. It is available in Dark Mode and Light Mode. It is priced at $250 and shipping for orders will begin in June 2026. More information can be found at www.anicorn-watches. com. PATRICK VILLANUEVA

WHY HOLIDAY SHOPPERS LOVE THIS PAYMENT APP

THE Christmas season is magical, but let’s be real, it can also feel overwhelming with the office parties, family reunions, and endless gift shopping. That’s where BDO Pay comes in, making payments easier and simpler. Say goodbye to cash-ins, long lines, and juggling multiple wallets. With one secure app that connects directly to your BDO accounts and cards, you can just scan, send and pay cash-free. ■ FESTIVE SHOPPING MADE EASE. Skip the stress of pulling out your wallet in crowded malls, bazaars and grocery stores. With BDO Pay, you can shop safely and pay instantly from your BDO deposit or credit card account—no need to bring cash or top up a separate digital wallet. As a special treat, you can also earn an exclusive P500 cashback when you reach a cumulative spend of P50,000 using BDO Pay from October 15, 2025 to January 15, 2026. For the Yuletide season, you can get a P500 cashback too. ■ CELEBRATE AND DINE WITH EASE. The heart of Filipino Christmas is gathering around food. From spontaneous café meetups to noche buena feasts, BDO Pay makes settling bills effortless with QR payments. Splitting the tab with loved ones is so much easier. No more scrambling for cash or computing everyone’s share. ■ SEND LOVE (AND GIFTS) INSTANTLY. Not seeing all your inaanaks this year? BDO Pay lets you send money instantly to any BDO account with zero fees. It’s perfect for e-gifts and surprise treats for kids and Gen Zs with just a few taps. You can even send a QR code through the app, so your recipient—BDO account holder or not—can easily withdraw your pamasko at any QR-enabled BDO ATM. Now’s the perfect time to simplify your payment routine. With BDO Pay, you can breeze through your shopping and travel checklist and enjoy the season hassle-free. Sign up on the BDO Pay app, or if you already have BDO Online, sign in with your existing username and password and become a smart holiday spender.

A11

A12 Saturday - Sunday, December 27 - 28, 2025

MR.DIY wins World Branding Awards for eighth consecutive year

R.DIY Group has achieved another milestone, securing its eighth consecutive win at the prestigious World Branding Awards (WBA). The brand was named “Top Home Improvement Retail Brand” in the Regional Award Category at the 18th edition of the awards organized by the World Branding Forum. This latest achievement extends MR.DIY’s award streak, which began with three National Awards from 2018 to 2020 and continued with five consecutive Regional Awards from 2021 to 2025, underscoring the brand’s growing influence and strong presence across the globe. Welcoming the award, MR.DIY Philippines Chief Executive Officer, Roselle Marisol Andaya said the recognition reinforces the brand’s unwavering commitment to delivering value-driven customer experiences. “Being recognized at the World Branding Awards for the eighth

MR.DIY continues award streak with 8th consecutive recognition at World Branding Awards. consecutive year is an incredible honor. It affirms our belief that value is not just about price; it’s about creating meaningful experiences for our customers every time they visit our stores. This award highlights that our commitment to affordability, innovation, and customer-first thinking is making a real difference across the region,” she said. “This recognition is dedicated to our people and our customers. Our team works tirelessly to serve communities across the Philippines and the region, and our customers continue to place their trust in us. We are

deeply grateful for their support, which drives us to continuously improve, grow, and deliver exceptional value,” she added. Founded in 2005 as a small hardware store in Malaysia, MR.DIY has grown into the largest home improvement retailer in Southeast Asia, operating more than 5,000 stores under multiple formats — MR.DIY, MR.TOY, and MR.DOLLAR. The Group is supported by teams across Malaysia, Thailand, Brunei, Indonesia, Singapore, the Philippines, Cambodia, India, Turkey, Spain, Vietnam, Bangladesh, Poland, and South Africa. The World Branding Awards recognizes brands from numerous countries across global, regional, and national tiers. For the 2024 to 2025 edition, over 927 brands from 66 countries were nominated. Winners were determined through brand valuation, consumer market research, and public online voting. This year’s ceremony was held at the Osaka Museum of Fine Arts, Japan, where winning brands from around the world were celebrated for excellence in branding and consumer trust. For more information, visit www.mrdiy. com/ph/ and follow MR.DIY on social media: Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ mrdiyPH/ Instagram: https://www. instagram.com/mrdiy.philippines/ TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@mrdiy.philippines

Pets Date Night celebrates the next level bond between families, their pets

Pets steal the spotlight in bohemian-chic, Coachella-inspired costumes at the returning Holitails Pawchella, delighting the crowd and showcasing the joy and connection that define their special bond at Boehringer Ingelheim’s Pets Date Night.

ETS Date Night, Boehringer Ingelheim’s signature event, celebrates the special bond between pets and their families and highlights the importance of preventive care in keeping pets healthy year-round. Now in its fifth year, the celebration showcases the joy pets bring to Filipino households while reinforcing responsible pet ownership and preventive pet healthcare. This year’s event offered families more ways to learn and connect, featuring educational talks, carnival games, free treats, a pet fashion show, veterinary check-ups, interactive activities, lively performances, and a captivating light show. The event also advanced animal welfare through partnerships with Animal Kingdom Foundation and CARA Welfare Philippines, organizations dedicated to community education, humane sheltering, and the adoption of rescued animals.

“Pets Date Night is more than a celebration; it’s a platform to champion responsible pet care, educate families, and nurture a culture where pets are truly valued. At Boehringer Ingelheim, we are committed to supporting families in caring for their pets and building healthier, happier communities.” said Dr. Michael Banawa, Head of Animal Health, Boehringer Ingelheim Animal Health Philippines Inc. Filipino families share their homes with an estimated 21.3 million dogs and 2.74 million cats, with about 48.3 percent caring for at least one companion animal. As the pet population grows, pets play an increasingly meaningful role in family life, offering companionship and everyday joy. Ensuring their health through timely vaccinations, regular veterinary check-ups, and comprehensive parasiticides protects both pets and the communities around

them, making responsible preventive care one of the most effective ways to keep pets healthy and happy. At the heart of the celebration, free veterinary check-ups and expert guidance reminded families that year-round parasite protection supports the health and wellbeing of pets and helps keep communities safe. Dr. Ross Banayo, Technical Manager, Companion Animals, Boehringer Ingelheim Animal Health Philippines, Inc., reinforced this message by explaining that regular parasite prevention with the most complete parasite protection helps protect pets and prevents diseases from spreading in homes and communities. “Healthy pets build healthier communities, and it all starts with preventive care,” said Dr. Banawa. “By prioritizing vaccinations, regular veterinary visits, and year-round parasite protection, families help ensure their pets’ long-term health, happiness, and well-being.” Among the event’s highlights were the well-loved “pawricature” sessions that captured pets’ personalities through art, along with a range of carnival games. A key highlight was the returning Holitails Pawchella, where pets stole the spotlight in bohemian chic and Christmas inspired costumes and showcased their bond with their guardians. Entertainment filled the venue with energy and laughter, featuring a live performances and captivating acrobats shows. Through Pets Date Night, Boehringer Ingelheim continues to champion responsible pet care and support Filipino families in building healthy, joyful, and lasting relationships with their pets. This holiday season, give your pets the gift of health, prioritize regular vet checkups, comprehensive parasite protection, and preventive care all year-round – because next-level bonds begin with the most complete parasite protection.

Tagaytay Midlands Golf Club hosts the Annual President’s Cup presented by BingoPlus

INGOPLUS, the country’s leading digital entertainment platform, sponsored the annual President’s Cup, which celebrated the strengthened vision between the two renowned golf courses in the country. The President’s Cup is an official sporting event of the Tagaytay Midlands Golf Club in Talisay, Batangas, and the Tagaytay Highlands Golf Club in Cavite City. This year, the tourney took place at the Tagaytay Midlands from November 27 to 29, 2025 that commemorated its community and successful partnership. Adding flair to the competition, BingoPlus gave out exclusive souvenirs to tournament goers and guests, such as golf caps, golf balls, umbrellas, and arm sleeves that served as remembrance for a memorable gathering. Moreover, a thriving sports community is part of the brand’s core advocacies. The brand believes that sports is one of the factors that unites the country, and the President’s Cup is a prime example of what a unified body with a single goal can do. In light of this, BingoPlus will continue to support sporting events that will allow Filipinos to strive for the better while creating stronger and healthier collaboration towards the future.Caption: The 2025 President’s Cup held at the Tagaytay Midlands Golf Club.

PDRF Board Members with Manuel Pangilinan (MPIC), Jaime Augusto Zobel de Ayala (Ayala Corporation), Sabin Aboitiz (Aboitiz Equity Ventures), Doris Magsaysay-Ho (Magsaysay Maritime Corporation), Edgar Chua (Makati Business Club), June Cheryl Cabal-Revilla (MPIC), and former Public Works Secretary Rogelio Singson, PDRF Executives Butch Meily (President), Guillermo Luz (Chief Resilience Officer), Veronica Gabaldon (Executive Director), and Arnel Capili (Operations Center Director); and Official NDRRMC Liaison and Former Environment Secretary Toni Yulo-Loyzaga.

Top corporate CEOs support private sector disaster resilience efforts

OARD Members of the Philippine Disaster Resilience Foundation (PDRF), led by the Ayala Corporation Chairman Jaime Augusto Zobel de Ayala, Metro Pacific Investment Corporation (MPIC) Chairman, President, and CEO Manuel V. Pangilinan, and Aboitiz Group of Companies CEO Sabin Aboitiz, convened for PDRF’s annual Board Meeting in Makati City to discuss impacts of recent typhoons and earthquakes and PDRF’s response and recovery efforts for the affected areas. To bolster response efforts for recent disasters, PDRF mobilized over P20.7 million in assistance, reaching more than 20,000 affected families. This was made possible through the support of PDRF member companies; local and international private sector and nonprofit partners; US-Philippines Society; overseas Filipino groups such as the Philippine Humanitarian Coalition, the National Federation of Filipino American Associations, and the Wexford Filipino Community in Ireland; and various donors, including Loida Lewis of TLC Beatrice, who organized fundraisers in New York, and Henry Howard of U.S. Education Finance. PDRF deployed response teams to provide immediate aid to different parts of the country hit by disasters including La Union (Typhoons Crising, Dante, and Emong), Masbate (Typhoon Opong), Cebu and Davao (Typhoon Tino and earthquakes), and the most recent, in Aurora and Catanduanes (Super Typhoon Uwan). PDRF is now shifting to support the recovery of these areas, prioritizing the rehabilitation of schools and health centers, and providing temporary shelter and shelter repair kits to displaced families. Exclusive and Official Liaison of the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) Chairperson to the Private Sector and former Environment

Secretary Toni YuloLoyzaga and former Public Works Secretary, former Independent Commission for Infrastructure member, and PDRF Board Member Rogelio Singson also joined the meeting. They shared insights on current government programs and strategies for disaster preparedness, particularly flood mitigation, and discussed how the private sector can support these initiatives. The meeting also highlighted significant progress across several disaster preparedness initiatives, including emergency communications, early warning systems, water resilience, and airport preparedness. The Board discussed the importance of investments in disaster resilience and the enhancements to the Emergency Operations Center aimed at expanding and improving its disaster preparedness and response capabilities. PDRF Chairman Cardinal Tagle, who was unable to join the meeting, sent a message underscoring shared responsibility in addressing impacts of disasters. “Disasters are happening everywhere in the world. A comprehensive approach is needed that involves scientists, academics, governments, businesses, faith groups, families, schools, youth, social media, and most especially the poor. No one sector, no one country has a monopoly of data and can provide all the answers.” Other PDRF Board Members include June Cheryl Cabal-Revilla (MPIC), Edgar Chua (Makati Business Club), Jose Victor Emmanuel De Dios (Manila Water Company), Ronnie Aperocho (MERALCO), Jose Maria Lorenzo Tan (World Wide Fund), Doris Magsaysay Ho (Magsaysay Maritime Corporation), Federico Lopez (First Gen Corporation), Lorelie Quiambao Osial (Pilipinas Shell Petroleum Corporation), Rene Meily (PDRF), and Gareth McGeown (Coca-Cola Europacific Aboitiz Philippines).

Tyger Brands Names Joerg Gruenewald as Chief Financial Officer Amid Southeast Asia Expansion

YGER Brands, the Southeast Asiabased company behind fast-growing pet wellness brands Dr. Shiba and Prof. Bengal, has appointed Joerg Gruenewald as its new Chief Financial Officer (CFO), reinforcing its leadership team as it scales across the region and expands into international markets. Gruenewald brings over 15 years of experience in finance, operations, and strategy, with a background spanning structured derivatives in Germany, real estate development in the U.S., and executive roles in logistics and retail across Southeast Asia. He most recently served as CFO of DALI Everyday Grocery, where he helped grow the Philippines’ first harddiscount grocery chain from startup to over 900 stores in less than five years. He also led global finance and treasury operations at Royal Cargo, a multinational logistics provider headquartered in Manila. “Joerg brings deep operational experience and a thoughtful approach to financial leadership,” said Philipp Renner, Co-Founder and CEO of Tyger Brands. “His deep understanding of retail consumer businesses in Southeast Asia is unmatched, and he knows exactly what it takes to build sustainable systems while supporting fast growth.” “As we enter this next stage of expansion, having a financial leader who understands the operational realities of high-growth retail is crucial,” added Tim Michael, CoFounder and COO of Tyger Brands. “Joerg’s track record proves he can bridge the gap between strategy and execution, which is exactly what we need right now.” At Tyger Brands, Gruenewald will oversee financial planning, capital structure, and international expansion initiatives across the company’s multibrand portfolio. His appointment comes at a time of steady momentum for the company’s flagship brand Dr. Shiba, which now operates in six countries, including the Philippines, Thailand, Indonesia, Singapore, Malaysia, and the UK, and has served over three million pet parents since its launch in 2022. “Tyger Brands has built something rare, a business that’s growing quickly, but with discipline and purpose,” said Gruenewald. “I’m excited to help guide the next phase of that journey.” The company also recently launched

Philipp Renner, Co-Founder and CEO of Tyger Brands (left), stands with new Chief Financial Officer Joerg Gruenewald (right) at the launch of Prof. Bengal. new products under its cat-focused brand Prof. Bengal, including the Philippines’ first functional paste treats for cats and its Kind Kibble formulation developed for feline nutrition. The line debuted last month and marks the latest expansion of Tyger Brands’ science-backed product lineup. The company also continues to drive brand awareness through key partnerships, including its collaboration with brand ambassador Liza Soberano to advocate for pet wellness in the Philippines. Tyger Brands currently sells its products both online via dr-shiba.com, Lazada, Shopee, TikTok Shop, and through more than 1,500 retail locations. The company has grown without relying on traditional venture capital, choosing instead to reinvest cash flow to fund its expansion and product development. Gruenewald’s appointment comes as Tyger Brands prepares for its next stage of growth: expanding into new product categories, deepening retail partnerships, and entering additional markets. The company remains focused on building trusted, science-backed wellness brands that deliver real value to pet parents across Southeast Asia and beyond.

Tourism&Entertainment BusinessMirror

Tourism Editor: Edwin P. Sallan

Saturday-Sunday, December 27-28, 2025 A13

LIKE WALKING INTO A TIME WARP Splitting time in Zagreb & Split, Croatia EXPLORING Diocletian’s Palace is like walking into a time warp.

SPLIT has a historic and lovely old town.

ST. MARK’S Church is the most recognizable landmark in Zagreb.

TAKE a break in one of the cafes and restaurants along Tkalciceva Street.

Story & photos by Joshua Berida

’VE read and heard good things about Croatia; its beautiful seascapes, historic streets and buildings, and laid-back vibe. I was fortunate enough to visit this wonderful country during one of my trips to Europe. I started my trip in Zagreb after crossing the border from Vienna, Austria then worked my way south to Split.

Sights around the Capital MANY visitors heap praises on the country’s beautiful coastline and charming towns and cities lining it. However, the capital has plenty to offer all sorts of travelers. I spent a few days exploring Zagreb and was pleasantly surprised at what it has to offer. It might not have the glitzy financial

and entertainment hubs of many bigger European capitals, but it has the old world charm to mesmerize visitors. Gornji Grad and Donji Grad (Upper and Lower Town) are the districts you’ll most likely spend the most time in during your stay in Zagreb. Start your walking tour around Gornji Grad where you’ll see historic streets and

Sagada is “expensive”… Story & photos by John Eiron R. Francisco

‘S

AGADA is expensive…” That’s what people always say, and eventually, it became the idea I carried with me before the trip. But how can you really understand what that means if you haven’t experienced it yourself? After all, spending is subjective. It depends on what you value, how you choose to spend your time, and what you’re willing to trade for an experience. Some people spend on convenience, others on comfort. Some spend money, others spend patience. Getting to Sagada already asks a lot. This landlocked mountain town, tucked deep in the Cordilleras, doesn’t come easy. From Manila, it is roughly a 12-hour ride, long, exhausting, and at times uncomfortable. The roads are narrow, the curves sharp, and there are stretches where fog limits your view to just a few meters ahead. The tires rattle over uneven asphalt, and the wind whips through the passes as if reminding you that this is no ordinary journey. There were moments on the road when I wondered why I even signed up, when the bends seemed endless, the fog impenetrable, and every mile tested my patience. By the time I arrived, my body ached from hours of sitting and my mind felt drained from anticipation. My first thought was simple: this better be worth it. But then I stayed. And slowly, almost quietly, I realized I had misunderstood what “expensive” really meant. In Sagada, nothing feels rushed. Morn-

ings are quiet, wrapped in fog and cold air. People don’t seem to hurry. Coffee is meant to be enjoyed, not gulped down on the way to somewhere else. There’s no pressure to constantly check your phone, partly because the signal is weak, but mostly because you just don’t feel the need to. Life here moves at its own pace, and somehow, you adjust without trying too hard. You start noticing small things: the sound of footsteps on stone roads, the scent of pine trees, and the way locals go about their day as if time were infinite. One thing that stood out is how straightforward the residents are. Their honesty is practical, grounded in common sense, a sharp contrast to the constant over-explaining we often encounter in city life. Even as a tourist, you quickly learn to respect their way of life. Everything here feels sacred. The people value their culture, their traditions, and their community, and visitors are expected to honor that. While Sagada draws tourists, it never feels loud or intrusive. It asks for respect in exchange for a genuine experience, and in doing so, it teaches you something about presence and mindfulness. Conversations feel lighter. Days feel longer, not because there’s so much to do, but because you’re actually present for them. It’s the kind of place that quietly makes you pause. Sagada doesn’t try to impress you with grand displays of flashy attractions. Instead, it gives you space to breathe, to think, to slow down. And in doing so, it reminds you how noisy and exhausting life can be when everything is moving too fast.

TAKE leisurely strolls along the city’s promenade.

THE historic Stone Gate is a relic of the medieval past. landmarks. One of the most recognizable buildings in this part of the city is St. Mark’s Church. Its colorful roof dates to the late 19th century but the church itself dates to the 13th century. The roof has the coat of arms of Slavonia, Croatia and Dalmatia, and Zagreb’s emblem. St. Mark’s Church is Gornji Grad’s centerpiece but the area is a delightful place to explore with old buildings and churches lining its streets. Its also the best spot to get overlooking views of the city. You can’t miss the Zagreb Cathedral during your visit. This centuries old towering piece of architecture is a vestige of the 13th century. Tkalciceva Street is a bustling spot where you can check out the city’s cafes, restaurants, and a few shops. The Stone Gate is another medieval relic that dates to the 13th century and has survived the test of time and a fire in the 18th century. Like many of the European cities I’ve been to, Zagreb has a main square

SOAK in the lovely views you’ll see in Split.

THE beautiful Zagreb Cathedral

where locals and visitors alike congregate. The Ban Jelacic Square dates to the 17th century, but before it got its current name, it used to be just a local market. Its namesake Count Josip Jelacic is an important historical figure in Croatia. For political reasons, the statue was temporarily removed from the square when the country was part of Yugoslavia. However, the local authorities returned it to the square after the fall and collapse of Yugoslavia. From someone that was born and raised in a big and crowded city, Zagreb felt more relaxed. One can spend a few days in it without feeling rushed. It’s also a convenient transportation hub to visit nearby countries or explore other parts of Croatia.

Lovely Split CROATIA is famous for its coastal cities and towns. I had the privilege to visit a handful when I was traveling around the country. One of my stops

BAN Jelacic Square

was Split, the second largest city in the country. Despite being the second largest city, Split felt like a getaway destination with its old world charm, stunning seascapes, and beautiful architecture. Fans of the hit show Game of Thrones make their way to this part of Croatia because the city is one of its filming locations. Diocletian’s Palace is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and is a popular attraction. Emperor Diocletian had this Roman-era palace constructed between 295 to 305 AD. What you’ll see now are vestiges of its former glory. Other than a palace, it served as a sea fort. It has quarters for servants, slaves, and guards, imperial apartments, a Temple of Jupiter, courts, and a mausoleum. Centuries after his death, Diocletian’s mausoleum was converted into the Cathedral of St. Domnius. This turn of events is ironic because Emperor Diocletian persecuted Christians during his reign. The

palace is an ancient complex that represents the rich cultural and historical heritage of Croatia. Most attractions in Split are within the boundaries of the old town. The narrow streets lined with cafes, shops and restaurants add to its atmospheric ambiance. It’s like walking into a time warp and catching a glimpse of the city’s Roman epoch. Split is the kind of place where you soak in the ambiance instead of ticking off places to visit. The Riva Harbor is the spot where you can take long leisurely strolls, grab something to eat, people watch, and wait for boats that will take you to one of the islands. This picturesque thoroughfare is the beating heart of Split’s old town. I went to other towns and cities in Croatia during this trip to Europe. The time I spent in both Zagreb and Split provided a mix of culture and history that made me want to return for more and to discover more of what the country has to offer.

That’s when it hit me.

SAGADA is expensive because it asks you to give up convenience. To let go of speed, constant updates, and the need to always be “on.” In return, it offers something harder to find these days: silence, simplicity, and the time that feels like it’s actually yours. Perhaps that’s why they call it “Sagada cursed.” Once you’ve been, once you’ve felt the calm and clarity it offers, the noise and rush of daily life will always pull you back there in your mind. You’ll find yourself searching for the rare, fleeting moments of peace that only this mountain town can give. Some say Sagada is for those seeking to move on—from past relationships, yes, while it helps—but truly, it’s for everyone. It offers a break from routines, from parts of yourself that no longer fit, and from the constant noise of life. The ambiance here gently nudges you to think, reflect, and simply be. And yet, Sagada is not just a feeling, it is also a place full of experiences waiting to be discovered. You can visit Sagada Pottery and experience the local weaving traditions, or admire St. Mary’s Chapel and the famous hanging coffins at Sagada Cemetery. Nature lovers will enjoy Marlboro Hills, Eco Valley, Sumaguing Cave and glimpses of the UNESCO-listed Banaue Rice Terraces along the way to and from the town. For food and local treats, spots like Lemon Pie House, Sagada Brew, Yogurt House, and Honesty Clay Wine House provide both sustenance and a taste of the town’s charm, among other hidden gems. Yet, for all the sights, sounds, and flavors, the heart of Sagada lies beyond explanation. It is something that must be felt— something words can never fully contain. And that is what makes it truly priceless.

The World

A14 Saturday-Sunday, December 27-28, 2025

Editor: Angel R. Calso

Japan approves record defense budget that aims to deter China By Mari Yamaguchi

The Associated Press

OKYO—Japan’s Cabinet on Friday approved a record defense budget plan exceeding 9 trillion yen ($58 billion) for the coming year, aiming to fortify its strike-back capability and coastal defense with cruise missiles and unmanned arsenals as tensions rise in the region. The draft budget for fiscal 2026 beginning April is up 9.4% from 2025 and marks the fourth year of Japan’s ongoing five-year program to double annual arms spending to 2% of gross domestic product. The increase comes as Japan faces elevated tension from China. Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi said in November that her country’s military could get involved if China were to take action against Taiwan, the self-governing island that Beijing says must come under its rule. Takaichi’s government, under US pressure for a military increase, pledged to achieve the 2% target by March, two years earlier than planned. Japan also plans to revise the ongoing security and defense policy by December 2026 to further strengthen its military.

Missiles and drones will add to southwestern island defense

JAPAN has been bolstering its offensive capability with long-range missiles to attack enemy targets from a distance, a major break from its post-World War II principle limiting the use of force to own self-defense. The current security strategy, adopted in 2022, names China as the country’s biggest strategic challenge and calls for a more offensive role for Japan’s SelfDefense Force under its security alliance with the US. The new budget plan allocates more than 970 billion yen ($6.2

billion) to bolster Japan’s “standoff” missile capability. It includes a 177 billion-yen ($1.13 billion) purchase of domestically developed and upgraded Type-12 surface-toship missiles with a range of about 1,000 kilometers (620 miles). The first batch of the Type-12 missiles will be deployed in Japan’s southwestern Kumamoto prefecture by March, a year earlier than planned, as Japan accelerates its missile buildup in the region. In part due to Japan’s aging and declining population and its struggles with an understaffed military, the government believes unmanned weapons are essential. To defend the coasts, Japan will spend 100 billion yen ($640 million) to deploy “massive” unmanned air, sea-surface and underwater drones for surveillance and defense under a system called “SHIELD” planned for March 2028, defense ministry officials said. For speedier deployment, Japan initially plans to rely mainly on imports, possibly from Turkey or Israel.

Tension with China grows

THE budget announcement comes as Japan’s row with China escalate following Takaichi’s remark in November that Japanese military could get involved if China were to take action against Taiwan, the self-governing island that Beijing claims as its own. The disagreement escalated

TYPE-12 surface-to-ship missile launchers are seen at the inauguration ceremony of a missile regiment of the Japan Ground Self-Defense Force in Uruma, Okinawa, southern Japan, on March 30, 2024. KYODO NEWS VIA AP

this month when Chinese aircraft carrier drills near southwestern Japan prompted Tokyo to protest when Chinese aircraft locked their radar on Japanese aircraft, which is considered possible preparation for firing missiles. The Defense Ministry, already been alarmed by China’s rapid expansion of operations in the Pacific, will open a new office dedicated to study ing operations, equipment and other necessities for Japan to deal with China’s Pacific activity. Two Chinese aircraft carriers were spotted in June almost simultaneously operating near southern Japanese island of Iwo Jima for the first time, fueling Tokyo’s concern about Beijing’s rapidly expanding military activity far beyond its borders and areas around the disputed East China Sea islands.

Japan plans joint development of frigates and jets

Japan is pushing to strengthen its largely domestic defense industry by participating in joint development with friendly nations, and promoting foreign sales, after drastically easing arms export restrictions in recent years. For 2026, Japan plans to spend more than 160 billion yen ($1 billion) to jointly develop a nextgeneration fighter jet with Britain

and Italy for deployment in 2035. There also are plans for research and development of AI-operated drones designed to fly with the jet. In a major boost to the country’s defense industry, Australia selected Mitsubishi Heavy Industries in August to upgrade Mogami-class frigate to replace its fleet of 11 ANZAC-class ships. Japan’s budget allocates nearly 10 billion yen ($64 million) to support industry base and arms sales.

Meeting targets but future funding uncertain

THE budget plan requires parliamentary approval by March to be implemented as part of a 122.3 trillion yen ($784 billion) national budget bill. The five-year defense buildup program would bring Japan’s annual spending to around 10 trillion yen ($64 billion), making it the world’s third-largest spender after the US and China. Japan will clear the 2% target by March as promised, the Finance Ministry said. Takaichi’s government plans to fund its growing military spending by raising corporate and tobacco taxes and recently adopted a plan for income tax increase beginning 2027. Prospects for future growth at a higher percentage of GDP is unclear.

Myanmar will hold first general election in 5 years as criticism of the military rule mounts By Grant Peck

The Associated Press

ANGKOK—Myanmar will hold the first phase of a general election on Sunday, its first vote in five years and an exercise that critics say will neither restore the country’s fragile democracy undone by a 2021 army takeover, nor end a devastating civil war triggered by the nation’s harsh military rule. The military has framed the polls as a return to multi-party democracy, likely seeking to add a facade of legitimacy to its rule, which began after the army four years ago ousted the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi. The takeover triggered widespread popular opposition that has grown into a civil war. The fighting has complicated holding the polls in many contested areas. Voting will be held in different parts of the country in three phases, with the second on Jan. 11 and the third on Jan. 25. Human rights and opposition groups say the vote will be neither free nor fair and that power is likely to remain in the hands of military leader Senior Gen. Min Aung Hlaing.

Critics doubt a real transition to civilian rule

RICHARD HORSEY, a Myanmar analyst for the International Crisis Group, noted that the vote is being run by the same military

KO KO GYI, chairman of the People’s Party and leader of Myanmar prominent 1988 prodemocracy uprising, speaks during the opening ceremony of campaign poster and election campaign, Nov. 19, 2025, in Yangon, Myanmar. AP/THEIN ZAW

that was behind the 2021 coup. “These elections are not credible at all,” he told The Associated Press. “They do not include any of the political parties that did well in the last election or the election before.” Horsey says the military’s strategy is for its favored Union Solidarity and Development Party to win in a landslide, shifting Myanmar from direct military rule to a government with a “civilian veneer” that perpetuates army control. That would allow the military to claim that holding the election showed progress

towards inclusiveness in the spirit of a peace proposal by the 11-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations, that calls for “constructive dialogue among all parties concerned” so they can “seek a peaceful solution in the interests of the people.” It would also provide an excuse for neighbors like China, India and Thailand to continue their support, which they contend promotes stability in Myanmar. Western nations have maintained sanc tions against Myanmar ’s ruling generals because of their anti-democratic actions and brutal war on their opponents.

The army seized power on Feb. 1, 2021, claiming the 2020 election—won in a landslide by Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy—was illegitimate because of alleged large-scale voter registration irregularities. Independent observers, however, found no major problems. On Sunday, ballots will be cast in 102 of the country’s 330 townships. Further rounds will follow on Jan. 11 and Jan. 25, leaving 65 townships where there would be no voting because of the ongoing conflict with ethnic guerrilla groups and resistance forces. Though 57 par ties have fielded candidates, most are posting candidates only in their own home states or regions. Six parties are competing nationwide and have a chance of winning enough seats to wield political power, but the rules make it likely the pro-military USDP will emerge in position to lead a new government. In total, nearly 5,000 candidates are competing for more than 1,100 seats in the two chambers of the national legislature and in state and regional legislatures, though the actual number of seats that will be filled will be less where constituencies are not voting. The Union Election Commission has yet to release the total number of eligible voters, but in 2020, there were more than 37 million.

See “Myanmar,” A15

The World

www.businessmirror.com.ph

NDAA. . . Continued from A4

China’s position

ON December 25, spokesperson Xu Dong of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the National People’s Congress (NPC) issued a statement condemning the law. He said the NDAA “continues the consistent tone of containing China, exaggerates the socalled ‘China threat,’ and crudely interferes in China’s internal affairs.” Xu urged Washington to “view China’s development and ChinaUS relations objectively and rationally”and to implement the consensus reached at the Busan summit between Chinese and US leaders. The Busan summit refers to the meeting between US President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping in Busan, South Korea, on October 30, 2025. It was their first facetoface summit of the year and was intended to stabilize ties after months of tension. The summit produced limited but symbolic agreements on trade, fentanyl, and rare earths, and both leaders pledged to maintain regular contact. n Warning Against ZeroSum Thinking:

China called on the US to abandon “zerosum thinking and ideological bias” and not to implement the NDAA’s “negative clauses involving China.” n Countermeasures Threatened: Xu warned that if the US “insists on going its own way, China will take strong measures

Cabral files. . . Continued from A4

Castro maintained they will wait for verification from the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH), before they can consider the Leviste List credible. “Unless the documents come from DPWH, we could not give the alleged ‘Cabral files’ or any list from an unknown source any probative value. It is nothing but hearsay and can be treated as mere fabricated documents,” she said.

DA. . . Continued from A4

this tool in planning, procurement, extension, market access, and enforcement systems translates increased budgets into measurable results. “ Th e s t ro n g e s t d e f e n s e a g a i n s t corruption are open data and processes, and people who care. The mistakes in DPWH must never be repeated,” Pangilinan

Myanmar. . . Continued from A14

Aung San Suu Kyi and her party are not participating

MYANMAR’S 80-year-old former leader and her party are not taking part in the election. Suu Kyi is currently serving a 27-year prison term on charges widely seen as bogus and politically motivated. Her National League party was dissolved after refusing to officially register under the new military rules. Other par ties are also boycotting the vote or have declined to run under conditions they say are unfair. Opposition

in accordance with the law to resolutely safeguard national sovereignty, security, and development interests.”

Context

THE NDAA FY2026 includes:

n Philippines: US$3.5 billion in grants

and loans for defense modernization, plus directives on EDCA site development, trilateral drills, and countercoercion measures in the South China Sea. n Taiwan: US$1 billion in defense funding, joint drone programs, cyber resilience reviews, and potential RIMPAC participation. n IndoPacific Strategy: Annual oversight, multilateral exercises, humanitarian prepositioning, and expanded regional cooperation. n Japan: Closer USJapan defense coordination to counter Chinese “gray zone” activities in the East China Sea. These clauses have been interpreted in Beijing as directly targeting China’s activities in the South China Sea, Taiwan Strait, and East China Sea. Related stories: https://businessmirror.com. ph/2025/12/24/phl-envoy-hails-usaid-expert-flags-risks/ https://businessmirror.com. ph/2025/11/01/chinas-xi-promisesto-protect-free-trade-at-apec-astrump-snubs-major-summit/ She said the burden of authenticating the list lies with Leviste after he released the said list. “He has started bragging about them, so it is his responsibility to prove their authenticity. Why should he shift his responsibility to others? We are not even aware if what he is in possession of are mere altered or fabricated documents,” Castro said. “So, before anyone speaks and accuses someone, they should substantiate their claims with verified facts and documents,” she added. Samuel P. Medenilla

Saturday-Sunday, December 27-28, 2025 A15

Former Malaysia PM Najib convicted of money laundering, abuse of power By Kok Leong Chan

ORMER Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak has been found guilty of abuse of power and money laundering in connection to the multibillion-dollar 1MDB fraud, a verdict that could stir tensions within the ruling coalition. Judge Collin Lawrence Sequerah found Najib guilty of all charges, comprising four counts of abuse of power and 21 of money laundering. Najib, already in jail due to other convictions, has consistently denied wrongdoing and can appeal or apply for a pardon. Friday’s ruling relates to 2018 charges against Najib involving roughly 2.2 billion ringgit ($544 million) tied to 1MDB. The ruling followed a lengthy summation of the evidence in which Sequerah dismissed numerous aspects of Najib’s defense and questioned the former prime minister’s credibility. In particular, the judge said it

was clear that Najib was directly connected with Jho Low, the fugitive financier believed at the center of the 1MDB scandal. “The accused was no country bumpkin, but was possessed of not only an impeccable family and political pedigree, but of superior intelligence,” Sequerah said of the former premier Friday. He said Najib used Low, who is now on the run, as a “proxy or agent” in the affairs of 1MDB. Najib, whose father was Malaysia’s second prime minister, is already serving time for crimes related to the collapse of 1MDB. On Monday he lost a bid to serve the rest of his current six-year sentence at home. Friday’s convictions could diminish the chances of a political comeback for Najib, although he retains significant influence in the United Malays National Organization, which has campaigned for his release. UMNO’s secretary-general this week said it may be time to review its support for Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim’s government after the biggest member of the coalition,

the Democratic Action Party, crowed over Najib’s failed bid for house arrest. The judge said prosecution witnesses were credible, also rejecting Najib’s “Arab donation” defense regarding millions of dollars placed in his bank account, purportedly by the Saudi royal family. The “cold hard facts” show Low’s presence and involvement in critical phases of 1MDB transac tions and an “obvious proximity and relationship” with Najib, the judge said. “The attempt by the accused to distance himself from Jho Low rang hollow in the light of the overwhelming evidence of these prosecution witnesses,” Sequerah said. Suggestions that officials below Najib “knowingly conspired” against the then-prime minister would “stretch the imagination into the realms of pure fantasy.” 1MDB was a state fund set up during Najib’s premiership before collapsing in a sprawling scandal stretching from Singapore to Switzerland. Those ensnared

in the affair included a Grammy-winning rapper and a high-profile banker, with global investigations revealing salacious details of Hollywood deals and parties with actor Leonardo DiCaprio. About $4.5 billion was allegedly lost in the scandal, which led to multiple probes across continents. The next election isn’t due until early 2028, and Najib technically can’t seek political office for five years after he leaves prison. Still, Anwar himself rose to the nation’s highest office after spending years in jail and receiving a pardon. And Mahathir Mohamad, a two-time Malaysian prime minister, was 92 when he started his second stint in office. Najib lost power in 2018 and has been in jail since 2022 for criminal breach of trust and abuse of power in connection with 1MDB. He had his original sentence halved to six years in early 2024 following royal intervention, and is due to be released in 2028. With assistance from Joy Lee and Adrian Kennedy/Bloomberg

Thailand accuses Cambodia of new attacks amid ongoing peace talks By Randy Thanthong-Knight

HAILAND claimed that Cambodia fired heavy weaponry into its territory on Friday as talks on a possible ceasefire between the two countries continued. The Cambodian action early Friday “forced the Thai side to take necessary selfdefense measures,” according to a statement published at a daily press briefing. One Thai soldier was also “severely injured” on Thursday after stepping on what Thailand said was a newly laid landmine. Both Thailand and Cambodia have blamed each other for star ting the

stressed. On the ground, the DA digital push includes platforms such as e-Kadiwa or Kadiwa Online, which links farmers directly with consumers, and the use of drones, satellite imaging, and remote sensing for crop monitoring, yield forecasting, and disaster assessment. Studies highlight the potential of digital agriculture to boost productivity, resilience, and farmer incomes. However, gaps in connectivity, devices, and digital

skills could leave smallholders behind, thus underscoring the need for inclusive e x t e n s i o n s e r v i c e s, i n f r a s t r u c t u re investments, and strong public-private partnerships. He advocated using “new tech that is also accessible and usable by the constituents of DA. If we want lower food prices and higher farmer incomes, we need data and processes that are traceable and checkable.”

groups have also called for a boycott by voters. Amael Vier, an analyst for the Asian Network for Free Elections, noted recently that Myanmar’s political parties that won 90% of the seats in 2020 no longer exist today. An Election Protection Law with harsh penalties enacted this year put even more restrictions on political activity, effectively barring all public criticism of the polls. More than 200 people have been charged for leafleting or online activity over the past few months. All this likely sets the stage for the military-backed Union Solidarity and Development Par ty to dominate the

polls—and for 69-year-old Min Aung Hlaing to take over as president.

Butch Fernandez

Repression and violence continue

THE human cost of Myanmar’s conflict has been high. According to the independent Assistance Association for Political Prisoners, more than 22,000 people are currently detained for political offenses and over 7,600 civilians have been killed by security forces since the army seized power. There are more than 3.6 million internally displaced people, most driven from their homes by warfare, marking a major humanitarian crisis.

aggression and neither accepts claims made by the other side. Talks between the two nations began on Wednesday in Thailand’s Chanthaburi province, which borders Cambodia, and are scheduled to take place until Saturday. The worst fighting in recent years stems from a decades-long standoff along the rugged border that has occasionally broken out into clashes. But with both governments now tapping into rising nationalist sentiment at home, there’s less incentive for de-escalation, raising the risk of a wider, more prolonged confrontation, according to analysts. Thailand has also tightened oil shipments to

Duterte. . . Continued from A4

Christmas eve. Others opted to come early to get a spot at the expected queue near the Taal house. Also spotted in the crowd were Bajaos, with the males still carrying their improvised drums used for carolling. The Davao City Police Office sent 59 personnel for crowd management, beefed up by 664 police personnel from other units “Myanmar is witnessing intensified violence, repression, and intimidation ahead of military-controlled elections,” the U.N. Human Rights Office said. It added that civilians are being threatened by both military authorities and armed opposition groups regarding participation. Amnesty International researcher Joe Freeman said that many fear the election will only entrench the power of those responsible for years of unlawful killings. Horsey, of the International Crisis Group, believes that after the polls, Myanmar is likely to see increased conflict as opponents attempt to prove the military still lacks popular legitimacy.

Cambodia to limit its neighbor’s ability to fight.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has called on Thailand and Cambodia to end violence and return to the US-brokered ceasefire agreement signed in October, as the two countries continue talks to end weeks of deadly clashes. He said last week that the US is “cautiously optimistic” about getting the two sides back to compliance. Rubio reiterated President Donald Trump’s desire for peace in a call with Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet, according to a statement

from the US on Thursday. “Secretary Rubio further reaffirmed that the United States is prepared to facilitate discussions to ensure peace and stability between Cambodia and Thailand,” State Department spokesperson Tommy Pigott said in the statement. Thailand and Cambodia are talking for the first time since clashes began on Dec. 7, with at least 44 people killed and more than half a million civilians displaced on both sides of the border. Five days of clashes in July ended with an initial ceasefire agreement mediated by Malaysia and the US. Bloomberg News

and 1,350 police auxiliary. Distribution of gift packs started at 5:00 am. The packs consisted of rice, canned goods, cash and gift checks. The crowd swelled to as many as 45,000 in the morning and Vice President Sara Duterte arrived later in the

morning, the police said. Police auxiliaries were seen assisting some elderly people arranging the items in the green-colored cellophane sando bags. The police said there was no untoward incident.

US urges Cambodia and Thailand to end deadly violence

Sports BusinessMirror

A16 Saturday-Sunday, December 27-28, 2025

Eumir Felix Marcial: A world title in 2026 By Josef Ramos

UMIR FELIX MARCIAL won a fifth-straight Southeast Asian Games gold medal in Bangkok to cap an explosive 2025 and send a strong message that he’s all out for the big time in the new year—a world title. “I will be focusing on my professional career next year,” Marcial told BusinessMirror on during the holiday break. “There are bigger fights coming up next year and they have something to do with a world championship.” The Asian Games in Nagoya in September are the only possible tour of duty for Marcial in 2026, making the two-

time Olympian extremely available to extend his unbeaten record which stands 7-0 since he

turned professional in 2020. The reigning World Boxing Council international middleweight king flying to the US next month to continue his professional career under the guidance of MP Promotions president Sean Gibbons. “Big things are coming for Eumir as he will go to the US by early next year to make a run for a shot at the world title,” Gibbons said. “He’s a special athlete—he ruled the SEA Games for 10 years, which no athlete has ever done before in the games.” The warrior from Zamboanga City started winning gold in the SEA Games as a welterweight in Singapore 2015 and has since blossomed into a world-class fighter he marked with a lightweight bronze medal at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics. The victory in Bangkok, where many of his teammates fell from questionable decisions, meant a lot to Marcial. “That win really helps and motivates me, it feels so good when you win the gold medal for your country,” he said. “I’m now focusing on improving my skills, my endurance, stamina, health, quickness and more punching power.” Marcial, 30 and a silver medalist at the Hangzhou 2023 Asian Games, came off a majority decision win over Eddy Colmenares of Venezuela in the “Thrilla in Manila 2” last October at the Smart Araneta Coliseum ahead of the SEA Games. One of his targets in 2026 is

EUMIR FELIX MARCIAL caps 2025 with a fifth-straight gold medal in the Southeast Asian Games and has set his sight on a bigger goal in the coming new year. POC MEDIA POOL PHOTO

ARANGAY Ginebra San Miguel flexed the muscles the Gin Kings are known for and with a 105-85 victory over Converge FiverXers on Christmas Day at the Smart Araneta Coliseum, their quarterfinals duel is down to a winner-take-all showdown this Sunday. But despite that lopsided win that negated Converge’s twice-to-beat advantage, Ginebra head coach Tim Cone is preparing his wards for their 7:30 p.m. game against a team he described as well-coached. “Coach Delta Pineda has proven himself that he knows what he is doing not only in this league, but also to the other league,” Cone said. “They will come up…and I think their young guys will try to comeback and really push hard.” “So it’s going to be different. We must continue find a way to defend them,” he added. RJ Abarrientos waxed hot with a 30-point explosion in the second half on his way to a 35-point game he highlighted with six triples on Thursday night. Sunday’s showdown is not high in Abarrientos’s mind. “Winning the sudden death is the only thing in our mind for now, that is

what matters,” he said. “We’ll play our best and be ready for their adjustments and be ready for our new defensive strategy.” Scottie Thompson tallied a triple-double of 13 points, 12 rebounds and 10 assists while Japeth Aguilar had 16 points, making them tough nuts to crack not only individually but as a team— Ginebra made 10 of their 24 three-point attempts. But again, Cone’s not about to head into the New Year owning a semifinals berth. “Every game is going to be different and that is what we are really going to emphasize [on Sunday night],” he said. “It’s not going to be the same, we know that, again, they’re well coached and have good minds.” A bounce-back game is expected from Juan Gomez de Liaño, who was limited to only nine points—way off his average of 19.30 points in the regular season that he laced with 7.6 rebounds

The Technical Part

AS a self-aware golfer, I know my swing has many flaws. While every person has a unique swing with each having it’s own quirks, there are a few “must-dos” for an efficient, repeatable swing. That is my goal for my swing: efficiency and repeatablility, especially under pressure. The biggest mistake in my swing is my tendency to cast the club. While my normal ball flight is a fade, getting handsy and casting the club (releasing the hands early and across the proper line) results in undpredictability. I can either hook, push, duck hook or hit it straight left. Not knowing where your

INOUE

Japanese stars headed for boxing showdown with victories in Saudi

RJ ABARRIENTOS—shown against Converge’s MJ Garcia—plays Santa Claus for Barangay Ginebra San Miguel on Christmas Day. PBA IMAGE

By Ken Maguire

The Associated Press

HE Floyd Mayweather Jr.-Manny Pacquiao bout happened probably five years too late. Tyson Fury and Anthony Joshua still haven’t fought. Naoya Inoue and Junto Nakatani are ready to square off now in what would be the biggest fight in Japanese boxing history—no posturing, just two top pound-forpound boxers in their prime seemingly willing to give fans what they want. Here’s the catch: They each have one more fight and need to avoid a surprise before their expected showdown. Inoue (31-0, 27 knockouts) is the undisputed super bantamweight (122 lbs) champion and the headliner Saturday in Saudi Arabia as he faces Mexico’s Alan David Picasso (32-0-1, 17 KOs). Nakatani (31-0, 24 KOs), moving up in weight to make his debut in the division, faces Sebastian Hernandez Reyes (20-0, 18 KOs)—also Mexican— on the same card, a showcase of Japanese fighters. “This is very important for Japanese boxing,” Inoue told The Associated Press through a translator. Most important for Inoue and Nakatani, though, are victories that would clear the way for a blockbuster matchup, likely in Tokyo in May. “Firstly, I have a plan to have a fight with Nakatani,” Inoue said of his goals for 2026. “Also, I have the idea that I may move up to the featherweight division.” The buildup to the Riyadh event, billed as the “Night of the Samurai,” has been as much about Inoue-Nakatani as it has about their respective opponents Saturday. At a press event last month, promoters sat Inoue and Nakatani

next to each other and made sure they were the last two off the stage during the photo session. The pair didn’t exchange chitchat or handshakes. “Personally, I have no contact or connection with him,” the 32-yearold Inoue said. “Of course, I value his boxing, that’s why I’m looking forward to fighting him.”

Inoue’s nickname is ‘Monster’

WITH the retirement of Terence Crawford plus the injury layoff of undisputed heavyweight champion Oleksandr Usyk, there’s a good argument that Inoue is now the top pound-for-pound boxer in the world. The 5-foot-5 (1.65 meter) Japanese star, a four-division champion, uses precision combinations plus elite speed and power to dismantle opponents. The Yokohama native has already fought three times this year, most recently a unanimous decision victory over Murodjon Akhmadaliev in September. In two of his past five fights, Naoya Inoue has overcome an early knockdown both times from a left hook—en route to stoppage victories. Luis Nery stunned a Tokyo Dome crowd in May 2024 when he sent Inoue to the canvas in the first round and one year later, Ramon Cardenas dropped Inoue in the second round in Las Vegas. Inoue’s promoters made sure the Las Vegas fight was on ESPN rather than pay-per-view to expose him to a wider US audience. Bob Arum, Inoue’s promoter at Top Rank, had said he wants Inoue to reach Shohei Ohtani-level fame. Inoue himself, however, isn’t so sure. “Apart from the boxing, I’m a boring person. I just focus on boxing.”

Gomez de Liano in explosive mode

JUAN GOMEZ DE LIANO’S playing big time for the FiberXers. PBA IMAGES

B CONVERGE coach Delta Pineda is doing a good job. PBA IMAGES and 7.6 assists. Justin Arana, too, wasn’t in Pineda’s system and fell in foul trouble early for a measly six points in the game that allowed the Gin Kings to avenge their 96106 loss to the FiberXers last November 14. The winner will advance to the race-to-four semifinals against defending champion San Miguel Beer, which wrapped up its quarterfinals assignment, 101-94, over NLEX also on Christmas Day. Nine-time MVP June mar Fajardo

What are your golf goals for 2026? IT’S almost 2026, and like in other aspects of life, setting golf goals for the coming year is a good way to improve—it’s a way of assessing strengths and weaknesses, creating a plan of action to address those issues and to hopefully make incremental improvements along the way. Like any endeavor, it’s counterproductive to set targets that are too big and drastic, so I’ll create smaller, more attainable goals and hopefully keep building on those. I have three areas I’d like to work on in 2026. Of course, the aim is to be able to play better golf, but I would also like to be able to not just score better, I also want to enjoy the game more. With those two main targets set, here’s how I plan to break down my 2026 golf journey:

NAKATANI

reigning WBC middleweight world champion Carlos Adames, a 31-yearold from Dominican Republic who’s holding a 24-1-1 win-loss-draw record with 18 knockouts. Marcial also needs his left knuckle to heal after it swelled in his knocked out victory over Vietnam’s Nguyen Mahn Cuong and remained in that situation in his 4-1 split decision win in his gold medal match with Indonesia’s Maikhel Muskita. Marcial won his pro debut—a four-rounder via unanimous decision— against American Andrew Whitfield in Los Angeles in December 2020 and followed it up with a fourth-round knockout against another American, Isiah Hart, in Las Vegas in April 2022. He won by unanimous decision over American Steven Pichardo October 2021 in Carson City, a few weeks after his Olympics debut in Tokyo where he got his bronze medal. Marcial returned to the ring in February 2023 and beat Ricardo Reuben Villalba of Argentina via second round knockout in San Antonio, Texas. Almost a year after, he came back home and fought Thoedsak Sinam in front of fellow Filipinos at the Ninoy Aquino Stadium last March 2024 and knocked out the Thai in the fourth round. After missing a medal in the men’s light heavyweight class at the Paris Olympics in August 2024, Marcial returned to the US and won in the undercard of the Manny PacquiaoMario Barrios last July via knocked out of American Bernard Joseph in third round.

Gin Kings, FiberXers in KO match for semis berth

mirror_sports@yahoo.com.ph | Editor: Jun Lomibao

had a monster game of 26 points, 23 rebounds,and six assists for the Beermen. The other half of the quarterfinals, meanwhile, gets going on Saturday with No. 3 Rain or Shine (8-3) eyeing to dispose of No. 6 Meralco (6-5) at 5:15 p.m. and so as No. 2 TNT Tropang Giga (8-3) hoping to finish off No. 7 Magnolia (6-5) at 7:30 p.m. Rain or Shine and TNT have beaten their opponents earlier in the conference—the Elastopainters edging the Bolts, 96-95, last October 11 and the Tropang 5G routing the Chicken Timpladoes, 94-83, last December 21. Josef Ramos

Those are the two main errors I need to work on. I think that the right drills and avoiding easy fixes and compensating will eventually lead to a better swing.

The Mental Part

misses will go is the worst feeling in golf. You stans over the ball not knowing where to aim and what to expect. Needless to say, not knowing your misses is a confidence killer. To begin fixing my swing flaws, I need to consciously work on delaying my release and keeping the lag I create for as long as possible. Lag also creates speed and distance, so that is also a welcome effect of fixing my swing. Another game killer for me is my tendency to sway and shift my weight instead of turning to coil and uncoil. This error results in making solid contact hit and miss. Put simply, I make it more difficult on myself to make consistent contact because I move too much away and through the ball instead of coiling and uncoiling around a solid base.

EHIND Juan Gomez de Liano’s stellar play, the Converge FiberXers marched into the quarterfinals of the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) Season 50 Philippine Cup with a bang. The FiberXers are in unfamiliar territory, earning twice-to-beat advantage in the playoffs. Converge closed the elimination round with a hardearned 107-95 overtime victory over NLEX last December 17, securing the team’s seventh win against four losses. That last win was enough for Delta Pineda’s team to claim No. 4 spot for the last win-once bonus in the playoffs—the FiberXers, however, lost that advantage after yielding to the Barangay Ginebra San Miguel Gin Kings, 105-85, on Christmas Day. Gomez de Liano has been on a roll in his rookie conference, tallying the third triple-double of his young career to the tune of 20 points anchored on 7 of 17 field goal shooting, 13 rebounds and 10 assists. The 26-year-old guard out of University of the Philippines spiced his performance with four steals. Gomez de Liano emerged as the choice for the PBA Press Corps Player of the Week (December 15 to 21), his third citation for the golden season-opening tournament given by scribes regularly covering the beat. The 6-foot spitfire playmaker tabbed No. 2 overall by Converge in the 2025 Draft narrowly edged teammate Justine Baltazar, CJ Perez of San Miguel, Jhonard Clarito of Rain or Shine, and RJ Abarrientos of Ginebra.

IN this area of my golf game, it is pretty simple. I just need to keep focus on my shots and enjoy the game in between. Of course, this is much easier said than done. After a horrendous shot, the last thing on my mind is how nice the fairways are, or how the breeze refreshes on a humid day. But really, in a round that takes four to five, sometimes six hours, how many minutes do we actually spend hitting the ball? Those precious seconds actually hitting a shot shouldn’t determine how we spend the moments before and after. Next is when we actually hit a bad shot, how much time do we spend dwelling on it. Some can brush it off and move on to the next. In my case, as much as I pretend to keep calm and smile outwardly as not to affect players in my group, errors, especially the big ones eat at me for a good while. I actually tend to think of my mistakes after the round and for a few days after. I know I am not alone in doing this because my dad was the same. Our rides home from the course were some of the more silent moments we shared together. We have to remember that as competitive as we may be, we are not professionals. We don’t play golf for a living. And even those who do, even the best professionals make errors. In the recent IS Philippines at Sta Elena, I watched as major winners hit thin shots, fat shots, pulls and pushes on the driving range and at the course itself. It’s sobering to see that even they make

mistakes, so we are bound to make them too, and more often. A good round score-wise, and an enjoyable round, shouldn’t be dependent on each other. We need to learn to have fun on the golf course no matter how we score. To improve on this aspect of my game, I need to learn to keep the intensity and focus strictly during my shot routine. And then whatever the result, I need to be able to switch my focus off and enjoy chatting with my caddy, my flightmates, and enjoy the day.

The Social Aspect

I AM what you’d call a “tournament player.” Unlike most golfers who have a regular group that play on their home course, I hardly get to play regular rounds. Of the 20 or so rounds I play a year, probably 15 of those are corporate or media tournaments. I just don’t have as much fun at normal rounds as much as I do when I play in tournaments. I know it’s not ideal and I know I need to change the way I enjoy the game. I need to make an effort to play rounds with friends, with family, or even alone and just enjoy the course and the game. The pleasure in playing the game shouldn’t be tied to a trophy. Golf is much more than winning something. It’s a leisure activity that should be enjoyed regardless of the outcome. I’ve played some fun, non-tournament rounds with classmates, with cousins, with friends. I need to make those rounds become the majority of my golfing schedule. That’s about all I have planned for 2026. It’s funny how this crazy game becomes so much more to us than it actually is. Let’s all lighten up a bit and have fun in 2026! Happy New Year!

BusinessMirror

December 27-28, 2025

POP CULTURE IN 2025: A ring for Taylor, an ill-timed KissCam...and whatever ‘6-7’ means

BusinessMirror DECEMBER 27 - 28, 2025 | soundstrip.businessmirror@gmail.com

WOLF GEMORA ASKS

YOUR MUSI

What’s your Wolfgang story?

Story by Jill Tan Radovan

t’s 1993. A wide-eyed 13-year-old, whose music consumption is limited to pop ditties played by mainstream radio stations and recommended by peers in an all-girls Catholic school, tags along with her father to a hole-in-the-wall gig venue along EDSA called Club Dredd one Saturday evening. A quiet hush washes over the crowd as the next band sets foot on stage. The performance is raw yet powerful, fueled by profound lyricism and tight musicianship. When the set ends, the kid’s jaw is left hanging, and in that moment, she unlocks a realization that will guide her musical choices for the rest of her life: this kind of music would be her compass, sparked by a band that forever altered her sense of what music could be. It was a moment of self-discovery. There was no turning back–not for this kid, and many others would become fans of the band. The band’s name was Wolfgang. As fate would have it, Wolfgang progressed

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into one of, if not the most revered, heavy metal bands in the OPM rock scene–releasing several albums and snagging multiple awards and a legion of supporters along the way. The anecdote above is but one of many from Wolfgang fans. Founding member and original drummer Wolf Gemora has heard quite a few. He has taken a liking to discovering and unraveling such stories in random encounters. “I always ask them, ‘What was your experience? How, what was the first time you, what were you doing? What was your experience when you first heard Wolfgang?’” Gemora reveals in an online interview. “I’m so interested in that because to me, we were so lucky that the music resonated with so many people, and it continues to do so. Somehow, we struck a chord with a lot of people. The music spoke to people, and I don’t know, it’s unexplainable.” The first song that “spoke to people” may have been “Darkness Fell,” from the band’s first and eponymous album. There was also the supercharged “Arise,” the brooding, slow-burning “Halik ni Hudas,” and the calm yet biting critique, “Cast of Clowns.” Wolfgang’s sophomore album, “Semenelin,” did not disappoint, further haunting listeners with songs like “Mata ng Diyos” and “Center of the Sun.” Deep cuts like ”She Is My Cain,” from the album “Wurm” touched souls. Raging tracks like “Atomica,” from “Serve in Silence,” left crowds banging their heads, mindblown. Wolfgang released hit after hit and album after album with nary a care for what nailbiting conservatives would think, and each live performance overflowed with a ferocious intensity and communal showmanship that flooded every venue. Onstage, the band moved with the confidence of musicians who know exactly how hard they can push without losing control. Solos burned, rhythms locked in tight, and every breakdown landed with surgical precision. Vocals sliced through heavy instrumentation—gritty, commanding, and emotionally charged. Reckless abandon, despite having been signed to a major label during its time. “Before we knew it, we had a second album and a third and a fourth and a fifth,” Gemora recalls. “And then we have all these people who are following us.” “Of course, we had the backing of a lot of good people, especially Sony Music, who really backed us up. Without them, we couldn’t have

done any of what we did.” Wolfgang puts the audience under a spell with every performance, a feat for a band whose members were strangers at the onset–but each brimming with talent. Gemora met guitarist Manuel Legarda through peers from Razorback, and they eventually found vocalist Basti Artadi, who was still with another band. Other bassists played for the band before Mon Legaspi became a permanent fixture of the ensemble—the band that would make part of OPM rock history as Wolfgang. “I don’t know what the purpose of all of this was, but there was a purpose, because, like I said, it’s for strangers who just somehow gravitated toward each other and then became antennas for this big vibration in the atmosphere,” Gemora says, reflective. Gemora, alongside Wolfgang’s remaining original members, Artadi and Legarda –with the exception of bassist Legaspi, who passed away in 2022–will be holding a reunion concert on February 7, 2026, at the New Frontier Theater in Quezon City. The show offers loyal fans a chance to revisit tracks from Wolfgang’s rich discography— including the albums mentioned above—while making new memories with the band. If experience is indeed a teacher, here’s something fans have learned from Wolfgang gigs: There’s little room to breathe between songs. One track crashes into the next, building a relentless pace that keeps the crowd locked in—exhilarated

Wolf Gemora

and fully surrendering to the music. You don’t just hear Wolfgang; you feel it in your chest. When asked about what he expects from the reunion, Gemora initially says he doesn’t want to [consciously] expect anything. “I just want it to flow with the fans,” he starts. After giving it more thought, however, Gemora says, “I hope that this concert brings grown men to tears. And if you’re if you’re listening to this, you’re going to read this, if you want to cry, go fucking cry. No one’s going to judge you. You fucking let it all out and let all the emotions come out. And then we’ll all cry together.”

soundstrip.businessmirror@gmail.com | DECEMBER 27 - 28, 2025

BUSINESS

A BLOOMING YEAR

BINI lives up to 2025 success with Year-End party at Phil. Arena

Story by Patrick Villanueva

LOOMING for the second time with another solo concert this year at Philippine Arena, The Nation’s Girl Group BINI celebrated 2025 with a party like no other in BINIFIED. The octet – composed of Gwen, Sheena, Jhoanna, Stacey, Aiah, Mikha, Colet, and Maloi – led the night, along with DJ Jimmy Nocon, to make a concert experience that felt more like a party night with co-Blooms. And in doing so, their setlist was nothing but rave-like remixes of their songs. They opened the night with loud and powerful performances of Shagidi, Out of My Head, Zero Pressure, Cherry on Top, and Strings. Meanwhile, their solo productions surprised Blooms, as their numbers made you see a side of them nobody has ever seen before. From Colet taking on the drums, Jhoanna riding a motorcycle, Aiah’s Egyptian-like opening, Stacey’s sexy-fied dance, Mikha’s daring Bublé rendition, Maloi’s high notes, and Sheena’s funky performance, every number captured the fiesta-like vibes. Yet, it was Gwen who captivated the whole arena. Her enchanting ballroom dance on “Don’t Go Yet” by Camilla Cabello dazzled every Bloom who witnessed her performance. And it was evident how Gwen captured everyone, as even two videos featuring her on Star Music’s TikTok already got 4.2 million and 1.9 million views, respectively. BINIFIED was also the first large-scale venue where they shared their latest album F.L.A.M.E.S. live. It did not disappoint, as Katabi, First Luv, Sweet Tooth, Paruparo, and Infinity had everyone singing along. Meanwhile, Bikini could be the Blooms’ newest anthem as it reminded everyone of Pantropiko’s vibe. Blooms also praised DJ Jimmy Nocon for his wonderful remixes of BINI songs, with many asking them to release the BINIFIED remix that seemed to

BINI

capture everyone’s dancing spirit.

What’s there to celebrate?

IF 2024 was their breakthrough, then 2025 was their statement, as many people thought their success to be a “one hit wonder,” questioning the group’s ability to retain audiences after their biggest hits “Pantropiko” and “Salamin Salamin.” And, it is up to the group if they could live up to the title given to them. Three months after their three-day concert in Araneta Coliseum, the group challenged themselves by starting their world tour at Philippine Arena. A one-day sold out concert to start the first quarter of the year. It is then followed by the rest of the world tour in May to June, spanning UAE, UK, Canada, and many parts of the US. The group also participated in several music festivals and concerts, most notably joining Aurora Music Fest, Puregold OPM Con, Coke Studio Live, and others. They also had several fan meets and brand partnerships. This year also birthed BINI’s first makeup line BINI cosmetics, which is not under any brand, carrying solely the girl group’s name. It was officially launched at Puregold QI Central and is available at their TikTok shop. They also received multiple nominations and awards locally and internationally, most notably from BreakTudo Awards, Aliw Awards, Billboard Philippines, and Awit Awards to name a few. BINI added plenty in their discography this year. First, they boldly played their BINIVERSE EP, with the 2025 titles including “Blink

Twice,” “Zero Pressure,” “Out of My Head,” and “Secrets,” catering to the global audience with pure English lyrics. To cap off the year, their second release was the FLAMES album, with titles “Katabi,” “Shagidi,” “Paru-paro,” “Bikini,” “Infinity,” “First Luv,” and “Sweet Tooth,” having most of them get back on

track with Tagalog lyrics. And with that, their 2025 celebration was a success. And 2026 could be no different. After all, they are part of the 2026 lineup for Coachella, one of the largest arts and music festivals in the world. As such, fans should expect a more blooming year for BINI.

POP CULTURE IN 2025: A ring for Taylor, an ill-timed KissCam...and whatever ‘6-7’ means

mination of a courtship that began during the Eras Tour and for two years captivated millions around the world but especially Swifties, the pop star’s loving and fiercely protective fan base.

By Jocelyn Noveck

The Associated Press

ICTIONARIES define things. It’s their job. So, when dictionary. com pronounced “67” as their 2025 word of the year, you’d think they would have, well, defined it.

But no. “We’re all still trying to figure out exactly what it means,” they told us of this year’s “linguistic time capsule.” But that’s just how pop culture works, isn’t it? Who’s to explain why parents alone in their cars were suddenly singing “up up up” from that KPop Demon Hunters song? Or why, in the Venn diagram of pop culture and zoology, it was the capybara that emerged victorious and beloved? Goodbye, Moo Deng. You’re adorable, but so 2024. Despite our new obsessions, though, some things remained constant—by which we mean Taylor Swift and Beyoncé, of course. It seems like every year gets bigger for Swift. But in 2025, she put a bow —or ring—on it with Travis Kelce, announcing “your English teacher and your gym teacher are getting married.” As for Beyoncé, the musical goddess finally won that best album Grammy she long deserved—and, on tour, introduced a new force: her daughter, Blue Ivy. So, from the inexplicable to the familiar, here’s our annual, highly selective journey down pop culture memory lane:

JANUARY

THEY may not be TAYVIS, but they’re a delightful couple just the same: ZENDAYA and TOM HOLLAND are engaged. Let’s hear it also for DEMI MOORE, who wins a GOLDEN GLOBE for her wild performance in The Substance. At the bookstore, fans go wild for ONYX STORM, the third installment of REBECCA YARROS’ romantasy series. A NIRVANA reunion highlights FireAid, a fundraiser for relief efforts following the Los Angeles wildfires. At the Australian Open, U.S. tennis star COCO GAUFF mourns the temporary loss of TikTok’s app back home, drawing a broken heart on a TV lens.

FEBRUARY

“Salutations!” says SAMUEL L. JACKSON, introducing KENDRICK LAMAR, the first solo hip-hop artist—and Pulitzer winner—to headline the Super Bowl halftime show. (P.S. Is that SERENA WILLIAMS?) At the GRAMMYS, members of the Los Angeles Fire Department present BEYONCÉ with her best album trophy for “COWBOY CARTER”—the most awarded and nominated artist in Grammy history becomes the first Black woman to win the top prize in the 21st century. In the age of TikTok, you never know what’s going to catch fire—like

SEPTEMBER

THIS image released by Netflix shows characters Mira (from left), Rumi, and Zoey in a scene from KPop Demon Hunters. Netflix via AP

those hand-penned party invitations from 87-year old DOUG TURNER to his Pennsylvania neighbors, with the priceless line: “4 p.m. until the cops arrive.”

MARCH

IT’S OSCAR month! All hail to SEAN BAKER’S victorious, Brooklyn-set ANORA and its star, MIKEY MADISON. Also scoring an acting prize is ADRIEN BRODY for THE BRUTALIST— who probably should have found another place to put his chewing gum. WICKED, an audience favorite, misses out on big prizes, but its stars, CYNTHIA ERIVO and ARIANA GRANDE, perform a rousing opening number. Meanwhile, the once-promising Netflix contender EMILIA PÉREZ wins two prizes but sees best picture chances evaporate in the wake of an uproar over past tweets from star KARLA SOFÍA GASCÓN.

APRIL

The blender! The poisonous fruit! The lizard! And SAM ROCKWELL! The Thailand-set third season of THE WHITE LOTUS is certainly a talker. KATY PERRY may be wishing she’d headed to Thailand rather than outer space: her Earth-kissing return from an 11-minute trip on a JEFF BEZOS Blue Origin rocket is widely mocked—even by Wendy’s, which writes on X:—Can we send her back.” On BEYONCÉ’S “Cowboy Carter” tour, a star has emerged—13-year old BLUE IVY. In a megadeal, HAILEY BIEBER sells her Rhode skincare and makeup brand for a cool $1 billion.

MAY

A crisis, at CANNES! The film fest bans nudity on the carpet—do they think this will halt the “naked dress” phenomenon? Bonne chance. Also at Cannes, TOM CRUISE again shows he’ll risk life and limb to entertain, this time atop a classic biplane in MISSION IMPOSSIBLE: THE FINAL RECKONING. Across the ocean, the MET GALA turns its focus to menswear and Black style over the centuries. “It took a minute,” says an approving SPIKE LEE. “You belong with me,” SWIFT sings, buying back the rights to her first six albums. Finally, cue the “Chicago Pope” memes—in honor of the first American pope, LEO XIV. Later this year, he’ll reveal his WORDLE strategy.

JUNE

“The world will know you as pop stars—but you will be much more than that.” Like, perhaps, the surprise, multigenerational hit of the summer? KPOP DEMON HUNTERS starts streaming this month, and in August

4 BusinessMirror

Proving once again that Hollywood loves stories about itself, the EMMYS heap awards on SETH ROGEN’S movie-biz satire THE STUDIO.” Also triumphing is THE PITT, the edgy medical drama starring beloved ER veteran NOAH WYLE that beats out the mighty SEVERANCE. Perhaps the biggest Cinderella story of all: 15-year-old OWEN COOPER, the youngest Emmy winner in over 40 years for the searing ADOLESCENCE. Also this month, JIMMY KIMMEL is temporarily suspended by ABC bosses for comments that angered supporters of the slain CHARLIE KIRK. The world says goodbye to ROBERT REDFORD, Hollywood’s golden screen idol turned influential activist.

OCTOBER

THIS image released by HBO shows Walton Goggins and Aimee Lou Wood in a scene from The White Lotus. HBO via AP

will give Netflix a big box office win with its singalong screenings. On TV, it’s a new season of love—LOVE ISLAND USA, that is, chronicling the goings-on at a luxury villa in Fiji. It’s the album cover that launched a thousand conversations: Some are offended when SABRINA CARPENTER illustrates her “MAN’S BEST FRIEND” album with a photo of her on all fours, with a man holding her hair. Is it offensive, a purposeful joke, or nothing at all? Meanwhile politics finds its way into the GLASTONBURY FESTIVAL in Britain, as rap-punk duo BOB VYLAN spark a police probe after leading a chant calling for “death” to the Israeli military.

JULY

OASIS begins a reunion tour, and the GALLAGHER brothers are still getting along! “SYDNEY SWEENEY has great jeans,” goes the much-discussed advertisement, and American Eagle insists it’s about the denim. CBS says it will end STEPHEN COLBERT’S show in May 2026—a move that will remove from air one of President DONALD TRUMP’S most outspoken critics. We cannot leave July behind—although at least two people would have loved to—without mentioning the saga of the COLDPLAY KISSCAM. Finally, within six days, the world loses three ’80s icons: mustachioed wrestling icon HULK HOGAN, heavy metal godfather OZZY OSBOURNE, and beloved Cosby Show actor MALCOLM-JAMAL WARNER.

AUGUST

Let’s just give this whole entry to pop culture’s biggest “LOVE STORY”—because, baby, she said yes! TAYLOR-TRAVIS skeptics eat their words when the couple announces their happy news, in what’s destined to become one of the most liked posts in Instagram history. It’s the fairytale cul-

DECEMBER 27-28, 2025

“So, how was your October?” “Oh, 6-7.” That’s apparently how one should use the new viral term—accompanied by that palms-up gesture. You know who has better moves than that? BAD BUNNY, who hosts the season premiere of SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE. In SWIFT updates, her new album “THE LIFE OF A SHOWGIRL” sets sales records. The shocking LOUVRE HEIST captures the world’s attention, not least for the impossibly dapper stranger who walks into an AP photographer’s frame. Another sad loss: DIANE KEATON, famous for her fedoras, vests and especially “La di da, La di da.”

NOVEMBER

Are we at the end of the yellow brick road? The WICKED press tour, which reached all ends of the universe actual and fictional, wraps with the release of JON M. CHU’S second installment, WICKED: FOR GOOD. The reviews are much less, er, enthusiastical this time, but the movie defies gravity at the box office. That’s not enough for JONATHAN BAILEY, aka FIYERO, who is named People’s Sexiest Man Alive. Another fan favorite, ROBERT IRWIN, is also having a very good month: a decade after his sister, BINDI, did the same, the son of late conservationist STEVE IRWIN is crowned winner of DANCING WITH THE STARS.

DECEMBER

One award after another! Excuse the rather obvious pun, but it’s the perfect one to describe momentum in the OSCARS race. While some films see their fortunes fade on GOLDEN GLOBE nominations day, the emerging favorite is ONE BATTLE AFTER ANOTHER, director PAUL THOMAS ANDERSON’S father-daughter saga of political resistance starring LEONARDO DiCAPRIO and newcomer CHASE INFINITI. Its success also lends a victory to WARNER BROS. in the middle of its NETFLIX acquisition deal—which, at year’s end, is in a holding pattern, facing antitrust challenges and a hostile takeover effort from PARAMOUNT, and sowing one fear after another that the very nature of entertainment will change. n Cover photo by Karola G on Pexels.com

Saturday-Sunday, December 27-28, 2025 | Edited by Jose F. Lacaba

Delotavo’s Art of War

ARTIST Antipas “Biboy” Delotavo, seated before Kasaysayan (History), oil/canvas, 2019. Painting shows faces of courageous, determined, and resilient Filipinos, although they look condemned by imaginary (or real) guns (of foreign and local) authorities, and classified as “before” and “after,” they overcome Philippine history’s Russian roulette

By Barbara Mae Naredo Dacanay

RTIST Antipas “Biboy” Delotavo has hundreds of breath-taking portraits of calamity victims, the colonized, sunburned farmers, miners, overseas Filipino workers, urban poor, vendors, and protesters. For Delotavo, they serenely evolve as victims and victors; bent and straight; isolated and transformed; trapped and freed. In his art, their poison is spit out; the blood they spill is wiped out. Historic betrayals. History’s heroes and villains. Armed colonials. Tattered Philippine flag for a damaged nation. The elite ignoring the poor. Mall-goers clueless about class divide. Big bosses who are faceless. Expensive things and tall buildings. Delotavo has plucked the images of the toxic and the beloved, from darkness, mud, and also, opulence. He has brought them to his murals and smaller frames where pain and overcoming are lyrically

and masterly defined—like a sonata of dreams—by his own desire for peace for war-wounded souls in his country. For 50 years, in the art scene, Delotavo was the “big brother” of the everyman: the forgotten, the invisible, the scum, the unheard of, the unknown; the unwashed, and the voiceless. He consistently dramatized their disappointments, terror, endurance, and quiet transformation in his studios since he lived with his brother Vic in Cubao; when he studied at Manila’s Philippine Women’s University in the 70s; when he became a social realist painter past the mid-70s; and when he and his wife Susan built a

home in suburban Antipolo in the mid-80s. Delotavo’s world-class talent in figuration, although common among Filipino artists from the 19th century to the present, was a rare combination that gave brilliance to his dialectical artworks. Noting the importance of perfecting his art, while honing his social aim at the same time, Delotavo told Business World in 2021, “The artistic possibilities are endless for a social realist; there are landscapes, human figures, still lives, abstract forms, etc. that I can incorporate in my work. The bottom-line is always art.”

Debate about committed art

DELOTAVO’S artworks have shown his faith in the Filipino masses to (eventually) overcome society’s lack of concern and justice for them, said an observer who has sparked debates among artists and critics. “He persisted in announcing (and) enunciating this faith through his works,” said fellow social realist Jose Tence Ruiz, adding that Delotavo had been “repeatedly choosing (the less endowed) to promote the idea of their empowerment by making them the central player (in his art). Delotavo could be certain or not about the outcome of this empowerment and overcoming (in life), Ruiz

said, adding, “I cannot one hundred percent guarantee that Biboy’s credence in their (the poor peoples’) ability to overcome (in life) is complete or certain.” Noting the importance of Delotavo giving strength (more than sadness) to the supposedly weak and bent characters in his canvases, Tinaw Gallery owner Dawn Atuenza said, “From the postures of the workers in his (latter) canvases, you can see endurance and seriousness. He is emphasizing their dignity and presence.” Delotavo has objectified a social condition in his art to inspire better choices in life, not just to discuss hope in classes and galleries, said Susan Delotavo, adding, “He paints the reality of the common people, hoping it can open the eyes of others to their plight (in life) and encourage change for a better society.” The true allure of Delotavo’s unforgettable paintings about society’s state of war—is their capacity to regenerate faith and hope. “There is quiet resolve in his paintings, a seething fury, (maybe foreboding) but also melancholy. They make his works enigmatic,” analyzed art critic Patrick Flores. Delotavo’s artworks “move or sensitize” (the viewers, his followers, and the class he adores in his art), Flores added.

Explaining himself, Delotavo told Business World in 2021, “It’s important that you believe that you are the conscience and soul of society, that you are doing something noble other than what pleases the art market.” “Social burden initiates it (my art). I seek relief by painting it (social burden). I am not sure if it is inspiration. I think it is more of a responsibility of a social being with a conscience,” Delotavo told Global Voices in 2015. Talking further about his ideal artist, Delotavo told Voices, “Sincerity, conviction, passion, and talent are always the ingredients of enduring works of an artist.”

Delotavo’s beginning

DELOTAVO was with Kaisahan, founded in 1976 by more than 20 members who were in search of the “right” color, materials, medium, and style for committed art. Kaisahan’s manifesto—about identity in Philippine art, and art for the masses, in general, prompted art critic Alice Guillermo of the University of the Philippines to call Kaisahan members as social realist (SR) artists. Emmanuel Torres of Ateneo Art Gallery was active at Kaisahan-SR’s discussions at the house of artist Edgardo “Egai” Fernandez on Makati’s

Trabajo Street. Kaisahan-SR was Philippines’ second wave committed art group in the 70s. Delotavo was not part of the Nagkakaisang Progresibong Artista at Arkitektura (NPAA), founded earlier in 1969, by members who wanted “aesthetics for the masses” and creating art about and for them. Delotavo was also with the Center for the Advancement of Young Artists (CAYA), technically the third wave of committed art, founded by Virginia Yap-Morales, Marie Luarca, Mar Salazar, journalist/publicist Bibsy Carballao, and Coco Federation (Cocofed) board executive secretary Emmeline Quinio, in August 1976— to market Kaisahan-SR artists. Later, Kaisahan members, including their wives, explored relevant art in theater. It resulted in the demise of Kaisahan and CAYA. Soon, former Kaisahan-SR artists such as Delotavo, Fernandez, Pablo Baensantos, Renato Habulan and Jose Tence Ruiz became just “SR” who were praised for their style and content, and became heroes (if not the establishment) in the art scene because of artworks that symbolized Philippines’ growth, identity, pride, and resistance. Continued on page 2

Saturday-Sunday, December 27-28, 2025

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Antipas Delotavo’s unforgettable paintings about society’s state of war regenerates faith and hope Continued from page 1

SR omnipresence

THERE were five SR-initiated group shows that attracted a big number of established young artists in 2002, 2008, 2010, 2018. “SR varied, prospered, morphed as technologies were discovered,” explained artist Ruiz, now SR’s avid chronicler. Why SR’s growth? Philippine society has not evolved as an ideal democracy. Attributing SR’s longevity to a nourishing leg of lechon, Ruiz said with flair, “SR

is no embalmed corpse. Nor even its wax facsimile. It is a fleshy morsel of lechon leg which many (generations of younger artists) have fed off and is now somehow ingrained in our aesthetico-molecular make-up.” Describing SR’s unmistaken omnipresence in Philippine art scene, Ruiz added, “The thing about SR, it hasn’t gone away. It’s become us so much that we don’t notice it around anymore. Like body odor.”

Last laugh

LAUGHTER and laglagan, especial-

ly from original SR member Jess Abrera, a famous cartoon artist, were part of a joyous celebration at the Delotavo wake at St. Peter’s on Commonwealth Avenue, for several days in early December. Born on March 18,1954, Delotavo and his 10 siblings hail from Iloilo City in Central Philippines. As reported by Bilyonaryo News Channel, the social realist painter died “following a 10-hour heart procedure, leaving behind a legacy that shaped generations of committed Filipino artists.” Delotavo died on Dec. 2 at the age of 71.

ANG PAGLALAKBAY, oil/canvas, 3 x 4 ft, 1984. A powerful portrait of a worker’s transformation

ITAK SA PUSO NI MANG JUAN (Knife at Juan’s Heart), watercolor/paper, 38.1 c 53.34 com, 1978. An old man is bent before Coca Cola’s billboard which advertises the product of an economically powerful country (also a former colonial nation)

DOMINATION (Nangingibabaw),” oil/canvas, 3 x 4 ft, 2020. Dozens of faceless workers turn their back as they enter a big building to work for the big boss. A logo says, “Work Sets You Free”

STEAL LIFE (Ninakaw na Buhay), oil/canvas, 5 x 6 ft, 2008. A table with the Philippine flag has many expensive things: crystals, ice bucket with ice, flowers, plates, silver coffee set, silver trays, silverware, silhouette of a woman, table napkins, and a wooden candle stand. It says a country, though bigger than a still life, can be stolen like expensive treasures

GRIDLOCK (Nakatigil), oil/canvas, 5 x 8 ft, 2021. A collage of faces of overcoming and resilient Filipinos, vary in a grid (that forms squares), symbolic of isolation during the Covid-19 lockdown from 2019 to 2021, in particular; and of being sacrificed due to the country’s socio-economic problems

TAGISAN (Clash), oil/canvas, 5 x 7 ft, 1987. A protester, covered, faceless, and gigantic. It looms with power and rage

AGOS NG ILOG BANTAOAY (The Flow of Bantaoay River), oil/canvas, 7 x 14 ft, 2015. A colorful revolt of Ilokanos and other residents in northern Philippines, against Spanish authorities at Bantaoay River in San Ildefonso in 1807, after Spain banned the production of basi in 1786

DIASPORA (Migration), oil/canvas, 8 x 18 ft, 2007. Three panels in black, white, and light pink depict overseas Filipino workers. They turn their back, leave with their luggage, and pass through an abstract space

DANTAON (A Hundred Years),” oil/ Anda’s, 8 x 11 feet, 1998. Heroic, serious, and stoic Filipinos have memories of betrayal, loses, and victories. There were armed revolutions; Declaration of Independence from Spain on June 12, 1808; and Spain’s betrayal—accepting 20 million dollars, to cede Philippines as a US colony on December 10, 1898