BusinessMirror July 19, 2026 by BusinessMirror

ROTARY CLUB OF MANILA JOURNALISM AWARDS

2006 National Newspaper of the Year 2011 National Newspaper of the Year 2013 Business Newspaper of the Year 2017 Business Newspaper of the Year 2019 Business Newspaper of the Year 2021 Pro Patria Award 2026 National Newspaper of the Year PHILIPPINE STATISTICS AUTHORITY 2018 Data Champion

BusinessMirror

www.businessmirror.com.ph

A broader look at today’s business n

Sunday, July 19, 2026 Vol. 21 No. 278

SHARED BOUNTY, SHARED LABOR

EJAP JOURNALISM AWARDS

BUSINESS NEWS SOURCE OF THE YEAR

(2017, 2018, 2019, 2020)

DEPARTMENT OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

2018 BANTOG MEDIA AWARDS

P25.00 nationwide | 2 sections 12 pages | 7 DAYS A WEEK

Mindanao architecture student wins Global Designer of the Year with Bajau-inspired design

DURIAS’S winning entry, “Banuas Lawod”

KIBIT, dark-shelled mollusks harvested off Quezon province, are prepared as crunchy snacks.

Women of General Nakar turn local crops into shared livelihood, proving that humble agri-based enterprises can allow communities to flourish, live with dignity.

EJHEY DURIAS, Global Designer of the Year (Architectural Category), during the victory celebration in Makati City on July 13, following his triumph at the 18th AYDA International Awards under the theme “CONVERGE: Crafting Cultural Legacies,” which called on the next generation of architects and interior designers to honor cultural heritage while shaping the spaces of tomorrow. AYDA AWARDS / JOHN EIRON FRANCISCO

By John Eiron R. Francisco

THE housewives who organized themselves into the all-women cooperative.

Text & Photos by Joel C. Paredes

MORNING work begins with the preparation of malunggay harvests for processing.

ENERAL NAKAR, Quezon — In this coastal town facing the Pacific, a group of women has built a livelihood from what grows around them: turmeric, calamansi, fruits, herbs, and other local crops.

For the past 26 years, they have turned those harvests into herbal capsules, drinks, chips, sweets, and concentrates, first selling in nearby markets before reaching larger outlets outside town. Over time, volunteer work grew into a small enterprise that helped mothers earn income, support their households, send children to school, improve homes, and work with dignity. “We relied on each other,” said Thelma A. Velentino, now president of the small company they named Healer’s Choice. “We worked hard. Determination and the quality of our work helped us sustain it.”

From volunteers to producers

AT the center of the effort was Edna Nakar, a community development worker and descendant of Gen. Guillermo Nakar, the World War II resistance leader for whom the town was named. In an interview, she said the project grew out of participatory governance in General Nakar in the

THE Healer’s Choice store.

EDNA NAKAR, the community development worker who started it all.

early 2000s, when women from different barangays were encouraged to organize around practical community needs. Their progress was gradual, built on steady work, shared income, and community organization rather than sudden wealth. The effort began with organizing, not business. Nakar said the women first received training from church-linked rural missionaries and social action groups

on preventive and curative health care, including alternative and herbal medicine. The training addressed a local problem: residents had limited access to medicine and often turned to community-based remedies, including lagundi and other herbal preparations. By 2001, the women had organized themselves into a cooperative—Kilusan ng Nagkakaisang Ina para sa Kabuuang Pag-unlad ng Nakar, or Kinipan—after joining a seminar of the Cooperative Development Authority. The cooperative gave them a formal vehicle for production, training, and collective decision-making. At first, the women worked

with almost no capital. Nakar recalled that after the 2004 flash flood in their town, they received a grant of about P250,000 through the Australian Embassy’s Direct Aid Program. They used it to buy basic production supplies, including empty capsules, bottles, tea bags, and processing tools. Lorna Penaverde, one of the early convenors, said the members came from different barangays and were brought together by friendship, need, and the hope of earning for their families. The group later established Healer’s Choice Community Herbal Products as a DTI-registered business in General Nakar, along with

INDANAOAN architecture student Ejhey L. Durias, 23, made history after becoming the first Filipino to be named Global Designer of the Year in the architectural category for a design that preserves the Bajau community’s cultural identity while creating spaces that support sustainable livelihoods. Durias received the top honor at the AYDA International Awards (formerly the Asia Young Designer Awards) held in Bangkok, Thailand. His winning entry, “Banuas Lawod” (Aquaculture community Hub), was selected from more than 9,000 submissions from architecture and interior design students across 17 countries and regions. The title combines the words banuwa, meaning “community,” and lawod, which refers to the deeper part of the sea. Speaking to the BusinessMirror during a victory celebration in Makati City on Monday, Durias said the concept was shaped by extensive research and conversations with members of the Sama-Bajau (Sea Nomads), locally known as the Badjao, in Davao, including those who had been displaced from their coastal communities and were later forced to beg in urban areas after losing their traditional livelihoods. Those stories became the foundation of his proposal, which seeks to strengthen the community’s traditional livelihoods, encourage displaced Badjao families to reconnect with their communities, and create opportunities for longterm economic and cultural resilience. “I don’t belong to any indigenous group, but I’ve always

loved visiting the sea with my family,” Durias said. He said that during those visits, he interacted with community members and came to admire their way of life, though he admitted he did not fully understand the hardships they faced until he conducted research for the project. “That realization has kind of inspired me to design with greater empathy,” he noted. During his final presentation, Durias told the story of Badol Kati Amilgani, a Sama-Bajau fisherman who now travels across cities in the Davao region with his son, performing with improvised drums to earn a living after losing his traditional source of income. “To take a Bajau home is to take their life,” Durias told the judges. “For them, home was never land. Home was the rhythm of tides beneath their feet.” He said many Sama-Bajau communities have been displaced not only by environmental pressures but also by armed conflict and social exclusion, forcing many families into poverty and leaving them disconnected from their traditional way of life. To address these challenges, Banuas Lawod is anchored on five design principles: preserving marine cultural identity, climateadaptive architecture, aquaculture-based livelihoods, sustainable construction materials and a closed-loop environmental system. Inspired by the layered structure of scallop shells, the design integrates resilient homes, shared community spaces, aquaculture facilities and ecological infrastructure into a single coastal settlement. Continued on A2

Continued on A2

PESO EXCHANGE RATES n US 61.6440 n JAPAN 0.3797 n UK 83.0899 n HK 7.8631 n CHINA 9.1040 n SINGAPORE 47.7972 n AUSTRALIA 43.1138 n EU 70.5516 n KOREA 0.0417 n SAUDI ARABIA 16.4196 Source: BSP (July 17, 2026)

News BusinessMirror

A2 Sunday, July 19, 2026

www.businessmirror.com.ph

Nuclear debut in Bangladesh tests developing world’s atomic shift SHARED By Rajesh Kumar Singh and Arun Devnath

Bloomberg

N the banks of the Padma river in western Bangladesh, local tourists are posing for selfies in front of the four massive, ivorycolored cooling towers at the country’s first nuclear power plant. Once fully completed in 2028, the two Russian-designed reactors at the Rooppur facility will be able to supply as much as 15% of the country’s electricity. The project is an audacious bet that nuclear power can meet the needs of an industrializing economy without breaking the bank, and other developing nations across the world will be watching closely. Atomic power has undergone a renaissance over the last few years. While safety risks and heavy cost overruns saw the world sour on nuclear, especially after the Fukushima disaster in Japan in 2011, those concerns are now being surpassed by the need to decarbonize and meet a surge in power demand from artificial intelligence and the electrification of transport fleets. For developing nations like Bangladesh, atomic energy is less about data centers and more to do with weaning their economies off fossil fuels and reducing their vulnerability to external shocks like the Iran war. With oil and gas exports from the Persian Gulf upended by the conflict, long lines at filling stations became routine, homes in the countryside had to cope with hours of daily blackouts, and factory output suffered.

“The recent geopolitical conflicts—Iran and Russia-Ukraine— have shown that a scarcity of resources hurts poorer countries more than rich ones,” said R. Srikanth, who heads the energy, environment and climate change program at the National Institute of Advanced Studies in Bengaluru in India. “That strengthens the case for nuclear in emerging economies.” The 2.4-gigawatt project has been more than a decade in the making, a period marked by a series of upheavals including the Covid-19 pandemic, the Russian invasion of Ukraine and the Iran war. Those events are an endorsement of Bangladesh’s strategy of reducing its heavy reliance on imported fossil fuels, but they’ve also pushed Rooppur beyond its original timeline of commissioning the first unit by 2023. The project has been inherited by Prime Minister Tarique Rahman, who came to power in elections in February, and chimes with his government’s efforts to revive growth after years of dictatorship came to an end in 2024. The first reactor is now expected to become fully operational by the start of 2027, with the second one to

THE cooling towers of the Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant. FABEHA MONIR/BLOOMBERG

follow a year later, according to Md. Zahedul Hassan, managing director at Nuclear Power Plant Co. Bangladesh Ltd., the facility’s operator. Like other developing economies, though, Bangladesh has found that nuclear projects come with expanding costs. Under the main contract with Russian state-owned company Rosatom, the plant will cost around $12.65 billion, including the first few years’ fuel, according to the World Nuclear Association. But in localcurrency terms, that cost has now increased by almost a quarter since the project was approved a decade ago, thanks to a sharp weakening of the Bangladeshi taka against the dollar. “The delay has had a massive financial implication for Bangladesh,” said Md. Shafiqul Islam, a professor of nuclear engineering at Dhaka University. “A timely completion would have not only avoided this massive cost escalation but would have also helped us trim our fossil fuel import bill.” Plant operator Hassan, while declining to give details on the estimated cost of generation, is

adamant that it will be value for money for the country. “If you assess from the point of view of assurance of long-term supplies, safeguards against supply chain issues as well as the cost of generation, it’s very much competitive,” he said. Bangladesh is now exploring small modular reactors as a longerterm hedge against energy shocks and is in early talks with suppliers including Rolls-Royce Holdings Plc and Chinese manufacturers, according to Power and Energy Minister Iqbal Hassan Mahmood. “The government is looking at plants generating 300 to 400 megawatts, small enough to be built along riverbanks and deployed faster than conventional reactors,” he said. “We will not go for largescale plants anymore because there are huge liabilities.” Even the most committed nations will have to deal with the high upfront capital outlay, long construction times, and the risk of delays that increase costs, until new technologies, such as SMRs, mature. The benefits of nuclear power is that it’s low-carbon, reliable and continuous, making it an ideal baseload electricity source to pair with intermittent renewables, like solar and wind, for the energy transition. “The Rooppur plant will ensure Bangladesh doesn’t need to build any new baseload capacity in the next five to seven years,” said Shafiqul Alam, the lead Bangladesh analyst at the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis. “That’s going to provide the opportunity to accelerate renewables installations and invest in grid modernization.” Growing confidence in the country’s abilities, evident from the visitors posing for selfies in front of the plant, has been instrumental in gathering public support for the Rooppur project, Dhaka University’s Islam said.

Other developing nations may also be driven by similar sentiments, with the perception of modernity about nuclear energy adding to the hype around it, according to Toby Dalton, a senior fellow and co-director for the nuclear policy program at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. He cautioned that governments need to first put in place all the elements needed to run a nuclear plant sustainably, including a competent workforce, a credible and independent regulator, broad public approval, and mechanisms for handling spent fuel. “I worry that the hype that’s been built around nuclear may push countries to make some bad choices,” Dalton said. “I don’t think any developing economy wants to be a laboratory for a technology that hasn’t been proven and demonstrated elsewhere.” Another catch is the dearth of options when it comes to buying the technology, a deal that comes with long-term ties. The global nuclear market is controlled by a handful of suppliers, including the US, Russia, China, France and South Korea, that use a limited number of reactor technologies. China and Russia dominate the world’s 80 reactors under-construction, most of which are in Asia, data from the World Nuclear Association show. The two countries have aggressively pushed their existing technologies—as well as those years away from maturity—to drive interest and widen their geopolitical influence. “For developing economies, nuclear power is also a tool for long-term national development, strengthening energy security, driving industrialization and building advanced engineering and scientific expertise domestically,” Russia’s Rosatom said in an emailed response to questions. The challenge of high capital costs is addressed by the Russian model that provides credit to customers so the upfront costs can be paid back over 20 to 25 years, said Srikanth, at the Institute for Advanced Studies. For Bangladesh, developments in its South Asian neighborhood have added to the appeal of nuclear. India has a plan to expand atomic power capacity eleven-fold to 100 gigawatts by 2047, with Rosatom building four 1-gigawatt reactors at Kudankulam, a small fishing town near the southernmost tip of the country. In Pakistan, China has supplied six reactors that constitute nearly 3.3 gigawatts of generation capacity, according to the World Nuclear Association.

Mindanao architecture student... Continued from A1

The housing draws from the traditional lepa houseboat and the Filipino bahay kubo, while incorporating flood-resilient construction, passive cooling, rainwater harvesting and gravity-fed water systems. Complementing the residential clusters are an aquaculture hub, seafood processing and trading facilities, shellfish and seaweed cultivation areas, community gardens, bamboo nurseries and reef-inspired foundations that restore marine ecosystems while helping protect the settlement from storm surges. “Banuas Lawod is not just a housing intervention, but a regenerative coastal ecosystem,” Durias said. “It is not just architecture by the sea. But an architecture by the sea, where aquaculture is not extractive but sustaining, where housing is dignified and identity is strengthened,” he noted. Asked whether he hopes to see the project realized, Durias said he would welcome the opportunity if given the chance. “But I hope that my project is more than just a place to meet. It’s something that strengthens their livelihood, preserves their culture, and gives the community a greater sense of security and belonging. So if all of this meets my project, I think that it has done its job,” he said. Chen Lee Siong, general man-

ager of Nippon Paint (Coatings) Philippines Inc., said Durias’s victory demonstrates that Filipino design talent can compete on the global stage but must continue improving how local stories are communicated to international audiences. “For the last 10 years, we’ve fallen short—not because our ideas weren’t good, but because we weren’t always able to translate them into a language that resonates globally,” Lee Siong told the BusinessMirror. “In Ejhey’s case, he was able to explain not only the solution but also the story behind the Sama-Bajau community. Once people understand the problem and connect with it emotionally, they can appreciate the value of the design,” he said. As part of his victory, Durias received a fully funded fellowship to the Design Discovery Program at the Harvard University Graduate School of Design in Cambridge, Massachusetts, valued at up to $10,000. The country’s strong showing was further highlighted by Patria Danielle Malijan, an interior design student from De La Salle–College of Saint Benilde, who received the International Nippon Paint Colour Award for a proposal that reimagines playgrounds as spaces for Filipino traditional games and cultural learning.

BOUNTY… Continued from A1

a local store for health food and organic products.

Small company with community roots

HEALER’S Choice became known for herbal and food products made from local harvests supplied by partner farmers, with turmeric among its best-known products. Its products include concentrated calamansi juice, chips, turmeric capsules, herbal preparations, drinks, and other organic items. From about 15 women, the enterprise grew to around 30 members, many of them also active in the cooperative. Their facilities also developed in stages. Nakar said the group first worked in rented spaces before moving into an enclosed multipurpose production building. A consultant later helped design the processing area with food and drug standards in mind. The cooperative also gained access to farmland through a longterm local government arrangement, giving the women room for planting, training, and production support. Their goods later reached provincial stores, resellers, cooperatives, and partners in Metro Manila. The group once sold through supermarkets, but payment systems proved difficult. The women then relied more on regular buyers, resellers, cooperative partners, and networks that exchanged products with other women’s livelihood groups.

Sharing the work, sharing the income

THEIR system rested on shared earnings. The women saw the enterprise not as one person’s success, but as the product of collective labor. Pooling work and dividing income helped them survive slow periods, keep production moving, and strengthen loyalty to the cooperative. Members said the company did not have a large capital, but its income helped pay for school expenses, home repairs, and other household needs. For women with few livelihood options, the enterprise became a source of confidence. “We help our children study,” one woman said. “We help them build their houses.” The movement gained support when Nakar’s late husband, Leovegildo Ruzol, served as mayor of General Nakar and promoted participatory governance. Nakar said the local Sangguniang Bayan also passed a resolution to pay the group for herbal products supplied to indigent residents, allowing the women to link community health service with a livelihood system. Members, however, credit the business’s survival to their own labor, friendship, discipline, product quality, and mutual trust.

Keeping local harvests alive

THE enterprise also linked farmers and processors, sourcing crops from local growers and partner farmers, including Agta farmers in the area. Processing gave local harvests added value. Instead of being sold only in raw form, fruits, herbs, and crops became products with longer shelf life and wider markets. That created another outlet for farmers and helped the women sustain production as demand changed. The women built something modest but lasting. They turned local crops into products, volunteer work into livelihood, and friendship into a business system. Their story shows how empowerment can begin in ordinary places: a production room, a shared table, a cooperative meeting, and a fair division of earnings. For them, empowerment was not only a slogan. It became work they could hold, income they could bring home, and a legacy they could pass on.

Editor: Angel R. Calso

The World

Sunday, July 19, 2026

As Russia and China weaponize space, Europe scrambles for a ride into orbit

By Gerry Doyle and Alan Crawford

N the northwest coast of a mountainous Arctic island, facing the Norwegian Sea, lies arguably the world’s most dramatic launch site for rockets. The stream of political leaders visiting the Andøya Spaceport in northern Norway shows its vital importance: it may be Europe’s best shot at catching up in the race to militarize space while breaking free from dependence on Elon Musk’s SpaceX. Launching satellites into orbit “is a capability that is important for Norway, for the EU, for Europe,”

Ketil Olsen, the chief executive officer of Andøya Space and formerly a Norwegian vice admiral, said in an interview. “For us it’s about strategic autonomy, it’s about sovereignty, and it’s about European independence.” It’s also yet to come to fruition. Satellites for observation, communications and precise geolocation have been military necessities

A SPACEX Flacon 9 rocket lifts off from Space Launch Complex 40 in Florida on June 12. JOE RAEDLE/GETTY IMAGES

for years, and new weapons such as orbital interceptors and inspection systems are heading in that direction. China, Russia and the US are pouring more than $200 billion into such efforts, putting hundreds of satellites in orbit over the last half-decade and testing weapons on Earth and in space. Missing from this intensifying race is Europe, hobbled by misaligned interests, limited national budgets and the lack of a crucial piece of space technology: enough heavy launchers to make scores of trips to orbit each year. China’s Long March 5 and Russia’s Proton-M and Angara A5 launchers can each take about 25,000 kilograms (55,116 pounds) to orbit. The SpaceX Falcon Heavy can carry almost 64,000 kg. Ariane 6, operated by Francebased commercial launch provider Arianespace SA, can carry about 22,000 kg—but booster production and infrastructure limit it to about 10 launches per year. In 2025, the US averaged more than 15 launches per month, led by SpaceX. Closing that gap while avoiding dependence on a foreign company is the biggest obstacle to preventing Europe from being left behind in the orbital arms race. And doing so would cost billions of euros. “If Europe is serious about being a sovereign space power, it should be able to meet its satellite needs by itself,” said Bleddyn Bowen, author of Original Sin: Power, Technology and War in Outer Space and an associate professor of astropolitics at Durham University in the UK. “That’s the fundamental plank of being a space power of any kind.” European startups are racing to create an alternative to the US, but there have been only a handful of launches. Their focus is on speed, reusability and homegrown security rather than payload, limiting their usefulness for the military. One of Europe’s great hopes, Isar Aerospace SE of Germany, has scrubbed its planned “Onward and Upward” mission multiple times and has yet to set a new date. Its first launch attempt a year ago— the only time an orbital launch has been tried from continental Europe—flew for about 30 seconds before crashing. Its Spectrum rocket is expected to have a payload of only 1,000 kilograms.

Daniel Metzler, the company’s chief executive officer and cofounder, said that scrubs “are part of rocket industry,” and valuable experience is learned with each attempt. “There is no question that we will reach orbit and demonstrate reliable access to space,” he said. In the meantime, an ominous mass of orbital threats has been steadily growing over the years. Although nuclear weapons are prohibited by treaty from being deployed in orbit, other military moves are not off limits. Some of the defense-related activity is well known: the first military satellite headed to orbit in the late 1950s, and now there are more than 600 overhead, according to data compiled by astrophysicist Jonathan McDowell. The concept of spy satellites recording images and sucking up communications signals is well-known. In the last decade, however, capabilities that were seen as too costly or dead ends during the Cold War have begun to reappear. India, China and Russia have all tested anti-satellite missiles that launch from the ground. The US last conducted such a test in 2008, destroying a satellite with a ship-launched SM-3 Block IIA missile, and has since declared a self-imposed moratorium on such exercises. In 2021, China launched an object into orbit that later appeared to deploy or launch another object that fell back to Earth. Analysts said it was most likely a type of fractional orbital bombardment system, or FOBS, which puts a nuclear warhead into an orbit that allows it to strike a target on Earth at an unpredictable time and direction. China’s test took the concept a step further, adding a hypersonic glide vehicle to the warhead to allow it to maneuver as it approached the target. No other country has attempted such a test, but Russia deployed a short-lived FOBS system during the Cold War—ultimately abandoning it because other weapons, such as submarine-launched ballistic missiles, could accomplish the same thing. “Things are a lot more tense up there than they were 10 years ago,”

McDowell said. “You worry about people miscalculating.” The US, China and Russia have deployed satellites that can maneuver in space, conducting close passes of other countries’ systems to document or manipulate them.

Others float slowly just below geostationary orbit, listening to the signals emanating from communications and early warning satellites stationed there. See “Space,” A4

Cocaine bust in Spain leads all the way to Wall Street By Rodrigo Orihuela & Donal Griffin

T was supposed to be a cargo of bananas from Latin America. What Spanish police found on the ship in the Mediterranean port of Algeciras instead were 13 tons of cocaine. The drug bust in the fall of 2024 became the biggest in Spain’s history at the time. The ensuing investigation has now revealed what authorities allege was a financial network used to launder money running all the way to the founders of a special-purpose acquisition company in Newport Beach, California, that raised $200 million from investors just last year. The case has all the ingredients of a movie: a drug kingpin, a corrupt senior police officer with millions in cash reportedly stashed in his walls, and links to Spanish royalty. Yet the allegations are also striking in how they link financiers with Wall Street connections, an Irish fintech trading crypto assets, luxury Dubai real estate and multiple offshore lenders. The details are being revealed in pre-trial documents prepared for court by investigators in Madrid and seen by Bloomberg. The alleged protagonists were formally named

as suspects, or investigado in Spanish. None has been charged. At the center of the network sits a suspected drug lord by the name of Ignacio Torán, according to investigators. Described as a Real Madrid fan with a penchant for luxury watches, at one point he planned to use his wealth to invest in football players from Argentina. Allegedly working for him was Óscar Sánchez, who at the time of the 2024 cocaine bust was chief of the national police’s money-laundering unit. Sánchez is suspected of using his position to help traffickers. When police raided Sánchez’s home, they found €20 million hidden in the walls of his house, Spanish media reported. Torán and Sánchez are in Spain and were held on remand in prison. A lawyer for Torán declined to comment. Sánchez’s lawyer didn’t deny that money was found in his client’s home, but questioned the legitimacy and procedure in the allegations against him. Messages used as evidence, for example, were obtained without the necessary court orders, for example, the lawyer told Bloomberg. According to investigators, Torán also employed Francisco de Borbón, the son of a duke and a distant cousin to Spain’s King Felipe, and Ketan Seth, an American inves-

tor based in a mansion in Newport Beach’s upscale Dover Shores neighborhood. Investigators say that Seth and De Borbón were managing partners at Alpha Trading, a Californian firm that was funneling Torán’s drug money from offshore accounts at a bank in Panama. It’s unclear how Seth and De Borbón first crossed paths but they founded Alpha Trading in 2012, describing it as a “leading integrated commodity supply and marketing firm” with offices in New York, Madrid and Miami. Seth had other interests. He operated several UPS shipping outlets in New York during the 2010s but got tied up in disputes with landlords that resulted in judgments for unpaid bills of more than $300,000, according to legal filings. In 2025, Seth and De Borbón founded Blue Acquisition Corp. as a special-purpose acquisition company, or SPAC, targeting data centers and AI. Wesley Clark, the former four-star US Army general, became Blue’s chairman. The firm, which lists Seth’s house in Newport Beach as its headquarters, raised about $200 million last June through an initial public offering and forged ahead with a deal to acquire a data center in Niagara Falls. BTIG, the investment bank that’s being

taken over by US Bancorp, helped arrange the IPO while some of Wall Street’s biggest hedge funds, including Sona Asset Management and LMR Partners, are among the firm’s largest shareholders today, Bloomberg data show. Representatives of BTIG, Sona and LMR all declined to comment for this story. Blue isn’t named by investigators or accused of any wrongdoing. Seth resigned from the company on June 9 for what the firm described as “family reasons,” according to a regulatory filing. Blue’s current CEO, David Bauer, told Bloomberg that Seth is “no longer affiliated” with the company in any capacity. De Borbón served as a special adviser to Blue and the role terminated in February, Bauer said by email. “We are at that point where you just mention AI and data centers and everyone wants in,” said Matt Tuttle, who oversees $5.3 billion as CEO of Riverside, Connecticut-based Tuttle Capital Management. “I’ve seen some strange stuff in SPAC world but this is a first for me.”

‘Grey zone’

SETH has been called to testify, though requested a delay through his lawyers and is now scheduled in court in September. He recently also requested that an international arrest warrant against him be lifted. Seth didn’t respond to multiple emails and phone

calls requesting comment or to a letter left at his Newport Beach address. His lawyer declined to comment. De Borbón was being held in Spain and has since been released. His lawyer also declined to comment. The case is particularly significant not just because of the size of the drugs bust but also because of the seniority of Sánchez along with the alleged role of investment structures, fintech firms, cryptocurrency and international companies, according to Annette Idler, a professor in global security at the University of Oxford who has studied illicit supply chains. “Successful illicit entrepreneurs depend on legal markets, financial professionals, logistics companies, and corporate structures to conceal illicit proceeds,” she said. “The grey zone between legal and illegal economic activity is precisely where many sophisticated criminal organizations thrive.” The bust in the Spanish port of Algeciras followed one involving 1.6 tons of cocaine in May 2021. They were both brought into Spain from South America camouflaged among fruit imports and with a combined market value of more than €350 million ($400 million), authorities claim. Later, when investigators examined

Sánchez’s personal phone records, they determined that another 58 tons had been smuggled into Spain between 2020 and 2024. That would amount to a retail value of $3.5 billion, based on an average price of $60 per gram, according to Gabriel Feltran, a professor at Sciences Po university in Paris who studies criminal networks. Such incidents are no longer rare as an increasingly sophisticated network of middlemen make the drug easier and cheaper to obtain and its proceeds smoother to launder, he said. “Intermediation is driving both increases in production and consumption,” said Feltran. Investigators believe the head of the gang is Torán. He allegedly set up the web of holding companies in Spain and abroad, mostly formally owned by front men. When he was arrested, he owned two Spanish holding groups and was about to start operating a third. Police reckon that Torán owned real estate, mostly in Dubai, through those holding companies. This included a €10 million mansion in the W residential compound in Palm Jumeirah and €11 million in other properties in the city. He referred to these in messages as “my houses,” investigators said. With assistance from John Gittelsohn and Peter Newcomb/Bloomberg

The World

Sunday, July 19, 2026

www.businessmirror.com.ph

Japan’s parliament enshrines male-only succession for shrinking imperial family Mari Yamaguchi

The Associated Press

OKYO—Japan’s parliament enacted Friday a historic revision to the 19th-century Imperial House Law by insisting only paternallineage men can become emperor, sparking fear that it could doom the already shrinking imperial family. The revisions include adoption of distant male relatives to father future heirs and allowing princesses to keep their royal status after marrying commoners. Royal watchers and experts fear the new measures could doom the 1,500-year-old hereditary institution by insisting that only men can be emperor, sparking worry about the shrinking, fast-aging imperial family. Emperor Naruhito ‘s 24-yearold daughter is hugely popular, and many Japanese want her to be his successor, but Princess Aiko is ineligible because she is a woman. Japan’s male-only succession rule means the line must move to the emperor’s younger brother, then to his 19-year-old nephew Prince Hisahito. Next in line after him is the emperor’s 90-year-old uncle. In an imperial family that places a premium on male royal babies, Hisahito is the first such boy to be born in four decades. Only five of the 16 adults in the imperial family—there are no children—are men. This matters, as Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi and other conservatives insist the male bloodline is “the only source of the emperor’s authority and legitimacy,” which will be the basis for the upcoming measures. While an emperor’s mother can be a commoner, as is the case with the current one, only boys born to men with royal blood can be heirs

Space. . . Continued from A3

In April, a complex dance of “inspections” of satellites from all three countries broke out, orbital data show. The first step: A Russian satellite sidled up to geostationary orbit, tens of thousands of miles above the Earth, and positioned itself among three Chinese commercial and military satellites—close enough to eavesdrop or collect images. Then a US satellite came into the picture, boosted into an orbit that brought it as close as 13 kilometers from the Russian satellite twice every 24 hours. That guaranteed good lighting conditions for taking pictures or video. Finally, another Chinese satellite—presumed to be purpose-built for inspections— parked itself in the cluster, and near another US military communications satellite. Although there were no indications of impacts or tampering, the series of maneuvers show how the world’s three leading

to the throne, according to the Imperial House Law. The revision passed Friday to the antiquated law is meant to solidify the principle of that crucial bloodline by allowing the adoption of distant royal male relatives to father future heirs. The new measures will also allow princesses to keep their royal status if they marry a commoner. “It’s a declaration to prevent female monarchs ... and to defend the male-lineage at all costs,” said Hideya Kawanishi, a Nagoya University expert on monarchy. “They cannot say it’s male chauvinism, so they call it tradition.”

Takaichi supports male-only succession

THERE have been eight female monarchs. The last was Empress Gosakuramachi, who ruled from 1762 to 1770. The paternal-line male succession was stipulated for the first time in the 1890 Imperial House Law, when Japan promoted patriarchal systems. That law was largely carried over to the current 1947 version. Friday’s revisions have led to protests from Japanese who see the government efforts as meant to eliminate Aiko from ruling and to justify discrimination against women and a patriarchal system. “It’s very ironic that the first female prime minister herself is the leading proponent of the obsession space powers are committing resources and precious maneuvering fuel to keep close tabs on each other’s orbital assets. And how other nations are at their mercy. Germany witnessed interference to Bundeswehr systems by two Russian LuchOlymp intelligence-gathering satellites last fall, according to Defense Minister Boris Pistorius, who said that both Moscow and Beijing have the ability to “disrupt, blind, manipulate or kinetically destroy satellites.” On the eve of Putin’s invasion of Ukraine in early 2022, a Russian cyberattack on Viasat Inc.’s satellite network disabled modems across Europe and disrupted wide swaths of communications, knocking out thousands of wind turbines in Germany. Berlin has since pledged to invest €35 billion in defensive and offensive capabilities in space by 2030. “Satellite networks today are an Achilles heel of modern society,” Pistorius said in September. “The conflicts of the future will no longer be confined to Earth, they’ll be carried out in orbit.” Two years ago, US Congressman Mike Turner said Russia was experimenting with a

with male-succession,” Chizuko Ueno, a prominent feminist scholar, wrote recently referring to Takaichi. Ueno said the new measures “treat male royals as stallions and put female royals under pressure as ‘childbearing machines’ to produce male offspring.” After Aiko’s birth, her mother Empress Masako, a Har vardeducated former diplomat and a commoner, developed a stressinduced mental condition, apparently over criticism for not producing a male heir.

Ueno calls the system inhumane and urges the princesses to follow Mako’s example and leave when they can. Hisahito, possible adoptees and their future wives will face enormous pressure to produce male offspring, Kawanishi said.

Many Japanese still want Aiko to be emperor

Imperial family is shrinking

BECAUSE of the male-only succession rules and the dismissal of princesses who marry commoners, the monarchy after Hisahito is “extremely unstable,” former Imperial Household Agency chief Shingo Haketa told Kyodo News recently. Historians say the male-only system is unworkable today, as Japan more broadly faces a fastaging, dwindling population. It only worked in the past because concubines produced half the emperors until about 100 years ago, when the practice ended under Naruhito’s great-grandfather, Emperor Taisho. There was a government proposal in 2005 to allow female monarchs, but it was scrapped following Hisahito’s birth. Naruhito’s two male heirs are his 60-year-old brother, Crown Prince Akishino, who is only six years younger than the emperor and has reportedly said he would be too old to serve, and Hisahito, Akishino’s 19-year-old son. Third in line is Naruhito’s uncle, Prince Hitachi, who is 90.

JAPAN’S Princess Aiko, left, the daughter of Emperor Naruhito and Empress Masako, arrives to mark the 110th anniversary of the death of the wife of former emperor Meiji at Meiji Shrine in Tokyo, on April 10, 2024. KAZUHIRO NOGI/POOL PHOTO VIA AP

THE more controversial of the two measures allows unmarried male descendants, aged 15 or older, of distant imperial relatives—but only of paternal lineage—to be adopted into the royal family. Fifty-one members from 11 branch families renounced their

royal status in 1947, mainly to ease the postwar financial burden on the monarchy, Imperial Household Agency official Yoshimi Ogata told a recent parliamentary session. These people are at least 36 generations removed from Naruhito because they split from a common male-line ancestor 600 years ago, Ogata said. There is criticism of what some see as the government’s extraordinary efforts to make sure that male royals are producing male emperors. “W ho wants the son of an adoptee who nobody knows to be emperor instead of A iko? ” a s k e d Yo s h i nor i K ob ay a s h i , a cartoonist campaigning for A iko’s succession. It may also be unrealistic to ask former royals to reenter a very strict family known as “an enclave without human rights.” Royals cannot choose their jobs or homes, and must follow other serious constraints. “I wonder if anyone would raise a hand,” 81-year-old Asahiro Kuni, whose family renounced its royal status when he was 3, told TBS television. “I imagine many people, by age 15, have some idea about their future. It’s cruel to tell them...to change the course of their life.”

plan to put nuclear anti-satellite weapons in orbit. The idea was to create a network of such devices that if a major war broke out, could be detonated to destroy or disable everything in a certain orbital band, according to Jeffrey Lewis, director of the East Asia Nonproliferation Program at the Middlebury Institute of International Studies at Monterey. It’s a claim since repeated by NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte. “That’s the world we’re living in,” said Lewis. “Launch is cheap so you destroy everything and just replace it. And it’s better than losing the war.” It looks rather different from a European perspective, where launches are neither cheap nor plentiful. While Arianespace has a successful track record—and a full order book for payloads, including carrying Amazon.com Inc.’s Leo satellites—its launch center is halfway around the world in French Guiana. That South American location for a strategic European facility looks less than optimal at a time when President Donald Trump wants to exercise US control over the

western hemisphere. It’s one reason to develop launch capabilities closer to home in continental Europe. What’s more, the prospect of being dependent for launch capacity on Musk, whose political allegiances have seen him campaign for far-right alternatives to European governments including in Germany and the UK, only adds to the drive toward self-reliance. “Dependence on allies or commercial providers, including the United States’ Starlink, can be risky if critical services prove unavailable during crises,” Rand analysts Mélusine Lebret and James Black wrote in a recent report. The most promising European venue is Andøya Spaceport, which hosted Isar Aerospace’s launch attempts. Andøya, whose location at 69 degrees north allows easy access to polar orbits, traces its heritage to 1962, when its first launch was a collaboration between NASA, the Danish Meteorological Institute and the Norwegian defense and research establishment to study the Aurora Borealis.

The law is meant to bring in distant relatives

Kuni, who worked as an engineer at a major Japanese company, said he would tell his family to decline if asked by the palace. “You are asked to sacrifice your life for the happiness of the people. I can’t tell my family to choose such a difficult life.” He also expressed support for female monarchs in interviews with other Japanese media.

Princesses who marry commoners can keep royal status

AIKO, known for her engaging smile, enthusiasm and witty conversation, is a public favorite. Five single princesses, including Aiko and her popular cousin Kako, 31, may be affected by the other main revision to the Imperial House Law, which would allow them to keep their royal status and continue serving official duties if they marry commoners, although their spouse and children wouldn’t be accepted as royals. Aiko’s elder cousin Mako renounced her royal status and moved to New York after marrying her college boyfriend, a commoner who now is a lawyer. The move was largely seen as her attempt to flee from the restrained imperial life. Today it conducts a mix of civilian and military operations, and although it boasts of having sent up more than 1,200 scientific rockets, all were suborbital. Olsen of Andøya Space says there is enough demand for continental European orbital launches to justify more than one spaceport. “We are being called up by new launch vehicles and satellite brokers every week,” he said. “But first of all we have to figure it out and get that successful launch.” Individually and collectively, European countries are trying to get in the game. Besides Germany, Poland is buying three synthetic aperture radar satellites from Finnish startup Iceye for €200 million and the UK has set aside £3.2 billion ($4.3 billion) for new space capabilities. The UK in May also published the first photos from Noctis-1, a space telescope meant to keep tabs on friendly orbital systems. France has more advanced programs in play, including small “bodyguard” systems to patrol around sensitive satellites—Yeux

“THE emperor is a symbolic figure, and I don’t see why women cannot serve in the role,” said 78-yearold Junichiro Tsujimaru, a sushi chain founder. Yoshio Iwase, also 78, says Aiko, as the daughter of the emperor, is the legitimate successor. “I think it’s fine because there used to be female emperors in the past.” There is worry that the government’s push will upset former Emperor Akihito’s legacy, which included making amends for the victims of World War II, fought in his father’s name. A k i hito, who abd icated in 2019, also tried to bring what was seen as an aloof monarchy closer to the people, an example followed by his son, Naruhito, and his family. Akihito reportedly supports Aiko’s succession. He avoided directly answering a question about the 2005 government proposal but said female royals served a major role in the monarchy and that its role was to work for the happiness of the people—a remark interpreted as his support for female monarchs. Naruhito also said in June that he hoped discussions about the measures would reach a conclusion that “will gain understanding of the people,” a comment palace watchers said was his nuanced displeasure. Japan on Friday also enacted a controversial new law prohibiting desecration of its national flag, a key right-wing agenda pushed by Takaichi. Opponents see it as an attempt to intimidate the public and silence criticism against her government. en Orbite pour un Demonstrateur Agile, or YODA—and is experimenting with using lasers on the ground or in space to interfere with hostile activity, said Xavier Pasco, Director of the Foundation for Strategic Research in France. German company Rocket Factory Augsburg, or RFA, plans a launch this summer at a converted former Royal Air Force Base at SaxaVord in the Shetland Islands, the most northerly part of the UK, which is also vying to become a European hub. RFA is a subsidiary of satellite maker OHB SE, also German, which is part of a bid with Airbus SE and Rheinmetall AG to build a satellite internet service for the German armed forces. The EU, meanwhile, published its European Space Strategy for Security and Defence in 2022 and since then has switched on parts of its new IRIS2 and GOVSATCOM secure satellite communications network, part of a €10.6 billion push to provide an alternative to Starlink and wean itself off US support. The IRIS2 network will eventually have 290 satellites in multiple orbits. It is scheduled to be fully operational by 2030, serving both private customers and governments. Luxembourg-based SES SA, France’s Eutelsat SA, and Spain’s Hispasat SA are building the satellites. “European states are investing heavily in space surveillance capabilities,” said Captain Beatrice Hainaut of the French government’s Institute for Strategic Research. “After all, having active defense or offensive capabilities in space is one thing, but it is equally essential to know what is actually happening there.” Bloomberg News

www.businessmirror.com.ph • Editor: Lyn Resurreccion

Sunday, July 19, 2026 A5

FISHING FOR DNA

A cup of river water can reveal secrets of human health, pollution and biodiversity

HE DNA in a single cup of water can track wildlife, monitor pollution and survey pathogens in waterways and their surroundings, all at the same time. DNA is contained in each cell of every plant, animal, fungus and microbe. It carries the genetic instructions needed for an organism’s survival, growth and function, and the DNA of each species is unique. Organisms shed DNA into their environments. This environmental DNA, or eDNA, can come from cells shed from skin, spores and pollen blowing on the wind, or even just a cough or sneeze. It can provide huge amounts of information. Researchers can use it to assess biodiversity, monitor the spread of invasive species and detect pathogens. Traditional monitoring methods, such as field observation or trapping, can be difficult, intrusive and time-consuming. Tracking an elusive species in the wild can mean hours or days without a sighting, perhaps in difficult terrain or remote locations. Trapping wildlife can be stressful for the animals and relies on expert knowledge to properly handle wildlife and position traps. With eDNA, researchers can collect information about a species without ever needing to see or interact with it. Moreover, a cup of water, a few ounces of sand or even air sucked through a filter can hold enough information to determine what has been in the area, including people, wildlife and infectious pathogens.

Cracking the DNA code

RESEARCHERS sequence DNA fragments collected from sand, water or air to decode the order of the chemical building blocks that make up DNA. These sequences can be used to

not only identify the species that the fragments of DNA came from, but also to narrow down the area where the organism originated. Until recent ly, researchers typically used an approach called m e t a b a rc o d i n g t o s e q u e n c e eDNA. This method creates many copies of specific, short genetic markers that researchers can use to identify particular species. Although powerful, metabarcoding is selective by design. It finds only what it is designed to find—typically small but informative regions of DNA called barcodes—and ignores ever ything else. Because the DNA fragments are so short, it’s difficult to link these bits of information. A single barcode cannot cover all species in an area, and it cannot provide information about the genetic traits of species in the area. My team at the Duffy Lab at the University of Florida took a different approach. Rather than focusing on one short region of DNA in a sample, we used a technique researchers call long-read shotgun metagenomic DNA sequencing, which reads each fragment of DNA in long, continuous sections. All the DNA and traits in one long fragment clearly come from the same individual. As a result, we can sequence all of the DNA from every species, from viruses to vertebrates and everything in between. Compared to metabarcoding, shotgun sequencing is faster and requires less lab manipulation and processing. The “shotgun” portion of the name refers to how the DNA is frag mented, read in shor t

THE mouth of the Pasig River at the Manila Bay in September 2025 PATRICKROQUE01/WIKIPEDIA CC BY-SA 4.0

stretches and then reassembled. This random, explosive fragmentation resembles the firing of a shotgun. By comparing the results of shotg u n DNA sequenc i ng to large reference genome databases, researchers can figure out which species the DNA came from. This process provides an all-in-one DNA readout of everything in a single sample. Rather than identifying the presence of particular target species, like the barcoding technique, shotgun sequencing is a broad snapshot of the ecological communities in a specific area. In a single assessment, researchers can detect microbes, fungi, plants and animals in as little as 24 hours.

River rich in species

TO test our new method, my team and I collected water samples from the Avoca River in Ireland, starting from near its source in the Wicklow Mountains all the way down to where it enters the Irish Sea in

Arklow town. We also collected sand samples from beaches near the river mouth. These samples revealed a wealth of genetic information drifting through the river system. The DNA we filtered from the water samples came from many organisms living in or near the water, including otters and oysters, foxes and fish, badgers and bacteria. Some of the species we detected were common and easily visible along the river (cows, sheep, dogs and humans), while some were more difficult to see (leatherback turtles and octopi). Some required a magnifying glass (biting midges, microscopic worms and viruses). Researchers can also use environmental DNA to evaluate whether biodiversity restoration is working as expected. From our samples of the Avoca River, we detected DNA from organisms with major economic and ecological consequences: a fungus called “Leptosphaeria maculans”

that affects crops and a fungus called “Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis” that has caused catastrophic declines in frog populations around the world. This is the first time researchers have detected “B. dendrobatidis” in Ireland. Not only can eDNA show which species are present, it can also reveal their origins and help researchers understand how they migrate and disperse. For example, the blue mussel eDNA we recovered near the mouth of the Avoca River most closely matches the DNA of mussels found off the coast of Wales (84 percent) and France (16 percent).

Pollution mitigation

HUMAN impact on the river was clearly reflected in the eDNA we collected. The samples we collected upstream in a sparsely populated area had very little human DNA. By contrast, the samples we took near the town of Arklow in 2022 contained high levels of human

DNA, consistent with untreated wastewater entering the river at that time. Additionally, we found DNA from human-associated pathogens in river water and beach sand. These included bacteria such as streptococcus, parasites such as entamoeba, and sexually transmitted pathogens such as chlamydia, herpes and gonorrhea. When we returned to collect samples in 2024, the human DNA signal had practically disappeared. This coincided with the construction of pipework leading to the new Arklow Wastewater Treatment Plant, diverting human waste from the river. The ability to identify wildlife, human activity and pathogens all from one water sample highlights the potential for a wide-ranging One Health approach to environmental health surveillance. In principle, it is possible to use eDNA to simultaneously identify pollution sources and emerging pathogens, track invasive species and monitor environmental reservoirs of disease, nearly in real time.

All of nature in a nutshell

ENVIRONMENTAL DNA offers a new form of ecosystem monitoring. Rather than carrying out environmental surveillance through the separate lenses of zoology, botany, microbiology and epidemiology, eDNA acts as a continuous genomic observatory. This “all-in-one” approach to ecosystem monitoring is becoming ever easier as DNA sequencing costs continue to fall, technology advances allow longer DNA fragments to be sequenced, and computational power improves. A single cup of water can unlock the incredible secrets flowing beneath the surface of the river. Biodiversity in and around the water, the effects of pollution and recovery, and the beautiful complexities of entire ecosystems are just waiting to be revealed. Jenny Whilde, University of Florida/ The Conversation (CC) via AP

Amid nuke power debate, BatStateU leads talk in building human resource

ATANGAS CITY— As the debate on nuclear energy centers on power plants, technology, and infrastructure, Batangas State University, The National Engineering University (BatStateU The NEU), is shifting the conversation to the critical question: Who will educate and prepare the Filipino professionals who will design, regulate, operate, and advance the country’s future nuclear industry? This question inspired the holding of the recent Government, University and Industry Leaders (GUILd) Summit on Nuclear Education Development at BatStateU Pablo Borbon Campus. For BatStateU, the initiative reflects its broader mandate as the Philippines’ National Engineering University, anticipating technological frontiers and preparing the workforce that will enable the country’s long-term development. “We should discuss nuclear energy not through fear, but through education, understanding, and informed decision-making,” University President Dr. Tirso A. Ronquillo emphasized in his welcome address. As the country’s energy needs continue to grow, Ronquillo said universities have a responsibility to prepare graduates equipped with the knowledge, technical competence, and ethical foundation required by emerging industries. Representatives from the Commission on Higher Education (CHED), the Depart-

ment of Energy (DOE), the Department of Science and Technology–Philippine Nuclear Research Institute (DOST-PNRI), the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority, Fulbright Philippines, the US Embassy, state universities and colleges, and industry organizations participated in discussions on strengthening nuclear education through coordinated action.

Why nuclear education development matters now

THE summit was held as the Philippines explores nuclear energy as part of its longterm strategy to diversify energy sources, strengthen energy security, and support economic growth while pursuing lowercarbon electricity generation. Experts at the summit emphasized that no nuclear program can succeed without a highly trained workforce. Engineers, scientists, physicists, regulators, health specialists, environmental experts, educators, policymakers, and communication professionals all play essential roles in ensuring that nuclear science and technology are applied safely and responsibly. Developing this ecosystem requires years of investment in higher education—through faculty development, curriculum innovation, research capability, laboratory facilities, and international collaboration—long before large-scale infrastructure is introduced.

BATANGAS State University President Dr. Tirso A. Ronquillo delivers his message during the the recent Government, University and Industry Leaders (GUILd) Summit on Nuclear Education Development at BatStateU Pablo Borbon Campus. BATSTATEU PHOTO

A university-led approach to national readiness

THE summit demonstrated how universities can serve as convenors of national expertise by bringing together policymakers, educators, researchers, industry leaders, and international partners to align education with future workforce requirements. Central to the discussions was Project Nucleus (Nuclear Upskilling in Collaboration for Lifelong Learning, Engagement, and

Sustainability), a collaborative initiative of BatStateU and CHED, with support from Fulbright Philippines. The project seeks to strengthen the country’s higher education system by enhancing institutional capacity, developing academic programs, expanding faculty expertise, and fostering international collaboration in nuclear science and engineering. It supports the Philippine Energy Plan’s goal of introducing nuclear energy into the country’s power generation mix, with an initial target of 1,200 megawatts (MW) by 2032 and expansion to 2,400 MW thereafter, by helping universities develop the human capital needed to sustain a future nuclear industry. Presenting the initiative, CHED Director Dr. Jimmy G. Catanes of the Office of Programs and Standards Development underscored that higher education institutions must build the country’s academic foundations before nuclear infrastructure can be realized. He emphasized that the country must first invest in competent faculty, modern curricula, research ecosystems, and globally competitive graduates—transforming interest in nuclear energy into the institutional capacity needed to support a safe, secure, and sustainable program.

Learning from global experience

THE GUILd Summit connected Philippine

initiatives with international and national perspectives on nuclear workforce development. Nuclear science and engineering expert Dr. Mary Lou Dunzik-Gougar, a Fulbright Specialist, associate dean of the College of Science and Engineering, and professor of Nuclear Engineering at Idaho State University, highlighted the growing global demand for nuclear professionals and encouraged Philippine universities to strengthen faculty capability, research, and the integration of nuclear concepts into existing academic programs. DOST-PNRI Career Scientist Dr. Alvie Astronomo presented the Philippine Nuclear Energy Roadmap, emphasizing workforce development as a key pillar of the country’s nuclear readiness under the International Atomic Energy Agency’s Milestones Approach. Meanwhile, DOE Nuclear Energy Division Chief Ms. Sheila D. Dela Cruz reaffirmed that human resource development remains central to the Philippine Nuclear Energy Program through specialized training, international cooperation, stakeholder engagement, and public education.

Collaboration beyond the classroom

THE discussions reflected a growing recognition that preparing a future nuclear workforce cannot be accomplished by a single institution.

Government establishes policies and regulator y frameworks; universities educate future professionals and generate research; industry identifies workforce needs and provides practical training opportunities; and international partners contribute expertise, academic exchange, and technical cooperation. This “whole-of-society” approach was reinforced during the summit’s high-level panel discussion, “Building the Philippine Nuclear Talent Pipeline through Government-University-Industry Collaboration,” which explored collaborative strategies for curriculum development, competency standards, faculty capability building, research partnerships, workforce development, and public engagement. The event included the signing of the GUILd Declaration on Nuclear Education, signifying a shared commitment to strengthen collaboration in nuclear education, innovation, research, and workforce development. George Mesthos, deputy director for Public Engagement of the US Embassy in the Philippines, reaffirmed the Embassy’s continued support for the country’s civil nuclear workforce development through educational exchanges, technical cooperation, and international partnerships. BatStateU was declared as the Philippines’ National Engineering University through Republic Act 11694.

A6 Sunday, July 19, 2026

Faith

Sunday Editor: Lyn Resurreccion • www.businessmirror.com.ph

Echoing Pope Leo XIV, experts sign Rome declaration on limits for AI, nuke arms

NSPIRED by Pope Leo XIV’s encyclical “Magnifica Humanitas,” more than 200 leading academics, innovators, and Nobel laureates signed a declaration in Rome on July 16 calling for responsible artificial intelligence (AI) development and the complete elimination of nuclear weapons. “We must disarm the next arms race, both AI and nuclear, before they define the next century as well,” the declaration stated. According to Vatican News, the signing of the declaration for “an unarmed and disarming peace in the age of artificial intelligence, nuclear and autonomous weapons, new digital protocols, and emerging models of digital development” took place in the Giulio Cesare Hall at the Palazzo Senatorio, Rome’s city hall atop the Capitoline Hill. The signing also concluded the Global Nobel Laureates Assembly on Artificial Intelligence and

Nuclear War, held from July 14 to 16 at Borgo Laudato Si’, part of the Pontifical Gardens at Castel Gandolfo, where Pope Leo XIV is staying from July 5 to 27. Among those present at the signing were the vicar general of the Diocese of Rome, Cardinal Baldassare Reina; the mayor of Rome, Roberto Gualtieri; and Hollywood actress Sharon Stone.

For an unarmed and disarming peace

THE declaration called on governments and corporations to slow AI development, halt the expansion

were inspired by Leo XIV’s encyclical “Magnifica Humanitas.” “Pope Leo XIV, invoking values shared across religious traditions, has called humanity toward an ‘unarmed and disarming peace.’”

A race for human survival

THE Palazzo Senatorio, Rome’s city hall, is located at the Piazza del Campidoglio atop Rome’s Capitoline Hill. ISHMAEL ADIBUAH/EWTN NEWS

of nuclear arms, and work toward their total elimination. “We call on governments, corporations, and international organizations to enable coordinated

slowdown of frontier AI development,” the declaration stated. “We call for urgent, sustained, and good-faith negotiations leading, within an agreed and time-bound

Manila exorcism office to host meet on spiritual warfare

CONFERENCE on exorcism next month in Makati City aims to help Catholics better understand spiritual warfare through Church teaching and pastoral ministry. The conference, titled “Spiritual Warfare: How to Heal and Prevent Demonic Attacks,” will be held August 8 at Mary, Mother of Hope Chapel on the fifth floor of Landmark Makati. Organized by the Archdiocese of Manila Office of Exorcism and the Philippine Association of Catholic Exorcists, the conference will feature Companions of the Cross Fr. Carlos Martins, CC, an exorcist and international speaker.

“For nearly two decades, he has faithfully served the Church through the ministry of exorcism, helping people encounter the healing and liberating power of Jesus Christ,” organizers said. Martins also founded Treasures of the Church, an international evangelization ministry that has displayed more than 150 authenticated relics of saints in hundreds of dioceses around the world. Martins hosts “The Exorcist Files” podcast and wrote the bestselling book of the same title, highlighting the Church’s teaching on spiritual warfare and Christ’s victory over evil. CBCP News

FR. Carlos Martins CC FROM FR. MARTINS YOUTUBE CHANNEL

Crowd surge at Indian Hindu fest leaves 1 dead, many hospitalized

EW DELHI—A sudden crowd surge at a popular Hindu festival in eastern India’s Odisha state on Thursday left at least one person dead and many hospitalized, a news agency reported. The incident occurred as tens of thousands of people

gathered in the coastal town of Puri for the annual Rath Yatra chariot festival, according to the Press Trust of India. The festival is considered one of the world’s oldest and largest religious processions. The centuries-old festival involves the idols of Hindu deities being taken out of

the Jagannath Temple and carried through the streets in colorfully decorated chariots. Videos from the scene showed injured devotees being carried to hospitals as shoes, bags and other belongings were left strewn across the area in the aftermath of the incident.

HINDU devotees gather around tableau with Hindu mythological characters Krishna and Radha as they participate in a religious procession during the Rath Yatra, or chariot festival, carrying the Hindu deities of Jagannath, Balaram and Subhadra, in Kolkata, India, Thursday, July 16, 2026. AP/BIKAS DAS

Odisha police said in a social media post that rescue teams provided first aid and oxygen to 33 people before transferring them to nearby hospitals. Last year, three people were killed and more than a dozen hospitalized following a crowd surge during the same festival. Crowd crushes are relatively common in India during religious festivals, as large crowds, sometimes in the millions, gather in confined areas with few safety or crowd control measures. Last year in January, at least 30 people were killed as tens of thousands of Hindus rushed to bathe in a sacred river during the Maha Kumbh festival, the world’s largest religious gathering. In 2013, pilgrims attending a Hindu festival at a temple in the central state of Madhya Pradesh panicked amid fears that a bridge would collapse. At least 115 people were crushed to death or drowned in the river below. The Associated Press

framework, to the verifiable and irreversible elimination of nuclear weapons.” According to a July 16 press release, the declaration and summit

SPEAKING at the signing of the declaration, Reina explained its significance for humanity’s survival amid the threats of nuclear war and AI misuse. “The declaration presented today reminds us with great clarity that no machine, no algorithm, and no autonomous system can be placed at the center of decisions upon which the survival of humanity depends,” Reina said. Prof. David Gross, a Nobel Prize laureate in physics and a professor of theoretical physics at the University of California, Santa Barbara, emphasized the need for nuclear nations to adopt policies to reduce the risk of nuclear war. “We are in the middle of an accelerated arms race,” Gross said. “We ask that nuclear nations promote policies that reduce the risk of war, nuclear war, and annihilation.” IshmaelAdibuah/EWTNNewsviaCBCPNews

My journey toward the truth: The secret of heaven By Soo Oh

AST time, we shared that the Word of God, the Bible, concerns the promise or covenant with God (Old Testament), the fulfillment of the Old Testament (First Coming), the covenant with Jesus (New Testament), and the fulfillment of the New Testament (Second Coming). This is because God first prophesies (Amos 3:7) and fulfills what He prophesied (Isaiah 14:24) and through this, He Himself proves that He is God and the Creator, having created everything through the Word (Genesis 1:1-4). In the Bible, this prophecy and the testimony of its fulfillment are called the Truth (John 17:8, 17) or the Gospel (Good News). This is because while both God’s promise and Jesus’ promise are good news, they become truly good news only when that promise is fulfilled. However, why is the covenant (prophecy) so difficult to understand? The reason is that it is the secret of Heaven written in parables (Amos 3:7; Hosea 12:10). And this is because no one can know the secret of the parables until the prophecy is fulfilled and the reality is revealed. Jesus also stated that prophecy is a secret of the Kingdom of Heaven and only spoke about in parables (Matthew 13:34-35). The reason is that God had already prophesied that he must speak in parables, so he had to fulfill it exactly as prophesied (Psalm 78:2), and because God was at war with Satan and those belonging to Satan, He had to conceal the wisdom concerning the Kingdom of Heaven in parables (Matthew 13:10-11). The true meaning of the secret of the Kingdom of Heaven, which had been hidden in parables, was explained to the disciples through Jesus during his first coming (Matthew 13:10-11). Thus, the disciples who followed Jesus were able to understand the true meaning of the parables, and the reality of the prophecy indicated by the parables. However, those who at that time discarded God’s word of prophecy and fulfillment and were satiated with their own traditions and denominational teachings (human teachings) (Mark 7:6-9; John 8:37) could not understand the meaning or reality of the parables, which are the secrets of the Kingdom of Heaven, and ultimately could not enter Heaven.

About 2,000 years have passed since Jesus’ first coming. Do we truly understand the meaning of the parables used in the Old Testament prophecies and the New Testament prophecies? And do we know the reality, which is the true meaning of those parables? The Bible states that we are saved by faith, and that is correct. However, that faith is obtained by receiving, hearing, and accepting the word of prophecy and its reality (John 14:29; Romans 10:17). As we await the Second Coming, do we possess faith based on the standard of knowing the Word of Scripture (prophecy and fulfillment) or do we practice a blind faith of our own without knowledge (Hosea 4:6)? Do I know the meaning of the New Testament prophecies (Jesus’ promises) written in parables? If we do not know Jesus’ promises, how can we keep them when he fulfills the covenant? What are the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil in the parables of Genesis? What are the rocks in the desert and the water from the rocks in the parables of Moses’ time, and what is the manna from heaven? What are the treasure hidden in the field spoken of during Jesus’ first coming, the wedding clothes of the feast, and the lamps and oil that the wise virgins must prepare? What are the seven golden lampstands in Revelation, what is the beast with seven heads and ten horns, and what is the last, seventh trumpet? Do I know the meaning of these parables or not? Is it okay not to know? The Bible says that if one does not understand the parables, there is no forgiveness of sins (Mark 4:10-12). If this is the end times, the words of the New Testament prophecy will be revealed, and many will go here and there to increase knowledge (Daniel 12:4). The words of prophecy, which were sealed and known to no one (Revelation 5:3), will be opened, and this revelation of Jesus Christ will be testified to all people (Revelation 1:1-3; Revelation 10:8-11). Next month, I would like to discuss the parables of the secrets of the Kingdom of Heaven, focusing on Matthew 13. Soo oh is with the Zion Christian Mission Center, the theology arm of Shincheonji Church of Jesus and it offers a full theology course for free. You can sign up here to download the ZCMC SPS (Self-Paced Study) app and start your journey today.

Biodiversity Sunday BusinessMirror

Asean Champions of Biodiversity Media Category 2014

Sunday, July 19, 2026 A7

Editor: Lyn Resurreccion

Dr. Kent E. Carpenter: True champion of PHL marine biodiversity; self-confessed Filipinophile

‘T

By Jonathan L. Mayuga

she has carried into countless conversations about marine conservation. “I am deeply grateful for the lasting impact he has had on marine protection in the Philippines. I extend my heartfelt condolences to all whose lives and work were touched by his remarkable legacy,” she said.

HE Philippines is the center of the center of shore-fish biodiversity.”

These words summarized Dr. Kent E. Carpenter’s study and appreciation of the country’s rich marine biodiversity in the Verde Island Passage, between Batangas and the island of Mindoro. His research inspired environmental advocates to intensify their campaign for the protection and conservation of the country’s rich marine biodiversity. For nearly 50 years, Carpenter passionately conducted scientific research on marine science and biology that significantly contributed to science and policy in the Philippines. He was an invaluable expert witness that backed the country’s victory in the Permanent Court of Arbitration in 2016 that reaffirmed Manila’s sovereign rights in the West Philippine Sea. He likewise coordinated the International Union for Conservation of Nature Global Marine Species Assessment to map extinction risks for nearly 20,000 marine species. In his honor, in recognition of his taxonomic work, two fish species bear his name— the Carpenter’s flasher wrasse (Paracheilinus carpenteri) and Carpenter’s yellowtop jewelfish (Meganthias carpenteri). Carpenter’s affection for the Philippines, confessing that he is a Filipinophile, stretched back to his days as a US Peace Corps volunteer in the 1970s. However, his life suddenly ended when he was shot dead inside his home in Negros Oriental on the evening of July 12. His colleagues in the academic and scientific community strongly condemned and mourned his killing, while they extolled his dedication and significant contributions to marine science, that benefitted not only the Philippines but also worldwide.

Pioneering studies

THE University of the Philippines Marine Science Institute (UP-MSI) said Dr. Kent E. Carpenter’s pioneering studies on Philippine coral reefs, associated fish, and fisheries are foundational to coral reef ecology. Carpenter was credited by the UP-MSI for the designation of the Verde Island Passage as a National Protected Area and a Unesco World Heritage Site. “His collaborations and partnerships with various institutions for tropical marine ecology contributed to the capacity-building and development of Filipino scientists and students,” the UPMSI said in a statement. Since UP MSI’s early beginning as a research center, Dr. Carpenter has been a “great friend” to the Institute. “He continued to be an enduring influence on many other marine scientists, fisherfolk organizations, and conservation groups,” the institute said.

‘Distinguished marine biologist’ SILLIMAN University aptly described him as a “distinguished marine biologist.” Carpenter was a research associate at Silliman, and professor emeritus of Biological Sciences at Old Dominion University. According to Silliman University, over the course of his career, Carpenter made “groundbreaking contributions that transformed global understanding of the Philippine marine biodiversity.” “For nearly five decades, Doctor Carpenter maintained a close relationship with [Silliman University]. His collaboration with the university began in 1976 when he worked alongside the late National Scientist Dr. Angel C. Alcala and fellow marine scientists in pioneering studies on the rich marine ecosystems of the Philippines.”

A generous mentor, collaborator and friend ACCORDING to Silliman University, Carpenter’s partnership with renowned Filipino marine biologists and scientists helped establish the university as an internationally respected center for marine and coastal research. It likewise contributed significantly to the Silliman’s scientific understanding of coral reef biodiversity, reef fish ecology, fisheries sustainability, and marine conservation. “Beyond his remarkable scholarly achievements, Doctor Carpenter was a generous mentor, collaborator, and friend to the Silliman community. He freely shared his knowledge, encouraged young scientists, and helped cultivate a culture of scientific excellence, international collaboration, and environmental stewardship that continues to shape the University’s marine research programs,” the university said.

Died on July 12, the 10th year of WPS arbitration win

DR. Jorge Emmanuel, a DOST Balik Scientist and senior research fellow at Silliman University, was Carpenter’s friend and colleague. Emmanuel said that Carpenter’s “50 years of research on marine biodiversity and conservation in the Philippines continued to [widen and deepen] our understanding of fisheries, a source of livelihood for millions of Filipinos and a pillar of our food security,” Emmanuel noted. He lamented the brutal murder of Carpenter was all the more heartbreaking as it took place on the very day, on July 12, as the country celebrated the 10th anniversary of the historic victory of the Philippines at the Permanent Court of Arbitration in 2016 that reaffirmed Manila’s sovereign rights in the West Philippine Sea. Nevertheless, he said he refused to remember Carpenter as a victim of a tragic killing, saying “he was much more than

‘Tremendous loss to the scientific community’

PROF. Kent Carpenter in this 2023 photo provided by Old Dominion University in Norfolk, Virginia. CHUCK THOMAS/OLD DOMINION UNIVERSITY VIA AP

that.”

very much], Dr. Kent Carpenter.”

Gave science clear, powerful voice

Tubbataha Reef’s champion

DR. Theresa Mundita Lim, executive director of the Environmental Studies Institute at Miriam College had the privilege of working with Carpenter in developing policies for the protection of the Verde Island Passage. She described the significance of Carpenter’s studies as “invaluable to me whenever I had to defend the need for stronger protection measures for our marine ecosystems. His work gave science a clear and powerful voice in policy, and his contribution to Philippine marine biodiversity conservation will not be forgotten.” “As we know, many competing interests surround the use of our valuable marine areas. In such situations, credible scientific data is essential in demonstrating why these ecosystems must be protected and managed sustainably,” Lim, former executive director of Asean Center for Biodiversity, and director of Biodiversity Management Bureau of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR-BMB).

A true ocean champion, Filipino ally

BESIDES his research on Verde Island Passage, Carpenter was just as passionate about the Sulu Sea, the Visayan Sea, and just about any part of the greater ocean in and around the Philippines, according to DENRBMB Assistant Director Mariglo Laririt. Laririt said the DENRBMB “commit to honoring his [Carpenter’s] remarkable legacy by continuing the work he devoted his life to, protecting our country’s rich biodiversity, and ensuring that future generations inherit healthy seas, thriving coasts, and resilient ecosystems.” She said: “Not many of us may be as brilliant and productive, but we can strive to be as steadfast and generous. ‘Maraming salamat’ [Thank you

CARPENTER’S having worked hard for science was manifested in his stint at Tubbataha Reef Natural Park (TRNP)—for free—since 2018. He would have two trips a year to gather fish data, according to Angelique Songco, protected area superintendent at TRNP. Songco expressed her deep gratitude to Carpenter for his big contribution to the park. “He’d helped identify over a hundred species previously unrecorded in Tubbataha,” she said. He was full of ideas and energy that they still have future projects. “Plans are in the offing to publish a guide to the fishes of Tubbataha with Dr. Klaus Steifel.” “[But] the project won’t be as much fun without him,” Songco said.

Starstruck to a good listener, story teller

RENE ABESAMIS, associate professor at UP MSI, started working with Carpenter professionally and with National Scientist Angel Alcala at Silliman University in 1998 as a research assistant at UP-MSI, studying “muro-ami” fishing. Muro-ami, a Japanese term, refers to a destructive drivein net fishing technique that originated in Okinawa. The highly destructive and illegal fishing technique involves dropping large, heavy stones or cement blocks into coral reefs to smash them, scaring the fish out of their shelters so they can be trapped in encircling nets. The method caused irreversible damage to marine ecosystems and exploitative labor practices, particularly forced child labor. “I remember being starstruck, and rightly so. Kent wrote one of the first papers on muro-ami with NS [National Scientist] Angel Alcala in 1977, and was the world expert on fusiliers [dalagang bukid], the main catch of muro-ami,” Abesamis shared. Carpenter patiently listened and gave him advice when he was a fresh graduate who was

still figuring out the ropes. According to Abesamis, Carpenter’s paper in 1981 with his friends in the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources coral reef science team was particularly important to him, as the first real study on coral reef fish ecology in the Philippines. “I will also remember him for his amazing stories about how Balicasag Island [in Bohol] and Sumilon Island [in Cebu] were like underwater in the 1970s, a time when only a handful of people were lucky enough to be scuba diving in those places. His stories portrayed coral reefs back then as wild and fantastic,” Abesamis shared. “But one memory stands out the most—he was not shy to tell anyone who cared to listen that he is a true Filipinophile because he loved the Philippines deeply. Rest now, Kent. May you get the justice that you deserve,” he said.

Higher concentration of species

FOR her part, environmental lawyer Gloria Estenzo-Ramos, former vice president of Oceana Philippines, said Carpenter’s and Victor Springer’s 2005 landmark report also showed that “there is a higher concentration of species per unit area in the Philippines than anywhere in Indonesia, including Wallacea.” According to EstenzoRamos, it is unfortunate that progressive laws and even constitutional edicts are thrown aside for short-term gains. “They are just for selfish gains. The fight to stop the plunder of our resources must continue, the least we can do for our fallen heroes like Kent Carpenter and land and environmental defenders,” she said partly in Filipino.

A true inspiration

FOR Mar Saniano, senior conservation impact manager at the Wildlife Conservation Society, although she knew Carpenter only through his papers, his work, especially on Verde Island Passage, has been foundational to her own advocacy journey and a message

EDUCATIONAL institutions, scientists, government officials, members of the academe, former collaborators, nongovernment organizations, and friends were among those who expressed sadness and anger over the killing of Carpenter, and called it a “tremendous loss” to the scientific community. The UP-MSI joined the marine science community “in the shared grief and the collective call for justice to be served.” Silliman University said: “We join his family, colleagues, students, and the international scientific community in mourning the loss of an exceptional scientist whose life’s work advanced the understanding and conservation of marine biodiversity around the world.” Silliman, in a statement, described Carpenter’s passing “a tremendous loss… to the generations of students, researchers, conservationists, and institutions whose work has been enriched by his intellect, generosity, and unwavering dedication to science.” “Deeply saddened and angered,” Lim said: “We already have so few international scientists dedicating their work to Philippine biodiversity, and now we have lost one of them.” For DENR-BMB, Laririt said: “We mourn the passing of Dr. Kent Carpenter, a true ocean champion. Through his prolific work and steadfast dedication to marine scientific research in the Philippines, he became a formidable ally to Filipino coastal communities, researchers, and conservationists.” Estenzo-Ramos lamented: “For a man who so loved the Philippines and the Filipinos, and the precious creations that we are blessed to have, he [Carpenter] and no one else deserves to die such a violent death.” Capenter’s death and of many other environment defenders reaffirm the Global Witness Study for 12 consecutive years that “our country is the most dangerous place in Asia for environmental and human rights advocates,” she noted. Kent Elson Sorgon, an instructor at the Department of Biology at Ateneo de Manila University, a systematic ichthyologist and coral reef fish ecologist, said Carpenter was his mentor when he was starting with reef fish taxonomy and evolution. He said the murder of Carpenter added to a growing list of violence against environmental advocates but also against scientists, many of whom are at the forefront of research and advocacy for the communities living alongside the ecosystems they study.

Sports BusinessMirror

A8 Sunday, July 19, 2026

FANS IN ALL SHAPES, SIZES SHOWING UP FOR TOUR DE FRANCE

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

Spectators wait for the riders to pass during the ninth stage of the Tour de France from Malemort to Ussel in France. Tadej Pogacar continues to wear the yellow jersey of the 21-stage race that ends on July 26. AP

FRANCE’S Leonie Periault celebrates winning the woman’s International Triathlon Union World Triathlon Series-World Championship in Hamburg, Germany, last Saturday. AP

EALA

Ayala Malls Manila Bay opens Tennis Homecourt

YALA Malls Manila Bay is serving up new opportunities for Filipinos to discover and embrace tennis with the launch of Tennis Homecourt at Ayala Malls Manila Bay. The facility is a regulationstandard court developed in partnership with Philippinesbased tennis academy Austennis set to open later this year. The announcement was made during the Globe Homecourt event at Glorietta, celebrating Alex Eala’s achievements in tennis and inspiring more Filipinos to pick up a racket and get into the sport. “Our hope is that Tennis Homecourt encourages even more people to give the sport a try—to build confidence, make new friends, and discover a lasting love for the game,” said Mariana Zobel de Ayala, Ayala Land Senior Vice President and Head of Leasing and Hospitality. “At Ayala Malls, we’re proud to build spaces where people gather around shared loves— across all rackets, sports and passions,” she added. Ayala Malls Manila Bay is home to three permanent Homecourt facilities—Table Tennis Homecourt, Taekwondo Homecourt and the Sports Center that accommodates multiple sports from basketball, chess, pickleball and fencing to a growing lineup of emerging sports. Since its launch in 2023, Homecourt transformed 7,000 square meters of Ayala Malls Manila Bay into communitydriven sports venues, hosting over 450 daily workshops, weekend tournaments and mall-led programs, as well as national and international sporting events such as FIBA and UAAP tournaments, Batang Pinoy and Philippine National Games, ASEAN Taekwondo Championships, and South East Asian Fencing Championships.

TRIATHLON AIMS HIGH TO BOOST POPULARITY

ADRID— Triathlon is taking action to try to boost its popularity, with hopes of bringing it closer to the level of tennis and golf. A new global circuit will debut in 2027 following an alliance between the international federation and private organizers in an attempt to unify the sport that has been historically fragmented and difficult to follow because of the large number of events worldwide. Officials are hoping the new tour will promote massparticipation events, attract new audiences and enhance

Triathlon has traditionally been divided with the international federation not in charge of the actual organization of events. The competitions have been mostly run by private entities such as Ironman, the biggest in the sport. World Triathlon oversees Olympic Games, world championships and the world series.

the broadcast and digital storytelling of triathlon. There will be greater investment aimed at making the sport a better product for television and easier to showcase on social media in order to land bigger sponsors. The formal announcement of the new tour is expected by the end of the month. “Our goal is for the sport to be attractive not only for triathlon fans but to be attractive

for sport fans. We need to grow the sport to be more attractive to the general public,” Antonio Arimany, president of World Triathlon, said in an interview with The Associated Press. “This is not an achievement for next year, this is a goal that we have for the next six, seven years,” he added. “And we really would like to have triathlon at the level of tennis or golf. Of course, we cannot reach football or other sports because

we are not a team sport, but compared to individual sports we need to find a way how we can grow in popularity.” Triathlon has traditionally been divided, with the international federation not in charge of the actual organization of events. The competitions have been mostly run by private entities such as Ironman, the biggest in the sport. World Triathlon oversees Olympic Games, world championships and the world series. A report prepared by Deloitte highlighted the fragmentation within triathlon and the need to create a stronger and more unified competition structure. The presence of multiple companies showed there was interest in investing in the sport, the report said, and channeling those funds to a centralized product was considered crucial. Thus the need to try to merge and create a product that is easier to commercialize and grow.

“Announcing this new blueprint for the sport is an incredibly exciting next phase of our partnership with World Triathlon and to grow the sport,” said Sam Renouf, CEO of the Professional Triathletes Organization, which is co-owned and run by professional athletes. PTO manages global rankings and some of the most highprofile triathlon circuits. AP

LEE BACK FOR LA 2028

The US’s Suni Lee performs on the beam during the women’s artistic gymnastics individual balance beam finals in Bercy Arena during the 2024 Summer Olympics on August 5, 2024, in Paris. The America gymnastics star says she is returning to the sport, about two years out from the Los Angeles Games. She’s the Tokyo 2020 all-around champion and a six-time Olympic medalist. AP

ARGENTINA’S Lionel Messi and England’s Harry Kane are photographed in a rare embrace after their semifinal match in Atlanta Wednesday. AP

Argentine President won’t attend final, citing superstition

154th Open at Royal Birkdale THIS week, all golfing eyes will be on Southport, England, for the 154th Open Championship. For those like me who have been golfing for a few decades, it’s British Open week, although for some reason, that monicker has been used less and less lately. So as the R and A prefer, let’s call it the Open Championship week too. This year’s venue, Royal Birkdale, is easily recognizable from its white, art deco designed clubhouse standing out among the shades of green and brown. Royal Birkdale has hosted ten previous opens, with winners including Peter Thomson, Arnold Palmer, Johnny Miller, Lee Trevino, Tom Watson, Ian Baker-Finch, Mark O’Meara and Padraig Harrington. Most memorable among the Open Championships played at Royal Birkdale was arguably the last one, in 2017. Why was it memorable? Let’s take a look back.

Golf’s Golden Boy

JORDAN SPIETH was the toast of the golf world in the mid-2010s. After Tiger Woods’s over a decade-long hold on the game, the late 2000s to the early 2010s saw the emergence of newer blood. Rory McIlroy just burst onto the scene and in 2011-2014, seemed to be the next Tiger Woods. Rory won four majors in that fouryear period, and looked like he was taking over from Woods. But no one knew that after his 2014 Open and

PGA Championships, it won’t be until 2025 until Rory wins a major again. After Rory, it was Jordan Spieth’s time. Spieth was an accomplished junior player with two US Junior Amateurs under his belt. He also led his college, University of Texas to an NCAA title in 2012. By 2013, Spieth skipped school and won as a rookie on the PGA Tour. In 2014, he was runner-up at the Masters and had a win in the Australian Open and the Hero World Challenge. 2015 was Spieth’s real coming out party. He won the Masters and US Open, almost won the Open Championship, and climbed to World No.1. He was golf’s golden boy, with a combination of excellent clutch putting, competitive drive, and a bit of showmanship.

Cracks starting to show

JUST like 2015, Jordan Spieth started 2016 with a win in Hawaii. It was his seventh victory before his 23rd birthday, something Tigeresque. At the 2016 Masters, Spieth was at the driver’s seat again, leading by five strokes heading into the back nine Sunday. And then the 12th hole happened. He actually bogeyed the 10th and 11th, before stepping on the iconic par 3 12th and proceeding to dunk two balls into the water for a quadruple-bogey 7. He never recovered and handed Danny Willet his first, and only major.

The 2017 Open at Birkdale

NOW back to the Open Championship at Birkdale. Jordan Spieth was back to his old ways and was looking to put the nightmare of the Masters behind him. Jordan led by 3 strokes over Kuchar at the start of the final round. After a less than steady start, Kuchar caught up and they were tied well into the back nine. At the 13th hole, after Kuchar sent his tee shot into the light rough, Spieth proceeded to flare his drive 50 yards right into one of Royal Birkdale’s very bushy hills. The lie was so bad, Spieth decided to take an unplayable. Now, we as golfers might automatically think ok, drop within two club lengths, add a stroke, and let’s save bogey. If the lie might still be unplayable around the area, a stroke and distance penalty might be better. Head back to the tee, take your medicine and forget that double bogey. But under the intense pressure and with the entire world watching Spieth used the rules to his advantage and made his drop in the driving range area after 20-plus minutes of debates and rules checking. He didn’t cheat, he just used the rules to his advantage.

The saved bogey and exceptional turnaround where he made birdieeagle-birdie-birdie and won by three over Kuchar is the stuff of legend. That victory was Speiths last major, and although he has won a couple of times since, he is nowhere near the top of golf. But that tournament will go done as one of the most memorable Opens. Will this year’s Open at Royal Birkdale produce the same level of excitement?

Opening round of154th Open

AS of this writing, the first round of the 154th Open has just finished. At the top is little known Jackson Suber at -5. Trailing him are a mix of major champions and lesser-known players from the US, Europe, and the rest of the world. Local hero Bob MacIntyre is just two back, as are Bryson DeChambeau, Francesco Molinari and Cam Young. World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler is another shot adrift at -2 along with past Open champs Henrik Stenson and Collin Morikawa. Rory McIlroy struggled with inconsistency, missing putts from close range while showing brilliance off the tee in some holes. Rory drove the 415 yard par-4 ninth hole and made birdie, but couldn’t keep the momentum with missteps following flashes of great ball striking. The rest of the week should separate the better players from the also-rans. This year’s Open could shape up for another epic finish.

UENOS AIRES, Argentina— Argentine President Javier Milei said on Thursday he won’t be attending the World Cup final because of superstition, instead choosing to view Sunday’s match between Spain and Argentina from home— where he has watched the defending champion’s previous seven games, all victories, in the tournament. In a bid to help his nation’s beloved soccer team secure its second consecutive title, Milei added, he’ll be wearing the same heavy jacket, too. Fans and players around the world cling to superstitions they believe can bring good luck to their team—or misfortune to their opponents. But in Latin America, and particularly in Argentina, so-called “cábalas,” or ritualistic beliefs and habits, carry unusual weight, reflecting the intensity with which many here watch their national team. When asked Thursday whether he’d travel to New Jersey for Sunday’s game to watch alongside his close ally US President Donald Trump and FIFA president Gianni Infantino, as was widely expected, Milei replied, “No way.” “I’m going to keep watching all the games from Olivos,” he told a local Buenos Aires radio station, El Observador, referring to his presidential residence. The journalist asked if he’s staying home for superstitious reasons. Milei said yes, going on to explain another of his rituals: “Since it’s cold and I don’t turn on the heat, I wear an oil company-branded jacket. The day of the Switzerland game, it made me really hot. I took it off, and they scored a goal against us. I put it back on and never took it off again.” AP

BusinessMirror

July 19, 2026

Why English speakers are tuning into World Cup broadcasts in Spanish

BusinessMirror JULY 19, 2026 | soundstrip.businessmirror@gmail.com

GYARU IN PINOY

YOUR MUSI

How YUKIPOYO and Zae bridge two “baddie” cultures

Story by Bless Aubrey Ogerio

APANESE pop culture has long found a home in the Philippines, from anime and street fashion to food.

But as social media continues to blur geographical boundaries, cultural exchange is becoming less about borrowing trends and more about creating them together. That idea sits at the heart of Japanese artist YUKIPOYO's latest project, which is a Tagalog remix of her single "Te-Te Gyaru" featuring Filipina rapper Zae. More than a bilingual collaboration, the song brings together two youth cultures often separated by language but connected through confidence, fashion and unapologetic self-expression. Known in Japan as a model, television personality and recording artist, YUKIPOYO, whose real name is Yuki Kimura, recently

Publisher : T. Anthony C. Cabangon Editor-In-Chief : Lourdes M. Fernandez Concept : Aldwin M. Tolosa Y2Z Editor : Jt Nisay SoundStrip Editor : Edwin P. Sallan Group Creative Director : Eduardo A. Davad Graphic Designers : Chow Jarlego Niggel Figueroa Contributing Writers

: Tony M. Maghirang Rick Olivares Jingo Zapata Reine Juvierre S. Alberto John Eiron R. Francisco Patrick Villanueva Ana Zoe V. Davad

Justine Xyrah Garcia

Ginger Franz S. Ocampo Trixzy Leigh Bonotan Bless Aubrey Ogerio Photographers

: Bernard P. Testa Nonie Reyes

Y2Z & SOUNDSTRIP are published and distributed free every Sunday by the Philippine Business Daily Mirror Publishing Inc. as a project of the

The Philippine Business Mirror Publishing, Inc., with offices on the 3rd Floor of Dominga Building III 2113 Chino Roces Avenue corner Dela Rosa Street, Makati City, Philippines. Tel. Nos. (Editorial) 817-9467; 813-0725. Fax line: 813-7025 Advertising Sales: 893-2019; 817-1351,817-2807. Circulation: 893-1662; 814-0134 to 36. www.businessmirror.com.ph

released the original version of "Te-Te Gyaru" across major streaming platforms. The upcoming remix with Zae, accompanied by a music video filmed in Manila, marks one of her first musical collaborations with a Filipino artist.

Beyond makeup, fashion

FOR audiences unfamiliar with the term, "gyaru" is more than an aesthetic. The youth subculture emerged in Tokyo's Shibuya district during the 1990s and became known for its bold makeup, glamorous fashion and striking hairstyles. Over time, however, it evolved into something deeper—a mindset that celebrates individuality, confidence and pushing back against conventional expectations of how young women should look or behave. For YUKIPOYO, who proudly identifies with the lifestyle herself, "Te-Te Gyaru" serves as an introduction to that philosophy as much as it does a dance track. "My current fashion and make-up style is called gyaru in Japan," she said. "I'm excited to bring gyaru to the Philippines and make gyaru friends like me." She expressed a belief the culture may resonate naturally with Filipinos. "Gyaru is very positive, cheerful and energetic," she said. "She is very similar to Filipinos, so I think we will get along very well." Produced by Tokyo-based XLII, whose previous collaborators include MINMI, Yayoi Daimon, Watson, Akko Gorilla and Reichi, the song pairs energetic electronic production with YUKIPOYO's confident rap delivery, reflecting the bold personality associated with gyaru culture. Even before the Tagalog remix's release, preview clips have generated millions of views across TikTok and Instagram, while promotional posts have drawn significant engagement on X.

Collaboration born online

Like many international collaborations today, this one began not through record labels or formal introductions but through social media. YUKIPOYO said she discovered Zae while browsing Philippine content online. "I like the Philippines, so I was looking at Philippine events on my SNS," she recalled. "I saw Zae and thought, 'Wow, she's so cute!' So I followed her, she immediately followed me back, and we became friends." What started as a follow soon turned

Fast-rising Pinay rapper ZAE

Japanese producer XLII

YUKIPOYO

into a creative partnership. For Zae, the collaboration felt natural because both artists approach music through a similar lens of fashion, confidence and individuality. "It was very fun," she said. "Yuki is already a baddie. Her style and her love for fashion are the same as mine, so it wasn't hard for me to catch up with her at all. I'm excited to be putting Filipino rap on Japan." YUKIPOYO was equally enthusiastic. "Her rap is really cool, and I like it," she said. "It's an honor to collaborate with Zae and release a song. I'm really drawn to her character, and when I come to the Philippines, I want to invite her to hang out and become friends." The project also carries personal meaning for the Japanese artist, who was born to a Filipino mother and Japanese father. Collaborating with a Filipina musician, she said, allowed her to reconnect with part of her own heritage while introducing Japanese youth culture to a new audience.

Confidence as common language

BEYOND the catchy hook, "Te-Te Gyaru" ultimately revolves around a message both artists understand well: confidence can be its own universal language. Asked how being a woman influences her work, Zae said femininity naturally shapes every creative decision she makes. "I incorporate my womanhood in everything I do," she said. "Just being feminine and being in a flow state—not being rigid and just being open. That's feminine energy in general, and I put that into everything I do, whether it's music, art or fashion." For YUKIPOYO, dressing as a gyaru has always been tied to confidence rather than simply style. "When I put on make-up and fashion, I automatically become brighter and more confident," she said. "When I say, 'I'm a gal,' I feel empowered."

JULY 19, 2026 | soundstrip.businessmirror@gmail.com

BUSINESS

BEST OF BOTH WORLDS Rock and classical music take centerstage in Silent Sanctuary’s major concert

Story and photos by John Eiron R. Francisco

ilent Sanctuary has never been a conventional rock band. Since its early years, the six-piece Filipino rock group has woven classical string instruments into its music. Twenty-four years later, the band is set to bring that signature sound to its biggest stage yet as it performs with the Manila Symphony Orchestra (MSO), one of Asia’s oldest orchestras and the Viva Voce Choir, a Manila-based vocal ensemble. Although the collaboration marks a milestone for the concert, Silent Sanctuary is no stranger to sharing the stage with the MSO. The band first appeared as a guest performer in the MSO’s Rocketstra concerts in 2005 and again in 2018, performing only a handful of songs. For the upcoming concert, however, the orchestra will join the band for much of the show, accompanying nearly 20 songs with specially arranged orchestral performances. “This is the ultimate realization of our vision for our music,” Anjo Inacay, the band’s cellist, said partly in Filipino during the band’s July 10 press briefing, which he said will bring the band’s longheld artistic direction of blending classical music with rock to life. Vocalist and guitarist Raymund “Sarkie” Sarangay chimed in that the collaboration has also challenged the band to rethink its catalog, particularly songs that originally featured little or no orchestral accompaniment. “It’s exciting because some of our songs don’t have strings, while others don’t have wind sections or percussion. We’re creating new arrangements for those,” Sarangay said in Filipino. Together with band members Ronnie Ropal on bass guitar, Allen Calixto on drums, and Kim Mirandilla-Ng on violin, Sarangay said they are exploring the orchestra’s full range of instruments to develop arrangements that complement each song and offer audiences a new way of experiencing their familiar tracks. “We’ll really explore the full orchestra and

Silent Sanctuary

find arrangements that best suit the songs we’ll be performing,” he said. The concert, titled “Gabi ng Lambing,” will be directed by Paolo Valenciano, with Ria Osorio serving as musical director. It is scheduled at the SM Mall of Asia Arena on October 25, 2026, with an additional performance on October 24. The band described the October 24 performance as a “reverse” second show, as it was added ahead of the original concert date after no later arena dates were available. Sarangay, meanwhile, said it feels as though the band will have an additional member who will come up with fresh ideas for the arrangements and ensure that each instrument in the orchestra has its moment to shine. ”We don’t want the orchestra to be heard only as a whole. We really want people to hear the oboe, the clarinet and the other instruments individually, while still retaining the feel of some of our greatest hits” he added. Inacay said the band is happy to serve as a bridge that introduces more people to classical music through their songs. “If our music can encourage someone to pick up a violin and cello, I think nagawa na nung music namin yung isa sa mga purpose na ma-encourage ang mga tao to open their instrument,” Inacay said. According to the band, the upcoming concert represents a “peak moment” in their career, following the quick sellout of tickets, with the first day’s show reaching full capacity within five hours. They added that the two concert dates will feature different experiences to avoid spoilers for fans attending either performance. The group also expressed optimism about continuing to create music for their supporters while striving to evolve and further improve their craft.

Why English speakers are tuning into World Cup broadcasts in Spanish By Tim Reynolds and Obed Lamy The Associated Press

IAMI—Ashleigh Hallam teaches English as a second language at her local library in Indiana. Soccer is now teaching her Spanish as a second language. For her, this World Cup couldn’t make more sense. Hallam is among a sizable number of English-speaking people in the US who are doing something these days that might be considered a bit surprising: They’re watching broadcasts of World Cup matches in Spanish on Telemundo, even though they have little idea—or in some cases, no idea—what the announcers are saying. “I can’t really understand everything they’re saying on Telemundo because they’re speaking in Spanish,” Hallam said. “But you understand what’s going on.” The math is simple. Census figures show that about 20 percent of the U.S. is Hispanic, yet Telemundo points to Nielsen ratings to show that roughly half the World Cup viewers in the U.S. have watched at least some portion of some matches in Spanish. Every match of the tournament has been available for U.S. viewers in English on Fox or FS1, on Telemundo or Universo in Spanish, and there are streaming options such as Fox One or Peacock. Among the reasons commonly cited by viewers who spoke with The Associated Press in recent days: A fascination with famed broadcaster Andrés Cantor’s “¡goooooool!” call. Telemundo doesn’t cut away for commercials (as Fox does) during the muchmaligned hydration breaks. The broadcasts, some simply find, are more entertaining. And in other cases, it’s a cost-based decision: Peacock, which includes Telemundo, is lower-priced than Fox One.

Fans watch the World Cup round of 16 soccer match between the United States and Belgium, at a watch party at the Rockefeller Center fan village, Monday, July 6, 2026 in New York. AP

Soccer as a global language, transcending a limited vocabulary JACKSON BRAUNIUS is a Michigan native who watched a US game last week from a bar seat at a steakhouse in Miami Lakes, Florida. He said he speaks almost no Spanish—“I know ‘cerveza,’” he said, tapping his beer glass—but didn’t mind watching on Telemundo whatsoever. “I figured out the science here,” Braunius said. “When they’re not talking too loud, nothing is happening. When they get loud, there’s a chance. When they get real loud, it’s probably going to be a goal.” Comedian Trevor Noah has been hosting World Cup watch parties on YouTube. He’s made the switch to Spanish-language feeds, and the hydration break issue was a huge part of that decision. “We’re seeing the players on the pitch discussing what’s happening. You see which coach is more stressed. Some players are tapping each other on the back. This is part of the game,” Noah said on one of his YouTube streams. “I feel like when you cut to

ads, you lose this—you lose the stress, you lose the joy, the anticipation. So, shout out again, Telemundo: Really, really amazing coverage.” Telemundo is hearing the praise, and has thanked English-speakers—as well as Noah directly—for lauding its coverage. The good news for everyone is this: There seems to be more than enough viewers to go around right now. And the success of this tournament could lead to a bidding war for the 2030 World Cup, with some reporting the rights for English-speaking and Spanish-speaking television will be packaged together in that deal. That wasn’t the case for this World Cup. Fox Sports said that the BelgiumU.S. match saw a peak viewership total of around 41 million at one point, making it the “most-watched soccer telecast in US history,” the network said. In other words, the final US game in this World Cup had more viewers than anything in this country since the Super Bowl—with at least 45 million viewers, on average, between Fox (33

million) and Telemundo (an estimated 12 million). The most recent Super Bowl drew an average of about 125 million viewers, according to Nielsen data.

‘Very comforting’

HALLAM—who finds the World Cup has been a great way to bond further with her Spanish-speaking students—only became a big soccer fan a few years ago, when her daughter decided she wanted to play in a recreational league for elementary kids. The league needed coaches, so Hallam literally checked out a “coaching for dummies” book and began teaching herself the game. She kept coaching her daughter all the way through high school. Now, she’s hooked on soccer and hooked on Spanish-speaking broadcasts—and plans to keep watching, even when the World Cup ends. “It’s just very comforting,” Hallam said. “We’re really enjoyed it and I hope we get to continue. The next World Cup, we’re going to watch it just like this.” n Cover photo by obayda PH on Unsplash

Tom Cruise, IShowSpeed, Post Malone join cast of World Cup closing ceremony

WIDE array of performers, from actor Tom Cruise to streamer IShowSpeed, will help close out the World Cup, FIFA announced Tuesday. And on Wednesday, soccer’s governing body said American rapper-singer Post Malone will headline the closing ceremony. The ceremony will take place 90 minutes before Sunday’s final (Tomorrow at 3am in these parts—Ed.) The show is meant to “celebrate the 48 teams’ unforgettable journey” through 16 host cities across three countries, FIFA said in a statement. IShowSpeed—who has streamed mul-

tiple matches—is listed as a performer, while Cruise—who’s also been spotted in the stands and performed a stunt at the Paris Olympics’ closing ceremony—is billed as making a “special appearance.” The ceremony will also include performances from Laura Pausini, the Italian singer who helped open the Milan Cortina Olympics in February; Tony winner and Pussycat Dolls member Nicole Scherzinger; and Robbie Williams, the British singer and former Take That member. Jennifer Hudson, who boasts the coveted EGOT title with an Emmy, Grammy,

4 BusinessMirror

Oscar and Tony, will perform the US national anthem. “Echoing the spirit of the opening ceremonies, which welcomed the world to the greatest stage in Canada, Mexico and the United States, the closing ceremony will bring the FIFA World Cup 2026 full circle through music, culture and football, before we kick off the highly anticipated match that will crown the champions of this groundbreaking tournament,” said Heimo Schirgi, the World Cup’s chief operating officer. While the Final will also feature the

JULY 19, 2026

tournament’s first halftime show, with a bevy of additional A-list performers, closing ceremonies are not exactly new to the World Cup. The closing ceremony is being produced in partnership with Balich Wonder Studio, led by Marco Balich, who orchestrated the 2022 World Cup’s opening and closing ceremonies in Qatar. FIFA has encouraged ticketholders to arrive early, promising that fans “will have an active role to play in the show.” The show begins at 1:30 p.m. ET at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey, and kickoff is at 3 p.m. ET. AP