Fil-Am composer wins Pulitzer By Troi Santos
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EW YORK, NY—FilipinoAmerican composer and percussionist Susie Ibarra has been awarded the 2025 Pulitzer Prize for Music for her composition Sky Islands, a groundbreaking work inspired by the high-altitude rainforest ecosystems of Luzon in the Philippines. The award was announced alongside two other Creative Capital Awardees: Percival Everett, who won in Fiction for James, and Branden Jacobs-Jen-
DRUMMING UP A PULITZER Filipino-American composer Susie Ibarra performs “Sky
Islands” at the Asia Society in New York. The Pulitzer-winning piece draws from Luzon’s high-altitude rainforests, blending kulintang-inspired rhythms with contemporary classical music. TROI SANTOS
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kins, who took home the Drama prize for Purpose. Commissioned and supported by Creative Capital, Sky Islands premiered in July 2024 at the Asia Society in New York and has been hailed as a powerful ecological and cultural soundscape. The Pulitzer committee described it as “challenging the notion of the compositional voice by interweaving the profound musicianship and improvisational skills of a soloist as a creative tool.” In a heartfelt message on her
official Facebook page, Ibarra expressed gratitude: “Thank you for the outpouring of love and support this week when I heard the incredible news of winning the Pulitzer Prize in Music for Sky Islands. I was overwhelmed by your kindness and joy and would like you to know it’s a mutual feeling and I’m grateful.” Sky Islands was composed during Ibarra’s 2024–2025 fellowship with the DAAD Artists-in-Berlin Program, where she focused on sound research and environmen-
tal music. “To complete my fellowship with a world premiere of my oratorio Kundiman love songs for our wildernesses and a Pulitzer Prize for high-altitude Sky Islands music is beyond a gift,” she added. The composition was performed by an acclaimed ensemble featuring Ibarra herself, percussionist Levy Lorenzo, flutist Claire Chase, pianist Alex Peh, and the Bergamot Quartet. It incorporates kulintang-inspired gong patterns, bamboo percussion, and See “Fil-Am,” A2
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RECESSION IN U.S. TO HIT PHL HARD—ECONOMISTS www.businessmirror.com.ph
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Monday, May 12, 2025 Vol. 20 No. 211
P25.00 nationwide | 2 sections 22 pages | 7 DAYS A WEEK
POLL PREP PRESSURE Across the country, preparations are under way for the historic May 12, 2025, local and national midterm elections—the first to be held under the Marcos Jr. administration and the first midterms since the Covid-19 pandemic disrupted traditional polling operations. In Manila,
election materials are distributed and priority polling areas are set up for vulnerable voters, while schools are cleaned and readied. In Abra, over 600 police and 200 Army troops have been deployed following 11 election-related incidents—including the burning of a school designated as a polling center. In Davao City, stores display signs enforcing the election liquor ban. In Candon City, Ilocos Sur, police officials and schoolteachers work together to finalize voters’ lists and ensure security. NONIE REYES, ROY DOMINGO, MAU VICTA & MANUEL CAYON
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By Cai U. Ordinario @caiordinario
RECESSION in the United States will only spell bad news for the country as a significant share of Philippine exports continue to be shipped to America, according to economists. In a recent briefing, Asian Development Bank (ADB) Chief Economist Albert Park said the International Monetary Fund (IMF) had already laid down a 38- to 40-percent probability of a recession in the US happening, which indicates that this could happen. It can be noted that in the first quarter of 2025, the US economy contracted 0.3 percent, which was below analyst expectations for the period. “Obviously a recession in the US is a drag on the world, but in particular the Philippines, that’s exporting a fair amount of its profit to the US. So, not good news,” Park said in a briefing.
ADB Macroeconomics Research Division Director Abdul Abiad said, however, that a closer look at the economic performance of the US showed the main drag to GDP growth was imports. Abiad said consumption and investment growth in the US was “quite decent” mainly due to the frontloading that is happening in expectation of the tariffs. On the Philippines and other economies in the region, Abiad said opportunities could still exist given that most of the goods needed in the country come from Asia and the rest of the world.
EFFORT DOESN’T END IN MAKING UMIC, BUT SUSTAINING STATUS
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ILAN, Italy—Attaining Upper Middle Income Country (UMIC) status has been the goal of the Philippines for some time and the government believes 2026 is the year it breaks into this income classification. However, Asian Development Bank (ADB) Philippine Country Director Pavit Ramachandran said it is one thing to get classified as a UMIC but it is another to be able to sustain it. There have been countries that slipped back even after moving up income classifications. In an ADB Independent Evaluation report in 2016, after the Asian Financial Crisis, Indonesia slipped back to lower income country (LIC) status. The report showed Mongolia, Papua New Guinea and former Soviet Union
republics also slipped to LIC status between the 1990s and mid2000s. “We want to make sure that this transition to upper middle income [country status] is sustainable because we’ve seen with other countries [they] can become a UMIC, but then you can slip back. So the sustainability of that transition is important,” Ramachandran told BusinessMirror. Ramachandran said the Philippines is “tracking well” on the road to become a UMIC, and ADB has been there to support the government through mega projects that help address development constraints that will help attain and keep a UMIC status. “I think the Philippines is See “Effort,” A2
Energy stakeholders: No May 12 outages By Lenie Lectura
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@llectura
HE energy sector commenced operations on heightened alerts at the weekend to ensure the reliable and continuous delivery of electric-
ity across the country for the 2025 midterm elections. The Department of Energy (DOE) said the Energy Task Force Election (ETFE) headed by Undersecretary Felix William B. Fuentebella is operating on a 24/7 basis to safeguard See “Energy,” A2
Freshly Brewed WHERE LABOR DAY MEETS MOTHER’S DAY REDEFINING WORK-LIFE BALANCE Camille Macabagdal on creating a kid-friendly workspace for moms »A14
See “Recession,” A4
PESO EXCHANGE RATES n US 55.5690 n JAPAN 0.3809 n UK 73.6456 n HK 7.1486 n CHINA 7.6700 n SINGAPORE 42.7618 n AUSTRALIA 35.5530 n EU 62.4040 n KOREA 0.0396 n SAUDI ARABIA 14.8156 Source: BSP (May 9, 2025)