Chelsea’s US owners suffer debut season flop despite huge outlay

April 19, 2023 | 8:33 pm

LONDON — Chelsea’s American owners saw their last hope of any glory in their first season crumble on Tuesday when the club they bought in a deal worth £4.25 billion ($5.28 billion) last year were knocked out of the Champions League by Real Madrid.

Marooned in the unfamiliar bottom half of the Premier League, Chelsea are at risk of their worst domestic league finish in nearly 30 years and they also fell at the first hurdle in the FA Cup and League Cup.

Their only chance of qualifying for next season’s lucrative Champions League by winning the competition has also now evaporated after Real’s 4-0 aggregate quarterfinal win following a 2-0 victory at Stamford Bridge.

The prospect of a drop in income is raising fears among Chelsea fans that some of the club’s best young players will be sold to meet financial rules.

The spectacular slump in the 2022/23 season — during which Chelsea have had three different coaches — stands in contrast with the string of heady campaigns under previous owner, Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich.

He was forced to sell the club by Britain’s government last year following the invasion of Ukraine by Russia.

Chelsea were the most successful team in England in the period between Mr. Abramovich buying the club in 2003 and its sale in 2022, a run that included two Champions League triumphs in 2012 and 2021 and five English league titles.

That track record — and the surge in global support for the west London club along the way — explained Chelsea’s appeal to a consortium led by LA Dodgers part-owner Todd Boehly and backed by Clearlake Capital, a private equity firm.

BIG SPENDERS, LOW SCORERS
On top of the deal to buy the club last May, they have invested a further £550 million on players, spending in the January transfer window more than all the clubs in the top divisions of Spain, Italy, Germany and France combined.

But somehow they failed to buy someone capable of scoring goals on a regular basis with a gamble on former Arsenal striker Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang failing at almost the first test.

Chelsea have scored 30 goals in 31 league games so far. By contrast, table-topping Arsenal have scored 74 and second-placed Manchester City have found the net 78 times.

Tuesday’s blank was the fifth in six games in all competitions.

With no spearhead for their attack, Chelsea’s managers this season — Thomas Tuchel, Graham Potter and now caretaker boss Frank Lampard — have all struggled to turn a collection of expensive stars and home-grown talent into a cohesive team.

Chelsea fans have turned their frustrations on the owners of the club and some were photographed remonstrating with Boehly in his executive box after last weekend’s 2-1 home defeat by Brighton & Hove Albion. British media said an upset Boehly talked to players in the dressing room after that result.

Now his fellow owners and he — none of whom had experience of running a major soccer club before they bought Chelsea — face the huge decision of who to hire as the club’s next coach.

Candidates include former Bayern Munich manager Julian Nagelsmann and Luis Enrique, who coached Spain at the World Cup in Qatar. Such a high-profile manager would represent a big change in approach after the hiring of Potter from modest Brighton last September.

Regardless of who takes over, a return to Europe’s biggest stage seemed a distant prospect for the disappointed Chelsea fans streaming out of Stamford Bridge on Tuesday night. — Reuters

Rodrygo double eases Real Madrid into semi-finals

April 19, 2023 | 8:33 pm

LONDON — Holders Real Madrid breezed past Chelsea into the semi-finals of the Champions League with Rodrygo’s double securing a 2-0 win at Stamford Bridge on Tuesday to set up a likely mouth-watering clash with Manchester City.

Chelsea’s hopes of maintaining interest in a woeful season always looked slender after losing last week in the Bernabeu and Rodrygo put them out of their misery with two second-half goals to confirm Real Madrid’s superiority with a 4-0 aggregate win.

The hosts had 19 goal attempts but once again they lacked any cutting edge as they lost a fourth match in succession in all competitions since the club’s record scorer Frank Lampard returned as interim manager.

N’Golo Kante spurned two chances to cut the deficit and Real’s former Chelsea keeper Thibaut Courtois made a crucial save just before halftime to frustrate his old club who have now managed only one goal in their last six games.

Real, bidding for a record-extending 15th European crown, bided their time and Rodrygo opened the scoring in the 58th minute, before tapping in again in the 80th to spark a mass exodus of Chelsea fans who had seen enough.

Despite spending around £600 million ($745 million) on players since a Todd Boehly-led takeover, the London club have now lost four games in a row for the first time since 1993.

For Real, they may be handing the La Liga title to arch-rivals Barcelona, but remain the team to beat in Europe’s elite competition and manager Carlo Ancelotti is now eyeing a third Champions League crown with them and fifth in all.

Manchester City lead Bayern Munich 3-0 heading in to their quarter-final second leg on Wednesday.

Chelsea’s fans cranked up the volume more in hope than expectation from the kickoff and the hosts almost got the perfect start when Reece James, Chelsea’s most dangerous player, crossed low and the ball broke kindly for Kante who held his head in his hands after bouncing a volley wide.

Real looked capable of killing the tie whenever they moved forward and Rodrygo, who scored a vital goal against Chelsea at the same stage last year, smashed a shot against the post.

Home keeper Kepa Arrizabalaga then beat away a Vinicius Junior effort before Real’s master craftsman Luka Modric forced another save from Arrizabalaga.

‘IMPORTANT SAVE’
A Chelsea goal before halftime would have energised the mood and it almost arrived in stoppage time when James fizzed a ball across the area and Marc Cucurella looked poised to score only for Courtois to smother his effort brilliantly.

“The big Courtois save was very important. We didn’t want them to go ahead,” Ancelotti told reporters. “That could have been worrying. As the second half developed, we were stronger, we created space to open up quality transitions.

“By the end, we had produced a very complete performance. We hit a good level.”

Shortly after halftime Kante’s deflected effort went agonisingly wide and then Madrid defender Eder Militao was a tad fortunate not to receive a second yellow card for a clumsy foul on Trevoh Chalobah.

“It was a second yellow card, which means a red, which means 30 minutes with us a man up,” Lampard said.

Real then switched gears and Rodrygo skipped past Chalobah’s wild slide on the right and his cross was eventually played back to him by fellow Brazilian Vinicius Jr to calmly slot home.

Real’s fans wedged in the corner were already serenading their team by the time Chelsea were picked off again and Federico Valverde teed up Rodrygo to apply the knockout blow.

It could have got ugly for Chelsea and Lampard who now faces a huge task injecting some life into a season that is fast becoming an embarrassment for the big spenders. — Reuters

Giroud sends Milan into semis despite late Napoli rally

April 19, 2023 | 8:32 pm

NAPLES, Italy — AC Milan reached the Champions League semi-finals for the first time since they won the trophy 16 years ago thanks to a first-half goal from Olivier Giroud at Napoli that secured a 1-1 draw and 2-1 aggregate win despite a barrage of pressure on Tuesday.

Napoli battled until the end but could not break down the resilient Milan defense until striker Victor Osimhen equalized three minutes into stoppage time with a bullet header but it was too late as the referee ended the match seconds later.

Seven-time European champions Milan will now face either Inter Milan or Benfica, who meet on Wednesday at the San Siro with the Italian side leading 2-0 from the first leg. Milan coach Stefano Pioli said he would welcome a semi-final against their city rivals.

“It would look like that, as Inter won the first leg so well. These will be another two difficult, exciting and wonderful clashes in the Champions League. We’ve done a great deal and don’t want to stop now,” he told Mediaset.

This was the third meeting between Milan and Napoli in 16 days, with Pioli’s visiting side having claimed a 4-0 victory against the runaway Serie A leaders on April 2.

After Milan won the quarter-final first leg 1-0, Napoli pushed for the opening goal from the start as the visitors were forced to defend deep against an attacking onslaught.

“I think the small advantage of the 1-0 in the first leg helped us in one sense and blocked us in another,” Pioli said. “We chose, considering Osimhen was there, to sit a little deeper and not allow him those spaces where he can be devastating.”

Milan struggled in a raucous atmosphere, with loud boos resounding throughout the stadium every time they gained possession, but they held off an aggressive Napoli side for most of the match with an impressive defensive display.

Milan had the chance to take the lead with a penalty after 22 minutes after Mario Rui clattered into Rafael Leao but goalkeeper Alex Meret dived to stop Giroud’s low strike.

Meret saved Napoli again when he parried Giroud’s attempt inside the box with his foot five minutes later.

As a result of the intense pressure exerted by the hosts, Milan were able to exploit the holes in the home defence and went ahead through Giroud just before the interval.

Leao sprinted with the ball from his own half past the Napoli rearguard before rolling it across to Giroud who slotted home from close range.

Napoli had a glimmer of hope eight minutes from time when Fikayo Tomori handled the ball inside the box, but Khvicha Kvaratskhelia’s penalty was saved by Mike Maignan.

Osimhen was shackled all night until his added-time header but it came too late for Napoli and their disappointed fans.

“I saw an enormous sacrifice from my players, we trusted each other and our way of playing football to overcome a great Napoli side that caused us problems over both legs. We won it with heart, energy and belief,” Pioli said.

Napoli, who were in the last eight for the first time, are in a mini-slump without a victory in their last three matches in all competitions. — Reuters

DFA: US can’t invoke EDCA to aid Taiwan from China attack

April 19, 2023 | 7:37 pm

Balikatan — ARMED FORCES OF THE PHILIPPINES

By Beatriz Marie D. Cruz
and John Victor D. Ordoñez, Reporter

THE US can’t invoke its Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement (EDCA) with the Philippines to defend Taiwan from China, according to Manila’s top envoy.

“If the United States tries to invoke the EDCA, it would be inconsistent,” Foreign Affairs Secretary Enrique A. Manalo told the Senate committee on foreign affairs on Wednesday. “I don’t think they could use the EDCA because it’s quite clear what purpose EDCA activities are for.”

He issued the remark after Senator Maria Imelda “Imee” R. Marcos, who heads the committee, asked if the US could use EDCA sites to go up against China if it invades Taiwan.

Mr. Manalo said the US could invoke its Mutual Defense Treaty with the Philippines, but this would still be subject to congressional review.

“If the US were to ask us, we could not immediately take a decision unless we go through the constitutional processes,” he said. “That would mean at least going through the legislative bodies.”

He said the EDCA is “not aimed at any third country” and is “meant for the use of the Philippines and of course in connection with our treaty with the United States.”

National Security Council spokesman Jonathan E. Malaya last week said the Philippines adheres to the One China Policy, which recognizes Taiwan as part of China and “subscribes to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations principle of noninterference in approaching regional issues.”

EDCA was built on the 1951 Mutual Defense Treaty and the 1999 visiting forces agreement between the Philippines and US.

The main principle of the Mutual Defense Treaty is “to have collective defense,” Defense Officer-in-charge Carlito G. Galvez, Jr. told the same hearing.

“The Philippines fully subscribes to the principle of noninterference in the affairs of states and respect for sovereignty and that’s also enshrined in the UN charter which we fully subscribe to,” Mr. Manalo told senators.

Citing then-US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan in August last year, Mr. Manalo said: “When tensions rose between the United States and China over Taiwan last August, our position has always been to urge the parties concerned to maintain a level of communication to avoid escalating tensions. I think that’s as far as we can really go.”

Ms. Marcos said putting up a credible self-defense posture is “very difficult” and far-fetched for the Philippines.

She cited the need to modernize the Philippine Armed Forces, which remains “underarmed and completely abject in the face of any external threats.”

Mr. Galvez said his agency is set to present to the president a plan to buy radar systems, multi-role fighters, missile systems and offshore vessels under the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) modernization program.

President Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr. last month ruled out the use of Philippine military bases, access to which by American troops under a 2014 military pact has been widened, to launch offensives.

“We will not let our bases be used for whatever offensive actions,” he told reporters on the sidelines of a commemoration event for Filipino heroes of World War II.

The president said sites under the Philippines’ 2014 Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement (EDCA) with the US are aimed to help the Philippines.

In February, Mr. Marcos gave the US access to four more military bases under EDCA on top of the five existing sites.

China has criticized the EDCA expansion, accusing the US of endangering “regional peace and stability.”

MISINTERPRETED
Three of the four new EDCA sites are in northern Philippines — Naval Base Camilo Osias in Sta Ana, Cagayan; Lal-lo Airport, also in Cagayan; and Camp Melchor dela Cruz in Gamu, Isabela.

Cagayan is about 1,000 kilometers away from self-ruled Taiwan, which China claims as part of its territory.

Ms. Marcos, the president’s sister, questioned the locations of the EDCA sites.

Mr. Galvez said the instruction from Mr. Marcos was to prepare for external defense, citing that the northern part of the country as the most vulnerable.

He added that the locations of the EDCA sites were based on their “multi-use capability.”

“We still have majority of our units in Mindanao,” Armed Forces of Chief of Staff General Andres C. Centino told Wednesday’s hearing. “We are in fact deploying our marines from the south to the northern part of the Philippines.”

Also on Wednesday, Mr. Marcos said the Chinese ambassador’s remarks on overseas Filipino workers (OFW) in Taiwan might have been misinterpreted since English is not his first language.

“I interpret it as him trying to say that you should not — the Philippines should not — provoke or intensify the tensions because it will impact badly on Filipinos,” he told a livestreamed news briefing.

“That’s how I take it, but I will be talking to the ambassador soon and I am sure he will be very anxious to give his own interpretation of what he was trying to say.”

Chinese Ambassador to the Philippines Huang Xilian last week asked Manila to oppose Taiwan’s independence if the country “cares genuinely” about the more than 150,000 overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) living there.

Taiwan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) on Monday said the statement showed “brazen threats [that] are unacceptable to the civilized world.”

“The MOFA maintains close communication and engages in frequent exchanges of opinions on regional developments with foreign representative offices in Taiwan,” it said in a statement. “When appropriate, MOFA also provides necessary assistance to countries to protect their citizens.”

Mr. Marcos on Tuesday asked the Department of Foreign Affairs to ensure the safety and welfare of OFWs in Taiwan.

Last week, Mr. Huang said the United States seeks to take advantage of the new military bases under the EDCA to interfere with the Taiwan situation “to serve its geopolitical goals and advance its anti-China agenda at the expense of peace and development of the Philippines and the region at large.”

Marcos assures steady supply of food products

April 19, 2023 | 7:36 pm

BBM-Marcos-Kadiwa — PRESIDENT Marcos Jr. brought the Kadiwa ng Pangulo to the city of San Jose del Monte, Bulacan on April 19, 2023. — PNA PHOTO BY ALFRED FRIAS

PRESIDENT Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr. on Wednesday assured the steady supply of low-cost food supplies being sold at so-called Kadiwa outlets, according to the presidential palace.

“We are going to ensure that we will continue to have a good supply and that we won’t have to worry about running out of products,” the president, who also heads the Department of Agriculture (DA), said in Filipino during the launch of a Kadiwa branch in San Jose del Monte, Bulacan.

The Agriculture department’s Kadiwa program allows farmers and small entrepreneurs to sell products such as rice, fish, poultry, fruits and vegetables at low prices through pop-up stores or online platforms.

The stores were rolled out in various provinces at the height of the coronavirus pandemic to help farmers sell their products amid lockdowns.

Total sales of the more than 500 Kadiwa branches have reached P415 million, the Presidential Communications Office said in a statement on Wednesday.

It said more than a million families and 26,000 farmers and fishermen have benefited from the program.

“Many of them (small businesses) have depleted their savings and were forced to close shop,” Mr. Marcos said. “This is why we are giving our micro, small, and medium enterprises the opportunity to have their own place and market where they can sell their products.”

The Agriculture department in February said it would set up permanent Kadiwa stores in Metro Manila’s public markets to give more farmers a chance to sell their products directly to consumers.

“One of the things we’re looking at is having accredited Kadiwa retailers inside the market itself for our countrymen to have access to cheaper agricultural commodities — especially now that we have identified cooperatives that are ready to supply the market,” Agriculture Assistant Secretary Kristine Y. Evangelista told reporters on Feb. 10. — John Victor D. Ordoñez

Apo Agua in final testing stages of Davao bulk water supply system

April 19, 2023 | 7:35 pm

Davao-bulk-water-intake-weir-APOAGUA.COM — APOAGUA.COM

ABOITIZ-LED Apo Agua Infrastructura, Inc. is now in the final stages of system checks for its bulk water supply project in Davao City, which is targeted for partial operations within the month.

In a presentation before the city council on Tuesday, Apo Agua President Anna Victoria M. Lu said they had to move the January target of water delivery due to several factors, including rains that triggered flash floods and pipelines that was damaged by another utility project.

“Leaks were encountered during the flushing,” said Ms. Lu, who is also head of Aboitiz InfraCapital’s water business.

She also cited “extraordinary raw water conditions” due to successive heavy flash floods at the source, the Tamugan River.

Highly turbid water cannot be fed into the system to protect the filtration and water distribution network, she explained.

Meanwhile, the water treatment plant facilities needed for partial operations have been tested and commissioned, and the system for operations automation is undergoing testing.

The chemical and microbiology laboratory has also been audited by the Department of Health (DoH) for accreditation.

Preparations are also underway for the hydro testing of pipelines to the off-take points of distributor Davao City Water District (DCWD).

The over P13-billion project will deliver 300 million liters of water daily to DCWD.

Apo Agua’s bulk water supply system adopts the water-energy nexus concept, where a run-of-river hydroelectric plant will power the water treatment facilities. — Maya M. Padillo

AG&P gets approval from city marine resources council for Ilijan LNG terminal

April 19, 2023 | 7:34 pm

LNG-terminal-Batangas-AG&P-COMPANY — AG&P COMPANY

AG&P International Pte. Ltd. has secured the approval of the local marine resources council for its liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal facility in Ilijan, Batangas City.

In a statement on Wednesday, the company said the City Fisheries and Aquatic Resources Management Council (CFARMC) “passed a binding resolution supporting the construction, commissioning and operation” of AG&P’s import terminal.

“We will work in collaboration with CFARMC towards our shared responsibilities for our fishing communities to enable diverse livelihood and income opportunities, while simultaneously bringing clean energy into the country and improving the quality of life for many thousands of Filipinos,” Anupam Ahuja, AG&P Group’s senior vice-president for Strategic Services, said in the statement.

The CFARMC’s resolution recognizes AG&P’s facility as a contributor to jobs generation and sustainable progress in Batangas.

“The development and industrialization along the municipal waters will greatly help in the economic growth of Batangas City. It is also necessary to address the thinning supply of natural gas which is needed by power plants in the city,” the resolution said.

AG&P said it has partnered with government agencies and academic institutions to deliver various skills training in coastal villages for alternative livelihoods as well as providing on-the-job training for the emerging LNG/natural gas industry and building a pool of employable talents for clean energy networks being developed in the country. — Ashley Erika O. Jose

Anti-graft court denies plea to junk charges vs ex-PAGCOR exec

April 19, 2023 | 7:33 pm

THE PHILIPPINES’ anti-graft court has rejected a plea to junk the charges against a former chairman of the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. (PAGCOR) over the anomalous use of funds for movie tickets worth P26.7 million in 2008.

In a six-page resolution dated April 9, the Sandiganbayan said former PAGCOR chair Efraim C. Genuino did not raise any new arguments to dismiss the case.

“We become repetitive,” Associate Justice Amparo M. Cabotaje-Tang said in the ruling. “The court is not inclined to embark on another extended discussion of the same issue again.”

Mr. Genuino’s official Facebook page did not immediately reply to a Facebook Messenger chat seeking comment.

Last year, the Supreme Court junked the ex-PAGCOR chairman’s plea to dismiss the graft charges since he prematurely brought the case to the High Court before the anti-graft court could hand down its final verdict.

He argued that PAGCOR’s income is not considered “public funds” and was not subject to the Commission on Audit’s (CoA) jurisdiction, which flagged the anomalous disbursement.

Mr. Genuino added that the purchase of movie tickets did not result in any “under injury to the government or any private entity.”

The anti-graft court disagreed saying the Supreme Court had affirmed CoA’s disallowance of the release of funds for the 89,000 movie tickets amounting to P26.7 million.

The Sandiganbayan noted that the High Court only decided on whether the CoA abused its discretion when it disallowed the amount, not on the ex-PAGCOR official’s guilt or innocence. — John Victor D. Ordoñez

Marcos calls for healthcare program support from private sector, medical professionals

April 19, 2023 | 7:31 pm

StBernadetteHospital-Bulacan-PHILSTAR-KRIZ-JOHN-ROSALES — PHILIPPINE STAR/KRIZ JOHN ROSALES

PRESIDENT Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr. on Wednesday called on the private sector to partner with public healthcare institutions to help improve the delivery of medical services, especially in remote areas.

“We need support from all sectors of society — the government, the private sector and our citizens — in order to improve our health care services,” he said in Filipino during the groundbreaking ceremony for the St. Bernadette Children and Maternity Hospital in San Jose del Monte, Bulacan.

He also urged medical professionals to support the government’s health programs.

“Through our collaboration, we will surely see a progressive Philippines, where no one will be left behind.”

The president also urged the Department of Health to work with local government units to make sure public hospitals adhere to healthcare standards.

The St. Bernadette Children and Maternity Hospital was built in line with the Philippine Health Facility Development Plan, the Presidential Communications Office (PCO) said.

It will be a Level-1 medical facility, with 65 hospital beds and equipped with an operating room, maternity and isolation facilities, clinical laboratory, imaging facility, and pharmacy.

HOUSING
In a separate news briefing, Mr. Marcos said his administration had broken ground for around 1.2 million housing units nationwide after he led a ceremony for six housing projects in Bulacan.

These six projects will provide 12,563 housing units, the PCO said.

“With this project, we can fulfill the needs of thousands of residents in Bulacan to have affordable houses they can call their own homes,” Mr. Marcos said at the ceremony.

“The housing program is an important component of the government’s initiative to address housing backlog in the country.” — John Victor D. Ordoñez

Senate bill seeks jail time, fine for nuisance candidates

April 19, 2023 | 7:31 pm

A SENATOR has filed a bill seeking to penalize nuisance candidates, prompted by a case in the May 2022 elections for a governor in Negros Oriental, where the declared winner was killed in a shooting at his residence in March.

“The proposed measure could potentially defuse political tensions,” Senator Sherwin T. Gatchalian said in a statement on Wednesday.

Senate Bill No. 1061 seeks to amend the Omnibus Election Code, which currently does not punish nuisance candidates.

Section 69 of the code provides that the Commission on Elections (Comelec) can cancel the certificate of candidacy of someone who is proven to have the intention of putting “the election process in mockery or disrepute or to cause confusion among the voters by the similarity of the names of the registered candidates or by other circumstances or acts which clearly demonstrate that the candidate has no bona fide intention to run for the office.”

The bill proposes that any person found guilty of being a nuisance candidate will pay a fine of P50,000 as well as be imprisoned for up to six years without a chance for probation.

“This bill seeks to curb the emerging unethical electoral practice of individuals profiting from the elections by using their names or resources with the end goal of abusing the system,” Mr. Gatchalian said in the bill’s explanatory note.

Comelec Chairman George Erwin M. Garcia told a Senate hearing on Monday that there were 205 nuisance candidates during the 2022 national and local elections.

A certain Ruel Degamo ran for Negros Oriental governor last year, a position that was eventually awarded to the murdered Roel R. Degamo.

Comelec’s en banc resolution dated Sept. 1, 2022 prompted the transfer of votes from the nuisance candidate Degamo to the late Mr. Degamo, voiding the victory of Pryde Henry A. Teves — brother of Negros Oriental Rep. Arnolfo A. Teves, Jr. — as governor.

Rep. Teves has been linked to the killing of Mr. Degamo.

“It’s high time we criminalize nuisance candidacy in order to further protect the integrity of electing public officials and hoping that the process will put an end to political violence in the country,” Mr. Gatchalian said. — Beatriz Marie D. Cruz

Maguindanao electric co-op exec killed in ambush

April 19, 2023 | 7:31 pm

AN EXECUTIVE of an electric cooperative was killed in an ambush Wednesday in the town of Datu Odin Sinsuat, Maguindanao del Norte, the police reported.

Al-Hassan Maongco, manager of the Institutional Services Department of the Maguindanao Electric Cooperative, Inc. (MAGELCO), died on the spot from multiple bullet wounds.

Datu Odin Sinsuat police chief Regie Albellera told the media that Mr. Maongco was driving his silver Toyota Fortuner when gunmen opened fire at his vehicle while at a stretch of a highway in Barangay Upper Capiton.

Mr. Maongco lost control of his vehicle, hitting a tree along the route head-on.

His attackers managed to escape before responding policemen and village security officers could reach the scene.

MAGELCO provides electricity supply to Maguindanao, which has recently been divided into two provinces.

The electric cooperative official was killed barely a day after two men shot dead Desmon Daglok Silongan, a popular municipal councilor in the restive Salibo town in Maguindanao del Sur. — John M. Unson

What Filipino students are saying about ChatGPT

April 19, 2023 | 7:25 pm

By Miguel Hanz L. Antivola

FILIPINO students weighed in on ChatGPT, an artificial intelligence (AI) chatbot developed by San Francisco-based AI research lab OpenAI that can produce essays and answer questions in seconds.

“ChatGPT has proven to be an invaluable tool for me in many ways,” graduating computer science student Wanders from Davao City said in an interview. “I found it helpful in generating ideas, assisting with research, and providing summaries.”

He said that he uses ChatGPT to organize information and develop ideas, rather than relying solely on the bot to write essays for him.

Law student Jake from Quezon City said that he has used ChatGPT as a research tool in drafting legal advice for a school requirement.

“It helped me by speeding up the process of generating leads and summaries of US cases which talked about the topic, rather than me manually typing keywords in Google search… I verified the information by looking at the actual case text,” he said.

Meanwhile, AJ, a humanities college student from Quezon City, said that he uses ChatGPT occasionally for idea generation or exploring new concepts, citing inaccuracies as a challenge.

“The responses I got from ChatGPT never made it to the work I turn in… After I get a grasp of something using AI, I go on actually engaging with the texts. I find that most results from AI are inaccurate,” he said.

“There is this one time that I’m looking for sample academic essays on a very specific topic. After getting interesting results, I asked ChatGPT to provide me with external links so I could see them for myself. They gave me fake links to academic journals. I’ve also seen posts about ChatGPT making up citations that don’t exist.”

Some educators have become more cautious about academic dishonesty, as they have noticed an increase in the use of ChatGPT and other AI tools by students for their assignments.

“They expressly prohibit consulting AI bots in exams. Our exam outputs are subject to AI detection services in order to uphold academic honesty,” Jake, the law student, said.

Elementary school teacher Bea said, “In our school, we acknowledge the use of ChatGPT. However, we are against it because it is still considered plagiarized work.”

ChatGPT can be thought of as an automatic text summarizer rather than a tool that plagiarizes,said Ralph Vincent J. Regalado, chief executive officer and founder of Senti AI, a local AI solutions and services company.

AJ, the college student from Quezon City, said that AI can only supplement information and optimize processes at best, recognizing that it lacks “human sensibilities,”

A cautious outlook on AI in Philippine education grounded students and educators alike.

“AI definitely does not have a human touch to it, but considering how rapid technological advancements are unraveling, it is indeed something to be wary about,” AJ said.

“ChatGPT will surely continue progressing speedily. Its development will not be hampered by state measures. I think the burden rests on academic institutions to implement measures that prevent its abuse and misuse,” Jake said.

For his part, Wanders, the college student from Davao City, said: “It is essential that all stakeholders work together to find a way forward that balances the benefits and risks of AI technology in the academe.”

Mr. Regalado, the AI expert, offered a different view, “I do believe that we shouldn’t shy away from using new technologies to improve how we do things. Teaching students how to properly use tools such as ChatGPT for research… can definitely help them adjust to the changing landscape once they leave school.”

He stressed the need for human intervention in AI development for a sustainable future, citing “human in the loop” and the importance of input quality in AI output.

“Depending on the course objectives, students can be encouraged to use ChatGPT for school work as a supplementary resource, learn to use it wisely and validate the content it generates. When in doubt — turn to your teachers, and use your own critical thinking skills,” he said.

He also said that educators should make it a point to instill academic honesty, critical thinking, and creativity when students use AI tools for their school work, alongside clear policies with appropriate consequences if improperly used.