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MVP Group aids communities affected by Typhoon Odette

To alleviate the severe damage caused by Typhoon Odette, the Manuel V. Pangilinan (MVP) Group of Companies, sent immediate financial and material assistance to the victims in Visayas and Mindanao – after having raised more than P50M total for relief and rehabilitation support.

MPIC and MPIF, through the Philippine Armed Forces, mobilized the distribution of 200 blankets and towels to families in its coastal community partner in Del Carmen, Siargao last Sunday. The municipality houses one of MPIF’s three Mangrove Centers and has been an integral partner in ensuring the protection and conservation of the local biosystems.

Beyond this, MPIC and MPIF are also donating P1M total for Alagang Kapatid Foundation Inc.’s Feeding Program and Philippine Disaster Resilience Foundation Inc. (PDRF), to provide financial support for their own Typhoon Odette initiatives. 500 ready-to-cook Lugaw packs, 200 portable water filters, 100 sacks of rice, and 200 solar lamps will be sent to Surigao del Norte, Cordova in Cebu, and the province of Bohol. Additional 400 food packs with canned goods and vegetables will also make their way to these sites through MPIF.

The rest of MPIC’s subsidiaries are also carrying out their own efforts to ensure that the basic utilities and needs for our countrymen affected by this super typhoon are immediately provided. Beyond the raised funds in excess of P50M, the companies have also provided over P24M to date in additional support, P8M of which was raised in the group’s 18-hour telethon. The entire group continues its efforts to raise funds to extend help to far flung areas affected by the typhoon.

“We have faced many disasters in the past—Ondoy, Yolanda, Marawi, Taal. The names may change but our duty to help does not,” said Chairman Manuel V. Pangilinan in an appeal to his group. “Let us go this extra mile during this holiday season. Please give so that our people can have some cheer and joy in the middle of their difficulties.”

Beyond Infrastructure, towards Relief and Rehabilitation

Meralco and One Meralco Foundation (OMF) deployed under Task Force Kapatid, assisting the Visayan Electric Company (VECO) in Cebu on the power restoration of downed distribution lines. The company has organized a team composed of 50 engineers, linemen, support personnel and 15 heavy equipment and other vehicles. OMF mobilized 31 linemen in Bohol. The company also deployed 3 gensets for cellphone and emergency light charging in Siargao. 144 solar torches were distributed o families in Siargao and Dinagat, while 3,000 relief packs made their way to Bohol, Southern Leyte, Palawan, and Cebu.

Metro Pacific Tollways Corporation (MPTC) through its subsidiary, Cebu-Cordova Link Expressway Corporation (CCLEC), distributed food packs for CCLEC employees and families, as well as donated 2,000 food packs for Cordova and Cebu City. MPTC also donated P1M in relief support to the province of Leyte, consisting of 300 sacks of rice, 1,000 bottles of water, 500 blankets, 100 boxes of assorted canned goods, 50 boxes of noodles, and 1,000 GI sheets.

Maynilad has pledged P1.5M to PDRF and sent over 5,500 bottles of water to Cebu, Bohol, Siargao, Palawan, and Dinagat Islands. The company also has mobile water treatment plants ready for deployment.

Metro Pacific Water, Metro Pacific Iloilo Water, and Metro Dumaguete Water are all working together to ensure 24/7 operations and customer service hotlines, continuous water supply, and keeping static tanks and water tanker on standby. They have also distributed potable water and water tankers, 200 carboys of 20-L drinking water for the DRRMC, and provided relief packs and water for evacuation centers.

In a joint program with PDRF, Makati Medical Center Foundation, Energy Development Corporation, Project Michelangelo, and Philippine Airlines, Makati Medical Center, one of the hospitals under the Metro Pacific Hospital network, will conduct damage assessment and needs analysis for Siargao’s local hospital and healthcare system through a Philippine Airlines aircraft – the same aircraft will be converted to do MEDEVAC for injured cases to be airlifted to Cebu and Manila.

Beyond Connectivity, towards Revival and Resurgence

MPIC’s Kapatid Companies have also mobilized immediate initiatives to address the pressing needs of the affected communities. Alongside round-the-clock network restoration efforts, PLDT and its wireless subsidiary Smart, with PLDT-Smart Foundation provided their Libreng Tawag and Charging Stations typhoon-hit areas of Palawan, Visayas and Mindanao; 13 gensets for Ilog and Kabangkalan in Negros, Dinagat Islands, and Surigao del Norte; and 6,500 food packs for Cebu, Negros Occidental and Negros Oriental, Southern Leyte, Dinagat and Surigao. 500 free sims were distributed to Kabankalan and three satellite phones were donated to PDRF. Collectively, they are distributing 14,000 relief packs to various Visayas-Mindanao areas. To reach more beneficiaries, PLDT and Smart’s Text to Donate platform allows Smart, Sun and TNT customers to send donations to PLDT-Smart via their postpaid lines, prepaid load, or via PayMaya.

PayMaya also arranged a fundraising drive to support the response for Typhoon Odette-affected communities, enabling 20 organizations with online donation platforms to raise funds for their Typhoon Odette relief and response efforts. Through PayMaya’s #TyphoonRelief page in the PayMaya website or the Donations Tile in the Pay Bills section of the PayMaya app, users are able to donate to their chosen charitable organizations.

Alagang Kapatid Foundation Inc. (AKFI) mobilized two truckloads of food and hygiene items and set up Libreng Tawag and Charging Services for victims in Southern Leyte, Surigao, Siargao, and Dinagat.

Beyond Responsible Mining, towards Alleviation and Reassurance

Philex Mining Corporation pledged Libreng Charging assistance to the immediate community at their Silangan Mindanao Mining project site in Brgy. Timamana, Tubod, and Surigao del Norte upon arrival of their gensets. Philex employees likewise mobilized a donation drive within their company to secure more items for their beneficiary communities.

In line with the MVP Gabay Advocacies for a Sustainable Philippines, Gabay Komunidad focuses on building a more resilient and disaster-prepared country. Guided by this advocacy, the entire group is taking significant strides towards providing as much assistance to the victims as possible, as soon as possible.

 

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Swiss to allow simple legal gender transition from Jan. 1

UNSPLASH

ZURICH — People in Switzerland will be able to legally change gender by a visit to the civil registry office from Jan. 1, putting the country at the forefront of Europe’s gender self-identification movement.  

Switzerland joins Ireland, Belgium, Portugal, and Norway as one of the few countries on the continent that allow a person to legally change gender without hormone therapy, medical diagnosis, or further evaluation or bureaucratic steps.  

Under the new rules written into Switzerland’s civil code, anyone aged 16 and above who is not under legal guardianship will be able to adjust their gender and legal name by self-declaration at the civil registry office. Younger people and those under adult protection will require guardian consent.  

This marks a change from the current set of regionally prescribed standards in Switzerland, which often require a certificate from a medical professional confirming an individual’s transgender identity.  

Some cantons — semi-autonomous regions in federal Switzerland — also require a person to undergo hormone treatment or anatomical transition in order to legally change gender, while, for a name change, proof could be required that the new name has already been unofficially in use for several years.  

Switzerland, long known as socially conservative in the main, voted in September to legalize civil marriage and the right to adopt children for same-sex couples, one of the last countries in Western Europe to do so.  

With the new gender change rules, Switzerland joins just two dozen countries worldwide aiming to decouple gender choice from medical procedures.  

While some other European nations including Denmark, Greece, and France have removed the requirement of medical procedures, including sex reassignment surgery, sterilization or psychiatric evaluation, their rules require further steps or conditions.  

Spain in June approved a draft bill allowing anyone over the age of 14 to change gender legally without a medical diagnosis or hormone therapy. Germany in 2018 became the first European government to introduce a third gender option but in June 2021 shot down two bills aiming to introduce gender self-identification. A new transgender member of a parliament is hoping to address that. — Brenna Hughes Neghaiwi/ Reuters 

SM Foundation, UNIQLO spread social good in UPLB

Dr. Jessie Imelda Walde (center) head of the UPLB University Health Service during the distribution of UNIQLO DRY T-shirts and masks from SMFI and UNIQLO.

Staying true to its commitment to spreading social good, SM Foundation (SMFI), in partnership with UNIQLO Philippines, recently reached the frontliners of the University of the Philippines – Los Baños in Laguna.

Through the assistance of UPLB College of Human Ecology and UP Beta Sigma Fraternity, SMFI was able to distribute 500 UNIQLO DRY T-shirts and 2,000 disposable masks to UPLB professors, frontliners, and the UPLB medical team.

UPLB Chancellor Jose Camacho (4th from the left), together with volunteers from the UPLB Beta Sigma Fraternity, receives face masks from UNIQLO and SM Foundation.

This social good collaboration is in time with the easing of COVID-19 restrictions, allowing the implementation of limited face-to-face classes in schools and universities.

More so, this effort aims to bring smiles to the brave frontliners and partners in the academe who continue to dedicate their time and effort despite the hardships brought by the COVID-19 pandemic. Their selfless acts indeed deserve to be recognized and rewarded.

Social good collab with UP Beta Sigma

This recent initiative is just one of the many collaborations between SMFI and UP Beta Sigma Fraternity. It can be recalled that during the onset of the pandemic, the two teamed up to distribute relief packs to 1,200 dormitory residents inside the UPLB premises. One relief pack consists of basic necessities such as food, toiletries, and other hygienic supplies. That helped aid the students who were stranded in their dormitories when the government declared the Enhanced Community Quarantine (ECQ) in 2020.

Moreover, the two also partnered for Battle Royale IX: “Fight for #SocialGood,” which is a fundraising event for various social good project of the said Fraternity.

SMFI, through its #CollabForSocialGood initiative, has been partnering with various government and private organizations in order to reach more Filipinos and build a culture of social good—especially in grassroots communities.

 

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Desmond Tutu, South Africa’s ‘moral compass,’ dies at 90

Archbishop Desmond Tutu. Image via Libris Förlag/CC BY 3.0/Wikimedia Commons

JOHANNESBURG — Archbishop Desmond Tutu, a Nobel Peace Prize laureate and veteran of South Africa’s struggle against apartheid who was revered as his nation’s conscience by both Black and white, died on Sunday aged 90.  

Tutu won the Nobel prize in 1984 Key dates in the life of South African cleric and activist Desmond Tutu in recognition of his non-violent opposition to white minority rule. A decade later, he witnessed the end of that regime and chaired a Truth and Reconciliation Commission, set up to unearth atrocities committed under it.  

Ever outspoken, he preached against the tyranny of the white minority.  

After apartheid ended, he called the Black political elite to account with as much feistiness as he had the Afrikaners, but his enduring spirit of reconciliation in a divided nation always shone through, and tributes to him poured in from around the world on Sunday.  

South African President Cyril Ramaphosa described Tutu in a televised address as “one of our nation’s finest patriots” adding, “our nation’s loss is indeed a global bereavement.”  

US President Joseph R. Biden, Jr., said Tutu followed his spiritual calling to create a better, freer, and more equal world. “His legacy transcends borders and will echo throughout the ages.”  

“Archbishop Desmond Tutu was a mentor, a friend and a moral compass for me and so many others,” former President Barack Obama said. “He never lost his impish sense of humor and willingness to find humanity in his adversaries.”  

Bill Clinton called Tutu’s life “a gift.”  

TWO NOBELS ON ONE STREET  

Born near Johannesburg, Tutu spent most of his later life in Cape Town and led numerous marches and campaigns to end apartheid from St George’s Cathedral’s front steps.  

Tutu died “peacefully” on Sunday morning in a Cape Town nursing home, a representative of his Archbishop Desmond Tutu IP Trust said. He will lie in state at St George’s on Friday before his funeral service there on Saturday, it said.  

Looking frail and in a wheelchair, he was last seen in public in October at St. George’s Cathedral in Cape Town — a one-time safe haven for anti-apartheid activists — for a service marking his 90th birthday.  

He was diagnosed with prostate cancer in the late 1990s and was later hospitalized several times to treat infections associated with treatment for it.  

In his final years he also regretted that his dream of a “Rainbow Nation” had yet to come true, and often fell out with erstwhile allies at the ruling African National Congress party over their failures to address the poverty and inequalities that they promised to eradicate.  

Just five feet five inches (1.68 metres) tall and with an infectious giggle, Tutu traveled tirelessly through the 1980s to become the face of the anti-apartheid movement abroad while many of the leaders of the then rebel ANC, including future President Nelson Mandela, were behind bars.  

Long-time friends, Tutu and Mandela lived for a time on the same street in the South African township of Soweto, making Vilakazi Street the only one in the world to have been home to two Nobel Peace Prize winners.  

“His most characteristic quality is his readiness to take unpopular positions without fear,” Mandela once said of Tutu. “Such independence of mind is vital to a thriving democracy.”  

‘A PROPHET AND A PRIEST’  

Having officially retired from public life on his 79th birthday Tutu —  who once said of himself: “I wish I could shut up, but I can’t, and I won’t” — continued to speak out on a range of moral issues.  

John Steenhuisen, leader of opposition party The Democratic Alliance, said Tutu’s spirit would live on “in our continued effort to build a united, successful, non-racial South Africa for all.”  

In 2008, Tutu accused the West of complicity in Palestinian suffering by remaining silent.  

In 2013, he declared his support for gay rights, saying he would never “worship a God who is homophobic.”  

Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby on Sunday hailed Tutu as “a prophet and priest” while Pope Francis offered heartfelt condolences to his family and loved ones.  

In a letter to Tutu’s daughter Reverend Mpho Tutu, Tibet’s spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, said the world had “lost a great man, who lived a truly meaningful life.”  

“We are better because he was here,” said Martin Luther King’s daughter Bernice. — Nqobile Dludla and James Macharia Chege/Reuters

UNESCAP eyes 12.8% export growth

PIXABAY

By Jenina P. Ibañez, Senior Reporter

PHILIPPINE EXPORTS could grow by 12.8% this year after a coronavirus pandemic-related dip in 2020, according to the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UNESCAP).

Exports have been recovering as demand rebounds from countries reopening their economies, though slowed by global supply chain bottlenecks and container shortages.

“The outlook for the Philippines’ 2021 and 2022 growth looks optimistic,” UNESCAP Economic Affairs Officer Witada Anukoonwattaka said in an e-mail on Dec. 16.

“After an initial COVID-induced dip in 2020 for both imports and exports, in 2021, the volume for exports and imports by the Philippines is forecasted to rise by 12.8% and 17.2% respectively.”

UNESCAP in a November report said trade growth in Southeast Asia had been positive this year, though less pronounced than others in the larger region due to Delta variant outbreaks.

Philippine exports fell last year as lockdowns meant to curb the coronavirus hampered business and consumer activity.

In the 10 months to October this year, exported goods rose by 16.1% year on year, a reversal of the 12.5% decline a year earlier.

This recovery was faster than initially anticipated. Economic managers earlier this month raised the export growth outlook for 2021 to 16% from 10% projected in July.

Ms. Anukoonwattaka said the shift to digitalization during the pandemic would probably intensify and redefine trade in services in the medium and long terms.

“In this context, the Philippines, as an important exporter of IT-related business services, tend to be among countries with a high potential to enjoy the benefit of accelerated digitalization brought by the COVID-19 pandemic,” she said.

Business process outsourcing revenues rose by 1.4% after the pandemic disrupted operations last year, the industry group said.

The Information Technology and Business Process Association of the Philippines has said it expects a “decent return to growth” this year as it cited the need for funding to boost its upskilling program to meet the industry’s digital demands.

The UNESCAP last month said the recovery of trade in commercial services was fragile this year as global travel remained below pre-pandemic levels.

“Going into 2022, global and regional services trade are expected to continue recovering slowly and heterogeneously across sectors,” it said.

“While transport, other business services and ICT are anticipated to flourish, travel services will experience a weak recovery as border crossing remains more difficult than in pre-pandemic times,” it added.

Phaseout of LIBOR a factor in borrowings

UNSPLASH

THE Philippine government’s foreign borrowings next year would take into account unstable benchmark interest rates amid the phaseout of the London interbank offered rate (LIBOR), a Finance official said.

Foreign borrowings for 2022 will start with official development assistance (ODA), followed by commercial borrowings.

“We go through multilateral ODA first, then bilateral ODA, then commercial borrowing because we want to minimize the overall financing cost and lengthen the tenor of our portfolio,” Finance Undersecretary Mark Dennis Y.C. Joven told a news briefing on Dec. 15.

Investors are facing a year-end deadline to stop basing new loans and trades on the discredited LIBOR, prompting central banks to look for alternative benchmarks.

LIBOR is being phased out as a reference rate after it was manipulated before and during the 2008 financial crisis. There have also been concerns about the amount of derivatives using the benchmark, which in many cases was based on assumptions about their borrowing costs and not actual trades.

Some LIBOR rates will stop being published after Dec. 31, while others are set to end in mid-2023.

Mr. Joven said they would consider overall financing costs, swap rates and tenors in their decision-making. “At the point of issuance, we have to compare each modality and see which makes sense for us.”

The first issuance in both 2020 and 2021 were euro bonds because interest rates for the currency were low and demand was robust, he said.

“Now for 2022, we have to consider that there’s a global change in benchmark rates,” he added.

Mr. Joven said the resulting market instability in the near term had prompted the government to tap multilateral official development assistance more “just in case the market becomes a little bit choppy.”

The government borrows from local and foreign creditors to finance the budget deficit that has widened since last year after the coronavirus pandemic stalled the economy and pulled down tax collections.

State gross borrowings from foreign creditors in the 10 months to October slid by 9.7% to P518.71 billion from a year earlier.

The Treasury bureau raised P146.17 billion from global bonds, P121.97 billion from euro-denominated notes and P24.19 billion in Japanese yen-denominated securities. It also incurred P139.98 billion in program loans along with P86.41 billion in project loans.

The government has repaid P223.93 billion of its outstanding foreign debt so far, resulting in P294.78 in net foreign borrowings for 10 months.

In April this year, the government raised €2.1 billion (P122.4 billion) from a triple-tranche offering of euro-denominated bonds as it took advantage of low interest rates in the euro bond market.

It sold €650 million worth of four-year global bonds, another €650 million of 12-year notes and €800 million of 20-year debt. — Jenina P. Ibañez

Country’s mobile internet ranking improves

BW FILE PHOTO

By Arjay L. Balinbin, Senior Reporter

PHILIPPINE MOBILE internet speeds improved further in November, with its global ranking climbing four places to 90th out of 138 countries, latest data from Ookla showed.

Its median download speed for mobile internet rose to 18.68 megabits per second (Mbps) from 18.21 Mbps in October. Mobile upload speed rose to 5.64 Mbps from 5.39 Mbps.

Mobile internet latency, which measures how quickly a device gets a response after its user sends out a request, remained at 24 milliseconds (ms) said Ookla, the network testing company behind Speedtest.

Experts have cited slow and unreliable internet connections in the Southeast Asian nation, whose people are said to be one of the most active social media users in the world.

Smart Communications, Inc., the wireless arm of PLDT, Inc., topped Ookla’s speed rankings in the Philippines in the third quarter. It was the fastest mobile operator with a score of 59.71 on modern chipsets. Smart also had the lowest latency at 20 ms.

Globe Telecom, Inc. scored 28.38, while new telecommunication player DITO Telecommunity Corp. scored of 25.34. Globe’s median latency was 25 ms, while DITO’s was 24 ms.

Smart also had the fastest median download speed at 217.03 Mbps for 5G connections, followed by Globe at 114.12 Mbps.

Speedtest data also showed that Caloocan City had the fastest median mobile download speed among the country’s most populous cities at 22.05 Mbps, followed by Quezon City (20.93 Mbps), Manila (18.80 Mbps), Cebu City (15.09 Mbps), and Davao City (14.23 Mbps).

The Philippine mobile service market is expected to increase at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 5.6% to $5.4 billion by 2026, according to United Kingdom-based data analytics and consulting firm GlobalData.

This is primarily “due to the rising adoption of mobile data services,” it said on its website.

“Mobile data revenue will grow at the fastest CAGR of 6.6% between 2021 and 2026, due to growing 4G subscriptions and the planned rollout of 5G services.”

Meanwhile, the country’s ranking in terms of fixed broadband fell one place in November to 72nd out of 181 countries. But download speed for the month went up to 46.44 Mbps from 45.52 Mbps in October.

Fixed broadband’s upload speed rose to 38.14 Mbps from 37.16 Mbps in October. Latency remained at 6 ms.

GlobalData said the market for fixed-line telecommunication services in the Philippines is projected to hit $4.7 billion by 2026, equivalent to a CAGR of 5%, from a starting point of $3.6 billion this year.

GlobalData expects healthy growth in broadband subscriptions as well as rising broadband average revenue per user.

Digital subscriber lines will remain the “dominant fixed broadband technology with 36.7% share of the total fixed broadband subscriptions in 2021, but will gradually lose its market share over the forecast period,” according to Hrushikesh Mahananda, a telecommunication analyst at GlobalData.

“Fiber broadband lines, on the other hand, will increase at a robust CAGR of 17.2% over the forecast period, supported by government and operator investments in fiber network infrastructure and fiber to the home service expansions,” he added.

Unregistered property developers face sanctions

PROPERTY DEVELOPERS and brokers that missed last week’s registration deadline under new anti-money laundering rules may be penalized, according to the regulator.

Newly covered entities must register by Dec. 21 under anti-dirty money and counter-terrorism financing rules, the Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC) said in a statement last week. The guidelines took effect in June.

Only registered nonfinancial businesses and professions can access the council’s portal.

The government has been tightening its anti-money laundering rules after the Financial Action Task Force in June placed the Philippines on its “gray list,” citing deficiencies in the country’s anti-dirty money and counter-terrorism financing framework.

Under AMLC registration and reporting rules, real estate brokers and developers must examine transactions where parties may be hiding the identity of the property buyer.

After being covered by the country’s amended law against dirty money and terrorist financing signed in January, property developers and brokers must register with and report all suspicious transactions to the council.

“If not registered, (the designated nonfinancial businesses and professions) would not be able to electronically submit covered and suspicious transaction reports,” AMLC said.

Organizations that fail to report transactions will be penalized, which include imprisonment or fines.

Philippine central bank Governor Benjamin E. Diokno has said that he expects the country to get out of the Financial Action Task Force gray list by January 2023. — Jenina P. Ibañez

Chris Ross-less Beermen snap 2-game losing run

PBA MEDIA BUREAU

SAN MIGUEL Beermen (SMB)  raised a glass for its third consecutive win in the 46th Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) Governors’ Cup via a business-like, day-after-Christmas 100-88 disposal of Terrafirma at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.

Terrence Romeo turned in a new conference-high 23 points and shared scoring honors with import Brandon Brown as rejuvenated SMB continued its climb out of a 0-2 hole.

“We made a lot of sacrifices amid the holidays because we were down, 0-2, and it’s hard to climb back from that considering most of the teams are preparing as hard,” said San Miguel coach Leo Austria.

“I commend the players for recognizing the importance of our next games after we lost two consecutive and doing something about it,” he added.

Mr. Austria was relieved that the squad was able to do this without starting playmaker Chris Ross, who’s expected to be back next month after attending to personal matters in the US.

“We missed Ross. Fortunately, when somebody’s out of the lineup, other players step up. Terrence, especially, is playing well not only as a scorer but as a point guard,” the SMB mentor said of Mr. Romeo, who also posted four rebounds, three assists and two steals.

CJ Perez, with 17 markers and eight rebounds, and Vic Manuel, with 14 and eight, also delivered as SMB foiled the upset plans of the Dyip (1-4), who tried to repeat their 110-104 overtime reversal  in the last Philippine Cup in Bacolor.

The Dyip plummeted to their third straight setback, unable to overcome the absence of injured mainstays Alex Cabagnot, Roosevelt Adams and Reden Celda.

Juami Tiongson had another hot scoring game against SMB, finishing with a team-high 21, including 11 in Terrafirma’s fourth-quarter rally. Mr. Tiongson dropped 28 on SMB in their previous matchup.

Antonio Hester shot 19.

Mr. Romeo torched Terrafirma with 11 in the first stanza as the Beermen zoomed to an early 13-point headstart. The Dyip managed to pull back to within three at 40-37 in the next period but the Romeo-Brown duo restored a fresh nine-point cushion for SMB via an 8-0 blast.

Mr. Brown banged in 12 after the break to power the Beermen to a 29-21 third-quarter exchange en route to a comfortable 77-58 tear. — Olmin Leyba

NCAA Season 97 to open in March with four events

THE National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) will hold face-to-face competition after a two-year pandemic hiatus starting in the first week of March next year with only four events to be played in Season 97 including basketball and volleyball.

“March, first week is our opening,” NCAA Management Committee chair Dax Castellano of host College of St. Benilde on Sunday told The STAR.

Mr. Castellano said apart from basketball and volleyball, the NCAA will hold online chess and taekwondo similar to what it held last year when the league, then hosted by Letran, hosted exclusively only events.

The potential venues being targeted are the La Salle Greenhills Gym and or the Arellano University Gym.

The Commission on Higher Education (CHEd) had given the green light for college teams to hold practices early this month, officially paving the way for resumption of face-to-face events.

But while the league is starting, Mr. Castellano said fans would still be barred from watching games live. “No audience for now, but they can watch games in GMA 7 channels,” said Mr. Castellano. — Joey Villar

Farm equipment distributed in Negros Occidental

Farmers trained on climate measures

FARM EQUIPMENT worth P1.35 million was handed over to an agrarian reform beneficiaries’ organization (ARBO) in Negros Occidental alongside training to help mitigate the effects of climate change on crops, the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) said.

The Palala Farmers Small Water Irrigation System Association (PAFA SWISA) received a rice reaper, a walk-behind transplanter, a mechanical rice thresher, a hand tractor, a bio-shredder, a 2-in-1 grass cutter, a package of technology and technical training on climate proofing, and a one-hectare demo farm.

The equipment is part of the DAR’s Climate Resilient Farm Productivity Support (CRFPS), which aids disaster-stricken agrarian reform areas and creates an alternate livelihood for those affected by the impacts of climate change.

PAFA SWISA operates on 50 hectares of sugarcane land and 200 hectares of rice paddy in Barangay Marcelo, Calatrava.

“Our farms are now ready for calamities and we are hopeful that our livelihood will not be affected by it,” PAFA SWISA President Reynaldo Magnanao said.

The equipment will help revitalize the livelihood of farmers, enhance productivity, and encourage prospects for agribusiness development in storm-hit areas, the DAR said. — Luisa Maria Jacinta C. Jocson

SEC flags four unlicensed entities luring investors

By Keren Concepcion G. Valmonte, Reporter

THE Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) flagged four unregistered entities luring the public to participate in their respective investment programs, despite lacking the needed license to collect investments from the public.

In four separate advisories, the SEC is warning the public against Crypto Asset, Clearway Energy, Inc., Shopee888, and Meta Trading Corp., which also goes by One Meta Trading Opc.

Crypto Asset is led by a certain Janus Alfonsus Alvez Tisalona, who acts as the entity’s president and chief executive officer (CEO). It has been operating for a year and is said to be funded.

Investors can join Crypto Asset’s programs for as low P1,000.

The entity has four investment programs, namely: silver, which promises a 5% return within 7 days; gold program, which guarantees 10% within 12 days; platinum, where investors can get a 20% return on investment in 20 days; and executive program, where investors can earn 50% within 40 days.

“The money invested will be used by Crypto Asset in its crypto trading through UNLITRADE platform and GPU (graphics processing unit) mining farm activities,” the SEC said in its advisory dated Dec. 14.

Meanwhile, Meta Trading is said to be founded and headed by a certain Mario Bontilao Abellanosa, Jr., who also acts as the entity’s CEO and president. The SEC said the names of those involved with Crypto Asset will be reported to the Bureau of Internal Revenue.

Meta Trading is luring investors to the scheme through offering passive income, where they can earn “a total of accumulated interest of 550% in just 50 days,” and through its active income programs.

On top of being unregistered with the commission, both Crypto Asset and Meta Trading are also not registered as virtual asset services providers (VASP) with the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) and both also lack the required Certificate of Authority as a money service business.

Neither of the two CEOs could be reached for comment as of press time, while a Facebook search for the Crypto Asset official would show posts from victims of the investment scam.

Meanwhile, Clearway Energy and Shopee888 were flagged by the SEC as having investment programs that resemble a “Ponzi scheme.” The regulator said investment programs under the scheme are not registrable security.

Ponzi schemes work in favor of top recruiters and those who invested earlier in the scheme. The money from new investors is used to pay the “fake profits” of old investors. 

Clearway Energy tells prospective investors that it is developing a solar power station in the country.

“The said company claims to be investing in power generation components, from which prospective investors will derive different benefits from in accordance with their chosen investments,” the SEC said in a separate advisory dated Dec. 14.

“Their platform includes soliciting investment for the production of solar panels and the electricity generated thereon will be sold to the government, major mines, and to different enterprises, and from that, their prospective investors will automatically generate profits daily,” it added. 

Clearway Energy is not registered with the commission and it also lacks the needed license to collect investments from the public. The regulator also noted that its investment program indicates that it is an “advance-fee scam,” where a person promises a big amount of money in exchange for a small payment.

“If a victim makes the payment, the fraudster either invests a series of further fees for the victim or simply disappears,” the commission said.

The SEC said that the entity “does not appear to be connected” to US-based Clearway Energy, Inc., which is traded at the New York Stock Exchange under “CWEN” and “CWEN.A.”

Meanwhile, Shopee888 or Shpoee888 is luring the public to invest in its scheme through its website and e-mail shpoee888.com/app/ and shpoee888@gmail.com. The commission said in its advisory dated Dec. 21 that investors may earn by accomplishing tasks according to their “VIP levels,” on top of a “tier bonus” and from a direct bonus.

The commission warned that people involved in unlicensed investment schemes may be prosecuted and held criminally liable under the Securities Regulation Code. They may be fined a maximum of P5 million and/or a penalty of 21 years of imprisonment.

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