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AIIB eyes support for more PHL infrastructure

PHILIPPINE STAR/ MICHAEL VARCAS

By Jenina P. Ibañez, Reporter

THE ASIAN Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) is considering supporting climate-resilient infrastructure in the Philippines, its top official said.

“What I would like to highlight is that the Philippines has a huge need for basic infrastructure. Given the geography of your country, topography, and I think connectivity within the Philippines is very much important,” AIIB President Jin Liqun said at a press briefing on Tuesday.

“We need to ramp up our efforts to build the infrastructure with climate resilience so I’m looking forward to be working very closely with your government, with your private sector.”

AIIB will also cooperate with the Asian Development Bank and the World Bank, he added.

Mr. Liqun also announced the bank’s three-point approach to speed up climate financing.

“First, we will align our public and private financial flows with the goals of the Paris agreement by July 1st, 2023,” he said.

“The bank currently estimates its cumulative climate finance approvals will reach $50 billion by 2030. This amount would represent a fourfold increase in annual climate finance commitments since AIIB started publicly reporting the number in 2019.”

The bank will also put up initiatives to drive investment and mobilize private capital to accelerate low carbon growth.

Lastly, AIIB will integrate climate mitigation and adaptation measures into infrastructure investments.

CLI aims to complete Cebu techno business park by 2025

MINGLANILLA Techno Business Park (Ming-Mori) — CEBULANDMASTERS.COM

CEBU Landmasters, Inc. (CLI) aims to complete the Minglanilla Techno Business Park (Ming-Mori) project by 2025, the listed company said in a disclosure to the exchange on Tuesday.

The company broke ground for the 100-hectare reclamation project in Minglanilla, Cebu after a seven-year process.

“We thank the Municipality of Minglanilla and regulators for making this seven-year process a showcase of excellent compliance and good governance. It’s a great honor for us to be carrying out this important project and the whole CLI organization will be fully behind this,” said Jose R. Soberano III, president and chief executive officer of CLI.

In August, CLI increased its stake to 80% from 20% in the project developer, Ming-Mori Development Corp. (MMDC). Mr. Soberano is also the chairman of MMDC.

“CLI’s participation in the project will allow the listed company to supersede its target of acquiring 200,000 square meters (sq.m.) in new land bank as runway for its growth up to the end of the decade and into the next,” the company said.

The civil construction works for the Ming-Mori project are slated to begin in the first quarter of next year, along with scheduled infrastructure improvements surrounding and leading to the site of the “ambitious regional growth center.”

The Ming-Mori project is anticipated to generate over 700,000 sq.m. of saleable land area, which will be home to light industrial, commercial, residential, and institutional spaces. Around 300,000 sq.m. will be used for roads as well as green and open spaces.

CLI said titling for these properties will be done in phases beginning 2023, while the first phase for building construction is slated for 2024.

The township master plan was created by Singapore-based Surbana Jurong Consultants. The first phase “aims to catalyze the development and to create a diversity of uses to establish a vibrant township from the outset.”

“Cebu Landmasters is committed to the transformation of this area into a vibrant and sustainable waterfront community that will have wide-ranging benefits for Minglanilla and the southern part of Cebu,” Mr. Soberano said.

Shares of CLI at the local bourse declined by 0.34% or one centavo on Tuesday, closing at P2.93 apiece. — Keren Concepcion G. Valmonte

Ayala Land lists first tranche of P50-B bonds

AYALALAND.COM.PH

AYALA Land, Inc. listed its P3-billion fixed-rate bonds due 2031 at the Philippine Dealing & Exchange Corp. (PDEx), marking the listed property developer’s second listing at the debt capital markets this year.

The bonds, which has a rate of 4.0776% per annum, comprise the first tranche of the company’s newly approved P50-billion shelf-registered fixed-rate, peso-denominated bonds. The balance will be issued in tranches within three years.

“This issuance together with another long-term loan, which we are set to complete this week, will bring us closer to concluding our P50-billion debt refinancing program — the largest-ever as we continue to bring down our cost of debt and lengthen our maturities,” Ayala Land Deputy Treasurer Jose Emilio B. Jamir said during the listing ceremony on Tuesday morning.

PDEx President and Chief Executive Officer Antonino A. Nakpil said the issuance, by “Ayala Land standards,” is “bite-sized.”

Meanwhile, Mr. Jamir said the company’s 10-year bond “holds a distinction of being the longest corporate bond ever offered since the pandemic began.” The tenor is aligned with the period the company has set for the development of its projects.

The P3-billion fixed-rate bonds is the 17th listing at the PDEx this year, bringing the total new listings to P175.99 billion. The total outstanding listed corporate bonds stand at P1.35 billion, comprising of 195 securities issued by 54 companies.

Ayala Land said its offer was “well-received by the market,” resulting in a P3-billion order book.

“The successful offering of this 10-year bond has shown that there are fixed-income investors that are keen for longer-term instruments,” Mr. Jamir said, adding that the offer has a repriceable feature.

On Tuesday, shares of Ayala Land at the stock market went up by 0.28% or 10 centavos to close at P35.95 each. — Keren Concepcion G. Valmonte

CloudSwyft rolls out virtual lab solutions for STI schools

CLOUDSWYFT has deployed its virtual lab solutions to STI Education Systems Holdings, Inc. schools on Oct. 18, an official of the education technology firm said, as he provided a preview of its future offerings including “virtual desk spaces.”

“Deployment was successful and the students had already accessed it successfully,” Dann Angelo De Guzman, founder and chief executive officer at CloudSwyft, said in a briefing on Tuesday.

CloudSwyft provides access to multiple software applications, which students may use at any time at their convenience. Universities may also customize the lab infrastructure it aims to offer to tailor to their respective programs.

Through CloudSwyft, students may access applications such as Autodesk, Inc.’s AutoCAD, Microsoft 365, and Adobe Systems through their universities’ virtual lab regardless of their computer systems. Only “at least 2 Mbps (megabits per second)” will be needed to use the platform.

The opportunity with STI was a “blessing in disguise,” as the institution was said to be looking for lab management platforms as it continues to offer educational programs amid the pandemic.

“They have been looking for a solution that can solve this problem since last year and they’ve only found out about us when one of our philanthropic and social impact efforts that we’ve done with Microsoft Global Schools Initiative,” Mr. De Guzman said.

“Some of their faculty members were actually recipients of those social impact efforts of one of the nonprofit organizations in the Philippines that we’ve worked with and that’s where they saw the CloudSwyft platforms and that’s where they saw the virtual lab space solutions and how it works,” he added.

Mr. De Guzman added that the partnership with STI Education will be “long-term,” and feedback regarding the use of its platform will be collected after a semester.

CloudSwyft said it is trying to “hand-hold” schools and universities as they immerse themselves into the platform. CloudSwyft said it offers free proof of concepts and free pilot-testing for a limited time.

“It’s inevitable for these educational institutions to be skeptic, to be anxious or concerned about the bandwidth infrastructure, the network, is this something that will work because this is totally new for them and the pandemic is totally new for everybody,” Mr. De Guzman said.

Aside from the virtual lab platforms, CloudSwyft is also offering “future-ready skills solutions” where the virtual labs feature content for technology skills courses to aid educational programs and may also be availed of by corporate clients.

CloudSwyft describes “virtual desk spaces” as similar to virtual labs for educational institutions. However, this will be designed for office employees who are working from home.

“This is targeted for enterprise and corporate where we will be the more cost-efficient and the more scalable, easier, simpler alternative compared to the traditional expensive VDI (virtual desktop infrastructure) solutions that many companies or many enterprise organizations are using nowadays,” Mr. De Guzman said. — Keren Concepcion G. Valmonte

PETA presents online play about HIV

THE RUN of the first production of Philippine Educational Theater Association’s (PETA) 2020 season was cut short two weeks early when the first coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) lockdown was imposed in March 2020. Theaters all over the country ground to a halt. But soon, the artists started to pivot. The Virgin Labfest theater festival went online. Then other groups started trying out the new platform — creating live works where the cast performed at home, then live works performed together but sans a live audience, or airing recordings of shows performed before the pandemic struck.

Now, Rody Vera’s Under My Skin, PETA’s last live production before the lockdown, will resume its aborted run. The anthology drama on HIV will be PETA’s second and last play of the year, after the online run of its popular jukebox musical Rak of Aegis. Under My Skin will be on view online over two weekends — Nov. 26 to 28, and Nov. 30 to Dec. 5.

COVID-19 is, after all, not the only disease out there that people need to learn more about.

The Department of Health (DoH) reported that 33 Filipinos are diagnosed with HIV per day. In August of 2021, HIV/AIDS and ART Registry of the Philippines (HARP) received reports of 878 cases of confirmed HIV-positive individuals. These new cases were added to the total of 90,031 HIV positive cases since Jan. 1984. At the time that the 878 people were diagnosed, 427 were between the ages of 25 to 34, while 291 were between 15 and 24. The overwhelming majority — 96% — were infected through sexual contact. As of Aug. 2021, there were 53,286 people living with HIV who are receiving Anti-Retroviral Therapy. (https://www.facebook.com/hivepicenter/photos/pcb.3172023506457696/3172023206457726)

In an effort to educate and spread awareness about HIV/AIDS, PETA gathered the cast and staff of Under My Skin in January to film the play.

“PETA believes that Under My Skin still has a lot to contribute to HIV and AIDS awareness. We have not fully optimized the potential of the production. And so, last Jan. 2021, PETA decided to video shoot the play with the intention of streaming it online,” PETA Executive Director Maria Gloriosa “Beng” Santos-Cabangon said in an online press conference on Oct. 15.

Under My Skin is inspired by real people and events. It depicts the realities, triumphs, and struggles of people living with HIV. In the show, the audience is introduced to Jonathan, Greg, Syd, and Mario whose relationships are tested when Jonathan gets infected; HIV-positive teenager Dino whose status is discovered when he contracts tuberculosis; Mary Rose, a mother who unknowingly passed down the virus to her son after getting it from her husband; a gay beauty parlor employee experiencing work-related discrimination. The audience learns the causes, effects, and treatments of HIV-AIDS through Dr. Gemma Almonte (played by Cherry Pie Picache).

“We’ve been hit by different viruses; HIV is one thing that we should not stop dealing with… Let us inform everyone and educate everyone that it is not a death sentence,” Ms. Picache said at the press conference.

Director Melvin Lee returns to direct the play and make the transition from stage to screen. There were online rehearsals prior to its scheduled one-day shoot. The scenes were shot in sequence with a three-camera setup to provide various perspectives.

“The intention now since it is online is to give the play different lenses or points of view for the viewer to appreciate the scenes and the [story of each] character,” Mr. Lee said.

“There is a certain standard [that is] close to film but there is still the feel that, at the end of it, what you are watching is still a stage play,” he added.

Aside from Ms. Picache, the online streaming cast includes Eko Baquial, Gio Gahol, Mike Liwag, Jarred Jaicten, Kitsi Pagaspas, Dylan Ray Talon, Dudz Teraña, She Maala, Bene Manaois, Erold Enriquez, Jason Barcial, Joseph Madriaga, Rach Gimpes, Reggie Ondevilla, Roy Dahildahil, Gerard Dy, and Ekis Gimenez.

“It is our hope that this endeavor will help build an informed and caring community,” Ms. Santos-Cabangon said.

Under My Skin is co-presented by HIV advocacy organizations LoveYourself PH and The Red Whistle, and UNILAB, Inc. Tickets are available at P180 for Livestream, and P250 for Video on Demand tickets via www.ticket2me.net, bit.ly/undermyskinonline, or through any of the Under My Skin Online showbuyers. For bulk sales, and more sales information, contact Mitch Go at 0917-539-1112. — Michelle Anne P. Soliman

Biotech firm MTek gets FDA approval for ASF test kit

LOCAL biotechnology firm Manila HealthTek, Inc. (MTek) secured the approval of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on Oct. 12 for its test kit that detects African Swine Fever (ASF).

MTek said in a statement late Monday that it is now preparing for the test kit’s nationwide rollout, which is expected to start before the end of 2021.

“The highly contagious, often fatal pig disease, continues to threaten not just food security but the livelihood of local farmers. Quick detection is needed to ensure rapid response and containment of the disease,” MTek said.

Raul V. Destura, MTek founder and chief executive officer, said the company’s ASF test kit costs less since it is locally manufactured.

“In fact, it is the cheapest reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) testing for ASF in the market,” Mr. Destura said.

“We want to reach out, most especially to the small producers, who don’t have a biosecurity system in place that bigger farms have,” he added.

In August, MTek announced that it developed the ASF test kit. The biotech firm said the product had been deemed 100% sensitive and 100% specific after being validated by a national reference animal-testing laboratory.

Based on its website, MTek is engaged in developing portable diagnostic kits that test for various infectious diseases.

Some of the kits developed by MTek are the Biotek-M DengueAqua Kit and the GenAmplify coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) RT-PCR test kit.

ASF is a hemorrhagic viral disease that affects pigs but poses no health risk to humans, according to the World Organization for Animal Health. The country’s first outbreak was confirmed in 2019, and has since affected the its hog inventory, causing high pork prices.

Recently, the Department of Agriculture declared Abuyog, Leyte as officially free from ASF after 211 days since the animal disease was first detected in the area. — Revin Mikhael D. Ochave

Liked Netflix’s The Chair?

Here are 4 moving, funny novels set in English departments

ENGLISH departments are strange places. Even to those of us who spend our working lives inside them, they can seem utterly mysterious. Those looking in from outside must find them even more baffling. What exactly do lecturers do all day? They teach and interact with students, but what happens the rest of the time?

Literary scholars everywhere, writes Terry Eagleton, “live in a state of dread — a dread that one day, someone … will suddenly get wise to the fact that we draw salaries for reading poems and novels.” This fact, say Eagleton, “is as scandalous as being paid for sunbathing [or] eating chocolate.”

He has a point.

Harvard professor Deidre Shauna Lynch says even more bluntly that what English academics get up to simply “does not look like work” to those on the outside. Those of us writing on literature, she suggests, must make our peace with this fact. We must resign ourselves to being largely unknown to the broader culture, living in quiet obscurity.

And yet, as Netflix’s The Chair makes clear, life within an English department can actually look a lot like life in any other workplace. At the fictional Pembroke University, there are familiar office politics and dramas, as well as the usual mixture of ambition, resentment, and status-seeking that exist elsewhere. Professor Ji-Yoon Kim (Sandra Oh) steers a team of colleagues who have eccentric literary quirks but are recognizable figures in many workplaces.

If you enjoyed this series, I’d recommend checking out these four novels, all of which offer compelling depictions of English departments. Forget the Campus Novel — the English Department Novel is a more interesting sub-genre.

1. Richard Russo, Straight Man (1997)

Mr. Russo’s comic novel shares many similarities with The Chair. It centers on the madcap adventures of William Henry Devereaux, Jr., who chairs an English department similar in size to that of Pembroke. Furious about recent financial cuts, Devereaux takes matters into his own hands. He uses a local television network to publicize his cause, threatening to kill one goose from the university pond every day until his department’s budget is reinstated.

Mr. Russo emphasizes the slapstick, farcical side of departmental politics. Straight Man is a glorious send up of self-serious academics, the politics of literary theory, and intellectual ambition.

It also offers a perfect gloss on the old adage that academic politics are so vicious precisely because the stakes are so low. I strongly suspect that the writers of The Chair had Devereaux in mind while creating the similarly hapless Bill Dobson (Jay Duplass).

2. John Williams, Stoner (1965)

John Williams may well have written the most moving novel ever to be set in an English department.

In understated, elegiac prose, Mr. Williams gives us the tragic life story of William Stoner, an obscure English professor at the University of Missouri, who enters as an agriculture student but develops a lifelong passion for literature. He lives his entire life against the backdrop of the university, and all of his significant relationships are found within the English department.

While Stoner’s contributions to the field seem middling to his colleagues, he inspires generations of students with his generous and rigorous teaching. His personal life may well be a kind of tragedy, but he finds redemption in his teaching and research, and a true home in the department.

Mr. Williams gives us an example of the English department novel at its most existential and weighty, one beloved of readers inside and outside the academy.

3. Mary McCarthy, The Groves of Academe (1952)

Ms. McCarthy’s novel takes us back to comedy once again, mining the same territory as The Chair and Straight Man but written well in advance of either. Drawing on her own experiences at Bard College and elsewhere, Ms. McCarthy gives us a farce with a serious political edge. Set at the fictional Jocelyn College, the novel centers on Henry Mulcahy, an expert on James Joyce who learns he has been let go, seemingly without cause.

As he fights to save his position, Ms. McCarthy shows us the subtle and shifting nature of allegiances within the English departments she knew firsthand, as well as the petty disputes and lurid scandals they can harbor. She pulls no punches, laying bare the gossip, naked careerism, and backstabbing that even seemingly mild-mannered English academics are capable of.

The novel also gives us a classic bait-and-switch. The central character, Mulcahy, whom we initially see as sympathetic and unfairly mistreated, slowly comes into focus as manipulative and profoundly unlikable. As we begin to see the central events from the perspective of once minor characters, the truth is revealed, and Ms. McCarthy skillfully shows us the mistakes of our earlier judgments.

4. Wallace Stegner, Crossing to Safety (1987)

This wise and moving novel explores the lifelong friendship between two couples, Larry and Sally Morgan and Sid and Charity Lang. Sid and Larry are English professors in Madison, Wisconsin, and the novel follows them as they chase literary ambitions while also managing substantial teaching duties.

Both are striving for tenure and are forced to negotiate complicated faculty politics. Ultimately, this is a novel about “quiet lives,” as the narrator tells us. Its great themes are friendship, marriage, and the nature of love.

And while the English department often fades into the background as Mr. Stegner explores other aspects of his characters’ lives, its politics are never far away. Sid and Larry are often concerned with the petty machinations of their academic colleagues, and Crossing to Safety includes many details that still resonate with life at a university today. Mr. Stegner’s novel also offers a fascinating glimpse into the evolution of literary studies from the 1930s to the 1970s.

Of course, there are many other novels within this sub-genre, including David Lodge’s beloved campus trilogy, as well as novels by Vladimir Nabokov, J.M. Coetzee, and others. While eating chocolate and sunbathing wouldn’t necessarily make for interesting fiction, life in an English department, it seems, certainly does.

 

Lucas Thompson is a Lecturer at the Department of English, University of Sydney.

In for the long haul: Recovered COVID patients report lingering symptoms

UNSPLASH

By Patricia B. Mirasol  

FOR SOME PATIENTS, surviving coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is not the end of it. A percentage of those who recover still suffer from long COVID, a condition characterized by symptoms such as chronic fatigue, shortness of breath, and cognitive dysfunction.  

“I have a very low quality of life. Everything is excruciatingly hard. It’s like my body forgot how to work,” said Karen Nina Ibañez-Danao in an e-mail interview with BusinessWorld. Simple activities such as showering now require her husband’s help. “Even then, I get exhausted midway.”  

Ms. Danao was declared recovered from COVID-19 on Aug. 14, 2020.   

The World Health Organization (WHO) defines long COVID as a condition that “occurs in individuals with a history of probable or confirmed SARS CoV-2 infection, usually three months from the onset of COVID-19 with symptoms and that last for at least two months and cannot be explained by an alternative diagnosis.”  

In a white paper published this June, US-based non-profit organization FAIR Health reported that nearly a quarter (or 23.2%) of COVID-19 patients will have at least one post-COVID symptom.  

NOT ENOUGH OXYGEN  
For other COVID-19 survivors like Beth R., fatigue isn’t so much a problem as the lack of oxygen coursing through her body.  

“The hingal [shortness of breath] never went away — it’s just less now,” she said in a Viber interview with BusinessWorld. “My doctor at the hospital said that, according to her patients, the hingal persists for a long time.”  

To help her breathe, she has oxygen tanks in the bathroom and bedroom, and an oxygen generator for when she moves to the living room or kitchen.   

Even doing intellectual work while hooked to an oxygen tank takes its toll after an hour. “You have to lie down. It’s like I can do more when lying down than sitting up,” she added.  

Ms. R., who declined to give her full name due to professional reasons, was hospitalized for two weeks and discharged as negative for COVID-19 on Aug. 31. She was infected a week after her first vaccine dose, and has since lost 25 pounds in her post-COVID journey as a result of her lack of appetite.  

CHAMELEON-LIKE 
Initiatives such as the global AFTERCOR study, a two-year research program on the long-term outcomes of COVID-19 ICU (intensive care unit) survivors, are gathering data from its partner medical institutions to gain a better understanding of the medical condition’s mechanism.   

“We really don’t have enough evidence yet from its pathophysiology,” said Dr. Karen Wildi, an Australia-based intensive care physician that co-leads the AFTERCOR study team. “What’s quite peculiar with COVID-19 is that it’s such a chameleon.”   

“It seems to have a high affinity to the brain,” she told BusinessWorld in a Zoom call, but it “pretty much affects every organ system.”  

Another two-year study, the GINCO Cohort e-ASIA (or the Genetics, Immunological and Neurological Long-term Consequences in Prospective COVID-19 Cohort in Thailand, Japan, Philippines, and USA), likewise commenced this May to shed light on the phenomenon based on data from the four countries involved.   

“The cohort… will be composed of at least 90 COVID-19 recovered patients; 30 of whom will be Filipinos aged at least 50 years who have recovered from severe COVID-19,” said Dr. Fresthel Monica M. Climacosa, principal investigator of the Philippine study team, in a separate e-mail to BusinessWorld. 

BRAIN FOG
Life has not gotten better for Ms. Danao 14 months post-recovery. She suffers from brain fog, tremors, hair loss, painful knuckles, and a swelling of her extremities. She also has chronic strokes.  

“I sometimes forget words mid-sentence, have difficulty composing sentences, and experience short-medium term memory loss,” she said. Her strokes, meanwhile, compelled her to discontinue her physical therapy exercises and take injectable blood thinners to the tune of P60,000 for a two-week supply.  

“My doctor said I may have to take blood thinners for the rest of my life because no one knows yet how long the strokes will last,” she said.   

The various long-term COVID treatments have taken a toll on the single-income household. Ms. Danao has since taken to social media to seek help defraying costs.   

The definition of quality of life is very individual, said Dr. Wildi.  

“In the end, you have to [consider] the quality of life,” she said. “What we can find objectively is different from a patient’s view of the symptoms troubling him.”  

Patient monitoring for both the AFTERCOR and the GINCO Cohort e-ASIA studies include periodic follow-ups, biochemistry testing, and neurological examinations.  

It’s not only “long-haulers” that will feel the pinch, but the economy too. The “loss of health and capacity is a demand shock that impacts the ability of the labor force to work,” pointed out a Forbes article. Society, it added, will have to shoulder the costs of its disabled members.  

Ms. R. likened long COVID to “transcending hell.”   

“You realize as an individual you are all alone in this journey to hell and the only thing going for you is your faith in the future — that you could still be around for your loved ones, for your dreams and for your country,” she said.   

 

Medical centers interested in joining the global AFTERCOR study may e-mail its principal investigators at aftercor@health.qld.gov.au. The study also welcomes funding assistance.  

Arts & Culture (10/27/21)

NICOLE Barroso and Eugene Obille in excerpts from the ballet Le Corsaire — PHOTO BY VICTOR URSABIA

CCP presents Dance On!

FILIPINO dancers and choreographers have responded to the changing times through Dance On!, the culminating performances of the Cultural Center of the Philippines (CCP) Professional Dance Support Program. Amid the challenging situation brought by the COVID-19 pandemic, the CCP initiated a special program to support the professional dance industry in the country. The program is under the mentorship of National Artist Alice Reyes, and dance masters Alden Lugnasin and Nonoy Froilan. Every week until Dec. 5, a series of dance performances will premiere live online on the CCP Facebook and YouTube Channel. The dance videos will remain posted on the CCP Online YouTube Channel after their live premieres. Premiering on Oct. 31 is the dance Light, at the end of, by choreographer Patrick John Rebullida, which explores what it means to value each part of the life cycle in equanimity. With music by Jose Buencamino, dancers John Ababon, Luigie Barrera, Justine Orande, Erl Sorilla, Sarah Alejandro, Stephanie Santiago, Jessa Tangalin, Regine Magbitang, and Nicole Barroso show through movement that all the pain, suffering, and death are but part of an evolution. Upcoming performances are: Nov. 7, Inlababo and In the Midst of Overcoming, featuring the music of Eddie Peregrina and choreography by John Ababon, and Nov. 14, Headspace, by choreographer-dancer Roneldon Yadao; Nov. 21, Re-FORM by choreographer Biag Gaongen; Nov. 28, Now by choreographer Lester Reguindin; and, Dec. 5, I Wanna Say Something by Choreographer JM Cabling. For more information, follow the official CCP social media accounts on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, and visit the CCP website www.culturalcenter.gov.ph.

Art Lounge Manila presents ‘Plantitos y Plantitas’

ART Lounge Manila opens the exhibition “Plantitos y Plantitas” with partner plant atelier Arid and Aroids. “Plantitos y Plantitas” is an art-and-plant exhibition where the gallery is also an indoor landscaped garden inside the Podium Mall. It runs until Oct. 30. Presenting their works are painter-sculptor Tet Ureta Aligaen, botanical painter Dindon Cordova, painters Inka Madera, Julie Gil, Anna de Leon, Kristine Lim, Carlo Magno, Christian Mirang, Francis Nacion, Lisa Villasenor and mixed media artist Melissa Yeung Yap. For inquiries, call 0977-839-8971 or 0998-993-7963, or e-mail info@artloungemanila.com. For updates on upcoming shows, visit https://artloungemanila.com.

Consignments accepted for auction

SALCEDO Auctions is accepting consignments until the end of the month for the Under the Tree: The Wish List Gavel&Block Holiday auctions. The auction will be held live and online on Nov. 27. For more details on consignments, visit https://salcedoauctions.com/getting-started/sell. For inquiries, e-mail info@salcedoauctions.com, or contact 8823-0956 or 0917-107-5581.

Intramuros to open venues for exercise

AS INTRAMUROS reopens its sites, museums, and indoor attractions, to provide the public with alternative and safer venues for leisurely activity, the Intramuros Administration (IA) will soon open its open-air sites as venues for morning exercises exclusively for the vulnerable population starting Oct. 30. The vulnerable population, namely the senior citizens, persons with disability (PWD), pregnant women, and persons with health risks will be allotted two hours every Saturday from 8 to 10 a.m., to do their morning exercises at Fort Santiago and Baluarte de San Diego. Through an advance ticket reservation system, vulnerable individuals who are fully vaccinated can avail of this exclusive arrangement. The program for the fully vaccinated vulnerable population is open every Saturday, beginning Oct. 30, and can be booked through the following link: bit.ly/3ilptmu. For more information, the public can visit the social media accounts of Intramuros Administration on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. Inquiries may also be directed to tourism@intramuros.gov.ph.

Photo club holds exhibit-sale for kid’s education foundation

THE ZONE Five Camera Club (ZVCC or Zone V) is holding an online exhibit and charity sale at www.zonev.org from Oct. 23 to 31. Called “Images of H.O.P.E. (HELPING OTHERS PROSPER & EXCEL)”, the week-long event will showcase some of the best still camera work by Zone V. Proceeds from the sale will benefit the Assumption Development Foundation, a non-profit organization dedicated to the learning development of select youths of Sapang Palay, Bulacan. Featured will be color and black & white prints from its 50 members, including the club’s Ambassadors of Zone Five, a group composed of Jay Camus, Manny Inumerable, Cha Pagdilao, James Singlador, Danny Yu, and Ruben Castor Ranin, who was himself a recipient of an ADF scholarship.

Ateneo Art Gallery holds INK exhibit

ANG ILUSTRADOR ng Kabataan (Ang INK), the country’s first and only organization of illustrators for children, presents a fresh collection of artwork sharing personal experiences of members in response to the prompt: “What is your INK story?” Currently, Ang INK has more than 70 active members who are illustrators, graphic designers, painters, writers, teachers working in educational institutions, publishing companies, and design and advertising agencies. The exhibit, “INK Story: 30 Years of Ang Ilustrador ng Kabataan,” is ongoing at the Wilson L Sy Prints and Drawing Gallery of Ateneo Art Gallery (AAG). While the AAG remains closed to the public until further notice, Ang INK and AAG will release an online walkthrough of the exhibition through their respective social media accounts and websites. Inquiries about the exhibit and AAG’s reopening may be sent via e-mail at aag@ateneo.edu.

Ateneo lecture tackles gender violence in pop culture

TO CELEBRATE Time’s Up Ateneo’s (TUA) second anniversary, is will hold “Confronting GBV in Pop Culture,” featuring two short lectures, which will focus on care, community, and how to forward anti-gender-based violence in everyday physical and discursive spaces. The lectures will be followed by breakout sessions where audience members can have a discussion with the speakers. The event will be held on Oct. 30, from 8 to 9:30 p.m. via Zoom. Register via this link: https://tinyurl.com/TUAOct30. Links will be sent to registrants a few days before the event. The first lecture is entitled “The Look of Lust: On the violence of the gaze” by Dr. Ninotchka Mumtaj “Taz” Albano, who draws attention to gender-based violence implied by the objectifying gaze in pop-culture (fashion, movies, media) where spectators take part in objectification, sexualization and oppression. The second lecture is “Cancel Your Darlings: Towards a shared reckoning with fraught art” by Bee Leung. Her lecture imagines the possibilities of transformative community readership beyond the poles of cancel culture and separating the art from the artist. If we do not want to deny the harm texts and their creators may cause, then we need the right vocabularies and venues to explore what, if anything, there is to be reclaimed.

Crimson Boracay announces first artist-in-residence

IN LINE with its thrust towards becoming a center for arts and culture in the heart of Boracay, Crimson Resort and Spa Boracay has announced the appointment of its first-ever artist-in-residence, Eric Egualada. This creative residency will run for four months and include a number of activities. Mr. Egualada will be handling on-site painting classes and art-related workshops for guests, local residents, and staff members, as a way of encouraging them to become more creative and expressive. As artist-in-residence, Mr. Egualada will be involved in Crimson’s ARTS in Youth initiative wherein Crimson will sponsor several young students in their artistic education. Other creative pursuits currently in the pipeline for Crimson include a series of art exhibitions and workshops, art and food events, as well as a series of demonstrations by some of the country’s best visual artists. Mr. Egualada, a native of Angono, Rizal, has been painting for over 35 years and is an alumnus of the Jose Rizal University in Mandaluyong. An educator as well as an artist, he taught at the Angono National High School. Likewise, he trained for four years with the Department of Education, the Cultural Center of the Philippines, and the special arts program of the Dalubhasaan sa Edukasyon, Sining, at Kultura. Visit www.crimsonhotel.com or follow @CrimsonBoracay on Facebook and Instagram for more information.

Filmmaker Richard Somes holds first solo exhibit

FILM and TV director Richard Somes is holding his first solo exhibit in a move he calls is a fulfillment of his childhood dream and a way for him to cope with the pandemic. Mr. Somes, known for films such as Yanggaw, We Will Not Die Tonight (2018) and Historiographika Errata (2017), taught himself how to paint which eventually led him to sideline as a tattoo artist. He became a production designer and a film director with 24 directorial credits to his name. When the pandemic struck in 2020 and the entertainment industry locked down, Mr. Somes took up painting to cope with anxiety and depression. His first solo exhibit, is ongoing at the Secret Fresh Gallery at the Ronac Art Center in San Juan City. It features 10 of his works. The exhibit’s titled Inside the Mind of Richard V. Somes.

Cebu Design Week to hold Art Fair

CEBU Design Week, in collaboration with the National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCCA), is presenting the Visayas Art Fair: Connecting the Islands Through Art on Nov. 25-28, at Montebello Villa Hotel, Cebu City. The Visayas Art Fair is part of NCCA’s celebration of Museums and Galleries Month in the month of October. Dates were moved to November because of the COVID-19 pandemic. The Visayas Art Fair 2021 is a historical undertaking to unite three regions (Regions 6, 7, and 8) of the Visayas to present their Visayan identity, arts and culture to the world. Simultaneous with the visual arts exhibition will be art demonstrations, art talks, musical performances, among others, showcasing Visayan creativity.

Ayala Land unveils underpass ceiling mural

AYALA Land unveiled a vibrant mural featuring various flora and fauna from various regions of the Philippines at the Legazpi Underpass in Makati. According to the mural’s lead artists Janica Rina and Jerson Samson, “It also tells the story of how humans and nature can harmoniously thrive together and also reminds us to value the natural treasures in our homeland.” They were assisted by displaced artists in completing this mural. The Legazpi Underpass stands parallel to Ayala Avenue at the heart of the MCBD and it connects the Ayala Triangle Gardens and Ayala Center. Other underpasses in Makati that have ceiling murals are the Salcedo Underpass and the Ayala Avenue Underpass. To watch the official unveiling of the Legazpi Underpass mural, visit the Make It Makati Facebook page: https://fb.watch/8JTZf-hCrl/.

Globe’s new sculpture lights up

GLOBE took part in the 2021 National Mental Health Week celebration by lighting up its blue lobby glass sculpture at its headquarters, The Globe Tower, on Oct. 8. The glass sculpture, called The Flow, is a Bohemian hand-blown glass designed by Libor Sostak and developed by Lasvit exclusively for Globe. It is inspired by “The flow of data in virtual and infinite space that are spreading to all directions over the globe.” “Light Up Blue for Mental Health” is an initiative by the Philippine Mental Health Association (PMHA) and several other partners to put the spotlight on mental wellness and its importance, especially during the pandemic. The color blue as a symbol of serenity, peace and calmness provided a beacon of hope during this time of health crisis. It was the second time for the annual activity to be held locally. Establishments and institutions that supported the campaign include the Philippine International Convention Center, National Museum, Quezon City Government, Lourdes School of Mandaluyong, DepEd Tayo Kapangan National High School, Ambangeg National High School, Philippine National Police Cordillera, Adamson University, UP College of Public Health, and the Ifugao United Action Force: among others. As an advocate of mental health for almost a decade now, Globe has programs such as HOPELINE, a round-the-clock suicide prevention and crisis support desk created in 2012 with Globe providing the necessary technology for its operations. HOPELINE can be accessed using the HealthNow app’s Urgent Help button on the welcome page. Another initiative is HopeChat, a mental health consultation platform developed with Australia-based Virtual Psychologist for employees. It was piloted to over 8,000 employees back in July 2020 to help them deal with the psychological impact of COVID-19. Globe also partnered with Bantay Bata 163, a child welfare program of ABS-CBN Lingkod Kapamilya Foundation, Inc., which protects disadvantaged and at-risk children through a nationwide network of social services. Bantay Bata #163 and the HOPELINE 2919 are toll-free for all Globe and TM customers.

Cebu Pacific says 14 local destinations offer easier entry to fully vaccinated passengers

BUDGET carrier Cebu Pacific said there are now 14 local destinations in its network that no longer require swab tests for travel.

“Bohol, Roxas and Cebu City join the list of destinations in [Cebu Pacific’s] network that have simplified travel requirements and do not require RT-PCR (reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction) or antigen testing,” the airline said in an e-mailed statement on Monday.

The three destinations now accept fully-vaccinated individuals with valid or verified vaccination certificates.

“More local government units (LGUs) are simplifying their travel requirements as we see more of the country open up,” said Candice A. Iyog, Cebu Pacific vice-president for marketing and customer service.

“This is a welcome development and we look forward to more destinations applying a risk-based approach to travel, as we work together to instill safe and convenient travel within the Philippines,” she added.

The airline also reminded passengers to always check with the LGU of their destination for the latest updates.

Cebu Pacific has brought home over the past two weeks 1,417 Filipinos from Dubai via seven special commercial flights in support of the government’s repatriation program.

The airline said it had flown more than 6,500 Filipinos from Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Oman, India, Vietnam, Lebanon, and Bahrain since July.

The budget carrier’s domestic network covers 31 destinations, on top of its eight international destinations. — Arjay L. Balinbin

Moderna says its COVID-19 vaccine protective, safe in young children

MODERNA, INC. said on Monday its coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccine generated a strong immune response in children aged six to 11 years and that it plans to submit the data to global regulators soon.  

Moderna said its two-dose vaccine generated virus-neutralizing antibodies in children and safety was comparable to what was previously seen in clinical trials of adolescents and adults. It cited interim data that has yet to be peer reviewed.  

It was unclear when US regulators will weigh in on the shot. The Moderna COVID-19 vaccine is authorized for adults over the age of 18 years and is waiting for a response to its June application for children aged 12 through 17.  

It is behind rivals Pfizer, Inc. and BioNTech SE, whose vaccine has been authorized for ages 12 and up since May. A panel of outside advisers to the US Food and Drug Administration will meet on Tuesday to decide whether to recommend Pfizer’s vaccine in children aged five to 11 years.  

Moderna said that in its trial of 4,753 participants, side effects were mostly mild to moderate in severity. The most common side effects were fatigue, headache, fever and injection site pain.  

The company statement did not disclose any new information about cases of heart inflammation called myocarditis, a known side effect of mRNA vaccines.  

The shots were 50-microgram doses, half the strength used in the primary vaccine series for adults and the same as the booster dose authorized for adults. It is higher than the 10-microgram dose Pfizer is planning for its vaccine in children.  

Both the Moderna and Pfizer/BioNTech vaccines have been linked to myocarditis in young men.  

Some studies have suggested the rate of incidence in recipients of the Moderna vaccine may be higher than in Pfizer recipients, perhaps because of the stronger dose of vaccine.  

Sweden has paused the use of the Moderna vaccine for younger age groups because of the higher risk of myocarditis.  

While children rarely become seriously ill or die from COVID-19, some do develop rare complications, and COVID-19 cases in unvaccinated children have risen due to the contagious Delta variant.  

Children can also spread the virus, infecting those who are not protected by vaccines and giving the virus more room to develop new variations.  

Moderna shares rose 2% in morning trading. — Reuters 

Converge expects Bicol subscriber base to grow by nearly 80%

CONVERGE ICT Solutions, Inc. on Tuesday said its subscriber base in the Bicol region is expected to grow by nearly 80% this year, with its pure fiber optic network covering almost half of the region’s population.

The listed fiber broadband provider said it had landed its pure fiber domestic subsea backbone in three points in Bicol.

“These are key landing points in Southern Luzon, which complete the redundancy loop that starts in San Juan, Batangas and passes through Roxas – Mindoro, Boracay, Roxas – Iloilo and ends in Milagros, Masbate,” the company said in an e-mailed statement.

“These loops provide an alternate route for internet traffic to go through in the case of an outage or failure, caused by a natural disaster, on the primary route of the subsea cables,” it added.

Converge also said this development marks its entry into the Masbate province.

“We are the only player in this southern Luzon region with a pure, end-to-end fiber network, and we are aggressively expanding as we continue laying down our domestic fiber backbone interconnecting the Philippine islands and fortifying our entire network,” said Dennis Anthony H. Uy, chief executive officer and co-founder of Converge.

“The solid increase in our customer base in Region V is hinged on our entry into Masbate, and our deeper presence in the provinces of Albay, Camarines Norte, Camarines Sur, and Sorsogon,” he added.

Converge ICT shares closed 0.47% lower at P31.95 apiece on Tuesday. — Arjay L. Balinbin

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