ONE strawweight champion Joshua Pacio — ONE CHAMPIONSHIP
FILIPINO champion fighter Joshua Pacio will do everything to cling into his ONE strawweight title belt. And it includes keeping tabs on his potential challengers like Jarred Brooks and Hiroba Minowa.
Mr. Pacio will get to watch the strengths and weaknesses of both Messrs. Brooks and Minowa as the latter two are scheduled to clash in the ONE: Only the Brave on Jan. 28 at Singapore Indoor Stadium.
The winner of the Brooks-Minowa duel could end up as a potential foe for Mr. Pacio.
“The strawweight division is getting more and more stacked and this excites me because this pushes me to become better and better everyday. This motivates me to level up every single day,” said Mr. Pacio, who boasts of an impressive 20-3 record including the last one against Yosuke Saruta for a successful third title defense.
Apart from Messrs. Brooks and Minowa, who are ranked third and fourth in the division, respectively, Mr. Pacio is also keeping an eye on No. 1 contender Bokang Mansunaye.
Mr. Pacio said all three have different styles.
“(Messrs.) Jared and Bokang are more explosive athletes and they are very athletic coming from their wrestling background. As compared to (Mr.) Minowa who is more of a relaxed athlete, but when he gets to his rhythm, he can take you down and pressure you just like [Yoshitaka] Naito,” said Mr. Pacio.
Filipinos Jeremy Miado and Robin Catalan are also fast emerging in the division and Mr. Pacio isn’t turning a blind eye on them.
“I’m very happy to see Filipinos emerge in this weight class, this is really a weight class for a lot of Asian athletes like me,” he said.
“Jeremy Miado is leveling up and we saw that in his last outing against Miao Li Tao. He just dominated the fight, using his range and boxing skills. And (Mr.) Robin, this guy can close the show in the blink of an eye just like what he did to Gustavo [Balart].” — Joey Villar
THE SAGRADA Família designed by Antoni Gaudí — LOUISA SCHAAD/UNSPLASH
THE SAGRADA Família designed by Antoni Gaudí — LOUISA SCHAAD/UNSPLASH
THE Sagrada Familia, Antoni Gaudí’s Catalan masterpiece, recently celebrated the completion of the Mare de Déu tower by hoisting a giant, 12-pointed star of metal and textured glass to its summit. After 140 years of construction on the church, this is the first of its six main towers to be finished and its outsized decoration now lights up the Barcelona nightscape.
Not everyone is pleased though. The installation has been met with criticism about the ongoing building works and the adverse impact of the tourism it generates on the local area.
The Sagrada Familia has been a magnet for controversy since well before Mr. Gaudí was commissioned to build it in 1883. As my research shows, the Sagrada Familia has become both a myth and a tool co-opted by different political movements and ideological campaigns.
The Sagrada Familia was originally conceived in 1881 by philanthropist and bookseller Josep Maria Bocabella as an expiatory temple — a place of atonement — devoted to the cult of the Holy Family (the child Jesus, his mother, the Virgin Mary and his father, St. Joseph). In buying entry tickets, visitors, still today, effectively atone for their sins.
The decline of the Spanish empire in the 19th century had given rise to powerful ideological and political debates across Spain. The late 1870s saw the emergence of left-wing and anarchist movements, against which Mr. Bocabella aimed to make a stand with a new basilica.
To that end, in 1882, he bought a plot of land just outside the Eixample district of the city. He created a foundation to manage the works and appointed the architect Francisco de Paula Villar y Lozano. They envisaged an edifice in the Gothic revival style.
Mr. Lozano, however, only got as far the building’s foundations and the crypt before public disagreements about its construction system and finances led the foundation to ask Mr. Gaudí to take over.
Mr. Gaudí attuned his designs to both Bocabella’s ideals and the rightwing political and ideological movements sweeping through Catalonia at the time. He referenced the local Montserrat mountain range — which lies inland from Barcelona — in his radical new designs for the building’s sculptural mass and its elevation.
He also proposed that the church be built as a succession of single façades, each replete with a carefully curated, baroque medley of sculptures. In this way, even while under construction, the basilica would instruct visitors in the Catholic values associated with the Holy Family.
Until this moment the Lliga Catalanista, the main rightwing, nationalist party in Catalonia, had seen Mr. Gaudí as an outsider. Its leaders had labeled his architecture disgusting. But as he became ever more popular and his work more powerful, the Sagrada Familia appeared as a useful means for spreading their message.
The Lliga started presenting Mr. Gaudí as “the genius of Catalonia,” claiming that his basilica was a classical temple that belonged to all Catalans. It urged the public to contribute financially to its construction, belaboring the fact that in doing so, they would be buying forgiveness.
When Mr. Gaudí passed away in 1926, Barcelona was at the center of the anarchist and left-wing movements in Europe. In 1936, at the outbreak of the Spanish civil war, the construction site was vandalized by anarchist groups. Mr. Gaudí’s studio was burned down and all the drawings and models it contained were destroyed.
The post-war period saw construction resume and the myth of Mr. Gaudí take shape. In the absence of the plans and archival materials lost in the fire, architects and historians began to interpret Mr. Gaudí’s ideas to suit their own agendas. In 1964, an international group of architects and intellectuals called for work on the basilica to be halted. Most of them deplored the quality of these post-Gaudí additions.
Tourism has placed ever greater strains on the site, with neighborhood associations also bemoaning the lack of planning permits and payment of building permit fees. Inscribing the basilica into the surrounding urban context remains a primary challenge.
For the temple’s main façade and its staircase to be built, a series of housing blocks is set to be demolished, as defined in the unique leasehold terms under which they were built during the second half of the 20th century. At the time the completion of the temple seemed too far in the future. Now, with an end date set — just before the pandemic outbreak — for 2026, it’s a very real problem.
Until COVID brought the industry to a halt, ever-increasing visitor numbers ensured a vast and steady stream of income to keep construction underway. In 2019 alone, 4.5 million people came to the site.
The pandemic has of course been a major impediment. Visitors dropped to only 810,000 in 2020 and work on the church has been put on hold until 2024. However, if the church’s history is anything to go by, the Sagrada Familia will endure. It has become a myth equaled only by that of its creator, Mr. Gaudí. And like any myth, it is impervious to historical fact.
JERUSALEM — Israel’s Health Ministry on Monday instructed people self-testing for coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) to swab their throat as well as their nose when using rapid antigen kits to increase the chances of detecting the Omicron variant.
The recommendation goes against the advice of the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA), which has said manufacturers’ instructions should still be followed and that incorrect use of throat swabs could pose a safety risk.
On Israeli Army Radio, Sharon Alroy-Preis, Israel’s public health chief, said antigen — or lateral flow — tests, used widely in the country, are less sensitive than PCR tests in detecting illness.
“In order to increase their sensitivity, we will from now on recommend swabbing the throat and the nose. It’s not what the manufacturer instructs but we are instructing this,” she said.
The ministry later issued guidelines which said a swab should be taken from the throat and then from one nostril.
“It has the potential to improve the reliability of the test,” Salman Zarka, Israel’s pandemic-response coordinator, told a news conference, adding that the ministry would release a video showing how to use the new method.
Mr. Zarka said the ministry had spoken with companies supplying the test kits before issuing the new recommendation.
Rhenium, one of the Israeli importers of antigen kits, said earlier the Health Ministry had not consulted with it before issuing the new guidelines and that the tests, not checked by the company for throat swabs, were intended for nasal swabs.
MORE THAN ONE TEST With Omicron pushing daily infection cases to record highs, health officials have prioritized risk groups for PCR testing and trusted younger, vaccinated people to test at home if exposed to COVID-19.
Ms. Alroy-Preis said that when exposed to a carrier, people should take more than one test or wait three days after exposure before testing with rapid kits.
The quarantine period for those testing positive is expected to be shortened from 10 to seven days, though a final decision has not been made, the Health Ministry’s director general said.
Some infectious disease experts have advocated throat swabbing with antigen tests because people can transmit Omicron to others when the virus has infected their throat and saliva but not yet reached their nose.
A study released on Wednesday by online archive medRxiv before peer review looked at 29 Omicron-infected workers in high-risk professions who had PCR and antigen tests simultaneously on multiple days. The PCR tests of saliva detected the virus on average three days before rapid nose-swab samples became positive.
However, the US FDA tweeted on Friday: “When it comes to at-home rapid antigen COVID-19 tests, those swabs are for your nose and not your throat.” Throat swabs, it said, “if used incorrectly, can cause harm to the patient.”
Israel has confirmed around 1.5 million infections since the coronavirus pandemic began, and more than 8,000 deaths, and says around 60% of its 9.4 million population is now fully vaccinated. — Reuters
THE GOVERNMENT partially awarded the reissued Treasury bonds (T-bonds) it offered on Tuesday as investors asked for higher yields despite easing inflation.
The Bureau of the Treasury (BTr) raised just P22.126 billion via the reissued five-year T-bonds it auctioned off on Tuesday, less than the programmed P35 billion, even as the offering attracted P58.277 billion in bids.
The debt papers, which have a remaining life of four years and two months, were awarded at an average rate of 4.012%, up by 25 basis points (bps) from the 3.762% quoted when the series was last offered on Nov. 3.
The average yield fetched for the debt papers was also higher than the 3.8198% quoted for the four-year tenor — the closest benchmark to the remaining life of the reissued papers — at the secondary market prior to the auction, based on the PHP Bloomberg Valuation Service Reference Rates published on the Philippine Dealing System’s website.
Had the Treasury made a full award of its offer, the reissued bonds would have fetched an average rate of 4.051%.
National Treasurer Rosalia V. de Leon said in a Viber message to reporters after the auction that the Treasury partially awarded its offer of reissued papers because the highest submitted rate of 4.15% was well above fair value for the security.
“Inflation will trend downward,” she said. “BSP (Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas) [will be] patiently supportive to allow [the] economy to recover.”
Headline inflation in December eased to 3.6%, its lowest in a year, from the 4.2% recorded in November as food and transport costs slowed.
The December print brought the 2021 average to a three-year high of 4.5%, breaching the 2-4% target of the central bank as well as its revised 4.4% forecast.
Meanwhile, a bond trader said rates likely increased because the market is looking at the trajectory of global rates instead of domestic inflation.
“Investors are asking for more yield as buffer given expectations of US rate hike will spillover to short-term rates once it happens,” the trader said in a Viber message.
“Looks like market is more comfortable buying shorter tenors rather than four-year tenors and longer.”
Minutes of the latest US Federal Reserve meeting suggested rate hikes earlier than anticipated. On Monday, the International Monetary Fund said emerging economies should prepare for a US Fed policy tightening that could rattle financial markets.
In response, Ms. De Leon said the Treasury has been “mindful of Fed actions.”
“But of course, we take comfort in [BSP Governor Benjamin E. Diokno’s] statements being patiently accommodative to support the recovery.”
Mr. Diokno has said the BSP will continue to keep rates low to boost the economy.
The central bank kept policy rates at record lows for the entire 2021 to support the recovery, with the BSP stressing that elevated inflation caused by low supply in meat products will be better addressed by non-monetary measures.
Prior to this, the Monetary Board slashed rates by a total of 200 bps to support the economy.
The BTr plans to borrow P200 billion from the domestic market this month, or P60 billion via Treasury bills and P140 billion from T-bonds.
The government borrows from local and external sources to help fund a budget deficit seen to hit 7.7% of gross domestic product this year. — Jenina P. Ibañez
SAN MIGUEL Corp. (SMC) decided to postpone its return-to-office plan to prevent a virus outbreak at its Metro Manila offices after coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) cases picked up again.
“We are carefully monitoring our COVID-19 cases across the group and adjusting our policies. For now, we encourage our employees to work from home unless otherwise required by our operations,” SMC President and Chief Executive Officer Ramon S. Ang said in a statement.
The manning complement at SMC’s offices has been limited to 20%. Only those involved in critical business activities are prioritized.
SMC said its work-from-home strategy will also allow those who tested positive for COVID-19 to isolate.
“Our employees need to isolate properly, or may need to take care of family who are in isolation,” Mr. Ang said. “Working from home will both prevent a spread and strengthen the family support system during this time.”
SMC assured that all its employees will continue to receive their regular salaries.
“The company has also readied cash assistance for staff of third-party providers who cannot adopt a work-from-home setup, due to the nature of their jobs,” the company said.
SMC assured its stakeholders that its food, beverage, packaging, fuel operations, power generation, and infrastructure operations will continue. The company’s facilities are ordered to “strictly follow prescribed manning levels and prioritize only essential workers.”
SMC was able to fully vaccinate over 97% or 70,000 of its nationwide work force. Meanwhile, over 95% or 19,800 employees based in the National Capital Region (NCR) have also been fully vaccinated.
SMC began administering booster shots for employees in end-December. The initial rollout of the booster vaccination includes Metro Manila and Cebu, while the company is already planning to administer booster shots for its employees in Batangas, Laguna, Pangasinan, Iloilo, Bacolod, Isabela, and Davao throughout this week and next.
“We believe that the vaccines continue to protect us against severe disease and death even from the variant, so we are stepping up our campaign to administer booster shots to our employees and their families,” Mr. Ang said. — Keren Concepcion G. Valmonte
ADELAIDE coach CJ Bruton expects a solid production from Kai Sotto when the 36ers return to action in the Australia National Basketball League (NBL) next week after consecutive postponements due to coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) protocols.
Mr. Bruton said that while the long hiatus affected their other players and hampered their preparation, it worked to their favor in a way with Mr. Sotto (knee soreness) and Sunday Dech (quadricep) now at full strength.
“I think it’s a double-edged sword. It does help with us getting a little bit closer to having Sunday on the floor and having everyone on deck,” said Mr. Bruton in the Adelaide official podcast, Sixers Fix.
“(Kai) has definitely come back. As he has all offseason, he has shown his ability to impact the game not only on the defensive end but also the offensive end,” he added.
Adelaide returns to action next Tuesday against Perth as per the updated NBL schedule after being in protocols due to a member testing positive for COVID-19 before New Year.
It will mark the second game of Mr. Sotto, who missed his team’s first four matches, following his debut against Cairns last Dec. 18 that also happened to be their last action so far.
“By being so big, he has the ability to be dominant around the rim in that role. I see it no differently coming into our next game as well,” added Mr. Bruton on the 7-foot-3 Filipino sensation.
Adelaide had five postponed matches against Perth (Dec. 28 and Jan. 7), South East Melbourne (Jan. 2), Illawarra (Jan. 9), and Tasmania (Jan. 16). — John Bryan Ulanday
ATHENS — A marble fragment of the Parthenon temple has been returned to Athens from a museum in Sicily, a move officials hope will advance efforts to have the British Museum send back ancient sculptures from Greece’s most renowned ancient landmark.
Athens’ Acropolis Museum presented on Monday the “Fagan fragment,” a 35-by-31-centimeter (12-by-14-inch) marble fragment showing the foot of the seated ancient Greek goddess Artemis brought home from the Antonio Salinas Archaeological Museum in Palermo.
“It is marvelous that Sicilian and Italian friends thought to bring it back where it was born,” Acropolis Museum Director Nikolaos Stampolidis said of the fragment, once part of the temple’s eastern frieze.
It is to be placed in the Parthenon Gallery — a glass-walled chamber with a view of the Parthenon that displays sculptures of the temple’s 160-meter-(520-foot)-long frieze in the same position as they were on the original monument, with plaster copies replacing pieces that are now mainly in the British Museum.
“We hope that this first step taken by Sicily can encourage a similar decision in other countries,” said Antonio Salinas Museum Director Caterina Greco.
Part of Sicily’s cultural heritage agreement, which provides for transfers and exchanges of artefacts between museums, the Parthenon fragment will be loaned to Athens for four years with a renewal option for another four, but talks are underway between governments for the piece to remain permanently.
In return, the Acropolis Museum will loan Palermo a 5th century BC headless statue of the goddess Athena and an 8th century BC amphora from the Geometric period for four years.
The “Fagan fragment” is a part of a larger sculpture in the Acropolis Museum that is mostly a plaster copy, whose original pieces are in the British Museum.
The fragment was once part of the collection of the 19th century British consul general to Sicily, Robert Fagan, a diplomat and archaeologist, before it was purchased by the Royal University of Palermo in 1820 from his widow after his death. It is not clear how Mr. Fagan first acquired it.
LONG DISPUTE OVER ‘ELGIN MARBLES’ The “Fagan fragment” is the first piece of the sculptures of the Parthenon – Greece’s most renowned 5th century BC monument — to return to Greece from a foreign museum.
Athens has campaigned to have the “Elgin Marbles,” as they are often known — 75 meters of Parthenon frieze, 15 metopes and 17 sculptures — returned from the British Museum since they were removed by British diplomat Lord Elgin in the early 19th century when he was ambassador to the Ottoman Empire then ruling Greece.
The British Museum bought the marbles in 1816 and British officials say they had been acquired legally by Elgin, a claim Greece denies. The British Museum says there are no current discussions with the Greek government on their return.
“They are essentially providing the road map on how the permanent return of the Parthenon marbles to Athens could be organized,” said Greek Culture Minister Lina Mendoni, referring to the loan by Italy.
Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis has offered to loan significant artefacts to Britain in return for the marbles, after decades of rejected appeals.
“(This) paves the way for the British Museum to enter into serious discussions with the Greek authorities in order to find a solution that would be mutually acceptable,” Mr. Mitsotakis said during the presentation.
When Mr. Mitsotakis visited Downing Street in November, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson told him that the issue was one for the British Museum and not for his government.
“I did raise the issue when I visited,” Mr. Mitsotakis said on Monday. “I felt encouraged by (Johnson’s) statement… that the British government would not oppose a possible agreement that could be reached between (Greece) and the British Museum.”
In March last year Mr. Johnson told a Greek newspaper that Britain was the legal owner of the marbles.
Recently European countries such as France, Spain, and Germany have stepped up to return looted artefacts in their museums back to their African countries of origin.
“When there is a will, there is a way. Sooner or later this will happen,” Mr. Mitsotakis said of the marbles returning from Britain. — Reuters
Available over the counter (OTC), the drug can be safely taken by adults, children, and pregnant women. It is also recommended as part of the home care treatment for mild to moderate coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19).
As with any medicine, OTC or otherwise, caveats exist.
“It is contraindicated for those with a paracetamol allergy,” said Dr. Beaver R. Tamesis, president of the Pharmaceutical and Healthcare Association of the Philippines (PHAP), in an e-mail. “It is also advised to consult a doctor or pharmacist if a patient has liver or kidney problems, or is taking warfarin or coumarin [blood thinners] or medicines for epilepsy or tuberculosis.”
Serious harm can occur if more than the maximum amount (1,000 grams per dose, or 4,000 mg per day, for adults) is ingested, and if the minimum time interval of four hours between doses is not observed. For pediatric patients, the use of paracetamol depends on factors such as age and weight.
Overdosing on paracetamol can result in nausea, vomiting, yellowing of the skin, or loss of consciousness.
“Paracetamol overdose causes liver toxicities that may lead to liver failure and acute pancreatitis,” added Dr. Tamesis.
This possible harm is also the reason why it is not advisable to take drugs that both count paracetamol as a key component at the same time (e.g., Bioflu and Neozep, or Tempra and Alaxan).
“We ask patients to be vigilant and look at the generic names of the products they are taking to know if they are taking the same medicine ingredient,” Dr. Tamesis told BusinessWorld, noting the helpfulness of reading the leaflet found on each medicine box.
Paracetamol first appeared commercially in 1950 in the US. Its painkilling properties were discovered by accident when a similar molecule was added to a patient’s prescription about a century ago, The Imperial College of London said. Since the molecule was deemed toxic in moderate doses, chemists modified its structure and found a compound, N-acetyl-para-aminophenol, that was less harmful but still had pain reliever properties.
MIZUHO Financial Group, Inc. was hit by another system glitch, even as it prepared to appoint an insider as its next chief executive officer (CEO)to steer Japan’s third-largest banking group back from a series of technical problems.
Core lending unit Mizuho Bank Ltd. said on Tuesday that it was having problems with its corporate internet banking system. While the glitch was later resolved, it came after a series of system disruptions in the past year which have prompted rebukes from regulators and forced current CEO Tatsufumi Sakai to announce in November that he would step down.
The bank is set to name career executive Masahiro Kihara as his successor at a board meeting on Jan. 17, and he is due to take office on April 1, according to people with knowledge of the plans. They asked not to be identified as the matter wasn’t public.
Yasuhiro Sasaki, a spokesman for Mizuho, said no decision had yet been made. The plans were first reported by the Nikkei newspaper.
The next CEO’s “immediate challenge is to take all the needed steps to start recovering the confidence of regulators and the public, that Mizuho won’t have more systems troubles in the future, after so many failures in the past,” said Michael Makdad, an analyst at Morningstar, Inc. in Tokyo.
Highlighting the challenges for Kihara, Tuesday’s disruption triggered a new reprimand from the government.
“It’s extremely regrettable to have systems trouble,” Finance Minister Shunichi Suzuki told reporters. “Banks are key social infrastructure.” The bank said the outage has been resolved.
Mr. Kihara, 56, is a senior executive officer and head of the global products unit, which handles investment banking businesses such as syndicated loans, bond issues and mergers advice. A career insider, he joined what is today’s Mizuho in 1989 and has also had stints in areas including risk management and finance.
He is the older brother of Seiji Kihara, Japan’s Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary and a close aide of Prime Minister Fumio Kishida.
Toyoki Sameshima, an analyst at SBI Securities Co., focused on Mr. Kihara’s relative youth.
“He could reinvigorate the organization,” Sameshima said, adding that he hadn’t verified the reports himself. He also said that there had been some speculation that the bank may hire an outsider.
In the business order, Japan’s Financial Services Agency criticized Mizuho’s corporate culture and weak governance, saying it has failed to learn from the past incidents.
The latest series of glitches started in February, when ATMs swallowed more than 5,000 cash cards and passbooks. A month later, a hardware failure caused a delay in 300 foreign-currency money transfers. By the time Mr. Sakai announced his planned departure, there had been eight such incidents since the beginning of 2021.
The smallest of Japan’s three megabanks, Mizuho has also been struggling to catch up with bigger rivals that have made bold bets to expand beyond traditional lending into investment banking and wealth management.
Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group, Inc. last year spent more than $3.3 billion on deals in its Asia push. Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group, Inc. agreed to sell MUFG Union Bank in the US and will use freed-up capital for growth areas such as digital and asset management businesses.
Mizuho has also been diversifying. In its latest move, the bank agreed to buy US-based Capstone Partners to expand in the business of helping private equity firms raise funds. The deal is slated to be completed in the first half of the year, the bank said in a statement on Monday. — Bloomberg
Multi-titled volleyball coach Roger Gorayeb has parted ways with PLDT Home Fibr after eight years with the team.
“Started coaching PLDT in 2013 in the MVP Olympics and it was a memorable ride since then,” said Gorayeb.
Under Mr. Gorayeb, the Fibr Power Hitters snared the 2015 Open and Reinforced Conference titles in the Shakey’s V-League, the precursor of the Premier Volleyball League (PVL).
Far Eastern University coach George Pascua has reportedly taken over Mr. Gorayeb’s spot and will handle the new-look PLDT squad this season starting with the Open Conference tentatively set next month in Paco, Manila or Tagaytay.
“He’s been with the team since last year,” said Mr. Gorayeb referring to Mr. Pascua.
Meanwhile, recruitment galore continued in the PVL as F2 Logistics tapped Shola Alvarez and Dzi Gervacio and Petro Gazz acquired Nicole Tiamzon.
Ms. Alvarez last played for PLDT while Ms. Gervacio and Ms. Tiamzon for Perlas.
Also, Jorelle Singh, Aiko Urdas and Alyssa Eroa are reportedly moving from PLDT to a new team that is planning to join the PVL. — Joey Villar
IN consideration of the safety of guests and staff due to the current COVID-19 surge, the Ayala Museum and Filipinas Heritage Library suspended its operations until Jan. 16. “For those who have booked tickets on those dates, our staff will be reaching out to you to present alternative options,” a post on its Facebook page stated. In the meantime, the museum and library can be visited online via www.ayalamuseum.org and filipinaslibrary.org.ph. For inquiries, send an e-mail to tours@ayalamuseum.org or asklibrarian@filipinaslibrary.org.ph. For updates, visit https://www.facebook.com/ayalamuseum/.
Ortigas Foundation Library temporarily closed
THE ORTIGAS Foundation Library has suspended operations until Jan. 14, to ensure the safety of visiting researchers and staff in the midst of the current coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) surge. For news and updates, visit https://www.facebook.com/Ortigas.Foundation.
Ateneo Blue Rep’s play streaming online
ATENEO Blue Repertory’s new 30th Season production We Aren’t Kids Anymore (WAKA) will be streamed online on Jan. 15, 22, 29, and on Feb. 12 and 19. Directed by Nelsito Gomez, WAKA follows a group of young artists whose dreams are challenged by the sad realities of adulthood. Order tickets at bit.ly/GetWAKATickets. For inquiries, contact Kristin Baingan at 0917-598-1683.
New episode ofMuni-Muni Stories up
THE SECOND episode of the second season of the Muni-Muni Stories podcast is now available on Spotify. Episode 2 features director Treb Montreras and singer/actress Chai Fonacier talking about the 2017 film Respeto. The film looks at the connections between two wordsmiths of different generations: an activist poet haunted by the Martial Law era, Doc (played by Dido Dela Paz), who owns a second-hand bookshop; and a young rapper Hendrix (Abra), who comes from an abusive family and dreams of winning rap battles in his own turf. The film draws parallels between two political administrations with the characters’ memories of violence. Playing Betchai, Chai Fonacier sings a Visayan song in one of Respeto’s most chilling scenes. Fonacier and Montreras break down the creative challenge of sound-tracking the scenes of violence in homes and communities. They also reflect on art and literature as ways of surviving. Muni-Muni Stories, a podcast co-produced by Filipinas Heritage Library and Podcast Network Asia, launched its second season on Jan. 3. In this new season, many heavyweights in the film and music industries talk about official soundtracks (OSTs) in Pinoy movies. Now streaming is Episode 1 of Season 2 featuring director Joey Reyes, and singers Gary Valenciano and Jungee Marcelo discussing the music of the 1995 film Hataw Na! Coming soon is Episode 3 in which Mikey Amistoso and Jazz Nicolas discuss the music of the 2012 film Ang Nawawala. Also in the line-up are Glaiza De Castro, Antoinette Jadaone, UDD’s Armi Millare, JP Habac, and more guests. Muni-Muni Stories Season 2 is available on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts and other podcast streaming platforms. Filipinas Heritage Library and Podcast Network Asia can also be followed on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram for more updates.
Ikarus Theater holds online workshops
THE IKARUS Theater Collaborative is hosting virtual performing arts workshops titled SOAR. Facilitators will use an interactive teaching approach in their classes. The workshops are open to participants ages 15 and above. The courses offered are musical arrangement (Jan. 15 and 22, 1 p.m.); voice classes with Arielle Magno (Feb. 12, 19, and 26, 3 p.m.); an Introduction to Narrative Photography and Filmmaking by Kit Singson (March 12, 19, 16, and April 2, 1 p.m.); and Sumayaw Nang Malaya Kasama ni Ahlex Leyva (April 9, 16, and 23, 1 p.m.). For information, visit www.ikarustheater.com/shop.
Pacquing show opening moved
THE OPENING of Silverlens’ first gallery show for 2022, “Disquietude,” featuring works by Bernardo Pacquing, has been moved to Jan. 14. It will run until Feb. 12. The exhibit features a series of works shaped by the precarity and separation lived through by the artist while in lockdown in a foreign country. Referred to as the red paintings, the huge monochromatic diptychs signal a new phase in Pacquing’s oeuvre as it breaks away from the textures and colors that defined his practice in the past. Most notably, red is used as the dominant color for the first time. The gallery is located at 2263 Don Chino Roces Ave. Ext., Makati City. For more information call 8816-0044 or 917-587-4011, or e-mail info@silverlensgalleries.com.
Specific brands of medicines used to manage flu symptoms were reported to be out of stock in the past few days. Long queues were seen outside drugstores as people tried to secure medicines for fever, colds, and cough.
The hike in demand could be attributed to the heightened vigilance against the highly transmissible Omicron variant. Moreso, it could be due to the spike in coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) cases in Metro Manila and nearby provinces.
The Pharmaceutical and Healthcare Association of the Philippines (PHAP) assures the public that there is sufficient inventory. Anticipating a surge, PHAP member companies early this month, airlifted paracetamol and flu medicines to augment current stocks in the country.
On Jan. 10, the country recorded more than 33,000 fresh cases from a flat COVID-19 case trend in early December. On the same day, the OCTA Research group said the positivity rate in Metro Manila exceeded 50% (the World Health Organization recommends a positivity rate of 5% before reopening). OCTA predicted correctly that the country would record more than 20,000 new infections daily by Jan. 7.
The temporary shortage of certain brands of paracetamol is enough to cause difficulties for patients and their families. This emphasizes the need to work on the pharmaceutical supply security in the country, including those for COVID-related medicines.
Since the pandemic began, PHAP members have been working to make both COVID and non-COVID medicines available to Filipinos during these challenging times. PHAP is closely coordinating with the government on pharmaceutical security, and provided recommendations to ensure the uninterrupted supply of medicines in the country.
The Food and Drug Administration has been working hard in reviewing and granting Emergency Use Approval (EUA) for medicines for use in mild, severe, and critical COVID-19 cases. Their work has been crucial in providing treatment options to medical practitioners, and choices for patients whether they are at government or private facilities.
Urgent discussions must also be initiated especially for medicines that have been granted EUAs by international health agencies. Candidate medicines that have promising outcomes must also be closely monitored.
Moreover, proactive supply planning for procurement, negotiation and stockpiling depending on the country’s need must be given attention. Firm forecasts with guaranteed contracts to secure allocation will be important if we are to have these new medicines available amid global demand.
Teodoro B. Padilla is the executive director of Pharmaceutical and Healthcare Association of the Philippines (PHAP), which represents the biopharmaceutical medicines and vaccines industry in the country. Its members are at the forefront of research and development efforts for COVID-19 and other diseases that affect Filipinos.
