More people avoid 'depressing' news – report

By Agence France-Presse

THE depressing state of the world is leading people to switch off from the news, the Reuters Institute reported on Wednesday.

The combined impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, Russia-Ukraine war and cost-of-living crisis have led to declining interest in the news, a survey by the British research group found.

Across 46 countries surveyed and 93,000 participants, it found the share who said they actively avoided the news had increased from 29 to 38 percent since 2017.

The numbers doubled in some countries, including Brazil (54 percent) and Britain (46 percent).

Young people in particular found the news to be a downer, but the chief reason for avoiding the news was its repetitiveness, especially around Covid and politics.

"I actively avoid things that trigger my anxiety and things that can have a negative impact on my day," a 27-year-old British respondent told the researchers.

"I will try to avoid reading news about things like deaths and disasters."

Others said the news led to arguments they would rather avoid, or a feeling of powerlessness, while many young people said they found it hard to understand.

Lead author Nic Newman said the findings were "particularly challenging for the news industry."

"Subjects that journalists consider most important, such as political crises, international conflicts and global pandemics, seem to be precisely the ones that are turning some people away," he was quoted as saying.

Most of the study was completed before the invasion of Ukraine in February, but subsequent surveys in five countries found these issues had only deepened in its aftermath.

Trust in the media fell in half the countries surveyed, and rose in just seven, the report said, reversing gains made during the pandemic.

Overall, trust was at 42 percent, down from 44 percent when the media had a small positive bump from the pandemic.

The United States showed the lowest level of trust at 26 percent, tied with Slovakia.

Finland has the highest levels of overall trust — 69 percent — up four points on last year and 13 points in 2020. In Asia, trust has risen in the Philippines (+5) and Japan (+2). A survey conducted by Publicus Asia in April showed that The Manila Times was the sixth most trusted news outlet in the Philippines with a 34.8 percent trust rating.

CNN and GMA-7 were the most trusted, with 49.3 percent and 46.9 percent, respectively. They were followed by the Philippine Daily Inquirer, Philippine Star and Manila Bulletin.

𝐀𝐝𝐨𝐩𝐭-𝐚-𝐂𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐝 𝐏𝐫𝐨𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐦 𝐠𝐨𝐞𝐬 𝐚𝐧 𝐞𝐱𝐭𝐫𝐚 𝐦𝐢𝐥𝐞

 

Shehara, a little girl who was left under the care of her grandparents, is among the beneficiary of the PLGU-employee-funded Adopt-a-Child Program in Davao de Oro.

Having been in the hands of both senior citizens since childbirth is a gift for Shehara. Her mother died from an illness when she was just two (2) months of age, and her biological father was left to attend to an older sibling. 

Mainly relying on farming, Shehara’s father and grandparents support both Shehara, and her older brother, King. On June 7, 2022, Shehara just celebrated her first birthday and was made even extra special through the Adopt-a-Child Program.

It’s a day that Shehara would never forget. Through the convergence of sponsors from the Provincial Planning and Development Office (PPDO), Provincial Governor’s Office, Mayor Antonio Libuangan of Laak, and Sanina de Ukay Store, Shehara’s first nativity celebration went beyond the bare minimum.

Since its re-launching on  April 27, 2022, the Adopt-a-child program significantly made changes to the health status of thirty-three (33) children-beneficiaries in the municipality of Laak including the one (1) year-old Shehara. The program was funded mainly out of the pockets of the employees of the PLGU and was first launched way back in 2008.

Adopt-a-Child Program is one of the end-hunger program chains of PLGU-Davao de Oro that provides weekly supplies of goods and other services to children affected by malnutrition in a span of one-hundred twenty (120) days.

Moreover, extra services were offered by the employees aside from the weekly provision of supplies. Some offices provide kitchenwares, beddings, clothing, and even constructed comfort rooms and renovation of some house parts for their beneficiaries.

As the commencement of this year’s Adopt-a-child operations near an end, parents of children-beneficiaries are beyond grateful for the program, from wasted, severely wasted, and severely underweight, children-beneficiaries are now of normal body-mass index. (𝐽𝑎𝑠𝑡𝑒𝑒𝑛 𝐴𝑏𝑒𝑙𝑙𝑎, 𝑃𝐴𝑂-𝐼𝑃𝑅𝐷, 𝑝ℎ𝑜𝑡𝑜𝑠 𝑏𝑦 𝑃𝑃𝐷𝑂-𝐷𝑎𝑣𝑎𝑜 𝑑𝑒 𝑂𝑟𝑜)

OFW remittances fall to 11-month low

By Mayvelin U. Caraballo, Manila Times

THE amount of money sent home by overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) fell to its lowest level in 11 months in April, according to data released on Wednesday by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP).

Personal remittances, or cash or kind transfers between families, totaled $2.67 billion in the fourth month of 2022, down 7.51 percent from $2.88 billion in March of this year, but up 3.76 percent from $2.57 billion in April 2021. It's the smallest amount sent since $2.65 billion was sent in May last year.

The year-on-year gain in April was attributed to a 4.7-percent increase in remittances from land-based workers on one year or longer contracts, which inched up to $2.02 billion from $2.93 billion a year ago, the central bank noted. Meanwhile, remittances from sea- and land-based workers on short-term contracts saw an uptick of 1.4 percent to $581 million in April 2022, up from $609 million a year earlier.

Total remittances for the first four months of the year totaled $11.31 billion, picking up 2.6 percent from $11.02 billion in January to April 2021, according to the latest numbers. In the meantime, cash remittances were $2.39 billion in April, plunging 7.67 percent from the previous month, but accelerating 3.90 percent from $2.30 billion a year ago.

The BSP said revenues from land-based and sea-based workers soared by 4.7 percent to $1.86 billion from $1.77 billion and 1.4 percent to $533 million from $526 million, respectively, fueling the annual increase in cash remittances in April.

Cash remittances surged by 2.7 percent from January to April 2022 to $10.16 billion, rising from $9.89 billion a year earlier. "The growth in cash remittances from the United States, Saudi Arabia, Japan, Taiwan and Singapore contributed largely to the increase in remittances in January-April of 2022," the Bangko Sentral reported.

In the four months ending April this year, the United States had the greatest share of overall remittances, accounting for 41.2 percent. Next were Singapore, Saudi Arabia, Japan, the United Kingdom, the United Arab Emirates, Canada, Qatar, South Korea and Taiwan. Remittances from these 10 countries accounted for 79.2 percent of all cash remittances for the four-month period.

The BSP forecasts a 4-percent increase in cash remittances this year, citing "projected improvements in global growth prospects and further opening of economies along with the continued mass use of vaccines to prevent the spread of Covid-19 are also expected to continue to lend support to the growth prospects for OFW remittances."

Europe 'epicenter' of monkeypox outbreak – WHO

By Agence France-Presse

COPENHAGEN: The World Health Organization (WHO) said Wednesday Europe remained the epicenter of the global monkeypox outbreak, which posed a "real risk" with more than 1,500 cases reported in the region.

The UN health body already announced on Tuesday that it would hold an emergency meeting next week to determine whether to classify the outbreak as a public health emergency of international concern.

"Europe remains the epicenter of this escalating outbreak with 25 countries reporting more than 1,500 cases, or 85 percent of the global total," Hans Kluge, WHO regional director for Europe, told a press conference Wednesday.

WHO's European region comprises 53 countries, including several in Central Asia.

Until the past few months, monkeypox had generally been confined to Western and Central Africa.

Kluge said that the majority of cases reported in Europe "have been among men who have sex with men", but also warned against stigmatisation.

He stressed "that the monkeypox virus is not in itself attached to any specific group."

The regional director also warned that the risk was increasing as summer had arrived with "tourism, various Pride events, music festivals and other mass gatherings planned across the region."

"These events are powerful opportunities to engage with young, sexually active and highly mobile people," Kluge said, but stressed that "monkeypox is not a reason to cancel events, but an opportunity to leverage them to drive our engagement."

Speaking next to Kluge, Steve Taylor, director of European Pride Organisers Association, said that some 750 Pride events were planned across the European region and welcomed the WHO's recommendation not to cancel these events.

"Sadly, but entirely predictably, some of those who oppose Pride and who oppose equality and human rights have already been attempting to use monkeypox as a justification for calls for Pride to be banned," Taylor told reporters.

The EU announced Tuesday that it had purchased almost 110,000 vaccine doses to help tackle the outbreak, though the WHO does not recommend mass vaccination against monkeypox.

PSEi drops 2.40% on impending Fed rate hike

By Ed Paolo Salting, Manila Times

THE Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE) plummeted on Wednesday by 155.11 points, or by 2.40 percent, to 6,319.42 as the local market was affected by the negative sentiment from last night's performance of the US bourses.

Regina Capital Development Corp. Managing Director Luis Limlingan, Rizal Commercial Banking Corp. chief economist Michael Ricafort and Philstocks Financial Inc. senior research analyst Japhet Tantiangco all agreed that investors are worried over an aggressive rate hike by the US Federal Reserve Bank.

The further depreciation of the Philippine peso against the United States dollar and higher US Treasury yields added to the market's bearish sentiment.

"The rate-setting Federal Open Market Committee will conclude its two-day meeting on Wednesday. The market is betting on a 75-basis-point rate hike, according to the CME Group Inc.'s FedWatch tool. Today's moves also came as investors digested another important inflation reading of May's producer performance index, which showed that wholesale prices rose 10.8 percent, and hovered near a record pace," Limlingan explained in his analysis.

Meanwhile, Vista Land's real estate investment trust (VREIT) debuted on the PSE and Limlingan and Ricafort noted that it would have finished much higher if it were not for the current market sentiment.

They said that the company aims to maintain high occupancy rates and quality tenants with particular focus on those offering essential goods and/or services. Also, its weighted average lease expiry of 5.09 years is quite impressive while the relatively high occupancy rate for malls was at 90 percent as of end-2021 despite the pandemic.

VREIT closed unchanged at its initial public offering price of P1.75 per share, and saw an intraday low of P1.59.

Other Asian bourses ended up mixed as Japan descended again by 1.14 percent, China climbed 0.50 percent, Hong Kong up 1.14 percent, Korea down by 1.83 percent, Vietnam dipped at 1.33 percent, Indonesia inched downwards by 0.61 percent, Thailand slid by 0.59 percent and Singapore slipped by -0.10 percent.

Trading remained anemic with net value turnover posting P5.84 billion, below the year-to-date average of P6.80 billion.

The model prayer

By Fr. Roy Cimagala*

“IN praying, do not babble like the pagans, who think that they will be heard because of their many words.” (Mt 6,7) With these words, Christ is telling us to be wary of the dangers of the way we pray. And he immediately tells us how to pray. Thus, we now have what is known as the Lord’s Prayer, or the “Our Father.”

We need to realize that this is the model prayer that shows us what dispositions we ought to have when we pray, how we ought to address God our Father, what we have to ask, etc. Thus, we have to assume the spirit with which the prayer is given to us by Christ.

In the Compendium of the Catechism of the Catholic Church, we are told that “the Lord’s Prayer reveals us to ourselves at the same time that it reveals the Father to us.” (2783) 

In other words, we are told who we really are and who God is to us. Thus, no matter how our life here on earth goes, we should never forget that we are children of God who will do everything to bring us back to him. Psalm 129 reinforces this truth of our faith: “With the Lord, there is mercy and fullness of redemption.”

We just have to make sure also that, as expressed in this prayer, we also have to be merciful to everyone just as God is merciful to us. “Forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us.”

We have to understand that forgiveness or mercy is the ultimate expression of love which is the very essence of God and which is also meant to be the essence of our humanity since we are God’s image and likeness, children of his.

And as if to underscore the importance of this point, Christ reiterated: “For if you will forgive men their offences, your heavenly Father will forgive you also your offences. But if you will not forgive men, neither will your Father forgive you for your offences.” (Mt 6,14-15) It’s clear therefore that we can only be forgiven if we also forgive others.

We have to be clear that this injunction is meant for everyone, and not only for a few whom we may consider to be religiously inclined. That’s why when asked how many times we should forgive, he said not only seven times, but seventy times seven, meaning always.

That’s also why he easily forgave the woman caught in adultery. And to those whom he cured of their illnesses, it was actually the forgiveness of their sins that he was more interested in.

To top it all, Christ allowed himself to die on the cross as a way to forgive all of our sins, and to convert our sins through his resurrection as a way to our own redemption. What he did for us he also expects, nay, commands that we also do for everybody else. 

Thus that indication that if we want to follow him, we have to deny ourselves, carry the cross and follow him.

It is presumed that all of us sin one way or another. That’s why St. John said: “If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.” (1 Jn 1,8) I am sure that our personal experience can bear that out easily.

We really need to live the spirit behind this model prayer!

* Chaplain Center for Industrial Technology and Enterprise (CITE), Talamban, Cebu City

Email: roycimagala@gmail.com