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Thursday, November 17, 2022
Climate change causing ‘economic devastation’ to PH, says ranking solon
Published November 17, 2022, 9:42 AM
A House leader has highlighted the annual economic losses that the Philippines suffer from natural calamities, even as she called on government and stakeholders to immediately address the issue of climate change.
San Jose Del Monte City lone district Rep. Florida “Rida” Robes said in a privilege speech earlier this week that the country loses around $3.5 billion yearly from natural calamities based on World Bank (WB) estimates.
“We can definitely feel the economic devastation of climate change. To illustrate, recently, [super typhoon] Karding alone destroyed at least P160 million worth of high-value crops,” Robes said.
She said no less than 5,239 Bulakenos–1,571 families, including 1447 children and 231 senior citizens–were displaced and forced to evacuate due to the floods, which also cost the lives of five emergency volunteers.
“In the aftermath of super typhoon Karding, this representation would like to spark an honest dialogue to three inconvenient—yet vital—truths that affect our nation and humanity as a whole…The pressing and urgent need to strengthen our policies on environmental protection and adapting to climate change,” noted Robes, who chairs the House Committee on Good Government and Public Accountability.
She said it is lamentable and alarming to know that the Philippines, in terms of global metrics, ranked second in the 2018 Climate Risk Index among countries heavily affected by extreme weather events.
She said the Philippines is also 11th out of 180 nations in the 2020 Environmental Performance Index (EPI).
Robes reckoned that climate change is no longer imminent. “We are already in a state of climate emergency,” she said.
“Our President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. addressed the UN (United Nations) General Assembly who declared that the country is the fourth most vulnerable country to climate change…This injustice must be corrected, and those who need to do more must act now,” she said.
Robes described the floods caused by Karding in her home province of Bulacan as “unparalleled and alarming”. She said significant areas in San Miguel, San Ildefonso, and San Rafael—areas not typically prone to flooding—were engulfed in deep floodwaters due to heavy rains.
The ranking solon also gave honor to the five emergency responders who died while saving residents who were stranded in a flood.
Robes said the “Bulacan Five”–George Agustin, Troy Justin Agustin, Marby Bartolome, Narciso Calayag Jr. and Jerson Resurreccion died “in the line of duty and service to our country.” She said they were ordinary men who displayed extraordinary acts of service.
Robes has already filed two measures empowering emergency volunteers with House Bill (HB) No.5584, or the Emergency Volunteer Protection Act of 2022; and HB No.5650 or Magna Carta for Public Disaster Risk and Emergency Responders.
Tourism post-pandemic
Published November 17, 2022, 12:02 AM
‘TOL VIEWS
Because of the restrictions imposed by the pandemic, global tourism suffered significant losses. International tourist arrivals in January to May 2020 decreased by as much as 56 percent compared to the pre-pandemic records of 2019. This reduction, according to an August 2020 report of United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO), translates to $910 billion to $1.2 trillion lost in exports from tourism. Similarly, 100 to 120 million direct tourism jobs are at risk of dissolution and 1.5 percent to 2.8 percent of global gross domestic product (GDP) lost due to the widespread lockdowns and travel restrictions.
From the same UNWTO report, the Asia-Pacific Region suffered the greatest reduction in tourist arrivals at 60 percent, hence the need for a renewed and revitalized regional strategy for tourism recovery and sustainability. This pandemic has revealed the vulnerability of world economies – even those from more developed regions. Covid-19 exposed the inadequacy of our contingent planning and response capacity as no one could have perhaps foretold the depth and breadth of its impact.
However devastated global tourism may be, hope for recovery remains high, especially in the light of the expected shift of Covid-19 from pandemic to endemic. With lesser restrictions on domestic and international travel, with accelerated vaccination rates in nearly all countries of the world, with heightened regional cooperation and partnerships to jumpstart tourism and economic engines, we can all hope to transform this health crisis into an opportunity for systems innovation and redesign in order to adapt to the demands of a post-pandemic tourism economy.
For the Philippines, it was projected that tourist arrivals 12 months after the pandemic will be at +9.7 percent, slightly above the average tourist arrivals data of the pre-pandemic years. Some of the figures for most Asian countries will remain on the negative axis when it comes to tourist arrivals and tourism revenue, but the brighter side of this trend is that 6 to 12 months after the end of the pandemic, the road to tourism recovery is clear. As with any other recovery phase in the aftermath of any crisis, the restoration of normalcy in the life of the people in the community will require re-assessment and re-designing of policies, plans, and programs in order to speed up rehabilitation.
Jumpstarting regional economy by strengthening regional tourism require policy response, not only to address the demands of a re-awakened tourism industry, but as well as to meet current and emerging needs. Enabling legislation shall be a crucial element in establishing a more adaptive tourism economy – one that will be vibrant, diverse, and inclusive. Sustainable tourism will entail expanded collaboration not only among national governments, but as well as building partnerships with private and non-government sectors.
The future of the country’s tourism shall be largely shaped by the policy response of today. An integrated regional tourism policy for the Asia Pacific Region will be essential as the policies and actions of one country may have implications on the policies and actions of another.
MOVIEGOER: Landmark deal between ABS-CBN, GMA-7
by Nestor Cuartero
A landmark deal, a first in Philippine TV, is the recent agreement between ABS-CBN and GMA-7 in the production of a new tele-series to combine artists and creative talents from their respective camps.
“Unbreak My Heart” reunites the beloved loveteam between Jodi Santa Maria and Richard Yap, the couple who scored a major daytime, long-running hit out of an ABS-CBN series, Be Careful with My Heart. Joining them are Joshua Garcia and Gabbi Garcia, and other cast members coming from both sides of what used to be a network war.
Dreamscape, represented by its head, Deo Endrinal, is producing the series.
This recent tie-up between GMA-7 and ABS-CBN speaks well of growing cooperation in our television industry. It can result in improved quality in programming and fresh casting requirements that can eventually raise the bar for excellence, excitement and entertainment among viewers and advertisers alike.
Some might say said collaboration between the two giant networks couldn’t have occurred had not the pandemic happened, or had not ABS-CBN lost its franchise to operate. Be that as it may, what’s important is the end-result such collaboration can bring to the table of our consumers. “Unbreak” isn’t the first collab between the two major networks. Earlier, ABS-CBN assigned airing of Star Cinema movies to GMA. Network also airs some of its programs on TV5 and on its various digital platforms.
Five months after its theatrical run with not much success, Ngayon Kaya, is now being hailed, with sweet vindication, as the No. 1 Filipino movie on Netflix.
On a Facebook post, producing company T-Rex Entertainment thanked the public “for catapulting the romantic film on top of the universe and in your heart.”
Paulo Avelino and Janine Gutierrez co-star in Ngayon Kaya, directed by Prime Cruz and written by Jen Chuaunsu (the creative pair behind Isa Pa With Feelings and Can We Still Be Friends).
It tells the story of college buddies AM and Harold, an unlikely pair between a shy probinsiyano and a rich city girl who are college buddies-turned-band mates.
Harold had a crush on AM, but he never had the guts to tell her. Even after college, they stayed friends and continued pursuing their music dreams. Harold stifled his feelings for fear of losing her friendship. Eventually, time runs out for Harold when he’s forced to choose stability and work in Canada, leaving AM to wonder what could have been if Harold had stayed.
Ngayon Kaya features songs by Mayonnaise, Typecast, Ang Bandang Shirley.
The pressing and the precious
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By Fr. Roy Cimagala *
IN life, we have to learn how to give due attention and care to both the pressing things and the precious ones. In the end, we have to learn how to give due attention and care to all the different aspects and dimensions of our life: the material and the spiritual, the temporal and the eternal, the short-run and the long-run, the emotional and the intellectual, the personal and the social, etc.
We are somehow reminded of this point in that gospel episode when Christ got angry at those who converted the temple into a marketplace and drove them away, but at the same time he did not neglect the task of continually preaching there. (cfr. Lk 19,45-48) It was a pressing matter for him to see to it that the dignity of the temple was kept while still pursuing the precious duty to preach.
This ability to know how to put these different aspects together will certainly require a discipline which would be composed of the results of our experiences, regular study of things and issues, examinations of conscience, a series of trial and error, etc. We should be willing to go through this discipline that will certainly involve effort, wins and losses, success and frustration.
But as long as we are humble enough to be realistic about our life, I believe we would not mind so much the heavy drama that will be involved. Such experiences will only enrich our lives!
We have to learn how to handle our emotions properly, because once they become too strong, they can displace our intelligence, and even our faith, that give us an overall picture of things. It’s not a matter of suppressing them, since that would be inhuman. It’s a matter of guiding them always, not allowing them to be simply on their own, since they lack the proper way of knowing things. Theirs is quite simple and shallow.
Our Catechism tells us that our emotions and passions are “movements of the sensitive appetite that incline us to act or not to act in regard to something felt or imagined to be good or evil.” (1763)
In fact, the Catechism tells us that our emotions and passions are “natural components of the human psyche; they form the passageway and ensure the connection between the life of the senses and the life of mind.” (1764)
Thus, once properly formed and guided, they can be very powerful in helping us carry out our more precious duties of preaching, evangelizing, doing apostolate, etc. They offer an effective linkage to other people as we go through our duties and responsibilities, especially the spiritual ones.
Our emotions and passions therefore serve as a link between our body and soul. They are where we materialize what is spiritual in us, and spiritualize what is material in us. As such, they create a rich texture in our lives. They create the consistency proper to us as a person and as a child of God. They also help to give focus on our judgments, modulate our will, and add sensitivity to our reasoning.
In other words, they play a decisive role in achieving a happy and fully human life. They contribute to achieving the full potential of our humanity. But given the wounded condition of man, our emotions and passions need to be purified and thoroughly educated. They offer the link between the pressing and the precious in our life.
* Chaplain Center for Industrial Technology and Enterprise (CITE), Talamban, Cebu City
Email: roycimagala@gmail.com
Wednesday, November 16, 2022
OVP to open more satellite offices next year—Duterte
Published November 16, 2022, 1:49 PM
Vice President Sara Duterte announced on Wednesday, Nov. 16, the planned opening of three more satellite offices of the Office of the Vice President (OVP) next year to make its services and programs more accessible to the people.
The OVP has seven existing satellite offices in Bacolod, Surigao del Sur, Cebu, Davao, Tacloban, Dagupan, and Zamboanga.
Its central office is housed at the Robinsons Cybergate Plaza in Mandaluyong City.
Duterte said they could open one to three satellite offices depending on how these could be funded from the OVP’s budget.
“I-assess lang namin kung gaano ‘yung budget namin, paano niya ma-accommodate ‘yung (We only have to assess how much is our budget, how can it accommodate) one to three satellite offices,” she said in a media interview.
On Tuesday, Nov. 15, the Vice President met with the OVP satellite managers to discuss the concerns of their respective offices.
“There was a discussion na dapat maglagay ng (that we should open a) satellite office sa (in the) eastern side ng (of) Luzon,” she noted.
“Meron pang mga areas sa (There are areas in) Luzon, Visayas, Mindanao na walang kami (that we don’t yet have) presence,” the official added.
Duterte cited those in need from Isabela who had to hire a jeepney to go to the OVP’s Dagupan office.
The OVP will open satellite offices based on the demand in a particular area of coverage.
“Ang nangyayari ang tao ang pumupunta dun sa (What happens is that the people go to our) satellite offices namin so iyon ang tinitingnan namin kung saan magiging parang i-divide (that’s what we’re looking at, maybe divide) geographically iyong (the) areas ng (of) coverage ng (of) satellite offices making it more easier para mga kababayan natin (for our fellowmen),” she said.
Palace moves Araw ng Kagitingan, Bonifacio Day to new dates; Jan. 2 is special holiday
Published November 16, 2022, 1:32 PM
The dates of some regular holidays for 2023 have been changed, Malacañang announced on Wednesday, Nov. 16.
Through Proclamation No. 90 the following regular holidays were moved to another date:
- Araw ng Kagitingan – April 9 (Sunday) to April 10 (Monday)
- Bonifacio Day – November 30 (Thursday) to November 27 (Monday)
January 2 was also added as an special non-working day.
Other regular holidays and special non-working days previously declared through Proclamation No. 42, which was issued in August 2022, will remain unchanged.
According to the Palace, the changes were made to encourage domestic travel and increase tourism expenditures.
“There is a need to adjust these holidays pursuant to the principle of holiday economics wherein a longer weekend will help encourage domestic travel and increase tourism expenditures in the country,” the proclamation stated.It also explained that adding January 2 to the list of special non-working days is “in consideration of the Filipino tradition of visiting relatives and spending time with their families for this occasion.”
Remittances sustain growth as expats help ease inflation's sting
Ramon Royandoyan - Philstar.com
MANILA, Philippines — Money sent home by Filipinos overseas inched up in September as they rushed to support their families weathering the impact of expensive consumer prices.
Remittances coursed through banks inched up 3.8% year-on-year to $2.84 billion in September, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas reported Tuesday. This, however, was slower than 4.3% recorded in August.
Year-to-date, cash remittances amounted to $23.83 billion.
Remittances are considered the lifeblood of the consumption-dependent Philippine economy. Money sent home by overseas Filipinos augment their families’ income here.
These remittances are also crucial sources of dollars for the country. Remittances amounted to $31.42 billion last year, expanding 5.1% compared to the 2020 haul. The collections slightly missed the central bank’s forecast of 6% growth, but the BSP hopes remittances would rise this year.
That said, the surging dollar trend has left the peso sinking to new lows, which convinced many this will benefit families of overseas Filipinos. But that has not been the case as a strong dollar trend is only adding fuel to painfully high inflation that’s squeezing household budgets.
Domini Velasquez, chief economist at China Banking Corp, attributed the growth in September remittances to three economic events.
“The increase in pace in the growth in cash remittances were likely driven by 3 factors: better economic outlook in some of the host countries such as the US, ASEAN, and the Middle East; high domestic inflation may compel overseas Filipinos to help out more in terms of sending money from abroad; and OFs may want to take advantage of a weak peso,” she said in a Viber message.
BSP data broken down showed 41.7% of cash remittances in the first nine months came from the United States, while the rest came from Singapore, Saudi Arabia, Japan, the United Kingdom, the United Arab Emirates, Canada, Qatar, Taiwan, and South Korea.
Remittance from land-based workers grew 4.1% year-on-year to $2.25 billion in September. Sea-based workers sent $590 million, inching up 2.4% on a yearly basis.
Velasquez cited that opportunities in remittance-rich countries such as the US and other parts of Asia, and the Middle East will offset the decline recorded in money sent by Filipinos based in Europe.
“The move towards full face-to-face classes in November will also bring in more remittances towards end of 2022,” Velasquez said, as expats send more money to their families to pay for tuition fees.
“Lastly, we might see more holiday remittances as Filipinos will likely celebrate with looser restrictions this year compared to last (e.g. physical company/school Christmas parties),” she added.
PH is world’s top beach, dive destinations
by Jun Marcos Tadios
The Philippines bagged the highly-coveted World’s Leading Dive Destination and the Leading Beach Destination for 2022, the Department of Tourism (DOT) announced on Tuesday, Nov. 15.
DOT Secretary Christina Garcia Frasco said the two awards were given during the 29th World Travel Award (WTA) held in Muscat, Oman.
“These global victories for the Philippines evince the unparalleled beauty of our country and the distinct warmth of the Filipino people,” said Tourism Secretary Christina Garcia Frasco.
“We sincerely thank the World Travel Awards and everyone from all over the world whose vote of confidence is timely as the Philippines fully opens its arms to welcome tourists to our shores,” she added.
To date, the Philippine dive portfolio continues at its four-year winning streak in world recognition.
The Philippines bested the world’s finest diving destinations like the Great Barrier Reef in Australia and other distinguished islands like the Cayman Islands, Maldives, Fiji, Mexico, Azores Islands, French Polynesia, Galapagos Islands, St. Kitts, and Belize.
As the leading beach destination, the Philippines also topped other beaches globally, including previous awardees such as Maldives, The Algarve in Portugal, Jamaica, Galapagos Islands in Ecuador, and the Turks and Caicos Islands.
Meanwhile, three partner tourism of the DOT also bagged recognition at the WTA: the famous Amanpulo (World’s Leading Dive Resort 2022); City of Dreams Manila (World’s Leading Casino Resort 2022); and the Ascott Bonifacio Global City Manila, as the World’s Leading Serviced Apartments 2022.
The DOT was also nominated as the World’s Leading Tourist Board this year, as well as Siargao as the World’s Leading Island Destination and Intramuros as the World’s Leading Tourist Attraction.
The 29th World Travel Awards gathered the best travel and hospitality industries from its regional awardees across Asia, the Caribbean, Central America, Europe, the Indian Ocean, the Middle East, North America, Oceania, and South America.
Earlier this month, Palawan was also hailed as the Most Desirable Island in the world, and Cebu has nominated Most Desirable Region (Rest of the World) at the 21st Wanderlust Travel Awards in the United Kingdom (UK).
The Philippine Tourism Board, through the Philippine Department of Tourism-Central Visayas Office, also placed 6th among hundreds of entries in the Wanderlust Sustainability Initiative Category for its Dive7 Program.
Earlier this year, Conde Nast Travel (CNT) also named the Philippines among the 40 most beautiful countries worldwide, specifically citing the remarkable cave system of the Puerto Princesa Underground River, the mysteriously uniform Chocolate Hills of Bohol, and the panoramic views of the Banaue and Cordilleras Rice Terraces.
Time Magazine also named Boracay as one of the 50 World’s Greatest Places of 2022.
“These Awards are a source of inspiration for us in the Department of Tourism to work even harder as the Marcos administration ushers in the resurgence of the tourism industry as a major pillar of economic growth and source of livelihood for millions of Filipinos,” Frasco noted.
Tuesday, November 15, 2022
Flying home for the holidays will cost you more this year
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By Associated Press/Manila Times
PEOPLE still looking to book trips home to visit family or take a vacation during the holidays need to act fast and prepare for sticker shock.
Airline executives say that based on bookings, they expect huge demand for flights over Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year's. Travel experts say the best deals for airfares and hotels are already gone.
On social media, plenty of travelers think they are being gouged. It's an understandable sentiment when government data shows that airfares in October were up 43 percent from a year earlier, and US airlines reported a combined profit of more than $2.4 billion in the third quarter.
Part of the reason for high fares is that airlines are still operating fewer flights than in 2019 even though passenger numbers are nearly back to pre-pandemic levels.
"Fewer flights and more people looking to head home or take vacation for the holidays means two things: Prices will be higher, and we will see flights sell out for both holidays," says Holly Berg, chief economist for travel-data provider Hopper.
Yulia Parr knows exactly what Berg is talking about. The Annandale, Virginia, woman struggled to find a reasonably priced flight home for her young son, who is spending Thanksgiving with his grandmother in Texas while Parr visits her husband, who is on active military duty in California. She finally found a $250 one-way ticket on Southwest, but it's not until the Tuesday after the holiday.
Parr figures she waited too long to book a flight.
"My husband's kids are flying home for Christmas," she said. "Those tickets were bought long ago, so they're not too bad."
Prices for air travel and lodging usually rise heading into the holidays, and it happened earlier this year. That is leading some travelers in Europe to book shorter trips, according to Axel Hefer, CEO of Germany-based hotel-search company Trivago.
"Hotel prices are up absolutely everywhere," he said. "If you have the same budget or even a lower budget through inflation, and you still want to travel, you just cut out a day."
Hotels are struggling with labor shortages, another cause of higher prices. Glenn Fogel, CEO of Booking Holdings, which owns travel-search sites including Priceline and Kayak, says one hotelier told him he can't fill all his rooms because he doesn't have enough staff.
Rates for car rentals aren't as crazy as they were during much of 2021, when some popular locations ran out of vehicles. Still, the availability of vehicles is tight because the cost of new cars has prevented rental companies from fully rebuilding fleets that they culled early in the pandemic.
US consumers are facing the highest inflation in 40 years, and there is growing concern about a potential recession. That isn't showing up in travel numbers, however.
The number of travelers going through airport checkpoints has recovered to nearly 95 percent of 2019 traffic, according to Transportation Security Administration figures for October. Travel industry officials say holiday travel might top pre-pandemic levels.
Airlines haven't always done a good job handling the big crowds, even though they have been hiring workers to replace those who left after Covid-19 hit. The rates of canceled and delayed flights rose above pre-pandemic levels this summer, causing airlines to slow down plans to add more flights.
US airlines operated only 84 percent as many US flights as they did in October 2019, and plan about the same percentage in December, according to travel-data firm Cirium. On average, airlines are using bigger planes with more seats this year, which partly offsets the reduction in flights.
"We are definitely seeing a lot of strength for the holidays," Andrew Nocella, United Airlines' chief commercial officer, said on the company's earnings call in October. "We're approaching the Thanksgiving timeframe, and our bookings are incredibly strong."
Airline executives and Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg blamed each other for widespread flight problems over the summer. Airline CEOs say that after hiring more pilots and other workers, they are prepared for the holiday mob.
Travel experts offer tips for saving money and avoiding getting stranded by a canceled flight, although the advice hasn't changed much from previous years.
Be flexible about dates and even destinations, although that's not possible when visiting grandma's house. In a recent search, the cheapest flights from Los Angeles to New York around Christmas were on Christmas Eve and returning New Year's Eve.
Look into discount airlines and alternate airports, but know that smaller airlines have fewer options for rebooking passengers after a flight is canceled.
Fly early in the day to lower your risk of a delay or cancellation. "If something goes wrong, it tends to progress throughout the day — it gets to be a domino effect," says Chuck Thackston, general manager of Airlines Reporting Corp., an intermediary between airlines and travel agents.
There are plenty of theories on the best day of the week to book travel. Thackston says it's Sunday because airlines know that's when many price-conscious consumers are shopping, and carriers tailor offerings for them.
For the most part, airlines have dodged the accusations of price-gouging that have swirled around oil companies — which drew another rebuke this week from President Joe Biden — and other industries.
Accountable US, an advocacy group critical of corporations, linked airline delays and cancellations this summer to job cuts during the pandemic and poor treatment of workers. "But generally, we would say the airline industry is not currently at the same level as big food, oil or retail in terms of gross profiteering," says Jeremy Funk, a spokesman for the group.
Brett Snyder, who runs a travel agency and writes the "Cranky Flier" blog about air travel, says prices are high simply because flights are down from 2019 while demand is booming.
"How is it gouging?" Snyder asks. "They don't want to go (take off) with empty seats, but they also don't want to sell everything for a dollar. It's basic economics."
Travelers are sacrificing to hold down the cost of their trips.
Sheena Hale and her daughter, Krysta Pyle, woke up at 3 a.m. and left their northwestern Indiana home an hour later to make a 6:25 a.m. flight in Chicago last week.
"We are exhausted," Hale said after the plane landed in Dallas, where Krysta was taking part in a cheer competition. "We started early because the early flights were much cheaper. Flights are way too expensive."
They're not going anywhere for Christmas.
"We don't have to travel. We're staying home with family," Hale said.