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pcinews_twt JUNE 30, 2023 www.canadianinquirer.net VOL. 8 NO. 546

ESSENTIAL WORKERS

Nurses go about their tasks inside the Philippine General Hospital compound in Manila on Tuesday (June 27, 2023). They will benefit from the planned creation of a National Nursing Advisory
Council, which Department of Health Secretary Teodoro Herbosa said will focus on the concerns of Filipino nurses, especially those considering leaving the country for better pay.
JOAN BONDOC / PNA

17
Gadon stays as PBBM
adviser on poverty Rechie Aileen Valdez:

alleviation: Palace A Woman of Power

and Great Substance

BY RUTH ABBEY GITA-CARLOS

Philippine News Agency
MANILA – Presidential Adviser on
Poverty Alleviation Larry Gadon will
continue to take on his new role in gov-
ernment, despite the Supreme Court’s
(SC) latest move to disbar him, Mala-
cañang said on Wednesday.
In a statement, Executive Secretary Lu-
cas Bersamin said the SC decision has no 28
bearing on Gadon’s designation as an ad-
viser to President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. `
Bersamin said Marcos is confident
Putin’s Ukraine war
that Gadon “will do a good job” in help- keeps yielding dividends –
ing his administration combat poverty. but not for him
“We were aware of Sec. Gadon’s cases How uploading our
minds to a computer
PAGE 13
❱❱ PAGE 6 Gadon stays as might become possible

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2 JUNE 30, 2023 FRIDAY

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FRIDAY JUNE 30, 2023
House bill protecting children left
behind by OFW parents filed
BY FILANE MIKEE
CERVANTES
Philippine News Agency
MANILA – A party-list mem-
ber of the House of Representa-
tives on Tuesday underscored
the need to put in place mech-
anisms for the protection of mi-
nor children whose parents are
working as overseas Filipino
workers (OFWs).
Under House Bill (HB) 8560
filed by OFW party-list Rep.
Marissa Magsino on June 22
and released to the media on
Tuesday, the lady solon seeks
to create a system of tempo-
rary guardianship to ensure the
safety and well-being of chil-
dren during the absence of their
OFW parents.
Magsino said through the
system, absentee parents would
have the ability to designate
trusted individuals as tempo-
rary guardians, facilitate reg-
ular communication with the
children, and enable the con-
tinued provision of necessary
emotional and financial sup-
Marcos bullish on transforming PH
as ‘tourism powerhouse’ of Asia
BY RUTH ABBEY GITA-
CARLOS
Philippine News Agency
MANILA – President Ferdi-
nand R. Marcos Jr. on Tuesday
expressed optimism that the
Philippines will become the
“tourism powerhouse” of Asia
in the next few years.
This, as Marcos witnessed the
unveiling of the country’s new
tourism slogan “Love the Philip-
pines” during the Department of
Tourism’s (DOT) 50th anniversary
celebration at The Manila Hotel.
In a keynote speech, Marcos
affirmed his commitment to ad-
vancing the tourism sector, hop-
ing that the new campaign slogan
would help stimulate economic
activities and generate job op-
port to their children.
“The urgency for this legis-
lation arises from the vulner-
ability of children, particu-
larly minors, to various forms
of violence, exploitation, and
abuse that may occur in their
surroundings when their single
parent or both parents are toil-
ing hard abroad,” she said.
Magsino said while overseas
work has brought opportuni-
ties for better and financially
stable lives for many Filipinos,
the changing dynamics in fam-
ily relationships brought about
by migration and parental ab-
sence could have negative con-
sequences on the physical and
emotional well-being, as well as
personal security and safety of
the children left behind.
“Children, particularly mi-
nors, are often vulnerable to
insidious forms of violence, ex-
ploitation, and abuse that may
occur in their homes, schools,
online, and in other places they
usually frequent,” she said.
She cited a case in March
2023 wherein a Filipina OFW
in Saudi Arabia tragically lost
portunities in the country.
“What a better way to express
that love than directly incorpo-
rating it into our country’s new-
est tourism campaign slogan,
Love the Philippines. This is new
branding which we unveiled to-
day. It will serve as our guidepost
for the Philippine Tourism Indus-
try moving forward,” Marcos said.
“Allow me then to express my
sincere appreciation to Tour-
ism Secretary Christina Frasco
and for the DOT team because
aside from the tourist desti-
nation, the campaign that you
have conceptualized aims to
enhance the overall experience
of every traveler,” he added.
In May, Marcos approved
the National Tourism Develop-
ment Plan (NTDP) 2023-2028
which will serve as his adminis-
her four children, aged 5, 9, 12.
and 14, when her live-in partner
brutally stabbed them before
taking his own life.
Magsino also recalled an-
other case in November 2022
wherein two children, aged 11
and 15, were raped and killed
by the boyfriend of their OFW
mother in the Middle East.
She noted that these inci-
dents have spurred the De-
partment of Migrant Workers
(DMW) to take immediate ac-
tion in protecting children left
under the care of non-parents
and preventing any future oc-
currences of such violence.
Citing a United Nations (UN)
report on “Migration, Devel-
opment and Children Left Be-
hind,” she said the separation
of children from their parents
who work abroad exposes them
to certain risks, such as being
abused or trafficked.
She said under HB 8560
posed measure, a solo-parent
OFW, or legal spouses or com-
mon-law partners who are both
OFWs and are both employed
overseas at the same time and
tration’s blueprint and develop-
ment framework for the tour-
ism industry.
Marcos said the NTDP 2023-
2028 contains the govern-
ment’s targets, which include
the promotion of local prod-
ucts and the implementation of
more infrastructure projects to
ensure hassle-free travel.
“The five-year plan stemmed
from this admin’s determina-
tion to implement programs
that will positively transform
our country towards being a
tourism powerhouse in Asia in
the coming years. Let us there-
fore strive to translate out gold-
en vision into reality,” he said.
Marcos lauded the DOT for
making the tourism industry as “a
major driver of economic growth.”
He also welcomed the “im-
www.canadianinquirer.net
Philippine News
who have a minor child or
children who will be left in the
Philippines, shall, before de-
parture to their host countries,
execute a written document
designating another person as
temporary guardian to exercise
parental responsibility over the
minor child/children for a spec-
ified period coinciding with the
former’s absence.
Any of the following persons
may be designated as tempo-
rary guardian under the bill:
Overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) heading to their hometowns after completing
mandatory quarantine queue at the departure area of Ninoy Aquino International
Airport Terminal 2 during a send-off on Tuesday (May 26, 2020). (AVITO C. DALAN/PNA)
proving” figures in tourism
revenues, employment, inter-
national arrivals and domestic
trips, saying these indicate the
country’s recovery from the on-
slaught of the coronavirus dis-
ease 2019 (Covid-19) pandemic.
“All of these are encouraging
signs that the tourism indus-
try in our country as a whole
is headed well towards full re-
covery. It also conveys a strong
message to the world that we
are ready and fully equipped to
welcome tourists, travelers as
well as investors,” Marcos said.
To realize his administra-
tion’s goal of transforming the
Philippines as Asia’s tourism
powerhouse, Marcos urged Fil-
ipinos to be the country’s tour-
ism ambassadors.
“I enjoin you all to be our
3
surviving grandparent; elder
sibling more than 21 years old;
relative of the minor child with-
in the third degree of consan-
guinity; minor child’s actual
custodian more than 21 years
old; and any person known to
possess a good moral charac-
ter as certified by the barangay
unit having jurisdiction over
the residence of the minor child
and with no known criminal re-
❱❱ PAGE 16 House bill protecting
country’s promoters, advo-
cates, and if I may borrow a
coined term in this age of social
media, be our country’s top in-
fluencers,” he said.
“Indeed, the Philippines will
never run out of places to discov-
er, meals to enjoy, adventures to
experience, people to meet, tal-
ents to admire. Let us take pride
and celebrate the love we have
of our country and our people
for it is the same love that gave
meaning to the establishment of
the DOT and the same love that
will propel our tourism industry
moving forward into the future,”
Marcos added.
The total number of inter-
national tourist arrivals in the
country is at 2,029,419 so far,
based on the latest data from
the DOT. ■
4 Philippine News
LGUs urged to Herbosa eyes advisory
go extra mile to council to solve nurses’
‘sign up’ 10M concerns
unregistered SIMs
BY FILANE MIKEE
CERVANTES
Philippine News Agency
MANILA – A lawmaker
on Monday urged local gov-
ernment units (LGUs) to “go
the extra mile” with public
telecommunications entities
(PTEs) in signing up as many
as 10 million still-unregistered
subscriber identity modules
(SIMs) with only a month left
before the July 25 deadline.
In a statement, Camarines
Sur Representative Luis Ray-
mund Villafuerte said the sup-
port of LGUs is crucial to help-
ing the government achieve its
original target of registering
up to 110 million SIMs of legit
owners by the end of the ex-
tended registration period.
Villafuerte said the focus of
this remaining sign-up month
should be on registering the
still-unlisted SIMs of those
with non-data cellular phones,
along with those SIMs owned
by persons with disabilities
(PWDs) and elderly Filipinos.
He added telecommunica-
tion companies need the sup-
port of LGUs in increasing the
number of registered users,
particularly in underserved or
faraway places with either weak
Internet connectivity or no
connection at all.
A staff member of a telecommunications company (standing) helps a client in
registering his subscriber identity module card at a stall at the Quezon City
Hall on Tuesday (Jan. 24, 2023). (BEN BRIONES/PNA)
“LGU executives, especially
those in remote or underserved
areas, can best help PTEs do so
by persuading their respective
constituents to register, putting
up or increasing the number of
venues where people can sign up
their SIMs online, and provid-
ing on-site list-up assistance in
their respective localities during
these four remaining registra-
tion weeks,” Villafuerte said.
He said LGUs can also help by
expediting the issuance of iden-
tification cards (IDs) to their re-
spective constituents who want
to register but have no govern-
ment IDs, which is one requisite
for the sign-up, as so required by
Republic Act 11934.
He cited the Department of
Information and Communica-
tions Technology (DICT) stat-
ing that 65 percent, or roughly
two out of every three Filipinos
are not connected to the inter-
net, and the registration of SIM
cards would prevent “disen-
franchising” any of their legiti-
mate owners from cyberspace.
“It’s good that the DICT ex-
ercised prudence in deciding to
extend the registration deadline
by three more months to give
still-unregistered SIM holders
more time to sign up, as a bigger
registry turn-out would better
provide our law enforcers with
❱❱ PAGE 15 LGUs urged to
BY MA. TERESA
MONTEMAYOR
Philippine News Agency
MANILA – The Department
of Health (DOH) is planning to
establish a body to focus on the
concerns of Filipino nurses, es-
pecially those considering leav-
ing the country for better pay.
In a media briefing on Mon-
day, DOH Secretary Teodoro
Herbosa said he will issue a de-
partment administrative order
for the creation of a National
Nursing Advisory Council led
by a de facto chief nursing of-
ficer whose function will be at
the level of an undersecretary.
The members of the proposed
council will be nurses from the
private and public sectors, includ-
ing heads of the Philippine Nurses
Association, the Philippine Board
of Nursing, and the Association of
Nursing Service Administrators
of the Philippines.
“So, we could always make
them address all these issues not
only the exam, but also life-work
balance, and other reasons to
motivate them to stay and fight
the brain drain of Filipino nurs-
es to other countries,” he said.
Herbosa added that he would
also ask Congress to pass a law
institutionalizing the appoint-
ment of the chief nursing officer.
Currently, the DOH needs
about 4,500 nurses in its 70
hospitals nationwide.
To solve this, Herbosa has been
advocating for the issuance of tem-
porary licenses for nursing gradu-
ates who received a grade of 70 to
74 percent in the board exam.
The Professional Regulation
Commission (PRC) has clari-
fied that there is no provision in
the Philippine Nursing Act or
Republic Act 9173 that allows
any government agency to issue
temporary licenses to nursing
graduates who failed the licen-
sure examination.
It added the Medical Act of
1959 is the only law with a provi-
sion that can support Herbosa’s
plan, but it states that tempo-
rary licenses could only be is-
sued by the Secretary of Health
www.canadianinquirer.net
Health Secretary Teodoro Herbosa talks about the role of media in helping the
Department of Health in delivering timely, accurate, and accessible health in-
formation and news to the public on Monday (June 26, 2023). (YANCY LIM/PNA)
for medical graduates who have
not yet taken or passed the phy-
sician licensure exam in times
of national emergencies like the
Covid-19 pandemic or natural
disasters like typhoons.
The DOH, the PRC and the
Department of Labor and Em-
ployment are in discussions to
find other options that would
address the nurse shortage in the
country despite legal limitations.
P64,000 monthly salary
pushed
Quezon City Representative
Marvin Rillo pushed for the im-
mediate passage of his House
Bill (HB) 5276 seeking to in-
crease the entry-level monthly
pay of government nurses to
around PHP64,000.
He said the “exceptional-
ly strong demand” for Filipino
nurses in the United States would
likely exacerbate the shortage of
nursing staff in the Philippines in
the coming months.
“To address their own short-
ages, American hospitals and
staffing agencies are now ag-
gressively recruiting Filipino
nurses,” Rillo said.
“In America, Filipino nurs-
es are favored because of their
close affinity to the Western
culture, competence, compas-
sion, and their readiness to
work long hours and take on ex-
tra shifts even during weekends
and holidays,” he added.
He said bumping up the start-
ing monthly pay for govern-
ment nurses from PHP36,619 to
JUNE 30, 2023 FRIDAY
PHP63,997, or raising their sala-
ries six notches higher based on
the Salary Standardization Law,
would help retain nurses in Phil-
ippine public hospitals.
“Congress must quickly raise
the basic salaries of our nurses
here at home. This is the only
way we can hold on to our nurs-
es in public hospitals,” Rillo said.
Rillo said the US Bureau of
Labor Statistics (BLS) proj-
ects America will have “about
203,200 job openings for regis-
tered nurses each year, on aver-
age, over the next decade.”
He said nurses in America re-
ceive an annual median wage of
USD77,600 or the equivalent of
around PHP4.3 million.
Last month, House Minority
Leader Marcelino Libanan also
pushed for the immediate pas-
sage of HB 5276.
Anakalusugan Party-list Rep-
resentative Ray Reyes likewise
urged the DOH to find out why
several nursing board passers
opt to work in other fields.
“Sobrang nakakalungkot na
ayon sa PRC [Professional Reg-
ulatory Commission], 53.55 per-
cent lang ng nursing board pass-
ers ang active at nagpapractice ng
nursing profession (It’s extremely
sad that based on PRC, only 53.55
percent of the nursing board pass-
ers are active and practicing the
profession),” he said.
Reyes said this is one of the
reasons why he filed HB 6631 or
❱❱ PAGE 14 Herbosa eyes advisory
FRIDAY JUNE 30, 2023 5

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6 Philippine News
Gov’t committed to fostering business-
friendly environment
BY JOSE CIELITO
REGANIT
Philippine News Agency
MANILA – Speaker Ferdi-
nand Martin G. Romualdez on
Tuesday assured the country’s
business leaders that the exec-
utive and legislative branches
of government are working
hand in hand to create a fa-
vorable environment for busi-
nesses to thrive, attract in-
vestments and generate more
jobs to prepare a better future
for all Filipinos.
In his message at the 44th
National Conference of the
Employers Confederation of
the Philippines (ECOP) held at
the Manila Hotel, Romualdez
noted that such policy direc-
tion is anchored on the gov-
ernment’s recognition of the
employers’ crucial role in the
country’s march to progress.
“The Philippine government,
under the leadership of Pres-
ident Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr.,
recognizes this and is committed
to fostering an environment that
bolsters your efforts,” he said.
To make the country an at-
tractive investment destina-
tion, Romualdez said Congress
CBCP backs calls for
release of Mary Jane Veloso
BY FERDINAND PATINIO
Philippine News Agency
MANILA – The Catholic
Bishops’ Conference of the
Philippines - Episcopal Com-
mission for the Pastoral Care of
Migrants and Itinerant People
(CBCP-ECMI) has joined calls
for the Indonesian government
to pardon Filipina drug convict
Mary Jane Veloso.
“Let us pray hard that, in the
name of mercy, the Indone-
sian government would grant
clemency to Mary Jane Veloso.
May our almighty God touch
joined hands with the Marcos
administration to cut red tape
and promote ease of doing busi-
ness, among others.
Recognizing the advent of the
digital economy, he said a dual
effort was made to champion the
Digital Philippines program that
... we are
committed
to ensuring
that our
economic
growth is
inclusive and
sustainable.
seeks to enhance the country’s
digital infrastructure and arm
the workforce with the neces-
sary digital skills, thus creating
an avenue for more job opportu-
nities in the technology sector.
“Moreover, we are commit-
the hearts of those people and
decide what is beneficial and
do what is best for MJ (Mary
Jane),” CBCP-ECMI vice chair
and incoming Antipolo Bishop
Ruperto Santos said in a phone
interview on Tuesday.
The Catholic prelate noted
that the Indonesian government
should also take into account
her current health condition.
“She has suffered long
enough with her imprisonment.
And with her health problem,
she should be much attended
to, medical care and charitable
measures given,” Santos said.
He added that they are pray-
ted to ensuring that our eco-
nomic growth is inclusive and
sustainable. We are prioritizing
sectors like agriculture, manu-
facturing, and services, which
are crucial for job creation, par-
ticularly for marginalized com-
munities,” Romualdez said.
He said the House of Rep-
resentatives has been working
hard to institutionalize need-
ed reforms, pointing out that
the chamber approved 33 out
of the 42 priority legislations
in the common legislative
agenda of the Legislative-Ex-
ecutive Advisory Council
(LEDAC) before the 19th Con-
gress adjourned its First Regu-
lar Session on May 31.
Among the approved mea-
sures was the Maharlika In-
vestment Fund bill which
seeks to create the country’s
first-ever sovereign invest-
ment fund, expected to be-
come a major source of fund-
ing for the administration’s
big-ticket projects.
Addressing several foreign
dignitaries present, the Speak-
er said now is the time to invest
in the Philippines which has the
fastest-growing economy in the
world, apart from having a very
popular leader in Marcos.
ing for Veloso’s good health.
“We pray for her recovery.
We offer our prayers for her
healing,” he said.
In 2010, Veloso was caught
smuggling heroin upon her ar-
rival in Indonesia and was sen-
tenced to death by firing squad.
She was given a reprieve in
2015 after one of her recruiters
surrendered to Philippine au-
thorities and admitted to duping
her into smuggling illegal drugs.
In May, President Ferdinand
R. Marcos Jr. personally asked
Indonesian President Joko
❱❱ PAGE 16 CBCP backs calls
www.canadianinquirer.net
At the same time, Romualdez
thanked business leaders for
their resilience and fortitude in
facing the challenges of the pan-
demic by keeping their business-
es afloat to ensure millions of Fil-
ipinos have a source of income.
“Our President and we in the
19th Congress recognize and
appreciate your significant role,
not only as economic drivers
but as stalwart partners in nav-
igating these tumultuous times.
We’ve seen firsthand your de-
termination to keep the Philip-
pine economy resilient amidst
the global crisis,” he said.
“On behalf of the 19th Con-
(MARTIN ROMUALDEZ/FACEBOOK)
Gadon stays as..
❰❰ 1 before the Supreme
Court but the Presi-
dent felt that his work
as presidential adviser will not
get affected by his status as a
lawyer,” he said.
“He will continue on his new
role as Presidential Adviser on
Poverty Alleviation as there
are urgent matters that need
to be done in the President’s
anti-poverty programs,” Ber-
samin added.
The SC unanimously voted to
disbar Gadon following his pro-
fane remarks against journalist
Raissa Robles.
Bersamin said the disbar-
ment case is a “personal” issue
that Gadon needs to address.
In a statement issued late
Tuesday night, Gadon said he
would file a motion for recon-
JUNE 30, 2023 FRIDAY
gress and the Filipino people, I
express my heartfelt gratitude
and admiration for your courage
and perseverance,” he added.
He also exhorted the ECOP
to continue its partnership with
the government to ensure sus-
tained post-pandemic recovery
and growth.
“I am confident that with the
continued collaborative efforts
of the Marcos administration,
the 19th Congress, and the Em-
ployers Confederation of the
Philippines, we can achieve a
prosperous and resilient econo-
my, offering a brighter future for
all Filipinos,” Romualdez said. ■
sideration, stressing that the
SC’s penalty is “too harsh.”
“I will treat this matter as a
personal concern as it will not
also affect my commitment to
President Ferdinand Marcos
Jr. to help his administration
achieve its goals and implement
its programs to serve the public
particularly on the aspect of
poverty alleviation,” he said.
“The position and the task giv-
en to me by the President do not
require lawyering hence my sus-
pension and disbarment have no
effect on my appointment. I will
just approach this issue on a per-
sonal concern,” he added.
Malacañang announced
Gadon’s appointment as Presi-
dential Adviser for Poverty Al-
leviation on Monday. ■
FRIDAY JUNE 30, 2023
BI: Airport expansion needed amid int’l
traveler influx at NAIA
BY STEPHANIE
SEVILLANO
Philippine News Agency
MANILA – The Bureau of
Immigration (BI) on Tuesday
said it is high time to imple-
ment expansion at the Ninoy
Aquino International Airport
(NAIA) to cater to a bigger im-
migration area amid the influx
of international passengers.
In a statement, BI Commis-
sioner Norman Tansingco said
both the NAIA Terminals 1 and
3 have been serving an “unprec-
edented” number of foreign
travelers.
“We have added more im-
migration officers to service
House panel eyes excluding motorcycles
from road users tax hike
BY FILANE MIKEE
CERVANTES
Philippine News Agency
MANILA – The chairperson of
the House Ways and Means Com-
mittee is eyeing to exempt mo-
torcycles from the road user tax,
officially known as motor vehicle
user’s charge (MVUC).
In a statement on Tuesday,
committee chair and Albay Rep-
resentative Joey Salceda said
the panel will start hearing four
proposals to update MVUC rates
once session of Congress re-
sumes after President Ferdinand
Marcos Jr.’s second State of the
Nation Address on July 24.
Salceda proposed to spare
motorcycles from the planned
road users tax hike, considering
that “half of Filipino households
own some sort of motorcycle”.
“My proposal is to exempt mo-
torcycles from MVUC. Especially
since it’s a means of living now,
with delivery express services and
the like. Tricycles will also be ex-
empt under my proposal,” he said.
The panel is also consider-
travelers. Now we see more im-
migration officers on duty than
installed counters,” he said.
As an initial resolve, Tansing-
co cited the deployment of 59
additional immigration officers
at NAIA Terminals 1 and 3.
Eight mobile counters were
also provided in each terminal to
help ease long immigration lines.
As of June 16, records showed
a 48.1 percent influx of terminal
passengers per day at NAIA
Terminal 1.
This is equivalent to 28,956
passengers, higher than the
previous 19,553 average passen-
gers per day.
The NAIA Terminal 3 also
increased its daily average pas-
sengers to 33,682, or 19.58 per-
ing the inclusion of the MVUC
in the Tax Code, since the Road
Board, which used to adminis-
ter it, no longer exists.
Salceda said car owners are
“heavily subsidized for car use”,
thus leading to traffic congestion.
“The National Government
spends around PHP300 billion on
road construction and repair ev-
ery year. Meanwhile, the MVUC is
just around PHP18 billion a year.
So, car owners are heavily subsi-
dized for car use,” Salceda said.
“The effect is, when some-
thing is artificially cheaper than
it should be, more people do
it than should be. So, we have
more traffic than our roads can
accommodate,” he added.
The panel, he said, would also
consider earmarking some reve-
nues for zero-interest loans for
local jeepney manufacturers.
“The imported modern ones
are too expensive. We need lo-
cally made cheaper ones, so
that the jobs created are created
here,” he said.
Salceda noted that the tax
panel will discuss the motor
vehicle tax and the proposed
cent higher than the previous
average of 28,168 passengers.
“Each shift of BI officers at
the NAIA Terminal 3 processes
Passengers at NAIA Terminal 3 in Pasay City queue at the check-in counter on
Sunday (Jan. 1, 2023). (YANCY LIM/PNA)
luxury goods tax, which Pres-
ident Marcos already gave his
support for, before they discuss
proposals for junk food taxes.
“We will discuss taxes that hit
the rich first. That’s our constitu-
tional duty. I still have questions
about the proposed tax increase
on sweetened beverages, and
the proposal for salty food taxes.
I also want to consider other op-
tions, including closing some of
the tax exemptions to the sweet-
ened beverage tax,” Salceda said.
Salceda said the proposal to
allow industrial users to direct-
ly import sugar in exchange
for higher sugary drink taxes
“makes some sense” from a
gross-value added perspective.
“We of course want to keep the
jobs they create. And, in the past,
I have expressed my support for
the same as a separate proposal
without the tax side,” he said.
“We just need to study the
impacts of doing both at the
same time, because remember,
we have a domestic sugar sec-
tor. I am thinking of a similar
system as RA 7171, where to-
bacco producing provinces now
www.canadianinquirer.net
Philippine News
around 4,000 to 6,000 arriving
and departing passengers,” the
BI said.
The BI said the NAIA man-
get more from their shares of
excise tax than the tobacco they
actually produce,” he added.
He said the Department of
Finance (DOF) and the House
committee will discuss the mo-
dalities and the balancing acts
for the proposals.
Last week, Finance Secretary
Benjamin Diokno announced
that the DOF and the Depart-
ment of Health (DOH) are jointly
pursuing a junk food and sweet-
ened beverage tax as a proactive
measure to tackle diabetes, obe-
sity, and non-communicable dis-
Motorists as well as Edsa carousel buses traverse the newly repaired south-
bound lanes of the Edsa-Kamuning flyover in Quezon City on Sunday (July 24,
2022). (JOEY O. RAZON/PNA)
7
agement vowed to respond to
the influx of international trav-
elers in the country.
“We are thankful to the air-
port management as they have
committed to expand the immi-
gration area. We hope that the
space would be sufficient for us
to be able to install more count-
ers and deploy more officers,”
Tansingco said.
Tansingco also cited BI’s ef-
forts to modernize its systems,
including a target to launch a dig-
itized immigration screening.
He said this would help
streamline immigration pro-
cesses and provide a convenient
travel experience for interna-
tional passengers. ■
eases related to poor diet.
Under the proposed tax pro-
gram, the DOF plans to im-
pose a PHP10 per 100 grams or
PHP10 per 100 milliliters tax on
pre-packaged foods lacking nutri-
tional value, including confection-
eries, snacks, desserts, and frozen
confectioneries, that exceed the
DOH’s specified thresholds for
fat, salt, and sugar content.
The DOF also intends to in-
crease the sweetened beverage
tax rate under the TRAIN law
to PHP12 per liter, regardless of
the type of sweetener used. ■
8 Philippine News
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Member
Baclaran Church declared
‘important cultural property’
BY FERDINAND PATINIO
Philippine News Agency
MANILA – Baclaran Church is now
one of the most valuable cultural trea-
sures in the country after the National
Museum of the Philippines (NMP) des-
ignated the church as an “important cul-
tural property” or ICP.
The marker designating the church
as an ICP was unveiled on Tuesday in
Parañaque City.
According to NMP archeologist Dr.
Mary Jane Louise Bolunia, the agency is
pleased to bestow honor on the church
edifice “that has become part of our cul-
ture as it evolved and developed through
the years.”
“I hope the marker will serve as a re-
minder for us to cherish this gift of faith
that we have embraced and the place
where the faith has taken its root,” she
said in an article posted Wednesday on
the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the
Philippines (CBCP) news website.
The ceremony was held in celebration
of the feast of Our Mother of Perpetual
Help, and the 75th year of the Perpetual
Help Novena in Baclaran Church.
PAGASA: El Niño no effect
yet this planting season
Philippine News Agency
MANILA – The Philippine weather
bureau said the lower rainfall phenome-
non of El Niño is not yet in effect, and rice
farmers would have enough rainfall for
the July to September planting season.
“There will be near to normal rain from
July to September 2023,” said the Philip-
pine Atmospheric, Geophysical, and As-
tronomical Services Administration (PA-
GASA) said in a statement on Tuesday.
Analyn Solis of PAGASA said the
chances of feeling the effects of El Niño
are getting higher, but the lower rainfall
pattern in the coming months has not
been established yet.
“Mataas ang possibility ng El Niño.
Sa July, maglalabas ulit kami ng adviso-
ry with a forecast for affected provinces.
Hindi pa dumadating rainfall pattern,
kung kelan ba ang effect. May reduction
ng ulan pero it does not always mean
www.canadianinquirer.net
Meanwhile, Brazilian Fr. Rogerio
Gomes, superior general of the Congre-
gation of the Most Holy Redeemer, or
the Redemptorists, said designating the
Baclaran Church as an ICP is not only
because of its importance as a physical
heritage “but also as a spiritual one.”
“I can say that is also declaring the Filipi-
no people as a patrimony of faith,” he said.
ICPs, which are defined as cultural
properties possessing “exceptional cul-
Main façade of Baclaran Church in May 2023. (LMP 2001/WIKIMEDIA COMMONS, CC BY-SA 4.0)
drought. Mataas ang potential ng pag-
ulan ngayon (The possibility of El Niño is
high. In July, we will again issue an advi-
sory with a forecast for affected provinc-
es. Rainfall pattern is yet to arrive, when
will the effect be. There is a reduction in
rain, but it does not always mean drought.
Rain potential is high today),” Solis said.
She said rainfall is expected to de-
crease in September and to drop further
from October to December this year.
As this is the harvest season, low rainfall
benefits rice farmers, said former Agri-
culture Secretary and Federation of Free
Farmers president Raul Montemayor.
PAGASA’s rainfall forecast is only up
to December 2023.
“For December, 36 provinces will ex-
perience dry spell, drought for two prov-
inces,” Solis said.
Farmer Rene Cerilla, in a forum con-
ducted by Tugon Kabuhayan on Monday,
said that farmers are under the false im-
pression that El Niño is arriving this July.
JUNE 30, 2023 FRIDAY
tural, artistic, and historical significance,”
may receive government subsidies for
their preservation and conservation.
It is also the second level of protection
after the classification of National Cul-
tural Treasures.
Also present during the ceremony
were Baclaran Church rector Fr. Rico
John Bilangel, and Fr. Raymond Urriza,
superior of the Redemptorist Vice-Prov-
ince of Manila. ■
“That’s why it is so important for us to
have the correct information so that we
could make the right decisions and plan
accordingly. If there is a shortage of wa-
ter, we have to plant crops that don’t re-
quire as much water, like corn and mon-
ggo,” Cerilla said.
Norbert Chingcuanco, a convenor of
Tugon Kabuhayan, said other govern-
ment agencies should synchronize the
information about the onset of El Niño.
He also urged them to have a unified
message about the climate phenomenon.
“I heard on the radio on the way to work
that the DOH (Department of Health)
is advising people to drink more water
during El Niño. Many Filipinos are under
the incorrect assumption that El Niño is
already here, when according to PAGASA,
it will arrive much later in the year. Be-
cause of this, nobody is planting anymore.
We ask the government to synchronize its
messaging and disseminate correct infor-
mation,” Chingcuanco said. ■
FRIDAY JUNE 30, 2023
Artificial intelligence + basic income =
Canadian innovation
BY JIAYING ZHAO, YUEN
PAU WOO, LORNE A.
WHITEHEAD
Policy Options
AI threatens to end many
jobs, but a basic income could
ease the burden. Canada should
lead this new frontier in im-
proving human well-being.
The recent explosion of artifi-
cial intelligence (AI) has the po-
tential to revolutionize the work-
force. ChatGPT reached 100
million users in just two months
after its launch. It and other gen-
erative AI applications have the
potential to increase the efficien-
cy of more than 50 per cent of all
worker tasks in the U.S., with no
loss in quality. A recent report es-
timates that AI’s boost to labour
productivity can increase annu-
al global GDP by seven per cent
over a 10-year period.
The widespread application
of AI could, however, displace
300 million full-time jobs,
especially those that involve
writing, programming, routine
repetitive work and informa-
tion processing. For example,
the work of journalists, writers,
interpreters, analysts, accoun-
tants, software engineers and
mathematicians could be re-
duced by at least 50 per cent.
Statistics Canada suggests
that 40 per cent of Canadian
workers are at a moderate or
high risk of job transformation
because of AI. In China alone, AI
deployment could render over
50 million workers obsolete and
in need of retraining. In the U.S.,
the figure is around 11.5 million.
AI will create tremendous
wealth for some, but income
loss for many more, and will
likely exacerbate the problem
of income inequality.
Is a basic income the solution?
A basic income (BI) would
provide each adult with uncondi-
tional regular cash payments to
help cover basic living costs, with
the goal of reducing poverty and
Canada News
income inequality (while recog-
nizing that payments to higher
earners would be taxed back).
This idea has garnered strong
support from the AI industry.
Sam Altman, CEO of Ope-
nAI, which created ChatGPT,
has championed a BI approach
called the American Equity
Fund, which would provide all
adult citizens annual uncondi-
tional cash payments funded by
taxing certain companies 2.5 per
cent of their market value each
year and by taxing 2.5 per cent
of the value of all privately held
land. Altman’s belief is that a BI
can be part of a new social con-
tract that will raise the income
floor for people living in poverty.
Mustafa Suleyman, co-founder
of DeepMind, has also expressed
his support for a BI and insisted
that governments provide mate-
rial compensation to people who
will lose their jobs due to AI. And
Elon Musk has endorsed Andrew
Yang’s freedom dividend, which
proposes that the U.S. govern-
ment give every American adult
a monthly US$1,000 benefit to
offset job loss due to automation.
Beyond the AI industry, the
public has also shown over-
whelming support for a BI. In
recent polls, 59 per cent of Ca-
nadians support a basic income
of $30,000, and 57 per cent agree
that the government should cre-
ate a BI for all Canadians, regard-
less of whether they work. In the
U.S., 67 per cent of Americans (82
percent of Democrats, 48 per cent
of Republicans) support a basic
income of US$1,000 per month.
However, some critics claim
that a BI would introduce com-
plexity in social services, could
not reach vulnerable populations
that do not file taxes and would
be prohibitively expensive. Other
concerns involve fears that a BI
would be a disincentive to work-
ing and would create inflation.
The IRPP recently published a
book espousing some of these
concerns, building on a 2020
report on the feasibility of a BI
in British Columbia. The report
rules out a BI on the grounds that
unconditional income transfers
violate a particular view of “a just
society” and proposes that tar-
geted programs are a more effi-
cient way to reduce poverty.
Substantial evidence suggests
that these concerns are not valid.
First, experiments involving a
BI have resulted in a wide range
of positive outcomes on educa-
tion, health, entrepreneurship,
social integration, subjective
well-being, assets and housing
with no significant increases in
spending on temptation goods
like alcohol and drugs.
Second, the universality of
a BI could reduce administra-
tive costs compared to targeted
programs that are encumbered
with complicated means-test-
ing requirements. However,
how a BI intersects with exist-
ing social services (e.g., disabil-
ity assistance, income assis-
tance and child support) needs
to be carefully thought out. One
question to consider is wheth-
er some existing services may
need to be redesigned or elimi-
nated altogether, but it certain-
ly does not mean a BI would
complicate social services.
Third, a BI can reach virtually
everyone through channels oth-
er than the tax system. For those
who do not file taxes, a BI pres-
ents an opportunity to integrate
marginalized individuals into
the financial system by providing
them with free ID replacement
services, free chequing accounts
and free mobile phones, so that
people can open accounts and re-
ceive payments, as demonstrat-
ed by many cash-transfer pro-
grams. Furthermore, the move
to automatic tax filing for low- or
zero-income earners – recently
given a boost in the 2023 federal
budget – will progressively make
it easier to use the tax system to
deliver a BI benefit.
Fourth, a BI can in fact reduce
the fiscal burden on the govern-
ment because citizens who be-
www.canadianinquirer.net
come financially independent
will rely less on social and health
services. A recent study of uncon-
ditional cash transfers to those
experiencing homelessness
shows that carefully designed
programs can be cost-effective
and generate net savings. An-
other study looking at the social
and other downstream benefits
of a BI arrived at the same con-
clusion. Furthermore, Canada’s
Office of the Parliamentary Bud-
get Officer has estimated that the
$88-billion cost of a BI (based
on a $17,000 benefit for a single
person) could be offset by scaling
back tax credits that dispropor-
tionately benefit higher-income
individuals and corporations.
Fifth, a BI has little negative
impact on the labour supply.
In fact, a recent review shows
that a BI increased the global
labour supply – men and wom-
en, young and old. A slight but
insignificant reduction in the
labour supply was found in
workers who were children,
the elderly, the sick, those with
disabilities, women with young
children, and young people who
continued their schooling after
receiving a BI. One of the larg-
est BI programs in the world,
the Alaska Permanent Fund
Dividend, has had no effect on
employment and has increased
part-time work by 17 per cent.
9
Finally, a BI is unlikely to
cause inflation. A theoreti-
cal analysis shows that a BI
involves the redistribution
of money and does not entail
printing more money or a short-
age in the supply of goods. Em-
pirical evidence suggests that
existing BI programs have not
caused inflation; Alaska has had
lower inflation than the rest of
the U.S. since implementing the
Alaska Permanent Fund.
Canada’s leadership role
Canada is uniquely well po-
sitioned to be a global leader in
BI and AI. Bill S-233 (An Act to
develop a national framework
for a guaranteed livable basic
income) is being considered in
a committee of the Senate. In
Prince Edward Island, there is
cross-party support for a pro-
posed BI pilot in the province.
In addition, several BI trials
have already taken place in Can-
ada, including the Manitoba ba-
sic annual income experiment
in the 1970s and the Ontario
basic income pilot in 2018. Both
experiments showed promising
results, including better per-
sonal relationships, a greater
sense of inclusion and citizen-
ship, and significant improve-
ments in recipients’ standard
of living, cognitive function and
❱❱ PAGE 20 Artificial intelligence +
10
After the Manitoba crash, Canada needs
to rethink bus safety
BY AHMED SHALABY,
University of Manitoba
The Conversation
The recent collision between
a bus and a semi-truck near
Carberry, Man., which killed
16 seniors, is the latest fatal in-
cident to raise concerns about
bus and road safety in Canada.
The crash shares similarities to
other fatal bus crashes like the
2018 Humboldt Broncos bus
crash and the 2019 bus rollover
on Vancouver Island.
Buses are one of the safest
modes of transportation. How-
ever, these tragic incidents
show that major crashes can re-
sult in significant loss of life, se-
vere injuries and profound grief
for entire communities.
Safety investigations into
such collisions need to be con-
ducted at a national level and
by an independent body in the
same manner air and rail occur-
rences are investigated.
Road transportation is a
provincial responsibility
When it comes to road trans-
portation, Canada adheres to an
archaic regulatory framework
that can be traced all the way
back to confederation. At the
time, John A. Macdonald argued
that roads should be a provincial
responsibility with no federal
involvement or guidance.
At the time, most roads were
not paved and road vehicles
were horse-drawn. Roads car-
ried less national strategic sig-
nificance than railroads and
waterways which both became
federally-regulated.
After confederation, Cana-
da became the second largest
country in the world by area,
and roads became the lifeline of
our transportation infrastruc-
ture system. However, roads
still remain under provincial
jurisdiction and that makes far
less sense now.
Improving road safety
Canada’s lack of effective
leadership of road transporta-
tion is inconsistent with prac-
tices in many other developed
nations. Improving road safety
and standards should include
developing national standards,
guidance and dedicated funding
Canada News
sources (for example, gas tax)
to support the construction and
operation of road networks.
In 2018, Canada ranked 12th
compared to other member coun-
tries in the Organization for Eco-
nomic Co-operation and Devel-
opment in terms of road safety.
In 2016, the Canadian Coun-
cil of Motor Transport Admin-
istrators published its Road
Safety Strategy. The strategy
aims to raise public awareness
of road safety as well as improve
legislation and infrastructure.
However, progress has been
slow and often hampered by a
lack of systemic efforts to col-
lect, analyze and share publicly
relevant data and research.
To fill the gaps, non-mandato-
ry guidance is being developed
collaboratively by not-for-prof-
it associations and inter-gov-
ernmental forums such as the
Transportation Association of
Canada, the Canadian Council
of Motor Transport Adminis-
trators and the Council of Min-
isters of Transport.
Response to major road
crashes
In Canada, federal regulations
govern transportation by rail,
air and water. The safety of the
users of these systems are under
the purview of a federal watch-
dog, the Transportation Safety
Board (TSB), which is overseen
and funded by Parliament. This
allows the TSB to investigate all
matters related to these modes
and to press all levels of govern-
ment for change.
Roads are the exception. The
TSB has no role in investigating
road crashes or bridge failures
no matter how catastrophic.
That is usually left to provin-
cial and municipal authorities.
This stands in contrast to oth-
er countries like the United
States, which empower a na-
tional agency to investigate
highway safety.
The TSB was absent from
the Humboldt Broncos crash,
the Columbia Icefield crash,
the University of Victoria bus
crash, and is absent from the
Carberry crash, all because its
mandate does not cover roads.
Meanwhile, the TSB joined
the investigation into the im-
plosion of the Titan submers-
ible in international waters
because the support ship flew a
Canadian flag.
The TSB investigated a 2013
double-decker bus crash in Ot-
tawa because the bus collided
with a train and rail is a federal-
ly-regulated mode, but was un-
able to investigate another dou-
ble-decker crash also in Ottawa
in 2019 because the bus collided
with a station shelter
awning on the City-
owned transitway.
In both cases, the
bus structure proved
to be weak and easily
breached, which led
to ejection of passen-
gers from the upper
decks. A public report
was issued after the
first crash. No report
or recommendations
were issued after the
second, and an oppor-
tunity to advance safe-
ty was missed.
Best practices dictate
that serious road crash-
es across the country be
investigated by an independent
body. That would allow us to
see the bigger and clearer pic-
ture, and to detect trends more
accurately. We need this knowl-
edge to justify necessary safety
actions such as traffic counter-
measures, infrastructure up-
grades, stronger bus structures,
seatbelts, event data loggers and
mandatory bus driver training.
For these reasons, we must
www.canadianinquirer.net
demand that serious road
crashes be subject to the same
type of independent and trans-
parent safety investigations
that are routinely conducted in
other modes.
Stalled progress
In 2019, on the heels of the
Humboldt Broncos bus crash,
the House of Commons Com-
mittee on Transportation, In-
... these tragic
incidents show that
major crashes can
result in significant
loss of life, severe
injuries and
profound grief for
entire communities.
frastructure and Communities
studied bus passenger safety.
The committee interviewed
first-responders, bus industry
representatives, the TSB and
safety experts.
The committee’s report con-
tained nine important recom-
mendations to improve bus pas-
senger safety. It recommended
the Government of Canada en-
able the TSB to investigate seri-
JUNE 30, 2023 FRIDAY
ous highway accidents, as well
as all accidents involving motor
vehicles designed to transport
nine or more passengers. The re-
port also recommended that bus
drivers be required to undertake
mandatory entry-level training.
The report went nowhere.
Transport Canada did not
respond to the report as would
normally be expected. The
committee was told
that Transport Canada
was in the process of
developing regulatory
changes to improve
bus passenger safety
in collaboration with
provincial and territo-
rial governments and
needed more time to
finalize the work.
Four years later,
there has been little
progress on the rec-
ommendations. The
cost of waiting is too
high. Politicians con-
tinue to offer only
thoughts and prayers
after each tragic inci-
dent, but it is time for them to
revisit their own bus passenger
safety report.
The House of Commons needs
to follow up on the recommen-
dations and demand that regu-
latory changes be introduced to
make bus travel safer. ■
This article is republished
from The Conversation under a
Creative Commons license.
FRIDAY JUNE 30, 2023
How Indigenous economic development
corporations can support a just, low-carbon
energy transition
BY CHRISTINA E. HOICKA,
University of Victoria,
MATTHEW FOSS, Canadian
Council for Aboriginal
Business
The Conversation
There are over 50,000 Indige-
nous businesses in Canada today.
According to the 2020 census,
the Indigenous economy gener-
ated a gross domestic product of
$48.9 billion dollars. A growing
number of First Nations, Inuit
and Métis communities are es-
tablishing economic develop-
ment corporations (EDCs), of
which many are involved in the
renewable energy sector.
Indigenous EDCs exist across a
range of industries such as retail,
forestry, fisheries, energy, min-
ing, construction and hospitality.
They have the potential to be ma-
jor drivers for economic growth in
Indigenous communities.
The role of Indigenous EDCs
in the renewable energy sector
has so far been unclear. Can-
ada’s energy industry is re-
sponsible for 80 per cent of the
country’s greenhouse gas emis-
sions. Increasing renewable en-
ergy production is an important
part of reducing emissions.
Today, Indigenous communi-
ties are involved in hundreds of
large renewable energy projects
and thousands of small ones.
Renewable energy
With support from communi-
ty members and the band coun-
cil, an Indigenous community
can establish an EDC as a sep-
arate for-profit business entity
to engage in commercial oppor-
tunities on its behalf. As a busi-
ness, the EDC may enter into
partnerships and joint ventures,
including owning renewable en-
ergy projects. Unlike other busi-
nesses, the community’s mem-
bers are the only shareholder.
That means the EDC is respon-
sible to the community and its
board of directors.
Our research offers new find-
ings about the role of Indige-
nous EDCs in supporting the
development of renewable en-
ergy projects and how this links
to socioeconomic benefits for
communities.
In partnership with the Ca-
nadian Council for Aboriginal
Business, we surveyed and in-
terviewed eight representatives
of First Nation EDCs with ac-
tive renewable energy projects.
Through online desk research
and the survey and interview re-
sults, we were able to provide an
overview of First Nation com-
munities and EDC involvement
in the renewable energy sector.
Indigenous communities can
be involved in renewable ener-
gy projects in a number of ways.
The benefits of revenues can be
important to improving com-
munities’ self-determination
and economic reconciliation.
Benefits of ownership
In most projects, either the
band council or the EDC can be
involved in the project’s con-
tractual arrangements. These
arrangements correlate to the
amount of Indigenous owner-
ship in a project. For example,
communities can be equity own-
ers in projects, either as full or
partial owners, in which they re-
ceive revenues and some control
over project decision-making.
Canada News 11
When a community has little ergy projects. Our interviews rights to self-determination.
to no ownership in a project, the confirmed that not every com- Indigenous EDCs are emerg-
governance agreement between munity strives for whole own- ing as important players in re-
the Indigenous community and ership in renewable energy newable energy deployment, as
company developing it is usually projects. Communities were they are involved in ownership
a resource revenue or impact and concerned about the amount of of an increasing number of re-
benefit agreement. These types money they’d need to borrow to newable energy projects of a
of agreements typically offer less finance the projects. range of sizes. With the right
control and economic benefits Some interviewees point- support, more EDCs could be
compared to when a community ed out that the financial risk of involved in the development of
has meaningful or full ownership greater project ownership may renewable energy projects. This
shares in a project. be too high for their community could strengthen Indigenous
Scholars, and some of our to take on. Some Indigenous and self-determination and give
research participants, argue business leaders have called for communities the ability to ben-
that ownership brings greater an Indigenous loans guarantee efit from and control resource
benefits to communities than program to ensure their com- developments on their lands. ■
revenue sharing or impact and munities can access the capital
benefit agreements that tend to needed to partner in clean ener- Katarina Savic from the con-
be weaker and short-lived. gy infrastructure projects. sultancy firm Mokwateh co-au-
Although all types of gover- Ownership denotes control thored this article and led the
nance and ownership struc- over a project, which would research project.
tures will likely provide some align with the United Nations This article is republished
form of economic benefits, In- Declaration on the Rights of In- from The Conversation under a
digenous ownership in a renew- digenous People and Indigenous Creative Commons license.
able energy project offers more
control over decision-making
and community pride.
Financial risks
According to our analysis,
there are at least 294 Indigenous
EDCs operating in Canada. In
our study, we learned that up to
26 EDCs are involved in 47 solar,
wind, biomass and hydroelectric
projects that range in size from
0.5 to 230 megawatts. We also
found that Indigenous EDCs
more often tend to be involved
in ownership of projects, such as
partnerships and joint ventures,
whereas the Band Council is
more often involved in political
governance structures such as
resource-sharing agreements.
Despite the stronger bene-
fits of ownership, our findings
show Indigenous communities
own few large renewable en-
www.canadianinquirer.net
12
Canada’s Online News Act may let
Meta and Google decide the winners
and losers in the media industry
BY DIANA BOSSIO,
Swinburne University of
Technology
The Conversation
The Online News Act, Bill
C-18, was barely a few hours
old when Meta announced it
will soon start blocking Canadi-
ans from accessing and sharing
news on Facebook, Instagram
and all of its platforms.
The act is meant to change
the way journalism in Canada is
funded by requiring tech giants
like Meta and Google to bar-
gain with Canadian media busi-
nesses for using news content
on their platforms. The Par-
liamentary Budget Office has
estimated news organizations
could share a total compensa-
tion of $329 million annually.
But Meta explained its de-
cision to block news by saying
journalism content contributes
a pittance to the company’s an-
nual earnings — and so it would
be easier to pull news altogether
than comply with the legislation.
The Online News act was
modelled on Australia’s News
Media Bargaining Code
(NMBC), legislation that was
the first to compel Meta and
Google to pay for third-party
news content on their sites.
Since the NMBC was passed
in 2021, other countries, in-
cluding the United Kingdom,
the United States, South Africa
and Brazil, have considered im-
posing similar laws.
But it looks as though Cana-
da will be the first to succeed in
implementing legislation that
Ottawa says will “improve” on
the Australian code.
Meta’s predictable response
For Australians watching the
legislation proceed through the
Canadian Parliament, Meta’s
actions seem to signal a case of
history repeating.
Meta acted in much the same
way while the NMBC was being
debated, blocking Australians
from accessing or posting news
content. The ban included links
to both Australian and interna-
tional news publications — and
Canada News
even charities, emergency ser-
vices and Australian govern-
ment Facebook pages, such as
the Bureau of Meteorology.
The move was a highly public
attempt to force changes to the
Australian legislation to avoid be-
ing “designated” in the legislation,
which would name the platforms
forced to negotiate with news or-
ganizations under the code.
The stunt was largely suc-
cessful — the government made
the concessions and effectively
watered down the law.
The Australian media indus-
try is now feeling the effects of
that decision.
The Australian NMBC one
year on
Late last year, the Australian
Federal Treasury completed the
first review of the NMBC and po-
sitioned the legislation as a suc-
cess. In a lot of ways, it was. There
were 34 deals made amounting
to more than AU$200 million
across the media sector, which
represents about 61 per cent of
the market being covered by at
least one deal.
There was, however, a signifi-
cant difference between Google
and Meta when it came to the
deals made. Meta only made
deals with 13 media organiza-
tions, whereas Google secured
about 23 deals.
I was part of an Australian re-
search team that wanted to un-
derstand how Google and Meta
were able to have such different
responses to the code. We ex-
amined policy documents and
interviewed news media exec-
utives about their experience of
negotiating with the platforms.
What we found wasn’t all
good news for journalism.
Lack of transparency un-
der the NMBC
Some of the news executives
of smaller organizations said
lack of transparency around the
funding led to an unintended
shift. The market imbalance be-
tween media organizations and
platforms was now felt much
more among the media organi-
zations themselves.
Commercial confidence pro-
visions in the legislation means
news organizations and plat-
forms are not required to report
how much money they received,
how they invested the money
they received or whether that
investment aligned with the
NMBC’s policy aim of support-
ing public interest journalism.
Most interviewees who se-
cured larger deals did not want
to see transparency about the
amounts of money secured be-
cause they considered that infor-
mation commercially sensitive.
But lack of transparency
around the type and amount
of funding effectively meant
smaller, independent organi-
zations competing for market
share in a highly concentrated
Australian media ecosystem
were losing talent and invest-
ment. They were going to the
larger media groups that were
likely to have been given more
funding under the code.
Misha Ketchell, editor of The
Conversation Australia, said
more transparency might have
improved the “information
asymmetry” between larger
corporations and smaller inde-
pendent organizations.
“We had no idea, and we struck
a deal for a very modest amount of
money,” Ketchell said. “We were
really at a huge disadvantage.”
Ketchell told us his organi-
zation only got enough mon-
ey to hire one new journalist,
and that another newsroom
www.canadianinquirer.net
poached one of their key staff
because the other company
used the funding it secured un-
der the NMBC to offer a salary
above the usual market rate.
Platforms opting out of
NMBC negotiation
This impact was compounded
by a second issue — the removal
of “designation” in the code. That
meant that regardless of whether
a news organization was eligible
under the code, there was no re-
quirement that a platform nego-
tiate with the organization.
As Nick Shelton, publisher
of lifestyle-focused Broadsheet
Media, argued:
“The platforms are the ones who
are in a position to determine who
they deal with … . So all of a sudden
you have Google and Meta, huge
multinational businesses, deciding
the winners and losers of the Aus-
tralian media industry.”
Platforms could refuse to
negotiate with organizations
they deemed ineligible as pub-
lic-interest journalism or al-
ternatively, to remunerate or-
ganizations they had a business
interest in supporting. Our in-
terview participants suggested
both scenarios had occurred.
Lastly, our interviews also
showed that platforms were
also able to push for individual
deals that aligned with their own
business priorities for news on
the platform. This impacted the
kinds of journalism being invest-
JUNE 30, 2023 FRIDAY
ed in, and reliance on particular
forms of funding to pay for it.
Some interviewees claimed
the platforms were pushing
media organizations toward
more grant-based funding and
other specific programs offered
by the tech companies — such
as Google News Showcase — to
avoid negotiating individual
deals under the code.
Others interviewed indicated
that deals were framed around
investment in particular types
of content according to needs of
the platform, such as the Goo-
gle News Initiative, rather than
being paid for news content
published on the platforms.
What does this mean for
Canadians?
There are valuable lessons to
be learned from the framing of
the Australian code.
Lack of transparency and
designation means the tech
platforms have been able to
act in the best interests of their
own business priorities, rather
than in the interest of the code’s
stated aim of supporting pub-
lic-interest journalism.
Canadians should consider
how much influence platforms
already have and how much they
might seek to gain once the On-
line News Act comes into effect. ■
This article is republished
from The Conversation under a
Creative Commons license.
FRIDAY JUNE 30, 2023
Putin’s Ukraine war keeps yielding
dividends – but not for him
BY RONALD SUNY,
University of Michigan
The Conversation
Whether or not the Ukraine
cBy Ronald Suny, University of
Michigan, The Conversation on
June 27, 2023
On June 23, 2023, 16 months
into Russia’s war with Ukraine,
Yevgeny Prigozhin, leader of
Russia’s now disbanded potent
mercenary fighting force and
a protégé of Russian President
Vladimir, turned his troops on
the Russian military and, osten-
sibly, the Kremlin itself.
Within 24 hours, though, Pri-
gozhin had aborted his march
to Moscow and turned his
troops around. But the damage
to Putin’s strongman image and
possibly his plans to subjugate
Ukraine by force had been done.
From invasion to mutiny
The war that Putin launched
against Ukraine on Feb. 24,
2022, was unprovoked. NATO
presented no immediate threat
to Russia. Yet, Putin and his
closest advisers believed that
a Western-armed-and-allied
Ukraine presented an existen-
tial threat to Russia’s great pow-
er ambitions. And while Ukraine
was not yet in NATO, Putin felt
NATO was already in Ukraine.
As most pundits and analysts
in the West repeatedly state,
Putin’s adventure failed in its
immediate goal – to overthrow
the government in Kyiv and es-
tablish some form of Russian
control of this huge neighbor.
Instead, Putin achieved ev-
erything that he did not desire: a
strong, unified NATO response
in defense of Ukraine; a coher-
ent, nationally conscious, fiercely
anti-Russian Ukrainian response
to the invasion; and the cata-
strophic loss of Russian men and
material. Were it not for the Wag-
ner Group, led by one-time Putin
confidant Prigozhin, Russia like-
ly would not have even achieved
World News
its major 2023 battlefield victory
over the city of Bakhmut.
Now, a weekend mutiny by
Prigozhin and his mercenary
force has further complicat-
ed Putin’s pursuit of the war.
He looks weaker, and the most
competent fighting force in
Russia’s aggression against
Ukraine is no longer in exis-
tence to prosecute the war.
Putin – Ukraine’s unlikely
unifier
Putin proved to be the great-
est contributor to Ukrainian na-
tionalism since the 19th-century
Ukrainian bard Taras Shevchen-
ko. And just as the Russian leader
has, in important ways, strength-
ened Ukraine, he has weakened
his own country. Soon after he in-
vaded Ukraine, hundreds of thou-
sands of Russians from different
walks of life began to leave Russia.
With the mass exodus, the
Kremlin had to shift from per-
suasion to censorship, false
narratives and greater coercion
and repression to keep the pub-
lic from opposing the war.
The brittle, fractured nature of
the Russian state was made stark-
ly evident between June 23 and
June 24, 2023, when Prigozhin,
formerly the Kremlin’s caterer,
mutinied and began a march on
Moscow to replace the leadership
of the regular Russian army.
In the weeks before the mu-
tiny, Prigozhin had become
increasingly vocal about his
dissatisfaction with Russia’s
military leadership and how it
was running the war.
The attempted coup fizzled,
though, within a day. After a
fierce speech by Putin calling
the mutineers traitors to the
fatherland and promising harsh
punishment, Prigozhin fold-
ed and agreed to go into exile
in Belarus. Moscow promised
not to retaliate further, and a
bloody civil war was avoided.
Cracks in the Russian state
Many geopolitical pundits
in the West asserted that Putin
had been weakened by the mu-
tiny. U.S. Secretary of State Ant-
ony Blinken noted the cracks in
the Russian state but hesitat-
ed to predict what the future
held. The U.S. government held
back from commenting further,
not wanting to be associated
with any connection to what
had transpired in Russia. But
I believe it is also possible that
some may see Putin as a shrewd
mediator who prevented Rus-
sian-against-Russian blood-
shed. He cannot be counted out.
In such a murky and fast-mov-
ing sequence of coup and col-
lapse, I believe the U.S. govern-
ment must carefully calculate
its own interests and attempt to
scope out what might transpire
in Russia in the near future. If
Putin were no longer in power,
the war in Ukraine could end,
though probably with the de
facto retention of Crimea with-
in Russia because it is a special
case. Taken by Catherine the
Great from the Ottomans and
local Tatars, Crimea was part of
Russia until Soviet leader Nikita
Khrushchev gave it to Ukraine
in 1954. Russians consider this
an ancient patrimony of Russia,
and any Russian government
would be hard put to give the
peninsula back to Ukraine.
Although seldom openly stat-
ed, U.S. goals have recently con-
sisted of regime change in Mos-
cow and a weaker Russia, which
by its very size and geopolitical
location remains a security
threat to Europe and former So-
viet states. Putin has managed
to make Russia an internation-
al pariah, and it is difficult to
imagine a secure international
system that would include the
current Russian regime.
US and NATO committed
to Ukrainian victory
The United States and NATO
are committed to a Ukrainian
victory in the war and are will-
ing to pay for it materially. Many
leaders in the NATO alliance
www.canadianinquirer.net
believe the sacrifices that Ukrai-
nians have made for their inde-
pendence and sovereignty will be
rewarded with a major role in the
security structure of the post-war
European order. Whether that
will mean formal membership in
NATO is yet to be negotiated.
What has to be decided in the
strategic calculations for a post-
war settlement is how to man-
age Ukraine’s relationship with
Russia. A return to the earlier
agreed-upon Minsk II agreement
– a neutral Ukraine and a federal
relationship with the Donbas
– seems impossible, though it
would probably be acceptable to
Moscow, if not to Kyiv.
If Russia is to retreat from
much of its occupied territo-
ry in Ukraine, would it then be
treated as the loser in the war,
which the Kremlin may not ac-
cept? Would Russia be forced
to pay reparations for the dam-
age it has done to Ukraine? In
my view, that would certainly
be morally justified but not en-
forceable without a total defeat
of the aggressor. And Russia’s
nuclear arsenal certainly com-
plicates any equation. There
is no way to know whether a
defeated, humiliated Russia
would be willing to turn to nu-
clear weapons as a last resort.
President of Russia Vladimir Putin during a meeting with Russian Foreign Minis-
ter Sergei Lavrov. (KREMLIN.RU, CC BY 4.0)
13
From mutiny there may be
resolution
From my perspective, there
is a utopian solution, sensible if
difficult to achieve.
With Russia weakened by the
Prigozhin mutiny, Putin may be
willing to rethink continuation of
the war. An immediate cease-fire
could be declared as a first step
toward negotiations and a com-
promise that could end the war.
From Ukraine’s perspective,
a possible compromise might
include removal of all Russian
forces from Ukraine, with the
exception of Crimea; reparations
by Russia for damage done to the
country; and a commitment from
the West to help rebuild Ukraine.
Russia may want internation-
al guarantees that Ukraine will
not join NATO, but would be
free to become a member of the
European Union, and the begin-
ning of talks focusing on a new
international security structure.
That structure would bring Rus-
sia, China and India, as well as
other countries, into some form
of cooperative system guaran-
teeing the sovereignty and terri-
torial integrity of all states. ■
This article is republished
from The Conversation under a
Creative Commons license.
 14
Many people think it’s impossible to be
LGBTQ+ and religious – this ‘homosecularism’
is dangerous for asylum seekers
BY DIEGO GARCIA
RODRIGUEZ, University of
Nottingham
The Conversation
The UK government’s plan
to send refugees and asylum
seekers to Rwanda has been
controversial from the start.
For LGBTQ+ people seeking
asylum in the UK, it remains a
frightening prospect.
The government has insisted
that Rwanda is a safe place for
refugees. Yet evidence indicates
that persecution based on sexu-
ality is a common occurrence in
the country.
Last year, the charity Free-
dom from Torture submitted a
pre-action letter to the Home
Office, raising concerns about
the safety of LGBTQ+ asylum
seekers who could be sent there
under the policy.
Persecution due to sexuality
is a common reason why peo-
ple seek asylum. Data shows
that almost 11,000 people
sought asylum in the UK on the
grounds of their sexual orienta-
tion between 2015 and 2021.
Several charities are support-
ing LGBTQ+ Rwandans who
have sought refuge in the UK,
and I’ve spoken with activists
in the field of LGBTQ+ asylum
as part of my ongoing research.
The Home Office has long
had a reputation for rejecting
LGBTQ+ claimants. One factor
influencing this is “homose-
cularism”: the misguided be-
lief that lesbian, gay, bisexual,
transgender and queer people
are at odds with religion.
Expressing a particular faith
in an asylum application is
not an automatic barrier to an
LGBTQ+ person’s claims be-
ing accepted. But asylum seek-
ers describing persecution on
Herbosa eyes advisory..
❰❰ 4 an “Act Establishing
Nursing Scholarship
and Return Service
Program for Deserving Stu-
World News
grounds of their sexuality have
reported that Home Office of-
ficials asked them questions
about whether they had re-
nounced or struggled with their
faith, and expressed suspicion
that applicants could be both
religious and LGBTQ+.
Caught between identities
In my ongoing research, I
have come across cases of gay,
devout Muslim men who, as an
activist described, are “striving
to provide convincing evidence
of their sexuality” when ap-
pealing UK asylum rejections.
Another activist told me:
Many gay Muslims are pre-
tending to not be religious be-
cause of the fear of having their
applications rejected.
Research by Rainbow Migra-
tion found that asylum refusal
letters have explicitly referenced
applicants’ religious affiliations.
One claimant was told that they
had not provided a reasonable
explanation as to why they “con-
tinued to practice Islam knowing
full well that homosexuality is
not permitted in the religion”.
This scrutiny can make some
asylum seekers feel marginal-
ised, invalidating both their sex-
uality and their religious identity.
They feel they are not “LGBTQ+
enough” for the Home Office
when expressing a religious
identity, while also not being
“authentically religious” enough
for faith communities because of
their gender and sexuality. This
has led some to experience de-
pression, anxiety and trauma.
When contacted for com-
ment, a Home Office spokesper-
son said:
The UK can be rightly proud of
its record in providing protection
to individuals fleeing persecution
based on their sexual orientation
or gender identity. Individuals
claiming to be at risk of persecu-
dents” in December last year.
Under the bill, a student will
be required to serve one and a
half years for every academic
tion on the grounds of their sex-
ual orientation are, however, ex-
pected to be able to satisfy us that
they are, or are perceived to be, of
the orientation in question.
Research shows that the gen-
eral LGBTQ+ asylum seeker
population struggles with men-
tal health, but less is known
about the unique struggles
faced by those who are both re-
ligious and LGBTQ+.
A member of Spectrum
Rainbow, an organisation that
supports LGBTQ+ refugees in
Doncaster, described the case
of a gay religious asylum seeker
who, after escaping homopho-
bic violence in his country, was
given refugee status in the UK.
He ended up working among
conservative members of his
Kurdish community, leading
him to return to the closet and
struggle with his mental health.
The activist explained:
He went through some very, very
hard mental health issues, depres-
sion and anxiety, where it got to a
point that he committed suicide.
Faith empowering LGBTQ+
people
Homosecularism stems from
longstanding tensions between
established religions and the
LGBTQ+ community, a dynam-
ic that continues to today.
Historically, conservative
interpretations of various re-
ligious doctrines have vilified
queer people. At the same time,
many LGBTQ+ rights move-
ments have secular roots, and
have challenged conservative
religious institutions to advance
their cause. We are left with the
misconception that LGBTQ+
people must necessarily dis-
tance themselves from religion.
However, many LGBTQ+ peo-
ple maintain strong religious
faith and convictions, and navi-
gate complex relationships be-
year of scholarship availed in his
or her province or municipality
hospital or provider as deter-
mined by the local government
www.canadianinquirer.net
tween these identities. From the
world’s largest Muslim popula-
tion in Indonesia to the Metro-
politan Community Church of
North London, queer people en-
gage with their spirituality and
find it empowering. Key figures
in gay liberation such as Mar-
sha P. Johnson and Sylvia Rive-
ra remained devoutly Christian
throughout their lives.
An asylum seeker in the
UK, supported by the queer
faith group House of Rainbow,
shared how, regardless of the
hatred and fear he had expe-
rienced for being gay, he now
believes that “God adores and
loves him”. Another, who expe-
rienced violence in the name of
religion in his country of origin,
has found positive ways to prac-
tise his faith, after a lifetime of
being unable to think of himself
as a religious person.
Still, many struggle to find
spaces where they can worship.
In a recent discussion with
members of Spectrum Rain-
bow, a gay asylum seeker noted
they often face exclusion from
cultural and religious gather-
unit and confirmed by the DOH.
“Through this measure, we
hope to help deserving students
while also ensuring an adequate
JUNE 30, 2023 FRIDAY
ings in the UK because of their
gender and sexuality. Another
participant, a Christian lesbian
asylum seeker, said:
There are certain places I can-
not go to … and most of the time you
end up staying home. You don’t go
to church because you’re afraid of
what people might say about you.
Another person added that
they faced obstacles trying to
access religious spaces:
You can’t be both gay and Mus-
lim. You have to be one or the other.
Homosecularism affects not
only the asylum process, but
also the wellbeing of religious
LGBTQ+ refugees even after
they’ve been granted asylum. As
the UK’s asylum policies become
stricter, immigration officials
must be better trained to recog-
nise the diverse experiences of
LGBTQ+ asylum seekers. The
biases of homosecularism should
not be the reason to dismiss valid
asylum claims and return vulner-
able people to danger. ■
This article is republished
from The Conversation under a
Creative Commons license.
supply of nurses in the coun-
try,” he said. (With reports from
Filane Mikee Cervantes, Zaldy
De Layola/PNA) ■
FRIDAY JUNE 30, 2023
History repeats itself: The Titan submersible
implosion mirrors past disasters
BY ROB RONDEAU, Simon
Fraser University
The Conversation
The search for OceanGate’s
lost Titan submersible capti-
vated the world last week. Fol-
lowing the news that the sub
had imploded on June 18 while
descending to see the wreck of
the Titanic, focus has now shift-
ed to how the event happened.
Like many, I was saddened
by the loss of the five people on
board Titan. It was terrible news
and a terrible loss. But it’s a loss
we now know was preventable.
As someone who has spent their
career studying shipwrecks,
crew and passenger safety
should always come first.
Stockton Rush, the CEO of
OceanGate Expeditions who
oversaw the design and con-
struction of Titan, dismissed
safety warnings about the sub
as “baseless.” According to film
director and deep-sea explorer
James Cameron, members of
the deep-diving community had
long warned OceanGate about
flaws in the Titan’s design.
The Titan disaster is remi-
niscent of a historic naval trag-
edy — the very same one the sub
was heading towards during its
ill-fated dive.
Tunnel vision
Like Edward Smith, the cap-
tain of Titanic, Rush also went
down with his ship. And, as Cam-
eron noted, both disasters could
have been prevented if only each
captain had heeded the warn-
ings they received beforehand.
Smith disregarded telegrams
from other ships earlier in the
day warning about icebergs
ahead. Instead of slowing his
LGUs urged to..
❰❰ 4 the necessary tools to
crack down hard on
nefarious groups that
have used SIMs in their cyber-
crimes,” Villafuerte said.
He said a highly successful
registration drive would give a
tremendous boost to the gov-
ernment’s drive to crack down
ship, he ordered full steam
ahead, ultimately causing the
loss of more than 1,500 lives.
In Rush’s case, he disregard-
ed his company’s director of
marine operations who pointed
out serious flaws in the Titan’s
construction. Rush’s response
was to fire him.
Rush also disregarded industry
experts and the members of the
deep sea diving community, say-
ing their safety regulations were
too strict and stifled innovation.
The Titan disaster is also akin
to a second historical disaster,
the loss of British explorer Rob-
ert Falcon Scott. Scott died a
month before the Titanic sank
trying to be the first person
to reach the South Pole. Like
Scott, Rush’s expedition was ill-
equipped and poorly managed,
and he failed to listen to more
experienced explorers.
The Titan’s fatal flaw
The Titan wasn’t designed
like other deep sea submers-
ibles. Most subs consist of a
titanium sphere in which the
crew sits. The sphere’s shape
evenly distributes the ambient
pressure applied to it as the
submersible dives.
Size and shape matter under-
water. The more people inside,
the bigger the sphere needs to be.
Most submersibles can house up
to three people: a pilot and two
passengers. The Russian sub-
mersibles, Mir I and Mir II, that
Cameron used to make the movie
Titanic, were of this type.
Rush figured he could build a
five-person submersible by cut-
ting a sphere in half and con-
necting both halves with a tube.
Instead of using titanium, he
used thin layers of carbon fibre
sandwiched together — like a
hard on cyber criminals, no-
tably those committing cellu-
lar fraud like text scams and
identity theft leading to unau-
thorized online payments and
bank withdrawals.
“A highly successful registra-
tion of SIMs by July 25 is much
desired, as such will make it eas-
surfboard, only stronger.
In addition to making the
submersible bigger inside, car-
bon fibre also made the sub-
mersible lighter. If Rush had
used steel, the submersible
would have been too heavy.
The pressure hull of a sub-
mersible contracts when it
dives and expands on its return
to the surface. Titanium with-
stands this process much better
than carbon fibre, especially af-
ter many dives.
Because Rush had never
strength-tested the submers-
ible’s pressure hull, he had no
way of knowing how its carbon
fibre walls would hold up. The
walls were able to withstand the
two previous dives to the wreck
of Titanic. They did not survive
the third.
Investigations into the disaster
As with the Titanic, there
are now ongoing investigations
into the Titan sub disaster. Both
the U.S. Coast Guard and the
Transportation Safety Board of
ier for our authorities and/or
PTEs to trace persons behind text
scams—and hold them account-
able for breach of privacy along
with cellphone-based fraud and
other punishable offenses they
have been able to perpetrate by
using unknown or unregistered
cellphone numbers,” he said.
www.canadianinquirer.net
World News
Canada have announced their
own investigations.
Rush wasn’t the only partici-
pant in this disaster. While not
necessarily culpable for the disas-
ter, anyone else involved will be
able to provide authorities with
information to help them under-
stand the sequence of events that
led up to the implosion.
While the Titan submersible
was owned and operated by an
American company, the ship
that took the submersible out
to the Titanic wreck site was
Canadian. The Polar Prince will
be able to provide investigators
with vital information.
The Government of Cana-
da will likely work closely with
the United States, as it did in
1995 when negotiations began
between the two countries to
safeguard Titanic by introduc-
ing laws to prevent the wreck
site from being looted.
The formalized agreement,
which includes the United
States, Canada, the United
Villafuerte, however, recog-
nized DICT’s achievement for
reaching its “soft target” of 100
million with a month left before
the deadline.
Signed into law by President
Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. on Oct.
10, 2022, RA 11934 originally
set a three-month mandatory
15
Kingdom and France came into
effect in 2019.
Preventing future disasters
Recommendations about
how to avoid future disasters
are forthcoming. Some have al-
ready been offered up. Charles
Haas, the president of the Ti-
tanic Historical Society, said
the wreck of the Titanic should
now be declared off-limits to
tourist submersibles.
While I understand and con-
cur with his view, the issue isn’t
so much about who dives to the
Titanic, but how they get there.
Diving should not happen un-
less crew and passenger safety
is paramount.
While Rush was focused on
his submersible’s flawed design,
he overlooked the biggest rule
of all: Keep your crew safe. In
his blind quest for innovation,
he failed to prioritize the safety
of himself and his passengers.
As I wrote more than a de-
cade ago, “the public’s lust for all
things Titanic isn’t likely to die
down any time soon.” The Titan-
ic tourism industry is a lucrative
business. But the bottom line re-
mains: If anyone is to dive to the
wreck they need to do so safely.
No one’s life is worth the risk.
The way forward is more
oversight. At present, regu-
lating deep-sea exploration in
international waters is chal-
lenging. But there is a possibil-
ity for governing bodies like the
United Nations International
Maritime Organization to take
action to prevent future disas-
ters like this from occurring. ■
This article is republished
from The Conversation under a
Creative Commons license.
registration of SIMs from Dec.
27, 2022 to April 26, 2023.
However, the low turnout
in certain places subsequently
prompted the DICT to extend
the registration deadline by an-
other three months to July 25,
as allowed by this law. ■
16 World News JUNE 30, 2023 FRIDAY

UN drug report shows CBCP backs calls..

sharp rise in users

ANADOLU
Philippine News Agency
GENEVA – The global num-
ber of drug users has increased
by nearly a quarter within a de-
cade, according to a UN report.
The United Nations Office on
Drugs and Crime (UNODC) in
Vienna also expressed concern
about the spread of synthetic
drugs and trouble spots such as
Ukraine and Afghanistan in its
annual report released Sunday.
In 2011-2021, the estimated
number of people turning to
drugs rose from 240 million to
296 million -- a rise of 23 percent.
According to the UN agency,
only about half of this increase is
due to growth in the global pop-
ulation. The number of people
with drug addictions or diseases
increased by 45 percent to 39.5
million during that period.
The UNODC warned about
the proliferation of chemical
drugs such as methamphet-
amine, amphetamine, fentanyl,
and also the many newly devel-
oped substances on the market.
“The production of synthetic
drugs is cheap, easy, and fast,” it said.
This highly flexible sector of
the narcotics business is more
difficult for authorities to track
down because, unlike cocaine
and heroin, for example, it is
not tied to specific growing ar-
eas and growth cycles.
UNODC is therefore moni-
toring the situation in Ukraine
in particular, where 79 amphet-
amine laboratories, the highest
number in the world, had been
shut down by authorities in the
year before the war began.
Since the Russian invasion in
early 2022, the number of syn-
thetic drug seizures in Ukraine
has increased, while the market
for such substances in neigh-
boring countries has grown,
UNODC Chief Analyst Angela
Me reported.
“This is a danger that we see as a
consequence of the war,” she said.
In Afghanistan, UNODC has
observed signs of a decline in
opium production under Tali-
ban rule. However, UN drug ex-
perts pointed out that Afghan-
istan is not only the world’s
top exporter of opium, a her-
oin commodity, but has also
become a major producer of
methamphetamine.
The UN drug watchdogs are
also concerned about the contin-
ued growth of the cocaine market.
“In the global cocaine mar-
ket, we are seeing a spiral where
demand leads to more supply,
and supply leads to more de-
mand,” Me said.
A record 2,300 metric tons of
cocaine was produced in 2021,
he said.
However, opioids -- natural opi-
ates and their artificial variants --
and cannabis continue to account
for most cases of addiction and dis-
ease, according to UNODC.
Nearly 70 percent of the
128,000 drug deaths in 2019 had
used opioids, the report said. ■
❰❰ 6 Widodo to review Ve-
loso’s case.
Her family renewed
calls for her release due to
health problems while in jail.
Veloso’s family disclosed that
she has been suffering from a
persistent cough while doctors
diagnosed that her ovarian cyst
has recurred.
House bill protecting..
❰❰ 3 cord or history.
To ensure the effec-
tiveness of the system,
the bill mandates close moni-
toring by barangay officials and
the Department of Social Wel-
fare and Development (DSWD).
This provision aims to assess
the children’s well-being, de-
tect any signs of dysfunction or
threats they may face, and re-
port such concerns to relevant
authorities for timely and ap-
propriate interventions.
She said the role of barangay
officials and the DSWD is to en-
sure that all parties fulfill their
The Department of Migrant
Workers said it is closely coor-
dinating with the Department
of Foreign Affairs and the Phil-
ippine Embassy in Jakarta to
ensure that Veloso is getting
proper medical attention. ■
responsibilities diligently, with
appropriate sanctions in cases
of neglect or non-compliance.
“No matter the circum-
stance, every child has the right
to be protected from violence,
exploitation, and abuse. Above
all, protecting children means
protecting their physical, men-
tal, and psychosocial needs to
safeguard their future. And that
is the primordial duty of re-
sponsible parenting, with more
reason for those who work
abroad and leave their children
behind,” she said. ■

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FRIDAY JUNE 30, 2023 17

Rechie Aileen Valdez: A Woman

of Power and Great Substance
BY MATTE LAUREL-ZALKO
I can’t stress enough how
much our world needs strong
women. A tribe of strong women
creates a better world for every-
one to live in. Women who pos-
sess inner strength help com-
munities overcome a variety of
challenges such as stereotyping,
harassment, and inequality.
Strong women contribute sig-
nificantly to our society by em-
powering and inspiring others
to better themselves and thus,
help build a thriving world.
Throughout centuries, un-
stoppable and strong women
have left indelible marks for
others to follow. These powerful
women helped shape the world
and brought positive social
change that cemented their leg-
acy in history. Women of power
such as Queen Elizabeth 1 and 2,
Jane Austen, Marie Curie, Ada
sion show Fearlessly Creative
on Filipino TV. Outside busi-
ness and politics, Rechie plays
basketball as a hobby, where she
once held a basketball fundrais-
ing activity for Montreal Chil-
dren’s Hospital and SickKids in
Toronto. She truly is passionate
about making a huge difference
and impact on our society by
helping people on a daily basis.
THE BAKING ENTREPRE-
NEUR AND TELEVISION PER-
SONALITY
As mentioned above and be-
fore becoming Canada’s first
Filipina woman MP for Missis-
sauga, Rechie owned a baking
business and competed in The
Big Bake; she also hosted and
produced Fearlessly Creative
on a Filipino TV channel.
Rechie shares a brief back-
ground on how she became an
entrepreneur, “My entrepreneur
career began when I baked my
daughter’s first birthday cake.
share what it’s like to transition
from the private sector to public
service, “With my experience as a
small business entrepreneur, it al-
lowed me to connect with people, cre-
ate events that brought community
together which were predominantly
focused on women entrepreneurs,
gender equity in sports, and in busi-
ness development. It’s through these
events that inspired me to run for
public office so that I can continue to
serve the community and help bring
the community together.”
Why did you choose to be a part
of the Liberal Party? What moti-
vated you to step up and become
an MP? Rechie divulges, “I chose
to be a part of the Liberal Party
of Canada because it is a party
which is aligned to my core values
and who I am as a person. I was
motivated to serve as a Member of
Parliament because it created an
opportunity for stronger represen-
tation in the House of Commons.
As the first Filipino woman Mem- Ms. Rechie Aileen Valdez (SUPPLIED PHOTO)

Lovelace, Margaret Thatcher,
Indira Gandhi, Golda Meir, and
the list goes on, changed the
state of affairs and definitely
paved the way for other wom-
en to have their turn in helping
make a crack at the glass ceiling.
One truly remarkable strong
woman of Filipino descent, Re-
chie Aileen Valdez is definitely
bringing her positive influence
and changing Canada for the
better as a public servant and
following the footsteps of power-
ful women in politics before her.
Rechie is not just any politician,
she is the first Filipina Canadi-
an woman, and second Filipino
Canadian after former Manitoba
Liberal MP Rey Pagtakhan, to
be elected as a Member of Par-
liament in Canada. Rechie was
elected to the House of Commons
of Canada in the 2021 federal elec-
tion representing Mississauga—
Streetsville as a member of the
Liberal Party of Canada.
Rechie is also a successful
entrepreneur and television
personality, spending a few
years both in the financial sec-
tor and the food industry prior
to becoming a public servant.
She owned a baking business,
had competed in The Big Bake
on Food Network Canada, and
hosted and produced a televi-
Baking her first birthday cake al-
lowed me to discover my creative
passion in baking. That is when
my first business was born where
I specialised in birthday cakes,
dessert tables and eventually
became a published baker and I
even appeared and competed on
the Food Network’s the Big Bake.”
When asked what was the most
significant barrier in her career
when she was in the private sector,
Rechie answers, “I had challenges
moving up the corporate ladder be-
cause I faced stereotypes that were
embedded in some of my colleagues,
and I, myself, had to chart my own
path in a leadership role since there
were not any others before me that I
could seek guidance from.”
With regard to who inspired
her to be an entrepreneur, Rechie
says, “It wasn’t a specific individu-
al that inspired me as an entrepre-
neur, it was actually the creative
journey itself in self-discovery that
motivated me. For example, I en-
joyed the challenge of bringing my
customers’ vision to life for each or-
der. It pushed me to bake desserts,
practise new baking techniques,
build my customer base, and grow
the business each and every day.”
TRANSITIONING FROM
PRIVATE SECTOR TO PUBLIC
SERVICE
Rechie is generous enough to
ber of Parliament, I have the hon-
our of serving 118,000 constituents
in my riding, as well as the 970,000
Filipino-Canadians in Canada.”
Once again, I had to ask her: who
inspired you to be a politician and
why? Rechie answers, “While grow-
ing up, politics was not something
I was actively engaged in. When I
decided to run in the 2021 election,
I drew inspiration from my family,
friends, colleagues, and community.”
When asked how to describe her
leadership style and how she leads
her constituents, Rechie shares,
“My leadership style is based on ef-
fective and timely communication.
I work towards instilling a culture
of trust amongst my team. I also try
to find ways to enjoy the experience
with my team and have fun.”
I was curious to know if her lead-
ership style is different from her
male counterparts? Rechie says,
“My leadership style is very different
from my male counterparts. I create
a work environment and workplace
where you can be who you are, and
I emphasise the strengths of each
member of my team. I do my best to
be different, to switch things up, and
try new things every day.”
I just had to poke her further:
have you experienced resistance
when you are leading men? How
did you develop your leadership
skills? Rechie answers, “I do not
experience resistance when lead-
ing men. I developed my leadership
skills through all my life experi-
ences, learning from other leaders,
choosing and practising the best
qualities that work for me.”
LIFE AS AN ELECTED
MEMBER OF PARLIAMENT
In the Canadian political are-
na, there aren’t many elected Fil-
ipino women political figures, so
I asked Rechie what barriers do
Filipino women/public servants
face in today’s political scene in
Canada? Rechie says, “Part of it is
due to culture. Culturally, politics
is not a service that is encouraged.
That alone will prevent Filipinas
from aspiring to run in office or
serve in political capacities. As I
mentioned, representation is very
important. We need to see more
Filipinas in political or leadership
positions, to help the next gener-
ation to see what is possible. In
addition to that, we need support
systems in place to support Filipi-
no women to be set up for success.”
When asked how can women
public servants “work across the
divides” of opinions? Rechie an-
swers, “Women can accomplish
many great feats when we work
on common interests and when
we are able to get to a place where
we can hear everyone’s perspec-
tives. After listening to everyone’s
opinions, we can work together to
come up with a compromise that
can work for everyone, that still
achieves the common goal.”
In your own opinion, how
can we stop gender bias? Rechie
shares, “Education is key. Dis-
crimination, bias, and hate stem
from ignorance. The more that
we are able to educate people and
discuss the issues around gender
bias, the sooner that we can learn
how to deal with it and get better.”
With great power comes great
responsibility so I wanted to find
out how she navigated power
structures EARLY in her career
versus LATER in her career when
she had a more formal leadership
role (as an MP)? Rechie says, “I
learned about power and authority
early in my career. Over the 26 years
of experience that I’ve gained across
different industries, businesses,
and organisations, I was able to
accumulate knowledge and an un-
derstanding on how to navigate
through various situations. The key
is to learn from each experience.
Thus, when you enter your career
later in your life, it can get easier for
you, with or without any title.”
As an elected Member of the
❱❱ PAGE 28 Rechie Aileen Valdez:

www.canadianinquirer.net
18 JUNE 30, 2023 FRIDAY

Entertainment
Are the Oscars going to take
animated films more seriously?
BY ROBERT BOUCAUT,
University of Adelaide
The Conversation
“Animation is cinema. Ani-
mation is not a genre. And, an-
imation is ready to be taken to
the next step – we are all ready
for it, please help us, keep ani-
mation in the conversation.”
This was Guillermo del Toro’s
testament accepting the Acad-
emy Award for Best Animated
Feature Film in 2023 for Guiller-
mo del Toro’s Pinocchio, released
by Netflix. As one of the most ac-
claimed modern auteurs – and
one who has announced his in-
tention to stick with animation
as his preferred medium – his ac-
ceptance speech reads like a plea
directly to the academy.
Animated films at the Oscars
The Oscars have had a sto-
ried history of engaging with
animated cinema. Since 2002,
they have awarded a Best Ani-
mated Feature award, first won
by Shrek. This was a time of
technological innovations for
3D animation (think Toy Story
or A Bug’s Life), and of stand-
out A-list voice performances
(Robin Williams in Aladdin, or
Shrek’s star-studded cast).
By including animated films
as a standalone category, the
Oscars ended up segregating
them: animation was treated
as its own thing. Beauty and
the Beast broke ground as the
first-ever animated nominee
for the Best Picture Oscar in
1992, but only two films have
achieved such a feat since.
Up (2009) and Toy Story 3
(2010) were Best Picture Oscar
nominees (and Best Animated
Feature winners) of their respec-
tive years. However, such recogni-
tion only came after the academy
expanded its Best Picture cate-
gory from five nominees to up to
10. This was a concerted effort to
include more popular films in the
Oscars due to waning audience
interest, after Best Picture snubs
of The Dark Knight and WALL-E.
If animated films have had
difficulty breaking into the Os-
cars’ vision of a Best Picture,
then voice talent has been out-
right bypassed for consider-
ation in acting categories. Since
Shrek, stars have increasingly
taken on voice work for ani-
mated projects in ways that el-
evates them from a side-hustle
to key parts of their CVs.
For instance, Chris Pratt and
Anya Taylor-Joy’s promotion-
al duties for The Super Mario
Bros. Movie represent signifi-
cant time and stardom invest-
ments for the sake of animated
intellectual property.
Yet without the physical body
to observe, the Oscars have ig-
nored voice work in animated
films. The most meaningful push
to have a voice performance nom-
inated was for Scarlett Johans-
son’s in Her where she played
a computer operating system.
Johansson’s performance was
nuanced, played with chemistry
against her co-stars, and, ironical-
ly, Her was not an animated film.
Are things changing?
The Oscars this year shifted
their brand of “prestige” to val-
ue the “cinematic experience”
(and box office money) in the
age of streaming.
The sweep of Everything Ev- Everywhere All At Once’s indie imated film boasts a star-stud-
erywhere All at Once and Best cred made nominations (and ded cast, including past Oscar
Picture nominations for Top three eventual wins) for its nominees and winners like
Gun: Maverick and Avatar: The stars logical and welcome, but Daniel Kaluuya and Hailee
Way of Water in 2023 signal the even Black Panther: Wakanda Steinfeld in key supporting
academy conspicuously prais- Forever’s Angela Bassett scored roles. Shameik Moore’s lead vo-
ing populist fare for bringing a Best Supporting Actress nom- cal performance as Miles Mo-
audiences into the physical ination, the first acting recogni- rales is also exceptional. Still
cinema. This then hopefully at- tion for the Marvel Cinematic figuring out what it means to
tracts more audience eyeballs Universe. Its online fandom balance being Spider-Man with
to an Oscars telecast where was instrumental here, having a complicated home and social
they are likely to have actually opined the academy’s biases life, he sounds remarkably rec-
seen some of the nominees. against their beloved franchise. ognisable as a modern teenager.
Popular film’s infiltration of Now, Spider-Man: Across the Credit for this extends to a
the Oscars even seeped into the Spider-Verse has arrived ahead
acting categories. Everything of the 2024 Oscars race. The an- ❱❱ PAGE 22 Are the Oscars

KZ drops new song “Dito Ka Lang”

ABS-CBN
A teaser to her upcoming
“Soul Supremacy II” album
KZ Tandingan delivers a
brand new soulful love song
with “Dito Ka Lang” released
under Star Music.
She wrote and dedicated the
song to her husband, singer TJ
Monterde, when the latter was
on tour abroad while KZ stayed
in the country.
“I rarely write happy love
songs as KZ because feeling ko
dati mawawala yung pagka-as-
tig ko,” she explained. “Itong
song na ito is the first baby of
KZ as an artist embracing what
she really feels at the moment.”
“Dito Ka Lang” is also about
the overflowing love she has un-
expectedly received. She said,
“It’s about getting the love you
think you don’t deserve. Parang
feeling mo ‘ano bang ginawa ko
to deserve this kind of love?’
And I hope for everybody to ex-
perience it.”
A mix of soul, R&B, and rap
music, the song was sent to the
United States and was mixed
by Grammy winner Jackie
Boom and mastered by another
Grammy winner Jett Galindo
of The Bakery LA. Theo Martel
handled the arrangement of
the song that was produced by
ABS-CBN Music creative direc-
tor Jonathan Manalo.
Its music video, to be up-
loaded on ABS-CBN Star Music
YouTube channel, stars Kobie
Brown and Andi Abaya.
www.canadianinquirer.net
“Dito Ka Lang,” which con-
sistently trended online after it
was announced, will be the first
track featured in KZ’s upcoming
full-length album called “Soul
Supremacy II.” It follows her
hit “Soul Supremacy” album re-
leased under Star Music in 2017.
The project also comes after
the “X Factor Philippines” first
season grand winner released
two songs for the global audience,
“11:59” and “Winning.” She like-
wise graced the cover of a New
York Times Square billboard in
2021 for Spotify’s EQUAL play-
list. Recently, she served as one of
the coaches for “The Voice Kids
Philippines” season 5.
KZ’s “Dito Ka Lang” is now
available on digital streaming
platforms. For more details, fol-
low Star Music on sa Facebook,
Twitter, Instagram, Tiktok, and
YouTube.
For updates, follow @abscbn-
pr on Facebook, Twitter, Insta-
gram, and Tiktok or visit www.
abs-cbn.com/newsroom. ■
FRIDAY JUNE 30, 2023
NewFest and Netflix announce 2023
recipients of New Voices Filmmaker Grant
to support emerging LGBTQ+ Filmmakers
NETFLIX
NewFest, New York’s leading
LGBTQ+ film and media organi-
zation, today announced the re-
cipients of the 2023 New Voices
Filmmaker Grant, an initiative
in partnership with Netflix to
support emerging LGBTQ+
filmmakers. This is the second
year of this program, in which a
cohort of four filmmakers each
receive a $25,000 grant to sup-
port professional development
and create new work, and will
have access to network-build-
ing opportunities through in-
dustry events and a mentorship
track facilitated by NewFest.
The 2023 recipients of the
New Voices Filmmaker Grant
are Terrance Daye, Drew de
Pinto, Emily May Jampel,
and LaQuan Lewis.
“Now, more than ever, it is
essential to amplify LGBTQ+
voices, so we were incredibly ex-
cited by the volume and strength
of applications received,” said
NewFest Executive Director
David Hatkoff. “We saw in this
program’s first year that it has
the power to change careers
and lives, and can’t wait to see
how the 2023 recipients utilize
the resources and guided men-
torships to make an impact in
the industry. We continue to be
grateful to Netflix for their trust
and support in making this pos-
sible on such a large scale.”
“All four grant recipients sub-
mitted inspired, textured, and
auspicious short-form work
samples from a range of LGBTQ+
experiences and cinematic story-
telling techniques–from narra-
tive to innovative non-fiction to
animation,” said NewFest Direc-
tor of Programming Nick McCa-
rthy. “Yet one unifying element
is their clear perspective, confi-
dent vision, storytelling prowess,
commitment to new modes of
storytelling, and vital collective
spirit to have LGBTQ+ films be
made, seen and heard. We con-
gratulate the class of 2023 and
can’t wait to share the voices &
work of Drew, Emily, LaQuan,
and Terrance within the industry
and throughout the world—and,
above all, see what authentic
and unapologetically queer work
they create next.”
In addition to the $25,000
grant, the four recipients will
have the opportunity to con-
nect with an industry mentor
relevant to their work and en-
gage with partner organiza-
tions, industry markets, con-
sultants and leaders in the
field. The grant recipients will
also participate and have their
work showcased in events at
NewFest’s New York LGBTQ+
Film Festival, one of the largest
queer film festivals in the world.
The New Voices Filmmaker
Grant was eligible to LGBTQ+
filmmakers in America who
have not previously made a fea-
ture-length film, or have never
had a film (short, episodic, or
feature length) publicly distrib-
uted with an exclusive and com-
pensated agreement. The grant-
ees’ applications and short-form
work samples were reviewed
by grant evaluators made up of
LGBTQ+ programmers, crit-
ics, agents, community leaders,
NewFest staff, established film-
makers and industry profession-
als, and supported by NewFest’s
New Voices Filmmaker Grant
Coordinator Arno Mokros.
The final selections were decid-
ed by an external jury of film and
industry experts that consisted of
Mara Fortes (Senior Curator; Tel-
luride Film Festival), Chase Joynt
(award-winning filmmaker; No
Ordinary Man, Framing Agnes),
and Mark R. Wright (Vice Presi-
dent, Film; Higher Ground).
This partnership between
NewFest and Netflix was
formed in 2021 and is part of
Netflix’s Fund for Creative
Equity, an effort to help cre-
ate more behind-the-camera
opportunities for underrepre-
sented communities within the
TV and film industries.
Last year’s inaugural recipients
were Blanche Akonchong, Livia
Huang, Rodney Llaverías, and
Nyala Moon. Nyala Moon’s new
2023 short Dilating for Maximum
Results, which was completed
with support from the grant, re-
cently won the Grand Jury Award
at Seattle’s TRANSlations Film
Festival in May 2023.
Learn more about the New
Voices Filmmaker Grant and
keep up with the latest program
updates at https://newfest.org/
new-voices-grant/.
2023 New Voices Film-
maker Grant Recipients
TERRANCE DAYE (he/
him/his)
Terrance Daye is an award
winning poet and filmmaker
from Long Island, New York.
His creative work elevates black
queer slice-of-life and coming-
of-age dramas in nuanced ways
that are fresh, poetic and acces-
sible. Daye received his Bach-
elor’s degree from Morehouse
College and his Master’s in Fine
Arts in filmmaking at NYU Tisch
School of the Arts. Terrance is a
two-time Spike Lee Production
Fund recipient, a 2018 Sundance
Ignite Fellow, the recipient of
the 2020 NewFest Film Festival
Emerging Black LGBTQ+ Film-
maker Award and the 2020 Out-
fest Film Festival Programming
(NETFLIX)
www.canadianinquirer.net
Entertainment
Award for Emerging Talent.
His film -Ship: A Visual Poem
was awarded a Short Film Jury
Award for U.S. Fiction at the
2020 Sundance Film Festival
and the Industry Jury Award at
TheWrap’s 2020 ShortList Film
Festival. Terrance is a 2020 Sun-
dance Episodic Labs alum and
a 2023 Project Involve fellow.
Terrance has assisted director
Kyle Patrick Alvarez and written
for showrunner Mara Brock Akil
on respective new projects. His
own highly anticipated animat-
ed short film, Pritty, is currently
in development with Power-
house Animation Studios.
DREW de PINTO (they/
them/theirs)
Drew de Pinto is a director
and editor based in Queens.
Their short film Compton’s ‘22,
currently in post-production,
has been featured by Film Inde-
pendent and nominated for an
IDA award. As a teenager, Drew
was drawn to film as a way to
process feelings of gender dys-
phoria. Their work explores how
documentary and experimental
19
modes of filmmaking can build
alternative frameworks for gen-
der and other social structures
that allow us to imagine better
worlds. Drew is a graduate of
Stanford’s Documentary Film
MFA program and a member
of the Alliance of Documentary
Editors. They have worked on
projects with The New York-
er, the Democratic Socialists of
America, Kartemquin Films,
Truth & Documentary, Group
Nine Media, and more.
EMILY MAY JAMPEL
(she/her/hers)
Emily May Jampel is a film-
maker from Oʻahu based in New
York City. Her short film Lucky
Fish has played at festivals in-
cluding Palm Springs Interna-
tional Film Festival (Winner,
Young Cineastes Award, Special
Mention, Best LGBTQ+ Short),
Champs-Élysées (Winner, Audi-
ence Award), NewFest, Outfest
L.A., Frameline, Inside Out and
Short Shorts Film Festival & Asia.
Emily has curated short film pro-
grams for Metrograph and Allies
in Arts. She previously worked
as a development executive at
the Academy Award-Nominat-
ed and Peabody Award-Winning
production company The De-
partment of Motion Pictures
(Beasts of The Southern Wild,
Patti Cake$, Monsters & Men,
Philly D.A.) and was an Associate
Producer on the podcast series
OPERATOR, produced in part-
nership with Topic and Wondery.
LaQUAN LEWIS (he/him/his)
LaQuan Lewis is a queer, Black
writer/director based in Los An-
geles. Having started out as an
actor, LaQuan quickly developed
an interest in the art of filmmak-
ing. Although he couldn’t afford
proper film school, LaQuan be-
came determined to learn one
way or another and dedicated
himself to learning the funda-
mentals of filmmaking through
books and YouTube videos. In
2019 LaQuan wrote and direct-
ed his first short film Only for
The Night, about a young trans
man struggling to find someone
he authentically connects with.
❱❱ PAGE 21 NewFest and Netflix
 20
How do I insert a tampon?
BY MELISSA KANG,
University of Sydney
The Conversation
If you’ve just decided to start
using tampons and you’re finding
it tricky, you’re not alone! Lots of
young teens and first-time tam-
pon users have told me they expe-
rience “tampon trauma” – mean-
ing it hurts, won’t go in or gets
stuck coming out. But with a little
bit of practice, it’s super easy.
Tampons are safe and conve-
nient, especially if you’re going
to the beach, swimming or do-
ing something physically active.
You can’t feel a tampon once it’s
inserted properly, which is why
some people prefer tampons to
pads or period undies. Tampons
are used by millions of peo-
ple around the world. They’re
made from natural cotton, ray-
on fibre or both, and absorb flu-
id, including menstrual blood.
In Australia, tampons are clas-
sified as “medical devices” which
means they have to meet certain
safety standards. So even though
there’s a confusing array of brands
available in Australia it’s good to
know they all pass the safety test.
Just like pads and period un-
dies, tampons come with differ-
ent absorbencies, such as “mini”
or “light”, “regular” and “super”.
As you get to know your own pe-
riods and cycle, you’ll also get to
know which tampons suit you
best over the course of your peri-
od. It’s common for the first cou-
ple of days of a period to be heavi-
er, meaning you might need a
tampon with higher absorbency.
How to insert
A tampon is designed to sit
inside the vagina, right up high
against the cervix. The vagina
is a stretchy muscular tube and
has plenty of room to accom-
modate a tampon.
Artificial intelligence +..
❰❰ 9 subjective well-being.
Canada is also a
leader in AI, which
could make the user interface
Lifestyle
The vagina slopes upward and
backward, towards the spine.
A common difficulty first-time
tampon users encounter is push-
ing the tampon straight up rath-
er than slightly backwards, so it
hits the front wall of the vagina
and feels like it can’t go up any
further. The same can happen in
reverse when pulling a tampon
out – it needs to be pulled slight-
ly forward, not straight down, or
it could hit the back wall of the
vagina and feel stuck.
If you want to, you can practise
using a tampon between your pe-
riods, or when your flow is light.
Wash your hands first, then get
a mini-sized tampon and make
it slippery by putting some wa-
ter-based lubricant on it. Some
people might dab a tiny bit of
Vaseline on the tip of the tampon
instead. Vaseline shouldn’t be
put on tampons during a period,
as it reduces absorbency.
Pull the string so it reaches
its full length before you insert
it. Stand in front of a mirror and
have a look at where the open-
ing of your vagina is by pulling
the vaginal lips apart. Then ei-
ther squat, or put one leg up on
a stool, shelf, or side of the bath,
which gets you in a comfortable
position to practise.
Gently put the tip of the tam-
pon into the opening and then
push it up and back with your fin-
ger. You can put your fingers in-
side your vagina first, to get a feel
of the way your vagina slopes. (If
you have long nails, take care not
to scratch yourself!)
Some tampons come with an
“applicator”. This is made of
two cardboard or plastic tubes,
one inside the other. The larger
tube has the tampon inside it,
and the smaller one sits just be-
low the tampon. When insert-
ing, you hold the smaller part
and push the applicator inside
with the system of public as-
sistance profoundly individual,
respectful, responsive, and per-
sonal – by freeing up staff time
your vagina rather than putting
your fingers inside. When the
applicator has gone all the way
in, you push the tampon out by
“plunging” the smaller tube up,
pushing the tampon out.
It’s virtually impossible to put
a tampon into the wrong hole!
There are three holes in that
part of the body – the vagina,
the urethra (where wee comes
out) and the anus, or bum hole,
where poo comes out. Most peo-
ple are familiar with where the
bum hole is, because (hopefully)
they wipe their bums a lot!
The urethra is very small,
and you wouldn’t be able to fit
a tampon into it. It sits high up
towards the top of the vulva –
where your inner vaginal lips
meet in the middle, and just be-
low the tip of the clitoris.
Tampons can be left in for up
to six hours. If your period is
heavier than anticipated and the
tampon has become “soaked”,
you might have to change it ear-
lier. You’ll know when that hap-
pens because some menstrual
fluid will leak onto your undies.
Don’t panic though – it’s
something you’ll be able to feel
and deal with before anyone
else notices! If you know you
have heavy flow days and want
to take extra precautions, you
can wear a light pad on your un-
dies (or period undies) as well
as using a tampon.
Toxic shock syndrome
You might have heard about
something called Toxic Shock
Syndrome. This is caused by a
bacterial infection that releases
toxins into the blood and is a se-
rious condition.
It can happen anywhere in
the body but is known to be
associated with the use of ul-
tra super absorbency tampons.
There are now guidelines and
regulations worldwide for tam-
to focus on personal interac-
tions where needed.
And Canada is a leader in so-
cial innovation, and the right
www.canadianinquirer.net
pon manufacturing to reduce
the risk of infections.
These days toxic shock syn-
drome is extremely rare (about
0.001% of people), and still only
occurs if tampons are left in for
several hours, allowing the bac-
teria to multiply.
Symptoms are high fever,
vomiting, diarrhoea, muscle
aches, headaches and a rash.
Environmentally friendly
options
It’s important to NEVER flush
a tampon down the toilet. If you’re
in a public toilet, there should be
bins inside toilet cubicles for all
disposable period products. At
home, you could wrap it in tissue
and put it in a rubbish bin. You
might also be aware people are
now looking at environmentally
friendly alternatives to disposable
pads and tampons.
Reusable pads and period
undies were designed to help
reduce waste from disposable
pads. There’s now also an alter-
native to tampons, which is the
modern “menstrual cup”. These
are made of medical grade sil-
icone that you fold over, push
up inside your vagina using two
size to take a decisive leader-
ship role in this key aspect of
human well-being. ■
JUNE 30, 2023 FRIDAY
fingers, and then pop! It springs
open inside the vagina and
catches any menstrual fluid.
Unlike a tampon, they sit a
little lower down in the vagina,
and just like tampons, they can
take practice getting used to.
These can be used for up to 12
hours which makes them super
convenient. You can try a men-
strual cup anytime – and some
people might switch between
tampons and a cup or pads or
period undies, depending on
what feels right on the day.
Managing periods is some-
thing almost half the population
deals with. It can feel scary, but
it might help to know that just
about everyone who has periods
goes through the same process
of figuring it out! The more you
arm yourself with information
and know how much choice is
out there, the more confident
you’ll feel. And don’t forget
there are always adults out there
who are willing and able to give
you advice and help. ■
This article is republished
from The Conversation under a
Creative Commons license.
This article first appeared
on Policy Options and is repub-
lished here under a Creative
Commons license.
FRIDAY JUNE 30, 2023
Worried about AI? You might have AI-nxiety –
here’s how to cope
BY SANAE OKAMOTO,
United Nations University
The Conversation
Even tech experts have been
astonished by the recent, rapid
growth of AI technology, able to
hold human-like conversations in
multiple languages, create music
and pass medical exams. While
the potential benefits of AI in
fields such as healthcare are in-
deed inspiring, the pace of change
is rapid, and there is still lots of
uncertainty about the future.
If you feel worried about how
AI could affect your career, your
privacy or your safety in the
coming years, you might be ex-
periencing AI-nxiety. This term,
coined by a marketing agency
and spreading on social media,
describes the uneasy feeling
about the effects of AI on human
creativity and inventiveness.
Anxiety disorders are of-
ten related to difficulty coping
with uncertainty and ambigui-
ty. People feel anxious not just
NewFest and Netflix..
❰❰ 19 Only for The Night
went on to be accepted
into numerous festi-
vals, including the 2021 edition
of Outfest. The film won a total of
four awards, including Best First-
Time Director and Best LGBT
Short at festivals in the US, UK,
and beyond. Following the suc-
cess of his debut, LaQuan began
working on his sophomore short
film, Where Do We Go From Here,
which encapsulates a moment of
tension between two queer wom-
en on the eve of their one year
anniversary. Where Do We Go
From Here was an official selec-
tion at Outfest Fusion, and won
Best LGBT Short at the Interna-
tional Tokyo Short Film Festival
in 2023. LaQuan’s next project,
Come As You Are is a story about
a young man living with HIV who
struggles to share his status with
those around him, particularly
his religious and homophobic
mother.
Final Jury – 2023 New
Voices Filmmaker Grant
MARA FORTES
about what exists, but what is
unknown. AI-nxiety stems from
feelings of uncertainty about
AI’s potential, for example, to
create fake videos and spread
disinformation that polarises
populations. Some AI-produced
content can also provoke a nega-
tive emotional reaction in view-
ers. This unsettling feeling when
an AI character or voice is eerily
close, but not quite, human is
known as the “uncanny valley”.
It might help to remember that
these feelings aren’t necessarily
new. Similar worries about tech-
nological advancements, such
as “computerphobia”, “comput-
er anxiety” and “technostress”
emerged as early as the 1980s.
In many ways, AI-nxiety is
similar to the eco-anxiety that
many young people feel about
climate change. Like environ-
mental degradation, rapid dig-
italisation is a result of human
activity. Many people are now
feeling that both of these are
getting out of their control.
But AI-nxiety doesn’t have to
Mara Fortes is a film and
media researcher and curator.
Her research interests include
media archaeology, installation
art, the history of the avant-gar-
de, experimental and expand-
ed cinema, sound studies, and
queer media. She has curated
programs for different institu-
tions and festivals, including
the Reina Sofia Museum, La
Otra Bienal, REDCAT, and the
Center for Digital Culture in
Mexico City, where she headed
the audiovisual project Cinema
Beyond. Since 2003, she has
worked in film distribution and
exhibition, collaborating with
non-profits such as Women
Make Movies, and programming
for various film festivals, includ-
ing the Morelia International
Film Festival, the Ambulante
Documentary Film Festival, and
CUORUM Festival of Gender
and Sexual Diversity. She is cur-
rently Senior Curator at the Tel-
luride Film Festival. Her publi-
cations include the books Chris
Marker Inmemoria, El cine como
rule your life. Excessive worry
can affect daily activities, and
even lead to other medical issues,
and can stop you from seeing the
positives of digital advancement.
Below are three tips to cope.
1. Realise AI is already here
Lack of familiarity with AI
arte subversivo by Amos Vogel
(both edited with Lorena Gó-
mez Mostajo), and Historias de
la Noche (co-authored with Fa-
biola Torres-Alzaga).
CHASE JOYNT
Chase Joynt is a director and
writer whose films have won jury
and audience awards internation-
ally. His debut documentary fea-
ture, Framing Agnes, was named a
Best Movie of the Year by The New
Yorker after premiering at the
Sundance Film Festival where it
won the NEXT Innovator Award
and the NEXT Audience Award.
With Aisling Chin-Yee, Chase
co-directed No Ordinary Man,
a feature-length documentary
about jazz musician Billy Tipton,
which was presented at Cannes
Docs 2020 as part of the Canadi-
an Showcase of Docs-in-Progress.
Since premiering at the Toronto
International Film Festival in
2020, NO ORDINARY MAN has
been hailed by The New Yorker as
“a genre unto itself” and Indiew-
ire as “the future of trans cinema.”
The film has won 9 awards on
www.canadianinquirer.net
Lifestyle
technology could prompt feel-
ings of fear and anxiety towards
it. Taking a moment to think
about how AI is already part of
our lives might make the new
tools that are employing similar
algorithms less intimidating.
For example, many people
the international festival circuit,
including being named to TIFF
Canada’s Top Ten. Joynt is the
author of two books: the Lambda
Literary Award Finalist You Only
Live Twice (co-authored with
Mike Hoolboom) and Boys Don’t
Cry with Morgan M Page. Most
recently, he directed episodes of
Two Sentence Horror Stories for
the CW, which are now streaming
on Netflix. His episode Elliot from
Season 2 won a Telly Award for
directing in 2022. With Samantha
Curley, Chase runs Level Ground
Productions in Los Angeles.
MARK R. WRIGHT
Mark R. Wright is the Vice
President of Development and
Production at The Obamas’
Higher Ground, where he over-
sees a slate of scripted film proj-
ects for the company’s exclusive
overall deal at Netflix. In this
role, he champions aspirational
and entertaining stories across
genres as a vehicle to unite and
inspire audiences. Mark is an
Executive Producer on Higher
Ground’s upcoming film Rust-
21
use Apple’s Siri to look for nearby
restaurants or select a film based
on Netflix’s recommendations. AI
is also part of learning new languag-
es with Duolingo, or using Google
Maps to navigate a new city.
2. Prepare for new career
prospects
It’s almost certain that AI will
affect the next generation’s work-
force. A 2020 report by the World
Economic Forum predicted that
85 million jobs will be replaced
by AI by 2025, while AI could po-
tentially generate 97 million new
roles across 26 countries.
But you can prepare by learn-
ing how to use AI tools to their full
potential in your current or future
career. Several online courses are
available to give you a better un-
derstanding of how AI will affect
your field and help you prepare by
developing your digital skills.
Importantly though, be
mindful of keeping up with
human skills such as interper-
sonal skills or emotional intel-
❱❱ PAGE 22 Worried about AI?
in directed by George C. Wolfe
and starring Colman Domingo.
His creative focus is producing
unique and genre-bending nar-
ratives with people of color at
the center to increase diverse
images, experiences and per-
spectives available to audiences.
For the work he’s accomplished,
Mark was recently named one of
35 Rising Execs Under 35 by The
Hollywood Reporter in the 2022
Next Gen issue. Prior to joining
Higher Ground, Mark worked at
MACRO, where he developed and
executive produced Juel Taylor’s
directorial debut, They Cloned
Tyrone (Netflix) and Thembi
Banks’ Young.Wild. Free. He also
worked on the Oscar-nominat-
ed Judas and the Black Messi-
ah (Warner Bros.), Alan Yang’s
Tigertail (Netflix), and hit sci-fi
family series Raising Dion (Net-
flix), among others. Mark is orig-
inally from Cleveland, OH and
earned an MFA from USC’s Peter
Stark Producing Program and a
BS in Communication from Ohio
University. ■
 22
How music therapy can help
rebuild the lives of refugees
BY ELIZABETH COOMBES,
University of South Wales
The Conversation
Over the past 20 years, the
number of people forcibly dis-
placed from their homes world-
wide due to conflict has reached
a figure in excess of 90 million.
This has more than doubled since
the early 1990s, a time period
labelled “the decade of displace-
ment” by the United Nations Ref-
ugee Agency. This rate of increase
shows no signs of slowing and has
been fuelled by the current situa-
tions in Syria and Ukraine.
Whatever the reason for dis-
placement, there is no doubt
that being forced to leave your
homeland is traumatic. The
journey to a safer place can
be physically and emotionally
challenging. Shock and denial
are often the first emotions ex-
perienced by refugees.
Long-term problems include
unmanageable emotions, flash-
backs and difficulty with relation-
ships. Physical symptoms such as
nausea and headaches may also
occur. While practical support
such as providing physical safety,
food and clothes and medical help
are crucial, psychological support
also needs to be offered.
Music therapy
Music therapy is well-placed
to provide support in addressing
Are the Oscars..
❰❰ 18 snappy script and in-
tricate editing that
bounces through its
complex multiverse setting
and superhero super-stakes
to focus on moving character
development. Thematically, it
reflects on the artistic value of
the superhero genre, unpacking
the Spider-Man lore across its
many iterations. And, of course,
the visual artistry on display is
mind-blowing, truly pushing
cinematic excess in ways that
only animation (currently) can.
Spider-Man: Across the Spi-
der-Verse is the kind of popular
cinema that the academy is cur-
rently primed to take more seri-
Lifestyle
trauma and promoting wellbe-
ing. It is a psychological therapy
which is regulated by the Health
and Care Professions Council
(HCPC) in the UK. Music thera-
pists use a range of music-based
interventions including interac-
tive music-making, songwriting
and listening to music. These
help to build a therapeutic rela-
tionship with participants.
Music therapy offers a flexible
and accessible way of supporting
wellbeing and sharing difficult
experiences. It can also bring
positive memories of the cultures
from which refugees have come.
These can be shared with others
and help to build resilience.
In the early stages of trauma,
music can be part of a psycho-
logical first aid (PFA) package.
PFA is usually offered in the
initial aftermath of a traumatic
event as well as in later stages.
It seeks to provide people with
safety, connections and hope-
fulness. The integration of these
elements into music-based and
music therapy interventions is
useful for refugees.
Music is something found
in every culture. People carry
their own musical experienc-
es with them wherever they go
and can call on them for solace.
Music can also be a go-to re-
source for those needing com-
fort. With such a huge range of
musical genres and styles, there
ously. It’s on track to become one
of the year’s box office success-
es, serves a dedicated fandom,
showcases a stacked cast and dy-
namically plays with genre and
narrative conventions.
As part two of a trilogy, it is
unlikely to take out the Best Pic-
ture race altogether (Beyond the
Spider-Verse, coming in 2024,
is the more likely candidate if
it sticks the landing). But it is
still well-positioned to break
through the confines of the Best
Animated Feature category. ■
This article is republished
from The Conversation under a
Creative Commons license.
is something for everyone.
Because music is comprised
of a series of different patterns –
something the brain is attracted
to and actively seeks out – there
are opportunities for emotion-
al regulation. This is central to
supporting refugees’ wellbeing.
Moreover, music-making
with a music therapist in the
immediate aftermath of trauma
offers the opportunity to build
relationships, stabilise feelings
and reduce anxiety. These are
crucial steps in mitigating the
impact of trauma.
During the course of my re-
search, I have worked with a
range of displaced people, includ-
ing refugees and asylum-seeking
families, focusing on families
with children under the age of 3.
My studies have shown that peo-
ple who have had music therapy
find it useful and supportive for a
number of reasons.
It offers a safe space to meet
others in music without the
need for words or explanations.
This space supports the devel-
opment of feelings of safety as
well as awakening creativity –
something that is vital for mental
health. Music therapy also fos-
ters and builds connections with
others in the same situation.
My projects used the core
principles of PFA linked to mu-
sic therapy for small groups of
asylum-seeking families from
Worried about AI?..
❰❰ 21 ligence that AI can’t
(yet) replace. A com-
bination of digital and
soft skills is needed for the fu-
ture health of the workforce.
3. Take a break
If you feel overwhelmed, turn
off digital devices or take a break
from screens. Using new AI
tools or reading the headlines
could make you feel anxious or
unsettled. Research has found
that reducing non-work relat-
ed digital screen use improves
wellbeing and mood overall.
Ironically, there are useful digi-
tal support tools, such as Digital
Detox, that can give you a hand
in reducing your screen time.
www.canadianinquirer.net
Albania, Egypt, Syria and Pa-
kistan. The simple, structured
activities needed minimal En-
glish, so were accessible.
Movement to music, commu-
nication through rhythm games,
free improvisation and songs
from participants’ homelands as
well as music from the UK were
all used to engage the groups.
This helped families feel a sense
of belonging in their new home.
Feeling safe
The predictability of the ses-
sions’ content was also helpful.
People who experience trauma
need help to feel safe, and pro-
viding a structured session does
this. They also facilitated lan-
guage development and social
skills for the children.
Bonding as a family, some-
thing that can be disrupted by
trauma, was also improved. To
support this therapists can use
lullabies and children’s songs
from the original cultures of the
You may even be able to use
AI or other digital tools to enrich
your offline life. For example, us-
ing Google Maps to plot a safe cy-
cling route, or asking ChatGPT
for a recipe to cook with friends.
This way, you can take a screen
break while reminding yourself
of the benefits that technology
can bring to your life – two great
ways to reduce your AI-nxiety.
4. Read up on regulation
While you shouldn’t spend all
your time reading about it (re-
member tip number three), it
could be helpful to stay informed
about progress in AI regulation.
With eco-anxiety, it can be frus-
trating to feel that governments
JUNE 30, 2023 FRIDAY
families, as well as UK-based
tunes – Twinkle Twinkle Little
Star is always very popular.
Music and music therapy are
useful tools to employ in planning
PFA and continuing therapeutic
support for refugees. While it is
important to be sensitive to the
wishes of refugee families who
may not be ready to engage in
musical activities, it is crucial that
this provision is available to those
who do wish to access it.
Refugees who engage with
music and music therapy in
their new homes often report
improvements in their ability
to manage their situation and
move forward. Finding ways to
offer access to these opportu-
nities more widely will benefit
greater numbers of those seek-
ing to build new lives. ■
This article is republished
from The Conversation under a
Creative Commons license.
are not taking swift action, but
those with AI-nxiety might be re-
assured that some governments
are taking the risks seriously.
For example, the EU has just
approved a draft law, the AI Act,
to regulate the use of AI in society.
AI creators and other tech
experts, believe regulating AI
is essential to building trust in
the technology before it is used
more widely. Good regulation
could maximise the value AI of-
fers to society, while minimis-
ing risks – and AI-nxiety. ■
This article is republished
from The Conversation under a
Creative Commons license.
FRIDAY JUNE 30, 2023 23

Sports
What is ‘heteroactivism’? How sports became
a battleground for opposing LGBTIQ+ progress
BY RYAN STORR, Swinburne of LGBTIQ+ athletes. Celebra- foundation of functioning west- LGBTIQ+ inclusion Sports for good or bad?
University of Technology tions such as pride rounds and ern civilisation. Christianity is • allegations and abuse to- Administrators in sports
The Conversation games across sporting codes central to heteroactivism, with wards out lesbian athletes have an opportunity to stand
show targeted diversity work. roots in the US Christian right. • abuse towards out gay male up to and address growing re-
LGBTIQ+ representation In Australian sport, hetero- athletes sistance to LGBTIQ+ equality.
There has been a sharp increase and diversity across sports is activism has been bubbling • targeted campaigns and This can happen through policy
in public resistance and backlash important because research away for many years. complaints towards sports that development, anti-vilification
to the advancement of LGBTIQ+ shows that young people, in Sports seen as a key arena engage with LGBTIQ+ inclu- efforts and, more important-
inclusion and equality recently. particular, need role models for heteroactivism sive practices. ly, demonstrating support for
The UK charity Stonewall reports and to see themselves both rep- Sports have become a key For example, one group, Bi- LGBTIQ+ achievements and
that LGBTIQ+ recorded hate resented and celebrated. platform to mobilise and ad- nary Australia, sent over 2,700 contributions in sport.
crimes in the UK have increased There is still a lot of work tovance resistance to LGBTIQ+ emails to Football Australia, pro- By allowing heteroactivism
in recent years, and equality. Some Aus- testing the inclusion of transgen- to be mobilised through the me-
in Australia, there has tralian sports organ- der football players in NSW. dium of sports, administrators
been a large uptick in isations have banned The targeted and coordinat- continue to alienate LGBTIQ+
anti-LGBTIQ+ relat- transgender women ed activism directed at sports players, fans and employees.
ed events. from participating in organisations stops adminis- There are both opportunities
Sports have be-
It is defined as “a elite competitions. trators from enacting LGBTIQ+ and challenges for the Austra-
come a flashpoint term to conceptualise Bills have also been inclusive policies and practices. lian sporting world and how
for these issues, drafted in parliament It silences them in speaking out it responds to heteroactivism.
too. Globally, in-
oppositions to LGBTIQ+ to “save women’s in support of LGBTIQ+ people. Australia can be a world leader
ternational sports equalities, in ways that sport”, seeking to limit It makes LGBTIQ+ inclusion in efforts to improve outcomes
federations have and exclude trans and too difficult to engage with in for LGBTIQ+ people and make
introduced bans to
seek to assert a particular gender diverse people comparison with other areas. meaningful steps forward in the
exclude trans and form of heteronormative from participating in It becomes too political or “not fight against homophobia, bi-
gender diverse ath- both elite and com- worth the pushback”. phobia and transphobia, ensur-
letes from sporting
sexual and gender order” munity competitions. The mental health implica- ing LGBTIQ+ people are repre-
competitions. Heteroactivism tions for LGBTIQ+ people are sented and included across all
FIFA even banned has a history in Aus- significant, too. Research shows levels of sports. ■
teams and players tralian sports. Both that ongoing discrimination
from wearing the NRL player Israel can lead to poor mental health, This article is republished
“one love” armband. The arm- do across the Australian sporting Folau and tennis star Margaret increased anxiety and depres- from The Conversation under a
bands were to be worn by players world, though, and this work must Court are high-profile heteroac- sion and dropping out of sports. Creative Commons license.
in the men’s World Cup in 2022 be prioritised through appropri- tivists, using their platforms in
to protest against the treatment ate funding and targeted action. sports to vilify LGBTIQ+ people.
of LGBTIQ+ people in Qatar, With increased activity and More recently, players from
where it is illegal to be gay. visibility of LGBTIQ+ inclusion a variety of sporting codes have
A history of LGBTIQ+ peo- efforts, however, comes increased refused to participate in pride
ple in sport resistance from people and or- rounds and wear pride jerseys.
Sports have a long history of ganisations who believe that Often, arguments against
exclusion and discrimination to- LGBTIQ+ people are a threat to supporting LGBTIQ+ inclusion
wards LGBTIQ+ people. In Aus- modern society. This resistance efforts centre around LGBTIQ+
tralia, around 75% of LGBTIQ+ and activism against the advance- identities being at odds or go-
people have experienced or wit- ment of LGBTIQ+ equality has ing against a player’s religion.
nessed homophobia in sport. been termed “heteroactivism”. Court even once stated that
Professional athletes such as What is ‘heteroactivism’? transgender children were the
Megan Schutt and Moana Hope Heteroactivism was coined work of the devil.
have spoken out against discrim- by queer scholars Kath Browne The impact of ongoing he-
ination of LGBTIQ+ athletes. and Catherine J. Nash. It is de- teroactivism in sport is pro-
However, efforts have been fined as “a term to conceptualise found, and has been very suc-
made to address problems oppositions to LGBTIQ+ equali- cessful in halting progress for
within the sporting world ties, in ways that seek to assert a LGBTIQ+ people in that world.
around homophobia, bipho- particular form of heteronorma- Ongoing efforts to resist ad-
bia and transphobia. Organ- tive sexual and gender order”. vances in LGBTIQ+ equality in
isations like Proud2Play, of It is a framework which po- sports have included:
which the author of this piece sitions heterosexuality and • trolling on social media
is a co-founder, and Pride Cup gender normativity (being cis- and abusive messages when
aim to increase the visibility gender) as superior, and the sports organisations support
www.canadianinquirer.net
24
Gymnast Yulo leads PSA’s top monthly achiever
BY JEAN MALANUM
Philippine News Agency
MANILA – The Philippine
Sportswriters Association
(PSA) on Thursday announced
its top achievers for the month
of May led by world champion
gymnast Carlos Edriel Yulo.
Yulo delivered two gold and
two silver medals for the gym-
nastics team, which also won
two bronze medals, in the 32nd
Southeast Asian Games held
from May 5 to 17 in Phnom
Penh, Cambodia.
The Philippine contingent
won 58 golds, 85 silvers and 117
bronzes to surpass its 52-70-
105 haul in Vietnam last year,
Lionel Messi: move to the US is a creative deal
which follows in the bootsteps of David Beckham
BY MATTHEW
HUTCHINSON, Keele
University
The Conversation
Few would doubt Lionel Mes-
si’s impact on European football.
The scorer of 474 goals during his
long career at Barcelona, he has
been named the best footballer
in the world a record seven times.
Now we are about to see what
impact Messi will have on football
in America. For the Argentinian,
who has spent the last two seasons
playing for Paris Saint-Germain,
has decided not to accept offers to
play in Saudi Arabia, and is joining
Inter Miami in Florida instead.
This could turn out to be a
massive turning point for the
sport in the US. Messi has glob-
al appeal, and millions of fans
will likely take a new interest
in Major League Soccer (MLS)
when one of the greatest play-
ers of all time is part of it.
Among Messi’s newest sup-
porters are two of the world’s big-
gest companies, Apple and Adi-
das, who are reportedly working
in partnership with Inter Miami
and MLS as part of the deal.
Suggested details include Mes-
si receiving a share of Inter Miami
club merchandise from Adidas,
and some of the revenue from Ap-
Sports
but remained fifth overall.
The other medalists were
from arnis (6-2-4), taekwondo
(6-1-8), athletics (4-10-8), wres-
tling (4-7-5), boxing (4-5-1), and
obstacle course race (4-2-0).
Pole vaulter EJ Obiena, cur-
rently world No. 3, won his
third consecutive SEAG gold
medal with a new Games mark
of 5.65 meters.
Mark Julius Rodelas (25.092
seconds) and Precious Cabuya
(32.732 seconds) set World Ob-
stacle and Guinness World Re-
cords, while the men’s team of
Jose Mari de Castro Jr, Mervin
Guarte, Elias Tabac and Aghie
Radem (24.479) and women’s
team of Milky Mae Tejares,
Marites Nocyao, Sandi Menchi
ple’s “Season Pass”, a streaming
subscription which gives view-
ers access to every MLS game.
The pass, which costs £14.99 a
month, or £99 a season in the UK,
launched in February 2023, in a
10-year deal worth US$2.5 billion
(£1.9 billion) to the league.
And Apple’s involvement
doesn’t end there. Just before
Messi’s move was made public,
Apple TV announced a four-part
documentary series about the
star, featuring behind the scenes
coverage of the men’s 2022 Fifa
World Cup, which Argentina won.
So Apple seem to think Messi
is worthy of major investment.
For their part, MLS are likely to
offer Messi shares in Inter Mi-
ami, which is part-owned by for-
mer Manchester United play-
er David Beckham. And it was
arguably Beckham who paved
the way for the kind of creative
deal Messi looks set to enjoy.
Spend it like Beckham
For when Beckham joined LA
Galaxy from Real Madrid in 2007,
his deal included a share of shirt
and ticket sales, something no
MLS side had ever done before.
It also included the chance to buy
an MLS team for a reduced fee
– which ended up in his shared
ownership of Inter Miami.
Beckham was the league’s first
“designated player” – a name for
Abayan and Mecca Cortizano
(33.733) also established world
records.
In weightlifting, Elreen Ando
registered 98kgs (snatch),
118kgs (clean and jerk) and 216
kgs (total) to claim the gold
medal in the women’s 59kg cat-
egory. Vanessa Sarno, on the
other hand, won her second
SEAG gold medal in the 71kg
category with a total lift of 225
kgs, highlighted with a record
snatch of 105 kgs.
In swimming, Xiandi Chua
won the women’s 200m back-
stroke gold medal in a record
2:13.20 while Teia Salvino set a
new Philippine record of 1:01.64
on her way to winning the 100m
backstroke event.
squad players (a maximum of
three per side) who are signed up
without being subject to league
rules on salary caps. This means
they are often highly paid.
Messi is expected to earn
US$54 million a year, US$46
million more than the league’s
next highest paid player (Chica-
go Fire’s Xherdan Shaqiri).
In return for those kind of
salaries, designated players are
expected to attract fans and
ticket sales. There is research
which suggests that Beckham’s
arrival in the MLS increased
ticket sales by 55%.
Other research says he was a key
part of match attendance increas-
www.canadianinquirer.net
Gilas Pilipinas re-claimed
the men’s basketball title after
BEST BET. Two-time world champion gymnast Carlos Edriel Yulo speaks to
the media at a press conference held at the Rizal Memorial Sports Complex in
Malate, Manila on Friday (June 23, 2023). (YANCY LIM/PNA)
ing by 65% across the league, with
the addition of hundreds of thou-
sands of new fans. The “Beckham
effect” was greatest for LA Galaxy
away games, which saw the biggest
increase in attendance.
So the theory seems to be that
big stars like Messi and Beckham,
can benefit the whole league.
Saudi Arabia is pursuing a simi-
lar strategy, splashing out on the
likes of Cristiano Ronaldo and
Karim Benzema to add talent
and fame to the country’s league.
But the return on these in-
vestments is not guaranteed.
Recent research on the impact
of designated players on MLS
found them to have a small-
JUNE 30, 2023 FRIDAY
posting an 80-69 win against
host Cambodia in the final. ■
er impact than previously
thought. One study even con-
cluded that they had no impact
at all on match attendance.
Research also reveals that
once fans had seen Beckham play
for LA Galaxy, the sense of nov-
elty decreased over time. Atten-
dance was highest during the first
year of his six years in the league.
The same may turn out to be
true for Messi. For now though,
tickets for games involving In-
ter Miami are selling out. And
for football in America (not
to be confused with American
football of course) the timing
could turn out to be perfect.
The next men’s Fifa World Cup
in 2026, will be held in the US,
Canada and Mexico, marking a
golden opportunity for MLS and
the US Soccer Federation to ex-
pand the game’s domestic appeal.
To do that, MLS and Inter Mi-
ami will need to try to manage
and maximise Messi’s impact.
Apple, meanwhile, will simply
be hoping Messi continues to
produce the skill that has won
him so many fans – and that
those fans think his American
journey is worth the price of an-
other streaming subscription. ■
This article is republished
from The Conversation under a
Creative Commons license.
FRIDAY JUNE 30, 2023
As the Bank of Canada prepares for a digital
Canadian dollar, democratic concerns loom large
BY ORI FREIMAN, McMaster
University
The Conversation
The Bank of Canada is pre-
paring for the possibility of the
Canadian government requir-
ing it to issue a digital version of
the Canadian dollar. Although
the central bank is leading the
project for the new currency,
any future decision to issue it
rests with the Canadian Parlia-
ment and government.
As a part of this process, the
central bank recently concluded
a public consultation on June 19
where it sought input from Ca-
nadians about the possibility of
a national digital currency.
If the Bank of Canada were to
issue the digital dollar, it could
have significant implications
for how Canada tackles future
financial challenges.
However, we must not over-
look the important democratic
concerns associated with this
currency. For the sake of our de-
mocracy, and to maintain trust
in the Bank of Canada and this
new digital dollar, these concerns
must be addressed before a deci-
sion to issue this money is made.
Mitigating financial risks
The digital Canadian dollar is
Remolona’s appointment ‘welcome dev’t’ for economy
BY JOANN VILLANUEVA
Philippine News Agency
MANILA – The banking regu-
lation expertise of newly appoint-
ed Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas
(BSP) Governor Eli M. Remolona
is seen to provide additional teeth
on the central bank’s capacity to
face challenges.
Jonathan Ravelas, a well-re-
garded financial analyst who is
now part of the audit and con-
sultancy firm Reyes Tacandong
Business
important for mitigating two po-
tential future threats: the mass
adoption of external currencies
and the next financial crisis.
Most of the digital money in
our economy is commercial bank
money that’s created mainly
through loans. This money can
be risky during bank runs, which
occur when everyone tries to
withdraw money at the same
time, rendering commercial
banks vulnerable to insolvency.
A currency backed by the
central bank could provide a
more reliable alternative to this
commercial bank money.
Introducing the digital Cana-
dian dollar could also lower the
likelihood of mass adoption of al-
ternative digital currencies, like
cryptocurrencies and privately
issued currencies. Such a scenar-
io would undermine the Bank of
Canada’s ability to control the
country’s monetary policy. Pre-
vention is better than a cure.
In the face of these two sce-
narios, a digital Canadian dol-
lar would ensure stability and
monetary sovereignty.
A promise for a better future
The digital Canadian dollar
has the potential to pave the
way for a more promising fu-
ture by bridging the present
with the infinite digital possi-
& Co., told the Philippine News
Agency (PNA) that with Re-
molona’s vast experience, “we
can see a continuation of cur-
rent monetary strategy.”
“His background (at the Fed)
could provide a better read of
the global landscape to the cur-
rent monetary policy,” he said.
Rizal Commercial Banking
Corporation (RCBC) chief econ-
omist Michael Ricafort also
told the PNA that Remolona’s
appointment “is a welcome de-
velopment for the markets and
bilities of tomorrow.
It would serve as an alterna-
tive to existing commercial pay-
ment methods while seamlessly
integrating with electronic pay-
ments and other innovative as-
pects of the digital economy.
Additionally, the ability to
digitally trace transactions pro-
motes a safer society by assisting
in the fight against money laun-
dering, crime and terrorism.
In some visions of central
bank digital currencies, it is
possible to program the money
and incorporate social policies
directly into it.
This could mean, for exam-
ple, that specific populations
(BANK OF CANADA - BANQUE DU CANADA/FLICKR, CC BY 2.0)
economy, given his international
experience, track record, (and)
reputation on central banking in
developed countries.”
“(He) would infuse a more
international perspective on
central banking, as well as the
adoption of more global best
practices on central banking, in
terms of fulfilling price stability,
financial stability, and regulato-
ry mandates, all of which would
help sustain the country’s long-
term economic growth and de-
velopment,” he said.
www.canadianinquirer.net
or regions could receive better
interest rates to promote eco-
nomic equity, or automatically
subsidize essential goods and
services to low-income house-
holds or senior citizens.
Since transactions are dig-
ital, it is possible to envision
a future in which the Canada
Revenue Agency could also use
the digital currency to combat
the underground economy and
automate tax collecting.
Together with another digital
revolution — that of AI — it is easy
to imagine insights gained from
the enormous amounts of data.
The dark side of the digital
dollar
He added that among “the
most important priorities (that
the new BSP chief would have
to face) are stable prices, infla-
tion and the peso.”
Malacanang announced Re-
molona’s appointment on Fri-
day, June 23, 2023.
He will replace BSP Gover-
nor Felipe Medalla, whose term
will end on July 2, 2023.
Prior to his new appoint-
ment, Remolona was a member
of the Monetary Board of the
BSP since August 2022.
25
Implementing this new digi-
tal currency, despite its poten-
tial benefits, could introduce
several risks to our democracy.
We risk paving the way for a fu-
ture government taking control
of our financial data.
Digital currencies can be pro-
grammable by being assigned
functions to operate only under
certain conditions. This could
eventually lead to an economy
controlled by the government
at an individual level. The gov-
ernment would be able to mon-
itor its citizens, determine how
money can be limited and used,
identify political dissidents and
take action against them.
The Canadian government
has already proved it is willing
to use financial tools against
protestors. Moreover, central-
ized digital infrastructures are
inherently vulnerable to soft-
ware updates that could over-
ride initial safeguards. Issuing
a central bank digital currency
may be a point of no return.
While the Bank of Canada’s
consultation is a step in the
right direction, the current
information about the digital
Canadian dollar fails to address
the risk of a future government
❱❱ PAGE 30 As the Bank
Among Remolona’s posi-
tions prior to being part of the
MB include a notable tenure of
14 years at the Federal Reserve
Bank of New York, followed
by 19 years at the Bank for In-
ternational Settlements (BIS)
where he served as regional
head for Asia and the Pacific.
He has also worked as a con-
sultant for esteemed institutions
such as the Asian Development
Bank, the International Mone-
tary Fund and the World Bank. ■
26
PH secures $1.1-billion loans from World Bank
BY ANNA LEAH GONZALES
Philippine News Agency
MANILA – The Philippines
and the World Bank on Monday
signed four loan agreements
amounting to $1.14 billion to
accelerate economic recovery,
improve the quality of educa-
tion and develop the agricul-
ture and fisheries sectors.
In a statement, the Depart-
ment of Finance (DOF) said the
loan agreements were signed
Rent freezes and rent caps will only worsen,
not solve Australia’s rental crisis
BY AMEETA JAIN, Deakin
University
The Conversation
Average housing rents across
Australia have increased by about
10% per year to February 2023 for
new rentals, and just a bit lower
than that for existing rentals.
Combined with rapidly in-
creasing interest rates and wage
rises not keeping pace with infla-
tion, this is placing huge strain
on the average household purse,
prompting calls for improved
rental market conditions.
The Greens are refusing to
pass the $10 billion Housing
Australia Future Fund bill to
provide more community hous-
ing unless the federal govern-
ment supports the introduction
of rent controls. But is a rent
freeze a simple panacea?
Australia used rent controls
effectively during the two world
wars. However, they have been
used in other countries without
much success. Using basic eco-
nomic principles, there is evi-
dence freezes worsen inequality
and actually reduce availability.
Making the market worse,
not better
Rentals, in economic terms, are
a product. To make a quality prod-
uct for the market, the producer –
the landlord – invests substantial
sums of money in construction
and maintenance to meet legislat-
ed minimum standards for rental
properties. They also have to cov-
Business
by Finance Secretary Benjamin
Diokno and World Bank coun-
try director for the Philippines
Ndiamé Diop.
Of the total amount, USD750
million is for the Philippines First
Sustainable Recovery Develop-
ment Policy Loan (DPL) which
will support the country’s policy
reforms to boost environmental
protection and climate resilience.
The DOF said USD276 mil-
lion will be used to fund projects
of the Department of Agricul-
ture-Bureau of Fisheries and
er land and income tax, insurance
and mortgage costs.
The rent from a property is
expected to cover these expens-
es with an average return on in-
vestment between 3% and 7%.
As soon as there is a rent freeze
and the return on investment
starts falling – in some cases
into the negative – landlords
will cut back on what they con-
sider discretionary spending.
This can affect spending on
maintenance because all oth-
er outlays are fixed. Houses are
then allowed to fall into disrepair,
leading to landlords selling up or
withdrawing properties from the
long-term rental market.
Experience in the United
States shows how landlords al-
low some houses to become un-
inhabitable so they can fraudu-
lently obtain insurance payouts
for damage to the property.
Unscrupulous landlords will
also try to bypass the mini-
mum rental property standards
by offering their properties at
above-market rents, capitalis-
ing on the high demand and low
stock.
Cashing in on the black
market
Promoting rent-bidding above
the fixed price will only worsen if
there are government-imposed
rent freezes. While rent bidding
has been banned in some states
including New South Wales and
Victoria, anecdotally it remains
widespread.
Then there is a grey area where
Aquatic Resources (DA-BFAR),
specifically the Mindanao Inclu-
sive Agriculture Development
Project (MIADP) and the Phil-
ippine Fisheries and Coastal Re-
siliency (FishCoRe) Project.
“The MIADP aims to increase
the agricultural productivity,
resiliency, and accessibility to
markets and services of orga-
nized farmers and fisherfolks
in selected ancestral domains
and for selected value chains in
Mindanao,” the DOF said.
FishCoRe, meanwhile, seeks to
real estate agents and landlords
appear to adhere to the law by
not asking for bids, but willingly
accept offers above the adver-
tised price from renters desper-
ate to secure a property.
Given the difficulty in evict-
ing renters, and rent freezes not
covering costs, landlords might
think a premium payment is
justified. On paper, it would
appear the rent being paid is
reasonable and in accord with
a government-imposed freeze.
But it also provides the land-
lord with untaxed cash. This
flows on to the building sector
where tradies will happily pro-
vide their services for cash, there-
by expanding the black market.
The reasons for the property
supply shortage are longstand-
ing, and many of the causes
were worsened by the COVID
pandemic. These included ma-
www.canadianinquirer.net
improve fisheries management,
enhance the value of fisheries
production and elevate incomes
in selected coastal communities.
Also included in the agree-
ments is the USD110 million
loan for the Department of Edu-
cation’s (DepEd) Teacher Effec-
tiveness and Competencies En-
hancement Project (TEACEP)
which aims to improve equita-
ble access to quality teaching in
Kindergarten to Grade 6 (K-6)
in project-supported areas.
The project will be imple-
terial supply delays, increased
costs and changes in preferred
housing types. Government
policies relating to the release
of land and drawn-out approval
processes for new builds have
added to the supply problem.
Other unintended conse-
quences
Battling families are further
disadvantaged in the rent-
al market because landlords
would prefer to have their prop-
erties occupied by profession-
als with no children. Often, it is
easier for owners to charge un-
der-the-table premiums to this
cashed-up group prepared to
pay to get a particular property.
This increase in social seg-
regation has been reported
in Britain, where landlords
choose renters from their pre-
ferred social and economic co-
hort. This increases the waiting
JUNE 30, 2023 FRIDAY
mented in Zamboanga Peninsu-
la, SOCCSKSARGEN and Bang-
samoro Autonomous Region in
Muslim Mindanao (BARMM).
The DOF said the loan agree-
ments were signed using a digi-
tal signing platform (DocuSign)
in support of the WB’s shift
to simplify and streamline its
business processes through
digital technology.
The WB will be using e-signa-
tures as the default modality for
the signing of its financing agree-
ments beginning July 1, 2023. ■
times for “rent frozen” proper-
ties, forcing desperate individu-
als - usually those already most
disadvantaged - to rent illegally
through the black market.
This worsens the divide be-
tween the wealthy market-in-
siders and unemployed, migrant,
young and other disadvantaged
renters. The resulting lack of
available rentals worsens worker
shortages in some areas and can
create pockets of increased vio-
lence and crime spawned by un-
controlled hidden black markets.
While freezing rents would
appear to be a simple method to
increase rental housing afford-
ability, the unintended conse-
quences of any such move will
have a long-term negative impact
on the total availability of rental
housing stock, reducing the qual-
ity of housing and increasing a
black market in rental housing.
Global experience suggests
that improving supply, by eas-
ing building restrictions and
scrapping red tape for new
developments, is likely to be
a more effective policy tool in
Australia. Local councils and
state governments need to sim-
plify and expedite the process
for approving new develop-
ments at the same time as re-
ducing taxes on rental proper-
ties, both during construction
and later. ■
This article is republished
from The Conversation under a
Creative Commons license.
FRIDAY JUNE 30, 2023
Titan submersible disaster underscores dangers of
deep-sea exploration – an engineer explains why most
ocean science is conducted with crewless submarines
BY NINA MAHMOUDIAN,
Purdue University
The Conversation
Rescuers spotted debris from
the tourist submarine Titan on
the ocean floor near the wreck of
the Titanic on June 22, 2023, in-
dicating that the vessel suffered
a catastrophic failure and the
five people aboard were killed.
Bringing people to the bottom
of the deep ocean is inherently
dangerous. At the same time,
climate change means collect-
ing data from the world’s oceans
is more vital than ever. Purdue
University mechanical engineer
Nina Mahmoudian explains
how researchers reduce the risks
and costs associated with deep-
sea exploration: Send down subs,
but keep people on the surface.
Why is most underwater
research conducted with re-
motely operated and auton-
omous underwater vehicles?
When we talk about water
studies, we’re talking about vast
areas. And covering vast areas
requires tools that can work for
extended periods of time, some-
times months. Having people
aboard underwater vehicles, es-
pecially for such long periods of
time, is expensive and dangerous.
One of the tools researchers
use is remotely operated vehi-
cles, or ROVs. Basically, there is
a cable between the vehicle and
operator that allows the operator
to command and move the vehi-
cle, and the vehicle can relay data
in real time. ROV technology
has progressed a lot to be able to
reach deep ocean – up to a depth
of 6,000 meters (19,685 feet). It’s
also better able to provide the
mobility necessary for observing
the sea bed and gathering data.
Autonomous underwater ve-
hicles provide another opportu-
nity for underwater exploration.
They are usually not tethered to
Technology
a ship. They are typically pro-
grammed ahead of time to do a
specific mission. And while they
are underwater they usually
don’t have constant communi-
cation. At some interval, they
surface, relay the whole amount
of data that they have gathered,
change the battery or recharge
and receive renewed instruc-
tions before again submerging
and continuing their mission.
What can remotely operated
and autonomous underwater
vehicles do that crewed sub-
mersibles can’t, and vice versa?
Crewed submersibles will be
exciting for the public and those
involved and helpful for the in-
creased capabilities humans
bring in operating instruments
and making decisions, similar to
crewed space exploration. How-
ever, it will be much more expen-
sive compared with uncrewed ex-
plorations because of the required
size of the platforms and the need
for life-support systems and safe-
ty systems. Crewed submersibles
today cost tens of thousands of
dollars a day to operate.
Use of unmanned systems will
provide better opportunities for
exploration at less cost and risk
in operating over vast areas and
in inhospitable locations. Using
remotely operated and autono-
mous underwater vehicles gives
operators the opportunity to per-
form tasks that are dangerous for
humans, like observing under ice
and detecting underwater mines.
How has the technology for
deep ocean research evolved?
The technology has advanced
dramatically in recent years due
to progress in sensors and compu-
tation. There has been great prog-
ress in miniaturization of acoustic
sensors and sonars for use un-
derwater. Computers have also
become more miniaturized, ca-
pable and power efficient. There
has been a lot of work on battery
technology and connectors that
are watertight. Additive manufac-
turing and 3D printing also help
build hulls and components that
can withstand the high pressures
at depth at much lower costs.
There has also been great prog-
ress toward increasing autonomy
using more advanced algorithms,
in addition to traditional methods
for navigation, localization and
detection. For example, machine
learning algorithms can help a
vehicle detect and classify objects,
whether stationary like a pipeline
or mobile like schools of fish.
What kinds of discoveries
have been made using re-
motely operated and auton-
omous underwater vehicles?
One example is underwater
gliders. These are buoyancy-driv-
en autonomous underwater ve-
hicles. They can stay in water for
months. They can collect data on
pressure, temperature and sa-
linity as they go up and down in
water. All of these are very help-
ful for researchers to have an un-
derstanding of changes that are
happening in oceans.
One of these platforms trav-
eled across the North Atlantic
www.canadianinquirer.net
Ocean from the coast of Mas-
sachusetts to Ireland for near-
ly a year in 2016 and 2017. The
amount of data that was cap-
tured in that amount of time
was unprecedented. To put it in
perspective, a vehicle like that
costs about $200,000. The oper-
ators were remote. Every eight
hours the glider came to the sur-
face, got connected to GPS and
said, “Hey, I am here,” and the
crew basically gave it the plan
for the next leg of the mission. If
a crewed ship was sent to gather
that amount of data for that long
it would cost in the millions.
In 2019, researchers used an
autonomous underwater ve-
hicle to collect invaluable data
about the seabed beneath the
Thwaites glacier in Antarctica.
Energy companies are also us-
ing remotely operated and auton-
omous underwater vehicles for in-
specting and monitoring offshore
renewable energy and oil and gas
infrastructure on the seabed.
Where is the technology
headed?
Underwater systems are
slow-moving platforms, and if
27
researchers can deploy them in
large numbers that would give
them an advantage for covering
large areas of ocean. A great deal
of effort is being put into coordi-
nation and fleet-oriented auton-
omy of these platforms, as well
as into advancing data gathering
using onboard sensors such as
cameras, sonars and dissolved
oxygen sensors. Another aspect
of advancing vehicle autonomy
is real-time underwater deci-
sion-making and data analysis.
What is the focus of your re-
search on these submersibles?
My team and I focus on develop-
ing navigational and mission-plan-
ning algorithms for persistent
operations, meaning long-term
missions with minimal human
oversight. The goal is to respond to
two of the main constraints in the
deployment of autonomous sys-
tems. One is battery life. The other
is unknown situations.
For battery life, we work on
at-sea recharging, both under-
water and surface water. We
are developing tools for auton-
omous deployment, recovery,
recharging and data transfer for
longer missions at sea. For un-
known situations, we are work-
ing on recognizing and avoiding
obstacles and adapting to dif-
ferent ocean currents – basical-
ly allowing a vehicle to navigate
in rough conditions on its own.
To adapt to changing dynamics
and component failures, we are
working on methodologies to help
the vehicle detect the change and
compensate to be able to continue
and finish the mission.
These efforts will enable
long-term ocean studies in-
cluding observing environmen-
tal conditions and mapping un-
charted areas. ■
This article is republished
from The Conversation under a
Creative Commons license.
 28
How uploading our minds to a computer
might become possible
BY ANGELA THORNTON,
University of Nottingham
The Conversation
The idea that our mind could
live on in another form after our
physical body dies has been a re-
curring theme in science fiction
since the 1950s. Recent television
series such as Black Mirror and
Upload, as well as some games,
demonstrate our continued fas-
cination with this idea. The con-
cept is known as mind uploading.
Recent developments in sci-
ence and technology are taking
us closer to a time when mind
uploading could graduate from
science fiction to reality.
In 2016, BBC Horizon screened
a programme called The Immor-
talist, in which a Russian million-
aire unveiled his plans to work
with neuroscientists, robot build-
ers and other experts to create
technology that would allow us to
upload our minds to a computer
in order to live forever.
At the time, he confidently pre-
dicted that this would be achieved
by 2045. This seems unlikely, but
we are making small but signifi-
cant steps towards a better under-
standing of the human brain – and
potentially the ability to emulate,
or reproduce, it.
Whole-brain emulation is
Rechie Aileen Valdez:..
❰❰ 17 Parliament, how do
you push for systemic
change around ideas
that are new or not popular?
Rechie answers, “As an MP, it is
important to engage people and
maintain continuous dialogue.
Having these conversations allow
you as an MP to determine what
the feedback and input is on topics
or policies. It helps create ideas
that are new and may not neces-
sarily be popular, albeit they are
what would be the right measures
or mechanisms to implement as
time progresses.”
The political world is cut-
throat. Have you ever been so
discouraged, you wanted to quit?
How do you encourage women to
not give up? Rechie muses, “The
political world is not easy, nor is
Technology
one potential route to mind up-
loading. Detailed scans of the
brain and its activity would al-
low us to reproduce a person’s
biological brain, and potentially
mind, in a computer.
Several approaches
The most promising tech-
nique is “scan and copy”, where
the structure of a preserved brain
would be scanned in detail, using,
for example, the technique of
electron microscopy. This would
gather the data needed to pro-
duce a working copy of a brain.
So, how likely is it that whole
brain emulation, and poten-
tially mind uploading, will be
achieved? In a report published
in 2008, researchers at the
University of Oxford described
whole brain emulation as a
“formidable engineering and
research problem, yet one that
appears to have a well-defined
goal and could, it would seem,
be achieved by extrapolations
of current technology”.
However, others are sceptical
of the underlying assumptions
and two key tenets in particu-
lar. Central to the proposition of
whole brain emulation is the sep-
aration of the mind from the body.
However, this is contentious,
as many believe that the brain
is “embodied” and functions as
it does because of its relation-
it a walk-in-the-park. As a wom-
an, there are additional barriers
that we face which cause a deter-
rence to push forward. I focus on
my “why” and “who” I’m doing it
for. I shift my mind to focus on the
positive impact that I am making
locally in the riding and across
Canada. As women, we can’t give
up our dreams. When times get
tough, that is time for us to dig
deep and continue to persevere.”
Power changes people inevi-
tably — even the smallest dose of
power can change someone. Has
power changed you? How do you
balance power and leadership
without alienating or upsetting
your constituents? Rechie re-
sponds, “I don’t believe it has. In
my victory speech on the night of
the 2021 election, I said, “It is a
ship to other parts of the body
and the environment that we
sense and interact with.
Mind uploading also assumes
that the mind is an outcome of
what the brain does. Our minds,
and particularly consciousness,
are often considered something
greater and more ephemeral than
a function of the biological brain.
This controversy means that
the philosophical and scientific
challenges of whole brain emu-
lation and mind uploading are
actively debated by academics,
yet there is hardly any aware-
ness among the public that this
two-way conversation and an open
dialogue. In everything that I do, I
will remain open to listening to the
constituents in the riding of Mis-
sissauga—Streetsville.” That is a
commitment I made because I un-
derstand the importance of an MP
being able to balance representing
the constituents who elected them
to that position.”
Life as we all know it, is divid-
ed into different parts and it can
definitely be a tough balancing
act trying to find time in every-
thing: how do you balance career,
your personal life and passions?
Is there even such a thing as bal-
ance? Rechie acknowledges, “I
always make time for “me time”
which includes doing things that I
enjoy, to allow myself to recharge
and keep going. I always make
www.canadianinquirer.net
discussion is happening and is
unresolved.
For my PhD thesis, I have
been exploring how aware the
public are of mind uploading
and what they think of the idea
when they learn about it, such
as whether they would like their
minds uploaded into a comput-
er or into another body and what
the benefits and risks might be.
In the course of my study,
I have used several research
methods including longitu-
dinal interviews – interviews
with same subjects over several
years – and a storytelling web-
time for my family, my husband,
Christopher Valdez, and our two
kids. I believe women can have it
all, as long as you are able to prior-
itise what’s important to you ver-
sus what you are responsible for.”
Rechie fiercely believes in
empowering women. She be-
lieves that quality relationships
with female peers and mentors
can help provide young girls
the skills and tools to make the
most out of their lives and create
a bright future for themselves.
What advice would you give to
the next generation of women
leaders? Rechie replies, “You
are enough. Believe in your-
self and be kind to yourself.”
Rechie Aileen Valdez definite-
ly embodies and defines a wom-
an of power and great substance.
JUNE 30, 2023 FRIDAY
site that depicts two characters
being uploaded.
Modifying the brain
Neurotechnology, or “meth-
ods to directly record or mod-
ify human brain activity”, is
rapidly advancing. Examples
of neurotechnology such as
brain-to-computer interfaces
and an implantable device, Sten-
trode, made headlines earlier this
year because they allowed se-
verely paralysed patients to con-
trol a computer by thinking and
to conduct online activities like
shopping and sending emails.
Such developments, along
with advances in artificial intel-
ligence (AI), are allowing us to
better decipher brain waves. In
the future, they may well allow us
to “write to” or modify the brain.
Consequently, we need to put
guidelines and legislation in
place to ensure that our human
and neural rights are protected.
This area, known as “neuror-
ights”, is a hot topic in academia
at the moment.
No one knows for certain how
long it might take to emulate the
human brain. It could take 100
years, with mind uploading being
another big leap. While this may
seem a lifetime away, we need to
remember how fast technology
❱❱ PAGE 30 How uploading our
She’s proven to be persistent,
brave, passionate, knowledge-
able, skilled, self-sufficient, opti-
mistic, and mentally tough. But
above all, Rechie Aileen Valdez
possesses inner strength and
sees her roadblocks not as deter-
rents that she can’t overcome,
but rather as stepping stones
to better herself and help em-
power other women. Moreover,
she doesn’t see other women as
threats, she embraces them to be
a part of her sisterhood tribe. ■
Matte Laurel-Zalko is a former
restaurateur and hotelier, a moth-
er, a wife, a health and wellness
aficionado, food and wine enthu-
siast, a dog-lover, and lifestyle col-
umnist exclusively for Philippine
Canadian Inquirer (PCI).
FRIDAY JUNE 30, 2023
Expedition ship Heritage Adventurer
makes way to Currimao seaport
BY LEILANIE ADRIANO
Philippine News Agency
LAOAG CITY – Heritage Ad-
venturer, a small ship expedition
with at least 51 passengers most-
ly seniors from New Zealand and
Australia, made her way to the in-
ternational seaport of Currimao
in Ilocos Norte on Monday.
Araceli Salem, senior tour-
ism operations officer of the
Department of Tourism (DOT)
Laoag sub-office, led the giving
of welcome leis to the guests ar-
riving at the seaport.
“Before coming to the Phil-
ippines, the expedition cruise
ship came from Taiwan. Ba-
tanes Island was the first Phil-
ippine port of entry, followed by
Travelers go for environment-friendly stay
BY JOYCE ANN L.
ROCAMORA
Philippine News Agency
MANILA – Apart from ad-
vancing the green agenda, going
sustainable for hotels would
mean competitive advantage
in an industry where travelers
are becoming increasingly en-
vironmentally conscious.
At the 2023 Philippine Hos-
pitality in Sustainable Tourism
(Philhost) forum at a hotel in
Taguig City over the weekend,
former Pacific Asia Travel As-
sociation chief and Bridge XP
Advisory managing director Liz
Ortiguera said there had been a
rise of conscious travelers across
the globe in the past years.
Citing the recent Economist
Impact report, Ortiguera said
more than 90 percent of Fili-
pinos alone answered that sus-
tainable tourism is an important
factor in their travel consider-
Travel
Currimao and then to Hundred
Islands in Pangasinan,” Salem
said in an interview.
In a show of warmth and hos-
pitality to the arriving guests,
the Dinaklisan Festival dancers
of Currimao wowed the audi-
ence as some of the guests even
opted to take selfies with the
performers while others took
videos and photos of them.
While in Ilocos, some of the
passengers will visit heritage
landmarks in Badoc, Ilocos Norte
as well as in Vigan City and San
Vicente, both in Ilocos Sur.
After visiting Ilocos Norte and
Ilocos Sur, the cruise ship will
head to the Hundred Islands in
Pangasinan and then to Manila.
In coordination with the
Philippine Ports Authority,
ations, the highest among all the
countries in the region.
“[A]s hospitality industry
leaders, it’s in your hands, you
are the portal to the destination
and so it’s in your hands to in-
troduce very properly to busi-
ness and leisure travelers, your
destination,” she said.
According to the 2022 Green
Lodging Trends Report by con-
sulting firm Greenview, at least
78 percent of the hotels it sur-
veyed in the Philippines are al-
ready implementing initiatives
to reduce carbon emissions.
It also showed that some 30
percent have green roofs; 63 per-
cent are conducting waste audits
in the past three years; and 92
percent are implementing initia-
tives to reduce energy use.
In a separate workshop, Susan
de Cardenas of the Society for
Sustainable Tourism highlighted
the importance of getting certi-
fied, especially when the credibil-
ity of a destination is threatened
29
coastguard personnel, rural improved with aid from the na- gateway of Luzon has become
health unit personnel as well as tional government. more popular as a new port of
members of the Philippine Na- In pre-pandemic times, the call in the country for the cruise
tional Police assisted the visi- Currimao port in this northern industry. ■
tors for their safety and security
while in the province.
According to the DOT, big-
ger cruise ships are expected to
dock in Ilocos this year follow-
ing the maiden call of Heritage
Adventurer, often referred to
as the ‘Grande Dame of Explo-
ration Cruising’ due to her cel-
ebrated history and refined de-
sign for polar exploration.
Currently, the Port of Curri-
mao expansion project is being
improved in preparation for the
arrival of more cruise liners here.
Recently, the access road WELCOME LEIS. Arriving guests receive welcome lei from the Department of
leading to the international Tourism at the Currimao Seaport in Ilocos Norte on Monday (June 26, 2023). More
seaport of Currimao has been cruise lines are expected to arrive this year at the port. (LEILANIE G. ADRIANO/PNA)
by greenwashing or misleading islands, it’s all about coastal man- savings -- millions of dollars
claims about an organization’s agement and environment, even saving from being sustainable,
environmental practices. in Metro Manila, right next door that’s why I’m saying it, in fact
“[T]ravelers are now looking is the lake. We still have to inven- is all about saving,” she added.
for sustainable stays,” she said. tory the natural assets and their The GSTC Criteria is the
She emphasized that develop- carrying capacity,” she said. global standards for sustainable
ments in a destination should also “(Some of the) properties, travel and tourism and provides
be based on the environmental in- who are in fact GSPC (Global international accreditation to
ventory of its natural assets. Sustainable Tourism Council) develop a common language
“The Philippine Islands, 7,600 members and certified, showed about sustainable tourism. ■
www.canadianinquirer.net
 30 JUNE 30, 2023 FRIDAY

Full-fat or low-fat cheese and milk?
A dietitian on which is better
BY DUANE MELLOR, Aston
University
The Conversation
When it comes to dairy prod-
ucts do you tend to buy full-fat or
low-fat products? For many peo-
ple, going for low-fat options can
seem like the “healthier” choice.
Indeed, a 2020 survey in the
US found that out of 1,000 people
questioned, one in three sought
out “low fat” or “reduced fat”
foods or drinks, with dairy being
the most common food category
for low–fat options. But is low-fat
milk, cheese, yoghurt and butter
really any better for us?
Many governments and pub-
lic health bodies recommend
dairy as a key part of a healthy
diet (although it’s perfectly pos-
sible to be healthy without it, as
many people around the world
are). And many people opt for
low-fat options as part of this.
Low-fat milk is made by remov-
ing or skimming the cream off the
milk. So you can get whole or full-
fat milk (3.5% fat), semi-skimmed
or half-fat milk (1.8% fat) or fully
skimmed milk (0.1%-0.3% fat).
The same process can be used
to make lower-fat cheeses and yo-
ghurts. However, removing fat can
affect how cheese dries and how
flavours develop during maturing.
Most relevant dietary guide-
Food
lines encourage the consump-
tion of low-fat dairy foods,
except for in very young chil-
dren. But a recent review of the
available research found that
children who consumed full-
fat dairy foods were healthier
and leaner than those who con-
sumed reduced-fat versions.
It could be that families who
tend to have a history of living
with health issues relating to
diet or higher body weight may
be more likely to eat low-fat
products. An alternative view
is that full-fat dairy products
might be more filling and help
with the regulation of appetite,
meaning people eat less overall.
Either way, these observa-
tions in children have also been
seen in adults.
Explaining the science
It’s not just that low-fat dairy
foods may not be better for our
health. There is increasing evi-
dence that some of the fatty acids
found in dairy fats might actual-
ly reduce our risk of developing
heart disease and type 2 diabetes.
Indeed, it seems that higher
intakes of fermented dairy prod-
uctslike unsweetened full-fat
yoghurt and some cheeses might
be associated with lower risks of
heart disease and type 2 diabetes.
When it comes to the recom-
mendation to eat reduced-fat
dairy foods, the Australian
guidelines seem to be based betes and dementia. ly to save the average person
on a mathematical decision But this research looks at sat- less than 50kcal per day. This
around how calories add up to urated fatty acids in general and means, even when considering
meet the recommended calorie not specifically saturated fatty ac- calories and energy, the effect
intake for an average adult. ids found in dairy products, which of reducing fat is minimal.
It’s unclear if this is the have been shown in both chil- So if you consume dairy prod-
same for the guidelines in oth- dren and adults to be potentially ucts, it’s likely that there’s no
er countries, as elsewhere the beneficial for our health. This is need to worry too much about
detailed evidence has not been thought to be to do with the way the fat content. This is especial-
published in the same way. But these foods are fermented. ly the case when it comes to un-
it may well be that other rec- So these recommendations sweetened yoghurt and cheese,
ommendations to use lower-fat may come as part of suggestions which when consumed in their
dairy products are based more to limit overall fat intake more full-fat form do seem to come
on maths than science. broadly, rather than because with potential health benefits. ■
It’s also worth noting that the full-fat dairy is “bad” for us.
potential health benefits linked to Switching from full-fat milk This article is republished
dairy foods do not extend to but- to semi-skimmed milk in tea from The Conversation under a
ter and possibly not milk either, (up to five cups a day) is like- Creative Commons license.
but are largely linked to intakes of
yoghurt and some types of cheese.
There’s also a myth that low-
fat milk and cheese can lead to
weight gain, but this is false. It
appears to be based on histori-
cal farming practices that used
leftover skimmed milk from
making cream to fatten piglets.
Low-fat v full-fat
So, given the minimal evi-
dence, why do so many healthy
eating guidelines – including in
the UK, US and Australia – rec-
ommend that we choose low-fat
or reduced-fat versions of dairy
products?
Research has found that
higher intakes of saturated fatty
acids are linked to an increased
risk of heart disease, type 2 dia-

How uploading our.. As the Bank..

❰❰ 23 has advanced in the last
decade.
For example, we first
used magnetic resonance imag-
ing (MRI) fifty years ago. Howev-
er, earlier this year, a team of re-
searchers led by Duke University
scanned a whole mouse brain at
the highest resolution ever –- it
was 64 million times sharper
than before. At the moment,
whole brain emulation and the
possibility of mind uploading sits
mainly in the scientific domain.
However, as we are already
starting to see, such develop-
ments have the potential to
transform what it means to be
human and, as such, those out-
side the world of science should
have a voice. ■
This article is republished
from The Conversation under a
Creative Commons license.
❰❰ 25 exercising greater au-
thority in this digital
domain.
Mitigating concerns and
building trust
Democratic concerns must
be a part of the discussion about
a national digital currency.
Similar worries about privacy,
surveillance and national digi-
tal currency were also raised in
the European Union, the Unit-
ed States and elsewhere.
www.canadianinquirer.net
Launching the digital Cana-
dian dollar is a political deci-
sion, not a technological one.
Ensuring freedom is the same.
For the digital Canadian dol-
lar and the Bank of Canada to
be trusted, these worries must
be addressed and mitigated. If
the decision to issue this digital
money is made, it needs to be
done in a responsible manner.
It is essential to raise aware-
ness about the potential misuse
of the digital Canadian dollar
and carefully assess its impact
on Canadian democracy and
civil liberties. Unlike the current
suggested version, safeguards
must be part of the digital Cana-
dian dollar package. What these
safeguards are is a discussion we
should urgently have. ■
This article is republished
from The Conversation under a
Creative Commons license.
 JUNE 30, 2020
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