m
info@canadianinquirer.net
sales@canadianinquirer.net
facebook.com/
Philippine
CanadianInquirer
twitter.com/
pcinews_twt
Department of Human Settlements and Urban Development Secretary Jose Rizalino Acuzar (right), Tanauan City Mayor Nelson Collantes (2nd from right), Batangas 3rd District Rep. Ma. Theresa Collantes (4th
from right) and other DHSUD and city officials lead the groundbreaking of 12-Story Vertical Condominium Project in Barangay Sambat, Tanauan, Batangas on Nov. 15, 2022. The project is under President
Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s “Pambansang Pabahay para sa Pilipino” program aimed at building a total of 6 million housing units within the six years of the current administration.
US VP Harris to visit
Palawan; stresses
rules-based order in SCS
BY JOYCE ANN L. ROCAMORA
Philippine News Agency
MANILA – United States Vice Presi-
dent Kamala Harris is set to embark on a
“historic visit” to Palawan to underscore
her country’s commitment to stand by
Manila in upholding international rules-
based order in the South China Sea.
Harris, the highest-ranking US official
to visit Puerto Princesa City, will meet
Get this Great Offer and start
CANADA’S FIRST AND ONLY NATIONWIDE FILIPINO-CANADIAN NEWSPAPER FORDTO.CA
your journey in a new 2022 Edge
1.99% 60 * on most new
2022 Edge
APR Models
NOVEMBER 18, 2022 www.canadianinquirer.net VOL. 8 NO. 516 Purchase Financing Months
SAGIP PAMILYA COMMUNITY
JOEY O. RAZON / PNA
19
‘I’m the problem, it’s me’: Why
do musicians revisit their pain
with civil society leaders, residents, and and doubt in their art?
representatives of the Philippine Coast
Guard (PCG) on Nov. 22 as part of her
official trip to the Philippines. 27
“During her engagement with the Phil-
ippine Coast Guard, the Vice President `
will deliver remarks underscoring the 4 signs of progress at the
importance of international law, unim-
peded commerce, and freedom of naviga-
UN climate change summit
tion in the South China Sea,” a senior US A video of you goes viral with-
PAGE 13 out your consent – what does
❱❱ PAGE 4 US VP Harris the law say?
Advanced equipment and testing available
We direct bill most insurance companies:
Square One
Sun Life Green Shield
Manulife Blue Cross
Great-West Life Claim Secure Valid only at
Located in Square One Industrial Alliance Square One
inside Pearle Vision
If you are 19 years old and under or 65 years old
905-277-3052
and older, you are covered under OHIP**
visit www.drshekari.com *Eye exams available by Independent Doctors of Optometry inside Pearle Vision.
to schedule your eye exam*
12/31/2021.
2 Philippine News NOVEMBER 18, 2022 FRIDAY

PBBM vows further expansion

of Kadiwa caravan
BY RUTH ABBEY GITA-
CARLOS
Philippine News Agency
MANILA – President Ferdi-
nand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. on
Wednesday pledged to install
more Kadiwa stalls in different
parts of the country, to provide
Filipino consumers with more
affordable and high-quality lo-
cal products.
This was after Marcos, who
concurrently leads the Depart-
ment of Agriculture (DA), said
the Kadiwa ng Pasko project is
an early Christmas gift to Fil-
ipinos, as they may now buy
cheaper basic commodities, in-
cluding rice from the National
Food Authority (NFA), which is
only at PHP25 per kg.
In a speech delivered at Baran-
gay Addition Hills in Mandaluy-
ong City, the President expressed
hope that the grand opening of
Kadiwa ng Pasko outlets in 14 ar-
eas nationwide would help ease
the plight of Filipinos who have
to bear the brunt of global chal-
lenges, including high inflation
and soaring oil prices.
“Pararamihin po natin ito
hangga’t may coverage na tayo na
national. Bukod pa roon, kahit na
ang pinangalan namin ay Kadiwa
ng Pasko, kahit pagkatapos ng
Pasko, patuloy pa rin ito. Hindi
namin ititigil namin ito (We will
expand this to ensure national
coverage. Aside from that, it will
continue after Christmas, even if
it is named Kadiwa ng Pasko. We
will not stop it),” he said.
“Sana naman kahit papaano ito
ay makatulong sa inyo, makamu-
ra sa mga bilihin, para Merry
Christmas naman tayo ng kaunti
kahit masyado tayong binugbog
ng kung anu-anong pangyayari,
sinimulan ng pandemiya, tapos
nasundan pa ng kung anu-anong
pangyayari (I hope this could help
you. May these affordable prod-
ucts enable you to have a Merry
Christmas despite the challenges
we had to face since the onset of
the pandemic, followed by recent
developments).”
During the event, Marcos
visited the Kadiwa stalls, which
featured local products of local
farmers and fisherfolk, as well
as micro, small and medium en-
terprises (MSMEs).
Marcos, after delivering his
speech, received several gifts
from the sellers, including sev-
eral pairs of Marikina-made
Seacrest shoes.
San Juan City Mayor Francis Zamora checks the weight of a bag of rice during the launch
of Kadiwa ng Pasko at the Atrium of the City Hall on Nov. 16, 2022. (JOEY O. RAZON/PNA)
He thanked the participants
in the Kadiwa caravan and ex-
pressed optimism that the proj-
ect would benefit both local
suppliers and consumers.
“Ito ay isa sa mga maaaring
gawin ng inyong pamahalaan
para tulungan ang taumbayan
para mas maluwag ang buhay ng
ating kababayan. Kaya’t maram-
ing maraming salamat. Ako ay
natutuwa na makita na nabuhay
itong Kadiwa kasi magandang
programa talaga ‘yan (This is
one of the administration’s un-
dertakings to give our country-
men a more comfortable life. So,
thank you. I am grateful that this
Kadiwa is being implemented
because this is really a good pro-
gram),” he said.
Reaching the goal of
PHP20/kg. rice
Marcos also reiterated that
his goal of bringing down the
price of rice to about PHP20
per kg. is already within reach.
He, however, admitted that it
would take some time to realize
his plan.
“Palapit na tayo doon sa aking
pangarap na mag-PHP20 pero
dahan-dahan lang. Abutin din
natin yan (We are almost there
to reach our goal to reduce the
price (of rice) to PHP20. But we
have to take things slowly. We
will be able to reach that goal),”
Marcos said.
For now, he said, Filipinos
❱❱ PAGE 6 PBBM vows further

The 2022 Edge is Changing the Game

The 2022 Ford Edge offers a ride as smooth as its design. With refined power and style, the Edge is guaranteed to turn a few heads wherever you go.

There are different models for you to choose from this year. From the well-equipped SE to the sporty Edge ST, the 2022 Edge has a model to suit
everyone’s needs.
Bring On The Future with the 2022 Edge.
Feel the excitement of the 2022 Edge, with attention-grabbing style and standard tech like SYNC4A, a 12-inch touchscreen, and Intelligent
All-Wheel Drive. It offers a suite of standard and available driver-assist technologies with the sensors and cameras that make you aware of the
other vehicles and objects all around you.
To enjoy a peace of mind and a happy driving experience, take advantage of the Ford November offer: Get 1.99% APR Purchase Financing for
up to 60 months on most new 2022 Edge models. Visit your local Toronto Ford dealer for a test drive to feel the Edge.

Find out more at FORDTO.CA

www.canadianinquirer.net
FRIDAY NOVEMBER 18, 2022
PBBM still ‘undecided’ on attending
WEF in Switzerland
BY AZER PARROCHA
Philippine News Agency
MANILA – President Ferdi-
nand R. Marcos Jr. on Sunday
said he remains unsure about
accepting the invitation to at-
tend the World Economic Fo-
rum (WEF) in Davos, Switzer-
land from Jan. 16 to 20 next year.
Marcos explained that the
WEF would take place immedi-
ately after his state visit to China
set for the first week of January.
“I am undecided yet. It’s trav-
eling too much. That’s already
the end of January. I’m going to
China on the third,” Marcos said
in a media interview on the side-
lines of the 40th and 41st ASE-
AN Summits and Related Sum-
mits in Phnom Penh, Cambodia.
He said other leaders of the
Association of Southeast Asian
Nations (ASEAN) have also in-
vited him to make state visits.
Bill issuing educational
bonds for poor students
hurdles panel
BY FILANE MIKEE
CERVANTES
Philippine News Agency
MANILA – A measure re-
quiring the government to issue
educational bonds for the ben-
efit of underprivileged students
attending college has hurdled a
committee level at the House of
Representatives.
The House committee on
higher and technical education
approved House Bill 638, or the
Educational Bond for Tertiary
Education Act which will have
the Bureau of Treasury issue
educational bonds in the name
of every Filipino at birth which
gives him or her the right to the
proceeds of the security instru-
ment upon maturity.
The educational bond shall be
non-negotiable, non-transferable
and risk-free with a face value of
PHP25,000, a maturity period of
“They’ve all invited me. Sabi
ko, sige, basta ako naman wala
akong hinihindian. Sinasabi ko
lang ‘yung mag-schedule tayo
kung kailan libre tayo pareho
(I said, okay, I won’t reject in-
vitations. I just want to have
everything scheduled whenev-
er we’re available). That’s down
the road. Siguro (Perhaps) next
year, we’ll start honoring those
invitations,” he said.
Marcos said his mother, former
First Lady Imelda Marcos, had
once teased him about spending
plenty of time out of the country.
“Like my mom says, ‘Kailan
ka nag-oopisina (When did you
ever stay in the office)?’ Which
is -- may dahilan din (there’s a
reason). So I haven’t decided.
We’ll see,” he added.
Marcos said the more im-
portant question that needs to
be asked is when he would start
inviting investors to do busi-
ness in the Philippines.
18 years and a fixed interest rate.
The fund will be released to
underprivileged 18-year-old stu-
dents enrolled in a postsecondary
nondegree certificate, diploma
course in a technical-vocational
institution, or undergraduate de-
gree program in any public or pri-
vate higher education institution.
The beneficiary should be part
of a poor household included in the
poverty data under the “Communi-
ty-based Monitoring System Act”.
The bill states that any and
all educational bonds assigned
to unqualified and disqualified
student beneficiaries shall be
placed on the auction block one
year after the date of maturity.
During his sponsorship
speech, Albay Representative
Joey Salceda, author of the mea-
sure, said it is like a “govern-
ment-funded lay-away account”
or a pre-need college plan, except
it is government-guaranteed.
Salceda further emphasized
The President said the “de-
termining factor” for his deci-
sion to fly to Switzerland would
be whether the Philippines
has improved the ease of doing
business in the country.
“...The real decision there is
really going to be, if we are go-
ing to ask people to come to the
Philippines, who are going to
invest in the Philippines, are we
ready for them?”
Meanwhile, Marcos admit-
ted that he barely had enough
rest since arriving in Cambodia
to attend ASEAN Summits and
meet with the Filipino commu-
nity in Phnom Penh.
“Well, you know, because what
happens --- you’re sitting there
for what, eight hours, 10 hours, 12
hours, whatever it is. And then you
come home, you have to take care
of the things that have happened
in --- back home. So you don’t re-
ally go straight to sleep. You don’t
really eat properly. But you know,
that it will be a way to mitigate
intergenerational poverty.
“It takes a poor family 32
years to be able to afford col-
lege. I don’t think we should
wait that long to provide this
potent driver of upward social
mobility,” Salceda said.
Salceda also explained the
fiscal sustainability of the mea-
sure, noting that it is both cash-
flow neutral and deficit-neutral.
“Until it actually matures,
there is no cash flowing out of
the treasury... It is also neutral
in terms of the consolidated
public sector financial position,
since it will not flow out of the
government’s coffers,” he said.
Salceda said given the current
poverty rates, the government
will issue some PHP7.2 billion
in bonds for some 288,000 chil-
dren every year.
He also projected that the notes
will bear an interest of 8 percent,
government-guaranteed. ■
www.canadianinquirer.net
Philippine News
it has to be done. It’s okay. I mean,
you know. Nobody died from hon-
est hard work,” he said.
Six months into office, Mar-
cos has so far made state visits to
Indonesia and Singapore and a
working visit to the United States
(US) to attend the 77th United
Nations General Assembly.
His most recent foreign trip was
a working visit to Cambodia to at-
President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. (OPS)
Tax lawyer named
BIR commissioner
BY AZER PARROCHA
Philippine News Agency
MANILA – President Ferdi-
nand R. Marcos Jr. has appointed
tax lawyer Romeo “Jun” Lumagui
Jr. as commissioner of the Bureau
of Internal Revenue (BIR).
Lumagui took his oath before
Marcos at Malacañan Palace on
Tuesday, according to the Office
of the Press Secretary.
Before his appointment,
Lumagui served as BIR deputy
commissioner.
He has been designated to vari-
ous posts and functions, such as the
technical assistant to the commis-
sioner, and tax fraud head for Reve-
nue Region No. 6, Manila, Revenue
Region No. 4, Pampanga, and Reve-
nue Region No. 7B, East NCR.
Lumagui was also designated to
project management and imple-
mentation service, which develops
and oversees the implementation
of the overall reform or modern-
ization program of the BIR.
He headed several task forces
to boost collections, such as the
3
tend the ASEAN Summits and Re-
lated Summits from Nov. 10 to 13.
Established in 1971, WEF
serves as an international or-
ganization for public-private
cooperation.
The annual WEF convenes
leaders from government, busi-
ness, and civil society to address
the state of the world and discuss
priorities for the year ahead. ■
Assets Recovery Task Force,
where total collections amount-
ed to PHP833.69 million, and
the Task Force on Direct Sell-
ing/Multi-Level Marketing and
Investment Scams, where as-
sessments totaled PHP792.56
million in just around one year.
Lumagui obtained his law
degree at the Ateneo de Manila
University School of Law.
He ranked 19th place at the
Philippine Bar examinations.
After passing the Bar, he joined
SyCip Salazar Hernandez & Gatmai-
tan Law Offices (SyCip Law) where
he practiced taxation, among others.
He eventually established his
own law firm together with for-
mer SyCip Law partners.
Lumagui is also professorial
lecturer at the Lyceum of the Phil-
ippines University College of Law.
On Monday, Marcos also named
lawyer and businessman Jose Artu-
ro “Jay Art” Tugade as the new Assis-
tant Secretary of the Land Transpor-
tation Office and former Anti-Red
Tape Authority officer-in-charge
Ernesto Perez as Director General of
the anti-red tape body. ■
 4 Philippine News
PH backs UNGA reso calling for Russia
to pay war reparations
BY JOYCE ANN L.
ROCAMORA
Philippine News Agency
MANILA – The Department
of Foreign Affairs (DFA) con-
firmed Tuesday that Manila
has supported a United Nations
General Assembly (UNGA) res-
olution calling for Russia to pay
war reparations.
No further statement, how-
ever, was issued by the agency.
The UNGA adopted Monday
the text titled, “Furtherance
of Remedy and Reparation for
Aggression Against Ukraine,”
during its 11th Emergency Spe-
cial Session, supporting the
establishment of a mechanism
US VP Harris..
❰❰ 1 administration official
said Tuesday.
Several littoral
states, including China, lay
overlapping claims in the Ka-
layaan Island Group (KIG),
which forms part of the vast
Spratly Islands in the South
China Sea.
The Kalayaan municipality,
a part of the KIG, is under Pal-
awan’s jurisdiction.
Harris’ itinerary includes in-
teractions with communities
to discuss climate change and
illegal, unreported, and unreg-
ulated fishing.
‘PBBM, VP Duterte bilat-
erals’
Her Palawan trip follows bi-
lateral meetings with President
Ferdinand R. Marcos and Vice
President Sara Duterte in Ma-
nila on November 21.
Her meeting with Marcos
(KAMALA HARRIS/FACEBOOK)
for Russia to compensate for
damage and loss of life since its
aggression in Ukraine in Febru-
ary 2022.
The resolution calls for the
would focus on strengthening
Washington D.C.’s security al-
liances and economic relation-
ship with the country.
“On security, the Vice Pres-
ident will reaffirm our defense
commitments to the Philippines
and the importance of alliance
in peace and stability in the
South China Sea. They will dis-
cuss about upholding interna-
tional rules and norms,” the se-
nior administration official said.
Discussions would also in-
clude partnerships on the dig-
ital economy and accelerating
the transition to clean energy.
On Nov. 21, Harris would
meet with Filipino women as
well as civil society activists to
show support for human rights
and democratic resilience.
Harris is flying to the Philip-
pines from Thailand on Nov. 20. ■
establishment of an interna-
tional mechanism for repara-
tion as well as a registry to doc-
ument evidence and claims.
The said text recognizes
House pushes for more
protection, benefits for
media workers
BY FILANE MIKEE
CERVANTES
Philippine News Agency
MANILA – The measure
providing media workers with
enhanced protection, security,
and benefits is inching its way
into becoming law following its
second reading approval at the
House of Representatives.
During Wednesday’s plena-
ry session, the chamber passed
through voice vote House Bill
454, or the proposed Media
Workers’ Welfare Act.
ACT-CIS Party-list Rep. Jeffrey
Soriano, author of the measure,
said the bill is geared toward the
creation of a safe, protected, and
conducive atmosphere for produc-
tive, free, and fruitful media work.
“This bill seeks to ensure that
our media workers be granted hu-
mane conditions of work, living
wage, and comprehensive bene-
fits package at par with the cur-
rent benefits enjoyed by the labor
force both in government and the
private sector,” Soriano said.
He said the rights and wel-
fare of media workers should be
promoted as the country’s right
www.canadianinquirer.net
that Russia must be held ac-
countable for any violations of
international law in Ukraine
and that it must “bear the legal
consequences of all its interna-
tionally wrongful acts, includ-
ing making reparation for the
injury, including any damage,
caused by such acts.”
A total of 94 states voted in
favor, 14 against, while 73 ab-
stained, including some South-
east Asian nations like Vietnam
and Indonesia.
Indonesia, in explaining its
vote, said the underlying mes-
sage of the text should have
been that the war must stop and
that sovereignty and territorial
integrity must be respected.
It said the proposed mech-
to information flourishes with
aid from media workers.
“However, while we have the
privilege to be served with quali-
ty news at the expense of the said
right, media workers are current-
ly confronted with different risks
and threats, sometimes even life
and death situations,” he added.
The bill includes entitlements
to overtime pay, night shift pre-
miums, and a wage that should
not be below the minimum sala-
ry in their respective region.
Media workers shall be covered
by the Social Security System,
the Home Development Mutual
NOVEMBER 18, 2022 FRIDAY
anism must be “built upon a
foundation of due process” to
ensure a just reparation effort.
“We are concerned that a
lack thereof may prevent the
General Assembly to act pru-
dently and decide prematurely,
particularly when the terms of
operation of this initiative have
yet to be decided and will be ne-
gotiated outside the framework
of the Assembly,” its represen-
tative said.
“Given the explanation by the
sponsors that the mechanism will
be set up outside the UN system,
we further question the need for
this resolution. A General Assem-
bly resolution at this stage may
lead us to a slippery slope,” the
representative added. ■
Fund or the PAG-IBIG Fund, and
the Philippine Health Insurance
Corp. upon employment.
It also requires death, dis-
ability, and medical insurance
benefits for media workers.
A News Media Tripartite
Council shall be created to serve
as a platform for media workers
and employers to discuss and
agree on mutually beneficial pol-
icies, including the settlement of
conflicts and the formulation
of programs that support both
sectors’ aspirations, and thereby
promote the growth and devel-
opment of the media industry. ■
FRIDAY NOVEMBER 18, 2022 5

Get the latest News & Updates

read daily news

from Philippines,
Canada & the World
www.canadianinquirer.net
The one and only daily Filipino-Canadian live news
 6 Philippine News
House OKs VAT on digital EDCA projects on
transactions on final reading agreed locations
BY FILANE MIKEE
CERVANTES
Philippine News Agency
for implementation
MANILA – The House of
in 2023 ing, authors of the measure, said
Representatives on Monday
approved on third and final
reading a measure seeking to
impose a 12 percent value-add-
ed tax (VAT) on foreign digital
service providers, such as Net-
flix and Spotify.
With 253 affirmative votes,
four negative votes and one ab-
stention, the chamber approved
House Bill 4122, which seeks to
clarify the imposition of VAT
on electronic or online sales of
services such as online adver-
tisement services and provi-
sion digital advertising space,
digital services in exchange for
a subscription fee, and supply
of other electronic and online
services that can be delivered
through the internet.
The bill requires nonresident
digital service providers (DSP)
to collect and remit the VAT
on the transactions that pass
through their platform.
It exempts educational ser-
vices including online courses
and webinars of private institu-
tions from the 12 percent VAT.
The chamber also approved
on final reading House Bill
4102, which seeks to impose an
excise tax of PHP100 per kilo on
single-use plastic bags, with 255
affirmative votes, three nega-
tive votes, and no abstention.
PBBM vows further..
❰❰ 2 may purchase more
affordable rice at the
Kadiwa outlets.
“‘Pag bibili ng bigas, kinuku-
ha sa NFA, kinukuha sa buffer
stock, doon lang hindi kumikita
ang NFA, kung ano ‘yung pinam-
bili nila, ganun din ang presyo
kaya’t nakita ninyo ang bigas,
PHP25 per kilo (The NFA gets
the rice supply from the buffer
stock, the price of rice only costs
PHP25 per kg.),” he said.
The Kadiwa ng Pasko project,
an initiative of the Office of the
President and spearheaded by
the DA, aims to promote afford-
able and high-quality products.
The program was launched
to address inflation and price
Sultan Kudarat Representa-
tive Horacio Suansing and Nueva
Ecija Rep. Mikaela Angela Suans-
plastic pollution poses a major
threat to the environment, par-
ticularly bodies of water such as
rivers, where fishermen depend
on for their livelihood.
The Suansings said aside
from the adverse impact on
the environment, plastics are a
health hazard to human beings,
as these products contain can-
cer-causing chemicals such as
Bisphenol A or BPA.
They cited recent studies
showing that BPA could “poten-
tially be related to disruptions in
gene expression, thereby affect-
ing biological functions related to
the body’s metabolism and devel-
opment, as well as disruptions in
fertility and sexual maturation.”
The bill defines “single-use plas-
tic bags” as “secondary level plas-
tics made of synthetic or semi-syn-
surges associated with the
Christmas season.
It provides a direct farm-to-con-
sumer food supply chain to elimi-
nate several marketing layers and
help boost the income of local agri-
cultural producers.
The Kadiwa ng Pasko caravan
is being implemented in part-
nership with the departments of
trade, interior and local govern-
ment, social welfare, and labor.
Fourteen Kadiwa stores
opened nationwide – 11 in Met-
ro Manila, one in Tacloban City,
one in Davao de Oro, and one in
Koronadal City, South Cotabato.
First Lady Louise “Liza”
Araneta-Marcos led the grand
launch of the Kadiwa ng Pas-
thetic organic polymer such as
“ice,” “labo,” or “sando” bags, with
or without handle, used as packag-
ing for goods or products.”
The tax would be increased
by four percent every year
starting on Jan. 1, 2026.
Meanwhile, House Bill 4339
or the proposed Package 4 of the
Comprehensive Tax Reform Pro-
gram hurdled final reading with
258 affirmative votes, three nega-
tive votes, and no abstention.
House Ways and Means com-
mittee chair Joey Salceda, prin-
cipal author and sponsor of the
three priority tax measures,
said at least PHP47 billion in
new revenues are expected to
be generated annually.
Specifically, he said the VAT
for nonresident DSPs is expect-
ed to yield some PHP19 billion,
the single-use plastic bags tax
would yield PHP9.3 billion, and
❱❱ PAGE 21 House OKs VAT
ko project in Parañaque City,
presidential son Ilocos Norte
1st District Rep. Ferdinand Al-
exander ‘Sandro’ Marcos III in
Quezon City, and presidential
son Joseph Simon Marcos in
San Juan City.
Special Assistant to the Pres-
ident, Secretary Antonio Lag-
dameo Jr., also graced the open-
ing of Kadiwa stores in Makati
City, Presidential Management
Staff Secretary Zenaida Ang-
ping in Pasay City, Social Wel-
fare Secretary Erwin Tulfo in
Valenzuela City, and Office of
the Press Secretary Undersec-
retary Emerald Ridao in Camp
Aguinaldo, Quezon City. ■
www.canadianinquirer.net
NOVEMBER 18, 2022
BY PRIAM NEPOMUCENO
Philippine News Agency
MANILA – The Department
of National Defense (DND) said
construction projects under
the Enhanced Defense Coop-
eration Agreement (EDCA) be-
tween the Philippines and the
United States are scheduled for
implementation at the agreed
locations in 2023.
DND spokesperson Arsen-
io Andolong, in a statement
Tuesday, said USD66.5 million
is earmarked for the construc-
tion of EDCA projects in the
approved locations within the
next two years.
“The projects include con-
struction of training, ware-
house, and other facilities at
Cesar Basa Air Base in Pampan-
ga, Fort Ramon Magsaysay in
Nueva Ecija, and Lumbia Air-
port Base Station in Cagayan de
Oro,” he added.
Andolong said the DND is
committed to accelerate the
EDCA by concluding infra-
structure enhancement and
repair projects, and developing
new infrastructure projects at
existing EDCA locations.
This also includes exploring
new locations that will build a
more credible mutual defense
posture.
“The Philippines and the US
have maintained dialogue to
discuss the implementation
of the Mutual Defense Treaty
(U.S. EMBASSY IN THE PHILIPPINES/FACEBOOK)
FRIDAY
(MDT) and ensure that it re-
mains relevant to address con-
temporary security challenges.
Through the Mutual Defense
Board (MDB) and Security En-
gagement Board (SEB), both
sides continue to discuss and
collaborate on projects under
EDCA,” Andolong said.
He added the DND remains
consistent in its position that all
engagements with the US as well
as other foreign partners must
be conducted in accordance
with the Philippine Constitu-
tion and other national laws.
“The Department is focused
on planning joint activities
that will enable us to develop
our individual and joint capac-
ity to address current security
challenges in line with the im-
plementing details provided by
Philippines-US defense agree-
ments anchored on the MDT.
With the progress in Fort Mag-
saysay, Basa Air Base, and Anto-
nio Bautista Air Base (in Pala-
wan), the Department hopes to
be able to complete other pend-
ing projects,” Andolong said.
Finalized after eight rounds
of talks in August 2013, the
EDCA which was signed in 2014
allows US troops access to des-
ignated Philippine military
facilities, the right to build fa-
cilities, and preposition equip-
ment, aircraft, and vessels, but
rules out permanent basing.
Under the EDCA, the Phil-
❱❱ PAGE 16 EDCA projects on
FRIDAY NOVEMBER 18, 2022
House OKs bill mandating DepEd vows
on-site relocation for inclusive learning
informal settlers recovery as
BY JOSE CIELITO
REGANIT
Philippine News Agency
Senate OKs budget
MANILA – With an over-
whelming 254 votes, the House
of Representatives on Monday
approved on third and final
reading a bill mandating local
government units (LGUs) to
establish an onsite, in-city, or
near-city relocation program
for urban informal settler fami-
lies (ISFs) residing within their
jurisdictions.
House Bill (HB) 5, primari-
ly authored by Speaker Martin
G. Romualdez and Rep. Yedda
Marie K. Romualdez and Jude
Acidre of Tingog party-list, seeks
to amend Republic Act (RA)
7279, or the Urban Development
and Housing Act of 1992.
The measure seeks to prop-
erly address the issues sur-
rounding past practices of re-
settling ISFs in relocation areas
that lack basic amenities and
far from their places of work.
“While the government has
been providing resettlement
sites to informal settler fami-
lies, these sites have been most-
ly off-city. These do not provide
employment opportunities and
livelihood, as well as social
services,” the authors noted.
“As a result, many fam-
ilies are drawn back to the
cities to find employment
that would provide for
their needs, ending up liv-
ing again in informal set-
tlements that are the em-
bodiment of abject poverty,
social exclusion and unsafe
housing,” they pointed out.
HB 5 seeks to address
such issues by providing
relocation or resettlement
sites with basic services and
facilities, and access to employ-
ment and livelihood opportuni-
ties sufficient to meet the basic
needs of the affected ISFs.
The measure defines in-city
or onsite resettlement as a “re-
location site within the juris-
diction of a local government
unit where the affected infor-
mal settler families are living.”
“Near-city resettlement” refers
to a relocation site close to the
Metro Manila, Philippines (RISINGTHERMALS/FLICKR, CC BY-NC 2.0)
original settlement of the affected
ISFs, but within the jurisdiction of
another LGU that is adjacent to
the implementing LGU.
On the other hand, “off-city”
relocation is a relocation site
developed outside, and not ad-
jacent to the LGU where the
affected ISFs originally settled.
The measure mandates that
off-site resettlement may be
resorted to only when in-city
or near-city resettlement is not
feasible. For this purpose, the
implementing LGU may pur-
chase lands outside its jurisdic-
tion, taking into consideration
... many families
are drawn back to
the cities to find
employment...
its feasibility, viability, budget-
ary concerns, zoning ordinanc-
es and other relevant laws.
LGUs are to implement the
on-site, near-city or off-city
housing program for ISFs in
partnership with the Depart-
ment of Human Settlements
and Urban Development, Na-
tional Housing Authority, Na-
tional Home Mortgage Finance
Corp., Home Development Mu-
tual Fund, and Social Housing
Finance Corp
HB 5 also calls for adequate
consultation with the affected
families.
Implementing LGUs, in coor-
dination with the Presidential
Commission for the Urban Poor
and concerned government
agencies, shall give affected
ISFs an opportunity to be heard
and to participate in the deci-
sion-making process over mat-
ters affecting involving the pro-
tection and promotion of their
legitimate collective interests.
The ISFs shall also assist the
government in preventing the
incursion of professional
squatters and members of
squatting syndicates into
their communities.
Meanwhile, other agen-
cies, including the Depart-
ment of Labor and Employ-
ment, Technical Education
and Skills Development
Authority, Department of
Social Welfare and Devel-
opment, Department of Sci-
ence and Technology, and
Philippine Trade and Train-
ing Center, are mandated
to provide skills and livelihood
training to the program benefi-
ciaries.
The Department of Human
Settlements and Urban Devel-
opment and the Department of
the Interior and Local Govern-
ment, in consultation with ap-
propriate agencies, civil society
groups, the private sector and
representatives of ISFs, shall is-
sue the implementing rules and
regulations. ■
www.canadianinquirer.net
Philippine News
BY STEPHANIE
SEVILLANO
Philippine News Agency
MANILA – The Depart-
ment of Education (DepEd)
has vowed to uphold inclusive
learning recovery in the coun-
try, as the Senate approved its
proposed budget for 2023.
The DepEd made the state-
ment on Monday night follow-
ing the Senate’s approval of the
department and its attached
agencies’ PHP667.18-billion
proposed budget.
In a statement, the DepEd
said it is grateful for legislators
who ensured “sufficient fund-
ing” for the education sector.
“The Department of Education
(DepEd) expresses its gratitude to
the Senate of the Philippines for
approving the budget of the De-
partment and its attached agencies
for the Fiscal Year 2023,” it said.
The approved budget includes
a PHP581.6-million allocation
for Special Education (SpEd)
and PHP154.4 million for Indig-
enous Peoples’ Education.
“Under the leadership of Vice
President and Secretary Sara
Duterte, and with the renewed
trust and confidence from our
lawmakers, the Department is
committed to effectively and
efficiently utilize its funds in
providing accessible, quality
basic education for the Filipino
youth that is both inclusive and
empowering,” the DepEd said.
The department added that
this funding will help the educa-
Vice President and Education Secretary Sara Duterte in Mandaluyong City on
Oct. 6, 2022. (JOEY O. RAZON/PNA)
7
tion sector as it recovers from the
impact of the coronavirus dis-
ease 2019 (Covid-19) pandemic.
“Amidst the various challeng-
es confronting basic education,
amplified even further by the
Covid-19 pandemic, learning
recovery truly requires a whole-
of-nation approach... Led by our
sponsor and education champi-
on Sen Pia S. Cayetano, our hon-
orable senators ensured that the
Department will have sufficient
funding to begin our road to re-
covery,” it said.
The approved budget, mean-
while, included the PHP150-mil-
lion confidential fund, which will
be used to ensure the safety and
security of learners and personnel.
The DepEd has earlier insist-
ed that the confidential fund has
a “solid legal basis,” and that its
implementation is timely to make
sure programs are target-specific.
“Sexual abuse and all other
forms of violence, graft, and
corruption; involvement in il-
legal drugs of learners and per-
sonnel; recruitment to insur-
gency, terrorism, and violent
extremism; child labor; child
pornography; and recruitment
to criminal activities, gang-
sterism, and financial and oth-
er scams, are just some of the
pressing issues, which by their
nature of being unlawful, need
the support of surveillance and
intelligence gathering to ensure
that projects of DepEd are tar-
get-specific and will result in
the broader protection of our
personnel and learners,” the
DepEd earlier said. ■
8 Philippine News
Correspondent/Hosts
Joanna Belle Deala
Arianne Grace Lacanilao
Jgab Lacanilao
Matte Laurel
Violeta Arevalo
Babes Newland
Graphic Design
Shanice Garcia
Ginno Alcantara
Arlnie Colleene Talain Singca
Account Manager
Kristopher Yong
Director/Producer
Boom Dayupay
Photographers/Videographers
Ginno Alcantara
Management
Alan Yong
For photo submissions, please email
editor@canadianinquirer.net
For General Inquiries, please email
info@canadianinquirer.net
For Sales Inquiries, please email
sales@canadianinquirer.net
or visit
‘www.canadianinquirer.net/advertise-with-us/’
Philippine Canadian Inquirer is located at
#1820-666 Burrard Street
Vancouver BC V6C 2X8 Canada
Email: info@canadianinquirer.net,
sales@canadianinquirer.net
Instagram: @pcinews_ig
Twitter: @pcinews_twt
Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/pcinews
Philippine Canadian Inquirer
is published weekly every Friday.
Copies are distributed free throughout Metro
Vancouver, Edmonton, Calgary, and Greater Toronto.
The views and opinions expressed in the articles
(including opinions expressed in ads herein) are those
of the authors named, and are not necessarily those of
Philippine Canadian Inquirer Editorial Team.
PCI reserves the right to reject any advertising which
it considers to contain false or misleading information
or involves unfair or unethical practices. The advertiser
agrees the publisher shall not be liable for damages
arising out of error in any advertisment.
Member
Marcos, Trudeau discuss ways to
manage climate change, MSMEs
BY AZER PARROCHA
Philippine News Agency
MANILA – President Ferdinand R.
Marcos Jr. and Canadian Prime Minister
Justin Trudeau on Sunday met to discuss
ways to manage climate change and assist
Filipino micro, small and medium enter-
prises (MSMEs) grow their business.
In a bilateral meeting at the Sokha Ho-
tel in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, Marcos
cited the Philippines’ experience in deal-
ing with Severe Tropical Storm Paeng
(international name Nalgae) as among
the direct effects of climate change.
“It was a very strange one because
it was the very first one in our history
where every single part of the country
was affected by one typhoon. From up in
the northern part, the northern island of
Luzon, all the way down to the southern
part of the Philippines. Everybody felt it
and felt it badly,” he told Trudeau.
Marcos explained that the conse-
quences of climate change greatly affect
the Philippines, which is very vulnerable
due to its geography.
He described the Philippines as a sink
that absorbs carbon dioxide (CO2).
“...This is how it developed and this is
how it has evolved. We have to manage it
and we have to deal with it so… these are the
consequences of that neglect,” Marcos said.
Trudeau, for his part, said Canada had
the same experience after the country
was hit by recent hurricanes on the East
Coast, forest fires, droughts and floods.
“Unfortunately over the past decade
as we -- as people still talk about global
warming, rather than climate change,
there are a number of Canadians who
went around saying, ‘Oh global warming
DOH confirms appointment of
Tayag as undersecretary
BY MA. TERESA MONTEMAYOR
Philippine News Agency
MANILA – The Department of Health
(DOH) has confirmed the appointment
of Dr. Eric Tayag as undersecretary of
the agency.
“Yes, Director Eric Tayag, we received
the transmittal of his appointment yester-
day,” Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario
Vergeire said in a media briefing Tuesday.
Tayag is the current director of the
DOH’s Knowledge Management and In-
formation Technology Systems bureau.
www.canadianinquirer.net
that will be good for us…,’” the Canadian
leader said.
Although some failed to realize the
unpredictability and consequences of
climate change in the past, Trudeau said
it was a “big step” that more people are
now aware of the reality of the effects of
climate change. However, he said there
is still “a lot of work” to do.
Trudeau likewise extended his
sympathies to the Philippines following
the devastation caused by Paeng which
resulted in casualties and damage to ag-
riculture, properties and infrastructure.
Doing business, MSMEs
Meanwhile, Marcos welcomed
Trudeau’s offer to collaborate to simpli-
fy the process of allowing Canadian in-
frastructure builders to secure projects
in the country and help Filipino micro,
small and medium enterprises (MS-
MEs) develop.
President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. holds a bilateral meeting with Canadian Prime Minister Justin
Trudeau in Phnom Penh on November 13, 2022. (OPS)
Previously, he served as spokesperson
of the agency.
Vergeire said Tayag has yet to take his
oath of office.
“We are still scheduling… Pinag-uusapan
pa namin ngayon, ng aming mga officials
kung saan namin siya appropriately, based
on his capacity, i-a-assign para mas makat-
ulong sa ating kagawaran (Our officials are
still discussing where we can appropriately
assign him, based on his capacity, to better
help our department),” she said.
As for the office of Undersecretary
Camilo Cascolan, Vergeire noted he is
tasked to monitor the operations in the
NOVEMBER 18, 2022 FRIDAY
He said that one of the thrusts of his
administration is to assist MSMEs in re-
covering from the pandemic.
“They are 99.8 percent of our busi-
nesses, our MSMEs. They are 62.63 per-
cent of our employment. [They] are em-
ployed in MSMEs. And it took a big hit in
the pandemic. And so that’s what we’ve
been trying to do -- is to try to support
them, and it has a very large multiplier
effect,” he said.
Trudeau said there were “a number of
things” that can be done to make it eas-
ier for Canadian investors to establish
infrastructure in the Philippines.
“We should make sure we’re acceler-
ating our works so that we can be much
more active partners on that,” he said.
He said there were a number of pro-
grams he could share that would help
MSMEs, particularly those that are
women-owned and run, succeed. ■
Visayas region as the Field Implementa-
tion Coordinating Team.
“I’ve specifically instructed him to
look into, first, the vaccination coverage
in the areas. Second, logistics manage-
ment, to inventory all of our commodi-
ties specifically [the coronavirus disease
2019] vaccine,” she said.
“But of course, we also gave him the in-
struction na dapat maayos nya yung net-
work ng ating mga hospital (to improve
the network of our hospitals) from prima-
ry care to higher level care doon sa Region
6 (Western Visayas), 7 (Central Visayas),
and 8 (Eastern Visayas),” she added. ■
FRIDAY NOVEMBER 18, 2022
The CRTC must remain free
of political interference
BY ROBERT ARMSTRONG
Policy Options
With Bill C-11, Ottawa seems
to want to take control of broad-
casting regulation, threatening
to politicize Canadian broad-
cast policy. ZUMA Press
Bill C-11, which seeks to
amend the Broadcasting Act,
raises a fundamental question:
Who should regulate Canadian
broadcasting?
The federal government
seems to want to take control of
broadcasting regulation at the
expense of the independence of
the Canadian Radio-television
and Telecommunications Com-
mission (CRTC). This is the gist
of an amendment to Section 7
of the Broadcasting Act regard-
ing the directions that the cabi-
net can give to the commission.
Far from expanding the powers
of the regulatory agency, this
amendment reduces the auton-
omy of the CRTC in favour of the
cabinet, a highly political move.
Also known as the Online
Streaming Act, Bill C-11 builds
on the last version of Bill C-10
which died on the order paper
when the 2021 federal election
was called. Bill C-11 was in turn
amended following the Report
of the Standing Committee on
Canadian Heritage and adopted
after third reading in the House
of Commons on June 21st, 2022.
It is currently before the Senate.
Broadcasting is a shared
responsibility
Responsibility for broadcast-
ing policy is shared between Ca-
nadian Heritage and the CRTC.
Canadian Heritage ensures all
Canadian broadcasters partic-
ipate in achieving the govern-
ment’s objectives and foster
the creation and distribution of
high quality Canadian audiovi-
sual content.
However, through the Broad-
casting Act, the federal govern-
ment has delegated very broad
powers to the CRTC. The CRTC
thus plays a fundamental role
Canada News
in the design and implemen-
tation of broadcasting policies
through its authority to is-
sue, renew, amend and revoke
broadcasting licences. That
said, the federal cabinet has
significant oversight powers re-
garding the CRTC. Among oth-
er things, the cabinet can issue
general policy directives to the
CRTC that the commission is
obliged to follow, and it has the
ability, by order-in-council, to
set aside decisions of the CRTC,
or to refer them back for recon-
sideration and rehearing.
In 1986, the Report of the
Task Force on Broadcasting Pol-
icy (Caplin-Sauvageau) recom-
mended that the government
retain one or the other of these
supervisory functions – either
the power to issue directions
or the power to set aside or re-
fer a CRTC decision back to the
Commission for reconsider-
ation – but not both. In enacting
the 1991 Broadcasting Act, the
Mulroney government did not
follow this advice. Section 7(1)
of the current Act allows the
cabinet to issue directions to the
CRTC, by order, in respect of any
matter of broad policy, that is,
questions of general application
on broad policy matters with
respect to any of the objectives
of broadcasting policy, or of the
Act’s regulatory policy.
From overall principles to
micromanagement
Bill C-11 introduces an im-
portant amendment to Section
7 that would allow the govern-
ment to direct the CRTC’s poli-
cies in detail. While the current
Act limits the power of the cabi-
net to broad policy matters, sub-
section 7(7) of Bill C-11 expands
this power to encompass a wide
range of very specific CRTC ac-
tivities. These include new pow-
ers to impose conditions on the
operations of broadcasting un-
dertakings, such as:
• the proportion of programs
to be broadcast that are Canadi-
an programs and the proportion
of time devoted to the broad-
casting of Canadian programs;
• the proportion of Canadian
programs to be broadcast that
are original French language
programs, including first-run
programs;
• the proportion of programs
to be broadcast that are original
French language programs;
• the proportion of programs
to be broadcast that are devot-
ed to specific genres, in order
to ensure the diversity of pro-
gramming;
• the presentation of pro-
grams and programming ser-
vices for selection by the public,
including the showcasing and
the discoverability of Cana-
dian programs and program-
ming services, such as original
French language programs.
These are only five examples
of some 16 new conditions. Sec-
tion 7(7) also allows the cabinet
to issue directives related to
regulations including:
• prescribing what consti-
tutes a Canadian program for
the purposes of this Act;
• respecting standards of
programs and the allocation
of broadcasting time for the
purpose of giving effect to the
broadcasting policy set out in
subsection 3(1).
• respecting the character of
advertising and the amount of
broadcasting time that may be
devoted to advertising;
• respecting the proportion
of time that may be devoted to
the broadcasting of programs,
including advertisements or
announcements, of a partisan
political character and the as-
signment of that time on an eq-
uitable basis to political parties
and candidates.
That is not all. Subsection 7(7)
allows the government to speci-
fy the expenses to be incurred by
operations of broadcasting un-
dertakings, including:
• developing, financing, pro-
ducing or promoting Canadian
audio or audio-visual programs,
including independent pro-
ductions, for broadcasting by
www.canadianinquirer.net
broadcasting undertakings;
• supporting, promoting or
training Canadian creators of
audio or audio-visual programs
for broadcasting by broadcast-
ing undertakings; or
• supporting participation by
persons, groups of persons or or-
ganizations representing the pub-
lic interest in proceedings before
the commission under this
All of these very specific
grounds for intervention repre-
sent a potential violation of the
CRTC’s autonomy and are ab-
sent from Section 7 of the Broad-
casting Act in its current form.
This expansion of the powers
of the cabinet opens the door to
a politicization of broadcasting
regulation in this country, which
the establishment of the CRTC
sought to avoid.
No one agrees with every de-
cision made by the CRTC. How-
ever, its independence from
political authority remains
fundamental to “the freedom of
expression and the journalistic,
creative and programming in-
dependence enjoyed by broad-
casting undertakings” (Section
2(3) of the Act). As expressed by
Justices Abella and Karakatsan-
is in a Supreme Court decision,
Bell v. Canada (Attorney Gener-
al) in 2019.
9
“As an archetype of an ex-
pert administrative body, the
CRTC’s specialized expertise is
well-settled. Extensive statu-
tory powers have been granted
to this regulatory body, and an
exceptionally specialized man-
date requires the CRTC to con-
sider and balance complex pub-
lic interest considerations in
regulating an entire industry.”
It would be unfortunate if the
Canadian government deviated
from the current state of affairs
and interfered with the CRTC’s
prerogatives, a situation that
could be avoided by deleting
subsection 7(7) from Bill C-11,
as well as subsections 10(1.2)
and 34.995 that seek to accom-
plish the same end. As the min-
istry responsible for advising
the government on broadcast-
ing, Canadian Heritage will
otherwise play a critical role in
determining the minute details
of Canadian broadcasting pol-
icy. The cabinet and Canadian
Heritage should avoid micro-
managing the Canadian broad-
casting sector and intervene
only in broad policy matters. ■
This article first appeared
on Policy Options and is repub-
lished here under a Creative
Commons license.
10
Leaving the comfort zone:
Difficult issues in public sector reform
BY MICHAEL WERNICK
Policy Options
No need to wait for a royal
commission or advisory panel to
take up the “wicked problems”
facing the federal public sector.
Much of the commentary on
the public sector stays at the lev-
el of generalities. Exhortations
to become more strategic, more
inclusive, bolder in advice and
better in delivery are impossible
to contest. Too often, the dis-
cussion stops short of analyzing
resistance or tradeoff among
objectives. As in so many things,
we are much better at diagnosis
than agreeing on the remedies.
The list of issues in play these
days for the federal public ser-
vice is already daunting. As
well, provincial, territorial and
municipal governments have
their own agendas. On top of
the formal reviews of service
delivery and spending launched
earlier this year, an incomplete
list would include: a new round
of collective bargaining just as
inflation has spiked; figuring
out the post-pandemic work-
place; replacing retirements
and departures; fragile legacy
IT systems; the reverberations
of Black Lives Matter and In-
digenous reconciliation; cyber-
security and foreign interfer-
ence; and a trendline of eroding
trust in public institutions.
What follows is a brief
thought experiment. If the fed-
eral government took the advice
– something that is unlikely in
my view – to create some sort
of royal commission or advisory
panel on its public service, what
are some of the more difficult or
“wicked” questions – that would
surface? We do not have to wait;
we can start debating these is-
sues now. There are more, but I
set out just a few of the most un-
comfortable ones here.
Insourcing, outsourcing
and offloading
The core question of what we
should ask the public service to
do for us usually comes up only
in formal spending reviews,
such as the Chretien govern-
ment’s 1995 program review or
the Harper government’s 2012
deficit reduction action plan.
They sometimes provoke a
re-examination of whether this
Canada News
area of responsibility should be
done by public servants, rent-
ed from outside contractors, or
offloaded to the private sector
and civil society.
Sometimes, the federal gov-
ernment retreats from an area
and leaves it to provincial and
local governments. The mix has
shifted and the federal public
sector has waxed and waned.
The truth is that there is no right
answer and we will get an out-
come heavily driven by the ideo-
logical and political preferences,
and the view of federalism, of
the government of the day. The
point for public sector manage-
ment is that you can drive for ef-
fectiveness or drive for spending
cuts, but realistically you can’t
do both well at the same time.
Dealing with poor per-
formers
An uncomfortable truth is
that not every hire works out
and not every employee or ex-
ecutive contributes as much as
they should. Some are not ef-
fective and some actually drain
energy and poison their work-
places. Many people are squea-
mish about discussing poor
performers and toxic employ-
ees, and deny they exist in any
significant numbers.
It is far too difficult to demote
or terminate the small number
of truly poor performers. An
employee can use the multiple
recourse processes to drag out
proceedings for as much as two
or three years. Instead of tak-
ing on the exhausting challenge,
managers either do their best to
work around them or sometimes
try to fob them off on others with
less than honest references. Col-
leagues see team members coast
along as passengers without con-
sequences and lose motivation.
The solution lies in changing
the legal standard for dismissal to
a lower bar than the current defi-
nition of “cause.” However, it is a
wicked problem in practice be-
cause making it easier for manag-
ers to terminate employees may
give some of them an instrument
for bullying and harassment that
may be wielded with bias. Striking
the balance won’t be simple.
No longer letting middle
managers do all the hiring
As long as I can remember
people have lamented the slow
pace of hiring, whether from out-
side the service or moving people
within. The managers and the
human resources community
point fingers at each other. The
uncomfortable truth is that not
every middle manager or front-
line supervisor is good at hiring
– even the ones who struggle to
find the time to wade through the
huge pools of candidates. They
default to looking for credentials
and past experience because it
is much more effort to assess fu-
ture potential, but the tools for
doing so aren’t very good.
The solution to slow staffing,
and to recruiting more talent
from outside, could lie in a more
directive approach that gives
much more authority to the hu-
man resource community or a
central staffing agency to do the
screening and proactively match
candidates with vacancies. This
is a really uncomfortable top-
ic because the main bottleneck
has been a cultural one – middle
managers believe they should
pick every person on their team,
no matter how long it takes. De-
partments and agencies are cul-
turally averse to shared hiring
processes or relying on others.
They are scared of false positives
and believe they would do a bet-
ter job. More leeway to remove
poor performers could also be a
key to faster hiring.
Which forms of inclusion
matters more?
Bilingualism has been a cor-
www.canadianinquirer.net
nerstone inclusion policy since
1968, a mindful strategy to ward
off Quebec separatism by ensur-
ing that the one-quarter of Cana-
dians who are francophones see
themselves in the federal govern-
ment. The future of bilingualism
is a wicked problem in the 2020s,
not for externally facing services
– which are now largely delivered
on websites, apps and call centres
– but for the workplace.
Requirements for a degree
of proficiency in both of our
official languages by supervi-
sors and executives raise un-
comfortable issues, including
that they have come to be seen
as a barrier for some racialized
communities and for Indige-
nous peoples. Should the pub-
lic service give in to pressure
to loosen requirements for
French-language proficiency
in the pursuit of inclusion? Or
would that marginalize franco-
phones and harm recruitment,
lead to a downward spiral in
language capacity and erode
national unity? The uncom-
fortable truth is that the subtle
pressure to work in English is
relentless unless the people
convening and chairing meet-
ings, asking for documents and
performing basic supervision
are mindful and proactive.
Even more baffling, why are
we still paying bonuses to peo-
ple who are bilingual instead of
investing the same millions of
NOVEMBER 18, 2022 FRIDAY
dollars in language training for
people who are not?
How flat can you go? How
thin is too thin?
One of the common criticisms
of the federal public service is
that there are too many man-
agers in too many layers. It is
contended that there has been
a proliferation of new half-steps
such as assistant directors, asso-
ciate assistant deputy ministers
and associate deputy ministers.
The cumulative effect has been
identified as a “clay layer” of
management and it is widely be-
lieved that the leadership cadre
could readily be made leaner,
flatter and thinner.
It is an uncomfortable issue
because many of the remedies
that have been tried or suggest-
ed would make it more difficult
for the most senior leaders to
solve workload and person-
nel problems for which they
are accountable and to keep
their organizations up to date
with evolving challenges. More
constraints means less organi-
zational agility. Any arbitrary
reductions, caps or buyout
schemes tend to land unevenly
and unfairly. The larger organi-
zations are always much more
capable of coping than the more
numerous smaller ones.
Little boxes
The box-by-box model of jobs
dates backs decades and is taken
as a given. It is used to define in
excruciating detail the duties and
accountabilities of each individ-
ual position, which then is used
to assess what it is worth and
therefore what it should be paid.
That model and especially
the job classification system
used by the public service is
well past its best-before date.
It slows down staffing, falls
behind the shifts in skills and
competencies in the real-world
labour market, adds enormous
complexity to the pay system,
and has long favoured poli-
cy-related jobs over operations
and services. It creates a lot of
unproductive busy work.
Past attempts to fix it or to
negotiate change through col-
lective bargaining always turned
into a quagmire. There are no
evident paths forward, but argu-
ably we need a public service
❱❱ PAGE 12 Leaving the comfort
FRIDAY NOVEMBER 18, 2022
How to realistically elevate the status
of Indigenous languages
BY BRITTANY MCDONALD
Policy Options
Beyond expansion of the fed-
eral language bonus, explore
the designation of regional offi-
cial languages in provincial and
territorial jurisdictions.
Canada’s policy of official bi-
lingualism was designed to en-
sure equality and inclusion for
francophones, and as a recog-
nition of English and French as
founding peoples. Of course, this
narrative of the founding of Can-
ada ignored the place of Indige-
nous Peoples, whose languages
are under significant threat.
After centuries of forced as-
similation and attempted In-
digenous erasure, the number
of speakers of Indigenous lan-
guages continues to decline, and
UNESCO says approximately 75
per cent of Indigenous languag-
es in Canada are endangered. To
prevent the further degradation
of these languages, aggressive
action must be taken to protect
and revitalize them.
A recent memo from a group
of Indigenous public servants
called for greater equity for pub-
lic servants who use an Indige-
nous language as a second lan-
guage on the job. Current policies
allow public servants who speak
both French and English on the
job to receive annual bonuses of
$800. Additionally, it allows uni-
lingual official language speak-
ers to apply for French-English
bilingual positions in the public
service, then receive training in
English or French as a second
language. The allocation of these
bonuses has been labelled dis-
criminatory because those who
use any two Canadian languages
on the job should be compensat-
ed equally for their skills, not just
those who speak the two official
languages.
The public servants’ memo
calls for several changes to
these policies to make them
more accessible and inclusive
to Indigenous employees. It
calls for blanket exemptions to
French-English bilingual job
requirements for employees or
applicants who can speak one
official language and at least
one Indigenous one. Under this
type of exemption, the employ-
ee/applicant could serve in a
bilingual position without nec-
essarily having to speak both
French and English, as long as
they speak an Indigenous lan-
guage. The exemption would
also provide the opportunity to
learn an Indigenous language
as a second language to fit the
job requirements. However,
Treasury Board has firmly re-
jected this proposal, stating
that it “will never change the
fundamental principle of bilin-
gualism in the public service.”
Canada has, to some extent,
acknowledged the harm done
to Indigenous languages and
has introduced legislation in-
cluding the Indigenous Lan-
guages Act and the United Na-
tions Declaration on the Rights
of Indigenous Peoples Act,
which contain protections for
Indigenous languages and the
promise of stable and predict-
able funding for revitalization
efforts. What this approach fails
to realize is that language revi-
talization is a multidimensional
issue that requires much more
than just funding. The long list
of racist and assimilatory pol-
icies against Indigenous Peo-
ples, including the Indian Act
and residential schools, have
had lasting effects on language
and culture. These policies cre-
ated stigma and shame around
speaking Indigenous languages,
and created a hierarchy where
French and English have taken
precedence over Indigenous
languages in terms of protec-
tion, funding, job opportuni-
ties, and more.
This hierarchy does not per-
tain only to employees in the fed-
eral public service. The recent
appointment of Mary Simon as
Governor General sparked con-
troversy among some franco-
phones. Simon is an Inuk wom-
an who is fluent in both English
and Inuktitut but not in French.
She has committed to learning
French, but some francophones
claim that her appointment vi-
olates Charter provisions that
give English and French equal
status in the country, and there-
fore call into question the validi-
ty of the appointment.
To do its part in repairing the
damage it caused to Indigenous
languages, Canada must make
itself a more inclusive space
that encourages and entices
people to learn an Indigenous
language. Offering higher com-
pensation to government em-
ployees who use an Indigenous
language in the course of their
work and offering that training
to those who do not is one way
to incentivize people to learn an
Indigenous language or teach it
to others. For this reason, the
federal government should
re-evaluate its stance on the
blanket exemptions and bonus-
es to public servants who speak
an Indigenous language.
However, this remedy is just a
drop in the ocean when it comes
to making reparations for past
and ongoing wrongs against In-
digenous Peoples, specifically
related to languages.
The federal government’s
ability to develop policy that el-
evates the status of Indigenous
languages is limited, as any de-
viation from official bilingual-
ism would damage the fragile
compact between English and
French. While the rich diversity
of Indigenous languages should
absolutely be celebrated and
viewed as a strength and asset,
the sheer number of Indige-
nous languages also creates an
administrative challenge at the
federal level. With an estimated
70 Indigenous languages spo-
ken in Canada, it is difficult to
adopt blanket policies that give
adequate attention to the indi-
vidual needs of each language
and community to meaningful-
ly help revitalization efforts.
However, unlike the federal
government, the provinces and
territories have the scope to el-
evate the status of Indigenous
languages within their areas of
jurisdiction.
One avenue to explore is
the designation of Indigenous
languages as their own class of
languages within Canada that
have elevated status, accessible
services, stable funding, and
opportunities for personal and
professional growth. This des-
ignation would ideally reflect
the geographic distribution of
Indigenous languages for prac-
tical reasons.
For example, each prov-
ince and territory could act to
recognize all the Indigenous
languages spoken there as re-
gional official languages. These
languages could be funded in
www.canadianinquirer.net
Canada News
A stop sign (nutqarrit) in Inuinnaqtun and English in Cambridge Bay. (CAM-
BRIDGEBAYWEATHER - OWN WORK/WIKIMEDIA COMMONS, CC BY-SA 4.0)
part by the federal government
and administered on the pro-
vincial/territorial level so that
they could be easily integrated
into other provincial/territori-
al areas of jurisdiction such as
education, health care, natural
resource management, etc. Not
only would this allow people to
access services in Indigenous
languages, it would also create
job opportunities for people
who speak them. However, it is
essential that Indigenous na-
tions play an active role in the
allocation and administration
of these funds, and that any re-
lated programs or initiatives be
developed collaboratively with
these nations.
This policy would elevate the
status of Indigenous languages
and make them more accessi-
ble across each province/terri-
tory. This type of policy would
not require a constitutional
amendment and therefore
could be implemented rela-
tively quickly, compared with
an approach to grant them ele-
vated status at the federal level.
Additionally, this alternative
would probably be more politi-
cally palatable because it would
not explicitly change the bilin-
gual status of the country, and
would likely not face the type of
resistance that the suggestions
in the memo faced.
Similar legislation has al-
ready been drafted or enacted
in some provinces/territories.
The Northwest Territories’ Of-
ficial Languages Act recognizes
nine Indigenous languages as
official languages in the ter-
ritory, alongside the federal
11
official languages. Nunavut’s
Official Languages Act recog-
nizes the Inuit language (i.e.,
Inuinnaqtun and Inuktitut)
as an official language of Nun-
avut, alongside the federal of-
ficial languages. Nova Scotia’s
Mi’kmaw Language Act recog-
nizes Mi’kmaw as the original
language of the province.
In short, Canada needs to
take a more active role in sup-
porting Indigenous commu-
nities’ revitalization efforts.
Without addressing the sys-
temic discrimination against
Indigenous Peoples and their
languages, then providing an
environment where these lan-
guages can grow and thrive, the
limited funding that Canada
provides to Indigenous nations
and communities will not be as
effective. Whatever path Can-
ada takes toward addressing
Indigenous language revital-
ization, a successful policy will
require extensive consultation
and continued partnerships
with Indigenous communities;
must ensure that these commu-
nities are acknowledged as the
experts and authorities on their
own languages; and the result-
ing policies must reflect their
concerns and ideas. ■
This article won the op-ed
writing prize for graduate stu-
dents as part of the IRPP’s 2022
Knowledge Mobilizer Awards,
established to help mark the in-
stitute’s 50th anniversary.
This article first appeared
on Policy Options and is repub-
lished here under a Creative
Commons license.
 12
Preventing use of the notwithstanding
clause is a bad idea — and unnecessary
BY KERRI ANNE FROC,
University of New Brunswick,
CARISSIMA MATHEN,
L’Université d’Ottawa/
University of Ottawa
The Conversation
During the Cold War era,
American military strategists
thought the Soviet Union would
be deterred from dropping a nu-
clear bomb on North America
only if the United States also built
up sufficient nuclear weapons ca-
pable of annihilating the Soviets.
This idea of mutually assured
destruction was an abject fail-
ure, paradoxically pushing the
world closer to the brink of a
nuclear war.
There are similarities — met-
aphorically at least — to calls
to reintroduce a long-dormant
power known as “disallow-
ance” into the current debate
over Sec. 33, also known as the
notwithstanding clause, of the
Charter of Rights and Free-
doms. A relic of the 1867 Con-
stitution, disallowance allows
the federal government to re-
voke royal assent to provincial
laws, rendering them null.
Disallowance is being framed
as a trump card in response to
Ontario’s Bill 28, the so-called
Keeping Students in Class
Act, 2022. Bill 28 included the
province’s second use of the
notwithstanding clause in two
years, joining Québec and Sas-
katchewan, who have each also
invoked Sec. 33. The Ford gov-
ernment has since rescinded
Bill 28 in order to prevent wide-
spread labour conflict.
Leaving the comfort..
❰❰ 10 that is more nimble
and able to shape shift
– to move people more
easily and to quickly create jobs
around specific projects. The
daunting and truly wicked chal-
lenge is to find a thoughtful ap-
proach to streamlining how jobs
are classified and paid, and the
courage and persistence to look
at the core software of the em-
ployment model.
Are we serious about lead-
ership or not?
It is common to point to the
Canada News
Ontario Premier Doug Ford (FORDNATION/FACEBOOK)
The argument is that the
threat of disallowance will
counter the threat of the not-
withstanding clause, and this
mutually assured destruction
will keep provinces in check.
The only problem is that Can-
ada’s Constitution might just
end up as collateral damage.
The origins of Sec. 33
When the terms of the Char-
ter were being drafted, some
provincial premiers feared it
gave too much power to judg-
es. Believing that legislatures
should have the final say on
public policy, they insisted on
the addition of Sec. 33.
Saskatchewan Premier Allan
Blakeney also feared that pro-
gressive legislation might be
struck down by distorted inter-
pretations of Charter rights that
favoured the powerful and priv-
ileged. Alberta Premier Peter
Lougheed later wrote that it was
undemocratic to invoke Sec. 33
before a court had actually ruled
crucial role of leadership but
we don’t back up the rhetoric in
practice. We need to find better
tools for classifying and com-
pensating executive positions
than the ones that have caused
us struggles for the past decades.
We need to invest heavily in
learning and development of the
leadership cadre. Politicians are
squeamish about what a serious
review would tell them – that
generally public service jobs
are well-paid with attractive
pension coverage and benefits,
on a law’s constitutionality.
Pre-emptive use, he argued,
eliminated the essential ju-
dicial role in interpreting the
Constitution. Lougheed even
suggested that a constitutional
amendment might be required
to confirm that understanding.
Some wonder whether it
might be time to get rid of Sec.
33 altogether. But that would be
extremely difficult.
Removing Sec. 33 from the
Constitution would require, at
a minimum, the consent of at
least seven provinces, repre-
senting 50 per cent of the popu-
lation. It’s hard to imagine a cir-
cumstance in which Québec and
probably several other provinc-
es would agree to such a move.
Some constitutional experts
believe that using the federal
power of disallowance, unused
since 1943, is largely now prohib-
ited by convention. They argue
its use would severely damage
federal-provincial relations and
but the higher you go, the less
compelling the comparisons
with the private sector become.
The uncomfortable truth is that
compared to the private sector,
the public sector underpays
its leaders and underinvests in
leadership development.
Part of it is ideological –
some politicians are so averse
to government that they don’t
see what public sector leaders
do as value-added. This is re-
inforced by a relentless flow of
hostile punditry and media sto-
www.canadianinquirer.net
further politicize issues of rights.
A separate option is to seek
guidance from the Supreme
Court. One way is for the court
to hear an appeal.
Québec’s religious symbols
law, Bill 21 — currently before
the province’s Court of Appeal
— presents such an opportuni-
ty. There are, though, problems
with going that route, including
the fact that the case may take
years to get to the Supreme
Court, the issues it raises are
case-specific and the court
would be catapulted into a po-
litical maelstrom.
Seek Supreme Court reference
In our opinion, the best al-
ternative is for the federal gov-
ernment to seek the Supreme
Court’s advice on a series of
selected questions, known as a
“reference opinion.”
The court has ruled on Sec.
33 only once, in the 1988 case
of Ford v. Quebec. In that de-
cision, it gave the clause very
broad scope. It indicated that
any limits were largely formal
in nature: the legislature must
expressly state that it operates
notwithstanding the Charter
right provisions of Secs. 2 and
7-15. It also ruled the clause
cannot apply retroactively.
As Ontario’s recent move
illustrated, the 1988 Ford de-
cision is functioning about as
well as any other 1988 Ford still
on the road. At the time, it was
understood that politics would
be a highly effective constraint
against its overuse. Sec. 33 was
commonly referred to as the
“nuclear option” that would be
punished at the ballot box if in-
ries about executive “bonuses,”
travel expenses and leadership
programs. Some politicians are
beholden to the public service
unions who would balk at high-
er compensation for managers.
Is better possible?
These are just some high-
lights of the challenges that
would face serious public sec-
tor reform. My hope as a new
academic is to provoke some
research and dialogue that may
create actionable options for
a future government. As for a
NOVEMBER 18, 2022 FRIDAY
voked to deny or avoid constitu-
tionally guaranteed rights.
But times have changed. Gov-
ernmental musings about using
the clause are no longer taboo
or even that extraordinary. In
2022, the premiers of Ontario
and Québec were each returned
with bigger majorities despite
using the clause.
Canadians seem comfortable
with the view of rights that are
guaranteed for them but not
necessarily for others. The ap-
parent climb-down by Ontario’s
premier is a welcome counter-
point to all of this — yet at the
time of this writing, Bill 28 re-
mains in place.
Questions that could be asked
of the Supreme Court include:
• When can section 33 be used?
• How does the word “not-
withstanding” in Sec. 33 relate
to the words “notwithstanding
anything” in Sec. 28’s equal
rights guarantee?
• How can the clause be
amended?
A Supreme Court reference
could look beyond the highly
polarized reactions to any par-
ticular law and get at the heart
of the issue: How does Sec. 33 fit
with our current constitutional
democracy?
Rather than stoking a con-
stitutional crisis through disal-
lowance, this reference would
allow the federal government to
de-escalate tensions and, most
importantly, clarify the scope of
the notwithstanding clause. ■
This article is republished
from The Conversation under a
Creative Commons license.
royal commission, why wait?
Take up any of the issues or go
even deeper into structural re-
forms and propose solutions,
not just diagnosis. We can start
by leaving the comfort zone. ■
This is the first in a planned
series of articles by Michael
Wernick on problems facing the
public service.
This article first appeared
on Policy Options and is repub-
lished here under a Creative
Commons license.
FRIDAY NOVEMBER 18, 2022 13

World News
4 signs of progress at the
UN climate change summit
BY RACHEL KYTE, Tufts zero. That would increase fund- to step down. Malpass, nominat-
University ing for green growth and clean ed by the Trump administration
The Conversation energy transitions, and reduce in 2019, has clung on for now,
investments in fossil fuels. It but he is under pressure from
was an apparent breakthrough. the U.S., Europe and others to
Something significant is hap- But many observers cried foul bring forward a new road map
pening in the desert in Egypt as and accused the financial insti- for the World Bank’s response to
countries meet at COP27, the tutions of greenwashing. climate change this year.
United Nations summit on cli- In the year since then, a U.N. Barbados Prime Minister Mia
mate change. commission has put a red line Mottley, a leading voice for re-
Despite frustrating sclero- around greenwashing, delineat- form, and others have called for
sis in the negotiating halls, the ing what a company or institu- $1 trillion already in the inter-
pathway forward for ramping up tion must do to make a credible national financial system to be
climate finance to help low-in- claim about its net-zero goals. redirected to climate resilience
come countries adapt to climate Its checklist isn’t mandatory, projects to help vulnerable
change and transition to clean but it sets a high bar based on countries protect themselves loans and investments, as well cism, pending the fine print, for
energy is becoming clearer. science and will help hold com- from future climate disasters. as risk sharing to help bring in fear of swamping the market
I spent a large part of my ca- panies and investors to account. At COP27, French President more private sector finance. with industrial credits, collaps-
reer working on international Reforming international Emmanuel Macron supported Indonesia expects to announce ing prices and potentially al-
finance at the World Bank and financial institutions Mottley’s call for a shake-up a similar partnership when it lowing companies in the devel-
the United Nations and now Second, how international fi- in how international finance hosts the G-20 summit in late oped world to greenwash their
advise public development and nancial institutions like the In-works, and together they have November. Vietnam is work- own claims by retiring coal in
private funds and teach climate ternational Monetary Fund and agreed to set up a group to sug- ing on another, and Egypt an- the developing world.
diplomacy focusing on finance. World Bank are working is get- gest changes at the next meet- nounced a major new partner- New rules to strengthen
Climate finance has ing of the IMF and ship at COP27. carbon markets
been one of the thorn- World Bank governors However, the public funding Fourth, new rules are emerg-
iest issues in global cli- in spring 2023. has been hard to lock in. Devel- ing to strengthen those volun-
mate negotiations for Meanwhile, region- oped countries’ coffers are dwin- tary carbon markets.
decades, but I’m seeing al development banks dling, with governments includ- A new set of “high-integrity
four promising signs of Climate finance has been have been reinventing ing the U.S. unable or unwilling carbon credit principles” is ex-
progress at COP27. themselves to better to maintain commitments. Now, pected in 2023. A code of con-
Getting to net zero – one of the thorniest address their countries’ pressure from the war in Ukraine duct for how corporations can
without greenwashing issues in global climate needs. The Inter-Ameri- and economic crises is adding to use voluntary carbon markets
First, the goal – get- can Development Bank, their problems. to meet their net zero claims
ting the world to net negotiations for decades... focused on Latin Ameri- The lack of public funds was has already been issued, and
zero greenhouse gas ca and the Caribbean, is the impetus behind U.S. Special standards for ensuring that a
emissions by 2050 to considering shifting its Climate Envoy John Kerry’s company’s plans meet the Paris
stop global warming – business model to take proposal to use a new form of Agreement’s goals are evolving.
is clearer. more risk and crowd carbon offsets to pay for green Incredibly, all this progress
The last climate in more private sector energy investments in coun- is outside the Paris Agreement,
conference, COP26 in Glasgow, ting much-needed attention. investment. The Asian Devel- tries transitioning from coal. which simply calls for govern-
Scotland, nearly fell apart over Over the past 12 months, opment Bank has launched an The idea, loosely sketched out, ments to make “finance flows
frustration that international frustration has grown with the entirely new operating model is that countries dependent on consistent with a pathway
finance wasn’t flowing to de- international financial system, designed to achieve greater cli- coal could sell carbon credits towards low greenhouse gas
veloping countries and that especially with the World Bank mate results and leverage private to companies, with the revenue emissions and climate-resilient
corporations and financial in- Group’s leadership. Low-in- financing more effectively. going to fund clean energy proj- development.”
stitutions were greenwashing come countries have long com- Getting private finance ects. The country would speed Negotiators seem reluctant
– making claims they couldn’t plained about having to borrow flowing its exit from coal and lower its to mention this widespread re-
back up. One year on, some- to finance resilience to climate Third, more public-private emissions, and the private com- form movement in the formal
thing is stirring. impacts they didn’t cause, and partnerships are being devel- pany could then claim that re- text being negotiated at COP27,
In 2021, the financial sector they have called for develop- oped to speed decarbonization duction in its own accounting but walking through the halls
arrived at COP26 in full force ment banks to take more risk and power the clean energy toward net zero emissions. here, they cannot ignore it. It’s
for the first time. Private banks, and leverage more private in- transition. Globally, voluntary carbon been too slow in coming, but
insurers and institutional in- vestment for much-needed The first of these “Just En- markets for these offsets have change in the financial system
vestors representing US$130 projects, including expanding ergy Transition Partnerships,” grown from $300 million to $2 is on the way. ■
trillion said they would align renewable energy. announced in 2021, was de- billion since 2019, but they are
their investments with the goal That frustration has culmi- signed to support South Africa’s still relatively small and fragile This article is republished
of keeping global warming to 1.5 nated in pressure for World transition away from coal pow- and need more robust rules. from The Conversation under a
degrees Celsius – a pledge to net Bank President David Malpass er. It relies on a mix of grants, Kerry’s proposal drew criti- Creative Commons license.
www.canadianinquirer.net
14
Raves, repairs, and renewal:
how young Ukrainians are
bringing joy to the rebuilding effort
BY CLARE M. COOPER,
University of Sydney
The Conversation
After more than 250 days of
assaults from Russian forces,
Ukrainian resistance is taking
more surprising forms. In an
attempt to reconnect to their
pre-invasion cutting-edge tech-
no scene a group of young activ-
ists have been organising “repair
raves” to attract people to help
with the massive clean-up effort,
dancing together while they do it.
Back in August, it was es-
timated that over 100,000
Ukrainian houses have been
destroyed, but also over 700
key cultural facilities and 20
youth centres are now in ruins.
The teens and 20-somethings
who would be clubbing in these
spaces, are now flocking to
volunteer to clear rubble, and
repair infrastructure at strate-
gically targeted raves, all while
dancing to their favourite DJs.
The group of young activists
and music-lovers behind Re-
pair Together are joining a long
line of grassroots design activ-
ists drawing on joy, humour and
friendship – what we refer to
as pleasure tactics – to attract
and sustain a people-powered
movement that is helping to re-
pair a war-torn country.
What is the ‘repair rave’
movement in Ukraine?
For those new to this term – a
US, UK, EU call for extending
Black Sea grain deal
ANADOLU
Philippine News Agency
ANKARA – The United States,
United Kingdom and Europe-
an Union on Monday called for
extending the Istanbul grain
deal that allows the export of
Ukrainian grain via the Black Sea.
“We call on the parties to the
Initiative to extend its term and
World News
rave is a dance party (often free,
sometimes not entirely legal)
where DJs play electronic mu-
sic (mostly techno) to people
who are committed to dancing
together – and dancing hard.
After the recovery began in
many of the war-ravaged towns,
a group of young passionate
ravers started hosting targeted
repair raves to meet the need
for community labour. As win-
ter approaches, the need for
clearing rubble and building
housing is becoming increas-
ingly urgent. The most recent
Instagram post from Repair To-
gether invites followers to join
the raves now focused on Kyiv.
In an recent interview with
Dazed one of the organisers, Mari-
na Grebinna, shared that the raves
grew from 50 volunteers at their
first event in Yahidne in July 2022,
to hundreds travelling from as far
Mykolaiv, Ukraine (ДСНС УКРАЇНИ/FACEBOOK)
scale up its operations to meet
the evident demand. And we
reiterate our support for other
efforts by the United Nations
to facilitate access to food and
fertilizer in global markets,”
said a joint statement issued by
US Secretary of State Anthony
Blinken, UK Foreign Secretary
James Cleverly, and EU foreign
policy chief Josep Borrell.
The statement said Western
afield as the USA more recently.
Grebinna explains they were
cautious about planning parties
in places where people had died:
But it was a good way to involve
a lot of people, and we really want-
ed to make volunteering seem like a
lifestyle choice… Now, after three
months of work on this project, we
see a lot of familiar faces. A lot of
people do it on a regular basis now.
Responsive, creative, com-
munity-driven events like these
have two powerful effects. The
first is for those directly affect-
ed by the violence of war – re-
connecting to one another and
to a culture and music that they
love, resisting the physical and
spiritual oppression of war.
The second is for those who
have become desensitised to the
tragic news of the ongoing con-
flict, who are drawn in once again
due to the seeming incongruity
sanctions target Russia’s “war
machine” and not the food or
fertilizer sectors.
“To that end, we have provid-
ed clarity to industry and part-
ners,” it added.
It said this includes the UK’s
publication of a General Li-
cense, the US General License
6B as well as updated and de-
tailed EU guidance.
“These provisions make clear
www.canadianinquirer.net
of the pleasure alongside the vio-
lence and loss. The idea that peo-
ple could be enjoying themselves
– even raving – during wartime
efforts to restore some sense of
“home” doesn’t fit with what we
consider a picture of conflict,
grief, and suffering.
Dancing the talk
The Repair Together events
are a perfect example of the
kind of grassroots design ac-
tivism that is not instantly rec-
ognised as activism.
Volunteers connect to one
another through music, but also
spend time listening to stories
of the survivors in these towns
as they work, bolstering their
resolve to create their “new
Ukraine”. The visual communi-
cation (collages on social media,
videos of events) are all invita-
tions to combat the paralysis
of oppressive violence and be a
proactive part of this future.
It is a beautiful example of the
proactive design futuring I re-
search and teach - where people
share detailed parts of the futures
or society they desire, and then
get their hands dirty building it
together - not waiting around for
it to be done for them/us.
These repair raves sit within
a rich history of activism that
takes on surprising forms, in-
tersecting with cultural events
in new ways, and involving peo-
ple beyond fundraising, rallies,
or petitions by focusing on what
design researcher Lenskjold re-
that banks, insurers, shippers,
and other actors can continue to
bring Russian food and fertilizer
to the world,” the statement said.
“We call on our global part-
ners, industries and services
involved in agricultural trade,
to take note of these provisions;
to act in accordance with them;
to bring Ukrainian and Russian
food and fertilizer to meet acute
demand,” it added.
NOVEMBER 18, 2022 FRIDAY
fer to as denoting “collabora-
tion rather than persuasion” in
this 2015 journal article.
Parties with purpose, and
transitional neighbourhoods
Here in Australia we’re familiar
with parties with purpose. Queer
and First Nations communities
have led the way with Sydney
Mardi Gras, and free party crews
like Ohms Not Bombs (“dig the
sounds not uranium”) have been
attracting people to party while
protesting for over 30 years.
The direct community clean-up,
design, and rebuilding of the Re-
pair Together movement mirrors
the creative collaboration of post-
quake Christchurch residents.
After 80% of the central city was
destroyed, and over 10,000 houses
demolished, the “urban recovery
and transformation” took surpris-
ing forms such as washing-ma-
chine powered dance-o-mats, and
port-a-loo beautification.
Several years after the quake,
chair of the Christchurch Tran-
sitional Architecture Trust Dr
Barnaby Bennet said,
Hundreds of temporary and
transitional projects continue to
pop up in the city. Internation-
al interest in forms of adaptive
urbanism and temporary archi-
tecture have led to media outlets
such as The New York Times and
Lonely Planet hailing the vibrant
and innovative nature of this
projects as a symbol of recovery.
❱❱ PAGE 21 Raves, repairs, and
Türkiye, the UN, Russia and
Ukraine signed an agreement in Is-
tanbul on July 22 to resume grain
exports from three Ukrainian
Black Sea ports, which were
paused after the Russia-Ukraine
war began in February.
A Joint Coordination Cen-
ter with officials from the three
countries and the UN has been
set up in Istanbul to oversee the
shipments. ■
FRIDAY NOVEMBER 18, 2022
Muslims raise Poland mulls call for
concerns about rise NATO Article 4
of Islamophobic
attacks
ANADOLU
Philippine News Agency
BERLIN – German authori-
ties have registered at least 662
Islamophobic crimes in 2021.
There were more than 46
mosques attacked and at least
17 people were injured because
of anti-Muslim violence.
Suleyman Demir, project di-
rector at the anti-discrimina-
tion group, Inssan, said attacks
on Muslims and mosques have
seen a rise following the coro-
navirus pandemic and the sit-
uation is serious as Germany is
facing economic difficulties.
“The statistics have defi-
nitely increased, especially for
women who wear a headscarf,”
Demir told Anadolu Agency.
“We are also increasingly see-
ing from our community that
not only men, but also women
who wear the hijab and niqab are
exposed to much more physical
attacks, like spitting, and this has
actually increased significantly
in recent years,” he said.
German authorities recorded
152 Islamophobic attacks, while
at least seven people were injured
in the first six months of 2022.
But that might not be the full
picture because many attacks
go unreported.
Demir, who is leading the
“Network against discrimina-
tion and Islamophobia” project
at Inssan, said many Muslims do
not report incidents to the po-
lice, thinking their complaints
will not be taken seriously.
“Sometimes they don’t feel
heard or seen and that’s why
they think, ‘Oh, why report
it? There won’t be any conse-
quences,’” said Demir.
He urged better sensitivity
training for police to tackle Is-
lamophobic crimes.
“Police officers are not prop-
erly trained. For example, they
are trained on transphobia or
anti-Semitism, but they are not
trained on tackling anti-Mus-
lim crimes,” he said, adding that
many incidents of Islamopho-
bia are not properly registered
by police in crime statistics.
Demir also warned that far-
right groups are trying to exploit
the ongoing economic and ener-
gy crises to stir fear and hatred
against minorities and Muslims.
“It is easy to portray minori-
ties as scapegoats, i.e. as scape-
goats for political or economic
problems, and the far-right
groups naturally use this meth-
od to say that these minorities
are to be blamed for the major
economic crisis. Therefore, I
see a connection between rising
right-wing extremism, and the
economic situation,” he said.
Demir said it is important
for Muslims and minorities
to be more politically active
to strengthen democracy and
counter the rise of the far-right.
“There are people from 180
❱❱ PAGE 21 Muslims raise concerns
ANADOLU
Philippine News Agency
WARSAW – Poland said Tues-
day it is considering calling on
NATO to trigger Article 4 after
two people died in explosions in
the village of Przewodow, a few
kilometers from the country’s
border with Ukraine.
Article 4 permits members
of the alliance to call a NATO
meeting when they perceive a
threat to the “territorial integ-
rity, political independence or
security” of any NATO ally.
“We are increasing the read-
iness of some military units
and other uniformed services,”
government spokesman Piotr
Müller said during a press con-
ference after an urgent meeting
of the Committee of the Coun-
cil of Ministers for National Se-
curity and Defense Affairs.
Müller did not provide any
information on the cause of the
explosions.
“We have decided to under-
take the verification of whether
there are any premises in or-
der to initiate the procedures
resulting from Article 4 of the
North Atlantic Treaty,” the
spokesman said.
According to unconfirmed
information, two variants are
being checked.
It is possible that Ukrainian
defenses shot down a Russian
rocket and it changed the flight
trajectory, or the Russians
entered the data incorrectly,
which caused the rocket to hit a
Police official suspended
over Itaewon crowd crush
YONHAP
Philippine News Agency
SEOUL – A high-ranking
police official was temporari-
ly suspended from his post on
Monday as the probe into the
deadly crowd crush in the Itae-
won district intensifies.
Park Sung-min, a superin-
tendent general, is under suspi-
cion of ordering the deletion of
www.canadianinquirer.net
World News
tractor on Polish territory.
Prime Minister Mateusz
Morawiecki convened the
Committee of the Council of
Ministers for National Security
and Defense Matters as a mat-
ter of urgency, Müller said.
President Andrzej Duda was
at the meeting, alongside the
head of the Ministry of Interi-
or and Administration Mariusz
Kaminski, the head of the Min-
istry of Foreign Affairs Zbig-
niew Rau, and Minister of Jus-
tice Zbigniew Ziobro.
Radio Lublin reported that
emergency services and repre-
sentatives of the army are work-
ing at a farm’s grain drying site
where the explosions occurred
around 3.40 p.m. local time.
The explosion occurred 500-
600 meters from a primary school.
The area near the explosion
site is closed, with drones flying
over the village, according to lo-
an internal intelligence report
giving prior warnings of a pos-
sible safety accident during the
Halloween period in a suspect-
ed attempt to cover up inaction.
A superintendent general is the
fourth-highest rank.
The National Police Agen-
cy (NPA) said Kim Bo-jun will
temporarily replace Park as
the chief of the public safety
department at the Seoul Metro-
politan Police Agency (SMPA).
15
cal media at the site.
Police did not give the rea-
sons for the explosion.
If confirmed, this would be
the first time someone has been
killed on NATO territory as the
result of a Russian strike.
All NATO members are
obliged to protect and defend
every part of the alliance’s ter-
ritory under Articles 4 and 5 of
the alliance’s treaty.
A US intelligence official said
the missiles were Russian, ac-
cording to AP.
Ukrainian President Volody-
myr Zelenskyy accused Russia
of deliberately attacking Poland.
“This is a Russian missile at-
tack on collective security,” he
said. “This is a very significant es-
calation. We must act…(It is) only
a matter of time before Russian
terror goes further,” he said.
❱❱ PAGE 16 Poland mulls call
An independent team of po-
lice investigators probing the
Itaewon tragedy will soon sum-
mon Park for questioning.
Earlier, the NPA temporarily
suspended Lee Im-jae, a former
chief of Yongsan Police Station,
and senior emergency monitor-
ing officer Ryu Mi-jin, who was
in charge at the SMPA on the
day of the accident.
The Itaewon crowd crush
claimed 158 lives. ■
 16
Trump announces he’ll run for president
again as Murdoch turns on him – and it
could be politically expensive for both
BY RODNEY TIFFEN,
University of Sydney
The Conversation
No politician, journalist
or media critic has ever been
heard to utter the phrase “as
subtle as a Murdoch tabloid”.
So, when Murdoch’s New
York Post responded to the Re-
publicans’ unexpectedly mea-
gre gains in the US mid-term
elections, you did not need to
read between the lines to see
whom they blamed.
The headline was “Trumpty
Dumpty” with a picture of an
egg-shaped Trump sitting on
a wall and the sub-head “Don
(who couldn’t build a wall) had
a great fall – can all the GOP’s
men put the party togeth-
er again?” This is a reference
to the great wall that Trump
promised in 2016 to build along
the Mexican border to keep ille-
gal immigrants out.
More soberly, Murdoch’s
Wall Street Journal editori-
alised that Trump is the Re-
publican Party’s “biggest loser”,
whose campaigning had failed
in 2018, 2020 and now 2022.
Trump has now announced
he will be a candidate for the
presidency in 2024. This sug-
gests the Murdoch-Trump di-
vorce is going to be long and
messy, and may be politically
expensive for them both.
The Murdoch media relish
Poland mulls call..
❰❰ 15 Russia’s Defense
Ministry posted a
statement on its Tele-
gram account saying this is “a
deliberate provocation in order
to escalate the situation.”
State news agency Ria No-
vosti cited a Russian “military
expert” who claimed Russian
cruise missiles “would not have
been able to reach Polish terri-
tory, but Ukrainian S-300 (sur-
face-to-air) missile systems,
functioning abnormally, could.”
The situation follows an attack
of Russian forces on energy in-
frastructure facilities in Ukraine.
World News
their reputation as king-mak-
ers. In Britain in 1992, after the
Conservatives unexpectedly
were re-elected, the front page
of Murdoch’s Sun proclaimed
“It was the Sun wot won it”.
Indeed, Murdoch has been
on the winning side of every
British election since 1979.
This perfect record is not par-
alleled in the US or Australia.
Murdoch’s support was not suffi-
cient to give Trump victory in the
2020 presidential election or the
Morrison government success in
2022, let alone various state elec-
tions around Australia.
In Australia, the Murdoch
press has been on a downward
spiral in its capacity to direct-
ly influence election results.
There seem to be three main
reasons for this.
The first is their declining
circulation, which not only has
reduced their outreach, but in-
creasingly means their reader-
ship comprises disproportion-
ately an elderly constituency
already set in their attitudes.
The second is that once Mur-
doch had a keen populist touch,
able to sense coming currents in
the public, side with them and
make them stronger. But in more
recent years his own strong right-
wing views have made his media
more rigid and less in tune with
shifts in public opinion.
The third is that his media
have become more crudely pro-
pagandistic over the decades.
Some of the missiles hit the
western part of the country,
close to the border with Poland.
The Russians attacked Kovel
in Volhynia. The city, which is
located about 65 kilometers (40
miles) from the Polish-Ukrainian
border, is without electricity.
The mayor of the city ap-
pealed to residents to stay in
shelters because the danger of
attack was very high.
Poland has been one of the
most vociferous advocates of
arming and supporting Ukraine
against Russia.
There is a cross-party con-
Donald Trump speaking with supporters at a campaign rally at the Phoenix
Convention Center in Phoenix, Arizona in October 2016. (GAGE SKIDMORE/
FLICKR, CC BY-SA 2.0)
When Murdoch switched sides
to Tony Blair’s Labour in the
1997 election, according to the
acting editor of the Sun, Neil
Wallis, Murdoch told him they
were to be 200% behind Blair
and everything he did. When
he swung back to the Conserva-
tives under David Cameron the
news coverage swung at least as
strongly in that direction.
In 2013, the Daily Telegraph
kicked off its Australian cam-
paign coverage with the injunc-
tion to “Kick this mob out”. It was
a psychologically ripe moment
after the Rudd-Gillard struggles.
It is less clear that the anti-Labor
campaigns since have been as in
touch with the public mood.
Extreme coverage probably
energises the base, but may not
sensus that Poland’s future re-
lations with Russia hinge fun-
damentally on the outcome of
the conflict in Ukraine.
“In an emergency, regardless of
internal disputes and differences,
we must all be united and in soli-
darity. We will be together in this
difficult moment,” said Donald
Tusk, leader of the Polish opposi-
tion party Civic Platform (PO).
Warsaw has invested heavi-
ly in its relations with the US,
some believing often at the ex-
pense of good relations with
Berlin, Paris, and Brussels.
Poland wants a permanent
www.canadianinquirer.net
be terribly effective in swaying
swinging voters.
In many ways, it would make
commercial and professional
sense for the Murdoch media
to distance themselves from
Trump. The next couple of years
are likely to bring a series of con-
troversies focused on Trump
and his close allies such as Steve
Bannon and Rudy Giuliani.
His business affairs may lead
to prosecutions; the fall-out
from the January 6 riots will
continue in various ways, while
there may be other specific
charges relating to attempts at
vote-tampering.
Moreover, all current support
for Trump begins with the palpa-
ble lie that he really won the 2020
election. At the very least, sup-
NATO base in Poland and a
shifting of troops from Germany
to the eastern border of the EU.
There are several unresolved
issues related to alleged Russian
interference in Polish domestic
politics since at least 2014.
The ruling Law and Justice
(PiS) party still believes the
Russians were responsible for
a 2010 plane crash in Russia
that killed about 100 senior
Polish public figures, including
then-President Lech Kaczyns-
ki, en route to commemorating
the 1940 Katyn massacre of Pol-
ish POWs held by the NKVD. ■
NOVEMBER 18, 2022 FRIDAY
port for Trump now is focused
more on reclaiming the past than
on the present or future.
It is easy to see that the cul-
ture war rhetoric of Florida
Governor Ron DeSantis may
overlap somewhat with Trump’s
appeals, but without all of
Trump’s baggage, and that this
would be a tempting route for
Murdoch. Indeed some reports
have claimed Lachlan Murdoch
has already offered to throw
support behind DeSantis.
While such a shift would prob-
ably work well with the Wall
Street Journal, and the New York
Post would still have its range of
tabloid appeals, it would be trick-
ier to execute it successfully on
Murdoch’s Fox News.
Over the past six years, Fox
News and Trump have had one
of the closest ever relationships
between a political leader and
a media organisation in any
English-speaking democracy.
Many of Fox’s most prominent
stars have actively campaigned
for Trump and advertised their
closeness to him.
Moreover, the Fox audience
would be one of the strongest
Trump constituencies in the
country. It would be very easy to
alienate some of them, who may
then turn to other right-wing me-
dia for more comforting views. ■
This article is republished
from The Conversation under a
Creative Commons license.
EDCA projects on..
❰❰ 6 ippine government is
working with the Unit-
ed States to build the
future facilities in Cesar Basa
Air Base in Floridablanca, Pam-
panga; Fort Magsaysay Military
Reservation in Nueva Ecija;
Lumbia Airfield in Cagayan De
Oro; Antonio Bautista Airbase in
Puerto Princesa, Palawan; and
Benito Ebuen Air Base in Cebu.
Earlier, Armed Forces of the
Philippines chief-of-staff Lt.
Gen. Bartolome Vicente Bacar-
ro said the US has expressed in-
terest to build five more EDCA
facilities. ■
FRIDAY NOVEMBER 18, 2022 17

www.canadianinquirer.net
18
Entertainment
‘Black Panther: Wakanda Forever’
continues the series’ quest to recover
and celebrate lost cultures
BY JULIAN C. CHAMBLISS,
Michigan State University
The Conversation
As someone who teaches and
writes about Afrofuturism, I’ve
been eagerly awaiting the re-
lease of “Black Panther: Wakan-
da Forever.” I’m particularly ex-
cited about the introduction of
Namor and the hidden kingdom
of Talokan, which he leads.
The first “Black Panther” film
adhered to a longstanding prac-
tice in Afrofuturist stories and
art by engaging in what I call
“acts of recovery” – the process
of reviving and celebrating ele-
ments of Black culture that were
destroyed or suppressed by col-
onization. This practice is often
linked to “Sankofa,” an African
word from the Akan tribe in
Ghana that roughly translates to
“it is not taboo to fetch what is at
risk of being left behind.”
“Wakanda Forever” pulls
from the past in the same way,
but with a twist: Talokan is in-
spired not by African cultures,
but by Mesoamerica, a vast area
that covers most of Central
America and part of Mexico.
A theory of time
The idea that African knowl-
edge and contributions to science
and culture have been erased and
must be recovered is central to
Afrofuturism. The term, which
was coined in 1994, describes a
cultural movement that pulls
from elements of science fiction,
magical realism, speculative fic-
tion and African history.
On its home page, the Afro-
furist listserv, an email list
organized by social scientist
Alondra Nelson in 1998, point-
ed to this process of recovery as
a central tenet of the genre:
“Once upon a time, in the not-
so-distant past, cultural pro-
ducers of the African diaspora
composed unique visions on the
world at hand and the world to
come. This speculation has been
called AfroFuturism – cultural
production that simultaneously
references a past of abduction,
displacement and alien-nation;
celebrates the unique aesthetic
perspectives inspired by these
fractured histories; and imag-
ines the possible futures of black
life and ever-widening defini-
tions of ‘blackness.’”
This fascination with uncov-
ering the ways in which Black
contributions have been erased
and suppressed means that
Afrofuturist works often mine
the past as a first step toward
creating visions of the future.
Afrofuturist scholars such as
Kinitra Brooks even describe
Afrofuturism as a theory of
time. For her, the “present, past,
and future” exist together, cre-
ating the opportunity to push
against the systemic devaluation
of Black people that occurred
during slavery and Jim Crow
segregation, and persists in con-
temporary anti-Black violence.
Looking back to see tomorrow
NOVEMBER 18, 2022 FRIDAY
This recovery can take many
forms.
Several Black writers pub-
lished serialized novels of
speculative fiction, such as
Martin R. Delany’s “Blake: Or
the Huts of America,” a slave re-
volt story written between 1859
and 1861. Pauline Hopkins’
“Of One Blood: Or, the Hidden
Self,” published in 1903, tells
the story of mixed-race Har-
vard medical students who dis-
cover Telassar, a hidden city in
Ethiopia, home to an advanced
society possessing technology
and mystical powers.
Both narratives refuse to
depict Black culture as back-
wards or impotent, and instead Marvel’s Black Panther (HANNAFORD/FLICKR, CC BY-SA 2.0)
celebrate Black empowerment
and the rich cultural legacies of mission to forge a better future. and sophistication.
Black people. Mesoamerica takes center In “Black Panther: Wakanda
Curator Ingrid Lafleur has stage Forever,” these themes are ex-
long talked about how Afrofu- The first “Black Panther” film plored both in the way the man-
turist visual aesthetics relies celebrated an array of African tle of Black Panther presumably
on recovering ancient African cultures. passes to Princess Shuri, and in
cosmology. You can see this Costume designer Ruth the depiction of Namor and the
practice in the work of musical Carter deliberately infused el- kingdom of Talokan.
artists such as Sun Ra, who used ements from across the con- While Talokan is an under-
Egyptian symbolism through- tinent in every scene. For ex- water society inspired by the
out his work, and visual artists ample, the headdress worn by myth of Atlantis, Marvel Stu-
such as Kevin Sipp, who re- Queen Ramonda, played by dios has signaled that the peo-
mixes and reimagines African Angela Bassett, was inspired by ple of Talokan sought refuge
cultural symbolism to create the isicholo, a South African hat underwater in response to colo-
sculptures and visual work that traditionally associated with nial invasion.
fuse past styles and symbols married women. And Lupita By invoking the complexities
with contemporary practices. Nyong’o’s Nakia wore clothing of this history – and seemingly
Simply put, a reverence for inspired by the Suri tribe. leaning heavily on parallels to
ancestral knowledge and cul- And so the film highlighted Mayan culture – the film cele-
ture is the beating heart of Afro- African cultures not by depict- brates a society that scholarship
futurism, and has become an ing them as fragile or founder-
integral part of Afrofuturism’s ing, but as paragons of artistry ❱❱ PAGE 24 ‘Black Panther: Wakanda
www.canadianinquirer.net
FRIDAY NOVEMBER 18, 2022
‘I’m the problem, it’s me’: Why do musicians
revisit their pain and doubt in their art?
BY CHER MCGILLIVRAY,
Bond University
The Conversation
Taylor Swift’s latest album
Midnights launched with the
single Anti-Hero. Anti-heroes
in fiction are dark, complex
characters who may question
their moral compass but are
ultimately trying to be led by
their good intentions. Perhaps
most humans feel like we are
all anti-heroes lacking the right
amount of courage, idealism,
and morality – wanting to be
heroic but struggling through
familiar dark places.
In Anti-Hero, Taylor shares
emotional rawness and sings
“It’s me, hi, I’m the problem, it’s
me … everybody agrees.”
“I don’t think I’ve delved this
far into my insecurities in this
detail before,” Swift said about
the song in a video on Instagram.
“I struggle a lot with the idea
that my life has become unman-
ageably sized and, not to sound
too dark, I struggle with the idea
of not feeling like a person.”
Taylor’s album reveals her
struggle with her own insecu-
rities and maybe common uni-
versal human emotions that
everyone struggles to face. In
Labyrinth, for example, she
sings about heartbreak, and
more specifically, the fear of
falling in love again:
It only feels this raw right
now Lost in the labyrinth of my
mind Break up, break free, break
through, break down
Charo begins dubbing ‘MMK’ in English
for global audiences
ABS-CBN
MMK goes global, starts air-
ing in 41 countries in Africa
“Maalala Mo Kaya” host Cha-
ro Santos was thrilled with the
experience of dubbing her lines
in English for ABS-CBN’s dra-
ma anthology, which will begin
airing in 41 African countries
beginning in January 2023.
“I’ve never imagined in my
Much of the new album, and
Swift’s discography in general, of-
ten revisits past heartbreaks, dis-
appointments, and insecurities.
Swift has talked about how Mid-
nights is an album devoted to the
kinds of soul-searching thoughts
we have in the middle of the night.
“This is a collection of mu-
sic written in the middle of the
night, a journey through terrors
and sweet dreams,” Swift wrote.
“The floors we pace and the de-
mons we face. For all of us who
have tossed and turned and de-
cided to keep the lanterns lit and
go searching — hoping that just
maybe, when the clock strikes
twelve… we’ll meet ourselves.”
Music and pain
Music has the potential to
change our experience of intrusive
thoughts and how we deal with
pain. At an extreme level, when we
revisit past traumatic experiences,
we are often in danger of triggering
a feared response, that manifests
as either fight/flight/freeeze or
fawn, that can often re-traumatise
individuals.
When we identify with a song
that expresses similar strug-
gles to what we are experienc-
ing we feel understood and not
judged. Clinical psychologist
Dr Janina Fisher has proposed
that distancing ourselves from
pain helps humans survive, yet
an ongoing “self-alientation” of
parts of ourselves that carries
fear or shame lead to a disown-
ing of self – the bad parts that
Taylor relates to as being the
things she hates about herself
which causes a further suppres-
wildest dream that I’ll be dub-
bing in English for foreign au-
diences, especially at my age,”
said Charo, who has been the
sharing real-life stories of let-
ter-senders on the weekly show
for over 30 years.
The MMK host and former
president of ABS-CBN looks for-
ward to dubbing in more languag-
es to showcase the Filipino talent
in storytelling and content.
“I hope I get more opportu-
sion of feelings that can create
further psychological distress.
Expression is central to re-
leasing emotion and connect-
ing to music may be the key
that allows the disowned parts
of self to be re-integrated by
expressing them in a new way.
Music provides a creative outlet
to re-script a new story of sur-
vival of the fear of the past with
a renewed ability to see to the
good things again in life.
Musicians often imbue grief
and trauma in their lyrics and
melodies as autobiographical
reflections into their art as a way
of working through complex
emotions and feelings - and by
doing so, enlighten the listener
to work through their own pain.
Music and connection
Music seems to be a way for mu-
sic lovers to connect with artists
stories of tragedy, which allows
their own traumatic or painful
(@TAYLORSWIFT13/TWITTER)
nities to dub in other languages,
maybe one day I’ll be dubbing
in French, German, or maybe
Korean. I am excited to show-
case to the foreign market the
finest Filipino programs we
have here,” she concluded.
As ABS-CBN continues to
bring world-class Filipino pro-
grams of all genres to foreign au-
diences, Charo believes that there
are endless opportunities for our
content to compete globally.
Entertainment
memories to become more com-
fortably integrated and accepted.
Durham University studied
2,436 people within the United
Kingdom and Finland to ex-
plore the reasons why we listen
to sad music. Research sug-
gested that music is a way that
people regulate their mood,
pleasure and pain. Professor
Tuomas Eerola, Professor of
Music Cognition in the Depart-
ment of Music said “previous
research in music psychology
and film studies has empha-
sised the puzzling pleasure that
people experience when engag-
ing with tragic art.”
The depth of loathing that
Taylor taps into in Anti-Hero
also affirms our own experience.
It’s self confirming. Engaging
with trauma in art allows us to
rewrite the outcome from being
victims of our circumstances to
victors. We are either consum-
“The stories we have will
surely resonate with them as
there are similarities in terms
of experiences and values we
share. It’s the same human con-
ditions, same dreams and same
aspirations, so our content is
really able to touch the lives of
other people,” she said.
MMK has shared the stories of
ordinary people and celebrities
that bring inspiration, joy, hope,
and entertainment to view-
19
ers or creators.
Mental health and music
As the World Health Organi-
sation states “there is no health
without mental health”.
A musician’s writing about
trauma is a way of increasing
mental health - of searching
for understanding of them-
selves through self-reflection,
it changes old thinking patterns
and provides a new perspec-
tive and ways of thinking about
themselves and others that can
often heal emotional wounds.
Like telling your story
through a trauma narrative,
music can help reduce its emo-
tional impact. Music is a uni-
versal language that gives you
the chance to be a protagonist
in your life story, to see yourself
as living through it heroically.
Psychologists understand
that the quickest way to under-
standing someone is through
their wounds, and musicians
too understand this power of
music to comfort, console, en-
courage and exhort themselves
and other broken hearts.
Humans need to feel safe and
in connection with others for
survival, and music is the lan-
guage that activates pleasure
centres in the brain and com-
municates powerful emotions.
If trauma causes distress to
the brain and body and music
enhances psychological wellbe-
ing, improves mood, emotions,
reduces pain, anxiety, depres-
sion, and chronic stress, music
❱❱ PAGE 25 ‘I’m the problem,
ers. The award-winning iconic
program joins the long list of
ABS-CBN shows that have been
dubbed in different languages
and currently seen in various
countries all over the world.
It is also being streamed as
an in-flight entertainment pro-
gram for various international
airlines including Etihad Air-
ways, Royal Brunei Airlines,
and Saudi Arabian Airlines. ■
20
What’s the connection between cosmetic
procedures and mental health?
BY GEMMA SHARP, Monash
University, NICHOLA
RUMSEY, University of the
West of England
The Conversation
Although we cannot be sure
of the exact numbers of Austra-
lians undergoing cosmetic pro-
cedures, as there is no require-
ment for health professionals to
report their statistics, there is a
consensus demand is on the rise.
In 2015, the Cosmetic Phy-
sicians College of Australasia
found Australians were spend-
ing more than $1 billion a year
on non-invasive cosmetic pro-
cedures like Botox and fillers.
This is more than 40%
higher, per capita, than in
the United States.
In the US, where proce-
dure statistics are reported,
there was a 42% increase in
the number of filler proce-
dures and a 40% increase
in Botox procedures per-
formed in the last year alone.
Rates of mental health
issues in this group may
be higher than the general
population, but seemingly
not enough is being done
to ensure the psychological
safety of people requesting
cosmetic procedures.
Body dysmorphic disorder
Body image concerns are
generally the main motivator
for seeking cosmetic proce-
dures of all kinds. These con-
cerns are usually focused on the
body part where the cosmetic
intervention is sought, such as
the nose for a rhinoplasty.
Severe body image con-
cerns are a key feature of sev-
eral mental health conditions.
The most prevalent in people
seeking cosmetic procedures is
body dysmorphic disorder. In
the general community, around
1-3% of people will experience
body dysmorphic disorder, but
in populations seeking cosmet-
ic surgery, this rises to 16-23%.
Body dysmorphic disorder in-
Lifestyle
volves a preoccupation or obses-
sion with one or more perceived
flaws in physical appearance
which are not visible or seem mi-
nor to other people. In response
to the distress regarding the flaw,
the person with body dysmor-
phic disorder will perform repet-
itive behaviours (such as exces-
sively checking body parts in the
mirror) and mental acts (such
as comparing their appearance
with other people).
These concerns can have a
significant negative impact on
the person’s daily life, with some
people too distressed to leave
their home or even eat dinner
with family members out of fear
of being seen by others.
Severe body
image concerns
are a key feature
of several mental
health conditions.
With the distress associated
with body dysmorphic disor-
der seemingly stemming from
physical appearance issues,
it makes sense someone with
body dysmorphic disorder is far
more likely to turn up at a cos-
metic clinic for treatment than
a mental health clinic.
The problem is, cosmetic in-
tervention usually makes the
person with body dysmorphic
disorder feel the same or worse
after the procedure. They may
become even more preoccupied
with the perceived flaw and seek
further cosmetic procedures.
Patients with body dysmor-
phic disorder are also more likely
to take legal action against their
treating cosmetic practitioner
after believing they have not re-
ceived the result they wanted.
For these reasons, body dys-
morphic disorder is generally
considered by health profes-
sionals to be a “red flag” or con-
traindication (a reason not to
undergo a medical procedure)
for cosmetic procedures.
However, this is not entirely
clear-cut. Some studies have
shown people with body dys-
morphic disorder can improve
their symptoms after cosmetic
intervention, but the obsession
may just move to another body
part and the body dysmorphic
disorder diagnosis remain.
What about other mental
health conditions?
Body dysmorphic disorder is
by far the most well-stud-
ied disorder in this area,
but is not the only mental
health condition that may
be associated with poorer
outcomes from cosmetic
procedures.
According to a recent sys-
tematic review, the rates of
depression (5-26%), anxiety
(11-22%) and personality
disorders (0-53%) in people
seeking cosmetic surgery
may be higher than the gen-
eral population (which are
estimated to be 10%, 16%
and 12% respectively).
However, these rates should
be interpreted with some cau-
tion as they depend greatly on
how the mental health diag-
nosis was made – clinician-led
interview (higher rates) versus
mental health questionnaire
(lower rates). Some interview
approaches can suggest higher
rates of mental health issues as
they may be quite unstructured
and thus have questionable
validity compared with highly
structured questionnaires.
Besides body dysmorphic dis-
order, the research investigating
other mental health conditions
is limited. This may just be due
to the fact body image focus is
at the core of body dysmorphic
disorder, which makes it a log-
ical focus for cosmetic surgery
www.canadianinquirer.net
research compared with other
types of psychiatric disorders.
So what should happen?
Ideally, all cosmetic surgeons
and practitioners should receive
sufficient training to enable
them to conduct a brief routine
assessment of all prospective
patients. Those with signs indi-
cating they are unlikely to de-
rive psychological benefit from
the procedure should undergo a
further assessment by a mental
health professional before un-
dergoing the procedure.
This could include an in-depth
clinical interview about moti-
vations for the procedure, and
completing a range of standard
mental health questionnaires.
If a person was found to have a
mental health issue in the assess-
ment process, it does not neces-
sarily mean the mental health
professional would recommend
against pursuing the procedure.
They may suggest a course of
psychological therapy to address
the issue of concern and then un-
dergo the cosmetic procedure.
At the moment, assessments
are only recommended rather
than mandated for cosmetic sur-
gery (and not at all for injectables
like Botox and fillers). The guide-
lines say evaluation should be
undertaken if there are signs the
patient has “significant underly-
NOVEMBER 18, 2022 FRIDAY
ing psychological problems”.
This means we are relying on
the cosmetic medical practi-
tioner being capable of detect-
ing such issues when they may
have received only basic psy-
chological training at medical
school, and when their business
may possibly benefit from not
attending to such diagnoses.
An August 2022 independent
review by the Australian Health
Practitioner Regulation Agency
and the Medical Board of Austra-
lia recommended the guidelines
around mental health assess-
ment should be “strengthened”
and emphasised the importance
of medical practitioners receiv-
ing more training in the detec-
tion of psychiatric disorders.
Ultimately, as cosmetic prac-
titioners are treating patients
who are seeking treatment for
psychological rather than med-
ical reasons, they must have the
wellbeing of the patient front-of-
mind, both out of professional in-
tegrity and to protect themselves
from legal action. Mandatory
evaluation of all patients seeking
any kind of cosmetic procedure
would likely improve patient sat-
isfaction overall. ■
This article is republished
from The Conversation under a
Creative Commons license.
FRIDAY NOVEMBER 18, 2022
Moving back home doesn’t mean you’ve
failed in life –- here’s why
BY ROSIE ALEXANDER,
University of the West of
Scotland
The Conversation
“When I was in high school,”
the essayist Anne P. Beatty re-
cently wrote, “ambition meant
two things: escaping my home-
town and becoming a writer”.
The idea that young people’s
futures are best served by mov-
ing away from small towns and
rural areas to big cities is deep-
ly ingrained. The sociologist
David Farrugia has described
this as the the “metrocentricy
of youth”. However questions
remain about whether moving
away is always that easy and
whether it is always the best way
to achieve what you want in life.
I have researched how young
people in rural communities
in Scotland think about their
future prospects. I have found
that whether leaving your
hometown is a good idea de-
pends on both your aspirations
and the resources you have.
How we make decisions
about our lives
French sociologist Pierre
Bourdieu identifies how our
resources (which he terms
“capitals”) provide us with cer-
tain opportunities. In his idea
of “habitus”, meanwhile, he
considers how our social en-
vironment influences the way
that we see the world and the
aspirations we develop. These
ideas have been used to develop
a theory of career development
called “careership”.
House OKs VAT..
❰❰ 6 PHP20 billion from
Package 4, the bulk of
which will come from
removing the tax exemption in
pickup trucks and increasing
the tax rates on foreign curren-
cy deposit units to 20 percent.
He clarified that the VAT on
digital services in the country
will not be imposed on Filipino
businesses.
“The emphasis is on foreign
or nonresident digital ser-
vice providers. All major Ase-
an economies impose VAT on
these entities. Tayo na lang ang
hindi (We’re the only ones who
Habitus helps to explain how
the places we grow up in influ-
ence the kinds of futures we
envisage: what we aspire to, not
just in terms of employment,
but also housing, family life,
and community. Bourdieu’s
wider concept of capital, mean-
while, can be used to explain
how people have different abil-
ities to move away from their
home towns dependent on their
financial resources, personal
networks and previous experi-
ences of mobility. This suggests
that how we decide where to live
is not always a simple choice.
Our ideas emerge from our so-
cial context, and are shaped by
the resources we have.
Research suggests that mov-
ing away from rural areas is
particularly connected to entry
to higher education. Canadi-
an education scholar Michael
Corbett has shown how doing
well at school is likely to see
you “learn to leave” your com-
munity. In places like the UK
where going away to universi-
ty is a longstanding tradition
young people may also have the
resources they need to move, in
the form of grants or loans for
study, among others. Here we
can see how aspirations and re-
sources combined provide op-
portunities for leaving.
Notably, however research
with young people from rural
areas has shown that it is not
the opportunities in them-
selves that explain why many
leave their communities. Rath-
er, moving away is associated
with self-development, growing
haven’t done it),” Salceda said.
Meanwhile, he said the plas-
tic bags tax is in line with the
country’s efforts to fight ocean
pollution, especially “as we are
now recognized ignominious-
ly as the world’s biggest ocean
plastic polluter.”
For Package 4, he said the
lifting of the exemption on
pickup trucks merely corrects
an “unfair privilege” on a vehi-
cle that is mostly for the rich,
occupies very large space on the
road, and is “by all accounts less
fuel-efficient” than most other
vehicles. ■
confidence and independence.
This distinction is important. It
shows how moving away might
be something you choose to do
for reasons other than simply
accessing what might be consid-
ered the “best” opportunities.
Staying and returning
Despite the appeal of leaving,
not all young people are able to,
or want to move away from their
hometowns. In fact, the evidence
suggests that young people are
increasingly staying at home for
their studies or are returning
home after they graduate.
I have found that in some
cases choices to stay or return
are positive choices, relating
primarily to relationships and
careers. Some young people
choose to come back to be near
family or to live with a partner,
and “settle down”.
Returning home can also be a
positive experience in relation
to work. Graduates – especially
Raves, repairs, and..
❰❰ 14 Earnest activism
is over, bring on the
pleasure
Fatigue and paralysis are com-
mon responses to overlapping
crises and horrific information.
This is especially true for long-
term and overlapping struggles.
If your actions and activism don’t
bear fruit then it is hard to keep
it up. A common approach is to
burn hard, and burn out, with
the next batch of volunteers fol-
lowing suit. This has been en-
demic in environmentalist fights,
and certainly exists in all battles
against systemic problems like
www.canadianinquirer.net
Lifestyle
in professions such as law, med-
icine and education – may find
that their rural hometowns offer
employment opportunities in
line with their career aspirations.
Working in smaller places
may also appeal to those who
want to undertake work more
connected to the community.
Further, even though salaries
may be higher in some large cit-
ies, housing costs can make liv-
ing in regional locations more
affordable.
Moving back home is not nec-
essarily a positive thing though.
Sometimes returning home is
prompted by financial insecuri-
ty and difficulties finding work
or accommodation elsewhere.
Decision to return might also
be prompted by difficult wider
life circumstances, for exam-
ple relationship break-ups or
elderly relatives becoming ill.
In my research, these experi-
ences of return are especially
racism and sexism, which at
times – even with small wins –
seem insurmountable.
But activism can take surpris-
ing and joyful forms, intersecting
with cultural events and ways of
being together that actually ener-
gise, connect and inform people.
We need to learn from these
creative approaches – especial-
ly as anti-protest laws (partic-
ularly relating to climate activ-
ism) continue to escalate. ■
This article is republished
from The Conversation under a
Creative Commons license.
21
challenging if young people
perceive limited opportunities
in their chosen careers in their
hometown.
Previous research has shown
that the “metrocentricity of
youth” often influences how
young people think about
where to go and what to do. This
runs the risk that returning (or
staying) at home be positioned
as a personal failure. However,
on the contrary, staying or re-
turning to a small community
can be a positive choice. Be-
sides, choices to stay or leave
are often driven by circum-
stances beyond our control.
As life circumstances change,
decisions to move or stay can be
revisted. What you decide at one
point in time will not necessarily
shape your future forever. ■
This article is republished
from The Conversation under a
Creative Commons license.
Muslims raise concerns..
❰❰ 15 to 200 different na-
tions here, so I assume
that Muslims will also
feel at home here, especial-
ly those who were born here,”
he said. “They will take part in
democratic decision-making
and will, of course, also shape
the future in Germany.”
Germany has the sec-
ond-largest Muslim population
in Western Europe after France
with total inhabitants of more
than 84 million.
Among the country’s nearly
5.5 million Muslims, 3 million
are of Turkish origin. ■
22
Filipina wins silver in SoKor Nat’l boxers
Asia Archery Challenge assured of
BY JEAN MALANUM
Philippine News Agency support until
MANILA – Gabrielle Monica Paris Olympics
Bidaure bagged the silver medal in
the women’s recurve event at the
World Archery Asia (WAA) Joint
Training and Asia Archery Chal-
lenge in South Korea on Nov. 11.
Nam Su Hyun Nam of Korea
won the gold medal while com-
patriot Park Eun So settled for
the bronze medal in the compe-
tition at the Wonju Archery Cen-
ter in Gangwon-do Province.
“I’d say it was just as what I
expected it to be because how we
trained here in the Philippines
was refined in Korea,” Bidaure
said in an interview on Monday.
Biduare’s sister, Pia Elizabeth
Angela, Phoebe Nicole Amisto-
so, Damariz Gabrielle Calera,
Jason Emmanuel Feliciano and
Riley Silos also attended the
training camp.
World Archery Philippines
(WAP) secretary general and
national team head coach
Rosendo Sombrio accompa-
nied the athletes together with
men’s coach Clint Sayo and de-
velopmental coach Niño Sinco.
NAS student bags judo
gold in Women’s Martial
Arts Festival
BY JEAN MALANUM
Philippine News Agency
MANILA – Jhenica Raijah
Serrano of Central Judo Club
(CJC) stamped her class in the
Under 40kg category to cap-
ture the gold in Day 3 of the 8th
Women’s Martial Arts Festival
at the Judo Training Center
inside Rizal Memorial Sports
Sports
Asked if she still has tourna-
ments to join before the year
ends, Gabrielle Monica said:
“As of now, the WAP calendar of
local tournaments has ended,
so the tournaments lined up are
for next year.”
“The coaches and sir Don are
looking at joining all the qual-
ifying tournaments for Paris
2024 so that we may also get the
exposure we need,” she added.
Meanwhile, Sombrio said the
nationals learned so much from
the camp.
“The Koreans share their
training technique to everyone
Complex in Manila on Monday.
The 4-foot-11 from Sta. Cruz,
Manila defeated Monique Viray
of Valenzuela City Judo Club
via ippon in only six seconds.
Jhona Faith Duata of Muntin-
lupa City Judo Club (MJC) also
outclassed Gellian Ariones of
Calamba City Judo team by ip-
pon for the bronze medal.
“ I dedicate the gold medal to
my family,” said the soft-spoken
who joined the camp. Everyday,
they take videos of the archers
one by one for shooting analy-
sis and do a correction. There
is also an hour and 30 minutes
lecture and seminar after din-
ner,” Sombrio said.
“This type of training camp
is very helpful to all our archers
to improve their shooting skill,”
said Sombrio, who thanked the
Philippine Sports Commission
for funding the trip.
A total of 42 athletes from 11
countries joined the WAA Joint
Training and Asia Archery
Challenge. ■
Serrano, who collected a gold
for the third straight year in the
tournament organized by the
Philippine Sports Commission.
She ruled the Under 25kg
category in 2018 and 2019.
A Grade 7 student at the Na-
tional Academy of Sports (NAS)
in Capas, Tarlac, Serrano was
likewise a gold medalist in the
❱❱ PAGE 24 NAS student bags
www.canadianinquirer.net
BY JEAN MALANUM
Philippine News Agency
MANILA – The Philippine
Sports Commission (PSC) on
Monday promised to support
the national boxers all the way
to the 2024 Paris Olympics.
Noli Eala, PSC Chair, made
the commitment during the
courtesy call of Asian Elite Box-
ing Championship gold medalist
Carlo Paalam and bronze med-
alists Nesthy Petecio and Her-
gie Bacyadan at Rizal Memorial
Sports Complex in Manila.
The boxers were accompanied
by Association of Boxing Alliances
in the Philippines (ABAP) presi-
dent Ed Picson and secretary gen-
eral Marcus Jarwin Manalo.
“We are in full support of our
national boxers all the way to Par-
is Olympics,” Eala said in a state-
ment. “We’ve already discussed
the plans with ABAP as to how we
can level up the support and pro-
grams for our elite athletes.”
Aside from funding the
team’s training and foreign
trips next year, the PSC will
study the possibility of build-
ing a team composed of coaches
and sports science experts, sim-
PSC Chairman Noli Eala (PHILIPPINE SPORTS COMMISSION/FACEBOOK)
NOVEMBER 18, 2022 FRIDAY
ilar to what the agency created
for Tokyo Olympics gold medal-
ist Hidilyn Diaz and World No.
3 pole vaulter EJ Obiena.
He told Paalam, Petecio and
Bacyadan to never give up on
their dreams of winning the
Olympic gold.
“Kahit na nandon na kayo sa
taas ng tagumpay, ‘wag kayong
bibitaw. Ganun pa rin ang level ng
gutom and motivation na mana-
lo. Ang panalo nyo, ay panalo ng
buong bayan (Even if you are in
the peak of success, don’t let go.
The level of hunger and motiva-
tion to win should be the same.
Your victory is also the victory of
the whole country),” Eala said.
Petecio, an Olympic silver
medalist also in Tokyo, said
they will continue their sacri-
fices for the country’s glory.
The national boxers will take
a break and resume their train-
ing on Dec. 4.
“Our boxers have a nice facili-
ty in Baguio, which we thank the
PSC for. We are making that sac-
rifice now, in the lead up to tour-
naments happening as early as
February next year, prior to the
[May 2023] Cambodia South-
east Asian Games, and eventual-
ly to Paris,” Picson said. ■
FRIDAY NOVEMBER 18, 2022
‘The moment needs to carry on’ –
why the Black Ferns’ success must be a
game-changer for women’s sport in NZ
BY HOLLY THORPE,
University of Waikato
The Conversation
Saturday night’s heart-stop-
ping 34-31 Women’s Rugby
World Cup victory by the New
Zealand Black Ferns over En-
gland was more than a great
game, it was a milestone in
women’s sport in general.
Played in front of 42,500 spec-
tators at Auckland’s Eden Park,
traditional home of men’s rugby
and renowned “fortress” of the
All Blacks, the match showcased
the unique atmosphere created
by the women’s game.
And coming so soon after the
team’s troubled 2021 northern
hemisphere tour – when rela-
tionships between Black Ferns
players, coaches and manage-
ment publicly broke down – the
World Cup triumph was also
the culmination of a highly
successful rebuilding program,
based on a strong team culture
grounded in te ao Māori.
So while the win offers an im-
portant opportunity to reflect
on how far the women’s game
has come, the challenge now
is to apply those lessons and
ensure the game and women’s
3 swimmers bag 3 golds each
in Grand Reunion tourney
BY JEAN MALANUM
Philippine News Agency
MANILA – Three swimmers
flashed their awesome perfor-
mance on Sunday, fishing out
three gold medals each in the
Grand Reunion Swim Challenge
Championships at the Teofilo Il-
defonso pool at the Rizal Memo-
rial Sports Complex.
Paulene Beatrice Obebe, a
member of the Aqua Sprint
Swim Club (ASSC), dominated
the 100-m butterfly by clock-
ing 1:14.93 and 100-m freestyle
(@BLACKFERNS/INSTAGRAM)
sport overall continue to grow.
A man’s world no longer
Speaking after the final, Black
Ferns coach Wayne Smith de-
scribed the win as “the most phe-
nomenal moment of my career”.
Coming from a veteran of the
men’s game, with a successful All
Blacks and Super Rugby career
behind him, it’s quite a claim.
But we have to ask why it has
taken so long for the women’s
game to see the kind of support it
now receives. Part of the answer
lies in rugby’s deeply entrenched
history of being seen and valued
(1:08.34) events in the Division
A 12-years-old category. Her
third gold medal came from the
50-m breaststroke (46.01 sec-
onds) in Division B.
Obebe has now eight golds
after she won five on Saturday
in the 50-m butterfly, 100-m
breaststroke, 200-m freestyle,
200-m backstroke and 400-m
Individual medley events in
the tournament organized by
the Samahang Manlalangoy ng
Pilipinas (SMP) and sanctioned
by the Congress of Philippine
Aquatics Inc. (COPA).
“Every training, she is im-
as a male experience. It may be
New Zealand’s national game,
but that hasn’t meant rugby was
seen as being for everyone.
In many ways, women’s rugby
has been resisted, ignored and
marginalised because it chal-
lenged dominant ideas about
masculinity. While the wom-
en’s team has brought home
more World Cup titles than the
All Blacks have, they have been
systemically underfunded and
undervalued for decades.
As player and advocate for
the women’s game Alice Soper
proving. In every competition
she gives the best to beat her
time,” ASSC head coach Manny
Thruelen said, referring to Obe-
be whom he has been training
for three years already.
Thruelan’s children -- Ben-
jo, Miguel and Camille-- Louie
Martin, Arnel Quejada and Jeof-
frey Pangilinan are the members
of the coaching staff of ASSC
that was formed in 1993.
Sharing the limelight with
Obebe were Nicola Queen Dia-
mante of RSS Dolphins Swim
Club and Thruelan’s son Ar-
been Miguel Thruelan of ASSC.
www.canadianinquirer.net
Sports
put it recently:
It’s not just old-fashioned rac-
ism and sexism. Men have built
rugby into their core identity.
What does it mean if women are
occupying that space?
In contrast to the fully pro-
fessional English and French
teams, the Black Ferns have
only recently been offered
some of the benefits of a pro-
fessional performance program
(which still pales in comparison
to what the All Blacks receive).
Grassroots advocacy and
cultural leadership
While women’s rugby may
only recently have captured the
attention of mainstream New
Zealand, the women’s game (in-
cluding the seven-a-side version)
has long had a strong community
of passionate advocates fighting
for space, funding, visibility and
infrastructural support.
Over many decades, these
women – many of them Māori –
have volunteered to sustain and
develop the game, innovating
with women-led approaches
grounded in culture and com-
munity. As well as local and re-
gional groups, Women in Rugby
Aotearoa (WIRA) has fought to
build and nurture the culture.
The women’s game also has
Diamante continued her
winning ways in the Division
A girls’ 11-years-old category,
pocketing the gold medals in
the 100-m butterfly (1:21.84),
100-m backstroke (1:09.50) and
100-m freestyle events.
Arbeen Miguel captured
three gold medals in the Divi-
sion A boys’ 15-years-old and
over category.
He topped the 50-m breast-
stroke event in 33.20 seconds,
beating Jim Ryan Mirandilla of
Sta. Rosa City Swim Team (33.38)
and Anton Rafael Malayang of
Naawan Watersharks (34.27).
23
a surprisingly long history in
New Zealand, stretching back a
century before the Black Ferns
first won an international tour-
nament. Farah Rangikoepa
Palmer, a former Black Fern
and now academic and deputy
chair of the New Zealand Rugby
Board, has written extensively
about the important intersec-
tions of Māori culture, gender
and ethnicity in the evolution
of women’s rugby in Aotearoa.
Those intersections were
more visible than ever at this
year’s World Cup, with twirling
poi, haka and waiata all contrib-
uting to an undeniable festival
atmosphere at games. The cul-
tural and gender diversity of the
Black Ferns, and the displays of
female strength, power, joy, cha-
risma and leadership, seemed
to connect with an increasingly
multicultural New Zealand.
The Black Ferns were even
credited with uniting the coun-
try after some difficult and di-
visive years. The team certainly
offered a powerful vision of a
more culturally inclusive society
with mana wahine at the heart.
Show them the money
After years of women’s sports
❱❱ PAGE 25 ‘The moment needs
In the 100-m butterfly, he
clocked 58.84 seconds to prevail
over Leo Andrew Ramos of Ral
Rosario Swim Team (1:05.15)
and Dave Amacquel Miranda of
D’Rising Aquaducks (1:05.33).
Thruelan registered 55.61
seconds to win the 100-m free-
style event over Kryand Joseph
Lagadia of Aquaknights Swim
Team (58.76) and Dave Amac-
quel Miranda of D’Rising Aqua-
ducks (59.15).
The tournament, which is
supported by the Philippine
Sports Commission, will re-
sume on Nov. 19 to 20. ■
24 NOVEMBER 18, 2022 FRIDAY

OFW cash remittances up by 3.8%
in September
BY JOANN VILLANUEVA
Philippine News Agency
MANILA – Money sent home
by overseas Filipino workers
(OFWs) rose by 3.8 percent
year-on-year in September
2022 to USD2.84 billion, with
the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas
(BSP) citing robust growth both
from land-based and sea-based
workers.
In the first three quarters
of this year, total cash remit-
tances grew by 3.1 percent to
USD23.83 billion compared to
the same period in 2021, data
released by the central bank on
Tuesday showed.
Inflows from land-based
workers jumped by 4.2 percent
to USD2.25 billion in the ninth
month this year while those
Business
from sea-based workers grew
by 2.5 percent to USD59 mil-
lion.
The BSP said bulk of the
remittances in the first three
quarters of this year came from
the United States, Saudi Arabia,
Singapore, and Qatar.
Meanwhile, Rizal Com-
mercial Banking Corporation
(RCBC) chief economist Mi-
chael Ricafort said growth of
remittances last September is
slower than year-ago’s 5.2 per-
cent.
He attributed this part-
ly to elevated inflation rate
and interest rates in the US
“that somewhat slowed down/
weighed on the recovery in the
global economy and also partly
weighed on both OFW employ-
ment and incomes.”
“Nevertheless, the continued
growth in OFW remittances dollar vs. major global curren- from the seasonal increase of
may be attributed the need to cies,” he said. remittances during the Christ-
pay for higher prices/inflation Meanwhile, Ricafort expects mas season. ■
locally for OFWs and their de- the peso to get additional boost
pendents/families, as well as
to finance more of their local
spending with the further re-
opening of the economy,” he
said in a report.
Ricafort said while the peso
amount of the remittances has
increased because of the de-
preciation of the local currency
compared to the greenback, this
is countered by the continued
rise of domestic inflation rate
which rose to its almost 14-year
high of 7.7 percent last October.
“Thus, there may still be a
need to send more OFW re-
mittances due to higher prices/
inflation, which erodes/offsets
whatever foreign exchange
gains due to the stronger US

Adherence to int’l pacts to NAS student bags..

22 2019 Batang Pinoy Na- also serves as assistant to national

help resumption of EU-PH

❰❰
tional Finals in Puerto judoka and international referee
Princesa, Palawan. Gilbert Ramirez at CJC.
“She has a big potential and she Meanwhile, Sophia Nicole

FTA talks
BY KRIS CRISMUNDO
Philippine News Agency
MANILA – It will be easier for
the Philippines and the Europe-
an Union (EU) to resume negoti-
ations for a free trade agreement
(FTA) if the country will ensure
its adherence to the 27 interna-
tional conventions, the Head of
the Delegation of the EU to the
Philippines said Monday.
In his keynote speech at the
European-Philippine Business
Dialogue, EU Ambassador Luc
Veron said the EU remains in-
terested for an FTA with the
Philippines, but the EU has to
assess the prospect of resuming
the negotiations.
“We look forward to move-
ments by the Philippines im-
plementing its commitments in
the GSP+ (Generalised Scheme
of Preferences Plus) conven-
tion. It is clear that it will make
it easier for the EU and the
Philippines further assess the
prospect of a resumption of the
negotiations,” Veron said.
The two parties started ex-
ploratory talks for a bilateral
free trade pact in 2013.
The negotiations for the
EU-Philippines FTA started in
2016. The last round of negoti-
ation was held in Cebu City in
2017. Since then, negotiations
have been on hiatus.
“The European Commis-
sion is starting a reflection as
to whether the conditions are
right to resume one of the ne-
gotiations in the Southeast Asia
that was put on hold for the past
few years, and no decision has
to be made whether it would be
Thailand, Malaysia, or the Phil-
ippines. However, in the case
of the Philippines, the compli-
ance with these laws remain(s)
a fundamental element of this
reflection,” Veron said.
“EU remains interested in an
FTA. But we feel that not all ele-
ments are in place yet,” he said.
The EU envoy said for now, the
EU GSP+ will continue to support
Philippine exports to the EU.
Veron is also optimistic that
the level of bilateral trade be-
tween the EU and the Philip-
pines will overtake the pre-pan-
demic level, which is at 15
billion euros. ■
www.canadianinquirer.net
focuses on her goal. That is the
reason why we enrolled her at the
NAS, which will provide her the
best training and the opportuni-
ty to join international tourna-
ments,” said Ryan Alcantara, Ser-
rano’s coach of seven years, who
‘Black Panther: Wakanda..
❰❰ 18 has long noted for its
achievements in archi-
tecture, mathematics,
astronomy and language.
History books reference
these accomplishments. But in
popular culture, there’s little
attention given to this cultural
landscape.
Namor and the kingdom he
leads are poised to remind a
global audience of the rich world
of Mesoamerica that thrived –
until European contact begin-
ning in 1502 led to conquest, de-
Novino of MJC beat Mikeighla
Louise De Vera of Baguio City
in the Under 44kg and Rhian
Napoles of CJC stopped Mar-
iana Alicia Roces of Ultimate
Judo Fighters in the Under
48kg, both via ippon. ■
cline and eradication.
Today, immigration, trade
and drug trafficking dominate
discussions of Central America
and Mexico in the U.S. media.
This film, on the other hand,
invites the viewer to appreciate
the profound cultural legacy of
Mexican and Central American
civilizations. ■
This article is republished
from The Conversation under a
Creative Commons license.
FRIDAY NOVEMBER 18, 2022
Why it may not matter whether
Elon Musk broke US labor laws
with his mass firings at Twitter
BY RAYMOND HOGLER,
Colorado State University
The Conversation
About a week after Elon
Musk assumed control of Twit-
ter on Oct. 28, 2022, the social
media platform stirred up a
storm of controversy by abrupt-
ly firing about half of its 7,500
employees.
Within a few days, according
to media reports, the company
had asked some of those recent-
ly departed staffers to resume
working – reinforcing a general
impression of sloppy manage-
ment. Musk’s brash approach
as an employer also raises an
important question about U.S.
labor rights: Is it legal to termi-
nate thousands of workers with
little or no warning?
The courts may have a chance
to weigh in, since several of
those mass-fired workers have
already filed a class-action law-
suit. They allege that Twitter
broke federal and state laws for
failing to give them the advance
notice required.
But as a scholar of employ-
ment law and policy, I believe
that Twitter’s new manage-
ment team is probably not go-
ing to face much legal fallout
for dismissing half its work-
force. That’s because “at-will
employment” – in which em-
ployers may fire an employee
at any time for any legal reason,
and their workers are also free
to quit without facing legal con-
‘The moment needs..
❰❰ 23 teams having to do
a lot with a little, we
are witnessing a sig-
nificant turning of the tide.
Audiences in New Zealand and
around the world are coming to
recognise the phenomenal ca-
pacity of women’s sport to en-
tertain and inspire.
As the crowds turn up, tele-
vision and sponsors are also
increasingly waking up to the
potential of women’s sport to
reach new audiences – and to
reinvigorate existing ones.
sequences – is the foundation of
U.S. labor laws.
The birth of at-will em-
ployment
Courts began to enshrine the
at-will doctrine in the 19th cen-
tury, making exceptions only
for employees with fixed-term
contracts. In Payne v. West-
ern & Atlantic Railroad Co.,
the Tennessee Supreme Court
ruled that a railway foreman in
Chattanooga had the right to
forbid his workers from buy-
ing whiskey from a merchant
named L. Payne.
Payne sued the railroad,
claiming it couldn’t threaten
to fire employees to discour-
age them from buying goods
from a third party. The court
disagreed, arguing that the rail-
road had a right to terminate
employees for a good reason, a
bad reason or any reason – even
one that involved dealing with
an independent merchant.
The notion of at-will employ-
ment and its associated lack of
job protections soon rose to the
level of constitutional mandate.
The 1894 Pullman strike, which
disrupted national rail traffic,
prompted Congress to pass the
Erdman Act four years later.
That law guaranteed the right
of rail workers to join and form
unions and to engage in collec-
tive bargaining.
The Supreme Court struck
down that law in 1908. Writ-
ing for the majority in Adair
v. United States, Justice John
Marshall Harlan explained that
At the same time, the long
association between rugby and
masculinity in Aotearoa may
finally be changing. More wom-
en and girls play the sport than
ever before, and their contribu-
tion can only continue to grow.
But sports organisations now
need to respond to this quickly
changing landscape. The cul-
tural and gender diversity on
the field needs to be reflected
in boards and leadership struc-
tures, with more equitable and
longer-term investment plans.
because employers were free
to use their property as they
wished, they could impose and
enforce their own employment
rules. Employees, in turn, were
free to quit the relationship. He
summarized the law with the
following statement:
“The right of a person to sell
his labor upon such terms as he
deems proper is, in its essence,
the same as the right of the pur-
chaser of labor to prescribe the
conditions upon which he will
accept such labor from the per-
son offering to sell it.”
That might sound reasonable,
but the Adair ruling led to the
proliferation of “yellow dog”
contracts threatening work-
ers with firing if they joined or
organized unions. The term
“yellow dog” disparaged people
who were willing to accept such
conditions, but the principle had
widespread legal approval.
For three decades, the at-will
doctrine stymied legislation
that would have protected labor
rights. Even when a supervisor
unsuccessfully attempted to
seduce a longtime employee’s
wife and fired the employee in
revenge, courts refused to pro-
tect the man from losing his job.
Labor rights and US law
With the passage of the Na-
tional Labor Relations Act in
1935, all private sector work-
ers and their unions gained the
power to collectively bargain
with employers. Subsequent la-
bor agreements, such as the one
negotiated by the Steel Workers
While this work is under way at
New Zealand Rugby, organisa-
tional change is hard and takes
sustained effort.
Players and supporters are
now calling for Rugby New Zea-
land to properly invest in the
women’s game. As Black Fern
Sarah Hirini said after the Eden
Park final:
I want someone to stand up
and say they are going to back
us, they are going to support us
and they want to put big money
into it. We’ve shown that we are a
www.canadianinquirer.net
Business
Organizing Committee with
Carnegie-Illinois Steel in 1937,
made employers prove “just
cause” before firing any person
covered by the contract.
The Civil Rights Acts of
1964 and 1991 added employ-
ment protections prohibiting
discrimination based on race,
gender, religion and national
origin. And the Americans with
Disabilities Act, which Con-
gress passed in 1990, banned
employment discrimination
against “qualified people” with
disabilities.
The federal government, and
some states, has enacted addition-
al laws since then that can protect
workers against mass layoffs.
The Worker Adjustment and
Retraining Act, enacted in 1989,
is an important one. Known
widely as the WARN Act, it
requires employers of 500 or
showcase, that we are exciting to
watch […] The moment needs to
carry on now, that’s just the start.
The old notion that people
wouldn’t watch women’s sport
is clearly a fallacy. But the new
momentum has to be main-
tained. With funding, media
coverage and investment, the
future of women’s sport can be
very bright indeed. ■
This article is republished
from The Conversation under a
Creative Commons license.
25
more people to provide employ-
ees with written notification
within 60 days of mass layoffs.
When an employer violates this
law, workers who don’t get the
mandatory advance notice can
sue for up to 60 days of back pay
and benefits. Employers may
also have to pay fines.
Some states have similar laws
on their books – including Cal-
ifornia, where Twitter is head-
quartered.
The former Twitter employ-
ees who have sued the compa-
ny, seeking damages, allege that
Twitter failed to give the re-
quired legal notice before their
layoffs as required by the feder-
al and California WARN acts.
But Musk has tweeted that
the fired employees will re-
ceive severance packages that
❱❱ PAGE 27 Why it may
‘I’m the problem,..
❰❰ 19 has the potential to
alleviate chronic dis-
ease and pain.
Music is a vehicle that gath-
ers strength from distress, and
helps you grow brave by reflec-
tions and maybe the anti-he-
ro’s and insecurities recreated
through music may be the trea-
sures found in darkness that we
may not have seen in the light. ■
This article is republished
from The Conversation under a
Creative Commons license.
26
What is Mastodon? A social media expert
explains how the ‘federated’ network works
and why it won’t be a new Twitter
BY BRIAN C. KEEGAN,
University of Colorado Boulder
The Conversation
In the wake of Elon Musk’s
noisy takeover of Twitter, peo-
ple have been looking for alter-
natives to the increasingly tox-
ic microblogging social media
platform. Many of those flee-
ing or hedging their bets
have turned to Mast-
odon, which has attract-
ed hundreds of thou-
sands of new users since
Twitter’s acquisition.
Like Twitter, Mast-
odon allows users to
post, follow people and
organizations, and like
and repost others’ posts.
But while Mastodon
supports many of the
same social networking
features as Twitter, it is
not a single platform. In-
stead, it’s a federation of
independently operated, inter-
connected servers. Mastodon
servers are based on open-
source software developed by
German nonprofit Mastodon
gGmbH. The interconnected
Mastodon servers, along with
other servers that can “talk” to
Mastodon servers, are collec-
tively dubbed the “fediverse.”
Mastodon U.
A key aspect of the fediverse
is that each server is governed
by rules set by the people who
operate it. If you think of the
fediverse as a university, each
Mastodon server is like a dorm.
Which dorm you’re initially
assigned to can be somewhat
random but still profoundly
shapes the kind of conversa-
tions you overhear and the re-
lationships you form. You can
still interact with people who
live in other dorms, but the
leaders and rules in your dorm
shape what you can do.
If you’re particularly unhap-
Technology
py with your dorm, you can
move to a new housing situa-
tion – another dorm, a sorority,
an apartment – that is a better
fit, and you bring your relation-
ships with you. But you are then
subject to the rules of the new
place where you live. There are
hundreds of Mastodon servers,
called instances, where you can
set up your account, and these
Like Twitter,
Mastodon allows
users to post,
follow people and
organizations...
instances have different rules
and norms for who can join and
what content is permitted.
In contrast, social media
platforms like Twitter and
Facebook put everyone in a sin-
gle, gigantic dorm. As millions
or billions of people joined,
the companies running these
platforms added more floors
and bedrooms. Everyone could
communicate with each other
and theoretically join each oth-
er’s conversations within the
dorm, but everyone also has to
live under the same rules.
If you didn’t like or didn’t
follow the rules, you had to
leave the megadorm, but you
were not able to bring your re-
lationships with you to your
new housing – a different social
media platform – or talk to peo-
ple who stayed in your original
megadorm. These platforms
tapped into the resulting fear of
missing out to lock people into
a highly surveilled dorm where
their otherwise private behav-
ior was mined to sell ads.
Incentives for good behavior
The big social media com-
panies sell ads to pay for two
primary services: the technical
infrastructure of hardware and
software that lets users access
the platform, and the social in-
frastructure of usability, policy
and content moderation that
keeps the platform in line
with users’ expectations
and rules.
In the Mastodon col-
lection of servers, if you
don’t like what someone is
doing, you can cut ties and
move to another server
but keep the relationships
you already made. This re-
moves the fear of missing
out that could otherwise
lock users into a server
with other people’s bad
behavior.
There are a few factors
that should put Mast-
odon servers under strong pres-
sure to actively and responsibly
moderate the behavior of their
members. First, most servers
don’t want other servers cutting
ties entirely, so there is strong
reputational pressure to police
members’ behavior and not tol-
erate trolls and harassers.
Second, people can migrate
between servers relatively easi-
ly, so the server administrators
can compete to provide the best
moderation experience that at-
tracts and keeps people around.
Third, the technical and fi-
nancial costs of creating a new
server are much greater than
the costs of moderating a server.
This should limit the number
of new servers cropping up to
evade bans, which would avoid
the endless “whack-a-mole”
challenge of new spam and troll
accounts that the big social me-
dia platforms have to deal with.
Not all milk and honey
The federated server model
www.canadianinquirer.net
on Mastodon also has poten-
tial drawbacks. First, finding a
server to join on Mastodon can
be hard, especially when a flood
of people trying to find servers
leads to the creation of wait-
lists, and the rules and values
of the people running a server
aren’t always easy to find.
Second, there are significant
financial and technical challeng-
es with maintaining servers that
grow with the number of mem-
bers and their activity. After the
honeymoon is over, Mastodon
users should be prepared for
membership fees, NPR-style
fundraising campaigns or pod-
cast-style promotional ads to
cover server hosting costs that
can go into the hundreds of dol-
lars per month per server.
Third, despite calls for news-
papers, universities and gov-
ernments to host their own
servers, there are complicated
legal and professional ques-
tions that could severely limit
public institutions’ abilities to
moderate their “dorms” effec-
tively. Professional societies
with their own methods of ver-
ification and established codes
(PCI)
NOVEMBER 18, 2022 FRIDAY
of conduct and ethics may be
better equipped to host and
moderate Mastodon servers
than other types of institutions.
Fourth, the current “nucle-
ar option” of servers entirely
cutting ties with other servers
leaves little room for repairing
relations and reengagement.
Once the tie between two serv-
ers is severed, it would be diffi-
cult to renew it. This situation
could drive destabilizing user
migrations and reinforce polar-
izing echo chambers.
Finally, there are tensions
between longtime Mastodon
users and newcomers around
content warnings, hashtags,
post visibility, accessibility and
tone that are different from
what was popular on Twitter.
Still, with Twitter melting
down and the long-standing is-
sues with the major social me-
dia platforms, for many people
the new land of Mastodon and
the fediverse doesn’t have to be
all milk and honey. ■
This article is republished
from The Conversation under a
Creative Commons license.
FRIDAY NOVEMBER 18, 2022
A video of you goes viral without your
consent – what does the law say?
BY HAYLEIGH BOSHER,
Brunel University London
The Conversation
Going viral was once a dream
for creative types hoping to
make it big on YouTube. But
in the age of livestreaming and
public shaming, it’s now the
stuff of nightmares. TikTok
trends, pranks and even “acts
of kindness” have led to people
finding accidental viral fame
without their consent, or even
their knowledge.
If you’ve been filmed or pho-
tographed and gone viral, you
may be wondering if there is
any legal action you can take.
In many areas the law has not
caught up with technology and
the social trends that come with
it – but in certain circumstanc-
es it may be on your side.
Privacy rights are protected by
the UK Human Rights Act 1998,
which aims to prevent other peo-
ple from interfering with your
life. It stipulates that personal
information about you, includ-
ing photographs and correspon-
dence such as letters and emails,
shouldn’t be shared publicly
without your permission. Oth-
er personal information, such
as your address and telephone
number, is protected under the
Data Protection Act 2018.
The problem with privacy
law is that it only applies where
there is a “reasonable expec-
tation of privacy”. This means
your rights would be breached
if someone hacked your phone
and stole private photos, but
not necessarily if they took a
photo of you on public trans-
port or in another public place.
Defamation law could protect
you if someone uses your image
in a defamatory way. The legal
test means it has to cause, or is
Why it may..
❰❰ 25 amount to three
months’ pay.
Contractual agree-
ments between employers and
their employees, such as nego-
tiated union agreements, may
provide protection in the form
of seniority preferences. Absent
such contracts, workers must
likely to cause, serious harm to
your reputation and only ap-
plies if what the person shares
is untrue. So if the photo of you
is real this is unlikely to apply,
but if the image is manipulated
to look like you are doing some-
thing that you didn’t do, such as
deepfakes, then it could apply.
These rights also apply to
children, even when the image
is being posted by their parents.
Given how parents document
their children’s lives on social
media, we’re likely to see legal
cases on this soon.
Since 2015, the law has spe-
cifically prohibited the sharing
of private, sexual photos or vid-
eos of another person without
their consent. Since 2021, this
also includes threatening to
disclose intimate sexual imag-
es. Upskirting – taking a picture
under another person’s cloth-
ing without their knowledge –
was criminalised in 2019.
Criminal laws like these de-
pend on the Crown Prosecution
Service to press charges against
someone. This means that in-
dividuals have to report the in-
rely on legislative safeguards.
Little legal recourse
Under Musk’s leadership, Twit-
ter has reportedly been inconsis-
tent with the severance packages
it has offered fired employees.
It’s not clear that all of its U.S.-
based workers were offered the
legally required 60 days of com-
cident to the police and rely on
them to take it forward.
Privacy, performance and
the public
When speaker and author
Ed Gillespie tweeted a photo of
topless man working on his lap-
top on the train in a heatwave, it
went viral. But it didn’t actually
breach the man’s privacy rights,
because there is no expectation
of privacy in a public place, ac-
cording to the law. The person
in the photo saw the tweet and
replied: “Ed, I’m not sure why
you felt entitled to photograph
me and share it on Twitter
without my permission, nor
why others feel entitled to com-
ment”, prompting Gillespie to
delete it and apologise. Unfor-
tunately for the man, the image
had already been republished
by the Mail Online, The Metro
and The Sun.
Either way, Gillespie was the
copyright holder of the photo.
Copyright is a legal right that
gives the owner the power to
control the use of their con-
tent, including photos, videos
and correspondence. This is
pensation. Widespread reports
also indicate that Twitter has
demanded that fired workers
sign documents that would re-
lease Twitter from any claims
made against the company.
Given the circumstances, I
believe it is unlikely that for-
mer employees who are suing
www.canadianinquirer.net
Technology
how Meghan Markle won her
case against a newspaper who
printed a private letter that she
wrote to her father.
The copyright holder is usu-
ally the person who took the
photo, made the video or wrote
the letter. If your own photos
or videos are shared publicly
by someone else, you can ask
websites to remove the con-
tent or sue them for copyright
infringement. This might seem
strange because we share other
people’s content on social me-
dia all the time, but legally the
rights holder is whoever took
the photo – and copying it with-
out permission is technically
copyright infringement.
If someone else takes the pho-
to or video, they have the copy-
right. This has been at the heart
of cases against celebrities, in-
cluding Gigi Hadid and Khloe
Kardashian, who shared photos
of themselves taken by paparaz-
zi on their social media chan-
nels. The photographers, who
owned the copyright, sued them.
The cases settled out of court.
Although these are US cases, the
laws are the same in the UK.
If you are being filmed, other
UK rights that could come into
play are performers’ rights. These
can stop someone recording a live
performance without permission
and can stop unauthorised cop-
ies of their performance being
shared. This right only applies if
you are acting, singing, dancing or
performing a literary, dramatic or
musical work.
The legal rules on what does
or doesn’t count as a perfor-
mance are quite vague – ma-
gicians, clowns, jugglers, im-
personations, interviews and
catwalks probably count but
sports performances do not.
Some argue that it also includes
improvisation, so you might
Twitter will prevail. The U.S. De-
partment of Labor offers advice
and services for workers who
believe their employers failed
to abide by the WARN Act’s re-
quirements. But those measures
provide only limited relief, such
as recommendations about un-
employment insurance.
27
even have a performance right if
you are filmed having a tantrum
in public. And it doesn’t have to
be a paid performance to qualify.
You’ve gone viral – now
what?
If someone is threatening to
share – or has shared – explicit
images or photos of you online,
then this is a criminal offence
and you should report the inci-
dent to the police.
If someone has filmed you
in your home or a private set-
ting where you have a reason-
able expectation of privacy,
this could be a breach of your
right to private life. If someone
takes photos or videos made by
you and shares them without
your permission, this could be
a breach of your privacy or in-
fringement of your copyright.
In these cases, then it’s up to
you to take legal action.
Privacy is a qualified right,
meaning that it can be breached
under certain circumstances,
such as if it is in the public inter-
est. This can be a useful defence
for newspapers publishing inti-
mate photos of high-profile pol-
iticians whose behaviour may
reflect something important
about their leadership.
Social media platforms also
allow users to submit takedown
requests if you think that some-
one’s content breaches any of
your rights explained above, or
doesn’t follow the platform’s
community guidelines against
bullying, harassment or hate
speech. In cases where you’ve
been photographed or filmed
publicly that don’t involve ex-
plicit content, this is currently
still the best course of action for
immediate resolution. ■
This article is republished
from The Conversation under a
Creative Commons license.
Unfortunately for fired Twitter
employees, there are few legal op-
tions available for those who re-
fuse whatever Musk offers them
when he scraps their jobs. ■
This article is republished
from The Conversation under a
Creative Commons license.
28
PH hailed as world’s leading dive,
beach destination
Philippine News Agency
MANILA – The Philippines
has been hailed the World’s
Leading Dive Destination and
the World’s Leading Beach Des-
tination for 2022 at the 29th
World Travel Awards Grand
Final Gala Ceremony held in
Muscat, Oman, recently.
“These global victories for the
Philippines evince the unparal-
leled beauty of our country and
the distinct warmth of the Fili-
pino people. We sincerely thank
the World Travel Awards and
everyone from all over the world
whose vote of confidence is time-
ly as the Philippines fully opens
its arms to welcome tourists to
our shores,” said Tourism Secre-
tary Christina Garcia Frasco.
“Under the vision of Pres-
ident Ferdinand Marcos Jr.,
among the Department of Tour-
Heaven on earth: Palawan
most desirable island in UK travel award
Philippine News Agency
MANILA – Palawan continues
to reap world recognition, this
time as the most desirable island
by the 21st Wanderlust Travel
Award in the United Kingdom.
“The scenery here is heaven
on earth with sparkling waters
and white sand beaches. One of
the most photographed sites is
Kayangan, a dazzling freshwa-
ter lake with spectacular rock
formations above and below the
surface,” Wanderlust wrote.
“Elsewhere on the island you
can explore one of the world’s
longest underground rivers, en-
joy a spot of twitching, or fuel
up with some delicious cuisine
in the island’s capital of Puerto
Princesa,” it added.
The country, through the
Department of Tourism-Cen-
Travel
ism’s objectives are to further
enhance the development and
promotion of key destinations
and to equalize development
by supporting lesser-known ar-
eas across our regions. These
Awards are a source of inspira-
tion for us in the Department
of Tourism to work even harder
as the Marcos administration
ushers in the resurgence of the
tourism industry as a major
pillar of economic growth and
source of livelihood for millions
of Filipinos. As we anticipate the
influx of more tourists, we shall
continue the work to improve
the overall tourist experience in
the Philippines, and herald the
best of the Filipino brand to the
world,” the tourism chief added.
The Philippine dive portfolio
continues its four-year winning
streak for the World’s Leading
Dive Destination title as it lord-
ed over the world’s finest div-
Big Lagoon in El Nido, Palawan (NENNNN/FLICKR, CC BY 2.0)
tral Visayas Office, also placed
6th among hundreds of special
entries in the Wanderlust Sus-
tainability Initiative Category
for its Dive7 Program.
The awards were given on
Nov. 9 by the prestigious Wan-
derlust travel magazine, one of
the United Kingdom’s longest
ing destinations, including the
Great Barrier Reef in Australia,
the Cayman Islands, Maldives,
Fiji, Mexico, Azores Islands,
French Polynesia, Galapagos
Islands, St. Kitts, and Belize.
As the World’s Leading Beach
Destination, the Philippines also
bested other beaches around
the world, including previous
awardees such as Maldives, The
Algarve in Portugal, Jamaica,
Galapagos Islands in Equador,
and Turks and Caicos Islands.
Meanwhile, three part-
ner tourism establishments
also shared the World Travel
Awards distinction: Amanpu-
lo, as the World’s Leading Dive
Resort 2022; City of Dreams
Manila, as the World’s Leading
Casino Resort 2022; and Ascott
Bonifacio Global City Manila,
as the World’s Leading Serviced
Apartments 2022.
The DOT was also nominated
running publications that has
been at the forefront of sustain-
able travel for 29 years.
Cebu was also nominated
this year as Most Desirable Re-
gion (Rest of the World) by the
award-giving body.
“These awards reflect the
efforts to revive the tourism
www.canadianinquirer.net
Sunset in Boracay (DEORTIZ/FLICKR, CC BY 2.0)
as the World’s Leading Tour-
ist Board this year, as well as
Siargao as the World’s Leading
Island Destination and Intra-
muros as the World’s Leading
Tourist Attraction.
The 29th World Travel
Awards gathered the best of the
industry that are well under-
way especially because of the
Marcos administration’s thrust
towards prioritizing tourism
development. Rest assured that
we will continue with our mis-
sion to herald the Philippines
and the Filipino brand to the
world, and to ensure the con-
tinued sustainability of our is-
lands” Secretary Christina Gar-
cia Frasco said.
Frasco led the Philippine
delegation to the World Travel
Market recently held in London.
These new awards add to
the long list of recognitions the
country has earned even at the
height of the Covid-19 crisis.
In June this year, Conde
Nast Travel also named the
Philippines as part of the 40
Most Beautiful Countries in the
World, specifically citing the
remarkable cave system of the
NOVEMBER 18, 2022 FRIDAY
travel and hospitality indus-
tries from its regional awardees
across Asia, the Caribbean,
Central America, Europe, the
Indian Ocean, the Middle East,
North America, Oceania, and
South America. ■
Puerto Princesa Underground
River, the mysteriously uniform
Chocolate Hills of Bohol, and the
panoramic views of the Banaue
and Cordilleras Rice Terraces.
The following month, the re-
nowned Travel + Leisure mag-
azine also named the country’s
tourist magnets Boracay, Pal-
awan, and Cebu part of the 25
Best Islands in the World.
Since February 2022, foreign
tourists have been traveling to the
Philippines, which have reached
over 1.9 million as of posting.
TIME Magazine also lauded
Boracay as one of the 50 World’s
Greatest Places of 2022.
In September, the Philip-
pines won Asia’s leading dive
and beach destination, and the
historic Walled City of Intra-
muros as Asia’s leading tourist
attraction at the World Travel
Awards in Vietnam. ■
FRIDAY NOVEMBER 18, 2022
Fruit and veg: is it better to peel them?
BY KIRSTY HUNTER,
Nottingham Trent University
The Conversation
Many people’s default when
preparing fruit and vegetables
is to peel them. But often, it’s
not necessary. There are im-
portant nutrients in the peel.
And, what’s more, discarded
fruit and veg peels contribute to
climate change.
Fruit and vegetables are rich
sources of vitamins, minerals,
fibre and many phytochemi-
cals (plant chemicals), such as
antioxidants (substances that
protect your cells from harm).
Not consuming enough of these
nutrient-rich foods is linked to
an increased risk of chronic dis-
eases, including cardiovascular
disease and type 2 diabetes. In
2017, the World Health Organi-
zation reported that around 3.9
million deaths a year worldwide
were attributable to people not
eating enough fruit and veg.
Eating 400g of fruit and vege-
tables a day, as the WHO recom-
mends, is difficult to achieve for
many people. So could consum-
ing fruit and vegetable peel help
with this issue by adding import-
Domino’s® Shows Appreciation for
Customers with 50% Off Pizza Deal
DOMINO’S PIZZA
Menu-priced pizzas ordered
online are half off this week
November is a time to give
thanks, and what better way
for Domino’s Pizza Inc. (NYSE:
DPZ), the largest pizza compa-
ny in the world, to show its ap-
preciation of customers than
to offer half off all menu-priced
pizzas ordered online, today
through Nov. 20?
“November is U.S. National
Gratitude Month and Domi-
no’s wants to say thank you to
its customers by giving them
a great deal on the pizza they
Food
ant nutrients to people’s diets?
They can certainly contrib-
ute. For example, nutritionally
important amounts of vita-
mins, such as vitamin C and ri-
boflavin, and minerals such as
iron and zinc, are found in the
peel of seven root vegetables:
beetroot, field mustard, wild
carrot, sweet potato, radish,
ginger and white potato. And
the US Department of Agricul-
ture shows that unpeeled ap-
ples contain 15% more vitamin
C, 267% more vitamin K, 20%
more calcium, 19% more potas-
sium and 85% more fibre than
their peeled equivalents. Also,
many peels are rich in biolog-
ically active phytochemicals,
such as flavonoids and polyphe-
nols, which have antioxidant
and antimicrobial properties.
Another reason to not discard
peels is their effect on the envi-
ronment. According to the UN’s
Food and Agriculture Organi-
zation, uneaten food, including
peel, generates 8%-10% of the
world’s greenhouse gas emis-
sions. (Food rotting in landfills
releases methane, the most po-
tent greenhouse gas.) New Zea-
land alone reports an annual
wastage of 13,658 tonnes of veg-
love,” said Frank Garrido, Dom-
ino’s executive vice president
of U.S. operations and support.
“The holidays are quickly ap-
proaching, and we know Dom-
ino’s customers will appreciate
being able to provide a con-
venient and delicious meal to
their family for less.”
Domino’s 50% off deal is
available on menu-priced piz-
zas ordered through the follow-
ing online ordering channels:
• Domino’s website (domi-
nos.com)
• Domino’s ordering apps for
iPad®, iPhone® and Android™
• Domino’s AnyWare or-
dering platforms, including
etable peels and 986 tonnes of
fruit peels – a country with a pop-
ulation of only 5.1 million people.
Given the nutrient content
of peel and its contribution
to food waste, why do people
peel fruit and vegetables at all?
Some must be peeled as the out-
er portions are inedible, don’t
taste nice, are hard to clean or
cause harm, such as banana, or-
ange, melon, pineapple, mango,
avocado, onion and garlic. Also,
peeling may be a necessary
part of the recipe, for example,
when making mashed potato.
But many peels, such as potato,
beetroot, carrot, kiwifruit and
cucumber, are edible, yet peo-
ple peel them anyway.
Pesticide residue
Some people peel fruit and
veg because they are concerned
about pesticides on the surface.
Pesticide residues are certainly
retained on or just below the
surface, although this varies
according to plant species. But
most of these residues can be
removed by washing. Indeed,
the US Food and Drug Adminis-
tration recommends that peo-
ple wash produce thoroughly
under cold water and scrub it
with a stiff brush to remove pes-
through Google Home, Alexa,
Slack and Facebook Messenger
Customers can order any
size pizza on any crust, with
any toppings, as part of Dom-
ino’s half off deal. Domino’s
offers more than 20 toppings,
a dozen different veggies and
proteins, as well as five types
of crust. Domino’s features 12
specialty pizzas, ranging from
the savory MeatZZa and Philly
Cheese Steak pizzas, to lighter
options like the Pacific Veggie
or Spinach and Feta pizzas on a
crunchy thin crust! Looking to
spice up pizza night? Domino’s
Buffalo Chicken pizza is the
perfect choice!
www.canadianinquirer.net
ticides, dirt and chemicals.
Cooking techniques, such as
boiling and steaming, can also
reduce pesticide residue. But
not all pesticide residues are
removed by washing and cook-
ing. And people who are con-
cerned about their exposure
to pesticides may still wish to
peel. Lists of pesticide contents
for fruit and vegetables are
available in some countries, for
example, the Pesticide Action
Network produce one for the
UK. This can help you to decide
which fruit and veg to peel and
which peels can be eaten.
If you want to find out more
About Domino’s Pizza®
Founded in 1960, Domino’s
Pizza is the largest pizza com-
pany in the world, with a signif-
icant business in both delivery
and carryout pizza. It ranks
among the world’s top public
restaurant brands with a global
enterprise of more than 19,500
stores in over 90 markets. Dom-
ino’s had global retail sales of
nearly $17.8 billion in 2021, with
over $8.6 billion in the U.S. and
over $9.1 billion international-
ly. In the third quarter of 2022,
Domino’s had global retail sales
of over $4.0 billion, with over
$2.0 billion in the U.S. and near-
ly $2.0 billion internationally.
29
about fruit and vegetable peel
and what to do with it, there is
lots of advice online including
help on how to use peels for
composting, to feed a wormery,
or incorporation into recipes.
With a little investigation and
creativity, you can help to re-
duce waste and increase your
fruit and vegetable intake. Sure-
ly it’s worth a try? And you’ll be
helping to meet one of the UN’s
sustainable development goals:
to halve food waste by 2030. ■
This article is republished
from The Conversation under a
Creative Commons license.
Its system is comprised of inde-
pendent franchise owners who
accounted for 98% of Domino’s
global stores as of the end of the
third quarter of 2022. Empha-
sis on technology innovation
helped Domino’s achieve more
than half of all global retail sales
in 2021 from digital channels.
In the U.S., Domino’s generat-
ed more than 75% of U.S. retail
sales in 2021 via digital chan-
nels and has developed several
innovative ordering platforms,
including those for Google
Home, Facebook Messenger,
Apple Watch, Amazon Echo,
Twitter and more.■
30 NOVEMBER 18, 2022 FRIDAY

We’re Recruiting in Metro Vancouver!

Are you looking for a new or second income?
Are you able to provide care to adults in your own home?

If you answered yes to these questions and you are interested in a great opportunity,
call Laura at:

(236) 333-2682
or email
careathome@plea.bc.ca
PCI_print_10x12.indd 1 10/4/2022 11:00:07 AM

www.canadianinquirer.net
 NOVEMBER
JULY 18, 2022
17, 2020 cx328
1

CANADA

PINOY EXPRESS DELIVERY

TRUCK OR CARGO AVAILABLE FOR RENT WITH A DRIVER.
Driver will help: Load-Pack-Unload

Perfect for: *Furniture Pick-up *Online Purchases

Room * Bachelor * 1-2 Bedroom
No More Hassle and Headache of going out to Rent.
Just pick up the phone and will show up at your door.
Let your Kababayan help you!!! We Speak your language
Maraming Salamat

Call: (416) 841-0244 for more details.

Leave a Message and we will call you back.

Electronic Technicians Needed

Experience in Low Voltag
Electrical System
installation and Servicin
Computers with Networking
Email resume to suda@alarmboss.com
Call 416-432-1902

CHRISTMAS SIGNING BONUS!!! TIN TIN DIM SUM Spectrum Health

re Ca
is Hiri
Do you have: Personal Support
W orkers
Cleaning, sweeping and moping experience (Outside Retail)
Experience in using a power washer & leaf blower
Enjoy Working Outdoors
Proudly serving fresh
and not frozen dim sum allday who w ant more!
Good time management skills and can work unsupervised
Have your own transportation $10.99 only More hou
rs
Iron Platter Style (w ith rice & veg in soup)
Competitive Pay Rates Tonkatsu Com bo (Chicken or Pork)
Spicy Ram en Pot
$500 Signing Bonus
Pay Via Direct Deposit

6455 Macleod Trail SW, Unit 192A, Calgary, AB T2H 0K9

(Located inside Chinook Mall)
Please email your resume to S ec uredG ro u p
info@securedsecuirty.com or fax 604-239-0251 securedsecurity.com
(403) 253-7742 Learn mo
re atw w w.spectrumhealth
care.com

www.canadianinquirer.net
 32 NOVEMBER 18, 2022 FRIDAY

Get this Great Offer and start

your journey in a new 2022 Edge

1.99 % *
60
on most new
2022 Edge
APR Models
Purchase Financing Months

FIND OUT MORE AT FORDTO.CA

Vehicle(s) may be shown with optional equipment. Dealer may sell or lease for less. Limited time offers. Offers only valid at participating dealers. Retail offers may be cancelled or changed at any time without notice. See your Ford Dealer for complete details or call the Ford Customer
Relationship Centre at 1-800-565-3673. For factory orders, a customer may either take advantage of eligible raincheckable Ford retail customer promotional incentives/offers available at the time of vehicle factory order or time of vehicle delivery, but not both or combinations thereof. Retail offers
not combinable with any CPA/GPC or Daily Rental incentives, the Commercial Upfit Program or the Commercial Fleet Incentive Program (CFIP). ©2022 Ford Motor Company of Canada, Limited. All rights reserved.

www.canadianinquirer.net