Category: Business Mirror

The Net Zero Carbon Alliance (NZCA), a group of businesses and institutions committed to achieving net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050, will hold its fifth net zero conference next month, the Energy Development Corp. (EDC) said over the weekend.

According to its founder, EDC, the Philippine Net Zero Conference 2026-scheduled for September 15-16 in Pasay City-aims to accelerate corporate decarbonization and long-term resilience amid escalating climate and energy threats.

Organized by the NZCA and the Southeast Asia Corporate Decarbonization Exchange, the conference will serve as a crucial platform to move corporate and national climate ambitions into urgent, measurable action.

‘Geopolitical tensions and fossil fuel price shocks have underscored a fundamental reality: true climate resilience, operational sustainability, and enterprise survival are inseparable.

Achieving net zero is no longer just a voluntary commitment, but an essential business strategy to manage operational risks, protect supply chains, and safeguard communities from catastrophic warming,’ the group said.

The event also marks the fifth anniversary of NZCA.

‘The global energy crisis has made one thing unmistakably clear: protecting our climate and insulating our businesses from severe risk are the exact same fight,’ said Allan Barcena, NZCA executive director. ‘Achieving net zero is more urgent than ever because transitioning to clean, regenerative solutions is the only viable path to safeguard our planet, manage climate risks for businesses, and ensure lasting economic survival.’

The two-day conference is designed to convert sustainability goals into concrete corporate and technological strategies.

Day one will focus on challenges faced by corporate leaders, advocates, and small businesses. Industry enablers and climate innovators will demonstrate how artificial intelligence, smart energy systems, carbon management tools, and science-based verification enable organizations to drastically cut emissions.

Day 2 shifts focus toward real-world deployment of market-ready technologies. It will showcase AI, smart energy systems, and verification tools to cut emissions.

BATTERY Energy Storage Systems (BESS) will help reduce red and yellow alerts in Visayas, the Department of Energy (DOE) said Monday.

On Monday afternoon, the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP) placed the Visayas power grid on red alert from 5:00 pm to 8:00 pm and yellow alert from 2:00 pm to 5:00 pm and from 8:00 pm to 10 pm.

A red alert status is issued when power supply is insufficient to meet consumer demand and the transmission grid’s regulating requirement.

The yellow alert is issued when the operating margin is insufficient to meet the transmission grid’s contingency requirement.

Available capacity at the Visayas stood at 2,318 megawatts (MW) while peak demand reached 2,431MW.

There are seven power plants on forced outage this month, one plant since July, three plants since June, seven plants since May, one plant since March, three plants since 2025, two plants since 2024, two plants since 2023, and one plant since 2021, while 14 plants are running on derated capacities, for a total of 919MW unavailable to the grid.

‘The Visayas grid continues to experience tight supply conditions. From our coordination with the industry, we expect major power plants to return to service soon,’ said Energy Secretary Sharon Garin.

TVI Unit 2 (169MW) and KEPCO SPC Power Corp. (105MW) are expected to return to service within the week, followed by TVI Unit 1 (169MW) and Cebu Energy Development Corp. Unit 1 (135MW) in the coming weeks of September, providing additional capacity.

‘We also have mandated the NGCP to install about 250 megawatts of batteries….We have instructed them to connect the four power plants of batteries located in Iloilo, Negros, Cebu, and Leyte so that everything is balanced… At the minimum, 50 percent less yellow and red alerts will be in Visayas,’ she said.

These BESS are located in Leyte, Cebu, Panay, and Negros.

‘We could easily address, reduce the yellow and red alerts by installing battery energy storage system. But, in the meantime, we are continuously studying if our alert levels will continue then we have to commission as well the liquid fuels that can be easily deployed,’ Energy Undersecretary Mario Marasigan said.

At the same time, the agency is closely monitoring the developments of committed new power projects in the country. ‘We have 48 projects that are already completed, including 11 BESS with a capacity of 1,846MW… As far as what is the closest we can complete, we are looking at the 25 major power projects which we are closely monitoring… In the end, we are still looking at 10,000 MW by end of 2030,’ added Marasigan.

Meanwhile, the DOE is set to turn over a list of erring power generation companies (gencos) to the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) for the possible suspension of their operational permits after they snubbed the agency’s show-cause orders (SCOs).

‘We’ve given them a warning. And we are now in the process of recommending suspension to ERC,’ said Garin.

The agency issued last month 203 SCOs to power firms over plant outages. Of these 121 have snubbed the agency.

Out of the 203 SCOs, 174 were issued to on-grid power generators and the remaining to off-grid power facilities Of the 174 SCOs, 114 companies have taken no action. The remaining 60 have either responded, requested for extension, and acknowledged the SCOs.

For SCOs issued to 29 off-grid power generation firms, seven have not responded.

The issuance of SCOs were meant to give the power firms a chance to explain why no administrative or criminal action should be imposed against them for failing to submit the required reports on time.

These reportorial requirements are mandated under DOE Department Circular DC2026-02-0006, or the Policy on Accountability of Entities Engaged in Power Generation to Ensure Sufficient, Reliable, Affordable, and Secure Supply of Energy in the Country, which requires generation companies to submit Annual Self-Assessment Forms and other reportorial requirements. These submissions enable the DOE to assess the operational readiness, technical performance, and compliance of generation facilities, allowing the Department to identify potential risks early and implement timely interventions before they affect the reliability of electricity supply.

‘I can’t tell you which because I don’t have the list. Let’s say around 40, small diesel plants. Some are not even operational, around 10.

‘We’ll wait for the process. But we’ve been meeting since last week on what to do. So, the decision is to send it to ERC for proper action,’ Garin added.

She said her office afforded all concerned parties due process and every reasonable opportunity to comply but emphasized that persistent non-compliance will not be met with appropriate regulatory action.

‘Accountability is not optional. These reportorial requirements exist for one reason’ to help ensure that generation companies remain capable of delivering the reliable electricity that Filipino consumers depend on every day.

‘When companies disregard these obligations despite being given the opportunity to explain, the Department has the responsibility to act decisively to protect public interest,’ Garin said.

THE sharp drop in the country’s official poverty rate masks a deeper income problem, with millions of Filipino workers still earning far below what their families need for a decent standard of living, research group IBON Foundation said.

This, after the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) reported that poverty incidence among Filipinos fell to 9.7 percent in 2025 from 15.5 percent in 2023, translating to about 11.08 million poor Filipinos from 17.5 million two years earlier.

IBON said the improvement does not necessarily mean that most Filipinos have achieved economic security, arguing that the government’s poverty threshold remains too low to capture the actual cost of living.

For 2025, the annual per-capita poverty threshold stood at P35,121, or about P96.22 per person per day. For a family of five, this is equivalent to only about P14,634 in monthly income.

‘This means a family earning even slightly more than this is officially considered non-poor, without considering the high costs of food, housing, electricity, transportation, education, healthcare and other basic expenses,’ IBON said.

This stands in sharp contrast to the group’s family living wage estimate of P1,277 per day for a family of five as of July 2026, or more than twice the P512 average minimum wage nationwide.

At P512, the average minimum wage covers only around 40 percent of IBON’s estimated living wage for a family of five, leaving a substantial gap between what workers legally earn and what families need for a decent life.

Meanwhile, PSA said the decline in poverty was driven by faster growth in family incomes relative to the poverty threshold.

Mean annual per-capita income grew 22 percent between 2023 and 2025, compared with a 5.5-percent increase in the annual per-capita poverty threshold.

Income among families near the poverty threshold also increased faster than the threshold, with mean annual per-capita income in the first and second deciles rising by 23.8 percent and 22.7 percent, respectively, PSA said.

IBON argued, however, that measuring progress by the number of Filipinos who cross the official poverty line risks understating the scale of economic hardship, particularly among workers whose incomes remain insufficient for basic needs.

The group also questioned the poverty methodology, saying the food threshold is based on a bare-minimum, least-cost basket while non-food requirements are not directly and adequately cost.

IBON said government programs such as the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program, Social Pension, KADIWA, Walang Gutom, TUPAD and the DOLE Integrated Livelihood and Emergency Employment Program remain important safety nets but cannot substitute for higher and more stable incomes.

It called for stronger domestic industries and agriculture, higher wages and better public services to generate stable livelihoods instead of relying primarily on temporary assistance to push households above a statistical poverty line.

The group said genuine poverty reduction should ultimately be measured not only by how many Filipinos move above the official threshold, but by how many can afford secure lives through decent work and adequate incomes.

A RANSOMWARE attack was behind the nationwide shutdown of the Maritime Industry Authority’s (Marina) seafarer documentation system, the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) confirmed, as thousands of Filipino seamen enter a second week unable to process the credentials required for their deployment abroad.

The DICT, through the Cybersecurity Bureau-National Computer Emergency Response Team (CSB-NCERT), said it is responding to a ransomware incident affecting the Marina’s Seafarer’s Identity Document (SID) and Seafarer’s Record Book (SRB) System, which was reported to the agency on August 13.

As of August 18, the Marina reported to the NCERT that the affected database and server environment were being rebuilt, while forensic investigation and validation of the affected infrastructure continued, the DICT said.

The department added that the NCERT continues to assist the Marina in validating the incident, analyzing available evidence and determining the full extent of the compromise-an indication that authorities have yet to establish how much seafarer data was accessed or taken.

The DICT said cybersecurity and recovery measures are being undertaken to restore affected services, strengthen security controls and prevent similar incidents, and that further updates will be released as verified information becomes available.

The Marina, for its part, confirmed the system was hacked on August 14-a day after the incident was reported to the NCERT.

‘We have been collaborating with DICT on this matter. Ongoing pa rin ang restoration at the moment,’ a Marina spokesperson said, adding that an update will be issued once the system is restored.

The agency’s own public advisory made no mention of a cyberattack, describing the outage only as ‘technical difficulties nationwide.’ It suspended SRB and SID processing nationwide beginning August 14 ‘until further notice,’ and advised affected applicants to await further announcements.

The suspension has frozen the pipeline of seafarer deployment. The SRB and the SID are mandatory credentials for Filipino seafarers seeking work aboard ocean-going vessels, and the affected platform is where applicants submit documents and book schedules for first-time issuance or renewal.

Appeal to Malacañang

IN an open letter addressed to President Marcos, senators and members of Congress, retired seaman Ed Flores said thousands of seafarers remain affected 11 days into the outage, with many unable to process the documents required for employment.

He said some seafarers already onboard may be forced to extend their contracts because their replacements cannot complete SID and SRB processing in time. He flagged particular concern for crews assigned to high-risk areas such as the Black Sea and the Persian Gulf, as well as those ashore who have long been on standby for their next contract.

Flores called for clear and regular updates from the agency, and said questions need to be answered on the contingency and backup systems in place for essential government services that directly affect the livelihood of thousands of Filipino families.

He described the situation as approaching a serious national maritime and employment crisis.

Repeat breach?

CYBERSECURITY expert Ashley Acedillo, former deputy director general of the National Intelligence Coordinating Agency (Nica), said the most immediate consequence is the hit to seafarers’ livelihoods, followed by the regulatory fallout.

‘These documents are necessary for them to pursue their employment aboard ship,’ he said.

Acedillo raised the possibility that the incident is linked to a June 2024 breach that affected four web-facing applications of the same agency.

‘The first time it happens to you, one thing you have to make sure-that you have responded, remediated and restored your services-is to also make sure that the threat actor does not linger in your environment,’ he said. ‘Is it possible this time that they were not able to remove the threat actor the last time? That’s worth looking into.’

Acedillo said the incident constitutes a data privacy breach that should draw the attention of the National Privacy Commission (NPC), alongside the DICT, and could carry fines and other legal implications for the agency.

He warned that the longer-term risk lies in what the threat actor does with the extracted data set, which could be used to perpetrate scams.

‘More importantly, the security aspect of this is: they have information about our seafarers and our seafarers also man other vessels which have not just economic but security impact in the nation as well,’ he said.

The Marina has not given a timeline for the restoration of the system.

Roxas and Co. Inc. (RCI) on Monday said it entered into an omnibus loan and security agreement with China Banking Corp. (Chinabank).

In its disclosure, Chinabank has agreed to extend to RCI a term loan facility worth P1.93 billion.

The proceeds will be used to refinance the company’s and its subsidiaries’ existing loan obligations and for general corporate purposes.

RCI reported that its net loss in January to June P326 million, narrower from the previous year’s net loss of P554.2 million.

It was primarily driven by lower operating expenses, reduced finance costs following debt repayments, higher interest income from agrarian reform bonds and cash investments, and significantly lower losses from discontinued operations following the sale of plant assets in December last year.

It also recognized of a P285.7-million impairment loss on property and equipment.

The company said its focus for the year is to improving financial performance and cash flows through continued deleveraging, liquidity enhancement, operational efficiencies and cost discipline.

Growth initiatives include optimizing hotel operations, advancing real estate projects, implementing master plans for hacienda properties, and evaluating leasing and eco-tourism opportunities to maximize land utilization and long-term value creation.

The group maintained a positive liquidity position as of end June, with cash increasing to P759.1 million from P726.3 million as of December last year.

Cash resources were further supported by the current portion of agrarian reform bonds amounting to P469.1 million, providing adequate funding for operating requirements, capital expenditures and debt service obligations.

In a recent disclose to the Philippine Stock Exchange, RCI said its board has approved the sale of 278.3102 hectares of property in Nasugbu, Batangas ‘under such terms and conditions most beneficial to the company.’

RCI and its subsidiaries are engaged in the real estate and hotel development and management, property management, and coconut and exports. VG Cabuag

Come September 9, the Manila International Book Fair returns to SMX Convention Center in Pasay for its 47th edition. And if past years are any guide, expect long lines and big crowds, especially on weekends, as tens of thousands of readers, students, and workers travel in from Metro Manila and beyond. By the time the fair closes on September 13, more than 120,000 people will likely have passed through. This is a crowd larger than many provincial towns, drawn not by a K-pop concert or a holiday sale, but by books.

It is easy to dismiss a book fair as a shopping event. Based on the proliferation and success of book fairs all over the nation these past years, we know that it’s quietly becoming an economic and institutional event.

MIBF is happening on September 9 to 13 this year under the theme ‘GET LIT: Reading in a New Light.’ More than 165 exhibitors (from big book shops like Fully Booked and National Bookstore to university presses and Filipiniana specialists) will occupy two floors, alongside School World 2026, a parallel showcase of digital learning tools for schools. Entrance is a modest P50 (P35 for students, seniors, and PWDs), a price point deliberately kept low, because the fair’s real purpose is not retail, but to repair a reading culture that official data say is problematic.

The National Book Development Board’s 2023 National Readership Survey found that only 42 percent of Filipino adults had read a non-school book in the past year, down sharply from 54 percent in 2012. Among children, readership stood at 47 percent. The culprit was not disinterest but access: many respondents did not know if a public library existed near them, and most who did know never visited one. And when Filipinos do read outside school, it is largely religious texts and romance novels; only about one in 10 reaches for books on business, economics, or the social sciences. This is a gap with real implications for a workforce competing in a knowledge economy.

And this is precisely why fairs like MIBF matter. They compress, in five days, everything that our current library network cannot provide: discounted access to hundreds of thousands of titles and public programming that a bookstore aisle never offers. Plus, there are learning events, book launches, meet-and-greet events, and more.

A standout this year is ‘Better Life Through Copyright: Writers and Visual Artists Edition,’ a full-day event on September 9 at Meeting Room 9, organized by the Filipinas Copyright Licensing Society (FILCOLS) with MIBF and School World. Its agenda is refreshingly concrete: a distribution of remuneration to rights holders, followed by sessions on actual earning opportunities for photographers and visual artists, a talk from the Artist Welfare Project on creator welfare, and a discussion on community-building for women artists. Under the banner ‘Create. Protect. Inspire.,’ the event makes a point too often missed in culture-sector conversations: that copyright is not red tape but income, and that a fair’s job is not only to sell books but to show creators they can be paid for making them.

There are numbers to support this. The Philippine Statistics Authority values the country’s creative economy at P1.72 trillion, 7.1 percent of GDP in 2023, with media publishing and printing activities alone contributing P148.4 billion. Every book sold, every license honored, every royalty distributed at events like FILCOLS’ feeds that number. But the more durable return sits with the individual: a reading habit strengthens critical thinking and workplace literacy, while a functioning copyright system tells a Filipino photographer, writer, or illustrator that their work has market value and that they should be paid their due. Nations do not industrialize on infrastructure alone; they industrialize on the competence of people who can read a contract, and on creators who are confident enough to keep making the content that competence runs on and that the market will appreciate and support.

So the fair is worth attending not simply for the discounts and networking opportunities. It is worth attending because a country that reads less and protects its creators poorly also risks growing less. A book bought and a right respected are both small, compounding investments in our country’s future.

AMERICAN soldiers attempted to enter the premises of the controversial Chinese-run steel firm Philippine Sanjia-Steel Corp. in Tagaloan, Misamis Oriental, on August 19, but were barred from doing so by Army personnel on duty at the premises.

According to a police blotter, Jermie Espartero, a security guard of Sanjia, reported that ‘several American soldiers’ together with personnel of the Philippine Veterans Investment Development Corporation Industrial Authority (Phividec) ‘allegedly attempted to enter the premises of Sanjia Company’ in Zone 1, Nabulod Baluarte in Tagaloan around 10:12 a.m.

Espartero told police that the Americans and Phividec personnel informed them that the visit was ‘intended to conduct an inspection of the site.’

‘The complainant stated that their presence and intended inspection caused concern among the company personnel,’ the blotter recorded by P/Staff Sgt. Cayuga stated.

Philippine Army personnel who were on duty inside the premises ‘refused to allow them to enter, allegedly because they failed to present any permit or authorization to conduct the intended inspection,’ it added.

The ‘extract from the police blotter’ report was shared by the Chinese Embassy in Manila on August 23. Asked to verify the report, the spokesperson of the PNP Provincial Office Misamis Oriental confirmed its authenticity, which was also noted by the provincial police chief Maj. Enrique Francisco Dungong.

The Chinese Embassy questioned the attempt of American troops to enter the Chinese-run steel company.

‘Why did American soldiers reportedly show up at the Sanjia Steel factory in [Misamis Oriental] and attempt to ‘conduct an inspection’ of the compound? The visit was reportedly documented by Philippine law enforcement authorities. What were those American soldiers doing there? Who authorized their presence? What exactly were they trying to inspect?’ Guo Wei, deputy spokesperson of the Embassy said.

Guo also hinted at the US plans to build a logistics facility near the area. ‘We hope the workers were not detained simply because their workplace stood in the way of an American plan to establish a giant military fuel hub,’ he said.

Some 69 Chinese workers were arrested in a raid conducted on May 15-16, allegedly for immigration, labor and nuclear safety violations. The Embassy said the Philippine Department of Justice found ‘insufficient evidence to sustain the complaints against the Chinese workers and ordered their release.’

US Embassy: Part of Balikatan ’27 plans

The US Embassy in Manila confirmed that ‘as part of joint US-Philippines planning for Balikatan 2027, a team of US military and Armed Forces of the Philippines personnel arrived at the Sanjia facility in coordination with the Phividec Industrial Authority to assess its potential for use as part of bilateral military exercises.’

‘The site visit was part of routine planning efforts. When notified of facility access requirements, the team moved on to other site visits as planned. At no point was entry insisted upon,’ the US Embassy said in a report.

The Embassy reiterated its ‘steadfast commitment to the ironclad Alliance between the US and the Philippines.’

THE Department of Budget and Management (DBM) authorized the release of P1 billion to the University of the Philippines (UP) System to boost the disaster prevention capabilities of Project Noah (Nationwide Operational Assessment of Hazards).

A statement issued by the DBM on Monday read that the funding, chargeable against UP’s built-in appropriation under the 2026 General Appropriations Act, will scale up Project Noah’s flood forecasting powered by artificial intelligence (AI), real-time hazard monitoring and early warning systems.

Of the P1-billion allocation, P935 million is earmarked for research and development services, while the remaining P65 million is allotted to general management, supervision and operational support.

The DBM said the funding will bankroll the procurement and deployment of critical information and communications technology (ICT), digital and scientific equipment and the recruitment of highly specialized technical personnel.

‘This P1-billion investment in Project Noah is an investment in prevention. We are putting science, AI, and real-time hazard information to work so government can act earlier, communities can prepare better, and more Filipino lives and livelihoods can be protected,’ Budget Secretary Kim Robert C. De Leon was quoted as saying.

‘The best disaster management is when we are able to prevent disasters from becoming a catastrophe. Every peso we invest in better forecasting and preparedness can help save lives, protect livelihoods, and avoid far greater losses later on,’ he added.

Project Noah, managed by the UP Resilience Institute, advances disaster risk reduction and management and climate change adaptation and mitigation through research, development and extension services.

The program generates real-time hazard assessments, predictive flood scenarios, and science-based information by utilizing AI-enhanced modeling, light detection and ranging mapping, data analytics and other digital technologies.

The project helps national government agencies and local governments make faster and better-informed decisions before and during emergencies.

In the past, the DBM and UP Noah collaborated to incorporate disaster risk reduction techniques into the Digital Information for Monitoring and Evaluation (Project Dime), which assisted in determining how vulnerable and resilient government infrastructure projects were to natural disasters.

The Cebu provincial government is stepping up investments in public healthcare, with major infrastructure improvements and new medical equipment being rolled out at the Daanbantayan District Hospital and Cebu Provincial Hospital-Bogo City.

Gov. Pamela Baricuatro led the groundbreaking of a P22.4-million infrastructure project at Daanbantayan District Hospital on Saturday, August 22, as the facility moves toward its planned classification as a Level 1 hospital.

The project covers the construction of several support and service facilities, including a new outpatient department and pharmacy building, dietary facility, linen and laundry building, ambulance parking and maintenance area, hazardous waste storage facility, and morgue. A covered walkway will also link the main hospital building to the outpatient department.

Renovation and repair works are, likewise, planned for the emergency room, laboratory, radiology and business office complex, along with repainting of hospital buildings and repairs to the perimeter fence.

The development is intended to help the hospital meet the infrastructure requirements for Level 1 status, which would expand the range of services it can provide to patients in northern Cebu.

Provincial health consultant Dr. Nikki Catalan noted that Daanbantayan District Hospital has significantly expanded its capacity in just over a year.

From operating as a 10-bed infirmary in June 2025, the facility now has 22 beds.

‘These improvements will help prepare the facility for its planned upgrade into a Level 1 hospital as we progressively complete the required infrastructure, equipment, manpower and services,’ Catalan said in a Facebook post.

Cebu Rep. Sun Shimura, who joined Baricuatro during the groundbreaking along with provincial and local officials, credited the governor for following through on her healthcare commitments.

Shimura recalled that when he was mayor of Daanbantayan, the district hospital sometimes struggled even with basic medical supplies.

‘Sauna, Gov, nakahinumdom ko mayor pa ko diri, mag-health board meeting mi, it breaks my heart during that time nga bisan gani og Betadine, panagsa mahutdan pa og stocks kay tungod sa kadaghan pod gyud hospitals sa probinsya [Before, Governor, I remember when I was still mayor here and we would attend health board meetings. It broke my heart because there were times when the hospital would even run out of Betadine, especially because there were so many hospitals across the province],’ he said.

Shimura said the hospital’s eventual Level 1 classification would be an important milestone, particularly because it would enable the facility to perform minor surgical procedures. Meanwhile, the provincial government is also strengthening services at Cebu Provincial Hospital-Bogo City, where Baricuatro led the launch of a new mammography machine on the same day.

The equipment is expected to improve the hospital’s ability to detect breast abnormalities at an early stage, including findings that may indicate cancer, tumors or cysts.

The mammogram is part of a broader effort to modernize CPH-Bogo. The hospital has also received additional equipment such as anesthesia machines, a cautery machine, autoclave, C-arm, electrocardiogram machine, suction equipment, nebulizers and a laparoscopy machine.

The Capitol has further earmarked P13.4 million for repairs and improvements at the Bogo hospital, according to Catalan, who made the announcement during a free medical and dental mission.

The provincial government has also added manpower at CPH-Bogo, with its medical personnel scheduled to take their oath as regular employees on August 26.

CJ Perez expects total physicality when Gilas Pilipinas faces Jordan and Iran next week in the fourth window of International Basketball Federation (FIBA) 2027 World Cup Asia qualifiers at the Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay City.

Perez told BusinessMirror that the Philippine team needs to be physically strong and ready to match Jordan on August 28 and Iran on Sunday in their crucial Pool E games, which could determine their chances of qualifying for next year’s FIBA World Cup in Doha.

‘These two teams from the Middle East are absolutely strong, no doubt. So, we must be ready physically, and we are so glad to see some players coming up like Kai [Sotto],’ Perez, San Miguel Beer’s leading scorer, said.

‘We already experienced playing them before, and they keep on pouncing every time we play them,’ said Perez, who has averaged 7.1 points and 2.2 rebounds per game since joining the national team in 2016.

Perez expects whoever is chosen as part of the final 12 to embrace the challenge and keep the Philippines’s World Cup qualifications bid alive. The top three teams from each bracket, plus the best fourth-place team will make it.

The Philippines is in fifth place with a 2-4 win-loss record while Jordan and Iran have 5-1 win-loss records behind undefeated Australia (6-0).

‘Good thing is the games will be played here. So, all of us are extremely excited to play,’ he added.

The Philippines, aside from Perez, has Justine Baltazar, Justin Arana, AJ Edu, Juan Gomez de Liaño, June Mar Fajardo, Chris Newsome, Kevin Quiambao, Dwight Ramos, Troy Rosario, Carl Tamayo, Scottie Thompson, Roger Pogoy and Geo Chiu.