Category: Business Mirror

Tadej Pogacar is aiming to complete a Grand Tour hat trick when the Spanish Vuelta begins this weekend in Monaco.

Pogacar won a record-equaling fifth Tour de France title in July, adding to his 2024 Giro d›Italia triumph and leaving the Vuelta as the only Grand Tour race he is yet to conquer.

It was at the Vuelta in 2019 that Pogacar made his Grand Tour debut as a 20-year-old, winning three stages and finishing third for what remains his worst overall result in the three-week events.

The Slovenian hasn’t competed in the Vuelta since then, but was included by UAE Team Emirates-XRG in this year’s lineup. He will try to become the ninth male rider to complete the hat trick.

‘It was my first ever Grand Tour back in 2019 and an amazing experience,’ the 27-year-old Pogacar said after the team’s lineup was announced. ‘Spain is a country I love to visit and race in and I think the time is right to go back.’

Thriving Pogacar

It has been a great year for Pogacar, with him winning stage races at the Tour de Suisse and the Tour de Romandie and also earned victories in one-day classics.

With his third straight Tour de France victory, Pogacar joined Belgian Eddy Merckx, Spaniard Miguel Indurain, and Frenchmen Jacques Anquetil and Bernard Hinault as the only riders to win five Tour titles.

Jonas Vingegaard, long considered Pogacar’s top rival, crashed out of the Tour on the 15th stage and fractured his collarbone and will not compete at the Vuelta.

Vingegaard won this year’s Giro d’Italia to complete his own career sweep of the three Grand Tours as well as a Paris-Nice stage race in a successful first half of the season.

The 81st Vuelta starts Saturday with a very technical individual time trial in Monaco, which is where Pogacar lives.

The short first stage of 9.4 kilometers will include a slew of sharp turns through the streets of the principality, which is set to become the first location to host the start of all three Grand Tours following the 1966 Giro d’Italia and the 2009 Tour de France. The Vuelta then makes its way through France and Andorra to Spain. It will conclude on Sept. 13 at the fortress of Alhambra in Granada following nearly 3,300 kilometers (1.900 miles) of racing.

Riders will face a tough Vuelta, with six full mountain stages and four mid-mountain stages.

There will also be five hilly stages, including one uphill finale. Two-time trials are scheduled, along with two rest days.

For years, quitting your job to become a social media influencer belonged in the same category as moving to Hollywood or trying to make the NFL. It’s technically possible but probably best attempted by other people.

Now, for a growing number of young workers, it feels like a more plausible career pivot.

The rise of TikTok, Instagram Reels and Amazon storefronts has created a new kind of white-collar exit strategy-one in which workers ditch office jobs not necessarily to become celebrities, but to piece together an income online through brand deals, affiliate links and highly personal videos documenting everyday life.

In many cases, the followers necessary to sustain a living are smaller (and more attainable) than people might assume. A small but loyal audience can now generate enough income to rival a midlevel salary. Welcome to the middle-class creator economy.

‘Eye-opening moment’

Last year, 25-year-old Abi Platock balanced a corporate marketing job in New York while posting online in her spare time. She built her audience by posting one or two videos a day, offering career advice, beauty tips and daily vlogs.

‘I signed my first brand deal in the four-figure range, and for me that was just such a big eye-opening moment,’ Platock says of her partnership with deodorant brand Secret. She had only 8,000 followers on TikTok at the time. ‘You can totally make it work without having hundreds of thousands of followers.’

Platock, who now has roughly 25,000 followers across platforms, has signed about $25,000 in brand deals so far this year and expects her annual creator income to reach around $50,000 by yearend.

Her experience reflects a broader shift in advertising. Brands are increasingly moving money toward so-called microinfluencers-smaller online personalities who have less than 100,000 followers.

‘They are hiring a bunch of microcreators at scale instead of hiring a handful of macrocreators for what could potentially be the same cost,’ says Ali Grant, co-chief executive officer of the Digital Department, a creator management company.

And they perform where it matters most: engagement. An engagement rate of 3 percent is considered strong, and some microinfluencers exceed 10 percent, Grant says of the closely watched metric that tracks how often followers interact with content through likes, comments, shares and saves.

Microinfluencers average a 3.2 percent engagement rate, almost triple the 1.1 percent rate for macroinfluencers (more than 1 million followers), according to growth marketing agency ATTN. And though macroinfluencers generate roughly six times more revenue, their associated costs can reach about 18 times higher, according to an American Marketing Association study.

A TikTok partnership with a creator who has around 50,000 followers can run a brand more than $3,500 for a single post, Grant says; with 10 times the followers, that fee might just triple, to around $10,000.

The influencer marketing economy ballooned to a projected $33 billion in 2025 up from $1.7 billion in 2015. The segment gained momentum after the Covid-19 pandemic, as dissatisfaction with traditional work pushed many to reconsider conventional career paths, says Brooke Duffy, a professor of communications at Cornell University.

‘They realized the trade-offs in terms of the investments of time, energy and human capital were not necessarily worth sacrificing so much of one’s personal self for,’ she says.

Success online can bring greater freedom-and even higher pay than many traditional office jobs, which have a median US salary of $69,000, according to Glassdoor. But the middle-class hustle still requires constant effort to maintain. The career has no promise of lifetime longevity. And unlike traditional workers, creators have no predictable paycheck or job protections, making career stability elusive.

Doing the math

Roughly 57 percent of 3,000 surveyed full-time creators earn below a living wage from content creation, according to a report last year from Influencer Marketing Hub. Income from social media can fluctuate wildly from month to month, driven by shifts in algorithms, sponsorship cycles and platform trends.

‘You could have a month where you make zero dollars, or you could have a month where you make $10,000,’ Platock says.

That volatility is one reason Grant, whose marketing agency represents more than 300 influencers, typically only signs creators earning at least $200,000 a year, a threshold she views as evidence of an established business.

Even with the support of a talent manager, Platock also has reservations about going all-in on social media. As income from TikTok and Instagram began approaching her monthly salary, she decided to leave her full-time role behind; but she supplements her influencing income with a part-time job in marketing and by teaching Pilates.

Influence as labor

As influencing has become more lucrative, it’s also sparked debate over how much work the job requires. In 2022 a video resurfaced of beauty influencer Mikayla Nogueira-who now has 17.4 million TikTok followers-complaining about the demands of her work.

‘Try being an influencer for a day because the people that say it’s easy are so far out of their minds,’ she said in the now-deleted post. The backlash was immediate, with thousands of viewers accusing Nogueira of being out of touch.

‘There’s a stigma against complaining,’ Cornell’s Duffy says, ‘because influencers purportedly have these dream jobs.’

Gallup Poll data released last year found employee engagement in the US had fallen to its lowest level in a decade, with more workers describing themselves as ‘struggling’ rather than ‘thriving.’ Among the hardest-hit groups were Generation Z and workers in finance and technology. Broader workplace challenges, including rapid organizational change, hybrid and remote work transitions, and rising employee expectations are considered drivers of the overall trend.

For many workers, influencing can seem like a better deal; flexible schedules and independence wrapped in a veneer of creativity and fun. Almost 60 percent of Gen Zers say they’d become an influencer if given the opportunity, according to a 2023 survey from Morning Consult.

Of course, much of creator labor is invisible. Behind a single post can be hours spent planning scripts, editing videos and communicating with brands-work audiences rarely see. And the same economic ripples can make treading water in content creation just as difficult as in a traditional job.

Creators are dependent not only on audiences and advertisers but also on the platforms themselves. TikTok going dark in the US last year for about 12 hours over a potential federal ban on the app’s Chinese parent was a potent reminder of the system’s fragility. Beyond the headlines, companies already abruptly alter algorithms, monetization systems and visibility rules. ‘The platforms themselves ebb and flow’ in their ability to attract and retain users, Duffy says.

The uncertainty is enough for Florida-based influencer Anna Fenstermacher to keep her traditional job. With around 33,000 TikTok followers, the 30-year-old says she made roughly$140,000 from content creation last year, posting home decor and fashion content, while working a full-time job in hospitality. The latter guarantees her a steady paycheck, healthcare and retirement benefits.

She spends about 30 hours a week outside of her day job planning, creating and editing content. The bulk of her creator earnings comes from affiliate links, including her Amazon storefront, where she shares recommendations for clothing, makeup and household items. When viewers click her unique link and make a purchase, she earns a commission. Last year she made more than $90,000 through the Amazon Influencer Program alone, in addition to around $30,000 from brand deals, she says.

Starbucks, Charlotte Tilbury and other well-known brands have tapped Fenstermacher for campaigns. Such partnerships pay well, she says, but they often require creators to perfect every detail before the posts go live.

‘I think people think it’s just snapping a couple of photos or like recording a quick video,’ Fenstermacher adds. ‘For some of these brands, you’ll do reshoots two, three, four times until you get it right.’

The Philippines’s fight against tuberculosis should not stop with humans, a veterinarian said, urging the government to establish the country’s first national bovine tuberculosis eradication program to prevent the disease from spreading between cattle and people.

‘Cattle TB is not just an animal disease. It is a One Health issue affecting food safety, livestock productivity, and public health,’ Dr. Philip John S. Sajol, a veterinarian and researcher at Central Mindanao University said.

According to Sajol, existing policies and regulations, primarily implemented by the Department of Agriculture’s Bureau of Animal Industry (DA-BAI) in coordination with the Department of Health, classify bovine TB as a locally important animal disease but do not provide clear measures for controlling it, particularly at the local-government level. During the 3-Minute Pitch to Policymakers competition at the 19th Philippine National Health Research System (PNHRS) Week on Wednesday, Sajol proposed a national bovine or cattle tuberculosis eradication program to be led by the DA-BAI in coordination with the DOH, DOST and other research agencies. The program would align with the DOST’s Harmonized National Research and Development Agenda (HNRDA) and the National Unified Health Research Agenda (NUHRA).

He also called for stronger surveillance in slaughterhouses through rapid and reliable diagnostic tools, standardized post-mortem examinations and mandatory disease reporting.

Sajol further recommended stronger occupational health measures and proper personal protective equipment for slaughterhouse workers and other high-risk groups, as well as closer coordination among veterinarians, physicians, researchers, local governments and farming communities to improve disease monitoring, reporting and public awareness.

The proposed measures are based partly on Sajol’s study of 275 slaughtered cattle in Bukidnon, one of the country’s major cattle-producing provinces. Of the animals examined, 126, or nearly half, tested positive for bovine TB.

The study also found abnormal lesions or damaged areas in the lungs and other tissues that were consistent with TB during the post-mortem examinations. These were found in cattle of different ages, sexes and physical conditions, suggesting that some cases may be going unnoticed.

‘While these findings come from only one province, they actually signify a pressing concern. If we are not actively detecting bovine TB, we may be underestimating its impact both on animal and human health,’ he emphasized.

Data from the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) showed that the country had 2.52 million cattle as of March 31, 2026, down 1.5 percent from the 2.56 million recorded during the same period in 2025.

Smallholder farms accounted for 86.4 percent of the country’s cattle inventory, while semi-commercial and commercial farms accounted for 10.9 percent and 2.7 percent, respectively, with Northern Mindanao and Calabarzon among the leading cattle-producing regions.

‘If, for example, we are not testing for this disease, imagine in these high cattle-producing provinces, the disease may spread. And then again, this is zoonotic. It may transmit to humans, which then will lead to human TB cases,’ he said.

‘So in the national context, this may actually help us bridge the gap and to hopefully eradicate also even human tuberculosis nationwide,’ he added.

According to Sajol, human TB is commonly caused by Mycobacterium tuberculosis and spreads through the air, while bovine TB is caused by Mycobacterium bovis. The latter can spread among cattle through close contact with infected animals or exposure to contaminated feed and water.

Humans can also contract M. bovis by inhaling the bacteria or consuming contaminated animal products, especially raw or undercooked meat and unpasteurized milk. Proper cooking and pasteurization, however, can kill the bacteria.

Although the two kinds of bacteria belong to the same complex and can cause similar disease and tissue damage, cattle may not show obvious symptoms of bovine TB.

Sajol explained that cattle typically have a lifespan of only two to three years before slaughter, so the disease may not have enough time to progress to its clinical stage. This differs from humans, who generally live much longer, giving TB more time to develop and show symptoms.

‘Typically, medications for human tuberculosis are also applied to cattle tuberculosis. However, from an economic standpoint, what I’m saying is it’s actually better to cull the cattle than to treat because, again, it’s costly,’ he said.

Studies have estimated that bovine TB accounted for about 30 percent of human TB cases in some settings, with the burden concentrated in developing countries where cattle disease is more common and access to pasteurized milk is limited.

In the United States, however, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reports that Mycobacterium bovis, the bacterium that causes bovine TB, accounts for less than 2 percent of human TB cases. The lower incidence has been associated with long-standing cattle disease-control programs and widespread milk pasteurization.

‘The purpose of the research is not to extend fear among farmers, consumers and slaughterhouse workers. It’s actually to keep them well informed of the status of bovine tuberculosis,’ he told BusinessMirror during a press conference.

He noted that the country currently lacks a comprehensive database on bovine TB, making it difficult to determine the extent of the disease.

At the community level, he said greater awareness could help farmers manage their cattle more effectively while protecting their livelihoods.

‘Having your cattle killed because of this disease would create devastating economic losses to their families,’ Sajol said.

Sajol’s proposed bovine TB policy won first place in the PNHRS 3-Minute Pitch to Policymakers competition, which featured nine finalists.

Dr. Angelica Faye O. Reguindin of Jose B. Lingad Memorial General Hospital in Central Luzon placed second for her proposal, ‘A Small Dose Today Can Prevent Days in the Hospital Tomorrow: Making Rotavirus Vaccine Accessible for Every Filipino Child.’

Zwiesel Gaile L. Cantuba of Baguio General Hospital and Medical Center in the Cordillera Administrative Region placed third for ‘Project IYAMAN: Institutionalizing an Evidence-Informed, Multitiered Suicide Prevention System in Baguio City.’

Angel’s Pizza, one of the country’s leading pizza brands under Figaro Culinary Group (FCG), has partnered with GCash to give customers more value and convenience through an exclusive Buy 1, Take 1 Angel’s Pizza promotion for GCash users nationwide.

The partnership was formally sealed during a contract signing ceremony held on August 10, 2026, at Angel’s Pizza McKinley Branch, marking another milestone in Angel’s Pizza’s commitment to creating rewarding dining experiences while embracing the growing use of digital payments in the Philippines.

Under the promotion, customers can enjoy Buy 1, Take 1 on Angel’s Pizza Family and Big Family pizzas when they pay using GCash. The offer is valid for dine-in and takeout transactions only and will be available at all Angel’s Pizza outlets nationwide from August 15 to November 15, 2026.

‘At Angel’s Pizza, we always look for ways to give our customers more reasons to enjoy their favorite pizzas with family and friends. Our partnership with GCash allows us to combine the value that Angel’s Pizza is known for with the convenience of cashless payment. With this Buy 1, Take 1 offer available across all our stores, we hope to make every GCash transaction an even more rewarding Angel’s Pizza experience,’ said Ianni Klarisse Conde, Brand Manager of Angel’s Pizza.

For GCash, the collaboration reflects its continuing effort to make digital payments an integral and rewarding part of consumers’ everyday experiences.

‘GCash is committed to making everyday transactions easier, more accessible, and more rewarding for Filipinos. Through our partnership with Angel’s Pizza, our users can enjoy greater value simply by choosing GCash as their mode of payment. We’re excited to work with Angel’s Pizza in bringing together the convenience of digital payments and an offer that families and friends can enjoy together,’ said Paul Vincent E. Albano, General Manager, B2B of GCash.

Present during the contract signing were Ace Azarraga, Brand and Partnership Director of Figaro Culinary Group; Ianni Klarisse Conde, Brand Manager of Angel’s Pizza; Rosanell Kim V. Pineda, Head of Strategic Enterprise of GCash; Shyla Escueta, Industry Head for Food of GCash; and Evanne Quilisado, Account Manager for Food of GCash.

The collaboration brings together two brands that have become part of Filipinos’ everyday lives-Angel’s Pizza for sharing meals and celebrations, and GCash for convenient digital transactions. With the campaign, customers can turn a simple cashless payment into an opportunity to share more pizza with the people who matter.

Buy 1, Take 1 with GCash

From August 15 to November 15, 2026, customers simply need to visit any participating Angel’s Pizza outlet, order eligible Family or Big Family pizzas for dine-in or takeout, and pay using GCash to avail of the Buy 1, Take 1 offer, subject to the promo’s full terms and conditions.

Promo Period: August 15 – November 15, 2026

Available at: All Angel’s Pizza outlets

Transaction: Dine-in and Takeout only

Payment Method: GCash

Offer: Buy 1, Take 1 on eligible Family and Big Family pizzas

DTI Fair Trade Permit No. FTEB-264417, Series of 2026

Angel’s Pizza x GCash: Pay with GCash. Get more pizza. Share more moments.

Chinese humanoid robots broke records set by humans, including beating Usain Bolt’s 100-meter sprint world record, on the opening day of the Olympics-like World Humanoid Robot Games in Beijing on Saturday.

More than 2,000 humanoid robots were participating in the event, the organizer said.

The five-day games, now in its second year, are a spectacle demonstrating China’s rapid progress in advanced robotics as the technology race with the U.S. heats up, with 51 events and more than 1,000 competitions taking place including running, table tennis and soccer.

The games, which are taking place in the National Speed Skating Oval built for the 2022 Winter Olympics, opened the same week as Beijing held the 2026 World Robot Conference, where companies showcased around 3,000 products, including humanoid robots.

China makes the majority of the world’s humanoid robots. The U.S. has stepped up scrutiny of robots from the country.

Last month, the U.S. Federal Communications Commission announced a ban on imports of new foreign-made humanoid robots. The FCC cited national security reasons in a move that targeted China. The Pentagon recently also added Unitree, one of China’s leading humanoid robot makers, to its list of companies that it deemed have ties with the Chinese military. Beijing has hit back at the accusations.

At Saturday’s opening of the robot games, the organizer and robot makers said that Chinese humanoid robots defeated human world records, as hundreds of humanoid robots marched in formation onto the field in a massive display of synchronized coordination.

At a 100-meter sprint, a humanoid robot achieved a result of 9.39 seconds, beating the human record of 9.58 seconds set by Jamaican athlete Bolt in 2009.

In a standing high jump, a humanoid robot was able to reach 2.88 meters, well above the 0.95 meters best result by a humanoid in last year’s first edition of the games. It surpassed the human high jump record of 2.45 meters set by Cuba’s Javier Sotomayor in 1993.

Both robots were from Beijing-based X-Humanoid.

Before the opening, a humanoid robot from Chinese smartphone company Honor completed a 100-meter sprint in a record of 9.32 seconds during a trial of the games, the company said, at a peak speed of 14.5 meters per second.

Still, experts say humanoid robots are still mostly used for demonstrations, performances and research – at least for now – and it will still take time to achieve mass real-world deployment.

Some spectators at the robot games said they were excited about the humanoid robots’ quickly improving abilities.

Humanoid robots are ‘evolving rapidly,’ said Li Yanfeng, an education worker and a Beijing resident.

‘At first, I wasn’t very accepting of artificial intelligence. I was even a bit resistant to it, because of the possibility that it might replace or displace humans,’ she said. ‘But now that I see this development is unstoppable, I decided to come and take a look.’

‘These sports are perfectly normal for humans, but now robots can do them. I find it amazing,’ said Yang Shangzheng, another spectator.

Liu Tao, who was watching the games with his son, said that he was hoping to see ‘the best robots China currently has to offer.’

This year’s robot games – which the organizer said has 16 countries participating, among them Germany, Japan and the U.S. – also include other events such as weightlifting and tug of war.

University of Perpetual Help will count on 6-foot-5 Filipino-British Max Maurice and UK-based 6-foot-3 wingman Daniel Okeowo as it eyes a strong run in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) juniors basketball tournament later this year.

The tournament opens on September 13 at the SM Mall of Asia Arena.

Coach Joph Cleopas, who led the team to the championship in Season 100, is hoping for a stronger finish this time after the Altas exited at the quarterfinal stage, at the hands of eventual champions Letran Squires, last year.

Joining the 16-year-old Maurice and Okeowo, 17, is former Batang Gilas player Sizco Roquid, 18, 6-foot-2, from Biñan.

Other new additions are Keith Sabuco, 18, a 6-foot-4 player from Eastern Samar; Brian Orca Jr. 17, from Olongapo, from Olongapo City; Kevin Castro, 16, from Binmaley, Pangasinan; and Adrian Faustino, 16, from Austria.

The new players are filling up the posts vacated by Jim Corpuz, Kurt Velasquez and Renzo Zanoria-who are now in the seniors’ team pool-as well as Hanz Llupar, Lance Nitura, Pertjude Binagatan and Cristito Ferrer, all of whom have completed the high school program.

The eight holdovers are Louie Rosales, Kurt Patalinghug, Ezekiel Zamoras, Lord Dulanas, Arkin Cristobal, Sam Villaruel, John Restificar Francis Rosales and Josh Saga.

Media professionals and communicators from different faiths came together in prayer during the Global Prayer Assembly for Peace (GPAP) on August 13, highlighting the media’s important role in promoting truth, understanding, human rights, and peace amid conflicts and social divisions.

The weekly interfaith gathering, which brings together people from different faiths and sectors to pray for peace, was led this week by members of the media community.

‘As members of the media, we have a crucial role in times of conflict and crisis. Often, journalists and media workers are among the first to witness and report what is happening on the ground-wars, violence, displacement, discrimination, and other situations that affect communities,’ said Aida Gonzales, program host of DZME Radyo TV and Compass Media, said in her message of support.

She said the media’s responsibility extends beyond reporting conflict, noting that ‘media can also become a bridge for peace through responsible storytelling.’

Media prays for truth and peace

The interfaith prayers were led by Tu Alfonso, Chairman of Bangsamoro Multimedia Network Inc., representing the Muslim community; Martin Racza of the University of the Philippines Manila and the Knights of Columbus, representing the Roman Catholic community; and Pastor Manny Tabingo, program host of ‘Beyond Sundays’ at BIG 101.5 FM, representing the Christian and Protestant community.

Alfonso prayed for the protection of media workers, and for ‘their work to help promote understanding, peace, reconciliation and unity among our communities.’

He also prayed for communities affected by the typhoon, and those involved in relief and rescue efforts.

‘Oh Allah, bring peace where there is conflict, truth where there is confusion, justice where there is injustice and compassion where there is suffering.’

Racza prayed that media workers ‘may be protected as they report on events in areas with or without conflict, and that they will always put truth over lies and propagate the seeds of peace instead of fanning the flames of war.’

The prayers ncluded an appeal for the health, well-being, and safe release of 95-year-old Chairman Lee Man-hee, who is currently detained in South Korea while awaiting trial.

‘We pray for the good health, well-being, and the safe release of Chairman Lee Man-hee, a man of peace, and that he be accorded due process, and with the utmost respect for his rights, not just as a human, but as someone who nurtures peace in this world,’ Racza said.

The prayer echoed concerns raised during an international press conference held on August 7 at the Seoul Foreign Correspondents’ Club in South Korea, where human rights and religious freedom experts called for greater attention to due process, proportionality, and humanitarian considerations in cases involving religious minorities and elderly religious leaders.

The Seoul conference, organized by Human Rights Without Frontiers with the participation of CAP Liberté de Conscience, Forum for Religious Freedom Europe, the Center for Studies on New Religions, and Bitter Winter, raised concerns over Lee’s continued detention and emphasized the importance of the protection of freedom of religion or belief and freedom of expression.

The GPAP provides a weekly platform for people from different faiths and sectors to come together in prayer and solidarity. GPAP is held every Thursday at 8 p.m.; it is open to individuals from all faiths and communities who wish to pray and work together for peace.

‘Play it high, Hooky,’ suggested Ian Curtis to his Joy Division bandmate, Peter Hook.

That advice is one of the most game-changing moments in music history, along with Edward Van Halen ditching the drums for the guitar. In this case, for Hook, it helped define the sound of two of his legendary bands – Joy Division, and later, when it morphed into New Order. And Hook is acknowledged today as one of the best bassists and most influential of all time.

And to cement that, Hook and his bandmates will be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame this upcoming November 14.

Hook spoke to this writer, and what follows is a candid discussion – in a nutshell – of his 50-year career.

‘I think it’s a wonderful thing not only for us as a group but also for the fans that both bands will now get their deserved recognition,’ opined Hook right before his current band, the Light, embarks on a North American tour. ‘I especially want to dedicate it to the people who helped along the way who are sadly no longer with us – Ian Curtis, Tony Wilson, Rob Gretton and Martin Hannett. This was our third time being nominated, and so I’m happy that we will now finally make it.’

This year’s Hall of Fame has a pronounced British flavour to it as Joy Division/New Order will join Sade, Iron Maiden, Billy Idol, Phil Collins and fellow Mancunians, Oasis. And Hook was ecstatic about it: ‘It’s great to see so many other British inductees and also great to see such a wide variety of genres being included. I’m looking forward to hopefully seeing the Oasis boys at the ceremony as it’s particularly great for the city of Manchester that we are all being inducted at the same time.’

Joy Division’s brooding and atmospheric industrial sound with Hook’s high and melodic bass lines was a huge template for the post-punk rock scene. Curtis’ advice to allow the bass to soar above Bernard Sumner’s guitars was accidentally a defining sound.

‘At first, I didn’t really have an influence on my own bass playing as it was probably a bit too early,’ shared Peter. ‘My own bass idols ended up being people like Glen Matlock (the Sex Pistols), Paul Simonon (the Clash), and Jean Jacques Burnel (the Stranglers) who were all from more of a punk rock background.’

‘As for Ian’s advice – I suppose it was one of the best pieces of advice. Yes, because that went on to be my ‘gimmick’ so to speak, and I developed that into something very iconic and recognisable. So, yes, thank you, Ian!’

Of the discography he has recorded with Joy Division, New Order, Revenge, Monaco, Freebass, and Peter Hook and the Lights, he points to these five songs: ‘It changes all the time, but today, I would say ‘Age Of Consent’ (from Power Corruption and Lies), ‘Dreams Never End’ (from Movement), ‘Love Will Tear Us Apart’, ‘Primitive Notion’ (from Get Ready) and ‘Thieves Like Us.’ But ask me again tomorrow, and it will be different!

Speaking of recognisable, following the untimely death of Ian Curtis, Hook, Sumner, and drummer Stephen Morris continued the band as New Order, albeit with a more techno dance-pop sound as they added keyboardist Gillian Gilbert.

New Order soared to even bigger heights and has influenced a virtual who’s who of top artists from Moby, the Killers, the xx, Orgy, Interpol, LCD Soundsystem, Happy Mondays, Chvrches, the Drums, Thieves Like Us, and others.

While New Order continued the minimalist and dispassionate imagery of Joy Division, the one difference was the casual and everyday attire as worn by Sumner, Morris, and Gilbert. Hook, on the other hand, had a roguish look with long, unkempt hair and a leather jacket. And somehow, that married well into his bass playing.

‘Sometimes, people would say to me that I looked like I should have been in a different band than the other three members of New Order. It’s quite funny really because it wasn’t really a conscious decision on my part. I was just simply wearing clothes that I liked,’ Peter cracked.

Nowadays, Peter performs with his band, the Light, which includes his son, Jack Bates, who also performs with the current iteration of the Smashing Pumpkins that recently performed in Manila.

‘I have known (the Smashing Pumpkins’) Billy Corgan for a very long time, and he actually played with New Order for a few months in 2001 as our touring guitarist,’ related Hook. ‘So, there has always been that connection between our bands. I’m very happy that Jack has been able to do that for 11 years now and I know that Billy looks after him very well. I’m very proud of him.’

Having been a part of two legendary bands, Hook was also a part of the all-star super crew of Freebass with bass luminaries such as Mani of the Stone Roses and Andy Rourke of the Smiths (the latter two passed away in 2025 and 2023 respectively).

‘Freebass was an interesting project, and I’m proud of the music we put out. At the time, I think it was a case of too many cooks spoiling the broth, so to speak, as we were all trying to be in charge. But it was great to work with Mani and Andy, and I’m so sad that they are both now no longer with us. I recently started playing a Freebass song in my live shows as a tribute to them called ‘You Don’t Know This About Me,’ and it’s been great to play that song.’

Having done all of that, is there anything else on Hook’s bucket list?

‘I’m lucky because there are not many things, really! Maybe working with Iggy Pop is something on my bucket list still; I’d like to do that soon before we are all too old!’

‘And of course, performing in the Philippines! You simply need to just get a concert promoter there to bring us over. It would be as easy as that. Unfortunately, we don’t do a lot of shows in Asia these days because we simply don’t get contacted by your promoters, but let’s hope that it might change soon!’

A poultry farm in Dipolog City has fixed the common headache of farm owners: foul odor, swarm of flies, angry neighbors and, not the least, high cost of electricity.

The Rockefeller Farm, a seven-hectare poultry and swine farm in Dipolog City, is now turning its accumulated waste into power through its established biogas digester facility, said the Department of Science and Technology (DOST), which aided the farm to acquire the machine that turns chicken and pig waste into energy.

The owner of the farm, Lester Uy Ong, said his farm collects the mounds of waste from the more than 100,000 chickens and pigs in the farm, and dump them into a pit three storys deep, where he said ‘microorganisms eat them up and convert into energy.’

‘Select microorganisms break down the manure into simple molecules enough for other microbes to feast on, digesting them and eventually burp out gases, such as methane, which is converted into electricity through their biogas generator,’ Ong added.

This was possible with the biogas digester facility that reduce the foul odor and swarming flies, and to have a sufficient power source, said Lester’s wife, Heidi, and the farm’s co-owner.

The owners said the Rockefeller has one biogas generator capable of 300 kilovolt-amperes, which can power the whole farm for 15 hours, comparable to lighting up an entire rural barangay.

The DOST aided them to upgrade the farm through one of its flagship initiatives, the Small Enterprise Technology Upgrading Program, providing P5 million to acquire the biogas digester facility.

Ong told the DOST that the farm used to spend P900,000 on electricity a month to power two buildings of chicken and pig housing, sorting facilities, and other maintenance costs.

The funding support helped improve the production at Rockefeller Farm, enabling it to supply poultry products and meat to local restaurants in Dipolog City, partnering with distributors for major consumer brands, and reaching markets in nearby provinces in the Zamboanga Peninsula and even Dumaguete City and Cebu, the DOST said.

The biogas digester facility also produces high-quality fertilizers, for their Rockefeller Farm or distributed to their workers for their crops.

‘Moreover, the farm observes circular and sustainable practices, including treating wastewater for reuse in farming maintenance, especially in animal waste disposal-aligned with the standards of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources,’ the DOST said.

The DOST said the Rockefeller Farm has expressed willingness to also help other communities ‘leverage biogas, targeting the high potential of installing biogas digester facilities and electric generators at landfills.’ Ong said he wanted to share it and make the landfill modern, saying the it produces more biogas of as much energy capacity to light up five to 10 barangays.

‘If this is executed, this would be a big help to the communities near landfills,’ he pointed out.

The Philippine Statistics Authority has given us some very good news. Poverty incidence fell to a record-low 9.7 percent in 2025 from 15.5 percent in 2023, which supposedly means some 6.5 million Filipinos were lifted out of poverty in just two years.

Congratulations, you’re no longer poor.

If you’re still having trouble paying the rent, electricity bill, tuition, groceries, medicine and transportation, don’t be confused. You may feel poor, but statistically you may no longer be one.

I am not saying the PSA cooked the numbers. It uses an established methodology that predates this administration, and we need statistics to know where we are and whether policies are working. But there is a considerable distance between saying poverty incidence fell to 9.7 percent and declaring that 6.5 million Filipinos were ‘lifted out of poverty.’

The latter makes it sound as if millions of families found decent jobs, began earning decent wages, put something away in the bank and finally acquired enough financial security not to panic when the Meralco bill arrives or somebody gets sick.

That isn’t what the statistic says. It says 6.5 million fewer Filipinos fell below the official poverty threshold in 2025 than in 2023.

IBON Foundation, in questioning the 2023 poverty figures, pointed out that the national average poverty threshold worked out to about ?91 per person per day. Of that, ?63 was for food, or roughly ?21 per meal, leaving ?28 for everything else.

Everything else meaning housing, electricity, water, transportation, medicine, education, clothing and the hundred other things human beings inconveniently need besides three ?21 meals.

Try living on that before telling somebody he is no longer poor.

IBON’s objection is not really to the PSA’s data gathering but to the poverty threshold itself. It argues that the food component is based on a least-cost basket, while non-food requirements are not separately priced but derived using a multiplier.

That’s the problem with celebrating 9.7 percent without explaining what it measures. Cross the official threshold and you are no longer counted as poor even if you have no savings, live paycheck to paycheck and have to borrow money the moment somebody in the family gets sick.

It reminds me of the unemployment figures government regularly celebrates. The unemployment rate can go down without everybody who needs work actually finding a job because it is calculated against the labor force as officially defined. Someone who has given up looking for work can fall outside the labor force altogether.

The tambay who hasn’t seriously looked for a job in months isn’t necessarily unemployed in the statistical sense. He may simply no longer be counted.

The same caution should apply to poverty.

What caught my attention was not even the 9.7-percent poverty incidence. According to the PSA, mean per-capita family income increased by 22 percent between 2023 and 2025, while the poverty threshold increased by only 5.5 percent. More remarkably, income among the poorest tenth of families supposedly increased by 23.8 percent and that of the next poorest tenth by 22.7 percent.

That’s quite a feat. The poorest Filipinos increased their incomes by almost a fourth in two years. I would really like to know how they did it, because the rest of the economy apparently didn’t get the memo.

Did wages rise by anything close to that? Did millions suddenly find better-paying jobs? Did farmers and fishermen become more prosperous? Did contractual workers become regular employees?

Or did part of the increase come from something Filipinos have become intimately familiar with?

There is 4Ps. There is AICS. There is TUPAD. There was AKAP. Now there is UPLIFT. Every few years another acronym appears and another program distributes cash, food, temporary employment or some other assistance to millions of Filipinos.

There is nothing inherently wrong with this. Social protection is one of government’s responsibilities. A family that hasn’t eaten needs food now, not an economics lecture. Someone who loses his livelihood after a typhoon needs immediate help.

But assistance is supposed to keep people from falling through the floor. It shouldn’t become the floor.

Ayuda can keep somebody from going hungry. TUPAD can put money in somebody’s pocket for a few days. Both have their uses. But neither should be confused with creating a decent permanent job, raising productivity or building a middle class.

A country cannot cash-transfer its way into prosperity.

The old saying was that if you give a man a fish, he eats for a day, but if you teach him to fish, he eats for a lifetime. In the Ayuda Nation, we give him the fish, photograph the turnover, put somebody’s name on a tarpaulin and tell him when to come back for the next distribution.

TUPAD is a perfect example. Temporary emergency employment has its uses, but paying somebody to sweep a street or clean a canal for several days is not the same as creating a permanent productive job.

We recently reached the absurd point where Malacañang complained that some TUPAD beneficiaries were allegedly staging cleanup work for photographs, even supposedly piling garbage together so they could pose while sweeping it before leaving the garbage behind.

You couldn’t invent a better metaphor for the Ayuda Nation.

There is another reason ayuda matters to this discussion. The Family Income and Expenditure Survey doesn’t measure wages alone. Household resources can come from various sources, including remittances, pensions, gifts and transfers.

Nothing improper about that. If government gives a struggling family additional money, the family really does have additional money. But if that money pushes the household above the poverty threshold, have we permanently lifted that family out of poverty or merely pushed it across the statistical line?

What happens when the ayuda stops?

Government looks at them and says: Kaya n’yo na ‘yan.

IBON’s own estimates from the 2023 FIES help put this in perspective. It estimated that the poorest half of Filipino families had monthly incomes of about ?23,000 or less, while roughly 70 percent had incomes of ?29,000 or less.

So there is an enormous population between officially poor and financially secure.

One hospitalization can wipe them out. One lost job can put them in debt. An electricity rate increase hurts. An oil price spike hurts. A week without income hurts.

This is also why I chuckle whenever somebody announces that the Philippines is now an upper-middle-income country. A country can cross a World Bank income threshold without its people suddenly becoming upper middle class, just as a Filipino can cross the PSA poverty threshold without suddenly becoming financially secure.

The classifications can be perfectly correct while life remains considerably less impressive.

And this supposed poverty miracle comes at an interesting time. The economy grew by only 2.3 percent in the second quarter, the weakest quarterly performance outside the pandemic in 17 years. Investment has weakened and industry contracted.

Yet we have just achieved one of the most dramatic reductions in poverty in Philippine history.

Maybe we did. I hope we did.

But I’d like to know what kind of poverty those 6.5 million Filipinos escaped from and, more importantly, what they escaped into.

That is what the 9.7-percent headline doesn’t tell us.

There is a world of difference between not being officially poor and having enough money to live a decent life.

So, again, congratulations to the 6.5 million Filipinos reportedly lifted out of poverty.

Check your wallets.