Category: Business Mirror

NEARLY two weeks ahead of its fourth rate-setting meeting for the year, the central bank said it is still keeping an eye on an ‘unpredictable opponent’ as it is currently caught in the middle of a weaker-than-expected growth rate and a dubious disinflation path.

At the Economic Forum hosted by the Economic Journalists Association of the Philippines (EJAP) on Friday, Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas Governor Eli M. Remolona Jr. did not divulge what the Monetary Board intends to do at its upcoming rate-setting meeting as it still looking at several data points, including the price of oil, and sentiments of businesses and consumers.

Asked which data points are still being scrutinized apart from the latest inflation and gross domestic product prints, Remolona told reporters: ‘A lot. Sentiments. [There are several] data points.’

But depending on how strong the price pressure seems to be, the BSP governor said the central bank is looking at expectations, at how the other items in the [consumer price index] CPI respond to the continuing global shocks, adding, ‘that will affect our policy strategy.’

In terms of inflation, Remolona said the central bank cannot do very much about inflation arising directly from global supply shocks.

‘What we can do is try to temper inflation that is found in the second-round goods,’ he said, adding that the second-round effects of supply shocks are ‘very close’ to what core inflation is.

However, with weaker-than-expected growth rate, Remolona dropped a hint that the BSP may become less aggressive in terms of raising the policy rate in order to tame inflation.

‘So with the growth numbers and with the inflation numbers, I think we need a more convincing downard trend for inflation before we can relax,’ the chief of the central bank said.

‘Of course the weaker growth that we’re seeing means we can be less aggressive in trying to tame inflation. But in the face of an unpredictable opponent, oil prices for example, we need to keep our eye on the ball,’ Remolona pointed out.

In his presentation during the forum, Remolona admitted that the central bank was ‘disappointed’ when the 2.3-percent growth print was reported.

‘We were told that GDP growth in the second quarter of 2026 was 2.3 percent. [It was quite low, quite] disappointing and somewhat surprising,’ added Remolona.

The BSP governor bared that the 2.3-percent growth outcome in the second quarter of 2026 was way below the central bank’s 3.2-percent estimate, which, as it is, is ‘still weak’ because the potential growth of the Philippine economy is at 5.5 to 5.8 percent.

‘That means weak growth remains a consideration. I think that’s all I can say. I can’t tell you what we will do,’ added Remolona.

In an earlier interview with reporters, the BSP governor answered in the affirmative when he was asked if the pressure on the central bank to raise the key interest rate was reduced following the 2.3-percent GDP data release.

The BSP has raised the key interest rate by a total of 50 basis points since the start of the conflict in the Middle East on February 28, delivering two separate quarter-point rate hikes at the Monetary Board’s rate-setting meetings held on April 23 and June 18.

These policy actions brought the Target Reverse Repurchase (RRP) rate to 4.75 percent.

At its June 18 meeting, the Monetary Board decided that monetary policy tightening was ‘warranted’ to keep inflation expectations anchored and mitigate the risk of second-round effects.

‘The measured monetary policy action will also complement fiscal measures in supporting steady consumption and strengthening business sentiment,’ the central bank also said in a statement on June 18.

AMID slower second quarter growth and still elevated inflation, the country’s economic managers remain confident that the Philippines has yet to enter a period of stagflation.

The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) said there is no single definition of stagflation, but it is generally understood as a combination of slow or zero economic growth and high inflation. The condition is also commonly associated with rising or high unemployment.

For Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Arsenio M. Balisacan, calling the slowdown in economic growth over the last three quarters as ‘stagflation’ would be ‘stretching it too far.’

The economy ended 2025 with weaker-than-expected growth of 3 percent in the fourth quarter. Growth then slowed further to 2.8 percent in the first quarter of 2026 and 2.3 percent in the second quarter.

Inflation, meanwhile, eased for the third straight month to 6.2 percent in July from 6.4 percent in June, extending its decline from a 7.2 percent peak in April.

Balisacan stressed that the economy is still posting ‘quite a good growth’ despite the Middle East conflict, while longer-term labor market trends continue to show declining unemployment and underemployment.

He noted that the economy generated around 4 million new jobs between the first half of 2021 and the first half of 2026, despite losing about 166,000 jobs between the first half of 2025 and the same period this year.

‘In the second half of the year, the economy is likely to be better,’ Balisacan said during the Economic Journalists’ Association of the Philippines (Ejap) economic forum on Friday.

Balisacan said the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) has already released funds that could help spur government spending in the second half and, in turn, support faster economic growth.

He noted that weak public spending had weighed on economic growth, with government spending contracting by nearly 30 percent for two consecutive quarters.

He said this weakness is unlikely to persist in the next two quarters.

Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) Governor Eli M. Remolona Jr. echoed Balisacan’s view, saying stagflation is ‘not a useful term’ for policymakers at the moment.

‘We don’t even think, are we in a stagflation or not? We don’t really care,’ Remolona said.

However, the BSP chief acknowledged that the economy is currently growing below its estimated potential of around 5.5 percent to 5.8 percent, resulting in what the central bank calls an output gap.

An output gap measures the difference between the economy’s actual output and its potential output. A negative gap means the economy is operating below potential, while a positive gap can signal stronger demand and greater inflationary pressure.

‘I think the output gap means we’ve become less aggressive in terms of raising the policy rate in order to tame inflation,’ Remolona said. ‘So we take account of both the weakness of our growth as well as our expectations of inflation.’

For 2026, the Development Budget Coordination Committee (DBCC) targets full-year economic growth of 3.5 percent to 4.5 percent, lower than its previous target of 4 percent to 5 percent.

The economy grew by an average of 2.6 percent in the first half of the year.

The Department of Economy, Planning, and Development (DEPDev) earlier said the economy would need to grow by an average of at least 4.4 percent in the second half to reach the lower end of the government’s revised growth target.

THE countdown is on for ‘Walk Into the Future: Digital Walker’s 20th Anniversary,’ happening from August 20 to 23, 2026, at the Glorietta Palm Drive Activity Center.

The public is invited to join the anniversary celebration, which officially opens at 6 pm on August 20, and experience Digital Walker’s exciting new era through interactive activities, exclusive anniversary offers, games, giveaways, and raffle prizes worth up to P70,000.

As Digital Walker celebrates 20 years of bringing innovative technology and lifestyle products closer to Filipinos, the event also introduces the brand’s refreshed look, updated visuals, and enhanced customer experience. Guests will be among the first to experience this new chapter while exploring what the future of technology, entertainment, wellness, and everyday living has to offer.

Customers can make the most of the celebration through Digital Walker’s special 20th anniversary promotions:

P20 Add-On: Purchase any participating products and get selected cables or cases for only P20.

20% + 20% UnionBank-Exclusive Offer: Enjoy 20-percent off, plus an additional 20-percent off on the second participating item, for qualified UnionBank transactions.

P2,000 Off: Save P2,000 on selected bundles and future technology products from participating brands, including Marshall, Momax, Acefast, Shokz, and Ultrahuman.

Prices Ending in 20: Discover discounted products at special anniversary prices ending in 20, starting at P120, with selected items priced at P120, P220, P320, P920, P2,020, and more.

20 Drops: Catch selected products offered at special anniversary prices during the celebration.

Spin for 20: Exclusive to the Digital Walker Glorietta store starting August 15. Spend a minimum of P2,000 and earn one spin for a chance to win a special prize, including Digital Walker giveaways worth more than P1,000.

With interactive games, technology showcases, anniversary deals, freebies, and major raffle prizes, Walk Into the Future is the perfect destination for families and groups of friends looking for an exciting activity in Glorietta.

IF there’s one word foldable smartphones have never quite managed to escape-besides ‘expensive’-it’s ‘fragile.’

And it’s an understandable perception. Take a regular smartphone, split its body in half, add a mechanical hinge and replace its rigid internal screen with one flexible enough to survive hundreds of thousands of folds. Then, with every new generation, make the entire thing thinner and lighter.

None of that sounds like something you’d deliberately subject to unnecessary punishment.

Tech brand Honor, however, has developed something of a habit of doing exactly that.

Last year, at the launch the Honor Magic V5, we watched the company put its foldable through an unusual strength demonstration involving a sofa and additional weights.

It was Honor’s very visual way of drawing attention to the phone’s Super Steel Hinge, which the company said had a tensile strength of 2,300 megapascals. Globally, Honor had also demonstrated the Honor Magic V5 lifting as much as 104kg in mid-air.

For most smartphone companies, hanging furniture from a foldable would probably have been enough to make the point.

But as expected, Honor saw it as something to beat the following year.

A VERY EXPENSIVE TUG OF WAR

FOR the Honor Magic V6 preview, Honor brought us to the Angeles City Flying Club in Pampanga, where a classic Toyota Land Cruiser was waiting on one end of a towing setup.

On the other was a Piper Arrow aircraft weighing a ton.

And somewhere between these two machines was Honor’s newest foldable.

The setup looked like an absurdly mismatched tug of war: the Land Cruiser providing the pulling force, the aircraft at the opposite end and a remarkably thin smartphone secured within the hardware connecting them.

Watching the rig being assembled up close was important because photographs of the stunt don’t immediately explain how it worked. Heavy steel cables, shackles and specially fabricated metal hardware were used to secure the Honor Magic V6 within the towing assembly. The phone wasn’t simply dangling from a cable, nor had someone tied a rope around its hinge and hoped for the best.

At first glance, you could understandably assume that the steel structure surrounding the Honor Magic V6 was there simply to protect it from the pull. What we were shown, however, was a fixture designed to hold the phone securely and incorporate it into the towing assembly.

And before anyone dusts off their college physics textbook, no, this doesn’t mean the Honor Magic V6 was supporting the entire one-ton weight of the aircraft. The Piper Arrow was rolling on its wheels, not hanging from the phone, so its full weight was never being suspended by the Honor Magic V6.

The point of the demonstration was whether the phone could withstand the tension placed on it while incorporated into the towing setup without suffering structural failure. There is an important difference-and I’m sure even those TikTok physics teachers would insist that we make it.

With everything secured, the Land Cruiser began moving.

The cables tightened and, for a brief moment, everyone watched the rig to see what would happen.

Then the aircraft started rolling.

It is one thing to see durability figures flashed across a presentation. It is quite another to stand beside a runway and watch an aircraft start moving while a foldable smartphone sits within the towing assembly connecting it to the vehicle doing the pulling.

And it wasn’t a one-off.

Honor repeated the demonstration four times, with the Honor Magic V6 surviving unscathed and fully operational.

SO HOW TOUGH IS THE HONOR MAGIC V6 SUPPOSED TO BE?

THE stunt becomes more interesting once you look at the engineering Honor has put inside the phone.

If last year’s Honor Magic V5 used a Super Steel Hinge rated at 2,300 MPa tensile strength, Honor says the Honor Magic V6 raises that figure to 2,800 MPa.

In simpler terms, tensile strength measures how much pulling stress a material can withstand before it fails. Honor says the Super Steel Hinge has also been tested through 500,000 folding cycles.

What makes those figures particularly interesting is that Honor isn’t achieving them by turning the Honor Magic V6 into some bulky rugged phone.

Quite the opposite.

According to Honor’s global specifications, the white version of the Honor Magic V6 weighs approximately 219 grams and measures just 4.0mm when unfolded and 8.75mm when folded, excluding specified protective films and the raised camera section under Honor’s measurement conditions.

The Honor Magic V6 has a 7.95-inch inner foldable display paired with a 6.52-inch outer display. Both use LTPO panels with adaptive refresh rates from 1Hz to 120Hz, while Honor rates peak brightness at 5,000 nits for the inner screen and 6,000 nits for the outer display.

Honor uses reinforced ultra-thin glass for the folding screen, while the external display gets the company’s Anti-Scratch NanoCrystal Shield. The company also claims improvements in drop, scratch and wear resistance under its own laboratory testing.

The Honor Magic V6 carries IP68 and IP69 ratings for dust and water resistance under specified laboratory conditions. And apparently, airfield physics wasn’t enough for one afternoon. Honor also took the Honor Magic V6 to the nearby swimming pool, where the phones were used and submerged to demonstrate the water-resistance side of its durability story.

FROM STUNTS TO SPECS

Durability may have provided the spectacle, but underneath all that steel hardware is still a flagship foldable.

The Honor Magic V6 runs Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 Mobile Platform, manufactured on a 3nm process and built around a third-generation, eight-core CPU that can reach speeds of up to 4.6GHz.

Honor pairs the chipset with LPDDR5X memory and UFS 4.1 storage, while its global launch material also highlights a full-stack Vulkan graphics engine designed to handle demanding multitasking and high frame-rate gaming on that large inner screen.

For its battery, the Honor Magic V6 packs a 6,660mAh silicon-carbon battery despite its relatively slim dimensions. Charging tops out at 80W wired Honor SuperCharge and 66W wireless Honor SuperCharge with compatible Honor chargers, while wireless reverse charging is also supported.

Then there are the cameras, which deserve more attention than a single throwaway line.

The Honor Magic V6 uses what the company calls its AI Falcon Camera System, led by a 50MP Ultra Light Sensitive Main Camera. It is joined by a 50MP ultra-wide camera and a 64MP periscope telephoto camera equipped with a 1/2-inch sensor and CIPA 6.5 image stabilization.

That telephoto camera is arguably the most interesting part of the setup, particularly for a foldable where manufacturers are constantly fighting for internal space. Honor is also layering its AI imaging features on top of the hardware, including its AI Color Engine, Magic Color 2.0, Magic Video Color and AI Image to Video 2.0.

Then there is AI across the rest of the phone.

The Honor Magic V6 runs MagicOS 10 and brings Honor’s expanding collection of AI agents and productivity features to the foldable form factor. These include the AI Settings Agent, AI Photos Agent, AI Suggestion and AI Screen Suggestions.

Honor is also continuing its push toward cross-platform compatibility. The Honor Magic V6 can work with devices across Apple’s ecosystem, including iPhones, iPads, AirPods, Apple Watches and Macs, with features such as notification sharing and Mac Screen Extension.

One feature I’m particularly curious to spend more time with is Honor Fast-flex, which uses the folding motion itself to trigger split-screen multitasking, AI tools or a customized app.

And that brings us to the one specification Honor Philippines hasn’t revealed yet.

HOW MUCH?

HONOR has yet to announce the official Philippine price of the Honor Magic V6, so any number at this point would be speculation.

Last year the Honor Magic V5 launched locally at ?89,999. But given the rising prices, it would be reasonable to expect the Honor Magic V6 to arrive at a perhaps slightly higher price tag-unless Honor has another surprise waiting for us.

We’ll find out when Honor officially launches the Honor Magic V6 in the Philippines on August 18.

Until then, there is something wonderfully excessive about the way the company has chosen to introduce it.

Last year, Honor hung a sofa from its foldable.

This year, it brought an airplane.

I’m almost afraid to ask what they’re planning for the Honor Magic V7.

THE Department of Education (DepEd) has rolled out the ARAL TutorKo to bolster the Academic Recovery and Accessible Learning (ARAL) program’s learning recovery efforts.

The web-based tutoring management platform, developed in partnership with Thames International Inc. and LearnTalk Limited, seeks to make tutor application, onboarding, deployment, attendance monitoring, and session tracking more efficient.

In a statement, Education Secretary Juan Edgardo ‘Sonny’ Angara said the platform will help streamline support to ARAL program beneficiaries.

Angara expressed in Filipino that many are willing to help Filipino children, but the department also needs a process that is easy, clear, and appropriate for tutors and schools. The platform, he said, will also advance targeted learning interventions among those needing support in foundational literacy and numeracy.

The secretary said that through the ‘TutorKo,’ DepEd is strengthening the system behind tutoring: from application up to deployment and monitoring, so that more learners will receive proper support at the right time.

The platform is expected to support real-time tracking of tutoring sessions, while improving coordination across schools, divisions, regions, and the central office. It also boosts data-driven decision-making through its dashboards and monitoring tools.

For the DepEd chief, each tutoring session is an opportunity for a child to catch up, understand the lessons more, and gain confidence to continue.

By the end of School Year 2025-2026, 4.5 million out of the 6.7 million struggling learners from the start of the period have raised their reading proficiency. This was made possible with the efforts of 442,906 ARAL tutors nationwide.

The Education chief cited the importance of the department’s support not only for the learners, but also for the tutors who are offering time, endurance, and care for them.

Other streamlined features include an easier process in tutor recruitment, screening, onboarding, lesson management, learner grouping, scheduling, attendance tracking, Daily Time Record submission, and report generation.

Administrators, coordinators, school heads, tutors, learners, and education officials will also enjoy role-based access in the platform.

FILIPINO workers are emerging as some of the world’s most advanced users of artificial intelligence (AI), but its rapid adoption is raising a more important question for educators and employers: What should people learn when AI can already do much of the work?

The 2026 Microsoft Work Trend Index Annual Report found that 25 percent of Filipino workers qualify as ‘Frontier Professionals:’ the most advanced category of AI users, compared with a global average of 16 percent. These workers use AI agents for multi-step workflows, rethink processes, and help establish quality standards for AI-assisted work.

The findings point to a shift in the skills that matter in an AI-enabled workplace. Among Filipino AI users, 77 percent said they are producing work they could not have produced a year ago, compared with 58 percent globally. Among Frontier Professionals, the figure rises to 86 percent.

But greater reliance on AI does not necessarily mean less need for human expertise. In fact, the report found that 65 percent of Filipino AI users consider critical thinking the most important human skill as AI takes on more work-the highest proportion among the markets surveyed and well above the 46-percent global average. The challenge for education, training and workplaces, therefore, is increasingly about teaching people how to assess, question and improve what AI produces.

Critical thinking in focus

THE emphasis on human judgment is also reflected in how Filipinos use AI. Sixty-five percent of Filipino AI users identified critical thinking as the most important human skill as AI takes on more work-the highest proportion among the markets surveyed and well above the 46-percent global average. Another 59 percent identified quality control of AI output as a top priority.

That caution is evident in how Filipino workers approach AI-generated content. Ninety-three percent said they treat AI output as a starting point rather than a final answer and ‘stay responsible for the thinking,’ compared with 86 percent globally. Among the country’s Frontier Professionals, 53 percent intentionally complete some work without AI to keep their skills sharp, while 61 percent deliberately pause before beginning a task to determine what should be handled by AI and what should remain human-led.

For schools, universities and training firms, the findings point to a broader definition of AI literacy. Knowing how to operate an AI tool is only part of the equation; learners also need to develop the ability to question outputs, verify information and make sound judgments about AI usage.

That principle extends into continuing education and the workplace. During his executive studies, PLDT and Smart First Vice President and Head of Information Technology and the Transformation Office Gilbert Gaw shared that he used AI to help narrow down research and references, but still had to do the actual work himself. The experience shows a key lesson of AI-assisted learning: The technology can accelerate the process, but it does not remove the need for human thinking.

Training must follow the work

THE report found that Filipino workers are ready to adapt, but organizational support has not fully kept pace. Only 35 percent said their leadership is clearly and consistently aligned on AI, while 25 percent said they are rewarded for reinventing how they work with the technology.

The experience of PLDT and Smart illustrates workplace learning helping close that gap. After initially deploying 200 Microsoft 365 Copilot licenses, the conglomerate required users to demonstrate concrete use cases and results before expanding access. Training was also designed with employees’ roles in mind, with programs developed for groups such as managers, project managers, finance, legal, and marketing.

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PLDT and Smart first vice president and head of information technology and Transformation Office Gilbert Gaw said: ‘AI training has to be relevant to the work employees actually perform.’

The company’s approach also reflects a broader principle in the report: Organizational factors-including culture, manager support and talent practices-account for more than twice the impact of individual mindset and behavior on AI adoption.

Building a learning system

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MICROSOFT’S report describes the next stage of organizational transformation as becoming a ‘Learning System’-an organization capable of capturing, sharing and scaling what its people learn from working with AI. The number of AI agents has increased 15-fold year over year across the Microsoft 365 ecosystem and 18 times in large enterprises.

For local educators and employers, this points to a larger shift in the meaning of skills development. The objective is no longer simply to prepare people to use today’s technology, but to help them remain capable of learning as tech changes.

The report’s central question may therefore apply as much to classrooms and training institutions as it does to companies: ‘The real question isn’t whether people have the right skills-it’s whether the organization is built to unlock them.’

MICRO-CREDENTIALS are rapidly reshaping the way Filipino employers hire, evaluate, and reward graduate talent.

Coursera’s Micro-Credentials Impact Report 2026 found that 96 percent of Filipino employers hired at least three candidates with micro-credentials in the past year, signaling a decisive shift toward skills-first hiring.

For employers, micro-credentials are becoming a trusted signal that candidates can create immediate positive impact. In fact, 77 percent of Filipino employers say candidates with micro-credentials move faster through hiring pipelines-4 percentage points above the global average, reinforcing their value as a marker of job readiness.

A Google report estimates that AI could unlock approximately $50.7 billion in productivity and cost benefits for the Philippines by 2030-an opportunity that hinges on a workforce equipped with the right skills.

The Commission on Higher Education (CHED) has responded through its Memorandum Order (CMO) No. 1, Series of 2025, which creates a national framework for industry-aligned, stackable micro-credentials, making higher education the focus of the skills transformation.

Based on insights from more than 3,500 employers, learners, and higher education leaders in seven countries that include the Philippines, the 2026 report revealed that 89 percent of Filipino employers are willing to offer higher starting salaries to graduates with micro-credentials, with 36 percent willing to offer a raise of more than 15 percent for GenAI micro-credentials. Eighty-five percent of Filipino graduates who earned micro-credentials secured a role aligned to their field within 12 months.

‘As AI reshapes the workplace, employers are placing a premium on candidates who can prove they have practical, job-ready skills,’ said Managing Director for Coursera Asia Pacific Ashutosh Gupta. ‘In the Philippines, micro-credentials are no longer just a differentiator: they are becoming an essential signal of employability.’

‘The data shows strong alignment between employers, students, and higher

education leaders: learners want credentials that count toward degrees, employers are willing to pay more for them, and universities see them as critical to staying relevant,’ Gupta noted. ‘CHED’s CMO is a pivotal step, giving universities the policy foundation to embed micro-credentials at scale. Those that move fast will define the next generation of Filipino talent.’

Key findings

EMPLOYERS are embracing micro-credentials as proof of job readiness:

96 percent of Filipino employers hired at least three candidates with micro-credentials in the last year;

89 percent are willing to offer higher starting salaries to graduates with micro-credentials;

90 percent said entry-level hires with micro-credentials perform better in their first year; and

77 percent said credentialed candidates move faster through hiring pipelines.

Students are choosing institutions that offer credit-integrated credentials:

4.6 times as many Filipino students are likely to pursue micro-credentials with formal credit recognition (79 percent) than without it (17 percent).

62 percent said the strongest signal of rigor is an industry-created micro-credential that counts toward a degree; and

85 percent of Filipino graduates secured a role aligned to their field within 12 months.

Higher education leaders see embedded micro-credentials as a competitive advantage:

86 percent agreed that embedding micro-credentials links academic learning with workforce relevance;

63 percent said institutions without embedded micro-credentials face moderate or significant strategic risk;

75 percent said programs with embedded micro-credentials experience higher student retention; and

75 percent agreed that embedding micro-credentials leads to a faster curriculum refresh rate.

Proof of skill: key

AMONG the institutions already leading the charge is iPeople Inc., which has embedded more than 50 professional certificates across six schools. These include all the Mapua schools in Manila, Laguna, and Mindanao; National Teachers College; University of Nueva Caceres; as well as the modern Mapua Malayan Digital College.

‘The Philippines is at an inflection point. Our graduates are talented, but talent alone doesn’t win in a global job market. Proof of skills does,’ pointed out Mapua Education Group president and CEO Dr. Dodjie Maestrecampo. ‘Micro-credentials embedded into a degree give Filipino students exactly that: industry-recognized and globally credible evidence of what they can deliver from Day 1. What gives me real confidence is that CHED is now establishing policy frameworks around this.’

Through their partnership with Coursera, Dr. Maestrecampo said: ‘We [can] bring these credentials into our programs at scale, combining global content with local academic rigor.’

THE Commission on Higher Education (CHED) has formally authorized the De La Salle-College of Saint Benilde (DLS-CSB) to offer 13 for-credit micro-credentials.

The recognition follows the approval of the programs by the CHED Commission en banc through Resolution No. 397-2026 and is valid from June 2026 to June 2029.

The micro-credentials are compressed, competency-based, and verifiable learning units that recognize specific knowledge and professional skills. Unlike non-credit certificates, they carry academic credit and may be stacked toward selected undergraduate degree programs, thus providing learners with more flexible pathways to higher education.

‘This milestone formalizes Benilde’s long-term strategy to champion lifelong learning while positioning the college as one of the country’s credentialing authorities,’ Vice Chancellor for Academics Angelo Marco Lacson said.

The recognized micro-credentials span the fields of real estate, hospitality, tourism, culinary arts, architecture, and design.

The School of Professional and Continuing Education will soon offer real estate certifications for Land Laws and Property Titling; Highest and Best Uses for Real Estate; Real Estate Planning, Development and Environmental Concerns; Effective Real Estate Marketing Tools; Real Estate Financial Planning and Management; and Real Estate Project Feasibility Studies.

Other credentialing opportunities include Amadeus Reservations Fundamentals; Basic Education Courses in Opera Property Management System, and Opera Sales and Catering Management System; and the Basic Education Course in Micros Fidelio Materials Control System. Architecture-related offerings include Drafting Technology, Computer-Aided Design and Drafting, and Building Technology and Utilities.

The chorus was infectious – ‘NME – NME – NME – NME. New Move for Error…’ – again and again.

The song ‘New Move for Error’ caused a stir in the burgeoning underground music scene when legendary DJ Howlin’ Dave of rock station DZRJ played that song from the punk band Third World Chaos in 1984.

Punk rock and New Wave gained a beachhead on Philippine shores, and local music would never be the same again.

Following the first-ever independent release of New Wave band Ocean Zoo’s Animal Party extended play single in 1983, punk band Chaos followed with a seven-inch release of ‘Quitter’ and ‘We Are the One’ (RCA Victor) a few months later. The single was produced by Tony Huelves, in-house producer for Vicor Music Corp. and its labels, Sunshine and Blackgold. At the time, Vicor was also the local distributor of RCA Records.

Then, in 1984, this time renamed as Third World Chaos, the four-piece crew of the late Potit Mangali on vocals, Tommy Tanchanco on guitars and backing vocals, Manny Pascual on bass and backing vocals, and Dino ‘Fer’ Solver on drums put out their only album, New Move for Error’ (distributed by Dyna Records).

‘The records were distributed through major labels, but they didn’t push or even promote them,’ recalled Pascual. ‘It was very disappointing. That is why we went to them in the first place.’

The records didn’t appear in most record stores at that time. One only knew of their availability if one went to punk gigs or listened to DZRJ or read Jingle Chordbook magazine, which extensively covered the then-burgeoning punk scene.

Somehow, all the copies sold out by word of mouth. And today, both the seven-inch single and the original long-playing album are some of the most coveted Holy Grails in Filipino music. If one does find an original copy in the market, whether in near-mint or in poor condition, it sells for anywhere from Php 8000 to Php 15000 and more. Even the European bootlegs fetch a huge sum because of the absence of original copies.

Thankfully, both have been rereleased for old and new fans by German underground label Merciless Records without having to break the bank.

Aside from ‘We Are The One’ and ‘Quitter,’ the New Move For Error album produced by Chaos and Howlin’ Dave features fan-favorite tracks like ‘Rebel Rockers,’ ‘You Won’t Anymore,’ ‘Insult The Useless People,’ and the anthemic title track. The LP version also comes with deluxe packaging that consists of a transparent vinyl, a recreated gig poster, as well as inserts featuring an old magazine interview in the underground magazine Herald X, and a lyric sheet. The album jacket also sports an obi strip.

‘I lost my copies a long time ago, and to have reissued versions is like a gift to all of us decades later,’ added Pascual. ‘It is something we can also share with our families as well as fans. We hope new listeners will like our music.’

The Chaos single and New Move for Error are the latest releases from Merciless Records, which previously released Dead Ends’ first three studio albums – Complaints, Second Coming, and Damned Nation – individually and in pizza-box-style sets. Then last year, the German label reissued Dead Ends’ contemporary, Deceased’s Never Rest in Peace.

‘The Philippines has a rich punk rock history,’ noted Joern Thoendel, who owns Merciless Records. ‘With punk a global movement, we feel that it is also a good time to introduce Filipino punk to a European and global audience.’

Copies of Third World Chaos’ New Move for Error and the seven-inch single can be purchased locally through Mutilated Noise Records on Facebook or through Merciless Records’ Bandcamp page.

McKinley Kyle Paz delivered his strongest performance of the 2026 Asia Road Racing Championship season as the Yamaha Philippines Racing Team completed Round 4 at the Pertamina Mandalika International Circuit in Indonesia.

Competing in the highly competitive Supersport 600 (SS600) category, Paz produced an impressive weekend that culminated in a second-place finish in Race 2, surpassing his third-place result from Thailand and marking his highest finish of the season so far.

The result highlighted a weekend that tested the Yamaha Philippines contingent across both SS600 and Underbone 150, with Paz rising to the challenge and moving another step closer to the top of the international podium.

Paz Raises the Bar in Indonesia

After qualifying seventh on the grid, Paz immediately showed his pace in Race 1. The Filipino rider fought his way forward through the SS600 field to cross the line in fourth place, narrowly missing the podium but setting the stage for an even stronger performance the following day.

Race 2 saw Paz take another significant step.

Battling at the front against some of Asia’s best riders, Paz pushed his Yamaha to second place, securing his second podium of the season and improving on the third-place finish he earned during Round 2 in Thailand.

The result represents another milestone in Paz’s 2026 international campaign. After finishing P9 and P7 at Mobility Resort Motegi in the previous round, his P4 and P2 performances in Indonesia demonstrated a significant leap forward as the championship enters its latter stages.

More importantly, the result showed that Paz is no longer simply chasing consistent finishes. He is closing the distance to the top.

A Difficult Weekend in Underbone 150

The Mandalika round proved more challenging for April King Mascardo and Timothy Rojas in the intensely competitive Underbone 150 (UB150) category.

Mascardo qualified seventh, while Rojas started from P21. In Race 1, Mascardo finished P12, with Rojas improving from the back of the grid to finish P19.

Race 2 presented another opportunity for the pair, but the results remained difficult to come by. Mascardo once again finished P12, while Rojas crossed the line in P21.

While the weekend did not produce the results they had targeted, every round of international competition continues to provide valuable experience for both riders as they contend against the region’s strongest underbone racers. The challenge now is to regroup, apply the lessons learned in Indonesia, and return stronger for the next round. Another Step Forward

Four rounds into the championship, the Yamaha Philippines Racing Team continues to measure its campaign through progress.

From Paz’s first podium of the season in Thailand, to the team’s continued development in Japan, and now a season-best second-place finish in Indonesia, the journey continues to show what can be achieved by relentlessly pushing beyond previous limits.

For Paz, P2 is another breakthrough, but it also leaves one position still to chase.

For Mascardo and Rojas, Mandalika becomes another challenge to learn from and another reason to come back stronger.

With the season entering its decisive stages, the Yamaha Philippines Racing Team now turns its attention to Round 5 of the Asia Road Racing Championship, returning to Malaysia from September 11 to 13. Paz will look to carry his growing momentum and move one step closer to the top of the podium, while Mascardo and Rojas aim to respond stronger after a challenging weekend in Indonesia. Together, the team remains determined to represent the Philippines against Asia’s best and continue its relentless pursuit to Defy Limits.