Category: Business Mirror

THE Philippines’s joining the club of upper middle income countries is spurring not just a push to reassess the yardsticks it uses for determining poverty and quality of life. It has triggered a desperate push to expand sources of economic growth in a country that prides itself in its demographic advantage and highly exportable labor force, but is stuck in the early phases of industrialization.

Can the country ever truly seize the initiative? It has no choice, the chief economist said before the weekend

There’s no question that the Philippines needs to diversify its sources of growth as it seeks to accelerate its climb toward high-income status, according to Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Arsenio M. Balisacan.

‘We need to diversify the sources of our growth to include, on the demand side, more investment and exports, and on the supply side, industry and agriculture,’ Balisacan said during the Economic Journalists’ Association of the Philippines (Ejap) economic forum on Friday.

He noted that Philippine growth over the past 15 years has been largely supported by household consumption, fueled in part by remittances and the information technology-business process management (IT-BPM) sector.

This contrasts with neighboring economies that have drawn growth from a broader mix of consumption, investment, and exports, Balisacan said.

‘We have been very successful in the first one, consumption, but quite comparatively poor in relation to the investment and exports,’ he said.

The weakness in investment has become more evident in recent quarters.

Gross capital formation, the investment component of the economy, contracted by 9.2 percent in the first quarter of 2026, reversing the 0.91-percent growth recorded a year earlier.

The Department of Economy, Planning, and Development (DEPDev) earlier said investment remained under pressure in the second quarter as delays in public infrastructure spending continued to weigh on economic activity (See: https://businessmirror.com.ph/2026/08/13/public-infra-could-have-yielded-5-growth-in-q2/).

The economy grew by only 2.3 percent in the second quarter, slower than the 2.8-percent expansion in the first quarter and bringing first-half growth to an average of 2.6 percent.

Balisacan also pointed to the economy’s increasingly services-heavy structure, with industry playing a smaller role in growth.

He said the Philippine economy is ‘behaving like a rich country,’ where services account for an increasingly large share of economic activity even though the country still has room to industrialize.

This was evident in the second quarter, when services contributed 2.8 percentage points to the country’s 2.3-percent GDP growth. Agriculture contributed another 0.2 percentage point, while industry dragged overall growth by 0.7 percentage point.

Balisacan, however, emphasized that the Philippines has not exhausted industrialization as a source of growth and could still strengthen industry while revitalizing agriculture to broaden the economy’s productive base.

The government’s push to broaden these growth engines comes as the Philippines moves from upper-middle-income status toward its longer-term ambition of becoming a high-income economy.

Balisacan said a faster growth pace would help shorten that transition.

The country’s chief economist compared the country’s trajectory with Malaysia, which is already nearing the high-income threshold after growing by around 4.6 percent annually, and Chile, which grew by around 8 percent and took 19 years to move above the high-income threshold.

He said that if the Philippines sustains its 5.1-percent average growth over the past 15 years, it could reach the threshold faster than Malaysia did.

‘If we sustain that, we’ll be able to cross that threshold at a faster time than Malaysia. But we need to grow much faster to become as close as Chile,’ he said.

Beyond expanding investment, exports, and industry, Balisacan said raising productivity would be crucial to sustaining faster growth over the longer term.

While the Philippines has accumulated more capital over the years, he said capital deepening remains ‘shallow,’ meaning the stock of productive capital has not increased sufficiently relative to the labor force.

As a result, labor productivity has not risen as quickly as in neighboring economies such as Vietnam.

‘In the longer term, it is really productivity growth, fueled by innovation that drives GDP growth,’ Balisacan said.

He also pointed to the need to upskill workers as emerging technologies, including artificial intelligence, reshape industries and the labor market.

Meanwhile, even as it has just attained UMIC status, the country still must reckon with the unrealistic parameters of its poverty-determining system, according to a former national statistician. The Philippines’s entry into the UMIC bracket should prompt a reassessment of whether the country’s poverty standard still reflects the living conditions expected of a more affluent economy, according to former National Statistical Coordination Board (NSCB) Secretary General Jose Ramon G. Albert.

This comes as the initial monthly poverty threshold for a family of five rose to P14,600 in 2025, an increase that Albert said appears to largely reflect higher prices rather than a higher standard of basic needs.

‘Official statistics may currently be understating both the number of poor Filipinos and the vulnerability of those just above the threshold,’ Albert earlier told the BusinessMirror.

Earlier this week, National Statistician Claire Dennis S. Mapa confirmed during a House committee hearing that the initial estimate of the poverty threshold, or the minimum income needed to meet basic food and non-food requirements, had risen to P14,600 for a family of five in 2025.

KORONADAL CITY, South Cotabato-Health research in the Philippines should move away from one-size-fits-all solutions and account for the distinct cultural, geographic and socioeconomic realities of communities, particularly those in rural and geographically isolated areas, according to a regional science director.

Regional Director Engr. Sammy P. Malawan, of the Department of Science and Technology (DOST) XII and chairman of the Health Research and Development Consortium XII (HRDC-12), said research should generate evidence that explains why health problems persist, why access to care remains unequal, and which interventions work best for specific communities.

‘Sometimes, we already know the problem, but we do not yet have enough evidence for the best solution. Sometimes, there is technology, but it has not reached the people who need it. And sometimes, there is already a solution but it is not sensitive to the culture, economic status, location or community affordability,’ Malawan said partly in Filipino during the opening of the 19th Philippine National Health Research System (PNHRS) Week in this city on August 11.

Hosted by HRDC XII from August 11 to 13, the 19th PNHRS Week carried the theme ‘HealthConverge: Transforming Health Research, Connecting Cultures.’

He pointed to the country’s 2024 mortality figures to illustrate the scale of the health burden.

Ischemic heart disease remained the leading cause of death, claiming 134,078 lives, or 19.1 percent of all recorded deaths. Neoplasms, or cancer, accounted for 77,433 deaths, while cerebrovascular diseases caused another 68,736.

Malawan said these figures should also be viewed through the realities faced by communities, including families dealing with lost income, patients struggling with medical expenses and residents in remote areas who travel long distances to access specialized care.

‘The health challenges of South Cotabato may not look exactly the same as those in Metro Manila. The needs of an indigenous community may differ from those of an urban population,’ he emphasized.

This, he said, highlights the need for researchers to consider local conditions, Indigenous knowledge and the experiences of health workers and other stakeholders when identifying problems and developing interventions.

‘National system becomes meaningful only when it listens to what is happening on the ground,’ Malawan said, adding that research should begin by asking communities what they actually need.

Science, technology and innovation, he added, can help translate these needs and research findings into interventions that are practical and accessible.

‘Science helps us understand. Technology gives us the tools. Innovation brings solutions closer to the people,’ he said.

Malawan urged researchers to ‘pursue research that is bold enough to ask difficult questions, humble enough to listen, rigorous enough to produce credible evidence, and practical enough to create change.’

Meanwhile, Science Secretary Renato U. Solidum Jr. said the region’s vibrant cultural heritage highlights the importance of health research that reflects the lived realities and needs of local communities.

‘Our diversity is not divisive. It is one of our greatest strengths in advanced science and technology. It is through these convergences that we transform diversity into discovery and ideas into breakthroughs,’ Solidum said in a recorded keynote message.

‘Meaningful innovations thrive when diverse minds work toward a shared purpose,’ he added.

Solidum also emphasized the role of the National Unified Health Research Agenda in guiding health research and development priorities based on the country’s health needs.

He said the Philippine Health Research Ethics Board helps uphold ethical standards in research involving human participants, while the Regional Health Research and Development Consortia strengthen research capacity at the regional and institutional levels.

He said the PNHRS implementing agencies, through their respective mandates and expertise, work together to align research priorities, build institutional capacity and ensure that scientific evidence is translated into policies and programs.

The DOST, through the Philippine Council for Health Research and Development, works with the Department of Health, Commission on Higher Education and the University of the Philippines Manila-National Institutes of Health in advancing a more coordinated and responsive health research system.

‘Let us make HealthConverge more than just a theme. Let it guide the way we work across disciplines, sectors, and cultures. Let us remain committed to advancing a health research system that is inclusive, collaborative, and responsive to the needs of the Filipino people,’ Solidum said.

The event brought together researchers, health professionals, policymakers and other stakeholders through discussions, partnership-building activities and research competitions, with a focus on strengthening collaboration and promoting locally responsive health research.

The next PNHRS Week will be held in Calabarzon.

ARTHUR CRAIG PATINO returns to defend his men’s open singles title in the 2026 Gentry National Open Tennis Championships scheduled from August 20 to 30 at the Colegio San Agustin courts in San Jose del Monte, Bulacan.

A total of 1,300 players from around the world are entered in the weeklong competition presented by Honor Philippines-titles are at stake in the men’s and women’s singles and doubles, as well as junior singles categories.

‘Gentry, the biggest tennis open tournament in the Philippines in its second year, gives every player the hope of being recognized and competing against the best,’ Gentry Open and Gentry Timepieces President Hayb ‘Pareng Hayb’ Anzures told a press conference at the BGC on Saturday.

‘There are many Filipino tennis players not just here in the country but also from the United States who are coming to compete in the event, and there are some players around Asia, like in Singapore, who will also see action,’ Anzures said. ‘This is going to be a low-key competition for Filipinos against the world.’

Patino will have his hands full with the country’s No. 1 AJ Lim, who he beat in the final last year, and reigning women’s titlist Tennielle Madis, both coming back.

With Patino in the press conference were Philippine Bottling Beverages General Manager Thor Mutuc, Skywarrior Philippines Yathart Vidrohi Bharwadj, Honor Philippines Vice President Stephen Cheng, and Beauty Elements Ventures Brand Manager Nana Borja.

Anzures announced that a total of P3 million in cash is at stake, with the men’s singles open winner taking home P400,000-an increase from last year’s P300,000- and the women’s open singles winner getting P200,000-double that of last year’s prize.

He added that they are still finalizing other categories before announcing the junior, inter-school, Class B, and legends divisions.

‘We really want to continue our mission of building the future of Philippine tennis, one match at a time,’ Anzures said. ‘We just want to build a sustainable platform at home to give Filipino tennis players more opportunities to compete and develop and inspire the players who will follow them.’

Patino beat Lim in the final, 2-6, 5-7, 6-4, 3-1 (ret.), while Madis defeated Stefi Aludo, 6-2, 6-0, on the women’s side.

ARTHUR CRAIG PATINO returns to defend his men’s open singles title in the 2026 Gentry National Open Tennis Championships scheduled from August 20 to 30 at the Colegio San Agustin courts in San Jose del Monte, Bulacan.

A total of 1,300 players from around the world are enterted in the weeklong competition presented by Honor Philippines-titles are at stake in the men’s and women’s singles and doubles open a ass well junior singles categories.

‘Gentry, the biggest tennis open tournament in the Philippines on its second year, gives every player the hope of being recognized and compete against the best,’ Gentry Open and Gentry Timepieces President Hayb ‘Pareng Hayb’ Anzures told a press conference at the BGC on Saturday.

‘There are many Filipino tennis players not just here in the country but also from the United States who are coming to compete in the event and there are some players around Asia like in Singapore who will also see action,’ Anzures said. ‘This is going to be a low-key competition for Filipinos against the world.’

Patino will have his hands fall with the country’s No. 1 AJ Lim, who he beat in the final last year, also coming back, as well as reigning women’s titlist Tennielle Madis.

With Patino in the press conference were Philippine Bottling Beverages General Manager Thor Mutuc, Skywarrior Philippines Yathart Vidrohi Bharwadj, Honor Philippines Vice President Stephen Cheng, and Beauty Elements Ventures Brand Manager Nana Borja.

Anzures announced that a total of P3 million in cash are stake with the men’s singles open winner taking home P400,000-an increase from last year’s P300,000- and the women’s open singles winner getting P200,000-double that of last year’s prize.

He added that they are still finalizing other categories before making the announcement in the junior, inter-school, Class B and legends divisions.

‘We really want to continue our mission of building the future of Philippine tennis, one match at a time,’ Anzures said. ‘We just want to build a sustainable platform at home to give Filipino tennis players more opportunities to compete and develop and inspire the players who will follow them.’

Patino beat Lim in the final, 2-6, 5-7, 6-4, 3-1 (ret.), while Madis defeated Stefi Aludo, 6-2, 6-0, on the women’s side.

Organizers of the Makati-hosted designers’ bazaar will hold its roadshow event here for the first time early next month, to test the waters of a regular regional swing of the annual event and to discover more talents and designs.

Sisters Bea Zobel Jr. and Sofia Zobel Elizalde, founders of the Designers’ Holiday Bazaar (DHB), said Davao will be the first host of a provincial swing that may likely be the mood of the next DHB events, which were regularly hosted by Makati City.

The Zobel de Ayala sisters brought DHB regular Metro Manila designers as a Bacolod designer was also invited to the Davao event in September 3-6. The event will be hosted by the Ayala-owned Abreeza Mall here.

Proceeds will help support an education initiative that will be piloted in several Davao schools this year.

Tony Lambino, president of Ayala Foundation, said it will replicate here its student assistance program which will span for 12 weeks in its pilot phase for students to double their scores. He said Mayor Sebastian Duterte already assured of his support to the pilot test on students.

Organizers said the DHB will have 26 exhibitors, and about half of them are from Davao.

Some of the local works include bags made of abaca, cloth and other local materials, jewelry, and women gowns and men’s attire and other apparel and accessories.

An international study, led by University of the Philippines (UP) biologists, found out that the movement and habitats of flying foxes can help in land-use planning and conservation strategies that protect both biodiversity and public health.

Flying foxes are large fruit bats that primarily feed on fruits and flowers. They are highly mobile, traveling long distances in search of seasonal food sources. Some have been recorded flying more than 20 kilometers from their sleeping area in a single night to forage, easily crossing islands and even international borders.

Over a year, flying foxes can travel more than 6,000 kilometers, making them among the most far-ranging bats in the world. They often fly too far and too fast for humans to accurately follow their movements.

To better understand how flying foxes move and use different habitats, biologists from the UP Diliman-College of Science’s Institute of Biology (UPD-CS IB), along with other researchers, captured nine flying foxes from three species and fitted them with lightweight GPS collars to track their movements, said Eunice Jean C. Patron of UPD-CS Science Communications.

The flying foxes were the golden-crowned, Acerodon jubatus; the large flying fox, Pteropus vampyrus; and the small flying fox, P. hypomelanus.

The researchers were Rio Renato Constantino, Czarina Espiritu, Maria Sabrina Tabeta, Simeon Gabriel Bejar, and Dr. Mariano Roy Duya of the UPD-CS IB collaborated with Kirk Taray, Jezryl Jaeger Garcia, Dorothy Mariano, Dr. Mary Grace Dacuma, and Dr. Phillip Alviola of UP Los Baños.

With them were Sophie Borthwick, Dr. Dolyce Low, and Dr. Ian Mendenhall of Duke-NUS Medical School, Singapore; Dr. Eric Laing of Uniformed Services University, Bethesda, USA.

Dr. Catalino Demetria and Dr. Fedelino Malbas of the Research Institute for Tropical Medicine were also among the researchers.

‘There’s just not a lot of data about flying fox movements in the Philippines. There have only been two studies about it so far, and both for the same two species [A. jubatus and P. vampyrus] and in the same place [Subic], which forms a fraction of these species’ range. Meanwhile, no such studies have been done for P. hypomelanus at all, anywhere,’ Constantino shared.

While the flying foxes slept, the researchers quietly approached them with handheld antennas to download the GPS movement data from their collars.

Although the limited sample size makes it difficult to generalize the findings to the wider population, the data suggest that A. jubatus and P. vampyrus may travel farther than P. hypomelanus.

They differ in how consistently they return to the same roosts, often revisit their feeding sites, and use a wide range of habitats-including built-up areas and farmlands heavily modified by humans.

Constantino found the elusive flying foxes’ movement patterns a fascinating area of study.

‘By learning where they go, we learn more about their habitat use, what kinds of places they like to frequent. Do they stay in forests? Do they visit cities often?’ he said. ‘At sunset they fly out of the roost and disappear into the night. Where do they go? That’s what we wanted to answer.’

Understanding how flying foxes move across different environments can help inform their conservation and management.

‘They serve a number of important ecological functions, among them seed dispersal. After a flying fox eats fruit, it poops out the seed, often a considerable distance away from the tree where it obtained its meal. In this way, flying foxes help maintain fruiting tree populations and help forest regeneration,’ Constantino explained.

It is important to protect known flying fox roosts and minimize disturbance whenever possible.

‘If you don’t disturb them, they won’t go away; and if you know where they are, you can avoid them,’ Constantino said.

The study can help inform land-use planning and conservation strategies that protect both biodiversity and public health.

The study, ‘Movement patterns of three species of flying foxes across human-modified landscapes in the Philippines,’ was published in Mammalia, an international, multidisciplinary, bimonthly journal devoted to the inventory, analysis, and interpretation of mammalian diversity.

TEAM North will open its title defense in the International Container Terminal Services Inc. Elite Junior Philippine Golf Tour (JPGT) Finals with a simple formula: Play clean, stay patient and keep the pressure on until host South cracks.

But with South armed with a home-course familiarity, a deeper pool of battle-tested qualifiers and a determined bid to avenge last year’s defeat, North knows it cannot afford to take anything for granted when the Ryder Cup-style championship gets under way Tuesday at Pueblo de Oro Golf and Country Club in Cagayan de Oro City.

Coach Joey Anciano has stressed teamwork and smart decision-making as the keys to North’s campaign, particularly in the opening four-ball and foursomes matches where partnerships and momentum can quickly swing the complexion of the competition.

‘Our main focus is teamwork and keeping the pressure on. In both formats, we want our players to play smart, stay patient, and trust their partners,’ Anciano said. ‘But the goal is to play clean golf and let them make the mistakes.’

That approach will be tested immediately as North faces a South side determined to turn its local knowledge into an early lead.

The defending champion North stormed to a commanding 26 1/2-21 1/2 victory over South in last year’s inaugural showdown at The Country Club, and Anciano’s charges are confident they have enough depth and firepower to reprise that performance.

With points at a premium across all age groups, including the 7-10, 11-14 and 15-18 categories, North knows that depth could prove just as important as star power.

‘The great thing about this team is that every single player is strong, so no matter how we order our pairs, we’re confident we can win points from the very first match to the last,’ Anciano said. ‘We’ll save the final order for game day.’

In the mid-1970s, a distinct rhythm reshaped Philippine airwaves. Known as the Manila Sound, this revolutionary movement swept past foreign hits with a smooth blend of disco, funk, soul, and soft rock.

Pioneered by acts like VST and Co. and Hotdog, the real pull of Manila Sound lay in its natural, everyday Taglish that spoke directly to urban listeners. Vinyl tracks such as ‘Ikaw ang Miss Universe ng Buhay Ko’ and ‘T.L. Ako sa ‘Yo’ turned contemporary city slang into radio gold, while dance floor staples like ‘Awitin Mo at Isasayaw Ko’ showed that homegrown studios could deliver production values as sharp as any album coming from the US or Europe.

Beyond the basslines and brass arrangements, the genre gave young Filipinos an upbeat escape during the Martial Law years. It proved to radio programmers and record labels that Pinoy audiences wanted music reflecting their own lives. While the initial surge eventually paved the way for the broader Original Pilipino Music (OPM) boom of the 1980s, Manila Sound remains the blueprint for modern Philippine pop – capturing a time when the local recording industry truly found its voice.

A Living Legacy: The Reunion Concert Series

This genre’s enduring power was on full display when the Newport Performing Arts Theater mounted Sumayaw, Sumunod: The Manila Sound Reunion a fortnight ago. The milestone concert featured the original architects of Pinoy pop music for one night that bridged generations of OPM fans.

The all-star lineup reads like a directory of Philippine music history: Monet Gaskell and Male Rigor representing the infectious harmonies of VST and Co.; Joey Abando of The Boyfriends delivering disco anthems and signature ballads alongside Nonoy Tan and Rey Magtoto of Wadab, the Davao-based soul group; Jojo Grospe, Joel Macanaya, and Ramon Villanueva of jukebox pop pioneer The Rainmakers.

Adding multi-textured depth to the evening were jazz-funk chanteuse Pat Castillo of the legendary Circus Band, acknowledged ‘Queen of Pinoy Rock’ Sampaguita, pop hitmaker Gino Padilla, folk-rock diva Lolita Carbon of the trailblazing Asin Band, and guitarist-lead vocalist Mon Espia of acoustic-blues exponent Labuyo.

Grooving to the Beat of Vintage Pinoy Pop

From the opening number to the final encore, the Newport theater transformed into a cross-generational disco. Boomers and Gen-Xers who grew up cassette-taping radio broadcasts were dancing the swing. Millennials and Gen-Zees who discovered the retro genre through streaming playlists were singing the lyrics word-for-word. The entire performance was indeed a collective celebration of Filipino identity.

Among the standouts were ‘Sa Jeepney,’ and ‘Pag Tumatagal Lalong Tumitibay’ by the Wadab duo; Labuyo’s ‘Tuloy Pa Rin Ako’ by Mon Espia; ‘Aso’t Pusa’ by Pat Castillo; ‘Closer I Get to You’ by Gino Padilla; The Boyfriends’ ‘Dahil Mahal Kita,’ ‘Nais Ko Malaman Mo’ by Joey Abando; ‘Masdan Mo ang Kapaligiran’ by Lolita Carbon;and ‘Binibini’ by The Rainmakers trio.

What brought the house down toward the concert’s homestretch were Sampaguita’s high-energy renditions of ‘Bonggahan,’ ‘Nosibalasi’ and ‘Laguna,’ as well as the VST duo’s ‘Ipagpatawad Mo’ and their medley of their own Pinoy Disco hits that included ‘Disco Fever,’ ‘Swing’ and later in the finale, ‘Magsayawan’ and ‘Awitin Mo.:

Throwback shows like Sumayaw Sumunod and its sequel – last weekend’s Manila, Manila: The Hotdog Tribute Concert – demonstrate that Manila Sound is not a mere relic of a bygone decade. Its tight grooves and conversational lyrics tap straight into the heart of Filipino pop culture. 50 years after Manila Sound’s inception, it is still prevalent in the nation’s consciousness akin to having a last song syndrome. What started as an urban youth trend has evolved into a timeless cultural institution.

Prelude to the Annie Batungbakal Musical

Sumayaw Sumunod and Manila, Manila served as the grand overture for Newport World Resorts and Viva Communications’ next theatrical co-production debuting in September 2026 titled Bongga Ka, ‘Day!: The Annie Batungbakal Musical. By gathering legendary artists under the spotlight, these twin concerts set a vibrant precedent for the upcoming spectacle centered on the Hotdog Band’s iconic catalog.

‘Annie Batungbakal’ transforms the story of the nightlife-loving department store dispatsadora into a full-scale tribute to Pinoy Pop culture. Just as the nostalgic reunion concerts showcased the ageless appeal of musical classics, this stage adaptation of the eponymous 1979 movie will further boost the post-pandemic resurgence of Philippine theater as the ‘Broadway of Asia.’ It also promises to introduce the gold standard of Manila Sound to a new generation of theatergoers.

Together, such spectacular productions reinforce a singular truth: the groove that defined a golden era continues to inspire and entertain Filipinos half a century later. Bravo!

Alas Pilipinas is emerging from the FIVB Volleyball Girls’ U17 World Championship with a much better idea of what it can become.

The girls are still discovering new dimensions to its game even as its breakthrough campaign comes to a close with Megan Hernandez, Jello Mauricio and Jhenica Sadia, who had seen varying amounts of court time, combining with established scorers Xyz Rayco and Caera Celis to give Alas Pilipinas a different look on offense.

The process had been tough for the recently-reassembled squad, but team manager Karl Chan believes the experience will ultimately make the team better.

‘What matters is that we learn from every game and use those lessons to get better,’ Chan said. ‘Alas Pilipinas has played well despite having so little time to build chemistry.’

‘This team had been together for only about a week before we left for Chile, while you can see that the other teams have had much more time to play and develop together,’ he added.

The latest discovery came in the rematch against Venezuela on Saturday as Mauricio helped provide the needed third-set spark on the right side-the 14-year-old lefty finishing with nine points for her biggest output in the championship.

Hernandez and Sadia also came up with timely contributions in that stretch, although the Philippines’s comeback bid ultimately fell short, 22-25, 15-25, 25-20, 22-25.

Whether those discoveries will translate to another competitive performance will be tested against No. 22 Czechia in the battle for 15th place on Sunday at Parque Estadio Nacional.

Czechia is coming off a five-set loss to Peru and will also try to finish with a flourish.

Still the best finish for Alas

THE Alas Pilipinas Girls have learned that having the firepower to upset some of the best and being prepared to sustain that level in the demanding grind of a world championship are two entirely different things.

Coach Edwin Leyva and the rest of the coaching staff reminded the Alas Pilipinas Girls that they have done what nobody saw coming by reaching the Round of 16-on the strength of victories over No. 8 Mexico and No 20 Tunisia-and that the losses that followed, also against higher-rated foes, don’t diminish what they had accomplished. By making the Round of 16, this Alas Pilipinas squad has achieved the best finish ever by a Philippine volleyball team in any world championship.

The Bryan Bagunas-led squad fell just short of the Round of 16 in the FIVB Volleyball Men’s World Championship last year in the Philippines, while a team placed 18th in the 1974 FIVB Women’s Volleyball World Championship in Mexico.

Entering the tournament No. 25 in the world, the Philippines is the second-lowest-ranked team in the 24-team field, ahead of only No. 27 Spain.

Alas Pilipinas Girls-backed by the Philippine Sports Commission, Philippine Olympic Committee and Asics-have punched well above their weight.

They were determined to turn the tables on Venezuela after losing in five sets in pool play, and even had the edge in blocks, 7-5, and serves, 11-7, in Saturday’s playoff. But the young Filipinas couldn’t match Venezuela’s attacking output, with the South Americans dominating, 59-45.

Rayco, the top scorer for the Philippine team that earned its place in this world championship through the Asian Volleyball Confederation U16 Championship, showed the way for Alas with 15 points on 11 attacks, three aces and a block.

Caera Celis continued her solid play and scored 14 on 13 attacks and a block. Megan Hernandez delivered five points and Jhenica Sadia added three.

Amanda Estefania Pacheco Gonzalez led Venezuela with 17 points, while Colina Lezama Yalesca Lileagne scored 15.

The USA reached the final without dropping a set, sweeping aside No. 1 and defending champion China, 25-13, 25-15, 25-19.

Turkiye earned the other spot in the title match after defeating Chinese Taipei, 25-15, 25-22, 25-22.

‘He’s back for good,’ Wowee Posadas says of Bong Peñera – the esteemed Filipino musician and composer who left the country in 1980 and had been based in the United States for over 30 years.

Posadas will host a homecoming gig for Peñera on Sunday, Aug. 16, at 19 East, which will reunite him with drummer Cesar Yumping and bassist Paul Candelaria of the Batucada, plus young singer Yanni Dee.

Peñera was a top-quality act in the ’70s. If Pinoy rock, folk, and pop comprised the mass-audience firmament of OPM, jazz occupied a special spot with Peñera as one of its purveyors.

He was said to have started tinkering with the piano at age 5, later entering the Centro Escolar University Conservatory of Music in 1968 while forming a jazz band named Shades of Latin, and playing his first gigs at a place called Carbungco’s in Quezon City.

By 1973, he had a new group, the Batucada – named after a percussive style of samba, an Afro-Brazilian dance that became a trend-setting music genre.

Peñera adopted the rhythms of samba and its laid-back cousin, bossa nova, melding the music with a Filipino touch. Pretty soon, the Batucada was going places and drawing audiences at Pension Filipina, Bacchus Pub, and Batik Inn.

And then things got more interesting. In a span of three years, Peñera recorded a trilogy of all-original albums: ‘A Samba Song’ (1976), ‘Batucada sa Calesa’ (’77), and ‘Bong Peñera’ (’78).

Fans loved ‘A Samba Song’ because it was different – not noisy but not too soft either. It introduced the Batucada sound, in which the repetitive beats and rhythms of drums (Ding Poblete), bass (Sonny Nabong), and percussion (Nick Boogie) did not have to be boring, especially if enhanced by the flute (Pete Canzon).

Peñera himself sang intimately on several numbers, as if he were beside you while playing the piano with vibrancy.

The title track featured two versions – one with Portuguese lyrics sung by a Brazilian, Maria Dulce Soares de Silva, and the other with Filipino/English lines by Peñeraand Norma Ramirez. In all instances, the message was simple: Life can be more fun if one danced the samba with a partner.

The other songs were moody, personal reflections, including one on his mother (‘Rosita Maria), the inspiration behind the independently produced album’s label, Penny Rose.

The follow-up release, ‘Batucada sa Calesa,’ bore Vicor Records’ Blackgold imprint, with a CBS Sony logo signifying its international release, which meant Peñera had arrived. The title track captured the mood and spirit of the Filipino fiesta while assimilating a musical branch of Latin America.

At the time, the Batucada (Nabong, Yumping, guitarist Jun Enriquez, and female vocalist Mila Garcia) was one of the live music attractions at the Hyatt Regency’s Calesa Bar – hence the album title.

It also contained a track Peñera wrote for his wife (‘Samba for Luisa’), as well as lyrical explorations of where the music could take him – ‘Beat Contemplation,’ originally from the first album but with vocals; ‘Two Themed Samba,’ a playful romp featuring acoustic and electric piano; ‘Lullaby,’ a modern kundiman take on someone putting a lover to sleep; ‘Go,’ a bittersweet view of splitting up; and ‘Tell Me,’ about the anxieties of a relationship on the rocks.

In his third self-titled album, Peñera went on an adventure – adding flugelhorn and trumpet (Fred Concepcion), saxophone (Rudy Sugcang), and two sets of session players to his basic quartet lineup: Candelaria and Sonny Tolentino alternating on bass; Fred Alidon and Edmond Fortuno on drums; with Dingdong and Totoy Boogie on percussion; and Pat Castillo and Patrice Elaine Balquiedra singing one track each.

Imagine Anak Bayan’s Fortuno and Tolentino switching off their rock ‘n’ roll chops and anchoring the three-part movement of the Latin jazz instrumental ‘Ode,’ and accompanying Castillo in the swinging ‘Love Notes.’

Peñera also includes his interpretation of ‘Sa Dako Pa Roon’ from the stage musical ‘Sinta,’ whose soundtrack in the movie version he arranged.

All told, these lead to a great listening experience, rain or shine. If you don’t have the vinyl records, YouTube is a good alternative.

Better yet, go to 19 East this Sunday night. Entrance is free.