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Torta is probably one of the most versatile viands that you can ever cook for breakfast, brunch, lunch or dinner. Change the ingredients, add flour, bind with beaten eggs, form into patties, coat with breadcrumbs (or not!), fry in hot oil until golden, and you’ve got a delicious meal with hot, steaming rice.

With this prep and cooking technique, you can make Tortang Talong, Tortang Giniling, Tortang Gulay, Beef Torta, and, yes, Tortang Alamang as well. There are endless possibilities.

This is why Mama Sita’s marketing executive and weekend kitchen warrior Ces Nepomuceno-Gamad loves making different kinds of torta.

‘Not only does it stretch your proteins or vegetables, but it’s also a great way to make a simple egg dish much more satisfying,’ she said.

‘In general, Torta needs about five to six eggs for every cup of filling, whether that’s alamang, vegetables (like talong), meat or combination, it can be adjusted with more eggs or additional starch as needed to make the torta firmer as desired,” she added.

She shares her recipe of Tortang Alamang, which she loves to make when she finds really fresh alamang (tiny shrimps or krill) in the market.

Tortang Alamang

Ingredients:

6 medium eggs

2 tbsps. cornstarch or all-purpose flour

Some chopped spring onion

1 cup fresh alamang

Ground black pepper to taste

1/2 cup cooking oil for frying

Procedure:

1. Beat eggs in a bowl.

2. Mix in flour or cornstarch, chopped spring onion, and fresh alamang. Season with ground black pepper. Note: There is no need to add salt since alamang is already naturally salty.

3. Heat oil in a kawali (wok or pan) over medium heat. Ladle a scoop of the torta mixture into the hot oil, form into a patty, and fry until the edges are golden and crispy. Flip and fry the other side until cooked through.

4. Remove patties from oil and drain off excess oil on paper towels.

5. Serve hot with spiced vinegar.

Yield: 6 pcs. small tortas

Jollibee Foods Corp. (JFC) is taking full ownership and operational control of Tim Ho Wan’s North America business.

Tim Ho Wan, a wholly owned brand of JFC, has signed definitive agreements with its long-standing joint venture partner, WDI Corp., to realign their partnership across North America and Japan.

Under the deal, Tim Ho Wan will acquire WDI’s 30 percent interest in the joint venture that operates the Tim Ho Wan platform across North America, making it the sole owner.

Tim Ho Wan will pay WDI approximately $5.05 million for the North America realignment.

JFC said the transaction is an important step in accelerating Tim Ho Wan’s growth in one of the group’s priority international growth markets.

It provides Tim Ho Wan full ownership and control of the platform, with the ability to independently operate, develop, franchise and appoint franchise partners across the region.

Upon completion, Tim Ho Wan’s North America platform will include five stores in the US, comprising three company-owned stores and two franchised locations.

JFC said it plans further expansion through franchising.

‘North America is one of Tim Ho Wan’s most important growth markets, and taking full ownership of the platform gives us greater flexibility to invest in, expand and franchise the brand as we pursue its next phase of growth,’ Tim Ho Wan CEO Yeong Sheng Lee said.

In a complementary transaction, JFC said WDI would acquire Tim Ho Wan’s 30 percent interest in the joint venture that holds the unit franchise rights for the brand in Japan.

WDI will own 100 percent of the franchise rights vehicle responsible for developing and overseeing the Tim Ho Wan brand in Japan.

The publicly listed restaurant company headquartered in Tokyo will pay Tim Ho Wan about 166.1 million Japanese yen for the Japan realignment.

WDI currently operates four Tim Ho Wan stores in Japan: three in Tokyo and one in Osaka.

‘Japan is our home market, and this realignment allows WDI to take full ownership of Tim Ho Wan’s operations here, so we can fully apply our operating expertise and capabilities to grow the brand for Japanese diners,’ WDI president Ken Shimizu said.

‘This step lets each of us focus on the markets where we are best positioned to drive long-term value, and we’re excited about the road ahead together,’ he said.

Tokyo Olympic bronze medalist Eumir Marcial is set to engage in a pro fight at the Pechanga Resort Casino in Temecula, California, on Sept. 19 and with the Aichi-Nagoya Games boxing event to start four days later, ABAP president Marcus Manalo is inclined to write him off the Philippine roster.

‘Eumir isn’t closing the door on the Asian Games and is willing to fly to Nagoya in time for his first fight,’ said Manalo. ‘The draw is on Sept. 20 and Eumir’s opening bout is on Sept. 23. I think it’s too tight. The circumstances aren’t favorable. There’s no guarantee that Eumir will do an easy fight on Sept. 19. What if he suffers an injury or a cut that won’t make him ready to fight in Nagoya? No need to force it. My advice is if Eumir’s pro fight is confirmed, to focus on the pros. There’s a big difference in how you fight in the pros and the Olympic style. It’s like the difference in training for a middle-distance runner and a sprinter.’

Manalo said if Marcial skips Nagoya, his Plan B is to bring in another pro Weljon Mindoro, a bronze medalist in the last SEA Games, as replacement. ‘In our long list of entries by name for the Asian Games, we included Weljon,’ he said. ‘There’s a possibility that if we’re unable to send a fighter in Eumir’s weight class, OCA may sanction POC. Weljon has a pro fight (against Mexico’s Carlos Ocampo) in Los Angeles on Aug. 29 but there’s time for him to join our camps in Bangkok and Japan before the Asian Games.’

Manalo said Marcial remains committed to qualify for the 2028 LA Olympics. ‘If Eumir won’t fight in Nagoya, there’s still the Asian Indoor and Martial Arts Games in Riyadh on Dec. 11-21 and the first Olympic qualifier is the World Championships in Kazakhstan in April,’ noted Manalo. ‘In Riyadh, we’re limited to three boxers but replacements may be made in a different weight division unlike in Nagoya, if we replace Eumir, it has to be in his same division.’ Marcial is now in Las Vegas training with coaches Joven Jimenez, Rey Galido and Kay Koroma.

Intensifying partisanship and deepening polarization will inevitably spill over into all our institutions of governance. This includes the judiciary.

We all saw how the ombudsman moved with unusual swiftness in charging Sen. Rodante Marcoleta and three others with plunder. On receipt of the rather bizarre charges, the courts had no recourse but to jail the accused and deprive them the right to bail as prescribed by a rather imperfect law.

The detention of Marcoleta et al effectively silenced the group. Until they were arrested for plunder for donations made to an electoral campaign, Marcoleta and Mike Defensor specifically were actively digging into allegations money looted from flood control projects flowed to a number of highly placed politicians. Some believe silencing the duo is the point of it all.

The ombudsman, likewise, announced that an investigation is currently underway on Sen. Loren Legarda and her son Rep. Leandro Leviste over legislation that benefitted the son’s solar energy investments. Not coincidentally, the NBI declares it uncovered a plot allegedly financed by Leviste to lure Executive Secretary Ralph Recto into an embarrassing predicament. Leviste denies the accusation.

More recently, the Department of Justice filed charges of grave threats against the sitting Vice President. The charges involve the same stressful incident for which the Vice President was impeached by the House. The impeachment is currently being tried in the Senate, with the public exhibiting increasing disinterest in the proceedings. Some see the filing of grave threat charges in regular court as a back-up plan in case the prosecution in the Senate trial fail to win conviction.

The Vice President has asked the court to quash the case. Her camp obviously sees the filing of such a case as an attempt to subject the second highest official of the land to the humiliation of appearing before a court to post bail on a case of doubtful merit.

The motive for filing the case may be pure harassment. But the court is obliged to accept the case, go through the motions of assessing its merits and, in all possibility, proceed to trial.

More than the other cases that might be described as ‘lawfare’ by a ruling faction determined to silence its critics, the charge brought against the Vice President for utterances made during a moment of extreme emotional distress could be politically explosive. Beyond examining the merits of the case, the public will be paying intense attention to the behavior of the judiciary.

The judge presiding in this case will be subjected to great scrutiny by partisans of either side. Their leanings will be ruthlessly examined. Anything the judge says will be speculated upon. Such is the way things go in this age of social media – and especially in a country where well-endowed troll armies try to shape public opinion.

Cases such as this one will test the mettle of our judiciary. It cannot avoided cases – no matter how unseemly – that land on its lap. The best it could do is to act with impeccable neutrality and decide on the basis of its best lights.

The corruption scandal and all the accumulated incompetence tarred our institutions. Both the executive and legislative branches of our tripartite government have lost the public’s trust. We see that in the terrible numbers all the reputable opinion polls deliver.

Our judiciary has somehow weathered the collapse in public confidence in the two other branches of government. So far.

Despite all the constant whispers of corruption committed by what Joseph Estrada so famously called ‘hoodlums in robes,’ trust in the judiciary somehow subsists. In a season where there is general distrust of government, the judiciary somehow commands some respect. This condition, however, is tenuous.

The expectation is for the courts to act with utmost prudence and propriety to keep the public’s trust. In this particularly challenged time, when everything else seems to fail, the courts offer all of us some hope that justice somehow prevails. Hopefully the judiciary does not break under great political pressure.

The Supreme Court, to be sure, is feeling the challenge of this age where our politics threatens to go completely awry. The bench found the courage to declare the first impeachment effort against the VP to be unconstitutional. That first impeachment attempt was barbaric.

The Court was courageous when it found the transfer of PhilHealth funds unconstitutional. By command of the Court, the funds where returned to health care.

A parallel case, where funds of the Philippine Deposit Insurance Corporation (PDIC), which belongs to depositors, were commandeered by the government, may deserve the Court’s scrutiny. The Court is asking inconvenient questions about Congress’ actions on ‘insertions’ and ‘unprogrammed funds’ that could lead to rulings about improper budgeting. Probable rulings on this matter could serve to reduce the space for looting.

The irresponsible behavior of both the executive and legislative branches of government opened the nation to the monumental betrayal that happened. To be sure, there is need to correct procedures and practices that led all of us to chronic failure in governance.

It might be too much to ask the judiciary to save us from failed governance. Some of what needs to be done is beyond its own institutional means to accomplish.

But in every case where combatants choose to use our courts as arenas for political scheming, we hope the sense of fairness never fails.

Cebu City reportedly spends P2M to dispose of collected waste to the landfill in Aloguinsan, about 62 km away.

To bring its total daily 700 tons of collected waste to Aloguinsan, Cebu City pays about P3,906 per ton or an estimated P2M daily.

This is huge compared to the P1,100 per ton paid to dispose its garbage to Binaliw Landfill which remains closed to Cebu City collected waste since the January 8 landslide tragedy.

Note that the P2M is spent daily for waste disposal alone. The higher the waste volume collected, transported, the more Cebu City will need to pay.

If, however, the waste volume is less/reduced/segregated, Cebu City will pay less daily.

It’s important for Cebu City to review its present waste management solution to its waste problem/emergency, starting from a consensus of what the problem is and most especially, its cause/s.

What’s the present/continuing waste problem/emergency? Are these the waste problems – waste volume, collection, disposal, cost, and lack of a closer disposal site?

Looking more closely, the above-mentioned are problems present with waste that have already been generated and accumulated.

If there are no/less wastes generated/thrown, there will be no need to collect/dispose any waste, right?

Shouldn’t the solution to the waste problem/emergency start from its source/cause?

Generated/accumulated garbage/waste come from human/domestic/commercial/ industrial/agricultural/healthcare/construction/demolition sources.

Generated garbage is also unsegregated by type, another source of the waste problem.

Hence, simply put, Cebu City’s waste problem is clearly caused by various waste generators, those who generate/throw wastes of various types, without segregation.

Waste generators, waste generation and segregation or non-segregation, therefore, should be part of the solution for the city’s present/continuing waste problem/emergency.

Cebu City’s waste problem/emergency should not be anchored on the city’s conventional paradigm for waste management- focused on truck-based collection and disposal only.

If this mainstream, conventional waste management paradigm persists, then expect Cebu City waste problem and budget to continue and increase!

This waste management paradigm continued by past/present Cebu City government IS part of the problem since it ignores or neglects the more important cause of the waste problem –waste generators and generation of unsegregated waste.

If the waste budget of Cebu City will be reviewed and evaluated, it will not be surprising to note the absence/lack of any committed funds addressed to waste generators, waste generation and segregation.

Cebu City’s waste problem/emergency will therefore continue, as past decades have confirmed, unless Cebu City addresses, commits attention and resources to waste generators, waste generation and waste segregation (including waste avoidance, reduction, recycling and other Rs).

The council has demanded for Mayor Archival to present his WM road map to resolve the waste problem/emergency.

If the council will only review RA 9003, the WM road map has already been specified by this law since 2001- participative, inclusive waste management from generators, organizational mechanisms from barangays to all levels of government, required MRFs, no collection-no segregation policies, fees/penalties and so on.

The road map has been there since 2001, but COMPLIANCE, STRICT IMPLEMENTATION, POLITICAL WILL absent since 2001 till now.

Had these been present, Cebu City would not have to spend more than ?600 million annually for waste collection/disposal/emergency.

Is the Cebu City government ready to include waste reduction, avoidance, recycling and the waste generators/generation as part of the problem and solution?

For a trial period of at least 6 months, can it allow for a portion of the present daily ?2M disposal fees to be used as incentives for waste segregators/segregation/reduction in barangays?

If waste is segregated, reduced, recycled/reused instead per barangay, total waste volume for disposal to Aloguinsan will be less.

During the trial period, barangay constituents to be tapped for barangay waste segregation with diverted funds from Aloguinsan dispoal will have daily food/steady livelihood, thanks to CC officials!

The cast and filmmakers of DreamWorks Animation’s ‘Forgotten Island’ are saying, ‘Tayo Na, Philippines!’

Lead voice cast Liza Soberano and H.E.R., directors Januel Mercado and Joel Crawford, and producer Mark Swift will visit the Philippines on August 25 for a special celebration of ‘Forgotten Island’ and the culture at the heart of the film.

As the first international destination to welcome the cast and filmmakers, the Philippines will host a series of special events and screenings, giving local audiences the opportunity to experience the film alongside the creative team behind it.

The ‘Tayo Na, Philippines!’ visit is also a meaningful homecoming for members of the cast and filmmaking team. Liza Soberano and H.E.R. return to celebrate the film with local audiences, joined by Filipino-American director Januel Mercado and director Joel Crawford, whose wife and family are Filipino. Producer Mark Swift also made several trips to the Philippines during the film’s development, immersing himself in the country’s culture as the filmmakers brought its Filipino-inspired world to life.

Fans can join the celebration when the cast and filmmakers visit the ‘Tayo Na, Philippines!’ Forgotten Island event at the SM Mall of Asia Main Atrium on August 25 at 7 pm.

DreamWorks Animation, the studio that brought unforgettable bonds between a boy and a dragon in ‘How to Train Your Dragon,’ an ogre and a donkey in Shrek, and a robot and a gosling in ‘The Wild Robot,’ now welcomes a dazzling and emotional story about two lifelong best friends who must come together before they drift apart in ‘Forgotten Island.’

The new original film is written and directed by Academy Award® nominee Joel Crawford and Januel Mercado and is produced by Academy Award® nominee Mark Swift, the filmmaking team behind ‘Puss in Boots: The Last Wish.’

Grammy and Academy Award® winning supernova H.E.R. and Liza Soberano (Lisa Frankenstein, Alone/Together) star as high school graduates Jo and Raissa, who have been best friends since grade school but are now about to embark on separate life paths. While celebrating their last night together, Jo and Raissa stumble upon a mysterious portal that transports them to the fantastical island of Nakali, packed with magical and mythological creatures they grew up hearing stories about from their Filipino families.

Some of these figures will become friends, some foes. Joined by well-meaning-but- hapless weredog Raww (Dave Franco) and a small-but-mighty pack of pals, Jo and Raissa must face The Dreaded Manananggal (Tony winning icon Lea Salonga), the most feared creature on the island. When they discover that the memories of their entire friendship are the price for returning home, Jo and Raissa will race to find a way to leave the island before they forget each other forever.

The film’s all-star voice cast also includes Emmy nominee Jenny Slate (Marcel the Shell with Shoes On, Dying for Sex), Manny Jacinto (The Good Place, Top Gun: Maverick), BAFTA nominee Dolly de Leon (Triangle of Sadness, Ghostlight), global comedy superstar Jo Koy (Haunted Mansion, Jo Koy: Live from Brooklyn) and Emmy winner Ronny Chieng (The Daily Show, M3GAN).

Take a trip to ‘Forgotten Island,’ arriving in Philippine cinemas on September 23.

Going out with a bang.

Despite seeing its three-peat dreams get dashed earlier in the day, Strong Group Athletics (SGA) powered in a statement win over the semifinal-bound Chinese Taipei – Blue, 117-74, Thursday evening at the Xingzhuang Gymnasium in Taiwan.

SGA finished the group stage with a 5-1 win-loss record, good for the second-seeded finish, but they failed to make it to the semifinals.

According to the tournament’s rules, Taiwan – Blue, which finished the group stage with a 1-5 slate, automatically heads to the semifinal round. Thus, only the top seed of Group A, which turned out to be the Wonju DB Promy, will punch another ticket to the next round.

In the non-bearing game, the Philippine-based squad made sure to leave it all on the court against the home team.

Isaiah Pineiro had a double-double in the win, finishing with 22 points, 13 rebounds and five assists. Remy Martin added 19 markers while Matthew Wright chipped in 18.

SGA opened the match with guns blazing, jumping to a 25-17 lead in the first quarter.

They completely eviscerated their opponents in the middle quarters, outscoring them 67-32.

Titing Manalili added 13 points for SGA to go with eight assists and six rebounds, while Boban Marjanovic had 12 markers and six boards.

Ming-Jun Xie finished with 18 points for Taipei – Blue. Chiang-Shuang Chen contributed 14 markers while Jonah Morrison had 12.

SGA will take on Jordan in the fifth-place game on Friday, 7 p.m., at the same venue.

Palace Press Officer Claire Castro defended herself on Wednesday, August 19, after drawing criticism for claiming earlier that some teachers violate moral standards.

Castro said in a press briefing that her previous statement was not meant to blame teachers but rather to remind them of the significance of their role in providing guidance to young people.

The Palace spokesperson was under fire after she accused some teachers in a press briefing on Tuesday, August 18, of teaching improper behavior to their students.

‘Minsan na po nating nakita, mismo ang ibang mga guro ay lumalabag sa ganitong klase ng moralidad. Sila minsan ay nagtuturo sa kanilang mga estudyante kung papaano maging walang modo, lalong-lalo na sa mga nakakatanda or sa mga ibang tao,’ Castro said on Tuesday.

(We have seen it before that some teachers violate these moral standards. They sometimes teach their students how to be ill-mannered, especially towards elders or other people.)

Castro’s statements came following the school shooting incident in Zamboanga City, in which the alleged shooter was a junior high school student.

Teachers’ groups ACT Teachers Party-list and Teacher’s Dignity Coalition pushed back and slammed Castro for appearing to put the blame on teachers.

”Yung ating mga guro ngayon kailangan ng suporta, hindi po ng paninisi at pagtuturo sa mga problemang ito,’ ACT Teachers Party-list Chairperson Ruby Bernardo told GMA’s ‘Unang Hirit’ earlier Thursday.

(Our teachers today need support, not blame or being pointed to as the cause of these problems.)

In response, Castro brought up photos to back up her claims, including students heckling President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. when he visited Davao City in July and a screenshot of a video of a male teacher allegedly teaching his students insulting words against the president.

‘Naiintindihan ko po kung saan nanggagaling ang mga guro, at wala po tayong sinabi na sila ang dapat sisihin. Ipinapakita lamang po natin kung gaano kalaki ang kanilang role bilang pangalawang magulang sa ating mga kabataan,’ Castro said.

(I understand where the teachers are coming from, and we never said that they should be blamed. We are only pointing out how significant their role is as second parents to our young people.)

Castro refused to apologize for her statement and maintained that she did not blame the teachers, adding that ACT Teachers’ Party-list had put her statement in the wrong context.

‘Iniisip ko kung saan ba dapat na sabihin kong mali ako. Maliwanag ‘yung aking pagkakasabi, nagkaroon lang ng maling konteksto nung sinabi ng ACT Teachers Party-list na sinisisi ko ang mga guro,’ Castro added.

(I’m thinking about where I should say that I was wrong. What I said was clear; it was simply taken out of context when ACT Teachers Party-list said that I was blaming the teachers.)

Team North staved off the late fightback of South to post a crucial 7-5 victory in Foursomes in Day 2 of the ICTSI North vs South Elite Junior PGT Championship at the Pueblo de Oro Golf and Country Club yesterday.

South pulled within striking distance at 4-6 and needed only to win the final two matches to salvage a dramatic overall draw for the day but North held its nerve.

Jakob Taruc and Nathan Belandres battled from three holes down in the stretch and forced Clement Ordeneza and Sebastian Sajuela to an all-square finish, while Mona Sarines and Kendra Garingalao likewise halved their match against Tashanah Balanguan and Precious Zaragosa, with both matches ending level in the 15-18 division.

Those two halves proved decisive.

North forced South to split the day’s final two points en route to the escape act that stretched its lead to 14 ½ against 9 ½ heading into the remaining singles matches.

Finding time to pause has become a luxury. At Savoy Hotel Manila, wellness begins with a simple invitation: slow down, reconnect and make time to feel restored.

Inspired by the calming qualities of the sampaguita, the Philippines’ national flower, the hotel brings wellness, Filipino culture and hospitality together through its Sampaguita Brand of Service-creating thoughtful experiences that nurture the body, calm the mind and uplift the spirit.

The Sampaguita Wellness Staycation is designed for Guests seeking a meaningful pause. From a sampaguita-inspired welcome drink, Granola Bar and Polvoron turndown treat to a calming room scent, Sampaguita-inspired dining, and a relaxing Sampaguita Oil Massage, every detail encourages guests to rest, breathe and reconnect. The experience comes alive through the five senses: taste through sampaguita-inspired dishes, smell through its signature scent, touch through the Sampaguita Oil Massage, sight through the warm smiles and genuine care of associates, and hearing through Filipino music that welcomes guests upon arrival.

But the sampaguita experience extends beyond the hotel. Through community partnerships and livelihood initiatives, Savoy supports the cultivation of sampaguita for bouquets, scents, oils and culinary use, helping support more than 5,000 families through sampaguita-based livelihood programs. This includes the planting of sampaguita seedlings in Pasay City, as well as efforts to plant the national flower in heritage sites and public spaces for future generations.

Guests can also become part of this purpose through the Plant a Sampaguita Project. Donations and purchases of the hotel’s Sparky plush help fund the planting of sampaguita seedlings in public spaces-turning a small act of kindness into a lasting legacy.

For Savoy Hotel Manila, wellness is more than taking a break. It is about reconnecting with oneself, Filipino culture, community and purpose.

Reconnect with yourself and experience the soothing essence of sampaguita-where every thoughtful detail is designed to leave you feeling refreshed, restored and renewed.