BusinessMirror October 31, 2020

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Saturday, October 31, 2020 Vol. 16 No. 23

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THE HALF-BLIND LAUNDRY LIST

Senate not keen on passing AML law just yet, despite risk of being greylisted

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By Bianca Cuaresma

ESPITE the threat of the country being on the bad side of international finance watchdogs again, lawmakers will not be rushed into giving blanket approval to the proposed amendments to the AntiMoney Laundering Act of 2001. They believe the specifics of the law could be used for overregulation, inequality in implementation and harassment.

One glaring observation they made: the proposed amendments subject to constant scrutiny realestate transactions set at a very low threshold (P1 million), when money-laundering regulators cannot even detect wrongdoing by Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators (POGOs) that transact by the billions.

The Committee on Banks, Financial Institutions and Currencies discussed in a hearing this week steps to strengthen Republic Act 9160 or the Anti-Money Laundering Law.

The Anti-Money Laundering Act was enacted in 2001 to ensure that the Philippines shall not be used as a money-laundering site for the pro-

ceeds of any unlawful activity.

However, the international money-laundering watchdog Financial Action Task Force (FATF) said the current anti-money laundering (AML) law of the Philippines does not meet the globally practiced standard.

As a result, the Philippines was then placed under a 12-month observation period by the FATF in October 2019, following the country’s evaluation. However, in view of the general pause in the review process due to the pandemic, the observation period was extended until February 2021.

Under this 12-month observation period, the Philippines must address the recommended actions to

avoid being included on the international organization’s grey list. Being on the grey list is expected to result in an additional layer of scrutiny from international regulators and financial institutions and will increase the cost of doing business and delay the processing of transactions.

According to FATF’s data, there are currently 18 countries on its grey list. These are Albania, the Bahamas, Barbados, Botswana, Cambodia, Ghana, Iceland, Jamaica, Mauritius, Mongolia, Myanmar, Nicaragua, Pakistan, Panama, Syria, Uganda, Yemen and Zimbabwe.

Contentious amendments

SENATORS, however, called for

further time and review of the proposed additional powers for the AML Council (AMLC). Among those that concerned senators include the oversight in the real-estate sector, inequality of oversight among various sectors, proper definition of scope of terms and grant of juridical powers to the agency.

“We must be very careful here, because indeed, while we know that we should not be used as a haven for terrorist financing, a grant of broad powers can result in abuses,” Sen. Franklin Drilon said.

Among the heavily debated during the three-hour hearing was the proposal to subject real-estate Continued on A2

The messy, booming business of recycling cruise ships

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By Fran Golden | Bloomberg News

ARNIVAL Fantasy was a ship famous for its outlandish décor, all-night revelry and its size— back when 2,000 was an incredible number of passengers.

The “Fun Ship” vibe it introduced in 1990 came with such whimsical spaces as an Egyptianthemed piano bar, decorated with a fake sarcophagus, and a glitzy glass-topped atrium that was the hub of the social scene.

Today the Fantasy is attracting a whole different breed of bootyseeker. In July, the 30-year-old ship sailed to the Aegean Sea, wrapping its final voyage in the shipbreaking capital of Aliaga, Turkey.

Its resting place there is a demolition yard where old cargo ships, tankers, research vessels— and now cruise ships retired during the Covid-19 pandemic—get torn apart and broken into pieces.

In this case, they’re not being broken in half to get upgraded and stitched back together.

Instead, circling the Fantasy’s partially deconstructed innards are buyers from all sorts of industries, looking for rock-bottom deals on everything from artwork

and kitchenwares to electrical wires and stainless-steel sinks.

For the cruise company, it’s an opportunity to recoup at least some value from an asset that’s currently acting as dead weight; while ships’ values decline with age, the Fantasy was originally built for about $225 million. And for the recycling companies that buy the vessel for cash and take on the hazardous task of emptying all its valuables, it’s a matter of a months-long salvage resale on steroids.

Cutting the losses

IT’S hard to gauge how much money exactly is made off of cruise-ship recycling. Companies don’t immediately disclose the sale prices of the vessels after relinquishing ownership, and the resale value of their most soughtafter commodity, scrap steel, fluctuates in each global market on a daily basis.

Continued on A2

PESO EXCHANGE RATES n US 48.4010

SHIPS being broken down for scrap metal at the Aliaga ship recycling port in Izmir, Turkey. CHRIS MCGRATH/GETTY IMAGES EUROPE

n JAPAN 0.4628 n UK 62.5825 n HK 6.2438 n CHINA 7.2067 n SINGAPORE 35.4119 n AUSTRALIA 34.0259 n EU 56.5082 n SAUDI ARABIA 12.9066

Source: BSP (October 30, 2020)

SEBASTIAN HARMS | DREAMSTIME.COM

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The messy, booming business of recycling cruise ships Continued from A1

But the business is booming.

Next to Carnival Fantasy in Aliaga are two other Fantasy-class ships built in the late 1990s. And next to them are two former Royal Caribbean vessels (scrapped by Royal’s Spanish partner line Pullmantur Cruceros).

The ships all had big fan bases, even as they aged. Fantasy and its sister ships started 2020 full of passengers bent on fun-in-the-sun activities in the Caribbean, Bahamas and Mexican Riviera.

The ships would have left the fleet in coming years even in a healthy industry; the pandemic sped up the process, with owners of idled vessels hemorrhaging cash and looking to cut their losses.

In its third-quarter filing, Carnival Corp. said it planned to sell 18 “less efficient” ships in 2020, resulting in a 12-percent reduction of its nine-brand fleet. “Those ships were giving us a bad drain,” Carnival CEO Arnold Donald said during a recent webinar with the Society of American Travel Writers.

Going, going, gone

WITHOUT much of a market for second-hand tonnage, the main worth of the ships is the steel that makes up the superstructure.

If, for instance, Carnival Fantasy has 15,000 tons of steel in its superstructure, the scrap may sell for upwards of $4.7 million based on current global market prices—though other factors also come into play, such as local prices and demand.

Along with the risk of these market fluctuations, the buyer also takes on the uncertainty of just

how much metal can be salvaged.

Pre-1990s ships tend to have more steel in their hulls and underwater plating, but those built in the ’90s and after can bear lighter and stronger alloys.

Either way, steel and metal scraps will travel to a smelter to make rebar for construction projects around the world. Steel from some other dismantled ships can find its way to Turkey’s large car manufacturing industry, where it might become parts for a Toyota, or a Ford.

Aluminum, copper and stainless steel are also salvaged and resold, along with other valuable commodities that mostly remain in Turkey. The ripped-out teak decks on Fantasy may end up in local shops, restaurants and homes.

Theater scenery and lighting may find its way into show productions.

Even the tackiest artwork has some value, and can end up in restaurants throughout the country.

Buyers come to the yard for everything down to the bolts and nuts. Even if a used toilet sells for a fraction of the shelf price, multiply that amount by a few thousand— given the number of cabins and public spaces on each ship—and it can add up to a substantial sum.

According to Orbay Simsek, vice president of the Aliaga-based Simsekler Ship Recycling Company, there are even markets for kitchenware, closets and blankets.

Basically anything and everything that can be sold, sells. Everything must go. Even the sarcophagus.

Eco-friendly shipbreaking

TAKING apart ships is a controversial topic, thanks to concerns over

FIVE luxury cruise ships being broken down for scrap metal at the Aliaga ship recycling port earlier this month. CHRIS MCGRATH/GETTY IMAGES EUROPE

“The longer the pandemic rages on in the world, the more cruise ships will end up in scrapyards, and my guess is at an increasingly younger age. Even if a vaccine becomes available, how many of us will be comfortable jumping right back on cruise ships?”

—MANWO NG, A MARITIME MANAGEMENT PROFESSOR AT VIRGINIA’S OLD DOMINION UNIVERSITY both human and environmental risks. It’s one of the most dangerous jobs in the world, according to Wouter Rozenveld, director of Sea2Cradle (SC2), an expert in green

ship recycling who was hired by Carnival to oversee the safe dismantling of its ships.

Each Carnival vessel may take up to nine months to break down, he

says, and the blowtorch-based work comes with constant fire hazards.

Those hazards are amplified when the recyclable component pieces, like furniture, cabling,

piping and machinery inside each deck have to be carefully taken apart and separated, says Ehud Bar-Lev, who oversees assessment services at maritime specialist Lloyd’s Register.

The extra steps in disassembly also increase potential for hazardous waste spills, containing everything from oily residues to sludge, asbestos, and coolants in fridges.

To prevent those incidents, the Turkish shipbreaking yard undertakes its work in a concrete holding area that catches debris; in similar facilities throughout India and Bangladesh, the process may happen on the beach. Rather than letting toxic chemicals spew into the water, the Turkish yard collects the materials, has them cataloged

by Sea2Cradle, and then hands them over to the government-run Ship Recycling Association of Turkey for proper disposal.

Carnival Corp. saw these precautions as a marketing opportunity, making a highly unusual move to publicize its efforts as “responsible recycling.” But it was the shipbreaking yard, not Carnival, that saw the biggest windfall as a result: never before has Aliaga seen five mega cruise ships in its harbor.

There may be more coming in the months ahead.

“The longer the pandemic rages on in the world, the more cruise ships will end up in scrapyards, and my guess is at an increasingly younger age,” says ManWo Ng, a maritime management professor at Virginia’s Old Dominion University. “Even if a vaccine becomes available, how many of us will be comfortable jumping right back on cruise ships?”

The half-blind laundry list Continued from A1

transactions of over P1 million to investigation and regulatory submissions.

Senators, along with realestate stakeholders present in the discussion, said this will not only be an additional burden to the real-estate industry, but will also hamper the development of lowcost socialized housing units in the country, some of which already surpass the P1-million threshold.

Drilon rejected a proposal to pass on to 42,000 real-estate agents and brokers the burden of reporting covered and suspicious transactions, saying it should be done by the Land Registration Authority or the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR).

Drilon blocked the proposal under Senate Bill 1412 requiring all real-estate developers and brokers to report to the Anti-Money Laundering Council single cash transactions in excess of P1 million, and other suspicious transactions within five working days from occurrence thereof.

If senators approve this, Drilon warned, all 42,000 real-estate agents and brokers will have to do the following: establish and record the true identity of their clients based on official documents, and maintain a system of verifying the true identity of their clients; record, maintain and store all documents; and report to AMLC all covered and suspicious transactions.

“Under AMLC’s proposal, brokers and agents will now be required to ask their clients where they got their money. And they need to submit tons of requirements to the AMLC. Why burden agents and brokers with all these paper works?” Drilon asked.

Note, Drilon added, that if the real-estate brokers and agents fail to report these transactions to AMLC or they fail to keep the records, they may be imprisoned from six months to four years or be made to pay a fine of not less than P100,000 but not more than P500,000, or both.

“I think this is too much. Let me warn AMLC that we must al-

ways be guided by the requirements of the Constitution. We must always pass a law that is grounded on reason and free from arbitrariness,” said Drilon, a former Justice secretary.

He pointed out that under the current law, AMLC can already require the Land Registration Authority and all its Registries of Deeds to submit to the AMLC, reports on all real-estate transactions involving an amount in excess of P500,000 within 15 days from the date of registration of the transaction, in a form to be prescribed by the AMLC. It may also require the Land Registration Authority and all its Registries of Deeds to submit copies of relevant documents of all real-estate transactions.

Drilon, who was the Senate President when the AMLA was passed in 2000, said requiring 42,000 agents and brokers in the country to submit a report to AMLC for every P1 million transaction, the threshold being proposed, is too much a burden to individuals who are only trying to make a living.

“I can’t understand why we will impose the burden on the private sector. Itong real-estate agents mga individual practitioners, maliliit lang po ito, mostly housewives who would engage in real-estate brokering to earn income on the side. Can you imagine the burden?

We are not talking here about realestate brokers as institutions, you have thousands of real-estate brokers, mom-and-pop operations, housewives, somebody in the family who, to earn extra income, would go into real-estate brokering,” Drilon said.

“Wala na pong gagawin itong real-estate agents kung hindi mag-report sa AMLC. And we are talking about real properties here, hence the threshold of one million is too low. It will cover almost all realestate transactions,” he added.

Drilon said the reports will only pile up in the AMLC without being examined. He further questioned the capacity of AMLC to sift through all the papers and analyze the same.

Drilon said he hopes for the

Philippines “to see the light at the end of the tunnel” on the matter of compliance with the FATF, wondering aloud why the country always gets regular “threats” from the FATF despite having amended the AMLA many times to address the task force’s concerns.

Win: How about POGOs?

SEN. Sherwin Gatchalian, meanwhile, questioned the ALMC’s capability to handle additional powers, when not all sectors are not being covered and investigated equally. Gatchalian pointed out the questionable movement of money among POGOs. “Here we are asking real-estate brokers to fill out so many forms because they have transacted with a million pesos, but the POGOs are transacting by the billions of dollars but we don’t even know who are the ones gambling. We want to know who bought the P1-million socialized housing units but the ones betting abroad we don’t even know if they are drug dealers, terrorists or whatnot. We have to apply the law equally,” Gatchalian said.

Sen. Grace Poe, Banks committee chief, said a further review and stakeholder involvement is needed to pass a law that will “really benefit” the country and not just something that will be passed out of a deadline.

“We have other priority measures in the Senate now. I just want to give you a realistic view. Number one, the budget which was actually submitted to us a little bit delayed.

Number two, we have the CREATE [Corporate Recovery and Tax Incentives for Enterprises] bill that is still pending and is also crucial; and number three—this is also very important that we pass—the FIST [Financial Institutions Strategic Transfer] bill so that we can free up more capital for our banks to lend to MSMEs. All of these things are due before we take a break,” Poe said.

“I’d like to be realistic: if we want a proper debate on this and come up with something that is not just for window dressing that might later on be detrimental to us, please set your sights realistically,” she added.

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Saturday, October 31, 2020

A3

Govt to extend P3.1-B Duterte push seen expediting Powerful Typhoon Rolly to ‘hit hard’ aid to displaced creation of new dept for OFs Quezon, Aurora, Bicol–PAGASA tourism sector

By Samuel P. Medenilla

T

he Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) said it is confident that the proposed new department for Filipinos abroad will be signed before the end of the year.

Labor Undersecretary Joji Aragon said the House of Representatives has already completed its version of the said legislation for the creation of the new department.

While the counterpart bill from the Senate is still in the committee level, she said the pronouncement from Malacañang that President Duterte will certify the legislation as urgent will fast-track its passage.

Last Monday, the President reiterated he wants the proposed department to be created before he ends his term in 2022.

The Presidential Legislative Liaison Office (PLLO) has called for a meeting with concerned government agencies next week to ensure the Executive branch will have a consolidated version, which will be sent to the Senate for consideration.

“I am confident...that under the watch and leadership of the good President and [Labor] Secretar y Silvestre H. Bello III, this will be implemented,” Aragon said during an interview with PTV. Aragon said DOLE supports the proposal for the creation of the new department, which will “bundle up” all the needed services for Filipinos, who have already immigrated abroad and overseas Filipino workers (OFW), even as she stressed that the proposed department will not promote overseas deployment as a national policy.

Migrant advocate groups have criticized the proposed department, saying it will institutionalize the deployment of OFWs abroad.

They also consider the move as a waste of government resources since it would entail a lot of costs to be created and may even disrupt existing services rendered to Filipinos abroad.

There are an estimated 10 million Filipinos abroad who are expected to be covered by the new department.

By Jonathan L. Mayuga

T

y phoon Rolly continues to intensify over the past 24 hours as it moves toward Infanta, Quezon.

While it is not likely to develop into a super typhoon, Rolly is expected to make landfall and hit hard Quezon, Aurora and Bicol region area, Raymond Ordinario, weather specialist at the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA), said.

“It is unlikely to become a super typhoon but we are not completely ruling out the possibility because it continues to intensify,” he said.

In its tropical cyclone warning issued at 5 p.m. on Friday, PAGASA said

the typhoon is forecast to continuously intensify over the Philippine Sea. At 4 p.m. the eye of the typhoon was located at 980 kilometers east of Casiguran. It is packing maximum sustained winds of 185 kilometers per hour (kph) near the center and gustiness of up to 230 kph and is moving westward at 20 kph.

Rolly is forecast to move westsout hwest w a rd u nt i l tomor row evening and will turn west-northwestward as it moves over the sea off the coast of the Bicol region toward the eastern coast of AuroraQuezon area.

The typhoon is likely to make landfall over the Aurora-Quezon area on Sunday evening, or Monday early morning, the weather bulletin reported.

“Even if the weather looks good, people in the path of the typhoon, especially those in Quezon, Aurora and the Bicol region should not be complacent. Precautionary measures should be put in place.

The probability of crossing is high, which means it w i l l rea l ly pass through Quezon, Aurora and the Bicol region,” he said.

According to PAGASA, light to moderate to heavy rains is expected over the Bicol region, Eastern and Central Visayas, Caraga, Northern Mindanao, Zamboanga Peninsula, Batanes, Cagayan and Isabela.

It would likely bring heav y to intense rains over Northern and Central Luzon and Bicol region on Saturday, or Sunday.

DFA creates fact-finding team to probe ‘cruelty’ rap vs. PHL envoy to Brazil

By Recto Mercene

A

fact-finding team tasked investigate allegations of “cruelty” against the country’s envoy to Brazil, Ambassador Marichu Mauro, has been formed after the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) received the go-signal to proceed with the probe from Malacañang.

“It [the investigation] starts now,” Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro Locsin Jr., said.

The country’s top envoy said he received Presidential Directive 2020-196 “directing

the DFA to investigate the alleged abusive conduct of the Philippine Ambassador to Brazil, confirming his verbal authorization.”

“We have 15 days to report to the Presidential Management Staff,” Locsin said in a series of tweets.

The team, he added, will be composed of Consul General to Sydney, Ezzedin H. Tago; Ambassador to Netherlands, Jaime B. Ledda; Narciso Castañeda of the DFA Bids and Awards Committee; and Atty. Ihna Alyssa Marie Santos of the department’s Human Resources Management Office (HRMO).

Locsin explained that administrative proceedings will be initiated by the issuance of a “show-cause” to the parties involved.

“The HRMO will then conduct a preliminary investigation, after which, a report will be submitted to the Office of the DFA Secretary.”

“A very good team!,” Susan “Toots” Ople, advocate of overseas Filipino workers’ (OFW) rights said, adding that Ambassador Tago was the former envoy to Saudi Arabia, while Ledda used to be consul general in Macau.

“I hope they would be able to reach out to the aggrieved domestic worker. Sila na sana

pumunta sa worker kesa papuntahin pa sa DFA. [They should pay the worker a visit rather than asking her to go to the DFA],” Ople added.

“I am reaching out to her with financial help right now as an OFW, without any conditions because we are DFA not animals; we help the helpless period, no exchange; helping is its own exchange. It is our job to help, Locsin, a Harvard-trained lawyer, said.

He added: “If there’s prima facie case, I issue a formal charge prepared by OTLA [Office of Treaties and Legal Affairs], pursuant to Sec 51 of RA 7157.”

He said chiefs of mission commissioned by the President as ambassadors shall not be subjected to formal investigation without Presidential approval, “which triggers the formation of the hearing panel, which shall submit a report to the Board of Foreign Service Administration, which shall [then] submit its recommendation to the Secretary, who shall submit his recommendation to the President.”

DFA sources said Mauro is expected to return to Manila on or before November 6 to face the investigating team and to comply with the recall order issued by Locsin early this week.

workers–DOLE exec

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nother P3.1 billion from the Bayanihan to Recover as One Act (Bayanihan 2) was allocated to the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) to help tourism industry workers who lost their jobs amid the Covid-19 pandemic.

In an interview with PTV on Friday, Labor Undersecretary Joji Aragon said this was on top of the P13billion budget allotted for the implementation of their Covid-19 Adjustment Measures Program (CAMP), Abot Kamay ang Pagtulong (AKAP), Tulong Panghanapbuhay sa Ating Disadvantaged/Displaced Worker (TUPAD).

She said the additional fund will be used to provide subsidies, livelihood or training to some 616,000 pandemic-affected tourism workers.

DOLE is now coordinating with the Department of Tourism (DOT) for the implementation of the program.

Aragon explained the government provided specific assistance for the displaced workers in the tourism sector since it was among the industries adversely affected by the pandemic.

Initial release

DOLE Financial and Management Service (FMS) Director Warren M. Miclat said the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) had already released an initial P13.1 billion of its P16-billion budget under the Bayanihan 2 last Wednesday.

“The fund was already received by DOLE. There is already a Special Allotment Release Order for this corresponding cash allocation, which was released by the Department of Budget this week,” Miclat said in an online news briefing on Friday.

The released funds, he added, were already downloaded to DOLE’s regional offices, which will implement the said programs starting next week.

Of the said released budget, P8 billion will be used for CAMP and TUPAD. The P2 billion will be for AKAP and the remaining P3.1 billion will be for tourism workers are earlier mentioned. Miclat said they will be requesting to DBM for the release of the remaining P3 billion next week.

The overall funding for DOLE under Bayanihan 2 is expected to benefit over 2.6 million workers.

Samuel P. Medenilla

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www.businessmirror.com.ph BusinessMirror Tunisian carrying Quran fatally Group hails DTI’s move to issue new policy on cement labeling A4

Saturday, October 31, 2020

stabs three in French church N

ICE, France—A young Tunisian man armed with a knife and carrying a copy of the Quran attacked worshippers in a French church and killed three Thursday, prompting the government to raise its security alert to the maximum level hours before a nationwide coronavirus lockdown.

The attack in Mediterranean city of Nice was the third in less than two months that French authorities have attributed to Muslim extremists, including the beheading of a teacher who had shown caricatures of the Prophet Muhammad in class after the images were re-published by a satirical newspaper targeted in a 2015 attack.

Thursday’s attacker was seriously wounded by police and hospitalized in life-threatening condition after the killings at the Notre Dame Basilica. The imposing edifice is located half a mile , or less than a kilometer, from the site where another attacker plowed a truck into a crowd on France’s national day in 2016, killing dozens.

President Emmanuel Macron said he would immediately increase the number of soldiers deployed to protect schools and religious sites from around 3,000 to 7,000.

France’s anti-terrorism prosecutor said the suspect is a Tunisian born in 1999 who reached the Italian island of Lampedusa, a key landing point for migrants crossing in boats from North Africa, on September 20 and traveled to Bari, a port city in southern Italy, on October 9.

Prosecutor Jean-Francois Ricard did not specify when he arrived in Nice.

In Tunisia, the anti-terrorism prosecutor’s office said an investigation was being opened on the “suspected commission of a terrorist crime by a Tunisian...outside national borders,” the official TAP news agency quoted the prosecutor’s office as saying.

The French prosecutor said the attacker was not on the radar of intelligence agencies as a potential threat.

Video cameras recorded the man entering the Nice train station at 6:47 a.m., where he changed his shoes and turned his coat inside out before heading for the church, some 400 meters away, just before 8:30 a.m.

Ricard said the attacker was carrying a copy of

Islam’s holy book and two telephones. A knife with a 17-centimeter blade used in the attack was found near him along with a bag containing another two knives that were not used in the attack.

He had spent some 30 minutes inside the church before police arrived via a side entrance and “after advancing down a corridor they came face-to-face with [the attacker] whom they neutralized,” Ricard said.

Witnesses heard the man cr ying “Allahu Akbar” as he advanced on police. Police initially used an electric gun then fired their service revolvers. Ricard said 14 bullet casings were found on the ground.

Ricard detailed a gruesome scene inside the church where two of the victims died. A 60-year-old woman suffered “a very deep throat slitting, like a decapitation,” he said, and a 55-year-old man also suffered deep, fatal throat cuts. The third victim, a 44-year-old woman, managed to flee the church alive but died at a nearby restaurant.

Laurent Martin de Fremont, of the police union Unité SGP Police said the man was a sacristan at the basilica.

The three were killed “only because they were in the church at that moment,” Ricard told reporters.

He said investigators are looking for potential complicity in the “complex” probe.

An investigation was opened for murder and attempted murder in connection with a terrorist enterprise, a common term for such crimes.

The attack in Nice came amid a fierce debate in France and beyond over the re-publication of the Muhammad caricatures by satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo . AP

A

consumer g ro u p h a s h a i l e d t h e Department of Trade and Industry’s (DTI) decision to issue a new policy on the labeling of cement products, saying it would help enhance the government’s “buy local” program.

“We hail the DTI’s decision to issue a new memorandum circular on the labeling of local and imported cement. This is a step in the right direction to eventually eliminate mislabeling that has hounded the cement industry for years,” Lokal Muna-Consumer Protection Watch said in a news statement.

“The new policy also ensures that only locally manufactured cement products will benefit from the government’s buy local initiative, thus helping the sector recover from the effects of the pandemic,” it added.

But the organization stressed that the fight against mislabeling should not stop there, saying the DTI should look at other products that are being passed off as local, such as food products, rice and chicken.

“Let this case be as both example and warning

to all unscrupulous companies trying to pass off imported as local to stop their illegal activity,” it stressed.

The group also urged the DTI to look into the possibility of penalizing violators who mislabel products to the detriment of the consumers.

The group urged the DTI to set up clear policies that will prevent traders who are passing off imported products—such as rice, chicken, cement and other construction materials—as Philippine-made.

Cabinet Secretary Karlo Nograles recently condemned “mislabeling” activities by some unscrupulous traders to benefit from the government’s buy local program, insisting they should be punished for their illegal act.

“It’s unfortunate na mayroon ngang gumagawa ng ganito. Pero hindi naman sila dapat nakakalusot.

Bawal po ang mislabeling at may mga batas tayo against that,” said Nograles.

In a news statement by the DTI, it said the new memorandum circular will be released following concerns raised by local cement manufacturers

over the prevalence of imported cement products labeled as “Product of the Philippines” in the market.

The new MC will require all locally manufactured and imported cement products shipped in bulk and bagged in a Philippine Standards (PS)-licensed bagging facility to be permanently marked with the name and address of the manufacturer, the country of manufacture, and the words “Bagged by:”, followed by the name and address of the bagging facility.

The DTI also directed manufacturers and operators of bagging facilities to immediately cease all printing operations of previously approved cement bags indicating “Product of the Philippines.”

“It is incumbent upon the importers and/or manufacturers to properly label their products and reflect the country where these products were produced,” the DTI said.

Trade Secretary Ramon Lopez said the new MC will properly guide consumers to patronize locally produced products to support the economy, especially at this time of pandemic.

Converge ICT gives back to the community, Uy says

A

NGELES CITY—“We are sharing back to the community.”Thus said Converge ICT Solutions Inc. founder and CEO Dennis Anthony H. Uy, who teamed up with Huawei Philippines for the installation of 30 Huawei WiFi6 modem which are

Dennis Anthony H. Uy, Converge ICT Solutions founder and CEO (left) together with Huawei ISP Director Roby Sun (right) hand over the modems to Holy Angel University President Dr. Luis Maria Calingo that will be installed in strategic areas of the university.

5G capable to the Holy Angel University (HAU) here.

Uy, who finished his Electrical Engineering course at HA, actively supports online education under the new normal. Uy attended the formal turnover of the 30 Huawei WiFi6 modems in simple ceremonies Wednesday at the Cafe Juan inside the HAU campus.

With Uy is Huawei Philippines ISP Director Roby Sun who also revealed the creation of the Huawei Academy in Shenzhen, where selected Filipino students will embark on an all-expense paid twoweek training at the Huawei headquarters. Sun said the training of Filipinos in Information and Communications Technology (ICT) will start next year after the selection of participants.

Converge is now one of the top 10 IPO companies in the Philippines after it raised some P29.1 billion in its stock market debut to bankroll its plan to expand its network in over 18 months to capture 55 percent of the country’s 22 million households by 2025.

“I grew up in Angeles City. Converge is giving back to the community,” according to Uy who recalled selling computers to HAU during his college days.

Walmart pulls guns off shelves as precaution ahead of election

W

almart Inc. has temporarily pulled ammunition and guns off its shelves ahead of any possible looting or civil unrest that could take place following nex t week’s elec tion.

“We have seen some isolated civil unrest and as we have done on several occasions over the last few years, we have moved our firearms and ammunition off the sales floor as a precaution for the safety of our associates and customers,” Walmart said in an e-mailed statement. “These items do remain available for purchase by customers.”

The retail giant made a similar decision this summer during unrest following the death of George Floyd by police, a move intended to dissuade any potential theft if stores were broken into during protests.

A year ago, Walmart, which only sells firearms in about half its stores, said it would discontinue sales of .223 caliber ammunition and other sizes that can be used in assault-style weapons. It also announced plans to stop selling handguns in Alaska, the only state where it still sold them.

The move followed deadly attacks at its stores in Texas and Mississippi that left 24 people dead and reinvigorated debate over gun sales at America’s largest retailer. Bloomberg News

A6 Saturday, October 31, 2020

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Homegrown start-up wins in global pitch tilt

40 Pinoy companies gear up to showcase healthy, natural food exports in CIIE ’20 F

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ORTY Philippine companies are set to showcase various healthy and natural food selections in the country’s third participation in the China International Import Expo (CIIE) at the National Exhibition and Convention Center, Shanghai, China, from November 5 to 10, 2020.

The Philippine delegation will focus on healthy and natural food products to tap into the growing demand for nutritious fruits, snacks and ingredients in China. The delegation is under the FOODPhilippines banner led by the Philippine Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), through the Center for International Trade Expositions and Missions (Citem).

Food segments that will be featured are tropical fruits and vegetables, processed fruits and nuts, healthy snacks, seafood and marine products, and other premium food selections.

“Exciting products that will be featured from the Philippines are our luscious mangoes, sweet bananas, versatile coconuts, and tangy pine-

apple. We want the Chinese market to see the Filipino ingenuity and creativity in transforming these fruits into scrumptious snacks, refreshing juices, and other flavorful offerings,” said Citem Executive Director Pauline Suaco-Juan.

The FOODPhilippines pavilion will also showcase emerging tropical fruits such as durian, calamansi (Philippine Lime), guava, and passion fruit. Seafood products, including tuna, milkfish, squid, and shrimp will also be available in different packaging, including frozen cuts, in can and in sausages.

“We are also bringing premium products such as pili nuts from Luzon, liquor and spirits inspired by the beaches in Visayas, singleorigin cacao products from Min-

danao,” said Suaco-Juan.

“Through the showcase of these selected products, we hope to leverage on key market trends in the Chinese market. These trends include the growing priority of healthier dietary habits, the rapid expansion of China’s e-commerce food market, and the easing of import restrictions on food items,” she added.

Under the FOODPhilippines delegation, companies that will highlight tropical fruits and vegetables will be Hilas Marketing Corp., Agrinurture Inc., Mancoco Food Processing Inc., Excellent Quality Goods Supply Company, Castillo Import Export Ventures Inc., Doxo International Trading, Magsasakang Progresibo Marketing Cooperative, See’s International Food Manufacturing Corp., Century Pacific Agricultural Ventures Inc., Team Asia Corp., Eau de Coco Inc., Eng Seng Food Products, Greenlife Coconut Products Philippines Inc., Tongsan Industrial Development Corp., Islandfun Inc., Limketkai Manufacturing Corp., KLT Fruits Inc., Zigmund Enterprise, Business Innovations Gateway Inc., Sangkutsa Food Products Inc., AG Grays Farm, Marigold Manufacturing Corp., and the Federation of People’s Sustainable Development Cooperative.

Mea nwh i le, hea lt hy sn ac k

varieties will be showcased by Magic Melt Foods Inc., Sandria’s Delicious Concept, Vegetari Vegetarian Products, Market Reach International Resources, SL Agritech Corp., and the Philippine Franchise Association.

Tuna and other seafood selections will be presented by Century Pacific Food Inc., Universal Canning Inc., Fisher Farms Inc., Jam Seafoods Inc., Phil. Union Frozen Foods Inc., and Gerabuenas Trading. Likewise, premium food selections will be offered by Global Basic Co. Ltd, Subic Superfood Inc., Chocoloco Inc., Filipinas de Oro de Cacao Inc., and Seabeth Food Processing.

The FOODPhilippines participation in CIIE 2020 is organized in partnership with the Foreign Trade Services Corps through the Philippine Trade & Investment Centers in Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, and Hong Kong and the Export Marketing Bureau.

Government partners are the Department of Agriculture through the Office of the Agricultural Counsellor in Beijing and the Department of Foreign Affairs. The project is likewise supported by business associations such as the Philippine Exporters Confederation Inc. and the Federation of Filipino-Chinese Chambers of Commerce & Industry Inc.

ILIPINO start-up Edukasyon.ph emerged as the overall winner in the Wildfire Pitch Competition heldduringtheIgnite2020CyberConference on October 13, 15, 20 and 22, 2020.

Receiving $5,000 equity-free cash, Edukasyon.phisaneducationtechnology platform that connects students to education opportunities. The start-up was among the five start-up finalists—four of which were founded in the Philippines.

The six-day conference was organized by Brainsparks, Dentsu, and TechShake and was supported by the Department of Trade and IndustryExport Marketing Bureau (DTI-EMB).

“DTI-EMB, as Ignite’s partner since their first conference in 2017, has always been a supporter of Ignite’s vision of bridging the gap between start-ups and corporates or non-tech industries and, at the same time, promoting the Philippine start-up ecosystem to the rest of the world,” said DTI-EMB Director Senen Perlada during his opening remarks on October 22.

“This year’s edition of Ignite is a perfect example of how technology and innovation can address the needs of today and the post-pandemic world,” he added.

The conference featured several international speakers and a pitch competition for start-ups in the education tech, health tech, fintech, e-commerce, and workplace tech sectors. Winners for each sector delivered their threeminute pitches on the final day to determine the overall winner.

The other finalists were:

MyGolana, a health tech startup providing affordable and accessible counseling solutions;

Nextpay, a fintech start-up providing an easy solution for small businesses to manage and track their finances;

Export,ane-commercestart-upthat isaone-stop,end-to-endplatformhelping small businesses in the Philippine export sector by addressing concerns in terms of compliance and market access; and

PEAK, a Thai workplace tech start-up that offers online accounting software that allows businesses to track business information instantly.

“Out of the five finalists, four of them are Philippine start-ups. It shows that the Philippines is not lacking in talent and potential as a start-up ecosystem. The challenge now is creating an environment that will not only help start-ups survive but also thrive and take advantage of the new opportunities brought about by the pandemic,” said Perlada.

DTI Undersecretary Rafaelita Aldaba said during her opening remarks on October 13 that “as the virus is contained and as [physical support] bolster the economy, along with global recovery we will be able to take advantage of emerging opportunities and challenges from shifting trade and investment preferences and changing forms of international productions in the wake of Covid-19 by fast-tracking innovation and adapting new technologies with greater focus on more resilient, inclusive, and sustainable industrial recovery toward the post pandemic future.”

Bolder and borderless: Manila FAME PHL gets Hungary’s support for EU FTA talks enters the digital age with FAME+ T

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HILE trade fairs around the globe have yet to be conducted physically, for Manila FAME—the Philippines’s premier design and lifestyle promotion event—the show must go on.

In lieu of the onsite show, fans of the annual event can now look forward to FAME+, a new digital trade platform for the home, fashion, and lifestyle industries. Led by the Center for International Trade Expositions and Missions (Citem), the export promotion arm of the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), FAME+ provides a new avenue for exhibitors to showcase their products and creative streak to the world.

Citem formally launched FAME+ with a virtual event held on October 22, 2020, at 10 a.m. over Zoom and streamed live on the Manila FAME Facebook page. Trade Secretary Ramon M. Lopez was the event’s keynote speaker along with DTI Undersecretary Abdulgani Macatoman opening the program.

Also speaking at the FAME+ launch were Rep. Christopher de Venecia, who gave a speech about the value of the creative industry and how FAME+’s community of creatives is part of this thriving movement to elevate the profile of Filipino creatives; and Venus Navalta, chief executive officer of IPG Mediabrands, who spoke about the importance of exporters adapting to digital.

Citem partnered with IPG Mediabrands to create the FAME+ platform. IPG Mediabrands is a global company with offices in the Philippines that specializes in creating automated and digital innovation solutions through its network of media agencies. For FAME+, IPG built the web site from the ground up, including the product catalogues and digital storefront for exhibitors, and will be providing technical support to Citem.

“Manila FAME’s venture to digital is the new direction of Philippine de-

sign,” said Citem Executive Director Pauline Suaco-Juan.

“If Manila FAME were to grow and attract more buyers and more prestigious trade exhibitions abroad, we need to invest in and strengthen its digital presence. FAME+ is the realization of the government and private sector’s collective effort to become more competitive with the rest of the world.”

Bringing Manila FAME highlights online

THE FAME+ launch event also carried one of Manila FAME’s show highlights, Design Commune, to its new online home. The digital Design Commune is envisioned to be a pilot program that reimagines the process of product development through 3D rendering and virtual exhibitions. Design Commune featured designs and products developed for the Ambiente trade show and the Maison&Objet and More Digital Fair.

HE Hungarian government has assured the Philippines of support to continue negotiations for a free trade deal between the Philippines and the European Union (EU), the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) said Tuesday.

Trade Secretary Ramon M. Lopez and Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade of Hungary Péter Szijjártó led a high-level bilateral meeting here last October 15.

This was the first face-to-face bilateral meeting of the DTI chief amid the Covid-19 pandemic.

“The presence of Minister Szijjártó amid this pandemic shows the importance of the country for Hungary both as a trading partner and as an investment destination,” Lopez said.

Szijjártó supports the continuation of Philippines-EU free trade agreement (FTA) talks to create better opportunities and a liberalized business environment for Hungarian firms wanting to do business in the Philippines.

The Philippines and EU had two rounds of FTA negotiations—in Brussels in 2016 and in Cebu in 2017.

“Part of the DTI’s strategy to en-

hance our outbound trade and inbound investment with the EU is to increase our engagement with individual EU member-states. Hungary has been one of our key allies in the EU in supporting our status as a GSP+ [Generalised Scheme of Preferences Plus] beneficiary and our FTA negotiations with the EU,” Lopez said.

Economic cooperation

AMONG the discussions in the recent meeting include strengthening trade and investments in manufacturing, water treatment and management, agriculture and food economy, food safety, health, and transportation.

The trade officials were also looking into enhancing cooperation in Covid-19 response.

“Since we are positioning the country as a PPE [personal protective equipment[ manufacturinghub,theimplementation of the memorandum of understanding [MOU] between the DTI-Philippine International Trading Corp. [PITC] and the Hungarian Export Promotion Agency [HEPA] and the MOU on investment cooperation between the Board of Investments and the Hungarian Invest-

ment Promotion Agency [HIPA], which we signed last year, will be useful in our fight against Covid-19 and in building back better. We are looking forward in discussing this further when we convene the JCEC,” DTI Undersecretary Ceferino Rodolfo said.

The Philippines and Hungary had the inaugural Joint Commission on Economic Cooperation [JCEC] last year.

During the recent meeting, both sides also agreed to hold the next round of JCEC meeting before the end of the year. Rodolfo said the Philippines aims to tap Hungarian technology for water treatment and management to rehabilitate key bodies of water like the Laguna de Bay. “The Philippines and Hungary face the same challenge in terms of access to clean water resources. From their part, they were able to develop the technology to treat one of the longest rivers in Europe, the Danube. This water cooperation is just the first step. We want to tap their expertise to facilitate technology and knowledge transfer and build confidence so that these Hungarian water companies will invest here in the Philippines,” he said. PNA

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www.businessmirror.com.ph

Consumer group wants online sellers to give mandated discounts for elderly

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By Elijah Felice E. Rosales

CONSUMER group has petitioned the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) to issue guidelines on how senior citizens and persons with disability (PWD) can avail themselves of government-mandated discounts in digital transactions.

In a letter dated October 26, Laban Konsyumer Inc. (LKI) asked the DSWD to formulate rules on how seniors and PWDs can get their government mandated discounts when making purchases online. The group said the lack of guidelines leaves merchants in digital platforms wondering how to comply with the law.

LKI President Victorio Mario A. Dimagiba urged the DSWD to come up with rules and regulations specifying how online sellers should apply the discount.

Dimagiba said the government

has to act on the matter to ease the burden especially for senior citizens.

He said elderly people were pushed to buy their needs from online sites, as for a time the quarantine prohibited them from leaving their homes.

“Most senior citizens above 65 years old and persons with disability purchase food items and other goods online and are not able to claim the discounts granted by law,” Dimagiba said.

“In most cases, the merchants do not know what to do and how to grant the discounts,” he pointed

out. “The inquiry [for guidelines] includes pabili services offered by ride-hailing services.”

For Dimagiba, online sellers can emulate what brick and mortar stores are doing for their home delivery option: upon placing the order, customers can submit the identification number in their senior citizen or PWD card to avail of the discount.

Likewise, he said the airline industry crafted its own guidelines on how to extend discount for bookings done online. As such, Dimagiba argued that digital platforms have no excuse not to grant the markdown to appropriate beneficiaries.

“We know we can develop the guidelines on the online transactions by senior citizens and persons with disability for the uniform and standard implementation of the discounts,” he said.

The LKI chief said senior citizens and PWDs will greatly benefit from whatever discount they can get, particularly now that their resources have been sapped by the Covid-19 pandemic. Also, he reminded the government to share some of the burden that elderly people are carrying at a time when they are confined by the quarantine and are

being threatened by the virus.

“Right now it is important that the spirit of these initiatives is consistent and is carried out for all parties in order to ease their burden during this tough year, where senior citizens may often feel restricted, depleted and even powerless,” Dimagiba said.

The LKI addressed the letter to the DSWD in transition to the National Commission for Senior Citizens created under Republic Act 11350 signed last year. The letter was also filed before the executive director of the National Commission on Disability Affairs.

Under the Expanded Senior Citizens Act of 2010, individuals aged 60 and above are given a 20-percent discount and exemption from VAT for the purchase of basic goods and services.

PWDs receive a similar benefit stipulated under Republic Act 10754, or the Act Expanding the Benefits and Privileges of Persons with Disability. Aside from essentials, the discount applies to lodging fees, transport fares, restaurant bills, among others.

In June, however, legislators initiated investigations to look into reports that unqualified individuals are obtaining PWD IDs.

Voting history of YOUTH VOLUNTEERS BUY MEDS FOR SURIGAO TOWN’S SENIORS Detroit woman, 103-year-old, dates back to FDR

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TALU MASSEY speaks about voting from her home in Detroit on Tuesday, October 27, 2020.

Massey is among the millions of Americans who voted prior to November 3, resulting in record-breaking early turnout. But this is far from the Detroit resident’s first election. Very far. She voted for FDR, after all. The 103-yearold is proud of her lengthy voting record, saying it’s every citizen’s “civic duty” to take part in the process. AP PHOTO/PAUL SANCYA

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ETROIT—TaluMasseyisamong the millions of Americans who voted before November 3, resulting in record-breaking early turnout.

But it’s far from the Detroit resident’s first election. Very far. She voted for FDR, after all. The 103-year-old is proud of her lengthy voting record, saying it’s every citizen’s “civic duty” to take part in the process.

“As an American citizen, you have a right to cast your vote for who you want in office, who you want to be running the government,” Massey said during an interview at her home.

Massey voted absentee in September, eight decades after she cast her first presidential ballot—for President Franklin D. Roosevelt. “I don’t remember whether I made each election, but I have been constantly voting,” said Massey, who was born in Birmingham, Alabama, in 1917.

She moved to Detroit as an infant and has been a resident of the Motor City for 102 of her years, during which she voted for a host of Democrats, including John F. Kennedy, Barack Obama and now Joe Biden.

Massey recently made an appearance in a music video, entitled “I Have a Right to Vote” that seeks to educate citizens about the hard-earned right to vote. The fourminutevideofeatures“Hamilton”original cast member Christopher Jackson, actors Billy Porter and Hill Harper and others reciting the words of voting-rights icons such as John Lewis and Frederick Douglass. Massey shows up just after tennis great Billie Jean King repeats the words of the late Ruth Bader Ginsburg. AP

UTUAN CITY—Because senior citizens are prohibited from going out of their homes due to the prevailing quarantine measures, a group of youth officials in the Surigao del Norte town of Bacuag has taken errands for the elderly in the area, like buying medicines for them.

“Since April this year, our residents, including the senior citizens, experienced difficulties in buying their medicines and vitamins, and especially those for their maintenance,” Gil Ladaga Melo, the Sangguniang Kabataan (SK) chairman of Poblacion Bacuag, told the Philippine News Agency on Friday.

Melo said their volunteer work is especially crucial for seniors living alone, who could not go out of their homes even for the most basic task such as buying food.

Surigao del Norte has recently tightened its movement restrictions following a steady increase in Covid-19 cases.

“Even the other residents here cannot easily go out and go to Surigao City or other towns to buy medicines,” Melo said.

He clarified that their project, dubbed as “Mobile Botika sa Barangay,” is not a mobile store per se for medicines, “but a scheme where SK volunteers buy the needed medicines of the residents and deliver [these] to their doorsteps.”

Since its launch in April, the youth official said the initiative has already assisted more than 400 senior citizens.

“We use the rescue vehicle of the barangay to buy these

MEMBERS of the Sangguniang Kabataan of Poblacion Bacuag in Surigao del Norte, led by chairman Gil Ladaga Melo (second from left), buy medicines and other essentials for senior citizens of the town who are affected by the Covid-19 movement restrictions. The youth officials see their volunteer work getting more crucial as the town records increasing cases recently. PHOTO COURTESY OF SK POBLACION BACUAG

medicines. Of course, we still need to go through protocols and present pertinent papers before we are allowed to enter Surigao City to buy medicines,” he added.

Aside from medicines, youth volunteers also buy hygiene kits, disinfectants, and other essential needs for the elderly.

Melo said the program is a collaboration of the SK and the members of the barangay council of Poblacion Bacuag.

“Buying of medicines is scheduled twice a month.

We send notices to our constituents two to three days before the purchase date so that they can prepare their money for the medicines,” Melo explained.

On Wednesday, Mayor Felicisimo C. Cebedo tightened movement in the town following the “sudden increase

of [local] transmission cases for Covid-19 in Barangay Poblacion Bacuag in a very short span of time.”

According to Cebedo, the town had 17 confirmed cases as of Wednesday, six of which were active and located in the Poblacion area.

Melo said the rising cases made the initiative even more necessary and assured that SK officials will continue to strictly follow all the necessary health protocols to protect themselves from being infected.

“We will continue to serve the residents of Poblacion amid this health crisis. As we render services, we, too, are mindful of our safety and assure our families and friends that we are following quarantine protocols and measures for protection,” Melo said. PNA

104-year-old woman rents chopper for northern Denmark family visit

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OPENHAGEN, Denmark— What is a 104-year-old woman to do if she wants to visit family members but can’t sit in a car for a long period of time?

Margrethe Hansen, who lives in a Denmark retirement home some 174 kilometers (108 miles) away from her 82-year-old son and her grandchildren, opted to go by helicopter.

“I thought it was the fastest way

to get away,” Hansen told Denmark’s TV2. “I do not know what it costs, but it was worth the money.”

A grandson picked up Hansen on Tuesday from her retirement home on the Danish island of Funen and drove her to a nearby field where a private helicopter waited.

He lifted his grandmother onto the aircraft and sat her next to the pilot, and then took a backseat

together with a nurse.

The flight to Stoevring in northern Denmark took roughly one hour. Hansen saw her relatives’ new houses from the sky and visited with them on the ground before taking the chopper home the same day.

“The first ride was the best. Otherwise, it was a bit bumpy, but it was fine,” Hansen told the channel. AP

Editor: Angel R. Calso • Saturday, October 31, 2020 A7

My personal ‘bakit’ list

By Nick Tayag

MY SIXTY-ZEN’S WORTH

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UMANKIND has made enormous scientific and technological progress over the past century. And even though science has pushed our understanding of the living world to new heights, there are still many things that baffle us.

There are many questions in our minds that have no clear answers. There are some things that we don’t know and some things we might never know. Remember the famous pronouncement of former Secretary of State Donald Rumsfeld which confounded newsmen: “There are unknown knowns, and there are known unknowns and there are unknown unknowns.” Or that famous description of communist Russia by Winston Churchill as “a riddle, wrapped in a mystery, inside an enigma,” an elegant way of saying it’s an inscrutable land.

The more we uncover things about life on this planet, the more inscrutable it seems. Scientists have their list of unknown answers to known matters, such as cancer, the common cold, black holes, dark matter, multiverses and so on.

The religiously inclined choose to put all great unknowns such as the problem of evil, the Trinity, Incarnation into one big word: mystery. A term that is meant to forbid us to go any further. Just accept it on faith. Basta!

One of the most painful questions any human being can utter is a lament straight out of Job in the Old Testament: Why? Why this?

Why me? Why now? Why did she have to die so young? Why did it have to happen. This is the lama sabachthani wail that is now being heard around the world from the lips of the loved ones left behind by over 6 million people who have died from the pandemic. What makes it painful is that there’s no clear enlightening answer to console us.

Perhaps for some people it is better not to question why. There’s so much we don’t know about the “whole vast cobweb of the mystery of things.” There simply are no answers to all of our questions. No matter how much we ask or wonder, some things will remain a mystery.

Still, I want to ask anyway and leave the questions out in the open.

Let’s begin with the all-powerful Being.

They say that we all came from God and God wants us to re unite with Him when we die. If we were with Him in the first place, why did God have to make man live, go through the pangs of suffering and die on Earth? What’s His point?

We keep saying we are all made in God’s own image, so why do we hate and look other people with disdain because of the color of their skin and their looks?

Men are created equal but how come we don’t have the same degree of talent and intelligence?

Why does God give the talent to someone who would only dissipate it through meaningless pursuits?

Why not give the talent instead to someone who has the greater desire for it, to echo the question that Salieri asked in the film Amadeus?

Why do we fight each other for our religious beliefs when these religions believe in the same one God? Is evil necessary? If He wants us to be perfect, why can’t God just take it out so we don’t have to sin?

Why haven’t we found other signs of intelligent life in a universe that is billions of years old and con-

tains trillions of stars surrounded by diverse planetary systems? Basic probability indicates that we should have found extraterrestrials by now. So why have we not encountered them? Are earthlings really that special?

Why make it easy for people who are already born privileged and enjoy the edge in wealth and power?

Why do people still insist on enriching themselves and amassing wealth up to the end when they know they cannot bring it with them when they die?

Like Anne Frank before me I too am asking: Why should millions be spent daily on the war and yet there’s not a penny available for medical services, artists, or for poor people? Why do some people have to starve, while there are surpluses rotting in other parts of the world?

Oh, why are people so crazy?

Why do viruses or parasites kill the bodies that are hosting them and sustaining them?

Why do some babies have to die?

Why allow them to be born and live for just a few hours or a few days and end their existence?

Why do some couples who love babies and are capable of raising them comfortably can’t have babies while so many who don’t have enough to support children keep making them?

Let me now go to my list of whys in the realm of the mundane and the quotidian.

Why do I always end up behind someone at the fast food counter line who cannot seem to decide what to order and keep changing her mind about her choices?

Why do I always finding myself lining up behind a fellow senior citizen who can’t remember the medicine he or she is supposed to buy?

Why does the fast food always forget to include the sauce in their delivery?

Why does the milk tea outlet run out of the flavor I want when it is my turn to order?

Why is the ATM “out of order” or “off-line” when I am in a rush for cash?

Why does the red light up just when I am about to get to the other side?

Why does a man have to touch a bench that has a “wet paint” sign on it?

Why doesn’t glue stick to the inside of the bottle?

As Yul Bryner in “King and I” kept saying: “It’s a puzzlement.”

But why look elsewhere for questions? Look at our own selves. Are we not a walking question mark too? We are all mysteries, to those who love us and even to ourselves.

I supposed I will leave this life without knowing the answers but through these questions, irreverent as they may be, not needing to know keeps me open to the great mystery of life.

I am consoled by Fred Rogers who says our questions are just as important as our answers.

But at least when our questions cause us to reflect on our common human fears and remind us of our common human tears, there is comfort in recognizing our common human spirit that cries out in compassion and care. An answer that gives us hope just by itself.

Kilroy J. Oldster, author of many books, puts it best: “Accepting the unknown and unknowable eliminates regret.” Again my mind reflexively asks: Bakit?

Education BusinessMirror

A8 Saturday, October 31, 2020

Solons pushes for more centers of excellence on teacher training

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EN. Sherwin T. Gatchalian is eyeing an increase in the number of centers of excellence that will boost the quality of education and training for aspiring teachers.

who topped the March 2018 licensure exams for the secondary level. Nicko Tumala, another PLV alumnus, ranked fourth in the March 2017 LET for secondary, while Christian Pantoja was one of those who landed on the ninth spot during the September 2015 LET for elementary.

“The government should be proactive in looking for and promoting these centers of excellence which, in effect, will attract the best teachers to go to those centers of excellence,” said Gatchalian, chairman of the Senate Committee on Basic Education, Arts and Culture. “If the government will not be proactive, those centers of excellence will not grow and increase.”

Strengthen, reform TEC

GATCHALIAN

In a Senate panel hearing, nonprofit organization Philippine Business for Education (PBEd) reported that there are only 74 centers of excellence and development among 1,572 teacher-education institutions (TEIs) in the country.

According to Gatchalian, the government should not simply wait for TEIs’ application to become cen-

ters of excellence. He cited the case of the Pamantasan ng Lungsod ng Valenzuela (PLV), which has yet to apply for the recognition despite being one of the 10 best-performing institutions in licensure examinations for the past five years.

PLV has also produced topnotchers of Licensure Examinations for Teachers. One is Kier Baugbog,

THE senator explained that the role of the Teacher of Education Council is crucial in increasing the number of centers of excellence for teacher education. The TEC was formed in 1994 under Republic Act 7784 to formulate policies on strengthening and improving the quality of teacher education in the country.

It is also mandated to identify and designate centers of excellence for teacher education.

Centers of excellence are assigned to experiment and try out relevant and innovative teacher education and training programs, from preservice—or the education for aspiring teachers, to in-service—for

those who are already working as teachers. They are also tasked to organize and coordinate collaborative research to help improve teacher education programs. They should also serve as a teacher-resource center for curricular and instructional materials development.

Gatc ha l ia n recent ly f i led Senate Bill 1887, which aims to strengthen and reform the TEC to foster stronger links between teachers’ preservice and in-service education, which would entail better collaboration between the Department of Education and the Commission on Higher Education.

Low rankings

THE lawmaker emphasized these reforms are all about improving teacher quality and education as basic inputs for better learner outcomes, citing dismal results of the 2018 Programme for International Student Assessment, or PISA, and the poor performance of those who took the Licensure Examination for Teachers, or LET. The 2018 PISA results showed that out of 79 countries, the Philippines ranked lowest in reading comprehension and second-lowest in science and mathematics. From 2014 to 2019, the average passing rate for the elementary teacher licensure examinations was only 28 percent and only 36 percent for the secondary level.

Homeschooling gets a head start

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TUDYING at home is definitely not a walk in the park, as parents are now realizing that a teacher’s job is a labor of Herculean proportions.

According to seasoned educator Rossana Llenado, founder of AHEAD Junior and AHEAD Tutorial and Review, Filipino parents are not alone in undergoing this ordeal: “Rather, the struggle is real for all parents the world over.”

Citing recent research from the Unesco Education Center at Ireland’s Ulster University, Llenado quoted the study that as of July, homeschooling during this pandemic has been hard not just on the children, but all the more on their parents.

“Distance education for young children simply isn’t as straightforward as it can be for older students,” she said. “Most universities can transition to remote instruction with little trouble, because young adults already possess the necessary discipline as well as the basic academic foundations.”

She added, “Not so for children, who have yet to develop the same.

Since neither children nor their parents are equipped to handle

distance learning, even gradeschool teachers who excelled in the traditional mode of instruction are struggling to help them successfully make the transition to homeschooling.”

Further research reflects this trend. Unesco’s, in particular, says, “Three-quarters of parents [75 percent] experienced difficulties during this period of school closure. The most common challenge was trying to balance working from home and supporting their children’s learning, with over three quarters [77 percent] of those currently working from home experiencing difficulties in balancing work and parenting.”

According to Llenado, the report also pointed out that many parents found it difficult to sustain their child’s attention and to cope with teachers’ expectations.

In response to this challenge, Llenado established AHEAD Junior as she has anticipated this trend for the better part of the past three decades, and is more than ready for it.

“Most kids are receptive to classroom teaching, but not to distance learning. This is where

llenado

our programs come in. AHEAD Junior’s full homeschooling support and academic group tutorials don’t just provide the mental tools that can help grade school students who actually excel and even enjoy homeschooling. Our students, for example, find our Singapore Math and Level Up [Mind Mapping and Speed Reading] Programs fun, easy, and effective,” Llenado explained.

“Best of all, everything is done online, so parents can enroll their kids in our program from anywhere in the world. Since we’ve got the best teachers especially trained to help children through this challenging transition, our

students won’t have trouble keeping up with school work, freeing their parents to focus on more pressing things, such as their work,” she further stated.

Meanwhile, its older entity AHEAD is a 25-year-old company offering homeschooling support to various countries worldwide: “Not many people in the country know that a Manila-based company has been successfully conducting distance learning for over 20 years.

AHEAD Learning Systems is a pioneer in remote education and tutorials in the Philippines and in Southeast Asia.”

To ensure quality instruction is maintained, AHEAD recruits top graduates from the country’s premier universities to deliver its programs. As a result, she said AHEAD has successfully helped hundreds of thousands of graduating students ace their exams for admission to the most prestigious universities and highly specialized programs.

Llenado confirmed AHEAD has recently started to offer a K-12 education on top of its international learning programs.

Rizal Raoul S. Reyes

EducationUSA forges new university links

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EPRESENTATIVES from universities in the Philippines and the United States recently converged for a virtual partnerships fair hosted by EducationUSA and the Commission on Higher Education International Affairs Staff (CHED-IAS).

At the event, university presidents and senior officials from 68 Philippine schools and 45 US institutions heard from officials of the US Embassy and CHED on the importance of creating and expanding partnerships that sustain international educational exchange.

Following the opening remarks of CHED-IAS Director Atty. Lily Freida M.

Milla, US Embassy’s Cultural Affairs Officer Matt Keener welcomed participants and said, “There is no greater way to strengthen the ties between two countries than through expanding educational linkages, and creating these enduring ties between our countries is as important as ever.“ US universities also hosted individual breakout rooms to meet with local universities interested in exploring new partnership opportunities—including student exchanges, visiting scholars, collaborative research programs and lecture series.

The virtual fair was the sixth event under the Pathways to Opportunity: EducationUSA-CHED Speaker Series on

Internationalization program meant to build the international capacity of Philippine universities and expand linkages between institutions of both countries.

The speaker series is also one of the primary outputs of the US-Philippine Joint Statement on Higher Education Cooperation signed during the 2019 US-Philippine Bilateral Strategic Dialogue.

Along with promoting internationalization in higher education, EducationUSA provides free advising services to prospective international students in more than 170 countries. It also offers students resources and tools to help navigate the five steps to US study: re-

searching schools, identifying financial aid opportunities, completing applications, obtaining a student visa, and preparing for departure.

There are more than 4,700 accredited higher education institutions in the North American country, and an adviser can help students narrow their options, define their priorities, and plan their college careers. EducationUSA does not offer scholarships, but can assist students in identifying scholarship and financialassistance opportunities. More information about EducationUSA is on Facebook: EducationUSA Philippines, and on Twitter: @EducationUSA_PH.

Editor: Mike Policarpio

DTI, CHED formalize MOU in promoting world-class higher education institutions

STAKEHOLDERS of the memorandum of understanding, including Trade Secretary Ramon M. Lopez (bottom left) and Commission on Higher Education Chairman J. Prospero de Vera III (bottom center).

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HE Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) and the Commission on Higher Education (CHED) recently signed a memorandum of understanding to collaborate on the promotion of performance excellence in higher education institutions (HEIs) through the alignment of the Philippine Quality Award (PQA) Program and the Institutional Sustainability Assessment (ISA).

Recognizing it as a significant milestone in the education system, Trade Secretary Ramon M. Lopez highlighted the alignment of the internationally comparable framework of PQA and CHED’s quality assurance program to audit HEI quality systems that will further promote a culture of quality and competitiveness among Filipinos and organizations in the country, especially in the midst of the pandemic.

“The PQA Program is an integrated approach for performance management that sets the standard of excellence to help our organizations achieve world-class performance. Hence, this partnership between DTI and CHED will help in shaping our Filipino youth to become empowered and economically productive citizens of our country,” Lopez said. “We not only want to create a mindset of quality in every Filipino; we want to turn the Philippines into a worldwide brand that benchmarks quality and excellence.”

The DTI chief also emphasized the partnership of the two agencies will increase the capabilities of the country and the universityeducated workforce to become globally competitive and respond to the challenges and opportunities in the digital and interconnected new economy.

Adapting to challenges

MEANWHILE, CHED Chairman J. Prospero de Vera III encouraged HEIs to develop and strengthen

their internal quality assurance systems, as this will prepare their programs to become adaptable to new challenges in the future. By giving them incentives, he explained this will help HEIs appreciate and participate in voluntary assessments and evaluations.

“The ISA is anchored on the core mandates and responsibilities of HEIs which are teaching, research, extension, and production,” the CHED chairman explained. “Since it is voluntary in nature, we observed that HEIs that applied for the ISA process are the same HEIs that appreciate external evaluations, and we see less application from those considered as developing in terms of their organizational approach.”

He added: “By aligning the instruments of ISA and PQA, we are providing a pathway for the HEIs to proceed to the PQA assessment once it has gone through the ISA process.”

Partnership for programs

UNDER the signed memorandum of understanding, DTI and CHED will collaborate in harmonizing or integrating quality management programs to further develop assessment policies, standards, and guidelines. The partnership includes review and promotion of the alignment of PQA Criteria and ISA requirements, as well as provision of technical assistance in implementing and improving respective programs.

The ceremonial signing was witnessed by Trade Undersecretary for Competitiveness and Innovation Group Rafaelita M. Aldaba, PhD., Competitiveness Bureau Director Lilian G. Salonga, CHED Commissioner Lilian A. de las Llagas, PhD., and Office of Institutional Quality Assurance and Governance Director Luisa S. Valencia. It was also graced by representatives of different academic institutions.

Adamson U to enjoy exclusives to online learning applications

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RANSITIONING to online learning is part of the new normal due to the pandemic. Educational institutions are now adopting new and alternative ways of continuing education through the use of learning management systems and the Internet.

In line with this, Adamson University has partnered with Globe for continuous access to applications vital for learning. The university has secured Load Up: DigiStudy 300, which gives students up to 20 gigabytes to open access to learning applications and platforms to assist them in remote learning for the upcoming academic year. DigiStudy 300 allows students to access any app that can help in their studies such as messaging and productivity apps, while excluding access to any entertainment and social-media platforms.

“Our partnership with Globe will enable our university's flexible learning program. It will aid students in accessing the school’s learning management system known as the Adamson Digital University, [which is] powered by Blackboard Learn Ultra,” shares Institutional Development and External Affairs Director Pamela Mantuhac.

Founded in 1932 by Greek chemist Dr. George Lucas Adamson, the institution was first known as the Adamson School of Industrial Chemistry. It gained its university status in 1941, and in 1964, the Congregation of Mission took over its administration.

The Catholic school based in the heart of Manila is ISO-certified.

All programs in the nine colleges are accredited, with Engineering as the flagship.

Tourism&Entertainment BusinessMirror

Editor: Carla Mortel-Baricaua

Saturday, October 31, 2020 A9

Virtus Awards 2020 recognizes Champions of Resilience N

ow on its 6th year, the Virtus Awards has added new citations to reflect the new challenging realities: the Champions of Resilience Awards. As Philippine tourism battles one of the most difficult challenges of the industry, the Hotel Sales and Marketing Association are proving their pandemic-proof resilience by continuing to recognize the best among their ranks through the acclaimed Virtus Awards.

“Surviving, bouncing back, and transitioning into something better; this is the core of our Resiliency award. We are recognizing the determination, innovation and commitment of our hotel sales and marketing people. It’s about surviving: it is how we adjusted, how flexible we are to the new market made available to us so can fill up our rooms at that start of the pandemic. And while we are addressing that, we were creating, running, and developing our health sanitation protocols and at the same time strategizing how to address the new demand of the new normal.

Thus, we have put together the category of the Champion of Resilience,” said HSMA Chair Margarita Munsayac.

As hoteliers deal with the Covid-19 crisis while still providing excellent service at work, HSMA believes that the Virtus is one of the best ways they can show solidarity with their colleagues, said HSMA President Christine Ann Ibarreta. “We still wanted to show the industry that whatever crisis we go through, we can weather it with grit and grace,” she said. “We still have the strength,

resolve, and courage to face difficulties head on.”

The Virtus Awards offered a platform for sales and marketing practitioners in hotels and resorts to tell their stories of success in revenue generation, capturing market share, and customer satisfaction. The performances and contributions gain added significance in the virus-laden environment.

“The unique awards are created to give a nod to individuals or teams whose extraordinary efforts to address the market difficulties made an impact. It is also a timely reminder of the determination, innovation, and commitment of hotel sales and marketing professionals across the country who have been working extremely hard to reopen, to welcome guests back safely, and to continue to provide excellent service. We feel that the hotel sales and marketing people in this pandemic had been dynamic, creative and flexible which is the heart of resiliency,” Munsayac added.

Nominate your champions

As in previous Virtus Awards, three outstanding indiv idua l

5Th Virtus Awards winners awards: Associate, Manager, and Leader are up for grabs while the Institutional Marketing Campaign will also be continued. Individual awards cover positions within the Sales and Marketing Department (Room Sales, Events Management, Catering, Reservations, Public Relations and Communications, Revenue Management), and will have three categories: Outstanding Sales and Marketing Associate; Outstanding Sales and Marketing Manager; and Outstanding Sales and Marketing Leader.

One institutional award will be given to an HSMA member-property with the Most Outstanding Marketing Campaign of the Year.

The campaign should be built on a single, unified theme, and should use at least two different types of media.

In addition to the exemplary performance awards, a special

category has been added for Virtus Awards 2020, as a response to today’s extraordinary times: the Champions of Resi lience Award for Covid-19 Response.

This special award was created to recognize the contributions of i nd iv idu a l s, i nst it ut ion a l team/s and group properties in addressing the challenges of the pandemic since the lockdown in March 2020.

Two Champions of Resilience will be chosen: an individual property or group properties with the best Covid-19-related marketing communications strategy (e.g., initiatives/campaigns that engage the public/customers to stay safe, help others adapt to the new normal, inspire leisure travel bookings or group bookings postpandemic); and an individual or team who implemented initiatives/projects/endeavors in the course of their work as hotel sales

and marketing professionals that reflect creativity and resilience in making the hotel experience safe (and demonstrating that to apprehensive customers), as well as in mitigating economic impact brought about by the crisis.

Recognize outstanding performance

According to Rose Libongco, chair of the Virtus Awards, it is highly important to continue with annual HSMA tradition, because despite all the hurdles encountered these past few months, the organization has continued to be active and made itself needed by the customers and stakeholders.

“Anyone can imagine that it was easy to give in to despair and frustration when travel had stopped, governments imposed quarantines, new standards of hygiene and customer care were imposed, and no cure was in sight.

But thankfully, sales and marketing people are endowed with an indomitable spirit. When down and out, Sales & Marketing get up and roll in, when pushed against a wall, they break the wall; when down in the dumps, they dig for the gold. Sales and Marketing continue to be the lifeblood for the company—always working, thinking, creating, never giving up,” Libongco said.

In his keynote speech at the media launch of Virtus Awards 2020, Guillermo Luz, Chief Resilience Officer and Advisor of the Philippine Disaster Resilience Foundation and Chair of the Liveable Cities Challenge, is optimistic as the country’s hotels and resorts begin their recovery from the huge impact of the Covid-19 pandemic. “I believe that the strongly ingrained Filipino traits of care, hospitality, and service will lead to the revival of the hospitality industry in the Philippines. This is why I am so pleased that HSMA has added two new special categories recognizing ‘Champions of Resilience.’ It is both timely and inspiring,” he remarked.

Winners will be announced during the live presentation of the 6th Virtus Awards on December 7.

With the current health protocols in place, the number of guests will be limited. However, the event will be streamed live at a minimal cost of P500 per person.

“We enjoin everyone to look long and hard, to choose your entries and ensure you do not overlook anyone. At no other time in our history is it more fitting to recognize outstanding performance and contribution under tr y ing circumstances,” Libongco said.

T he 6t h Vi r t us Awa rd s is championed by HSMA, in partnership with the Department of Tourism and the Tourism Promotions Board Philippines. Gold Partner is Atlantis Systems Asia, with special thanks to Isentia.

Carlota Mortel-Baricaua

Three El Nido Resorts named Asia’s best

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hr ee resor ts of the luxury chain El Nido R esor t s we re re co g n i zed in t he recent ly concluded 2020 Readers’ Choice Awards for Best Resorts in Asia of the prestigious lifestyle publication Condé Nast Traveler.

The three island resorts— Apulit, Lagen and Pangulasian—are the only accommodations from the Philippines hailed by more than 715,000 of its readers who submitted an incredible number of

Pangulasian Island Resort

responses rating their travel experiences across the globe.

T h is sought-a f ter awa rd w a s g i v e n to Pa n g u l a s i a n consecutively in 2016-2017, and 2019. In addition, the island resort was also selected in the magazine’s Middle East “Green Gold List Awards” earlier this year. “ The results of this year’s survey, conducted at the start of the Covid-19 pandemic, are a testament to the lasting power of a meaningful travel experience,” says Jesse Ashlock, US

editor of the New York-based publication.

“The winners represent the best of the best for our audience and offer plenty of tripplanning inspiration for all the adventures we can’t wait to have next,” he added.

Condé Nast Traveler is a multi-platform, transatlantic brand regarded as the world ’s most distinguished travel title providing advice for discerning travelers, while its Readers’ Choice Awards is the travel industry’s longest-running

Apulit Island Resort

and most prestigious recognition of excellence.

Apulit Island Resort, located in Taytay Bay in northeastern Palawan, offers a wide expanse of white-sand beach lined with coconut trees which makes it a tropical island paradise. An eco-adventure resort, guests can rappel down the 60-meter limestone cliff, dive, discover sunken treasures and majestic marine life, and explore caves. This secluded getaway has all-water cottages, built in traditional architecture and

contemporary design.

Nest led bet we en a lu sh 4-hectare forest and a shallow lagoon, Lagen Island Resort has the densest forest over limestone in the El Nido archipelago. This British-inspired ecosanctuary resort is home to a rich terrestrial biodiversity, and home to over 100 species of birds, including the Palawan Hornbill and white-vented Shama, as well as civets, macaques, monitor lizards and other forest species. Its house reef is sanctuary to coral gardens and marine

Lagen Island Resort

species such as barracudas, angel fishes, lobsters, clownfish and other aquatic creatures.

Pangulasian Island Resorts fronts a spectacular powdery white-sand beach and unspoilt turquoise waters and boasts of 42 villas with a private balcony for breathtaking views of the sunrise and the sunset.

Guests can hike around the island and be amazed by its f lora and fauna, stroll along its 750-meter long beach, and snorkel to admire the mesmerizing marine life.

A10 Saturday, October 31, 2020 • Editor: Gerard S. Ramos

www.businessmirror.com.ph

New Huawei phone comes at crucial time for Chinese company

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HUAWEI unveiled its Mate 40 line of phones on October 22, a product release that comes at a crucial moment for the company. AP

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BusinessMirror

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BY KELVIN CHAN The Associated Press

Huawei phones are not widely available in the US, but they’re sold in Europe, the Middle East and Asia. The company climbed to the top of the global smartphone rankings this summer, knocking Samsung off top spot by shipping 55.8 million devices in the second quarter to gain a 20 percent share of the market, according to research firms Canalys and International Data Corp. But the performance was driven by strong growth in China while smartphone sales in the rest of the world tumbled due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Analysts say it will be hard for Huawei to remain No. 1.

“Huawei’s in a tight spot,” said Ben Wood, chief of research at CCS Insight. Along with the US sanctions, it’s also hurt by slumping confidence in the brand that makes retailers less keen to stock its phones. “And sadly, I don’t think you’re going to see the Mate 40 performing particularly well outside of China.”

Huawei has a small but enthusiastic fan base in Europe, its biggest market outside China. But some users are turned off by the idea of sticking with the brand because of a related problem: recent models like the Mate 40, priced at €899 ($1,070) and up, can’t run Google’s full Android operating system because of an earlier round of US sanctions.

Instead, they come with a stripped down open source version of Android, which doesn’t have Google’s Play Store and can’t run popular apps like Chrome, YouTube and Search.

Mark Osten, a 29-year-old architect in Preston, England, bought a Huawei P30 last year when the contract on his previous Samsung phone ended. He says the camera is great but hesitates to recommend the brand to others because of the uncertainty.

“I just can’t imagine life without YouTube or Google,” said Osten. To make up for losing Google services, Huawei has built its own app store and has been paying developers to create apps for it. Users can request apps that aren’t yet available, but it’s not something that appeals to Chloe Hetelle, a 35-year-old events organizer in Toulouse, France, who bought a Huawei P20 model two years ago after switching from an iPhone.

“I don’t want to request apps, I just want to have YouTube,” said Hetelle. “I’m not really keen on struggling to get something that I would have easily with another phone.” ■

ONDON—Huawei’s new smartphone has an upgraded camera, its latest advanced chipset and a better battery. What it may not have outside the Chinese tech giant’s home market is very many buyers.

Huawei, which recently became the world’s No. 1 smartphone maker, on October 22 unveiled its Mate 40 line of premium phones, a product release that comes at a crucial moment for the company as it runs out of room to maneuver around US sanctions squeezing its ability to source components and software. The Mate 40 could be the last one powered by the company’s homegrown Kirin chipsets because of US restrictions in May barring nonAmerican companies from using US technology in manufacturing without a license.

Analysts say the company had been stockpiling chips before the ban but its supply won’t last forever.

“This is a major challenge to Huawei and it’s really losing its market outside of China,” said Mo Jia, an analyst at independent research firm Canalys. The latest US restrictions mean it “100 percent has closed doors for Huawei to secure its future components.”

Executives said this summer that production of Kirin chips would end in mid-September because they’re made by contractors that need US manufacturing technology. In a press preview this week ahead of the Mate 40′s launch, staff declined to answer questions on Huawei’s ability to source chips.

The head of Huawei’s consumer business, Richard Yu, referred only briefly to the issue at the end of a virtual launch event Thursday.

“For Huawei, nowadays we are in a very difficult time. We are suffering from the US government’s third round ban. It’s an unfair ban. It makes [the situation] extremely difficult,” Yu said.

Huawei, which is also a major supplier of wireless network gear, is facing pressure in a wider global battle waged between the US and China over trade and technological supremacy.

The US government’s efforts to lobby allies in Europe to not give it a role in new high-speed 5G wireless networks over cybersecurity concerns has been paying off, with countries including Sweden and Britain blocking its gear.

Acer launches new products, upgrades and exciting collaboration THE Porsche Design Acer Book RS

ACER has unveiled business and consumer products aimed at providing solutions for a changing world, with more people working and studying from home at least for another year.

The brand’s new and upgraded models include Chromebooks, Swift, Travelmate, Spin and Aspire laptops, Predator and Nitro gaming monitors, Porsche Design Acer Book RS, ConceptD 7 and ConceptD 7 Pro notebooks; the acerpure cool, a 2-in-1 air circulator and purifier; and the SigridWave In-Game Live AI Translator for Planet9, its next-generation eSports platform.

The Chromebook is Acer’s first and is powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 7c compute platform—the Acer Chromebook Spin 513 (CP513-1H/ CP513-1HL) and Acer Chromebook Enterprise Spin 513. The new models have an ultraportable design, fast and efficient performance, long battery life, and optional 4G LTE cellular connectivity.

The next@Acer online press launch gave us a glimpse of Acer’s direction to be a tech lifestyle brand complete with an energy drink called Predator Shot. Named after Acer’s Predator brand, it is, as you guessed, for gamers who need a boost of energy.

I expect acerpure cool to be a best seller when it launches here next year. acerpure cool integrates purification with circulation and assures you of improved air quality in your homes or workplace. The purifier filters impurities from the air, then the circulator projects it. The air circulator and air purifier functions can be used either separately or simultaneously.

“Acer wants to ensure our customers continue to have access to our services and the products they need to stay connected with their everyday life: work, study, friends and family. Acer is working hard by utilizing its strengths in technology and innovation to assist people to power through these challenging times,” said Andrew Hou, president of Acer Pan Asia Pacific (PAP).

But Acer remains in their PC segment, with the lifestyle products meant to support its core segment.

The new ConceptD 300, for instance, is a mid-tower desktop designed for BIM and CAD projects and intensive 3D modelling, rendering and animation. It has a 10th Gen Intel Core i7 processor, NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 graphics and 64GB of DDR4 2666 MHz RAM. The upgrades included a suite of powerful new consumer notebooks across Acer’s popular Swift, Spin and Aspire series: Acer Swft 3x, Acer Spin 5, Acer Spin 3, and Acer Aspire 5, all featuring the performance of new 11th Gen Intel Core processors with Intel Iris Xe graphics. The laptops come with intuitive features, striking design aesthetics and the latest technology in a thin and light package, and are designed to increase and improve productivity.

Acer also launched a notebook in collaboration with Porsche Design. The partnership combines Porsche Design’s functional design philosophy and engineering mindset with Acer’s technological innovations.

The Porsche Design Acer Book RS has a compact all-metal chassis and is packed with the latest 11th Gen Intel Core i7 processor and an NVIDIA GeForce MX350 GPU2 while remaining just 1.2 kg (2.65 lbs) light. The notebook has a carbon fiber cover, a touch derived from decades of motorsports designs that utilizes carbon fiber for its lightweight strength and extreme performance. Porsche Design Acer Book RS was co-engineered with Intel and includes Intel Evo platform verified models to meet key experience targets for consistent responsiveness on battery, instant

wake, real-world battery life and fast charge. It is an exceptional laptop in both looks and performance.

“With more than 40 years of experience in the industry, Acer’s proven track record of excellence matches our commitment to delivering outstanding products with our partners. We are delighted to kick-off this partnership with the new Porsche Design Acer Book RS that embodies the DNA of our brand to the core and sets new standards in performance and design,” said Jan Becker, CEO of Porsche Design Group.

“The fruit of an exciting partnership between Acer and Porsche Design, the Porsche Design Acer Book RS is a perfect blend of style and performance for urban mobile professionals. It brings together Acer’s expertise in technology and Porsche Design’s design prowess, resulting in a refined product that not only has timeless aesthetics but also exceptional performance under the hood,” said Jerry Kao, Co-COO of Acer.

Update on Samsung app introduces local government contacts nationwide LAST April, the Samsung 321 app introduced a Covid-19 Hotline feature to help users with their concerns or emergencies related to the pandemic. Now, the app’s newest update includes a dedicated Local Government tab with more than 29,000 local government unit contact details nationwide to assist users with their needs related to their barangays.

Since its launch in 2016, the app has enabled quick access to a list of validated emergency contact numbers and locations all organized into categories, such as Medical Assistance, Red Cross, Police Stations, Fire Stations, National Disaster Hotlines, Motor, and Traffic Assistance, and, most recently, Local Government.

The Samsung 321 app uses reverse geocoding to detect the user’s current city to list all barangays, displaying the contact details accordingly for convenience.

Calling the available numbers is made easy through the app’s straightforward user interface. By simply selecting a number, the app will proceed with the call directly. Standard mobile carrier rates for calls apply. Samsung 321’s services must first be enabled through its in-app Welcome page or Settings. This can also be done through the Apps tab in Settings of the user’s Samsung device.

The app comes preinstalled on select Galaxy devices and can also be downloaded on the Google Play Store for gadgets running on Android 5.0 and up.

BusinessMirror

www.businessmirror.com.ph

Editor: Gerard S. Ramos

• Saturday, October 31, 2020 A11

Smartphones— next with Antibac?

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HAT light “plop” may not be the scariest sound to hear when you drop your phone, but it could very well be the most disgusting.

We’ve all experienced a water incident, whether spills or drops, and the mini heart attacks that go with it. If you haven’t, you’re among the few lucky ones.

Now raise your hand if you are guilty of bringing your smartphone to the bathroom. Keep it raised if you’ve used it while in the toilet. There’s a good chance you’re even reading this article on the toilet as most of us are guilty to the point of even calling it “multitasking.” Sometimes, when nature calls, it’s not the only thing we answer, as we’ve watched episodes, dished out some likes and comments, answered e-mails (or calls, just mind the echo!) while doing a number or two.

A recent study recorded that 90 percent of people bring their phones into the bathroom—and 26 percent eventually drop their phones in the toilet.

But whether or not you have dropped your phone in the toilet, did you know that your smartphone carries 10 times more bacteria than most toilet seats?

The cellphone is one of the dirtiest objects we come in contact with everyday, and is covered by 25,127 bacteria per square inch.

Compare that to the toilet seat: 1,201 bacteria per square inch; kitchen counter: 1,736 bacteria per square inch; pet food dish: 2,110 bacteria per square inch; doorknob: 8,643 bacteria per square inch—and you might even think twice about holding your phone without dousing it in alcohol. But please DON’T, because that would be a very bad idea.

If 2020 has taught us anything, it’s the importance of health and hygiene. Sadly, while we can live without fresh vegetables, we can’t live without our smartphone.

So when Xiaomi launched the Mi 10T series last week, the presentation that interested me the most

were its antibacterial accessories.

“2020 has been a challenging year for most of us, and over the last few months many of us have become more concerned about health and hygiene,” said Xiaomi Country Marketing Manager for the Philippines Ava Castillo. To help combat this, they included a couple of antibacterial accessories with the Mi 10T Pro. Unlike the usual free plastic case, the Mi 10T Pro comes with an antibacterial case that is made using silver ions. Silver is a well-documented antimicrobial that has been shown to kill bacteria, fungi and certain viruses. It is the positively charged silver ions (ag+) that binds with, prevents the replication of and destroys bacteria. This has been tested by TUV SOD as effective in removing over 99 percent of bacteria.

Bacteria multiplies really rapidly, and in an experiment, 24 hours after applying 20,000 colony forming units (CFU) of bacteria, a typical phone case was covered in more than 6M cfu of bacteria whereas in the same experiment the Mi 10T Pro ag+ antibacterial case had less than a single unit of bacteria.

Aside from the case, the Mi 10T Pro also has a preinstalled an antibacterial screen protector that not only saves you from having to buy a separate one but this also eliminates up to 99.99 percent of bacteria.

But the Mi 10T Pro is more than just a phone fit for germaphobes, as it also boasts of specs and features that can give other flagships a run for their money.

The Mi 10T Pro has unmatched specs in its class beginning with the latest Qualcomm Snapdragon 865 processor.

It also has an 8GB RAM + 256GB configuration and a Qualcomm Adreno 650 GPU that brings desktoplevel gaming to users. For its cameras, the Mi 10T Pro takes creating and exploring to the next level, with its category-defining ultra-high resolution 108MP main shooter, 13MP ultra wide-angle, and 5MP macro camera. Making it even more impressive are several long exposure modes that allow users to capture artsy shots, such as Moving Crowd, Star Trails, Photo Clones, and Timed.

There are also three new photo filters— Cyberpunk, Gold Vibes and Black Ice, which you’ll definitely want to play around with. Mi 10T Pro also offer compelling new video features such as video clones that capture “two selves” in one video, and Dual Video that can record from the device’s front and back cameras simultaneously. Finally, there’s also a Timelapse selfie video for more engaging vlogs.

As for the display, it boasts of AdaptiveSync TrueColor display, and the fastest 144Hz refresh rate on a smartphone. The display automatically matches the content’s frame rate, from enjoying your favorite movie at 48Hz to watching TV series at 50Hz, from streaming video at 30Hz or 60Hz to scrolling socialmedia feeds or gaming at up to 144Hz—it guarantees a smooth experience and optimum battery usage.

And with Motion Estimation, Motion Compensation (MEMC) technology, the device inserts more frames to make video smoother and better viewing. Rounding up its impressive specs is a massive 5,000mAh battery with 33W fast charging.

The Mi 10T Pro is priced at P24,990 for 8GB + 256GB variant while the Mi 10T will be retailed at P19,990 for 6GB + 128GB variant and at P20,990 for 8GB + 128GB variant. After multiple cameras, refresh rates, will antibacterial cases/protection be the next big thing for smartphones?

Antimicrobial coating in phone cases actually predates the Covid-19 pandemic and the newer cases from big names like OtterBox, Gear4, Tech21 and Speck have added the coating in the hopes of convincing more people to buy their products. But just to be clear, these are antimicrobial and antibacterial and not anti-viral, so while it can protect you from diseases caused by unhygienic habits, don’t expect these cases to protect you from the coronavirus. The best way to avoid the virus is still by constantly washing your hands, and observing social distancing.

Last June, Samsung had trademarked “Antimicrobial Coating” which will be applied on top of the cases made by the company. Antimicrobial coating effectively fights the presence of virus particles, and it also protects against bacteria in general. Coronavirus can be picked up by touching something that has virus particles on it, and the antimicrobial coating that Samsung plans to use is supposed to prevent such particles to stay on the surface of the case.

So how do you clean your phone? Apple recommends cleaning its iPhones with a cloth and warm soapy water, warning that rubbing alcohol and other cleaning products may ruin the oil-resistant coating on many models’ screens.

Samsung, on the other hand, recommends simply water for its devices and Google suggests ordinary household soap. But if you really want to clean your smartphone thoroughly you can bathe your handset in UV light for 10-minute blasts. ■

Nobody left behind in this community IF the biggest rival consumer brands didn’t hesitate to band together, so should you. In the grandest showing of digital bayanihan to date, Ingat Angat Tayong Lahat (surely you’ve seen the video) is the multisector campaign that sets aside competition for the common goal of revitalizing the economy and helping businesses bounce back in the safest and healthiest way possible.

And it isn’t just for the huge names. The campaign is especially focused on small and medium enterprises that need the support to weather the tough times. With restrictions slowly being lifted, it’s time to build consumer confidence, and adjust our mindsets that we can resume our lives and livelihoods as long as we strictly follow the recommended minimum health standards.

Ingat Angat Tayong Lahat has even made it easier for more people to join the campaign with its very own Ingat Angat Viber Community.

Members can access downloadable assets— from logo variations to design guides and template applications—that can be integrated into their own brand, as well as special assets for the most affected industries, such as restaurants, transportation, and shopping and leisure.

A link to the special campaign sticker pack (bit. ly/3mqDrTD) that stresses the importance of following health protocols outside the home is also available, plus the latest information on the safety guidelines observed by different establishments and partner brands, Covid-19 updates, and articles from

trusted sources.

“With the Ingat Angat Viber Community, businesses can sincerely convey their health protocols and keep everyone well-informed on their safety practices to help build consumer confidence back up,” says Anna Znamenskaya, chief growth officer for Rakuten Viber.

“We also hope that everyone, especially small and medium businesses, will feel the digital bayanihan spirit through the materials and guidance that they’ll be able to pick up from the Viber Community. After all, nobody should be left behind when we get up on our feet once again.”

More information is available at vb.me/IngatAngat.

One more huge chip deal in 2020; AMD buys Xilinx for $35B SAN JOSE, California—Advanced Micro Devices is buying Xilinx for $35 billion in an all-stock deal that will combine the two Silicon Valley chip makers and accelerate an already rapid-fire pace of mergers and buyouts in the industry.

The deal announced Tuesday puts AMD in a place it wants to be; competing more fiercely with Intel at a time when a global pandemic is driving demand for tech ever higher.

More Zoom meetings, more orders online, and more upgrades for companies trying to meet new demands of millions staying at home has led to a seemingly insatiable appetite for computer chips.

“Joining together with AMD will help accelerate growth in our data center business and enable us to pursue a broader customer base across more markets,” Xilinx CEO Victor Peng said in a prepared statement Tuesday.

AMD and Xilinx is a huge tie-up in a season of massive buyouts for the semiconductor industry.

Just last month, Nvidia said it would buy Arm Holdings for up to $40 billion and set up an artificial intelligence research center in Cambridge, England, where Arm is headquartered.

In July, Maxim Integrated Products was snapped up by Analog Devices for more than $20 billion. Xilinx stockholders will receive 1.7234 shares of AMD stock for each Xilinx share they hold, or approximately $143 per share of Xilinx stock. AMD stockholders will own about 74 percent of the combined company, with Xilinx stockholders owning approximately 26 percent.

The transaction will give AMD a strong portfolio of high performance processor technologies, combining CPUs, GPUs, FPGAs, Adaptive SoCs and deep software expertise to enable leadership computing platforms for cloud, edge and end devices.

AMD CEO Dr. Lisa Su will lead the combined company as CEO. Peng will join AMD as president, responsible for the Xilinx business and strategic growth initiatives. At least two Xilinx directors will join the AMD’s board. The deal is expected to close by the end of next year, but still needs approval from regulators and shareholders of both companies. Shares of Xilinx jumped 13 percent at the opening bell Tuesday, while AMD’s stock slipped a bit. AP

Sports BusinessMirror

A12 Saturday, October 31, 2020

mirror_sports@yahoo.com.ph / Editor: Jun Lomibao

PBA teams on standby mode following suspension of games

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By Josef Ramos

OACHES and players could only shift to standby mode but be battle-ready at any moment after the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) halted action in the Philippine Cup starting on Friday at the Clark bubble.

“We are sad because we already gained a momentum, and our old deadly form heading to our Friday’s game against Ginebra—and there are many fans who are very excited to watch our game” San Miguel Beer Coach Leo Austria told BusinessMirror.

The Beermen are on a three-game streak for a 4-2 win-loss record.

“We all know that this is for the safety of everyone and the resumption of games is on a day-to-day basis,” Austria added.

Rain or Shine Coach Carlos “Caloy” Garcia, whose team is sporting a 4-1 record, admitted they already prepared for Saturday’s game against Phoenix Super LPG. Despite the minor setback, Garcia said they still trust the protocols inside the bubble.

“Of course, we trust the bubble’s protocols.

There are just some things that need to be figured out and Commissioner [Willie Marcial] is just doing the right things,” Garcia said.

The PBA announced the suspension of games on its social-media accounts on Friday.

The suspension, the PBA said, is in compliance with a recommendation from the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF-EID) until the protocols in the bubble are revised.

A Blackwater player and a referee are currently completing 10 days of isolation at the New Clark City in Capas, Tarlac, after they initially tested positive and eventually negative of Covid-19. The isolation is an essential component of the guidelines inside the bubble.

“In compliance with the recommendation of

the IATF-EID Technical Working Group and the DOH [Department of Health] Advisory Group of Experts and to ensure the integrity and safety of the PBA Bubble, the league is postponing the games starting today, October 30 until the new protocols proposed by the IATF and DOH are out in place,” the PBA statement said.

NorthPort and Magnolia were scheduled to play at 4 p.m, while San Miguel Beer and Barangay Ginebra were to face each other at 6:45 p.m. on Friday.

Terrafirma Coach John Cardel said they would use the free time “to strategize for a big turnaround or a miracle” to book a six-game winning streak that would offset their five consecutive setbacks in the conference.

“We just want to win our upcoming game and then we’ll see,” Cardel said.

TNT Tropang Giga Coach Ferdinand “Bong” Ravena, on the other hand, said the postponements favored his players who are nursing minor injuries.

Bases Conversion and Development Authority (BCDA) President Vince Dizon, meanwhile, told BusinessMirror that one of the new protocols from the DOH is the competition of a 10-day isolation for suspect cases from the onset of symptoms or from the date of swabbing.

Dizon said the IATF-EID and the DOH had a long meeting on Thursday night discussing revisions in the bubble protocols despite the referee and the Blackwater player already getting tested negative twice.

Another protocol, Dizon said, is the possible appointment of an independent medical marshal who will oversee and ensure compliance with health and safety guidelines.

But Dizon said he is hopeful the games will resume early next week.

“Early next week I guess so because the protocols are not difficult,” he said.

ZAMBO BOYS HOIST 3X3 HOOPS CROWN MEMBERS of the Family’s Brand Sardines-Zamboanga City Chooks celebrate their victory.

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BASES Conversion and Development Authority President Vince Dizon is hopeful the games will resume early next week.

MPBL won’t wield influence only to complete season - Duremdes

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By Annie Abad

REDIT should go to the Maharlika Philippine Basketball League (MPBL) despite the fact that the country’s biggest hoops league with a 31-team roster still struggles to complete its season amid the Covid-19 pandemic.

Boxing icon Manny Pacquiao owns the league that is now on its third season. But Pacquiao, a sitting senator, is not wielding any influence for the MPBL to finish its games.

Commissioner Kenneth Duremdes said the league will not use any connection to convince the Inter-Agency Task Force on Management of the Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF-MEID) on its request to resume action.

“The league will not use any connection.

We will go through the right process,” Duremdes said. “In fact, we are submitting a revised set of guidelines to IATF for its approval.”

“Sen. Manny himself would like us to go through the process precisely because if

something untoward happens, he’ll be taking the blame,” Duremdes added.

Duremdes said the league is focused at former senator and San Juan Knights team owner Jinggoy Estrada’s property in Tanay, Rizal, as their potential bubble.

“Sen. Jinggoy’s house has a gym and guest rooms for the players and other team members and also for officials,” he said.

The MPBL played Game Two of its semifinals last March 11 when the enhanced community quarantine was enforced to combat the Covid-19 pandemic. Makati beat San Juan, 91-88, at the FilOil Flying V Gym in San Juan, while Davao Occidental defeated Basilan, 81-76, in Lamitan.

Both best-of-three series are tied at 1-1.

Duremdes said finishing the season would only be a matter of a few games, including the finals which is also race-to-two.

“But we really have to be very careful with our bubble because like all other bubbles, the safety and health of everyone in the league is our priority,” he said.

United City, Kaya target win No. 2; football Cavite bubble holding fort

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HREE-TIME champion United City Football Club (UCFC) and Kaya Football Club try to stay unscathed when they face separate opponents on Saturday in the Philippine Football League (PFL) that enters its second day of action in its own bubble at the Philippine Football Federation (PFF) Training Centre in Carmona, Cavite.

UCFC, formerly Ceres-Negros, faces Mendiola Football Club at 4:30 p.m., while Kaya battles the Azkals Development Team (ADT) at 8 p.m.

Stallion Laguna Football Club and Maharlika Manila Football Club open the day’s schedule at 9 a.m.

The league returned to action only two nights ago after a week’s delay prompted by

THE program enables employees and work force to avail themselves of bicycles and helmets at almost giveaway prices.

SMC ROLLS OUT BICYCLE PROGRAM FOR WORKERS

AMILY’S Brand Sardines-Zamboanga City Chooks played true to form and beat the Nueva Ecija Rice Vanguards, 22-19 (8:49), in an exciting finale to capture the Chooks-to-Go Pilipinas 3x3 President’s Cup powered by TM at the Inspire Sports Academy in Calamba, Laguna.

Josh Munzon took charge for Zamboanga City against a tough-fighting Rice Vanguards, who gave the favorites a run for their money in the country’s pioneering 3x3 league.

The three-man Nueva Ecija side gave the nationals all they could handle and were down by only one, 19-20, with a minute and a half remaining in the “Million Peso Game.”

But that was the best the Rice Vanguards could muster as Munzon’s longball over Jai Reyes crowned Zamboanga City champion.

“From the start, we had a game plan and we stuck to it,” Munzon said with the gold medal hanging from his neck. “Whether we won or lost, we just continued to do the same things over and over and over. Our will was tested, but the result speak for itself.”

Munzon, the country’s top player in the discipline, and Alvin Pasaol each scored seven points, while Santi Santillan and Troy Rike combined for eight points.

Zamboanga City topped four of the five legs and the preseason tournament to validate their championship.

The team took home the P1-million championship burse for a total earnings of P1.35 million. And more important, they gained valuable experience heading into the International Basketball Federation 3x3 Olympic Qualifying Tournament next year.

Without a doubt, the nationals were challenged up until the end.

Even with a substitute as Mac Sabellina nursed a fractured rib, the Rice Vanguards went toe-to-toe with their opponents. They even had a chance to steal the championship, but Gab Banal’s long-range attempt fell short.

Zamboanga City hauled the rebound and not long after, Munzon hit the shot for the crown.

“Those are the shots I’ve been taking in the tournament,” he said. “It felt good coming out of my hands. I was confident about that shot.”

Moments later, the Filipino-American waved bye-bye not just to all their opponents, but also to the now so-called “CalamBubble” that has housed Chooks 3x3 for more than two weeks.

Nueva Ecija sent home with the runner-up prize of P300,000.

More than that, though, the league newcomer won hearts after fighting through in the absence of Juan Gomez de Liano who sprained his ankle in Leg 2. Sabellina was also out since the semifinals of the Grand Finals because of an injury.

Reyes finished with eight points while Banal and Tonino Gonzaga had six points each for Nueva Ecija.

Rounding out the podium was another upstart, the Pasig-Sta. Lucia Realtors, who received P100,000.

“Air” David Carlos, meanwhile, snatched his fourth Slam Dunk Competition title. In the Two-Point Shootout, Petra Cement-Roxas reigned supreme for the fourth time behind Janus Lozada.

Up next for Zamboanga City, which will be rechristened as Manila Chooks, will be the Fiba 3X3 Doha Masters on November 20 and 21.

“With more and more cities putting up bike lanes, and with even our major thoroughfares devoting space for cyclists, biking to work is now a more viable option for many Filipinos,” Ang said.

“It lessens your risk for exposure to Covid-19 because you are socially-distanced and outdoors; it promotes better cardio health, and you don’t need to pay for fares. Just make sure to observe all safety measures and remain alert and careful at all times,” he said.

“For motorists, let us all observe the proper distance from cyclists. Do not treat them as obstacles on the road. We share the road with them, they are people like you, just trying to get to their destination. Give way to them, because anyway you are inside a vehicle. Their safety comes first,” he added.

Kaya will also try to ride the momentum of its 1-0 victory over Maharlika Football Club 1991.

Jayson Panhay scored the match’s lone goal.

Jayson Panhay, Eric Giganto, Jovin Bedic,defenders Audi Menzie and Shimar Felongco and goalkeepers Zach Banzon and Louie Casas are expected to lead the fight for Kaya. Annie Abad

AN MIGUEL Corp. (SMC) rolled out a program to provide employees and its extended work force with bicycles as an alternative mode of transportation.

The program forms part of SMC’s continuing efforts to ensure safety at workplaces and provide its workforce convenience amid travel restrictions across much of the country.

The program enables employees and work force to avail themselves of bicycles and helmets at almost giveaway prices. A bicycle ranges from P2,000 to P3,000 for high-quality, feature-laden bicycles which they can pay with no interest for 12 months.

The bulk of the cost for the bicycles is shouldered by SMC. SMC President Ramon S. Ang said the program was prompted by a surge in demand for bicycles among employees as the company continues to safely bring its employees back to work to continue essential operations.

“While we continuously do mass RT-PCR testing of all 70,000 employees and extended work force to ensure safety in our facilities and offices nationwide, and even as we observe strict safety and health protocols, we understand there’s also a need to provide convenience and additional safety to many of

our workers, when they go to work,” Ang said.

“Right now, our transportation system is still limited, and we see that more of our employees are biking to work. So we thought to provide them new bicycles. We bought an initial 1,500 units for our facilities in different locations. Almost as soon as we offered them, all were taken. We are now waiting for more units to make available to more employees in more areas,” Ang added.

Available to employees are commuter bicycles complete with basket, light and drum brakes for P2,080 and a compact, hardtail mountain bike with front suspension, front and rear disc brakes and gearing, for P3,000.

The company said it has also launched a special Covid-19 transportation loan for employees to further expand their options for alternative modes of transportation.

a coach and five players turning in positive results from Covid-19 tests.

But PFF secretary general Atty. Edwin Gastanes said it’s so far so good inside the bubble and that the federation will always be on the guard to help the PFL complete its season virus-free.

“The PFF will always be here to help the league. You know that in times like this, we really

have to help each other,” Gastanes said.

The PFF, according to Gastanes, is shouldering the testing fees for the teams.

“We at the PFF are really happy to see that professional football is back again,” he said.

“I’m sure a lot of football fans are also happy with this.”

UCFC opened its season on Wednesday

with a 1-0 victory over ADT, 1-0, but the team would be playing Mendiola without midfielder Manny Ott, who was issued a red card for hitting ADT’s Troy Limbo.

But the team is still packed with forwards Mike Ott—who made the season’s first goal— Stephen Schrock, Robert Lopez Mendy and Bienvenido Maranon leading the charge.

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