BusinessMirror April 26, 2020

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Sunday, April 26, 2020 Vol. 15 No. 199

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GLOVY TO GOD

A FAMILY walks past rows of houses built on the sidewalk next to the Pasig River.

I

Text & photos by Bernard Testa

N Barangay 286 in Tondo, Manila, they too have a Bayanihan bill. But this one is based on their abiding faith in Divine Mercy—that despite their poverty, each one helps any fellow human being in need, because there is always God’s infinite mercy to hold the line for all.

The Sunday we visited the village was the feast of Divine Mercy, an important date in the Catholic calendar, when believers are reminded to hold on to the Lord’s promise to Saint Faustina, that he will pour out his boundless love and mercy for all those who make a real act of contrition.

That capacity to hold on to such boundless love and mercy was very much manifest on that Divine Mercy Sunday. It had just been a mere three days since a fire razed over 200 homes, and people were taking shelter in tents provided by the city government and good samaritans.

One of the fire victims is 42-year-old Glovy Zuñiga, born and raised in this slum community. She lives with her husband, two

FIRE RAZES OVER 200 HOMES IN THE SLUMS OF TONDO, MANILA, BUT PEOPLE THERE, USED TO A ‘BAYANIHAN’ WAY OF LIFE, SAY THEY’LL RISE AGAIN—WITH DIVINE MERCY, AND DESPITE THE PAINFUL WORDS OF THE IGNORANT.

mamalaki ko, kahit slum area po kami, ganito kahirap ang sitwasyon namin, ang mga tao po dito nagtutulungan po. Kung ikaw ay nagugutom, kakatok ka lang sa kapitbahay mo, hindi pwedeng hindi ka nila bibigyan.

Ganoon po dito magmalasakit ang mga tao. Kung ikaw ay may sakit, naghihingalo ka diyan, lahat dito ay nagtutulungan. Dadalhin ka sa ospital, ganoon po ang bayanihan dito sa barangay namin [I am proud of the fact that, although we are in a slum area, and our situation is this hard, the people here look out for each other. If you’re hungry, just knock on your neighbor’s door, and it’s impossible for them to turn you away. That’s how caring people here are. If you’re sick, or dying, everyone helps. They’ll bring you to the hospital. That’s the bayanihan spirit in our barangay].”

This is why, she said, they were deeply pained by the bashing they got on social media, from people who did not bother to find out their situation. Nearly

children and a 69-year-old mother.

She tends to a small sari-sari store under the Delpan bridge in Manila, and has a humble corner raising plants.

With the fire, she is certainly not happy, but says she has a reason to smile. No one was hurt in the hour-long fire that engulfed her barangay and left 295 families homeless.

They are temporarily sheltered in barangay tents at the sidewalks and inside parts of the Jose Abad Santos High School in Binondo.

Bayanihan as way of life

SHE is breathless as she describes, with nary a pause, how people in their community live in harmony, sans the bitterness usually associated with the city slums. “Ipinag-

VIEW of the fire-damaged neighborhood under Delpan bridge.

GLOVY ZUÑIGA and her aquaponics garden.

PESO EXCHANGE RATES n US 50.8350

FREE sopas for breakfast from a good samaritan.

A LADY with a child in an alleyway.

Continued on A2

A RESIDENT shows what she will cook for lunch.

A BARANGAY official hands out washable face masks.

n JAPAN 0.4719 n UK 62.7050 n HK 6.5594 n CHINA 7.1767 n SINGAPORE 35.6212 n AUSTRALIA 32.1277 n EU 55.0238 n SAUDI ARABIA 13.5110

Source: BSP (April 23, 2020)

NewsSunday

GLOVY TO GOD A2 Sunday, April 26, 2020

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A WOMAN fixes her temporary place to stay along the sidewalk.

A FAMILY going through donated clothes while staying in a tent.

GLOVY ZUÑIGA and her 69-year-old mother, Gloria Subro.

A TWO-STORY house directly under the Delpan bridge.

RESIDENTS sort through the debris left by the fire.

Continued from A1

choking with tears, she said, in an exasperated voice, “Mga pasaway daw kami. Pumunta po sila para makita po nila ’yung sitwasyon, kung gaano po kabuti ang mga puso ng mga tao dito [They call us wayward and hardheaded. Let them come here and see for themselves how good the people are].”

She may be poor, but Glovy hates being idle. So, after reading about aquaponics, she tried raising her own plants, using discarded plastic containers and whatever throwaways could hold them: kang­ kong, kamatis, pechay, luya and oregano, among others, which she notes are very nutritious, especially during the pandemic when people need to boost their immunity.

She has given away many of these, especially the oregano and the ginger, to neighbors who sought relief from minor colds, coughs or throat irritations.

This cooperative spirit is why, she said, the bashing they got from netizens really stung.

She saw most of the comments from a social-media post which she at first thought came from the Inter-Agency Task Force (IATF), because she saw its logo in one post.

“Parang sila po ’yung sa InterAgency sa post po nila na may na­ susunog, napakaraming comment po doon. Napakasakit [It looked like they came from the inter-agency in that post that a village was on fire.

There were many comments in that thread. Hurtful ones].”

Teary-eyed Glovy recalled the netizens’ comments: “Tama at dapat lang daw ’yun dito na masunugan daw, kasi hindi raw kami sumusunod sa gobyerno, mga pasaway daw kami kay Isko Moreno. Hindi po kasi nila alam ang sitwasyon, sino ba ang gusto ma­ sunugan [They said it’s just right that our homes were burned, because we’re not following the government, not following Mayor Moreno. They don’t know our situation. Who wants to be a fire victim]?”

And then she said something that reflected how deeply the teachings of Divine Mercy have taken root in her heart. The fire started from a man mourning his wife’s death, she said, and they— neighbors—are not blaming him.

“Kung totoo po ang dahilan po ng sunog, e hindi ko siya masisisi kasi nagluluksa iyon. Nagtirik ng kandila, ang pagkakamali lang niya e ’yung tinirik niyang kandila. Namatay ang babae sa cancer, nagtirik ng kandila si lalake [If it’s true that the fire began there, then I cannot blame him, as he was grieving. He lit a candle.

His only fault was it was unattended for long. His wife died of cancer, and this man lit a candle].”

She recalled that she and her husband had to rescue her 74-yearold auntie at the start of the fire across the street where they lived.

“Kahit ano ang dahilan ng su­ nog e tumulong na lang kaysa mang­ husga. Gusto ko nga matapos na itong quarantine. Kasi ayaw ko umasa sa gobyerno [Whatever caused the fire, we should just help each other

and not be judgmental. I hope this quarantine ends soon, because I don’t want to rely too much on the government].”

She said she is a beneficiary of 4Ps or the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program, and is grateful for that, but believes all beneficiaries should still pull in weight. That is why she tends to her modest urban garden, among other ways of eking out an income.

“Hindi lahat ng tao dito ta­ mad. Mas maganda po ’yung nagha­ hanapbuhay tayo, na kumikita tayo sa sariling pagsisikap natin kaysa asa tayo nang asa sa ini-rarasyon ng gobyerno.

Mga inutil daw ’yung sa iskwater nakat­ ira. Hingi lang nang hingi ng ano, hintay lang nang hintay ng tulong ng gobyerno.

Masakit ’yun, kasi dito ako nakatira sa 286. At hindi ako ganoong klase ng in­ dibiduwal [Not everyone here is lazy.

It’s better that we all work, that we all earn something from our labors and not keep relying on government rations. Some say slum dwellers are inutile, they keep asking the government for everything, they wait for the government to provide every need. That hurts, because I live here in Barangay 286. And I’m not that kind of person].”

In parting, she asked people to understand each other in these hard times, and prove they really have the bayanihan spirit. Now is the time to show compassion and mercy to one another, a great way to showcase the bayanihan spirit, she stressed. Spoken from the heart of one who truly believes in divine mercy.

www.businessmirror.com.ph • Editor: Angel R. Calso

The World

Historic oil crash burns Asian retail investors caught off guard

A

pril Dong stared in disbelief at the oil price on her phone. The bank clerk in China’s Hebei province had invested 40,000 yuan ($5,600) in US crude futures through popular bank products, and she was watching it vanish in real time.

It was on Monday night in China, just about the time traders in New York were having their morning coffee. West Texas Intermediate had been sliding all day since it opened at about $18 a barrel. When prices hit $11, Dong closed out, having lost about half her money.

Her pain has been felt throughout Asia this week by retail investors who thought they were buying the dip but instead got crushed by oil’s unprecedented collapse below zero. From Beijing to Seoul to Mumbai, the oil-tracking funds that offered cheap entry for the layperson suffered substantial losses.

“I’m not an oil professional, it’s natural that I don’t know the concept of negative pricing and rolling,” Dong, 31, said in a phone interview. “Oil should at least have some kind of value.

There’s no way it should fall into sub-zero value.”

Investors are being rattled because of a rarely used but very important detail in the WTI contract: anyone holding futures after they expire could be forced to take delivery of crude in the US oil hub of Cushing, Oklahoma. For the May contract, that expiration happened on Tuesday night.

Storage tanks there are nearing capacity as fuel demand is decimated by widespread lockdown measures to slow the spread of the coronavirus. With fewer people able to buy crude and store it, liquidity in near-term contracts dries up, making squeezes like Monday’s more likely.

Bank of China

Dong’s lucky she cashed out when she did. Most of her investment was in a Bank of China Ltd. product pegged to May WTI futures. That means her money was tied up in a contract that fell to as low as minus $40.32 a barrel just hours after she cut her losses.

On Tuesday, Bank of China suspended trading for products linked to US crude futures while it checked with exchange owner CME Group Inc. on settlement arrangements for negative prices.

It then stopped allowing new positions in its US and UK crude products because of market and settlement risks.

The bank on Wednesday said on its web site that the underlying settlement value for the May contract is minus 266.12 yuan a barrel, which, after accounting for some currency fluctuations, is roughly the Nymex Monday close of minus $37.63. Bank of China said in a statement on Wednesday night that it settled the contracts in accordance with guidelines previously disclosed to clients.

By Thursday, several other Chinese financial institutions had also suspended opening new positions on crude oil products. The chaos played out elsewhere in Asia this week.

In South Korea, a brokerage saw its trading system freeze when prices went negative, leaving customers helpless as they watched losses pile up. Exotic structured notes in the country tied to oil were also at risk of massive losses. A Hong Kong exchange-traded oil fund with more than $500 million in assets as of Monday plummeted 46 percent on Wednesday after it decided to sell its June contracts and repurchase moreexpensive September derivatives.

‘Total loss’

The Hong Kong fund, Samsung S&P GSCI Crude Oil ER Futures ETF, warned that if it held onto June contracts the net asset value may drop to zero and investors may suffer “a total loss” in a “worst case scenario.”

In India, clients of Motilal Oswal Financial Services Ltd. had outstanding dues of about $10 million, it said in an e-mail, from losses on their WTI-linked oil futures on the Multi Commodity Exchange of India.

“The stand taken by the exchange is incorrect, illogical and unprecedented from the overall commodity derivative market ecosystem perspective,” it said, referring to allowing negative settlement prices. “We hope the regulator will also look into this issue in the right perspective.”

The exchange, known as MCX, didn’t respond to a request for comment.

The United States Oil Fund, the biggest ETF tracking crude prices, took a series of unusual actions after losing a third of its value in two days. It had to suspend the issuance of new shares, an action that could leave it untethered from prices it’s supposed to track. Interactive Brokers Group Inc. on Tuesday announced an $88-million provisionary loss due to several customers who held long positions in the May WTI contract when it expired, triggering losses that outstripped the equity in their accounts.

Retail inflows

Given the difficulty and costs of storing oil, even in normal times, investors typically never keep positions into expiration, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. said in a note. The surge of inflows to oil in recent weeks suggest that retail investors were likely still long on May WTI contracts into this week, the bank said.

For Dong, who studied alongside oil industry professionals in her MBA program, the experience has soured her on future investments in crude.

“If the underlying contract keeps rolling, then it’s a shortterm product. But I’m a long-term value investor,” she said. “I discovered from this incident that oil wealth products are not my thing.” Bloomberg News

BusinessMirror

Sunday, April 26, 2020

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Oil crash adds new shock to limping world economy T

he historic collapse in the price of oil is inflicting another shock on a weakened world economy, creating a disinflationary risk for some and severely denting budgets in producers from Saudi Arabia to Russia and Canada.

The rock-bottom price comes amid the worst global slump since the Great Depression, which has already led to interest-rate cuts and other stimulus, stretching the capacity of monetary policy-makers once again.

In addition to hitting crucial revenue for traditional oil producers, the latest price drop also threatens America’s nascent shale revolution.

The upshot is that although cheap fuel typically provides something of a tax cut for many households and businesses, the fact that so many are locked down by the coronavirus means this time it will likely do more harm than good to the recession-hit global economy.

“The latest tumble in the price of crude below zero may prove a temporary aberration, but for the world economy it is a reminder that the wheels of commerce are firmly stuck in the mud, and that it will take some time to extricate them,” said Frederic Neumann, co-head of Asia economic research at HSBC Holdings Plc. in Hong Kong.

A deal between Opec and its allies has so far failed to reverse the trajector y, as news on the demand side keeps getting worse. Oil edged up in Asia trade on Wednesday after two days of spectacular routs that saw prices turn negative for the first time ever.

“It is not easy for oil producers to turn off the tap, so they need somewhere to store it until they can find a buyer,” said Christian Downie of the Australian National

In this file photo, a pumpjack is pictured as the sun sets on Tuesday, April 21, 2020, in Oklahoma City. Oil prices continue to drop, because very few people are flying or driving, and factories have shut amid widespread stay-at-home orders due to coronavirus concerns. AP/Sue Ogrocki File

University, whose expertise includes international energy. “The problem is there is very little storage left, so producers are literally paying buyers to take it off their hands, hence the negative prices.”

The oil slump is another challenge for central banks if it persists and feeds through to broader price trends. They’ve already cut interest rates and relaunched massive bond-buying programs to support economies through crippling shutdowns, meaning their capacity to fight another inflation battle is sorely diminished. Oil demand will take “a long time to recover,” former BP CEO John Browne told Bloomberg Television.

Swinging oil prices impact economies in different ways. Countries that are net energy importers would ordinarily see household income and spending get a boost.

China is the world’s largest oil importer, but its economy contracted the most in decades over the first three months of the year.

Emerging economies that dominate the list of oil-producing nations are vulnerable to a collapse in revenues that will pressure current-account deficits and tip companies toward default.

While the extreme moves seen on Monday in US prices weren’t reflected in global benchmark Brent, the collapse in energy demand had already blown out budgets across the oil-rich Middle East. Bahrain, one of the most indebted members of the six-nation Gulf Cooperation Council, followed neighbors this week in announcing drastic spending cuts.

Saudi Arabia, which sent prices spiraling when it ramped up production this year to put pressure on rival Russia, is also feeling the pain. The kingdom needs an oil price of around $80 to balance its budget, and with Brent currently below $25, its deficit is expected to more than double this year to around 10 percent of GDP. The collapse in prices would also

inevitably raise questions over the stability of currency pegs maintained by some oil exporters, as the decline in revenue squeezes foreigncurrency reserves. The IMF expects Saudi Arabia’s revenue to drop to 26 percent of economic output this year, the lowest since 1999.

Some of the stress is reflected in the bond market. Oman, seen as the most vulnerable Gulf Arab economy to oil-price shocks, saw the yield on its Eurobonds due in 2029 rise from under 6 percent at the beginning of March to about 10.7 percent on Tuesday, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

“For large oil-producing countries it is a double blow, or even triple blow if they are heavily indebted—it will amplify the initial hit to these economies and will make it harder for them to recover,” said Rob Subbaraman, head of global macro research at Nomura Holdings Inc. in Singapore.

The US is also vulnerable. The oil and gas industry shed nearly 51,000 drilling and refining jobs in March, according to BW Research Partnership, a research consultancy, which analyzed Department of Labor data combined with the firm’s own survey data.

The last bust in the US shale industry—when prices went as low as $26—contributed to a manufacturing recession in 2016.

US President Donald Trump on Monday told reporters he wants to take advantage of the lower prices to add as much as 75 million barrels of oil to the nation’s Strategic Petroleum Reserve. He also acknowledged that global demand for oil has plummeted.

“The problem is nobody’s driving a car, anywhere in the world, essentially,” said Trump.

Bloomberg News

Europe has 25 million battles to save backbone of economy

I

n central Germany, a couple in their mid-60s running a travel agency is seeing retirement drift at least a decade into the future. In a small town in southern Italy, a well-known restaurant is closing for good. And on France’s northwestern coast, a bistro owner is concerned the majority of restaurants around him will simply disappear.

The economic damage wrought by the coronavirus is clear in countless stories across Europe, from business owners furiously fighting to keep their firms afloat to those who see no hope.

In France, where more than half of small firms fear bankruptcy, the crisis led to a public showdown on live television between entrepreneurs and the country’s finance minister.

Even with massive government financial support, countries face the prospect of countless businesses going under, destroying livelihoods and jobs, as well as weakening a key part of the economy. Europe’s 25 million small and medium sized enterprises— officially defined as having fewer than 250 staff—employ more than 90 million people.

“We can and should even massively support these businesses if only because they represent a huge source of job creation,” said Nadine Levratto, a research director at the French National Centre for Scientific Research. “They really are a precious public good.”

Often with low margins and few reserves, small businesses

are more vulnerable than bigger groups. SMEunited, an employers’ association representing SMEs at a European level, showed in a recent survey that about 90 percent report being hit by the pandemic, with an EU-wide average 50 percent loss in turnover.

Country-level data is similarly grim: France’s small business federation CPME says 55 percent of small firms are concerned about bankruptcy, and a group representing Irish SMEs says close to 30 percent won’t survive if the situation doesn’t improve within the next two months.

Debt worries

In Weimar, Germany, Guenter Conrad and his w ife have scrapped plans to hand their travel agency to a successor after running it for three decades.

With no money coming in, he says the mounting debt they’ll have to take on will mean closing one of their two shops, cutting staff, and juggling most of the workload themselves to make their business viable.

Germany has promised unlimited loan guarantees for struggling small businesses, alongside €50 billion ($54 billion) of free cash injections. In Italy, subsidies and loans have proven harder to come by, and some don’t see a point in fighting on.

They include Mariagrazia Ferrandino, a restaurant owner in the southern town of Apricena. She plans to keep her business shut and apply for unemployment support.

“I don’t need another mortgage,” she wrote in an open letter to Italy’s prime minister, Giuseppe Conte.

The crisis raises grim questions for policy-makers—often keen to defend “the little guy” and hold up SMEs as the backbone of the economy, but hesitant to ramp up more debt and ultimately put the bill on the taxpayer.

In France, the dilemma came to a head one night on national television.

A gym owner, a construction entrepreneur, and a Michelin-starred chef bombarded Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire with questions, arguing that many small businesses will go bust if they are forced to pay rents or loans.

Le Maire responded the government would consider tax forgiveness instead of just delays, but warned the cost for the state would be huge.

Erasing debts could be justified both in terms of protecting jobs and the economy. One question is whether governments want to set conditions.

In the US, for instance, small companies are able to receive forgivable loans that convert into grants if at least 75 percent of the funding is spent on payroll.

Lucia Cusmano, who leads the SME and Entrepreneurship Division at the OECD Center for Entrepreneurship, says the scale of the challenge and the speed needed in interventions is such that conditionality is difficult to apply. But even with broad

support, “some destruction of business as a result of the crisis is inevitable.”

A number of countries have begun easing tough restrictions, but the experience from China, where lockdown rules have been loosened since March, shows consumers are reluctant to go out and spend. Monthly revenues of Chinese SMEs are down about 60 percent from a year ago, according to a study by the PBC School of Finance at Tsinghua University.

That’s a worry for retailers, restaurants and bars. Hubert Jan, owner of the Bistrot Chez Hubert on the south Brittany coast in France, is also concerned about rules imposing bigger distances between diners.

There will be no point in restaurants reopening if they can’t break even at half the normal capacity, he expects. “We might find ourselves with a catastrophe of 60 percent of restaurants disappearing from one day to the next.”

But despite the threat that will linger even after restrictions are lifted, SMEunited Secretary -General Veronique Willems is hopeful that many companies will show resilience, and is calling on governments to do their utmost to contain the pandemic.

“We are now discussing recovery strategies already, but if the emergency strategies don’t work out, we won’t need recovery strategies for SMEs anymore because t here won’t be a ny lef t,” she said. “ It wou ld be a n econom ic m a s s a c re.” Bloomberg News

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Sunday, April 26, 2020

The World BusinessMirror

All that matters to investors is how fast economies reopen

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andemic trading will go down in history for its breathtaking velocity: The fastest market crash meets the swiftest rescue package to offset a virus infecting the world at a pace unseen this century.

A Wall Street fixated on the speed of new coronavirus cases is now turning its attention to the next phase of the crisis: How quickly the lockdowns end.

Bad data is a given. Weak earnings are expected. Stimulus is priced.

Whatever shape the economic recovery takes, cross-asset strategies are hinging on how fast consumption and investment returns.

“Everyone was talking about six to nine months as a timeline for lockdown,” said Edward Park, deputy chief investment officer at Brooks Macdonald Asset Management. “Now people are talking about restrictions being lifted in the next one to two months. That shortening of the timeline means that the dire economic data that we have seen can be looked through.”

Look no further than the economic data crossing the tape on Thursday. Gauges of private-sector activity in Europe were disastrous, beyond already gloomy expectations. Yet after an initial dip the Stoxx Europe 600 Index of equities quickly found its feet.

The pattern may be similar

when jobless claims hit in the US later—the S&P 500 has risen every Thursday for the past four weeks even as applications for unemployment benefits in America surged by more than 20 million.

It’s not that the data doesn’t matter. But the scale of the central bank and fiscal response has been so huge, it’s helped investors see past the pain so far. And now, just as the relentless bad figures threatened to over whelm their optimism— w itness the chaos in the oi l market—the largest economies are moving toward reopening.

Germany this week allowed smaller stores to reopen in some locations, becoming the first in Europe to move toward a cautious revival of business activity.

The White House on Friday issued guidelines for states to reopen in phases, with some already moving toward easing restrictions.

“We do look at PMIs and initial jobless claims to understand the depth of recession, but it’s not the key input to determine our asset allocations,” said Thushka Maharaj, global multi-asset strategist

at JPMorgan Asset Management.

The team is focused on the removal of restrictions. “ We’ l l be track ing higherfrequency measures of infection rates, movement of people back to work. Maybe electricity consumption, transportation,” said Maharaj.

The S&P 500 closed last week at the highest in more than a month, even though the Trump administration’s plans leave many questions unanswered.

Countries adopted var y ing measures at different times to contain the pandemic, and as a result have experienced different outcomes in terms of spread. It’s likely they will, therefore, have contrasting approaches to ending their lockdowns, which will feed into relative market performance.

“A pattern seems to be emerging that the euro zone countries which experienced the sharpest impact on public [and economic] life will be the last countries exiting the lockdown measures,” ING Bank NV economists including Bert Colijn wrote this week. “Add to this significant differences across countries regarding the size of the fiscal reaction and there is a clear risk of an asymmetric recovery.”

Both virus rates and asset moves already speak to this. While Germany, with 150,000 cases but just 5,000 deaths, already eased some restrictions, Italy has almost 190,000 confirmed infections and 25,000 deaths, and won’t start relaxing containment measures until May 4.

That helps to account for why the benchmark Italian stock index lags the German equivalent by some 7 percentage points this year.

The spread between debt yields of the two nations has widened by more than 80 basis points.

Meanwhile, the world has yet to fully understand the Covid-19 virus. If easing restrictions lead to an acceleration in infections or deaths, containment measures could make a swift return.

At Deutsche Bank AG, strategists including Jim Reid have been diving into the micro details of what lockdown exit strategies might look like across geographies. They highlight that many countries want to reopen a little sooner than expected, indicating an acceptance “they will have to live with the virus in some form— at least for now.”

“A key consideration is how to deal with the second wave of the virus that is likely from increased activity,” they wrote in a note.

“This is being weighed up against the increasing awareness of the health problems associated with isolation and lockdown itself.”

All this will play out over some time. Until then investors conditioned to bad news and data appear receptive to glimmers of light.

“As long as things are gradually improving and moving on a timeline where the lockdown isn’t going to continue for the next year, if things are gradually improving at a slow pace, that’s enough for equities,” said Park at Brooks Macdonald. Bloomberg News

Editor: Angel R. Calso • www.businessmirror.com.ph

North Korea silence on Kim Jong Un’s health raises succession speculation

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EOUL, South Korea—With North Korea saying nothing so far about outside media reports that leader Kim Jong Un may be unwell, there’s renewed worry about who’s next in line to run a nuclear-armed country that’s been ruled by the same family for seven decades.

Questions about Kim’s health flared after he skipped an April 15 commemoration of the 108th birthday of his grandfather, North Korea founder Kim Il Sung. It’s North Korea’s most important event, and Kim, 36, hadn’t missed it since inheriting power from his father in late 2011.

North Korea’s state media on Wednesday said Kim sent a message thanking Syria’s president for conveying greetings on his grandfather’s birthday, but didn’t report any other activities, while rival South Korea repeated that no unusual developments had been detected in the North.

Kim has been out of the public eye for extended periods in the past, and North Korea’s secretive nature allows few outsiders to assert confidently whether he might be unwell, let alone incapacitated. Still, questions about the North’s political future are likely to grow if he fails to attend upcoming public events.

Kim is the third generation of his family to rule North Korea, and a strong personality cult has been built around him, his father and grandfather. The family’s mythical “Paektu” bloodline, named after the highest peak on the Korean Peninsula, is said to give only direct family members the right to rule the nation.

That makes Kim’s younger sister, senior ruling party official Kim Yo Jong, the most likely candidate to step in if her brother is gravely ill, incapacitated or dies. But some experts say a collective leadership, which could end the family’s dynastic rule, could also be possible.

“Among the North’s power elite, Kim Yo Jong has the highest chance to inherit power, and I think that possibility is more than 90 percent,” said analyst Cheong Seong-Chang at the private Sejong Institute in South Korea. “North Korea is like a dynasty, and we can view the Paektu descent as royal blood so it’s unlikely for anyone to raise any issue over Kim Yo Jong taking power.”

Believed to be in her early 30s, Kim Yo Jong is in charge of North Korea’s propaganda affairs, and earlier this month was made an alternate member of the powerful Politburo.

She has frequently appeared with her brother at public activities, standing out among elderly male officials. She accompanied Kim Jong Un on his high-stakes summits with President Donald J. Trump and other world leaders. Her proximity to him during those summits led many outsiders to believe she’s essentially North Korea’s No. 2 official.

“I think the basic assumption would be that maybe it would be someone in the family” to replace Kim Jong Un, US national security adviser Robert O’Brien told reporters on Tuesday. “But again, it’s too early to talk about that because we just don’t know, you know, what condition Chairman Kim is in and we’ll have to see how it plays out.”

The fact that North Korea is an extremely patriarchal society has led some to wonder if Kim Yo Jong would only serve as a temporary figurehead and then be replaced by a collective leadership similar to ones established after the deaths of other Communist dictators.

“North Korean politics and the three hereditary power transfers have been malecentered. I wonder whether she can really overcome bloody socialist power struggles and exercise her power,” said Nam Sung-wook, a professor at Korea University in South Korea.

A collective leadership would likely be headed by Choe Ryong Hae, North Korea’s ceremonial head of state who officially ranks No. 2 in the country’s current power hierarchy, Nam said.

But Choe is still not a Kim family member, and that could raise questions about his legitimacy and put North Korea into deeper political chaos, according to other observers.

Other Kim family members who might take over include Kim Pyong Il, the 65-year-old half-brother of Kim Jong Il who reportedly returned home in November after decades in Europe as a diplomat.

Kim Pyong Il’s age “could make him a reasonable front man for collective leadership by the State Affairs Commission and regent for the preferred next-generation successor,” said Leif-Eric Easley, a professor at Ewha University in Seoul. “However, elite power dynamics and danger of instability might make this an unlikely option.” AP

Revolutionary Guard reveals secret space program in satellite launch

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EHRAN, Iran—Iran’s Revolutionary Guard launched its first satellite into space on Wednesday, dramatically revealing what experts described as a secret military space program that could advance its ballistic missile development amid wider tensions between the Islamic Republic and the US. Using a mobile launcher at a new launch site, the Guard said it put the “Noor,” or “Light,” satellite into a low orbit circling the Earth. W hile the US, Israel and other countries declined to immediately confirm the satellite reached orbit, their criticism suggested they believed the launch happened.

Iranian state TV late Wednesday showed footage of what it said was the satellite and said it had orbited the Earth within 90 minutes. It said the satellite’s signals were being received.

The launch comes as Iran has abandoned all the limitations of its tattered nuclear deal with world powers that President Donald Trump unilaterally withdrew America from in 2018. Trump’s decision set off a monthslong series of escalating attacks that culminated in a US drone strike in January that killed a top Iranian general in Iraq, followed by Tehran launching ballistic missiles at American soldiers in Iraq.

As the world grapples with the coronavirus pandemic and historically low oil prices, the missile launch may signal a new willingness to take risks by Iran. Trump himself later tweeted he told the US Navy “to shoot down and destroy any and all Iranian gunboats if they harass our ships at sea,” both raising energy prices and renewing the risk of conflict.

“Now that you have the maxi-

mum pressure campaign, Iran doesn’t have that much to lose anymore,” said Fabian Hinz, a researcher at the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies at the Middlebury Institute of International Studies in Monterey, California.

The three-stage satellite launch took off from Iran’s Central Desert, the Guard said, without elaborating.

Hinz said based on state media images, the launch appeared to have happened at a previously unacknowledged Guard base near Shahroud, Iran, some 330 kilometers (205 miles) northeast of Tehran.

The base is in Semnan province, which hosts the Imam Khomeini Spaceport from which Iran’s civilian space program operates.

The paramilitary force said it used a “Qased,” or “Messenger,” satellite carrier to put the device into space, a previously unheardof system. It described the system as using both liquid and solid fuel.

Such a system may allow Iran to more quickly fuel a rocket, something crucial in an offensive weapon system, Hinz said, while stressing more information was needed about the launch.

Wednesday marked the 41st anniversary of the founding of the Guard by Iran’s late leader, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini. An image of the rocket that carried the satellite showed it bore a Quranic verse typically recited when going on a journey, as well as a drawing of the Earth with the word Allah in Farsi wrapped around it. It remained unclear what the satellite it carried does.

“Today, the world’s powerful armies do not have a comprehensive defense plan without being in space, and achieving this superior technology that takes us into space and expands the realm of

In this photo released on April 22 by Sepahnews, an Iranian rocket carrying a satellite is launched from an undisclosed site believed to be in Iran’s Semnan province. Iran’s Revolutionary Guard said on Wednesday it put the Islamic Republic’s first military satellite into orbit, dramatically unveiling what experts described as a secret space program with a surprise launch that came amid wider tensions with the United States. Sepahnews via AP

our abilities is a strategic achievement,” said Gen. Hossein Salami, the head of the Guard.

The Guard, which operates its own military infrastructure parallel to Iran’s regular armed forces, is a hardline force answerable only to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

International criticism of the launch came quickly.

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said “Iran needs to be held accountable for what it’s done.”

At a Pentagon news conference on Wednesday, senior officials called the satellite launch a provocation. “ We v iew this as further ev idence of Iran’s behav ior that is threatening in the region,” said Dav id Norqu i st , t he de put y sec ret a r y of defense.

Gen. John Hyten, vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said the launched vehicle “went a very long way.” He said it was too early to say whether it successfully placed a satellite in orbit.

Israel’s Foreign Ministry described the launch as a “façade for Iran’s continuous development of advanced missile technology.” German Foreign Ministry spokesman Christofer Burger warned that “the Iranian rocket program has a destabilizing effect on the region and is also u naccept able in v iew of ou r European security interests.”

US Army Maj. Rob Lodewick, a Pentagon spokesman, told The Associated Press that American officials continue to monitor Iran’s program.

“While Tehran does not cur-

rently have intercontinental ballistic missiles [ICBMs], its desire to have a strategic counter to the United States could drive it to develop an ICBM,” Lodewick said.

The US alleges such satellite launches defy a UN Security Council resolution calling on Iran to undertake no activity related to ballistic missiles capable of delivering nuclear weapons.

Iran, which long has said it does not seek nuclear weapons, previously maintained its satellite launches and rocket tests do not have a military component. The Guard launching its own satellite now calls that into question.

Tehran also says it hasn’t violated a UN resolution on its ballistic missile program as it only “called upon” Iran not to conduct such tests.

Wednesday’s launch, however, raises new questions. While Iran isn’t known to have the knowhow to miniaturize a nuclear weapon for a ballistic missile, any advances toward an intercontinental ballistic missile would put Europe and potentially the US in range. Iran long has said it limits its ballistic missiles’ range to 2,000 kilometers (1,240 miles) under Khamenei’s orders, which puts the Mideast but not the West in its reach.

Ira nia n commentators de sc r ib e d We d nesd ay ’s l au nc h as honor ing Hassa n Tehra ni Moghaddam, a Guard commander who led its missile development until his death in 2011 in a massive explosion at a facility outside of Tehran that killed 16 others. The state-run Iran newspaper around that time quoted the slain commander’s brother as saying he worked on an ICBM program, though the brother later denied that in subsequent interviews.

I ra n h a s su f fered se vera l failed satellite launches in recent months. A separate fire at the Imam Khomeini Space Center in February 2019 also killed three researchers, authorities said at the time.

A rocket explosion in August drew even the attention of Trump, who later tweeted what appeared to be a classified surveillance image of the launch failure. The successive failures raised suspicion of outside interference in Iran’s program, something Trump himself hinted at by tweeting at the time that the US “was not involved in the catastrophic accident.”

Over the past decade, Iran has sent several short-lived satellites into orbit and in 2013 launched a monkey into space. AP

Science

BusinessMirror

www.businessmirror.com.ph • Editor: Lyn Resurreccion

Sunday

Sunday, April 26, 2020 A5

Fassster: ECQ, health system help slow Covid-19 spread Vegetables as relief goods distributed on April 8 by the Benguet State University to members of the Sappat Indigenous Organization. Ruth C. Diego/BSU

Agri-based tech incubators distribute vegGies in relief operations in Benguet, S. Kudarat

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he Philippine Council for Agriculture, Aquatic and Natural Resources Research and Development of the Department of Science and Technology (DOST-PCAARRD), through its Agri-Aqua Technology Business Incubation (ATBI) Program, distributed vegetables as relief goods in Benguet in the Cordillera Administrative Region, and in Sultan Kudarat in Mindanao.

The relief operations aim to deliver nutritious food to individuals and families affected by the ongoing coronavirus crisis.

At the ATBI in Benguet State University (BSU), the relief operations started as a simple effort to help BSU students. It eventually became a larger initiative to provide healthier solutions to nearby communities.

The BSU-ATBI team initially provided relief goods to stranded students and staff of the university as a result of the enhanced community quarantine that cancelled classes and public transportation in Luzon.

In coordination with various Benguet local government units (LGUs) and organizations, including Bantey-Pisek-Kiweng Organization Inc. and Sappat Indigenous Organization, help was eventually extended to farmers, fisherfolk, vendors, miners and frontliners, such as barangay health workers, security personnel and police officers, among others.

Since March 27, the BSU-ATBI team has distributed food bags containing a variety of fruits and vegetables to more than 600 households in the municipalities of La Trinidad, Bokod, Itogon and Kapangan in Benguet.

With the growing number of Filipinos primarily consuming canned goods and instant foods from relief operations, the team provided communities with healthier food options— such as freshly-picked strawberries, tomatoes, eggplants, kinchay, lettuce, cabbage, broccoli, and potatoes.

The fruits and vegetables were among the produce of BSU’s farmer-incubatees under the ATBI program supported by DOST-PCAARRD. The program, led by Dr. Ruth C. Diego, researcher and director of BSU-ATBI, aims to effectively support the use and commercialization of mature technologies in the agriculture, aquatic

and natural resources sector by establishing and developing viable agribusinesses through technology incubation.

Relief operations in Sultan Kudarat

The same relief assistance was initiated to constituents of Tacurong City and Kalamansig in Sultan Kudarat.

The assistance were implemented by the ATBI of the Sultan Kudarat State University (SKSU) to Covid-19 frontliners and constituents of municipalities on April 6, 10 and 15 SKSU-ATBI donated 520 bottles of kalamansi juice and 30 packs of mushroom products to the LGU of Tacurong City on April 6.

Another batch of 500 bottles of kalamansi juice and 100 packs of mushroom pickles were distributed to the same location on April 10.

The municipality of Kalamansig received 1,000 bottles of kalamansi juice, 100 packs of mushroom pickles, 10 packs of turmeric and 36 packs of coffee on April 15.

SKSU-ATBI is one of the 16 ATBIs that are suppor ted DOST-PCAARRD under the ATBI Program.

ATBIs house mature technologies on agriculture, aquatic and natural resources (AANR) sectors. These technologies are commercialized by supporting, nurturing, and establishing viable agribusinesses under the ATBIs’ care.

Led by Dr. Rande B. Dechavez of SKSU, t h e S K S U -AT B I h o u s e s te c h n o l o g i e s o n kalamansi, duck eggs, mushroom, and halal goat, among others.

This initiative is just one of the efforts that have been done to help alleviate the situation in the province amid the current health crisis.

PCAARRD is one of the sectoral councils of the DOST, which is mandated to formulate policies, plans, and programs for science and technologybased R&D in the different sectors under its concern. It coordinates, evaluates and monitors the national R&D efforts in the AANR sector.

It also allocates government and external funds for R&D and generates resources to support its program. John Christopher M. Polinar and Kariza M. Geminiano/S&T Media Services

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By Lyn Resurreccion

cientific data showed that the enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) and increase in health system capacity helped prevent the spread of Covid-19.

“If there is no ECQ, Covid-19 cases will spread fast and it will have a high peak,” said Dr. Ma. Regina Justina E. Estuar, project leader of Fassster, or the Feasibility Analysis of Syndromic Surveillance using Spatio-Temporal Epidemiological Modeler for Early Detection of Diseases, at a recent virtual news conference.

Data from Fassster were the bases of the Inter-Agency Task Force (IATF) in recommending to Malacañang the possible actions to control the coronavirus pandemic in the country.

President Duterte placed Luzon under ECQ until April 30, from the original April 14, owing to the increasing incidence of Covid-19 infections.

On Friday Malacañang ordered the extension of ECQ in selected areas, including Metro Manila, Central Luzon, Calabarzon, and other high-risk provinces in Luzon until May 15.

A general community quarantine (GCQ) will be enforced in low-risk and moderate-risk areas for the same period.

As of Friday, the country has a total of recorded 6,981 cases

of Covid-19, with 722 recoveries and 462 fatalities.

However, besides ECQ, Estuar also emphasized the importance of the country’s health system capacity in controlling the increase in the number of Covid-19 cases.

She showed a Fassster dashboard that indicated that “if ECQ was not declared, the number of confirmed cases would reach up to 2 million on June 21” in the National Capital Region alone.

“Because of ECQ, with the limited movement of people, and the increase in health system capacity, the projection of confirmed Covid-19 cases slowed down to half a million,” Estuar said in Filipino.

Showing another dashboard, Estuar said if ECQ will be lifted on April 30—and if the health system capacity is raised to 40 percent—the confirmed cases will be 12,000 only.

“It will show a relatively flat curve,” she explained.

“The base graph will have a lower number of confirmed cases if the health system capacity is at 40 percent or more,” Estuar, an Ateneo de Manila University professor, said.

Being a tool in decision-making, Estuar explained that the basis of Fassster analysis are data gathered from ECQ and the country’s health system capacity, including testing.

Data on ECQ include measures on the limited movement of people, social distancing and people’s observance of proper hygiene.

The health systems and testing capacity data involve the number of available testing kits, testing centers, trained personnel in handling testing, the number of polymerase chain reaction machines, laboratories, hospital beds and personal protective equipment for frontliners, among others.

With these sources of data, Estuar noted that there are many scenarios included in Fassster computation.

“That is the important contribution of Fassster. We don’t just say ‘We should lift ECQ, and here is the data.’ We say, ‘We lift the ECQ and we have a health capacity of 10 percent, 20 percent or 30 percent.’

These are the big concerns in the increase or lowering of projection.

We consider various scenarios and cases,” she emphasized.

The data are gathered daily from the Department of Health Epidemiology Bureau and undergo data cleaning, where they are verified and validated, said Dr. Raymond Sarmiento of Fassster said in another virtual news conference.

Science Undersecretary Rowena Cristina Guevara agreed that based on Fassster model, the peak of possible Covid-19 cases is decreasing.

“Before, our testing capacity is low, so the peak is high,” she said.

Gue v a r a noted t h at si nce Fa ssster st a r ted work ing on Covid-19 early this year, it has “reg istered 96 percent to 98 percent accuracy.”

“So one could tr ust its data,” Gue v a ra told t he Busi n e ssMir ror in a phone inter v iew in m i xed Fi l ipino.

Science Secretary Fortunato de la Peña said Health Secretary Francisco Duque were “impressed” with the performance of the Fassster model and “praised” it.

The trend points to the lowering of the number of deaths and the increasing number of recovering patients, de la Peña told the BusinessMirror in a phone interview.

De la Peña agreed that “the testing capacity—including the ability to have those [Covid-19] infected tested and the ability of the health-care system, the facilities, [the number and capacity of] health-care workers—have big a factor” in the lowering number of infected cases.

Fassster was established in 2016 as an instrument in recording, monitor and assess the cases of illnesses that could become an epidemic or pandemic. Its original targeted diseases are dengue, typhoid fever and measles.

The 30-man team is funded

by Department of Science and Technology-Philippine Council for Health Research and Development with P19 million for five years.

Estuar said she feels Fassster “is here to stay,” especially now that the local government units and other stakeholders have realized the importance of developing “good science” in disease projection.

DOST mass producing Covid-19 test collection booths

Multi-awarded bamboo firm thanks DOST-FPRDI for support

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ambuhay,’ a bamboo-based social enterprise which has won several international awards in the last two years, recently thanked the Department of Science and Technology’s Forest Products Research and Development Institute (DOST-FPRDI) for its technical support to the company.

The major producer of bamboo straws in the Philippines, Bambuhay uses bamboo farming and entrepreneurship to help farmers fight poverty, and protect the environment.

While onlookers may say that the firm’s success is largely fuelled by its leadership’s aggressive drive to help poor farmers, its founder and CEO, Mark Sultan Gersava, acknowledges that Bambuhay owes part of its growth to the help they received from DOST-FPRDI in 2017 and 2019.

“The technical assistance from the institute was key to improving the quality of our products and consequently enabled us to compete in the world market,” Gersava said.

Bambuhay establishes bamboo plantations in deforested areas (with the help of the government’s Bamboo Agro-Forestry Program) and makes various bamboo products—straws, tumblers and bamboo charcoal—both for local and global markets.

According to Gersava, the company not only wants to give jobs to farmers in the poorest provinces, it aims to turn them into “agri-preneurs.”

It dreams of becoming the first social enterprise in Asia owned by everyone directly involved in its operations—from the growers who supply the raw materials, to all the production workers and all their other personnel.

Bamboo became their plant of choice because it grows very well locally, and is an efficient eco-

warrior. It can absorb huge amounts of climatechanging carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.

“We did not know much about bamboo processing, so we were glad we have found in DOSTFPRDI a partner for our technical needs,” Gersava said. “Their specialists trained us on bamboo finishing and treatment, and did microbial analysis on our bamboo straws and phytochemical analysis on bamboo leaves. As a result, our product quality increased, and sales ballooned by 250 percent.”

“In the years to come, I’m sure we would go back to DOST-FPRDI to get more help,” he added. “We have big plans for our farmers, so we are always on the lookout for better ways to assist them. Because of that, we would always be needing the support of anyone and everyone who knows how to make the most out of bamboo.”

According to Gersava, as of 2019, Bambuhay has already helped 181 farming families (and pulled 52 of these from poverty), sold 916,727 bamboo straws, and eliminated 5.6 million pounds of carbon dioxide (CO2) from the atmosphere.

Among the awards they have collected were the following: n Grand Winner of the 2019 Asean Impact Challenge, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia; n G l o b a l 1 0 0 Wi n n e r o f t h e 2 0 1 9 Entrepreneurship World Cup (out of more than 100,000 applicants worldwide), Riyadh, Saudi Arabia; n Grand Winner Start-upper of the Year, Paris, France; and n Winner of the Action Accelerator-Enactus World Cup, Silicon Valley, San Francisco Bay Area, California.

Rizalina K. Araral/S&T Media Service

The Covid-19 test sample collection booths deployed in UP-PGH.

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n support to the Department of Health’s (DOH) efforts to conduct mass testing in the country, the Department of Science and Technology (DOST) is mass producing sample collection booths (SCBs) as it passes validation tests from four hospitals.

The SCBs were designed and fabricated by Futuristic Aviation and Maritime Enterprise Inc. (FAME), a Startup Grant awardee of the DOSTPhilippine Council for Industry, Energy and Emerging Technology Research and Development (DOSTPCIEERD) for its previous project on low-cost transponders developed for small boats for fisherfolks.

The SCBs passed initial performance assessment conducted at the Regional Institute for Tropical Medicine, Philippine General Hospital, Lung Center of the Philippines, and Dr. Jose N. Rodriguez Memorial Hospital.

FAME’s SCBs are inspired by the telephone booth-style coronavirus testing stations in other

Asian countries.

They are compact, with good ventilation, easy to mobilize, can remotely monitor the patient’s temperature, and is a good protective barrier between the frontliner and the suspected Covid-19 patient.

They have window-mounted nitrile gloves that are disinfected for five minutes after use for every patient to protect others getting tested.

Other current designs from different sources were also considered in the selection of the final design for the SCBs, considering safety for both tester and patient, mobility of the unit and compactness of the design for ease of deployment.

Testing will be conducted by seating each patient outside the booth while the medical professional collects their samples by swabbing their nose and throat, using arm-length nitrile gloves built into the front window of the booth. The sample will be taken

to the accredited laboratories for diagnostic purposes.

Used gloves and other hazardous waste are properly disposed in bins for hazardous waste.

The SCBs will be delivered to the DOH-identified testing locations around the country by April 30.

The project is jointly supported by the DOST-PCIEERD and the DOST-Philippine Council for Health Research and Development (DOST-PCHRD).

DOST Undersecretary for Research and Development Dr. Rowena Cristina Guevara lauded FAME for stepping up to the plate and immediately responding to the need for SCBs in the country.

“As we continue to make change happen in the Philippines through research and development, we are optimistic that these SCBs will tip the scales in our fight against Covid-19, giving us a faster way to identify and isolate patients,” she said.

DOST PCIEERD Executive Director Dr. Enrico Paringit acknowledged FAME’s innovative approach in helping frontliners in battling Covid-19 in the country.

“FAME upped the ante in our fight against Covid-19. As a leader and partner in enabling research, innovations and development in the country, we will continue to support innovators who do not only push technological boundaries but also respond to pressing challenges in the Philippines,” he said.

DOST-PCHRD Executive Director Dr. Jaime C. Montoya stressed the importance of protecting the frontline workers in our country’s fight against Covid-19.

He said, “In this fight, our heroes are the frontline workers. Through this project, we are providing a new level of protection for our health workers whose health may be at risk due to shortages in PPEs. Likewise, this SCB is an inspiring method to support our goal of mass testing.”

S&T Media Service

Faith A6 Sunday, April 26, 2020

Sunday

Editor: Lyn Resurreccion •www.businessmirror.com.ph

Muslims try to keep Ramadan spirit amid virus restrictions

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AHTIM, Egypt—Every year during Ramadan, the Light of Muhammad Mosque sets up long tables on the street and dishes up free meals at sunset for the poor to break their daily fast. It’s a charity that many rely on in this impoverished district on the edge of the Egyptian capital.

Muslim women perform an evening prayer called “tarawih” marking the first evening of Ramadan despite concerns of the new coronavirus outbreak at the Islamic Centre Mosque in Banda Aceh, Aceh province, Indonesia, on April 23. The coronavirus pandemic is cutting off the world’s 1.8 billion Muslims from their cherished Ramadan traditions as health officials battle to ward off new infections during Islam’s holiest month, haunted by multiple outbreaks traced to previous religious gatherings. AP/Heri Juanda

But it’s too dangerous in this era of the coronavirus—in Egypt and in many Muslim countries, such “Tables of the Compassionate” have been barred.

So the mosque, which like others in Egypt had to shut its doors as a precaution against the virus, will use the funds that would have gone into the free communal tables to distribute packed meals and cash to those in need.

“We hope this could ease their suffering,” said Sheikh Abdel-Rahman, the muezzin of the mosque in the district of Bahtim.

As Ramadan began with the new moon on Friday, Muslims around the world are trying to maintain the cherished rituals of Islam’s holiest month without further spreading the outbreak.

At the heart of Ramadan is the sunrise-to-sunset fast, meant to instill contemplation of God. But alongside the hardship of abstaining from food and drink for hours every day, the month sweeps

ever yone up into a communa l spirit. Families and friends gather for large meals at sunset, known as iftar. In some countries, cafes and cultural events are packed late into the night.

Worshippers go to mosques for hours of evening prayers, or “taraweeh.” Many devote themselves to charity.

Muslims now find themselves cut off from much of what makes the month special as authorities fight the pandemic.

Many countr ies have closed mosques and banned taraweeh to prevent crowds. Prominent clerics, including in Saudi Arabia, have urged people to pray at home.

Governments are trying to balance restrictions with traditions.

Lebanon, Iraq, Syria and Egypt loosened their curfews, moving them back to start anywhere from a half hour to 90 minutes after sunset. That gives time to get to iftar, but not much: people can’t go too far to visit others for the meal unless

they’re prepared to stay the night.

Other countries have banned long internal travel. Syria gave people a window of two days this week to move between provinces, then restored its ban.

In Malaysia, Mohamad Fadhil said he was resigned to missing out on the surge in business at the Ramadan bazaar, where he and other sellers hawk food and drinks in crowded open-air markets. The bazaars have been shut down.

But he hoped the country’s lockdown will be eased so he can bring his 7-year-old daughter home. She was at his parents about an hour away when the lockdown began six weeks ago, trapping her there.

“I hope we can be together as a family during Ramadan,” he said.

In Indonesia, the world’s most populous Muslim nation, the government has banned millions of government employees, soldiers and police from travelling home during the Eid al-Fitr, the holiday marking the end of Ramadan.

“Fear of coronavirus has blocked us from celebrating Eid with my parents,” said Rachmad Mardiansyah, a civil servant in Jakarta.

The loss of communal charity meals will particularly hurt as people lose jobs under coronavirus restrictions. Some are rushing to fill the void.

In Kashmir, the Muslim-majority territory contested by India and Pakistan, volunteers wearing masks and gloves drop off sacks of rice, flour, lentils and other staples for Ramadan at the doorsteps of those in need in the city of Srinagar.

They try to do it quietly, so not even the neighbors know they are receiving help.

“We have to take care of these people’s self-respect,” said one volunteer, Sajjad Ahmed.

Taïb Socé, a famous Muslim preacher on Rfm, a private radio station in the Senegalese capital, Dakar, said that while the government is taking action, “the rich must also help the poor.”

“Solidarity must be in order. This is what the Prophet Muhammad did during times of war. Covid-19 is like a war,” he said.

Donors can’t help everywhere when need surges so quickly.

In the Gaza Strip, the group Salam Charitable usually receives donations from Turkey, Malaysia, Jordan and elsewhere for its Ramadan relief projects. Last year, it was able to distribute 11,000 food parcels and clothes for children.

Charities are vital in Gaza, which

has been under an Israeli-Egyptian blockade for 13 years, leaving more than half the population of 2 million under the poverty line.

This year, giving has dried up.

“This time last year, we had already three contracts to give food parcels to the poor. This year we don’t have any,” said Omar Saad, spokesman for the charity. “I think we missed the opportunity because Ramadan is starting soon.”

In Pakistan, powerful Muslim clerics forced the government to leave mosques open throughout Ramadan.

Mullah Abdul Aziz of the Red Mosque in the capital, Islamabad, ordered adherents to pack communal prayers. Last Friday, worshippers were shoulder-to-shoulder.

Still, calls by influential Saudi clerics to stay home also have an effect.

“We hear on TV what the big imams say,” said Zaheer Abbas, an Islamabad resident who has been praying at home. “Praying is praying. God isn’t only in the mosque.”

In Somalia, while people lament the loss of community, Mogadishu resident Osman Yusuf tried to find optimism. The new restrictions “keep you closer to your loved ones for comfort,” he said.

Not all Ramadan traditions are rooted in religion. Egypt is known for the TV comedies and drama series it churns out for the month, which are broadcast between the iftar and the pre-sunrise meal. A new batch is being produced for this year, despite coronavirus restrictions.

Iraqis have to give up a unique Ramadan tradition: tournaments of a game called “Mheibes.”

In the game, teams of up to several dozen people each line up and one member hides a ring in his hand.

A member of the other team must guess who has the ring, usually by going up and down the line, trying to read facial tics or other “tells.”

The long tournaments are accompanied by sweets and tea and singing.

Health authorities pleaded with Jassim al-Aswad, the longtime Mheibes champion and tournament organizer, to call it off for the sake of public safety—while praising his “preternatural abilities and unrivaled powers of discernment.”

T he 65 -year-old a l-A swad relented.

“I feel very sad,” he said. “Ramadan will be devoid of these popular rituals this year...God wreak vengeance on corona, which deprived us of our most beautiful hobby.” AP

Beating Covid-19 needs faith leaders to bridge religion and science gap

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hile many religious communities have embraced physical distancing measures to slow the spread of the coronavirus, some still encourage gatherings despite strong public health messages that large groups run a significant threat of disease transmission.

Some ultra-Orthodox Jewish communities in New York continue to gather for funerals, weeks after physical distancing guidelines went into effect in the city.

Four Brooklyn neighborhoods with large Orthodox Jewish populations have especially high rates of coronavirus infection, according to data released in early April.

Other religious leaders are using the pulpit to spread misinformation. The evangelical pastor Kenneth Copeland, for example, claims to have cures for Covid-19. And some Hindu nationalists in India have blamed Muslims for the country’s outbreak, leading to a surge in hate crimes.

As these situations demonstrate, millions of people worldwide look more to religious authorities than health officials for guidance on how to behave and what to believe in a crisis.

My research on the intersections between public health and religion suggests enlisting religious institutions worldwide will be vital in stopping the spread of coronavirus.

Connecting theology and health

Social resistance to medical intervention often drives the transmission of infectious diseases, research shows.

Studying the Ebola outbreak in West Africa, which killed over 11,000 people between 2014 and 2016, I have identified important lessons—both positive and negative—about how religious actors can help build essential bridges between faith and science to strengthen a pandemic response.

Bridging theology and science was imperative in the Ebola outbreak, when up to 60 percent of Ebola cases were linked to funerals.

Traditional religious burials in West Africa, both Christian and Muslim, often involve touching and washing the body, yet contact with body fluids spread Ebola.

For the first months of the outbreak, in early 2014, government prescriptions to cremate or swiftly bury the dead sparked fears and suspicion in Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea—the most affected countries.

Many relief workers, outsiders dressed in spacesuit-like protective outfits sent in to implement these procedures in Ebola-affected communities, were blocked from entering.

Others faced violent, even deadly, physical attacks.

In late 2014, public health officials and religious leaders got together with the World Health Organization to produce a protocol for culturally sensitive burials of Ebola victims. Over 2,000 Christian and Muslim leaders were trained to conduct safe, dignified funerals in Liberia and Sierra Leone.

The burial protocol may have saved thousands of lives, according to a 2017 study published in the journal of Neglected Tropical Diseases.

Faith and trust

Among the assets that religious actors offer is trust— perhaps the most vital key in a crisis for addressing fear and misinformation.

After an initial period of doubt and confusion, when many faith leaders in West Africa understood Ebola as divine punishment for various sins or simply as fate, public health officials made a concerted effort to get religious leaders to the same tables as scientists to educate and engage them on health education.

By late 2014, faith-inspired organizations like World Vision International were organizing

workshops that taught public health practices like meticulous hygiene and quarantining of people exposed to Ebola grounded in theology and scripture.

Like the burial protocol, such programs proved to be a crucial step in halting the spread of Ebola.

An equivalent intervention for Covid-19 might be a simple message focused on physical distancing, for example—framed by religious leaders in terms people can understand and accept.

Building bridges

Any Covid-19 prevention program aimed at religious communities would have to work with faith-based organizations that know local leaders and have roots in the community.

But it is difficult to build partnerships between faith and health networks not accustomed to working together.

The Ebola outbreak demonstrated that relationships between religious and health institutions in West Africa were at best patchy.

Governments, international health agencies and aid groups lacked systematic knowledge about the region’s diverse religious landscape, which includes Christianity, Islam and traditional African religions.

And little relevant public information was available to help them learn the ropes.

Ultimately, groups of religious leaders from various faith traditions worked through interreligious councils to help coordinate national faith responses.

On the regional level, faith-inspired organizations like World Vision, Catholic Relief Services and the Tony Blair Faith Foundation leveraged their relationships with religious actors in West Africa to provide funding, supplies and training for Ebola relief workers.

The global scale of the coronavirus pandemic will make it even more challenging to launch faith-inspired public health programs today.

I am part of one such effort to begin this difficult, delicate process. On March 11, the World Faiths Development Dialogue and Berkley Center for Religion, Peace, and World Affairs at Georgetown University, where I teach, joined with the Joint Learning Initiative on Faith and Local Communities to document how faith communities are responding to Covid-19.

My project includes a digital repository to track changes to religious gatherings, beliefs and practices during the pandemic. So far, the database shows that religious communities are responding in very different ways.

Many Christian, Muslim and Jewish communities in the US are providing financial as well as spiritual support for not only the ill but also those who’ve lost jobs because the outbreak. Global faith-based groups like Religions for Peace are teaming up to provide support for vulnerable children worldwide.

But other religious groups continue to spread false information to explain the disease.

Hope for the future

For health officials, figuring out which religious leaders worldwide to work with, who their constituents are and how to transmit health messages that will resonate with these communities will be tricky indeed.

But once on board, faith leaders can do more than convey health guidance: They can bring messages of hope to communities struggling with anxiety, sadness and despair.

On March 27 Pope Francis, speaking alone from the Vatican to a plaza usually filled with followers, urged Catholics to approach the pandemic through faith, not fear.

“Embracing the Lord in order to embrace hope,”he said. “That is the strength of faith, which frees us from fear.” Katherine Marshall/The Conversation

Missionaries of the Daughters of St. Anne deliver food packs to families in the peripheries of Bacolod, Lanao del Norte, on April 16. Daughters of St. Anne

Where is the Catholic Church?

By Fr. Elias L. Ayuban Jr., CMF CBCP News

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his is a frequently asked question in times of crisis.

An interrogative that sounds more like a sarcasm than a query seeking for a candid answer.

But let me tr y to ref lect on where the Church is now without any intention to engage with the skeptics (for no answer will suffice them), but to strengthen the faith of the believers.

The Church are the baptized businessmen and women, artists, actors and actresses, honest government officials, parish leaders and members of church organizations, lay volunteers and private citizens going out of their way to feed the hungry.

They count among the chosen ones because they respond to God’s call: “For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat” (Matthew 25:35).

The Church are the religious sisters who climb over fences to distribute food packs to informal settlers on rooftops. They are also the nuns who interrupt their rigorous daily schedule of prayer in their cloisters to produce face masks for people in the frontlines.

They are not in the news because they take the Lord ’s advice: “When you give something to the needy, do not let your right hand know what your left hand is doing” (Matthew 6:3).

The Church are the priests blessing the sick and the dying, at times walking along deserted alleys with the Blessed Sacrament in their hands or hearing confessions on roadsides.

Like the faithful, they also look forward to celebrating Masses with the people when this lockdown is over. They leave the comforts of their rectories because their vocation is to be “shepherds living the smell of the sheep” (Pope Francis).

The Church are the parishes and Catholic institutions providing temporary shelters for the medical practitioners when the latter have very limited options left. Their names are written in heaven because they observe the Lord’s commandment:

“I was a stranger and you took me in” (Matthew 25:35).

The Church are the Catholic frontliners in the hospitals, risking their lives to save lives, the men in uniform manning the checkpoints, the vendors in market places, the workers in grocery stores, the security guards, the garbage collectors and street sweepers, among many others.

They are the Church people deployed for a mission and their heroism will be remembered for a long, long time.

The Church is the Holy Father praying for us day after day, even on that rainy and dark Friday evening (Italian time) when he gave us the extraordinary Urbi et Orbi blessing.

They are also the bishops who minister to their flock and break their bread with those who have less without fanfare.

“For where there is a bishop, there is also the Catholic Church” (St. Ignatius of Antioch).

The Church are also the families praying together in their houses.

When this pandemic is gone, may we rediscover that our homes and religious communities are indeed the “domestic churches” and when we pray together, we will become a stronger Church that “even the gates of hell shall not prevail against it” (Matthew 16:17).

Above all, the Church are those who are hungry, thirsty, persecuted, mourning and deprived of what is due them. They are called “blessed” and the Kingdom of Heaven belongs to them (Matthew 5:3-10).

So, where is the Catholic Church?

It is in any place where love is shared because, after all, the Church are all us sharing the same baptism, faith and hope in the resurrection.

We are the Catholic Church!

Fr. Elias L. Ayuban, Jr., CMF, JCD, is currently the Provincial Superior of the Claretian Missionaries of the Philippine Province. He used to be an official at the Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life in the Vatican until his election as Provincial last year.

On Earth Day, Pope Francis urges solidarity with most vulnerable

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ATICAN—Commenting on the celebration of Earth Day during his general audience on Wednesday, Pope Francis urged people to show solidarity with the weak and vulnerable and to protect humanity’s common home.

According to Pope Francis, Earth Day “is an occasion for renewing our commitment to love and care for our common home and for the weaker members of our human family.”

“As the tragic coronavirus pandemic has taught us, we can overcome global challenges only by showing solidarity with one another and embracing the most vulnerable in our midst,” the pope said on April 22.

He called for a renewed sense “of sacred respect for the earth, for it is not just our home but also God’s home,”adding that “this should make us all the more aware that we stand on holy ground.”

“In this Easter season of renewal, let us pledge to love and esteem the beautiful gift of the earth, our common home, and to care for all members of our human family,” Francis urged.

“Like the brothers and sisters that we are, let us together implore our heavenly Father: ‘Send forth your Spirit, O Lord, and renew the face of the earth.'”

Pope Francis delivered his weekly catechesis via livestream from the Vatican’s apostolic library, saying selfishness had led people to fail in their responsibility “to be guardians and stewards of the earth.”

“We have sinned against the earth, against our neighbors, and ultimately against the Creator, the benevolent Father who provides for everyone,

and desires us to live in communion and flourish together,” he stated.

Being made in the image of God, he said, means “we are called to have care and respect for all creatures, and to offer love and compassion to our brothers and sisters, especially the most vulnerable among us, in imitation of God’s love for us, manifested in his Son Jesus, who made Himself man to share this situation with us and to save us.”

Francis said there was a Spanish saying: “God forgives always; we men forgive sometimes; the earth never forgives.”

“The earth never forgives; if we have despoiled the earth, the response will be very bad,” the pope commented.

Pope Francis also noted his appreciation for national and local environmental movements which “appeal to our consciences,” though he said it will still “be necessary for our children to take to the streets to teach us the obvious: we have no future if we destroy the very environment that sustains us.”

“We can each contribute in our own small way,” he encouraged.

The pope also urged awareness and cooperation on the international level, calling on leaders to guide preparations for the upcoming conferences 15th Conference of Parties (COP) on Biodiversity in Kunming, China, and COP26 on Climate Change in Glasgow, Scotland.

“These two meetings are very important,” he said. Hannah Brockhaus/Catholic News Agency via CBCP News

Biodiversity Sunday BusinessMirror

Asean Champions of Biodiversity Media Category 2014

Sunday, April 26, 2020

Editor: Lyn Resurreccion

Are bats to blame for the coronavirus?

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ast February scientists from the Chinese Academy of Sciences published findings indicating a possible connection between the coronavirus outbreak and bats.

Their study published in Nature showed that 96 percent of the coronavirus genome spreading around the world today was identical to another coronavirus found in bats.

However, bat viruses have long been part of bat evolution, as stated in a study by Charles Calisher published in 2006.

“The correspondingly ancient origins deduced for certain zoonotic viruses [viruses from animals that infect humans] maintained in bats, such as the henipaviruses and lyssaviruses, suggest a long history of cospeciation,” wrote the author.

If such viruses are as ancient as bat evolution itself, the question then arises as to why humans are just now being exposed to such viruses?

Human factor

If a bat or another wild animal is confirmed as the source of the coronavirus pandemic, these species still cannot be blamed for the spread all by themselves.

Stephen Morse, a professor of epidemiology at the Columbia University Medical Center, wrote extensively on the different factors that facilitate the spread of new diseases.

These factors also include deforestation, building of dams, human travel and breakdown of public health measures, among others.

“Responsible factors include ecological changes, such as those due to agricultural or economic development or to anomalies in climate; human demographic changes and behavior; travel and commerce; technology and industry; microbial adaptation and change; and breakdown of public health measures,” Morse wrote in an essay published in the journal Emerging Infectious Diseases in 1995.

A s humans live closer and closer to bat and forest habitats, this exposes us to more of these diseases.

In the same study by Calisher, it was mentioned that many more fruit bat habitats include urban areas in Australia.

Australia was also hit by a virus, found to be from bats. Named the Hendra virus, after a suburb in Brisbane where it was found, it went from bats to local horses, infecting Australians in the area.

They also mentioned Nipah virus outbreaks in Malaysia and India during the early 2000s, both of which were found to have come from local bats.

Though these incidents before today’s coronavirus seem more isolated and far away, other factors have changed the way these viruses can travel from one area to the next.

In 2017, the International Air Transport Association (IATA) announced that the number of connected cities by plane doubled since 1995, while the largest number of passengers carried by airlines were those in the Asia-Pacific, amounting to 1.5 billion in 2017 alone.

IATA also announced that China would eventually add 921 million new passengers from 2016 to 2032, surpassing the United States.

Coronavirus equals an inevitable outcome of human practices

By merely looking at people’s steady encroachment

on wildlife habitats, and increased human travel, it is no wonder why the coronavirus has spread so far and wide.

Add to this the unprepared or weak healthcare systems of various countries around the world, as well as increased wildlife trade, it would seem that in hindsight this could have been predicted.

Scientists from the Zoological Society of London and Columbia University wrote in one study that over half of newly discovered diseases from 1990 to 2000 came from animals.

The authors added: “This suppor ts the suggestion that zoonotic EIDs [emerging infectious diseases] represent an increasing and ver y significant threat to global health.” The study was published in 2008.

Long-term, local solutions

The focus at the moment, and rightly so, is supporting the ongoing work to decrease the number of coronavirus cases and deaths.

In the Philippines and all over the world, governments, health agencies, scientists, food distributors, transpor tation, and other sectors and frontliners are doing what they can to keep people as safe and as comfor table as possible.

In the long term, however, one of the solutions is to focus on these zoonotic diseases at their source: wildlife and wildlife habitats.

Two coronaviruses were already identified in bats in the Philippines, as noted in a study by scientists from Japan and University of the Philippines Los Baños, that was published in Emerging Infectious Diseases last 2010.

Meanwhile, according to the Department of Environment and Natural Resources Biodiversity Management Bureau, the Philippines has over 78 different kinds of bats.

Increased study and stronger conser vation actions for bat and wildlife habitats must be pursued in order to better understand where these viruses come from, and possibly derive ideas or direct solutions for cures or disease management.

Unfortunately, the top 3 threats to bats and their habitats—are deforestation, agriculture and logging, according to a preliminary study led

by Krizler C. Tanalgo published in PeerJ Preprints in 2018.

Forest conser vation effor ts have long been an effor t by nongovernment organizations and government agencies in the Philippines, including work done by the Haribon Foundation.

H a r i b o n’s F o r e s t G o v e r n a n c e P r o j e c t i n v o l v e s s t re n g t h e n i n g l o c a l c o m m u n i t y effor ts to ensure their forest resources are sustained and protected. This also includes the conser vation of forest species from Philippine eagles to rare hornbills, including bats that live in these areas.

As the coronavirus spreads, more questions will be unveiled. Some of the answers, however, have long been discussed by science. Now we must encourage further support for such studies.

T he sound implementation of environmental policies must also be pursued, to help us better understand wildlife, and protect ourselves from future pandemics.

Jane Goodall talks about Covid-19 impact, Nat Geo documentary

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OS ANGELES—Even though the planet has reaped the benefits of a cleaner environment from society shutting down during the coronavirus outbreak, Jane Goodall worries about human behavior resorting back to a “business as usual” mindset after the pandemic is over.

The famed primatologist wants people to grow wiser and live an enjoyable life without harming the environment and animals that live within it.

“We have to learn how to deal with less,” said Goodall, who began her lauded career as a pioneering researcher of chimpanzees in Africa more than 50 years ago.

She’s worked for decades on conservation, animal welfare and environmental issues.

Goodall has encouraged young people since 1991 to become stewards in their communities through her Roots & Shoots program, which operates in 60 countries.

She normally travels 300 days per year to advocate her endeavors, but these days she’s been staying busy inside her family home in Bournemouth, England, to practice social distancing. She calls it more “exhausting than traveling.”

In a recent interview, the 86-year-old Goodall shared her thoughts on the coronavirus, wild animal poaching and her new documentary “Jane Goodall: The Hope,” which premiered on April 22 on National Geographic and Nat Geo WILD, while streamed on Disney Plus and Hulu.

The two-hour documentary focuses on her lauded career of transforming the scope of environmentalism.

How would you like for the world to react when the pandemic is over?

Hopefully we should emerge wiser. I think there will be greater awareness of how we brought this pandemic on ourselves and that people will change.

I hope there’s a groundswell of enough millions of people who’ve never before breathed clean air in cities, who’ve never been able to look up at night and see a clear sky with twinkling stars.

I hope that they’ll be enough of them to eventually force big business and politicians to....stop carrying on with business as usual.

But the fear is that so many leaders now around the world don’t seem to care about future generations, don’t seem to care about the health of the planet.

What’s the solution?

We need a different way of thinking about things. We need to realize that unlimited economic

development on a world with finite natural resources and growing human populations can’t work.

Already, in some cases, we’re using up natural resources before nature can replenish them. So we cannot expect to survive very far into the future unless we make some change....We have to learn to do with less in the wealthier sections of society. Most of us have far more than we actually need.

How has animal poaching still been an issue during this pandemic?

Earth Day 2020: Greening is part of fight vs pandemics

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By Jonathan L. Mayuga

s the world marked the 50th Anniversary of Earth Day, at a time when a global pandemic continues to grip every corner of every country in the world, what are the challenges and opportunities people face now?

In a statement marking the Philippines’s celebration of Earth Day 2020 on April 22, Secretary Roy A. Cimatu of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) said it is the perfect time to ponder the need for "long overdue" collective action.

Global pandemic

The country’s environment and natural resources’ chief steward said this is especially so as Covid-19, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus that originated from Wuhan City in Hubei, China, continues to grip many countries around the world, including the Philippines.

The disease has so far infected more than 2.5 million people worldwide and has claimed the lives of more than 180,000 people.

In March, Philippine President Duterte placed the entire country under a state of public health emergency and placed the entire Luzon under enhanced community quarantine (ECQ ).

The ECQ which was supposed to end on April 14 was extended until the end of the month.

Cimatu said no one knows how long this pandemic will persist, and how many more lives will be lost.

“Already, it has virtually paralyzed many nations, forcing them to impose lockdowns and quarantines, reducing economic and other activities to a trickle,” he said.

Destruction and chaos

According to Cimatu, a member of Inter-agency Task Force on Covid-19, coronavirus and climate change bring about destruction and chaos to any nation.

“On the one hand, with Covid-19, we are faced with immediate gripping fear of losing more lives. On

the other hand, with climate change, we are faced with rising sea levels, saline intrusion into aquifers, droughts, floods, and the results will impact billions of people, as well as biodiversity. However, with climate change, adaptation and mitigation responses are not as immediate because its impacts appear to be just merely creeping,” he said.

Filipinos’ survival at stake

In both Cov id-19 and c limate change, he said the Filipino people’s survival is at stake.

“The urgency of the need for concerted and comprehensive action, without waiting for the problem to peak or to impact millions more of people is the same,” he said.

He noted that, on a positive note, because of the lockdown, the world has a much clearer sky, more breathable air, cleaner seas and more vibrant wildlife.

“For climate-change mitigation and adaptation, our responses may be less drastic, as they generally require only lifestyle changes. But we must invest in and institute the necessary concerted reforms speedily and extensively before it becomes too late,” he said.

“With the help of the mass media, let us challenge all nations, including ours, to take decisive climate action. After all, this has long been overdue,” he said.

Batting for ‘greener’ watersheds

En v ironmental advoc ates, meanwhile, are drumming up the urgency of "greening" watershed areas and cityscapes to build the resilience of millions of Filipinos against the coronavirus.

“Restoring watershed forests and rewilding urban scapes are both immediate and long-term solutions to

It’s the animal trafficking that’s so bad. Shooting the mother to take the infant and be sold to be pets and trained for entertainment. Some go to bad zoos.

It’s animal trafficking that’s worth so many billions of dollars a year.

This is one of the biggest problems we are going through with this pandemic.

As tourism stops in different parts of Africa and other countries, poaching goes up partly because people have lost their jobs and they rely on wildlife for food.

The tours give them added protection. It’s a huge worry.

Did you expect this career path?

When I began, my dream since the age of 10 was to go to Africa, live with wild animals and write books about them. I had no thought of being a scientist.

Nobody was out there in the fields watching animals. I wanted to be a naturalist. From the start, it wasn’t my aim to go and study chimpanzees and get a PhD. I always wanted to help animals all my life. And then naturally that led to ‘If you want to save wild animals, you have to work with local people, find ways for them to live without harming the environment and then getting worried about children and what future they could have if we go on as business as usual.’

What do you want people to take away from your documentary?

I hope that they take away a feeling that their lives are important. That it’s very, very crucial to think about the health of the planet as it relates to future generations.

Above all, to understand that each day they live, they can make an impact and think about the consequences of the little choices they make like ’What did we buy? Where did it come from? How was it made? Did it harm the environment? Was it cruel to animals? Is it cheap because of child-slave labor?’ We have to make ethical choices, and how we interact with people and nature. AP

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Trees felled within the watershed forest of Kasibu, Nueva Vizcaya. Center for Environmental Concerns-Philippines

Covid-19 and future risks of pandemics. We will win half the battle against emerging infectious diseases if we live in sustainable environments, and address the ecological imbalances, such as water depletion, pollution and climate disruption that will exacerbate the pandemic’s impacts,” said Leon Dulce, national coordinator of Kalikasan People’s Network for the Environment (Kalikasan PNE) said in a webinar that gathered Filipino environmental advocates in cyberspace amid the extended ECQ. Held from April 18 to 22, the series of Earth Day 2020 webinars organized by Kalikasan PNE, the Center for Environmental Concerns-Philippines, and the Ibon Foundation gathered experts and advocates to weigh in on the ecological aspects of the global pandemic.

Ecosystem integrity

In her lecture on April 18, Dr. Marilen Parungao-Balolong, a public health expert and a microbiologist, said, “Environmental changes have a huge impact on the emergence and reemergence of certain infectious diseases.”

“Ecosystem integrity is very important. It can regulate diseases by supporting a diversity of species so that it is more difficult for one pathogen to spill over, amplify and dominate,” explained ParungaoBalolong, also currently an associate dean for research and public service of the University of the Philippines Manila College of Arts and Sciences.

A "rewilded" urban habitat, she said, will provide immune protective microbial exposure to human populations through biodiversity restoration.

She said it will result in the reduction of communicable diseases that render humans more vulnerable, such as diseases like Covid-19, and the promotion of beneficial microbiota that will compete against disease-causing microorganisms or pathogens.

She added that the Philippines has a high risk of emergence and reemergence of infectious diseases, noting that this “happens mostly in countries with high biodiversity and serious unresolved environmental, social and economic issues.”

Unique biodiversity, unique viruses

Agreeing with Parungao-Balolong,

Atty. Antonio La Viña, former Ateneo School of Governance dean and former DENR undersecretary, said at the same forum that the Philippines is “a host of many unique viruses because of its unique biodiversity.”

“This will not be our final pandemic unless we act properly,” La Viña said.

He warned that if the people continue with “business as usual and if the so-called new normal will still include mining, logging, pollution, coal-fired power plants, all of the things which led to pandemics, the problem will continue to persist.”

No to tradeoffs

He said the national government should “absolutely not allow tradeoffs when it means loss of biodiversity and the risk of environmental damage that causes societal damage, economic damage and public health issues.”

He urged that “pandemic analysis has to be integrated into every Environmental Impact Assessment.”

According to La Viña, the current situation gives the opportunity for the Filipinos, especially the DENR, to do things right.

“I actually don’t see the DENR very active in its response…. They have to be more aggressive. Instead, we have them doing things like allowing ships from China to dock in Homonhon Island to stock up on minerals at a time when we are tr ying to prevent viruses, especially on an island,” he lamented.

Dulce echoed the challenge to the DENR, reiterating the argument that the mining industry is a litmus test in this situation.

“Large-scale miners like Chinese companies tr y ing to haul mineral ores from Homonhon and Semirara Islands, and AustralianCanad ian mining cor porat ion, OceanaGold, that recently violently dispersed barricaders against its illegal and destructive operations, are direct threats to forests and public health alike,” he said.

“From upland watersheds to urban forests down to coastal greenbelts, the national government should not use the Covid-19 crisis as justification for neglecting the protection of these ecosystems.

Greening our landscapes is part and parcel of our common fight against the Covid-19 pandemic,” he said.

Sports EPL URGED: BLOCK SALE OF NEWCASTLE TO SAUDI A8

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By Rob Harris

The Associated Press

HE English Premier League (EPL) has been asked by human-rights activists and one of its major broadcast partners to consider blocking Saudi Arabia’s attempt to buy Newcastle United.

Amnesty International wrote to league Chief Executive Richard Masters to say the takeover could be exploited by Saudi Arabia to cover up “deeply immoral” breaches of international law, citing human-rights violations and the role of the crown prince leading the sovereign wealth fund.

Qatar-based broadcaster beIN Sports said the kingdom should be held to account for a Saudi-backed pirate network stealing live broadcasts of games. Yousef Al-Obaidly, the beIN Media Group CEO, warned of the “danger of allowing the acquisition...given the country’s past and continuing illegal actions and their direct impact upon the commercial interests of the Premier League.”

The intervention of a broadcast partner who has helped the league become the world’s richest soccer competition comes amid growing financial pressures on clubs caused by the coronavirus pandemic. There have been no games played in six weeks. Masters has said the crisis could cost the league more than 1 billion pounds ($1.2 billion) with broadcasting contracts in danger of not being fulfilled.

While the league grapples with an unprecedented shutdown it is having to

examine whether to grant Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) clearance to buy Newcastle from retail entrepreneur Mike Ashley.

The PIF is planning to be the 80 percent majority partner in a 300 million-pound ($370) takeover alongside wealthy British-based Reuben brothers and financier Amanda Staveley.

PIF is overseen by the Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, who Amnesty says has been involved in a “sweeping crackdown on human rights.” The Premier League does not have specific human-rights standards set out in regulations used to assess the suitability of new owners.

“So long as these questions remain unaddressed, the Premier League is putting itself at risk of becoming a patsy of those who want to use the glamour and prestige of Premier League football to cover up actions that are deeply immoral, in breach of international law and at odds with the values of the Premier League and the global footballing community,” Amnesty International UK Director Kate Allen wrote Monday to Premier League Chief Executive Richard Masters.

Amnesty raised concerns with Masters about the 2018 killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul as questions linger over the crown prince’s culpability.

Agnes Callamard, a UN special rapporteur who authored an inquiry into the killing, called for sanctions on Prince Mohammed and said responsibility for Khashoggi’s killing falls on Saudi Arabia. The report found “sufficient credible evidence regarding the responsibility of the Crown Prince demanding further investigation.”

Sunday, April 26, 2020

The Premier League can block new owners if “in the reasonable opinion of the board” it can be determined they “engaged in conduct outside the United Kingdom” that would have resulted in a conviction in Britain had it taken place within the country.

Saudi Arabia’s trial of 11 suspects in the Khashoggi killing was held in secret and does not include the crown prince’s top adviser at the time—Saud al-Qahtani—who has been sanctioned by the US for his suspected role in orchestrating the operation.

PIF’s vision, overseen by Prince Mohammed, is to ultimately pay for major state projects that will modernize and overhaul the kingdom and create jobs for young Saudis.

“The Crown Prince has been using sporting events and personalities as a means of improving the Kingdom’s reputation following the grisly murder of the journalist Jamal Khashoggi—widely believed to have taken place with his approval,” Allen wrote to the Premier League. “Such positive associations with sporting events also distract attention from Saudi’s appalling human-rights record, including the imprisonment and torture of women human-rights defenders.”

The letter cites Loujain al-Hathloul, one of Saudi Arabia’s most outspoken women’s rights activists, who was one of more than a dozen women detained in 2018, just weeks before the crown prince lifted the ban on women driving.

PIF’s London-based media advisers have declined comment on the takeover. Ashley, who bought Newcastle in 2007, commented in 2018

BusinessMirror

on previous takeover talks with Staveley that collapsed but he has been silent on this latest attempt to complete a deal.

Protecting TV revenue has previously seen the Premier League lodge its own complaint against Saudi Arabia along with other soccer bodies over the “persistent and illegal screening” by beoutQ of games where beIN holds the rights. It is a proxy dispute in a wider Gulf diplomatic standoff.

Al-Obaidly, who runs beIN, told Masters that as a “huge investor in the Premier League, we urge you to consider carefully all the implications” of

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

allowing the takeover of Newcastle.

The teams were told by Al-Obaidly in a separate letter that the “the potential acquirer of Newcastle United caused huge damage to your club’s and the Premier League’s commercial revenues” at a time when sports are feeling the “crippling economic effect that coronavirus.” Al-Obaidly is also on the board of Qatar-owned Paris Saint-Germain.

In September, the Premier League was among soccer organizations that concluded Saudi Arabia-backed Arabsat was “without question” behind the bootlegging of games,

Spanish league wants players tested daily during training

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ADRID—The Spanish league wants all players and coaches tested daily for the coronavirus when trainings

resume.

The information is on a league protocol to which The Associated Press gained access after it was sent to Spanish clubs and other European leagues last week. The 23-page protocol was prepared in a partnership with the medical staff of some first division clubs and details a four-stage training plan before competitions can resume.

It includes guidelines to guarantee “the safety of players and their immediate families, the coaching staff” and everyone else involved in the trainings.

There is still no timetable for the resumption of practices, and the league is not expected to restart before the end of May.

A vaccine hasn’t been discovered either. The league said it will be up to Spanish health authorities to determine when clubs will be allowed to return to action.

Real Sociedad tried to start individual trainings recently but was not allowed by the government because sports facilities are to remain closed as part of lockdown measures.

In Spain, more than 22,000 people have died of Covid-19, according to Johns Hopkins University.

The government met with the league and the Spanish Football Federation last weekend and said they reached an agreement for the return to training without elaborating.

The league’s training protocol was obtained by the AP a day after Spain’s players’ association sent a letter to government officials expressing

Minor leaguers, college players turn creative to stay prepared

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LAMEDA, California—Andre Nnebe hollers over the breeze coming off the bay behind home plate and announces to the group, “First pitch, 2:10!”

The Milwaukee Brewers minor leaguer thanks college catcher Eamonn Lance for showing up because now there can be live batting practice, something Nnebe hasn’t done since the coronavirus put a sudden halt on sports.

“You saved the day,” Nnebe tells Lance.

For this informal simulated game last week at a noted high-school field, the catcher isn’t the only player wearing a mask. Nnebe stands in wearing a protective face covering, and same with the guy waiting in the on-deck circle.

Nnebe and thousands more players like him are trying any way they can to stay ready amid the uncertainty of whether there will even be a big league baseball season, let alone anything for the game’s lower levels. They are trying to prepare while social distancing from

VIRTUAL AUDITION

Miami Dolphins cheerleader coach and choreographer Natalie Chernow is filmed by Angela Robledo for a video prep class amid the new coronavirus pandemic on Wednesday in Miami. The Miami Dolphins have launched virtual auditions for cheerleaders through May 2.

Candidates can watch the online prep classes before their audition. AP

with the beoutQ logo placed over beIN Sports branding on the telecasts produced out of Qatar.

With beIN holding the Middle East rights to most major sporting events, viewers across the region are reliant on paying Qatar for subscriptions.

Saudi authorities declared beIN illegal as the nation launched wider economic and diplomatic boycott of Qatar in 2017 alongside the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain over accusations Doha supports extremism. The tiny, super-rich nation of Qatar denies the charge. concern about resuming competitions. It said players want to make sure it will be OK for them to be tested while there is “a demand” for such tests “in society.” They also called for clear guidelines from health authorities to guarantee everyone’s safety.

The El Mundo newspaper said on Thursday the government will authorize thousands of tests to be performed on soccer players and other squad members.

The league wants the tests to be daily, and conducted starting when the individual training stage begins in order to “detect the so-called false negatives” who can still pass the virus to others. It said the clubs’ medical staff also will have to be tested daily.

The league’s protocol also establishes a minimum of three “obligatory” tests for “all those who are to take part in the club’s training camp.”

The first tests should be undertaken two days before the start of the individual sessions and will include a serology test to identify those who are immune. There should be two other monitoring tests before the start of the group training stage and before the competitions resume. AP 6 feet apart and without drawing a crowd as California is under a shelter-in-place order.

For now, for 90 minutes anyway, Nnebe and seven others are in their element again, albeit far different than just six weeks ago.

They relish talking everything baseball— the draft, how the ball is carrying, the future.

Hearing that familiar crack of the bat is both refreshing and energizing, briefly taking the players’ minds off the pressures and all that is going on in the world.

They got a tip that the gates of Encinal High School’s famous Willie Stargell Field were open, and decided to give it a try.

“This is the closest thing to a game,” says University of California senior pitcher Jack Delmore, from Alameda. “I haven’t been excited in a while.” AP

MILWAUKEE Brewers minor league player Andre Nnebe throws as Canadian geese take the infield during an informal workout at Willie Stargell Field in Alameda, California. AP

The new normal An OFW, a nurse, and a youth leader adjust to the realities of the current world

2

BusinessMirror APRIL 26 , 2020 | soundstrip.businessmirror@gmail.com

YOUR MUSI

RHYTHM & RHYME

by Kaye Villagomez-Losorata

B

ECQ REVIVALS THAT ACTUALLY WORK

Y now, we should be doing a bit better when it comes to entertaining ourselves during this global interlude. If not, let’s reach out more to our loved ones and friends.

Screenshot of Smart’s “Meaningful Connections #MadeSimple” video Jett Pangan during the recording of “Salamat” for Smart’s “Meaningful Connections #MadeSimple” video featuring Jett Pangan’s “Salamat”

Publisher

: T. Anthony C. Cabangon

Editor-In-Chief

: Lourdes M. Fernandez

Concept

: Aldwin M. Tolosa

Y2Z Editor

: Jt Nisay

SoundStrip Editor

: Edwin P. Sallan

Group Creative Director : Eduardo A. Davad Graphic Designers Contributing Writers

: Niggel Figueroa Anabelle O. Flores : Tony M. Maghirang, Rick Olivares, Darwin Fernandez, Mony Romana, Leony Garcia, Stephanie Joy Ching Pauline Joy M. Gutierrez

Columnists

: Kaye VillagomezLosorata Annie S. Alejo

Photographers

: Bernard P. Testa Nonie Reyes

Y2Z & SOUNDSTRIP are published and distributed free every Sunday by the Philippine Business Daily Mirror Publishing Inc. as a project of the

The Philippine Business Mirror Publishing, Inc., with offices on the 3rd Floor of Dominga Building III 2113 Chino Roces Avenue corner Dela Rosa Street, Makati City, Philippines.

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On the upside, this confinement has given birth to some of the best acoustic versions or softer renditions of previous hits. What’s good about the following songs is that they were performed by the original singers, distilled to sobering reimagined takes. All videos can searched and played on YouTube.

Jett Pangan and Salamat. Smart Communications just released a simple video about coping with the new normal. Although the visual composition shows one thing—how connectivity has immensely bridged us at a time when we’re explicitly told to stay apart—the wireless giant gets to send the message across with a help from an OPM classic: The Dawn’s 1989 single, Salamat.

That almost acoustic, watereddown version was performed by The Dawn frontman Jett Pangan himself took the video to a whole new significance.

Jett’s vocal stamp was able to remind you of the OPM rock classic, deconstruct the rock part by taming it down only to highlight that the song’s message is the loudest, most solid aspect of this Teddy Diazpenned anthem. Salamat then escalates to gather steam, back-up vocals and heavier arrangement only to bring the listener back to a slower yet happier turn for an ending. It doesn’t change much of our reality but it tries to conjure a kind of hope that’s grounded on our ability to cope.

All this, Jett delivered in just 59 seconds.

Taylor Swift and Soon You’ll Get Better. Even Lady Gaga singled this out as one of the best number from last weekend’s One World: Together At Home, an online streaming

concert organized by, well, Gaga herself and Global Citizen.

How do you tell a world battling a global health crisis that “soon you’ll get better?” Tell it how Swift does by adding the words “coz you have to.” You’d instantly wind up under the spell of catharsis watching Taylor on YouTube. It also helps seeing Swift’s reflection on the piano, singing: “This won’t go back to normal, if it ever was.” That visual right there is an everyday slap on the face but we still need Taylor to tell us because we’ve gotten used to our feelings borrowing its reality via Taylor’s lyrics.

This song, of course was originally written about a chapter in the singer-songwriter’s life when her mother was battling cancer. Soon You’ll Get Better is part of Swift’s Lover album and was also featured in the Netflix documentary, Miss Americana.

Incidentally, Swift just announced that she has cancelled her international tour. She said via her Instagram stories, “I’m so sad I won’t be able to see you guys in concert this year, but I know this is the right decision. Please, please stay healthy and safe. I’ll see you on stage as soon as I can but right now, what’s important is committing to this quarantine, for the sake of all of us.”

But during her turn on One World, Swift turned a personal song into three heavy minutes of poetic candor and her reflection on the piano a visual representation of how we all feel these days: We try to convince ourselves that soon we’ll get better even if the numbers continue to counter that ‘cause we have to.

Curt Smith, his daughter Diva

and Mad World. Oh how we allowed Curt Smith of Tears For Fears state the obvious with his daughter in this yet another haunting acoustic rendition of Mad World. The original, more upbeat, techno version was released in 1982 It was three minutes and fifty-three seconds of hauntingly beautiful version of the ’80s classic.

You’ll lose it right at the get-go: “All around me are familiar faces/Worn out places, worn out faces/Bright and early for the daily races/Going nowhere, going nowhere/Their tears are filling up their glasses/No expression, no expression/Hide my head I wanna drown my sorrow/No tomorrow, no tomorrow.”

I’ve always listened to this song for its visual motion in the sense that you get a picture of Mad World that’s like constatntly in a metered chaos—a previous reality we knew before COVID-19. But here is the chorus, singing how our days are played out minus the loop we call reality-before-Coronavirus.

Obviously, things have gotten crazier in this supposed stationary state, this new Mad World we have during WWC (World War COVID-19). Leaving you with these words to drive a point home, where I hope you are while reading this — “And I find it kind of funny, I find it kind of sad/The dreams in which I’m dying are the best I’ve ever had/I find it hard to tell you, `cause I find it hard to take/When people run in circles, it’s a very very/Mad world.”.

(The author is a former entertainment reporter and editor before shifting to corporate PR. Follow @kayevillagomez on Instagram and Twitter for more updates.)

soundstrip.businessmirror@gmail.com | APRIL 26 , 2020

3

IC OUR BUSINESS

INDIERECTORY 2020

A lifeline for freelancers displaced by the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic

I

By Tony M. Maghirang

N light of the COVID-19 pandemic and the current ECQ measures, various industries have taken a hit. Among them are those in the “gig economy”, or those who gain income with short, project-based stints which include musicians and freelance creatives like writers, graphics artists, etc..

Right now, many freelancers or ‘ad independents ‹are on a rough spot due to the postponement or outright cancellation of projects left and right. Musicians, in particular, have to stay home due to the prescribed lockdown and also because most entertainment establishments are closed until the ESQ is lifted.

On the other hand, many brands are doing their best to adapt to the situation and adjust their messaging.

Last Easter Sunday, independent ideas agency Gigll launched The Indierectory 2020: Manila’s Directory of Ad Independents, which can be a potential lifeline to beleaguered freelancers. This online platform enables ad independents of different skillsets to showcase their talents and their works to clients who are in need of their expertise.

Herbert Hernandez, guitarist and song writer for local bands Moonstar88 and 6Cyclemind and one of the founders of THE INDIERECTORY 2020 told Business Mirror, “The main intent of The Indierectory is to give ad independents a wider reach and expose them to more work opportunities. It’s a free platform sponsored by Gigil which in the long run will be promoted further by the organizers to potential company partners.”

Nikka Melchor, the lead vocalist and song writer for up and coming indie band the vowels they orbit and one of the writers for The Indierectory added, “Signing up is absolutely free. Anyone who’s interested just needs to fill up vital details through indierectorymanila. com/signup.

“We want to open The Indierectory to as many freelancers as possible. Currently, there’s pre-approval process in place.”

Initially launched in 2019, the platform had a successful initial run, with 77 members signing up. It opened again for sign-ups in the recent EDSA Revolution anniversary to champion the spirit of freedom.

On April 5, The Indierectory 2020 website was officially launched, calling for freelancers to rise above the present predicament when the gig industry needs it most.

One early signee has enthused, “Working as a freelance creative before, mahirap talaga to look for clients. It’s [really] helpful to be in a platform that allows me to easily promote my works and expand my network… What I like the most about it’s the fact na it’s free and it’s easy to join. Just sign up in a few minutes, get your credentials online, and wait until the opportunity comes to you.”

The easy perception is that The Indierectory 202 is one more addition of the crowding field of online headhunting or job placement sites. Herbert hastened to quash the idea: “The concept is actually a bit of reversal from the usual job placement sites now.

Instead of having ad independents look for jobs and reach out to clients, we’re opening the directory so potential clients could screen talents that are currently available on the directory.

“We’re already planning towards making improvements on the site to further push the effort, Herbert added. “Currently,

Nikka Melchor of the vowels they orbit is also one of the writers for The Indierectory and urges all freelancers to sign up

it serves as an online directory for any client that’s looking for talents to tap.”

Because of the pandemic, the mean income loss for every freelancer is projected to reach Php 171,050, with a minimum of PHP 5,000. In an article on indie music media platform Bandwagon Asia, Filipino freelance creative have reached out to the NCCA or the National Commission for Culture and the Arts or economic assistance in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Indierectory 2020 can provide a longer lasting and more rewarding alternative to dole-out that has become the hallmark of government efforts to meet the demands of various sectors in these perilous times.

Creatives, go sign-up, it’s free, and prosper in the comforts of home sweet home.

To sign up, visit their website at: https://www.indierectorymanila. com/. For inquiries, contact The Indierectory team at indierectory@gigil.com.ph

The new normal An OFW, a nurse, and a youth leader adjust to the realities of the current world

By Pauline Joy M. Gutierrez

R

achelle Somera, 23, could only sigh at the sight of the grand Piazza Maggiore.

The historic square was established as a physical and symbolic core of Medieval Bologna, designed to give prominence to the seat of city government and create a place for the market. On a normal day, a healthy mix of tourists and students in exchange programs would occupy the steps of the imposing San Petronio Basilica, each trying to snap a worthy portrait of Alfonso Lombardi’s Resurrection and Amico Aspertini’s Deposition.

On a “normal” day, that is.

Today, as the novel coronavirus continues to spread across Lombardy, the plaza is empty.

“I’ll go back, maybe, when this is all over,” Somera said.

Six weeks into the coronavirus crisis in Italy, the young Filipina describes what life is currently like for her as a migrant worker.

“It’s kind of strange, knowing that the economy is going down, yet we’re all stuck inside our homes because we don’t want to burden our health workers,” said Somera, who took a one-way trip to a foreign country five years ago in search of a better life, and landed a barista job at a local restaurant. “Before, you see tourists on food tours all over the place, buying five-year-old Parmigiano-Reggianos, or getting tipsy on Lambrusco wine.”

“This feels like a different Italy now,” she said.

According to Edgardo Turingan, spokesman of a task force assigned to lead the Philippines’s Covid-19 response abroad, young workers in the service industry are in dire need of government assistance due to the rising number of job losses.

“Where I am working,” Somera said, “we’re worried that our request to the management to release a percentage of our salaries will not be approved. Then there are certain criteria on who gets cash aid from the city council.”

Despite the challenging circumstance, life goes on for the young barista. Somera has been writing songs. After doing chores, she retreats to a list of places she would like to visit once the pandemic passes.

“I was supposed to go back to the Philippines on Friday,” she said, “but I guess that’s not happening either.”

Rachelle Somera

Catherine Yambao

“In the next few months and years, young Filipinos should make sure that things don’t go ‘back to normal,’” said Arizza Nocum, founder of the KristiyanoIslam Peace Library. “Normal is the status quo, and we have to make things better than normal.”

Small acts of kindness “A charge nurse,” said Catherine Yambao, 26, “is the one in charge of a certain ward or unit.”

Yambao has been a charge nurse at St. Luke’s Medical Center in Bonifacio Global City for almost three years now, where she works eight- to 12-hour shifts.

Since St. Luke’s admitted its first Covid-positive patient, however, her duties have become longer and more demanding. Sometimes, she works for 16 hours straight when her colleagues call in sick for exhibiting symptoms of infection.

It has been tough to work at a hospital dealing with a pandemic, to say the least, but if there’s one thing Yambao has observed during this ordeal, it’s that small acts of kindness go a long way.

She recalls one case in particular: A patient in her 50s, who tested positive for the virus and had to spend her birthday in the hospital room.

“You can tell that she was depressed,” Yambao said. “The assigned nurses noticed and decided to give their best just to put a smile on the patient’s face, and they succeeded. It was one of the priceless smiles I have ever seen.”

“Days after, she got discharged and thanked everyone for taking care of her.

It was one of those moments you can never forget.”

4 BusinessMirror

Yambao admitted that it’s not easy to tune out the distress on the front line, but she is proud to fulfill her oath to attend to those who she has sworn to help.

‘Young Filipinos should make sure that things don’t go ‘back to normal’ As the daughter of a Muslim mother and a Catholic father who are both from Mindanao, Arizza Nocum, 26, believes that peace in the face of diversity is possible because she found it in her own home.

Nocum is the founder of the KristiyanoIslam Peace (KRIS) Library, a nonprofit organization that aims to inspire peace through active education. Through the group, Nocum tackles the role of the youth as political activists and catalysts of peace.

This year, KRIS launched a youth peace-building project in partnership with the Geneva-based Kofi Annan Foundation, and with the support of European Commission. The project will train at least 1,000 young leaders from across the Philippines in a series of programs that will teach them about peace-building and conflict resolution. The project will also give the young leaders an opportunity to apply for small grants to implement their own peace-building project in their communities.

Due to Covid-19, however, the organiApril 26, 2020

Arizza Nocum zation had to delay the implementation of the project.

“We know that now, more than ever, organizations like us have to work aggressively to promote youth leadership towards a progressive society,” Nocum said, before citing a specific case.

Erica Abejo Altiche, a former KRIS Library scholar, took part in the crisis response by organizing a fund-raising campaign for the residents of Barangay Ticulio in Cardona, Rizal. As of today, Erica has turned over donations to purchase basic needs for dozens of families in the area.

Another scholar, a school teacher in Manicahan, Zamboanga City, has also been active in helping the frontliners in her own community.

“We’re so proud to see our scholars lead in their own ways during this time of crisis,” Nocum said. “We designed our scholarship program with the goal of not only providing good education to those who cannot afford it, but also to promote youth leadership beyond the confines of school.”

Peacekeeping, however, goes beyond servitude. Peacekeeping also means to take up space with voices of the youth.

Nocum noted that even before the Covid-19 pandemic, a number of injustices prevailed in society, such as poverty, homelessness and lack of job security. As these injustices become more pronounced with a global health crisis, Nocum lauded the youth for “taking note of these issues and creating their own ways to address them.”

“We can’t stop now,” she said. “In the next few months and years, young Filipinos should make sure that things don’t go ‘back to normal.’ Normal is the status quo, and we have to make things better than normal.”

ON THE COVER A father and his daughter ride

the empty street of Andrews Avenue in Pasay City as all public transport is suspended in accordance with the enhanced community quarantine due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Nonie Reyes