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THE newly commissioned missile-frigate BRP Jose Rizal

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PHL’s first missile-capable frigate joins biggest and most prestigious war games in the US

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By Rene Acosta

HE Rim of the Pacific Exercise (RIMPAC), the world’s biggest and probably most prestigious war games scheduled for weeks next month, may fittingly serve as the venue to test whether the country’s newly acquired frigate, BRP Jose Rizal (FF150), is ready to take on its multi-role mission for the Philippine Navy (PN).

The RIMPAC, a multilateral exercise held biennially by the United States, notable in the waters off Hawaii, is usually joined by land, air and sea forces from modern militaries around the world, making it a much sought military event.

Under Covid’s shadow

FOR this year and due to the threat of the Covid-19, it will only be held at sea from August 17 to 30, with 25 navies that have so far been invited to participate, according to RIMPAC officials.

On Wednesday, the South Ko-

rean-built BRP Jose Rizal steamed toward Hawaii from Subic Bay’s Alava Wharf, where it was christened and commissioned into service just two weeks earlier, but it will have to drop anchor first in Guam before proceeding to the exercise.

Navy chief Vice Admiral Giovanni Carlo Bacordo said earlier that the RIMPAC would be the first mission for the brand-new frigate, with the exercise determining whether the warship and its officers and men are already ready for the Navy’s multi-dimensional warfare operations.

All aspects

“THE RIMPAC should bring out defects from the frigate if there is still any,” Bacordo said before the vessel berthed in Subic where it sailed from the shipyard of the Hyundai Heavy Industries in Ulsan, South Korea.

“It will also train its crewmen in anti-submarine warfare and operations,” he added, noting that the US-led war games will involve and cover all aspects of naval operations.

The PN’s participation in the RIMPAC is the second for the country after it first joined the drill in

2018, along with Vietnam, Sri Lanka, Brazil and Israel, and which saw the exclusion of China, given its tension with the US over the South China Sea. “This will boost your team training and increase your operational readiness. But all of you need to observe safety protocols. In these challenging times, it is imperative to work together, learn together and be safe together,” Bacordo told the complement of Jose Rizal as he led other officials during the sendoff ceremony on Wednesday.

Continued on A2

Misinformation on coronavirus is proving highly contagious

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The real challenge

By David Klepper | The Associated Press

ROVIDENCE, Rhode Island— As the world races to find a vaccine and a treatment for Covid-19, there is seemingly no antidote in sight for the burgeoning outbreak of coronavirus conspiracy theories, hoaxes, anti-mask myths and sham cures.

The phenomenon, unfolding largely on social media, escalated this week when President Donald Trump retweeted a false video about an anti-malaria drug being a cure for the virus and it was revealed that Russian intelligence is spreading disinformation about the crisis through English-language websites.

Experts worry the torrent of bad information is dangerously undermining efforts to slow the virus, whose death toll in the US hit 150,000 Wednesday, by far the

highest in the world, according to the tally kept by Johns Hopkins University. Over a half-million people have died in the rest of the world.

Hard-hit Florida reported 216 deaths, breaking the single-day record it set a day earlier.

Texas confirmed 313 additional deaths, pushing its total to 6,190, while South Carolina’s death toll passed 1,500 this week, more than doubling over the past month.

In Georgia, hospitalizations have more than doubled since July 1.

PESO EXCHANGE RATES n US 49.2170

BRENDAN KENNY serves customers with masks at a Brickley’s Ice Cream shop, one of two stores, in Narragansett, Rhode Island, Wednesday, July 29, 2020. The other nearby location closed when teenage workers were harassed by customers who refused to wear a mask or socially distance. Disputes over masks and mask mandates are playing out at businesses, on public transportation and in public places across America and other nations. AP

“IT is a real challenge in terms of trying to get the message to the public about what they can really do to protect themselves and what the facts are behind the problem,” said Michael Osterholm, head of the University of Minnesota’s Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy.

He said the fear is that “people are putting themselves in harm’s way because they don’t believe the virus is something they have to deal with.”

Rather than fade away in the face of new evidence, the claims have flourished, fed by mixed messages from officials, transmitted by social media, amplified by leaders like Trump and mutating when confronted with contradictory facts.

“You don’t need masks. There is a cure,” Dr. Stella Immanuel promised in a video that promoted hydroxychloroquine. “You don’t need people to be locked down.”

The truth: Federal regulators last month revoked their authoriContinued on A2

n JAPAN 0.4690 n UK 64.0018 n HK 6.3507 n CHINA 7.0297 n SINGAPORE 35.8333 n AUSTRALIA 35.3821 n EU 58.0515 n SAUDI ARABIA 13.1252

Source: BSP (July 31, 2020)

NewsSunday BusinessMirror

A2 Sunday, August 2, 2020

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‘DAWN OF A NEW ERA’

THE South Korean-built BRP Jose Rizal steams toward Hawaii from Subic Bay’s Alava Wharf, where it was christened and commissioned into service just two weeks earlier. SBMA Continued from A1

Contingent on board

THE frigate sailed with the Naval Task Group (NTG) 80.5 onboard and with the embarked AW109 naval helicopter. The NTG 80.5 is led by FF150’s commanding officer Capt. Jerry Garrido Jr. as the concurrent contingent commander, and complemented by “surface, services and support components.”

The PN said the NTG 80.5 contingent underwent “rigorous health and safety protocols” before boarding the frigate in order to ensure their safety amid the contagion.

Two of the frigate’s crewmen had earlier tested positive for the Covid-19, thus forcing the ship to remain where it is moored upon its arrival from South Korea, while other crewmen were checked and

rechecked.

The Navy chief said that through the drill, wherein the country’s flag will flutter, the Navy would be able to simulate and “test the capabilities of this newly acquired platform.”

“This will provide FF150 a venue to test the proficiency of personnel as they integrate in a wider range of operations,” Bacordo said.

He prodded the contingent to

maximize its training experience so that when it returns home, it will have a “lot to share with the rest of the Navy.”

The Navy considered its participation in the exercise as a demonstration of its commitment in promoting multilateral cooperation, leading to the “strengthening of relationship and cooperation among regional and extra regional navies.”

Wider exposure

WITH the steady arrival of its assets, the Navy has been attending international naval activities and carrying out visits to other navies.

Last year, its Indonesian-built Landing Dock Ship BRP Tarlac (LD601) with the onboard Helicopter Detachment Afloat (HAD) made a port visit to Vladivostok, Russia, and participated in the In-

ternational Fleet Review on Jeju Island in South Korea.

It has also joined the Kakadu exercise held in Darwin, Australia, in 2018, which was participated in by 27 navies which brought in 23 ships, 21 aircraft and a submarine.

“Our participation in these exercises marks the beginning of a new era of naval operations as we build up our capabilities for modern warfare,” Bacordo said.

Misinformation on coronavirus is proving highly contagious Continued from A1

zation of the drug as an emergency treatment amid growing evidence it doesn’t work and can have deadly side effects. Even if it were effective, it wouldn’t negate the need for masks and other measures to contain the outbreak.

None of that stopped Trump, who has repeatedly praised the drug, from retweeting the video.

Twitter and Facebook began removing the video Monday for violating policies on Covid-19 misinformation, but it had already been seen more than 20 million times.

One hoax from the other

MANY of the claims in Immanuel’s video are widely disputed by medical experts. She has made even more bizarre pronouncements in the past, saying that cysts, fibroids and some other conditions can be caused by having sex with demons, that McDonald’s and Pokemon promote witchcraft, that alien DNA is used in medical treatments, and that half-human “reptilians” work in the government.

Other baseless theories and hoaxes have alleged that the virus isn’t real, or that it’s a bioweapon created by the US or its adversaries.

One hoax from the outbreak’s early months claimed new 5G towers were spreading the virus through microwaves. Another popular story held that Microsoft founder Bill Gates plans to use Covid-19 vaccines to implant microchips in all 7 billion people on the planet.

Then there are the political theories—that doctors, journalists and federal officials are conspiring to lie about the threat of the virus to hurt Trump politically.

Socmed’s role

SOCIAL media has amplified the claims and helped believers find each

other. The flood of misinformation has posed a challenge for Facebook, Twitter and other platforms, which have found themselves accused of censorship for taking down virus misinformation.

Facebook Chief Executive Officer Mark Zuckerberg was questioned about Immanuel’s video during an often-contentious congressional hearing Wednesday.

“We did take it down because it violates our policies,” Zuckerberg said.

US Rep. David Cicilline, a Rhode Island Democrat leading the hearing, responded by noting that 20 million people saw the video before Facebook acted.

“Doesn’t that suggest that your platform is so big, that even with the right policies in place, you can’t contain deadly content?”

Cicilline asked Zuckerberg.

’Plandemic’ theory

IT wasn’t the first video containing misinformation about the virus, and experts say it’s not likely to be the last.

A professionally made 26-minute video that alleges the government’s top infectious-disease expert, Dr. Anthony Fauci, manufactured the virus and shipped it to China was watched more than 8 million times before the platforms took action. The video, titled “Plandemic,” also warned that masks could make you sick—the false claim Facebook cited when it removed the video down from its site.

Judy Mikovits, the discredited doctor behind “Plandemic,” had been set to appear on the show America This Week on the Sinclair Broadcast Group. But the company, which operates TV stations in 81 US markets, canned the segment, saying it was “not appropriate” to air.

This week, US government

PRESIDENT Donald Trump wears a face mask as he participates in a tour of Bioprocess Innovation Center at Fujifilm Diosynth Biotechnologies, July 27, 2020, in Morrisville, North Carolina. AP/EVAN VUCCI

officials speaking on condition of anonymity cited what they said was a clear link between Russian intelligence and websites with stories designed to spread disinformation on the coronavirus in the West. Russian officials rejected the accusations.

’War’ over mask

OF all the bizarre and myriad claims about the virus, those regarding masks are proving to be among the most stubborn.

New York City resident Carlos Lopez said he wears a mask when required to do so but doesn’t believe it is necessary.

“They’re politicizing it as a tool,” he said. “I think it’s more to try to get Trump to lose. It’s more a scare tactic.”

He is in the minority. A recent AP/NORC poll said 3 in 4 Americans—Democrats and Republicans alike—support a national mask mandate.

Still, mask skeptics are a vocal minority and have come together to create social-media pages where many false claims about mask safety are shared. Facebook has removed some of the pages—such as the group Unmasking America!, which had nearly 10,000 members—but others remain.

Early in the pandemic, medical authorities themselves were the source of much confusion regarding masks. In February, officials like the US surgeon general urged Americans not to stockpile masks because they were needed by medical personnel and might not be ef-

fective in everyday situations.

Public health officials changed their tune when it became apparent that the virus could spread among people showing no symptoms.

Confusing signals

YET Trump remained reluctant to use a mask, mocked his rival Joe Biden for wearing one and suggested people might be covering their faces just to hurt him politically. He did an abrupt about-face this month, claiming that he had always supported masks—then later retweeted Immanuel’s video against masks.

The mixed signals hurt, Fauci acknowledged in an interview with NPR this month.

“The message early on became confusing,” he said.

Many of the claims around masks allege harmful effects, such as blocked oxygen flow or even a greater chance of infection. The claims have been widely debunked by doctors.

Dr. Maitiu O Tuathail of Ireland grew so concerned about mask misinformation he posted an online video of himself comfortably wearing a mask while measuring his oxygen levels. The video has been viewed more than 20 million times.

“While face masks don’t lower your oxygen levels. Covid definitely does,” he warned.

Yet trusted medical authorities are often being dismissed by those who say requiring people to wear masks is a step toward authoritarianism.

“Unless you make a stand, you will be wearing a mask for the rest of your life,” tweeted Simon Dolan, a British businessman who has sued the government over its Covid-19 restrictions.

Trump’s reluctant, ambivalent and late embrace of masks hasn’t convinced some of his strongest supporters, who have concocted ever more elaborate theories to explain his change of heart. Some say he was actually speaking in code and doesn’t really support masks.

O Tuathail witnessed just how unshakable Covid-19 misinformation can be when, after broadcasting his video, he received emails from people who said he cheated, or didn’t wear the mask long enough to feel the negative effects.

That’s not surprising, according to University of Central Florida psychology professor Chrysalis Wright, who studies misinformation. She said conspiracy theory believers often engage in mental gymnastics to make their beliefs conform with reality.

“People only want to hear what they already think they know,” she said.

Editor: Angel R. Calso

The World BusinessMirror

Why big nations have been brought low by the pandemic

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ndia is now the epicenter of the global coronavirus pandemic.

It ranks just behind the US and Brazil in confirmed cases and is growing faster than either. The total rose 20 percent in just the last week, despite the fact that India is testing less than most of its peers.

It’s looking increasingly likely that India will wind up being the country with the most cases in the world. This is not just a function of its massive population; China, too, has over 1 billion people. It is a reflection of the fact that big, diverse countries are at a disadvantage in dealing with pandemics.

Smaller nations such as New Zealand or Thailand can manage the flow of cases by shutting down their international borders.

But internal borders are as porous in India as they are in the US. Imagine, for instance, how impossible it would have been for Europe to flatten its curve if it hadn’t suspended the Schengen agreement and freedom of movement for its 450 million people.

Generally, officials in large nations are reduced to playing whacka-mole: Even if they suppress an outbreak in Kerala or New York, chances are it will pop up somewhere else.

The pressure to “reopen” in such countries is also greater. Large nations do well economically because they have big, interdependent and diverse internal markets. Consequently, they can ill afford to have those supply chains broken for long. Unlike the US, India was quick to impose a proper nationwide lockdown—at great economic and human cost. Yet now the virus is spreading because people have to move across internal borders if the economy reopens even slightly.

That puts a premium on effective government. Keeping close track of such movements and of every little outbreak would require a centralized state with no shortage of spare capacity—ideally one already primed to spy on its own citizens, such as China’s.

For better or worse, no other big-nation government has similar abilities.

In the US, the pandemic has made the consequence of decades of misallocation and paralysis tragically clear. The American edifice of government has been hollowed out and its federal structure made unfit for purpose in a partisan and divided age. This ineffectiveness is reflected in data such as the World Governance Indicators, which has seen the US decline steadily over the past two decades.

The world’s largest economy should not have a state that struggles to respond effectively to a crisis, even a once-in-acentury crisis. India’s state, on the other hand, has always been low on capacity. In fact, it’s a standard joke among policy analysts in India that any conversation about what needs to be done ends with the statement, “But we can’t do that anyway.” The Indian state, at every level, is chronically short of managerial resources, of talent, of resources and of time.

Often, if it does one thing well, something else is shorted. Early on in the pandemic, the southern state of Kerala received praise for how well it had limited the spread of the virus through vigorous contact tracing. But, it turns out, the state devoted so much of its capacity to contact tracing that it failed to ramp up testing. Now state leaders have had to admit that cases are increasing through community spread.

One of the long-term consequences of this crisis will certainly be new thinking about federal states—and a fresh assessment of what in government constitutes “waste” and what is vital excess capacity.

Even in the short term, though, there are quick lessons to learn.

Consider one success story in India—the outbreak in the massive Mumbai slum of Dharavi, where Slumdog Millionaire was famously set. Early on, it seemed that Dharavi would almost certainly suffer an exponential rise in cases. Instead, an innovative combination of privately staffed fever clinics, repurposed public infrastructure and manpower from nongovernment organizations managed to flatten the curve there.

When the state has insufficient capacity, it needs to strike alliances like this with players in the private sector and nonprofits.

In fact, that’s one mistake Kerala made: The Communist-run local government waited too long to incorporate the private health-care sector in its plans, undoing much of its earlier success.

Large countries with under-performing states need to shift approach swiftly. In Brazil, an uncooperative national leadership has already forced communities to turn to local organizations and transnational nonprofits for help. Governments are going to have to treat NGOs and companies respectfully, as partners, if they want to have a chance of getting through this. Bloomberg Opinion

Sunday, August 2, 2020

Advice ignored by Trump helps Vietnam fight virus

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ietnam beat back its first wave of coronavirus infections by embracing US-supported pandemic strategies that the Trump administration largely ignored.

Now the Southeast Asian country is using the plan to combat its first cases in more than three months, seeking to keep its record as one of the few places in the world that hasn’t reported a single Covid-19 death as of this week.

Even before Vietnam confirmed its first cases in late January, Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc ordered officials to break out the blueprint developed in 2014 during a global health security project, funded in part by US-AID and created with the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and other organizations. Strict adherence to the plan allowed the country to claim victory over the virus this spring, stamping out clusters.

Faced with a resurgence that has similarly confounded Japan, Hong Kong and Australia, Vietnamese authorities are moving to contain a fresh cluster that has led to 36 new cases in the past week, for a total of 459 cases as of Thursday morning. Officials imposed strict quarantines on thousands of people who may have been exposed in the coastal city of Danang, reimposed stay-at-home measures and tightened border and immigration controls to prevent illegal entry.

The government is now warning the virus could spread to other regions, including Ho Chi Minh City and the capital of Hanoi, where officials are suspending large gatherings such as religious activities and ordering bars to close.

“The CDC has been working with us and helped us build up a plan that put in place steps to fight against pandemics,” said Tran Dac Phu, senior adviser at the Public Health Emergency Operations Center under the nation’s Ministry of Health. “The government is now very concerned about a second wave. We continue to work with the CDC and World Health Organization on this.”

Key to the government’s success so far has been its ability to move quickly to test patients, isolate those who are sick, aggressively trace contacts and quarantine for

14 days those who come in contact with positive cases. It’s also been essential to have consistent and transparent communication with the public, said Dr. Matthew Moore, director of the CDC’s Global Health Security Program in Vietnam.

The agency, which has been in Vietnam for 20 years and has a staff of 58 in the country including eight Americans, works with the government on testing protocols, guidelines to prevent transmission in health-care settings and training in epidemiology.

“Time and time again they have shut down chains of transmission,” he said.

Laser-like focus

Vietnam, a country whose 96 million citizens had a gross domestic product per capita of $2,715 last year, has been able to control the outbreak because of the government’s laser-like anti-virus focus, a one-party political system and a population that didn’t need convincing as a result of past disease outbreaks. The US, with a gross domestic product per capita of $65,280 in 2019, has not.

Vietnam’s success has been globally lauded. The US, meanwhile, has surpassed 4.3 million cases and 149,000 deaths while President Donald Trump has consistent ly dow nplayed the spread of the virus. Rather than following the advice of the experts, in July he retweeted a post claiming the CDC was lying about the virus.

There have been dramatic differences between how Vietnam and US approached the contagion crisis. Within weeks of Vietnam’s first reported cases in late January, the government closed schools. The Trump administration continues to resist school shutdowns, and has even threatened to withhold federal funding from schools that don’t bring back students.

Hanoi quickly deploys tests to anyone suspected of exposure to the virus, while the US continues

Workers from Long Bien market line up to be tested for Covid-19 in Hanoi in April 2020. Bloomberg photo

to face testing shortcomings. Danang’s authorities shut down two hospitals where two victims visited and ordered patients, medical staff, caregivers and family members—about 8,800 people in total—to be quarantined for 14 days at centralized bases, hospitals and homes, according to the city’s health department. A third hospital also was closed.

Vietnam has some key advantages the US doesn’t in combating the virus. The Communist Partycontrolled government dominates a society with a culture of collectivism, and its tough measures, like willingness to put in place lockdowns when needed, has been met with little resistance from the population.

This comes despite the fact that its quarantine regime is uncompromising and one of the strictest in the region. The government has placed Vietnamese and even foreigners seen at high risk of infection into isolation, sometimes at remote military camps.

Still, an edge Vietnam has over the US is the consistent message it has sent to the public about combating the virus, said Dr. Todd Pollack, an infectious disease specialist with the Harvard Medical School Partnership for Health Advancement in Vietnam.

The government’s communications campaign includes posters in residential and office complexes, text messages, an app to help Vietnamese trace cases near them, regular updates on the Ministry of Health’s web site and even a pop song encouraging hand-washing and social distancing.

Past epidemics

Helping the country fight the virus has been the memory of past epidemics. The SARS outbreak in 2003 killed five people in Vietnam

and the bird flu led to 52 deaths in repeated outbreaks between 2004 and 2008. The country is also currently coping with a diphtheria outbreak that has caused three deaths, leading the government to isolate 700 people in a village in the coffee-growing Central Highlands province of Dak Lak. Vietnam’s aggressive anti-virus measures have come at a cost: Almost 31 million workers have experienced job losses or pay cuts amid the restrictions. Vietnam’s economy could grow 3 percent to 4 percent this year—half the official target of 6.8 percent, according to a government advisory council.

Meanwhile, the government is getting pushback from some overseas-based companies as it strives to maintain its secondwave vigilance. Companies from South Korea, Vietnam’s secondlargest foreign investor, are pressuring the government to lift mandatory two-week quarantines of their workers traveling to Vietnam, local media outlet VnExpress reported.

Yet the country’s decisive actions may have burnished its reputation among companies seeking to diversify supply chains away from China. Some Japanese companies, with financial incentives from their government, are looking to relocate operations to Vietnam. Taiwanese company Inventec Corp., Apple Inc.’s assembly partner for AirPods, is preparing to establish a unit in Vietnam and other suppliers of the Cupertino, California-based company may follow.

Now the government’s allhands-on-deck counterattack is kicking in again. “We are improving our quarantine facilities to be able to isolate more people when needed,” the Ministry of Health’s Phu said. Bloomberg News

Herd immunity seems to be developing in Mumbai slums

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round six in 10 people living in some of India’s biggest slums have antibodies for the novel coronavirus indicating they’ve recovered from infection, in what appears to be one of the highest population immunity levels known worldwide.

The findings, from a July serological survey of 6,936 people across three suburbs in India’s financial center of Mumbai, may explain why a steep drop in infections is being seen among the closely packed population, despite new cases accelerating overall in the hard-hit country.

“Mumbai ’s slums may have reached herd immunity,” said Jayaprakash Muliyil, chairman of the Scientific Advisory Committee of India’s National Institute of Epidemiology, and the retired head

of one of its premier medical colleges. “If people in Mumbai want a safe place to avoid infection, they should probably go there.”

The findings of the study, which was conducted by municipal authorities and the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, suggest that despite efforts to contain its spread, Mumbai’s poorest places may have unwittingly pursued the controversial strategy of herd immunity. This describes an approach in which infection is allowed to run through a population to faster neutralize the pathogen’s threat.

About 57 percent of surveyed people in the slums of Dahisar, Chembur and Matunga had antibodies in their blood, compared to 21.2 percent found in an April study in New York City, and 14 percent reported in Stockholm in May.

A3

A “hands-off ” approach has been criticized in places like Sweden, where it appears to have resulted in more deaths than neighboring countries that implemented lockdowns. But the findings from Mumbai’s slums, where the population is young and less pre-disposed to severe cases of Covid-19, may support public health strategies more focused on protecting the vulnerable without trying to suppress the virus completely.

With social distancing more or less impossible, Mumbai’s slums are singularly well-suited for the coronavirus’s spread. Dharavi, the largest, packs a population as big as San Francisco’s into an area the size of New York’s Central Park, with as many as 80 people often sharing a public toilet, and fami-

lies of eight regularly packed in a 100-square-foot room.

Yet the slums have seen steep drops in infections in recent weeks after cases first erupted in April, even as India’s overall cases grow at the fastest pace globally. Credit has largely been given to the intensive containment measures officials implemented in the slums, like doorto-door health screenings and rapidly erected quarantine facilities.

The serological findings suggest another possibility: the crisis may be largely over because the virus has spread efficiently, not because it was stopped.

“One explanation is they did an excellent job containing it, the other is that herd immunity has been reached,” Muliyil said. “The virus does its work. The virus doesn’t worry about your quarantine and

it is much more efficient than your efforts to contain it.”

He does, however, credit the government’s containment measures with keeping mortality rates low in the slums, because the proactive surveillance ensured that cases were caught early and given high-quality care.

Of a population as big as a million people, Dharavi has recorded 253 deaths.

Growing herd immunity may also be behind the dip in cases in the capital city of New Delhi, said Muliyil, where a study in early July found that a quarter of the population

had been exposed.

Epide m iolog i st s ge ner a l ly bel ieve t hat infect ion levels must reach 60 percent to create herd immunity. But exposure concent rated i n t he popu l ations least able to socially distance could still slow the overall spread of infection. Bloomberg News

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Sunday, August 2, 2020

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The dollar’s leading rivals have their own drawbacks

By Garfield Reynolds

Bloomberg Markets

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he dollar’s rise to become the dominant currency started after World War I, but it was only definitively confirmed by the Bretton Woods accord reached in 1944. President J. Trump has accelerated America’s turn away from some of the post-World War II global architecture that reinforced the US currency’s place at the heart of international systems. His tendency to pursue a unilateral approach could reduce the dollar’s appeal. When previous leaders moved to weaken the dollar, they did so as part of a consensus shift aimed at redressing global imbalances—most notably with the 1985 Plaza Accord.

Last year, global reserve managers cut their US currency holdings as a percentage of their total stockpiles close to the lowest level since the 1990s, International Monetary Fund data show. That may have helped fuel the rush into dollars that occurred as the coronavirus pandemic spread in March, so the next IMF release could reveal a rebound in dollar holdings. But the severity of that dash into the US currency helped drive up volatility in currencies such as the Australian dollar, Korean won, and Mexican peso when the Federal Reserve waited four days after taking emergency liquidity actions on March 15 to extend swap lines to those nations.

The Fed has added almost $3 trillion to its balance sheet since February. Traders have bet Chair Jerome Powell would follow the central bank’s prolific quantitative easing program by cutting benchmark rates below zero. Though he has said that’s not appropriate for the US, he’s declined to specifically rule it out. Add a federal budget deficit that’s set to triple to $3.7 trillion, and you have reason to doubt the dollar as a longterm store of value—a crucial factor for any currency, let alone a global reserve currency.

“The fact that the global financial system runs on dollars and that the Fed is central to its operation— those things haven’t changed, and those facts have been underscored and reinforced in the early stages of the crisis,” says Barry Eichengreen, a professor of economics and political science at the University of California at Berkeley. “At the same time, I think what the crisis and those dollar-related facts have raised are renewed concerns about the mismatch between the dollarcentric international financial system on the one hand and a multipolar world on the other. That’s an uncomfortable situation.”

While it seems hard to imagine the dollar losing its place as the world’s reserve currency, a glance at history tells us it’s far from impossible. The Dutch guilder filled the role in the 17th and 18th centuries, before the Spanish dollar took over, followed by the pound sterling from 1860 until at least 1914. In each case, the nation’s domination of global trade and finance was key to the

currency’s status, though central banks and regulatory maneuvers played a role.

The dollar still dominates currency reserves and transactions, but its power is weakening. In global trade, the US lags behind the euro zone and China in overall volume of exports and imports, IMF data show. So it seems like a good time to review the leading alternatives to the dollar, even if none appears ready to knock it off its perch just yet.

Gold

“Money is gold, and nothing else,” John Pier pont Morgan testified to the US House of Representatives’ Bank and Currency Committee in 1912.

Pros: Gold’s allure as a global reserve currency is that it can’t be written into existence. That removes the risk that the government rolls its printing presses to fund spending, a practice that’s brought on hyperinflation and destroyed currencies throughout history.

The only way to increase the global supply of gold is to dig up more. That’s difficult and expensive, leading to remarkably stable long-term inflation rates. A favored anecdote is that an ounce of gold bought the same amount of bread (350 loaves) in the Babylon of 562 B.C. as it did in 1998, when economist Stephen Harmston took a look into the metal’s properties as an inflation hedge.

Gold is also free of counterparty risk. Fiat currencies derive their value from the creditworthiness of the issuer. That means their value can be eroded by economic or political policies pursued by the country or group of countries that backs the currency. Gold, by contrast, has an intrinsic value. Not only is it a soughtafter ornament, but it’s also useful as an inert, pliable electric conductor.

These attributes prevent its value from falling to zero.

Cons: Gold’s scarcity removes a key central bank policy tool. If central banks can’t control the money supply, they can’t respond to changes in aggregate demand. Adherence to the gold standard has been blamed for exacerbating deflation and causing the Great Depression. Most of the world’s governments abandoned gold-based money systems over the past century to gain flexibility in managing economic difficulties.

In the modern world, where money moves at the speed of light, sending shipments of gold to settle sovereign debt has become impractical. —Eddie van der Walt

The Japanese yen

PROS: The yen has ranked among the world’s top reserve currencies for decades. It made up almost 6 percent of official foreign-exchange reserves last year. Japan’s $9.5-trillion sovereign debt market trails only the US, data from the Bank for International Settlements show, providing investors with access to a deep liquidity pool.

Japan’s self-reliance is also a draw.

The country has persistent currentaccount surpluses and the world’s

largest savings pool. Japanese households held 1,903 trillion yen (more than $17.5 trillion) of assets at the end of 2019.

Cons: The Bank of Japan’s massive asset purchases—the central bank owns almost 44 percent of the nation’s debt, far outweighing the Fed’s or the European Central Bank’s bond buying—have distorted markets. Negative interest rates have failed to overcome persistent deflation, damping the appeal of Japanese assets. The yen slid as a proportion of global reserves after the BOJ introduced quantitative and qualitative monetary easing in 2013, though it has clawed back some market share.

Japanese policy-makers may resist anything that causes strong currency appreciation, preferring to keep its exporters—the backbone of its economy—competitive in world markets.

The bigger picture: The nation’s economy has been eclipsed in the past decade by China. Japan’s rapidly aging and shrinking population has contributed to an economic slowdown, and even negative interest rates haven’t shaken its tendency toward high savings and low investment. Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has pursued reforms designed to restore growth, known as Abenomics. To make up for the labor shortage created by the shrinking work force, the government has welcomed foreign workers. Still, cumbersome immigration policies have kept their numbers limited to 1.5 million in 2019.

Japan’s wariness about yen strength could be the biggest obstacle for the currency. In 2011 the country sold more than 14 trillion yen (worth about $185 billion at the end of that year) to halt a surge to a post-World War II record of 75 yen per dollar.

—Ruth Carson and Chikako Mogi

Special Drawing Rights

PROS: The appeal of Special Drawing Rights, or SDRs, lies in their international pedigree. They were created—and are backed—by the International Monetary Fund.

In that sense they match the multipolar nature of the world economy.

They’re accessible to almost all nations and are based on an adjustable basket of key currencies. Wider use of SDRs as a reserve currency would reduce developing economies’ need for foreign-exchange reserves as “self-insurance.”

SDRs became a go-to reserve asset when the dollar fell 34 percent versus the yen and 23 percent against the deutsche mark in the two years ended December 31, 1978. And from 2009 through 2011, the IMF boosted the SDRs available to member-nations to ensure adequate global liquidity.

Cons: In their current form, Special Drawing Rights can’t be used as a direct medium of exchange. Countries receive allotments from the fund, but they need to sell the SDRs to another country, or the IMF, to obtain actual currency. Outstanding SDRs were worth only $281 billion as of March 2020, a fraction of the $11.8 trillion of total central bank reserves.

The IMF’s role gives the US effective veto power over SDR allocations.

And there’s no central bank to redress imbalances. Suspicion of the IMF has increased around the world amid a growing awareness of the downsides of globalism. So a currency explicitly backed by the institution could be a political nonstarter.

The bigger picture: SDRs were set up in 1969 as a reserve asset that could act as a substitute in case of a shortfall of dollars. Unlike most dollar rivals, the SDR was explicitly designed as an alternative to the US currency.

“The SDR—created 50 years ago to supplement IMF member-countries’ official reserves—is the only true global money, backed by all IMF members,” Jose Antonio Ocampo, a professor at Columbia University who previously served as finance minister and central bank board member in Colombia, wrote on the fund’s web site last year. “A more active use of this tool would significantly strengthen the IMF’s role as the center of the global financial safety net.”—Garfield Reynolds

The euro

PROS: From its birth at the dawn of the millennium, the euro inherited the deutsche mark’s position as a key rival of the dollar. Its standing has grown with the expansion of the euro zone to 19 countries.

Today the euro is used in a third of all foreign exchange transactions, behind only the dollar. The bloc accounts for almost half of global trade, and its economy is tied for second place with China at about $13 trillion. (The US’s economy is worth $20 trillion.) The euro is the second-most-widely held currency in foreign-exchange reserves, and the euro zone has the third-largest sovereign debt market, behind the US and Japan.

The euro has its own central bank, and as a currency used by a diverse set of sovereign nations, it’s a more multilateral medium of exchange than the dollar.

Cons: The euro is still recovering from a near-death experience.

In 2011 to 2013, policy-makers in Greece and Italy came close to exiting the shared currency rather than accepting the austerity measures attached to bailout packages.

That highlighted a flaw in the euro: the lack of a shared fiscal policy to match the European Central Bank’s monetary powers. Richer countries in the north didn’t want to subsidize the poorer nations in the south. Until there’s a solution to that, the currency will struggle to challenge the dollar’s credibility among world markets.

The region’s relatively weak economic performance, often blamed on bureaucracy and a lack of innovation, also limits the currency’s appeal.

The bigger picture: Europe has a habit of taking key steps only when on the brink of collapse. The European Union in July agreed on a €750-billion ($857 billion) recovery fund, to be paid for by selling debt on behalf of the 27 member-states. That

debt could one day rival US Treasuries, boosting demand for the euro and fulfilling the long-held dreams of policy-makers who want a more integrated Europe. The US bond market, which has long seemed impervious to growing government deficits, could be punished by investors known as bond vigilantes if they felt they had another option.

“The only thing that can make US bond vigilantes return is a viable alternative to Treasuries or the dollar, and the EU just took a major first step toward producing one,” Tom Essaye, president of Kinsale Trading, wrote in a note to clients. It’s not a problem for now, he said, but “the euro could challenge the dollar.”—John Ainger

The Chinese yuan

T he yuan’s rise is all about the way China has transformed itself into an economic superpower to rival the US. Pros: China has overtaken the US to become the single largest trading nation, while the IMF estimates China’s gross domestic product overtook the US’s weight in the world economy in 2014, based on purchasing power parity.

The nation’s policy-makers are determined to raise the currency’s profile, promoting direct trade settlements with Russia and other nations and pushing to add yuan-denominated bonds to major debt benchmarks (including the Bloomberg Barclays indexes). Stock market links with Hong Kong and the Bond Connect program make it possible for global investors to purchase yuan-denominated assets. In March foreign holdings of debt and equities denominated in yuan rose to a record 4.2 trillion yuan ($600 billion).

In 2016 the yuan was added to the basket that underlies the IMF’s Special Drawing Rights, an official recognition of its use as a reserve currency. Crude and iron ore futures also now trade in yuan, boosting its value on world markets.

Cons:China’s capital controls present a hurdle. Officials tightened their grip when a shock currency devaluation in 2015 led to an accelerating exodus of funds. The yuan’s value is still closely managed

by Beijing, primarily through the central bank’s daily reference rate.

The People’s Bank of China’s use of a wide range of monetary-policy tools makes the money markets opaque and alienating to outsiders.

As a result, the yuan’s global footprint remains tiny relative to China’s economic power. The currency’s share of global payments has stagnated at about 1.8 percent, according to the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication (Swift). The yuan makes up about 2 percent of global FX reserves and accounts for just 4 percent of foreign exchange transactions.

The bigger picture: The government is signaling change as it seeks to open China’s financial markets.

The PBOC issues an annual report on the internationalization of the yuan, and the government is

eager to showcase international cooperation, including its “Belt and Road ” investment initiatives. W hile the yuan has a very long way to go to compete with the dollar, the way the nation surged in the 2000s to become the world ’s largest consumer of raw materials shows its capacity for transformation.—Tian Chen

Cryptocurrencies

T he newest dollar rivals are a bewildering array of decentralized digital tokens, which include Bitcoin, Ether, Tether, Bitcoin Cash, and others. Notoriously volatile and prone to manipulation, they have become infamous for their use in illicit transactions. But the technology behind them—and its potential ability to reorder global finance—has gained influential proponents, including former Bank of England Governor Mark Car ney, Fidelit y Investments Chief Executive Officer Abby Johnson, and Facebook Inc. CEO Mark Zuckerberg.

Pros: Like gold, cryptocurrencies aren’t fiat currencies, so there’s no government with the power to print them. Unlike gold, there’s no need for physical storage, electronic transfers are easy, and encryption offers relative anonymity.

Cons: Cryptocurrencies have proliferated into myriad coins and permutations of those coins created by splits and forks, meaning that relatively few are being widely adopted as a means of exchange.

The best known, Bitcoin, has been particularly volatile. It spiked to almost $20,000 in late 2017, only to plummet to just above $3,000 about a year later, undermining digital currencies’ claims to being a reliable store of value. Crypto’s role in criminal enterprise, where it’s prized for the anonymity it offers users, has hurt its reputation. So have hacking incidents that cost investors their digital fortunes.

The bigger picture: Digital assets have captured the attention of policymakers around the world because of the threat they pose to governments’ power over money. Regulators fret that tokens could move a large swath of economic activity out of their view.

The Chinese government, which was early to ban cryptocurrencies, now has a pilot program for an official digital version of its own currency.

There are more than 5,000 tradable cryptocurrencies on Coinmarketcap. com. The largest and eldest, Bitcoin, was invented in 2008 and now has a market capitalization of more than $150 billion. Proponents say the technology has staying power, despite the volatility that plagues the currencies.

“At the end of the day, trust is really getting broken in the traditional financial system—that’s the theme.

The less trust you have in the dollar, the more you want alternatives,” says Tom Lee, cofounder and head of research at Fundstrat Global Advisors.

“More and more people are saying, ‘You know what? It’s not such a bad idea to be decentralized.’”

—Vildana Hajric.

Hackers are targeting the remote workers who keep your lights on I n July alone, hackers took over the Twitter accounts of US politicians, stole terrabytes of coronavirus research and even infiltrated the UK’s Premier League soccer clubs. Can they cut off your electricity, too?

They’re trying. With millions of Americans now working from home—including the people who help keep the grid running—cyber attacks targeting the power sector have surged. In many cases, hackers use phishing e-mails to gain access to the computers of remote workers, looking to disable company systems for a ransom. But security experts warn that about a dozen state-sponsored actors are also trying to infiltrate these networks.

The pandemic has created “a once in a lifetime opportunity to get access during a time of heightened remote access usage,” said Rob Lee, chief executive officer at industrial security firm Dragos Inc. “The bulk electric system is absolutely too important

to allow adversaries access. It’s a matter of public safety as well as national security.”

Cyber attacks of all kinds have intensified during the Covid-19 pandemic, with hackers targeting public figures, banks, health-care providers and others as the rise in remote work creates new access points. An assault on the power grid could have wide-ranging implications across sectors. While no outages have so far been attributed to hackers, grid companies are beefing up security amid an unprecedented onslaught that, in a worst-case scenario, could trigger blackouts or damage vital equipment.

“Every major company in our industry gets attacked millions of times every day,” said Tom Fanning, chief executive officer of utility Southern Co. “But it is very clear there have been no interruptions in service on the electrical side.”

Even before the pandemic, hackers succeeded in infiltrating some energy infrastructure. In 2016,

an Iran-based hacker gained remote access to an electric dam in New York for weeks. Earlier this year, ransomware shut down a natural gas facility for two days.

The largest US grid operator, PJM Interconnection LLC, recently told regulators it’s facing increasing attacks. In May, the UK’s grid data system was hacked, although electricity supplies weren’t affected. And in March, an attack against Europe’s association of grid operators, ENTSO-E, affected its internal office systems.

“If you notice an attack going on, it’s already too late,” said Andrea Carcano, cofounder of Nozomi Networks, which provides Web security services for utilities and other industries.

Nozomi estimates that grid attacks have increased 35 percent since Americans began quarantining. That correlates with more electricsector employees working from home. As an

example, one US utility that previously allowed only 9 percent of its power plants to operate remotely now allows 80 percent to do so, Carcano said.

“With people working from home, there’s an increased attack surface to go after,” said Scott Aaronson, vice president of security and preparedness at the Edison Electric Institute.

Off-site employees

In response to the onslaught, utilities are implementing heightened defense campaigns.

That includes Avangrid Inc. and National Grid PLC, which provide power in New York and New England.

“We’ve increased our vigilance and focus since the start of the pandemic to ensure our employees working outside the office continue to access our systems in a safe and controlled manner,” said Edward Crowder, an Avangrid spokesman. He declined to share specific actions the company is taking, citing security.

Before National Grid moved thousands of employees off-site, “we ensured that our systems could accommodate this change, and that there would be no impact to our security controls,” said spokeswoman Molly Gilson, without elaborating on particular measures the company took.

PJM declined to comment on how it’s making its systems safer, but its Senior Vice President of Operations Mike Bryson told regulators in June that “PJM’s remote access infrastructure was already prepared both for the capacity needed for remote operations and for the security configuration needed to protect PJM while in remote operation.

Still, intrusions can happen, and even the most tightly guarded systems can be taken down.

“Yes, it could happen,” said EEI’s Aaronson. “You could get in and move laterally but it would be very, very difficult to do so without people noticing anomalies.” He said he’s been on regular calls with

utilities, the Department of Homeland Security and the White House since February to share information on potential threats.

US hacking

The recent attacks have focused on corporate computer systems rather than the ones that run the physical operations of power plants and grids. The latter are overseen by engineers, many of whom were, until recently, isolated in strictly protected control centers for weeks at a time due to the pandemic.

But it’s happened elsewhere. Hackers believed to be linked to Russia hit Ukraine’s grid in 2015, cutting power to 230,000 people. Last September, malware affected an Indian nuclear power plant.

And since at least 2012, the US government has worked to penetrate Russia’s electric power grid in a warning to President Vladimir Putin.

Bloomberg News

Science

BusinessMirror

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

Ateneo’s ‘Mathinic’ makes math tick for new normal

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s teachers scramble for ways to find a viable and effective way of teaching mathematics in the new normal, the Ateneo de Manila University (ADMU) developed an online platform that makes math more interesting, compelling and engaging for students.

Developed by a team led by Dr. Ma. Louise Antonette N. de las Penas, the Loyola Schools Associate Dean for Research and Creative Work, the“Technology Innovations for Mathematical Reasoning, Statistical Thinking and Reasoning,” or “Mathinic” project, seeks to create a digital mathematics learning environment.

It aims to transform young Filipinos into proficient problem solvers using digital mobile applications and instructional materials, large-scale database of assessment results, and a database for statistical learning, or Census-at-School.

“Our focus is to intuitively spark a zest among Filipinos of varying age to become math wizards by developing a digital classroom with sound pedagogical principles, user-friendly, aligned with the Department of Education [DepEd] curriculum, has minimum system requirements for mobiles or computers, and is cost-effective,” de las Penas said.

The research seeks to create 20 interactive applications that focus on number magnitude (for Grades 1 to 6) with accompanying user manuals.

It also aims to have 20 interactive applications in mathematics for Grades 7 to 10, with accompanying teaching guides, database for storing census results, making mathematics e-learning to be

more interesting and meaningful among Filipino children.

The project has finalized the test structures for addition and subtraction and has conducted needs and gaps assessments in two grade schools and two high schools in San Mateo, Rizal.

It has met with school representatives and identified leastlearned topics for grade and year levels.

The project team has likewise conducted the initial meeting with the mayor and vice mayor of San Mateo and with representatives from DepEd-San Mateo to discuss and endorse the use of the technologies.

The project, funded by the Department of Science and Technology-Philippine Council for Industry, Energy and Emerging Technology Research and Development (DOST-PCIEERD), will soon finalize its test items in multiplication, division and fractions.

The apps can provide numbersense experiences to children and support the teachers who wish to integrate research-based practices in the classroom.

The database for statistical learning will be the first in the Philippines that will give students access to authentic data.

DOS T-PC I EER D E xec ut ive Director Dr. Enrico C. Paringit recognized the value of the apps, especially for teachers who are now looking for tools to aid in the blended learning method of teaching in the new normal.

“As a leader and partner in supporting innovations, we hope that we support more technologies that can help us navigate in the new normal,” Paringit said.

PHL to compete in first online Intl Math Olympiad

The Mathematical Society of the Philippines announced the members of the national team to the 61st International Mathematical Olympiad, which will be held online for the first time. The team is composed of (from left, top) Immanuel Josiah Balete from St. Stephen’s High School, Sarji Elijah Bona from De La Salle University Integrated School Manila/Palawan Hope Christian School, Raphael Dylan Dalida from Philippine Science High School Main Campus, Vincent de la Cruz from Valenzuela School of Mathematics and Science, Andres Rico Gonzales III from De La Salle University Integrated School Manila, and Bryce Ainsley Sanchez from Grace Christian College.

W

ith the pandemic affecting all sorts of gatherings and travels, the toughest mathematics competition in the world will be held online.

The 61st International Mathematical Olympiad (IMO), originally set to be held last July in St. Petersburg, Russia, will push through but via the first-ever online competition from September 19 to 28.

The Mathematical Society of the Philippines (MSP) announced the roster of the national team including: Immanuel Josiah Balete St. Stephen’s High School Sarji Elijah Bona De La Salle University Integrated School Manila/ Palawan Hope Christian School Raphael Dylan Dalida Philippine Science High School Main Campus Vincent de la Cruz Valenzuela School of Mathematics and Science Andres Rico Gonzales III De La Salle University Integrated School Manila Bryce Ainsley Sanchez Grace Christian College Team Leader Christian Paul Chan Shio Ateneo de Manila University, and Deputy Team Leader Carlo Francisco Adajar University of the Philippines Diliman will mentor the bets.

The national team members were determined during the Mathematical Olympiad Summer Camp (MOSC), which was also held online in the past months.

The MOSC is a rigorous training program that serves as selection phase among the national finalists and winners of the Philippine Mathematical Olympiad (PMO).

In January, Sanchez, Balete and Dalida topped the PMO as champion, first runner-up, and second runner-up, respectively.

They were joined by fellow math veterans, Gonzales III, Dela Cruz and Bona.

On July 13 and 14, all of the six won in the first Cyberspace Mathematical Competition (CMC).

Organized by the American Mathematics Competitions in partnership with Art of Problem Solving, the CMC also served as preparatory test for the team.

Dalida, de la Cruz, Gonzales III and Sanchez bagged the bronze medals in CMC, while Balete received an honorable mention.

Meanwhile, Sanchez, Balete and Gonzales III each won bronze medals in last year’s IMO where the Philippines ranked 31st out of 112 countries.

The three are now looking to lead the team to an improved showing this year.

Director Josette Biyo of the Department of Science and Technology-Science Education Institute (DOST-SEI) congratulated the team and the MSP for “soldiering on” amid the challenges posed by the pandemic.

“We congratulate our national team for the 61st IMO. Although we are living in very challenging times, your constant pursuit of excellence inspires us to do the same. We wish you all the best in the coming competition,” Biyo said.

The country’s participation in the IMO is a project of MSP and DOST-SEI, with support from major sponsors: Hyundai Asia Resources Inc. Foundation, Manulife Business Processing Services, Foundation for Upgrading the Standard of Education Inc., Sharp Philippines Corp. and C&E Publishing.

S&T Media Service

Sunday

Sunday, August 2, 2020 A5

Masks made from abaca cut Covid’s plastic waste

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iber from a relative of the banana tree—the abaca—could replace plastic in millions of face masks and hospital gowns the world is making to fight the coronavirus.

Abaca—a fiber from the Philippines used in teabags a nd banknotes—is as durable as polyester but will decompose within two months, said Kennedy Costales, executive director of the Philippine Fiber Industry Development Authority.

“With this pandemic, if we all buy masks made of synthetic fiber, they will pile up in dumpsites because they take so long to decompose,” he said.

Global efforts to ban single-use plastics have retreated as nations prioritized hygiene over the environment for packaging and medical supplies, creating a bright spot for chemical companies such as LyondellBasell Industries NV and Trinseo SA. Sales of disposable face masks are set to rise more than 200-fold worldwide this year to $166 billion, according to a United Nations trade article, citing consultancy Grand View Research.

Companies have been reluctant to replace plastic with biodegradable alternatives because of concern about cost and whether the new materials are sufficiently strong and effective for medical use.

Abaca fiber grading

A preliminary study by the Philippine Department of Science and Technology (DOST) showed abaca paper to be more water resistant than a commercial N-95 mask, and to have pore sizes within the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s recommended range to filter hazardous particles.

Costales said abaca demand could grow “exponentially” this year, with 10 percent of production going to medical uses, compared with less than 1 percent in 2019.

“Abaca fiber is rapidly gaining popularity as governments and manufacturers all around the world scamper to produce more reusable and safe medical garments for healthcare professionals,” said Pratik Gurnani, senior consultant at Future Market Insights.

In demand

The Philippines is the world’s

largest producer, supplying 85 percent of the fiber in 2017, according to the latest data from the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization.

Global production is projected to be worth $100 million this year, Gurnani said.

The fiber, stripped from the trunks of the abaca tree, was used for saltwater-resistant ship ropes and Manila envelopes in the 19th century.

Up to 30 percent of Japan’s banknotes are made of it and abaca yarn has been used in MercedesBenz cars.

Even though the plant fiber is more expensive to produce than plastic alternatives, manufacturers of protective health gear from China, India and Vietnam have placed new orders for the fiber over the past months, prompting Philippine fiber factories to double their output, said abaca exporter Firat Kabasakalli.

“People see this pandemic lasting for some time, so even small companies are trying to make protective equipment, which requires our fiber,” said Kabasakalli, general manager of Dragon Vision Trading. “We are getting a lot of inquiries from new clients abroad.”

Missed opportunity

One company in southern Philippines which makes greeting cards and paper from the fiber for export to the US and Europe has shifted to making masks.

“The awareness of consumers now is higher when it comes to taking care of the environment,” said Neil Francis Rafisura, general manager of Salay Handmade Products Industries Inc. “ There are people who will pay a premium for environmentally friendly products.”

Abaca production can’t keep up with demand, according to Costales. While he estimates growers will increase output to 74,000 metric tons this year, that’s not enough to meet even last year’s supply deficit of about 125,000 tons, he said.

Part of the reason is that farm-

Abaca fiber grading

ers in the Philippines lack government subsidies to raise output.

“Abaca is like precious gold for the Philippines, but it’s been often overlooked because the government prioritizes crops that feed people,“ Costales said. “This is a missed opportunity for us.“

DOST-FPRDI research: Abaca hybrid yields quality fiber

Meanwhile, brighter days may be up ahead for the Philippines’s abaca industry.

Researchers at the DOST ’s Forest Products Research and Development Institute (DOSTFPRDI) have recently found that the “Bandala” abaca hybrid yields high quality fiber that makes it a promising material for pulp and paper.

This is great news, considering that the Bandala is the result of more than 60 years of work by scientists, mostly from the Institute of Plant Breeding of the University of the Philippines Los Baños (UPLB-IPB), who spent hundreds of hours in laboratories trying to come up with the kind of plant that would meet the needs of local abaca farmers and adapt to changing environmental conditions.

The result of breeding the right types of abaca and banana (the two plant species are close relatives), the Bandala has all the traits of the ideal hybrid.

It is high-yielding, droughttolerant and able to withstand the attack of the notorious abaca bunchy-top virus.

“Our finding was that the physical properties [basis weight, thickness, folding endurance, and burst, tensile and tear indices] of the Bandala paper sheets we studied were comparable to those

of commercial abaca,” said DOSTFPRDI researcher Aimee Trixie R. Habon. “This is important because it shows that the hybrid has high economic potential.”

Abaca, which is known as the world’s strongest natural fiber, is native to the Philippines. The country is the world’s number one abaca supplier, and the crop is the source of livelihood for about 200,000 farming families in 56 provinces.

However, due to various reasons, most planters earn little from abaca farming and remain very poor.

With the support of different science-based agencies in helping solve the sector’s most pressing problems, however, the future looks better for the country’s abaca farmers.

T he a ge nc ie s i nc lud e t he UPLB-IPB and the DOST- Philippine Council for Agriculture, Aquatic and Natural Resources Research and Development which has put in place a Strategic Abaca Industry Science and Technology Roadmap.

The DOST-FPRDI is also lending support through its research and development program that aims to improve and expand the use of abaca and other natural fibers in making specialty paper and other high-end products.

Being the strongest natural fiber, abaca is currently a preferred raw material for various modern technologies employed in making ship and power transmission ropes, car inter iors, well-drilling cables, furnishing, textile, as well as specialty and security paper.

Bloomberg News and Rizalina K. Araral/S&T Media Service

D.O.S.T. approves R&D Centers for garlic, queen pineapple

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ith the challenges brought by the Covid-19 pandemic, the Department of Science and Technology (DOST) is responding to threats to health emergencies and is keeping the food supply chain safely running through Research and Development and transfer of R&D outputs.

The DOST recently approved two new Niche Centers in the Regions (NICER) for R&D. The R&D Centers are the Garlic and Other Agrifood Condiments R&D Center in Mariano Marcos State University (MMSU), Ilocos Norte, and Queen Pineapple R&D Center in Camarines Norte State College in Camarines Norte, Bicol, with a total budget of P62 Million.

“As hunger becomes a key issue for the Philippines in fighting the Covid-19 pandemic, we recognize the need to be proactive in developing the potential of our Filipino experts and creating opportunities for regional development,” said Science Secretary Fortunato T. de la Peña. “The new NICER centers are a great addition to DOST’s goal in strengthening the innovation capability of the country.”

The NICER Program was established to address disparity in the access to R&D funding as resources are mostly concentrated in the National Capital Region and its neighboring regions.

The program provides grants to Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) in the regions to undertake quality

research in order to promote regional development with their capabilities and resources.

The proposed NICER should be unique, a collaborative project between HEIs, and must be duly endorsed by the Regional Development Council (RDC) to ensure its socio-economic impact in the region.

Since the program’s inception in 2017, 20 NICER Centers have been established in 15 regions across the country.

NICER has released an aggregate R&D funding of P703 million.

Tapping into the potential of the local garlic industry

Garlic is a staple commodity in every Filipino kitchen. The Philippines’s annual consumption requirement of garlic is139,777 metric tons, but the local industry in Ilocos Norte produces only 61 percent of this need.

This shows that despite the increasing demand for garlic, the local farmers are not able to benefit from this market trend.

The proposed National Garlic and Other AgriFood Condiments R&D Center, which will be based at MMSU, will seek to revitalize the garlic industry in the country and improve the other agri-food condiments (e.g., shallot or multiplier onion, ginger, and turmeric) industry through R&D.

The program is expected to contribute in the increase of the local garlic’s competitiveness in the market, and develop a successful chain for garlic production, including processing and storage facilities.

The NICER on Garlic Center is expected to actively generate and enhance the technical competency of local government units and other research institutions, as well as continuously create a vibrant market opportunity through product development and other initiatives.

Further, the project is expected to strengthen the partnership with other universities and colleges located in garlic growing provinces in the country, such as Occidental Mindoro, Oriental Mindoro, Nueva Ecija, Batanes, Nueva Viscaya, Quezon, IloIlo, Romblon, Abra and Benguet.

A sweet deal with the queen pineapple

Known as the sweetest pineapple variety in the country, the queen pineapple (QP) is also a source of nutrients and high-quantity dietary fiber.

The QP may also be considered as a stable investment as it is a “typhoon-resilient crop,” which is best suited in typhoon prone areas, such as the Bicol Region and Eastern Visayas (Region VIII).

With Camarines Norte State College (CNSC)

spearheading the program in cooperation with Visayas State University and the Department of Agriculture-Regional Field Office V, the Queen Pineapple NICER program is expected to address some of the problems and gaps in terms of production and marketing, and inadequate technologies.

The most popular processed forms of pineapple in local markets are purees, juices, pie and jam.

The recent study on CNSC-produced QP marinade, charcoal and chicken feed out of the pineapple waste would give oppor tunity to processors, farmers and interested individuals to earn additional income besides the fresh fruit.

More importantly, the transfer of viable QP technologies will help enhance the production of high-quality queen pineapple and increase the income of farmers.

“As our country faces the threats of the new normal, our best strategy is to deliberately widen the geographic and sectoral sources of government by funding innovation programs like NICER,” said DOST Undersecretary Rowena Cristina L. Guevara.

“Even with low level of funding for R&D, the innovation ecosystem of the Philippines can flourish.

R&D ensures that our country grows and remains resilient, despite the presence of a pandemic. Truly, R&D makes change happen,” Guevara added.

Faith

Sunday

A6 Sunday, August 2, 2020

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

Islamic holiday Eid comes as families grieve virus victims

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or Marwa Conelly, the upcoming Islamic Eid al-Adha holiday was supposed to be extra celebratory this year—she was looking forward to getting engaged around that time.

Then she lost her father to the coronavirus, and less than 24 hours later her mother, who died unaware her husband, whom she had known since childhood, was gone.

Now the thought of spending Eid at their home without them fills Conelly with dread.

“I will miss them,” Conelly said. “I just want to go to sleep and wake up to find that the Eid period has passed already.”

In Egypt, where the Conellys live, the first day of Eid was on Friday. It ends on the evening of August 3.

With the coronavirus ravaging the world, Eid comes as the wounds of the bereaved are raw, and for Muslims in the throes of grief, it can amplify the pain.

Many are wrestling with how to navigate its rituals without lost loved ones, as some seek ways to honor the departed during the holiday.

Eid al-Adha, or “Feast of the Sacrifice,” commemorates the Quranic tale of the Prophet Ibrahim’s willingness to sacrifice his son as an act of obedience to God. Normally the family has a festive but laid-back routine for the first day of Eid. After Marwa Conelly returns home from the Eid prayer at the mosque, the family would have breakfast and then nap before gathering again for more food and television.

There would be joking and teasing: Conelly, 30, would ask about her Eidiya, the cash gift traditionally handed out to kids during the holiday.

Her mom would playfully tell her she was too old for that now, even though they still give her and her sister Eidiya.

This year she will miss all of it, even the battles over who washes the dishes, and is thinking of staying elsewhere.

Such struggles can ring true across faith communities.

“The holidays are a time we celebrate together and share our rituals and share our worship or our beliefs,” said David Kessler, author of Finding Meaning: The Sixth Stage of Grief. “And if your loved one has died, their absence is extremely loud during a holiday.”

In Iraq, Mohamed, who asked to be identified with just one name due to the sensitivity surrounding the virus, remembers planting kisses on his father’s head and hand on Eid as he wished him a happy holiday.

His father died in May. Hospitalized and under quarantine, Mohamed was unable to say goodbye or attend his burial, shortly before the Islamic holiday of Eid al-Fitr.

“Before, we felt joy during Eid,” he said. “Not anymore, not like before.”

For Eid al-Adha, Mohamed said, his family is thinking of baking date cookies—a favorite of his dad’s—to bring to the neighbors while asking them to pray for him.

“Since my father died, people have been too afraid to visit because of the coronavirus,” he said.

Indeed, Kessler said fears of contagion have denied many families the support they could otherwise count

on in times of bereavement.

“People who would usually be coming over and bringing casseroles and, you know, sitting at your kitchen table with you didn’t do that,” he said.

Kessler, who in March launched an online grief support group that has attracted nearly 17,000 members, said religious and nonreligious holidays alike, from Easter and Passover to Mother’s Day and Father’s Day, have been “very, very intense” for the bereaved.

Besides the loss of loved ones, the pandemic has taken a toll on a sacred mainstay of Islam: the hajj pilgrimage, in which Muslims typically pour into Saudi Arabia before the start of Eid. One of the pillars of the faith, it is required once in the lifetime of each able Muslim, and many people around the globe spend years saving money to afford the journey.

This year the hajj is sharply curtailed due to the coronavirus, with only very limited numbers of those already residing in Saudi Arabia allowed to take part.

In one of the rituals, the faithful circle the cube-shaped Kaaba building toward which Muslims around the world pray daily.

Heather Laird, president of the Center for Muslim Mental Health and Islamic Psychology in California, said the hajj has such deep spiritual

meaning that losing access to it can be a cause for mourning.

She cried when she realized she would not be able to make the hajj this year as she had hoped, and wondered if she may never get another chance.

She has asked someone close to her to pray with her that the virus is gone by next year.

“I’ve actually been wanting to go for several years,” she said. “I’m just hoping and praying that I have another opportunity.”

Some see in Eid a chance for spiritual succor as they remember those lost.

Mostafa Omar of Egypt said his mother had been looking forward to performing the ritual sacrifice of an animal to feed the needy this Eid. After she was felled by Covid-19, the family will carry out that wish.

“It gives me comfort to do what she wanted,” Omar said, “to make her happy.”

And for Doaa el-Agoze, also in Egypt, it will be the first Eid without a cousin and an uncle lost to the virus and two other relatives who died of other causes. El-Agoze learned of her cousin’s death as she was fighting the virus herself and dealing with questions about her own mortality.

She doesn’t know exactly what this Eid will be like, but she and others want to go to the cemetery to pray through masked mouths for their loved ones. AP

Hundreds of Muslim pilgrims circle the Kaaba, the cubic building at the Grand Mosque, as they observe social distancing to protect themselves against the coronavirus, in the Muslim holy city of Mecca, Saudi Arabia, on July 29. AP

Manila Cathedral cautions faithful against Covid-19 donation scam

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he Manila Cathedral is warning the public a g a i n s t a s ca m m e r w h o i s u s i n g t h e names of the Church’s officials asking for financial suppor t.

In a Facebook post on Wednesday, the Manila Cathedral said people should not believe a letter sent by the scammer which was sent to a hospital in Lipa City, Batangas, asking for financial assistance particularly for the swab testing of Fr. Reginald Malicdem and Fr. Kali Pietre Llamado and their staff for coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19).

“We were informed that a letter was sent to a hospital in Lipa City, Batangas, supposedly signed by us, Fr. Regie and Fr. Kali, asking for financial assistance for Covid-19 swab testing for us and our staff. This is a fake letter and our signatures are also fake,” the Facebook post said.

Likewise, the public is urged to be cautious as the scammer is also texting people using Llamado’s name.

“Please beware of this kind of letters or requests for financial assistance. This is the fake e-mail address and cell-phone number

that this scammer is using for your information: arzobispadodemanila@gmail.com and 09665338843,” the Manila Cathedral added.

Meanwhile, an official of the social action arm of the Archdiocese of Manila also warned the public against individuals or groups that are collecting membership fees for them to be able to supposedly get financial assistance.

“Since last week, we have been receiving complaints that some people have been going around collecting membership fees to qualify for the alleged ‘financial assistance’ from Caritas Manila. Please be informed that we do not collect any membership fees,” Caritas Manila Executive Director Fr. Anton Pascual said in an inter view over Church-run Radio Veritas.

He added that Caritas is not providing financial assistance amounting to P5,000 to P10,000.

Pascual urged the public to report to them, through the following numbers 8-562 00 20 to 25 local 131, or send a private message at IslasCaritas Manila page or Caritas Islas Facebook account, if anyone encountered individuals asking for donations for the Caritas Manila. PNA

Knights of Columbus founder to be beatified in October

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OME—Fr. Michael McGivney, the founder of the Knights of Columbus Catholic fraternal organization, will be beatified on October 31, the Congregation for the Causes of Saints announced this week.

The congregation made the announcement on its web site and Twitter page July 20.

A miracle credited to the intercession of McGivney was approved by the Vatican and announced by Pope Francis on May 27.

A child who was diagnosed as terminally ill in the womb was miraculously healed following prayers for the intercession of Fr. McGivney.

The priest’s beatification Mass is expected to be celebrated in his native Connecticut.

McGivney founded the Knights of Columbus in New Haven, Connecticut, in 1882.

Initially, the organization was intended to assist widows and their families upon the deaths of their husbands.

It has grown into a worldwide Catholic fraternal order, with more than 2 million members carrying out works of charity and evangelization across the globe.

The Knights also offer life insurance policies to their members.

In 2018, the Knights’ 16,000 councils worldwide donated more than $185 million to charity and gave over 76 million hours of hands-on ser vice in 2018, wor th over $1.9 billion according to a valuation of volunteer work by the Independent Sector.

Their volunteer work included support for the Special Olympics, coat drives, and food drives for needy families.

Between 2017 and 2018, the Knights raised and delivered $2 million for the Iraqi town of Karamles; the Knights have helped Christian survivors of the Isis genocide in the town resettle in their homes and rebuild for the future.

In an audience granted to Supreme Knight Carl Anderson earlier this year, Pope Francis praised the organization’s “par ticular faithful witness to the sacredness and dignit y of human life, evident at both the local and national levels.”

He also noted the Knights’ dedication to aiding, “both materially and spiritually, those Christian communities in the Middle East that are suffering the effects of violence, war and pover t y.”

“In our world, marked by divisions and inequalities, the generous commitment of your Order to serve all in need offers, especially to young people, an important inspiration to overcome a globalization of indifference and build together a more just and inclusive society,” Francis said in February.

Beatification, being declared “blessed” by the Church, is the final step of recognition before a person can be declared a saint.

McGivney will become the four th US-born man to be beatified, joining Bl. Stanley Rother, Bl. James Miller, and Bl. Solanus Casey.

While the Church has recognized three women born in the United States as saints— SaintElizabeth Ann Seton, Saint Katharine Drexel and Saint Kateri Tekawitha—there have been no US-born canonized men.

Th e Vat i c a n a l s o a n n o u n ce d t h at t h e beatifications of two others, Benigna Cardoso and Fr. Giuseppe Ambrosoli, will be postponed due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.

Their beatifications had previously been scheduled for October 21 and November 22, respectively.

Cardoso was set to be beatified in Brazil, one of the hot spots of the virus, and Ambrosoli in Uganda, where he served as a missionary priest.

Catholic News Agency via CBCP News

Why Hagia Sophia remains a potent symbol of spiritual, political authority S ince its origins in the sixth century AD, the Hagia Sophia has served as a church, a mosque, and, since 1934, a museum.

But on July 10, the Turkish government declared that from now on it would serve as a mosque and be open for all visitors when not in use for the five daily prayers.

The first “namaz,” or the Muslim prayer, to take place under the building’s soaring dome in 86 years was held on July 24.

The move to change the status of one of Istanbul’s most recognizable landmarks has drawn strong reactions.

It is worth considering why so many have, for so long, cared so much about the fate of the Hagia Sophia as responses praising and condemning the decision have come in from around the world.

As a scholar specializing in Islam, I have studied the power of sacred spaces, including the Hagia Sophia, to unify and divide communities.

For almost a millennium and a half Hagia Sophia has embodied both possibilities.

6th-century cathedral

Built in the sixth century by the Byzantine Emperor Justinian, this marvel of architecture and aesthetics was never just a religious enterprise.

The emperor needed a spectacular means of establishing his authority and quelling internal rebellions that threatened his rule.

Justinian, called “the builder of the world” by his chronicler Procopius, hoped the monument—a cathedral—would help establish his political domain and unify a fractious Christian Church divided by theology and competing regional power bases.

Only a great ruler could build such an edifice, and only a great empire could sustain it.

Ottoman conquest

The first shift in the building’s identity occurred during the Fourth Crusade. Frankish holy warriors occupied Constantinople from 1204 to 1261, looting the Hagia Sophia of its many treasures.

By that time the Eastern Orthodox Church based in Constantinople and the Western Catholic Church based in Rome had broken apart in the

great schism of 1054 AD. After the Byzantine reconquest of Constantinople, it took some convincing for the population to return to the cathedral that had been despoiled by the crusaders.

The next major shift occurred almost 200 years later with the Ottoman conquest in 1453 AD that saw Constantinople renamed as Istanbul and Hagia Sofia converted into a mosque.

Sultan Mehmed II, who lived from 1432 to 1481 AD, established an endowment in perpetuity providing the Hagia Sophia mosque with the necessary support and staff.

At the same time, he encouraged his Muslim subjects to pray there.

After the conversion, an alcove facing Mecca, known as the “mihrab” was added, making it possible for Muslims to know the proper orientation for the five time daily prayers.

A pulpit or “minbar” for giving the Friday sermon was also installed.

Eventually calligraphic medallions of the names of God, Muhammad, and the first four caliphs of Islam, were added to this monument.

The many mosaics of Christian figures such as Jesus, Mary, the apostles and saints, as well as various Byzantine rulers were mostly left intact and not completely plastered over until the 1840s when Sultan Abdülmecid II hired the Italian Fossati Brothers to renovate and restore the building.

At that time, many cracks were repaired in the dome, a new platform for the sultan’s prayer space was built, and the mosaics were cleaned.

Though initially the sultan preferred to have them on display, religious sensibilities that objected to praying in the direction of human images meant that the mosaics with such depictions were plastered over, even as they were preserved.

Republic, Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, promoted numerous projects to minimize the public role of religion in society, from changing the script of the language from Arabic to Roman to outlawing public displays of religiously marked clothing.

He also banned the popular and powerful Sufi mystical orders, such as the Mevlevis and Bektashis.

Turning the Hagia Sophia into a museum demonstrated that the building’s composite history could exemplify the power of secular modernity.

This involved restoration of the structure, removal of the plasters over the mosaics, and, eventually, adding a gift shop and ticket booth.

At its peak, 3 million people a year passed through the complex with foreign visitors paying the equivalent of $10 to enter; Turkish nationals could visit at reduced rates.

The Turkish government has said it will make few changes to the building after its conversion into a mosque, though curtains will cover the mosaics depicting Christian divine and saintly figures that are visible to those offering the Muslim prayers.

After the prayers are completed, the curtains can be removed so visitors can see them.

There will no longer be a fee for anyone to enter the Hagia Sophia.

Contested territory

Symbol of secularism

A ft e r the demise of the Ottomans in the early 20th centur y, the new Republic of Turkey, founded on secular principles and seeking legitimac y in international institutions, renovated the Hagia Sophia as a museum.

The founder and leader of the new Turkish

In this combo of photos, a gold-colored mosaic (top) that depicts The Virgin Mary and Jesus is seen inside the Byzantine-era Hagia Sophia, in the historic Sultanahmet district of Istanbul, on October 15, 2010. On the bottom photo, the mosaic is covered with sail-like drapes, following the inaugural Friday prayers on July 24. Mosaics depicting Christian figures were covered, in line with Islamic traditions that bar the depiction of figures. AP/Emrah Gurel/Yasin Akgul

Every time the Hagia Sophia has transformed over the last 1,500 years, the change has been incomplete and contested in some way.

Even before these developments, proponents of the Church set up web sites with images of the minarets erased and a cross reinstalled on the crest of the dome.

These advocates hoped to restore the lost Byzantine Empire.

There are also those who desire to bring back a new Ottoman Empire.

Advocates for the mosque argue that the conversion to a museum was illegitimate as the change was never published in Turkey’s Official Gazette—a requirement to register any official act.

For some Muslims, the Hagia Sophia was always linked to Islam. Legend has it that when the dome collapsed in the late sixth century

it coincided with the birth of Islam’s prophet, Muhammad, and was only reparable with the addition of his saliva to the cement.

Changes over the years

The desire of some Turkish Muslims to pray in the Hagia Sophia was partially realized in the early 1990s when a prayer space was opened in a passageway through a minaret.

Over the years considerable resources were invested in improving and decorating this space, which also housed the office of the Hagia Sophia’s prayer leader, or an Imam, a position supported

by Sultan Mehmet’s original endowment.

Enormous crowds have gathered annually on May 31, the anniversary of the Ottoman conquest, to pray in the streets and plazas outside the Hagia Sophia.

Quran recitations and calligraphy exhibitions have been held in the building as well.

As recently as March 2019, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan had expressed opposition to the change, but the groundswell that came to fruition in 2020 has been long under way.

Potent symbol

There are many Turkish citizens, both nonMuslim and Muslim, who are opposed to these developments. These include Turkey’s Christians who form 0.5 percent of the population. However, they have little recourse.

Following the decision to reconver t the monument to a mosque, the UN’s cultural heritage organization, UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, said in a statement that it “deeply regrets” the move.

Christian leaders, too, have stated that they are “are very saddened” by the “regrettable and lamentable” change.

Governments, including Greece and the United States, have lodged their objections.

This disquiet over the change in its status is a reminder that as a potent symbol of authority, the Hagia Sophia has shifted identity with every change in power and will likely continue to do so. Anna Bigelow/The Conversation

Biodiversity Sunday BusinessMirror

Asean Champions of Biodiversity Media Category 2014

Sunday, August 2, 2020

Editor: Lyn Resurreccion

A7

SACHET ECONOMY

Killing oceans, threatening biodiversity

By Jonathan L. Mayuga

R

ice, sugar, coffee, vinegar, soy sauce, shampoo and tooth paste.

These are some of the basic commodities that people need and many Filipinos would often prefer to buy in small quantities, often one-time use, in neighborhood retail stores.

The good news is that they are now available in so-called budget packs.

The bad news is they come in small disposable plastic packets and end up as residual waste that accumulate in the environment, even as the Philippines has in place Republic Act 9003, or the Ecological Solid Waste Management Act of 2000, which could have addressed the country’s solid waste management problem.

Plastics, particularly sachets that comprise more than half of plastic waste, find their way in waterways and end up in the ocean, threatening coastal and marine biodiversity.

Sachet economy

The Philippines, ranked thirdlargest contributor to ocean plastic pollution—and is trapped in this so-called sachet economy— the 2015 report on plastic pollution by Ocean Conservancy and McKinsey Center for Business and Environment said.

The worsening problem caused by single-use plastics with particular focus on sachets, and how it adds to and worsens the growing plastics pollution problem, was highlighted during a virtual roundtable discussion and media briefing organized by the Global Alliance for Incinerator Alternatives (GAIA) and the Break Free from Plastic Philippines (BFPP) movement in Asia Pacific and Philippines on July 14.

The report that was commissioned by GAIA used data from the University of Santo Tomas’s Research Center for Social Sciences and Education for its research on Filipinos’ sachet consumption habits.

Growing concern

Single-use plastics, specifically sachets, are a growing concern in the Philippines because of the affordability and convenience they give to users—especially the poor.

Around 164 million sachets are used every day, and they take up around 52 percent of the residual plastic waste stream, Miko Aliño, program manager at GAIA Asia Pacific who discussed the contents of the report said.

Ironically, he said seven out of 10 Filipinos are willing to buy food condiments in reusable containers, citing a 2019 survey by the Social Weather Stations (SWS), while another survey reported that six out of 10 Filipinos support a nationwide ban on sachets.

Even local governments, he said, recognized the plastic problem, and some have even gone beyond the usual plastic bag bans by enacting local laws or ordinances.

Sadly, he noted the exclusion of sachets from these local laws.

“Sachets are perceived as inexpensive and convenient because of their small and durable packaging.

But in reality, they are expensive for cities to manage, difficult to effectively recycle and cannot be reused,” Aliño said.

Hijacking ‘tingi’ culture

Aliño said Filipinos were used to buy ing in sma l l quantities, wh ic h he c ha racter i zed as a sustainable practice.

“Before, people would buy vinegar and soy sauce, and brought with them empty bottles,” he said.

Aliño said corporations “highjacked” that practice and transformed the Filipinos’ way of consumption by introducing sachets, a marketing strategy that targetted the poor.

Mu l t i n a t i o n a l c o m p a n i e s advertised them as affordable for daily-wage earners, so they could buy products at prices they could afford, although in small quantities.

It is based on the premise that sachets help consumers ration their use of a product better than

DENR official: Despite I.U.C.N. listing, monkey population in PHL ‘steady’

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espite the reported global population decline of the Nicobar long-tailed macaque, the native monkey population in the Philippines remains “healthy” and “strong,” an official of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) said.

The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) recently listed the Nicobar long-tailed macaque and all its subspecies, the Philippine long-tailed macaque included, to “vulnerable” from its previous listing of “near threatened”owing to the drastic decline in numbers of over 30 percent throughout its range in the last 36 to 39 years.

The IUCN assessment noted that “the species is hunted for food and captured live for research and sport hunting.”

The Nicobar long-tailed macaque is a subspecies of the crab-eating macaque, endemic to the Nicobar Islands in the Bay of Bengal.

Environment Assistant Secretary Ricardo Calderon maintained that based on the country’s own listing, the Philippine long-tailed macaque is “nonthreatened” as the primate is thriving in many areas.

“This [IUCN’s latest listing] may be true in other countries, but in the Philippines, we still have a healthy population of long-tailed macaques,”said Calderon, the concurrent director of the Biodiversity Management Bureau (BMB).“It is not on our list of threatened species.”

He cited DENR Administrative Order 2019-09 dated July 12, 2019, or the updated National List of Threatened Philippine Fauna and their categories. The DENR through the BMB regularly updates the National List of Threatened Species.

The list includes all threatened species depending on their conservation status.

Critically endangered species refers to those facing extinction, while endangered species are those whose survival in the wild is unlikely if causal factors continue operating.

A vulnerable species, meanwhile, refers to those that are neither critically endangered nor endangered but are under threat from adverse

Philippine long-tailed macaque in Palawan. Wikimedia Commons factors throughout its range.

Threatened species refers to those not critically endangered, endangered nor vulnerable but under threat from adverse factors, such as over collection.

The Philippine long-tailed macaques are known inhabitants of the forests, and they exist on the three major island groups in the country, Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao.

Sightings of native monkeys in tourist spots, such as in Palawan, are well-known as they even become part of the tourism attraction.

Just recently, a troop of the native monkeys was caught by a camera trap, in the Masungi Georeserve in Baras, Rizal.

Around five monkeys suddenly appeared in the “Sapot,” one of the facilities in the low-impact tourism cum conservation area.

Small mammals, including Philippine longtailed macaques, love exploring the low-impact trail highlights of Masungi, many of which use biomimicry to reflect the natural character of the landscape.

Monkeys are also commonly spotted in beaches near and inside the Subic Bay Freeport Zone in Zambales . Jonathan L. Mayuga

the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) to set up refilling stations in Region 3 is a step in the right direction.

The program brings together the DENR’s private partners upon the request of concerned local government units, where consumers can buy products in tingi using refillable containers.

He sa id some stores a re now pr ac t ic i ng z ero w a ste u si ng ref i l l ables.

Threat to food source

PLASTIC sachets, which make up more than half of single-use plastic, are a growing concern as they continue to pile up in the environment. SONIA ASTUDILLO, GAIA ASIA PACIFIC

in big containers, supposedly reduce product wasting.

Evading corporate responsibility

Aliño said corporations have managed to evade the responsibility for sachet plastic waste, which leaves local governments and communities struggling to address the imminent sachet pollution crisis.

“Cor porations have greatly benefited from these products... but they are not made accountable for the pollution that comes along with its production and disposal,” he said.

Moreover, the report says that sachet purchase and use tend to be higher among lower socioeconomic brackets.

Study recommendations

Aliño said some of the recommendations of the study include reintroducing alternative delivery schemes, such as Zero Waste stores and refilling.

Lawmakers, he said, also need to enact a binding extended producer-responsibility legislation so that companies would take greater

responsibility for the impact of their products.

The legislation should also require corporations to fully disclose the amount of the plastic used in manufacturing, shipping, retailing and disposal.

He said there’s a need to develop guidelines on recycling and safe disposal of sachets that are already in the market, and for environment-friendly packaging in the Philippines.

Alternative to sachets

Rei Panaligan, national coordinator of BFPP, for his part, highlighted some of the initiatives in the Philippines to address the problem on single-use plastics and sachets. One alternative is to go back to reusables.

Reusables, he said, are safe even in time of pandemics. He cited a statement issued by 125 health experts from 19 countries, to assure retailers and consumers of their safet y as long as that reusable is safe by employing basic hygiene.

He noted that an initiative of

In a telephone interview, environmental lawyer Gloria Estenzo Ramos said ocean plastic pollution, particularly by sachets, are a menace and affects everything in the ocean, one of the world’s major food source.

“What we are seeing in the surface of the oceans are just 1 percent because 99 percent of the plastics are already in the ocean floor,” she said when sought for reaction by the BusinessMirror on July 29.

Plastics, she said, is contaminating, if not already contaminated, the fish and other seafood that people eat every day.

Stop producing plastics

Ramos, the vice president of conservation advocacy nongovernment organization Oceana Philippines, agreed with GAIA and BFFP that manufacturers should stop producing plastics that it cannot take back as part of its extended producer responsibility.

Better, she said the government should exercise and demonstrate political will in implementing policies that should have been implemented a long time ago.

T he Of f ice of the President, for one, should direct the DENR and the National Solid Waste Management Commission (NSWMC) to release the list of nonenvironmentally acceptable product and packaging (NEAPP) materials which includes singleuse plastics, she said.

“Section 29 of the Ecological Solid Waste Management Act of 2000 requires the NSWMC to

prepare the list within one year from the effectivity of the law.

It’s been more than 18 years, but have they come up with a list of NEAPP?” Ramos lamented.

Threat to biodiversity

Experts have long been fretting about plastic pollution, particularly microplastics, as they threaten entire ecosystems and the extinction of marine species.

Interviewed via Messenger on July 29, AA Yaptinchay of the Marine Wildlife Watch of the Philippines said the effects of ocean plastic pollution, including microplastics, depend on the species as some are more susceptible than others.

He said globally there were 693 marine species documented to have encountered plastic debris with around 400 species that were involved in entanglement and ingestion.

This included all marine turtle species and half of all marine mammal and bird species. Any reduction in marine debris particularly plastics will be beneficial for marine wildlife, he said.

Ingestion of microplastic by wildlife from zooplankton to large marine fauna can lead to toxins in the bloodstream and tissues which may cause diseases, including reproductive impairment. The micro-plastics absorbs pollutants in the water which are released when they are ingested, he added.

“A pile of trash, especia l ly plastic in the water column, occupies space which can displace w ild life, while those that sink to the bottom will smother the substrate which w il l k il l a l l organisms under it including cora ls or a whole reef,” he ex plained.

Yantinchay said, “Macroplastics just become microplastics and ghost nets will keep on killing as long as it is in the water. Once we set it loose in the natural world, there is no getting it back nor stopping it from affecting wildlife and their habitats.”

Sustainability goes beyond being environment-friendly

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he current coronavirus pandemic, besides drawing prime attention to maintaining people's health, manifest the importance of sustainability.

People are realizing that sustainability goes beyond environmentalism. Solutions should create better living conditions for residents—bigger living spaces, more pocket parks, an integrated community experience, proximity to medical institutions, and more.

Sustainable homes, for one, more than their positive impact on the environment, could come with extra security and safety measures for their residents.

They save costs by reducing energy consumption and offer additional health benefits in times of health crisis.

Here are some sustainable housing solutions that could benefit the residents in the new normal.

Bigger windows besides saving energy, also give energy

Big windows provide homes with an abundance of natural light and other benefits. They can can reduce dependence on artificial lighting, consequently shaving off electricity costs in the long run. Natural light is also a great source of Vitamin D, a critical nutrient that helps boost a good mood and stimulate the brain.

Water-efficient toilet fixtures save water, improve bathroom hygiene

Flushing toilets is the biggest water hog at home, using up to 7 gallons of water with every flush. Waterefficient toilet fixtures, such as those that have dual flush technology, reduce water waste, yet provide thorough cleaning in a single, low-volume flush.

Besides conserving water and saving costs, these fixtures reduce cleaning time for the user as it is hygienic by nature.

LED lights are long-lasting and provide improved safety

Light emitting diodes (LED) lights last on an average of 35,000 to 100,000 operating hours and are more durable and sustainable than the traditional incandescent and fluorescent lights. They also generally consume 90 percent less power making them energy and cost-efficient.

LED lighting is also innately hazard-free. LEDs emit almost no warmth, therefore they are cool to touch and can be left on for hours. It also operates effectively on low-voltage electrical systems, which means the chances of fire incidents from LED lighting is much lower.

Open lawns and landscape gardens clean the air, relieve stress

Garden landscapes at home are truly therapeutic.

When work-from-home arrangement takes its toll, the green façade and calming hues will lessen agitation and speed up emotional upturn.

Plants produce more oxygen and boost mood, while gardens with full-grown trees and shrubs create pockets of sanctuary from harsh sunlight.

Because normal travel may still be unlikely in the near future, the green and open spaces in condos or residential properties are probably the closest physical simulation of a destination spot.

Some building materials cool down surfaces and body temp, and provide communal heat relief

A home with a “cool roof” may not be important to residents at first, but the benefits of this feature are highly evident during mid-day heatwaves.

Cool roof is a roofing system designed to reflect more sunlight and absorb less heat than the typical

dark roof. Structures with cool roof reduce the amount of heat that enters the home.

The use of these materials not only allow for better energy efficiency but also improve thermal comfort for residents. On a much larger scale, this housing solution further reduces the heat-island effect on the community, adjusting the overall heat index altogether.

In the hopes that the pandemic is already waning, real-estate developers are considering more innovative solutions that could future-proof their projects from potential crises.

On its part, premier developer Federal Land Inc. is exploring more and better housing solutions that could provide all-around benefits to its future residents.

Post-pandemic solutions are now under way, such as contactless operations for elevators, parking, and payment transactions and UV filters for centralized airconditioning system. The developer is also incorporating design elements such as convertible spaces—foyer as a disinfection area, and den as a workspace.

Amid the pandemic situation, sustainability is no longer just part of a greener initiative but an encompassing and necessary response to any future challenges.

T’bolis hold tribal rituals for good harvest

T’

boli tribal chieftain Kanan Sakong administered the L’Muog, an ancient indigenous ritual, as they converge in seashore or river bank to celebrate the traditional thanksgiving for a bountiful harvest of fish.

T’bolis also held the damsu offering for abundant harvest, blessings, guidance and protection for the rest of the year.

The interior village of New La Union in Maitum, Sarangani, hosted a National Commission for Culture and the Arts-supervised School of Living of Traditions which produces the exquisite t’nalak abaca handweaving.

The place is known for the Pangi River Whitewater Tubing which combines adventure and culture experience for guests.

Sports BusinessMirror

A8 | S

unday, August 2, 2020 mirror_sports@yahoo.com.ph Editor: Jun Lomibao

Extra mountain stage added to revised Giro

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ILAN—The rescheduled Giro d’Italia in October will have an extra mountain-top finish in Stage 9 at Roccaraso.

Organizers filled in the remaining holes of the route on Thursday, having already revealed details last week of the opening four stages in Sicily.

The Giro was originally scheduled to start with three stages in Hungary and run from May 9 to 31 but it was postponed because of the coronavirus pandemic.

The race opens on October 3 with a downhill time trial in Palermo that should favor Sicilian rider Vincenzo Nibali. After the Sicilian stages, the race crosses to the mainland with legs in Calabria, Basilicata and Puglia before heading to more familiar ground in northern Italy.

The ascent to the ski resort of Roccaraso in the central region of Abruzzo will conclude a grueling stage with more than 4,000 meters (13,000 feet) of climbing.

Also added to the course was a Stage 8 finish in the southern town of Matera, which is famous for its ancient cave dwellings.

The second and third weeks of the race are unchanged. After an alpine ascent to Sestriere in the penultimate stage, the race ends on October 25 with an individual time trial in Milan.

Three riders competing at the Vuelta a Burgos cycling race in Spain, meanwhile, have been dropped from the event after being in contact with someone infected with the coronavirus, their team said Wednesday.

UAE Team Emirates said Colombian riders Sebastian Molano, Cristian Munoz and Camilo Ardila did not start the second stage after it became known that a person they were in contact with on Saturday tested positive for Covid-19.

All three riders were “isolated, sent home and will undergo another test” for Covid-19 in accordance with protocols by the team and International Cycling Union, the team said.

The three riders returned two negative tests three days before the race, the team said.

The Vuelta a Burgos is being run in northern Spain. It began on Tuesday and finishes on Saturday. AP

Mercedes to finish in all-black cars

S

TUTTGART, Germany—The Mercedes cars in Formula E will go all-black for the remainder of the season as a statement against racism, the auto maker said Wednesday.

Mercedes earlier changed its Formula One livery from silver to black for the 2020 season.

“We stand against racism,” the team said on Twitter. “Our team will contest the season’s final six races with an all-black base livery, taking a firm stand against racism and all forms of discrimination while advocating greater diversity.”

Six-time F1 champion Lewis Hamilton, who is the only Black world champion in F1, has been outspoken about fighting racism and has urged

Formula One’s governing body and other drivers to make more of an effort in the fight.

Mercedes will feature the phrase “End Racism” on the Formula E cars of drivers Stoffel Vandoorne and Nyck de Vries.

Formula E, which uses only electronic cars, concludes its 2019-2020 season with six races in Berlin from August 5 to 13. The season was postponed after five races because of the coronavirus pandemic.

Formula E recently announced a “Positive Futures” campaign to provide more opportunities in the sport for under-represented groups and to nurture “a culture of inclusivity that embraces diversity in all its forms.” AP

OLD HABITS HARD TO SHAKE

THE Washington Nationals’ Trea Turner jumps into the arms of a teammate after his solo home run during the third inning of their game against the New York Yankees at Nationals Park recently. AP

By Kyle Hightower

F

The Associated Press

ROM players ignoring prohibitions on handshakes, high-fives and hugs, to some sitting noticeably closer than 6 feet apart in dugouts during games, the recently launched baseball season has provided ample evidence old habits are hard to shake, even when the changes are meant to mitigate the risk of spreading the coronavirus.

The outbreak among Miami Marlins players has highlighted the major leagues’ vulnerabilities, though teams were already reexamining approaches after the first few days of play.

“We have to do a better job,” Seattle Mariners Manager Scott Servais said. “I think we’re saying all the right stuff but when you watch the games we have to do the right thing.”

Major League Baseball (MLB) on Tuesday suspended the Marlins’ season through Sunday following the positive tests on the team and the Philadelphia Phillies, who hosted Miami last weekend, will remain idled until Friday. It’s not clear how the virus spread among Marlins players, though the cascading postponements have focused attention on safety protocols.

Teams were aggressive in the ramp up to the season while preparing to return to the field during the pandemic. Having players dress outside of cramped clubhouses, utilizing empty stands as auxiliary dugout space, giving players the option to wear masks during games and restricting sports reporters’ access to team personnel are the new normal around the league.

But they haven’t been able to totally curb players’ natural tendencies to engage in physical contact during the ebb and flow of actual games.

In Oakland, a series between the Athletics and visiting Angels featured several instances of suspect social distancing. One of the most glaring was on Friday when A’s players swarmed Matt Olson after a game-ending grand slam in the 10th

inning that punctuated their 7-3 win.

“Instinctually you want to celebrate a big win like that, so I think you try to progress,” A’s Manager Bob Melvin said. “I’m on record saying it’s not going to be perfect at the beginning and maybe something like this that’s going on with the Marlins creates more awareness and more caution as far as that goes. If that’s the case, then it’s probably a good thing.”

On Saturday, Boston’s Jackie Bradley exchanged elbow bumps with a few teammates as he entered the dugout after a diving catch, only to get an exuberant natural high-five from teammate J.D. Martinez.

In another instance Sunday, Washington Nationals shortstop Trea Turner jumped into catcher Kurt Suzuki’s waiting arms in the dugout for a bear hug after Turner’s home run.

Pittsburgh Pirates pitcher Joe Musgrove said social distancing does have negative effects on team interaction that are hard to overcome.

“Feels kind of weird sitting in the stands like a fan and cheering on your team and not being able to be in the dugout and just communicating,” he said. “I think that’s the biggest piece that is missing. Being able to be with your team during the actual game and down in the dugout celebrating together, keeping energy high. That’s the biggest letdown, I guess.”

One of the immediate changes Los Angeles Angels Manager Joe Maddon said his team plans to implement is having a large room on their next road trip where players can gather

PGA Tour modifies guidelines for positive coronavirus tests

T

HE Professional Golfers Association (PGA) Tour entered its eighth week of its return to golf with another modification to its guidelines for positive coronavirus tests and a gradual broadening of who gets to attend tournaments.

The updates on the test protocols means the end of grouping players who have recovered from the coronavirus—or having them play alone—and excluding them from PCR testing, which detects whether a person is actively infected, for three months from when they first experienced symptoms.

The tour originally said three weeks ago, based on guidelines from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, that players or caddies who tested positive with symptoms could return after 10 days of isolation and at least 72 hours without a fever. CDC research indicated no instances have been determined where a virus was able to self-replicate 10 days after a positive test, although PCR tests could pick up what amounts to dead tissue and still return a positive result. People who get positive tests under those circumstances are not believed to be contagious.

As an extra layer of caution, the tour placed such players in the same group or sent them off as a single.

In a memo sent Tuesday to players, the tour said based on new CDC guidance, those who test symptomatic positive only have to be fever-free for 24 hours to return after they conclude the 10 days of isolation. It said the new guidance also recommends no more PCR testing for those players for three months.

Based on the new guidelines, the tour is doing away with what became known as the “Covid-19 groups.” For those who test positive and meet criteria to return, the tour is lifting restrictions that kept them from

the clubhouse and other facilities at the course, such as the fitness trailer.

The memo said any player or caddie in this situation will meet with its medical team to make sure they fit the CDC requirements.

Meanwhile, the tour said while there will be no pro-ams or paid spectators the rest of the season that ends September 7 at the Tour Championship. However, it is introducing “several small programs” that include more people at events

that the tour believes “do not diminish the health and safety plans” in place.

That means players can bring a wife or significant other, but not additional family members. There will be no child-care facilities at events.

Tournaments and title sponsors will be allowed to have no more than 50 guests per day. They will be limited to specific areas, like hospitality tents or a room in the clubhouse. They will not be allowed to walk the course and

but remain spaced out while playing video games or hanging out after night games. There will also be another room for coaches.

“I think it’s really important to trace how it [Marlins outbreak] occurred, that’s the one thing we need to know first before you jump to a lot of different conclusions,” Maddon said. “To me, if there was a breach of protocol by any of those players then it’s more easily explainable and if not then it becomes more problematic.”

Melvin said the A’s are still working on how, or if, to tweak the protocols they already have in place. Masks aren’t mandatory for players, but they are for the coaching staff.

Servais said the violations of protocol he’s seen have been on the field more than off of it.

“I don’t really see it in our clubhouse and the batting cage pregame. It’s been really good,” he said. “But when the game starts, and the competitive nature of everybody kind of takes over and your emotions get running high.”

If nothing else, Red Sox Manager Ron Roenicke hopes the recent developments around the league will help increase players’ awareness.

“I’m hopeful that it scares them a little bit into [thinking],” he said. “We’ve been good at this but we could be better.”

But the truth is, it may never be perfect.

“It’s a little different environment than other work environments that people are trying to stay healthy in, just the nature of the sport,” said Cincinnati Reds Manager David Bell.

“That’s not an excuse, it’s the reality.”

must go through screening.

The tour also will allow 16 two-person groups to be “honorary observers” that walk outside the ropes.

The programs will be applied on a tournament-by-tournament basis in accordance with health guidelines for the area.

It starts with the FedEx St. Jude Invitational this week. It does not include the PGA Championship next week. The Northern Trust at the TPC Boston from August 20 to 23 has not decided whether the spouses or honorary observer program will be allowed. AP

JUSTIN THOMAS hits toward the ninth green during the second round of the Memorial in Dublin, Ohio. AP

Everywhere and nowhere The many layers of ‘cancel culture’

2

BusinessMirror AUGUST 2, 2020 | soundstrip.businessmirror@gmail.com

SCHOOL OF POP

YOUR MUSI

Star Hunt Academy trains next P-Pop stars

Y

OU may have heard of the idea that Filipino talents are world-class and can get to the level of success their Korean counterparts are enjoying. Well, talent is never a question in this country. It’s all about keeping up with the kind of training that leads to that road to success. In other words, absorbing the world-renowned discipline of a first-rate entertainment showcase.

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

Columnists

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

Star Hunt Academy (SHA), the training ground for select artists poised to reach the level of expertise that made K-Pop into a phenomenon, is no doubt up for the challenge. SHA trainees are currently undergoing multidimensional training amidst the pandemic to ensure that the main goal is met.

“The aim is to develop them holistically and nurture them physically, emotionally and mentally,” informed head of Star Hunt Academy MQ Mallari.

Aside from voice and dance classes, the trainees also took classes on fitness and nutrition, personality development, and performance arts.

They also attended life coaching and counselling sessions, as well as social media workshops.

SHA is currently composed of

Losorata 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.

Tel. Nos. (Editorial) 817-9467; 813-0725.

Fax line: 813-7025 Advertising Sales: 893-2019;

817-1351,817-2807.

Circulation: 893-1662; 814-0134 to 36. www.businessmirror.com.ph

Star Hunt Academy Trainees Boys

Star Hunt Academy Trainees Girls

eight girls and five boys, most of them coming from various parts of the Philippines, namely, Quezon City, Batangas, Laguna, Bulacan, Cavite, Cebu, Bohol, Nueva Vizcaya, Isabela, and Bicol. Their 16-19 age range means they breathe youth and education. They are all currently enrolled in an online school so they can continue with their education without disrupting their training.

The group is predominantly pure Filipinos, save for one who has dual citizenship (Filipino-American) and another - half Japanese.

Mallari added, “SHA training is a reflection of how young, deserving talents can turn a difficult time into a productive one, all in the name of putting the Filipino talent into the pop world map.”

Last June, SHA created its Tiktok account, with the first videos

garnering staggering views and positive feedback overnight. Almost without sweat, its “Marikit” upload collected 1.9M views while the “Bambambam” video earned 516k views.

SHA training is a daily clockwork (Monday-Friday) lasting eight hours or even more, with the weekends spent for resting and recharging. All the trainees naturally do and edit their content as vloggers.

Apart from SHA, at least two other local idol groups are set to make bigger waves in this new normal. MNL 48, MNL being a contraction of the word Manila, is part of an international ring of girl group performers called AKB48. This Filipino version, the first pool that debuted with exactly 48 members, is the fifth sister group formed after counterparts in Indonesia, China, Thailand, and Taiwan.

Another ensemble is 1st.One, a Filipino boy band which won 1st Place of the Dance Category at the 28th Philippine-Korea Cultural Exchange Festival in September 2018. November last year, the act (composed of Ace, Max, Alpha J, Joker, Jason and Gift) was adjudged Grand Winner at the Seoul Music Awards. With a single called “One Dream,” they officially debuted last July 31.

The old world has paved the way for a new. Through initiative and innovation, young Filipino talents are being equipped and growing in solidarity. Certainly, the future is promising for Philippine Pop or simply P-Pop.

IC

soundstrip.businessmirror@gmail.com | AUGUST 2, 2020

BUSINESS

3

SoundSampler

by Tony M. Maghirang

A CLASH OF SOUNDS Pinoy indie musicians tossed their collective cap into the SONA protest ring

Yes, it’s the state of the nation That’s holding our salvation

- State of the Nation, New Order

T

HE joint opening of the 18the Congress Monday last week began in silence.

The initial video feed showed the people’s representatives and their staff moving about the Batasang Pambansa session hall, apparently noiselessly going about preparatory activities to the biggest political event of the past four months.

It was not until Speaker Allan Peter Cayetano spoke about the country’s capacity to overcome challenges that sound reverberated across the sparsely attended occasion.

President Duterte’s 5th State of the Nation address increased the volume further with his tirade on perceived enemies of the state and firm resolve to fight the Covid-19 pandemic.

The austere atmosphere was a far cry from the drama and musical extravaganza that accompanied previous SONAs. It could be a reflection that the highest leadership has to hang tough and act seriously faced with an intractable national emergency.

As always, the louder noises and more strident voices seethed outside the august halls of Congress, more precisely on digital platforms. Sounds of all stripes from mainstream artists to indie musicians jostled for a chance to be heard.

Tinig ng Bayan: #SONAgKAISA Concert was aired over Radyo Katipunan 87.9 starting 3:00 pm on SONA day. It featured performances

by True Faith, Moonstar88, Noel & Gab Cabangon, Bullet Dumas, Ebe Dancel, Itchyworms, Martin Nievera, and Frankie Pangilinan, among others. Angel Locsin and Iza Calzado led a stirring rendition of

Pordalab

Courtesy of Green Papaya Art Project

“Do You Hear the People Sing?” from the musical Les Miserables.

The overarching message of the online concert was for concerned people to join hands “to overcome the gathering darkness.” The special broadcast will benefit families of victims of the drug war.

Listen to the #SONAgkaisa Concert: https://www.youtube.com/ watch?v=0li4GjWhm8o&t=1410s Alt-folk rock six-piece Pordalab released a four-song EP titled Pagtahak that shines a bright light on contemporary issues of human rights, censorship, and fighting for civil liberties.

“Our songs have always been critical of the current situation,” Pordalab’s vocalist Karl Ramirez, also the band’s songwriter and music producer, elaborated. “With the controversial Anti-Terrorism Act of 2020 currently on the spotlight, our album is our daring and creative opposition to it.”

The song “Baguhin Ang Mundo” is a reality check on their conviction, with lines that go, “Marami pang gagawin, marami pang hadlang na

wawasakin/Baguhin ang mundo.”

Besides Ramirez and Villareal, the other band members are Jomar Mangulabnan, Pedro Magat, Kyle De Leon, and Burn Belacho.

Listen to Pordalab: h t t p s : // w w w . y o u t u b e . c o m / watch?v=FcDeqCpnmLI SONIC SONA! Sound Artists for #SONAgKAISA is a barrage of weirdly arty music from various experimental Pinoy musicians. To the uninitiated like ourselves, it’s a fourhour long musical opus threading through radio static, scraping metal, distorted conversations and official pronouncements, shrieks and howls and other sound forms that hardly qualify as traditional music.

From the long liner notes that come with this collection of sonic bombardment, Sonic Sona! is a means to make known the artist collective’s “stand against injustice and a statement of resistance against the implementation of oppressive state policies.”

Jing Garcia, IT journalist and member of the participating group Children of Cathode Ray explained the relevance of this kind of music, thus, “The wide variety of sound artists who contributed at Sonic Sona! was incredible. I myself was overwhelmed by the extremities delivered; encompassing the entire sound spectrum and visual creativity. It is such a great time to be involved in a collective such as this.”

“This is the sound of the new underground,” he added.

We proposed it’s post-punk with pre-punk inspirations. Jing agreed, only to point out that Sonic Sona! exemplified “post-music.” It just got even weirder.

Listen to the four-hour adventure: https://www.facebook.com/watch/li ve/?v=2638094546454521&ref=wat ch_permalink Pinoy indie musicians tossed their collective cap into the SONA protest ring with Rage, an online collaboration to produce a new video music around a remake of the song with the same title by legendary Pinoy rock outfit, The Jerks.

The new video will feature 35 local musicians including Raimund Marasigan, Buddy Zabala, Bobby Balingit, and Cooky Chua, among others. In the press release, head Jerk Chickoy Pura asserted, “Ito ang panahon ng pagkakaisa. Tayo ay haharap sa pinakamatinding hamon na susukat sa ating paninindigan at katatagan. ‘Wag manahimik.

Lumaban.”

The fight against apathy would been unveiled during President Duterte’s 5th State of the Nation Address but technical problems pushed the formal launch over the following weekend. We had a quick peek of the preliminary video minutes before it was taken offline and to us, even at its “draft” stage, it already drove home the song’s lyrical fire that goes: But I’ll go not gently into the night Rage against the dying of the light Sing a song about this terrible sight Rage until the lightning strikes Catch the full music video on​ www.facebook.com/artistsrageph.

Chickoy Pura

Everywhere and nowhere: The many layers of ‘cancel culture’

By Hillel Italie The Associated Press

N

EW YORK— So you’ve probably read a lot about “cancel culture.” Or know about a new poll that shows a plurality of Americans disapproving of it.

Or you may have heard about a letter in Harper’s Magazine condemning censorship and intolerance. But can you say exactly what cancel culture is?

“It seems like a buzzword that creates more confusion than clarity,” says the author and journalist George Packer, who went on to call it “a mechanism where a chorus of voices, amplified on social media, tries to silence a point of view that they find offensive by trying to damage or destroy the reputation of the person who has given offense.”

To Letty Cottin Pogrebin, the author, activist and founding editor of Ms. magazine, “cancel culture tacitly attempts to disable the ability of a person with whom you disagree to ever again be taken seriously, or in the extreme, to be hired or employed in their field of work.”

In tweets, online letters, opinion pieces and books, conservatives, centrists and liberals continue to denounce what they call growing intolerance for opposing viewpoints and the needless ruining of lives and careers. A Politico/Morning Consult poll released last week shows 44 percent of Americans disapprove of it, 32 percent ap-

NFL football quarterback Colin Kaepernick AP prove and the remaining 24 percent had no opinion or didn’t know what it was.

For some, cancel culture is the coming of the thought police. For others, it contains important chances to be heard that didn’t exist before. Recent examples of unpopular “cancellations” include the owner of a chain of food stores in Minneapolis whose business faced eviction and calls for boycotts because of racist social-media posts by his then-teenage daughter, and a data analyst fired by the progressive firm Civis Analytics after he tweeted a study finding that nonviolent protests increase support for Democratic candidates and violent protests decrease it. Civis Analytics has denied he was fired for the tweet.

“These incidents damage the lives of innocent people without achieving any noble purpose,” Yascha Mounk wrote in The Atlantic last month. Mounk himself has been criticized for alleging that “an astonishing number of academics and journalists proudly proclaim that it is time to abandon values like due process and free speech.”

Debates can be circular and confusing, with those objecting to intolerance sometimes openly uncomfortable with those who don’t share their views. A few weeks ago, more than 100 artists and thinkers endorsed a letter co-written by Packer and published by Harper’s. It warned against a “new set of moral attitudes and political commitments that tend to weaken our

norms of open debate and toleration of differences in favor of ideological conformity.”

The letter drew signatories from many backgrounds and political points of view, ranging from the far-left Noam Chomsky to the conservative David Frum, and was a starting point for contradiction.

One of the organizers of the letter, writer Thomas Chatterton Williams, later announced on Twitter that he had thrown a guest out of his home over criticisms of letter-supporter Bari Weiss, the New York Times columnist who recently quit over what she called a Twitter-driven culture of political correctness. Another endorser, Harry Potter author JK Rowling, threatened legal action against a British news site that suggested she was transphobic after referring to controversial tweets that she has written in recent months.

“The only speech these powerful people seem to care about is their own,” the author and feminist Jessica Valenti wrote in response to the Harper’s letter. “[Cancel culture] is certainly not about free speech…

‘Canceled’ is a label we all understand to mean a powerful person who’s been held to account.”

Cancel culture is hard to define, in part because there is nothing confined about it—no single cause, no single ideology, no single fate for those allegedly canceled.

Harvey Weinstein and Bill Cosby, convicted sex offenders, are in prison. Former television personality Charlie Rose has been unemployable since allegations of sexual abuse and harassment were published in 2017-18. Oscar winner Kevin Spacey has made no films since he faced allegations of harassment and assault and saw his performance in All the Money in the World replaced

by Christopher Plummer’s.

Others are only partially “canceled.”

Woody Allen, accused by daughter Dylan Farrow of molesting her when she was 7, was dropped by Amazon, his US film distributor, but continues to release movies overseas. His memoir was canceled by Hachette Book Group, but soon acquired

by Skyhorse Publishing, which also has a

Is ‘cancel culture’ silencing open debate?

I

n early July, 150 high-profile authors, commentators and scholars signed an open letter in Harper’s Magazine claiming that “open debate and toleration of differences” are under attack. Signatories included JK Rowling, Margaret Atwood, Gloria Steinem and Noam Chomsky.

While prefacing their comments with support for current racial and social justice movements, the signatories argue there has been a weakening of the norms of open debate in favor of dogma, coercion and ideological conformity. They perceive “an intolerance of opposing views, a vogue for public shaming and ostracism, and the tendency to dissolve complex policy issues in a blinding moral certainty.”

Perhaps unsurprisingly, the Harper’s letter has received spirited critique. Some commentators noted past cases where the signatories had themselves been censorious. Others argued that any perceived threat was overblown.

Rather than objecting to outrage per se, the Harper’s letter asserts there is a broadening in the scope of views that attract punitive responses. This

seems plausible. In recent scholarly work on the tensions between censorship and academic freedom on university campuses, both sides of the dispute acknowledge that in the current environment virtually all utterances offend someone.

But several concerns arise when we attach punitive consequences to people’s speech based on its perceived moral wrongfulness (as opposed to simply arguing it is mistaken or false). Claims of moral wrongfulness in a debate assume immediate urgency and distract from the debate itself. For example, let’s say in a debate about immigration, one person says something that offends another. Discussion of the original issue (immigration) will be bracketed until the issue of moral wrongdoing (the perceived slight or offence) is resolved. In a less politicized environment, a contentious claim might be treated as a contribution to a debate to be considered on its merits. But in our current climate, the same claim creates only angry allegations flying in both directions. As a result, the claim isn’t considered or debated. Hugh Breakey | The Conversation

4 BusinessMirror

August 2, 2020

deal with the previously “canceled” Garrison Keillor. Sirius XM announced last week that the late Michael Jackson, who seemed to face posthumous cancellation after the 2019 documentary Leaving Neverland presented extensive allegations that he sexually abused boys, would have a channel dedicated to his music.

Cancellation in one subculture can lead to elevation in others. Former San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick has not played an NFL game since 2016 and has been condemned by President Donald Trump and many others on the right after he began kneeling during the National Anthem to protest “a country that oppresses black people and people of color.” But he has appeared in Nike advertisements, been honored by the ACLU and Amnesty International and reached an agreement with the Walt Disney Co. for a series about his life.

“You can say the NFL canceled Colin Kaepernick as a quarterback and that he was resurrected as a cultural hero,” says Julius Bailey, an associate professor of philosophy at Wittenberg University who writes about Kaepernick in his book Racism, Hypocrisy and Bad Faith.

Sometimes even multiple allegations of sexual assault, countless racist remarks and the disparagement of wounded military veterans aren’t enough to induce cancellation. Trump, a Republican, has labeled cancel culture “far-left fascism” and “the very definition of totalitarianism” while so far proving immune to it.

“Politicians can ride this out because they were hired by the public. And if the public is willing to go along, then they can sometimes survive things perhaps they shouldn’t survive,” Packer says.

“I think you can say that Trump’s rhetoric has had a boomerang effect on the rest of our society,” says PEN America CEO Suzanne Nossel, who addresses free expression in her book Dare to Speak, which comes out next week. “People on the left feel that he can get away with anything, so they do all they can to contain it elsewhere.”

It’s OK to disagree: 5 ways we can argue better n Avoid thinking that when someone starts up an argument, they are mounting an attack. To adapt a saying by Oscar Wilde, there is only one thing in the world worse than being argued with, and that is not being argued with. Reasoned argument acknowledges a person’s rationality, and that their opinion matters. n There is always more going on in any argument than who wins and who loses.

In particular, the relationship between the two arguers can be at stake. Often, the real prize is demonstrating respect, even as we disagree. n Don’t be too quick to judge your opponent’s standards of argument. There’s a good chance you’ll succumb to “defensive reasoning,” where you’ll use all your intelli-

gence to find fault with their views, instead of genuinely reflecting on what they are saying. Instead, try and work with them to clarify their reasoning. n Never assume that others aren’t open to intelligent argument. History is littered with examples of people genuinely changing their minds, even in the highest-stakes environments imaginable. n It’s possible for both sides to “lose” an argument. The recently announced inquiry into question time in parliament provides a telling example. Even as the government and opposition strive to “win” during this daily show of political theater, the net effect of their appalling standards is that everyone’s reputation suffers. The Conversation