BusinessMirror December 26, 2020

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Saturday, December 26, 2020 Vol. 16 No. 79

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A TALE AS OLD AS TIME Proliferation of ‘fake news’ may have even preceded the birth of Christ

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By Recto L. Mercene

ISINFORMATION and deception have been practiced, perhaps even before Christ was born. And today, the same nefarious activity has reappeared, this time, sporting a new tag called “infodemic,” or “fake news.”

But regardless of the name, this “art of deception” today has spread exponentially, thanks to social media, said award-winning veteran journalist Manny Mogato.

“Misinformation, or infodemic, has the same ill effects of creating chaos, confusion and even hysteria,” Mogato said during a recent webinar, “Countering Infodemic in this Pandemic,” sponsored by the European Union Delegation to the Philippines, League of Provinces of the Philippines, Friedrich Naumann Foundation for Freedom Philippines, National Union of Journalists of the Philippines, Blogwatch, College Editors Guild of the Philippines, Philippine Press Institute, Photojournalists’ Center of the Philippines, and Center for People’s Media. The media partners are DZUP 1602 and the BusinessMirror.

Three speakers were asked for their opinion on how to counter misinformation, and Mogato lamented that fake news is now practiced by some of the highest officials of the land.

“But journalists are guilty of spreading fake news through anonymous websites, which then get shared in secret platforms like WeChat, Messenger” (or maybe the so-called dark web). He added that social-media users share these tidbits “and the media pick them up as gospel news.”

Mogato’s advice to combat disinformation, fake news and infodemic “is to always be skeptical of what we pick up in the social media.”

MOGATO: “Sadly, journalists no longer control access to information as ordinary people now rely more on social media and other platforms for information, which are not all true, accurate and reliable.”

ANDREW LIH CC-BY-SA-4.0

What to do

HE said that to access the truth, we must adopt what the printed media had been doing for decades before social media took the upper hand, which is “to check the facts.”

There are also fact-checking tools available, he said, and one of them is called “Snopes.”

“Snopes, formerly known as the Urban Legends Reference Pages, is a fact-checking website.

It has been described as a ‘wellregarded reference for sorting out myths and rumors’ on the Internet. It has also been seen as a source for validating and debunking urban legends and similar stories in American popular culture,”

PESO EXCHANGE RATES n US 48.0910

according to Wikipedia.

A list of fact-checkers are: Snopes.com; 2. FindExif.com; 3. InVID; 4. Reverse Image Search (TinEye); 5. Hoaxy; 6. Wolfram|Alpha; 7. twXplorer; and 8. Factcheck.org.

The next time you read an article online, you can quickly double check to see if the claims you’re reading about are factual and legitimate.

With a bit of elbow grease and by fiddling around with one or two of the above tools, you can find the right tool-chain that works for you. We don’t have to be journalists or reporters, but it falls on us to perform our own due diligence that goes beyond Google to dig deeper.

Mogato, who also teaches journalism, added, “The world, including the Philippines, needs an accurate, reliable, fair and impartial information, not only during the pandemic but in all aspects of life; politics, economy, the environment, culture and in our social interaction.

“Sadly, journalists no longer control access to information as ordinary people now rely more on social media and other platforms for information, which are not all true, accurate and reliable.”

In 1970 during the Watergate scandal, he said the Americans’ trust in media was a high of 70 percent. “In Europe, news media are better trusted, except in France and the UK, which have a trust rating of 23 and 28 percent respectively,” based on a Reuters Institute survey this year.

Finland and Portugal have the highest trust rating among EU member states.

In the same Reuters digital survey, Southeast Asian countries have much lower trust ratings among the 40 countries surveyed.

Blame the politicians

MOGATO said the proliferation of fake news is worse in the Philippines, and the spread has been blamed on politicians.

“This is because the Philippines now gets information from the Internet and social media rather than the traditional television and newspapers.” He noted that Filipinos often

use their tablets and mobile phones to access news.

Mogato cited a study from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology saying, “fake news travel faster and wider than accurate, reliable information in the traditional media.”

Approaches

THE other speaker, Christian Esguerra, academician and ANC anchor, gave five approaches to counter misinformation:

1. law and punishment

2. correctional action and advisory

3. social responsibility

4. cross-country referencing

5. science and rationality.

The above are self-explanatory, and Esguerra said that “world leaders cannot afford to crack jokes, or make light of serious situations.”

He cited the case of President Duterte who was once quoted as saying, “kerosene and gasoline can be used as disinfectant.” He recalled that the President also said “people could make or re-use face mask.”

This, Esguerra warned, “could actually have grave repercussions on those who trust the President too much.”

Roque’s correction

ON the other hand, the Palace Spokesman, Harry Roque, corrected the President’s statement, telling the Filipino people that those who know or have been aware of the President know pretty well that he is joking.

Esguerra also cited two other officials who allegedly made false claims: Presidential Legal Counsel Secretary Salvador Panelo remarked once that bananas contain chemicals that could destroy the virus; while Health Secretary Francisco Duque III said Listerine, a mouthwash, will also suffice to kill the pathogen.

Esguerra did not spare the Church as a source of fake news, citing retired Archbishop Ramon Arguelles of Lipa City, “who said, while celebrating Mass on September 23: ‘If we love ourselves without being

selfish, if we have this kind of love, you don’t have to worry about anything, even if you don’t wear mask.

You don’t need to be scared.’”

Esguerra said, “The combination of the metaphysical and the physical coming from an archbishop, especially in trying to inspire the faithful, was quite blunt.

This is a very serious problem we are facing; even the Pope was seen wearing a mask.”

Esguerra offered concrete steps to counter misinformation.

1. Fact checking should be beefed up since one can’t rely on social media. The media need to step up and beef up fact checking to contain misinformation.

2. Media practitioners should reassess the effect of the pandemic and come up with a template on how to report the pandemic since health issues become more pronounced during a pandemic.

He warned people against being pawns of those with selfish interests. He said many doctors tell us what to do, “but the deeper issues on pandemic must be consulted with the experts.”

3. Coverage of health issues must be strengthened, especially those covering the health beats.

“We should reassess the communication tools while reporting the pandemic as this would not be the last of it.”

Moderator Joyce Panares agreed that the media must beef up coverage and likewise hold regular face-to-face meetings with experts. “Zoom is not conducive for media because we are not able to ask tough questions.”

Michael Resende, cofounder of Reporting International, cited the enormous capacity of social media to: 1. reach enormous amount of people,

2. speed,

3. far more information available.

In the course of the Covid-19 pandemic, he said, several cases of misinformation were created, such as, that the United States created the virus, or it came up due to the Chernobyl disaster.

“The virus is not dangerous, and coronavirus is a tool to introduce tyranny, because science has collapsed,” was among the other pieces of misinformation he cited.

Resende listed the threats of an infodemic as:

1. health risk

2. hate speech

3. consumer fraud, 4. cybercrime (phishing attacks);

5. foreign influence operations

6. conspiracy theories.

One important lesson the media learned, according to Resende, is that, “We should be prepared, we should not be surprised.”

He said disinformation and fake news are threats to democracy and undermine trust in all institutions.

He advocates a methodological approach, which means to treat infodemic “with a healthy dose of skepticism.”

His advice to counter infodemic: “Check the source, who is speaking and make sure you’re not deceived.”

He cited among the sources of legitimate news BBC online, which has a 50-percent approval. The 65 percent, however, get their news from the so-called side-door access.

This is described thus: “Most people get their news through sidedoors. Side-ways access of news via search engines, social media, or other forms of distributed discovery can obscure the producers of news content and create openings for various purveyors of disinformation.”

Resende said the EU has a Democracy Action Plan, which includes: proposed legislation on paid political advertising 2011, provision of algorithm transparency, reporting duties of social media companies and digital literacy.

What’s needed? Resende proposed an “All-of-society approach which means:

Empowered government agencies, civil society, media, academia in networks, social-media companies connected to the ecosystem, and a good educational system.

n JAPAN 0.4641 n UK 64.2688 n HK 6.2032 n CHINA 7.3501 n SINGAPORE 35.9990 n AUSTRALIA 36.1692 n EU 58.5027 n SAUDI ARABIA 12.8185

Source: BSP (December 23, 2020)

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A season of fear, not cheer, as virus changes Christmas

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By Vanessa Gera The Associated Press

ONTSERRAT PARELLO lost her husband eight years ago, and Christmas gatherings with children and grandchildren had helped her deal with her loneliness. But this year, the 83-year-old will be alone for the holiday at her home in Barcelona, due to the risk of infection from the coronavirus.

“In these days of pandemic, I feel loneliness and anger,” Parello said, expressing fears that “I will leave this life devoid of affection, of warmth.”

All most people wanted for Christmas after this year of pandemic uncertainty and chaos was some cheer and togetherness.

Instead many are heading into a season of isolation, grieving lost loved ones, worried about their jobs or confronting the fear of a

new potentially more contagious virus variant.

Residents of London and surrounding areas can’t see people outside their households. Peruvians won’t be allowed to drive their cars over Christmas and New Year to discourage visits even with nearby family and friends. South Africans won’t be able to go to the beach on Christmas Eve, Christmas Day or New Year’s Day.

‘Wrenching decision’

THE patchwork of restrictions being imposed by local and national governments across the world varies widely—but few holiday seasons will look normal this year.

People the world over are facing wrenching decisions—to see isolated elderly relatives despite the risk or to miss one of the potentially few Christmases left in the hopes of spending the holiday together next year.

The United States has not issued nationwide travel restrictions, leaving that decision to state governments, but a federal agency is advising people to stay home.

Michelle Dallaire, 50, an attorney in Idlewild, Michigan, said this would be her first Christmas away from her father, who lives in northern Virginia. They’ve always gotten together with family for the holidays but decided it wasn’t worth the risk this year.

“It’s sad, but better than never seeing him again,” said Dallaire, who has health issues that also make her particularly vulnerable to the virus.

In Brazil, which has the world’s second-highest virus death toll after the United States, Francisco Paulo made a similar decision to skip a visit to his elderly mother in São Jose do Belmonte, in Pernam-

IN this December 20, 2020, file photo, people walk past the Christmas tree in the Roemerberg square that is reflected in a puddle in Frankfurt, Germany. AP

IN this December 21, 2020, file photo, Tessa Boulton takes a swab test from Michael Kruse, dressed as Santa Claus, at a coronavirus testing center at the Helios Clinic in Schwerin, Germany. AP

IN this December 8, 2020, file photo, Santa, portrayed by Dan Kemmis, sits inside a protective bubble in Seattle’s Greenwood neighborhood. AP

buco state. The 53-year-old doorman will work the holiday instead at a building in São Paulo.

“Now I’m hoping to drive there [to Pernambuco] in May, and crossing my fingers that she’ll be vaccinated by then,” Paulo said. “It isn’t a happy Christmas, but at least I’m healthy and so are all the people I love.”

Fill hearts with joy

THE virus has been blamed for more than 1.7 million deaths worldwide, and many are still grieving—or worried about loved ones in hospitals or nursing homes as the virus surges anew. But some who have survived sickness—and everything else that 2020 has thrown at them—are looking to rejoice.

Dr. Elisaveta Tomova, an anesthesiologist in North Macedonia, is exhausted after months of helping women with the virus give birth and caring for her 26-year-old son, who became infected himself.

“I have faced a nine-headed monster, and my son and I have beat it,” the 54-year-old said. “All I need now is my family to be around me, to celebrate in silence and to fill my heart with joy.”

Many people head into the holidays facing financial uncertainty after lockdowns to slow the spread of the virus have decimated economies.

Matteo Zega, a 25-year-old Italian chef who has worked in Michelin-starred restaurants, lost a job offer in France when bars and restaurants there were ordered to remain closed until mid-January.

He’s hoping to start an internship in Copenhagen—as long as restrictions don’t scupper that plan, too.

“It makes me stressed,” Zega said. “But at the end of the day, I wouldn’t complain when there are so many people suffering or dying.

You can lose many things: jobs, money. But I’m here, I’m healthy.”

Restrictions

IN recent weeks, many countries tightened restrictions in the hopes of bringing the spread of the virus under control so that the rules could be relaxed for Christmas. But that has not worked in many places.

In Italy, which has Europe’s highest confirmed death toll and where many have fallen into poverty following lockdowns, the gov-

ernment has imposed even more restrictions.

The four nations of the UK—England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland—have all ditched their original Christmas plans of a window to see family.

Hopes that a vaccine could stop the spread were high just weeks ago when Britain was the first country to roll out a rigorously tested shot, but now an aura of dread hangs over the holiday as daily new infections soar.

Adding to the gloom, a new variant of the virus is surging around London and its surrounding areas.

Dozens of countries have banned travel from Britain in response.

For Matt Balch, a 40-year-old Australian who lives outside London, the ability to ditch the Christmas plan came as almost a relief.

Balch was set to go to his in-laws’ home in Wales with wife, Kelly, and their two young children.

“The prospect of being in a car for six hours each way with a 3-month-old and a 2-year-old filled me with dread,” he said.

But James Wren, who works in Hong Kong’s finance industry, was downbeat about his change of plans. He was initially going to fly home to Ireland—but the rapidly changing travel and quarantine policies, coupled with the uncertainty in the coronavirus situation both in Hong Kong and abroad, led him to cancel.

“This is my first time ever not being with my family for Christmas, even though I have lived outside of Ireland for many years, so it was an extremely upsetting decision to make,” he said.

While many countries tightened restrictions, Lebanon, with the largest percentage of Christians in the Mideast, was actually easing them despite rapidly growing cases. It made that decision to boost an ailing economy and alleviate despair exacerbated by a devastating port explosion in Beirut in August.

But even that provided no relief to some.

“It will be a disaster after the holidays,” said Diala Fares, 52.

“People are acting like everything is normal, and our government doesn’t care.”

Amid all the gloom, at least some children can rest assured that Santa Claus is still coming to town.

Dr. Anthony Fauci, the top US infection disease specialist, said during a CNN special program with Sesame Street characters that he had been to the North Pole and vaccinated the man himself.

“He is good to go,” Fauci said.

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www.businessmirror.com.ph • Editor: Vittorio V. Vitug

Like Silicon Valley: Can PHL SUCs be ‘start-up sandboxes’?

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HE cochairman of the House Economic Stimulus and Recovery Cluster wants to expand the role of leading regional and national universities in establishing new and innovative start-ups, as it will be key to the country’s economic growth in the next decade.

Albay Rep. Joey Sarte Salceda said he wants leading regional and national universities to become “start-up sandboxes,” as the country prepares to move toward a more digital and more global, skills-based economy.

Salceda said this will mean improving I nte r n e t, l a b o rato r y, a n d e nt re p re n e u r i a l facilities within state universities and colleges, while gearing engineering and science courses towards value creation.

Salceda made the comments as the country marks the first anniversary of the effectivity of the Innovative Start-up Act, or RA 11377 this December 2020. The implementing rules and regulations for the law were published in December 2019.

The House economist said that he will push for new scholarships that link science and engineering with entrepreneurship and management.

“Silicon Valley began as a community of startups around Stanford University, which has among the world’s first computer programming degrees during that time. If you have good universities with the ecosystem to support new start-ups, you will be able to create new innovative businesses,” Salceda, who also serves as House Ways and Means Committee Chair, said.

“There are four elements to that ecosystem: Good university programs with excellent mentoring and application, good access to data, access to capital, and good support infrastructure in the area around the university,” Salceda added.

Countryside

Salceda said he would push for investments in education centers in the countryside.

“Work in these areas are definitely among my top priorities as economic recovery co-chair in 2021. You can expect a flurry of reforms that we will pass in these areas.”

“We have to be ambitious. India and China.

Countries that are similar to us in terms of human development, are already aiming to produce the next Steve Jobs or Bill Gates. We’re still stuck with trying to make good employees. We have too many people aspiring to be employees, and not enough

bold entrepreneurs who will actually create jobs for more employees,” Salceda explained.

According to the lawmaker, his office is looking at cities like Legazpi, Baguio, Cagayan de Oro and Dumaguete as areas where investments in creating start-ups from universities can be expanded.

These cities already have high-performing universities focused on science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) and are also starting to boom as industry centers, he noted.

“The stars are aligning for what industry leaders call ‘next wave’ cities such as Legazpi, Baguio, CDO, and Dumaguete. Capital is starting to flow inwards. There are good STEM-based universities in these cities. These can be the country’s start-up centers, and they will certain help decongest Metro Manila. But we have to invest in the universities and the infrastructure of these cities,” Salceda said.

The lawmaker is considering amendments to RA 11377 as well as proposals for the 2022 National Expenditure Plan to invest in universities as sandboxes for start-ups. ”The rollout of start-up programs by the government has not been very effective in actually creating breakthrough enterprises because the laws do not take advantage of universities as concentrations of young, smart, and ambitious entrepreneurs,” Salceda said.

“I am cer tainly pushing for tech-based entrepreneurship scholarships. I’m already working Tesda on higher-order skills such as animation, game design, programming, and machine learning.

But we will need more formal investments in universities, particularly in high-potential cities like the ones I mentioned,” he added.

RA 11377 helps SMEs and start-up firms to break into the lucrative e-commerce market by providing tax incentives, streamlined business procedures and easier immigration to help start-up entrepreneurs and their investors flourish in the country.

It also strengthens, promotes, and develops an ecosystem of businesses and nongovernment institutions that foster an innovative entrepreneurial culture in the Philippines.

“Innovative start-up” as defined under the law refers to a registered business entity in the country operating for no longer than 60 months from the commencement of its business operation whose core business function involves an innovative product, process, or business model.

PHL external trade to improve in ’21, but recovery seen at pre-Covid level

By Cai U. Ordinario

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HE Philippines’s lackluster external trade performance this year will see improvement in 2021, but the recovery will remain below pre-pandemic levels, according to the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (Unescap).

In its Asia-Pacific Trade and Investment Trends report on merchandise trade, Unescap estimated that the country’s exports and imports will grow 15.8 percent and 24.3 percent in 2021, respectively.

This year, Unescap estimates that exports will contract 20.5 percent while imports will decline 24.1 percent. The Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) said exports contracted 12.1 percent while imports contracted 25.2 percent in the January to October period.

“The pandemic has a devastating effect on developed and developing economies alike, threatening to bring possibly millions of people back to poverty and unemployment. These people will not only need more aid, but also more trade,” said United Nations Undersecretary-General and Executive Secretary of Escap Armida Salsiah Alisjahbana.

“I urge countries in the region to work towards developing a better set of trade rules that are resilient in times of crisis and stimulate sustainable economic recovery for inclusive and greener economies,” she added.

Unescap said the Covid-19 pandemic, coupled with increasing trade tensions and a slowing global economy, paved the way for the world’s worst economic performance since the Great Depression.

In the Asia and the Pacific region, many economies faced a simultaneous domestic and foreign demand contrac tion—reflec ted in their negative net trade and domestic spending contributions.

This is except for India, Singapore, the Philippines and Indonesia whose economic woes stemmed from weak domestic spending. At the height of the lockdowns in Metro Manila, 7.228 million Filipinos were unemployed and therefore had no incomes.

“The GDP losses of India, Singapore, the Philippines and Indonesia were entirely attributable to declines in domestic spending. Indeed, these economies actually experienced a trade balance improvement,” Unescap said.

ICT investments

Meanwhile, Unescap said the Philippines is expected to buck the trend in Southeast Asia

by increasing ICT investments to further trade in services.

In its Asia-Pacific Trade and Investment Trends report on commercial services, Unescap said the ICT market in the Philippines is expected to continue to grow in 2020, driven by the digital transformation initiatives taken by domestic enterprises.

Unescap cited repor ts that 84 percent of Philippine enterprises increased their ICT budgets in 2020, compared with 66 percent in the previous year.

“This trend of increasing investment in ICT in the Philippines is not limited to the private sector; the government is planning to invest $941 million to accelerate digital transformation during the pandemic, with nearly half of this being allocated to improving digital connectivity and access,” Unescap said.

The report also stated that these investments were poured into cloud-based communication and collaboration services with 80 percent of enterprises planning to invest in these platforms in the next two years.

Unescap added that Philippine firms increased their share in total ICT spending for digital transformation to 50 percent for 2020 from 44 percent.

This was driven by the need for flexibility and scalability to meet changing consumer expectations as well as increase operational efficiency and customer satisfaction, said the report.

Meanwhile, the Asia and the Pacific region’s prominence in merchandise trade is expected to rise to an all-time high this year, accounting for 41.8 percent of the world’s exports and 38.2 percent of global imports.

In 2021, merchandise trade volumes are expected to rebound by 5.8 percent and 6.2 percent of real exports and imports, respectively.

“The path towards full trade recovery remains highly uncer tain. Macroeconomic conditions remain unfavorable for many Asia-Pacific economies with high unemployment rates, deflation, indebtedness and geopolitical tensions among the structural factors hindering the recovery of countries,” Unescap said.

To address these challenges, Escap underscores the necessity of complementary policies on social protection and education as well as in other areas covering new issues such as data protection and privacy, cyber security, e-commerce and other electronic transaction tax.

This will be vital to allowing Asia-Pacific economies to fully capture the benefits from inclusive and sustainable digital trade and digital foreign direct investment growth.

Saturday, December 26, 2020

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BPI sees NPL ratio at 3% in 2020

By Tyrone Jasper C. Piad

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ANK of the Philippine Islands (BPI) is expecting its bad loans ratio to reach at least 3 percent this year as the borrowers’ financial position remains to be challenged by the pandemic-induced economic slowdown.

“Nonperforming loans [NPLs] as a percentage of the total loan portfolio will probably be in the range of 3+ percent,” BPI President Cezar P. Consing told the BusinessMirror in an e-mail.

A ccord i ng to t he Ay a l a-led bank’s latest report, its loan portfolio inched up by 0.9 percent to P1.38 trillion as of end-September on the back of mortgage and corporate loan segments.

The BPI chief said the NPL ratio could still go a “bit higher” next year, depending on the pace of the country’s economic recovery.

“Our own forecasts are usually dependent on macroeconomic views.

But these days, the direction of the Covid-19 pandemic and the potential delivery of a vaccine feature in our planning,” he added.

In anticipation of the surge in bad loans, the bank has been beefing up its buffer against potential credit losses to protect its asset quality. Its loan loss reserves reached P21.06 billion as of endSeptember, which is more than fourfold than the P4.58 billion the bank earmarked last year.

The substantial increase in credit loss provision, however, is seen to

cut the bank’s full-year net income.

“Net income for 2020 will be lower than that of last year, given the very large increase in loan loss provisions in anticipation of higher loan losses due to the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic,” Consing explained.

In 2019, the Ayala-led bank grew its net earnings by nearly 25 percent to P28.8 billion, thanks to improved margins and revenues.

BPI, meanwhile, saw its profits in the first nine months fall to P17.17 billion from P22.03 billion a year ago for the same period despite revenues climbing by 9.7 percent to P77.88 billion.

Its total assets increased by 3.6 percent to P2.2 trillion as of endSeptember. Common equity tier 1

ratio and capital adequacy ratio stood at 15.46 percent and 16.35 percent, which are both above minimum regulatory requirements.

Earlier this month, the bank announced that Consing will be replaced by incumbent Ayala Corp.

Chief Financial Officer Teodoro K. Limcaoco as its chief executive officer effective April 22 next year.

BPI said that Consing will remain a board director and executive committee member of the bank after his term despite being elected as board director of Ayala Corp. back in November.

Con si ng h a s ser ved on t he bank ’s board for nearly two decades. BPI has been under his leadership beginning 2013 after he was appointed president.

Open finance’s success lies with barrier removal–fintech group

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HE adoption of an Open Finance Framework will be deemed a success if the “artificial barriers to competition” will be removed, a financial technology (fintech) group said.

The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) conducted a survey earlier this year to come up with the draft for the Open Finance Framework, noting that its adoption will allow the launching of new banking products and services.

According to BSP, open finance “refers to the extension of permissioned data sharing and thirdparty access to a wider range of financial sectors and products.”

BSP has released the first version of the draft

circular for consultation, which concluded on December 23.

“The Open finance framework is successful if the artificial barriers to competition are removed such as refusal to interconnect systems or share information,” FintechAlliance.ph Chairman Angelito M. Villanueva told the B usiness M irror.

He said that only the Central Bank is in the position to do as such.

“These barriers may be placed by other government agencies like the National Privacy Commission [NPC] with respect to personal data.

It would be good if we also dialogue with them on this matter,” Villanueva said.

Villanueva said the regulations imposed by the Deposit Secrecy Law and Data Privacy Act are the biggest challenges that the Open Finance Framework should hurdle.

“If we can find ways to relax these laws without necessarily compromising privacy then that could be considered a success,” he added.

Earlier, FintechAlliance.ph expressed its support for the release of the proposed guidelines for the Open Finance Framework, as these can boost the digital banking and finance space.

The fintech group, however, said that “the development of such standard and framework should be best handled by the market players and the government

DOH-Calabarzon steps up Covid info drive to avert holiday surge

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HE Ca l abarzon (Cav ite, Laguna, Batangas, Rizal, Quezon) area has always been included in the Department of Health’s (DOH) list of regions with the most number of Covid-19 cases and number of daily new cases, so the DOH-Calabarzon has intensified efforts to combat the infection in anticipation of a surge during and after the holidays.

According to Regional Director Eduardo C. Janairo, the regional office has distributed BIDA Solusyon Campaign IEC materials to Barangay Health Workers (BHWs), including washable face masks, alcohol, brochures and posters containing information on new normal or rules on the minimum health standards against Covid-19.

Its objective is to spread the word about the minimum health standards to follow and to practice the four steps to a Covid-free life which includes—B-Bawal Walang Mask, IIsanitize ang mga Kamay, Iwas Hawak sa mga Bagay, D-Dumistansya ng isang metro, and A-Alamin ang Totoong Impormasyon.

As of December 22, the DOH situ-

ation report showed that the top regions by active cases are: National Capital Region (NCR) with 7,487, Calabarzon (3,909), Central Luzon (2,251) Davao region (1,767) Cordillera Administrative Region or CAR (1,261), Eastern Visayas (981), Western Visayas (933),Cagayan Valley (924), Northern Mindanao (691), and Central Visayas (567).

Top regions by new cases are: NCR (578), Calabarzon (300), Davao region (178), Eastern Visayas (128), Central Luzon (124) CAR (109), Caraga Administrative Region (52), Western Visayas (42), Ilocos region (40), and Cagayan Valley (32).

BHWs’ role

Janairo also acknowledged the BHWs in the BIDA Campaign.

“You are very important in our health-care system because you are dealing in the community level. You can be assured that our regional office will work alongside with you and we will give the support that your barangay will be needing,” Janairo said, partly in Filipino.

The DOH-Calabarzon together with the local government officials of

the municipality of Tanza conducted a “BIDA Solusyon sa Covid-19 Campaign” in Barangay Bagtas, Tanza, Cavite last week, as part of the strategy for behavioral change to mitigate the spread of Covid-19.

The BHWs conducted house-tohouse distribution and promotion of the BIDA campaign to 41 barangays covering 53,692 households in Tanza, Cavite.

“We need these informations and we need to practice them for us to be safe not only from Covid-19 but other diseases,”Janairo said, stressing that the support of barangay officials and municipal officials is also needed to stop the spread of the virus in the community.

According to the December 22, 2020 DOH-Calabarzon Covid-19 tracker, there are 78 cases recorded in Barangay Bagtas, Tanza with 26 active cases and 1 death.

The promotion and distribution of BIDA Solusyon IEC Materials began in November 24, 2020, with a total of 53 health facilities and offices visited to date which includes 17 in Cavite, 17 in Rizal, 8 in Quezon and 11 in Laguna.

Claudeth Mocon-Ciriaco

PANDEMIC IMPOSED GREATER BURDENS ON WOMEN WORKERS

By Samuel P. Medenilla

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HE new labor-related demands from the novel coronavirus disease (Covid-19) have started taking their toll on the physical and mental well-being of Filipina workers.

This, according to a new survey conducted

by Deloitte Touche, Tohmatsu Limited (DTTL), a British multinational professional service network.

The survey, which covered 108 Filipinos respondents, showed the higher role being played by women workers in households.

Most or over 60 percent of the participants are single and employed as associates or managers.

More household chores Before the pandemic, only 5.6 percent of the respondents said they did 75 percent of nonchildcare household responsibilities and 6.5 percent said they did 100 percent or all of it.

Since the onset of the Covid-19 crisis, the number of those doing 75 percent of non-childcare chores at home rose to 25 percent, while the number of those who completely did such task in

their homes, increased to 12 percent.

A similar trend was also observed for childrearing responsibilities.

The extra burden brought by the pandemic made about half of the respondents feel they no longer have time for themselves or with their children.

A third said their mental and physical well-being was negatively affected and they were compelled to work beyond 8 hours, barely balancing their life and work commitments.

“No doubt this health crisis has been stressful for everyone, but this survey reveals the extra toll this unprecedented disruption has had on women, who are traditionally to shoulder most, if not all responsibilities even as they build their careers,” Anna Marie Pabellon, Deloitte Philippines’s Risk Advisory Leader, said.

Work incentives Despite these challenges, 43.52 percent said they remain driven to “progress” in their companies.

The other 56.48 percent, however, said they are not keen on being promoted especially during

the pandemic, mostly due to their concerns about longer work hours as well as the lack of work-andlife balance it will entail.

To prevent possible resignations during the challenging times, the respondents said their companies may consider providing them a promotion or pay raise; providing them with flexible work arrangements; as well as providing them access to their workers to skills development.

The sur vey results from D eloitte were consistent with the latest study of the International Labor Organization (ILO), which showed how the pandemic “disproportionately” affect female employees compared to their male counterparts.

In its Asia-Pacific Employment and Social Outlook 2020 report, ILO said “most countries in the region saw a larger decline in working hours and employment for women than men.”

“It could take years for those who have exited the labor force to return to full employment,” Sara Elder, Senior Economist at the ILO Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific and lead author of the report, said.

though the BSP should support the process.”

Under the framework, BSP is proposing the creation of the Open Finance Oversight Committee, which is the industry-led self-governing body recognized and monitored by the Central Bank.

It is tasked with coming up with its own membership and participation rules and standards and procedures.

“It shall promote nondiscriminatory membership by ensuring that key areas of interest of the financial industry are adequately represented and that all members and applicants for membership are treated fairly and consistently,” the BSP added.

Tyrone Jasper C. Piad

Sen. Win bats for giving teachers priority in Covid vaccine rollout

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HE National Task Force Against Covid-19 was asked to give first priority to public school teachers in the prioritized groups lined up for the rollout of the vaccine, along with nonteaching staff and school administrators.

Justifying the move, Senator Sherwin Gatchalian, chairman of the Senate Committee on Basic Education, Arts and Culture, noted that giving teachers the anti-Covid-19 vaccine is “a crucial step in ensuring the safety of school premises and in building confidence for the gradual resumption of face-to-face classes.”

The senator noted in a statement on Wednesday that when the pandemic struck early this year, over 900,000 teachers and nonteaching staff have been serving as frontliners to ensure learning continuity for more than 22 million students.

Gatchalian acknowledged that even as teachers were preparing for the implementation of distance learning, “they risked their health and safety by distributing learning materials” used by almost 87 percent of public school learners.

Earlier, Gatchalian stressed that reopening the schools should be a priority to “prevent an exacerbation of the learning crisis hounding the country,” citing global assessments in the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) 2018, the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) 2019, and the Southeast Asia Primary Learning Metrics (SEA-PLM) 2019—all administered before the pandemic—that found the country’s learners lagging globally and failing to master basic competencies.

He recalled an October policy brief from the United Nations identified suppression of the virus transmission as the most significant step to hasten reopening of schools, noting that recently, the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (Unesco) called on governments to “treat teachers as frontline workers and give them priority access” to Covid-19 vaccines.

“Because the teachers and school officials serve as frontliners to ensure continued education of students, it is only right that they be counted among the first to get the vaccine against Covid-19,” Gatchalian said, stressing that “this is an important step to ensure the safety of students” returning to schools.

Butch Fernandez

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Saturday, December 26, 2020

News BusinessMirror

Global freight boom fires Buffett trains, Maersk ships and oil prices

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great global restock is at hand, filling ships, trucks and trains, and also firing oil demand.

During the depths of China’s coronavirus crisis at the start of the year, shipping behemoth A.P. Moeller-Maersk A/S reported an unprecedented number of canceled sailings as the Asian country all but shut itself off from the world. Since then, the company’s shares have surged to the brink of a record in Copenhagen. In the US, BNSF Railway Co., the freight giant owned by Warren Buffett, is riding a boom that’s pushed the number of carloads and containers it hauls up year-on-year in recent weeks.

A shift in consumer behavior, particularly in western countries, has driven oil prices above $50 a barrel in the past few weeks. People have been diverting expenditure previously earmarked for now-unattainable things—like holidays and meals in restaurants—toward purchasing physical goods. And that’s only the start of it: stores, warehouses and industries have undertaken a huge inventory restocking phase. As more boxloads of stuff get moved across the planet, so demand for fuel to power ships, trucks and freight trains has soared.

“This is the perfect storm for global container flows,” said Lars Mikael Jensen, head of network at Maersk, which marshals a fleet of almost 700 ships. “The current restocking in the US and Europe raises demand, whilst global measures to contain the pandemic cause severe strain across the supply chain from lack of vessels, containers and trucking capacity.”

While beneficial to oil prices and freight haulers, the boom is straining important transport infrastructure. Bottlenecks are worsening at ports around the

world, contorting supply chains for everything from car parts to cosmetics. The recent closing of freight deliveries from France into the UK serves as a reminder that things could become even more snarled—but also that the full economic and trade impacts of the coronavirus remain far from certain.

Los Angeles is emblematic of the turnaround in activity. Together with Long Beach, LA is a corridor for the import of goods from Asia into the US. Earlier this year, thousands of empty containers were sitting at the dock in Los Angeles, a symptom of both trade tensions with China, and Covid.

Today, imported goods are now flooding in.

“Right now, what we are grappling with is a change in buying habits,” said Gene Seroka, executive director of the Port of Los Angeles. “Where we were once buying mainly services, now you and I have turned back to buying products and those warehouses need to be restocked. Folks have been ordering so much for delivery, we can’t process it fast enough.”

Exports from China are surging, pushing the country’s trade surplus to a record. The nation’s companies shipped $268 billion of goods in November, a 21 percent increase year-on-year.

In India, the lifting of lockdown restrictions and a full resumption of intra-state vehicle movement led to a boost in road transport fuel consumption in October, w ith diesel demand growing more than 7 percent year-on-year, according to Senthil Kumaran, head of South Asia oil at industry consultant FGE.

An aerial view of the Yangshan Deepwater Port in Shanghai, China on March 23. Qilai Shen/Bloomberg

Shipping rates are going crazy.

Moving a 40-foot steel box by sea from Shanghai to the European trade hub of Rotterdam costs about $6,500 per container, the most for the time of year since at least 2011, according to data from Drewry.

The trends matter for the oil market because trucking accounts for about 16 percent of global oil consumption and almost half of all diesel demand, according to 2019 data from the International Energy Agency.

The rebound in activity, combined with the onset of Northern Hemisphere winter, has been lifting a previously disastrous market for the fuel for about two months.

Back in September, the socalled crack spread—diesel’s premium to crude—plunged as low as $2 a barrel in Europe.

As well as stuttering demand, a key cause of the diesel-market weakness was a collapse in global aviation. Oil refineries responded to that slump by diverting output of jet fuel into making diesel instead, boosting output when consumption was weak. In addition, because people were often staying off public transport to avoid catching the virus, refineries needed to keep high output levels to service gasoline demand—further swelling diesel supply at a time when it wasn’t needed.

Those dynamics have turned.

Last week, the crack spread rallied to $6.28 a barrel. That’s at a time when the underlying price of crude oil has also rallied strongly.

Keep on Trucking

In the US, freight by truck is the primary influencer of diesel and viewed as a sign of the health of the wider economy. Interstate miles covered by trucks are up above 9 percent over last year, while traffic for all vehicles is down more than 10 percent, federal Department of Transportation statistics show.

A proxy for demand in US is how much of a petroleum product oil refineries supply. And in the week to Dec. 11, they supplied 4 million barrels a day of distillate fuel oil, the category that includes diesel. Back in May, that figure slumped to 2.7 million a day, the lowest in decades, Energy Information Administration data show. Stockpiles remain high but are far less bloated than they were earlier this year.

“Looking back at our history, you could say we’ve weathered a few challenges: a war, a revolution or two but still, in all my years in logistics I’ve never had a year like this,” said Gebr. Weiss board member Lothar Thoma. “Covid choked up, disrupted transport arteries on a global scale, messed the cycles of goods-in, goods-out, be it air, sea, rail or road.” Bloomberg News

www.businessmirror.com.ph

DHSUD lines up 7 housing projects with various LGUs

By Cai U. Ordinario

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he Department of Human Settlement and Urban Development (DHSUD) is set to undertake the construction of seven housing projects in partnership with select local government units (LGUs).

In a news statement, DHSUD said the agreements with the respective LGUs of Bataan; Muntinlupa; Brgy. Irisan, Baguio City; the municipalities of Bay and Pila in Laguna; municipality of Umingan, Pangasinan; and Barangay Lasang, Davao City have already been signed.

The most recent agreements to be forged are with the province of Bataan and Muntinlupa City where over 1,000 units will be build for the “poorest of the poor” in these localities.

“It is a social responsibility of the government to ensure that the ‘poorest of the poor’ will have the opportunity to have a house of their own that is decent and affordable,” DHSUD Secretary Eduardo del Rosario said.

“We can see clearly the convergence of efforts among the local government unit, the national government and the private sector so that we can build a housing project that will be gladly accepted by the beneficiaries,” he added.

Earlier, the National Housing Authority (NHA) said housing units it had built have a standard floor area of 28 square meters and a lot area of 40 square meters.

Each unit costs around P450,000 to P530,000.

If there are at least 1,000 units

to be built in one project, each project in LGUs may cost the government around P450 million to P530 million. Taken together, based on The BusinessMirror estimates, all 7 housing projects could reach P3.15 billion to P3.71 billion.

The proposed One Bataan Village is intended for more than 1,000 displaced families affected by an accidental fire that occurred in Sitio Depensa in Bataan’s coastal town of Capunitan in January 2019.

Under the agreement, DHSUD, through the National Housing Authority, will lead the land development to pave the way for the construction of 6 three-storey buildings on a 7.5-hectare housing site acquired by the municipal and provincial governments and situated some two kilometers away from the site where the fire occurred.

In Muntinlupa, the DHSUD agreed to undertake a housing project intended for city government employees. This is the realization of the plan of the Muntinlupa LGU for a housing project for employees formulated four years ago.

The DHSUD said similar undertakings in the municipalities of Bay and Pila in Laguna on December 9, the municipality of Umingan, Pangasinan on December 15 and in Barangay Irisan, Baguio City on December 16.

Likewise, on December 18, Del Rosario witnessed the turnover of land development and completion of the LGU housing project in barangay Lasang, Davao City that can accommodate over 3,000 housing beneficiaries.

Bayan Academy, JP Morgan aid Tesda hone organizational efficiency to fulfill mandate

DENR chief leads planting of nilad, bakauan, nipa at the Baseco lagoon

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nvironment Secretary Roy A. Cimatu led the planting of nilad, various species of mangrove and nipa at the lagoon of Baseco in Manila during his visit on Tuesday, December 22.

Cimatu was joined in the tree planting activity

by Metro Manila Development Authority (MMDA) General Manager Danilo Lim, Baseco/Barangay 649 Captain Diana Espinosa, representing Manila Mayor Francisco Domagoso, and officials and employees of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources National Capital Region (DENR-NCR) led by Regional Executive Director Jacqueline A. Caancan.

The DENR-NCR is the lead agency in the

rehabilitation of Baseco, which is part of the bigger program on Manila Bay Rehabilitation, in partnership with the MMDA. “The MMDA is our strong partner not only in the cleanup of Baseco lagoon and its vicinities but also in tree planting,” said DENR-NCR Regional Executive Director Jacqueline A. Caancan.

Caancan said her office has adopted bio/ phytoremediation or nature-based approach in enhancing the habitat and ecosystems of Baseco.

Since 2019, when the project began, the regional office has planted a total of 8,597 seedlings comprising of various species of mangrove and beach-type trees, with a survival rate of 87 percent.

Aside from habitat restoration through tree planting, the DENR-NCR has also initiated the construction of a boardwalk in Baseco’s lagoon area. The boardwalk, designed like a leaf of a mangrove, has a total length of 270 meters, with two view decks. Of the total length, some 110 meters, which comprised the first phase of the boardwalk, were completed in 2019, while the remaining phase of 160 meters long will be completed by end of this year.

Ca a n ca n s a i d t h at a s p a r t o f B a s e co rehabilitation, regular clean-up activities are being conducted in the area by personnel of DENR-NCR and its West Field Office. “In compliance with the

health guidelines, we have refrained from enjoining our regular partners in our cleanup activities in Baseco, instead we relied on our personnel to do scheduled cleanup to ensure the observance of social distancing,” Caancan said.

She also said some 25 Estero Rangers under the employ of DENR-NCR are deployed in the area to conduct daily cleanup activities along the Aplaya-side of the Baseco beach and at the lagoon.

Caancan, however, stressed that while the Baseco beach has been cleared of floating garbage, the waters remain polluted, and urged Baseco residents, particularly the children, to refrain from swimming in the beach.

Oregon case reflects I.S.’s need of online presence

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ALEM, Oregon—A man supported the Islamic State group for years from a Portland, Oregon, suburb by helping the extremists maintain an online presence that encouraged attacks and sought recruits, federal agents and prosecutors said.

Hawazen Sameer Mothafar, who was arrested in November and whose trial is scheduled to begin in January, produced and disseminated propaganda and recruiting material through social media platforms, according to a grand jury indictment.

Mothafar pleaded not guilty to charges of providing material support to a designated terrorist organization and conspiring to provide that support. Mark Ahlemeyer, his federal public defender, declined to comment.

The case underscores the group’s focus on an online presence, often referred to by experts as a “digital caliphate.” By late 2017, the Islamic State had lost most of the territory it seized in Iraq and Syria, and its self-declared caliphate along with it.

The group continues to carry out and inspire attacks.

Law enforcement’s attempts to take down Islamic State’s online presence often resemble a game of whack-a-mole. A year ago, European law enforcement officials removed accounts and information linked to the Amaq agency, which

spreads propaganda and news for the group. But as recently as last month, Amaq carried a statement in which IS claimed responsibility for a shooting rampage in Vienna that killed four people.

“While the Islamic State has lost swaths of territor y, it has sur vived, is conducting significant numbers of attacks, and is leveraging the digital caliphate to promote its narrative,” Maxwell Markusen of the Center for Strategic and International Studies wrote in November 2018.

Mothafar, who lived in the Portland suburb of Troutdale, is accused of editing and producing material al Anfal, a newspaper that “advocates violent jihad” and receives its orders from IS’s central media office, known as Diwan, the indictment says.

It also said Mothafar had been working on behalf of the group since at least early 2015 until his arrest in November.

Jordan Reimer, a counterterrorism expert with Rand Corp., said the arrest does not seem to represent a major blow to the group, but anyone helping create and spread its propaganda plays an important role.

“ISIS propaganda is a huge component of what they do,” said Reimer, a former intelligence

analyst for the New York City Police Department.

Reimer said it is rare for someone in the United States to be as deeply and directly involved directly in IS online activities as Mothafar is alleged to have been.

Around 40 percent of the 221 people who have been charged in the US as of November with IS-related crimes were accused of traveling or attempting to travel abroad. One-third were accused of plotting domestic terror attacks, according to George Washington University’s Program on Extremism.

“To be part of the actual formal pro-ISIS or ISIS-affiliated publications, to be working on that in a formal capacity in America is unique. That I had not seen before,” Reimer said.

Mothafar is also accused in the indictment of providing assistance, including moderating private chat rooms, to Al Dura’a al Sunni, or Sunni Shield, a pro-Islamic State internet-based media organization.

In 2016, he opened a Facebook account for a senior IS official who is currently in custody in Iraq, the indictment says, adding that Mothafar also distributed online articles that described how to kill and maim with a knife and that encouraged attacks.

Loren “Renn” Cannon, the FBI’s special agent in charge of the Portland division, said extremist groups of all stripes are increasingly using online tools to spread their message of violence and in direct actions by intimidation, hacking and harassing people.

“The digital component is incredibly important these days,” Cannon said. “I think it’s important for people to understand that those extremists that are advocating violence utilize the Internet and social media — those are today’s tools to try to get ideas across.”

He declined to comment about the Mothafar case, though in announcing the arrest, he called Mothafar “a leading figure in the Islamic State’s media network.”

The trial is scheduled to start on Jan. 5 in Portland. But Ahlemeyer has asked the judge for a 90-day postponement to further scrutinize the case.

Authorities decided not to jail Mothafar, who has physical disabilities and uses a wheelchair, because he is considered a low flight risk, especially amid coronavirus travel restrictions.

The conditions of his release include limited travel and the use of electronic devices. AP

File photo taken during the National Technical Education and Skills Development Plan launch in February 2020 shows Carlos Ma. Mendoza, Country Manager of JP Morgan received from Technical Skills and Development Authority Director General Secretary Isidro Lapeña a certificate of appreciation for the company’s support to the work force readiness agenda of the country.

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he pandemic has changed a lot of things and fast tracked the digitalization of businesses and boosted the digital economy. Thus, today’s workforce must be ready not only to face the challenges of the future, but to also adapt to this evolving world.

In the Philippines, the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (Tesda) is tasked as the government’s chief steward to help Filipinos become a globally-competitive workforce.

With this, Tesda partnered with social enterprise Bayan Academy, and supported with the valuable assistance of financial giant J.P.Morgan, to conduct a series of consultative forums to evaluate its organizational design, identify strengths and weaknesses, and deliver critical internal reforms.

A recent forum entitled “Organizational, Diagnosis, Design, and Development of Tesda” officially concluded the four-session seminar. The objective was to identify the current directions of Tesda and how to transform it into a demanddriven organization attuned to the needs of future Filipino workers.

Due to the pandemic, the series of consultations among core groups—composed of Tesda directors from various levels, proponents of Bayan Academy, and stakeholders—was conducted online.

According to Bayan Academy Chairman and President Dr. Eduardo Morato, Jr., the consultation series was very timely, especially as Covid-19 imposed on organizations and workers to adapt to the new normal.

“The workforce is constantly changing.

Covid-19 opened up job opportunities, new modes of accomplishing things that weren’t there before.

At this time, empowerment is truly needed at the

provincial level or grassroots level,” he said.

Morato stressed that it is imperative for organizations like Tesda to “take advantage of the present situation to be adequately prepared in addressing the constantly changing skills and competencies requirements in the Fourth Industrial Revolution.”

Morato’s statement was complemented with a message of support from partner J.P. Morgan.

“Preparing for the aftermath of the pandemic and addressing the vulnerabilities that have risen are crucial points that leaders and organizations need to ‘re-focus’ their efforts on. Innovations that will integrate efficient tools, broader delivery systems, clear-cut solutions, and investments in human capital will substantially boost the Philippines’ post-Covid economic recovery plan,” said Carlos Ma. G. Mendoza, Senior Country Officer of J.P. Morgan Philippines. “We remain committed to supporting government and sectoral inclusive recovery initiatives— ensuring that the outplaced, unemployed, and micro-entrepreneurs are able to rebound from the onslaught of this pandemic.”

With the conclusion of the project, Tesda D i re c to r G e n e ra l S e c re t a r y Is i d ro La p e ñ a commended everyone for their contribution to improve the agency’s operations. “I thank J.P. Morgan for supporting Bayan Academy in this fruitful endeavor and all the Tesda directors.

Indeed, this is what we want, moving toward a much-improved and efficient organization. With the recommendations from Bayan Academy and clearly defined strategies in order, I am optimistic that ultimately, this will result in the design of a Tesda structure that is more demand-driven and industry-led for the effective delivery of the action programs for eight priority industries.”

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

The World BusinessMirror

Saturday, December 26, 2020

A5

After months of calm, Thailand grapples with Covid-19 outbreak

By Grant Peck & Chalida Ekvitthayavechnukul

President-elect Joe Biden arrives to speak prior to the holiday at the Queen Theatre on December 22, 2020, in Wilmington, Delaware. Biden spoke ahead of the Christmas holiday and called the $900-billion coronavirus aid bill passed by Congress on Monday a start, insisting on more economic relief after the inauguration. Joshua Roberts/Getty Images North America

Russia sees nothing good in ties with ‘hostile’ US under Biden

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ussia expects nothing good in relations with a “deeply hostile” US under the incoming administration of Joe Biden and has no plans to make unilateral concessions to improve ties, Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said.

“We are heading from bad to worse,” Ryabkov said in an interview with the Interfax news service published Wednesday. “The next US President has been left with a bad legacy and it will take a long time for him to sort this out.”

Moscow hasn’t initiated any contacts with Biden’s transition team “and we are not going to do this,” said Ryabkov, who oversees Russia-US relations.

“In the end, it’s up to the Americans to decide what, when and how to make our bilateral relations.”

His comments come as Washington has blamed Moscow for a massive cyber attack that hit a wide range of government departments and Fortune 500 companies. Russia has denied responsibility.

While US President Donald Trump has played down

the breach even as his own senior officials accuse Russia, Biden has pledged to respond once he takes office next month.

Ryabkov dismissed the controversy, saying Russia registers hacking attempts from US and other foreign sources “every day” and “we don’t make a fuss about it.”

Russia’s hopes for a transformation of ties when Trump was elected in 2016 were sunk by the scandal that erupted over contacts between his transition team and Russian officials before the President took office.

With the Biden administration, Russia may adopt an approach of engaging only in “selective dialogue” in areas of mutual interest, Ryabkov said.

“We definitely don’t expect anything good,” Ryabkov said. It would be strange to expect better ties “from people who, many of them, have spent their careers engaging in Russophobia and throwing mud at my country,” he said. Bloomberg News

Next-generation US nuclear sub facing cost overruns and delays

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he US Navy’s plan to deliver the first vessel in its $128-billion next-generation submarine program on time is at risk by a dependence on inexperienced contractors with spotty quality control track records, according to a congressional watchdog.

The Government Accountability Office (GAO), in a restricted November 6 report to the Pentagon and congressional defense committees, said the design contract for the first vessel in the Columbia-class sub fleet being built by General Dynamics Corp. could have a cost overrun of as much as 14 percent, or $384 million.

The initial vessel in the new class of nuclearmissile-carrying subs, the Navy’s highest-priority program, is due for delivery in 2027. The Navy wants the first submarine to launch on patrol in 2030.

Yet that timeline “hinges on timely and quality materials from” an “atrophied supplier base” as General Dynamics and it top subcontractor, Huntington Ingalls Industries Inc., face “risk of delays from critical suppliers that are not yet ready to support construction,”according to the 73-page report obtained by Bloomberg News and marked “For Official Use Only.”

The GAO report outlines in detail the myriad challenges facing contractors and the Navy in the design and construction of a 12-vessel program that advocates say is most survivable leg of the US nuclear triad, comprising land, air and seabased warheads.

As an example, the report says that General Dynamics “continues to identify problems with nondestructive testing and welding across the supplier base, including suppliers responsible for piping, valves and large mechanical equipment.”

More broadly, the report signals the difficulties the Navy will face in trying to carry out the Trump administration’s vision for a 355-to-500 vessel fleet by 2045, up from 297 today.

Those difficulties will be one of the first defense-procurement challenges confronting the Biden administration when it takes office next month amid a US economy hobbled by the Covid-19 pandemic. The Columbia’s five-year plan envisions $30 billion being spent on the program through 2026, increasing from $4.7 billion planned for next year to $8.2 billion in 2026.

But first, several quality-control issues have to be addressed.

As the program enters formal construction and lead contractor General Dynamics prepares to award new subcontracts, “many suppliers have readiness and quality problems,” according to the GAO report.

“Of their top 25 suppliers, the shipbuilders assessed 18 as not yet ready to support construction demand, not meeting quality expectations or both.”

Pentagon $696-B agreement boosts lockheed F-35s, Boeing Chinooks

Nevertheless, “the shipbuilders plan to spend $4.2 billion on materials from these 18 suppliers out of an estimated $5.5 billion” projected for all 25 firms. They will supply “complex machinery, raw materials and electrical components, among other things,” GAO said.

Many of those contracts are sole-source for specific parts, GAO said.

Both General Dynamics and Huntington face the supply and contractor issues laid out in the report, in part, because they are simultaneously building Virginia-class attack submarines “at a schedule and pace unmatched since” the Cold War ended, the GAO said.

The Columbia class is designed to be the nation’s newest nuclear patrol submarine for deterrence efforts; the Virginia class is designed to attack land and sea targets and gather intelligence.

General Dynamics spokeswoman Elizabeth Power said the GAO’s conclusions don’t reflect current progress and that “the vast majority of our critical suppliers are assessed as ready to support construction demand and to meet quality expectations.”

The report’s findings may have influenced lawmakers on the House and Senate defense appropriations panels. A compromise report released Monday with the $696-billion fiscal 2021 spending package said that despite “significant” legislative support for the program, “challenges have occurred in certain design, prototyping, and advance construction efforts of the program.”

The lawmakers also criticized the Navy for underfunding Columbia industrial base improvements.

According to shipbuilder and Navy documents, the majority of skilled workers at the three primary submarine shipyards have less than five years experience and the majority of supervisors have less than five years experience. About 15 percent of the supervisors at General Dynamics’ Groton, Connecticut facility have five to nine years experience. That figure drops to about 5 percent at Quonset Point, Rhode Island, according to the GAO.

Fragile base

Congress, the Navy and Columbia contractors recognize that a fragile industry base is among the program’s top challenges and made a concerted effort to bolster its capabilities, GAO said.

Since 2017 “the Navy, with strong congressional support, has invested over $573 million in shoring up existing sources and development of new suppliers to help ensure the industrial base has the capability and capacity to meet the needs of the nuclear shipbuilding enterprise,” the Naval Sea Systems Command said in a statement.

“The Navy will continue to work with the shipbuilder to reduce the risk with use of targeted investments, continued oversight, management processes, and metrics,” the command said.

General Dynamics “has been actively engaged in supplier development and readiness throughout the last several years” and worked with suppliers this year “to build on earlier initiatives to optimize their readiness and performance to support Columbia construction,” Power said.

Still, in spite of the companies’ efforts to improve subcontractor readiness, “the overall percentage of suppliers that are ready to meet demand has yet to improve,” GAO wrote. Bloomberg News

B

The Associated Press

ANGKOK—After managing against the odds to keep the coronavirus largely in check for most of the year, Thailand has suddenly found itself challenged by an expanding outbreak among migrant workers on the doorstep of the capital, Bangkok.

The surge of cases in Samut Sakhon province threatens to undo months of efforts to contain the virus and hasten recovery of Thailand’s ailing economy.

Cases related to the outbreak have already been found in more than a dozen other provinces, including Bangkok. Officials in the capital ordered existing safety measures, such as social distancing, mask wearing and checking for fevers, to be more strictly observed at markets, temples, parks and entertainment venues.

Contact tracing has found suspected cases for testing as well as areas to be disinfected. At a mall in central Bangkok’s popular Siam Square shopping area, three shops visited by a Thai woman who tested positive were temporarily closed for deep cleaning, as was a food court at the nearby MBK mall.

The new wave of coronavirus cases abroad already means Thailand’s economic rebound will be slowed as the world economy will take longer to recover, Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha said in a televised speech Tuesday evening.

“What we have seen now is that being too relaxed about Covid precaution measures can lead to greater economic suffering,” he said.

Pray uth said the situation means Thailand must tread carefully as it relaxes rules for admitting visitors from other countries—an approach that could hinder efforts to revive the country’s lucrative tourism industry, whose business dried up after the country closed to regular passenger flights from overseas in early April.

Shortly before the latest out-

break was found last week, a new expanded list of countries whose tourists would be allowed in under tight restrictions was issued, and the idea of shortening a mandatory 14-day quarantine on arrival was under discussion.

Thailand’s 576 new cases of the coronavirus reported on Sunday— a 13percent increase to Thailand’s previous overall total of 4,907— was the country’s biggest daily spike. For months, nearly all of the cases detected were in people already in quarantine after arriving from abroad.

More new cases reported Monday and Tuesday have pushed Thailand’s total to 5,716. Virtually all were migrant workers in Samut Sakhon or otherwise linked to a big seafood market in the province.

Health officials said 44 percent of the migrant workers and people with direct links to the market who have been tested so far were found to be infected, though most did not display symptoms.

The seafood market was sealed off over the weekend, and other local restrictions were imposed, including a night curfew, the banning of travel out of the province and the closing of many public places. Late Tuesday night, two neighboring provinces also imposed lockdown measures, including bans on New Year’s celebrations. The seaside resort city of Pattaya also cancelled plans for public celebrations.

The Center for Covid-19 Situation Administration on Wednesday declared 23 provinces—almost a third of the total—to be high risk based on vendors identi-

fying where their major customers were from.

Even though cases related to the seafood market have spread around the country, Prayuth expressed confidence Thailand “can continue to be among the least affected countries in the world by this terrible disease.”

World Health Organization chief Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus has several times praised Thailand’s handling of its coronavirus crisis, citing in a September tweet “A whole of society & whole of government response, extensive testing, contact tracing, community engagement, & nationwide mobilization of community #healthworkers.”

P r a y u t h ’s d e c l a r a t i o n i n March of a state of emergency allowed his government also to implement measures rang ing from lockdowns and censorship to making mask wearing mandatory and banning sales of alcohol to fight the virus.

The chairman of the Federation of Thai Industries, Supan Mongkolsuthree, said that due to the new outbreak, Samut Sakhon’s industrial sector was facing estimated losses of around 1 billion baht ($33.1 million) per day.

Supan said the federation opposes lockdown measures in other areas, because the problem was localized and the government could contain it.

Thai Union Group and Charoen Pokphand Foods, both major seafood producers with operations in Samut Sakhon, said they expect little or no disruption to their supply chains.

The origin of the latest outbreak is not yet clear, but virtually all the new cases involve migrant workers from Thailand’s neighbor Myanmar working in the seafood industry.

Low-wage migrant labor powers much of Thailand’s economy, from factories to fishing and construction. According to Thailand’s Labor Ministry, there are more then 233,000 documented migrant workers in Samut Sakhon in addition to an unknown number working illegally. There are an estimated 4 million to 5 million foreign workers in Thailand,

according to the UN-affiliated International Organization for Migration.

Despite efforts at regularizing their status, many migrant workers are taken to Thailand by human traffickers and then forced to work in conditions of near slavery for small businesses, as a 2015 investigation by The Associated Press found when it looked into some of the hundreds of shrimp peeling sheds hidden in plain sight on residential streets or behind walls with no signs in Samut Sakhon.

The workers’ Myanmar origins have already led to finger-pointing over the current outbreak, since a coronavirus outbreak that began in August in Myanmar’s western state of Rakhine spread to the commercial capital, Yangon, and then farther east to the border with Thailand.

Thai authorities tried to limit cross-border traffic, but the frontier is notoriously porous. In early December, cases that originated in Myanmar were found in northern Thailand. They were Thais who had returned from stays in Myanmar and evaded border controls that would have forced them to quarantine. At least two flew south to Bangkok before they could be traced.

Yet a segment of popular opinion blames migrant workers who allegedly sneaked into Thailand for the new outbreak.

“This latest flare-up of infections in Samut Sakhon is primarily due to such illegal immigrants,” Prime Minister Prayuth said Tuesday, without providing evidence.

Act iv ists for m ig ra nt workers f ra me t he sit u at ion d if ferent ly, a nd point out t hat t wo ot her Sout heast A si a n cou ntr ies, Singapore and Ma laysia, have a lso had l a rge outbrea k s a mong m ig ra nt workers.

“Migrant workers across Asia continue to remain at high risk of contracting and spreading Covid-19 due to their inability to practice social distancing both at their labor intensive workplaces and at their crowded and often insanitary living accommodation,” said Andy Hall, a migrant worker rights specialist working across Asia.

Trump threatens to torpedo Covid relief with new demands

W

ASHINGTON—President Donald Trump has threatened to torpedo Congress’ massive Covid-19 relief package in the midst of a raging pandemic and deep economic uncertainty, suddenly demanding changes fellow Republicans have opposed.

Trump assailed the bipartisan $900-billion package in a video he tweeted out Tuesday night and suggested he may not sign the legislation. He called on lawmakers to increase direct payments for most Americans from $600 to $2,000 for individuals and $4,000 for couples.

Railing against a range of provisions in the bill, including for foreign aid, he told lawmakers to “get rid of the wasteful and unnecessary items from this legislation and to send me a suitable bill.”

Trump did not specifically vow to veto the bill, and there may be enough support for the legislation in Congress to override him if he does. But if Trump were to upend the sprawling legislation, the consequences would be severe, including no federal aid to struggling Americans and small businesses, and no additional resources to

help with vaccine distribution.

In addition, because lawmakers linked the pandemic relief bill to an overarching funding measure, the government would shut down on December 29.

The relief package was part of a hard-fought compromise bill that includes $1.4 trillion to fund government agencies through September and contains other end-ofsession priorities such as money for cash-starved transit systems, an increase in food stamp benefits and about $4 billion to help other nations provide a Covid-19 vaccine for their people.

Lawmakers spent months in a stalemate over pandemic relief funds, even as Covid-19 cases soared across the country. Democrats had pushed for higher payments to Americans, but compromised with Republicans to allow a deal to proceed.

Following Trump’s interjection, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi all but dared Trump’s Republican allies in Congress to meet the president’s demand for far higher payments.

“At last, the President has agreed to $2,000. Democrats are ready to bring this to the Floor this

week by unanimous consent. Let’s do it!,” Pelosi said in a tweet. An aide said she would put the proposal forward Thursday for a vote.

Republicans have been reluctant to spend more on pandemic relief and only agreed to the big year-end package as time dwindled for a final deal. And Sen. Chuck Schumer, the Senate Democratic leader, said that “Trump needs to sign the bill to help people and keep the government open,” and Congress would step up for more aid after.

Trump’s call for changes to the legislation will test his sway with a Republican Party he has held tight control of throughout his presidency. Several Senate Republicans, including Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, have begun to gingerly break with Trump and acknowledge his defeat to Presidentelect Joe Biden, a step Trump has refused to take. McConnell has also warned Republicans against disputing the election on January 6, when Congress must formally affirm the results.

Shortly after castigating the relief bill, Trump challenged McConnell and Sen. John Thune, the No. 2 Senate Republican who has also

said any effort to overturn Biden’s victory would be futile. Trump said he would back a primary challenge to Thune when he is up for reelection in 2022.

Trump’s threats to hold up the pandemic legislation could also complicate matters for Republicans in Georgia, where two runoff races to determine control of the Senate will be held in January.

Sens. David Perdue and Kelly Loeffler have been running as ardent supporters of Trump and will now face questions about whether they will back his call for more money for Americans.

Jon Ossoff, Perdue’s Democratic opponent, tweeted simply on Tuesday night: “$2,000 checks now.”

The relief package was brought forward Monday afternoon and sped through the House and Senate in a matter of hours as lawmakers worked to close the books on the year. While many lawmakers complained about being given so little time to read the bill, they overwhelmingly voted for it as local businesses and constituents seek economic relief from the pandemic. AP

A6 Saturday, December 26, 2020

ExportUnlimited BusinessMirror

Expert: China’s 400-M middle-class sector a promising export market for PHL goods A

DTI chief tells manufacturers to evolve ‘better, faster, smarter’

T

HE 400-million strong middleclass group in China is a promising export market and the “next biggest opportunity” just waiting to be tapped by Filipino enterprises, according to a Beijing-based trade expert.

In the wake of years of high economic growth, there is now a large middle class comprised of around 400 million Chinese consumers, said Glenn G. Peñaranda, the commercial counsellor with the Philippine Trade and Investment Center (PTIC) branch in Beijing.

A distinct feature of Chinese consumers is their move toward the so-called consumption upgrade, which is characterized by burgeoning online sales and huge demand for high-quality goods and services as a result of rising disposable income and technology inno-

vation. “They want better things, they want higher quality things, they want convenient things,” Peñaranda stressed. “China wants to import more because their people are now capable of buying the best products in the world.”

They also seek healthy, natural, and green products, Peñaranda added, who spoke on Chinese market trends at a recent webinar.

One of the biggest impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic is it made Chinese people want to eat healthier and to seek out more fruits, particularly fresh ones.

This bodes well for the Philippines, the third-largest supplier of fruits to the country, the expert said. The Philippines’s top agricultural food exports to China include Cavendish banana, fresh pineapple, coconut oil, seaweed, desiccated coconut, mud crabs and preserved or prepared pineapple.

Meanwhile, recently approved for export to the Chinese market are fresh young coconut, frozen fruits like banana, pineapple and mango, as well as avocado. In the pipeline are durian, specialty rice, and mangosteen.

Peñaranda urged the agribusiness sector to produce more because “in our dealings with many of the importers, we find really strong demand, so it is important to start planting all of these fruits that we can add to the supply.”

He also highlighted the advantages of the Philippines, including proximity to China so “many of our fresh fruit products arrive in China in still very good condition.”

Another major trend worth noting is the rise of new consumption models, such as online shopping, mobile payment, and online-offline integration, said Peñaranda.

“In China almost all people pay using their mobile phones, and they have used this in a big way in almost all transactions,” he said.

Also booming is cross-border e-commerce, which again presents good opportunities for Filipino businesses.

“We already have several products that are on the online e-commerce market of China, but we in PTIC China, together with some of our partners, are looking at how we can bring in more products through the mainstream online e-commerce platforms in China.”

Finally, he advises Filipino entrepreneurs to learn WeChat, the Chinese multipurpose messaging, social media and mobile payment app, adding that it will prove very useful as the Philippines starts to do more business with China.

For UK exporters, post-Brexit border chaos arrives early

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ONDON—For some British truckers, retailers and traders, a feared New Year’s nightmare arrived early.

“French borders closed,” signs on roads approaching the English Channel port of Dover flashed Monday, steering truck drivers away as traffic backed up. British supermarkets warned that supplies of fresh produce could run short within days.

Businesses have spent months worrying about disruption at Britain’s borders when the UK makes a post-Brexit economic break from the European Union at the end of the year. Monday’s mayhem, however, was caused by the coronavirus.

Early tracking of a Covid-19 variant that scientists think may spread more easily plunged southern England into lockdown and over the weekend prompted countries around the world to halt flights from the UK France went further and shut its border for at least 48 hours from Sunday night, stopping people and cargo vehicles entering by air, road, sea or rail.

The move left the 6,000 trucks that cross from England to France each day on ferries from Dover or on trains through the Eurotunnel stuck, for now, in England.

Port of Dover Chief Executive Doug Bannister said that if the port was not reopened soon, there would

A POLICE officer directs traffic at the entrance to the closed ferry terminal in Dover, England, Monday, December 21, 2020, after the Port of Dover was closed and access to the Eurotunnel terminal was suspended following the French government’s announcement. France banned all travel from the UK for 48 hours from midnight Sunday, including trucks carrying freight through the tunnel under the English Channel or from the port of Dover on England’s south coast. AP

be “quite a stark situation.”

“Because of the importance of the Dover straits in handling critical goods such as food and other things like that, I think it could become quite dramatic,” he said.

French Transport Minister JeanBaptiste Djebbari said a new “health protocol” to be introduced within hours should allow shipments from

the UK to resume. British officials said they were conferring urgently with their European counterparts.

The delays were an early taste of what many businesses worry will happen on January 1, when Britain leaves the EU’s economic structures, including its vast single market for goods. The break will mean new customs inspections and paperwork—

and even worse disruption if the two sides don’t have a new trade agreement in place.

Trade negotiations that began after Britain formally left the EU on January 31 have staggered on for months, with the two sides unable to bridge gaps over fair-competition guarantees and European boats’ access to British fishing waters. With 10 days until the yearend deadline, both sides say it’s likely the talks will fail and there will be a bumpy “no-deal” British exit on January 1.

Earlier this year the UK government published its “reasonable worst-case scenario” for postBrexit border disruption, including lines of 7,000 trucks near Dover and two-day waits to cross the English Channel.

Even if there is a trade deal, new inspections and red tape will bring delays. The government is building huge new truck parking depots and customs clearance sites around southeast England to ease the strain, though most are unfinished or behind schedule.

On Monday, officials shut a stretch of the main highway to Dover, turning it into a parking lot for trucks, and said a disused airport would be reopened to park another 4,000 goods vehicles to help ease gridlock. AP

S the country’s enterprises recover from the adverse impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) is pushing for the resilience of the country’s industries by making Philippine manufacturing smarter.

This was the theme of the recently concluded virtual Manufacturing Summit 2020, DTI’s annual gathering of key stakeholders from the public and private sectors to review the performance of the country’s manufacturing sector and consider ways forward in its development.

“Innovation in our industries will be key to sustained competitiveness and development in the new normal.

The silver lining with the pandemic is that it is catalyzing the adoption and utilization of advanced digital technologies among our enterprises,” Trade Secretary Ramon Lopez said.

He added: “We need to stay the course to sustain the resurgence of local manufacturing, which should involve the digital transformation of our industries. To be resilient, Philippine manufacturing must evolve faster, better, and smarter.”

The summit covered discussions on government policies and programs to renew the national economy; future-proofing the country’s manufacturing enterprises through new business models and robust supply chains; and accelerating technology adoption and innovation among Philippine enterprises.

Aside from featuring speakers from DTI, including Competitiveness and Innovation Group Undersecretary Rafaelita Aldaba and Industry Development and Trade Policy Group Undersecretary and Board of Investments Managing Head Ceferino Rodolfo, the summit featured presentations by experts from Deloitte Southeast Asia, McKinsey Singapore, Siemens, TÜV SÜD, the United Nations Industrial Development Organization, and the World Bank.

From the perspective of the private sector, Ayala Corp. Chairman and CEO Jaime Augusto Zobel de Ayala highlighted that “both the public and private sectors will have vital roles to play, not only in rebuilding the country’s manufacturing capacity but also in transforming it for greater global relevance.”

“The private sector can complement and support the government’s efforts to build a strong and sustainable manufacturing base by creating new jobs aligned with the post-pandemic economy, helping reskill the work force, and localizing the highvalue, complex capabilities required for long-term national competitiveness,” he added.

Across the Summit’s three sessions, major themes were brought to the fore. First is the importance of government support in foster-

ing innovation among the country’s enterprises and ensuring an enabling policy environment for the manufacturing industry toward promoting technology investment, adoption, and utilization.

Second is the importance for firms to accelerate their digitalization, adopt flexible and adaptive business operations, and enhance the capacities and skills of their work force through existing advanced technologies and new business models in order to be more competitive, resilient, and more productive in the post-pandemic future.

And third is that the collaboration among government, industry, and academe will be key to facilitating the digital transformation of local enterprises and will be crucial to better prepare the country’s industries and workers for future disruptions.

The summit also highlighted the significant opportunities that await Philippine enterprises under the recently signed Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) and the anticipated enactment of the Corporate Recovery and Tax Incentives for Enterprises (or CREATE) bill.

“The signing of RCEP came at such an opportune time as the agreement is in line with the country’s initiatives and reforms in building a more robust and conducive investment and business environment amidst and post Covid-19,” Lopez said.

“RCEP will broaden the Philippines’s economic engagements with its trading partners through improved trade and investment, enhanced transparency, integrated regional supply chains, and strengthened economic cooperation. Furthermore, it will complement our ongoing programs and policies to make the country a manufacturing and investment hub in the region,” he also explained.

The trade chief emphasized that micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) will benefit the most from CREATE, as it provides for an immediate 10-percent reduction in the corporate income tax (CIT) rate, bringing it down to 20 percent (from 30 percent at present), specifically for domestic corporations with total assets, excluding land, of not more than P100 million and net taxable income of P5 million and below. For domestic corporations with a net taxable income of more than P5 million, foreign corporations, and non-resident foreign corporations will still benefit from the outright 5-percent reduction in the CIT rate beginning July 2020.

“We look forward to maximizing the opportunities presented by CREATE and RCEP in the years ahead,” the trade chief stated.

OurTime BusinessMirror

www.businessmirror.com.ph

93-year-old Cagayan resident recounts worst flood in her life

By Rizal Raoul S. Reyes

T

YPHOON Ulysses smashed the whole of Luzon on November 11, 2020, whipping destructive winds and dumping heavy rainfall that triggered massive flooding in several areas including Cagayan Valley, which was one of the most severely affected. Francesca Taguiam, a 93-year-old resident of Peñablanca, Cagayan, has braved hundreds of storms. But she said the flooding caused by Ulysses was the worst in her lifetime.

According to Taguiam, she was with her son Romeo when the cyclone hit the province. “We were inside our house but we can feel the strong winds. Then water started coming inside our house. When I saw the flood rising so fast, I got worried but I can’t do anything. I was just lying in bed because I am having difficulty standing up on my own due to old age,” Taguiam said in Filipino.

Facing tremendous odds in life mainly caused by poverty has become normal for Taguiam. She re-

Ilocos Norte to prioritize elderly, frontliners in vaccination drive

By Leilanie Adriano

L

AOAG CITY—The Provincial Health Office (PHO) is now making a list of essential frontline workers and people aged 75 and older to become the first recipients of a massive immunization drive once the Covid-19 vaccine is available in the province.

Dr. Josephine Ruedas reported this on Tuesday as they are now in the process of determining the order of high-risk priority groups to be immunized first.

“For those who belong to this age group, please register and become the first recipients of the Covid-19 vaccines,” said Ruedas.

According to Ruedas, adults aged 75 and older—along with frontline workers such as police officers, firefighters, prison officers, and grocery store workers—should be prioritized in the immunization program expected to start in the second quarter of next year.

During his December 11 visit to Ilocos Norte, National Action Plan Against Covid-19 Deputy Chief Implementer Secretary Vicencio Dizon assured officials and residents of Ilocos Norte that they are on the priority list to avail of the vaccine once it is available in the country.

However, he appealed to all medical frontliners to help people appreciate the immunization program and why they have to prioritize seniors and immunocompromised individuals. PNA

TAGUIAM

called one incident years ago that nearly took her life. “I was walking then, and I suddenly lost consciousness. I collapsed and badly hit my head on the pavement. The hard blow to my head was so serious I needed to have a brain surgery.

I was lucky that there were good people that helped me financially.

But because of our extreme poverty, I had to stop my maintenance medicines,” Taguiam said.

Typhoon Ulysses struck the province at the worst time. And senior citizens like Taguiam greatly suffered during the flooding. She was desperate for help. She said it was Smart’s parent company, telecom giant PLDT, that reached out to her family after the company mobilized its disaster response in typhoon-hit areas. As part of its 92nd anniversary celebration, PLDT provided relief assistance in typhoon-hit Cagayan. The telco gave Taguiam a special package, including a cash donation to cover some of her maintenance medicines, and a Noche Buena pack.

PLDT distributed relief packs, blankets, face masks and face shields to 165 families affected by the recent flooding due to Typhoon Ulysses in Brgy. Malibabag and Brgy. Agugaddan, Peñablanca, Cagayan. PLDT Cagayan Valley Customer Service Zone Head Cris Mandac led the relief operations.

For its part, Smart Communica-

tions Inc. provided free calls, charging, and Wi-Fi services in areas affected by Typhoon Ulysses. In a statement, the company said it offered free data and text/call credits to affected Smart and TNT customers in NCR and Luzon to provide vital communication services to those who need it most.

“We did what we can to keep Filipinos connected during those challenging times. We exerted all efforts to keep communication services running during the flooding as these are crucial in response and relief efforts,” said Cathy Yap-Yang, PLDT-Smart first vice president and head of Corporate Communications.

In her sunset years, Taguiam’s wish is simple: “I am old, so my only wish is for my family to have a good life and to always be safe,” she said.

With eight children and 37 grandchildren, Taguiam is living a long, fulfilled life, surrounded by her loved ones. The 93-year-old lady has some wise words for today’s youth: “Study hard, listen to your parents and have faith in God.”

Graciano Lopez Jaena’s 164th birthday virtually celebrated

By Perla Lena

I

LOILO CITY—The Iloilo city government and the Graciano Lopez Jaena Foundation will be setting up the Graciano Lopez Jaena Shrine that will be constructed in Barangay Fajardo in Jaro district, the birthplace of the Ilonggo hero.

This, as the city government led Ilonggos in commemorating the 164th birth anniversary of hero Graciano Lopez Jaena on Friday through a short video presentation.

The over 11 minutes presentation featured stories and facts about the life of Lopez Jaena from historians and his descendants.

Ilonggo historian Demi Sonza said that founding the newspaper La Solidaridad in 1889 in Barcelona, Spain was the “most significant thing” Lopez Jaena did.

“Our hero from Jaro took the initiative of putting up a newspaper to be the official organ of the propaganda movement. He called the newspaper he founded La Solidaridad, advocating equality between Spaniards and Filipinos before the law advocating the granting to Filipinos of fundamental freedoms like freedom of speech, freedom of the press, and freedom of assembly,” Sonza said.

He added that the newspaper, for seven years, was the “mirror of Filipinos’ dream and aspiration.”

Two days before the virtual celebration, the city government and the Graciano Lopez Jaena Foundation broke the ground for the shrine.

Mia Fe Lopez-Cruz, 4th genera-

ILOILO City Mayor Jerry P. Treñas (second from left) leads the groundbreaking for the soon to be constructed Graciano Lopez Jaena Shrine in Barangay Fajardo, Jaro, on December 16, 2020.

On December 18, 2020, a virtual presentation was done to commemorate the Ilonggo national hero’s 164th birth anniversary. PHOTO BY ARNOLD ALMACEN/CMO

tion descendant and president of the foundation, said that the lot was purchased for the city government to build the Graciano Lopez Jaena museum and library.

“Our primary aim is to perpetuate the memory of our only Jaroleño Ilonggo national hero and secondly to promote his ideas that remain relevant until today,” she said.

The hero, she added, has left Ilonggos with “priceless heritage that present and future generation should appreciate.”

Mayor Jerry P. Treñas said that Lopez Jaena is “an embodiment of the bravery and courage of Filipino people who are willing to put their lives at risk for freedom and justice through his written works.”

“Today is a reminder, through our little act, by doing our own share, we

can become heroes of our own. Let this serve as an inspiration to all of us that we can become the modern heroes of our country by helping our fellowmen, by doing our own little share in bettering the communities and by supporting government programs and projects that promote sustainability,” he said.

Meanwhile, Bacolod-based journalist Mate Espina said that while she could not remember a particular story that was told by her grandmother about the hero, she believed Lopez Jaena’s blood runs through their veins because they are from a family of journalists.

“I guess Graciano continues to inspire us in our work as journalists.

Like him we refused to be silent and continue to speak about the truth, especially today,” she said. PNA

Editor: Angel R. Calso • Saturday, December 26, 2020 A7

A vaccine called humor

By Nick Tayag

MY SIXTY-ZEN’S WORTH

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RUTH to tell, I had this topic in mind for quite a while now but I held back writing about it worrying that people would find it tactless and inappropriate for the times.

But now that the season of “good tidings of comfort and joy” is upon us, I think it’s safe to come out about this subject. After all, the world needs a little chilling and lightening up, albeit with caveats from health experts to mute the celebrations down.

Humor, after all, is the kind of medicine we most need at the moment, with the vaunted vaccine still out of our reach in the Philippines.

So why not live up to our reputation as being flippant and facetious? We all know that the Pinoy will always find humor in the most horrible situation. It is our way of staying buoyant; keeping us afloat above water so we don’t drown. It’s not in our nature to brood and mope deeply about the vicissitudes of fate. The popular song says it all: Tawanan mo ang iyong mga problema!

But come to think of it, a lot of comedy is based on something going wrong—just look at old Charlie Chaplin or Buster Keaton films or today’s YouTube “funny fails” or prank videos. They show incidents that are so moronic or absurd they make us laugh. It’s no coincidence that the number of followers and viewers of visual prank videos exponentially went up during the long lockdown.

Some will raise their eyebrows on this but I think we should start re-opening comedy bars, with proper social distancing, of course. Let’s have more comedy movies and TV programs. Why? Because humor is really healthful. According to scientific studies, laughter makes us stronger. A good laugh can boost our dopamine levels and is said to increase infection-fighting antibodies, meaning you may become more resistant to the virus after having regular doses of humor.

As the popular song puts it: I started a joke and started the whole world laughing. Indeed, humor forms a community; when we laugh at the same thing, we affirm each other in a shared experience of a situation. Funny jokes—even funny coronavirus jokes—bring us together and help us to feel connected.

Just like dreaming, laughing at jokes serves as an outlet for what inhibits us, such as phobia or fear of the strange.

So, while we all continue to take the situation seriously, strictly following the recommendations from the authorities, we also need to laugh and to have a few light moments. A few pandemic jokes might just take our minds off apocalyp-

tic forebodings, reminding us that there’s always something to be happy about.

By joking about the pandemic, we break through our bubble of fear and anxiety and thus ease some of the nervousness bottled up inside —consciously or unconsciously.

That’s what the best stand-up comedians do: extract humor out of small, everyday situations by turning the situation on its head and doing something a little different from what we expect. Right now, the pandemic situation has led authorities to issue an effluvia of idiotic and contradictory restrictions ad absurdum that we’re having fun ridiculing them on social media. “Dyan mabilis ang Pinoy: sa kalokohan at biruan,” my friend Del once remarked.

“If you are able to teach people to be more playful, to look at the absurdities of life as humorous, you see some increase in wellbeing,” said Stanford researcher Andrea Samson and psychology Professor James Gross Samson in a news report.

So, if there is something that needs to go viral, it’s humor. Spread it and together let’s laugh away our Covid fears.

Joke time: • A guy comes to pay his bills and finds himself at the tail-end of people waiting in line. Unwilling to wait, he coughs loudly and everybody starts to run away to avoid him. Now, he gets to the front of the line.

• A man with long hair who looks like a hermit goes inside a barbershop and he is turned away because he is mistaken to be an unkempt beggar asking for money or food.

• A child tugs at her mommy and says there’s a line of witches outside a salon. Looking at them closely, the mommy realizes that they are just women who have not been groomed for the past months.

• Heard it on the Covid grapevine: John Travolta has tested negative for coronavirus last night.

Turns out it was just “Saturday night fever.”

Mom: Maligo ka na nga. Naamoy na kita.

Son: Mommy, kung naaamoy mo ako, negative ka for Covid. Kasi ang isang symptom is loss of smell.

• Mommy: Sino ang kumuha ng bra na nakasampay?

Son: Bra mo ba ’yon Mommy?

Akala ko face mask.

So there, folks. While waiting for the vaccine that’s taking forever to arrive, let us make use of mankind’s old medicine. Let us inject some humor into the conversation around the Noche Buena table and even beyond Christmas. God knows we need to take this “humor vaccine” not in one dose but many doses during our lifetime.

Swedish king says Sweden failed to protect elderly in care homes

By Jan M. Olsen

The Associated Press

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OPENHAGEN, Denmark— Sweden’s King Carl XVI Gustaf said on Thursday he believes his country has failed to protect the elderly in care homes from the effects of the pandemic.

“I think we have failed. We have a large number who have died and that is terrible. It is something we all suffer with,” the monarch said.

His comments followed the con-

clusions presented on Tuesday by an independent commission that looked into Sweden’s handling of the pandemic. It said that elderly care in Sweden has major structural shortcomings and authorities have proved unprepared and ill-equipped to meet the pandemic.

Sweden has stood out among European and other nations for the way it has handled the pandemic, long not mandating lockdowns like other nations but relying on citizens’ sense of civic duty. The Scandinavian

country has seen more than 7,800 virus-related deaths.

In September, Sweden lifted a national ban on visiting elderly people in care homes, saying the need had decreased. The ban came after the bulk of Sweden’s deaths earlier this year were recorded among people above the age of 70, and many in nursing homes.

“You think of all the family members who have not been able to say goodbye to their deceased family members,” the king said in an ex-

cerpt of a prerecorded Christmas interview broadcast on December 21 on Swedish broadcaster SVT. “I think it is a heavy and traumatic experience not to be able to say a warm goodbye.”

The excerpt was broadcast on SVT. “The Swedish people have suffered enormously in difficult conditions,” Carl Gustaf said, adding, “Lately, it has felt more obvious, it has crept closer and closer. That’s not what you want.”

His son, Prince Carl Philip who is fifth in the line of succession, and his wife Princess Sofia have both tested positive and had milder flu symptoms. They were quarantined at home with their two children.

Carl Gustaf is Sweden’s head of state, but his duties are ceremonial, and he holds no political power.

Sweden’s strategy had been expected to spare the country a resurgence of the disease this fall. Before the conclusions of the report were

published, Prime Minister Stefan Lofven said health officials had misjudged the impact of the latest wave of the pandemic.

“The commission criticizes different governments and different municipal instances,” Lofven said of the stinging official report.

Mats Melin, head of the commission that penned the report, said the blame for structural shortcomings in Sweden’s health-care system could be placed on several authorities and organizations. AP

A8 Saturday, December 26, 2020

Education BusinessMirror

Editor: Mike Policarpio

UST’s Paskuhan 2020 honors medical frontliners

A

GAINST the backdrop of a pandemic, long-time traditions of the University of Santo Tomas (UST) were still carried out—albeit following protocols of the new normal.

The much-anticipated yearly series of gatherings was held from December 16 to 18, with “Rejoice!

Rejoice! Emmanuel shall come to thee, O Israel” as the theme. Using technology and social media, UST marked the start of its annual Paskuhan festivities with the ceremonial lighting of its Christmas tree and campus ornaments.

To rightfully honor health-care professionals who have been selflessly caring for public health during the ongoing health crisis, UST’s Vice-Rector Rev. Fr. Isaias Tiongco, OP, JCD, together with UST Hospital’s CEO Rev. Fr. Julius Factora, OP, Medical Director Dr. Charito Malong-Consolacion, President of Health Staff Organization Among Residents in Training Dr. Jojo Manahan, Internal Medicine Chief Resident Dr. Shane Villamonte, Nursing Services Head Aleli Cabaneros, and Director for Administration Associate Professor Analin E. Porto, Dr. EM initiated the campus lighting with a symbolic button-press.

Also present at the UST Grandstand who graced the lighting ceremony were Secretary-General Rev. Fr. Jesus M. Miranda Jr., OP, PhD., Facilities Management Office Director Rev. Fr. Dexter A. Austria, OP, and other Dominican fathers.

Christmas concert

IMMEDIATELY after the campus

lighting, the annual UST Christmas Concert followed in the same live stream. Held in the previous years at the Santisimo Rosario Parish Church or the UST Chapel at the UST Plaza Mayor, this year’s concert was performed online.

In his welcome message, Fr. Tiongco said: “Christmas and music go together, and the celebration becomes livelier when Yuletide carols accompany our joyful feelings as we await the birth of our Savior, Jesus Christ.”

He added that this year’s Christmas concert was to feature “a mixture of classical and popular Christmas tunes, [as well as novel soundscapes, imagined and interpreted by UST’s] finest musicians.”

Because of the online medium, the concert was able to gather even the UST Conservatory of Music alumni living abroad. Dr. Rene Dalandan, Marites Fernandez, Dr. Horacio Nuguid and Mary Anne Espina—four internationally renowned professional pianists— collaborated across different time zones for an online performance of The Marriage of Figaro Overture

by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and arranged by R. Keller.

Highlights of the concert also included the performance of Dr. Raul M. Sunico, National Commission for Culture and the Arts board member, Klassical Music Foundation president and former UST Conservatory of Music dean. He played his

THE nativity scene at the Arch of the Centuries.

UST officials lead the lighting ceremony at the university’s grandstand.

DR. Raul Sunico (right) accompanies Rachelle Gerodias-Park and Byeong-in Park.

GINA Medina Perez (from left), Mary Anne Espina and Nenen Espina deliver a stirring performance.

self-arranged medley of Christmas songs entitled Pamaskong Handog ni Wow! Sunico also accompanied on the piano renowned singers Rachelle Gerodias- Park (soprano), and her husband Byeong-in Park (baritone), for their rendition of Jesu Bambino/O Holy Night.

Faculty members Victor Victorino, playing on a fully restored rare Spanish pipe organ, and cellist Dr. Renato Lucas, performed Andante-Allegro from Sonata No. 1 in G Major composed by Johannes Sebastian Bach.

The concert also showcased two original songs composed and written by Conservatory of Music

students. Sa Araw na Ito, composed by The TonTones, was sung acapella by Sherwin de Leon, Heber O’Hara, Jasmin Nepomuceno, Kevin Pangilinan, David San Luis, and Carl Marius Uy. Pasko ng mga Tomasino was composed and sung

by Mark Wilson Estrada, Harold Nikko Forton, Katherine Morales, Jumreih Cacal, Allan Bert Cortavist, and Airo Saret.

Other performances included segments from the UST Singers, UST Symphony Orchestra, faculty member-pianist Mary Anne Espina, soprano Nenen Espina, violinist Gina Medina Perez, Coro Tomasino, UST Conservatory of Music Voice Alumni, and Liturgikon Vo-

Education, kids’ rights tackled in Czech Republic, Unicef meeting

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N celebration of the United Nations (UN) International Human Rights Day, the Embassy of the Czech Republic in Manila, in partnership with Unicef Phils., organized a working breakfast on December 11 which tackled children’s rights and education in the time of the pandemic.

The morning event gathered local nongovernment organizations working specifically for children’s rights and discussed the situation of education in the Philippines amid the ongoing contagion. Unicef Phils.’ Deputy Representative Behzad Noubary and Education Specialist Teresita Felipe presented the six-point agenda of the UN agency in addressing the challenges on children’s rights exacerbated further by the pandemic.

“The [health crisis is a childs’] rights crisis. Children are affected by the pandemic in various ways, which could impede the full realization of their rights,” said Noubary. “We welcome the partnership with the Czech Embassy to highlight this issue and support

Paskuhan concert

THE annual Paskuhan Mass was celebrated at the Santisimo Rosario Parish Church on December 17, as the three-day “Paskuhan” was capped on December 18 with a “Concert-for-a-Cause,” a mini-documentary of past concerts, and fireworks.

The UST Central Student Council, in its Twitter account, shared that local bands Lola Amour, Brisom, MilesExperience, Magnus Haven, The Ransom Collective, and Callalily, among others, were scheduled to perform.

All the above-mentioned activities are available for viewing online via the university’s official Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/UST1611official.

EDUCATORS SPEAK

Science teacher leads college’s paradigm shift

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AMBASSADOR Jana Šedivá

UNICEF Phils.’ Deputy Representative Behzad Noubary

UNICEF Phils.’ Education Specialist Teresita Felipe

children’s recovery.”

The breakfast gathering also provided an avenue to discuss vital issues on the Philippines’s education crisis involving its “digital divide,” accessibility and accountability, where the need to challenge disinformation and disseminate information on positive and negative impact of reopening face-toface classes were emphasized.

“In celebration of the UN Human Rights Day, this tradition of

[the Czech Republic to conduct a working breakfast with humanrights activists is an opportunity to provide a platform] that allows collective discussion and collaborative actions, especially on children’s rights,” commented Ambassador Jana Šedivá. “The embassy recognizes the importance of highlighting this issue, especially that children are one of the vulnerable actors affected by the pandemic.”

The event was conducted in commemoration of t he 1988 working breakfast held by the French Embassy in Prague that gathered human-rights defenders during the communist regime, which has then become a Czech tradition. The breakfast is also held under the umbrella of the UN Human Rights Day celebrated by the Delegation of the European Union and its member-states in the Philippines.

UP Virata School of Business students supported by Globe in remote learning

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SSUES concerning the education sector have been magnified with the shift to distance learning.

With face-to-face classes still not allowed, students rely on digital devices and the Internet to download learning materials and attend synchronous online classes. These can prove to be a challenge to some more than others—given the inequality in students’ access to connectivity.

Part of its commitment to ensure that no student gets left behind in this transition, Globe Telecom lends a helping hand to different learning institutions all over the country by recreating the way students learn.

cal Ensemble.

The Brass and Percussion Ensemble, the Faculty Guitar Quartet, the UST Wind Orchestra performed, the Woodwind Quintet, and the Large Ensemble Classes 1 and 3 also took to the stage.

UST Conservatory of Music Dean Dr. Antonio Africa, who served as concert director, closed the musical extravaganza as he thanked the performers and audience. He then wished the community a Merry Christmas and a brighter, happier New Year.

The UST Lighting Ceremonies and Christmas Concert may be watched online through https:// youtu.be/uYmsgF5IPRk.

Recently, the UP Virata School of Business was able to aid its students with their connectivity needs, in partnership with Globe myBusiness, as it donated 200 prepaid SIM cards and 400 pieces of P500 call cards to the UPVSB. “These SIM cards and phone loads will be distributed to our marginal-

ized students who encounter difficulty in their remote learning access,” said UPVSB Dean Joel Tan-Torres.

“There will be a portion to be allotted for students who participate in the [college’s projects].”

Students can register to Go50 to do their schoolwork and attend online classes with ease. It comes with 5 gigabytes of open access data; 1 GB of data for GoLEARN apps that include YouTube Learning, Wikipedia, Google Suite, CourseHero, Canva, WhatsApp, Telegram, and Spotify; 1 GB of free GoWiFi access; and unlimited texts to all networks. The promo is valid for three days, and even comes

with a free three-month subscription to Shaw Academy. For longer validity, Globe also offers Go70 for Students with the same features as Go50, but is useable for five days.

“Globe myBusiness has been steadfast in assisting learning institutions ever since the onset of the pandemic, which affected the education sector gravely,” Globe myBusiness Education Segment Head Mark Arthur Abalos stated.

“Through webinars and donations like this, we hope to be of help when it comes to the connectivity needs of students so that they can continue their learning from home.”

HE current pandemic has posed a colossal problem to students, such as poor Internet connectivity, lack of educational materials, and the low quality of the learning modules.

Nevertheless, Wilfredo K. Pardorla Jr., a teacher of environment, science and physics of the senior high-school department in Cebu provinces’ Saint Cecilia’s College, is unfazed by these obstacles. “[These hurdles do not extinguish] my burning passion,” Pardorla told the B usinessM irror in an e-mail interview. “Eventually, this passion in teaching, together with my co-teacher-researchers, gave birth to pioneering research projects on high-altitude ballooning and rocketry in the Philippines.”

The educator pointed out that teaching physics at this time presents a new breed of challenges, while ensuring his students achieve the processes of concept, calculation and real-life application in every physics lesson.

“The real-life application had to be partnered with experiments and teacher demonstrations,” Pardorla said.

According to the educator, teachers are currently experiencing major paradigm shifts in terms of teaching-learning processes delivery. As a result, he transformed from being an online learner, as he took webinars and accredited online courses, to online-distance teacher.

Pardorla shared that the retention span and screen time of the students have to be factored-in into the lesson preparation in the new normal to minimize distractions created by many factors at home.

The focus on learning, he opined, is a bit of a challenge both in online and modular mode of learning: “This one, along with other factors, may lead to procrastination among students in completing their tasks and activities.”

In an online set-up, Pardorla said he has still to innovate ways to determine if his students actually learn from his classes. To remedy the situation, he gave the appropri-

SAINT Cecilia’s College in Cebu’s Wilfredo K. Pardorla Jr.

ate assessments.

Pardorla considers as a blessing his online-teaching application in previous face-to-face classes through blended learning and flipped classroom—even prior to the pandemic.

The science teacher revealed he and other faculty members in their institution are still currently addressing the debacle of Internet access and connectivity of their students. They also devised ways to divide their classes with three learning options to cater to the different economic capacities of their students. These are online classes, digital modular classes, and printed modular classes for the basic education department.

Online classes are delivered through videoconferencing for synchronous sessions and learning-management systems for asynchronous sessions. Meanwhile, printed modular classes are for those students who have very limited to no access to the Internet.

Printed modules are released and retrieved on pre-set dates through the students’ parents, guardians or relatives.

Their digital modular classes, Pardorla shared, are for those students who can log on to the Internet, but still have limited or disrupted connections for the entire week. Digital modules, together with supplementary activities, are given to them and retrieved via the Internet in bulk at a predetermined date. Rizal Raoul S. Reyes

Tourism&Entertainment BusinessMirror

Editor: Carla Mortel-Baricaua

Saturday, December 26, 2020 A9

Autumn Breaks at the UNESCO World Heritage Village of Shirakawa-go

The village as seen from the viewdeck

Mr. Kanda poses in front of his house

A peace-loving scarecrow

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Blossoming orange trees signals the autumn season Story & photos by Marky Ramone Go

y first Japan experience continues to defy my expectations. Expecting to be greeted by towering skyscrapers dotting the skylines of Tokyo and other cities in the land of the rising sun, endless postcard-like countryside scenery impresses me instead.

Directing my gaze outside our bus window, I see the gleaming landscape in the process of changing hues as the lush forests starts to adapt to the incoming autumn season.

Inside our tour bus, our tour guide Tomoko-San was explaining the cultural and architectural significance of our next destination: Shirakawa-go Village in the Ōno District, Gifu Prefecture, The Unesco World Heritage Site of Shirakawa-go is a traditional village known for its centuriesold wooden houses designed in a unique architectural style known as gasshō-zukuri. These houses are characterized by roofs resembling how a Buddhist monk would merge his two hands in prayer and designed in a way to withstand the heavy downpour of snow come winter season.

As the centerpiece of each Gas-

sho-zukuri houses, the thatched roofing is built in an intricate and laborious manner. The concept of “YUI”—a labor exchange system like our ‘bayanihan’ tradition, participated by volunteer neighbors, is practiced during the construction of the roofs. The meticulous process starts when workers drew straws from crops. It is then used to thatch the roof during autumn and spring time. After it dries up it is then used as snow shield surrounding the Gassho-style houses.

It is interesting to note that these roofs are constructed without the use of a single nail. Everything was hand sewn together and because of its triangular shape it creates a spacious attic where residents cultivate silkworms.

As our bus rolled into a complete stop and Tomoko-San told us to alight, a bevy of cool wind emanating from the clear afternoon

sky embraces my whole body further introducing me to the autumn season. A few steps later, I found myself standing at the edge of Shiroyama Viewpoint, where down below spread a spectacular sight of the entire settlement. Surrounded by rolling hills and lush greenery, the town appear like a setting from a 16th-century Samurai fable. Highlighted by the slanting thatched roof, the houses form a series of rows along intertwining patterns of lawn walkways and paved streets.

As surreal as the scene from the viewpoint, the best way to experience Shirakawa-go is to take a stroll through the village. The feeling of striding over the streets where these houses stands and still inhabited by the descendants of its original residents, brings forth a perception of shifting to a different era.

I would compare this to the small village of Chavayan in the island of Batanes where old stone houses still accommodate residents who refuses to surrender to the pull of modernity. There is an undeniable charming vibe that exists all over Shirakawa-go. I overheard my friend Kezia asking Tomoko-San if travelers can stay at one of the Gassho-styled houses. “Yes, in fact there are a few inns here inside the village” replies Tomoko-San. According to her, when winter breaks, the sight of the houses covered in blinding white snow turn into notches more visually captivating.

Enlisted as a Unesco World Heritage Site in 1995, Shirakawa-go en-

Colorful fishes swim in the clean canals of the village

Residents uses the front lot for farming

compasses an idyllic setting where a whole community thrived in a sustainable environment for more than 100 years before attracting the attention of curious travelers yearning a peek into their world.

Apar t f rom t he renow ned Glasso-zukuri homes, the village

is also popular for its abundance of mulberry trees which is grown in and outside the village. The residents used to strip this tree of its components to create and trade sanchu paper, which was once considered an extremely expensive type of paper in Japan. Today, only

a few residents continue to make this kind of paper.

Continuing our walk, our group entered one of the Glasso-Zukuri houses, the Kanda house where the amiable 70-something Mr. Kanda cheerfully motioned us to come inside “Welcome to our home, it is not the biggest, but it is the most majestic house in the village” he declared with a smile. The first floor consisted of the living room, dining room, kitchen and an Irori fireplace laid out at the center of the house.

We huddled around it while Mr. Kanda narrated the brief history of the house and not soon after, the heat emanating from the fireplace instantly warmed our cold bodies.

A tour of the rest of the Kanda house took us to the second floor and the attic where we saw various apparatuses used for farming and fermenting sake wine are displayed as if it’s a museum. Peeking out the attic window I am again reminded of the sheer beauty of the village’s neighborhood. A mixture of the changing colors of the trees foregrounding the other Glasso-Zukuri homes surrounded by pasture dotted with colorful flowers, meets my eyes. I imagine what mornings would be like to awake in such painterly banquet.

Our whole exploration of the village of Shirakawa-go lasted for almost a couple of hours. Too short to fully immerse in the impressiveness of the village’s setting, but more than enough to leave an imprint in my mind of a fantasylike world coming alive in real life.

LIPAD GIVES AWAY ‘SIMBANG GABI’ TREATS TO ARRIVING PASSENGERS

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ilipinos abroad have waited a long time to be reunited with families and friends because of the pandemic so on the first day of Simbang Gabi, LIPAD Corp., operator of Clark International Airport, gives arriving international passengers their first taste of home and a little bit of nostalgia. Passengers arriving from Dubai were surprised with a Filipino Christmas experience complete

with freshly cooked bibingka, Christmas songs and an overall holiday feel as they wait for the buses that will take them to their hotels where they will wait for the results of their Covid-19 tests.

Christmas surprises have become a tradition for LIPAD, as last year, airport staff spent a part of their Christmas Eve giving away Noche Buena baskets to the delight of arriving OFWs. Now on their second year, the

team is not letting the pandemic dampen Christmas spirits by preparing this Simbang Gabi treat.

Bi Yong Chungunco, CEO of LIPAD Corp. said in a statement, “Christmas is very important for Filipino families, and because of the pandemic, our kababayans abroad were uncertain if they will be able to spend this year’s Christmas at home. We felt that as the first gateway to their journey home, we should give them

a very warm welcome and make them feel the Filipino holiday spirit as soon as they set foot in the country.”

Ever mindful of health and safety protocols, the bibingka were prepackaged in sanitized containers. Airport marshals were present to constantly remind passengers about physical distancing and to make sure that bus boarding procedure continues unhampered by the event.

An arriving Filipina passenger from Dubai is filled with glee as airport staff surprises passengers with freshly cooked bibingka amids Christmas songs in time for the holidays.

BusinessMirror

A10 Saturday, December 26, 2020 • Editor: Gerard S. Ramos

What’s next for Facebook in the antitrust case? government’s theory of the case, divestiture is the only way to cure the anticompetitive harm,” said Daniel A. Lyons, a law professor and antitrust expert at Boston College. “But courts traditionally break up companies only as a last resort, because unwinding two merged entities is difficult. In this case, it would involve undoing over a decade of integration.”

Facebook doesn’t operate the three companies as separate businesses and has been integrating functions of Instagram and WhatsApp with its main platform. For instance, users can now access messages sent on either app in Facebook’s Messenger app.

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IN this April 2018 file photo, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg testifies before a House Energy and Commerce hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington, about the use of Facebook data to target American voters in the 2016 election and data privacy. AP

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BY BARBARA O�TUTAY The Associated Press

OULD Facebook be forced to spin off WhatsApp and Instagram? That’s what the US government is seeking in a long-awaited antitrust lawsuit filed Wednesday, the same day dozens of states sued the social-media giant on similar grounds. Whatever happens, experts expect a long-drawn out battle that Facebook is prepared to defend vigorously—and with enormous resources.

Lawmakers of both major parties are also calling for stronger oversight of Facebook and other techindustry giants. They argue that the companies’ massive market power is out of control, crushing smaller competitors and endangering consumer privacy and choice. Facebook insists that its services provide useful benefits for users and that complaints about its power are misguided.

Here are some questions and answers about what the government actions against Facebook mean.

WHAT HAPPENS NEXT? THE short answer is: We wait.

The battle initiated by the Federal Trade Commission and the states could take years to resolve.

At the moment, experts think it’s unlikely to end in a settlement, so it may be a fight to the verdict. And the two sides could spend months arguing over issues such as document disclosure before the trial even starts. Once it does, expect a slugfest.

Facebook has been “well aware” of the possibility for this antitrust challenge for some time and they have “the resources to make this a formidable challenge for prosecutors,” said George Hay, an antitrust expert and law professor at Cornell University. “The one thing that is certain is that the

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RAJESH GANESAN, vice president at ManageEngine

demand for antitrust lawyers and economists will increase.”

ARE APPLE AND AMAZON NEXT? JUSTICE Department prosecutors are pursuing a separate antitrust case against Google, one that mirrors its case against Microsoft 20 years ago.

Microsoft lost that one, although it escaped a breakup when an appellate court disagreed with the trial judge’s order.

It’s possible that more cases could follow.

Congressional investigators spent months digging into the actions of Apple and Amazon in addition to Facebook and Google, and called the CEOs of all four companies to testify. The FTC and the Justice Department reportedly have been investigating Amazon and Apple, respectively.

So no one can rule out the possibility that three or even all four of these companies could end up in court.

WILL FACEBOOK HAVE TO DIVEST INSTAGRAM AND WHATSAPP? GOVERNMENT prosecutors are asking for exactly that. But it could be harder than it sounds.

The FTC argues that Facebook has engaged in a “systematic strategy” to eliminate its competition, including by purchasing smaller up-and-coming rivals Instagram in 2012 and WhatsApp in 2014.

Facebook called the government’s claims “revisionist history” that punishes successful businesses and noted that the FTC cleared the Instagram and WhatsApp acquisitions years ago.

That’s true, although experts say it doesn’t really matter—at least not legally. The FTC approvals years ago don’t preclude reexamining or even reversing those acquisitions. Still, it’s complicated.

“It may be that, if the court agrees with the

www.businessmirror.com.ph

BUSINESSES URGED TO DIGITIZE AGAINST VIRUS IMPACT

BY RODERICK L. ABAD Contributor

GIVEN ALL ITS PROBLEMS, WHY IS FACEBOOK STILL GROWING? FACEBOOK has 2.7 billion users, most of them outside of the US in 2012, when it bought Instagram, it had 1 billion. While growth has slowed, nothing—not privacy concerns, not abuse and misinformation, not criticisms about the giant’s power and dominance, not even unproven claims about bias against conservatives—have been able to reverse this trend.

Even when people declare they are leaving Facebook, they often end up returning. And there are still enough people in the world, especially outside of the US and Europe, who join and make up for anyone who “flounces.”

Of course, acquiring Instagram and WhatsApp has also helped Facebook fold more people into its “family of apps.” It’s easy to join Facebook and not as easy to leave—both technically and because everyone you know is on there, not to mention photos, memories and the ability to keep tabs on exes and former classmates. ■

INSTITUTIONS have no other choice than to go digital to solve the crisis brought about by the Covid-19 pandemic, according to a top business honcho in the country.

“We realized that there were tremendous number of products and services that were going to have to ride obviously on a digital infrastructure,” Ayala Corp. Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Jaime Augusto Zobel de Ayala said during the recent online Pilipinas Conference organized by the Stratbase Albert del Rosario Institute.

“When the pandemic hit, there was absolutely no choice.

Customers, if you’re focused on them, were thinking about keeping themselves safe, and were accessing services and products in completely different ways. That transformation just moved up to a whole other degree,” he added.

He cited, for instance, the role of digital technology in the real estate industry wherein selling properties can be done even without the client’s actual tour of the site.

“We are now able to close a transaction on a piece of property, looking at it visually, exchanging notes virtually, and then signing documents electronically. This whole cycle can be done without someone visiting a site and has been an extraordinary transformation in what has been traditionally a brick-and-mortar-oriented company,” Zobel de Ayala noted.

With the continued implementation of community quarantines in Metro Manila and other areas nationwide to help curb the constant spread of Covid-19, online learning is made possible with the advent of digital technology and infrastructure.

“It’s a tough thing—students can’t go back to school, and I think we all have the responsibility to do whatever we can to alleviating that pain point,” he said, while recognizing the significant contribution of the two leading telecommunications companies in the education space.

Based on the latest Mobile Network Experience Report by independent mobile analytics firm Opensignal, the number of telco subscribers across the country dramatically grew from the fourth quarter of 2018 and third quarter of 2020.

The results showed that both Globe and Smart have made excellent progress since the fourth quarter of 2018 in Mindanao, National Capital Region, North and Central Luzon, South Luzon and Visayas in terms of video experience, download speed experience, latency experience, and 4G availability already at 80 percent nearing global mean of 86.3 percent.

Globe Telecom reported that mobile data average download speeds rose to 8.5 Mbps, or 80.9 percent higher than 4.7 Mbps. Its mobile 4G availability increased by 19.5 percentage points from 63.7 percent to 83.3 percent, recording improvements for at least 10 consecutive quarters.

In a statement, Globe Telecom President Ernest Cu said they have already built 700 new cell sites and upgraded 8,036 existing ones as of October 2020, with 600 more to be finished by end of the year.

Department of Interior and Local Government Secretary Eduardo Año bared that they have issued 2,220 permits for the construction of telco towers this year.

President Duterte earlier ordered the DILG, Anti-Red Tape Authority, Department of Trade and Industry and the Department of Information and Communications to remove all bureaucratic red tapes that cause the delay of the permitting process for telco towers.

4. HYPER CONVERGED INFRASTRUCTURE IS IDEAL FOR THE CLOUD-ERA. Having a strong IT framework is a critical factor for businesses to achieve infrastructure efficiency. Hyper converged infrastructure (HCI) consolidates traditional hardware-based infrastructure (computer servers,

networking and storage) into virtualized, software-defined environments. This approach is not only a cost-efficient option but also helps simplify the management of these virtualized resources from a single, unified interface.

Considering the impact of the pandemic, many organizations are looking to adopt technologies that can support their digital workspace.

5. INCREASING UTILIZATION OF ANALYTICS BY NONIT DEPARTMENTS. Now that organizations realize the effectiveness of analytics platforms, their usage is expected to penetrate not just IT but other departments that have traditionally not relied on analytics applications. For example, data from HR applications combined with employee performance metrics can be used to measure the influence of employee welfare initiatives on employee productivity.

This focus on analytics brings an interesting dynamic to the way organizations work, and also introduces a set of challenges in data governance and maintenance. IT will play a pivotal role in facilitating fine-grained access levels before moving to a higher trust model where individual teams have complete access to all relevant data that is necessary for their efficient functioning.

WOULD A BREAKUP BE GOOD FOR USERS? IN the short term: probably not. In the medium-tolong term: maybe. Any spinoff would involve undoing years of technical integration, and that’s not easy to untangle. And a split would almost inevitably create issues that could annoy users, ranging from the loss of features added by Facebook to technical problems as engineers muck around with the apps’ internal code.

When Facebook bought Instagram, the photosharing app was a fraction of its current size, with just 30 million users; today is has well over 1 billion. It offered a simple app that users really liked, although it didn’t make any money. Facebook has since added a bevy of new features, such as chats, disappearing “stories” and the ability to shop and create and watch longer videos.

While some original Instagram users deride the additions, others have come to appreciate them—and might miss them if they were to disappear.

WhatsApp has stayed truer to its origins, although Facebook has big plans underway for the messaging app as well. For instance, shopping. Facebook argues that neither app would be where they are today if it hadn’t thrown vast resources at expanding features, beefing up security and moderating content.

But a post-breakup Facebook might be so busy trying to fill Instagram- and WhatsApp-sized holes that startups formerly under its shadow could spring up with their own innovative services. Which could be good for everyone.

Top tech predictions for 2021 FACED with perhaps the most disruptive circumstances of their existence, organizations worldwide realized that they had no greater ally than technology in their quest to ensure some sort of work continuity during the Covid-19 pandemic.

“The coronavirus vaccines now entering the market are expected to bring relief to businesses soon by paving the way to normalcy,” said Rajesh Ganesan, vice president at ManageEngine, the enterprise IT management division of Zoho Corp. “But the past year has shown that technology resilience is fundamental to business resilience, and that it’s better to take steps in that direction now rather than later.”

In the spirit of resilience, here’s a list of five top tech predictions for 2021 by ManageEngine, compiled after discussions with relevant stakeholders, including business and tech leaders.

1. LOCAL REGULATIONS AND CLOUD INFRASTRUCTURE. With the accelerated cloud adoption, it is inevitable that governments across the world will bring in region-specific regulations to uphold aspects of sovereignty, user privacy, security, culture, policies, and other issues; and this will call for cloud infrastructure to be hosted in every such region to comply with those regulations. When it comes to their data as

well as their customers’ data, it is imperative for businesses to operate with clarity of regulations and how they apply.

2. MORE FOCUS ON A SEAMLESS DIGITAL EXPERIENCE. A seamless digital experience will be an important differentiator for businesses, especially in the post-pandemic era. Thus, they will increasingly invest in digital experience monitoring to relieve bottlenecks, such as the inability to track employee devices, besides issues in their home network and other cloud-based productivity tools.

3. ZERO TRUST SECURITY MODEL WILL BE THE NEW NORM. Before Covid-19, Zero Trust was being driven by a need to modernize the information security stack. With the shift to remote work, the traditional perimeter-based security model was rendered obsolete. Digital identity is now a single control point across users, devices and networks. Zero Trust security models, however, operate with the principle that all network users—internal or external—are considered hostile until proven otherwise. Trust is established through strong authentication to users upon verifying who is requesting access, the context of the request, and sensitivity of the access environment, and each user’s behavior is continuously assessed for risk.

BusinessMirror

www.businessmirror.com.ph

RACHEL ALEJANDRO

RHIAN RAMOS

Google’s antitrust case won’t go to trial until 2023

RICHARD GUTIERREZ

JAY R

Editor: Gerard S. Ramos

MICA JAVIER

• Saturday, December 26, 2020 A11

CHERIE GIL

The gi�t of a ‘Shawtout’

BY MICHAEL LIEDTKE The Associated Press SAN RAMON, California—The US government’s attempt to prove Google has been using its dominance of online search to stifle competition and innovation at the expense of consumers and advertisers won’t go to trial for nearly three years.

US District Judge Amit Mehta on Friday set a tentative trial date of September 12, 2023 for the landmark case that the Justice Department filed two months ago.

“This dispels the notion that we would go to trial quickly,” said Mehta during a conference call with government and Google lawyers to go over the ground rules for exchanging confidential documents and deposing top Google executives.

He estimated that once the trial begins, it will last about 5 1/2 weeks in his Washington, D.C., courtroom.

The prolonged wait for the trial underscores the complexity of a case seeking to defuse the power of a startup that sprouted from Silicon Valley garage in 1998 and evolved into a $1 trillion company whose services are regularly used by billions of people around the world.

Between now and the trial’s opening, reams of documents peering into Google’s inner workings and its deals with Apple and other well-known companies are expected to be examined. Many of the documents will be kept confidential, while others may be publicly released and peel back the curtain on the way Google operates.

Mehta is also allowing sworn depositions of eight Google executives for up to 14 hours each. The identities of those Google executives haven’t been determined yet. Google’s current CEO, Sundar Pichai, as well as two former CEOs, Eric Schmidt and Larry Page, are among the leading candidates to be deposed about the company’s strategy and dealings.

Google has fiercely denied the government’s allegations that it has illegally struck a series of deals to thwart competition in the search market to help give it a stranglehold on a digital advertising market that has brought in more than $100 billion in revenue to the company during the first nine months of this year alone.

The company’s staunch insistence that it has done nothing wrong makes a pre-trial settlement seem unlikely.

With the trial still years away, Google will conceivably become an even more imposing force before the federal government and the attorneys general in dozens of states get their day in court.

Another antitrust case filed Thursday is seeking to preempt Google’s dominance in other still-emerging fields of technology such as voice-activated devices in the home and internet-connected cars. That case is likely to be combined with the Justice Department.

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VERYONE is a fan of someone. Whether it’s a celebrity, athlete, social-media personality, or even a fictional character, there will always be someone—or something that will give you that kilig moment.

And for the die-hard fan, the only thing probably more memorable than getting a selfie with their idol is a personal shawtout (shoutout).

Imagine Tito Joe giving mom and dad a message that will put Christmas truly in their hearts, or maybe you want to ask Santa or Olaf to greet the kids a Merry Christmas. Feeling romantic? Why not request a song from R&B artist Jay R, or maybe send your boss a congratulatory message from their celebrity crush.

Now you don’t have to hunt down these celebs (which might also be impossible because of the pandemic) to surprise your loved ones with a personalized video greeting.

Shawtout! is a new online platform that lets people connect with celebrities and create personalized video greetings. The platform currently has a roster of hundreds of celebrities including beauty queen Katarina Rodriguez, Gardo Versoza, Abby Poblador, Maria Ozawa, Alex Godinez, Billy Crawford, Rachel Alejandro, Richard Gutierrez, as well as theater actors, singers, radio DJs, models, YouTubers, cosplayers/impersonators (President Duterte!)—and even Sen. Juan Ponce Enrile; now that would be a timeless message.

According to Shawtout! cofounder Anton Ojeda, among the most sought-after Shawtouters are Martin Nievera, Rhian Ramos and Mr. Christmas himself Jose Mari Chan. You can even get a video message from renowned professionals like doctors and entrepreneurs. The variety gives options to all people of different interests.

To gift a shawtout, just signup at www.shawtout.com and choose from the many available celebrities based on category. Once you’ve chosen your celebrity, you’ll fill out a request form where you describe what you want your Shawtout talent to say. Request for all sorts of messages like greetings, advice, pep talks, jokes or pranks, or even a song. Once requested, the chosen celebrity will record the video which takes a few days and then Shawtout! will send a link to the video back to the user. The user can then download the video to keep forever, share or gift however they like!

So if you’re still stumped as to what to give this Christmas maybe the perfect gift is just a Shawtout! away.

If you are not into “shoutouts,” then maybe one of these gadgets will make it to your Christmas list.

■ LG XBOOM GO PL7—I honestly almost forgot about this speaker until I was checking out the devices to include in this gift-guide series. I got it during the launch of LG’s online flagship store and I was actually planning to do a YouTube video as it was my very first LG speaker.

The PL7 is a pill-shaped portable Bluetooth speaker that delivers the loudness of a soundbar and the fun of those light/show party speakers. It’s the largest speaker in the LG PL family and a bit hefty at 3.2 pounds. Still, it’s portable enough to be carried

around pretty much anywhere you want to take it. It’s a good-looking speaker with its curved and sleek lines, and has a rubberized finish which makes it easier to get a grip on. The front of the speaker you get the grille, and around the back is the XBOOM logo with a rear flap beneath that conceals a micro USB-C port for charging, auxiliary out and USB port for charging mobile devices. Up top are buttons for Power, Bluetooth pairing, Volume and Playback, as well as a battery level indicator. You can also use the PL7 as a speaker for phone calls with a microphone embedded in the speaker’s top right-hand side.

Among its best features include Dual Passive Radiators for bigger bass, configurable LED pulsing lights, IPX5 Water-Resistance (splashproof), and a 3900mAh battery that can last up to 24 hours. It also boasts of Meridian Audio Technology that results in less distortion even at the highest volume. The PL7 also works with the Bluetooth Surround Ready feature supported on a number new LG TVs. It even has Multi-Mode which lets you connect up to 100 LG XBOOM PL7s!

As for sound quality, the XBOOM PL7 works really good for outdoor parties. It’s midrange-heavy, and you can turn on Sound Boost to push vocals forward in the mix and give the speaker quite the kick in terms of overall loudness.

For a speaker called XBOOM, you’re probably going to expect nothing less than big and loud sound—and the LG XBOOM PL7 delivers with lots of clarity, detail and the big bass you want. The light show isn’t for everyone but it’s a nice feature that adds a little more fun.

If you are looking for a portable Bluetooth speaker you can bring outdoors, the LG XBOOM PL7 won’t disappoint, with its solid and grippy build, colorful presence, loud bass heavy sound, and a battery life that can keep up with your partying all night long.

■ PLDT HOLIDEALS—As has been a Christmas tradition for the telco, PLDT is also offering big discounts and exclusive offers for those who want to upgrade their home Internet.

New subscribers can enjoy waived installation and activation fees and no cash out when they sign up for any PLDT Home Fibr Plan. Plus, they get a chance to be one of the 75 winners of a Smart Home bundle which includes free 1000Mbps of Internet for one month and PLDT Home devices.

Existing PLDT Home Fibr subscribers, on the other hand, can choose from a variety of compelling top-ups to their monthly plans for an even more satisfying online experience.

For families looking for a budget-friendly Internet connection, the PLDT Home WiFi Prepaid device offers 20GB free data instead of the 10GB regular offer. With this family-sized prepaid Internet,

families can enjoy a lag-free virtual reunion with their loved ones as it’s powered by Smart LTE. PLDT Home is also donating P100 to PLDT-Smart Foundation for every purchase of a PLDT Home WiFi Prepaid device.

So not only do you get to enjoy a seamless Internet connection, but you also get to provide a Noche Buena package to the less fortunate families.

Still on the hunt for the best Christmas deals?

Digital Walker’s Tech The Halls offers as much as 75-percent off from brands such as OnePlus, Fitbit, UAG, Marshall, Momax, Joyroom, Baseus and more.

From chargers, cables, speakers, smartwatches , laptops and mobile phones, these deals are exclusively available at Digital Walker and Beyond the Box’s official online stores on Home Office by Digital Walker, Lazada and Shopee until December 30.

Here are some of the great deals we found.

■ MARSHALL TUFTON: Rock out to your favorite holiday tunes and take P3,000 off this best-selling speaker. The Marshall Tufton, the mightiest portable speaker from Marshall, features a three-way design and rear-facing driver to produce a clear and articulate sound across all frequencies. This configuration will immerse you in your music, indoors or out. The Tufton comes equipped with Bluetooth 5.0 technology for wireless music play and an IPX2 water-resistant rating and flush mounted corner caps making it an extremely rugged and durable speaker. Its guitar-inspired carry strap makes it perfect for those long trips and could last for 20 plus hours of portable playtime, on a single charge.

■ JOYROOM PHANTOM SERIES TRIPOD: Unlike other tripods, the Joyroom Phantom is an integrated tripod selfie stick that measures only 19.5 cm when folded so it can easily fit in your bag or pouch. At 30-percent off, this would make a great gift for anyone working or studying at home and is usually on video calls so they don’t have to struggle and get the best video angle. It also has a 360 degree view rotation and comes with a 10m Bluetooth wireless remote control.

■ MOMAX Q.LED FLEX MINI LAMP: More than just illuminate your desk and workstation, the Momax Q.Led Mini Lamp also doubles as a 10W Wireless Charger. The 5W LED light lets you choose from warm, cool or natural white light via its touch panel control. Also features a flexible arm and one-touch reading mode. The best part is it is at 52-percent off!

You can visit linktr.ee/digitalwalker or linktr.ee/ beyondtheboxph to check out other holiday gift ideas. ■

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LG XBOOM GO PL7

A12 Saturday, December 26, 2020

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OKYO—The official cost of the postponed Tokyo Olympics has increased by 22 percent, the local organizing committee said in unveiling its new budget on Tuesday.

In an online news conference, organizers said the Olympics will cost $15.4 billion to stage.

This is up from $12.6 billion in last year’s budget.

The added $2.8 billion is the cost of the oneyear delay. Expenses come from renegotiating contracts and measures to combat the Covid-19 pandemic.

The Olympics are to open on July 23. The Paralympics follow on August 24.

Audits by the Japanese government over the last several years, however, show the costs are higher than officially stated and are at least $25 billion.

Tokyo said the Olympics would cost about $7.5 billion when the IOC awarded the games in 2013. A University of Oxford study this year said Tokyo is the most expensive Summer Olympics on record.

“The Tokyo Olympics are operating in a very tough environment,” Toshiro Muto, the CEO of the organizing committee, said when asked about the record costs. Muto suggested the games should be looked at as an investment rather than a cost.

Japanese government entities are responsible for all of the costs except for $6.7 billion in a privately funded operating budget.

“The IOC [International Olympic Committee] and TOCOG [Tokyo Organizing Committee] want the public budget to appear as small as possible not only to guard against public criticism, but also to not discourage future candidate cities,” Franz Waldenberger, director of the German Institute for Japanese Studies in Tokyo, wrote in a recent paper examining Olympic costs.

Waldenberger noted the Tokyo city government and branches of the central government use the Olympics as “a window of opportunity to obtain additional” funding.

Organizers in October announced cost reductions of $280 million, cutting out frills including hospitality offerings. However, no cuts have been made to the sports program with a full complement of 11,000 athletes and tens of thousands of officials, judges, and sponsors expected to attend.

Muto acknowledged the cost had increased for the opening and closing ceremonies of the Olympics and Paralympics. Organizers were expected to report a figure later in the week.

Japan’s Kyodo news agency, citing sources close to the committee, reported the increase is about $33 million.

Decisions about fans and preventive measures for the pandemic are expected to be rolled out in the spring. Reduced fan numbers

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will affect ticket sales, a major source of income.

Japan has controlled Covid-19 better than most countries with 3,000 deaths attributed to the virus. That milestone was reached on Tuesday. New cases have been rising for a month, adding to public skepticism about the Olympics.

In a telephone poll of 1,200 people published this month by Japanese broadcaster NHK, 63 percent said the Olympics should be postponed again or canceled, and 27% said the games should be held. The poll was conducted from December 11 to 13.

The IOC and local organizers have said the Olympics will be canceled if they

BOBBY RAY PARKS is undergoing rehab for his calf.

pro debut with Blackwater—averaging 22.1 points, 7.1 rebounds, 3.4 assists and 1.4 steals for 37.2 statistical points despite the Elite reaching only the quarterfinals.

In the Philippine Cup, Parks piled up 38.2 SPs on 22.5 points, 8.0 rebounds, 3.0 assists and 1.3 steals in 16 games in the Clark bubble. He only played in Game One of the Finals because of a left calf injury with Barangay Ginebra San Miguel winning the title in five games.

Parks said he is undergoing rehab and hopes

the injury heals soon enough as he declared his availability for the national team to the third window of the International Basketball Federation Asia Cup qualifiers in Clark in February.

“For as long as I am healthy, I am okay to play for the national team. I just keep my options open,” he said.

Parks said he is spending Christmas with his girlfriend’s family, Maika Rivera, in Angeles City and will fly to US later this month.

“I will keep myself fit there,” he said.

PGA Tour’s top 2 rules officials retiring after long careers

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

Tokyo 2020 Organizing Committee president Yoshiro Mori makes his opening remarks during a Tokyo 2020 Olympics Executive Board Meeting. With him is Honorary President Fujio Mitarai. AP

By Josef Ramos

RLANDO, Florida—For Mark Russell and Slugger White, getting into the business as a Professional Golders Association (PGA) Tour rules official was a lot easier decision than getting out.

With some 80 years of experience between them—Sam Snead was still playing the occasional tournament when they started—Russell and White are moving toward retirement from their official titles of vice president of competitions.

Russell says he will stay on as a consultant during the transition. White plans to work about 10 or so events next year, making himself available if the need arises.

White played on the PGA Tour for parts of four years in the late 1970s, before the allexempt tour began, only twice cracking the top 150 on the money list.

“I found out I wasn’t quite as good as I

BusinessMirror

TOKYO GAMES COST RISING

Crown, not individual awards, will fulfill Parks’ PBA mission NT Tropang Giga’s Bobby Ray Parks Jr. clinched his second statistical race title in the recent Philippine Cup but admitted only a championship will complete his dream in the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA).

“At the end of the day, winning a championship is what matters,” Parks told BusinessMirror. “That’s the primary goal of every team, to win a championship, and that’s also my primary goal, to win a championship and gets better.”

Parks was the best individual performer in shorted, one-conference 45th PBA season, the second time he achieved the feat after the 2019 Commissioner’s Cup as a rookie.

But the 27-year-old former National Basketball Association D-League (now NBA G League) player is craving to win his first PBA title since entering the pro league last year.

Parks, son of many time Best Import, the late Bobby Ray Sr., made a strong impact in his

Sports

thought I was, I guess,” White said with a laugh.

For more details on his career record, look for “Carlton” White. His father was a boxer and kept in touch over the years with one opponent who signed his correspondence “Slugger.” That became White’s name from the time he was a day old.

White’s father was a stickler for the rules, and White thought he knew them well when he decided to join the PGA Tour.

“You think you know them and then you look for a decision and there were 1,200 decisions when I started,” White said. “I’m smart enough to know that I’m not smart enough to know 1,200 decision. But I know where to find them.”

The toughest ruling he had to enforce was against Kevin Stadler in Las Vegas, when it was discovered a club was slightly bent on the first hole. How it got damaged—remember, this

was only the first hole—remains a mystery. But the penalty was disqualification (that was one of the rules changed in the recent overhaul, now it’s a two-shot penalty).

Russell was a teaching pro at Disney who later became the golf director of the three courses and served as chairman of the Walt Disney National Team Championship. Clyde Mangum, the deputy commissioner in charge of rules and operations, offered him a job and Russell didn’t look back.

His most memorable ruling was among the more famous on the PGA Tour. Russell got word on the radio of a television clip showing Craig Stadler on his knees to play a shot from under a tree at Torrey Pines in 1987. He placed a towel under his knees to keep his pants clean from the rainsoftened turf. He was guilty of building a stance.

“I knew right then he was disqualified,” Russell said. “We were trying to figure out a way to get him

cannot be held this time.

Local organizers are trying to recover some of the rising costs by coaxing more revenue from domestic sponsors. About 70 sponsors have already contributed a record $3.3 billion, driven by Dentsu Inc. the marketing agent for the Tokyo Olympics.

The Nikkei newspaper reported last week, citing unnamed sources “familiar with the matter,” that 15 top-tier domestic sponsors will add an estimated $150 million to their contributions. It said Japan Airlines, ANA airline, and the Tobu Skytower were considering contributions.

Nikkei is also a Tokyo Olympic sponsor along with Japan’s other leading newspapers Yomiuri,

Mainichi, and Asahi. Several regional papers are also sponsors.

“We would like to increase revenue more than expected although it is challenging,” Gakuji Ito, the organizing committee chief financial officer, said.

Ito said insurance coverage might pay out up to $500 million to help cover increased costs.

All expenses the organizing committee cannot cover will fall to the Tokyo Metropolitan Government, Ito said.

The budget shows the International Olympic Committee is contributing $1.3 billion to cover costs of the games. Its contribution to Tokyo will not increase, Ito said.

Ito was asked if he would seek more money from the IOC. “No, we are not thinking about it,” he replied.

The IOC’s finances are stressed. It generates 91 percent of its income from selling broadcast rights and sponsorships. The postponement of the Tokyo Olympics has stalled its revenue flow, increasing the importance of staging the Olympics in Tokyo.

The Beijing Winter Olympics open six months after Tokyo closes, in February 2022.

The IOC is also under pressure to support national Olympic committees and international sports federations, many of which rely heavily on IOC contributions. AP

McQuaid: It’s possible to develop world-class Filipino cyclists

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EVELOPING an elite Filipino cyclist starts with identifying a raw talent who will be trained under a worldclass program and facility and, often, cycling at high altitude.

“It’s quite a long process but it’s how it’s done,” McQuaid told the BusinessMirror Talks Cycling program on Facebook and Youtube on Monday night.

“It is a long process but it is possible and can be done in couple of years,” said McQuaid, citing African riders as prime examples of having become world-class during his term at UCI from 2005 to 2013. “I paid a lot of attention in developing African cycling in such countries like Rwanda, Eritrea and Ethiopia. They have cyclists now competing in Spain.”

“But the first thing you do is to find the riders who have that talent that you can develop that out,” he stressed.

McQuaid is familiar with Philippine cycling, having been tasked to transition the fabled Marlboro Tour from its traditional format to UCI standards. As director of the UCI Road

Commission then, he spent months in the Philippine countryside leading surveys from 2004 to 2018, when Marlboro sponsored its last race in 2008.

The 2008 race was dubbed the Philippine Centennial Tour and was on the UCI calendar for that year, featuring international teams racing against local squads. That race was shown live over ESPN with the original Voice of the Tour de France, Phil Legget, doing the pedal-by-pedal annotation.

Filipino Warren Davadilla won that Marlboro-sponsored farewell race—after strict anti-tobacco regulations were imposed worldwide.

McQuaid said the UCI runs a juniors program at the World’s Cycling Center in Aigle, Switzerland, where member-countries could send their talented cyclists for training.

“If there’s a talented rider in the federation, it could send him to Aigle and develop for a period of time,” said McQuaid, an Irish who now lives in southern France.

Among the illustrious products of the UCI

out of it. But reading the rules, there was no way out. We told him in the scoring area.”

Russell also remembers the TV interview he gave. Rules officials are never on TV unless something has gone wrong.

The move toward retirement comes a few months after John Paramore and Andy McFee retired as chief referees on the European Tour.

All four are close friends and have a combined total of roughly 160 years of experience.

“Forty years is hard to believe,” Russell said. “I don’t think it will ever happen again. It would take a young guy in the right place at the right time.”

Also retiring are Dillard Pruitt and John Lillvis.

The transition on the PGA Tour means Gary Young will oversee the rules and tournaments administration, effectively the role White and Russell shared. He has appointed four officials as senior tournament directors—Steve Rintoul, John Mutch, Stephen Cox and Ken Tackett. Also, Mike Peterson, Pete Lis and Jordan Harris are moving from the Korn Ferry Tour to the PGA Tour as rules officials. AP

Slugger White and Mark Russell at work. AP

McQuaid

juniors program were Hongkong’s Wong Kampo, winner of the Marlboro Tour in 1997 now a coach at the Hongkong cycling federation, and Malaysian Josiah Ng, a top track rider.

“There’s no secret formula in developing skilled cyclists who are good at the sprint and climb,” he said. “And what works in the past still works until now.”

The BusinessMirror Talks Cycling is a weekly cycling talk show on Facebook and Youtube that airs Mondays from 7 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. BusinessMirror Sports Editor Jun Lomibao and Le Tour de Filipinas Race Director Sunshine Joy Mendoza are the program hosts. Josef Ramos