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TO BURN OR NOT TO BURN

www.businessmirror.com.ph

Sunday, February 21, 2021 Vol. 16 No. 133

P25.00 nationwide | 2 sections 12 pages | 7 DAYS A WEEK

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n

WATER that overflowed from Marikina River during Typhoon Ulysses submerges houses along the banks of the river in San Mateo, prompting calls for a congressional inquiry. CLIMATE CHANGE COMMISSION

Amid the huge quantity of garbage it produces every day, PHL is still in quandary on what to do with its trash.

O

By Jonathan L. Mayuga

N February 5, 2021, officials of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) trooped to a four-hectare open dumpsite in Santa Ana, Pampanga, operated by the local government unit (LGU).

Tasked by Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) Secretary Roy A. Cimatu to shut down all the country’s remaining open dumps by the end of March this year, DENR Undersecretary for Solid Waste Management and Local Government Units Concerns Benny D. Antiporda unmasked the open dumpsite masquerading as a recycling facility.

The Santa Ana dumpsite is just one of the more than 200 open dumps all over the country that must be closed as mandated by Republic Act 9003 or the Ecological Solid Waste Management Act of 2000, a two-decade-old law that remains poorly implemented on many fronts.

By the DENR’s own account, the country needs to open at least 300 engineered sanitary landfills, or convert at least some of the open dumps into sanitary landfills to sufficiently cover the disposal of the huge volume of garbage the country produces every day.

Huge garbage producer

WITH a population of over 100 million, the Philippines is undeniably one of the huge garbage producers in the world with an estimated 21 million metric tons of garbage being produced every day, according to the National Solid Waste Management Commission (NSWMC).

To ease the LGUs’ burden of

shouldering alone the establishment of their own sanitary landfills, the DENR is promoting the clustering of small municipalities to have a common sanitary landfill.

According to the NSWMC, in Luzon alone, the requirement is for an additional 140 sanitary landfills to serve a total of 772 LGUs. For the Visayas, 32 sanitary landfills more are needed to serve 408 LGUs; while for Mindanao, 337 LGUs would require the establishment of 34 additional sanitary landfills.

No-burn WTE technologies

WHILE incineration is prohibited under the Clean Air Act, the law’s implementing rules and regulations (IRR), specifically Rule 28, allows non-burn technologies or its application in waste-to-energy (WTE) method.

“With due concern on the effects of climate change, the bureau shall promote the use of state-ofthe-art, environmentally sound and safe thermal and non-burn technologies for the handling, treatment, thermal destruction, utilization and disposal of sorted, un-recycled, un-composted, biomedical and hazardous wastes,” it stated.

The IRR defines non-burn technologies as technologies used for the destruction, decomposition or conversion of wastes other than

PESO EXCHANGE RATES n US 48.4050

ENVIRONMENT Undersecretary for Solid Waste Management and Local Government Units Concerns Benny D. Antiporda (middle), padlocks the entrance to an open dumpsite disguised as a materials recovery facility at Barangay San Nicolas, Santa Ana, Pampanga, on February 5, 2021. DENR.GOV.PH

through the use of combustion, with conditions.

Desperate times, desperate measures

IN January, Marinduque Rep. and House Speaker Lord Allan Jay Velasco urged the Senate to pass the bill allowing the use of WTE technologies to help solve the country’s perennial garbage problem.

Quoted in a Philippine News Agency (PNA) report, he said it is high time for the government to consider the adoption of WTE technologies in the treatment and disposal of solid waste, as many of the landfills in the country will soon be filled up.

On November 24, 2020, the House of Representatives approved on third and final reading House Bill (HB) 7829, or the proposed

Waste Treatment Technology Act. The measure was co-authored by close to 200 lawmakers, including Velasco.

In the Senate’s version of the bill sponsored by Senator Sherwin Gatchalian, which is currently pending for second reading, any WTE technology, including incineration, is allowed as it seeks to amend Republic Act 8749 or the Clean Air Act of 1999 by repealing Section 20 which prohibits incineration.

Burning issue

PUTTING up WTE facilities that use incineration to burn garbage and produce power at the same time has been offered as a win-win solution to the country’s growing garbage problem.

But existing laws prohibit the

operation of WTE facilities, particularly those that use incineration that emits toxic fumes—Republic Act 9003, which promotes waste segregation, and Republic Act 8749, or the Philippine Clean Air Act, which bans the use of incinerators.

Citing these proposed measures, nongovernment organizations and environmental groups maintain their stiff opposition to the use of incineration to address the garbage problem, and insist on the so-called 3Rs—reduced, reuse and recycle—and follow RA 9003 to the letter.

‘Dirtiest, most expensive waste disposal system’

WASTE and pollution watchdog EcoWaste Coalition, a member of the Global Alliance for Incinerator Alternatives (GAIA), supports the

move to shut down the remaining open and controlled dumpsites in the country.

Sadly, EcoWaste said 21 years after the law took effect, the country is still swarming with open and controlled dumpsites, a clear violation of RA 9003.

The group also backs moves to promote compliance with waste prevention and reduction regulations enshrined in the law, and has condemned the passage of House Bill 7829 by the House of Representatives, saying it will allow waste incineration regardless of the potential harm to health and the environment.

“We condemn the action of our [congressional] representatives in railroading during this Covid-19 pandemic a legislation that promotes the use of garbage incinerators. In doing so, the legislators also ‘ambushed’ two of the country’s key environmental laws—the Ecological Solid Waste Management Act and Philippine Clean Air,” Aileen Lucero, national coordinator of EcoWaste Coalition, said.

Lucero said incineration is the dirtiest and most expensive way to manage solid waste.

“These facilities release huge amount of toxins into the air and environment. Incinerators will be an additional burden to the Filipinos and to the already struggling public-health sector,” she said.

Lucero maintains that existing laws such as the Clean Air Act and Solid Waste Management Act provide clear frameworks on how solid waste can be ecologically managed.

“All we need to do is to implement these laws. Allowing incinerators will bring us back to the highly polluting solid waste management practices.” At the end of the day, she added, it’s the taxpayers “who will Continued on A2

n JAPAN 0.4581 n UK 67.6702 n HK 6.2436 n CHINA 7.4598 n SINGAPORE 36.5045 n AUSTRALIA 37.5962 n EU 58.5313 n SAUDI ARABIA 12.9070

Source: BSP (February 19, 2021)

NewsSunday BusinessMirror

A2 Sunday, February 21, 2021

www.businessmirror.com.ph

Vaccine rollouts cloud Covid-19 testing industry outlook

I

By Emma Court |

Bloomberg News

T was a revealing moment for one of the biggest US processors of Covid-19 tests last week when Laboratory Corp of America Holdings Chief Executive Officer Adam Schechter said business in that service may decline by as much as half this year.

But later on the same conference call with analysts, Schechter all but reversed himself, acknowledging that there could be “opportunity in the second half.”

“It’s just too hard to know right now,” he said.

The feeling is shared industry wide. Companies like Labcorp saw their stocks surge as Covid-19 testing became a key line of defense against the pathogen that’s killed almost half a million Americans. Yet vaccines have the potential to decimate demand for diagnostics, rendering a lot of their scale-up superfluous.

Labcorp’s projections imply that Covid testing sales “are going to be essentially zero in the second half of the year,” Nephron Research analyst Jack Meehan said to executives on the conference call.

As Covid-19 vaccines become more widely accessible in the coming months, and more people gain protection from the coronavirus, testing needs are expected to ease.

How quickly that happens and by how much, though, is uncertain, with the pace of immunization, the durability of shots and the emer-

gence of more contagious variants all unknown factors.

Meanwhile, some industry observers are still pushing for expansion. Screenings will be key as long as vaccines aren’t widely available, according to Michael Mina, a Harvard epidemiologist.

Low-cost, easy-to-manufacture tests made by companies like Innova Medical Group Inc. can also play a lasting role at the entrances of workplaces, shopping centers and restaurants, he said.

The Biden administration said Wednesday that it would invest $1.6 billion to increase diagnostic supplies and testing at schools.

That follows an announcement earlier this month that it made investments in expanding supplies of tests that can be performed by consumers at home or by healthcare workers in medical settings, manufacturing of which can take many months to years to scale up.

Widespread testing is needed to curb the pandemic, yet “we still don’t have enough,” Carole Johnson, the White House’s testing coordinator, said at a briefing.

Labcorp rose 2.7 percent at 2:30 p.m. in New York.

ADAM SCHECHTER, chief executive officer of Laboratory Corp of America Holdings, speaks during a meeting with the Coronavirus Task Force and diagnostic lab executives at the White House in Washington, D.C., March 4, 2020. Republicans and Democrats agreed on a $7.8-billion emergency spending bill to fund the US government’s response to the coronavirus outbreak, according to Senate Appropriations Chairman Richard Shelby. BLOOMBERG

‘Not going anywhere’

MINA wants the federal government to invest $20 billion this year in ramping up testing supply. He says $5 billion to $10 billion could put tests in every home, allowing people to be screened two to three times a week for six months.

“Testing’s not going anywhere,” he said.

But for laboratories and testing manufacturers that spent the last year scrambling to meet insatiable testing demand, forecasting has become a maze. Labcorp expects non-Covid testing to rebound as higher-margin virus testing recedes.

“It’s going to be important for them to make sure they’re prepared for whatever’s next,” said Lisa Gill, managing director and senior equity analyst at JP­ Morgan Chase & Co. The threshold for herd immunity, when an entire community is protected though not everyone has been immunized, has been estimated as coming when about 70 percent to 85 percent of the 330 million Americans have received shots or been exposed to Covid, experts say.

“That’s when you’ll really see utilization start to fall,” said William Morice, president of Mayo Clinic Laboratories, who described the demand for Covid testing to date as something he had never seen before in his career. “If it doesn’t, that’s not a good sign.”

Growing recognition that

“Testing’s not going anywhere.”

—Harvard epidemiologist Michael Mina

Covid-19 testing sales won’t last forever has shadowed companies’ share growth, despite standout financial results, said Richard Newitter, managing director and senior equity research analyst at SVB Leerink. The iShares US Medical Devices ETF, which holds shares of test manufacturers like Abbott Laboratories, Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. and Becton Dickinson and Co., has risen nearly 26 percent over the last year.

Quest Diagnostics Inc., another major US laboratory, said Tuesday that demand for Covid-19 diagnostic testing has fallen, and most results are returned in a day, “faster than at any other time during the pandemic.” There could still be another surge in cases, the company said, and it is still adding more Covid testing capacity.

Long-term role

STILL, there is growing agreement that even in the best of circumstances, Covid-19 tests will play a long-term role in control efforts.

Flu tests, for example, are still common despite the widespread use of vaccines.

Covid tests are likely to be-

come part of panels that will be used to screen anyone with telltale symptoms, according to JP­ Morgan’s Gill. LabCorp does about 130,000 to 135,000 tests daily, and Gill said those numbers could fall by 90 percent to 95 percent beyond 2021. Labcorp says it has capacity to process 275,000 Covid tests a day.

That world might also include testing available in new places, including when people do higher-risk activities.

“As we go forward, we do believe we’ll start to see more of a nontraditional use of these tests,” in places like airports and on cruise lines, said Dave Hickey, executive vice president and president of life sciences at Becton Dickinson, due to “the ability of these tests to sort of open up the economy.”

Becton Dickinson is in the “very early days” of looking at these types of new opportunities, Hickey said.

SVBLeerink’s Newitter expects testing demand to peak in the spring. He predicts $768 million in Covid-related revenue for manufacturer Hologic Inc. to drop by about 60 percent from the current quarter to the fourth quarter.

The company’s $2.5 billion in Covid testing sales for fiscal 2021 could drop by about two-thirds in the following year, he said.

Still, “that number is very challenging to predict,” he said.

“The companies don’t know. We don’t know either.”

To burn or not to burn Continued from A1

shoulder the high costs of operating incinerator plants.”

Future of WTE

ACCORDING to Antiporda, unless a new law is enacted amending the anti-waste incineration laws, or at least the provisions that prevent the government from pursuing incineration projects, WTE is facing a “bleak future” in the Philippines.

“The law itself, if you look at it, it’s a little dangerous. There’s a thin line on legality issues. RA 9003 says we need to segregate.

This means, we have to take out the highly combustible materials,

which is the plastic,” he said.

However, Antiporda explained that a dilemma in removing plastics is that the remaining waste, when burned, may not be able to generate enough heat to prevent the emission of toxic fumes, which means a potential violation of the Clean Air Act. “If we burn plastic along with other waste, then we are violating RA 9003,” he said.

Plastic as fuel

ACCORDING to Antiporda, unless plastic is declared in the law as fuel, thereby allowing its burning with other garbage altogether, WTE will have no future in the Philippines.

This, he said, will allow the use of incinerators to dispose of garbage and produce energy at the same time.

But Antiporda said with or without WTE, or the law that will allow waste incineration, the DENR is determined to address the garbage problem without compromising air quality or cause further environmental woes.

“We will continue our honestto-goodness campaign against open dumpsites. Sanitary landfills will be encouraged but not for the garbage there to stay forever, but to serve as feedstock storage, for future technology that will solve the waste problem,” he said.

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

The World BusinessMirror

Biden team pressing Taiwan, allies on auto chip shortfall

By Jenny Leonard & Keith Laing

P

resident Joe Biden’s top economic adviser, Brian Deese, has sought the Taiwanese government’s help in resolving a global semiconductor shortage that’s idling US car manufacturing plants, according to a letter reviewed by Bloomberg News.

In the letter, Deese thanked Taiwan’s minister of economic affairs, Wang Mei-hua, for her personal engagement on the microchips shortage and relayed concerns from US automotive companies.

Deese’s letter shows that top White House officials have become involved in trying to resolve the shortage, which has presented an early challenge to Biden’s administration. Deese, the director of the National Economic Council, as well as National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan are both personally engaged in the effort to address bottlenecks in auto companies’ supply chains, a White House spokesperson said.

The spokesperson asked not to be identified by name because the talks have been private. Wang told reporters on Thursday that she hasn’t received a letter from Deese and reiterated that Taiwan’s chipmakers are trying to resolve the supply constraints.

The administration is engaging with international partners and allies to encourage them to take steps to address the shortage, but all sides recognize it’s not a short-term crisis, the White House spokesperson said.

More will have to be done to prevent similar shortages in the future, the spokesperson added.

Taiwan is home to the largest semiconductor manufacturing industry in the world, and also relies on US weapons to defend against China, which views the island as part of its territory and has threatened to use force if Taipei moves toward formal independence.

The Biden administration has also asked US embassies around the world to identify how foreign countries and companies that produce chips can help address the global shortage and to map the steps taken to date, the spokesperson said.

‘Reasonable’ asks

The formal outreach to Taiwan follows meetings between Deese and Sullivan and US auto companies and their suppliers. The auto industry is leaning on the White House to pressure foreign chipmakers and their governments to allocate supplies to the US. “We think those are reasonable things for the government to ask,” said Matt Blunt, president of the American Automotive Policy Council, which lobbies for Ford Motor Co., General Motors Co. and Stellantis (formerly Fiat Chrysler Automobiles). “This is going to be a problem for the first half of the year.”

Administration officials in the State and Commerce departments have previously sought meetings with Taiwanese government and industry officials to press them to ramp up the supply of semiconductors.

Thousands of American autoworkers could face cuts to their hours and wages as plants halt production while awaiting new shipments of automotive-grade semiconductors from Taiwan and South Korea—chips that won’t even be manufactured for three to four months. Companies have provided the White House with the job impact data, people familiar with the matter said.

That prospect threatens to undermine Biden’s efforts to energize a sputtering economic recovery,

hitting hardest in political battleground Michigan, as well as Texas and Kentucky.

IHS Markit estimated this week that nearly 1 million fewer light vehicles will be produced in the first quarter of 2021 because of the semiconductor shortage. The projection was a revision of an earlier estimate of 672,000 fewer cars coming off production lines in the first quarter that was issued by the group on January 29.

The chip shortage first hit the auto industry in December, coinciding with a tumultuous transition of power, an impeachment trial, the ongoing pandemic and the urgent push for an economic stimulus. By the time Biden was sworn in, former President Donald Trump’s administration had only made preliminary efforts to fix the problem.

Senior Biden administration officials have identified semiconductors as one of the strategic areas for domestic investment to compete with China and ensure the US is no longer dependent on other countries. Biden plans to sign an executive order in the coming weeks to demand a review of supply chains, though no imminent action is expected to result from it.

Taiwan dependence

L e a d e r s a c ro s s t h e g l o b e a re re a l i z i n g just how dependent they’ve become on the island democracy of Taiwan, which is being courted for its capacity to make leading-edge computer chips. That’s mostly due to Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co., the world’s largest foundry and go-to producer of chips for Apple Inc. smartphones, artificial intelligence and high-performance computing.

Taiwan’s role in the global economy was largely below the radar before the auto industry suffered shortfalls in chips used for everything from parking sensors to reducing emissions. With carmakers including Germany’s Volkswagen AG, Ford and Japan’s Toyota Motor Corp. forced to halt production and idle plants, Taiwan’s importance has suddenly become too big to ignore.

But there’s a question about how effective cooperation can be in a time when every allied country wants to move away from its dependence on China and build their own capacity at home.

US, European and Japanese automakers are lobbying their governments for help, with Taiwan and TSMC being asked to step in. German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Emmanuel Macron discussed the potential for shortages last year and agreed on the need to accelerate Europe’s push to develop its own chip industry, according to a French official with knowledge of the matter.

Exacerbating the U S shor tages, power failures caused by brutally cold weather in Texas have shuttered semiconduc tor plants clustered around Austin. NXP Semiconduc tor NV, one of the largest makers of chips used by auto companies, has idled t wo plants in the Austin area, the company said early Wednesday. Samsung Elec tronics Co., the world’s second-largest semiconductor maker, also closed down produc tion at its Austin site, the South Korean company said. Infineon Technologies AG, another large supplier of chips to the automotive industr y, said its Austin plant has been shut down because the power was turned off. Bloomberg News

Move in or lose out: Saudi ultimatum unsettles firms

By Zainab Fattah & Lin Noueihed

audi Arabia’s ultimatum for global companies to move their regional hubs to Riyadh by 2024 or lose business is the kind of decision-making that has made some wary of investing there.

The millions of dollars in costs, sudden policy changes and arbitrary legal rulings mean companies will need to weigh the risks of moving there with the potential rewards Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s economic overhaul promises.

Saudi Arabia said this week state contracts would go only to companies with regional hubs in the country to stop economic “leakage.” It gave few details, fueling the kind of uncertainty many regional executives say complicate their dealings with the world’s top oil exporter.

Some businessmen say Saudi Arabia is a sleeping giant that’s waking up, with a consumer market three times the size of the United Arab Emirates, planned mega-projects worth hundreds of billions of dollars and a young, rapidly changing society that’s almost unrecognizable from the ultra-conservative kingdom of five years ago.

B u t o n e m a n a g e r at a m u l t i n at i o n a l headquartered in Dubai, the Gulf ’s main business hub, said companies know the political tide can turn fast in Saudi Arabia. The lack of legal recourse they have makes them vulnerable as most contracts come via the state so it’s difficult to chase unpaid money, he said. Like others he spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity.

Companies have mostly looked past Saudi Arabia’s arrests of businessmen and royals in what it called a crackdown on corruption, and the killing of a dissident columnist in 2018. Yet sudden shifts like tripling value-added tax create uncertainty and cost.

S

Overreach and incentives

Saudi officials are frustrated by the consultants and executives working on Saudi projects who based themselves in Dubai, business-oriented city that draws in millions of foreign workers.

“It’s a combination of desperation and a little bit of overreach,” said Ryan Bohl, a Middle East analyst at Stratfor Worldview. “It’s going to be hard to convince

multinationals and regional giants to pick sides,” he said, predicting Riyadh would make exceptions and find ways for companies to function in both.

A Saudi government presentation to investors seen by Bloomberg said officials were working on an “attractive incentive package” for Riyadh’s King Abdullah Financial District, set to become a special economic zone. Subject to final approval, sweeteners include a 50-year exemption from 20-percent corporate tax and a waiver of rules around hiring Saudis for at least 10 years. The presentation also touted the potential exemptions to Saudi laws based on investor needs and an easier work permit system.

Dubai shouldn’t underestimate the willingness of companies to follow the money, a Dubai businessman said. The Saudi plans mean Dubai has to be inventive and stop relying on a model of charging fees and making the city more expensive to do business in.

The UAE is taking the regional challenge seriously and has made reforms to try to attract and keep foreigners as the pandemic batters the tourism and logistics sectors.

Workarounds

Executives at several international companies said they’d seek workarounds.

A manager at a global food company with regional headquarters in Dubai said they could name a second Mideast hub in Riyadh, or ask local Saudi partners to do so under their names. An advertising executive said their firm would open a Saudi office because of more work but keep Dubai as the regional base.

At the kingdom’s flagship investment conference last month 24 companies including Pepsico and Bosch said they’d signed preliminary agreements to locate regional hubs in Riyadh, though they’re waiting for the details before firming up commitments.

“The time frame of three years probably recognizes that this will be a big shift for corporations,” said Nuno Gomes, head of Middle East Career business at consultancy firm Mercer, estimating the additional costs of being in Riyadh can amount to 15 percent-25 percent.

Bloomberg News

Sunday, February 21, 2021

A3

Coronavirus may never go away; may change into mild annoyance

By Aniruddha Ghosal & Christina Larson

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The Associated Press

EW DELHI—What if Covid-19 never goes away?

Experts say it’s likely that some version of the disease will linger for years. But what it will look like in the future is less clear.

Will the coronavirus, which has already killed more than 2 million people worldwide, eventually be eliminated by a global vaccination campaign, like smallpox?

Will dangerous new variants evade vaccines? Or will the virus stick around for a long time, transforming into a mild annoyance, like the common cold?

Eventually, the virus known as SARS-CoV-2 will become yet “another animal in the zoo,” joining the many other infectious diseases that humanity has learned to live with, predicted Dr. T. Jacob John, who studies viruses and was at the helm of India’s efforts to tackle polio and HIV/AIDS. But no one knows for sure. The virus is evolving rapidly, and new variants are popping up in different countries. The risk of these new variants was underscored when Novavax Inc. found that the company’s vaccine did not work as well against mutated versions circulating in Britain and South Africa. The more the virus spreads, experts say, the more likely it is that a new variant will become capable of eluding current tests, treatments and vaccines.

For now, scientists agree on the immediate priority: Vaccinate as many people as quickly as possible.

The next step is less certain and depends largely on the strength of the immunity offered by vaccines and natural infections and how long it lasts.

“Are people going to be frequently subject to repeat infections? We don’t have enough data yet to know,” said Jeffrey Shaman, who studies viruses at Columbia University. Like many researchers, he believes chances are slim that vaccines will confer lifelong immunity.

If humans must learn to live w ith Cov id-19, the nature of that coexistence depends not just on how long immunity lasts, but also how the virus evolves.

Will it mutate significantly each year, requiring annual shots, like the f lu? Or will it pop up ever y few years?

This question of what happens next attracted Jennie Lavine, a virologist at Emory University, who is co-author of a recent paper in Science that projected a relatively optimistic scenario: After most people have been exposed to the virus—either through vaccination or surviving infections—the pathogen “will continue to circulate, but will mostly cause only mild illness,” like a routine cold.

While immunity acquired from other coronaviruses—like those that cause the common cold or SARS or MERS—wanes over time, symptoms upon reinfection tend to be milder than the first illness, said Ottar Bjornstad, a co-author of the Science paper who studies viruses at Pennsylvania State University.

“Adults tend not to get very bad symptoms if they’ve already been exposed,” he said.

The prediction in the Science paper is based on an analysis of how other coronaviruses have behaved over time and assumes that SARS-CoV-2 continues to evolve, but not quickly or radically.

The 1918 flu pandemic could offer clues about the course of Covid-19. That pathogen was an H1N1 virus with genes that originated in birds, not a coronavirus.

At the time, no vaccines were available. The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that a third of the world’s population became infected. Eventually, after infected people either died or developed immunity, the virus stopped spreading quickly. It later mutated into a less virulent form, which experts say continues to circulate seasonally.

“Very commonly the descendants of flu pandemics become the milder seasonal flu viruses we experience for many years,” said Stephen Morse, who studies viruses at Columbia University.

It’s not clear yet how future mutations in SARS-CoV-2 will shape the trajectory of the current disease.

As new variants emerge—some more contagious, some more virulent and some possibly less responsive to vaccines—scientists are reminded how much they don’t yet know about the future of the virus, said Mark Jit, who studies viruses at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine.

“We’ve only known about this virus for about a year, so we don’t yet have data to show its behavior over five years or 10 years,” he said.

Of the more than 12 billion coronavirus vaccine shots being made in 2021, rich countries have bought about 9 billion, and many have options to buy more. This inequity is a threat since it will result in poorer countries having to wait longer for the vaccine, during which time the disease will continue to spread and kill people, said Ian MacKay, who studies viruses at the University of Queensland.

That some vaccines seem less effective against the new strains is worrisome, but since the shots provide some protection, vaccines could still be used to slow or stop the virus from spreading, said Ashley St. John, who studies immune systems at Duke-NUS Medical School in Singapore.

Dr. Gagandeep Kang, an infectious diseases expert at Christian Medical College at Vellore in southern India, said the evolution of the virus raises new questions: At what stage does the virus become a new strain? Will countries need to revaccinate from scratch? Or could a booster dose be given?

“These are questions that you

will have to address in the future,” Kang said.

The future of the coronavirus may contrast with other highly contagious diseases that have been largely beaten by vaccines that provide lifelong immunity—such as measles. The spread of measles drops off after many people have been vaccinated.

But the dynamic changes over time with new births, so outbreaks tend to come in cycles, explained Dr. Jayaprakash Muliyil, who studies epidemics and advises India on virus surveillance.

Unlike measles, kids infected with Covid-19 don’t always exhibit clear symptoms and could still transmit the disease to vulnerable adults. That means countries cannot let their guard down, he said.

Another unknown is the longterm impact of Covid-19 on patients who survive but are incapacitated for months, Kang said.

The “quantification of this damage”—how many people can’t do manual labor or are so exhausted that they can’t concentrate—is key to understanding the full consequences of the disease.

“We haven’t had a lot of diseases that have affected people on a scale like this,” she said.

Journey

»life on the go

A4

BusinessMirror

Sunday, February 21, 2021

Editor: Tet Andolong

Southern Secrets Story & photos

by Bernard L. Supetran

A

road trip to the Southern Tagalog Region has been a favorite pastime since time immemorial not just due to its proximity to the metropolis, but more so because of its exciting and diverse attractions.

Popularly known as Calabarzon, it is composed of Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, Rizal and Quezon provinces which are brimming in rich cultural heritage, natural wonders, delectable dishes, family-oriented theme parks, recreational enclaves, luxe accommodation, and everything in between.

With easing of the quarantine classification in most areas, Metro Manilans have begun scouring the edges of the region to uncover some of its best-kept secrets, many of which are remote and nature-themed tourist spots away from the madding crowd.

To many travelers still weary of the Covid-19 pandemic, close-to-nature places which are less dense and has plenty of open spaces are the preferred low-risk destinations. Below are two southern secrets which are ideal family getaways hiding from plain sight in the past decade.

San Pablo. Monikered as the City of Seven Lakes, it is also a resort town with the numerous spring pools which dot the outlying villages. Despite its innate charm, it has been hiding from the limelight much like the patron saint it was named after— St. Paul the First Hermit.

It was only in the early-2000s that it began shedding its hermit-like character and began luring footloose wanderers looking for lesser-known playgrounds.

Playing a huge part in putting the city in the tourist map is Casa San Pablo, an intimate country-style boutique lodging which is also a center for local art, culture, events, and gustatory adventure. Guests are welcomed in the sprawling property’s

Casa San Pablo

TANAW De Rizal Park

Kayaking at D Farm

Lake Dondre

manicured lawns, lush greenery and structures which exude an old world charm.

With its strategic location, it is an ideal homebase in exploring San Pablo’s other must-see spots—the quaint Sulyap Gallery Cafe, the newly restored Fule Museum, Jasif Agroshop, and Carlito’s Atelier.

It is best to spend the night here to feel the vibe of its evolving rurban nocturnal lifestyle at its ubiquitous mami stores and local coffee shops.

No less than Tourism Secretary Bernadette Romulo Puyat was captivated by the city’s eclectic character, that it was designated as the hub of the Laguna Green Corridor, an innovative scheme of which consolidates a worry-free, health protocolcompliant and app-based tour package.

Set to be launched this April, the said itinerary is composed of the Sampaloc Lake, the biggest and most accessible of

the city’s seven lakes, which has homegrown dining outlets, a viewing boardwalk and 3.7-km circumferential which you can easily bike or drive around.

Overlooking it is the tree-canopied Leonila Park which was recently spruced up, and is the best vantage point to the placid lake.

The Green Corridor will also run through Tayak Adventure Nature And Wildlife (TANAW) Park in nearby Rizal town, the historic Nagcarlan Underground Cemetery, and Liliw town which is famed for its native slippers and uraro (arrow root) delicacy.

Sampaloc. This obscure municipality is a serendipitous discovery in the highlands of Quezon, which is just about a 30-minute zigzag drive from Lucban, home of the famed Pahiyas Festival.

Overshadowed by its popular touristic neighboring towns, it is coming out of its cocoon and beckons travelers who want to rough it out in a raw and rustic outdoor experience.

A must-visit is Lake Dondre, a roadside green body of water where you can go fishing and dine delectable provincial specialties aboard a bamboo raft, most notably the sinugno, grilled tilapia and soaked in coconut milk and topped with vegetables.

D Farm is a vast private farm and ranch estate which is like a slice of Baguio with its pine trees and cool climate the whole year round. Tucked within it is a bigger lake called Linggo-Linggo where guests can paddle kayaks leisurely.

With paved roads from the población to the interior barangays, rough and tumble type of tourists can reach the other natural spots such as Malaog Cave and Under-

ground River, Pugto Pugto Canyons, Lamesang Bato, Tangub Cave, and the three waterfalls of Asedillo, Hangga, and Buho, for a refreshing dip and hydromassage.

With meandering uphill and downhill roads, this frontier also a challenging route which can test the mettle of biking aficionados.

As the tourism industry is still in its infancy, visitors wishing to stay overnight can opt for homestays, or pitch tent and camp out at Lake Dondre and D Farm, which can be facilitated by the municipal tourism office. With some of the villages still unelectrified, it is an enticing back-to-the-basics adventure which may blend well with the travel trends in the “new normal” regime.

Much like the tamarind tree it was named after, Sampaloc is a tasty sour and sweet experience which will leave you longing for more.

CEBU LANDMASTERS LAUNCHES ICONIC TOWER AND HOME OF SOFITEL CEBU CITY, TO OPEN IN 2025

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n anticipation of a robust economic recovery in the next few years, leading VisMin developer Cebu Landmasters unveils an iconic tower planned by the designers of the world’s most acclaimed skyscrapers, Skidmore, Owings and Merrill (SOM) in tandem with one of the country’s top architects GF Partners and Architects.

Masters Tower Cebu, set to be completed in 2025, will offer prime office and retail spaces and the first five-star luxury hotel in the Queen City of the South. Sofitel Cebu City will be operated by multinational chain Accor, a world leading hospitality group headquartered in France.

The tower is Cebu Landmasters’ most iconic architectural structure to date, building a towering crown-like structure to represent the “Queen City of the South.”

The development valued at over P4 billion will rise on a 2,840-sq-m property considered to be the remaining prime corner lot in the Cebu Business Park, Cebu City’s prestigious central business district.

The architectural masterpiece will topoff at 192 meters above sea level and will be among the top 3 tallest structures in the metropolis. It will have a structural height of 172 meters high, with an architectural design inspired by the best of Cebuano creativity and craftsmanship, and with sustainability as one of its cornerstones having been conceptualized to use energy and resources efficiently and responsibly.

Groundbreaking of the LEED-registered Masters Tower Cebu is slated for the second quarter of 2021. CLI is aiming for the building’s LEED Gold certification.

“This project is the culmination of our learnings as a full-line developer catering to a range of markets in one of the most dynamic regions of the country,” disclosed Jose Soberano III, CLI CEO. “We want to build this project for Cebu, to show our positive outlook for this growth city,” he added.

Following the firm’s double-digit growth in 2020 despite the pandemic, Soberano disclosed that Masters Tower Cebu looks forward

to the upsurge of the local economy and the return of international travelers to the South.

The tower’s office spaces from the 8th to the 12th floor anticipate the needs of locators who value efficiency and sustainability and keenly follow global trends. The spaces will highlight horizontal louvers to reduce solar heat by almost 70 percent and to create a comfortable work environment. In addition to the louvers that reflect Cebuano craftsmanship, sky gardens in every floor and throughout the LEED-registered building will enhance the well-being of its occupants.

Sustainability will further be reflected

in the design of the 14th to the 32nd floors which will house the luxury hotel with 195 guest rooms, a grand ballroom, 2 restaurants, executive lounge, meeting rooms, roof deck, swimming pool, gym and spa.

A sunlit Sofitel Cebu City sky lobby on the 16th floor will maximize natural lighting through the use of an internal atrium. Guest rooms enhanced by the greenery from the gardens on each floor will create a retreat within the city. Finally, the roof deck will offer 360-degree views of Cebu and its surroundings.

Soberano explained that Masters Tower

Cebu is part of CLI’s growing hotel portfolio in partnership with a number of global hotel chains that will be significantly contributing to its revenues in the next three to four years.

He emphasized: “We are optimistic that the hospitality industry will bounce back particularly in the Visayas and Mindanao where there is high potential for more international hotel players and tourism demands for quality hospitality experiences. Masters Tower Cebu ensures that CLI will be a key player in that space, and be in the forefront of the industry’s recovery.”

Science

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

Sunday

BusinessMirror

Sunday, February 21, 2021 A5

Coffee, cacao, mango, halal food to be tested for authenticity C onsumers will soon know if their Sagada coffee, Davao cacao, Guimaras mango and halal food are authentic as advertised.

These food are set to be tested for their authenticity with the use of isotope by the Philippine Nuclear Research Institute of the Department of Science and Technology (DOST-PNRI).

This was announced by Dr. Angel Bautista VII on his Facebook page as he said that the Philippine Council for Industr y, Energy, and Emerging Technology Research and Development (PCIEERD) governing council has approved the funding for the researches for 2022.

“We just received the official letter [from PCIEERD] that our program proposal on using isotopes for food authenticity and traceability has been approved for funding!” said, Bautista, the

Supervising Science Research Specialist and Section Head of the Nuclear Materials Research Section of DOST-PNRI, in his Facebook post. He posted the PCIEERD letter on his Facebook page.

The program, “Food Authenticity and Origin Traceability Using Isotope Techniques,” focuses on following food commodities: 1. Organic and Halal Food, led by Raymond Jacinto Sucgang, DOST-PNRI 2. Carabao Mango, led by Gerald Dicen, DOST-PNRI 3. Coffee and Cacao Beans, led by Mel Garcia, De La Sall University Manila 4. Honey (Phase 2), led by Bautista, DOST-PNRI. The result on the Phase 1 isotope test on honey, that was also led by Bautista, was released in December 2020. It showed that 82 percent of

honey brands in the Philippines were fake.

An earlier study showed that 80 percent of vinegar brands sold in the country were also fake.

“To describe the program simply, we aim to tell if your ‘Guimaras Mango’ really came from Guimaras, or your ‘Sagada Coffee’ really came from Sagada, or your ‘Single Origin Davao Cacao’ really came from Davao, all [by] using isotopes!” Bautista said.

Moreover, the program includes the detailed design and feasibility study of the establishment of the National Isotopes Center, which will house the analytical capabilities for the program and so much more, he said.

“We are excited and looking forward to this new challenge! We’ll do our best! Ganbarimasu [Japanese for I’ll do my best]!” Bautista said.

Bautista said in an earlier interview with the

Coffee beans from Sagada

Wikimedia Commons

Philippines Graphic that both the findings on honey and vinegar were submitted to the Department of Agriculture-Bureau of Agriculture and Fisheries Standards (DA-BAFS) and the Food and Drug Administration.

DOST-PNRI refuses to disclose the companies that produce or sell adulterated or fake honey.

“If we just release the names of the companies, they may stop for a while. But no one can stop them from faking honey again in the future. If we incorporate these isotope-based standards into our regulatory system and the Philippine National Standards [PNS], then we think it will be longlasting solution to this problem,” Bautista said.

The researchers call for “stricter policies, regulation, and control measures to protect the honey and vinegar industries and buyers,” he said.

“You may be buying honey for its wonderful health benefits, but because of adulteration, you may actually just be buying pure sugar syrup.

Consuming too much pure sugar syrup can lead to harmful health effects,” he added.

The DOST-PNRI’s recommended revision in the standards was to include carbon-stable isotope parameters in the “Essential Composition and Quality Factors” Section, Bautista told the Philippines Graphic.

Another is the addition of the stable isotope analysis in the “Methods of Sampling and Analysis” Section of the PNS on Honey.

The proposed revision passed the pre assessment and prioritization criteria of DA-BAFS and is now included in the 2022 priority list of DA-BAFS, he said. Lyn B. Resurreccion

InnoHub for MSMEs’ scaled-up R&D launched

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By Lyn Resurreccion

ood news for entrepreneurs who are into food, dietary supplements or personal-care products made from by-products, such as seeds, leaves and pulp, and also products from top from agricultural produce. Here is a facility that suits your needs.

The Industrial Technology Development Institute (ITDI) of the Department of Science and Technology (DOST) inaugurated its Modular Multi-Industry Innovation Center (MMIC), or “InnoHub sa Pinas,” on February 18.

The first in the country, the facility is for advanced scaled-up researches on food and nutraceutical products.

The InnoHub made the Philippines the fourth in the world to have such facility, Secretary Fortunato T. de la Peña said at the launching at the DOST Compound in Taguig City.

“We are joining the ranks of Canada, Malaysia and Mexico in setting up this kind of innovation hub,” de la Peña said at the news conference that was beamed online.

De la Peña ex pressed hope that similar hubs could be built in DOST ’s reg iona l offices so the entrepreneurs outside Metropol itan Mani la cou ld have easy access to similar facilities, citing the big ex pense in going to Manila, and help their companies grow.

After the holding of a Mass, ribbon cutting and unveiling of the MMIC marker, de la Peña, together with with DOST Undersecretary Rowena Cristina L. Guevara and ITDI officials and staff, toured the facility and checked its prototype products—such as milk tea from banaba leaves, toothpaste with calamansi seed oil, virgin coconut oil, and many others.

Open for business

Eng. Apollo Victor Bawagan, OIC of the Chemical and Energy Division of ITDI, said the InnoHub is now “open for business.”

Its “very first client,” he announced during the lanching, is the Zambo Tropical Foods, a calamansi processing facility from Zamboanga City, with which a memorandum of agreement was already undertaken.

“We shall be training them on the processing of calamansi dietary fiber powder and essential oils on the first week of March 2021,” Bawagan said.

He added that MMIC is already in collaboration with DOST Regional Offices, namely: n DOST-NCR Muntaparlas Cluster (Muntinlupa, Taguig, Pateros, Parañaque, Las Piñas) for the

proposal on their client’s micro, small and medium entreprenurs’ (MSMEs) food-waste utilization; n DOST-Mimaropa for the calamansi dietary fiber powder and seed oil production; and, another MSME; n EupaPro Laboratories Inc. from Batangas for product development on food supplement.

He said ITDI is currently in close coordination with the Food and Drug Administration for the license to operate registration application of MMIC. It is just awaiting for its initial assessment of the facility.

In an apparent reply to the earlier message of de la Peña, Bawagan said later in his message that the MMIC, “commits to continue to innovate and develop new products and services for the sustainability of this facility and, eventually, extend in the near future to develop other MMIC facilities in Visayas and Mindanao.”

He added that with the InnoHub’s four modes of engagements, MSME’s can now avail themselves of its services at a very reasonable and affordable fees. These are: n Use of facility/equipment wherein technical assistance will be provided; n Technical Service in the use of the facility plus ITDI expert; n Technology Transfer that involves the use of the facility with the assistance of ITDI experts in adopting an ITDI developed technology. This will be subject to a Technology Licensing Agreement.

Contract Research in the use of the facility with the assistance of ITDI expert working on the client’s concept or idea, subject to a Memorandum of Agreement or Research Agreement.

Testament to ITDI’s commitment

TDI Director Dr. Annabelle V. Briones said, “ T he establishment of the MMIC shall serve as a testament to ITDI’s commitment to improving the Philippine industry through our R&D [research and development] efforts and expertise,” She added that the MMIC shall ser ve as the place for food and phar maceutical industr ies to develop new technolog ies a nd improve t heir processes and products.

Science Secretary Fortunato T. de la Peña, Undersecretary Rowena Cristina Guevara and ITDI officials check a prototype produced at the Modular Multi-Industry Innovation Center (MMIC), or “InnoHub sa Pinas,” that was launched on February 18. Gerry Palad/DOST-STII

Science Secretary Fortunato T. de la Peña and Undersecretary Rowena Cristina Guevara listen to an expert at the Modular Multi-Industry Innovation Center (MMIC), or “InnoHub sa Pinas,” that was launched on February 18. Gerry Palad/DOST-STII

Science Secretary Fortunato T. de la Peña gives his keynote address at the launching of Modular MultiIndustry Innovation Center (MMIC), or “InnoHub sa Pinas,” of ITDI on February 18. Gerry Palad/DOST-STII

Science Secretary Fortunato T. de la Peña, Undersecretary Rowena Cristina Guevara and ITDI officials unveil the marker of the MMIC that was launched on February 18. Gerry Palad/DOST-STII

“You may use MMIC’s equipment and facilities to ideate, create, innovate new products and processes,” Briones said at the launching.

Me a nwh i le, con s u lt a nc ies shall also be provided by a highly trained and experienced team of experts from ITDI, thus, giving the assurance of quality technical services, aside from providing a safe, systematic, and cohesive work environment.

Quoting economist Theodore Levitt’s “creativity is thinking up new things. Innovation is doing a new thing,” she said perhaps this statement “posed a challenge to us as a DOST R&D institute to be more effective and productive innovators, thus, we do not stop from here. We shall continue to develop a new process, new product, new technology, new perspective.»

MMIC addresses gaps

Dr. Norberto Ambagan, chief of ITDI’s Food Processing Division, said through industry consultations and dialogues, the needs of the industry in terms of R&D support were identified.

They include: the lack or absence of equipment for R&D; the need for technical assistance in product development and commercialization; the limited manufacturing facility especially for small and start-up companies; and the need for economic assistance. “ T he establishment of the MMIC will address the gap between product prototyping and product commercialization. This is the missing link that the MMIC will be providing to the industry,” he explained.

Started in 2017 with funding from PCIEERD, the MMIC’s “main objective is the establishment of a multifunction/multi-application innovation center that can be retrofitted with modular equipment for the manufacturing needs of various sectoral industries, including food, dietary supplements and oral personal care,” Ambagan said.

Challenges, flexibility

He said one of the challenges in the establishment of the MMIC is the “diversity of manufacturing methods, unit operations, and equipment in producing a single product.”

It becomes more complicated as the facility would cater to several product forms—such as powder, oils, sauce and emulsions.

And it becomes even more complicated as the facility should be able to serve more than one client at a time, he said.

Currently, the MMIC has various equipment for pre-processing, processing and packaging operations.

It has three processing areas that are separated from each other and each with its own packaging and product rooms.

“The concept of modularity is incorporated in the design of the MMIC, in which the system’s components may be separated and recombined. This provides the advantage of flexibility and variety in use,” he said.

“W hile the list of equipment and possible lines are not ideally complete, it is envisioned that the dynamic MMIC team will innovate as the need arises,” he added.

Initial products from wastes, low-value materials

In terms of R&D, the InnoHub’s initial product and process development activities were focused on the utilization of by-products from commercial scale processing, Ambagan said.

T hese inc lude ca l amansi seeds and rind, mango seeds and peels, and tomato pomace among others, he said.

These wastes, or low-value materials, are converted into high-value intermediate products that can provide nutritional and health benefits.

Con s u me r pro duc t s u si ng these materials have also been developed.

However, while it is economically attractive to process byproducts, the processing lines of the MMIC can also be used in the utilization of top agricultural produce, he said.

New products were developed both for consumer and i nter med i ate u se, u si ng t he countr y’s impor ta nt ag r icu ltural products like pili, banana, pineapple, avocado, coconut, guyabano, banaba, mangosteen and malunggay, to name a few, Ambagan said.

Gateway to innovative, progressive climate for entreps

U n dersecretary Gue v a r a said they are “optimistic” that the MMIC will serve as a gateway toward a more innovative and progressive climate for local entrepreneurs that will encourage the development of new products and/or improvement of existing ones to refuel the countr y’s economic activity.

“The MMIC is suited to operate under the new normal and the changing environment,” she said, having been established to provide solutions to the growing concerns of the different industry sectors.

“It will be your one-stop-shop for product ideation and conceptualization, development, marketing and even net work ing.

With this, we are confident that problems, such as lack or absence of specialized equipment to do [R&D], and inefficient processing and manufacturing, will soon be things of the past,” she said in her message that was beamed online.

Executive Director Dr. Enrico Paringit of Philippine Council for Industry, Energy and Emerging Technology Research and Development said MMIC that is being monitored and supported by the council can also manufacture fuels, energy, feeds and fertilizer as secondary industries.

Paringit said the council envisions that MMIC «will light the passion of our fellow countrymen to pursue more researches,» and expressed hope that the InnoHub would promote the further advancement of science and technology in the country.

“We encourage everyone to engage us and share your novel ideas as well as smart solutions to strengthen the Philippine innovation system,” he said in his message.

“It is for the best interest of ourselves and our children that we thrive for a better and brighter future. We look forward working with you and opening new opportunities for our scientific ventures to create an inclusive, resilient and sustainable economy,” he added.

Faith A6 Sunday, February 21, 2021

Sunday

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

Pope: Lent is a journey from slavery to freedom

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ATICAN—Pope Francis said the 40 days of Lent are an opportunity to turn from the slavery of sin to the freedom found in reconciliation with God. “The journey of Lent is an exodus from slavery to freedom,” the pope said on February 17. “These 40 days correspond to the 40 years that God’s people trekked through the desert to return to their homeland. How difficult it was to leave Egypt!”

The Israelites had many temptations during the 40 years they wandered in the desert and “so it is with us,” Francis added.

“Our journey back to God is blocked by our unhealthy attachments, held back by the seductive snares of our sins, by the false security of money and appearances, by the paralysis of our discontents,” the Catholic leader said.

“To embark on this journey, we have to unmask these illusions.”

To mark the start of Lent, Pope Francis offered Mass at the Altar of the Chair in St. Peter’s Basilica with about 50 cardinals and a congregation of around 100 people.

It has been the pope’s tradition to say the Ash Wednesday Mass at the Basilica of Santa Sabina on Rome’s Aventine Hill following a short procession from the nearby St. Anselm Church.

But due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, the Mass was offered at the Vatican this year.

In his homily, Pope Francis reflected on St. Paul’s exhortation in 2 Corinthians to “be reconciled to God.” “Be reconciled: the journey is not based on our own strength,” he said.

“Heartfelt conversion, with the deeds and practices that express it, is possible only if it begins with the primacy of God’s work. What enables us to return to him is not our own ability or merit, but his offer of grace.”

“The beginning of the return to God is the recognition of our need for him and his mercy, the need for his grace. This is the right path, the path of humility,” Francis said.

He also noted God’s message through the Prophet Joel: “Return to me with all your heart.”

“How many times, in our activity or indifference, have we told him: ‘Lord, I will come to you later, wait…

I can’t come today, but tomorrow I will begin to pray and do something for others,›” he said.

“God now appeals to our hearts,” the pope said. “In this life, we will always have things to do and excuses to offer, but now, brothers and sisters, is the time to return to God.” According to Pope Francis, Lent is about more than the little sacrifices we make, but about realizing where our hearts are oriented, and turning them back toward relationship with God. “Lent is a journey that involves our whole life, our entire being,” he said,

physician. You can set me free. Heal my heart.›” According to the pope, a part of Lent is lowering one’s self, “becoming little.”

“Today we bow our heads to receive ashes. At the end of Lent, we will bow even lower to wash the feet of our brothers and sisters,” he said.

“Lent is a humble descent both inward and toward others,” he added.

“It is about realizing that salvation is not an ascent to glory, but a descent in love.”

A nun sprinkles ash on the head of a faithful during Ash Wednesday at Baclaran Church in Parañaque on February 17, Due to health protocols owing to the Covid-19 pandemic, Catholic Church leaders advised the sprinkling of ash on the head of the faithful, and not usual marking on the forehead to avoid physical contact. Roy Domingo

advising people to reflect on stories of conversion in Sacred Scripture to know how to start the journey of the Lenten season.

The story of the Prodigal Son, for example, shows us that it is time to return to the Father, he said: “We have fallen down, like little children who constantly fall, toddlers who try to walk but keep falling and need, time and time again, to be picked up by their father.”

“It is the Father’s forgiveness that always sets us back on our feet,” he said. “God’s forgiveness— Confession—is the first step on our return journey.”

Another model to follow, the pope noted, is that of the leper who, healed

by Jesus Christ from his illness, returned to him in thanksgiving.

“All of us, all, have spiritual infirmities that we cannot heal on our own. All of us have deep seated vices that we cannot uproot alone. All of us have paralyzing fears that we cannot overcome alone,” he said.

“We need to imitate that leper, who came back to Jesus and threw himself at his feet,” he urged. “We need Jesus’ healing, we need to present our wounds to him and say: ‘Jesus, I am in your presence, with my sin, with my sorrows. You are the

Villegas: Lent is time for acts of gratitude In the Philippines, a Catholic archbishop said that more than fasting and abstinence, Lent is an apt season to begin cultivating an attitude or lifestyle of gratitude.

Archbishop Socrates Villegas of Lingayen-Dagupan said the gratitude that comes from encountering Christ’s love and mercy is enough to make people holy.

“We don’t become holy by giving up. We don’t become holy by doing something for the Lord,” Villegas said.

“What makes us holy? Gratitude.”

“Gratitude is what makes people saints and ingratitude is what makes people devils,” he stressed.

The archbishop was speaking in his homily during the Ash Wednesday Mass at the St. John the Evangelist Cathedral in Dagupan City.

Francis modifies Vatican criminal code, cites ‘changing sensibilities’

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ope Francis recently made several modifications to the Vatican’s criminal code, citing “changing sensibilities” requiring updates to an “outdated” law.

“Needs that have emerged, even recently, in the criminal justice sector, with the consequent repercussions on the activity of those who, for various reasons, are interested in it, require constant attention to reformulate the current substantive and procedural legislation,” the pope wrote in the introduction to his February 16 motu proprio, or an edict issued by the pope to the Roman Catholic Church.

The law is affected, he said, by “inspiring criteria and functional solutions [which are] now outdated.”

Thus, Francis said, he continued the process of updating the law as dictated “by the changing sensibilities of the times.”

Several of the changes introduced by the pope involve the treatment of the defendant in a criminal trial, including the possibility of a reduced sentence for good behavior, and of not being handcuffed in court.

An addendum to Article 17 in the penal code states that if the condemned person, during his sentence, “has behaved in such a way as to imply his repentance and has profitably participated in the treatment and reintegration program,” his sentence may be reduced from between 45 to 120 days for each year of the sentence served.

It adds that before beginning a sentence, the offender may draw up an agreement with the judge for a treatment and integration program with the specific commitment to “eliminate or mitigate the consequences of the crime,” by actions such as restoring damages or carrying out voluntary social work, “as well as conduct aimed at promoting, where possible, mediation with the injured person.”

Article 376 is replaced with new wording stating that the defendant under arrest will not be handcuffed at the trial, with other precautions being taken to prevent escape.

Pope Francis also said that, in an addition to Article 379, if, however, the defendant is unable to attend the hearing for “legitimate and serious impediment, or if due to mental

infirmity he is unable to provide for his own defense,” the hearing will be suspended or postponed.

If the defendant refuses to attend a hearing in the trial, without having a “legitimate and serious impediment,” the hearing will continue as if the defendant were present, and he or she will be represented by the defense lawyer.

Another change is that the court’s judgment in a trial can be made with the defendant “in absentia” and will be treated in the ordinary way.

These changes may affect the Vatican’s impending trial of the 39-yearold Italian woman Cecilia Marogna, who has been accused of embezzlement, which she denies.

In January, the Vatican announced that it had dropped a request for Marogna’s extradition from Italy to the Vatican, and said that a trial against her would begin soon.

The Vatican’s statement noted that Marogna had refused to appear for questioning during the preliminary investigation, but the court had dropped the extradition order to allow her “to participate in the trial in the Vatican, free from the pending precautionary measure against her.”

It remains an open question whether Marogna, who has lodged complaints with Italian courts for alleged crimes against her in connection with her arrest last October, will be present to defend herself at the Vatican’s trial.

Pope Francis also made several amendments and additions to the judicial system of Vatican City State, dealing mostly with procedure, such as allowing a magistrate from within the office of the promoter of justice to carry out the functions of a public prosecutor in appeal hearings and judgments.

Francis also added a paragraph saying that upon termination of their duties, ordinary magistrates of the Vatican City State will “retain all rights, assistance, social security, and guarantees provided for citizens.”

In the criminal procedure code, the motu proprio said that the pope has also repealed Articles 282, 472, 473, 474, 475, 476, 497, 498, and 499 in the criminal procedure code.

The changes are effective immediately. Hannah Brockhaus/Catholic News Agency via CBCP News

The service marked the beginning of Lent, a 40-day season of prayer, fasting and almsgiving that ends at sundown on Holy Thursday.

But Villegas asserted that being grateful is “more important” than giving up and sacrificing.

“It is not about what we give up. It is saying ‘thank you’ for everything that makes us holy. It is not what we do for God,” he said.

“Let it be clear, God does not need what we want to do for him because Christianity is not about telling people what to do for God. Christianity is about telling people what God has done for humanity.”

“And if we know what God has done for humanity, what can we say but ‘thank you, Lord!›” Villegas added.

Ash Wednesday is traditionally the time when Catholics get a cross of ashes applied on their foreheads.

However, Covid-19 restrictions made church leaders modify the approach.

The faithful instead had ashes sprinkled on top of their heads as a reminder that “we came from dust, and to dust we shall return”.

“Remember that between the ashes of our origin and the ashes of our conclusion [in life], we have many blessings in between. Do not forget that all those blessings came from the Lord,” Villegas said. Hannah Brockhaus/Catholic News Agency and Roy Lagarde/CBCP News

Church exec seeks stronger action on looming mental health ‘pandemic’

Fr. Dan Cancino, executive secretary of the CBCP Episcopal Commission on Heath Care, speaks during an online news conference for the 29th World Day of the Sick.

Screenshot/Diocese of Naval, Biliran, Eastern Visayas

Monks protest Buddhist monks march during a protest against the military coup in Yangon, Myanmar, on February 16. Peaceful

demonstrations against Myanmar’s military takeover resumed, following violence against protesters a day earlier by security forces and after internet access was blocked for a second straight night. AP

Ruling brings new business, old fears to kosher slaughterhouse

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SENGELE, Hungar y—In a small room lined with religious texts, a Jewish rabbi demonstrates how knives are sharpened and inspected before they are put to use slitting the throats of chickens, geese and other poultry at a kosher slaughterhouse in Hungary.

A shochet, someone trained and certified to slaughter animals according to Jewish tradition, whets a knife on increasingly fine stones before drawing the blade across a fingernail to feel for any imperfections in the steel that might inhibit a smooth, clean cut and cause unnecessary pain.

“One of the most important things in kosher is that the animal doesn’t suffer,” said Rabbi Jacob Werchow, who oversees production at Quality Poultry, a three-and-a-half-year-old slaughterhouse that supplies nearly 40 percent of Europe’s kosher poultry market and a large portion of the foie gras sold in Israel.

The methods employed at the facility in the village of Csengele are based on ancient Judaic principles commanding the humane treatment of living creatures.

They also are at the center of a debate about how to balance animal rights and religious rights as parts of Europe limit or effectively ban the ritual slaughter practices of Jews and Muslims.

Co m p a n i e s l i ke Q u a l i t y Po u l t r y h a v e found new export markets since the European Union’s highest court last month upheld a law in Belgium’s Flanders region that prohibited slaughtering animals without first stunning them into unconsciousness.

But the European Court of Justice ruling also has provoked fears of eventual EU-wide prohibitions on ritual slaughter, and aroused memories of periods when Europe’s Jews faced cruel persecution.

“This decision doesn’t only affect the Belgian Jewish community, it affects all of us,” said Rabbi

Slomo Koves of the Association of Hungarian Jewish Communities, which owns the Csengele slaughterhouse.

“If this is the case in Belgium and the court has given it moral approval, that might start a process on a larger scale. If you go down this logic, the next step is you also cannot not sell meat like this in these countries,” Koves said.

The EU has required the pre-stunning of animals since 1979, but allows member states to make religion-based exceptions.

Most do, but along with Flanders and the Wallonia region of Belgium, Slovenia, Denmark and Sweden, as well as non-EU members Switzerland, Iceland and Norway, have done away with religious exemptions, meaning kosher and halal meat must be imported.

Animal-rights groups say that slitting the throats of livestock and poultry birds while they are conscious causes suffering that amounts to animal cruelty.

Stunning methods vary, but the procedure most often is performed through electric shock or a bolt pistol to the animal’s skull.

“Reversible stunning is the bare minimum we can do to protect animals,” said Reineke Hameleers, CEO of the Brussels-based Eurogroup for Animals.

“They should be rendered unconscious before being killed.”

The situation is not so cut-and-dried for religious observers.

Jewish law forbids injury or damage to animal tissues before slaughter, and modern stunning practices can cause death or irreparable injuries that would render meat and poultry non-kosher, according to Koves.

Although some Muslim religious authorities consider pre-slaughter stunning permissible, local Muslim groups argued that the stunning

requirements in Flanders and Wallonia grew out of efforts by Belgium’s Islamophobic far-right to harass their communities.

Rabbis Koves and Werchow said they believe the kosher slaughter method, known as shechita, is no less humane than the methods used in conventional meat production.

In addition to the intensive process of sharpening and inspecting the knives, the shochet is trained to make the cut in a single smooth motion, severing the animal’s nerves and draining the blood from the brain in seconds.

“Whatever you think about...whether kosher slaughter is better for the animal than regular slaughter, you are basically putting animal rights ahead of human rights,” Koves said.

“If people are going to ban our rights to have kosher food, that means that they are limiting our human rights. And this, especially in a place like Europe, brings very bad memories to us,” he added.

Laws requiring the pre-slaughter stunning of animals appeared in some European countries as early as the late 19th century.

Adolf Hitler mandated the practice in 1933 just after becoming chancellor of Germany, one of the first laws imposed by the Nazis.

Jewish and Muslim groups challenged the Flanders law in Belgium’s Constitutional Court, which referred it to the European Court of Justice for a ruling on its compatibility with EU law.

The Court of Justice’s advocate general advised the court to strike the Flanders law down, arguing it violated the rights of certain faiths to preserve their essential religious rites.

But the court disagreed, finding the law “allow(s) a fair balance to be struck between the importance attached to animal welfare and the freedom of Jewish and Muslim believers to manifest their religion.” AP

M

ental health must be part of Covid-19 response because it is another “pandemic” looming over us all, a Catholic official said recently.

Camillian Father Dan Cancino said the effects of Covid-19 are here to stay, including in the brain, “so we have to act to contain it”.

“This is another pandemic aside from Covid-19,” said Cancino, executive secretary of the bishops’ Episcopal Commission on Health Care (ECHC).

The priest was speaking during an online news conference for the national celebration of the World Day of Sick hosted by the Diocese of Naval in Biliran, Eastern Visayas.

Cancino stressed the importance of mental health as Covid-19 restrictions lead many to feel isolated.

“Mental health issues and problems would be another pandemic if we’ll not be together in helping our brothers and sisters,” he said.

Even before the pandemic, the ECHC have been giving online courses and train parish-based volunteers to be “online accompanist” for mental health issues.

Bishop Rex Ramirez of Naval, ECHC chairman, also emphasized the significant role of the family, the church and the broader community in dealing with the issue.

In his diocese, he said that a group composed of parents and young people is being organized for a mentalhealth training program.

“It seems that the youth are the most affected by these issues coming from the pandemic,” Ramirez said.

“We hope that this will be sustained and something that they can go on with not only for this time but in the years to come,” he said. CBCP News

Biodiversity Sunday BusinessMirror

Asean Champions of Biodiversity Media Category 2014

Editor: Lyn Resurreccion

Sunday, February 21, 2021

A7

Time for lowly ‘kawayan’ to shine T

By Jonathan L. Mayuga

Moreover, it will also have positive economic impact, added.

The bamboo pole, he said, can be transformed into many products, it being a viable wood substitute.

he bamboo, or kawayan in Filipino, is again put in the spotlight as a viable solution to the ever-increasing demand for a sustainable supply of raw materials.

Highly flexible and durable, the bamboo is sturdy giant grass species that have multiple uses.

Ecosystem services

Natural bamboo forests provide very important ecosystem services, including functioning as a carbon sink, produce oxygen, prevent soil erosion, regulate water in watersheds and act as natural water purifier.

The bamboo shoots, or culms, that just sprouted on the ground, locally called labong, is edible and is sometimes the main, if not a key ingredient in many Filipino dishes.

In the wild, the bamboo leaf is food to a variety of animals. Even in farms, it is fed to cattle and carabaos, and small ruminants. The base or the roots are known to provide shelter or home to monitor lizards and even snakes.

Construction material

Traditionally used for construction, its pole is perhaps the most economically important part of the towering bamboo.

A nipa hut is often constructed with bamboo poles. The poles are also used to make tables, chairs and other furniture.

Even in the construction of concrete structures, bamboo poles are used as support.

Lately, processed or engineered bamboo are becoming widely accepted in architectural and interior designs.

Greening with bamboo

Recognizing the importance of bamboo, the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) is stepping up its use of bamboo as planting material for reforestation activities.

Environment Secretary Roy Cimatu led the symbolic bamboo planting activity in the Cagayan River during the launch of the Cagayan River Restoration Project during the World Wetlands Day, on February 2.

The DENR consider the use of bamboo as planting material in riverbanks as a flood-prevention measure.

A total of 185 bamboo propagules of bayog, kawayan tinik, machiku, buddha belly, and Giant Bamboo species were planted in the 925-meter stretch of the riverbank along Ba-

rangay Bangag in Lal-lo town during the launch.

So far, 3,672 bamboo seedlings h ave been pl a nted cover i ng 18 hectares a long the r iverbank of Cagayan R iver.

Similarly, on February 17, with the launching of the Marikina River Restoration Project, the DENR chief highlighted the event with a bambooplanting activity.

Enabling policy

The Executive Order 879, signed on May 14, 2010, by former President and Pampanga legislator Gloria Arroyo, created the Philippine Bamboo Industry Development Council.

It aims to promote the bamboo industry development, and direct the use of bamboo for at least 25 percent of the desk and other furniture requirements of public elementary and secondary schools.

It a lso mandates gover nment agencies to prioritize the use of bamboo in furniture, fi xtures and other construction requirements of government facilities.

Moreover, Section 3 of EO 879 mandates “the use of bamboo as planting material for at least 20 percent of the DENR’s annual reforestation and rehabilitation areas, especially in the provinces and towns which are engaged in or have the potential to engage in bamboo-based industries.”

Bamboo research facility

Base Bahay Foundation Inc. launched the Base Innovation Center (BIC) in Makati City on January 27 to highlights the potential of bamboo and other locally available indigenous materials through research and development. It will be for the benefit of the socialized housing sector.

The BIC is the first research and testing facility for sustainable and disaster-resilient construction technologies in the country.

Located in the foundation’s Makati office, BIC houses a Universal Testing Machine, a Bamboo Wall Panel Reaction Frame, fabrication tables and a model house where new materials and building techniques are tested.

The launching of the BIC was a welcome development as the Philippines

Supply shortage, lack of direction

Rubison Macalalag, a father of four and a former tricycle driver before working for the Kanya-Kawayan supply facility in Nasugbu, Batangas, works on a huge bamboo pole for treatment and processing. Photos from Base Bahay Foundation Inc. slowly recognizes bamboo as a workable alternative construction material that can help narrow the huge gap in the country’s socialized and affordable housing sector.

Housing sector gap

w it h more a f ford able a nd resist a nt solut ions to hou si ng.

“A key part of our commitment to promoting sustainable housing technologies is constant innovation,” he said in a taped video.

During the virtual launch on January 27, Maricen Jalandoni, president and chairman of the Board of Trustees of the foundation, highlighted the lack of affordable, safe and secure, and quality housing in many developing countries, including the Philippines.

“In the Philippines alone, the housing gap is estimated at 6.8 million units from 2017 to 2022. This means that 6.8 million families in the country do not have access to safe and adequate homes,” she said.

She added that the pandemic that continues to affect the country made the need for safe and secure homes even more evident.

“Entire communities are left vulnerable and have no choice but to live in high-risk areas that offer little or no shelter during typhoons or storms. Many of them are subjected to other risks, such as health, safety and security,” she added.

‘Bamboo’ partnerships

Sustainable housing technologies

The foundation is partnering with Habitat for Humanity Philippines and the Hilti Foundation to optimize the bamboo construction technology and promote its widespread use in the country.

The partners are targeting to build 10,000 cement-bamboo houses by 2024, in response to the growing need for socialized housing in various disaster-prone areas in Luzon and Visayas.

In a statement, the foundation said that as of 2020, it has built over 800 houses, 10 communities, five supply facilities, and housed over 4,000 individuals across Luzon and Visayas. “ T hey’ve also trained over 100 Tesd a [Tec hnica l Educat ion and Sk i l l s De ve lopment Aut hor it y]certified workers on masonr y, carpentr y, and in the application of cement bamboo technolog y in the countr y,” it added.

The foundation, a pioneer in providing alternative building technologies for socialized housing, is promoting sustainable housing technologies and is making the much-needed push for the use of the lowly bamboo in the socialized-housing sector.

T he BIC sa id t he resea rc h of Ba se Ba h ay Head of Tec h nolog y Lu is Fe l ipe L opez Mu noz ba mboo const r uc t ion tec h nolog y w i l l be conduc te d to prov ide Fi l ipi nos

Research and development

Currently, the foundation has ongoing research projects with the De La Salle University which focuses on determining the strength and mechanical properties of various bamboo species.

Base Bahay General Manager Dr. Pablo Jorillo said the studies aim to guide the development of a local structural code for bamboo, aligned with the Philippine National Standard

(PNS) 22157.

It is meant to institutionalize the use of bamboo in structural design, and the proposed International Organization for Standardization’s ISO 22156, which determines the specific testing procedures for bamboo culms, Jorillo said.

“As leaders in the field of sustainable housing technologies, we recognize that we play a pivotal role in ensuring that every Filipino has access to a home,” he addedd. “ Through the Base Innovation Center, we are looking to open more doors with our partners so that we may continue to provide Filipino families strong cement-bamboo structures for their homes, intensive research that will encourage innovation, and comprehensive technical training,” he pointed out.

Welcome development

Philippine Bamboo Foundation Inc. President Edgar Manda said the promotion of bamboo as planting material for the government’s reforestation program and the establishment of a nongovernment research facility on bamboo in the Philippines is a welcome development.

In a telephone interview on January 30, Manda weighed in on the future of the Philippine bamboo industry and its use in reforestation and its potential positive impact on the environment.

He said that as a material for reforestation, bamboo has a huge impact in areas where there is deforestation.

“It will provide climate change impact, for example, on carbon sequestration. One hectare of bamboo can capture 600 tons of carbon dioxide per year,” he said.

Unfortunately, he said the Philippines lack bamboo pole supply, hence, the need to establish bamboo plantations in commercial or industrial scales.

“We don’t have a commercial or industrial plantation yet,” Manda said, but added that there are known natural bamboo forests in Pangasinan.

The reason behind the stunted growth of the bamboo industry, or the evolution of bamboo as a commodity in the country, is the fact that the development of bamboo is not among the government’s priorities.

Bamboo, he said, is not even considered a commodity. He said that like other economic commodities, bamboo should get the much-needed government support in terms of policy, programs, projects and budget.

Current initiatives on bamboo are unconsolidated, Manda said, expressing doubt that they will make a positive impact enough for the bamboo industry or the bamboo itself as a precious commodity to evolve.

Policy gap

Besides the DENR, he said the Departments of Science and Technology (DOST), and of Agriculture (DA) and other government agencies, including some local government units (LGUs) have their own bamboo initiatives, but are not interlinked or harmonized.

While there is already an enabling policy with the creation of the Philippine Bamboo Industry Development Council, such is not enough to realize the bamboo’s full economic potential as the next-generation raw material and wood substitute, blaming the lack of needed policy direction.

Current DENR initiatives on bamboo, he said, need further study and planning.

On top of developing commercial or industrial level bamboo plantations, research and development, a comprehensive plan on how to establish bamboo communities who will make bamboo a way of life are needed.

Lag ging behind its Southeast A sian and A sian neighbors, the Philippines, he said, has the potential to catch up as bamboo is part of the Filipinos’ DNA .

But this means that the bamboo initiatives should not stop with just planting kawayan. There needs to be a comprehensive planning and program with dedicated people who will work on it to ensure the growth and development of the bamboo industry.

Afterall, it is time for the lowly kawayan to shine, he said.

ACB: Conserving tarantulas, scorpions helps prevent diseases T

arantulas and scorpions as pets? Think again.

The head of the Asean Centre for Biodiversity (ACB) expressed concern over the recent cases of illegal wildlife trafficking seemingly influenced by trends of keeping these threatened species as pets, an ACB news release said.

The Philippines’s Bureau of Customs (BOC) recently reported the seizure of a package containing 20 endangered tarantula spiders and eight scorpions at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport last month.

Records showed t he pac k age, which came from Samut Prakarn, Thailand, was misdeclared as “teaching equipment,” and imported without the necessary permits.

In 2019, the BOC intercepted 757 tarantulas at a mail exchange center near Manila’s international airport and later arrested a man who tried to claim the tarantulas declared as “collection items.”

In October last year, 119 tarantulas from Poland concealed in a pair of rubber shoes were also seized.

Lauding the work of the BOC, Lim emphasized the importance of strengthening wildlife law enforcement, particularly at seaports and airports, and fostering regional and transboundary coordination to combat illicit wildlife trade.

“We acknowledge the authorities’ vigilance against illegal wildlife trafficking and their close coordination with environmental agencies in the pursuit to conserve and protect threatened wildlife species. The covert nature of the trade makes this a huge challenge for authorities and requires a whole-of-government approach,” Therese Mundita Lim said.

Tarantulas comprise a group of large and hairy spiders under the family Theraphosidae. Of the 39 species listed in the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List global database, 11 are categorized as either critically endangered or endangered, five are vulnerable, and five are near-threatened.

Scorpions, on the other hand, can be found in six of the seven continents of the world. A species found in the

Mexican adult female pink tarantula Wikimedia Commons Asean, Isometrus deharvengi, however, is listed as an endangered arachnid in the IUCN Red List.

Lim noted that these arachnids play important roles in ecosystems by helping control insect populations,

thus, helping prevent the spread of insect-borne diseases.

Also, the venoms of tarantulas and scorpions may have medicinal properties that can be valuable in the development of new drugs.

Apart from their contributions to maintaining ecological balance, Lim said these arachnids may provide solutions to modern-day ailments.

“Many hobbyists and collectors, however, are willing to buy these at high prices. This demand contributes to the rampant poaching of these species from the wild, smuggling and illegal trade. Poaching to the point of extinction may have profound impacts on the environment and eventually on human health,” Lim said.

Inadvertent release or escape of exotic animals, especially poisonous ones, into the wild and ecologically sensitive places with high endemism, could result in an ecological imbalance and potentially har m other species in the ecosystems, the ACB head explained.

She warned the public to be compliant with national laws concerning the trade, transportation and possession of these heavily trafficked animals.

In the Philippines, under Republic Act 9147, or the Wildlife Resources Protection and Conservation Act,

those engaged in illegal importation, collection and trade of endangered wildlife are meted six years of imprisonment and a fine of P200,000 (around $4,100).

A l so, g ive n t he t r a n sbou ndar y nature of most illegal w ildlife trade, Lim cited the need for greater coordination and cooperation among neighboring countries, in accordance w ith the commitment of the Asean member states.

In 2019, Asean ministers—responsible for Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora and Wildlife Enforcement during the Special Asean Ministerial Meeting on Illegal Wildlife Trade in Chiang Mai, Thailand—agreed to scale up their efforts to strengthen cooperation in addressing illegal wildlife trade in the region by collaborating with international organizations, private sector, academia, and civil society.

“With a better understanding of the human-wildlife interface amid the Covid-19 pandemic, our collaboration is highly timely and relevant,” Lim said.

Sports COMING TOGETHER BusinessMirror

A8 Sunday, February 21, 2021

S

AN JOSE, California—Whether talking to a teammate, close friend or complete stranger, San Jose State football player Drew Jenkins has a go-to question when discussing hot-button topics: “Are you OK with the society you live in?”

“And most of their answers are no, they’re not OK,” the sophomore defensive back said. “So, then you should take it into your own hands and see if something’s going wrong. You should be able to do something about it. You don’t want to just sit on the sidelines, just like you don’t want to sit on the sidelines when you’re in a game.”

A political science major, Jenkins has spent the past several months suiting action to words, joining fellow students across the country in using the platforms they have as athletes to speak out about issues like racism and police brutality. They are helping educate their peers about what it feels like to live as a minority, embracing the responsibility to try to create tangible change.

For many, the push has led to the formation of athlete groups dedicated to inclusion and outreach. In fact, every Pac-12 Conference university now has some form of coalition to support Black and minority athletes—eight of those organizations were established over the past year, some still in the early planning stages, while others have built on what they already had in place.

At San Jose State, Jenkins and teammate Christian Webb are involved in a group called People of Change and led a march last year.

Last Friday, they made a presentation to their teammates on Black history and why it is celebrated in February “just to educate them on this month,” Jenkins said.

They also hope to hold an event in the coming weeks to raise money for further community action, with plans to meet as an entire organization sometime in March if it can be done safely under Covid-19 protocols.

Many of the groups emerged in the aftermath of George Floyd’s death last May while he was in the custody of Minneapolis police.

“It’s just somewhere to go and people that you trust and that you feel safe also voicing your opinion with,” said University of California baseball player Darren Baker, whose father, Dusty, manages the Houston Astros. “I think it was something that was long overdue. It’s unfortunate that some events around the country had to happen for this to finally become a thing, but I’m glad it did.”

At Stanford, defensive end Thomas Booker is part of a movement on campus he and others considered essential in the current US climate. The group, called CardinalBLCK, is mostly meeting over video calls for now with members scattered. While still firming up a mission statement, the group aims to be progressive in community outreach.

“We felt like we needed a community that had all of our interests in mind and at heart,” Booker said. “What we envision for the organization to be is, first off, a place that Black Stanford studentathletes can go to and have similar faces and opinions and ideas expressed for them, whereas before there wasn’t ever a real formal organization for that. Stanford is a majority-white institution so sometimes it can feel isolating, specifically as a student-athlete and all the stereotypes that come along with that.”

Stanford athletic director Bernard Muir, who is Black, has served in a supporting

role for CardinalBLCK. He acknowledges the administration won’t always handle things perfectly and this is a forum for everyone to find ways to be better. Stanford athletes approached him after Floyd’s killing.

“I think the country was hurting,” Muir said.

“Certainly our student-athlete population was hurting, so they wanted to come together and talk and vent their frustrations and talk about their own experiences here on campus.”

The moment Jenkins can get everybody together again in person he plans to host a town-hall forum for all San Jose State athletes to tackle social justice issues in a safe space.

He and Webb led a march from campus to City Hall last year, and Jenkins made sure all his teammates who were eligible to vote became registered for the presidential election in November—102 in all.

“That right there is huge to me,” said Spartans quarterback Nick Starkel, a grad transfer working to complete his master’s degree in justice studies. “For me, personally, it was an opportunity for me to listen and to learn, and to be able to empathize with my teammates of color.

Because I don’t know what it’s like.” AP

STUDENT-ATHLETES from San Jose State University march from their campus to City Hall to bring awareness to issues of social injustice in San Jose, California, in September last year. AP

Cricket fans now allowed in stadiums in Pakistan

S

PECTATORS will return to cricket stadiums in Pakistan for the first time since the coronavirus pandemic began when the sixth edition of the Pakistan Super League begins in the southern port city of Karachi on Saturday.

The government has allowed the Pakistan Cricket Board to admit 20 percent capacity of fans inside the stadiums for the country’s premier Twenty20 league, maintaining proper social distancing and making masks mandatory for spectators.

The decision meant National Stadium in Karachi will accommodate 7,500 fans and Lahore’s Gaddafi Stadium 5,500.

“Without crowd there was no enjoyment,” said Quetta Gladiators wicketkeeper/batsman Sarfaraz Ahmed. “It’s the great news that we will be playing in front of our own crowds after a long time.”

During the pandemic, the PCB successfully hosted two international series—against Zimbabwe and South Africa—in empty stadiums besides organizing more than 200 domestic cricket matches in a bio-secure bubble.

The PCB is confident that it is now wellversed in implementing its Covid-19 procedures, with only one local player being expelled for violating protocols during a domestic game.

More than 120 players, 60 support staff and about a dozen match officials will remain in a biosecure bubble for the PSL tournament.

“Covid-19 and cricket can co-exist, provided we follow the proper protocols,” PCB Chairman Ehsan Mani said.

Mani admitted that a large number of fans will be disappointed due to limited seating available both in Karachi and Lahore. However, the government will review crowd capacity at Karachi’s Gaddafi Stadium before the playoffs and the final in Lahore next month.

Karachi Kings defeated archrivals Lahore Qalandars in the final in November after the PSL playoffs were postponed due to Covid-19 in last March. Just three months later, the defending champions will open the new season with a match against 2019 winners Quetta.

The six-team event also features twotime champions Islamabad United, last year’s third-place finisher Multan Sultans and 2017 champions Peshawar Zalmi.

Several leading international Twenty20 cricketers will be in action over a month-long

Female Iranian ski coach works from home

C

ORTINA D’AMPEZZO, Italy—When the husband of Iran’s Alpine ski team coach took advantage of a local law and barred his wife from leaving the country, Samira Zargari picked up her phone and continued coaching remotely.

Zargari called her four racers three times Thursday while they competed in the women’s giant slalom at the world championships in Italy—before the race, between runs and after the event was finished.

“Always I [am] proud of all Iranian girls,” Zargari said in a text message exchange with The Associated Press. “I love them.”

The 37-year-old Zargari said that her husband is now in a relationship with her best friend and that he requested she consent to a divorce.

“I didn’t and he blocked me,” Zargari said, adding that her husband is “always laughing [at] my job and my team.”

The couple was together for five years, said Zargari, who was writing from the Shemshak ski resort. She said her husband was born in the United States and

tournament with Chris Gayle, Ben Dunk, Chris Lynn and world’s top-ranked T20 bowler, Rashid Khan of Afghanistan.

Karachi will host the first 20 league games while Lahore will host the remaining 14 matches, including the final on March 22.

Karachi will be among the favorites for the title with Pakistan T20 regular Imad Wasim leading the side. They have an ideal set of openers—Pakistan Twenty20 skipper Babar Azam and hard-hitting batsman Sharjeel Khan.

They also have experienced bowler Mohammad Amir and Afghanistan offspinner Mohammad Nabi.

Lahore has last year’s world top 3 Twenty20 wicket-takers among its ranks. Rashid might have to leave the side due to Afghanistan’s tour of Zimbabwe after playing in initial matches, but Shaheen Afridi and Haris Rauf form a formidable pace attack with experienced Mohammad Hafeez providing the nucleus of their batting.

Islamabad United, led by all-rounder Shadab Khan, signed Pakistan fast bowler Hasan Ali. Hasan made a strong return to international cricket against South Africa after two years due to injuries.

Islamabad had a minor setback when they lost Colin Munro, who could not travel to Pakistan from New Zealand due to Covid-19 restrictions, so he was replaced with Australian spinner Fawad Ahmed.

Quetta did make the playoffs for the first time last year. The side has Australian allrounder Ben Cutting, who could prove handy in the middle order with his clean hitting along with England’s Twenty20 specialist opening batsman Tom Banton.

Peshawar Zalmi will be led by fast bowler Wahab Riaz and has the two most experienced Twenty20 players in Kamran Akmal and Shoaib Malik. South Africa’s David Miller will strengthen the batting lineup in the second half of the tournament, but they have young hard-hitting batsman Haider Ali and England’s experienced Ravi Bopara among their ranks. AP

is a citizen of both the US and Iran.

Under Iranian law, husbands can stop their wives from traveling outside of the country.

Zargari said she wanted to launch a “campaign” to change the law.

“I’m so sad and I can’t believe it,” Zargari said, adding that she was seeking help from the International Ski Federation, which

IRAN’S Forough Abbasi speeds down the course. AP

is known as FIS. The FIS said in a statement to the AP that it “sympathizes with any team member who is not able to travel to our world championships. However, FIS is also not in a position to dispute the laws of any given nation.”

Forough Abbasi, one of the skiers on Zargari’s team, spoke out about her coach’s plight.

“It’s not the first time,” Abbasi said. “We had the same

problem before this. But I wish we can change it—all the women in Iran, all together, I wish we could change it. We are trying. I’m sure the strong women can for sure change these rules and she will be stronger than before. We are proud of her, really.”

Abbasi finished nearly 25 seconds behind American favorite Mikaela Shiffrin, the first-run leader, but was pleased just to have completed her run.

Abbasi said her coach is a “really a strong woman” and that she’s “sure she can be [more] stronger from that.”

Zargari is not the first married athlete whose husband prevented her from leaving Iran. In 2015, soccer player Niloufar Ardalan missed the Asian Cup tournament in futsal—an indoor version of soccer—after her husband confiscated her passport in a domestic dispute.

Women’s sports largely disappeared from Iran after the country’s 1979 Islamic Revolution. Over time, however, they gained in popularity, especially soccer. Social customs still come into the game, though, as the country’s soccer team plays its matches with players’ hair covered by traditional headscarves, or hijabs.

Two Islamic countries make the headscarf mandatory for women in public—Iran and Saudi Arabia. Fifa overturned a yearlong ban against players wearing hijabs in 2012.

Abbasi—one of eight Iranians (four women and four men) competing in Cortina—said she is free to drive, travel, train and race in Iran.

“Everything is free to us,” she said. “There is some rules like this but it’s not for everyone. In Iran maybe in a 1,000 women, one of them has a problem.... Even my coach.

She’s really a free woman. She was all over the world. She’s traveling all the time. This time this happened.... But for sure it will be changed.”

Still, Abbasi said the government prevents her from taking on certain jobs and that she has to work as a ski instructor to support her skiing career.

“I really want to stay in Iran and change the rules— change something that is stopping athletes, not just women,” she said. “The boys can’t

buy equipment. It’s the same for everyone.”

Zargari added that while the law enabling a husband to block his wife’s passport is a “problem,” she still loves her country. AP

MLB pitchers prepare for usual 162-game grind

P

HOENIX— The sport of baseball, much like the rest of the world, is craving normalcy after a full year of disruptions caused by the

New York Mets pitcher Marcus Stroman throws during the first inning of the team’s spring training game against the St. Louis Cardinals in Port Saint Lucie, Florida in February last year. AP

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

pandemic.

So the familiar feel of February spring training has pitchers eager to unleash fastballs, spin a few breaking balls and get ready for the 162-game long haul.

But the message from coaches and executives is clear: No need to rush.

“Spring training is 50

days long,” Seattle Mariners manager Scott Servais said. “To put that in perspective, our season last year was 66 days long. So we have time.”

As of Thursday, almost all 30 teams had started workouts for pitchers and catchers. Now organizations are working on how to manage their pitchers’ workloads after most threw less than half of their usual innings in the pandemicshortened 2020 season.

Pitch counts or innings limits are hardly new concepts. Organizations do everything in their power to protect their pitchers, especially elite prospects. The bump in workload from 60 games to 162 just provides another variable to consider.

Teams are evaluating all kinds of strategies—including six-man starting rotations in some cases—to make sure they don’t overtax arms.

The Washington Nationals are fortunate to have four veterans at the top of their

rotation: Three-time Cy Young Award winner Max Scherzer, 2019 World Series MVP Stephen Strasburg, Patrick Corbin and free-agent addition Jon Lester.

Nationals GM Mike Rizzo said those pitchers know how to listen to their bodies and prepare.

But young pitchers—many of whom didn’t throw many innings last season—will have to be watched closely.

“We’re going to have to take that into consideration,” Rizzo said. “The depth in your organization is really going to come to the forefront, maybe more than ever before this season, because of the lack of innings logged last year by almost all of our pitchers.”

Caution is widespread. But some pitchers feel that the extra rest time will actually be beneficial.

Mets right-hander Marcus Stroman hasn’t thrown a competitive pitch since 2019—he

injured his left calf ramping up for the 2020 season and then opted out of the season entirely on August 10 over coronavirus concerns.

Stroman said he sees the layoff as a benefit, giving the 5-foot-7 pitcher a chance to fine-tune his conditioning.

“It wasn’t like I was just hanging out,” Stroman said. “I was training daily, getting ready for whenever I was going to go out there next.”

“I never have to get ready, because I stay ready,” he added. “I’m ready to rock. I’m ready to go out there for 200-plus innings like I am every single year.”

Colorado Rockies manager Bud Black said he’d be monitoring the health of his pitchers, but the team can’t be afraid to put its best on the mound.

“I still think that a team that has reliable starting pitchers, if your best five guys take the ball each and every day, that gives you the best chance to win over the long haul of 162 games,” Black said. “We’re going to try to do that. We’re going to try to be a very confident and capable pitching staff that logs innings.” AP

BusinessMirror

February 21, 2021

Kevin Durant and Logan Paul agree:

Sports trading cards are the future

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BusinessMirror FEBRUARY 21, 2021 | soundstrip.businessmirror@gmail.com

YOUR MUSI

RHYTHM & RHYME

by Kaye Villagomez-Losorata

Ben&Ben provide soundtrack to Hyun Bin, Son Ye Jin TVC

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AST Valentine’s Day, Smart made history after releasing the first TVC starring Korean power couple Hyun Bin and Son Ye Jin with accompanied by an OPM theme song written by Ben&Ben. HYUN Bin and Son Ye Jin

Publisher

: T. Anthony C. Cabangon

Editor-In-Chief

: Lourdes M. Fernandez

Concept

: Aldwin M. Tolosa

Y2Z Editor

: Jt Nisay

SoundStrip Editor

: Edwin P. Sallan

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

Columnists

: Niggel Figueroa Anabelle O. Flores : Tony M. Maghirang, Rick Olivares, Darwin Fernandez, Leony Garcia, Stephanie Joy Ching Pauline Joy M. Gutierrez : Kaye VillagomezLosorata Annie S. Alejo

Photographers

: Bernard P. Testa

In what looked like a oneminute romantic-sci-fi tribute to Crash Landing On You (CLOY) fans and Smart subscribers, the TVC featured the new song, Inevitable, a play on the featured couple’s real and reel chemistry and the wireless network’s 5G campaign.

“Hello, Smartees, mabuhay!

Together we present to you our best work with Smart. We enjoyed doing this video and we hope that you will enjoy it too. We look forward to this new Simple. Smart Ako material [being shown to our Filipino supporters] that will give you a fresh experience. Mahal naming kayo!” said Hyun Bin and Son Ye Jin in a brief video greeting introducing the TVC. In an official press release, Jane Jimenez-Basas, Smart SVP and Head of Consumer Wireless Business said, “Finally! The

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Ben&Ben

wait is over for all of us K-fans who have been wishing for Hyun Bin and Son Ye Jin to be together again. We heard your clamor, and we read all your #InSmartWeTrust posts so we knew this was inevitable. We had to make this happen. You are all part of this sweet journey, and we owe this to you, our dear subscribers.”

For Ben&Ben, they describe the “soaring new anthem” as one that “encourages listeners and music fans to live in the moment freely and truthfully without the need to succumb to expectations,” said a Sony statement.

Lead singer Paolo Benjamin said of the songwriting process: “Inevitable is a song that tries to describe the nature of fate, and how all our actions somehow lead us to some better place that is destined for us. It’s also a song about being real with

someone, and that no matter how scary that may seem at times, there is freedom in bearing your truest nature with someone dear to you, even if that someone is yourself.”

Miguel Benjamin echoed the song’s impact by saying, “The songwriting in itself presents a concept of the state that is both a surreal mystery and a peaceful certainty, so we wanted to create an aural representation of what these lyrics felt like. Our process started with a mix of acoustic guitars, which I tweaked with sitar effects as the main intro riff; kind of like a representation of the two contrasting feelings working together.”

Regarding the band’s stint in the TVC, Patricia Lasaten noted, “Many of us are mega fans of the CLOY couple, so this is definitely a dream collaboration with Smart. We can’t help but be kilig and at the same time wish that our co-fans who would hear the song would also connect it with the evolving story of Hyun Bin and Son Ye Jin. It’s also our gift to the fans, and to the couple as well. We’d like to thank Smart for this amazing opportunity.”

Inevitable is now available for download or streaming via Spotify and Apple Music. To relive the romance from the latest TVC, here’s the link: https:// fb.watch/3FH3qP_KDN/.

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soundstrip.businessmirror@gmail.com | FEBRUARY 21, 2021

BUSINESS

SoundSampler

A riot of sounds

by Tony M. Maghirang

From Parallel Uno, Black Country, New Road, The Weather Station, UJU and Mocksmile & Skinxbones

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PARALLEL UNO, Parallel Uno

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AST year, Paolo Garcia produced “Muling Kagat.” a remix of rarities from the catalog of the late Dennis and Rene Garcia’s Hotdog, the Manila Sound pioneers. Paolo’’s a multiinstrumentalist who goes by the name Pasta Groove and now as Parallel Uno, he’s extended his love of trippy beats and breakbeats, plugging them to Brazilian grooves, neo soul and hip hop and in tracks on his self-titled debut like “Ang Mundong Gabi” and “Bukang Liwayway,” kundiman!

In an interview, he admitted a lot of samples went into shaping his new album the way it is, an eclectic tribute to OPM. “Parallel Uno” may be a genre-spanning album but at its core is a firm resolve to put Filipino music on the global map.

N band camp, the manifesto cum liner notes about this EP suggests the fall of Capitalism and in its place, its supposed highest form whose name is hard to speak of in this season of witch hunts and red tagging.

Track titles refer to dosing errors and drugs that affect the nervous system and the final track from Skinxbones proclaims “The Long Dark Night of the End of History/.”

Unfortunately, the accompanying music hardly departs from the typical electronic tropes of wall of synthetic sound, computer bleeps and squiggles and tiny tolling bells.

The penultimate cut, “Groundswell” implies a scaled-down version of Mike Oldfield’s “Tubular Bels” while the long-titled last track is nothing but unintelligible conversation devolving to hiss and static.

Collectively, they don’t exactly forewarn that capitalism is going down the dustbin any time soon.

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IMPY music is the butt of joke in indie circles these days but in Melt Records’ latest find, the Dumaguete-based outfit Uju, their presumed sappiness derives, at least to these ears, from a superb source: the ‘90s power pop bands on the Swedish Soap label like Eggstone and Wannadies.

The slacker sound of twee pop also shows up in Uju’s imagining of better days.

metal? There’s Pallbearer and Hey Colossus. Post-punk?

Nothing and Girls in Synthesis and in fact, all Steve Albini associated bands will bring the creative fuzz you need now. Jazz?

Uhm, let’s not even go there.

BCNR’s full album debut will seal the final deal whether the band is made of sterner, enduring stuff.

THE WEATHER STATION, Ignorance

BLACK COUNTRY, NEW ROAD, For the first time

UJU, Dream of Better Days

MOCKSMILE & SKINXBONES, Under The Negative Influence

First off, it’s the sparkling guitar progressions that take front and center stage. They provide hookfilled blasts of energy to put across the female lead singer’s lovely voice, which for the moist part, warble on matters of the young heart. It can however fall prey to blah lyricism as can be gleaned from “Still Breathing” where the vocalist explores her budding diva potentials and “Can We Stay This Way Forever” in which a spoken word soliloquy gets saved by a shower of golden riffage. Here’s a toast to a great year ahead!

NITIALLY heralded as “the best band in Britain” followed by the ultimate accolade to be the “best band in the world,” 7-piece UK rock outfit Black Country, New Road brings a fresh perspective to things post—post-rock, post-punk, post-metal, etc. They earned those honors after releasing a couple of singles critically perceived to kick British rock to a new uncharted terrain. Their new EP coyly titled “For the First Time” has the arrogance to conclude with “Opus,” literally a master class in fusing metal, post-punk, jazz and klezmer in a ranting ballad about burning down what have been built from scratch.

In this day and rage, the acclaim looks premature. Excellent post-

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MART jazzy instrumentation pulls this handsome album away from Planet Soft Rock, without forsaking the hooks and textures of radio-friendly modern music for all ages. And no, it’s not The Carpenters or Bread kind of sappy pop but more of the Fleetwood Mac circa “Rumours” variety.

The intricate interplay guitars-bass-drums and keyboards issue a lush, enchanting ambience to songs about love lost and found, climate change and the legal infirmity of robbery as theft! Canadian actress/singer Tamara Linderman maintains a conversational intonation to her singing while the instruments surges and wanes around her creating the effect of a live performance in an intimate setting. “Ignorance” is a major triumph.

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Kevin Durant and Logan Paul agree:

Sports trading cards are the future

By Lucas Shaw

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Bloomberg

en Goldin has made millions selling the sports trading cards of Mike Trout, Michael Jordan and Patrick Mahomes.

Now he’s lined up an even bigger score: his company.

The sports-memorabilia mogul is selling a majority stake in Goldin Auctions, an eight-year-old shop dedicated to auctioning off collectibles—and trading cards in particular—to the Chernin Group, a Los Angeles-based investment firm. Chernin leads a blockbuster group of investors, including basketball star Kevin Durant, Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban, YouTube cofounder Chad Hurley, YouTube star Logan Paul and podcaster Bill Simmons.

The group is investing $40 million in Goldin Auctions to help the company become the dominant player in the booming market for sports-trading cards. Sales of such items have soared to new heights in the past couple of years, and Goldin’s firm has emerged as the leading auction house—the Sotheby’s of sports, if you will.

It generated more auction sales in January—$36 million—than it did in all of 2019, when it made $27 million. For the full year, Goldin is on pace for more than $200 million in sales, doubling its record take from a year earlier.

“We have something the hobby has never had before,” Goldin said an interview. “All of a sudden, we’re cool. We’re part of pop culture.”

A flood of wealthy people seeking alternate investments, ranging from Bitcoin to song catalogs, has descended on sports collectibles. Many of these people were raised during the first trading card boom in the 1980s. Only this time, the market has benefited from growing interest in contemporary players and new sports.

Baseball used to dominate the industry, but now basketball has outstripped it as the most popular sport for cards. Foot-

“The younger generation doesn’t want to invest like the previous one. They don’t want to just diversify across mutual funds. They are looking for alternate investments they can touch, feel and understand.”

Mike Trout autographed rookie card that sold for $922,500 (left); Michael Jordan autographed card that sold for $187,730 Goldin Auctions ball and tennis are growing as well. In a recent auction, Goldin set new highs for Kobe Bryant, Luka Doncic, Lou Gehrig, Stephen Curry and Anthony Davis. He sold a Jordan rookie card for $738,000, and got $861,000 for a signed Mahomes rookie— the most expensive football card ever sold.

Many of these athletes now call Goldin for advice on how to collect cards.

Right now, Goldin is just an auction house. But Goldin and the Chernin Group have plans to make it a one-stop shop for collectors and hobbyists. The company can compile a database for potential buyers to look up recent transactions, record podcasts to offer insight into the market, and stage the biggest and best auctions around.

“If I gave someone $1,000 to invest in the stock market, they’d read some analyst reports and invest by the end of the day,” said Ross Hoffman, a veteran of Twitter Inc. and Headspace Inc. who is poised to

become Goldin’s chief executive officer. “I don’t know where they’d start on collectibles.”

As CEO, Hoffman will build out the company’s technology and operations. Ken Goldin will be executive chairman, letting him seek out top cards for the company to auction and serve as the industry’s biggest cheerleader.

“The younger generation doesn’t want to invest like the previous one,” Hoffman said. “They don’t want to just diversify across mutual funds. They are looking for alternate investments they can touch, feel and understand.”

The Chernin Group has made a killing investing in niche media businesses. It previously bet on Crunchyroll, an anime video service that was sold to AT&T Inc. It was also an early investor in Barstool Sports, a podcast network that was sold to Penn National Gaming Inc., a casino company.

Jesse Jacobs, president of the Chernin Group, started looking into sports trading cards a year ago. The more Jacobs learned about the industry, the more he saw parallels between what Goldin was doing and Chernin’s past successes.

“One of the big reasons we did this deal was Ken,” Jacobs said. “He’s an icon in the space, and no one has more respect or credibility.”

Goldin has been selling trading cards since 1978, when he was 12 and started collecting them from his local pharmacy. In 1986, Goldin and his father started a company called Scoreboard that bought trading cards from manufacturers, and then sold the best cards to individuals. They eventually signed exclusive deals for athletes such as Mickey Mantle, Willie Mays, Wayne Gretzky and Shaquille O’Neal.

Trading card sales climbed throughout the 1980s. And by 1991, Gretzky and former Los Angeles Kings owner Bruce McNall spent a then-record $451,000 for the T206 Honus Wagner—one of a just a few cards featuring the Pittsburgh Pirates great manufactured by the American Tobacco Co. But the industry contracted after the top trading card companies flooded the market with new products, producing more cards than anyone could ever want.

Sales and interest waned.

Spending on sports cards began to increase again after the 2008 financial crisis, as people looked for alternative places to invest their money. Goldin founded his new auction house in 2012. The surge in valuations has led to talk of a bubble.

There are concerns that the market is hot because everyone is stuck at home getting nostalgic about their card collections—something that may not last after the pandemic eases.

But Goldin and the Chernin Group expect the market to thrive for years to come. An influx of new buyers from all around the world means interest is only primed to grow.

“Outside of the US, it is impossible to buy cards,” Goldin said. “When that problem is solved, and people in Australia, Korea, Japan, China and Denmark—all these hot beds—can have easy access to buying and selling cards, you’ll see an explosion in the marketplace.”

LeBron James’s highlights sell for thousands in online market

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tarting just outside the three-point line, Memphis Grizzlies point guard Ja Morant used a crossover to freeze Aron Baynes, then a Phoenix Suns defender. Morant then makes a mad dash to the rim, switches the ball back to his right hand mid-air and finishes the play with a jaw-dropping dunk that sends fans to their feet and leaves Baynes to dejectedly run back up the court knowing he was “posterized.”

For just $43,313, you can buy one of the 25 video trading cards of the moment on NBA Top Shot, a platform marrying the trading of the league’s top highlights with cryptocurrency.

In another sign of the booming sports collectibles market—a Mickey Mantle rookie card just sold for a record $5.2 million—the best NBA Top Shot limited new releases have sold

out in minutes and went for eye-watering prices on its secondary market. Four videos were listed at prices exceeding $20,000, including two versions of a vicious LeBron James dunk against the Sacramento Kings in 2019.

NBA Top Shot is a collaboration between the NBA and Dapper Labs, the Andreessen Horowitz-backed creator of the CryptoKitties game that brought the ethereum blockchain to a grinding halt in 2017.

Since launching a closed beta version last May, the Top Shot marketplace has facilitated more than $10 million in transactions, according to the company. And the pace is picking up: there’s been more than $1.3 million in trading volume last month.

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“The Christmas day game pack drop sold out in under a minute,” said Caty Tedman, vice president of marketing at Dapper Labs.

The sports memorabilia gold rush has come on the coattails of surging stock prices and, yes, cryptocurrency markets that are near all-time highs with investors looking for hard assets to hedge against future inflation.

While it’s not explicitly marketed to users as a crypto product, Top Shot sits atop the firm’s Flow blockchain to create a chain of custody for each moment that secures ownership and prevents forgeries.

“After launching CryptoKitties, we were quickly convinced this was the future of collectibles,” said Dapper Labs Chief Execu-

February 21, 2021

Los Angeles Lakers superstar LeBron James tive Officer Roham Gharegozlou. “We thought this would be the killer app that would bring people to the blockchain. We just needed to find a partner at the scale of the NBA that would let us do a first of its kind product and one that would last 100 years if we do our job right.” Bloomberg