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Business hubs still top magnets Property market keeps tabs on financial districts in Metro Manila—study

By Roderick L. Abad Contributor

ITIES in the National Capital Region (NCR) that host business districts and economic hubs remain the most popular among property hunters in the third quarter of 2020, according to the latest study of Lamudi. Based on The Outlook Report, Quezon City led the list in terms of the most viewed locations in Metro Manila for properties for sale listed in its portal, accounting for almost half of the pageviews at 48.67 percent. This was followed by Makati and Manila at 15.52 percent and 9.98 percent of the pageviews, respectively. Pasig came next at 6.58 percent and Parañaque at 5.83 percent. It is noted that Quezon City, Makati and Pasig are homes to central business districts in the country. Manila houses the nation’s largest port, while Parañaque hosts the Bay City. Lamudi’s research attributed the massive online traffic in these areas to more property buyers exploring locations close to their work or employment opportuni-

ties, as well as individuals looking for leased properties. The same trend was apparent when it comes to leads, wherein Quezon City maintained its popularity and partook 49.54 percent of the pie. Makati came in second, with 16.97 percent; Manila, third, 9.44 percent; Pasig, fourth, 5.98 percent; and Parañaque, fifth, 5.68 percent. These areas recorded the highest number of inquiries and emerged as the most preferred locations for properties for sale in the metropolis. What specifically they looked for were houses in horizontal real-estate development projects accounting for 43.27 percent of leads, followed by land at 31.52 percent, condominiums at 17.02 percent, foreclosures at 3.83 percent, commercial at 3.37 percent,

PESO EXCHANGE RATES n US 48.0530

and apartment at 0.99 percent. The strong demand for properties in these cities has been already felt in the first and second quarters of the year, thus, making them truly resilient real-estate hotspots despite the ensuing Covid-19 pandemic.

Crowned property hub in Visayas

IN the Visayas region, Lamudi saw a spike in pageviews and leads in the major urban center of Cebu. Searches on properties here rose over a quarter at 26.5 percent from the first quarter to the second. While pageviews surged only at 22.1 percent from the second to the third quarter, the figures in the latest quarter leapfrogged from how it registered at the beginning of the year, corresponding to a 54.46- percent growth in pageviews from the first quarter of the year to the third quarter. In terms of the inquiries, Metro Cebu posted a 49.79-percent increase from the first to the second quarter. Due to tight lockdowns implemented in the middle of the year due to a surge in Covid-19 cases there, they only expanded by 11.98 percent from the second to the third quarter. From July to September 2020, the study bared that property seekers in the metro mostly looked into houses at 51.81 percent as community quarantines eased in the third quarter of last year. Land got 30.76 percent of searches during the same period, then condo at

11.79 percent, foreclosures at 3.50 percent, and commercial at 1.40 percent. Interestingly, lot-only properties were more frequently the subject of queries, as 45.62 percent of the leads were for land, compared to 36.31 percent for houses. Condos accounted for 10.38 percent of the searches, foreclosures at 5.61 percent, and commercial at 1.40 percent. The Queen City of the South, likewise, was the top choice in the region for property hunters abroad, registering 80.73 percent and 82.56 percent of the pageviews and inquiries from among overseas Filipino workers, accordingly.

Davao continues to wow

METRO Davao was the go-to area for properties in Mindanao quarter-on-quarter (QoQ), the study showed. Based on results, the area recorded a 29.18-percent hike in page views from the first quarter to the second and 29.04-percent increase from second to third quarter. The number of inquiries soared to 14.18 percent in the first to second quarter and surged 16.18 percent between the second and third quarters. For the third quarter of this year, houses garnered 50.58 percent of pageviews at the Lamudi website. Land took 32.29 percent, condos obtained 10.03 percent, foreclosures captured 3.40 percent, and commercial gained 2.33 percent.

Lead-wise, land had the most inquiries at 48.55 percent—the same trend in Metro Cebu—followed only by house at 35.92 percent. Foreclosures were the third most searched properties at 7.20 percent, then condo at 6.05 percent, and commercial at 1.80 percent.

Rising regions

OTHER vibrant regions, which happened to be South Luzon and Cagayan de Oro (CDO), were found to be a magnet for people looking for real estate to purchase or rent, Lamudi reported. Why not? The former serves as a viable alternative to the metro cities as they offer proximity to the NCR minus the hustle and bustle, while the latter has kept realestate demand, being the economic power in Northern Mindanao. Comparing the second quarter of the year to the third, the number of people looking at properties in South Luzon grew by 27.68 percent QoQ. Nevertheless, there was a slight decrease of about 1.28 percent in terms of inquiries during the two periods in review. Looking at the entire year so far, a notable 71.45-percent hike was posted in leads from the first quarter to the third. The top five in-demand areas in the Calabarzon (Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, Rizal and Quezon) for the third quarter of this year were Antipolo (17.90 percent of pageviews and 17.24 percent of leads), Bacoor (15.92 percent of pageviews

and 16.49 percent of leads), Imus (9.75 percent of pageviews and 12.84 percent of leads), Santa Rosa (8.94 percent of pageviews and 10.93 percent of leads), and Calamba (8.80 percent of pageviews and 9.82 percent of leads). Houses were the most inquired property type, accounting for 49.37 percent of the pageviews in the Southern Tagalog mainland, then vacant lots attracting 31.19 percent of the searches. This was contrary to leads, wherein land got a hold of 45.91 percent of inquiries, while houses received 34.96 percent. Condo gained 11.07 percent of pageviews and 9.71 percent of leads, foreclosures garnered 5.82 percent of pageviews and 6.23 percent of leads, and commercial had 1.90 percent of pageviews and 2.72 percent of leads. CDO saw a 20.53-percent hike in pageviews in the third quarter. The current lead figures versus the numbers at the first quarter went up at 67.2 percent. The Lamudi research revealed that houses accounted for 50.01 percent of the site’s traffic; followed by land, 32.64 percent; condo, 9.01 percent; foreclosures, 5.50 percent; and commercial, 2.33 percent. In so far as leads are concerned, land was the most inquired type of property in CDO at 49.79 percent, then house at 34.57 percent, condo at 8.23 percent, foreclosures at 6.17 percent, and commercial at 0.96 percent.

n JAPAN 0.4629 n UK 65.1983 n HK 6.1977 n CHINA 7.4180 n SINGAPORE 36.2774 n AUSTRALIA 37.3276 n EU 58.9803 n SAUDI ARABIA 12.8100

Source: BSP (January 8, 2021)

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Xi’s push against Jack Ma sparks

new threat for China tech

By Bloomberg News

HINESE tech companies did a pretty good job convincing global investors that they operated independently from the Communist Party (CCP). Now, Jack Ma has become a case study for the firms’ biggest skeptics. Companies from Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. to Tencent Holdings Ltd. splashed out billions on overseas acquisitions while developing apps and technologies that challenged Western rivals, with little or no state interference. But Beijing’s pursuit of Ma and his Ant Group Co. after he criticized regulators arguably plays directly into the hands of China’s biggest critics in Washington, who have long asserted that no Chinese tech giant or entrepreneur is beyond the reach of Xi Jinping. US authorities are now debating whether to ban investments in Alibaba and Tencent, according to people familiar with the matter, in what would be a dramatic blow to two of the companies whose shares are most widely held by global inves-

tors. Already on Tuesday, President Donald Trump signed an executive order banning transactions with eight Chinese software applications including Ant’s Alipay, and Tencent’s WeChat Pay, citing concerns that Beijing will have access to the data collected by the platforms. “I stand with President Trump’s commitment to protecting the privacy and security of Americans from threats posed by the Chinese Communist Party,” Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross said in a statement on the order.

Pressure on Biden

BEIJING’S moves could raise pressure on the incoming Joe Biden administration to push through further action detrimental to China, though it’s not clear how much

of Trump’s aggressive policies the president-elect will continue. The party’s sway over business has become even clearer over the past 12 months as Xi pushes to consolidate power ahead of next year’s big party congress, when he’s expected to extend his rule for at least another five years. Covid-19 has only served to strengthen his grip, fueling a war-like campaign to steer the economy back on track and snuff out perceived threats to national security. “You need to be very mindful of who ultimately controls regulations, who controls licensing—of who’s in charge,” said Mark Natkin, managing director of Beijing-based Marbridge Consulting. “And if you forget and you start to be overly critical or take too much of a role that normally belongs to the party, then you’re going to get chopped down a notch or two.” Beijing has moved to fundamentally overhaul Ma’s trilliondollar internet empire since demolishing Ant’s $35-billion public offering in November, a recordbreaking debut that was to have been the entrepreneur’s crowning achievement. Authorities then forced his online finance titan to cap loans and devise a plan to hive off its most

JACK MA BLOOMBERG

APP icons for Ant Group Co.’s Alipay: Tencent Holding Ltd.’s QQ, Tencent’s We Chat, CamScanner, VMate, WPS Office and SHAREit arranged on a smartphone in Hong Kong. President Donald Trump signed an order banning US transactions with eight digital Chinese payment platforms including Ant Group Co.’s Alipay in 45 days, when he’ll no longer be in office. BLOOMBERG

XI: “Outstanding entrepreneurs must have a strong sense of mission and responsibility for the nation, and align their businesses’ development with the prosperity of the nation and the happiness of the people.” BLOOMBERG

lucrative businesses. The government also launched a probe into alleged anti-competitive practices at Alibaba. The billionaire has not been seen in public since November and his absence from the recent taping of an African TV program created spurred speculation of his whereabouts.

‘Emboldened’

“THERE is a lot of power in the Chinese government’s economic and financial management infrastructure, and if Ant was going to erode that power, important people would see it as a step too far,” said Graham Webster, editor of the DigiChina project at the Stanford Cyber Policy Center. But “the Chinese government also prizes these leading companies as drivers of technological independence. The party would have to perceive significant threats to tear them down.”

The action against Ma sends the latest signal that Beijing feels emboldened to risk international fallout from measures meant to address domestic challenges. Xi has previously defied threats of US sanctions to impose sweeping national security legislation on the former British colony of Hong Kong. Crushing Ant’s IPO risked alienating a plethora of powerful global financiers from Singapore’s sovereign wealth fund to Carlyle. The US has also cited concerns about Chinese government influence over private industry to justify its efforts to force ByteDance Ltd. to sell the American share of its TikTok social network and the global campaign to convince allies to swear off equipment made by Huawei Technologies Co. Supporters of such actions often cite Chinese policies such as a 2017 law that requires companies to “support, assist and cooperate” with intelligence agencies. Like Huawei, Ant has also asserted its independence from the Chinese government, saying in a 2017 application to the US securities regulator that it is “a private-sector company and while a handful of Chinese state-owned or -affiliated funds own non-controlling minority stakes, they do not participate in company management.”

Omnipresent party

THE party has long reached into private firms, including foreign ones operating in China. One way it does that is through the presence of party committees in companies, among them tech enterprises that are made up of employees. In addition, it dispatches officials to companies to oversee cer-

tain activities. Many tech leaders are also party members, including Ma, Lenovo founder Liu Chuanzhi and Huawei’s Ren Zhengfei. Tencent’s Pony Ma and Xiaomi Corp.’s Lei Jun are both delegates to the National People’s Congress. The party’s also stepped in on several occasions to punish executives for mismanagement, including Anbang Insurance Group’s Wu Xiaohui. But recent efforts to exert government influence over companies and intervene in the business landscape have reached new levels. That’s provided fuel to the China hawks in Washington, who argue that the party exerts too much influence over Chinese companies. Xi needs business executives on his side to achieve strategic goals such as the “dual-circulation” economic plan focused on domestic consumption, developing secure supply chains and reducing reliance on foreign technology. While the world’s second-largest economy was the first to rebound from Covid-19, its recovery is showing signs of peaking even as global growth remains sluggish and ties with the US stay fraught.

For the happiness of the people

IN a rare direct plea to the business sector in July, Xi called on executives, including those from the tech industry, to be more patriotic and help the post-pandemic economic recovery. “Outstanding entrepreneurs must have a strong sense of mission and responsibility for the nation, and align their businesses’ development with the prosperity of the nation and the happiness of the people,” he said. Weeks later, the party revealed plans to tighten control over the private sector by extending its United Front networking operations further into the business community. The policy will “strengthen ideological guidance” and “create a core group of private-sector leaders who can be relied upon during critical times,” according to guidelines published at the time. “Under President Xi, the CCP has tightened its grip over tech companies and doubled down on its techno-nationalist initiatives,” researcher Alex Capri wrote in a recent report for the Hinrich Foundation. “In addition to placing party officials within prominent companies, it continues to neuter high profile corporate executives where there is the perception that they were operating independently from party directive or becoming too influential.”

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SBMA on Grande Island probe: ‘Get on with it’ By Henry Empeño

UBIC BAY FREEPORT—Saying it has had enough of speculation about the nature of a Chinese investment project in two strategically located islands here in this free por t, the Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA) on Friday said it welcomes a call by a so-called advocacy group for a Senate investigation into the issue. “If someone would want an investigation of the Grande Island investment project, then I say, by all means get on with it!” SBMA Chairman and Administrator Wilma T. Eisma said on Thursday, as she directly addressed the reported call for a probe of the alleged sellout to Chinese investors of the Grande and Chiquita Islands in Subic. “In fact, we are highly encouraging this group calling for an official investigation so that this matter can be resolved once and for all,” Eisma added, referring to the Pinoy Action for Governance and the Environment (PAGE), which called for the Senate probe early this week. Eisma said that if there may be security concerns over Grande Island because of its strategic location, then this would be the best time to bring out and resolve the issue. “We welcome a Senate investigation, but let me add that let’s take it very seriously. I hope the call was made not only for the purpose of grandstanding,” she said. Eisma also stressed that the SBMA looks forward to such an official inquiry to resolve the long-drawn issue over the two tourism islands. “First of all, I would like to point out that Grande and Chiquita have not been sold—they are still the property of the Philippine government,” she said. “But there is an investor company renting the islands, and which has committed P180 million to build a five-star hotel, restaurant and recreational facilities on these properties.” Eisma said that an official investigation into the matter would only bare the falsely reported “sale” of the islands, which were leased in 2019 to a joint venture between GFTG Property Holdings Corp. and Sanya CEDF Sino-Philippine Tourism Investment Corp., a Chinese-owned company. The SBMA chief noted that while the proposed project by the Chinese investor company has been “in deep-freeze” after the SBMA objected to some of the development plans two years ago, “some

people are maliciously using it as an example of ‘creeping Chinese invasion’ in the country.” “As much as that group, the Pinoy Action for Governance and the Environment, says it has had enough of intrusions into our country’s exclusive economic zone, I would say that the SBMA, too, has had enough of speculation over the nature of this tourism project here,” Eisma said. From the viewpoint of SBMA, which is one of the country’s top investment promotion agencies, the Grande Island development project is a legitimate investment proposal in a Philippine special economic zone where 100 percent foreign ownership of business enterprises is allowed. The SBMA Business and Investment Group said the Grande Island development project started in July 2000 with the firm Silver Dragon Cruises Inc. (SDCI) entering into a lease development agreement (LDA) with the SBMA to rehabilitate a pier on the island and operate a ferry service within the bay. SDCI later assigned its leasehold rights to GFTG Holdings Corp. in September 2002. The SBMA said that over the years, it approved various amendments to the agreement with GFTG, including those on revenue shares, leasehold period, and special provision for developing and marketing housing units. The biggest change in GFTG occurred in January 2019 when it brought in Sanya CEDF as its biggest shareholder, with 79.99 percent ownership of the firm. However, in May 2019, the SBMA withdrew its consent to the change in the control and ownership of GFTG, noting that the changes were made without its approval, thus violating the LDA between SBMA and GFTG. The SBMA also noted that the Sanya-controlled GFTG wanted to build 80 ultra-high end housing units over the water along the coastline of Grande and Chiquita islands, a proposal that was not allowed due to Constitutional limits giving the use and enjoyment of archipelagic waters exclusively to Filipino citizens, Eisma said. Eisma said that ever since 2019, the Grande project has been in a limbo—for the SBMA, as well as for the investor. “The company continues paying rent for the proper ty, but no new development has taken place—which is sad because Grande is Subic’s tourism jewel and it’s just going to waste,” she said.

Residents rescue pelican in Aurora river marsh, hand it over to DENR

By Bianca Cuaresma

HE local banking system’s confidence in Philippine economic prospects in the near to medium term are fading, as most bank executives believe the country’s growth will fall short of the government’s target for the next two years. The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) reported on Friday the results of its recent Banking Sector Outlook Survey (BSOS), which indicated that banking industry leaders were less optimistic for the Philippines in the second half of 2020. Bank industry leaders, in particular, said that they expect the real gross domestic product (GDP) growth will

By Ashley Manabat

ITY OF SAN FERNANDO—Three local residents have recently rescued a weak and exhausted migratory bird at a marshy river in Masagana Village in the northernmost town of Dilasag, Aurora, environment officials here reported on Wednesday. Francisco Calinog, Andy Ortiz, and Francia Dasillo, residents of Sitio Mahogany, Barangay Masagana, found the bird along the Dilasag River. Unsure why the bird is in their area, they immediately contacted the local office of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources for proper handling and care. Wildlife personnel of the DENR-Community Environment and Natural Resources Office (CENRO) based in Casiguran, Aurora identified the migratory bird as Great White Pelican, or Pelecanus onocrotalus . It has a total body length of 87 centimeters, 35-cm veil, 61-cm wing span, 15-cm tarsus, and 21-cm tail. According to Mercedita Bata, head of the CENRO in Casiguran, the pelican is in frail condition but does not have any sight of injury and may have been left behind by its flock while on migration. CENRO Casiguran transferred the pelican to Global Zoo, a DENR-accredited wildlife rescue center here where it would be temporarily sheltered and released back to the wild upon recovery. Paquito Moreno Jr., executive director of DENR in Central Luzon, explained that the Great White Pelican is a migratory bird species that commonly lives in the swamps and shallow lakes in southeastern Europe, Africa and Asia. “The migratory population of pelicans inhabits eastern Europe and Asia during breeding and winter season, and usually dwells in freshwater lakes,

marshes, swamps, or deltas,” he said, adding that one possible reason on why a pelican landed within the area was the presence of tropical freshwater and the sufficient amount of fishes, grasses, and reed beds, which breeding pelicans usually prefer for nesting. Moreno urged the public to turn over migratory birds or any captured and rescued wild animals to environmental authorities for proper handling and care and to report also to the nearest DENR office in their area any illegal wildlife trade and online selling. “Our migratory birds are critically at risk due to the negative consequences of human activities, especially poaching and illegal hunting,” he explained. Moreno noted that migratory birds play an important ecological regulating service, especially in seed dispersion and flower pollination, and stressed that killing, trading or hunting this wildlife is a violation of the Section 27 of the Republic Act 9147, otherwise known as the Wildlife Resources Conservation and Protection Act of 2001. Any person found doing these unlawful acts may be imprisoned or be fined with a penalty ranging from P100,000 to P1 million, he said. Study shows that the Great White Pelican is capable of long flights and swimming and can live up to 50 years. It can grow as big as 180 cm in length and as heavy as 15 kilograms, while its wingspan can grow as up to 360 cm. Its unique characteristic is the “gular pouch” inside its beak while the legs are short and strong with fully webbed toes that allow it to propel itself in water, and to take off from the surface. They are powerful fliers and often travel in flocks in a V-formation to reduce drag for the group, the study added.

return to a range of “less than 6 percent to 6.3 percent” within the next two years. This projection is more dismal than the national government’s expectation that the Philippines will return to the 6.5-percent to 7.5-percent growth range as early as this year. Their subdued optimism was largely based on disruptions in activities of the domestic economy due to lock-

down along with the global spillovers from soft demand, weaker tourism, and lower remittances. Broken down, local banks were generally less optimistic during the period, but foreign banks tilted the balance of prospects to the more optimistic side. Across banking groups, 64.7 percent of respondent universal and commercial banks, 59.3 percent of thrift banks and 43.8 percent of rural banks forecast GDP growth to be less than 6 percent in the next two years. In the foreign bank group, however, 56.5 percent of respondents projected a real GDP growth range of more than 6.3 percent to more than 7-percent in 2021 to 2022. As part of the Covid-19 impact assessment, the BSP also asked banks to name the top 3 industries that are heavily affected by the pandemic based on evaluation of total loan portfolio. The banks revealed, in order of ranking, that hospitality and tourism, transportation, and wholesale

and retail trade are the hardest hit sectors due to strict lockdowns and social distancing protocols. Asked to indicate the expected duration of recovery of these three industries from the pandemic, bank leaders said the wholesale and retail trade sector will be the fastest to recover in the next six months to one year. Transportation sector will take the longest time of about two years, while the hospitality and tourism sector will take around one to two years to fully recover. Just this week, international think tank Moody’s Analytics said the Philippines will be the last country in the Asia Pacific to regain its GDP growth level to pre-Covid levels due to the lack of vaccine plans and relatively weak fiscal stimulus. Moody’s Analytics’ Philippines economic projection is a 9.9-percent contraction in 2020, 4.5-percent growth for 2021 and a 6.2-percent growth in 2022.

Power generation cost, declining demand push up Meralco customers’ fees in Jan

By Lorenz S. Marasigan

USTOMERS of Manila Electric Co. (Meralco) will pay more this month, as the power distributor implemented a minimal increase in charges due to the growing cost of power generation and declining demand. Meralco spokesman Joe R. Zaldarriaga said the company is increasing power rates by 27 centavos per kilowatt-hour in January or about P55 for the total bill of residential customers consuming 200 kWh per month. “After a series of rate reductions last year, the overall rate decrease for the entire year, which was at P1.39/kWh, we are now seeing today a slight adjustment of power rates as the overall rate for a typical household is poised to increase by 27 centavos/kWh. From last month’s P8.47/kWh, it will now adjust to P8.75/kWh this January,” he said in a media briefing. The increase for this month’s electricity

Photo courtesy of DENR Regional Public Affairs Office 3

Banks’ confidence in PHL economy wanes–BSP poll

Devanadera lists ERC ‘milestones’ in 2020

Aurora residents rescued a “distressed” Great White Pelican, a migratory bird species who somehow landed on marshy Dilasag River. Local environment officials has taken custody of the unexpected visitor for proper care and handling.

Saturday, January 9, 2021

he Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) posted a 21-percent increase in cases acted upon in 2020 despite the limitations brought about by the pandemic. Agnes VST Devanadera, chairman and chief executive of ERC, said the regulatory body registered a total of 748 cases acted upon last year, a 21-percent increase from 617 cases in 2019. “ERC’s ability to quickly adapt to the new normal proves its resiliency and determination to fulfill its mandate that even this pandemic did not get in the way. We owe it to every taxpayer that we should perform our duties in spite of the challenges caused by the pandemic, the community quarantine implemented, and the limitations of the alternative work arrangement imposed by the government,” she said. Devanadera added that the commission also registered increases in the number of orders, decisions, resolutions, notices, and certificates of approval or authority. The ERC has been conducting hearings and conferences through virtual platforms to complete legal proceeding since mid last year to continue its function despite the pandemic. Devanadera added that the ERC also implemented rate reduction schemes to respond and provide relief to consumers, such as the reduction in the system loss cap, cuts in feed-in-tariff allowance and the refund of over recoveries of distribution utilities, among others. “We were surprised and happy to note that this pandemic even provided us the opportunity to optimize the use of digital technologies to continuously perform and deliver our mandate. As a result, we even surpassed our 2019 accomplishments without sacrificing the health and safety of electric power stakeholders and that of our employees,” she said. Lorenz S. Marasigan

bill was driven by higher generation charge of P4.46/kWh, which was 31 centavos more than December’s P4.15/kWh. It should be noted, however, that this month’s generation charge is still lower than last year’s P4.90/kWh. Power supply agreements (PSAs) and independent power producers (IPPs) rates also increased by 27 centavos and 24 centavos, respectively due to the lower 252-megawatt (MW) peak demand in December. Demand for power normally dips in December due to the cooler temperature and the non-working holidays. Zaldarriaga said the lower demand re s u l te d i n f i xe d co s t s f ro m p owe r s u p p l i e r s b e i n g s p re a d o ve r l o we r e n e rg y vo l u m e, l e a d i n g to h i g h e r e f f e c t i ve g e n e rat i o n rate s to c o n s u m e r s. Wholesale Electricity Spot Market (WESM), meanwhile, decreased its rate by 61 centavos/ kWh in the same month. PSAs, IPPs, and WESM provided 56.4 percent,

37.3 percent, and 6.3 percent of Meralco’s energy requirements, respectively.

ERC adjustments

Zaldarriaga noted that the impact of higher generation charges was cushioned by the adjustments approved by the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC). “Mitigating the upward adjustment this month is the inclusion of the ERC-approved adjustments for Meralco’s pass-through over- and underrecoveries for the period January 2017 to December 2019,” he said. O n D ecember 29, the regulator y body directed Meralco to refund over-recoveries in transmission and other charges over a period of approximately three months until fully refunded and to collect an under-recovery in the generation rate for approximately 24 months until fully collected. “The initial impact to residential customers is

a net refund of 11 centavos/kWh,” Zaldarriaga said. Meralco Vice President and Head of Utility Economics Lawrence S. Fernandez noted that generation charge for the coming months may dip on the back of fac tors relating to the stabilization of fuel prices, foreign- exchange rates, and the supply- demand situation. “There are factors that tend to push down the generation charge in the coming months,” he said. “For the subsequent months, we will monitor the situation.” While generation charges are set to increase this month, other bill components posted reductions. Transmission charge for residential customers was reduced by 2 centavos/kWh due to refund of over-recoveries, and taxes and other charges registered a net decrease of 0078 centavos/kWh despite the increase in feed-in tariff allowance. The collection of universal charge-environmental charge remains to be suspended.

P1M worth of ‘party drug’ seized at CMEC

irport Customs agents seized a parcel containing illegal substance valued at P1 million at the Central Mail Exchange Center (CMEC). Airport district collector Mimel Talusan said the air parcel contained 535 pieces of ecstasy tablets, known as “party drug,” sent by a certain “POST NL” of Netherlands and consigned to a

resident of Malate, Manila. A joint Bureau of Customs, Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) and Ninoy Aquino International Airport Inter-Agency Drug Interdiction Task Group (Naia-IADITG) seized the parcel, which was declared as containing “documents.” Talusan said the tablets were initially discovered by Customs personnel at CMEC during

physical examination of the air parcel. Subsequent laboratory test conducted by the PDEA confirmed the tablets as ecstasy, a banned tablet. The seized tablets were turned over on January 7, 2021 to PDEA for further investigation and possible prosecution of individuals involved in the illegal importation for violation of the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002.

DA launches urban agriculture architectural tilt for millennials By Jasper Emmanuel Y. Arcalas

he Department of Agriculture (DA) has launched an architecture design competition to promote urban agriculture by enticing millennials to transform idle lands in Pasig City into productive urban farming spaces. The DA said it partnered with youth group RE-TERRA for a design competition for “future architects, designers, and developers to garner innovative and transformative designs that integrate agriculture into the urban setting.” “Time and again, I have emphasized the crucial role of the youth in agriculture. They are the source of many bright and fresh ideas, having a strong grasp of emerging trends and technologies,” Agriculture Secretary William D. Dar said on Thursday. “We need to optimize the potential contributions of the youth in producing our own food, which has grown to be an enormous challenge especially during this continuing Cov id-19 pandemic,” Dar added. The DA said the design competition dubbed RE_TERRA 2021 aims

to “re-terraform” Metro Manila “back to its innate fertility and abundance, using technologies and practices that will address food production and food security.” “Through this competition, we aim to encourage our future architects, designers, and planners to include agriculture, from food production to food distribution, as an integral part of our urban infrastructure, landscape, and commu n it y set t leme nt s,” A rc h itec t Kathleen Encorporado, founder of RE-TERR A, said. “ T his means, inser ting ever y means of agriculture into every mode of urbanity. Tactically, this involves strategies that mobilize every component and feature of our varied and dense urban landscape towards establishing lasting food security for every Filipino,” she added. The first-place winner of the competition will receive P250,000 while the three finalists would receive P50,000 and token gifts, according to the DA. The DA said the four finalists will be announced on February 20 and

will present their design proposals in March to a panel of nine judges, which includes Dar, Pasig City Mayor Vico Sotto and DA Food Security Ambassador James Reid. “For this competition, there will be three expository sites to choose from within Pasig City for the design proposals to creatively and innovatively showcase urban agriculture. As you know, Pasig City is one of the country’s largest and densest metropolises,” Encorporado said. The three expository sites are: n 2,400-square-meter (sq m) open lot, in Agapito Subd., Brgy. Santolan; n 2,500-sq-m linear park, along Buting Creek waterfront, Brgy. Buting; and n 4,300-sq-m linear park, along Pasig River waterfront, Brgy. Kapasigan. “ We ho p e t h at t h rou g h R E T ER R A 2021, we w i l l ig n ite t he f i re a mong t he yout h to be more i nvolved i n m a k i ng ag r ic u lt u re more moder n and wel l-adept w it h t he emerg i ng tec h nolog ies a nd i n novat ion,” Da r sa id.

TheWorld BusinessMirror

Saturday, January 9, 2021

Trump finally faces reality amid talk of early ouster By Jonathan Lemire & Zeke Miller

The Associated Press

ASHINGTON—With 13 days left in his term, President Donald Trump finally bent to reality Thursday amid growing talk of trying to force him out early, acknowledging he’ll peacefully leave after Congress affirmed his defeat. Trump led off a video from the White House by condemning the violence carried out in his name a day earlier at the Capitol. Then, for the first time on camera, he admitted his presidency would soon end—though he declined to mention President-elect Joe Biden by name or explicitly state he had lost. “A new administration will be inaugurated on January 20,” Trump said in the video. “My focus now turns to ensuring a smooth, orderly and seamless transition of power. This moment calls for healing and reconciliation.” The address, which appeared designed to stave off talk of a forced early eviction, came at the end of a day when the cornered president stayed out of sight in the White House. Silenced on some of his favorite Internet lines of communication, he watched the resignations of several top aides, including two Cabinet secretaries. And as officials sifted through the aftermath of the pro-Trump mob’s siege of the US Capitol, there was growing discussion of impeaching him a second time, or invoking the 25th Amendment to oust him from the Oval Office. The invasion of the Capitol building, a powerful symbol of the nation’s democracy, rattled Republicans and Democrats alike. They struggled with how best to contain the impulses of a president deemed too dangerous to control his own social-media accounts but who remains commander in chief of the world’s greatest military. “I’m not worried about the next election, I’m worried about getting through the next 14 days,” said Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, one of Trump’s staunchest allies. He condemned the President’s role in Wednesday’s riots and said, “If something else happens, all options would be on the table.” Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi declared that “the President of the United States incited an armed insurrection against America.” She called him “a very dangerous person who should not continue in office. This is urgent, an emergency of the

highest magnitude.” Neither option to remove Trump seemed likely, with little time left in his term to draft the Cabinet members needed to invoke the amendment, or to organize the hearings and trial mandated for an impeachment. But the fact that the dramatic options were even the subject of discussion in Washington’s corridors of power served as a warning to Trump. Fears of what a desperate President could do in his final days spread in the nation’s capital and beyond, including speculation Trump could incite more violence, make rash appointments, issue ill-conceived pardons—including for himself and his family—or even trigger a destabilizing international incident. T he President ’s v ideo T hursday—which was released upon his return to Twitter after his account was restored—was a complete reversal from the one he put out just 24 hours earlier in which he said to the violent mob: “We love you. You’re very special.” His refusal to condemn the violence sparked a firestorm of criticism and, in the new video, he at last denounced the demonstrators’ “ lawlessness and mayhem.” As for his feelings on leaving office, he told the nation that “serving as your president has been the honor of my lifetime,” while hinting at a return to the public arena. He told supporters “our incredible journey is only just beginning.” Just a day earlier, Trump unleashed the destructive forces at the Capitol with his baseless claims of election fraud at a rally that prompted supporters to disrupt the congressional certification of Biden’s victory. After the storming of the Capitol and the eventual wee-hours certification of Biden’s win by members of Congress, Trump released a statement that acknowledged he would abide by a peaceful transfer of power on January 20. The statement was posted by an aide and did not originate from the president’s own Twitter account, which has 88 million followers and for four years has been wielded as a

City near Beijing locked down, millions tested as cases surge

city of 11 million people near China’s capital has been locked down and its residents tested en-masse for the coronavirus amid the worst outbreak in about two months in the country, which has largely contained Covid-19 within its own borders. Authorities in Shijiazhuang banned people and vehicles from leaving the city, located in the province of Hebei that surrounds Beijing, CCTV reported late Thursday. Nucleic acid testing is being rolled out city-wide, and five hospitals have been emptied to treat Covid patients, the state broadcaster said, citing Deputy Mayor Meng Xianghong. The number of confirmed cases in Hebei rose by 33 on Friday, with 31 of those infections in Shijiazhuang, according to China Daily. That brings the total size of the cluster to 123 confirmed cases, excluding asymptomatic ones, which have also been detected in the mass testing. It’s unclear how the virus took hold in this part of northern China, which had gone about two months without a case before this flare-up emerged. The first infection was reported January 2 in a woman, 61, who visited relatives and attended wedding celebrations before being diagnosed. While small compared with outbreaks in the US, India and parts of Europe, it is China’s largest since Xinjiang in the west reported a slew of cases in November, many detected as authorities tested millions of people across the region. Some 39 asymptomatic cases—which Chinese authorities generally report separately—were found Friday in Hebei, on top of the more than 100 already detected, China Daily said. China’s Center for Disease Control and Prevention has said the virus strain in the latest outbreak is highly similar to those seen in Europe. Shijiazhuang is about three hours drive south of Beijing, which has also seen a flare-up in cases in recent weeks. The capital’s cluster appears to be under control, with zero new infections reported for Wednesday and Thursday. Since quashing the outbreak in Wuhan, the original epicenter of the virus, in the first half of 2020, China has deployed a consistent playbook to mitigate Covid. All travelers entering the country are required to undertake quarantine of at least 14 days and mass testing is rolled out when even a handful of cases are detected. The country’s surveillance network is also used to track infections and people’s contacts. After deploying the world’s first lockdown in Wuhan, China has used it as a strategy in a number of other towns and parts of cities. In June, some areas and apartment buildings in Beijing were locked down to contain an outbreak that originated in a food market in the city’s west. Bloomberg News

President Donald Trump speaks during a rally protesting the electoral college certification of Joe Biden as President on January 6, in Washington. AP political weapon that dictates policy and sows division and conspiracy. Trump couldn’t tweet it himself because, for the first time, the social-media platform suspended his account, stating that the president had violated its rules of service by inciting violence. Facebook adopted a broader ban, saying Trump’s account would be offline until after Biden’s inauguration. Deprived of that social-media lifeblood, Trump remained silent and ensconced in the executive mansion until Thursday evening. But around him, loyalists headed for the exits, their departures—which were coming in two weeks anyway—moved up to protest the president’s handling of the riot. Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao became the first Cabinet member to resign. Chao, married to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, one of the lawmakers trapped at the Capitol on Wednesday, said in a message to staff that the attack “has deeply troubled me in a way that I simply cannot set aside.” Education Secretary Betsy DeVos followed. In her resignation letter Thursday, DeVos blamed Trump for inflaming tensions in the violent assault on the seat of the nation’s democracy. “There is no mistaking the impact your rhetoric had on the situation, and it is the inflection point for me,” she wrote. Others who resigned in the wake of the riot: Deputy National Security Advisor Matthew Pottinger; Ryan Tully, senior director for European and Russian affairs at the National Security Council; and first lady Melania Trump’s chief of staff Stephanie Grisham, a former White House press secretary. Mick Mulvaney, Trump’s former chief of staff-turned-special envoy to Northern Ireland, told CNBC that he had called Secretary of State Mike Pompeo “to let him know I was resigning.... I can’t do it. I can’t stay.” Mulvaney said others who work for Trump had decided to remain in their posts in an effort to provide some sort of guardrails for the president during his final days in office.

“Those who choose to stay, and I have talked with some of them, are choosing to stay because they’re worried the President might put someone worse in,” Mulvaney said. Mulvaney’s predecessor in the chief of staff job, retired US Marine Corps general John Kelly, told CNN that “I think the Cabinet should meet and have a discussion” about Section 4 of the 25th Amendment—allowing the forceful removal of Trump by his own Cabinet. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer joined Pelosi in declaring that Trump “should not hold office one day longer” and urged Vice President Mike Pence and the Cabinet to act. But Chao’s departure may stall nascent efforts to invoke the amendment. Staff-level discussions on the matter took place across multiple departments and even in parts of the White House, according to two people briefed on the talks. But no member of the Cabinet has publicly expressed support for the move—which would make Pence the acting president— though several were believed to be sympathetic to the notion, believing Trump is too volatile in his waning days in office. In the West Wing, shell-shocked aides were packing up, acting on a delayed directive to begin offboarding their posts ahead of the Biden team’s arrival. The slowdown before now was due to Trump’s single-minded focus on his defeat since Election Day at the expense of the other responsibilities of his office. Most glaringly, that included the fight against the raging coronavirus that is killing record numbers of Americans each day. Few aides had any sense of the president’s plans, with some wondering if Trump would largely remain out of sight until he left the White House. White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany read a brief statement in which she declared that the Capitol siege was “appalling, reprehensible and antithetical to the American way.” But her words carried little weight. Trump has long made clear that only he speaks for his presidency.

South Korea court orders Japan to compensate ‘comfort women’

South Korean court ordered Japan to compensate women forced to work in Japan’s military brothels during World War II, a landmark decision that inflamed tensions between the US allies just before Joe Biden takes office. The Seoul District Court on Friday made what is thought to be first decision ordering Japan to compensate what are euphemistically known as “comfort women,” in a case brought on behalf of 12 of the women. It ordered the Japanese government to pay 100 million won ($91,000) each to surviving women and family members of those who died. “The plaintiffs seem to have suffered ex treme mental and physical pain,” the cour t said in its decision. The plaintiffs filed a lawsuit against the Japanese government in 2013, demanding 100 million won [$92,500] each for compensation. The court said Japan has refused to accept documents related to the matter and it rejected claims that Tokyo can invoke state immunity to the lawsuit, saying the wartime trafficking case is “against humanitarianism.” Japan’s top government spokesman, Katsunobu Kato, told reporters in Tokyo the ruling cannot be accepted and strongly urged the South Korean government to remedy what he called a violation of international law. “Under the principle of sovereign

immunity the Japanese government cannot be subject to the orders of a South Korean court. The case must be dismissed,” Kato said. “It is extremely regrettable that this kind of verdict has nonetheless been reached,” Kato said. In 2015, Japan and South Korea announced a “final and irreversible” agreement that came with a personal apology to the women from former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, as well as about $9.3 million for a compensation fund. Some of the women protested, arguing the deal was made without consultations and violated their constitutional rights. South Korean President Moon Jae-in, who took office in 2017, has effectively shut down the fund, widening the rift between the two US military allies crucial to check China’s growing global clout and North Korea’s atomic ambitions. In September, Moon was dealt a blow when prosecutors brought embezzlement charges against a lawmaker in his ruling party, Yoon Mee-hyang, alleging she illegally diver ted donations and government subsidies to a suppor t group for comfort women when she was leading it. Yoon has denied the charges in the case that came to light last year when a survivor of the wartime trafficking accused the group of raising funds to enrich itself and doing little to help women who were

forced into sexual servitude. Tensions fur ther flared between the neighbors after a series of South Korean court decisions from late 2018 demanding Japan pay compensation to Koreans conscripted to work at Japanese factories and mines during the country’s 1910 to 1945 colonial rule over the Korean Peninsula. The US was forced to step in when South Korea threatened in 2019 to withdraw from a joint intelligence-sharing agreement, with Moon backing down at the last minute after facing pressure from Washington. Japan says all claims were “settled completely and finally” under a 1965 agreement, which accompanied the treaty establishing diplomatic ties between the two countries. By contrast, the Moon administration believes the individual suffering of many victims was not covered by the treaty. Japan paid the equivalent of $300 million—$2.5 billion in today’s money— and extended $200 million in low-interest loans. The then-struggling South Korea invested the money in industries that eventually helped turn it into an economic powerhouse. Historians say anywhere from 50,000 to 200,000 women—many of them Korean—were forced into service in Japan’s military brothels.

Bloomberg News

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

Bitcoin breaches $40K mark, doubling in less than a month

HARLOTTE, North Carolina—First it went through $20,000. Then 10 days later, it broke through $25,000, and then, with barely taking a breath, it crossed $30,000. Now only a few days into 2021, the price of Bitcoin has crossed $40,000. Nothing’s new with the digital currency in the month since it crossed $20,000—there’s been no major change in how it can be used. Although some investors are now using the notoriously volatile currency as a “store of value,” which is traditionally a title saved for safe haven investments like gold and other precious metals. “Will you be able to buy a cup of coffee with Bitcoin? Probably not with the current version of Bitcoin. It’s largely become a store of value,” said Mike Venuto, a co-portfolio manager of the Amplify Transformational Data Sharing ETF, a $391-million exchanged-traded fund that focuses on blockchain technologies and companies that deal with cryptocurrencies. Media attention to its rise has only added fuel to the rally. But investors in digital currencies and companies that trade or “mine” them are warning people to be skeptical of Bitcoin’s recent rise and to

be braced for a lot of volatility. It’s been a wild ride for Bitcoin the last three years. The digital currency made its big Wall Street debut in December 2017, when the major futures exchanges rolled out Bitcoin futures. The attention drove Bitcoin to roughly $19,300, a then-unheard of price for the currency. Then it all evaporated. The currency’s value plunged sharply in 2018, and by December of that year Bitcoin was worth less than $4,000 a coin. Up until this most recent rally which started in October, Bitcoin generally floated between $5,000 and $10,000. While in the last two years companies have embraced the technology that underlies digital currencies like Bitcoin, a concept known as the blockchain, the actual uses for Bitcoin have not really changed since its rally three years ago. It’s still largely used by those distrustful of the banking system, criminals seeking to launder money, and for the most part, as a store of value. In fact, other investments typically used as safe havens during uncertain times—notable precious metals—have been trading at near record highs as well. AP

Demand for Chinese goods is so strong there’s a container shortage

lobal demand for Chinese goods has been so strong recently it’s creating a shortage of containers and driving up shipping costs, potentially impeding the nation’s exports in coming months. Exports have been on a tear since July last year, fueled by pandemic-related purchases like medical masks and work-at-home equipment, including computers. Impor ts haven’t been growing at nearly the same pace, resulting in a lack of shipping containers returning to China to be refilled and sent out again. The cost of shipping a 40-foot container to Los Angeles from Shanghai has almost doubled from early June, while the price to send the same box to Rotterdam is now four times higher. The “soaring prices for China’s outward shipments due to a shortage of shipping capacity will weigh on China’s export growth, despite resilient external demand helped by the holiday season and factory lockdowns throughout Europe,” Serena Zhou, a fixed-income analyst at Mizuho Financial Group Inc. in Hong Kong.

The container shortage probably acted as a brake on exports in December, she wrote. The bottlenecks could also worsen as exporters look to front-load shipments ahead of the usual shutdown for the Lunar New Year, which starts in early February this year. The repercussions of the shortages are being felt across Asia, with a mid-December report from Japan’s trade promotion agency highlighting soaring freight rates and a lack of boxes in Southeast Asia and India. South Korean’s biggest shipping line HMM Co. said last Thursday that the shortage of boxes and space on ships would likely continue in the first half of 2021. The company has deployed extra ships to the US routes to help South Korean companies ship their goods, and will add another ship to Europe later this month. “Limited container availability, port congestion and a global economic recovery in 2021 should keep first-quarter rates higher than 2020 levels,” according to a report this week from Bloomberg Intelligence analysts Lee Klaskow and Adam Roszkowski. Bloomberg News

Sinovac jab is 78% effective in Brazil after data confusion

he vaccine developed by China’s Sinovac Biotech Ltd. was found to be 78 percent effective against Covid-19 in late-stage trials in Brazil, the most definitive evidence so far on the shot’s efficacy after previous data sparked doubt and confusion. The protection rate, confirmed by Sao Paulo state officials, was derived from Sinovac’s most advanced final-phase trials in Brazil involving about 13,000 participants. Coming after data was withheld at a progress update in late December, the rate is still below the roughly 95 percent effectiveness seen in cutting-edge mRNA vaccines developed by Pfizer Inc. and Moderna Inc. and being deployed in the US. Sinovac’s CoronaVac vaccine was 78 percent effective in preventing mild cases of Covid-19 and 100 percent effective against severe and moderate infections, said Dimas Covas, director of the Butantan Institute that partnered with Sinovac to produce the shot locally. The trial saw about 220 participants infected—160 in the placebo group while almost 60 received the vaccine, Covas said. While the latest disclosure provides a clearer indication of the vaccine’s efficacy, it wasn’t a complete picture. It wasn’t apparent how the Brazilian researchers calculated the efficacy rate, as officials didn’t provide a more detailed breakdown of the study—including information about age groups and side effects of the shot. They also didn’t specify when the full documentation will be published. The Butantan Institute declined to elaborate further, saying it had no information beyond what was released at Thursday’s news conference. Beijing-based Sinovac didn’t immediately respond to calls and text messages seeking further information. Chinese vaccine developers’ lack of timely and clear disclosures have contributed to a lack of trust in their shots. Conflicting and incomplete information from Sinovac’s trials last month created confusion over exactly how effective CoronaVac is in protecting people against developing Covid-19. Still, the latest results indicate Sinovac’s vaccine offers significant protection against Covid-19, which may shore up confidence in the shot in countries like Indonesia and Brazil that have inked supply deals. The Butantan Institute plans to request emergency use authorization from Brazil’s regulator Friday, Covas said. China is seeking to extend its geopolitical influence through vaccine diplomacy, and the disclosure on the Sinovac shot adds another vaccine to its arsenal. While less effective than Pfizer and Moderna’s vaccines, CoronaVac is roughly in line with the 79.3-percent efficacy rate for state-owned developer China National Biotec Group Co.’s Covid vaccine. Another shot by AstraZeneca Plc has shown mixed results—it was 90 percent effective when a half-dose was given before a full-dose booster, while two full

doses showed an efficacy of 62 percent.

Fridge temperature

Sinovac and CNBG’s vaccines use an inactivated version of the coronavirus to stimulate the body’s immune response. They can be stored at refrigerator temperature, making them potentially better choices for distribution and use in the developing world than the mRNA vaccines, which require deep freezing. China has already administered more than 4.5 million doses of its domestically developed vaccines under emergency use authorization given mid last year, and is aiming to inoculate 50 million people against the virus by early February, ahead of the annual Lunar New Year holiday. CNBG’s shot last week became the first to be approved for use in the general public in China. Sinovac can make more than 600 million doses a year at its production facilities in China. The company has orders from countries where it is undertaking vaccine trials, including Brazil, Turkey and Indonesia, and will also supply Singapore and Hong Kong in addition to the Chinese mainland.

Confusing data

Brazil’s disclosure on the Sinovac trial results comes after weeks of confusion. Researchers in Brazil delayed releasing complete data on CoronaVac in late December, saying only that it was found to be more than 50 percent effective. São Paulo state Health Secretary Jean Gorinchteyn later said the vaccine didn’t reach 90 percent efficacy. Further confusing matters, Turkey said its clinical trial showed an estimated efficacy rate of 91.25 percent for CoronaVac, though that was based on only 29 cases. The release of more definitive data on the vaccine’s efficacy was delayed because Sinovac needed to reconcile results from different trials using varying protocols, a person familiar with the matter told Bloomberg at the time. Like some other vaccines, CoronaVac is given in two shots, 14 days apart. Brazil’s Butantan Institute is considering spacing them out by as much as 28 days to get more people their first inoculations quickly, Covas, the institute’s director, said. Sao Paulo Governor Joao Doria is attempting to expedite inoculations as Brazil sees a resurgence of the virus and the central government delays on a concrete vaccination timetable. Almost 11 million doses of Sinovac’s vaccine have already been shipped to the country. Doria, a political rival of Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, plans to obtain swift approval and begin vaccinating the state’s some 45 million people on January 25. Pressure from other governors led the health ministry to include the shot, which has been publicly shunned by Bolsonaro, in the country’s vaccination plans. Bloomberg News

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BusinessMirror

Saturday, January 9, 2021

BusinessMirror

Saturday, January 9, 2021

ESTABLISHMENT / ADDRESS NO.

FOREIGN NATIONAL / NATIONALITY

ESTABLISHMENT / ADDRESS POSITION

8 STONE BUSINESS OUTSOURCING OPC 5-10/f Tower 1 Pitx Kennedy Road Tambo Parañaque City 1.

GUAN, HAIFAN Chinese

CUSTOMER SERVICE REPRESENTATIVE MANDARIN SPEAKING

AMAZON OPERATION SERVICES PHILIPPINES, INC. B21 Three E-com Moa Complex Harbour Drive Cor. Bay Shore Brgy. 076 Pasay City 2.

LIU, JIAN Chinese

INVESTIGATION SPECIALIST

LE THI THUY HANG Vietnamese

SELLER SUPPORT ASSOCIATE

AMUSETECH BUSINESS OUTSOURCING 2/f Rivergreen Residences 2217 Pedro Gil St. 096, Bgy 880 Santa Ana Manila 4.

CHEN, SHIQIAN Chinese

CUSTOMER SERVICE REPRESENTATIVE MANDARIN SPEAKING

FAN, CHIA-WEI Taiwanese

CUSTOMER SERVICE REPRESENTATIVE MANDARIN SPEAKING

HAN, JIAXIN Chinese

CUSTOMER SERVICE REPRESENTATIVE MANDARIN SPEAKING

BIG EMPEROR TECHNOLOGY CORP. Eastfield Center Cbp1, Macapagal Blvd. Brgy. 076 Pasay City PHAN THI MY LE Vietnamese

COMPUTER TECHNICAL SUPPORT SPECIALIST

WANG, YUANQING Chinese

MANDARIN CUSTOMER SERVICE

XU, JUNQING Chinese

MANDARIN CUSTOMER SERVICE

C’EST LA VIE EVENT MANAGEMENT INC. 230 Narra Street Marikina Heights Marikina City 10.

CHEN, QIAOYAN Chinese

CHINESE-BOOTH FABRICATION SPECIALIST CONSULTANT

C3/CUSTOMERCONTACTCHANNELS PHILIPPINES LTD. 11/f, 17/f, 18/f, 19/f, 20/f Bonifacio One Technology Tower 3030 Rizal Drive Cor. 31st St. Bgc Fort Bonifacio Taguig City 11.

SITI NORASHIKIN BINTI SULAIMAN Malaysian

SENIOR MANAGER - CLIENT ENGAGEMENT

CARDINAL HEALTH INTERNATIONAL PHILIPPINES INC. W City Center Bldg. 7th Ave. Cor. 30th St. Bonifacio Global City Taguig City 12.

ELLIOTT II, VERNON EUGENE American

MONSUY ANDEME, FELIX NNANDONG Equatorial Guinean

CHONG ZHEN HOONG Malaysian

15.

ZHOU, XIAOMEI Chinese

EASTERN GOLD CORPORATION 503 Nueva St Binondo Manila 16.

SHI, HUIYING Chinese

17.

MARKETING AND SALES AGENT

AREA MANAGER

GENX SPORTS & MEDIA PRODUCTION CORP. 11/f Aseana I Bldg. Bradco Ave. Aseana City Tambo Parañaque City ANDREW YEK TIEW LUON Malaysian

CUSTOMER SERVICE REPRESENTATIVE MALAYSIAN SPEAKING

19.

CHEN, XIE Chinese

CUSTOMER SERVICE REPRESENTATIVE MANDARIN SPEAKING

20.

DONG, XINXIA Chinese

CUSTOMER SERVICE REPRESENTATIVE MANDARIN SPEAKING

18.

21.

22.

23.

24.

25.

JIA, LIMING Chinese

CUSTOMER SERVICE REPRESENTATIVE MANDARIN SPEAKING

LI, HANG Chinese

CUSTOMER SERVICE REPRESENTATIVE MANDARIN SPEAKING

LI, WUQIAO Chinese

CUSTOMER SERVICE REPRESENTATIVE MANDARIN SPEAKING

LIANG, ZHICHENG Chinese

CUSTOMER SERVICE REPRESENTATIVE MANDARIN SPEAKING

LIU, BO Chinese

CUSTOMER SERVICE REPRESENTATIVE MANDARIN SPEAKING

LUO, BING Chinese

CUSTOMER SERVICE REPRESENTATIVE MANDARIN SPEAKING

27.

MENG, XIANYAO Chinese

CUSTOMER SERVICE REPRESENTATIVE MANDARIN SPEAKING

28.

PENG, GUOWEI Chinese

CUSTOMER SERVICE REPRESENTATIVE MANDARIN SPEAKING

26.

WEN, DAN Chinese

POSITION CUSTOMER SERVICE REPRESENTATIVE MANDARIN SPEAKING

KIM, EUNG RAE South Korean

SVP HEAD, CEMENT INDUSTRIAL PERFORMANCE (CIP)

INTEGRITY GLOBAL GROUP, INC. 2/f-3/f Ayala Malls Circuit A.p. Reyes Ave. Carmona Makati City

29.

PU, SHENGPING Chinese

CUSTOMER SERVICE REPRESENTATIVE MANDARIN SPEAKING

30.

SHAO, XIAOQUN Chinese

CUSTOMER SERVICE REPRESENTATIVE MANDARIN SPEAKING

NO.

FOREIGN NATIONAL / NATIONALITY

ESTABLISHMENT / ADDRESS POSITION

NO.

CHINESE CUSTOMER SERVICE

117.

LUO, SONG Chinese

CHINESE CUSTOMER SERVICE REPRESENTATIVE

72.

ZHU, QINGNAN Chinese

CHINESE CUSTOMER SERVICE

118.

MENG, HAIGANG Chinese

CHINESE CUSTOMER SERVICE REPRESENTATIVE

73.

WAI SI Myanmari

MYANMARI CUSTOMER SERVICE

119.

NIE, RUI Chinese

CHINESE CUSTOMER SERVICE REPRESENTATIVE

74.

LE XUAN HOC Vietnamese

VIETNAMESE CUSTOMER SERVICE

120.

PAN, FEIFEI Chinese

CHINESE CUSTOMER SERVICE REPRESENTATIVE

75.

VUONG VAN TUNG Vietnamese

VIETNAMESE CUSTOMER SERVICE

121.

PAN, GAOMIN Chinese

CHINESE CUSTOMER SERVICE REPRESENTATIVE

122.

PAN, LUYI Chinese

CHINESE CUSTOMER SERVICE REPRESENTATIVE

123.

PENG, GUANGYUE Chinese

CHINESE CUSTOMER SERVICE REPRESENTATIVE

124.

QIAO, QINJIE Chinese

CHINESE CUSTOMER SERVICE REPRESENTATIVE

125.

QIN, QIHENG Chinese

CHINESE CUSTOMER SERVICE REPRESENTATIVE

126.

SHEN, SHIHU Chinese

CHINESE CUSTOMER SERVICE REPRESENTATIVE

127.

TANG, WENJIE Chinese

CHINESE CUSTOMER SERVICE REPRESENTATIVE

128.

WAN, XINYU Chinese

CHINESE CUSTOMER SERVICE REPRESENTATIVE

129.

WANG, HAOYUAN Chinese

CHINESE CUSTOMER SERVICE REPRESENTATIVE

CUSTOMER SERVICE REPRESENTATIVE

PHILIP MORRIS PHILIPPINES MANUFACTURING INC. 2/f Pnb Makati Bldg. 6754 Ayala Avenue San Lorenzo Makati City

34.

CHO, TAEMIN South Korean

CUSTOMER SERVICE REPRESENTATIVE

76.

35.

HONG, ILPYO South Korean

CUSTOMER SERVICE REPRESENTATIVE

36.

PARK, YOUNGKI South Korean

CUSTOMER SERVICE REPRESENTATIVE

RED DOT MARKETING AND BRANDING INC. Unit 1514 Burgundy Transpacific Place Taft Ave. 079, Bgy. 727 Malate Manila

37.

SUN, XIAOTING Chinese

CUSTOMER SERVICE REPRESENTATIVE

MARINA SQUARE PROPERTIES, INC. 5/f Ag New World Manila Bay Hotel 1588 1588 Mh Del Pilar Cor. P Gil. 076 Bgy. 699 Malate Manila 38.

CHEUNG, TAT MAN Chinese

MANDARIN MARKETING MANAGER

MEGA-WEB TECHNOLOGIES INC. 6,7,8,9,10,11/f Met Live Bldg. Edsa Cor. Macapagal Blvd. Brgy. 076 Pasay City

POSITION

YANG, WEIPENG Chinese

AN, HONGYEOL South Korean

LOGICALSOURCE1 CALL CENTER INC. 8/f Sultan Cityland Central Brgy. Highway Hills Mandaluyong City

FOREIGN NATIONAL / NATIONALITY

71.

33.

77.

SHARMINI KRISHNAN Malaysian

LIU, ZHIBO Chinese

HEAD OF IBS, MANILA

MANDARIN TECHNICAL SUPPORT

SHIMIZU CORPORATION 5/f King’s Court Bldg. 1 2129 Chino Roces Ave. San Lorenzo Makati City 78.

SAITO, TOMOHIRO Japanese

ADMINISTRATIVE MANAGER

SKY DRAGON GLOBAL TECHNOLOGIES CORP. # 103 Mezzanine Floor Edsa Mandaluyong City 79.

FENG, CHENGCHENG Chinese

CHINESE CUSTOMER SERVICE REPRESENTATIVE

130.

CHINESE CUSTOMER SERVICE REPRESENTATIVE

80.

HUANG, XIAOXIAO Chinese

WANG, LU Chinese

131.

CHINESE CUSTOMER SERVICE REPRESENTATIVE

81.

LIN, SHUJIN Chinese

WANG, YONG Chinese

132.

CHINESE CUSTOMER SERVICE REPRESENTATIVE

82.

LIU, YANG Chinese

WEI, SHANGYU Chinese

133.

CHINESE CUSTOMER SERVICE REPRESENTATIVE

83.

LONG, XIAOHUI Chinese

XI, XIAOTAO Chinese

134.

CHINESE CUSTOMER SERVICE REPRESENTATIVE

84.

WANG, JIAYU Chinese

XU, XIAOQIANG Chinese

135.

CHINESE CUSTOMER SERVICE REPRESENTATIVE

85.

WANG, CHENLONG Chinese

YANG, HAI Chinese

136.

CHINESE CUSTOMER SERVICE REPRESENTATIVE

86.

YANG, YANG Chinese

YU, ZELIANG Chinese

137.

CHINESE CUSTOMER SERVICE REPRESENTATIVE

87.

ZHANG, JUN Chinese

YU, HAIJUN Chinese

138.

CHINESE CUSTOMER SERVICE REPRESENTATIVE

88.

ZHANG, HUAYU Chinese

ZENG, WENZHI Chinese

139.

CHINESE CUSTOMER SERVICE REPRESENTATIVE

89.

ZHAO, JIEBIN Chinese

ZHAN, RUIKUN Chinese

140.

CHINESE CUSTOMER SERVICE REPRESENTATIVE

90.

HUANG, FUCHENG Chinese

ZHANG, NINGNING Chinese

CHINESE RESEARCH ANALYST

141.

CHINESE CUSTOMER SERVICE REPRESENTATIVE

91.

XU, HUIPING Chinese

ZHANG, SEN Chinese

CHINESE RESEARCH ANALYST

142.

PIENG TI LONG Malaysian

CUSTOMER SERVICE REPRESENTATIVE

ZHANG, LIN Chinese

CHINESE CUSTOMER SERVICE REPRESENTATIVE

143.

ZHANG, SHENGPENG Chinese

CHINESE CUSTOMER SERVICE REPRESENTATIVE

144.

ZHANG, ZHENGCHUAN Chinese

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Enriqueta Navarro: Helping senior citizens earn, become productive

By Rizal Raoul S. Reyes

HERE’S an old saw that says, “A mother is she who can take the place of all others but whose place no one else can take.” In a Filipino household, the role being played by a mother is probably the most important role, although least appreciated, because she is in charge of household matters on top of the responsibility of taking care of the children. Aside from managing the household, mothers play a variety of roles like a teacher, counselor and guardian rolled into one.

NAVARRO in her variety store.

hood training programs sponsored by the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (Tesda) that were held in their barangay. The benefits of the training programs became apparent when Navarro introduced cooked meals to new customers, who liked her food products. Right now, Navarro’s store also sells pizza, empanada, buchi, French toast and embutido. “I received a lot of orders from clients during the Christmas season,” she said. “This enabled me to expand my market base.” Navarro’s variety store has gone a long way since she established it 10 years ago. “I started my business with a kilo of flour in 2010,” Navarro recalled.

Dual role

ASIDE from being the breadwinner, Navarro also had to perform the dual role of a father and mother to her three children. Through her perseverance and guidance, she was able to produce a nurse, psychologist and a furniture seller. Now she has 11 grandchildren. Navarro said her success as a parent could be attributed to her efforts to model the lessons she wanted to impart—she practiced what she preached to her children. Her way of teaching them to become responsible is by way of a rule that the children have to leave the house when they get married. “I have instituted that policy so they will become independent when they establish their own families,” she said. Navarro pointed out that it was the virtue of frugality that helped her family to survive in those trying times. “As a wise man said, without frugality none can be rich, and with it very few would be poor,” she said. To give back to the community, Navarro, through the assistance of KMBA, is currently helping her fellow senior citizens to become productive by teaching them to become micro entrepreneurs. “I want my fellow senior citizens to be productive even though they are already retired,” she said. “ I want to give them an option to be busy and make money instead of

Empowering the grassroots

ME-AN IGNACIO, the general manager of Kabuhayan sa Ganap na Kasarinlan and Savings Cooperative (K-Coop) and the one who encouraged Navarro to join the movement, continues to encourage women to take the lead in empowering themselves to become micro entrepreneurs and help make a difference not only to their families but to their communities as well. K-Coop started its microfinance in 2002 under the program of the Kasagana-Ka Development Corp. before it became a cooperative to enable members to become owners of the organization. In partnership with microfinacing organization Maybridge Financing, K-Coop aims to uplift the lives of mothers from the grassroots to move up the economic ladder. To help the mother-entrepreneurs, Maybridge is using digital tools to market their products and services. Organized in 2006, KMBA provides affordable insurance products and services to marginalized women and their families. It is a sister organization of Kasagana-Ka Development Center Inc. (KDCI) whose client beneficiaries and staff members constitute KMBA’s primary members. KMBA provides associate membership to client/ beneficiaries of its partner microfinance organizations and other organized sectors. KMBA offers two basic services, namely, the Basic Life Insurance Plan (BLIP) and credit Life Insurance Plan (CLIP). In partnership with Bankers Assurance Corp., KMBA also offers personal accident insurance with fire insurance or K-Kalinga. As part of their extended service to members, KMBA provides a post emergency residential housing. Joey Bermudez, chairman of Maybridge Financial, said the organization advocates honest capitalism and an intention to create shared value. Navarro is a living testament to the success of their endeavor.

the table for the family and to give the children a better future pushed her to become a micro entrepreneur. However, the path to success is riddled with major roadblocks. As a result, Navarro became frustrated and almost gave up. A silver lining emerged when a friend invited Navarro to join Kasagana-Ka Mutual Benefits Association (KMBA). By joining the cooperative, Navarro was able to jump-start her entrepreneurial endeavor. To hone her marketing skills, Navarro also attended the free liveli-

DSWD awaits 40,908 senior citizens to claim 2019 pension

In graying Italy, the old defy biases laid bare by pandemic

ACLOBAN CITY—At least 40,908 senior citizens in Eastern Visayas have yet to receive their 2019 social pension, the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) reported on Wednesday. The number represents 14.8 percent of the 276,807 target recipients for 2019, said Mavis Mae Baoy, the program’s focal person in the region. As of January 5, the DSWD has served a total of 235,899 senior citizens—98,827 in Leyte, 37,203 in Samar, 31,016 in Northern Samar, 30,271 in Eastern Samar, 25,494 in Southern Leyte, and 13,088 in Biliran. Each senior citizen is entitled to a P500 monthly stipend but will receive the amount equivalent to 12 months or P6,000. “The payout is ongoing. It was delayed because of the movement restrictions amid the Covid-19 pandemic and the revalidation of the list due to inclusion of non-eligible senior citizens and double or triple entries in the list,” Baoy said in a statement. Under Republic Act 9994 or the Expanded Senior Citizens Act of 2010, only 60-year-old Filipino citizens who are sickly, frail, disabled, without regular compensation, pension, or support from relatives can avail of the monthly stipend, which they could use to augment their daily subsistence and other medical needs.

OME—From his newsstand at the bottom of two hilly streets in Rome, Armando Alviti has been dispensing newspapers, magazines and good cheer to locals from before dawn till after dusk nearly every day for more than a half-century. “Ciao, Armando,” his customers greet him as part of their daily routine. “Ciao, amore [love]” he calls back. Alviti chuckled as he recalled how, when he was a young boy, newspaper deliverers would drop off the day’s stacks at his parents’ newsstand, sit him in the emptied baskets of their motorbikes and take him for a spin. Since he turned 18, Alviti has operated the newsstand seven days a week, with a wool tweed cap to protect him from the Italian capital’s winter dampness and a tabletop fan to cool him during its torrid summers. A mighty battle therefore ensued when the coronavirus reached Italy and his two grown sons insisted that Alviti, who is 71 and diabetic, stay home while they took turns juggling their own jobs to keep the newsstand open. “They were afraid I would die. I know they love me crazy,” Alviti said. Throughout the pandemic, health authorities around the world have

Gerico Sabalza/PNA

The Associated Press

stressed the need to protect the people most at risk of complications from Covid-19, a group which infection and mortality data quickly revealed included older adults. With 23 percent of its population age 65 or older, Italy has the world’s second-oldest population, after Japan, with 28 percent. The average age of Italy’s Covid-19 dead has hovered around 80, many of them people with previous medical conditions like diabetes or heart disease. Some politicians advocated limiting how much time elders spent outside of their homes to avoid lockdowns of the general population that were costly to the economy. Among them was the governor of Italy’s northwestern coastal region of Liguria, where 28.5 percent of the population is age 65 or older. Gov. Giovanni Toti, who is 52, argued for such an age-specific strategy when a second surge of infections struck Italy in the fall. Older people are “for the most part in retirement, not indispensable to the productive effort” of Italy’s economy, Toti said. To the news vendor in Rome, those were fighting words. Alviti said Toti’s remarks “disgusted me. They made me very angry.” “Older persons are the life of this country. They’re the memory of this country,” he said. Self-employed older adults like him especially “can’t be

Book titles as koans By Nick Tayag

MY SIXTY-ZEN’S WORTH

just staying at home,” she added.

Enriqueta Navarro, 64, had to do it all after her husband passed away in 1988. She became the breadwinner of the Navarro family. Given her limited income, she sought greener pastures to be able to feed the family. She went to Saudi Arabia in 1991. However, after six years, Navarro decided to return home for good. “I did not enjoy my work there, that’s why I decided to come home,” she told the BusinessMirror in an interview through Facebook Messenger. The challenge to provide food on

By Frances D’Emilio

Editor: Angel R. Calso • Saturday January 9, 2021 A7

kept under a bell jar,” he said. The pandemic’s heavy toll on older people, particularly those in nursing homes, might have served to reinforce ageism, or prejudice against the segment of population generally referred to as “elderly.” The label “old” means “40, 50 years of life being lumped in one category,” said Nancy Morrow-Howell, a professor of social work at Washington University in St. Louis who specializes in gerontology. She noted that these days, people in their 60s often are caring for parents in their 90s. “Ageism is so accepted...it’s not questioned,” Morrow-Howell said in a telephone interview. One form it takes is “compassionate ageism,” Morrow-Howell said, the idea that “we need to protect older adults. We need to treat them as children.” Alviti’s family won the first round, keeping him away from work until May. His sons implored him to stay home again when the coronavirus rebounded in the fall. He struck a compromise. One of his sons opens the newsstand at 6 a.m. and Alviti takes over two hours later, limiting his exposure to the public during the morning rush. Fausto Alviti said he’s afraid for his father, “but I also realize for him to stay home, it would have been worse, psychologically. He needs to be with people.”

OME book lovers are ensnared by the cover design. Me, I’m into titles. Catcher in the Rye, The Garden of Last Days, A Room Called Remember, Landscapes of the Night, God of Small Details, The Lost Slipper of the Soul. These are titles that catch my attention. Don’t you just love the words stringed beautifully together? So musically sounding, they should be pronounced “trippingly on the tongue” as Shakespeare advises in Hamlet. I have turned into a title hunter. I buy second-hand magazines that review books even if only to scan the titles of books featured in them. Most of the time I can’t access the book for two main reasons: It costs too much and it’s not available in our local bookstore. So I just contemplate and ruminate on the title and what it seems to mean. What’s in a title? A lot. The right title of a book or movie can bring in profits or doom prospects. As a writer, I spend a lot of time getting a title right for a piece of writing I have done. But to me there is something more to titles than meets the eye. Over the years, my interest in titles has evolved into something more than their instant appeal or non-appeal. I now look for book titles for what they can conjure in terms of wisdom and significance about life, or about human nature, happiness, tragedy, and everything in between. If Robert Fulghum can declare that he had learned it all in kindergarten, then I can say my personal life’s small treasury of reflections has been inspired by titles that I came across during my years of eclectic book scanning. If haikus can evoke insights in just 17 syllables, a good title of three to four words can inspire a resonant homily in me. A pithy book title can be likened to a koan, a short riddle used in Zen Buddhism to provoke enlightenment. At the least, I look at them as stimulative memes for living. Let me share with you some of the titles in my collection. They have nothing to do with the contents of the books cited. They are not reviews or summaries of the books. In fact, I have not even read most of them. My interest is solely on the titles and the thoughts they engender in my mind.

we are making. We can always backtrack and develop the characters some more. But as to the actual ending, no one really knows. And perhaps you need to stop making yourself the star of your life story.

‘The Invention of Wings’

TO me, the title is about self-reinvention or transformation. We are not born with wings to enable us to fly. We have to invent them through our struggles and hard efforts. It takes time and determination. Even when we have grown our wings, like a baby bird, we still need to learn how to fly. Sometimes, we may fall first in our exuberance but soon we learn to soar.

‘The Gods of Guilt’

ANOTHER book with God in it. I don’t know but it sparked thoughts about furies, those flying loathsome preying creatures from Greek mythology. They were sent by the gods to hound and haunt the consciences of human beings for committing acts of abomination such as murder, adultery, incest, and so on. Today, contemporary society seems to have become indifferent or insensitive to “acts of abomination.” Or as someone said: Where is our sense of outrage? A teen is shot by policemen simply because of being suspected as a drug addict, a high-school student goes on a murderous rampage using guns he acquired so easily from the local gun store. We no longer feel any sense of collective guilt for doing anything about the culture of impunity. Where are the gods of guilt when we need them?

‘Every Day Is For The Thief’

STRANGE title but it reminds me of carpe diem. We need to snatch life in every moment, look for things of value and not waste effort in cheap possessions. Everyday presents something for us to steal and add to our treasure to enrich our inner life. It just lies there for us to take. But we need to remember not to waste time or lose the chance.

‘The Givenness Of Things’

THE title of this novel by English writer Kate Atkinson describes aptly what fanatic believers have done to our world in the belief that only their way is the right way. Their wars have brought so much ruin and destruction. Purportedly in the name of a God who in their holy books forbids them to kill, urges them to wage peace, and inspires them to respect and love one's neighbor. This is the irony and paradox of this divine force they call God. The people believing in Him have made Him a God not only in ruins but a God of ruins and havoc.

OUR parents, our family, our bloodline. They are all given not chosen. It is also a reminder that most of what we need is here. We must be content with what we have at the moment. Let us learn to make do with things that are available to us no matter how meager they seem to be. Many times they are more than enough. Let us be creative and inventive with things at our disposal. Just like cooking for someone who drops by unexpectedly. Take stock of ingredients you have and then make something out of it. Even in writing you start by crafting something out of your experiences. They are given, inside of you. Write how you cope with what life has given or done to you. That’s a good start for any fledgling writer.

‘A Festival of Insignificance’

‘Gone with the Mind’

‘A God in Ruins’

WRITTEN by Milan Kundera, this book has a title that captures for me the ultimate unimportance of pursuit and acquisition of wealth, power as well as engagement in politics and petty preoccupations in life in general. Dust in the wind, all is just that. So much ado about nothing, which is the title of a Shakespearean comedy. Indeed the active life can seem like a festival full of noise and sound that ultimately mean nothing. Ostentatious on the outside, hollow in the inside.

‘You Can’t Take It With You’

THIS movie is based on the successful Broadway play by Moss Hart and to me it is the follow up of the same thematic note to the previous title I discussed. No matter how popular or wealthy or powerful you are in life, when you die you leave it all behind. Sometimes what you leave behind can even cause a lot of trouble, legally, financially, emotionally and so on.

‘Step Out of the Story’

BELIEVE it or not that’s the title of a self-help book but it is an apt description of what we need to do in our lives. To detach from what we do, what we desire, what we are obsessed about, and what we are so angry about. Like a good writer or a good film editor, we need to reflect on the story of our individual unique lives from time to time and see where we are and if we are making any sense with the life-story

THIS is a clever pun on a popular title of a book that became a great movie. A family relative can be said to be lost to us when his mind is no longer functioning at all. For all intents and purposes, he is gone although he sits beside us or in front of us. It can also speak of a life partner who is deeply focused on many other things, he completely becomes unmindful of the needs of the one beside him.

‘Blood Memory’

IN Tagalog we have a term: lukso ng dugo. It refers to an inexplicable feeling of excitement upon encountering a stranger and suddenly a sense of connection is awakened. Then later you find out it's because he or she is a relative. You have blood ties. Does blood recognize and seek its own? Or more accurately, do like genes attract each other? Faith, Doubt, Mystery: A Catholic Journey by James J. Tracy. Every person of faith whether Catholic, Muslim, Buddhist, or Hindu who professes a belief in the divinity goes through these changes of the heart over time. I have other book titles in my list but this will be enough for the moment. But I hope the few I have shared will encourage you to do the same. Yes, it’s true you can’t judge a book by its cover, but a good title on the cover is sometimes meaningful enough for me even if the inside content might not be substantial.

Education BusinessMirror

A8 Saturday, January 9, 2021

Editor: Mike Policarpio

DepEd vows to ‘persevere’ in 2021; thanks Pres. Duterte, partners

S 2020 came to a close, Education Secretary Leonor Magtolis Briones highlighted the commitment of the Department of Education (DepEd) to address recurring and new challenges in 2021. “Many new things, [many] challenges to face—but we’ll persevere as we have always...as the DepEd, the primary institution for the molding and development of our learners, [and] for the future of our country,” Briones said in her holiday message during the department’s virtual thanksgiving and general assembly on December 22, 2020. Emphasizing that the holidays are about the spirit of giving, peace, goodwill, and hope, Briones reflected on the challenges DepEd faced in 2020 due to the pandemic and other calamities. The secretary opened up about Christmas as bearing the message of hope: “The hope before was the coming of a Messiah, the Savior: the one who will save us from all our troubles,” she said in a mix of English and Filipino. “Christmas tells us that life is more than what we are facing right now. Life is more than [the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19)]; life is more than all the threats and difficulties that we are facing at present, because there is always hope.” With the drastic changes in education brought by the pandemic, Briones is hopeful to further transform Philippine education responsive to the changing world. “Education is not going to be the same...it’s going to change, and… change has already started. We already recognize the signals; we see the increased role of technology and science,” she said. “We see the need to encourage not only our teachers, but our learners [too], to not only specialize and memorize, but to know many things: to know how to analyze, to know how to be objective, to know how to come to break a problem apart, and come up with a solution. [This is the kind of education that we want].” DepEd officials and personnel led by Undersecretary for Finance Annalyn Sevilla, Undersecretary for Planning Service and Bureau of Human Resources and Organizational Development Jesus Mateo, as well as Undersecretary for Legal Affairs Atty. Josephine Maribojoc attended

the virtual event. Sevilla said the country will continue to face and recover from the challenges brought about by the pandemic. In Filipino, she shared her prayers about the guidance of the Almighty amid the health crisis. Mateo also highlighted that despite 2020 being “a very difficult, trying and even challenging year,” the agency still grew and developed better as an organization. Maribojoc, for her part, attributed the celebration of the birth of Jesus as contributory to the joy and peace the department is experiencing. Meanwhile, the department also sincerely expressed its gratitude to organizations and individuals that supported the mission to deliver education in the face of the pandemic through a “Heal The World 2020” music video. Dubbed as “DepEd #Pasasalamat,” it featured Briones, Pilipinas Got Talent champion Marcelito Pomoy, teachers, learners and other stakeholders singing as one. “Indeed, it will take an entire nation to raise our children, and in that endeavor, we thank all of you: parents, teachers, personnel, partners, stakeholders, and [every one] for believing and keeping faith with us amid these challenges,” Briones said. “This is for the future of our country and our children. Your continued support serves as an inspiration for us to further fulfill our duty, and overcome all of these varied challenges. Together, let us heal and let us triumph as one.”

Education goes on

IN a statement, Briones said the Basic Education-Learning Continuity Plan (BE-LCP) is the DepEd’s major response and commitment in protecting the health, safety and well-being of learners, teachers, and personnel. Briones added that education must continue under the health protocols set by the Department of Health and the World Health Organization. The Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases approved the BE-LCP

transform Philippine education in response to the changing world with the drastic changes in education brought by the pandemic.

PRRD, Congress lauded

EDUCATION Secretary Leonor Magtolis Briones

to ensure that learning progresses among students despite the absence of face-to-face classes due to possible contagion. The BE-LCP aims to provide quality distance learning with the use of self-learning modules in digital and printed form, radio, television, and the Internet. The DepEd has selected teachers who were trained to be instructor-broadcasters to deliver lessons through DepEd TV, since not all areas in the country have an Internet connection. On September 21, 2020, DepEd Director Abraham Abanil said partner channels that will air the DepEd TV episodes include IBC 13, Solar TV, Cignal TV, GSAT, PTV, Planet Cable, Philippine Cable, Telecommunications Association, Gracia LMP, Mabuhay Pilipinas TV, and GMA Network. With more than 100 teacherbroadcasters and 72 members, the DepEd TV production team aims to produce 220 episodes per week covering all subject areas by January 2021. To assist more learners and teachers in distance learning amid the pandemic, the department also upgraded its DepEd Commons: an online learning platform for both public and private schools. DepEd Undersecretary for Administration Alain Pascua shared the department was able to double the number of learners that can access the platform at the same time, with the help of the Department of Information and Communications Technology and National Telecommunications Commission. Learners and teachers can also access it free of data charges by all mobile subscribers of Globe, TM, Smart, Sun and Talk N’ Text. In response to numerous reports on errors found in various learning materials, the DepEd released Department Memorandum 00-10200138, which aims to receive and collate errors spotted on self-learning modules, printed materials, DepEd

TV, DepEd TV YouTube Channel, and the DepEd Commons. The faulty materials were forwarded to the appropriate offices for validation and correction. On October 5, 2020, Academic Year 2020-2021 opened virtually with more than 61,000 schools offering K-to-12 Basic Education Program reopening to serve about 24,753,906 learners: 22,525,282 enrollees in public schools, and 2,173,969 enrollees in private institutions. Briones considered the present school year “special” and “historic,” as it is the first to open in the month of October under Republic Act 11480, allowing the President to move the opening of classes due to a national emergency. In response to “key challenges” in teaching students, the DepEd has adjusted the four quarters for School Year 2020-2021. In a memorandum issued on October 30, 2020, Undersecretary for Curriculum and Instruction Diosdado San Antonio revealed the decision was part of the suggested measures to foster “academic ease” during the pandemic. The DepEd extended the first quarter of the school year up to December 12, 2020. The second would start from January 4 to February 27; the second semester, March 1 to April 24; and fourth quarter, April 26 to June 11. Early in December 2020, the DepEd initiated preparations for the pilot implementation of faceto-face classes in areas where there are low-risks of the pandemic’s contagion. However, on December 26, Briones—in compliance with President Duterte’s order—suspended the pilot run of face-to-face classes originally set for January 2021 until further notice due to the emerging concern over the reported new strain of Covid-19, or the SARSCoV-2 VUI 202012/01. In her New Year’s message, Briones said she is hopeful to further

LATE in December, DepEd commended President Duterte and lawmakers for increasing the budget for teaching and connectivity allowances to assist public-school teachers and learners with their requirements in the face of the pandemic. In the General Appropriations Act for 2021 signed by the Chief Executive, the department received budget allocation to increase the teaching supplies and communication allowances of teachers from P3,500 to P5,000. The provision of additional allowances for teachers starting next year was in-line with Briones’s request to the lawmakers and Department of Budget and Management (DBM) to finance the stakeholders’ needs for the continuity of distance learning. “"We would like to thank the President, our senators and representatives for backing our request to increase teachers’ allowance. This is timely support for the education sector and to our teachers in these difficult times,” the secretary stated. “With this positive development, we believe…our lawmakers will continue to support our initiatives for the welfare of our teachers and learners, [as well as] the improvement of education in the country.” In his message, the Philippine leader commended the department’s continuous efforts to implement the blended distance learning modality during this challenging time. “I commend the invaluable efforts of the DepEd in fulfilling its mandate amid the current public health emergency by continually providing quality education to our learners through alternative learning modules and modalities,” Duterte remarked. “I admire our teachers, coordinators, and facilitators in their relentless efforts and sacrifices to adjust to the new learning setup.” Meanwhile, the grant of the transportation and teaching-aid allowances under DepEd OSEC, Special Provision 21, “Alternative Learning System,” Volume I A, P. 195, shall be subject to guidelines to be issued by the DepEd, in coordination with the DBM, and in conformity with existing compensation laws, rules and regulations. DepEd, with a report from PNA’s Ma. Teresa Montemayor

‘Munti’s’ new interactive educational bus rolls out

By Roderick L. Abad

ET to know more of the do’s and don’ts during and after a calamity while navigating the roads with Muntinlupa City’s Mobile Learning Hub (MLH), the first innovative roving educational bus in Metro Manila aimed at improving community resilience and the level of city residents’ disaster preparedness. Officially launched on January 4, this new offering of the Department of Disaster Resilience and Management (DDRM) is equipped with a state-of-the-art virtual reality (VR) area, where residents can wear headsets to experience being in “close-to-actual” scenarios of disasters such as earthquakes, flooding, storm surges, bomb explosions, chemical poisoning, volcanic eruptions, tsunamis and landslides. Apart from providing immersive, visual and sound-based experience of weather disturbances and calamities, the VR facility seeks to train residents on ways to respond to them properly. The DDRM MLH also has an interactive lecture area with informative videos on pan-

MUNTINLUPA City’s Mobile Learning Hub (right photo), as Mayor Jaime R. Fresnedi samples the virtual-reality headsets.

demic protective measures, disaster prevention, mitigation and preparedness, first-aid response and management, as well as basic life support, among others. Muntinlupa City DDRM (MC-DDRM) Chief Erwin Alfonso said the learning bus targets to mainstream disaster response by bringing learning resources to communities and vulnerable sectors. He added that, as the MLH is expected to

visit several communities despite the ongoing pandemic, health and safety protocols will be strictly implemented, and regular disinfection of the facility will be conducted. MC-DDRM will release the schedule of the roving learning bus through its Facebook page soon. Muntinlupa City Mayor Jaime R. Fresnedi hopes the learning bus will empower Muntinlupeños to become well-prepared on

disasters and calamities, as well as enhance their level of preparedness and awareness on climate-change adaptation and disaster risk reduction. Recently, the local disaster response department also installed an early-warning system across the city to inform communities in a timely manner about typhoon signal warnings, severe flooding and earthquakes, among others.

The Southern Metro Manila city was ranked No. 1 in the Resilience Pillar-Highly Urbanized Cities category of the 2020 Cities and Municipalities Competitiveness Index organized by the Department of Trade and Industry, as well as the National Competitiveness Council. It bested at least 145 local government units in the country, as the Cities of Valenzuela and Manila, respectively, followed it in the listing.

Teaching English as a way to bolster PHL-China bonds

By Rizal Raoul S. Reyes

EIJING, China-based online English platform 51Talk plans to hire some 100,000 Filipino teachers who will instruct English in the next three to five years, in response to the huge demand in online education in the world’s biggest socialist state. “This is a great contribution to Philippine-Chinese relations,” said Ambassador of the People’s Republic of China Huang Xilian in a recent online press briefing. “China’s emerging industries such as online education under the pandemic have catalyzed a new win-win cooperation model for China and the Philippines,” Huang explained. “On the one hand, it has helped [my country’s] distance education; on the other, it has provided a large number of online job opportunities for...[Filipinos].” As a well-known online English-education company in China, Huang shared that 51Talk has fully tapped talents from the Philippines in the past several years. With the help of online digital technology, the firm has opened a window for thousands of Chinese children to communicate with foreign teachers worldwide, as it has created a “worthwhile online platform for China-Philippines educational cooperation.” Meanwhile, Ambassador to China Jose Santiago Sta. Romana revealed how learning a language opens new opportunities and helps broaden perspectives while enriching experiences. “Learning a language helps bridge the present embodied by our youth to a future...full of opportunities for their personal development, that of their families and their communities,” Sta. Romana noted. The Filipino envoy was pleased that 51Talk is giving an opportunity to 20,000 competent local educators who will take part in nurturing the eagerness of nearly 300,000 young Chinese people to learn English. “This educational exchange, albeit virtual, provides an enabling environment for cultural exchange between Filipinos and the Chinese,” Sta. Romana averred. “As the demand for online-based learning surges in China brought about by the new normal, it is my hope that more doors will be opened up for more and more Filipino educators in the same mutually beneficial manner.” The program featured outstanding Chinese students who demonstrated their excellent English communication skills honed by 51Talk’s online English teachers based in the Philippines. For his part, 51Talk CEO and cofounder Jack Huang expressed the important role of the online education platform in promoting the bilateral cooperation and exchanges between China and the Philippines. “Sino-Philippine relations have grown ever more vibrant, with fruitful cooperation outcomes in various fields, particularly on the education front. And we at 51Talk are very happy to have contributed to the strengthening of the ties of our two countries through online education,” said Huang in his speech. To help alleviate the ensuing unemployment from the pandemic, 51Talk activated several campaigns to spread awareness of the livelihood opportunities available in the platform to attract 30,000 online English teachers. And as part of its corporate social responsibility, the learning firm donated P5.25 million worth of medical equipment and supplies to several hospitals in the Philippines to aid in their efforts to combat the dreaded disease. “Through 51Talk, Filipino online teachers are well-received among Chinese families,” added Huang. “Chinese parents understand that Filipinos share their roots from Asia, and that they have a better understanding of the Chinese culture, which helps them in teaching Chinese kids effectively.”

Tourism&Entertainment BusinessMirror

Editor: Carla Mortel-Baricaua

Saturday, January 9, 2021 A9

Places I want to go next in 2021

Komodo National Park Laiza Limpin

Grossglockner-Hochalpenstrasse Harri Järviseutu

Zona Arqueológica Palenque Angel Olivares

Valley of Flowers National Park Manu Khandelwal

By Bernard Joseph Esposo Guerrero

T will be difficult to forget the year 2020. For a rabid traveler like me, the pandemic affected me heavily. As a cultural worker and writer, it meant lesser work, too. The year should have brought me to China and Morocco at least. However, as expected, neither happened. During the first three and a half months of the lockdowns in the Philippines, I found myself marooned in the south, miles away from home, in Siquijor. The experience, nevertheless, was like no other. The first few weeks were long, exhausting, and restless. Eventually, they felt quick, predictable, even acceptable. I like to think that my European friend Stephan and I adjusted to island living and the Visayan rhythm rather well. While most might think that the setup was inconvenient, when you realize how much messier, more unsafe elsewhere was at that time, you then get to appreciate the place even better—the prison island becomes a paradise, the foreign becomes familiar. We snorkeled every afternoon in the company of turtles, sea snakes, dolphins that once again braved getting closer to the coast, and even the monkeys became more visible in the mountains. The day’s highlight for many of us stranded tourists was watching the intense sunsets, and the deeper friendships we cultivated with locals ultimately made our stay more memorable (shout out to Kath, Vivian, and Norbert!). A f ter spend ing another month in Manila, I eventually

got back home in Ilocos Norte. As this year is finally coming to an end, with the promise that the much-coveted vaccines will soon be available, I could not help but to resume desiring and working on what I have always loved to do: planning future trips! While 2020 brought financial losses and the likelihood of these travel plans to happen may be low, daydreaming and being hopeful are after all free and exciting for me. 2021 should be brighter and I expect that it will take us closer to normalcy once more. Let me share the top 7 places in my 2021-2022 travel wish list:

Baptism ceremony, Lalibela Velit Gazel

Komodo National Park, Indonesia

View from our first cabin in Siquijor Bernard Joseph Guerrero

Indonesia is a Southeast Asian jewel. I have been there four times, but I have yet to make it to Komodo (in December 2018, I went to Krakatoa a few days before it erupted). While I will content myself with watching the dragons at a safe distance, I will not think twice about exploring the underwater sceneries surrounding the islands.

Großglockner High Alpine Road, Austria

I also want to do an epic road trip along the pioneering scenic route in Europe. The meandering Großglockner road was built

Hassan Tower, Rabat Clyde Triganza

in 1935 with keen attention to highlighting the superlative beauty of the Alps. It remains to this day one of the most outstanding constructions, setting the standards for “tourist drives.” As they say, “the journey is the destination!”

Ruins of Palenque, Mexico

It puzzles me why Palenque, a Mayan religious center, remains not as famous as Chichen-Itza and Teotihuacan. Well, it should be! The charm of this complex stems from its unspoiled jungle setting. Mexico always ranks high on my list because of its historical and cultural ties with the Philippines. To explore our shared

Fushimi Inari Taisha, Kyoto Julio Moreno

heritage is a personal pilgrimage.

Valley of Flowers National Park, India

“Roof of the World.” It is a shame that I have been to India twice, but I have never been to the Valley of Flowers in Uttarakhand. Suffice to say that this natural landscape is divine. When the gods created the universe, they must have spent half of the time perfecting this still uninhabited Himalayan corner.

Churches of Lalibela, Ethiopia

After being mind-blown by the rock-cut temples in India, I cannot resist wanting to visit these exceptional African monuments. Lalibela

is a site of first rank, housing 11 rockhewn churches without equal in the world. I have made three stopovers in Addis Ababa before, but I never made it past the airport. So, imagine the frustration.

Rabat, Morocco

Morocco needs to be in the list as it should have already been ticked off by now. Rabat is a harmonious blend of old and new, and that makes it appealing to me. The 20th-century capital reflects an ingenuous urban planning that is respectful of its ancient heritage. The city is also a good base in exploring Fez, Meknes and Volubilis.

Kyoto, Japan

The grand imperial capital city of Japan boasts an ensemble of historic monuments, including shrines, temples and a castle. Considering how near Japan is, there seems to be no more excuse to further delay a trip there. Kyoto has been the center of Japanese culture for over a millennium. That reason alone is more than enough for it to be included here. If these dream trips will still be impossible to execute next year, or the year after that, I will have no problem just returning to the idyllic island of Siquijor—at least I get to go back to one of the best spots in the country.

BusinessMirror

A10 Saturday, January 9, 2021 • Editor: Gerard S. Ramos

www.businessmirror.com.ph

Microsoft says hackers viewed source code, didn’t change it BY TALI ARBEL | The Associated Press MICROSOFT said on Thursday in a blog post that hackers tied to a massive intrusion of dozens of US government agencies and private companies sneaked further into its systems than previously thought, although the intrusion doesn’t appear to have caused any additional harm. The company said the hackers were able to view some of the code underlying Microsoft software, but weren’t able to make any changes to it. Microsoft

Amazon gets into the podcast business NEW YORK—Amazon is jumping into the podcast business. The online shopping giant is buying Wondery, a four-year-old producer of popular true crime podcasts, such as “Dr. Death” and “Dirty John,” which was later turned into a TV series. An explosion of new podcasts has led to a number of acquisitions as competing platforms try to grow their audiences and their ad revenue. The music streaming platform Spotify bought two podcast companies in 2019 and it’s added highprofile hosts to its roster, including Prince Harry and Meghan Markle. Wondery podcasts will be part of Amazon’s music streaming service, but it will still be available on other platforms as well. “This is a pivotal moment to expand the Amazon Music offering beyond music as listener habits evolve,” Amazon said in a blog post on Wednesday. Terms of the acquisition were not released. AP

GLOBE CONSISTENCY SCORE IMPROVED ACROSS ALL PHL REGIONS

THE commitment to its customers by leading telco Globe is bannered by technological enhancements to further boost the digital economy, facilitate continuity of businesses, and enhance productivity. Independent analytics firm Ookla in its quarterly data showed that Globe’s Consistency Score in the Philippines improved to 56.83 percent in Q3 2020 from 48.56 percent in Q2 2020. Regional Consistency Score likewise improved across all Philippine regions, registering increases as high as 13.4 PPTs, with scores ranging from 31 percent and 62 percent in Q3 2020, including high density and typhoonprone areas like Central Luzon, Bicol and Eastern Visayas. The area with the highest consistency score based on “All Technology” is Metro Manila at 61.68 percent. Mobile Consistency Score measures the number of incidences (viewed as a percentage) of a provider’s samples equal or exceed both a download threshold of 5Mbps and an upload threshold of 1Mbps. The recent report underscores the significant improvements on mobile data experience as a result of accelerated cell site builds. The telco’s network infrastructure developments, carried out by expanding its reach through new site builds and network upgrades all over the country, is now being validated by an increase in mobile consistency scores across all regions. “Filipinos deserve better Internet services that deliver consistently, as connectivity has already become a critical need. We are glad that our network improvements are measurable and, more importantly, realistically felt by our customers across the country. This is part of our commitment to provide Internet access to all Filipinos,” says Gil Genio, Globe’s Chief Technology and Information Officer. More information is available at www.globe.com.ph.

played down any risk associated with the additional intrusion, noting that its software development relies on code sharing within the company, a practice called “inner source.” Likewise, Microsoft said it doesn’t rely on keeping program code secret as a security measure and instead assumes that adversaries have seen its code and uses other defensive measures to frustrate attacks. The company said it found no evidence of hacker access to customer data and no indication that its systems were used to attack others. The hack began as early as March when malicious

code was snuck into updates to SolarWinds software that monitors computer networks. Microsoft helped respond to the breach with cybersecurity firm FireEye, which discovered the hack when the security firm itself was targeted. Cybersecurity experts and US officials suspect Russia was behind the hack. Microsoft said earlier this month that it identified more than 40 government agencies, think tanks, nongovernmental organizations and IT companies infiltrated by the hackers. Russia has denied that it is to blame.

10 years of Viber O

NE of my takeaways from the 2019 Viber Privacy Summit in Singapore is that endto-end encryption, which means that only the sender and the receiver are able to see the messages and media shared, is very important. We caught up with Viber sometime last year as they marked their 10th anniversary via a video call with Djamel Agaoua, the CEO at Rakuten Viber, and Anna Znamenskaya, the Chief Growth Officer at Rakuten Viber, about recent developments in the company during this pandemic. From its goal of offering free calls to iPhone users in 2010, Viber is now a comprehensive communication platform that offers a suite of features like messaging, group chats, video calls and chatbots. All these features are protected by end-to-end encryption. In 2014, Viber became part of Rakuten Inc., a world leader in e-commerce and financial services, and in 2018, Viber introduced Communities which allowed users to create supergroup chats where they can add an unlimited number of people. In 2019, Viber launched the group voice calls feature. Viber has a strong presence in over 190 countries, with 100 billion messages and call minutes exchanged in the past decade. A significant milestone in Viber’s history is its severing all ties with Facebook due to issues regarding security of its users’ data. Viber pulled out all its ad spending on Facebook and removed the Facebook Connect and GIPHY features within the app. In 2020, Viber formed a special chatbot for the World Health Organization to help provide people with reliable and life-saving information about Covid-19. In the Philippines, the Department of Health created its own Viber Community to intensify its online reach in providing updates on the Covid-19 situation in the country. This led to the creation of the Kira chatbot to disseminate health and safety tips and answer FAQs. In 2020, Viber introduced group video calls and bolstered its capacities when the pandemic started to accommodate the higher-than-usual number of calls

and messages within the app, doubling the maximum number of participants to 20 people at once in Group Video and Audio Calls. In the first half of 2020, the app recorded an 18-percent increase in activations, 104 percent in Community messages sent, and 109 percent in Community views in the entire Asia Pacific region. These mark a 208-percent surge in Community messages sent and 129-percent increase in Community Views from 2019. “By introducing new product features, capabilities and improvements like Chatbot Payments, we empower our users to accomplish more in so much lesser time. We did so without having to renege on our commitment to protect their right to data privacy at any point within the app, ultimately giving them the freedom not only to genuinely express themselves but also lighten their load and ease their worries at the same time,” said Djamel Agaoua. In the Philippines, Viber said there was a 2.5x increase in Community viewers and 2.7x growth in messages sent to Communities in the country. There was also an increase in the following: 43 percent in

daily activations, 17 percent in monthly active users, 18 percent in daily active users, 22 percent in outgoing calls and 35 percent in incoming answered calls. Rakuten Viber has also announced the launch of Chatbot Payments through a partnership with Google Pay and Apple Pay last year. This feature enables users to purchase the products and services of merchants securely and accept payments directly through the app, marking Viber’s move toward fintech. Rakuten Viber is rolling out this feature in the Philippines after securing partnerships with local industry leaders like Globe. Through the Globe partnership, Filipino users can check out and order from small food businesses through the FoodPH bot. Viber said it will soon allow users to pay for their orders via in-chat payments. “All these milestones and partnerships we’ve achieved so far are just the beginning of what’s in store for our users in the coming years. Our users’ satisfaction remains to be our driving force why we aspire for bolder and bigger goals,” said Anna Znamenskaya. ■

Mobile Legends Bang Bang (MLBB) M2 World Championship MOONTON Technology Co. Ltd. has announced various promotional activities to celebrate the Mobile Legends: Bang Bang (MLBB) M2 World Championship (M2), taking place in Singapore from January 18 to 24. Organized by Moonton in collaboration with Singapore’s Cybersports and Online Gaming Association (SCOGA) and supported by the Singapore Tourism Board (STB), M2 will be the first global offline esports event to be held in Southeast Asia in 2021, as top esports teams from around the world converge in the safe confines of Shangri-La Hotel Singapore to battle for a prize pool of $300,000 behind closed doors. Besides battling for a prize pool of $300,000, the winning team will walk away with $140,000 in cash and also receive its very own skin integrated with the team’s branding

on a hero of choice. Moonton also announced that top esports teams hailing from as far as Japan, Brazil and Russia will be flying to Singapore to compete in this highly anticipated esports tournament. The teams who have been invited to Singapore are: Indonesia—RRQ, Alter Ego esports; Philippines—Bren esports, Omega esports; Malaysia—Todak; Singapore—RSG, Evos SG; Myanmar—Burmese Ghouls; Japan—10S Gaming Frost; Cambodia— Impunity KH; Russia—Unique Devu; and Brazil—DreamMax. All approved travelers must abide by the requirements on Covid-19 prevention and control and prevailing public health regulations. Moonton has worked with various industry experts to design operational plans that adhere to the Safe Management Measures

(SMM) required by local authorities. A safety protocol handbook will also be distributed digitally pre-arrival and in hard copy on arrival to all participants, detailing what needs to be done from leaving their countries, arriving in Singapore, to landing back home. In anticipation of the tournament, a teaser video announcing the upcoming M2 World Championship for January 2021 was launched by Moonton on December 1, which can be viewed at bit.ly/3nmBrMz. For its millions of fans around the world, Moonton is dedicating the entire month of January as a celebration of Mobile Legends esports. Fans can participate in the M2 experience this month when an M2-themed game client and a series of promotional activities will be launched including a M2themed skin. RENI SALVADOR

BusinessMirror

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SAMSUNG TO REVEAL NEW OFFERINGS IN ONLINE EVENT

GLOBAL tech giant Samsung is starting 2021 by introducing new groundbreaking innovations that will transform everyday life into extraordinary and epic experiences. On January 14, the company will unveil its nextgeneration Galaxy devices at the Galaxy Unpacked event. These devices are designed to deliver a whole new flagship mobile experience to enable people to live out their passions and express their true selves this new year. “Samsung’s goal is to introduce new, ‘epic’ and exciting innovations, creating experiences that consumers can trust. We believe everyone should have access to the latest mobile technologies and a spectrum of product options that offer unfettered, personalized experiences. Our diverse portfolio will deliver breakthrough capabilities that empower you and never hold you back,” shares TM Roh, president and head of mobile communications business for Samsung Electronics. Samsung’s newest and exciting innovations will be revealed via #SamsungUnpacked on January 14, 11 pm (Manila time) via the website or Samsung’s Facebook or YouTube pages. Consumers who register at www.samsung.com/ph/ unpacked get additional freebies worth up to P8,000 when they pre-order the latest flagship device.

SLACK KICKS OFF 2021 WITH A GLOBAL OUTAGE BY MICHELLE CHAPMAN The Associated Press SLACK, the messaging service used by millions of people for work and school, suffered a global outage on Monday, the first day back for most people returning from the New Year’s holiday. It’s the latest tech glitch to show how disruptive technical difficulties can be when millions of people are depending on just a few services to work and go to school from home during the pandemic. The company stopped releasing its daily user count after topping 12 million last year. “Our team is currently investigating and we’re sorry for any troubles this may be causing,” Slack said in a prepared statement. The outage began around 10 am Eastern time and disrupted service in the US, Germany, India, the UK, Japan and elsewhere. At 12:30 pm, service was still sporadic and Slack said the outage was ongoing, but that some users may begin to see improvement. Slack said that people should check status.slack.com for updates. Most issues were resolved by 3 pm on Monday afternoon. Internet service outages are not uncommon, are usually resolved relatively swiftly, and are only rarely the result of hacking or other intentional mischief. Google went down briefly in December, with people in several countries briefly unable to access their Gmail accounts, watch YouTube videos or get to their online documents during an outage Monday. In August, Zoom went down briefly just as many students were beginning the school year at home. And in September, Microsoft services had an outage that lasted for five hours. More complaints rolled in as the sun hit the West coast and there were still outages four hours after it began in New York City. The outage comes about a month after Salesforce. com said it would acquire Slack for $27.7 billion. The companies hope to be better able to compete against Microsoft, which is a threat to both of them. Slack is being acquired by Salesforce.com for $27.7 billion. The deal is aimed at giving the two companies a better shot at competing against longtime industry powerhouse Microsoft. Microsoft Teams is a direct competitor to Slack and it is a software giant that competes with Salesforce.

Editor: Gerard S. Ramos

• Saturday, January 9, 2021 A11

Starting 2021 right

SEEYOUDOC is an integrated health-care platform that can provide a holistic experience for patients, doctors, clinics, hospitals, and the medical society via a secure and trusted system.

ASKED my Facebook friends how they’d describe 2020 in one word, and the answers I got were: challenging, exhausting, surreal, stifling and hellacious. But my two favorites have to be “dumbsterfire” (the PH version of dumpsterfire) and “omnishambles,” which you only have to Google its short history to appreciate why. For the past 10 months, many of us have been in survival mode, and being in lockdown has made us feel even more lost. A lot of us also felt helpless as the pandemic cancelled all our plans and deprived us of our goals, leaving us unmotivated. Still, if we learned something out of this clusterf*ck of a year, it’s to accept the fact that there are so many things that are out of our control—and that sometimes we just have to accept and adapt. As they say, the new year gives us a chance for a fresh start. Even if the news of another Covid-19 strain may not bring a lot of optimism, it doesn’t mean 2021 should be written off as a lost cause. There might be less partying and less sparkle, but now that we’ve learned how to survive, its time to use that focus and get ready to thrive. Instead of making resolutions, make change! And here are some tips to help you set some realistic goals and start 2021 with some positivity. 1. LOOK BACK AND DO A YEAR-END REVIEW: Think of the small victories you’ve had and list all the accomplishments you’ve made last year, asking yourself questions like: What did I achieve? How did I improve my life? How did I improve my relationships? What are the things I let go that made me happier? What do I wish I had more time for? I do this every year and wrote it on a notebook, but you can also download an app, called Journal, to keep track of how you answered these questions. Your answers year over year will be very enlightening. 2. CLEAN UP YOUR ACT (AND E-MAIL): Finish all your remaining tasks within the first week of the year at most and delete old useless emails. Seeing 99+ unread e-mails during the first days of the year will make you feel overwhelmed. Choose which tasks, projects or to-do items you have left over from the previous year that you can complete in two hours or less. Do them to clear your mind of your backlogs. If you can, try and delete all those useless emails from the previous years. Keeping projects around like some pet will just add to your stress. Cross those things off your list and give yourself a fresh start. 3. PUT YOURSELF ON TOP OF YOUR LIST: Prioritizing yourself isn’t being selfish. Remember, just as you can’t love others unless you learn to love yourself first, taking care of yourself and striving to reach your own goals will make you a better partner, friend, or parent. 4. BE REALISTIC: EVERYTHING STARTS OUT WITH A DREAM, BUT IF YOU WANT TO ACCOMPLISH SOME IMPROVEMENTS IN YOUR LIFE, YOU NEED TO BE REALISTIC. Instead of obsessing over your dream, start breaking it down into milestones and write them down as goals. Decide why these goals are important to you and how accomplishing them will change your life. List all your goals in the present tense rather than in the future, as being “here” and “now” validate your intentions

and make them achievable. And do watch Pixar’s new movie Soul. 5. FOCUS ON WHAT YOU REALLY WANT: We often think of money is our end goal, especially during those times when we are desperate thinking that money could solve all our problems. Instead, challenge that idea. What would you do if you had lots of money? Would you travel, do volunteer work, pursue new hobbies? What’s preventing you from doing those things now? Sometimes all you need to do is rearrange your priorities in order to have the lifestyle you really want. 6. FIND SUPPORT: It may be a close friend, a partner or a mentor that not only inspires but also helps you focus on reaching your goals. These people can motivate you when things are not going your way. 7. PRACTICE SELF-COMPASSION: Believe in yourself and acknowledge your accomplishments and be motivated by your successes—even if they’re small. Remember, it’s not quantity but quality that truly counts. The pandemic might have locked us in, but it also gave us time to be more introspective and discover our unique gifts, strengths, or spend time on our interests. We had more time to do what we loved whether its baking, cooking, creating artwork, coding, or creating content, and 2021 is the time to turn these into opportunities.

TIME TO SEEYOUDOC

ANOTHER important thing to do at the start of the year is to get a medical checkup. But because of the pandemic, going to a hospital and clinic has become too risky that many of us probably have missed our annual physical exam or doctor’s appointment for regular checkups. A new integrated health-care platform, called SeeYouDoc, seeks to provide a holistic experience for patients, doctors, clinics, hospitals, and the medical society via a secure and trusted system. SeeYouDoc uses video call and chat through the Internet while giving patients e-prescriptions that are accepted at any pharmacy. The platform, together with partners at Pivotal Peak Digital Health Solutions Inc., also gives doctors access to medical records while allowing them to give knowledgeable diagnoses based on lab requests. Payments for use of SeeYouDoc can be processed

through credit cards and e-wallet platforms, says Noel del Castillo, SeeYouDoc CEO and CTO, and compliance with the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) means that SeeYouDoc meets the highest standards of protecting the privacy and security of patients. SeeYouDoc is a versatile platform with benefits for several segments within the medical field. Aside from patients and doctors, medical societies, hospitals and clinics are given their own management systems to be able to manage members, clinics and multiple doctors through dashboard analytics while receiving realtime notifications, says SeeYouDoc CMMO Dr. AJ. From its 2018 launch that saw an initial 20 doctors and 44 facilities being accessed by 134 users, SeeYouDoc has seen immense growth to date. In May 2020, SeeYouDoc became the telemedicine partner of the Department of Health to battle Covid-19, and a month later, it was accepted at the Asian Institute of Management-Dado Banatao Incubator. SeeYouDoc recently partnered with the telemedicine program for medical students at the St. Luke’s Medical Center College of Medicine as well as with PLDT Enterprise through the group’s ICT arm ePLDT Inc. for its eHealth program. Currently, there are over 12,000 SeeYouDoc users with over 700 doctors and over 420 facilities with an average of over 50 consultations a day, which is a number foreseen to grow in the coming years. SeeYouDoc currently has prominent partners including Art International Media Llc. from Georgia, USA; Unified Society of Thomasians from Texas, USA (UST Texas); Tau Mu Sigma Phi, Hospital on Wheels, ePLDT, AIM-Dado Banatao Incubator, the Department of Health, University of the PhilippinesManila, UP Manila Technology Transfer and Business Development Office, and the Department of Science and Technology-Philippine Council for Health Research and Development Executive. The SeeYouDoc app is available for download on the App Store or Google Play.

TECH THOUGHTS: “[2020 was] like looking both

ways before crossing the street and then getting hit by a submarine because it’s been the craziest year ever.”

—CLARKE SMITH, 9, BEVERLY HILLS, MICHIGAN.

A12 Saturday, January 9, 2021

SENIOR International Olympic Committee member Richard Pound says he’s not sure if Tokyo Olympics will happen. AP

OKYO—A senior member of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) has said he “can’t be certain” the postponed Tokyo Olympics will open in just over six months because of the surging pandemic in Japan and elsewhere. The comments by Canadian IOC member

HE next six months would be crucial for Filipino athletes with chances of qualifying to the Tokyo Olympics, the country’s chef de mission to the rescheduled Games Mariano

BusinessMirror

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

CRUNCH TIME IN TOKYO Richard Pound to British broadcaster the BBC came as Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga declared a state of emergency on Thursday for Tokyo and surrounding prefectures. “I can’t be certain because the ongoing elephant in the room would be the surges in the virus,“ Pound said speaking about the future of

the Tokyo Games. Japan’s emergency order, which is largely voluntary, will be in force until the first week of February. Tokyo reported a record of 2,447 new cases on Thursday, a 50-percent increase from the previous day—which was also a record day. Japan has attributed over 3,500 deaths to Covid-19, relatively low for a country of 126 million. It’s crunch time for Tokyo. Organizers say the Olympics will take place, but they are not expected to reveal concrete plans until spring. That’s about the same time the torch relay begins on March 25 with 10,000 runners crisscrossing the country for four months

PHL ATHLETES CRAM FOR OLYMPIC QUALIFIERS By Josef Ramos

Sports

“Nonong” Araneta told BusinessMirror on Friday. Araneta said that besides boxing, taekwondo and karatedo, athletes in rowing, canoe-kayak, triathlon and archery still have chances of making the Olympics. “Before the pandemic, we expected as

many as 17 or 18 athletes will qualify for Tokyo. But because of the pandemic in 2020, it’s hard to determine how many more can qualify,” Araneta said. World champion gymnast Carlos Yulo, boxers Eumir Felix Marcial and Irish Magno

leading to the opening ceremony on July 23. Pound also hinted athletes should be a high priority for a vaccine because they serve as “role models.” Pound’s comments seem to contradict IOC President Thomas Bach. Bach said in a visit to Tokyo in November that athletes should be encouraged to get a vaccine, but would not be required to. He also indicated they should not be a priority. Bach said that nurses, doctors and health-care workers should be first in line for a vaccine, ahead of healthy, young athletes. “Athletes are important role models, and by taking the vaccine they can send a powerful message that vaccination is not only about personal health, but also about solidarity and

consideration for the well-being of others in their communities,” Pound said. Reports suggest that the vaccine rollout in Japan is likely to be slowed by the need for local clinical trials. Some vaccines might not be readily available until May, although Suga said some would be ready in February. The Japanese public is becoming skeptical. A poll of 1,200 people last month by national broadcaster NHK showed 63 percent favored another postponement or cancellation. The IOC has said the Olympics, first delayed by the coronavirus pandemic in 2020, will not be postponed again and would be canceled this time. The budget for the Tokyo Olympics is also soaring. The new official budget is $15.4 billion,

and pole vaulter EJ Obiena are the country’s qualifiers for the Games so far. Judo association president Dave Carter said Kiyomi Watanabe already made the grade but his qualification needed confirmation from the sports international federation. Rio 2016 silver medalist Hidilyn Diaz also needs to show up at the Asian weightlifting championships in Tashkent in April to complete the required six qualifying

tournaments for her to get her ticket to Tokyo. Also on stand by for Team Philippines are golfers Yuka Saso and Bianca Pagdanganan—although the international golf federation has yet to finalize its cut off date for the Games. Qualifiers in practically all sports on the Tokyo program are set from March to June while the Olympics are set July 23 to August 8. The Philippine Sports Commission will open the training bubble for contact sports at the Inspire Sports Academy in Calamba on January 15. Rowing association president Patrick Gregorio said three rowers—Melcah Jen Caballero, Joanie Delgaco and Cris Nievarez—are hoping to make the Olympics via the Fisa Asia and Oceania Olympic Qualifying Tournament in Chungju, South Korea, from April 27 to 29. Triathlon’s Tom Carrasco also said Kim

which is $2.8 billion above the previous budget. The new costs are from the delay. Several audits by the Japanese government have said the costs are closer to at least $25 billion. The University of Oxford in a study published four months ago said these are the most expensive Summer Olympics on record. This was before the cost of the delay was added. All but $6.7 billion of Olympic funding is public money. AP

CHEF de mission Mariano “Nonong” Araneta is hoping for more Olympic qualifiers.

Mangrobang returned to training in Desmor Rio Major in Portugal as she focuses on European and African Olympic qualifiers starting in March.

Pasaol, Santillan join PBA draft

lvin Pasaol and Leonard Santillan made themselves available for the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) Annual Draft after submitting their application forms on Friday. Pasaol is a 6-foot-4 forward from the University of the East who scored 49 points in the University Athletic Association of the Philippines in 2017. He suited up for PetronLetran and Marinerong Pilipino in the PBA D-League before joining the 3x3 circuit where he is ranked No.2 in the country. Santillan, meanwhile, is a hardworking forward from the University of Visayas and De La Salle. He also played for Marinerong Pilipino in the PBA D-League and ranked sixth

in the country in the 3x3 circuit. Also joining the March 14 draft are Frank Johnson, Tyrus Hill and Troy Rike. Johnson is a shifty 6-foot-2 slasher played for AMA, Marinerong Pilipino and Gamboa Coffee Mix in the PBA D-League, while Hill is a 6-foot 5 forward who played for Adamson University and La Salle. Rike is 6-foot- 8 former Gilas cadet from Wake Forrest who had a short stint with National University before joining the 3x3 circuit. So far, 27 aspirants applied for this year’s talent-rich draft. The PBA set a January 27 deadline for the submission of application and requirements for both Filipino-foreign and local players.

Phoenix targets nothing less than first championship stint

OR Head Coach Topex Robinson, Phoenix Super LPG won’t settle for anything less that the team’s first championship appearance in the Philippine Basketball Association’s (PBA) 45th season tentatively set to start in April. Robinson made a mark in his first season as full time head coach of the Fuel Masters. He worked hard to get Calvin

CALVIN ABUEVA leads the Sportsmanship Award race.

Abueva out of an indefinite suspension and steered his team to a semifinals stint in the Philippine Cup late last year at the Clark bubble. “We now have the experience to go that far [championship]-—although all the teams want to go there—so the challenge is what are we going to do to get better and commit ourselves to our goal,” Robinson told BusinessMirror on Friday. The Fuel Masters were a win away from their first finals appearance last season but lost to TNT Tropang Giga in their semifinals duel that went the full route of five games. Robinson said he expects wards but to bounce back huge next season. The former San Sebastian Stag also praised Abueva who leads the race for the Sportsmanship Award and big man Justin Chua for the Most Improved Player derby in the Philippine Cup. Abueva was a good boy from all angles at the Clark bubble, a far cry from his trademark roughness on and off the court that was underscored by an indefinite suspension. Abueva was also on top of his game in Clark with averages of 19.4 points and 12.4 rebounds. Chua, on the other hand, registered norms of 13.1 points, 6.8 rebounds and 1.7 blocks. “He [Abueva] took it seriously and he was really committed to win the Sportsmanship Award after being challenged by Comm [Willie Marcial], so hopefully he gets it,” said Robinson, who is also hoping the 6-foot-7 Chua would sign a contract extension by next week. He added they would keep the team’s core next season with an eye on keeping his off-thebench guards Alex Mallari and Brian Heruela. Josef Ramos