BusinessMirror January 30, 2021

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A broader look at today’s business n

Saturday, January 30, 2021 Vol. 16 No. 111

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Energy sector braces for summer season peak demand in electricity as PHL economy restarts

By Lenie Lectura

vice to its seven million customers.

S

Meralco’s ILP

UMMER is fast approaching, and with it comes a surge in electricity consumption due to rising temperatures.

JOE ZALDARRIAGA, Meralco vice president for corporate communications, said the utility firm will activate its ILP and encourage consumers to practice energy efficiency to manage the demand side.

Under the ILP, Meralco will ask big-load customers to serve their own power needs by using their own generator sets in the event that all available mechanisms implemented to ensure supply are not enough to cover the demand for electricity.

“In the past, when needed, Meralco had asked our partner establishments to turn on their power generators whenever a shortage in supply is experienced, instead of drawing power directly from the grid,” he said.

According to the Manila Electric Company (Meralco), a typical household’s electricity consumption goes up by around 30 percent from January to June.

Based on Department of Energy (DOE) data, Luzon could register a peak demand of 11,841 megawatts (MW), up 6.6 percent from the 11,103 MW recorded on March 9, 2020, and 4.3 percent higher from 11,344 MW in June 2019.

“For Luzon, [peak demand] would still be around summer months,” said DOE Assistant Secretary Redentor Delola in a text message. Power peak periods in Luzon are expected within the months of March, April and May, with the rising summer temperature prompting a spike in demand.

Meanwhile, daily demand in the Visayas and Mindanao could peak at 2,394 MW and 2,098 MW, respectively. The figures are higher by 8.8 percent and 6.1 percent, respectively, in 2020 and also up from 2,224 MW and 2,013 MW, respectively, in 2019.

Delola added that the Visayas and Mindanao peak demand could follow the 2019 data recorded in May or it may go back to before, which was toward last quarter of the year.

System operator National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP) hopes that peak demand in all three regional grids don’t occur on the same months of the year so as not to strain the transmission facilities. Otherwise, the country’s transmission system could be put under greater stress.

Stricter ERC rules

THE Bangui Wind Farm in Bangui, Ilocos Norte. Connected to the Luzon Grid, the wind turbines stretch along a nine-kilometer shoreline facing the West Philippine Sea. MICHAEL EDWARDS | DREAMSTIME.COM

Recovery from the pandemic

DOE Secretary Alfonso Cusi said electricity demand is recovering as government eases lockdown restrictions.

“We are seeing increasing demand for electricity as we put the economy back to life. People will be partying and going out a lot to make up for the lost time. Establishments will restart and their electricity consumption will go back to normal levels,” the energy chief said in a text message.

This year’s numbers would also depend on the country’s economic growth. Historically, when the Philippines experienced an expanding economy, or a positive GDP growth rate, that expansion was directly proportional to electricity consumption.

“We see an increase in the demand due to the upcoming summer months and the relaxation of the quarantine rules. This is also due to the government’s bullish perspective on the country’s path to economic recovery,” commented DOE Undersecretary Felix William Fuentebella in an interview.

Bracing for the power crunch

This summer, a number of power plants are also scheduled to go offline.

The DOE expects around 2,500 MW of capacity will not be

“We are seeing increasing demand for electricity as we put the economy back to life. People will be partying and going out a lot to make up for the lost time.

Establishments will restart and their electricity consumption will go back to normal levels.”

–ENERGY SECRETARY ALFONSO CUSI

available for Luzon from February up to June this year.

Five power facilities that supply electricity to the country’s largest distribution firm are expected go on scheduled shutdowns in the summer.

Sual coal plant Unit 2 (647MW) would not be operational until May 8. Ilijan gas plant Unit 1 (600MW) will be out from March 27 to April 1 and on May 8 to June 15. Unit 1 (135MW) of South Luzon Thermal Energy Corp. (SLTEC) is on scheduled outage from February 19 to March 20. The 455-MW supercritical coal plant of San Buenaventura Power Ltd. (SBPL) will not run for five days until April 8. Module 10 of the Santa Rita gas plant will not deliver power from February 18 to March 25.

With the expected stoppages, some 1,800 MW will not be available for Meralco alone.

PESO EXCHANGE RATES n US 48.1210

Several other power facilities which do not have contracts with Meralco are also scheduled to shut down: Pagbilao 1 (367.5MW), from May 1 to 31; Calaca 2, up to July 1; and some hydro plants such as Kalayaan (180MW), Angat (100MW), Ambuklao (35MW), Magat (360MW) and San Roque (145MW).

Using the forecasted demand and average supply of around 15,000MW, which is inclusive of 2,500 MW outage, market prices for the summer months may range from P2.28 per kilowatt hour (kWh) to P3.69/kWh, according to the Independent Electricity Market Operator of the Philippines (Iemop), which runs the Wholesale Electricity Spot Market (WESM).

Contingency measures

THE DOE once again assured the

public that power supply in Luzon is adequate despite the scheduled preventive maintenance shutdown of some power plants.

“We have to be ready and make sure that our power plants are operational and reliable to answer for the demand,” said Cusi.

Delola, meanwhile, said that supply is sufficient for as long as there won’t be any huge levels of forced outages.

Should major power plants unexpectedly shut down, the DOE said contingency measures are expected to kick in.

“We always advocate for our consumers to shift to more energy-efficient ways of doing things.

We also have our ILP (Interruptible Load Program); Malaya plant can also help us and there is supply coming from the Visayas which can also help. We also expect additional capacities to come online,” added Delola.

State-run Power Sector Assets and Liabilities Corp. (PSALM), which owns the Malaya plant, will build up the required fuel inventory and, as part of preventive maintenance, heat run tests will be conducted on the thermal plant.

Delola said the additional capacities will come from new solar,

coal and diesel power projects.

“We have around 180MW of solar capacity for Luzon, GN Power Dinginin plant at 668MW and Ingrid diesel plant at 150MW coming in during the second quarter,” he said.

In case there are forced outages by the power generators and the Luzon grid is affected, Meralco has put in place contingency measures to ensure continued, reliable ser-

TO promote accountability among power plant operators and the transmission grid operator, the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) has issued stringent rules on planned electricity outages.

For instance, power plants that run on pulverized coal are allowed to have 27.9 days of planned outage and 16.8 days of unplanned outage, while circulating fluidized bed coal plants should not be out of service for 15.4 days (planned outage) and 16.9 days (unplanned shutdown).

Those that run on gas should not be out of service for more than 29.2 days, including 6.5 days of planned outage and 22.7 days of unplanned outage.

Diesel plants’ planned outages are allowed for up to five days and unplanned outage for 22 days. Geothermal power plants should not be out of service for more than 19.7 days, including six days of planned outage and 13.7 days of unplanned outage.

“By setting and giving specific parameters on the standard planned and unplanned outages, the generation companies are obligated to ensure that the generating plants are properly maintained and, thus, lessen the unplanned outages,” ERC Chair Agnes VST Devanadera said.

Power firms welcomed this.

They are prepared to work with the rest of the energy sector, to monitor the power supply situation, especially during summer, and to make the necessary preparations.

They maintained, however, that sudden shutdowns of their power facilities are out of their control especially when these are caused by natural calamities.

“As they say, the most expensive electricity is having no electricity at all. We should not point fingers. What everyone should do is prepare,” the energy chief emphasized.

REVVING UP Toyota Motors Philippines Chairman Alfred Ty (left) and TMP President Atsuhiro Okamoto chat before the start of a mini-press conference on Friday at the Grand Hyatt-BGC. Ty said that, while the pandemic pummeled the automobile sector, they’re hopeful that recovery is on track, with sales starting to pick up. Story on page A3. NONIE REYES

n JAPAN 0.4618 n UK 66.0316 n HK 6.2072 n CHINA 7.4606 n SINGAPORE 36.2111 n AUSTRALIA 36.9521 n EU 58.3467 n SAUDI ARABIA 12.8306

Source: BSP (January 29, 2021)

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A2 Saturday, January 30, 2021

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Explainer: Why India’s farmers are revolting against PM Modi

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By Sheikh Saaliq | The Associated Press

EW DELHI—A sea of tens of thousands of farmers riding tractors and horses stormed India’s historic Red Fort this week — a dramatic escalation of their protests, which are posing a major challenge to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government.

The AP explains what is at the heart of two months of demonstrations and what it means for Modi’s government.

Who is protesting?

MOST of the protesters are farmers from northern Punjab and Haryana states, the two biggest agricultural producers. They are demanding the repeal of laws passed

by Parliament in September that they say will favor large corporate farms, devastate the earnings of many farmers and leave those who hold small plots behind as big corporations win out. Modi has billed

the laws as necessary to modernize Indian farming.

Because of the demographics of Punjab and Haryana, many of the protesters in New Delhi happen to be from India’s minority Sikh religion, though their grievances are rooted in economic issues, not religious ones. Protests are also happening in other parts of the country among Indians of other backgrounds.

In recent weeks, people who are not farmers have also joined in, and the protests gained momentum in November when the farmers tried to march into New Delhi

IN this December 3, 2020, file photo, farmers raise slogans during a protest against new farm laws on a highway at the Delhi-Haryana state border, India. The protests against the Modi government are the biggest since he first came to power in 2014. They come at a time when the country’s economy has tanked, social strife has widened, protests have erupted against laws some deem discriminatory and the government has been questioned over its response to the coronavirus pandemic. AP

but were stopped by police. Since then, they have promised to hunker down at the edge of the city until the laws are repealed.

What are their concerns?

AT the heart of these protests are Indian farmers’ fears that the government’s moves to introduce market reforms to the farming sector will leave them poorer—at a time when they are already frustrated over their declining clout as the government aims to turn India into a hub for global corporations.

The new legislation is not clear on whether the government will continue to guarantee prices for certain essential crops—a system that was introduced in the 1960s to help India shore up its food reserves and prevent shortages.

While the government has said it is willing to pledge the guaranteed prices will continue, the farmers are skeptical and want new legislation that says such prices are their legal right.

Farmers also fear that the legislation signals the government is moving away from a system in which an overwhelming majority of farmers sell only to government-sanctioned marketplaces. They worry this will leave them at the mercy of corporations that will have no legal obligation to pay them the guaranteed price anymore.

The government argues that this is designed to give farmers more choice in who to sell their produce to.

Clauses in the legislation also prevent farmers from taking contract disputes to courts, leaving them with no independent means of redress apart from governmentappointed bureaucrats.

These perceived threats to their income terrify India’s farmers, who are mostly smallholders: A staggering 68 percent of them

‘L

eaving farmers to the mercy of the markets would be like a death sentence to them. We are talking about people who feed us.’

—Devinder Sharma, an agriculture expert who has spent the last two decades campaigning for income equality for Indian farmers.

own less than 1 hectare of land. In some states, farming families earn just 20,000 rupees ($271) on average annually.

Why are these protests significant?

FARMERS form the most influential voting bloc in India—and are often romanticized as the heart and soul of the nation.

Politicians have long considered it unwise to alienate them, and farmers are also particularly important to Modi’s base. Northern Haryana and few other states with substantial farmer populations are ruled by his party.

Since the legislation was passed, Modi’s government has lost two political alliance partners and some of his own leaders are cautioning him to tread carefully.

The protests against the Modi government are the biggest since he first came to power in 2014.

They come at a time when the country’s economy has tanked, social strife has widened, protests have erupted against laws some deem discriminatory and the government has been questioned over its response to the coronavirus pandemic.

What is the government saying?

THE Modi government says the legislation will benefit farmers by boosting production through private investment.

The government has offered to amend the laws and suspend their implementation for 18 months— but that has not satisfied farmers who want a full repeal.

Modi’s government also initially tried to discredit the Sikh farmers by dismissing their concerns as motivated by religious nationalism. Some leaders in Modi’s party called them “Khalistanis,” a reference to a movement for an independent Sikh homeland called

“Khalistan” in the late 1980s and early 1990s.

Under Modi, India has seen a rising tide of Hindu nationalism that has rankled minority groups, mostly Muslims. Some leaders from Modi’s party and India’s freewheeling TV channels, which have long favored government’s Hindu nationalistic policies, have called the farmers “anti-national,” a label often given to those who criticize Modi or his policies.

But such allegations appear to have backfired, further angering the farmers, many of whose family members serve in the Indian army, police and civil service. Since then, common citizens also joined them, and the protests have gathered strength.

What does it mean for Modi?

WHILE this is a major challenge to his government, Modi’s popularity is still soaring and his approval ratings remain high because of his Hindu-nationalist policies.

Many agriculture experts agree that the Indian farming sector needs reforms, but they question the way the Modi government introduced the laws and the corporate involvement in agriculture.

“Leaving farmers to the mercy of the markets would be like a death sentence to them,” said Devinder Sharma, an agriculture expert who has spent the last two decades campaigning for income equality for Indian farmers. “We are talking about people who feed us.”

Critics also highlight what they see as the Modi government’s tendency to push through reforms without building consensus. When the laws were passed in Parliament, Modi’s party refused to extend the debate over it despite repeated requests from the opposition. It also denied referring the laws to a special committee, where members could further discuss them.

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Travel ban lifted; RT-PCR testing will be done at quarantine hotels

By Ma. Stella F. Arnaldo

Special to the BusinessMirror

T

HE Inter-Agency Task Force on the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF-MEID) is lifting the travel ban on passengers arriving from countries with reported cases of the new Covid-19 variant on February 1.

While arriving passengers will no longer be tested upon arrival at the airport, the guests will have to quarantine for seven days at government-accredited hotels for such purpose.

The Department of Tourism (DOT) said quarantined guests will be tested at their hotels on the sixth day of their quarantine.

DOT Spokesman and Undersecretary Benito C. Bengzon Jr. told the BusinessMirror, “Hotels should have links with testing centers. The guest will not be allowed to leave the hotel.”

DOT-National Capital Region explained, “An assigned lab will go to the hotel for the test,” but did not say if these were contracted through the hotel from private medical facilities or were

government testers.

They added, “The [test] result is guaranteed to be released within 24 hours,” but added if the testing is done by the Philippine Red Cross, the result may be released within 24 to 48 hours.

Regarding the monitoring of the quarantine and testing, DOTNCR stressed, “The hotel is well aware of the protocols. They even submit the names of their guests who are due for the swabbing.”

New entry rules

In its Resolution No. 97 dated January 28, 2021, foreign nationals with valid and existing visas at the time of entry, are now re-allowed to enter under relevant IATF-MEID resolutions.

Homecoming Filipinos covered

by Republic Act 6768 (The Balikbayan Program) may also enter the Philippines; those holding foreign passports may enter visa-free, and bring their foreign spouses and children along.

Arriving passengers have to pre-book their accommodation for at least seven nights in a government-accredited quarantine hotel/facility, and have themselves

tested on the sixth day from the date of arrival.

A sou rce in t he I AT F Tec hnica l Work ing Group clar if ied, “ T he si x t h d ate f rom t he d ate of a r r iva l, is tec hnica l ly t he f i f t h d ay, cou nt i ng t he d ay a f ter a r r iva l as Day 1.”

Asked to explain the rationale for the sixth-day testing, he said, “The health experts recommended that protocol. But I think it is consistent with what other countries are doing, which is also testing a few days after arrival. My personal opinion is that getting it on the sixth day will allow the virus to manifest itself better for testing if they’re carrying it.”

Earlier, the travel ban on countries with reported cases of the new variant required arriving passengers to test upon arrival at the airport, then quarantine for 14 days at quarantine hotels or designated government facilities.

DOT eager to welcome ‘balikbayans‘

Meanwhile, in a news statement, Tourism Secretary Bernadette Romulo Puyat said, “We are happy that the borders are open

again to our balikbayans, who can re-plan their visits, as more local destinations have reopened.”

The same IATF resolution directs the DOT to look into the rates of the quarantine hotels.

“Ever since the beginning, the list of participating DOT-accredited accommodation establishments reflects the indicative rates so that the passenger can manage his budget, now even so, to consider a minimum seven or maximum 14-day quarantine period, we ask hotels to give good rates to help lessen the burden,” she said.

The DOT continues to monitor str ict implementation of the minimum health and safety guidelines in accredited tourism enterprises, particularly hotels that have been repurposed as quarantine facilities, or have reopened for staycation purposes.

“Furthermore, we will pursue the development of more health and safety guidelines for other tourism-related activities and assist local governments to safely reopen destinations to restore businesses, jobs and l ivel i hood for communit ies,” said the DOT chief.

Senators weigh in on ‘dismal’ GDP output, ask Palace to focus on food, step up spending

By Butch Fernandez

S

e n ators we i g h e d i n Fr i d a y o n t h e countr y ’s record low gross domestic produc t (GDP) per formance, offering options the Duterte administration can consider for quick economic recovery.

Senate President Pro Tempore Ralph Recto noted that despite the 9.5 percent contraction, government still turned in good spending numbers, “except in infrastructure, which it should have pumped more,” prompting him to wonder: “Where is the much-vaunted P1 trillion for the building spree? Recto also wants to know “why only P680 billion in 2020, which is 35 percent lower than last year?”

The senator suggested Friday other options the Duterte administration can consider to bounce back, reminding that the government turned in good spending numbers, “except in the sector which it should have pumped more—infrastructure.”

“Where is the much-vaunted P1 trillion for the building spree? Bakit P680 billion lang in 2020, which is 35 percent lower than last year?,” Recto asked.

In a news statement, Recto recommended available options the Duterte government can consider. “First, focus on food. If the GDP report card is bad, the GNP—the number of “Gutom na Pilipino”—is worse.

There should be a review of the farm-to-table chain. Every step, and not just focus on the narrative na “kasalanan ng middleman.”

“Many of the problems are upstream— production for one, and not just on overpricing.

When traders are paraded as the usual suspects, we may not be able to find the real solution. The green shoots of economic recovery must be seen in our farms,” he said.

Noting that Filipino families on the average spend 43 percent of their income on food, Recto reminded that the bottom 30 percent, or about 7.42 million families, allot almost 60 percent of their income on food. “If the daily minimum wage won’t be enough to buy a pot of chicken tinola, then hunger becomes Covid’s deadliest side effect,” he added.

Moreover, the senator suggested that the Duterte administration officials concerned can “take advantage of the good weather window until

mid-June to boost construction and agriculture.”

He added that domestic tourism, too, provided protocols that are in place for people who would like to “take a leave from Netflix ” to safely enjoy the outdoors, suggesting that government should “turn the entire countr y into a beehive of construction this summer—a physically distant, protocol compliant outdoor activity that can employ many. The senator suggested this can begin with health facilities.

Recto reminded: “Build while the sun is up, before the rains come, and the typhoons do damage. Step on the gas on vaccine procurement.

Yan ang Artikulo Uno sa mga dapat gawin ng pamahalaan .

Joblessness is a result of jab-lessness.

Vaccination injects the people with immunity and it injects the economy with vitality. Drop in consumption led to income loss of about P1.05 trillion last year, 15 percent of which, or P150 billion, is our projected vaccination bill.”

For her part, Senator Grace Poe prodded President Duterte’s economic managers to first “find money for the people before telling them to spend.”

Poe, in a separate statement, asked administration

officials to address the unemployment problem if it intends to gear the economy towards a recovery instead of luring kids to go out of their homes.

“They have been telling people to go out and spend to prop up the economy. But before they can spend, they need to have the money to do so,” Poe pointed out, adding that “allowing kids to go out does not address that problem.”

The senator reminded that the Philippine economy plunged to its lowest last year since 1946 when government first started coming out with the data, contracting by 9.5 percent. On the production side, she added, agriculture, industry, and services all suffered declines, while on the expenditure side, only government spending grew as consumer spending, investments, exports and imports fell.

Poe pointed out that economists and businessmen have been calling for “a stronger fiscal stimulus” since last year to prevent the closure of companies and prevent the loss of jobs, adding that “if we are to heal as one, we need to listen to all stakeholders.”

“Wage subsidies would have put money in people’s pockets so they can spend,” Poe said.

Customs seizes 116 bottles of liquid cannabis at CMEC

By Recto Mercene

A

irport Cu s to m s d i s t r i c t ex a m i n e r s intercepted 20 packages containing 116 bottles of hemp extract, or liquid cannabis, that arrived recently at the Central Mail Exchange Center (CMEC) in Pasay City.

The “hot” items were declared as “dietary supplements” consigned to different recipients

in the country.

Airport Customs Collector Mimel Talusan said the use of marijuana, cannabis’ common name, is still prohibited under Philippine laws.

The fraudulent attempt to smuggle the items was stopped due to strict profiling of arriving parcels at the CMEC. “I have instructed our Customs examiner to conduct of 100 percent scrutiny of suspected parcels

Palace rejects Magalong’s offer to resign as contact tracing czar

By Samuel P. Medenilla & Claudeth Mocon-Ciriaco

P

resident Duterte rejected the resignation of Baguio City Mayor Benjamin Magalong from his post as contact tracing czar.

In a news statement on Friday, Presidential spokesman Harr y Roque said Duter te wants Magalong to continue his duties in spearheading the government’s contact tracing efforts for people who are suspected to be infected with the novel coronavirus disease (Covid-19).

“Mayor Magalong’s resignation, however, has not been accepted. He continues to enjoy the trust and confidence of the leadership of the National Task Force [NTF] Against Covid-19,” Roque said.

Magalong drew public criticisms for his participation in a party held in Baguio City last week, amid prevailing restriction for mass gatherings nationwide due to the pandemic.

The local chief executive later ordered an investigation of the event where there were

reported violations in minimum health standards, including not wearing of face masks.

The Department of Health (DOH) tagged Baguio City together with Davao de Oro among the areas, which reached critical level in terms of health-care utilization.

The DOH said Magalong should stay in his post as contact tracing czar as the agency noted his contribution to the government’s Covid-19 response.

“We know that the President has that trust [to Magalong]...the DOH also trusts Mayor Magalong,” Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire said in an online media briefing when asked of the DOH’s reaction after Magalong tendered his resignation.

The DOH noted that Magalong played a big role in their contact tracing efforts, especially after the new UK variant was detected in Bontoc, Mt. Province.

“He has helped in the contact tracing of the country a lot and actually, we coordinate with him if we really need him, he can really assist us,” Vergeire said.

in coordination with Philippine Drug Enforcement Unit Agency [PDEA]. They confirmed that the contents of the packages are liquid cannabis,” Talusan said.

The PDEA, on the other hand, stressed that the importation of marijuana in any variety and form, including its derivatives, is prohibited under RA 9165 also known as “The Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act.”

Talusan said that all seized cannabis were turned over to the PDEA for case build up against the persons responsible for the botched attempt to smuggle the prohibited items into the country.

She added the surveillance of suspected prohibited, restricted or unsafe and dangerous goods in the airport district remains strict in accordance with the directive of Customs Commissioner Rey Leonardo B. Guerrero.

Toyota Motor Phils. Chairman Alfred Ty gives a short message of hope anchoring the outlook for the car sector in 2021. NONIE REYES

2020 blindsides car sector, but Toyota’s top brass stay upbeat

By Randy Peregrino

A

T a mini-press conference on Friday at the Grand Hyatt-BGC, Toyota Motor Phils.

Chairman Alfred Ty said that, while the pandemic pummeled the automobile sector, they’re hopeful that recovery is on track, as sales are starting to pick up.

An indicator of such optimism, according to Senior Vice President Jing Atienza, Toyota’s Batangas vehicle logistics hub is on track to be opened by the end of 2021. The facility sitting on a 32-hectare site is now on the third phase, costing P4.7 billion. The project’s first phase cost them P420 million.

Ty sees 2021 bringing a lot of hope and optimism, but conceded that it is not going to be all smooth sailing moving forward. He also shared that while the automotive industry as a whole may have seen challenging sales at the onset of the pandemic, TMP also saw gradual growth from the lowest point in May. “We expect this increase to continue as Filipinos ease back into their daily routines and resume pursuing the life goals that had to take a backseat in 2020,” said Ty. The TMP chairman also acknowledged the “Build, Build, Build” project of the government for the continuous construction

of new roads and highways, which will enable economic recovery efforts.

Further, TMP top executives also welcomed recent pronouncements by Board of Investments (BOI) officials regarding the possibility of ex tending the Comprehensive Automotive R e s u rg e n c e S t r a t e g y (C A R S ) P ro g r a m , considering the impact of the pandemic on car manufacturing and sales.

Respectable sales data M e a n whi l e , T M P P re s i d e n t A t s u h i ro Okamoto proudly shared what the company achieved in vehicle sales. Despite the challenges, TMP was able to reach 100,019 unit sales in 2020. That also translates to an expanded share of the market at 41.3 percent.

As for the recent announcement of Safeguard duties, TMP sees this would adversely impact market recovery and limit growth as early as provisional duties are implemented.

According to Okamoto, TMP operates based on combined locally produced and imported vehicles. So, maximizing the efforts to promote sales of locally-manufactured Vios and Innova will cushion the impact of safeguard duties. “We are counting on the support of Filipinos to buy Filipino,” he added.

Telcos warned vs. delayed portability of mobile number law compliance

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e l e commu n icatio n companies were warned of looming imposition of P1 million fine against non-compliant telcos for delayed implementation of the Mobile Number Portability law (MNPL) that allows cell phone subscribers to retain their mobile numbers even they switch to another provider.

S enator Sher win Gatchalian aired the warning on Friday to allay apprehensions over attempts to fur ther delay the already forestalled implementation of the MNPL reminding that “errant telcos will face appropriate penalties.”

He reminded hesitant telcos that the enabling law, embodied in Republic Act No. 11202 (RA 11202), also known as an Act Requiring Mobile Service Providers to Provide Nationwide Mobile Number Portability to Subscribers, imposes as much as P1-million fine against erring telcos.

The senator noted that the law mandates the revocation of erring telcos franchises to operate if they “repeatedly and unjustly refuse to implement” the portability within the period allowed under the said law.

Gatchalian added that the MNPL also allows cell-phone subscribers to transfer from one service provider to another without changing their mobile numbers free of charge.

He recalled that the enabling legislation should have been carried out as early as January 2020 since RA 11202 was signed by President

Duterte last February 2019 and the subsequent Implementing Rules and Regulations (IRR) was issued in June 2019.

Recalling the cause of the delay, Gatchalian disclosed receiving a letter from the major telcos in December 2019, where Globe Telecom, Smart Communications and Dito Telecommunity explained they “need an independent third party contractor to manage mobile porting services to ensure better interoperability and might take until July this year to set up the whole mechanism.”

At Wednesday’s Senate Public Ser vices Committee hearing, the Gatchalian panel was told that telcos will start the interoperability test in June this year and will carry out the full commercial launch by September, citing the pandemic as the cause behind the revised timeline.

Gatchalian reminded, however, that “the current situation should enable our consumers to easily shift without much of a fuss to another network that offer better services especially since our daily grind is practically dependent nowadays on telcos’ services.”

The lawmaker lamented that the enabling remedial legislation was enacted even before the pandemic. “ Ngayon, inabutan na tayo ng Covid-19 at may ibang variant na ,” Gatchalian griped, reminding that the National Telecommunications Commission should “see to it that telcos strictly follow the law.” Butch Fernandez

Me! noodle maker said Nearly 99% benefit disbursements toLucky be eyeing $1-billion offering coursed through e-channels–SSS P T

he Social Security System (SSS) has expanded the use of its electronic disbursement channels to release benefits to its members.

In a news statement, SSS said that from January to November 2020, about P168.55 billion in social security and employees’ compensation benefits were disbursed using banks, e-wallets and remittance transfer companies/cash payout outlets (RTCs/CPOs). It accounts for 98.6 percent of the total disbursements worth P170.97 billion to 3.68 million members and beneficiaries during the period.

Retirement, Disability, Unemployment, Sickness and Maternity Benefits of individual members, as well as Funeral and Death Benefits of beneficiaries who are SSS members themselves, are now coursed through Unified Multi-Purpose Identification card enrolled as an ATM card (UMID-ATM), UnionBank of the Philippines (UBP) Quick

Card, Philippine Electronic Fund Transfer System and Operations Network (PESONet) participating banks, e-wallets, and RTCs/ CPOs. Non-member claimants of Funeral and Death Benefits can opt to receive the benefits through PESONet participating banks, e-wallets, and RTCs/CPOs. Pension loans and short-term member loans for Salary, Calamity, and Emergency advances are released through UMID-ATMs and UBP Quick Cards. Member loans may also be released through PESONet participating banks.

Employer’s Sickness and Maternity Benefit Reimbursements are also paid through PESONet participating banks.

SSS issued circulars last year to implement the mandator y checkless disbursements of benefits and loans. It includes pensioners who are receiving their monthly pensions through checks and non-PESONet participating banks

who are given until March 31, 2021 to change their disbursement accounts into PESONet participating banks, e-wallets, or RTCs/CPOs. From January to November 2020, the number of benefit disbursements through checks decreased by 39.7 percent to 264,208 from 437,947 in the same period in 2019.

While SSS transitions to these new disbursement methods, there are still benefit releases such as pensions paid to a confined member or claimant in an institution such as penitentiar y/ correctional/rehabilitation that uses the conventional mode.

“Our goal in this initiative is to provide our members, pensioners, beneficiaries, and covered employers with safer, faster, and more convenient means of receiving benefits and loans, as we comply with the Ease of Doing Business Act,” SSS President and CEO Aurora C. Ignacio said.

hilippine food maker Monde Nissin Corp. is exploring a potential initial public offering (IPO) in Manila that could raise as much as $1 billion, according to people with knowledge of the matter.

Monde Nissin, which makes the best-selling Lucky Me! instant noodles in the Philippines and meat alternative Quorn in the UK, has been discussing plans for a first-time share sale with potential advisers, said the people. The company is aiming for a listing as soon as this year, one of the people said.

Deliberations on the prospective deal are at an early stage and the company may decide not to proceed with a listing, the people said, asking not to be identified because the information is private. A representative for Monde Nissin declined to comment.

A listing would see the Makati-based firm joining National Grid Corp. of the Philippines, which is also seeking an IPO in the Southeast Asian nation to raise as much as $1 billion. Both deals, if they materialize, would surpass Robinsons Retail Holdings Inc.’s first-time share sale which raked in $621.1 million in 2013—the largest in the country to date, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

Monde Nissin, which also sells biscuits and baked goods, exports to more than 40 countries around the world, according to its web site. It acquired Quorn Foods Ltd. for 550 million pounds ($751 million) in 2015.

Bloomberg News

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Saturday, January 30, 2021

The World BusinessMirror

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

IMF: Vaccines will power 5.5% global economic growth in 2021 M

Navalny defiant as Russian court rejects bid for freedom

W

ASHINGTON—The spread of Covid-19 vaccines will power a stronger global economic recovery in 2021, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) forecast Tuesday.

After sinking 3.5 percent in 2020, the worst year since World War II, the global economy will grow 5.5 percent this year, the 190-country lending organization predicted. The new figure for 2021 is an upgrade from the 5.2-percent expansion the IMF forecast in October and would mark the fastest year of global growth since 2007.

The vaccines should contain the spread of the virus and allow governments around the world to ease lockdowns and encourage a return to normal economic act iv it y. T he world economy also got a boost from government stimulus programs late last year in the United States and Japan.

But the IMF also says economies

worldwide will need support from their governments to offset the damage from the pandemic and warns that coronavirus mutations could cloud the outlook for global health and economic growth.

“Much depends on the outcome of this race between a mutating virus and vaccines and the ability of policies to provide effective support until the pandemic ends,” IMF chief economist Gita Gopinath said at a news briefing on Tuesday. “There remains tremendous uncertainty.’’

In an update to its World Economic Outlook, the IMF said that it expects the US economy—t he world ’s big gest—to expand 5.1 percent this year after collapsing 3.4-percent in 2020. No. 2 China is expected to record 8.1-percent growth

after eking out a 2.3-percent increase in 2020.

The 19 European countries that share the euro currency will collectively register 4.2-percent growth this year after seeing economic output crater 7.2 percent in 2020, the IMF says. The Japanese economy is forecast to grow 3.1 percent, reversing a 5.1-percent decline in 2020.

The IMF gave India a big upgrade, thanks to a faster-thanexpected recovery at its factories and farms: The Indian economy is forecast to expand 11.5-percent in 2021, fastest among major economies, and a turnaround from 2020’s decline of 8 percent.

The agency also expects global trade to rebound this year: recording 8.1-percent growth after falling 9.6 percent last year. AP

Novavax Covid jab works, but less so against variants

N

ovavax Inc. said Thursday that its Covid-19 vaccine appears 89 percent effective based on early findings from a British study and that it also seems to work—though not as well—against new mutated versions of the virus circulating in that country and South Africa.

The announcement comes amid worry about whether a variety of vaccines being rolled out around the world will be strong enough to protect against worrisome new variants—and as the world desperately needs new types of shots to boost scarce supplies.

The study of 15,000 people in Britain is still under way. But an interim analysis found 62 participants so far have been diagnosed with Covid-19—only six of them in the group that got vaccine and the rest who received dummy shots.

The infections occurred at a time when Britain was experiencing a jump in Covid-19 caused by a more contagious variant. A preliminary analysis found over half of the trial participants who became infected had the mutated version.

The numbers are very small, but Novavax said they suggest the vaccine is nearly 96 percent effective against the older coronavirus and nearly 86 percent effective against the new variant. The findings are based on cases that occurred at least a week after the second dose.

“Both those numbers are dramatic demonstrations of the ability of our vaccine to develop a very potent immune response,” Novavax CEO Stanley Erck said in a call with investors late Thursday.

Scientists have been even more worried about a variant first discovered in South Africa that carries different mutations. Results from a smaller Novavax study in that country suggests the vaccine does work but not nearly as

In this Tuesday, May 26, 2020 photo released by Nucleus Network/ABC, clinical trial participants are monitored during Novavax Covid-19 vaccine testing in Melbourne, Australia. On January 28, Novavax said its vaccine appears 89 percent effective based on early findings from a British study and that it also seems to work—though not quite as well—against new mutated strains of the coronavirus circulating in that country and South Africa. AP

well as it does against the variant from Britain.

The South African study included some volunteers with HIV. Among the HIV-negative volunteers, the vaccine appears 60 percent effective. Including volunteers with HIV, overall the protection was 49 percent, the company said. While genetic testing still is under way, so far about 90 percent of the Covid-19 illnesses found in the South African study appear due to the new mutant.

“These are good results. There is reason to be optimistic” about the 60 percent effectiveness, said Glenda Gray, head of the South African Medical Research Council. Even against the new variant that now causes more than 90 percent of new cases in that country, “we’re still seeing vaccine efficacy,” she said.

More concerning is what the

study showed about a totally different question—the chances of people getting Covid-19 a second time, said the leader of the South African study, Shabir Madhi of the University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg. Tests suggested that nearly a third of study participants had been previously infected, yet rates of new infections in the placebo group were similar.

“Past infection with early variants of the virus in South Africa does not protect” against infection with the new one, he said. “There doesn’t seem to be any protection derived.”

Novavax said it needs some additional data before it can seek British authorization for the vaccine’s use, sometime in the next month or so. A larger study in the US and Mexico has enrolled slightly over half of the needed 30,000 volunteers. Novavax said it’s not

clear if the Food and Drug Administration will need data from that study, too, before deciding whether to allow US use.

Meanwhile, it is starting to develop a version of the vaccine that could more specifically target the mutations found in South Africa, in case health authorities eventually decide that updated dosing is needed.

Vaccines against Covid-19 train the body to recognize the new coronavirus, mostly the spike protein that coats it. But the Novavax candidate is made differently than the first shots being used. Called a recombinant protein vaccine, the Maryland company uses genetic engineering to grow harmless copies of the coronavirus spike protein in insect cells. Scientists extract and purify the protein and then mix in an immune-boosting chemical. AP

UK bans flights from Dubai, rest of UAE to stop new strain

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he U K ba n ne d d i re c t passenger f lights f rom the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to stop the spread of a new virus strain originally identified in South Africa, putting one of the world’s busiest international air routes on ice.

Starting 1 p.m. UK time, passengers who’ve been in or transited through the UAE in the previous 10 days will also no longer be allowed to enter the countr y. Visitors from Burundi and Rwanda in Africa are barred as well. Exemptions usually in

place, including for business travel, will no longer apply.

“The decision to ban travel from these destinations follows the discovery of a new coronavirus variant first identified in South Africa, that may have spread to other countries, including the UAE, Burundi and Rwanda,” the UK’s Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office and Department for Transport said in a joint statement.

Returning British and Irish nationals, as well as third-country citizens with residence rights,

will be able to enter the UK, but they will have to self-isolate at home for 10 days, along with their households.

Dubai-London Heathrow was for a time earlier this month the busiest international passenger route, according to flight-bookings specialist OAG, most likely driven by the travel corridor introduced late last year, which the UK dropped on January 12.

Emirates served London Heathrow with five daily flights, of which four used an Airbus SE A380. The world’s largest-long haul carrier

also operated 10 flights a week to Manchester, and daily flights to Birmingham and Glasgow.

British tourists in the UAE will have their visas extended free of charge, state news agency WAM said. Tourists and celebrities have visited the Persian Gulf country, posting photos of beach scenes and nightlife on social media over the past month while the UK remains locked down.

Visitors and those working in the country normally face fines for overstaying their visas.

Bloomberg News

OSCOW—A Russian court on Thursday rejected an appeal by opposition leader Alexei Navalny for his release from jail, while authorities detained several of his allies and warned social-media companies about promoting more protests after tens of thousands rallied across the country last weekend demanding his freedom.

Appearing in court by video link from jail, Navalny denounced the criminal proceedings against him as part of a government campaign to intimidate the opposition.

“You won’t succeed in scaring tens of millions of people who have been robbed by that government,” he said. “Yes, you have the power now to put me in handcuffs, but it’s not going to last forever.”

The 44-year-old Navalny, the best-known critic of President Vladimir Putin’s government, was arrested January 17 upon returning from Germany, where he spent five months recovering from nerve-agent poisoning that he blames on the Kremlin. Russian authorities have rejected the accusations.

Navalny was arrested and jailed for 30 days after Russia’s prison service alleged he had violated the probation terms of his suspended sentence from a 2014 money-laundering conviction that he has rejected as politically motivated. He also faces accusations in two separate criminal probes.

Before the Moscow Region Court rejected his appeal, defense lawyers argued that while recovering in Germany from the poisoning, Navalny could not register with authorities as required by the terms of his probation. His lawyers also said Navalny’s due process rights were repeatedly violated during his arrest.

Navalny described his jailing following an earlier hearing held at a police station as a mockery of justice.

“It was demonstrative lawlessness intended to scare me and all others,” he told the Moscow court.

N a v a l n y ’s s u p p o r t e r s a re o rg a n i z i n g another round of rallies for Sunday. Police on Wednesday searched Navalny’s apartment, a rented accommodation where his wife, Yulia, has been living and the residences of several of his associates and supporters.

Also detained were Navalny’s brother, Oleg; his top ally, Lyubov Sobol; Oleg Stepanov, head of Navalny’s Moscow office; Dr. Anastasia Vasilyeva from the Navalny-backed Alliance of Doctors; and Maria Alyokhina from the Pussy Riot punk collective. They were detained for 48 hours as part of a criminal probe into alleged violations of coronavirus regulations during Saturday’s protests.

Putin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the searches and detentions were a legitimate part of police efforts to investigate the alleged violations during the events.

“Law enforcement agencies are doing their job,” Peskov said on a conference call with reporters.

“There were numerous violations of Russian laws, and law enforcement agencies are at work.”

Demonstrations calling for Navalny’s release took place in more than 100 Russian cities Saturday, in a strong show of rising anger toward the Kremlin. Nearly 4,000 people were reportedly detained at those protests and some were given fines and jail terms.

At Thursday’s court hearing, Navalny thanked his supporters and said, “They are the last barrier preventing our country from sliding into the degradation.”

In a later post on Instagram, he urged the Russians to abandon their fear and take to the streets to pressure Putin and his entourage.

“Come out and don’t be afraid of anything,”

Navalny said. “No one wants to live in the country where lawlessness and corruption run amok. The majority is on our side, let’s wake them up.”

Moscow police said 267 people were convicted of violations during the weekend demonstrations in the capital, and 110 of them were given short jail terms. It issued a notice to the public not to join Sunday’s protests, warning that officers would act resolutely to disperse unsanctioned rallies and bring participants to justice.

Also Thursday, Russian prosecutors issued warnings to Facebook, Google, Twitter, TikTok and Russian social networks, demanding that they block calls for more protests.

“The state doesn’t want the social networks to become a platform for promoting such illegal actions,” Peskov said.

Asked if a refusal to remove such content could prompt Russian authorities to block the platforms, Peskov said it would be up to relevant government agencies to consider a response.

“All pros and cons will be weighed and, if necessary, measures envisaged by the law will be taken,” he said.

Earlier this week, Russian state communications watchdog Roskomnadzor said it would fine Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, TikTok, YouTube and two Russian social networks for their failure to block calls on minors to join Saturday’s protests.

A spokesperson for Facebook responded to the AP’s request for comment by saying that “there are times when we push back on government requests to remove content which doesn’t break our rules and is clear political speech.”

“We took this step in Russia to allow for speech on last week’s protests,” the spokesperson added in a statement to AP. Google and TikTok haven’t responded to requests for comment about the Russian authorities’ action and Twitter refused to comment to The Associated Press on Thursday.

Russia’s Investigative Committee said it opened a criminal investigation of Navalny’s top strategist, Leonid Volkov, accusing him of encouraging minors to participate in unauthorized rallies. Volkov, who currently stays abroad, rejected the charges.

“The streets must speak now. There is nothing else left,” Volkov tweeted after Navalny’s appeal for his release was rejected, repeating the call for Russians to turn out in force Sunday.

In a challenge to Putin two days after Navalny’s arrest, his organization released an extensive video report on a palatial seaside compound allegedly built for the president and equipped with fancy amenities, such as a mysterious “aqua-discotheque” that has drawn a stream of sarcastic jokes on the web. The video has been viewed over 99 million times, further stoking discontent.

“If just 2 percent of the audience will take to the streets, it will be enough to bring all visitors of the ‘aqua-discotheque’ to their senses,” Navalny said on Instagram.

Navalny fell into a coma August 20 while on a domestic flight from Siberia to Moscow. He was transferred to a Berlin hospital two days later.

Labs in Germany, France and Sweden, and tests by the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons, established that he was exposed to the Soviet-era Novichok nerve agent.

Russian authorities have refused to open a fullfledged criminal inquiry, citing a lack of evidence that he was poisoned.

Navalny’s arrest and the harsh police actions at the protests have brought wide criticism from the West and calls for his release. AP

Thailand relaxes virus curbs to reopen most parts of economy

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hailand’s Covid-19 task force approved loosening restrictions across the country to allow businesses and schools to resume operations as the biggest coronavirus wave to hit the nation eased in most regions.

A meeting of the panel, chaired by Prime Minister Prayuth ChanOcha, backed a proposal to reduce the number of provinces categorized as high-risk areas to five from 28 earlier and allow schools in nearly all districts to reopen, Center for Covid-19 Situation Administration spokesman Taweesilp

Witsanuyotin said. Most businesses, including restaurants, will be allowed to resume near normal operations, while highrisk establishments like gambling establishments will remain closed.

Restrictions will remain in place for Samut Sakhon province, where the current wave of outbreak started mid-December, with hundreds of new cases still being reported over the past four days. Although capital Bangkok and its three surrounding provinces are still considered high-risk zones, more curbs can be eased by local authorities.

Bloomberg News

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Japanese TRANSLATION SR ANALYST ALFANET GLOBAL SOLUTIONS, INC. Flr. No. 4th & 5th W Mall Bldg. Diosdado Macapagal Ave. St. Zone 10.

Barangay 076, District 1 Pasay City YIMCHAROEN, THAI SPEAKING CUSTOMER KHWANRUTHAI 33.

SERVICE REPRESENTATIVE Thai ANOC99 CORPORATION 5/f Ayala Malls Manila Bay Building D. Macapagal Blvd. Cor. Aseana Street Tambo Parañaque City HUANG, QING CHINESE CUSTOMER SERVICE 34.

Chinese TANG, ENQIANG CHINESE CUSTOMER SERVICE 35.

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Malaysian SUPPORT SPECIALIST LIN, XUEYING MANDARIN LANGUAGE 38.

Chinese SPECIALIST QU, BINGHONG MANDARIN LANGUAGE 39.

Chinese SPECIALIST YUAN, NINI MANDARIN LANGUAGE 40.

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Chinese SPEAKING) CUSTOMER SERVICE GAN, QICONG REPRESENTATIVE (MANDARIN 106.

Chinese SPEAKING) CUSTOMER SERVICE GAO, YONGCHAO REPRESENTATIVE (MANDARIN 107.

Chinese SPEAKING) CUSTOMER SERVICE HONG, HELI REPRESENTATIVE (MANDARIN 108.

Chinese SPEAKING) CUSTOMER SERVICE LI, TANGYAN REPRESENTATIVE (MANDARIN 109.

Chinese SPEAKING) CUSTOMER SERVICE LIAO, YANGYANG REPRESENTATIVE (MANDARIN 110.

Chinese SPEAKING) CUSTOMER SERVICE LIU, QIANG REPRESENTATIVE (MANDARIN 111.

Chinese SPEAKING) CUSTOMER SERVICE LIU, CHENGKE REPRESENTATIVE (MANDARIN 112.

Chinese SPEAKING) CUSTOMER SERVICE QIU, WEI REPRESENTATIVE (MANDARIN 113.

Chinese SPEAKING) CUSTOMER SERVICE QIU, JIUYI REPRESENTATIVE (MANDARIN 114.

Chinese SPEAKING) CUSTOMER SERVICE SU, KAI REPRESENTATIVE (MANDARIN 115.

Chinese SPEAKING) CUSTOMER SERVICE WANG, YU REPRESENTATIVE (MANDARIN 116.

Chinese SPEAKING) CUSTOMER SERVICE YANG, XIANJI REPRESENTATIVE (MANDARIN 117.

Chinese SPEAKING) CUSTOMER SERVICE YANG, FAN REPRESENTATIVE (MANDARIN 118.

Chinese SPEAKING)

97.

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

119.

CHEN, TING Chinese

120.

DUAN, GUANG Chinese

121.

LEI, ZHIHAO Chinese

122.

WAN, DENGQIANG Chinese

MANDARIN SPEAKING CUSTOMER RELATIONS SERVICE PROVIDER MANDARIN SPEAKING CUSTOMER RELATIONS SERVICE PROVIDER MANDARIN SPEAKING CUSTOMER RELATIONS SERVICE PROVIDER MANDARIN SPEAKING CUSTOMER RELATIONS SERVICE PROVIDER

MOA CLOUDZONE CORP. 4th-11th Flr. Nexgen Tower C4 Rd. Edsa Ext. Brgy. 076 Pasay City CHANG, CHENGLONG CHINESE CUSTOMER SERVICE 123.

Chinese FAN, QIYANG CHINESE CUSTOMER SERVICE 124.

Chinese FENG, HAILONG CHINESE CUSTOMER SERVICE 125.

Chinese GAI, QIHAO CHINESE CUSTOMER SERVICE 126.

Chinese GUO, MIN CHINESE CUSTOMER SERVICE 127.

Chinese HE, XINLONG CHINESE CUSTOMER SERVICE 128.

Chinese HSIAO, WAN-LING CHINESE CUSTOMER SERVICE 129.

Taiwanese HUANG, WEI CHINESE CUSTOMER SERVICE 130.

Chinese

131.

132.

133.

134.

135.

136.

137.

138.

139.

140.

141.

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144.

145.

146.

147.

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152.

LI, TIANSHENG Chinese LI, KUI Chinese LIN, SHENGCONG Chinese LIN, JIAN Chinese LUU LAP CO Vietnamese MIAO, DEZHOU Chinese MU, HONGXIA Chinese OU, YANZHENG Chinese PENG, JIANCHENG Chinese SUN, MINGYUE Chinese WANG, XIN Chinese WANG, CONG Chinese WANG, ZAIXUAN Chinese WEN, WEILIANG Chinese WU, TIANAO Chinese XU, JINGLONG Chinese YANG, HUALI Chinese YANG, HUA Chinese YU, CAIHONG Chinese YU, MINGYUN Chinese ZHANG, CHENYANG Chinese ZHAO, WEI Chinese

CHINESE CUSTOMER SERVICE CHINESE CUSTOMER SERVICE CHINESE CUSTOMER SERVICE CHINESE CUSTOMER SERVICE CHINESE CUSTOMER SERVICE CHINESE CUSTOMER SERVICE CHINESE CUSTOMER SERVICE CHINESE CUSTOMER SERVICE CHINESE CUSTOMER SERVICE CHINESE CUSTOMER SERVICE CHINESE CUSTOMER SERVICE CHINESE CUSTOMER SERVICE CHINESE CUSTOMER SERVICE CHINESE CUSTOMER SERVICE CHINESE CUSTOMER SERVICE CHINESE CUSTOMER SERVICE CHINESE CUSTOMER SERVICE

NO.

FOREIGN NATIONAL / NATIONALITY

POSITION

MPOTECH DIGITAL SYSTEM INC. 2/f 331 Bldg. Sen. Gil Puyat Ave. Bel-air Makati City ALFI KURNIAWAN INDONESIAN CUSTOMER 153.

Indonesian SERVICE REPRESENTATIVE CANDY CHAPEN INDONESIAN CUSTOMER 154.

Indonesian SERVICE REPRESENTATIVE HARRY JONATHAN INDONESIAN CUSTOMER 155.

Indonesian SERVICE REPRESENTATIVE SUWANDY INDONESIAN CUSTOMER 156.

Indonesian SERVICE REPRESENTATIVE NEPC POWER CONSTRUCTION CORP. 15/f Cyber One Bldg. Eastwood Cyberpark City Bagumbayan 3 Quezon City ZHANG, YING OPERATION AND MAINTENANCE 157.

Chinese RECORDING SYSTEM ANALYST NEW ORIENTAL CLUB88 CORPORATION 3rd, 5th, 6th, 7th, 8th, 9th & 10th/f Pearl Marina Building Pacific Drive Don Galo Parañaque City HE, SHUDA CHINESE CUSTOMER SERVICE 158.

Chinese RED DOT MARKETING AND BRANDING INC. Unit 1514 Burgundy Transpacific Place Taft Ave. 079, Bgy. 727 Malate Manila SUN, RONGCAO MANDARIN TECHNICAL 159.

Chinese SUPPORT S AND C CONSULTANCY INC. U-214 Manila Executive Regency 1200 J Bocobo St. 072, Bgy. 670 Ermita Manila XIANG, JUAN MANDARIN HR SPECIALIST 160.

Chinese SIFANG AUTOMATION PHILIPPINES CORPORATION Unit W-2102c 21/f West Tower Philippine Stock Exchange Centre Exchange Road, Ortigas Center Pasig City LI, WENHUA OPERATION MANAGER 161.

Chinese SKYLUSTER TECHNOLOGY, INC. 26/f Pbcom Tower 6795 Ayala Ave. Bel-air Makati City LI, XIAOYAN MANDARIN FINANCE STAFF 162.

Chinese LIAO, YANG MANDARIN IT SUPPORT STAFF 163.

Chinese SMCC PHILIPPINES, INC. 6/f Peninsula Court Bldg. 8735 Paseo De Roxas Bel-air Makati City ASHIMURA, OSAMU MANAGER 164.

Japanese TELUS INTERNATIONAL PHILIPPINES, INC. Units 23/f, 31st/f - 37th/f Discovery Centre Adb Avenue, Ortigas Center San Antonio Pasig City MARIE TIOJO, REINE FRENCH OPERATIONS CSR 165.

Cameroonian NGUSI, CHRISTELLE YAFANGOTE FRENCH OPERATIONS CSR 166.

Congolese TEMIC AUTOMOTIVE (PHILS.) INC. Continental Temic Building Bagsakan Road Fti Estate Taguig City RIVETTO, SONOK GENERAL MANAGER 167.

American TOPAZBLITZ INC. Unit No. Unit 2c, Flr. No. 4/f, One E-com Center Building Bldg. Ocean Drive St., Mall Of Asia Complex Subd. Zone 10, Barangay 076, District 1 Pasay City FAN, JIAYU CHINESE SPEAKING ADMIN 168.

Chinese ASSOCIATE TRIVES TECHNOLOGY CORPORATION Tower 4 Bayport West Naia Garden Residence, Naia Road Tambo Parañaque City GAO, WENFEI CHINESE CUSTOMER SERVICE 169.

Chinese REPRESENTATIVE HUANG, XING CHINESE CUSTOMER SERVICE 170.

Chinese REPRESENTATIVE MA, HAITAO CHINESE CUSTOMER SERVICE 171.

Chinese REPRESENTATIVE WAN, LIQIANG CHINESE CUSTOMER SERVICE 172.

Chinese REPRESENTATIVE WANG, CHUNYU CHINESE CUSTOMER SERVICE 173.

Chinese REPRESENTATIVE YANG, YUNFENG CHINESE CUSTOMER SERVICE 174.

Chinese REPRESENTATIVE ZHANG, JIANGHUAI CHINESE CUSTOMER SERVICE 175.

Chinese REPRESENTATIVE ZHANG, CONG CHINESE CUSTOMER SERVICE 176.

Chinese REPRESENTATIVE ZHAO, ZIJUN CHINESE CUSTOMER SERVICE 177.

Chinese REPRESENTATIVE UNIVERSITY OF PERPETUAL HELP RIZAL, INC. (UNIVERSITY OF PERPETUAL HELP SYSTEM DALTA) Alabang Zapote Rd. Pamplona Tres Las Piñas City ABEDIVALOOJERDI, RESEARCH ASSISTANT TO THE MOHAMMADHOSSEIN RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT 178.

Iranian CENTER VPC CORPORATE SOLUTIONS INCORPORATED 11/f 100 West, Sen Gil Puyat Ave. Cor. Washington St. Pio Del Pilar Makati City KHUAT THI KIM THAO VIETNAM-SPEAKING CUSTOMER 179.

Vietnamese SERVICE OFFICER WISEFENCE INC. Level 40 Pbcom Tower 6795 Ayala Ave. Cor. V.a. Rufino St. Bel-air Makati City DONG, XIANGHUA CHINESE SPEAKING BUSINESS 180.

Chinese ANALYST WUHAN FIBERHOME INTERNATIONAL TECHNOLOGIES PHILS., INC. U-19d 19/f Rufino Pacific Tower 6784 Ayala Ave. Cor. V.a. Rufino St. San Lorenzo Makati City WANG, CHUN PROJECT MANAGER 181.

Chinese XINCHUANG NETWORK TECHNOLOGY, INC. 3rd, 5th-10th Flr. Alabang Zapote Rd. Almanza Uno Las Piñas City GAO, QI CHINESE CUSTOMER SERVICE 182.

Chinese RREPRESENTATIVE YOFC INTERNATIONAL (PHILIPPINES) CORPORATION 3f Builders Center Bldg. 170 Salcedo St. San Lorenzo Makati City LU, ZIYU LU, ZIYU 183.

Chinese Chinese *Date Generated: Jan 29, 2021 In the ad material of Notice of Filing of Application for Alien Employment Permits published on January 29, 2021, the name of CHANG, KUOCHEN under W.E.W RESOURCE MANAGEMENT, INC., should have been read as CHANG, KUO-CHEN a.k.a. DEAN CHANG and not as published.

In the ad material of Notice of Filing of Application for Alien Employment Permits published on January 28, 2021, the position of BURANAKUL, NUTCHAPON under ALFANET GLOBAL SOLUTIONS, INC., should have been read as THAI SPEAKING CUSTOMER SERVICE SUPERVISOR and not as published.

In the ad material of Notice of Filing of Application for Alien Employment Permits published on January 29, 2021, the position of ISA ABDULRAHMAN MOHAMED ALHASHIMI under GULF AIR COMPANY, should have been read as AIRPORT MANAGER-MANILA and not as published.

Any person in the Philippines who is competent, able and willing to perform the services for which the foreign national is desired may file an objection at DOLE-NCR Regional Office located at DOLE-NCR Building, 967 Maligaya St., Malate Manila, within 30 days after this publication.

Please inform DOLE-NCR if you have any information on criminal offense committed by the foreign nationals.

CHINESE CUSTOMER SERVICE CHINESE CUSTOMER SERVICE CHINESE CUSTOMER SERVICE CHINESE CUSTOMER SERVICE CHINESE CUSTOMER SERVICE

ATTY. SARAH BUENA S. MIRASOL REGIONAL DIRECTOR

A6 Saturday, January 30, 2021

ExportUnlimited BusinessMirror

Exporters told to focus on HK’s growing health-conscious consumers amid Covid

F

ILIPINO exporters were urged to tap the huge business opportunities offered by Hong Kong as more consumers become health conscious amid the pandemic.

Roberto Mabalot Jr., Vice Consul (Commercial) and Commercial Attache of the Philippine Trade and Investment Center (PTIC) Hong Kong, Special Administrative Region, said health trends are redefined under the epidemic situation, and people are pursuing a more “pure” healthy diet.

“A lot of individuals due to the pandemic are trying to be much healthier because of the uncertainty of the Covid virus. Here in Hong Kong, I noticed that a lot of restaurants have already been offering a lot of vegetarian options, plant-based meat,” he said. Citing the Euromonitor International, Mabalot said products that enhance immunity and reduce and relieve stress become more important, while natural health food and alternative functional food make

people’s body and mind more resilient in the face of the epidemic.

Mabalot said the packaged food industry was “less affected” in Hong Kong, even though there is a movement into healthier diet among the consumers.

“The frozen food sector has been very, very lucrative as of the moment because a lot of individuals are going to the supermarkets, groceries and in a way hoarding or buying many food that they would consume and cook at home instead of going to the restaurants, the physical stores of the restaurants,” he added.

Amid these market trends, Mabalot underscored the need for companies to undertake innovative ideas to adjust to the new normal and attract more consumers, noting there is no way to “business as usual” as before.

“The increasing demand for ingredients that can enhance immunity and relieve stress will promote innovation in the food and catering industry. Due to their poor financial ability, many new brands will not survive,” he said. “The decline in consumer purchasing power will also put pressure on the more expensive pure handmade brands,” he added.

Mabalot said establishments have to also immediately adjust to an ecommerce platform as consumption behavior is “not as good as before.”

“The Covid-19 pandemic has accelerated the development of online retail, and streamlined the process of buying and returning products.

The “frictionless retail,” which achieves the goal of “retail service” has been directly linked to consumers through the Internet.

“Direct-to-consumer [D2C]” marketing has become the mainstream,” he said. Mabalot said online shopping and services have increased due to the new normal in Hong Kong. He said Hong Kong currently is one of the top 4 markets with the largest net growth in the use of online services by major grocery retailers, and also ranks among the top 4 in terms

of online shopping service usage growth in non-grocery areas.

“The convenience of online shopping is the key to promoting the application of digital channels. Consumers are also paying more and more attention to the convenience of home delivery and local shopping,” he added. This, as “stay at home economy” has become a market trend in the new normal in Hong Kong, similar with other countries around the world.

“The demand for take-out platforms, e-commerce online shopping, online conference, video and entertainment industries, has increased greatly, and they have risen in the face of the adverse market,” he said.

Mabalot said 90 percent of the Hong Kong population has been using Facebook. “So Facebook is the best social-media platform for individuals and businesses to use to find out if their products would work,” he said.

In terms of categories bought more online, Mabalot said household cleaning products are still in great demand in Hong Kong amid the pandemic, followed by frozen food, health supplements, hand cream/ moisturizer, and organic products.

Virus lockdowns decimate global services exports, WTO report says A TRAVELER arrives at London Heathrow Airport in London, UK, on Monday, January 18, 2021. UK ministers have closed travel corridors with other countries from Monday, meaning that all visitors from overseas will require a negative test result within 72 hours of travel to enter Britain.

BLOOMBERG PHOTO

T

HE global services sector remained depressed in the third quarter of 2020 amid travel and work restrictions, lagging a full recovery in goods trade, according to the World Trade Organization (WTO).

Worldwide trade in services fell 24 percent from July through September compared with a year earlier, a slight improvement from a 30-percent plunge in the second quarter, according to the report published on the WTO web site Tuesday. Data for November indicated that services trade was still 16 percent below 2019 levels, the Geneva-based organization said.

“Prospects for recovery remain poor since a second wave of Covid-19 infections necessitated new, stricter lockdown measures in many countries, with tightened restrictions on travel and related services extending into the

first quarter of 2021,” the report said.

Travel remains the most affected services sector—down 68 percent versus the year prior. Global construction exports, audiovisual, artistic and recreational services also saw doubledigit declines, according to the report.

Hardest hit were exports of services in the US, which dropped 24 percent, and the UK which decreased 15 percent from a year earlier.

The WTO said preliminary figures based on customs data from 72 countries—accounting for 92 percent of global merchandise trade—suggest that the rebound in the movement of physical goods that started in the second half of the year accelerated in October and November. The value of global merchandise trade in October was 3 percent higher than a year earlier and 6 percent higher in November, it said. Bloomberg News

China factories go into overdrive but exporters are not happy

C

LARK FENG saw export orders for the garden furniture, swings and tents he sells out of China surge 70 percent last year as lockdowns and social distancing fueled demand. But he’s not happy about it.

“The more you sell, the more you lose money, what’s the point?,” said Feng, who owns trading company Vita Leisure Co. in the city of Linhai in eastern China. “I don’t know who says we are beneficiaries. We are victims!”

With annual revenue of around $5 million, Feng’s firm is one of the million or so small and mediumsized manufacturers and trading businesses that form the backbone of China’s exports. But while orders have flooded in as the Chinese economy recovered quickly from the effects of the virus, Feng and others are reeling from a jump in the yuan, rocketing shipping costs and labor shortages, which have slashed their already wafer-thin margins.

The consequences could be severe for China’s growth and add pressure to global inflation. With some factories now running at a loss, owners may have to raise prices, something they were reluctant to do before the virus, even as labor and land costs

A WORKER assemble mirrors on cabinets at the Dicheng Technology factory in Hangzhou, China. BLOOMBERG PHOTO

increased. They also have little incentive to expand capacity—investment the Chinese government needs for its plan to build a stronger domestic market.

China’s bounce-back from the

virus has brought with it a host of problems for the nation’s manufacturers. Booming production has strained electricity supplies in some areas, forcing factories to buy their own generators. The global

shipping industry is still in disarray because of the pandemic, with a shortage of containers causing delays and pushing up costs. And the supply of labor has been severely curtailed—China’s migrant worker

population fell by more than 5 million last year following lockdowns in the first quarter.

“Factories were elbowing each other out for skilled workers,” said Feng, adding that wages for aluminum welders increased nearly threefold. “It’s hard to be a manager nowadays. We are at the workers’ mercy.”

But the real killer is the currency. China’s yuan, also called the renminbi, has gained more than 10 percent against the dollar since June, and now stands around 6.48. That has eaten into profits as the vast majority of exporters take payment in the greenback, but pay suppliers and staff in yuan. With a gap of up to three months between billing and payment, during which the value of the dollar declined, many exporters saw their profit vanish.

“I’m very worried,” said Feng, who is now selling some products at a loss and plans to raise prices this year. “I’m happy for my country to have a strong economy, but a strong renminbi is disaster for exporters.”

Industrial profit growth tends to slow when the yuan appreciates by more than 6.5 percent year-on-year against the dollar, according to research by Standard Chartered Plc.

If exporters raise dollar prices in response to the yuan’s rise, that could hurt demand for their goods, but if they accept lower profits, they won’t have the money to invest in new capacity. A broad measure of investment by manufacturers in China declined more than 2 percent in 2020.

With Beijing attempting to curb real-estate investment this year, it needs manufacturers to spend more to foster economic growth. To make matters worse, tax cuts given to small businesses in 2020 to help tide them through the virus are expected to expire in months.

One advantage exporters have is that, even if they raise prices, buyers may have no choice but to accept the increase because they have few alternatives.

“Other countries are still impacted by the pandemic, unlike China,” said Antony Hung, sales manager at Hangzhou-based Dicheng Technology Co. Ltd., which exports bathroom cabinets to Latin America, Southeast Asia and the Middle East. “The pandemic has a long-term positive effect on China because we demonstrate our reliability over competing countries like India.” Bloomberg News

www.businessmirror.com.ph

OurTime BusinessMirror

Fu Yabing Masalon Dulo, National Living Treasure, passes away at 106

PHOTO shows traditional master weaver Fu Yabing Dulo posing with her works at her weaving center in Sitio Amguo, Barangay Landan in Polomolok town, South Cotabato. Fu Yabing, who passed away on January 26 at the age of 106, is a prime mover in the preservation of the Blaan mabal tabih (ikat weaving) and among the three traditional weavers from Mindanao who were declared as “national living treasures” and conferred with the Gawad Manlilikha ng Bayan for 2016 through Proclamation 126 issued on January 6, 2017 by President Duterte.

PHOTO GRAB FROM THE BLAAN MABAL TABIH IN LANDAN FACEBOOK PAGE

By Allen Estabillo

G

ENERAL SANTOS CITY— South Cotabato’s famed traditional master weaver and “Manlilikha ng Bayan” Fu Yabing Masalon Dulo passed away on January 26 at the age of 106 in Polomolok town.

Fu Yabing died in her sleep at around 12:30 a.m. at their home in Sitio Amguo, Barangay Landan after being weakened for several days by an unspecified illness that was complicated by her advanced age,

her granddaughter Christine Dulo Gulili said.

Gulili said her grandmother’s health condition deteriorated after being confined at the Howard Hubbard Memorial Hospital in Polomolok from November 29 to December 4 due to pneumonia, but her case was cleared for Covid-19.

Fu Yabing eventually turned weaker and her feet later swelled until she could no longer walk, she said.

“We tried to convince her to go to the hospital to get proper treatment

but she refused so we just took good care of her,” she told the Philippine News Agency in a phone interview.

Arjho Carino Turner, Fu Yabing’s grandniece, was among the first to report the latter’s passing on Tuesday morning through the Blaan Mabal Tabih in Landan Facebook page.

“Our beloved Manlilikha ng Bayan [National Living Treasure of the Philippines] Bai Yabing Masalon Dulo has joined her creator. To all of you that have met her, got a piece or two of her Blaan Tabih works, be-

came friends with her and her family, documented her on your visit to Amguo, Landan, Polomolok, South Cotabato...please know that you brought a smile to her,” she said.

The Facebook page, which was dedicated to the works of Fu Yabing, has since been flooded with messages of sympathy and photos with the late master weaver.

Gulili said they are currently coordinating with the National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCCA) regarding the funeral arrangements for Fu Yabing, a prime mover in the preservation of the Blaan mabal tabih or ikat weaving and dyeing.

Fu Yabing, who was the cultural master of the Blaan Weaving School of Living Tradition in her home village in Polomolok, was recognized by the national government “for her commitment to the safeguarding and promotion” of the indigenous craft.

She was among the three traditional weavers from Mindanao who were declared as “national living treasures” and conferred with the Gawad Manlilikha ng Bayan (GAMABA) for 2016 through Proclamation 126 issued on January 6, 2017 by President Duterte.

The two other awardees were Blaan mat weaver Estelita Tumandan Bantilan of Malapatan, Sarangani province and Yakan tapestry weaver Ambalang Ausalin of Lamitan City, Basilan.

As a GAMABA awardee, Fu Yabing will be given a state funeral and all arrangements will be handled by the national government, through the NCCA. Gulili said they are planning to hold a two-week wake for her grandmother, who will be laid to rest in her family’s land situated at the foot of Mount Matutum. PNA

Senior citizens get benefits at Antique’s People’s Day

By Annabel Consuelo Petinglay

S

AN JOSE DE BUENAVISTA, Antique—The provincial government of Antique resumed its People’s Day program on January 26 after it was temporarily stopped last year due to the implementation of strict quarantine measures brought about by the Covid-19 pandemic.

“People have been waiting for their requested Aid to Individuals in Crisis Situation [AICS] and the elderlies for their benefits,” said Governor Rhodora J. Cadiao in her message during the twice a week People’s Day held at the New Capitol Building here.

People’s Day, which was temporarily halted on March 17, 2020, is held every Tuesday and Wednesday.

Through the Provincial Social Welfare and Development Office (PSWDO), a total of P131,400 in cash assistance was released, to include the P87,400 AICS for 26 people who are sick or have family members currently in the hospital, and P44,000 for

ANTIQUE Governor Rhodora J. Cadiao distributes Aid to Individuals in Crisis Situation and benefits to the elderly during the People’s Day held at the capitol on January 26, 2021. Cadiao released a total of P131,400 to 43 beneficiaries. PNA PHOTO BY ANNABEL CONSUELO J. PETINGLAY

qualified senior citizens.

Seventeen senior citizens received their cash benefits in various amounts under the

“Kabalaka Kang Gobernadora Kay Lolo Kag Lola” (Governor’s Concern for Grandfather and Grandmother) program.

The provincial government for the past three years had been implementing the program where 85 years old and above senior citizens are being given benefit or financial support for their food, medicines, and other needs yearly.

Evelyn Domingo, who accompanied her 96-year-old mother Crisanta Tandayag to receive her financial support, said that it was the second time for her to get such assistance.

“We are grateful to Gov. Cadiao and the provincial government for the support, for the amount is really a big help,” she said in an interview, adding her mother will use the money to buy her medicines for hypertension.

Through the Kabalaka, provided for in Provincial Ordinance Number 2018-144, senior citizens 85 to 89 years old are given P2,000; 90 to 94 years old with P3,000; and 95 to 99 years old with P5,000 each.

The provincial government also gives a one-time P30,000 for those 100 years old and above, on top of cash benefits from the national government. PNA

Editor: Angel R. Calso • Saturday January 30, 2021 A7

Prematurely aged minds

By Nick Tayag

MY SIXTY-ZEN’S WORTH

W

E eavesdrop on two male friends, inside a famous coffee shop, having a con-

versation: -Di ba nag-kwan kayo ni kwan?

-A si kwan…

-Sinong kwan? Yung kapatid ni kwan?

-Ano nga ba pangalan?

- Sino nga ba yon. Mamaya maalala ko...

If you go closer, you will see they are not seniors—they appear to be in their 30s. This surprises you because you presume that only seniors or aged individuals are forgetful.

I have a colleague who is in his 80s. He complains to me that he has a staff in their mid-20s who are often so forgetful that he has to keep reminding them what he told them.

“Don’t forget to remember to remind me…” is his daily mantra to them.

Nowadays, you don’t have to be a senior to sound like a 60-year-old or older. More and more people at relatively young age are losing their brain functions for various reasons.

Memorylossisnolongertheexclusive concern of the retired generation.

People who are losing their ability to remember are not to be laughed at. It can happen to the best of us, even young people on the way up.

I once saw a Japanese film, actually a heavy drama, about an advertising man in his late 30s who is losing his memory, as he is about to rise to the top of his company. He is making a presentation and suddenly he cannot remember what he is about to say. His agency loses the bid. Later on, after consulting a doctor, he learns he is beginning to suffer the symptoms of a deteriorating mental condition. He is told to take a vacation and he loses his job, affecting his family. People laugh behind his back. Others pity him.

That was just fiction, you say, but if you are still young and healthy and you keep forgetting things too often, perhaps you need to keep note of the recent findings of neuro scientists.

Over 35 million people around the world, young and old, are beginning to show signs of brain deterioration. The day will come and we will have to open a facility to care for people who are suffering from brain incapacity.

Some studies suggest that too much use of the Internet can lead to poorer recall of information, although this has to be strongly validated. There are other factors such as constant stress, anxiety, alcohol consumption, and lack of exercise and sleep. There may be occasions when technology, indeed, could be the culprit—by constantly distracting us or luring us into surfing the Web or binge TV watching instead of getting much-needed sleep.

And most neuro experts agree that in these situations it is not that memory becomes less effective, just that we neglect it. On the

average, all human beings use only 20 percent of our brain’s functional capacity. But at the rate many of us neglect to exercise the brain, it is no wonder this small capacity is shrinking even further in many people. When you neglect to keep your brain in healthy condition, it slowly withers.

You can prevent brain deterioration by exercising it regularly.

The earlier, the better. And as an added benefit, you stay sharp and focused—an edge in any job that entails thinking.

A lot of people are into physical fitness. They jog everyday but they neglect to jog an important part of the body…the brain. Brain weakness is now becoming widespread, leading to dementia even at an early age. Neuro science research shows that exercising the brain ensures healthy brain, even up to old age.

To ensure that the brain works as best as it can, the mind needs to be challenged every day. Chess is one way to jog your brain. Quick games like crosswords and Sudoku, that can be played anywhere and by anyone, can also exercise the mind.

Even computer games seem to be mentally helpful. These and other mind games are not only interesting and entertaining, but can also improve memory, daily life skills, and overall mental health.

There is a diversity of brainboosting games available online that can help to enhance memory and improve mental health.

You don’t even have to solve each puzzle. Simply trying to figure out the answer, putting in the effort is what makes the difference to brain health.

There are other options. If the object is to get yourself intellectually engaged to boost the brain, then you can probably engage in non-mentally taxing meaningful activities, like volunteering or hobbies. People who are into it say they feel happier and healthier. Learning new skills may improve your thinking ability, too. For example, one study found that adults who learned such skills as quilting or digital photography or model kit assembly had more memory improvement than those who did less mentally demanding activities.

But complement your mental exercises with physical exercise.

Many studies have shown that the most powerful treatment for mild memory problems is cardiovascular exercise, which can slow the rate of memory loss and even improve memory. Exercise also increases the density of brain tissues in the core memory processing areas.

Yes, keeping the mind active while you are young is essential.

But as I have observed among seniors (that includes me probably) the older you get, the less you are inclined to tax your brain. But, on the other hand, research warns us: use it or lose it too soon.

At 106, woman among earliestvaccine recipients in Brazil

By Diarlei Rodrigues & Diane Jeantet The Associated Press

R

IO DE JANEIRO—Zélia de Carvalho Morley rolled up a sleeve and looked stoically to the side as a nurse slid in a Covid-19 shot. She was one of thousands in Brazil to get the shot on January 20, but one of very few old enough

to recall an earlier viral pandemic that swept her nation and the world a century ago.

Born in Rio de Janeiro in 1914, Morley was a girl when the so-called Spanish flu killed millions around the world in 1918-1920, when no vaccines were available.

“The whole of Brazil caught it. Too many people died,” she said, wearing a pink daisy chain on her head.

“I don’t forget anything!”

“I think this vaccine is going to be very good,” Morley told The Associated Press, displaying a generous smile before placing her light blue mask back on her face. “It’s in the hands of God.” Centenarians like Morley are among the first vaccine recipients in many countries, including Brazil, where the government’s immuniza-

tion campaign officially kicked off on January 19 with distribution of the Chinese-developed SinoVac vaccine.

With more than 210,000 deaths, Latin America’s largest nation has the second-highest tally in the world behind the United States, according to Johns Hopkins University’s database.

Her doctor, Paulo Cesar Cunha Fabiano, 73, who has been working at the Vovo House retirement home

for nearly four decades, said Morley had told him of her parents getting the flu nearly a century ago.

“When she was 6-7 years old, her parents told her that people were dying in the streets. Back then, there were no antibiotics or medication.

People died like flies,” he said.

Several employees at Vovo House suffered from Covid-19, and one had to be intubated, Cunha said. But none

of the elderly residents have tested positive so far. Still, the fear of possibly infecting them was a burden for workers there.

“Now at least we’re going to have some tranquility,” Cunha said, adding that he had lost many friends and colleagues to the virus in recent months. “We workers are no longer going to worry about passing the illness to the elderly. This is huge.”

Education BusinessMirror

A8 Saturday, January 30, 2021

DepEd mulls over face-to-face classes test-run in Negros Or.

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Editor: Mike Policarpio

Security Bank, Ateneo, Knowledge Channel premiere ‘Ready, Set, Read’ video series

UMAGUETE CITY—Secretary Leonor Magtolis Briones said on Monday that the Department of Education (DepEd) is considering to include Negros Oriental as one of the pilot testing areas for face-to-face classes in the near future.

Briones spoke with DepEd officials and the media in a virtual presser on updates regarding blended learning and other concerns in the education sector amid the pandemic.

She said the program was supposed to start this month, but with the emergence of a new coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) variant, President Duterte recalled his approval to hold pilot testing of faceto-face classes in selected areas.

Based on a report from DepEd Region 7 Regional Director Dr. Salustiano Jimenez, the DepEd chief reported that Governor Roel Degamo was reluctant on the idea of holding physical classes due to the surge of Covid-19 cases in the province.

Some 118 schools in the province would have been considered for the pilot testing which is now suspended, but the local government unit (LGU) of La Libertad has intimated its desire to participate in the pilot testing, according to Briones.

“If they can comply with requirements, we w ill consider them,” she said. “However, there are some [necessities] that must be met.”

The considerations would include the approval of the LGU, certain prerequisites from the Department of Health, written parents’ consent for their children who will be attending face-to-face classes, transportation, and canteens that provide food for the

EDUCATION Secretary Leonor Magtolis Briones DepEd.gov.ph students, Briones said.

The DepEd chief, who hails from Guihulngan, Negros Oriental, said they need to minimize the risk of students contracting Covid-19, as she noted that only very few children were infected with the novel coronavirus because of the agency’s policies.

The parents must be aware of the implications of this program if they would allow their children

to attend the face-to-face classes, she said.

In the meantime, the President has not yet reconsidered the holding of pilot testing for face-to-face classes due to the threat of the new Covid-19 variants, she added.

“But for sure, once the program will be implemented, we will consider Negros Oriental, because it is very active in education,” Briones said. Mary Judaline Partlow/PNA

2021 MEXT scholarships now available for teacher training, Japanese studies

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HE Japan Infor mation and Culture Center (JICC) of the Embassy of Japan is now accepting applications for the teacher training and Japanese Studies categories of the 2021 Japanese Government (MEXT) Scholarship Program.

Filipino citizens who meet the following qualifications are eligible to apply:

DACANAY

Online upcycling training to unfold in February

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N line with the ongoing first solo exhibition of celebrated South Korean artist Yang Haegue dubbed “Cone of Concern,” the Museum of Contemporary Art and Design of the De La Salle-College of Saint Benilde will present an online workshop, free and open to the public.

Professional industrial designer and illustrator Manuel Dacanay will guide participants on transforming day-to-day equipment into sculptural and decorative yet functional pieces in a class on upcycling domestic objects on Saturday, February 20, at 1 p.m.

A model maker for various design and advertising agencies and an expert in both traditional and computer-aided modeling, Dacanay will elaborate on the importance of creative consumption and the object’s history to better transform it into a new work of art.

He will likewise share his expertise as an instructor in the Industrial Design program of the college’s School of Design and Arts.

For more information on the guidelines for the workshops, as well as to discover more about the exhibit and its corresponding public programs, visit www.mcadmanila.org, or follow @MCADManila on leading social-media platforms.

Teacher training: Must be under 35 years of age and a graduate of a college or teacher-training college.

An applicant must have at least five years of active experience as a teacher in a primary, secondary or teacher-training college in the Philippines. College and university teachers currently in active service, however, are ineligible for this scholarship.

Japanese studies: Applicants must be from 18 to 30 years old and enrolled as undergraduate students in faculties or schools which major in the Japanese language

or culture, in a university outside Japan at the time when they come to the said country, and must be enrolled in the home institution at the time when they return to their home countries.

Application forms and detailed information on prerequisites may be viewed and downloaded from http://www.ph.emb-japan.go.jp/ culture/scholarship/index.htm. Applicants should take note: n They are strongly advised to read the guidelines and prerequisites carefully prior to applying.

Incomplete applications will not be accepted. (The screening committee takes into consideration the applicant’s ability to follow guidelines and instructions.) n Deadline for submission of applications is on February 5. Only hard copies printed on A4-size paper and mailed through courier will be accepted. n The application process consists of a document screening, written exams, and an interview.

Short-listed candidates will be

required to take the written test at a location designated by the Embassy of Japan. It is the candidate’s responsibility to secure the cost and means to take the written test. n Candidates for the written test must take precautions against the coronavirus disease 19 infection and follow the instructions of the test proctor. n Depending on the situation, the interview may be conducted online. The candidate is requested to arrange an environment that allows it.

According to the embassy, the application process for the MEXT Scholarship Program is subject to change under unavoidable circumstances. Due to the pandemic and other factors, it may not be possible to conduct the recruitment and selection according to the originally announced schedule. There is also the possibility that it may be suspended or canceled altogether. For inquiries, send an e-mail to: scholarship@ma.mofa.go.jp.

BARMM teachers receive back pay

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OTABATO CITY—Publicschool teachers in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Reg ion in Muslim Mind anao (BARMM) have received P45,000 each, after the regional government released their three-month worth of salaries.

The amount represented the teachers’ P15,000-per-month wages from October to December 2020.

BARMM’s Education Minister Mohagher Iqbal led the salary distribution on January 13 and 14 at the Ministry of Basic, Higher and Technical Education building inside the BARMM Center in the city.

The 393 para-teachers are from Marawi City, Lanao del Sur and Maguindanao, who have temporary appointments as they have yet to pass the licensure examination for teachers.

“With P15,000 salary per month, they were reemployed from provisional to Contract of Service [status]

BANGSAMORO Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao’s Education Minister Mohagher Iqbal (second from left) and three teachers are all smiles during the release of the latter’s three months’ worth of salaries. MBHTE-BARMM/PNA following my request to BARMM Chief Minister Ahod Ebrahim and the Ministry of Finance, Budget and Management to extend their services until the end of School Year 2020-2021,” Iqbal said.

The schedule of the release of salaries for para-teachers in the provinces of Basilan, Sulu, and Tawi-Tawi is yet to be announced by the BARMM education ministry. Edwin Fernandez/PNA

S

ECURITY Bank Foundation Inc. (SBFI), the corporate social responsibility arm of Security Bank Corp., recently introduced the “Ready, Set, Read!” video series for elementary students, in partnership with the Knowledge Channel Foundation Inc. and Ateneo De Manila University, as part of its advocacy to improve the quality of education and fill the learning gaps caused by the pandemic.

The first five episodes currently airing until February 19 will focus on enhancing the reading competencies of Grade 5 students— particularly on inferring the meaning of unfamiliar words in stories through context clues.

The topics chosen were based on the Department of Education’s Most Essential Learning Competencies Guide, which focuses on the indispensable competencies Filipino students must acquire, especially with the challenges of learning delivery during the pandemic.

Other videos in the pipeline will touch on reading strategies for Grades 1 and 3 learners, such as predicting the possible ending of a story, making inferences and drawing conclusions based on texts, as well as interpreting simple graphs, tables and pictographs.

“Uplifting the quality of life in communities where Security Bank [is active] is the goal of SBFI,” said Rafael F. Simpao Jr., the foundation’s chairman. “We aim to achieve this by providing quality education through scholarships for deserving students, building and donating classrooms to accredited public schools nationwide, training the teachers of our beneficiary schools to help them improve their teaching skills, and developing new initiatives through digitallearning resources.”

Simpao continued, “Through these efforts, we hope to provide better opportunities for the succeeding generations of Filipinos, and a brighter future for the communities Security Bank serves.”

The three organizations collectively chose competencies in English reading as the subject matter of the educational materials, after re-

ports of the 2018 Programme for International Student Assessment and the 2019 Southeast Asia Primary Learning Metrics revealed that Filipino students lag behind other countries in terms of reading proficiency.

“Our partnership with SBFI and Ateneo comes at a time when video lessons have become fundamental in ensuring that learning continues, even amid any calamity or pandemic,” explained Knowledge Channel Foundation Inc.’s President and Executive Director Rina Lopez Bautista. “This video series will also provide Filipino children with English-reading [proficiencies] that will prepare them to succeed and thrive in a globally connected society.”

“Ateneo welcomes this opportunity to work with SBFI and Knowledge Channel in ensuring an effective teaching-learning process even during the unusual circumstances surrounding education at this time,” mentioned the Ateneo Center for Educational Development’s Managing Director Dr. Carmela Oracion.

SBFI and the Knowledge Channel Foundation Inc. organized a free webinar to help educators and parents understand the way these videos can be used as effective teaching tools. They can use the said materials for free to enhance children’s reading skills in the comfort of their homes, and eventually as integral teaching tools once classes revert to face-to-face instruction.

The pilot run, which consists of five episodes, airs on the Knowledge Channel until January 28, 11:20 a.m. to 11:40 a.m., while playback will be through Free TV Channel A2Z until February 19 every Friday, 8:20 a.m. to 8:40 am.

Said episodes can also be replayed on Security Bank’s web site https://www.securitybank.com/sustainability/educational-videos and Facebook page: https://facebook.com/ SecurityBank. To know more about Security Bank and SBFI, visit www.securitybank.com/ Sustainability.

Webinar tackled ‘celebrification’ of OFWs and their concerns

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E La Salle University’s Southeast Asia Research Center and Hub (SEARCH) and its Department of Communication recently conducted a webinar presentation on the “Celebrification of Overseas Filipino Workers [OFWs] and Their Concerns from their Perspective, Media Personalities, and the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration.”

The January 29 webinar featured Telenetwork Media Center Inc.’s Vice President for New Business Engagement Rowena E. Cantuba, with Dr. Jason Vincent A. Cabañes as the discussant.

Cantuba’s presentation centered on the celebrity-making phenomenon involving OFWs and their plights as they are sensationalized by the media. Her research delved into the possibility that OFWs can be “commodified and commercialized” by media personalities, therefore creating celebrities in their own regard.

“There is an opportunity for the ‘celebrification’ process to start, because of the relationship of mass media and its audience,” she postulated. “Since the latter is deeply re-

cantuba liant on the information they read, hear, or see in the media, their decision-making also depends on the information [coming] from these communication platforms.”

The celebrification process, according to her, is even more pronounced in a Philippine audience, as media personalities raise the status of OFWs they feature in their programs by way of making their problems public.

Tourism&Entertainment BusinessMirror

Editor: Carla Mortel-Baricaua

Saturday, January 30, 2021 A9

Second Time’s a Charm

at the Governor’s Rapids in Quirino

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Story & photos by Marky Ramone Go

he sky was the color of mud, raindrops pelting us sideways and the wind growing stronger. All we could hear was the rambling of the hardly visible river.

Our guide told us what we were expecting to hear the moment we arrived at the brook’s edge; “Negative, the water is too strong we cannot ride the boats,” he told us in Tagalog.

At the Governor’s Rapids, caves and waterfalls can be found on its limestone cliffs.

Calm waters of Governor’s Rapids reflect the beautiful scenery.

Nobody protested at the obvious correct call of our guide. While there was an ounce of disappointment, I just chalked this place in my “see you next time” list despite the uncertainty of my travel schedules.

Lo and behold, two years later, I got another crack at cruising the vigorous stream of the Governor’s Rapids. This time, though, we’re under a canopy of bright blue skies exposing the green waters of the river as it cuts a path through the lush foliage of Sierra Madre.

Governor’s Rapids, named after a Japanese Governor General who disappeared in these waters during World War II, is a picturesque tributary of the mighty Rio Grande River of Cagayan that slices through the gravelly knolls of Maddela in Quirino province.

Limestone cliffs edging both sides of the river are known for hiding a system of caves and waterfalls, as well as some dwelling sites of our Dumagat and Agtas brothers and sisters. We wasted no time as our small party boarded two colorful canoes and immediately proceeded to tackle on a few rapids en route to a giant boulder

island for our first pit stop.

Cliff jumping

Because we opted to cruise a short length of the river, we only passed by a few rapids but we made up for it by spending more than an hour taking turns cliff jumping into the clear waters. We docked our canoes at one of the biggest rocky mound in the middle of the river and climbed over it at around 15-20 feet high.

The second time’s indeed a charm since there’s no way I could have experienced this during my first trip to the Governor’s Rapids. At that time, I was also with Ferdz and Kara among a group of more than 10 travel bloggers. This time around, the three of us returned with another group.

It was a good thing that we finally got to explore and enjoy the gifts bestowed by Mother Nature to this adventure attraction in Quirino province.

Before we head back, I heard our guide telling us about another side-trip we shouldn’t miss. Locals simply refer to it as “Cave Falls.” Listening to our guide describe got me injected with another dose

Colorful boats ferry villagers and visitors across the river.

of excitement. Even though I’ve seen the spectacular natural pools in numerous caves in Sagada and Samar, this is the first time I would venture inside a cave with a waterfall.

After a few minutes of the canoe ride from the cliff diving spot, our guide motioned for our team to disembark at the side of another massive limestone wall. A few steps away is a narrow pathway leading to a cave. After entering the passageway, I immediately heard the sound of water like

Mimosa now open for daily golf G

olf aficionados can now play to their heart’s content with the recent fullweek operation of the newly renovated 18-hole Mountainview Course of Mimosa Plus Golf Course at the Clark Freeport Zone in Pampanga.

With the Culture of Clean health protocols Chroma Hospitality Inc. has put in place across its properties, players can be assured of a safe and enjoyable round with their friends.

Tech-savvy golfers can book their tee time online via the Mimosa Plus Golf app available on Google Play and Apple Store, and ride a GPS-enabled golf cart with Visage system to enable them monitor their game’s progress.

Players can also savor the signature breakfast and lunch dishes at Q by Mimosa restaurant before and after the game.

Designed by Nelson and Haworth, one of the world’s most sought-after golf course designers, 175-hectare Mimosa Plus Golf boasts of two scenic 18-hole courses, with the stunning greeneries and vistas of Clark as backdrop.

Its other world-class course is the par 72 Acacia Lakeview which is currently undergo-

Breakfast at Q by Mimosa

ing renovation, along with the Driving Range, which is expected to reopen this year.

Both courses are friendly to new and highhandicapped golfers, while testing the most seasoned golfers from the championship tees.

MiMOSA Golf Course

Swimming in the cave’s waterfalls is a unique, fun experience.

a beast growling inside a cage. Following a few moments of struggle while inserting my body through slender openings, an expansive space like being inside a cathedral with high rocky ceilings greeted me.

There it was, a waterfall of 12 meters high streaming cold fresh water into a basin wide enough for all of us (10 people) to swim. With only a few minutes to spare I jumped right into the cold pool and frolicked like a kid again. If it weren’t for the falling of dusk, we would have stayed

a bit longer.

As darkness starts biting the remaining sheen of sunlight, we hurriedly trekked back to our canoes. Drenched and freezing, I came out of the cave just in time as night crept in. Back in our canoes, we took a leisurely cruise toward the dock at the jump-off place in Maddela. The deafening sound of the river’s still waters echoes a peaceful Zen state of mind as I’m having a full one, since finally I was able to see the grandeur of the Governor’s Rapids.

BusinessMirror

A10 Saturday, January 30, 2021 • Editor: Gerard S. Ramos

www.businessmirror.com.ph

Acer rolls out 2-in-1 with powerful processors Providing essential connectivity in new normal THE pandemic has changed the way we live and how we go about our daily activities, forcing a digital shift that will be the norm moving forward.

Even before the nationwide lockdowns, Globe ensured that a steady and reliable Internet connection has been made more accessible through the Globe at Home Prepaid WiFi (www.shop.globe.com.ph), now equipped with a faster and more advanced LTE modem. Globe at Home’s LTE-Advanced modem is two times faster than other Globe Prepaid modems, and is equipped with boosters, enabled by carrier aggregation capabilities, for a more reliable, higherspeed Internet connection that is easy to set up.

“Globe’s home prepaid Wi-Fi sets the bar for broadband not only because of its larger capacity, but more importantly for its affordability and accessibility. It is a great choice for families because it is shareable, easy to load, and comes in a wide range of budget-friendly options,” said Darius Delgado, vice president and head of Broadband Business at Globe.

Globe At Home Prepaid WiFi is available in several promo offers packed with freebies depending on the subscriber’s budget.

“In order to sustain the productivity of every member of the family, Globe made sure that affordable HomeWATCH and HomeSURF offers come with a bigger data allocation that is more than sufficient for today’s demands,” Delgado added.

The telco’s continuous efforts to improve its network performance every year have resulted in more affordable and faster Internet services for its broadband customers.

Since 2016, the prices per gigabyte (GB) of all Globe broadband services such as Globe At Home Prepaid WiFi, wired Globe At Home Postpaid, and Globe at Home Postpaid LTE have gone down by more than 60 percent. Along with the decrease in prices is the improvement in average download speeds in the country.

In December, the country’s average mobile download speed was higher at 22.5Mbps compared to 18.49Mbps in November 2020, with an upload speed of 6.03Mbps and latency of 33ms according to the Speedtest Global Index by Ookla, the global leader in Internet testing and analysis.

In terms of fixed broadband, Ookla data shows that the Philippine average rose to 31.44Mbps in December from 28.68Mbps in November 2020.

Globe is carrying out a three-pronged strategy for network upgrades and expansion, which includes aggressive cell site builds; upgrading its cell sites to 4G/LTE using many different frequencies; and fast-tracking the fiberization of Filipino homes nationwide.

A

YEAR ago, we couldn’t have imagined that we would be stuck at home for nearly a year now, working and studying out of our living, dining or bed rooms. One of the things I am thankful for is the company I consult for providing me with an Acer laptop because before that, I did everything on my phone. That would be okay without online meetings and events. But our new circumstances require both a mobile device and a laptop or two.

Again, let me say that I’m no techie but I do appreciate technology and the conveniences it offers.

So here’s an attempt at a review of the new 2-in-1 from Acer (www.acer.com).

At CES 2021, Taiwan tech giant Acer launched the new Acer Chromebook Spin 514, which is said to be the most powerful Chromebook Acer has ever made and the first one to use AMD hardware. Acer first launched the 514 Chromebook as a higher-end option for its Chromebook line. The 2021 version, a 2-in-1, is the first Acer laptop to use Ryzen 3000 C-Series mobile processors and AMD Radeon graphics.

The company also launched the Acer Chromebook Enterprise Spin 514 (CP514-1W/ CP514-WH) which also features the latest AMD Ryzen 3000 C-Series Mobile Processors and the business capabilities of Chrome OS unlocked to support business customers.

“The pairing of AMD Ryzen Mobile Processors with a durable design makes the new Acer Chromebook Spin 514 an excellent choice for users that need to get work done at home,” said James Lin, general manager for Notebooks, IT Products Business, Acer Inc. “Users will be blown away by the new level of responsiveness and performance provided by the Acer Chromebook Spin 514 with AMD Ryzen Mobile Processors. Plus, the Ryzen 7 3700C Processor offers the best graphics available in an AMD-powered Chromebook, so our customers can take advantage of the growing range of apps and extensions to tackle even more challenging projects.”

Based on Zen architecture, AMD Ryzen Mobile Processors ensure consistent responsiveness, fast boot times and long battery life. Thus, Acer said everything is fast on the new Chromebook, whether it is streaming content, utilizing multiple apps simultaneously, or running office productivity tools.

The Chromebook Spin 514 also includes stateof-the-art AMD Radeon Graphics for enhanced gameplay, streaming and content creation. Models with AMD Ryzen 7 3700C or Ryzen 5 3500C quadcore processors will come with powerful AMD Radeon Vega Mobile Graphics built in.

The power-efficient AMD processor technology contributes to the Chromebook Spin 514’s thin-andlight design that delivers up to 10 hours of battery life and can be easily taken anywhere, at just 1.55 kg (3.42 lbs) light and a mere 17.35 mm thin (0.68 inches). In addition, the Chromebook Spin 514 comes with up to 16GB DDR4 DRAM and up to 256GB storage.

The original metal chassis is now a sandblasted and anodized aluminum shell available in gray, silver, and mist green. It has also been ruggedized to withstand drops of up to 4 feet and 132 pounds of downward force, and is MIL-STD 810H compliant to resist extreme environmental conditions such as high and low temperatures, and rain, sand and dust.

The device features a convertible design that can be opened a full 360-degrees, enabling its touchscreen display to be used for collaboration, sharing, presenting or typing in a variety of spaces and environments.

The new Chromebook has two USB Type-C ports, both supporting USB 3.2 Gen 1 (up to 5Gbps),

DisplayPort over USB-C and USB charging. It also features two USB 3.2 Gen 1 ports, one featuring power-off charging and a microSD card reader.

Select models of the Acer Chromebook Spin 514 also feature an HDMI port for conveniently connecting to projectors during meetings and classes.

Meanwhile, the Chromebook Enterprise Spin 514 model has a number of security features and the ability of IT staff to manage app deployments and updates for a company’s work force. The 514 edition promises “zero-touch enrollment” to allow the laptop to be set up to enroll automatically in the company’s administration as soon as it’s connected to the Internet for the first time.

The Acer Chromebook Enterprise Spin 514 provides security, enterprise capabilities and cost savings, helping businesses manage devices at scale.

Chromebook Enterprise unlocks the built-in business capabilities of Chrome OS and Acer Chromebooks by enabling IT to secure, orchestrate and power the cloud work force. The offering also creates a secure and productive environment for cloud-based workers.

The new Acer Chromebook Spin 514 and Acer Chromebook Enterprise Spin 514 both support apps via Google Play and web-based apps, so customers will have access to all the apps they love for productivity, creativity, services and more. ■

Data security a vital component in remote working

BY RIZAL RAOUL S. REYES DATA security is also one of the major concerns of remote working which has intensified during the Covid-19 pandemic. The Data Privacy Act of 2012, or Republic Act 10173, stipulates that any company with

at least 250 employees or who can access the data of at least 1,000 people are required to appoint a Data Protection Officer who will monitor the company’s data security, create and implement privacy policies, and report breaches when they happen.

In response, California-based Pulse Secure Llc., in partnership with local technology company Radenta Technologies Inc., has recently introduced Pulse Zero Trust Access (PZTA) to answer the growing need in the local market to provide a secure environment for a flexible work place.

Radenta said PZTA is the ideal tool that will enable a Data Protection Officer to accomplish this task.

Meanwhile, in its latest survey, “Cybersecurity: The Human Challenge”, United Kingdom-based network security firm Sophos found out that 40 percent of the Philippine organizations disclosed that recruiting and retaining skilled IT security professionals is a challenge and 48 percent plan to exclusively outsource IT security in 2022.

Radenta added PZTA is a comprehensive, multi-tenant, Zero Trust, Secure Access service for enterprises of any size. It has a central ZTA Controller hosted by Pulse Secure. The ZTA Gateway can be deployed closest to applications either on premises or on private or public clouds. This proximity optimizes user experience, reduces latency and enables hybrid

IT deployment at scale. Since encrypted applications traffic only flows between ZTA Clients and ZTA Gateways, customers gain full data privacy and data sovereignty.

PZTA enables multiple users to access public, private and multi-cloud applications and data center resources from any location. As a cloud-based system, it provides easy, direct and secure access. It also works for organizations with pure cloud environments or those just migrating applications from the data center to the cloud. PZTA authenticates and authorizes user identity and device security posture for compliance before establishing a session. It uses a built-in User and Entity Behavior Analytics to continuously assess each session for risk and trust. Proprietary risk scoring algorithms identify noncompliant, malicious and anomalous activity, providing administrators end-to-end visibility and expedited threat mitigation.

As a cloud-native service, PTZA can be deployed in a matter of hours.

Michael Waring, Ivanti vice president for security solutions for Asia Pacific and Japan, attests to the value of PZTA. “Pulse Zero Trust Access exemplifies our ongoing commitment to innovate while maximizing deployment flexibility, scale, interoperability and investment protection for companies of all sizes,” he said in a press statement.

BusinessMirror

www.businessmirror.com.ph

Huawei, biz partners in PHL launch tech trends, road map

Editor: Gerard S. Ramos

• Saturday, January 30, 2021 A11

Out of paper but never out of style

BY RODERICK L. ABAD Contributor THE improving partnership between Philippine businesses and Huawei has introduced cutting-edge technology trends and a road map that will help enhance peoples’ lives and enable the country achieve growth with their application across all verticals.

Huawei Cloud and Artificial Intelligence (AI), as well as a detailed plan that will be beneficial for nation-building and the empowerment of all Filipinos were launched at the recent “FinTech 2021 Philippine Outlook: The Key to Unlocking the Economy PostCovid” webinar that was co-located during the last leg of the virtual World Fintech Festival (WFF).

“Huawei has always been keen to assist enterprises as they scale up and evolve to their next stage,” said Neo Teck Guan, senior director for cloud strategy and consulting at Huawei Cloud Asia Pacific Region.

“With our cloud services, we have been able to provide some great experiences to different companies in several sectors. We believe cloud solutions should be accessible to everyone, and at Huawei we are working relentlessly for the benefit of our partners with our latest technological innovation.”

Individuals and enterprises are becoming more adoptive of digitization as seen in the spike in their daily transactions and other online activities amid the Covid-19 pandemic.

Citing a recent study, WFF Philippines Convener and Fintech Philippines Association Executive Director Amor Maclang revealed that 87 percent of its respondents now prefer cashless transactions and digital payments given the ongoing governmentimposed lockdowns and work-from-home arrangements.

She added the research by Google, TEMASEK, and Bain & Company that shows 95 percent of Filipinos who have tried digital services for the first time will continue to use them once this crisis is over.

“We foresee this momentum and collective interest in digitization accelerating in 2021, especially as our economy recovers,” she said, while citing that the Philippines remains a fintech hub in Asia.

“Despite the pandemic, our Internet-fueled economy or e-conomy stands at a strong $7.5 billion, which is projected to reach $28 billion in five years’ time. Its growth rate is at a resilient 55 percent, with HealthTech and EduTech emerging as among the most promising verticals. As we enter the new year, there are opportunities awaiting us after the crises, and partnerships like the one we are forging with Huawei can help Philippine businesses leverage on them for a full national economic recovery.”

The global leader in technology, she noted, can help realize this “given its experience in matching and merging appropriate technologies like the cloud and AI with various industry verticals. In partnership with its homeland, the People’s Republic of China, Huawei has been instrumental in the transition of many traditional industries in Asia into the digital arena. They are nurturing and developing what we call the Asia tech generation.”

O

NE of the first things I had to learn when I started out as an encoder for the editorial department of a newspaper was how to operate our gigantic printer—more specifically, how to fix a paper jam.

It was a very different time, as we would print hundreds of pages of articles after encoding them as some reporters still sent their stories via fax, and there were even handwritten ones from a few columnists. Our editors worked faster and preferred making corrections on paper rather than their PCs. At the end of the day, I’d sort out those which I could still recycle and use them to print articles from the Internet for study materials.

But a lot has changed since then and the digital world has taken over a lot of the publishing industry.

And while this column appears on print, I’m almost certain that you are reading a digital copy.

In the age of PDF and file sharing, how often does one really need or use a printer? Not much.

Even if you really wanted to get a printer for your home, investing on something you only use a few times a year might not be ideal.

And besides, you could always sneak in printing a few pages at the office, right?

Then Covid-19 struck and we all got stuck at home.

At first, it just proved that I really didn’t need a printer—that is, until a client asked for a paper billing and printed reports. I had to go out and find an open computer shop, which was hard during the first months of the ECQ. The future of business printing is changing, and with the shift to remote working, people starting small businesses and remote learning becoming the norm, the compact and multi-functional printer has become a need once again. So if you’ve been putting it off for quite some time, there’s never been a better time to get a printer.

Brother Philippines launched a new line of compact, space-saving print solutions that deliver improved user-friendliness, print speeds and stellar cost-effectiveness—all without compromising connectivity, print quality, and features.

Glenn Hocson, president at Brother Philippines, pointed out that with the increase in remote working and the implementation of social distancing protocols in the office, the benefits of decentralizing your printing fleet can result in significant cost-savings and a great boost to productivity. Brother’s latest Ink Tank Printers, he said, offers powerful and affordable solutions in small, compact packages that can be effortlessly deployed across home and office departments to provide excellent print quality while keeping printing costs low.

The series features five new models: DCP-T420W,

DCP-T520W, DCP-T720W, DCP-T820W and MFCT920W. Each one designed to accommodate different workloads, usage and budget, but all share a neat new feature—the ability to print any document wirelessly without the need to be logged in on your local network.

All of them also have this feature called Email Print which allows you to send your document to a designated e-mail and it will print the file for you even if you’re outside.

The one I’m currently using is the Brother DCPT420W, which is the most affordable of the lineup (priced at P7,650) but covers all the basic printing functionalities you need for a small home office.

The package includes everything you need to get started (except paper). You get the printer unit, its instruction manual, a power cord, a USB-to-PC cable, and four bottles of ink (cyan, magenta, yellow and black.)

Setting up and installation is pretty easy as it’s plug-and-play. This series can be used straight out of the box without the need for any driver installation on Windows 10 PCs and notebooks. Just make sure to follow the instructions on how to properly load the ink. The new printers have a transparent ink tank cover that allows you to clearly view individual ink levels for timely refills.

If you own an older Brother inkjet printer, you can still use your BT5000 cyan, magenta, and yellow inks, and D60 ink for black on the DCP-T420W. Each color/ bottle ink only costs P390.

Plug it into power source, turn on the WiFi button to easily connect the printer to your WiFi network, and load paper into the manual paper feeder to begin printing.

To start printing directly from your phone without having to transfer the file to your laptop, just download the Brother iPrint&Scan app from Google Play Store or Apple’s App Store. It’s also compatible

with Apple AirPrint, Mopria, and Wi-Fi Direct. The user interface has been reworked to make it easier than ever before to print, scan or copy.

Print time for documents take around 10 seconds and the DCP-T420W can print up to 16 inches per minute for black-and-white and 9 inches per minute for colored documents. It can print up to 1,200 x 6,000 dpi print quality and each bottle yields 7,500 pages (B/W) and 5,000 color pages.

Printing on the DCP-T420W is fast and the quality is great as it utilizes a new dye-based black ink. Document output is sharp with crisp lines and clear text even when using draft print settings. The same goes for colored printing and results in brilliant photos with nice color vibrancy. It supports borderless printing as well. All you need is to get quality photo paper so you can start creating photo albums again.

The new series all support Scanning and Copying for A4 sized documents and can be done through the app or at the push of a button.

The printer has become an unexpected work from home essential, and the Brother DCP-T420W will make a great addition to your home office or help you get started on your small business.

Like I mentioned, printing is fast, quality is great and the ink is cheap. It may be the entry-level printer of the series, but it does a superb job and offers all the features you’d want in a printer plus scanning and photocopying. You can also do everything faster wirelessly since you don’t need to transfer files to your PC. Brother is also offering an extended two-year warranty which is an additional bonus.

If you need an even more powerful printer, you can check out the other printers in the series, like the DCPT520W, the DCP-T720W that includes a copying tray and allows you to automatically print on both sides of the paper; the DCP-T820W for larger home office needs, and the MFC-T920W which adds a 1.8” color LCD and is for high volume printing. ■

SG-based firm develops CCTV video analytics to help curb Covid-19’s spread

BY JT NISAY WHILE identifying possible Covid-19 carriers in public spaces remains a key measure in controlling the global pandemic, the commonly-used infrared thermometers at building entries may be the wrong device for the job, according to a Singapore-based tech company.

Cognitive media processing group Graymatics proposes that the more effective monitoring measure is video analytics in CCTVs. As a company that develops scalable cloud platform that allows for automatic real-time indexing, analysis and classification of videos, Graymatics turns to video analytics to help ensure proper adherence to safety protocols.

“A large proportion of Covid infection cases have been asymptomatic, and arguably this has been the core reason for its massive spread,” said Abhijit Shanbhag, founder and CEO of Graymatics.

“Temperature monitoring is only one piece in the puzzle. Such measures can help block a fraction of the Covid positive cases from entering malls, for example, but perhaps even more important is to ensure that the visitors in these spaces are adhering to safe behavior

such as properly wearing masks, maintaining social distancing, etc.”

The tech executive drew the analogy of CCTVs as “eyes” that simply collect raw information, incapable of creating interpretations. Meanwhile, video analytics acts like the “brain,” which interprets information and provides meaningful insights.

Through the technology, Graymatics has assisted businesses worldwide to draw critical insights from what is seen every day, either for businesses to run safely or to enable them to understand their customers.

As the global tally of Covid-19 cases breaches the 100-million mark, Graymatics launched “COVIDEO. ai,” a product that leverages the company’s deep video AI platform to transform passive optical and thermal CCTV’s into different Covid safety solutions.

“This includes detecting if a mask is improperly worn, different social distancing violations graded by the severity, contact tracing at different levels, and more—all in a highly hardware-efficient manner and make it at commoditized pricing. This is a very important additional layer for businesses to open safely in this critical phase,” Shanbhag said.

Graymatics was founded in 2011 in Silicon

Valley with the vision to make the massive amount of CCTV video content “usable for operational efficiency, safety, security, monetization and enhancing people’s experience.” The company’s initial deployments were for Internet video aggregation sites, e-commerce applications, advertising and mobile apps. Three years ago, Graymatics shifted its focus to transforming the passive but ubiquitous CCTVs into compelling, useful solutions for different industries.

“Our focus currently is for Smart Spaces, which includes Smart Cities, Buildings, Retail and Manufacturing verticals. With APAC being a massive growth market for these opportunities, we moved our HQ from Silicon Valley to Singapore. We are particularly excited about the Philippines as a strong growth market adopting our video AI solutions in various innovative ways,” Shanbhag said.

As of press time, the Philippines has logged 516,166 cases of Covid-19 with more than 475,000 recoveries and over 10,000 deaths. On Monday, January 25, the Department of Health confirmed local transmission of the B117 variant of SARS-CoV-2, or the more contagious United Kingdom Covid-19 mutation, in Bontoc, Mountain Province, with 12 cases.

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GRAYMATICS founder and CEO Abhijit Shanbhag

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| Saturday, January 30, 2021 mirror_sports@yahoo.com.ph Editor: Jun Lomibao

CJ PEREZ TO SMB S

By Josef Ramos

AN MIGUEL Beer is expected to acquire the prolific CJ Perez from Terrafirma in a surprise off-season trade that would make the Beermen even more formidable when they try to regain the Philippine Cup they lost in the shortened Philippine Basketball Association’s (PBA) 45th season in the Clark bubble late last year.

Terrafirma Governor Bobby Rosales told BusinessMirror that the team already submitted the trade papers to the PBA Offices on Friday morning.

“I am confirming that we already submitted [the trade papers] but we are still waiting for the PBA’s approval,” said Rosales, adding that they let go of Perez to put together the

missing pieces that the Dyip need to become a competitive team.

In exchange for Perez, the Beermen will release to Terrafirma three players—Matt Rosser-Ganuelas, Russel Escoto and Gelo Alolino—plus San Miguel Beer’s first-round pick (No. 8) in the Rookie Draft next month.

“It’s hard to let go of CJ, he is a good player.

But our objective is to find the missing pieces especially in the coming rookie draft,” Rosales said. “We already have the top pick and now we have the eighth pick.”

Rosales said it would be up to Head Coach John Cardel on who to pick in the first round of the draft.

“It’s really a big sacrifice and we’re sad.

But we have to do it for the greater good of our team,” Rosales said.

Hall of Fame nominees screening on

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OMINATIONS for the fourth enshrinement of the Philippine Sports Hall of Fame (PSHOF) closes on Sunday with the various committees immediately buckling down to work on the final selection.

“We have already received additional nominations since the extension of the deadline

and we are expecting for more as we approach the deadline,” PSHOF 2020 Selection Committee chair and Philippine Sports Commission chairman William Ramirez said.

Ramirez will meet the Selection Committee members composed of Games and Amusements Board Chairman Abraham Mitra, Philippine

TERRAFIMA’S CJ Perez dunks against San Miguel Beer’s Mo Tautuaa during a Philippine Cup game in the Clark bubble late last year.

Reyes has the makings of a franchise player.

He was named the 2019 Rookie of the Year and brandished averages of 24.3 points, 6.8 rebounds and 4.2 assists in 11 games last season.

San Miguel Beer officials didn’t answer calls or replied to text messages from the BusinessMirror.

With Perez in the lineup and six-time Most Valuable Player June Mar Fajardo expected to return from a leg injury, the Beermen are dead serious at rebooting their domination of the all-Filipino conference. They couldn’t get past the quarterfinals in Clark with Barangay Ginebra San Miguel winning the title over TNT KaTropa in six games.

PBA Commissioner Willie Marcial was tightlipped about the trade.

“I haven’t seen it yet,” he said.

Terrafirma isn’t new to making controversial

trades. Then known as Kia, the team in 2017 traded its No. 1 pick then, Christian Standhardinger, also to San Miguel Beer in exchange for Jay-R Reyes, Rashawn McCarthy

and Ronald Tubid plus a 2019 first-round pick.

That trade courted controversy among the team owners and governors and also forced Chito Narvasa to resign as commissioner.

Olympic Committee Secretary-General Atty. Edwin Gastanes, PhilCycling Secretary-General Atty.

Avelino Sumagui, University Athletic Association of the Philippines Executive Director Atty. Rene Saguisag Jr. and Philippine Olympians Association President Akiko Thomson Guevara on February 11 for the presentation of nominees.

The selection committee earlier adopted a resolution approving the automatic nomination of Olympic medalists and looked at the

possibility of a virtual platform with mass gatherings still restricted during the pandemic.

Ramirez also bared the members of the Review and Evaluation Committee. They are Joaquin Henson of Philippine Star, Eduardo Andaya of People’s Tonight, Lorenzo Lomibao Jr. of BusinessMirror, Eriberto Talao of Manila Bulletin, Eduardo Catacutan Jr. of Spin.ph, Jose Antonio of People’s Journal, Reynaldo Bancod of Daily Tribune, and Prof. Theresa Jazmines of the University of the

Philippines College of Mass Communication.

Among the noted athletes already enshrined in the Hall of Fame are Asia’s first chess grandmaster Eugene Torre, Asia’s fastest woman Lydia de Vega, bowling world champions Rafael “Paeng” Nepomuceno and Olivia “Bong” Coo and Filipino boxing legend Gabriel “Flash” Elorde.

Serena, daughter visit zoo after completing quarantine

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DELAIDE, Australia—Serena Williams was preparing to play Naomi Osaka at an Adelaide exhibition tournament on Friday. But first things first—after 14 days in quarantine because of the Covid-19 pandemic regulations in Australia, the 23-time Grand Slam singles champion took her daughter to the zoo.

Williams said she’d been crossing off the 14 days of quarantine on a calendar, having spent the time with her three-year-old daughter Olympia.

“We went to the zoo,” Williams said of her first movements outside of quarantine. “I am so glad it’s over because to be in a room with a three-year-old and being her best friend is definitely difficult, especially after training and working out.

“Honestly, I wouldn’t trade anything, spending hours and hours and hours with her was really fun.”

Williams’s match against Osaka will be a reprise of their controversial 2018 US Open final. Osaka beat Williams, 6-2, 6-4, to claim her first major title but the match was most remembered for Williams’s verbal altercations with chair umpire Carlos Ramos.

In the opening match Friday at Adelaide, top-ranked Novak Djokovic missed the start of his scheduled exhibition match against emerging Italian talent Jannick Sinner, who was Rafael Nadal’s quarantine practice partner.

Djokovic got treatment for a blister on his right hand, leaving Sinner to play Filip Krajinovic, but the eight-time Australian Open champion arrived on court at the start of the second set to cheers from the crowd.

Krajinovic won the first set 6-3 and Djokovic the second by the same score to give the Serbian tag-team victory.

“I am sorry that I didn’t step on on the court from the beginning, I had to do some treatment with my physio,” Djokovic told the crowd in a post-match interview. “I wanted to play, I wanted to get out there.”

A television close-up had earlier showed a large blister on the palm of his Djokovic’s right hand, where his racket would sit.

“It’s part of what we do, we learn over the years to play with the pain,” Djokovic said. “But I saw the crowds and the emotion was so strong for me to come out, I had to play.”

A few hours earlier, Djokovic, who has already had Covid-19, celebrated the end of his

Gilas pool in high morale –Coach Tab

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T’S “no homecourt advantage, no problem” for the members of the men’s national pool who continue to train inside the Inspire Sports Academy bubble in Calamba, according to Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas (SBP) program director Tab Baldwin on Friday.

“They are fine, the players just keep working. I am really impressed with the work ethic of the players,” Baldwin said. “I am a little bit hopeful that we could be advancing the complexity of our system a little bit more but we have a lot of young players.”

The SBP withdrew from hosting the third window of the International Basketball Federation Asia Cup Qualifiers because of strict travel restrictions.

The third window was scheduled from February 18 to 21 at the Clark bubble. The Qatar basketball federation came to the rescue and accepted the hosting chores in the capital of Doha.

“The players inside the bubble are getting better and morale stays high despite losing their home court advantage in the third window,” Baldwin said. “The coaches are a little bit patient, the PBA [Philippine Basketball Association] players are being very patient. We are certainly getting better.”

The Philippines will play South Korea in Group A on February 18 followed by Indonesia on February 20 and again South Korea on February 22.

Doha will also host Group E composed of Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Syria and Iran and Group B made up of China, Chinese-Taipei, Japan and Malaysia on the same dates.

The PBA players in the Calamba bubble include Kiefer Ravena and Raul Soyud of NLEX, CJ Perez of Terrafirma, Justin Chua of Phoenix and Troy Rosario and Roger Pogoy of TNT. Also in the bubble are Gilas caders Isaac Go, Kenmark Cariño, Calvin Oftana, Matt and Mike Nieto, Rey Suerte, Javi and Juan Gomez de Liaño, William Navarro, Dave Ildefonso, Justine Baltazar and Dwight Ramos and naturalized candidate Ange Kouame.

Baldwin said the SBP is awaiting for the arrival of 7-foot-3 Zachary “Kai” Sotto from the United States. Josef Ramos quarantine with a barefoot walk in a local park.

“Just putting bare feet on the ground,” he said. “Just doing something that I didn’t have a chance to do. So just having space, that is what we all kind of missed.”

Nadal and Dominic Thiem, who have won the past two majors played in Paris and New York, were scheduled to start the night session Friday at Adelaide before women’s No. 1 Ash Barty took on Simona Halep. It will be Barty’s first match in 11 months.

The Adelaide tournament is the only Australian Open tune-up tournament that isn’t being played in Melbourne. The others, including the ATP Cup and three WTA events, will starting getting under way from Sunday.

The Australian Open starts February 8.

In Melbourne, the first of the players to leave quarantine were greeted with the city’s often fickle weather—rain showers.

The National Tennis Centre at Melbourne Park has eight indoor courts and officials were expected to be inundated with requests from players, particularly those who have been in hard lockdown, for court time.

Those 72 players, who were on board the same three charter flights as the nine passengers who tested positive to Covid-19, have been unable to leave their rooms while others have been able to train for up to five hours a day.

Tennis Australia Chief Executive Craig Tiley said players who had been in hard lockdown would be given priority. AP

SERENA WILLIAMS makes a selfie at the Adelaide Zoo. COURTESY ADELAIDE ZOO

NBA makes more schedule changes

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EW YORK—The National Basketball Association (NBA) rescheduled four games Thursday, along with making several time changes to upcoming contests.

Toronto’s game in Boston will now be February 11, moved up from February 12. Detroit will play at Boston on February 12, moved up from February 14.

And on February 14, Boston will go to Washington while New Orleans will visit Detroit.

Both of those games were intended to have been played sometime in the season’s second half, which will take place between March 11 and May 16.

Also Thursday, the league pushed back the start times of 16 upcoming contests. That has happened to about three dozen games so far in

order to allow for more time to process Covid-19 tests before players take the floor.

The NBA said Wednesday it would begin rescheduling some games because of the postponements that have occurred this season for virus-related reasons. The league said it would specifically “focus on the teams with the most postponed games to date,” which would include Washington, Memphis and Boston.

The Wizards have had six games postponed and two games rescheduled already. The Grizzlies have seen six of their games postponed and Boston is among the clubs with three games that were called off so far.

The NBA has postponed 22 games this season, 21 since January 10. AP

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