BusinessMirror July 22, 2020

BSP cuts TB, RCB reserve requirement A NOTHER P10 billion worth of liquidity will be released into the economy’s cash stream, as the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) decided to cut the reserve requirement of smaller banks on Tuesday.

In a statement, BSP Governor Benjamin Diokno announced a 100-basis-point reduction in the reserve requirements of thrift banks (TBs), rural and cooperative banks (RCBs) effective July 31, 2020.

Diokno told reporters that the deposits and deposit substitute liabilities of thrift, rural and cooperative banks currently amount to about P1 trillion. This means that the BSP’s move will release P10 billion of fresh liquidity infusion into the economy.

The reserve requirement is the portion of depositors’ balances that banks are asked to keep idle in the BSP’s vaults as reserves. A reduction of the reserve requirement means

ANTONIO MALONZO, 76, of Sampaloc, Manila, uses a bicycle modified to include trainers and two front wheels for stability, as an alternative mode of transportation and a way for him to exercise as well. NONIE REYES

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that banks are required to deposit less in the BSP’s coffers, thus leaving them with more loanable funds for the public.

“The reduction is expected to increase lending capacity of these banks to support financing requirements of their micro-, small- and medium-enterprise, as well as rural community-based clients. It will also help lower intermediation costs and ease financial strain faced by these banks’ customers,” Diokno said.

“This move is also part of the BSP’s omnibus package of reforms aimed at assisting the banking public with their liquidity requirements during the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic and supporting the transition toward a sustainable recovery during the post-crisis period,” he added.

With the reduction, the reserve requirements of TBs and RCBs will be 3 percent and 2 percent, respectively.

As part of its response to aid the economy amid the pandemic, the BSP Monetary Board in March approved a 200-basis-point reduction in the reserve requirements of universal/commercial banks and nonbank financial institutions with quasi-banking functions. The decision was authorized by the Monetary Board through a special meeting called for on Monday.

This move has effectively released P180 billion into the local cash stream.

The cut is one of the slew of actions the BSP made in an effort to keep the economy afloat amid the Covid-19 pandemic. In a span of five months Diokno has already cut the BSP’s main policy rate by 150 basis points.

The BSP also announced that it is buying P300 billion worth of government securities from the Bureau of the Treasury to finance the government’s Covid-19 rescue package.

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OF BIZ FOR REOPENING

TEACHERS at the Jesus Dela Peña National High School in Marikina City undergo online training on e-learning on Tuesday in preparation for the opening of classes in August. NONOY LACZA

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By Elijah Felice Rosales

HE Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) will issue next week the reclassified list of business activities allowed to operate during the quarantine, as it eyes to reopen the economy further to minimize revenue losses and boost the return to work.

Trade Secretary Ramon M. Lopez on Tuesday said the DTI is in the process of reclassifying the industries authorized to do business during the quarantine. Although a number of activities will remain shut under the new guidelines, he hinted that several of those previously prohibited will soon be permitted to operate.

“We can live with the virus, and that’s the mindset now. We just have to manage it. The virus is here to

stay, but we should slowly reopen the economy,” Lopez told reporters.

“Even under MGCQ [modified general community quarantine], I think there are activities which we can consider too risky to allow.

These activities require people to stay close to each other, with no social distancing in place,” he added.

Asked what industries will be kept suspended for the duration of the quarantine, Lopez said Continued on A2

Palace certifies 3 bills boosting FI power

By Jovee Marie N. Dela Cruz

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HE Palace has certified as urgent three bills further assisting financial institutions, which are tasked to help critical industries adversely affected by the Covid-19 pandemic.

During a briefing, House Committee on Banks and Financial Inter-

mediaries Chairman Junie Cua listed the measures—amendments to Agri-Agra Reform Act, the Financial Institutions Strategic (FIST) bill, the Government Financial Institutions Unified Initiatives to Distressed Enterprises for Economic Recovery (GUIDE) bills—as having been Palace-certified in order to fast-track their approval in Congress.

PESO EXCHANGE RATES n US 49.4150

The House has already approved on third and final reading the proposed amendments to Agri-Agra Reform Act and the Financial Institutions Strategic bill. These two bills are now pending in the Senate.

“For the information of the committee, three of our five bills were certified as urgent because they are forming part of the total

[economic] stimulus package of the government,” Cua said.

According to Cua, the House will prioritize passage of the GUIDE bill when session resumes next week.

BSP backing

DURING the pre-Sona forum, Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) See “Palace,” A2

HOUSEHOLD SPENDING SEEN DROPPING 6.5% ON COVID’S IMPACT

By Tyrone Jasper C. Piad

H

OUSEHOLD consumption—a major driver for the Philippines’ economic recovery—is seen to decline by 6.5 percent this year due to a surge in joblessness and lockdown measures imposed by the government amid the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) pandemic, a bank official said.

Frederico Rafael D. Ocampo, BDO Unibank Inc.’s senior vice president and head of Trust and Investment Group-Asset Management, noted that household spending accounted for 72 percent of GDP last year. Bulk of this is represented by food, nonalcoholic beverages and other essentials.

However, with many Filipino consumers staying at home and observing physical distancing, the bank official said, “there’s not much consumption going on.”

At a webinar hosted by the Financial Executives of the Philippines (Finex) on Tuesday, he said, “The Philippines was one of the most severely affected in the Asean region in terms of people going out to the workplace, retail or malls, transit stations, grocery stores.”

Continued on A2

n JAPAN 0.4608 n UK 62.5742 n HK 6.3746 n CHINA 7.0679 n SINGAPORE 35.5683 n AUSTRALIA 34.6646 n EU 56.5505 n SAUDI ARABIA 13.1773

Source: BSP (July 21, 2020)

News BusinessMirror

A2 Wednesday, July 22, 2020

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New funds from ongoing RTB sale now exceed February level HE Bureau of the Treasury said it has already raised more than P250 billion in “new money” from its ongoing sale of five-year Retail Treasury Bonds (RTB).

National Treasurer Rosalia V. De Leon shared this development with reporters on Tuesday, just a few days after kicking off the pub-

lic offer period for the 24th tranche of RTBs (RTB 24) dubbed as Progreso (progress) Bonds.

To recall, the Treasury raised

DTI readies new list of biz for reopening Continued from A1

the DTI has yet to finalize the list, but will likely release it next week the latest.

“There are only a few activities left under Category IV that are barred under GCQ and will open only under modified GCQ. There are activities in which social distancing will be difficult to do.

We are assessing those activities.

Hopefully, by this week or next week, we can issue the new classifications,” Lopez explained.

10 categories

UNDER Memorandum Circular 20-33, at least 10 types of business establishments in Category IV are prohibited from operating in areas under general community quarantine.

They are Internet and computer shops; education establishments; entertainment industries; kid amusement parks; libraries, museums and cultural centers; tourist spots; travel agencies, tour operators and reservation services; personal-care services; and petgrooming services. Fitness studios in GCQ areas may operate as long as they engage in noncontact sports only.

If there is one thing certain, some activities under Category IV will remain in that classification for the duration of the quarantine, the trade chief said.

“Once the quarantine is lifted, when it is already new

normal, we will authorize them [industries under Category IV] to open. It’s just that as long as we have quarantine, it will be difficult for us to allow those activities because we think it is too risky,” he explained.

In line with the move to reopen the economy further, the DTI last week issued a memorandum circular increasing the dine-in capacity of restaurants and fast food in GCQ areas to 50 percent, from 30 percent, and in MGCQ areas to 75 percent, from 50 percent.

Lopez is asking local government units to extend curfew hours up to 12 midnight to allow food services to operate at least until 11 in the evening. He argued that longer hours of operations would cut the revenue losses of firms, as well as improve the income of workers.

According to Lopez, restaurants and fast food were far from breaking even at the previous dine-in capacity of 30 percent, and increasing it to 50 percent gives them the opportunity to recover lost revenue from the lockdown.

Whether the country is ready to reopen the economy further from a public health viewpoint is a different question, however. Local Covid-19 infections could reach 85,000 with 2,000 deaths by the end of July, according to experts from the University of the Philippines.

As of July 21, there are 70,764 cases in the Philippines, one of the highest tallies in Southeast Asia.

Total deaths now stand at 1,951.

a total of P310.8 billion from the 23rd tranche of RTB offered early this year. About P60.8 billion of this amount was raised through a switch tender offer or debt swap.

Last Thursday the Treasury raised P192.707 billion from its rate-setting auction of RTB 24, more than six times the initial P30-billion offer.

The Progreso Bonds was set with an annual fixed interest rate of 2.625 percent, payable every quarter, with a maturity date on August 12, 2025.

The three-week public offer period for Progreso Bonds is sched-

NATIONAL Treasurer Rosalia V. De Leon

uled to last until August 7. However, the Treasury may opt to cut the public offer period earlier than scheduled.

The issuance of new RTBs due

2025 also comes with an exchange offer for RTB 10-01, RTB 10-02, FXTN 05-73 and/or FXTN 07-57.

This scheme allows investors with these maturing specific bonds to shift to RTB 24 at no extra cost, the Treasury said.

The total outstanding amount of bonds eligible for the debt swap is about P321 billion.

RTBs are generally considered low risk for investors as these allow them to earn on a fixed interest based on prevailing market rates.

Investors can park their cash in RTBs for minimum denominations of P5,000.

Amid Covid, proper disposal of medical waste flagged

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TRESSING that the amount of Covid-19-related medical waste may also increase significantly as cases keep rising, the Department of Health (DOH) on Tuesday reminded hospitals and quarantine facilities to strictly impose the proper handling of medical waste to control the source of infection and prevent transmission of the deadly disease.

As of July 21, the DOH reported that the total number of Covid-19 cases increased to 70,764.

Responding to the inquiry of the BusinessMirror during the DOH Beat Covid televised press conference, Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire said that the DOH had come up with Department Memorandum 2020-0170, or the Interim Guidelines on the Management of Health Facilities, Community Quarantine Units and Temporary Treatment and Monitoring Facilities (TTMF) with Cases of Covid-19, on the proper handling of hospital waste.

The memorandum is to provide guidance on the proper management of all Covid-19-related health-care waste in all health facilities, community quarantine units, and TTMF to prevent the spread of the disease.

The DOH underscored that waste management must be given priority to address the increase in the generation of hazardous waste, especially infectious waste related to Covid-19, as well as to ensure the welfare of all users of health-care facilities.

“The Department of Health hereby issues these guidelines on health-care waste management in all facilities with suspect, probable and confirmed Covid-19 patients as redefined in the latest patient classification of Covid-19 Case Definition for Surveillance,” the memo read.

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By Bernadette D. Nicolas

Hospitals and quarantine facilities, Vergeire said, should follow the rules and regulations as mandated by the Environmental Management Bureau of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources, including following the “waste route” for hazardous and non-hazardous waste.

She said the proper disposal for treated infectious waste is at designated sanitary landfills.

Public education EARLIER, an environmental group warned that medical waste is expected to increase with the ongoing Covid-19 outbreak.

Leon Dulce, national coordinator of Kalikasan Peoples Network for the Environment, said the public should be educated also on how to properly dispose of the face masks they are using.

“We need to educate the public and urge direct interventions from public authorities on the need to disinfect used face masks, tissue papers and other waste potentially contaminated with Co-

vid-19,” Dulce said in a statement.

He added that if the government does not initiate mass disinfection measures, the country’s 44,000 tons of waste generated daily “are now likely infectious and can cause new surges in Covid-19 outbreaks.”

The group warned of potential risk as the increased use of face masks, personal protective equipment and other contaminated waste outside medical facilities may get mixed with municipal waste.

There are 135 treatment, storage and disposal facilities for hospital waste.

In fact, this is evidenced already by the first-quarter figures, Ocampo said, stressing that the lockdown was only imposed in two weeks out of the three-month period.

Private consumption in the first quarter only grew by 0.2 percent. Spending on non-essentials, recreation, transport, hotels, alcoholic beverages and tobacco all went down.

BDO is expecting household consumption to contract in the next quarters: 15.1 percent in the first quarter, 8.2 percent in the second quarter, and 3.2 percent in the fourth quarter. For the full year, this brings the figure to a 6.5-percent plunge, which is markedly lower compared to the 5.9-percent growth in 2019.

The jobs factor

MEANWHILE, Ocampo flagged the substantial increase in unemployment, noting that employment is supporting the household spending.

At least 5 million Filipinos lost their jobs in April following the pandemic-induced lockdown in several parts of the country, according to the Philippine Statistics Authority. This translates to 17.7-percent growth in unemployment year-on-year.

The Sy-led bank was expecting the economy to grow by 6.5 percent prior to the pandemic. It has revised its outlook to 5.9-percent contraction since, adding that a 3.3-percent growth is expected for next year on the back of the government’s stimulus package.

With a recovery anticipated next year, BDO said household consumption might grow by 2 percent in 2021.

Fitch Solutions in May downgraded its household spending outlook for the Philippines to 3.4 percent this year from 5.8 percent earlier as consumers will likely focus only on the essentials like food and health-related expenses.

According to a survey conducted by the BSP, the country’s spending outlook index of household on basic goods and services slumped to 33.3 percent for the second quarter from 37.1 percent a quarter ago.

Aggressive stance

OCAMPO said that BSP is among the “more aggressive” central banks in terms of policy and reserve requirement cuts.

The Monetary Board in June trimmed the interest rate on BSP’s overnight reverse repurchase facility by 50 basis points (bp) to 2.25 percent, bringing deposit and lending rates to 1.75 percent and 2.75 percent, respectively.

On Tuesday, the Central Bank also reduced the reserve requirements of thrift banks, rural and cooperative banks by 100 bp to increase lending capacity for micro, small and medium enterprises.

The BSP earlier approved cutting the reserve requirements of universal/commercial banks and nonbank financial institutions with quasi-banking functions by 200 bp as well.

The BDO official said that the

A TOTAL of 1,951 confirmed cases were reported on Tuesday based on the total tests done by 73 out of 84 current operational labs.

The DOH also announced that there were 209 recoveries. This brings the total number of recoveries to 23,281.

Two deaths were reported. The death toll stood at 1,837.

Claudeth Mocon-Ciriaco

lower interest rates could help the businesses recover. “This [lower interest rate] should help the private sector and business to stimulate and expand,” he explained.

However, as observed, the large companies and conglomerates in the country have been reducing capital expenditures by an average of 30 percent, Ocampo said.

Some businesses, he added, have also trimmed operational expenses, cut salaries and laid off employees as cash-saving measures.

boosted its dollar reserves, too.

The BSP recently reported that the country’s gross international reserves reached an all-time high of $93.32 billion as of end-June.

This can cover 8.4 months’ worth of imports of goods and payments of services and primary income.

On Tuesday, the peso weakened slightly to P49.39 against the greenback from P49.375 the previous day, according to data from the Bankers Association of the Philippines.

Resilient peso

THE rising Covid-19 cases remain to be a key concern to economic recovery, Ocampo said.

“We are just in the first wave,” he stressed. “The Philippines was never able to flatten the curve and so our cases just keep rising.”

Ocampo said that this would stress out the public health system.

He also said that the country should look out for the unemployment figures and delays in government spending.

Apart from these, the re-escalation of tensions between the United States and China is seen to be a major risk.

AMID the pandemic, Ocampo said that the Philippine peso has remained strong, noting that it has recorded a return of 2.4 percent in the January-to-July period. This made the peso the best performing currency in Asia so far.

He attributed the strength of the currency to the weak demand for dollars due to lower imports.

“Both the government and private sector have deferred imports. This resulted in a narrower, rather than wider, trade deficit,” Ocampo said.

He pointed out that the country’s offshore borrowings have

Continued from A1

Governor Benjamin E. Diokno said that, while there are initiatives to mitigate the impact of Covid-19, the BSP continues to push for the passage of several legislative priorities and measures. Among these measures are the FIST and GUIDE bills.

The FIST bill aims to help financial institutions in their bad debt resolution and in the management of their non-performing assets (NPAs) in order to cushion the adverse impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on their financial operations. The NPAs consist of the financial institutions’ non-performing loans (NPLs) and real and other properties acquired (ROPAs) in settlement of loans and receivables.

The bill encourages financial institutions to sell NPAs to asset management companies, created as Financial Institutions Strategic Transfer Corporations (FISTC), that specialize in the resolution of distressed assets.

The GUIDE bill, meanwhile, seeks to strengthen the capacity of the government financial institutions, including Philippine Guarantee Corp., the Land Bank of the Philippines, and the Development Bank of the Philippines in order to provide the needed assistance to micro, small and medium enterprises and other strategically important companies.

Moreover, Cua said the amendments to the Agri-Agra law will make it easier for banks to pump up fresh capital to the farm sector.

“Agri-Agra law, which was legislated with a very good and noble intention, requires banking institutions to set aside a credit quota to lend out agricultural sector and agrarian reform beneficiaries. But unfortunately, banks preferred to be penalized instead of lending to small farmers and to agrarian reform beneficiaries,” he said.

Covid -19 cases

Household spending seen dropping 6.5% on Covid’s impact Continued from A1

Palace…

Major risks

CUA: “If we can only ensure that the banking industry can ‘productively comply,’ meaning they will not be afraid to lend because they know the organized farmers will be able to repay, then those credit quota is definitely sufficient to address the needs of the agricultural sector.”

Based on their study, Cua said, the more important reason banks are unable to lend out is their view that small farmers, “if they are not organized…are not only poor credit risk, their ability to repay is [also] very low.”

And, “instead of lending to one organization ,you need to deal with 1,000 people [who are] borrowing P25,000, so the cost of lending is very high,” he added.

According to Cua, “if we can only ensure that the banking industry can ‘productively comply,’ meaning they will not be afraid to lend because they know the organized farmers will be able to repay, then those credit quota is definitely sufficient to address the needs of the agricultural sector.”

For his part, Manila Teachers Rep. Virgilio Lacson asked the BSP to be stringent with the Agri-Agra law to stimulate the economy immediately.

According to Lacson, the compliance rate of all banks with AgriAgra Law is very low.

The Agri-Agra Reform Credit Act of 2009 (Republic Act 10000) mandates banks to allot at least 10 percent of total loanable funds for agrarian reform beneficiaries (ARBs) and 15 percent for farmers and fisherfolk. Under the amendatory bill now under congressional scrutiny, the required allotment for agrarian reform beneficiaries and agriculture will be merged to a whole 25 percent, with no delineation as to what percentage is needed for agrarian reform and for agriculture.

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Duterte OKs limited face-to-face learning in ‘low-risk’ areas

By Samuel P. Medenilla @sam_medenilla

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OME schools in areas with lowrisk levels of novel coronavirus disease (Covid-19) infections may be allowed to hold limited faceto-face classes next year.

This after President Duterte approved on Monday evening the proposal of the Department of Education (DepEd) to implement the said arrangement to allow more students to continue their education during community quarantines.

In her approved proposal, Education Secretary Leonor MagtolisBriones said the limited face-toface classes will be implemented starting in January 2021.

In an online news briefing on Tuesday, Presidential spokesman Harry Roque said the scheme will only be allowed in areas, which would be classified by the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF) as low risk for Covid-19 infections.

He also said it should be done by the concerned schools in coordination with the Department of Education (DepEd), local government units (LGU), and the Department of Health (DOH).

The said school must also conduct a pilot test of the scheme, which will be overseen by the National Task Force Against Covid-19 to ensure that the necessary minimum health standards will be implemented.

Briones noted these specifications will effectively make the scheme accessible only for some schools. “ T his is not for ever yone.

This will not be forced to all the schools, It will only be available for areas where there is a low health risk like the island provinces with zero level of Covid-19 cases,” Briones stressed.

She said schools, which would like to practice limited face-to-face classes should write to their education regional director, which have jurisdiction in their area, and get the approval of the IATF. The education chief also assured parents will have the option not allow their children to attend the limited face-to-face classes.

She added that affected children will be given other alternative modes of education under the blended learning approach of DepEd, which includes lessons to be delivered through the Internet, television, radio, or printed materials.

Briones also highlighted the im-

portance of human interaction following the approval of President Duterte to allow limited face-toface classes in areas with low risk of coronavirus infection in January next year.

“Mahalaga ang human interaction...matuto ang mga bata sa adults, sa mga bata [if there is a personal interaction]. If we can do this despite Covid, on a limited scale, then we will have fulfilled our mandate to help nurture a complete, a full, a whole individual and not a robot,” Briones shared during the “Laging Handa” televised news briefing.

Citing data from the health department on Covid-19 cases, she said that few children have contracted the disease.

Based on the confirmed cases of 67,456 as of July 19, the incidence for the ages 5 to 17 years old, which is the age group for Kindergarten to Grade 12, was 2,832 or 4.20 percent of total confirmed cases.

In terms of deaths, there is 16 recorded deaths for the 5 to 17 years old age group, or 0.87 percent of the total deaths of 1,831 as of July 19.

The DepEd chief underscored that limited face-to-face learning will be strictly regulated and that schools must comply with the requirements of four agencies: 1. Location of the schools must be assessed as low risk areas by the IATF; 2. Schools must be harmonious with the state of physical facilities of DepEd: a) The size of the classroom should meet the requirements for social distancing, and b) Classrooms must be in a standard physical condition; 3. Schools must meet the minimum health standards of the DOH; and 4) Host local government unit must be ready to support financially, as well as in other ways the requirements for limited face-toface learning.

A small number of private schools which have started limited face-toface classes last June will be allowed to continue, however.

Briones also stressed that before any face-to-face classes will be allowed in January next year, there will be pilot testing and inspection to be done jointly with the National Task Force Against Covid-19 to ensure that the required health standards and protocols are working, and possible glitches are addressed.

With Claudeth Mocon-Ciriaco

SC order: PNP to take custody of newly arrested criminals

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O prevent further spread of Covid-19 infections among prisoners, the Supreme Court has directed all trial court judges to order the detention of newly arrested criminal offenders in the facilities of the Philippine National Police (PNP).

Court Administrator Jose Midas Marquez issued the directive in a circular issued on Tuesday in response to the request of Interior Secretary Eduardo M. Año.

Año asked the SC to temporarily suspend the issuance of commitment orders to the facilities under the Bureau of Jail Management and

Penology to prevent the further contamination of Covid-19 among persons deprived of liberty (PDLs) in all jails nationwide.

The DILG secretary noted that PNP chief Director General Archie Francisco F. Gamboa has issued an undertaking that “the PNP can, in the meantime, accommodate newly arrested PDLs.” Thus, the circular mandates that “all judges shall issue commitment orders for newly arrested PDLs…until August 31, 2020, to the local PNP units, unless the local BJMP jail units are already able to admit newly arrested PDLs during this period.” Joel R. San Juan

Editor: Vittorio V. Vitug • Wednesday, July 22, 2020 A3

Cadet’s grape ‘theft’ case threatens to stir Honor Code furor at PMA

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By Rene Acosta

@reneacostaBM

TUDENTS and graduates of the Philippine Military Academy (PMA) have been reported to be silently protesting the decision of Superintendent Vice Adm. Allan Ferdinand Cusi to mete a lesser penalty to a cadet who was found to have violated the “Honor Code,” widely defined as “a system of ethics, or code of conduct, applying to military cadets studying at military academies.”

Cusi’s decision over the case of Cadet 3rd Class (second year) Desemoore Guillermo triggered protests from cadets and alumni, and may put the academy into the spotlight of controversy following the death of cadet 4th class Darwin Dormitorio in a hazing murder case last year wherein several individuals were charged.

Reports said that Guillermo stole five pieces of grapes from the refrigerator of the “First Class Club,”

the club exclusively owned by the 1st class cadets, or the graduating class, in what was considered to be a violation of the code, the timehonored sacred creed being practiced and observed by cadets in the PMA. The Honor Code is also considered as a “covenant” “exclusive” among the students, which states that cadets “do not steal, cheat and lie nor tolerate those among us who do.”

It was sacred that no cadet can go against this creed, and it was even

used in the case of Dormitorio in unmasking those who were involved in the hazing.

A retired general and graduate of the academy said that after several months of trial, Guillermo reportedly admitted her guilt, and “as expected of her, she did the honorable thing of voluntarily submitting her resignation, then started processing her papers for clearing out.”

However, when the case reportedly reached Cusi, the Navy official reportedly convened a “Board of Senior Officers” to review the case, which subsequently recommended for the dismissal of Guillermo.

“But to the shock of everybody, especially the Cadet Corps, the superintendent caused the issuance of an order last July 7 that instead of resignation/dismissal, Cadet Guillermo [was] meted only 51 demer its, 180 hours punishment tours and 180 confinement days inside barracks effective July 2020,” the retired general said.

“This greatly demoralized not only the Cadet Corps, but also the PMA Officer Corps, especially the Peemayers for what they considered a grave mistake committed by the superintendent. This is very sad because this has serious im-

TB cases down 20 percent in PHL Drilon thumbs down House but DOH chief is not at all elated move to amend

By Claudeth Mocon-Ciriaco Correspondent

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UBERCULOSIS (TB) cases in the Philippines in the first three months of 2020 has significantly gone down.

From January to March this year, the National Tuberculosis Control Program (NTP) of the Department of Health recorded a total of 88,662 new and relapse TB cases, or a decline of almost 20 percent between February (30,728) and March (24,782).

But the Department of Health (DOH) said this does not necessarily mean good news.

“We see this as a direct effect of the Covid-19 pandemic on a critical disease prevention and control program like TB,” said Health Secretary Francisco T. Duque III. “The quarantine [period] has extremely affected and limited the health seeking behaviors of our fellow Filipinos,” he added.

Using a projection modeling based on a recent study of the global StopTB Partnership, DOH estimates that because of the pandemic, notified cases in 2020 will only reach 72 percent of the annual target.

By the end of 2022, if this trend continues, the DOH warned that the Philippines will miss its commitment by almost 300,000 cases.

“One TB case that we fail to find and treat may spread the infection to at least 10 other people. The reservoir of undetected TB cases will further increase,” Duque warned.

According to Duque, unlike other health programs, having fewer cases is not an indicator of success for the TB program.

“Our goal for our TB program is

to find and treat as many TB cases as possible. Only by finding and treating these cases can we limit its spread and achieve our dream of a TB-free Philippines,” Duque said.

In recent years, the DOH has boosted its active case finding initiatives, organizing community outreach activities and setting up local TB task forces for community surveillance.

From 2017 to 2019, the DOH reached, on the average, 93 percent of its annual target of notified cases. But the Covid-19 quarantine has restricted such interventions to find, test, treat and prevent TB cases in hospitals, health facilities and communities.

On March 16, 2020 the DOHNTP issued Department Memorandum 2020-0128 entitled, “Ensuring Continuous TB Services During Community Quarantine” to provide guidance and ensure safety of both the facility staff and patients, who are at high risk of infection.

The following guidelines are also recommended for the implementation of the different screening activities and surveillance: a. Screening of Presumptive TB, through passive, active, intensified, or enhanced case finding, shall continue subject to mandated social distancing and usual infection control procedures. Avoid gathering people in one place for TB screening and provide masks for health-care staff and patients. b. Usual contact tracing efforts are still to be implemented with strict compliance on infection control measures. c. Reporting or notification of cases are still through the Integrated TB Information System (ITIS).

Soon after the general community

quarantine was imposed in Metro Manila and other parts of the country, the DOH also issued an administrative order to ensure continuous TB services.

Patients who are currently enrolled for TB treatment in government facilities were advised to secure their onemonth supply of anti-TB medicines.

“We are taking unprecedented steps to treat our fellow Filipinos with active TB disease. We are monitoring our stocks to make sure those with active TB have access to free medicines and are able to complete their treatment regimen,” said Duque.

The DOH through the NTP is continuously working to ensure uninterrupted TB services during community quarantine and is closely collaborating with its key partners to mitigate the effects of Covid-19 through various initiatives and innovations.

TB Patients are encouraged to establish a close coordination with their health providers during the pandemic.

Likewise, health-care providers are also mandated to call and follow up with patients every 1 to 2 weeks to check for any problems or adverse reactions that the patient may experience.

In 2019, the Philippines had the highest TB incidence in Asia with 554 cases per 100,000 people, according to a World Health Organization report. Approximately 74 Filipinos die of TB every day and is among the top 10 causes of death in the country.

In September 2018, Duque committed to find and treat 2.5 million Filipinos with TB at the United Nations High Level Meeting on TB in New York City. Since then, the DOH has recorded 1.1 million TB cases, leaving 1.4 million more cases to find and treat in the next 2.5 years.

No RT-PCR test, no flight policy to take effect in at least four foreign destinations

By Recto Mercene

F

@rectomercene

OUR international destinations are requiring incoming passengers to present a real-time reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RTPCR) tests as pre-requisite to board f lights.

plications to both the cadets and alumni,” he added.

As it is a strict and time-honored covenant, the Honor Code has showed the exit for most cadets who left, or have been expelled from the PMA, in the past.

The “deplorable” action of Cusi, according to the retired general, has “caused a lot of grumbling and restiveness among the cadet corps and alumni,” adding it has to be “rectified soonest so as not to set a bad precedent.”

“If not corrected or rectified, it is feared that this would surely open a wide door for more honor violations.

It is also grossly unfair and unjust for those former cadets who have resigned/dismissed due to honor violations,” he said.

“What is bothersome is, what if these resigned/dismissed cadets makes an appeal for reconsideration of their cases? Will they get reinstated? If they do, then the Honor Code and Honor System is doomed, thus [it] would significantly weaken PMA as an institution and eventually be reduced into a common scholarship school comparable to the rest of the country,” he added.

The retired general said that the case has been the hot topic within and outside the PMA and in various social-media chat groups.

These destinations are Abu Dhabi, Dubai, South Korea and Hong Kong.

“All affected passengers are strongly advised to get in touch with their respective air carriers to get the details on the implementation of the new requirement,” the Manila International Airport Authority (Miaa) announced.

Passengers without the required negative PCR test certification may not be allowed to check in for their f lights, even if they have confirmed bookings.

The Hong Kong government said that they will implement the new requirement on July 25, 2020.

“Travelers coming to Hong Kong

who failed to comply with requirement to provide information, or knowingly, or recklessly, provides any information that is false, or misleading, [will be]… liable on conviction to the maximum penalty of a fine at Level 3 [$10,000] and imprisonment for six months,” warns the Special Administrative Region.

Constitution

By Butch Fernandez @butchfBM

S

ENATE Minority Leader Franklin M. Drilon has dumped the renewed initiative in the House of Representatives to revive the aborted plan to tinker with the Constitution soon as lawmakers reconvene regular sessions starting next week.

Drilon affirmed Tuesday his determination to stand in the way of the renewed efforts to push Charter change (Cha-cha) in Congress, even as lawmakers signaled determination to start deliberations to pave the way for amending the Constitution.

Drilon dismissed efforts to revive the “very divisive” Cha-cha issues, suggesting that lawmakers should instead focus on crafting remedial legislation to revive the economy.

In a news statement, Drilon asserted that “regardless of the merit, the issue on Cha-cha is the timing: Should we debate on Cha-cha now, which is a very divisive issue, or should we concentrate all our effortsandresourcesoneconomicrecovery?”

At the same time, the senator from Iloilo voiced concerns that discussing Cha-cha in the State of the Nation Address (Sona) is “a waste of time” and stressed that the Sona should just focus on the President’s plans for the country’s recovery and healing from the Covid-19 pandemic.

He affirmed his position on learning that the Department of the Interior and Local Government confirmed last week that the League of Municipalities of the Philippines passed a resolution seeking Charter changes, purportedly to “lift the restrictions on foreign investment,” among others.

A4 Wednesday, July 22, 2020 • Editor: Vittorio V. Vitug

Economy BusinessMirror

DA lists Taguig as 1st agri-aqua industrial biz corridor in Metro

By Jasper Emmanuel Y. Arcalas @jearcalas

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HE Department of Agriculture (DA) has identified Taguig City as the first agri-aqua industrial business corridor in Metro Manila due to its logistical advantage and proximity to Laguna Lake.

In a news statement, Agriculture Secretary William D. Dar said they see “bigger potential” for Taguig as a new hub for farmers and agricultural investment as it is adjacent to Laguna Lake.

Taguig City is now the second identified area in the country to be transformed by the DA into an agriaqua industrial business corridor, a program that seeks to enhance farmers’ productivity and boost the

agriculture sector’s contribution to the national economy.

“With all the existing facilities now by the Laguna Lake, I see a bigger potential for Taguig,” Dar said.

“Farmers and fisherfolk from Rizal and Laguna could come directly to Taguig using their boats to bring their produce and see to it that we have all the cold storages, the warehouses, and of course the open markets for people to come in a big way,” Dar added.

The plan was forged during the meeting of the Multi-Agency Agricultural Government Assistance Program (MAAGAP) Para sa Kinabukasan sa Taguig last July 20.

The DA and the Taguig City local government also signed a memorandum agreement for Ur-

ban Agriculture Project (UAP) as the city seeks to improve its urban food security.

“The UAP and MAAGAP for Taguig aim at enhancing urban food security and nutrition, providing an additional source of income through processing and improving efficiencies in the food value chain, addressing social integration of vulnerable communities, and contributing to urban ecological management,” the DA said.

Under the UAP, DA will provide Taguig City with interventions for crops, fisheries, and livestock from the Bureau of Plant Industry (BPI), Bureau of Soils and Water Management (BSWM), Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR), and the Bureau of Animal

Industry (BAI).

“We just signed a program that would advance urban agriculture and other interventions for the City of Taguig and we will use the existing budgetary support that we have this year to start the projects that have been identified,” Dar said.

“This is a new normal, a new environment and whether we like it or not, even with pandemic like Covid-19, we cannot ignore the importance of planting and other agricultural activities,” Dar added.

House Speaker Alan Peter Cayetano, who attended the memorandum of agreement signing, said there is a “need to hit the right balance” for Taguig probinsyudad or rural-urban setting to be a sustainable city.

CCC opens application for 3rd batch IBON suggests new tack in govt’s cash aid program of survival fund’s e-learning program

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HE IBON Foundation is urging the government to consider a shift in its assistance programs amid the Covid-19 pandemic by implementing a direct cash-transfer program to poor households.

In the online Midyear 2020 BirdTalk,IbonFoundationExecutiveDirector Sonny Africa said the government should spend P297 billion a month for cash transfers to boost aggregate demand and revive the economy.

Africa said the amount covers cash transfers, wage subsidies, and assistance to farmers and fisherfolk.

This amount will allow them to spend and boost the economy.

“This is not the time to be stingy,” Africa said. “More priority must be given to workers and place more money in their pockets.”

Africa said efforts should also be exerted to helping the 31 million Filipinos working in the informal sector, who were the most affected during the lockdowns.

IBON Foundation Research Head Rosario Guzman said that while workers in the informal sector received subsidies during the lockdowns, the amount translates to less than P130 per day.

Africa added that the stimulus of P140 billion as well as the P667 billion CREATE bill and P233 billion Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) liquidity support, are all directed to help the 9 million formal sector workers, many of whom still have jobs.

He added that the CREATE bill would also only benefit large corporations.Inordertohelpmoremicro,small and medium enterprises (MSMEs), the government should make credit more affordable and accessible for them.

Compared to the country’s peers

in the Asean, Africa said the Philippines has the second lowest fiscal policy response to the crisis at only 4.6 percent of GDP. Malaysia had the smallest at 4.3 percent of GDP. The countries with the highest were Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam at 19.7 percent, 14.9 percent, and 13.3 percent of GDP, respectively.

Africa said these are the countries that are expected to recover faster than the Philippines in the crisis.

Last week, BusinessMirror reported that boosting the confidence of businesses and consumers in the economy is the only thing that can provide the much-needed relief for millions of Filipinos here and abroad who became jobless because of the pandemic, according to experts.

With as many as 7.3 million jobless Filipinos as of April 2020 and over 80,000 overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) repatriated due to job losses abroad, the government must think of more ways to boost the economy, they said.

Ateneo Center for Economic Research and Development Director Alvin P. Ang said reopening the economy and loan-financed social safety nets can help, but these will not be sustainable and the overall lack of confidence prevents millions of Filipinos from getting jobs.

Ang said the country cannot wait for a vaccine to be available in order to provide assistance or employment for the millions who have lost their jobs and those who may still lose it.

He said that recently, the government announced that it intends to improve testing, contact tracing and isolation efforts for those infected, which Ang described as a good first step. Cai U. Ordinario

Murder raps filed vs cops who killed 4 soldiers continued from a8

Walter Annayo; and Sulu provincial drug enforcement unit chief, Capt.

Ariel Corcino for neglect of duty.

The nine policemen had refused to submit a statement to the NBI which is conductinganinvestigationontheshooting that left Army Maj. Marvin Indammog, Capt. Irwin Managuelod, Sgt. Eric Velasco and Cpl.Abdul Asula dead. NBI Deputy Director for Regional Operations Services Antonio Pagatpat said it

is part of the constitutional rights of the accused not to submit a statement to the probers. Pagatpat said the policemen told theNBItheywouldanswertheallegations once a case is filed before the DOJ. Guevarra earlier pointed out that the initial report submitted by the NBI field agents to his office showed that the army officers mostly sustained bullet wounds in the back.

The military leadership has accused the police officers of executing the victims, contrary to their claim of a misencounter.

He added that the NBI initial report also contained the accounts of 10 witnesses, the forensic findings of the medico-legal and ballistic experts, and the affidavits of the family members of the deceased Army intelligence officers. Joel R. San Juan

T

HE Climate Change Commission (CCC) recently announced opening of the application for the third batch of People’s Survival Fund eLearning Program.

The program, which aims to help local government units (LGU) and other stakeholders build their capacity to access the People’s Survival Fund for their climate-change adaptation and mitigation projects, will not be hampered by the limitation on face-to-face training and meetings due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the CCC said in a news statement.

A national climate adaptation grant mechanism created by Republic Act 10174, which amended the Climate Change Act of 2009, the Peoples Survival Fund (PSF) provides funding opportunity for projects that otherwise would not have been possible for LGUs or nongovernment organizations pursuing climate change adaptation and mitigation projects.

The PSF eLearning Program was developed to address the challenges of LGUs in accessing the climate adaptation grant such as lack of direct information on the process and requirements for PSF funding, constraints in terms of technical capacity to develop climate change adaptation projects, and the need for collaboration with community stakeholders.

The second run of the PSF eLearning Program was concluded through a virtual culminating activity held on June 24, 2020. The online event was designed to encourage its students to

share their experiences, learnings, and feedback on the program. “’Yung mga modules, very friendly and downloadable para madali lang siya i-access. Hindi kami mahihirapan maski isang island municipality kami.

Nakuha naman naming ma-download at mabasa ’yung mga references na binigay sa amin,” said Glen Boyles from the island municipality of Carlos P. Garcia in Bohol, one of the students from PSF eLearning Batch 2.

Graduates of the prev ious batches will still continue to receive technical assistance from the CCC through its PSF One-on-One Mentoring Program.

The CCC is now accepting applications for Batch 3 of the Program, which will run from August to October 2020.

Interested applicants must be working in the planning and development, environment and natural resource, climate change, and/ or the disaster risk reduction and management offices or units in LGUs or community-based organizations. Registration must be done through the link: bit.ly/PSFeLearningBatch3Registration and a maximum of three participants for each LGU or organization.

The deadline of registration is on July 22, 2020 at 8 p.m., while the results will be posted on July 29, 2020. Only 50 applicants are selected per batch.

For more information, contact the PSF Unit of the CCC at (02) 84505513, or send an e-mail to elearningclimate.ccc@gmail.com. Jonathan L. Mayuga

www.businessmirror.com.ph

Construction projects shrank 20 percent in Q1, PSA data show

By Cai U. Ordinario @caiordinario

C

ONSTRUCTION projects saw a contraction of over 20 percent in the first quarter, according to the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA).

PSA said based on data released on Tuesday, the value of construction projects contracted 20.1 percent while the total number of projects shrank 22.4 percent in the first three months of the year.

Construction projects amounted to P86.07 billion in the first quarter of 2020 from P107.67 billion in the same period of 2019.

The amount covered 30,838 projects in 2020 and 39,762 project in 2019.

“In the previous quarter, the number of constructions decreased at an annual rate of 7.7 percent and in first quarter of 2019, it increased at 10.4 percent,” PSA said.

Data showed that residential construction reported the highest number of construction projects during the quarter, which totaled 20,515 or 66.5 percent of the total number of constructions.

However, PSA said construction of houses contracted 25.5 percent than its annual rate in the previous quarter of 13.3 percent. A total of 89.7 percent of the residential constructions were single-type houses.

These projects, which amounted to P36.5 billion, accounted for 42.4 percent of the total value.

This shows a contraction of 19.2 percent from the P45.2 billion

construction value posted in the same quarter of 2019.

Apart from residential construction projects, around 18.7 percent the projects were non-residential during the quarter.

Similar to residential construction projects, there was also a double-digit decline in non-residential projects at 10.8 percent. Most of the projects, or 66 were commercial buildings.

The construction value of nonresidential buildings amounted to P44.3 billion or 51.5 percent of the total value. This reflects an 18.5 percent decrease from the P54.3 billion value of construction in the same quarter of the previous year.

PSA data also showed that addition and alteration and repair of existing structures had shares of 3.8 percent and 11 percent, respectively, to total constructions.

Both types of constructions also declined at 26.4 percent for addition and 19 percent for alteration and repair, which were contrary to their respective annual rates in the same quarter of the previous year.

The value of construction for addition and alteration and repair to existing structures, accounted for P1.7 billion, or 1.9 percent, and P3.6 billion, or 4.2 percent, respectively, of the total.

Both types of constructions had reduction in their respective value with annual rate of 10.8 percent for addition and 42.7 percent for alteration and repair to existing structure.

PAF C-130 flight repatriates 51 Filipino fishermen from Manado

By Recto Mercene @rectomercene

T

HE Consulate General in Manado repatriated to Manila 51 distressed fishermen aboard a Philippine Air Force (PAF) C-130 flight last July 17, 2020.

Of the 51 fishermen, 29 are natives of General Santos City, five from Davao City, eight from Davao Oriental, seven from Sarangani, and one each from South Cotabato and Sultan Kudarat.

The PAF repatriation flight also brought home to Indonesia 11 of their citizens previously stranded in the Philippines due to Covid-19 restrictions on domestic and international travel.

The repatriation of the 11 Indonesians to Manado reflects the excellent relationship of mutual and

brotherly assistance between the Philippines and Indonesia.

The Philippine consulate in Minado, the capital of the northwestern province of Sulawesi, was assisted by the Eastern Mindanao Command (EastMinCom) under the command of Armed Forces of the Philippines Maj. Gen. Jose C. Faustino Jr. Also joining the repatriation efforts are the Philippine Border Committee Secretariat headed by PAF Master in National Security Administration Col. Gilberto T. Esteban Jr., the PAF plane with its C-130 crew headed by PAF General Staff College Col. Kim Eric Alexander D. Agatep, Philippine Liaison Officer-Philippine Border Committee, Department of Foreign Affairs-Consular Offices in General Santos, Davao and Tagum, as well as City Governments of General Santos, Davao, and Mati.

Inmate deaths House probe pushed; DOJ sets protocols continued from a8 “At least with respect to Jaybee Sebastian, who was supposed to testify for the people in the cases against Senator Leila de Lima at the time of his death, I certainly agree with Commissioner Liboro’s statement. As to the eight others who were already serving sentence for drug offenses at the time of their death, it may be prudent to await the results of the NBI investigation first,” the DOJ chief added.

The 40-year-old Sebastian was convicted in 2009 of kidnap-for-ransom and carjacking. He is a witness and coaccused in one of the drug charges filed against de Lima before the Muntinlupa City Regional Trial Court (RTC).

In the case, de Lima is accused of conspiring with Sebastian, former Bureau of Corrections (BuCor) chief Jesus Bucayu, Bucayu’s former staff Wilfredo Elli, her former driver and lover Ronnie Dayan, de Lima’s former security aide Joenel Sanchez, and Jad de Vera in the proliferation of illegal drugs inside the NBP. Money raised from this drug trade were allegedly meant to fund her 2016 senatorial bid.

Guevarra, however, said the case against de Lima will not be affected by Sebastian’s death. “Jaybee Sebastian

is only one in an array of witnesses against Senator de Lima. His loss does not affect in any significant manner the overall strategy of the prosecution in the pending criminal cases.”

IBP stand

INTEGRATED Bar of the Philippines (IBP) National President Domingo Egon Cayosa supported a thorough investigation to determine if the nine high-profile inmates really died due to Covid-19.

Even before the pandemic, Cayosa said there had been rumors of PDLs receiving unwarranted privileges; or able to continue with their illicit business transactions from inside prison.

There are also speculations that some PDLs have secretly been illegally freed.

“The Data Privacy Law should not be misused to blur the accountability of public officers, thwart the constitutional right to information on matters of public concern, or disregard the personal interest of the victims and all those who labored to hold the guilty liable. Transparency should instead be promoted to help heal and disinfect our seriously ailing prison system,” he said.

Lawmakers’ call

LAWMAKERS on Tuesday called for a “thorough probe” on the reported deaths of high-profile drug lords in prison.

House Assistant Majority Leader and ACT-CIS Party-list Rep. Niña Taduran and Deputy Minority Leader and Bayan Muna Rep. Carlos Isagani Zarate sought full transparency in the cases involving suspected and confirmed Covid-19-related deaths of inmates at the NBP. Taduran said a congressional inquiry should be called to investigate the deaths and verify if protocols were followed in relation to this.

Taduran added the Data Privacy Act should not be used as an excuse for not revealing relevant details of all the inmates who have been cremated at the Panteon de Dasmariñas in Cavite.

“All avenues must be explored in the interest of transparency. It is alarming that high-profile inmates have been dying allegedly due to Covid-19 since May and we have been kept in the dark until a newspaper reported Jaybee Sebastian’s death and cremation,” she added.

In this special case, the lawmaker said witnesses, including a relative of

the deceased, should be present at the cremation and there should be a protocol to prove the death of an inmate.

For his part, Zarate said “there seems to be something off with the supposed deaths of nine drug lords, among them Jaybee Sebastian, who was convicted of kidnapping-for-ransom and carjacking in 2009. Is it mere coincidence that major drug lords just supposedly died at around the same time of Covid-19 with no autopsy nor witnesses to prove that they really died because their bodies were supposedly cremated immediately.”

Zarate also sought a full investigation on the murder of a 29-year-old BuCor officer. Corrections Officer 1 (CO1) Edmund Molina was found dead with a gunshot wound to the head inside the NBP in Muntinlupa City last Wednesday evening.

“Add to these that just last year paying for early release of heinous crimes convicts hit the headlines as well as the fact that faking one’s death is a thriving industry in the country as stated by a United Kingdom newspaper the Telegraph reported,” added the Davaobased solon .

Joel R. San Juan and Jovee Marie N. Dela Cruz

Editor: Angel R. Calso

The World BusinessMirror

E.U. nations clinch $2.1-T budget, coronavirus aid deal after 4 days

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RUSSELS—Weary European Union leaders finally clinched an unprecedented 1.82 trillion euro ($2.1 trillion) budget and coronavirus recover y fund early Tuesday, somehow finding unity after four days and as many nights of fighting and wrangling over money and power in one of their longest summits ever.

To confront the biggest recession in its history, officials said the EU had a consensus on a 750 billion euro coronavirus fund to be sent as loans and grants to the countries hit hardest by the virus. That comes on top of the seven-year 1 trillion euro EU budget. At first the grants were to total 500 billion euros, but the figure was brought down to 390 billion euros.

“It is a historic day for Europe,” said French President Emmanuel Macron in a statement.

“An ex traordinar y situation demands extraordinar y effor ts,” German Chancellor Angela Merkel said as the leaders pushed on with one of the bloc’s longest summits ever. What was planned as a two-day summit scheduled to end Saturday was forced into two extra days by deep ideological differences among the 27 leaders.

Overall, spirits were high early Tuesday since the talks hit rock bottom on Sunday night.

Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte, defending the cause of a group of five wealthy northern nations—the Netherlands, Austria, Finland, Sweden and Denmark—was on the brink of securing limits to costs and imposing strict reform guarantees on any rescue plan for needy nations. It was the focal point of the marathon talks that started on Friday morning.

The coronavirus has sent the EU into a tailspin, killing around 135,000 of its citizens and plunging its economy into an estimated contraction of 8.3 percent this year. Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez insisted the adoption of an ambitious plan was required

as the health crisis continues to threaten the continent.

The bloc’s executive has proposed a 750 billion euro coronavirus fund, partly based on common borrowing, to be sent as loans and grants to the countries hit hardest by the virus.

That comes on top of the seven-year 1 trillion euro EU budget that leaders had been haggling over for months even before the pandemic.

With Macron and Merkel negotiating as the closest of partners, the traditionally powerful Franco-German alliance could not get the quarreling nations in line for long.

The leaders mulled a proposal from the five wealthy northern nations that suggested a coronavirus recovery fund with 350 billion euros of grants and the same amount in loans. The five EU nations—nicknamed “the frugals”—had long opposed any grants at all, while the EU executive had proposed 500 billion euros.

The latest compromise proposal stands at 390 billion euros in grants.

All nations agree in principle they need to band together but the five richer countries in the north want strict controls on spending, while struggling southern nations like Spain and Italy say those conditions should be kept to a minimum. The five have been pushing for labor market and pension reforms to be linked to EU handouts and a “brake” enabling EU nations to monitor and, if necessary, halt projects that are being paid for by the recovery fund.

Rutte and others also wanted a link to be made between the handout of EU funds and the rule of law—a connection aimed at Poland and Hungary, countries with right-wing populist governments that many in the EU think are sliding away from democratic rule.

The diplomat from the major EU nation said that had been settled too but no details were available. AP

Britain suspends extradition treaty with Hong Kong, blocks arms sales

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ONDON—Britain suspended its extradition treaty with Hong Kong and blocked arms sales to the former British territory after China imposed a tough new national security law.

Amid growing tensions with Beijing, Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab told the House of Commons that he had concerns about the new law in Hong Kong and alleged human rights abuses in China, particularly the treatment of the Uighur minority.

He described the measures announced on Monday as “reasonable and proportionate.”

“We will protect our vital interests,” Raab said.

“We will stand up for our values and we will hold China to its international obligations.”

Britain followed the United States, Australia and Canada in suspending extradition agreements with Hong Kong, which became a special administrative region of China after the UK returned control of the territory to Beijing in 1997.

Events in Hong Kong are particularly sensitive for the British government because China agreed to a “one country, two systems” policy that was supposed to protect the economic and social traditions of the territory for 50 years after the handover.

Britain and other Western nations believe the security law imposed by Beijing threatens that agreement because it restricts free speech and erodes the judicial independence of Hong Kong.

The law makes crimes such as promoting secession punishable by a maximum sentence of life in prison and allows some cases to be tried on the mainland.

This means people extradited to Hong Kong could end up being tried in mainland courts, Raab said.

The UK previously accused the B eijing government of a serious breach of the Sino-British Joint Declaration under which Hong Kong was returned to China and announced it would open a special route to citizenship for up to 3 million eligible residents of the territory.

China’s decision to implement the security law on June 30 triggered widespread protests in Hong Kong. Police responded with water cannon, tear gas and hundreds of arrests.

The ban on arms sales extends an embargo that has been in place for mainland China since 1989. It means the government will not allow British companies to export potentially lethal weapons, their components or ammunition, as well as equipment that might be used for internal repression such as shackles, firearms and smoke grenades.

Britain earlier backtracked on plans to give Chinese telecommunications company Huawei a role in the UK’s new high-speed mobile phone network.

The US has lobbied its allies to shun Huawei because it says the Chinese government could use the company’s technology to spy on Western nations. Huawei denies the allegations.

Beijing objected to the new measures even before Raab formally announced them.

China’s ambassador to Britain, Liu Xiaoming, on Sunday told the BBC that Britain was “dancing to the tune” of the US and rejected the allegations of human rights abuses against the mainly-Muslim Uighur people.

He accused Western countries of trying to foment trouble with China.

“People say China (is) becoming ver y aggressive. That’s totally wrong,” he said. “China has not changed. It’s Western countries, headed

by United States — they started this so-called new Cold War on China.”

Following Raab’s announcement, the Chinese Embassy in London said Britain had “blatantly interfered in China’s internal affairs” to disrupt the implementation of the new law and vowed China would fight back.

“The UK will bear the consequences if it insists on going down the wrong road,” the statement said. AP

NSA head warns nations meddling with U.S. election

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ne of America’s top spy chiefs vowed that the US will hit back at foreign nations attempting to interfere in the 2020 presidential election, a warning delivered days after fresh charges of Russian hacking against the West.

“We’re going to act when we see adversaries attempting to interfere in our elections,” General Paul Nakasone, director of the National Security Agency and head of US Cyber Command, said on Monday during a virtual event hosted by the Association of the US Army.

Nakasone’s comments come after reports of Russian hacking once again surfaced last week, with the UK, US and Canada accusing Russia of attempting to steal international research to develop a Covid-19 vaccine. Britain also accused Russia of attempting to interfere in the country’s general election last year, by disseminating documents relating to trade talks with the US. Russia rejected the charges.

In a sign of the rising concern about electionyear threats, top congressional Democrats said on Monday that they want FBI Director Christopher Wray to provide all House and Senate members a classified and “defensive counter-intelligence briefing” before August regarding foreign efforts to interfere in the 2020 US presidential election.

In a letter to Wray, lawmakers including House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and the top Democrats on the House and Senate intelligence committees said that “we are gravely concerned, in particular, that Congress appears to be the target of a concerted foreign interference campaign, which seeks to launder and amplify disinformation in order to

influence congressional activity, public debate, and the presidential election in November.”

Aides to the lawmakers declined to provide specifics on the threats mentioned in the letter.

Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden on Monday condemned President Donald Trump’s “failure to act” and said in a statement that he was putting “the Kremlin and other foreign governments on notice.”

“This is a violation of our sovereignty,” Biden said on MSNBC. “And if in fact it occurs there will be response in kind.”

NSA efforts to secure the November election include broadening its interagency partnerships and studying the techniques of US adversaries, Nakasone said in his speech.

“We’re going to know our adversaries better than they know themselves,” he said.

The 2018 U.S midterm elections demonstrated the country’s enhanced “agility” across government agencies, Nakasone said, adding that the NSA’s capabilities were now “battle-tested.”

The cyber chief also addressed the ongoing debate over 5G technology as countries across the world assess the role of Chinese telecommunications giant Huawei Technologies Co. “Part of the 5G conversation has been, do nations want to entrust the security of what will likely be the most important platform for their communications to nations that do not share their values?” he asked. “We’re in an era of great-power competition. We see it every day in cyberspace.”

Bloomberg News

Wednesday, July 22, 2020

A5

UK Covid-19 vaccine prompts immune response in early test

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ONDON—Scientists at Oxford University say their experimental coronavirus vaccine has been shown in an early trial to prompt a protective immune response in hundreds of people who got the shot.

British researchers first began testing the vaccine in April in about 1,000 people, half of whom got the experimental vaccine.

Such early trials are designed to evaluate safety and see what kind of immune response was provoked, but can’t tell if the vaccine truly protects.

In research published on Monday in the journal Lancet, scientists said that they found their experimental Covid-19 vaccine produced a dua l immune response in people aged 18 to 55 that lasted at least two months after they were immunized.

“We are seeing good immune response in almost everybody,” said Dr. Adrian Hill, director of the Jenner Institute at Oxford University. “What this vaccine does particularly well is trigger both arms of the immune system,” he said.

Hill said that neutralizing antibodies are produced—molecules which are key to blocking infection.

In addition, the vaccine also causes a reaction in the body’s T-cells, which help by destroying cells that have been taken over by the virus.

The experimental Covid-19 vaccine caused minor side effects like fever, chills and muscle pain more often than in those who got a control meningitis vaccine.

Hill said that larger trials evaluating the vaccine’s effectiveness, involving about 10,000 people in the U.K. as well as participants in South Africa and Brazil are still underway. Another trial is slated to start in the US soon, aiming to enroll about 30,000 people.

How quick ly scientists are able to determine the vaccine’s effectiveness will depend largely on how much more transmission there is, but Hill estimated that if there were enough data to prove the vaccine’s efficacy, immunization of some high-risk groups in Britain could begin in December.

He said the vaccine seemed to produce a comparable level of antibodies to those produced by people who recovered from a Covid-19 infection and hoped that the T-cell response would provide even more protection.

“There’s increasing evidence that having a T-cell response as well as antibodies could be very important in controlling Covid-19,” Hill said. He suggested the immune response might be boosted after a second dose; in a small number of people, their trial tested two doses administered about four weeks apart.

Hill said Oxford’s vaccine is designed to reduce disease and transmission. It uses a harmless virus—a chimpanzee cold virus, engineered so it can’t spread—to carry the coronavirus’ spike protein into the body, which should trigger an immune response.

Hill said Oxford has partnered with drugmaker AstraZeneca to produce their vaccine globally, and that the company has already committed to making 2 billion doses.

“Even 2 billion doses may not be enough,” he said, pointing to the ongoing surge of infections worldwide. “I think it’s going to be very difficult to control this pandemic without a vaccine.”

Hill said researchers were also considering conducting a “challenge” trial by the end of 2020, an ethically controversial test where participants would be deliberately infected with Covid-19 after being immunized to see if the vaccine is effective.

“This has been done before in 19 different infectious diseases to develop vaccines and drugs and is likely to happen for Covid-19 as well,” he said.

Numerous countries including Germany, France, the Netherlands, Italy, US and the UK have all signed deals to receive hundreds

In this handout photo released by the University of Oxford blood samples from coronavirus vaccine trials are handled inside the Jenner Institute in Oxford, England on June 25, 2020.

Scientists at Oxford University say their experimental coronavirus vaccine has been shown in an early trial to prompt a protective immune response in hundreds of people who got the shot.

In research published on July 20, 2020 in the journal Lancet, scientists said that they found their experimental Covid-19 vaccine produced a dual immune response in people aged 18 to 55.

John Cairns, University of Oxford via AP

of millions of doses of the Oxford vaccine—which has not yet been licensed—with the first deliveries scheduled for the fall.

Chinese researchers also published a study on their experimental Covid-19 vaccine in the Lancet on Monday, using a similar technique as the Oxford scientists.

They reported that in their study of about 500 people, an immune response was detected in those who were immunized, although they couldn’t tell if people were protected from the disease because they weren’t exposed to Covid-19 afterwards.

CanSino Biologics’ vaccine is made similarly to Oxford’s except the Chinese shot is made with a human cold virus, and the study showed people whose bodies recognized it didn’t get as much of the presumed Covid-19 benefit. Still, China’s government already gave special approval for the military to use CanSino’s vaccine while it explores final-stage studies.

In an accompanying editorial, Naor Bar-Zeev and William Moss of the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health called both the Oxford and Chinese results “encouraging” but said further judgment should wait until the vaccine is tested on much bigger populations.

The World Health Organization’s director-general, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, called for any eventual Covid-19 shots to be fairly distributed globally,

saying it was up to political leaders to ensure the most vulnerable populations also get immunized.

“But one of the worrying patterns we see is some countries moving in the other direction,” he warned.

Britain announced on Monday it had secured access to another 90 million experimental Covid-19 vaccines made by Pfizer and others, a move some campaigners warned could worsen a global scramble by rich countries to hoard the world’s limited supply of Covid-19 vaccines.

Last week, American researchers announced that the first Covid-19 vaccine tested there boosted people’s immune systems just as scientists had hoped and the shots will now enter the final phase of testing. That vaccine, developed by the National Institutes of Health and Moderna, produced the molecules key to blocking infection in volunteers who got it, at levels comparable to people who survived a Covid-19 infection.

The vaccine being developed

by Pfizer also works to trigger a similar dual immune response as the Oxford shot. Pfizer and its German partner BioNTech also released an encouraging early report on Monday.

Nearly two-dozen potential vaccines are in various stages of human testing worldw ide, with a handful entering necessar y late-stage testing to prove effectiveness. AP

Trump’s sudden push for face masks follows Republican allies’ defections

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he mask may have reached a tipping point.

President Donald J. Trump’s administration on Monday pushed to encourage mask-wearing, explicitly endorsing a measure widely seen as crucial to stemming the coronavirus pandemic, and potentially quelling a bitter debate that experts say costs lives.

The president, who for months resisted covering his face in public, tweeted that “it is Patriotic to wear a face mask when you can’t socially distance.”

And Vice President Mike Pence told governors in a teleconference that he supported their mask mandates, with the administration even sending a memorandum to New Jersey recommending that it continue its order. The reversal followed polls that showed Trump’s refusal to champion masks was out of step with citizens terrified by rising case counts nationwide.

It also comes as Republican governors, facing outbreaks spiraling beyond control, begin to break with Trump on the issue. Texas Governor Greg Abbott last week cast masks as key to ensuring the state wouldn’t need to shut down its economy a second time, though he resisted ordering their use. Mississippi Governor Tate Reeves on Monday required residents of 23 hard-hit counties to start wearing masks.

“We have to take Covid-19 seriously,” Reeves said at a news conference. “This virus is not going away. There are lives on the line.”

Coronavirus cases in the US increased on Monday to 3.79 million, according to data collected

by Johns Hopkins University and Bloomberg. The disease has killed almost 141,000 Americans so far.

Now engaging

The administration’s refusal to formulate a national plan to fight the virus has become a

major hurdle to Trump’s re-election, and the president said on Monday he would resume regular Covid-19 briefings. Pence told governors in the teleconference that the administration would support the mask orders, according to a person who heard the call. He also suggested that bars be closed in states or regions with high virus spread, according to Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear.

And in the afternoon, Trump sent the tweet showing himself in a mask with the presidential seal. “There is nobody more Patriotic than me, your favorite President!” he wrote.

Cloth masks don’t guarantee protection from the virus. But they do help block droplets of water vapor, carried on breath, from spreading far beyond the face. If people are infected with the coronavirus but don’t know it, a mask can help prevent them from infecting those around them.

Trump has appeared in public in a mask only once, on a visit to a military hospital, and he gave no indication Monday that he would wear one regularly. The White House didn’t respond to a request for comment.

Trump’s tweet muddled what had become a bitter partisan debate. He had shunned masks, and many supporters said mandating them infringed on their rights. Trump initially argued for a mask-free Republican convention, and there were anti-mask demonstrations and videos of ugly confrontations in stores.

Accelerating acceptance

But Trump’s new stance could put mask mandates in the same category as laws about seat belts, motorcycle helmets or secondhand smoke—safety measures that, while unpopular at first, eventually won acceptance.

Researchers who have studied such shifts in

public opinion say the identity of the people urging change can make a difference.

“If you have the person in charge of the country saying, ‘It’s up to you—I’m not going to wear one,’ that’s really problematic,”’ said Catherine Sanderson, chair of the psychology department at Amherst College in Massachusetts and author of “Why We Act: Turning Bystanders into Moral Rebels.”

Major social changes can be triggered even if just 25 percent of the population adopts them at first, she said. But it has to be the right 25 percent—people with genuine influence.

Governors can qualify. So can presidents.

“If Trump had done this two months ago, more people would have lived,” Sanderson said on Monday, after Trump’s tweet. “But this is better late than never, especially if it gives GOP governors tacit permission to require masks in their red states.”

Some of America’s largest retailers—Walmart Inc., Target Corp. and CVS Health Corp.—are now requiring all shoppers nationwide to wear one, whether local officials mandate them or not. And the number of states, counties and cities ordering the use of masks in public is growing, albeit not without a fight. One example: the ongoing dispute between Louisiana’s attorney general, who says statewide mask orders are unconstitutional, and the same state’s governor, who insists they aren’t.

“With every new public-health intervention, there’s always some resistance,” said Julia Marcus, an epidemiologist and assistant professor at Harvard Medical School.

During the AIDS crisis, efforts to shame people into wearing condoms or abstaining from sex didn’t work. Messages that offered condoms as a way to keep having sex without hurting yourself or others did.

“If we just yell at people about not wearing masks, we’re not going to get anywhere,” Marcus said.

Cigarette precedent

Polls show that large majorities of Americans support wearing masks in public, although there are deep divisions along partisan lines. Publichealth experts say immediate action is needed to fight the pandemic, but similar societal shifts evolved over decades.

“It took a long time to regulate smoking, to get to that point,” said Jay Van Bavel, associate professor of psychology and director of the Social Perception and Evaluation Lab at New York University. “And we don’t have that kind of time.”

The campaign to convince Americans to wear masks, however, shares one successful element with anti-smoking efforts: It is as much about protecting other people as protecting oneself.

Public understanding of the dangers of secondhand smoke, Van Bavel said, was key to the acceptance of smoking bans on planes and in restaurants.

Last week, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo launched an ad campaign stressing the same point. Marcus also pointed to a video that features California Governor Gavin Newsom and all four of his living predecessors, including two Democrats and two Republicans. The California ad dismisses partisanship, appeals to personal responsibility, makes a few quick jokes and i n c l u d e s A r n o l d S c h w a r ze n e g g e r — m a d e famous by his muscles—saying a mask isn’t a sign of weakness.

“It directly addressed those concerns around personal liberty and reframed masks as a ticket to freedom,” Marcus said. Bloomberg News

A6 Wednesday, July 22, 2020 • Editor: Angel R. Calso

Opinion BusinessMirror

www.businessmirror.com.ph

editorial

Online food sellers need govt support

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he measures imposed by the government to prevent the spread of Covid-19 have upended many lives, including those of nearly 5 million Filipinos who recently joined the ranks of the unemployed. This is largely because of the difficulties confronting the thousands of micro, small and medium enterprises that could no longer pay the salaries of employees. They are also having difficulties rebooting their operations as Covid-19 cases continue to rise in the National Capital Region, which account for a third of the country’s gross domestic product.

Those who lost their jobs were forced to become entrepreneurs themselves by selling items online, including food products. These sellers are all over Facebook and Twitter, offering food items such as cakes, pastries and cooked meals. Customers get their orders via companies that offer delivery services, such as Grab and Lalamove.

Social-media sites are replete with stories about friends, relatives and neighbors who turned to cooking meals or baking bread products to tide them over. Some had even tried their hand at making their own processed meat products, such as longganisa, tapa or hot dogs. Unfortunately, some of these sellers never had any experience in making these products, which makes it harder for them to attract customers and have a steady income.

At a time when many companies are struggling to earn enough to keep their staff, there is little that government can do to stop the proliferation of individuals trying their hand at making cookies, baking cakes or cooking meals. Instead of regulating these sellers, government should consider helping them improve the quality of their products and ensure that they observe hygiene standards during preparation. Bettertasting and safe food items would mean more customers and a source of income that could tide them over while Covid-19 rages on.

Online courses being offered by the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority should be promoted extensively to encourage sellers to expand their knowledge. On its web site (tesda.gov.ph), the agency offers courses on food processing, which includes a discussion on packaging and storing salted, cured and smoked products. Those interested in selling fermented products like yogurt and sugar-concentrated products like jams will find the Tesda web site useful.

The pandemic has been instructive in that it has shown Filipinos the importance of observing minimum health standards to avoid infection.

The government can take this a step further by showing consumers and aspiring entrepreneurs the importance of adhering to good practices in making high quality products that are safe for consumption. These practices are essential if sellers have aspirations of eventually putting up their own business and tapping the international market after the pandemic.

Agencies should also make it easy for people to find the materials they need and to speak to competent state workers who can assist them.

The Philippines can take a cue from Thailand, dubbed the kitchen of the world, which has invested heavily in innovations that allowed its food processing sector to flourish and become a major GDP contributor.

Strong government support has given Thai businessmen the courage to invest in research and development to improve their products and eventually become one of the net food-exporting countries in the world.

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SSS and ECC: Providing protection to the ordinary Filipino worker Aurora C. Ignacio

All About Social Security

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hile businesses and companies are starting to open and the lockdown guidelines are easing up, employees are now coming out of their homes to report back to work. This exposes the members of the work force to various dangerous factors such as inhaling polluted air, road accidents, and most especially, contracting the coronavirus disease (Covid-19).

When an employee meets an accident, this involves physical, emotional, and psychological trauma, as well as financial burden.

Let’s face it: people who had an accident know the expense the incident entails.

With that in mind, an employee can file for an Employee Compensation (EC) Benefit on work-related cases aside from the usual Social Security Benefits that they can get from the Social Security System (SSS)— provided that the different criteria for entitlement to the benefit as set by both agencies are met.

Fortunately, employees affected by the dreaded coronavirus disease can now qualify for EC benefits. In an online article published on February 27, 2020 by the Employees’ Compensation Commission (ECC), employees infected by the virus can now file for EC benefit. (http://ecc.

gov.ph/ecc-reminds-employees-to-bemore-cautious-of-covid-19-apply-ecbenefits-if-applicable).

What is the ECC? The Employees’ Compensation Commission is the agency attached to the Department of Labor and Employment that is mandated to implement the Employees’ Compensation Program (ECP). It provides benefit packages for employees in the public and private sectors and their dependents in the event of work-related contingencies like sickness, injury, disability, or death. Also, the SSS is the agency that facilitates and implements the EC Benefits for workers in the private sector.

Fortunately, employees affected by the dreaded coronavirus disease can now qualify for EC benefits. In an online article published on February 27, 2020 by the Employees’ Compensation Commission (ECC), employees infected by the virus can now file for EC benefit.

Under the program, the employer is given five days upon receipt of the incident report involving a particular employee to record it in the company logbook. The details should include chronologically the sickness, injury, or death of the employee, along with the name, date, place of contingency, and absences. Entries in the logbook must be made within five days from notice of the incident. Within five days after entry in the logbook, the employer must report to the SSS those contingencies it deems to be work-connected. The affected employee is given three years from date of work-related sickness, injury or the legal beneficiary of the deceased member to file the EC claim. However, no compensation will be given if the injury, sickness, disability, or death of the member was caused by drunkenness, willful intention to injure or kill himself/herself or another person, or due to notorious negligence.

EC Benefit claims may be filed at any SSS Branch or Representative Office nearest the employee-member’s residence or place of work. Once the filed EC claim is granted by the SSS, the EC Benefit payment shall be remitted by the SSS to the employeemember’s designated bank account under the Sickness and Maternity Benefits Payment thru-the-Bank Program. For employees with workrelated disability separated from employment, the EC benefit will be paid directly by the SSS to the PWRD/ claimant through his/her single savings/current/cash card/prepaid account in any of the accredited banks under the SMB-PB. An EC contribution ranges from P10-P30 per month, which is solely paid for by an employer. Even with only one contribution, any employee or his designated beneficiary can avail himself/herself of this benefit.

Accidents, illnesses, and deaths are unfortunate incidents that nobody wants to experience. But in times like these, it is positively reassuring that the SSS and ECC are every worker’s kabalikat by providing financial relief during these difficult and trying times.

Aurora C. Ignacio is SSS president and chief executive officer.

We welcome your questions and insights on the topics that we discuss. E-mail mediaaffairs@sss. gov.ph for topics that you might want us to discuss.

Extreme weather changes and the seafarer’s health

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By Dennis Gorecho

eafarers have to brave storms, typhoons and high waves during the vessel’s journey, which could have dramatic impact on the quality of their life at sea.

The job entails laborious manual tasks conducted in a moving ship along with the sudden change of climate and temperature as the vessel crosses territories.

The Supreme Court recognized that prolonged and continued exposure to the changes in temperatures could probably expose the seafarers to the risk of suffering from illnesses or accidents.

The seafarer is entitled to compensation for certain diseases through the aggravation principle wherein his work conditions caused or, at least, increased the risk of contracting the disease.

The Court noted that reasonable proof of work-connection is sufficient—direct causal relation is not required. Thus, probability, not the ultimate degree of certainty, is the test of proof in compensation proceedings.

In Atienza v. OROPHIL Shipping Intl. (GR 191049, August 07, 2017), the seafarer, an Able Seaman, was

diagnosed to be suffering from right cavernous sinus inflammation or Tolosa Hunt Syndrome (THS). The Court considered said illness as compensable since he was called to keep watch at sea during navigation, and to observe and record weather and sea conditions, among others.

In the performance of his duties, the seafarer was constantly exposed to cold, heat, and other elements of nature.

While the exact cause of THS is unknown, the Supreme Court opined that seafarer’s illness was most probably aggravated due to the peculiar nature of his work that required him to be on-call 24 hours a day to observe and keep track of weather conditions and keep watch at sea during navigation.

These activities necessarily entail the use of eye muscles that can cause eyestrain as, in fact, he experienced headache, nausea, and double vision that worsened when he looked at his right side.

Considering further his constant

exposure to different temperature and unpredictable weather conditions that accompanied his work on board an ocean-going vessel, the likelihood to suffer a viral infection—a possible risk factor—is not far from impossible.

In Grace Marine Shipping Corp. v.

Alarcon (GR 201536, September 09, 2015), the Supreme Court attributed the seafarer’s psoriasis to the stress and climate changes that permeate his working environment.

The Court also noted that the seafarer used strong detergent, fabric conditioner, special soap and chemicals in performing his duties as a steward.

Despite the declaration in the medical reports that psoriasis is not contagious, the Court emphasized that no profit-minded employer will hire the seafarer considering the repulsive physical manifestation of the disease, its chronic nature, lack of long-term cure and the vulnerability of the patient to cardiovascular diseases and some cancers.

Its inevitable impact on the seafarer’s chances of being hired and capacity to continue working as a seafarer cannot be ignored, entitling him to permanent total disability benefits.

In Fil-Pride Shipping Co. Inc., et al. v.

Balasta, (728 Phil. 297), the Supreme Court reiterated its ruling in several cases that cardiovascular disease, coronary artery disease, as well as other heart ailments were held to be compensable since the work of a seafarer is both physically and mentally stressful.

The Court pointed out that the seafarer was constantly exposed to harsh weather condition as well as to varying temperatures of extreme hot and cold as the ship crossed ocean boundaries.

In the performance of his duties as Able Seaman, he inhaled, was exposed to, and came into direct contact with various injurious and harmful chemicals, dust, fumes/ emissions, and other irritant agents.

The Court said that these tasks could very well cause the illness that the seafarer, then already 47 years old, suffered from six months into his employment contract with the company.

In Teodoro v. Teekay Shipping Phil.

(GR 244721 February 5, 2020), the Supreme Court considered the loss of vision of the cook’s left eye as attributable to the sudden extreme changes in temperature from the upper deck to the freezer during See “Gorecho,” A7

Opinion BusinessMirror

www.businessmirror.com.ph

2nd National Risk Assessment on Money Laundering Atty. Dennis B. Funa

INSURANCE FORUM

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he Philippines has undertaken the 2nd National Risk Assessment on Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing (TF) for the period 2015-2016, which it concluded in 2017. In 2016, the country concluded its 1st NRA for the period 2011-2014. In that NRA, ML threats were identified as emanating from predicate offenses such as drug trafficking, investment scam, corruption, among others. It also identified the instrumental sectors such as banks, securities, remittance agencies and foreign exchange dealers. Insurance companies, among others, are considered as “covered persons” for money laundering supervision. The 1st NRA also led to the creation of the Anti-Money Laundering Division in the Insurance Commission in 2015.

The National Risk Assessment is a government-wide assessment of the overall exposure of the country to money laundering and its related predicate offenses, terrorism and terrorist financing. This is in accordance with Recommendation 1 of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) which requires countries to identify, assess and understand the ML/TF risks, and take actions in mitigating the risks effectively.

Data from the industry was derived through surveys (2013-2016), Annual Reports, and key statistical data with the Commission.

The principal objectives of the 2nd NRA are: a) assess and understand the level of proceeds of crime generated in or coming into the country and the threat posed by ML and TF; b) determine the vulnerability of financial institutions and designated nonfinancial businesses and professions (DNFBP); and c) appreciate the most efficient way to allocate resources for the detection, prevention, investigation and prosecution of ML and TF. In other words, it is to evaluate, assess, and analyze the weaknesses (vulnerability) in controlling MF/TF and to come up with proposed action plans to address these weaknesses. The proposed action plans were discussed and presented during a workshop held on August 25-26, 2017.

Identification of the National Vulnerability uses risk assessment tools (or modules) designed by the World Bank (WB). The WB tool uses a combination of Bayesian network and weighted average to determine the degree of dependence or correlation among variables. The assessment of vulnerability uses a 5-level scale with categories Low, Medium Low, Medium, Medium High, and High. The assessment was done by the National Risk Assessment Insurance Sector Sub Working Group.

The National Risk Assessment is a government-wide assessment of the overall exposure of the country to money laundering and its related predicate offenses, terrorism and terrorist financing.

This is in accordance with Recommendation 1 of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) which requires countries to identify, assess and understand the ML/TF risks, and take actions in mitigating the risks effectively.

Wednesday, July 22, 2020 A7

My lingering concerns about Covid-19 Dr. Jesus Lim Arranza

MAKE SENSE

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he Department of Health reported the first case of Covid-19 in the country on January 30, 2020, involving a female Chinese national. On March 7, the first local transmission of Covid-19 was confirmed. Five months later, Filipinos are getting more scared because of the continued spike in the number of confirmed coronavirus cases in the country. I cannot help but raise some of my lingering questions about the pandemic in the bar of public opinion, if only to ventilate my concerns about this most pressing public health issue in the country today.

For instance, they say that the coronavirus is a new virus. Whether it’s a mutation from another type of coronavirus or whatever, we don’t know. But if it’s indeed a new strain of coronavirus, how come that in just a matter of weeks, testing kits for the virus were already available?

Where it would take months or even years to develop medicines or a vaccine for a particular ailment, how were the coronavirus testing kits developed that fast and how accurate are they?

They also say that community transmission of the virus can also occur from asymptomatic persons, or an infected person who does not have the symptoms. But how would

a person be considered asymptomatic carrier of the virus? What kind of test was conducted and how accurate was the test?

Coming from a family of doctors, I know that part of the initial questions asked by doctors from patients during consultations are their health issues and all manifested symptoms.

Then the doctor would ask for the medical history of the patient. All these information would be used by the doctor for his diagnosis of the patient’s health issues. But without any symptom for the coronavirus disease, how can a person be considered asymptomatic carrier of the virus?

The daily Covid-19 update is also a major concern that continues to

bug me. The report says the country’s number of confirmed Covid-19 cases as of July 17, 2020 had already reached 61,266 with 1,643 recorded deaths and 21,440 recoveries. Going by the numbers, what the report is saying is, out of the total number of confirmed Covid-19 cases, less the number of deaths and recoveries, there were 38,183 active cases in the country as of July 17, 2020.

But where are they now? Are they confined in hospitals, if the country has that number of hospital beds?

Are they quarantined in designated isolation and/or quarantine areas, or are they quarantined in their own homes? Knowing this information would lessen our fear of getting the virus from unsuspecting carriers.

The Covid-19 testing protocol is another issue that continues to perplex my mind. At least there are two methods of Covid-19 testing approved by the government and mostly used in the fight against the coronavirus. The rapid test, which gives quick results but according to studies in the US, has a low accuracy of only 10 percent. The nasal swab test has a better accuracy than the rapid test, but its results would take at least three days or even longer to get.

Moreover, the result of the swab test could be affected by the timing of the test, how the swab specimen was taken, and how the specimen was handled. Take for instance the account of somebody I know who claims

that they were herded to a Covid-19 testing center for the swab test. After the test, they were sent home for their mandatory quarantine procedure until the test results are released.

Unfortunately, though, what should have been a three-day wait lasted for more than week.

Meanwhile, while waiting for the test results, they were not only deprived of their income from work because they had to be quarantined, but they might have also contracted the virus during the waiting period. Would this not aggravate the already scary Covid-19 situation in the country?

And, finally, the proper way of choosing and using the face mask should also be elucidated openly to the people, especially at this time when studies have shown that the virus is also airborne. Thus, aside from its transmission through respiratory droplets, the virus can also be transmitted through the air.

The public should be well informed about the importance social distancing and the proper way of using face masks for protection, including the health relevance of using only clean face masks.

Dr. Jesus Lim Arranza is the chairman of the Federation of Philippine Industries and Fight Illicit Trade; a broad-based, multisectoral movement intended to protect consumers, safeguard government revenues and shield legitimate industries from the ill effects of smuggling.

China is getting closer to its Lehman moment

By Anjani Trivedi and Shuli Ren Bloomberg Opinion

by the central bank or other agencies — half of them over the last year, excluding the ones last week. Some large trust companies have fallen afoul of authorities, unable to pay back investors’ principal and interest in recent months.

Under the latest takeovers, regulators will send teams to take the roles of shareholders, directors and management. Other financial firms, including some of China’s largest insurers and securities houses, will end up as trustees. In theory, they’ll push to shrink the troubled businesses and monetize assets.

Call it what you want, but this is China’s version of financial contagion. Just plugging holes will no longer cut it. How many firms can regulators try to salvage? How much capital will be injected? Can they find willing shareholders and white knights?

The answers to such questions won’t come without pain. According to CLSA, 11 insurers with about 15% of the market and 2.4 trillion yuan in total assets would be “walking a tightrope” with regulators. On average, if their asset value was 2% to 5% less than what they showed in 2019, their surplus capital—the capital over the minimum regulatory red line—would have been wiped out.

If Beijing ever needs to rescue them all, the costs would be enormous. If not, the insurers would have no choice but to dump assets, which could threaten the broader market.

The Insurance Sector is composed of covered persons under the jurisdiction of the Insurance Commission

composing the insurance industry, the pre-need industry, and the Health Maintenance Organizations (HMO) industry. As of October 2017, there were a total of 242 CPs comprising life companies (27), non-life companies (60), MBAs (35), insurance brokers (62), composite insurers (4), professional reinsurer (1), servicing insurance companies (9), pre-need companies (16), and HMOs (28).

Each of the industry’s rating (insurance, pre-need and MBA) was given corresponding weights according to the premiums collected per industry cluster (life insurance, non-life insurance, MBAs and preneed). The premiums collected from each industry cluster were used as a gauge to determine the weight of contribution of each industry vis-àvis the entire insurance sector. This approach allows a fair exposure of each industry cluster from the insurance and pre-need industry in determining the insurance sector’s overall vulnerability. Thus, the industry weight was determined as follows: Life (75.97 percent), Nonlife (14.71 percent), Pre-need (6.55 percent), and MBAs (2.77 percent).

In the 1st NRA Report covering the period 2011-2014, the vulnerability of the Insurance Sector to ML risk was rated Medium-Low. In the 2nd NRA, the rating of the vulnerability of the Insurance Sector to ML risks remained at Medium-Low.

Gorecho. . .

Don’t hype the hope for Oxford-AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine

Insurance sector vulnerability

continued from A6

the hauling and storage process for the food provisions.

The panel of voluntary arbitrators pointed out that the company’s personnel were exposed to extreme temperatures without the proper protective clothing, thus, creating a more dangerous work environment that resulted to the seafarer’s permanent blindness in the left eye and his incapacity to resume the same line of work.

Being exposed to adverse climate conditions and other forces of nature at sea can be challenging, but it is in these types of situations that Filipino mariners continue to thrive.

Atty. Dennis Gorecho heads the seafarers’ division of the Sapalo Velez Bundang Bulilan law offices. For comments, e-mail info@sapalovelez.com, or call 0917-5025808 or 0908-8665786.

By Max Nisen

Bloomberg Opinion

A

fter months of hype, the world finally has human trial data from a front-running vaccine collaboration between the University of Oxford and AstraZeneca Plc. Spoiler alert, it’s good news.

The data, published in The Lancet on Monday, showed that the vaccine produced an encouraging immune response. Just as crucially, perhaps, no significant safety issues emerged. Investors took these developments as a cue to bid up AstraZeneca shares as they did with Moderna Inc.’s stock last week on its positive vaccine news. And there are indeed elements of the Oxford-Astra shot’s profile that may make it especially promising.

But it’s important to remember that this early stage in the process,

“stable” production of ever-riskier forms of credit. They can’t have both. By effectively assuming counterparty risk, regulators are hurting market credibility at a time of rising jitters as financing channels are squeezed. To be fair, they didn’t have much choice. Heavily leveraged, a single-digit percentage drop in asset value induced by Covid-19 could wipe out these firms’ equity book value. Take Huaxia Life. Over the last decade, via aggressive selling of high-yield savings products, it has become the fourth-largest insurer in China, with close to 600 billion yuan in total assets at the end of 2019.

Its assets-to-equity ratio stood at a whopping 26 times.

It’s not hard to imagine large asset writedowns behind closed doors. As the impacts of Covid-19 distressed businesses in the second quarter, the worst bond rout in a decade caused investors to nurse losses on even relatively safe wealth management products, not to mention riskier noncredit investments. In the first three months of the year, data provided by CLSA Ltd. show that Huaxia Life’s book value shrank by 23% quarteron-quarter, due to mark-to-market losses of its investments. It’s no wonder that the insurer is on regulators’ radar, or that they’re trying to send a message.

Still, China’s financial woes extend beyond a fugitive businessman’s overly extended balance sheet. Since 1995, only 12 firms have been seized

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all Street’s movers and shakers are largely seen as part of the solution to the coronavirus-ravaged economy.

Chastened by the collapse of Lehman Brothers and the great recession over a decade ago, they were forced to scale back businesses considered risky and clean up their balance sheets. In this crisis, they’re no longer the problem.

The same can’t be said of China. Beijing has made martyrs of its banks and insurers, asking them to lend to the needy, forgo profits and support the animal spirits of its trillion-dollar capital markets.

But, along with brokers, they’re still a troubled bunch, far from being sturdy pillars of the financial system.

If anything, Covid-19 has exacerbated credit risks. China’s Lehman moment, when isolated events cross the line into systemic effects, is just lurking around the corner. Last Friday, regulators took control of nine troubled firms, controlled by fallen billionaire Xiao Jianhua’s empire under Tomorrow Holding Co., totaling more than 1.2 trillion yuan ($171.5 billion) in total assets.

It’s one of the largest seizures in China’s recent history. Xiao was taken from Hong Kong’s Four Seasons hotel by Chinese authorities three years ago and has disappeared from the public eye since.

That is unsurprising: Insurers have been problematic since at least 2017. A review then found that

every piece of vaccine data is still just part of a thesis that needs confirmation.

The piece of data garnering the most attention is the vaccine’s “dual immune responses”—its ability to produce both an antibody and T-cell response in volunteers. There is some evidence that antibodies may decline over time in recovered Covid-19 patients and that T-cells—a type of immune cell that can remember and hunt viruses—may be key to durable protection. This theory is one possible explanation for the lack, so far at least, of many reports of reinfection even as antibodies have declined.

While evidence of a T-cell response is undoubtedly better than the alternative—new data from Pfizer Inc. and BioNTech SE’s vaccine collaboration and CanSino Biologics Inc. Monday also produced such data—there are still tremendous

their corporate governance scores were deteriorating. Companies like Huaxia Life Insurance Co., one of the seized firms, were selling policies that flouted rules and improperly disclosed policyholders’ information. The insurance regulator said it was “determined to weed out illegal and improper practices.” It also found that companies were falsifying funding sources and leveraging the same assets for multiple loans.

The takeovers come a year after the seizure of Baoshang Bank Co., when we wrote that counterparty and solvency risks had arrived—together.

Regulators tried to say then that it was a one-time solution. Yet, the most recent events point to these issues becoming acute, and spreading.

At some point, the chain of lending and liquidity will be disrupted. Beijing has once again shied away from letting the market price such likelihoods. “The dilemma is fundamental,” as analysts at Rhodium Group wrote after the Baoshang incident.

Authorities can allow the market to digest failures, or try to maintain

gaps in knowledge. It’s unclear, for example, what exactly declining antibody levels might mean. Individuals may still be primed to generate new antibodies even after measurable levels fall.

On the T-cell side, scientists know little about the longevity and protective abilities of natural responses and even less about what vaccine developers should be measuring. Immune responses measured in the lab don’t always correlate to real-world protection, a risk that’s especially acute for rapidly developed vaccines against a novel virus.

There isn’t enough data to declare one vaccine effort firmly ahead of others. We know too little, and crosstrial comparisons are fraught; different research groups measure different things in different ways. The only answer to these questions will come from big real-world confirma-

tory trials, something I’ve said many times and will keep repeating until the data arrives.

The same uncertainty holds for safety data. This vaccine and others have been tested in mostly young, healthy, and undiverse groups so far. Safety and efficacy in a broader population, including older adults and people with health issues, will be crucial in determining how useful they are.

With that cautionary note, there is some good news. The shot is already in large-scale trials in the UK, South Africa, and Brazil that could generate more evidence in the next few months even as some rivals are still designing studies. It’s not clear exactly when this data will arrive; the trial in the UK is the largest and started in May, late in the country’s lockdown as infections were on the decline. Data may be slow to accrue.

The trials in Brazil and South Africa don’t have that problem, though both smaller efforts started later.

It’s unclear whether those three groups add up to a data package that will meet approval standards in the US or Europe, which is likely why AstraZeneca plans a further large study in the US starting in August.

However, the need is such that the vaccine could see limited early use if the results are very compelling.

At the very least, it would provide more secure grounds for optimism and scaling up manufacturing capacity while waiting for more information.

It’s tempting to leap on every piece of vaccine news as a firm step forward or the clincher for a preferred candidate. At this stage, excesses of both optimism and odds-making can get both investors and policymakers in trouble.

A8 Wednesday, July 22, 2020

Murder raps filed vs cops who killed 4 soldiers

T

HE National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) on Tuesday filed murder charges against the nine policemen who were involved in the killing of four Army intelligence operatives in pursuit of an Abu Sayyaf suicide bomber lasy June 29.

Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra said the NBI endorsed the complaint filed by the relatives of the victims to the Department of Justice (DOJ), which is expected to hold a preliminary investigation.

Charged for four counts of murder and planting of evidence before the Department of Justice are Police S/MS.Abdelzhimar Pajiri, M/S. Hanie Badirri, S/Sgts.Iskandar Susulan, Ernisar Sappal and Almudzrin Hadjaruddin, Cpl.Sulki Andaki and Patrolmen Muhammad Nur Pasani, Rajiv Putalan and Alkajal Mandangan.

Hadjaruddin, Mandangan and Putalan are members of the Sulu provincial drug enforcement unit.

They are currently under the custody of the PNP Headquarters Support Service in Camp Crame.

Murder is a nonbailable offense under the Revised Penal Code.

On the other hand, the NBI sought the prosecution of Sulu police provincial office chief, Col. Michael Bawayan; Jolo police chief, Maj. See “Murder raps,” A4

Govt crafting regulatory framework for restricting online sale of ‘sin’products

T

By Bernadette D. Nicolas

@BNicolasBM

HE government is set to build a “comprehensive regulatory framework” on the proposed ban on unauthorized online selling of alcohol, cigarettes and other “sin” products.

Citing a joint statement, the Department of Finance (DOF) on Tuesday said the Department of Health (DOH) and Food and Drug Administration (FDA) are backing Finance Secretary Carlos G. Dominguez III’s proposal and also support the ban on unregistered online selling of electronic cigarettes and other novel tobacco products.

Moreover, DOH and FDA said they will work closely with the DOF and the Department of Trade and Industry and other government agencies to develop the frame-

work to allow only legitimate and registered online sellers and place appropriate safeguards to protect vulnerable age groups.

“The Philippines has come a long way in safeguarding the public from the dangers of tobacco and alcohol consumption through its taxation policies and stringent regulatory measures. With wider and easier access to ‘sin’ products through technology, regulatory purview should be expanded to ensure that online selling is similarly covered,” the DOH and FDA said in their statement.

“It cannot be overstated that in this time of the [coronavirus disease 2019] pandemic, health should be of utmost priority. Products that increase the risk of contracting and developing a more severe form of Covid-19 and its comorbidities should be avoided, if not totally eliminated. The DOH and FDA further stress that now is the time to quit and for the youth not to take up this habit,” they added.

The joint statement was issued after Dominguez said they are eyeing to ban the unauthorized sale of liquor, cigarettes and other sin products in the electronic marketplace to ensure that these vice-inducing goods are no longer accessible to minors.

He issued the statement after finding out that digital commerce platforms such as Lazada are selling popular alcohol products and cigarette brands, with some of them being offered at big discounts.

The finance department said the only way to monitor whether such online transactions are not being offered to minors is a click box warning that the buyer should be “at least 18 years old to enter” the seller’s page.

The DOH and FDA said the DOF initiative is likewise “consistent with our effort towards a comprehensive prohibition of all forms of advertising, promotions and sponsorships by the alcohol and

tobacco industries.”

They said the government “must exercise its duty to protect the health of the people, especially of teenagers who can potentially use online platforms to freely access these products and pick up the habit of smoking and/or alcohol drinking in the long term.”

Consumer safeguards such as seller registration, product quality, and safety mechanisms to validate recipients of sin products are essential to preventing minors from purchasing these online, the DOH and FDA said.

“Expanding this regulatory purview to cover the online selling of these sin products is a progressive step in protecting the health of Filipinos,” they added.

Excise taxes on alcohol and tobacco products, including electronic cigarettes, have substantially increased since President Duterte signed two sin tax reform measures into law.

Republic Act (RA) No. 11346 or the Tobacco Tax Reform was signed into law in July 2019, while RA 11467, which further increased taxes on alcohol, heated tobacco products and vapor products, was signed in January 2020.

The taxes collected from sin products will mostly be used to augment the massive funding required for the implementation of the Universal Health Care program.

DOF: Cha-cha move interesting initiative, merits further study

A

MID the heated debate on whether there is a need for Charter change to institutionalize the Mandanas ruling, Finance Secretary Carlos G. Dominguez III on Tuesday said these “deserve further study.”

As the country struggles to contain the spread of Covid-19, more than a thousand municipal mayors belonging to the League of Municipalities of the Philippines renewed their call for Charter change last week in a bid to institutionalize the Mandanas ruling and ease restrictions on foreign investments.

“They are interesting initiatives and deserve further study,” Dominguez told reporters in a message.

Asked if the government is ready to implement the Supreme Court’s ruling on the Mandanas case, the finance chief added: “We will know what action to recommend to the President after the DBCC [Development Budget Coordination Committee] finishes the 2022 Budget.”

To recall, the Supreme Court declared that the Internal Revenue Allotment (IRA) share of all local government units (LGUs) must be based on the collections of all national taxes, and not only from the national internal revenue taxes collected by the government.

In voting 10-3, the SC partially granted the petition of thenBatangas Gov. Hermilando Mandanas, who questioned the manner of allocating IR A funds for the LGUs. The House Committee on Con-

stitutional Amendments is also set to convene to discuss the constitutional amendment proposals of the league of town mayors.

In February, the committee reconsidered the resolution of both houses seeking to propose amendments to the 1987 Constitution to include the proposals of the InterAgency Task Force (IATF), including the Mandanas ruling, which will increase the IRA. Cagayan de Oro City Rep. Rufus Rodriguez, committee chairman, said he will call for a virtual meeting after Congress opens its second regular session on July 27, the same day that President Duterte delivers his fifth State of the Nation Address.

However, Senate Minority Leader Franklin M. Drilon said there is no need for Charter change if only to “institutionalize” the Mandanas ruling because Supreme Court decisions already form part of the law of the land. Drilon, a former Justice secretary, cautioned lawmakers against heeding the supposed “clamor” from LGUs, as some quarters may just be interested in lifting term limits.

Speaker Alan Peter Cayetano on Monday also assured the public that the House will not railroad Charter change as it will take a “dual route” in amending the 33-year-old Constitution.

Bayan Muna Chairman Neri Colmenares and Bayan Muna Rep. Carlos Zarate on Monday also condemned the renewed efforts to push for Charter change.

Bernadette D. Nicolas

Inmate deaths House probe pushed; DOJ sets protocols

C

ALLS for a congressional inquiry into the controversial deaths of nine high-profile inmates mounted on Tuesday, as the Department of Justice moved to lay down strict protocols for handling suspected Covid-19 cases in the New Bilibid Prison.

Justice Secretar y Menardo Guevarra directed the Bureau of Corrections (BuCor) to guarantee the presence of a Department of Health (DOH) representative during the conduct of swab tests for Covid-19 following the deaths of nine high-profile inmates, including drug convict Jaybee Sebastian.

Guevarra also formally issued a department order giving the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) 10 days to submit its initial report of its probe into the deaths of Sebastian and the others. The high-profile inmates are among a total of 21 whom the BuCor reported earlier as having succumbed to Covid-19.

The DOJ secretary issued the order after meeting with BuCor Director General Gerald Bantag on Monday to discuss the Covidrelated deaths in the BuCor and other pressing matters.

“This will be the subject of our next meeting. For now, we have instructed the BuCor to ensure the presence of a DOH representative during the conduct of swab tests within their facilities and to exert greater efforts to immediately notify the members of deceased inmates’ families prior to cremation,” Guevarra said.

On the other hand, the NBI’s Death Investigation Division (DID) is likely to handle the inquiry.

Guevarra said the NBI is tasked to determine if there were irregularities concerning these deaths.

Sebastian reportedly died of a heart attack while battling Covid-19 last July 17 and his remains were cremated within hours, following strict health protocols.

However, since the documentation of the handling of his cadaver was limited to a few parties, speculations arose that it might not have been him.

Sebastian became famous when he testified in a congressional inquiry that detained opposition Sen. Leila de Lima, when she was still Justice secretary, had abetted his and several inmates’ in-prison drug trade, supposedly to raise funds for her Senate election.

She won a Senate seat, but was just less than year into her term when she was arrested on drugrelated charges that she and the minority had tagged as political persecution.

Data privacy not an issue

“NBI Officer in Charge Eric Distor is hereby directed and granted authority to conduct an investigation on the reported deaths of high-profile PDL Jaybee Sebastian and eight others convicted of offenses involving illegal drugs, who allegedly died due to the coronavirus disease 2019 [Covid-19] or compl ic at ions t heref rom, and if evidence warrants, to file the appropriate charges against all persons involved and found responsible for any unlawful act in connection therewith,” the DOJ order read.

Guevarra also agreed with National Privacy Commission (NPC) Commissioner Raymund Liboro’s position the Data Privacy Act of 2012 is not a hindrance to releasing information about Sebastian, who is already a public figure because of his involvement in previous national issues.

Continued on A4

Companies BusinessMirror

www.businessmirror.com.ph

DoubleDragon taps senior guaranteed bonds for funds

By VG Cabuag

P

@villygc

roperty developer DoubleDragon Properties Corp. on Tuesday said it is raising some $75 million from its offering of five-year senior guaranteed bonds.

In its disclosure, DDPC Worldwide Pte. Ltd., the company’s unit that will issue the debt, has executed a subscription agreement with Credit Suisse (Singapore) Ltd. as sole global coordinator, joint lead manager and joint book runner and PNB Capital

and Investment Corp. as joint lead manager and joint book runner, for the issuance of its debt that has a yield of 7.5 percent due on 2025.

The bonds will be listed on the Singapore Exchange Securities Trading Ltd.

The proceeds of this new fiveyear dollar bonds offering and the planned P16.97-billion initial public offering (IPO) of its own real estate investment trust later this year are expected to increase the cash position of the company, it said.

DoubleDragon has 803,738 square meters of completed leasable space, which comprise 80 percent of the 2020 target set during the IPO, coming from having zero leasable space when it listed in April 2014.

DoubleDragon income fell 39 percent during the three months of the year ending March to P744.74 million from last year's P1.21 billion. Revenues also fell 28 percent

to P1.91 billion from last year's P2.66 billion.

The fall in its net income is due to one-off fair value gains during the first quarter of 2019 stemming from the completion of Double Dragon Center East, the company said.

DoubleDragon’s recurring revenues rose 20 percent to P927.91 million from P769.99 million last year, as its rental revenues grew.

Recurring revenues now account for almost half or 48 percent of the company’s consolidated revenues from only 29 percent last year as it continues its shift towards its goal of becoming a 90 percent recurring revenue company.

‘LandBank loans reach more farmers, fishers’

By Jasper Emmanuel Y. Arcalas @jearcalas

T

he Land Bank of the Philippines (LandBank) said its total loan to the agriculture sector in the first half rose by 3.57 percent to P227.47 billion, from P219.62 billion last year.

LandBank also said it has achieved 98.8 percent of its target of 2 million cumulative small-scale farmers and fisherfolk beneficiaries this year, or about 1.976 million.

“Of these loans to agriculture, P35.63 billion was outstanding loans to small farmers, fishers, cooperatives, and farmers associations,” LandBank said.

“This includes direct lending to farmers and fishers which grew by P219 million or 18.37 percent from P1.19 billion in May to P1.41 billion in June.”

LandBank said its loans to other players in the agri-business value chain stood at P191.84 billion with

BusinessMirror file photo

P141.67 billion of which going to small, medium and large agribusiness enterprises.

The bank added that P50.17 billion went to finance agri-aqua related projects of local government units (LGUs) and governmentowned and -controlled corporations (GOCCs).

LandBank attributed the increase in the number of small-scale

farmers and fisherfolk that was assisted by the bank due to the Department of Agriculture’s financial subsidy to rice farmers (RSRF) program.

“The 300,825 or 18-percent increase from last May’s 1,675,864 tally was due largely to the new farmers assisted under the Department of Agriculture’s [DA] Financial Subsidy to Rice Farmers [FSRF] Program.”

LandBank said 1.29 million

farmers and fisherfolk out of the 1.976 million as of end-June were supported through its various regular loan offerings and lending programs that are jointly implemented with the DA and the Department of Agrarian Reform.

The remaining 218,530 and 467,919 small farmers were assisted specifically through the DA’s Rice Farmers Financial Assistance Program and the FSRF Program, respectively, it added.

“Now more than ever, LandBank continues to exert greater focus on driving support for the agriculture sector amid the Covid-19 pandemic,” LandBank President and CEO Cecilia C. Borromeo said.

“Through the whole-of-government approach, our strong partnerships with the Department of Agriculture and Department of Agrarian Reform have allowed us to fulfill our mandate of reaching and assisting more small farmers and fishers nationwide than ever before.”

KonsultaMD Phoenix Petroleum secures PRS Aa- rating posts surge in consults

By Lenie Lectura @llectura

By Lorenz S. Marasigan @lorenzmarasigan

K

onsultaMD, the telehealth service of Globe Telecom Inc., recorded a 450-percent surge in consultations in April versus January this year, as more and more Filipinos seek remote medical help due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Glenn Estrella, operating advisor for KonsultaMD, said this increase indicates that telehealth is now gaining ground in the country, as Filipinos are becoming more cautious of hospital visits due to risk of virus contraction.

“Telehealth has been in the Philippines for many years but people are usually reluctant to try it because it is not something that they are used to. It is only recently that they are realizing that consultation over the phone or via mobile app is actually convenient, easy, affordable and secure,” he said.

KonsultaMD provides patients with remote medical services through licensed Filipino doctors who give advice on primary care, first-aid, health and wellness, nutrition, mental health, and even provide prescriptions and interpretation of lab results through mobile or landline.

Estrella added that based on a white paper from AdSpark, another Globe unit, online conversations regarding telehealth and online medication consultations reached its peak during the start of the enhanced community quarantine in March and have been steadily talked about since then. The Department of Health endorses the contactless approach to health services, as it helps relieve hospitals of non-critical cases.

P

hoenix Petroleum Philippines Inc. was assigned by local debt watcher Philippine Rating Services Corp. (PhilRatings) a PRS Aa minus (corp.) rating for the issuance of its three-year P10-billion commercial papers (CPs) program.

The rating also included a stable outlook, which meant that it is likely to remain unchanged in the next 12 months.

“The rating was obtained in relation to the oil firm’s outstanding three-year CPs program of up to P10 billion. With this, Phoenix may issue CPs until 2021. The proceeds will be used to finance the company’s working capital requirements,” a statement from Phoenix said Tuesday.

Phoenix said separately that the last tranche of its P10-billion CPs program, which consists of an aggregate principal amount of up to P2 billion with an oversubscription option of up to P1.5 billion, would be issued at a discount rate of 5 percent. The offer period is from July 21 up to July 23.

If fully subscribed at the 5-percent rate, Phoenix expects net proceeds to reach P3,280,015,570.

The proceeds would be utilized to finance the importation of fuels and lubricants, among others.

PhilRatings took into account Phoenix Petroleum’s continued growth and leadership among independent oil players; improving sales volume; expansion of

From www.phoenixfuels.ph

its complimentary business ventures; and declining coverage ratios in relation to debt servicing.

Phoenix was able to increase its number of retail stations from 530 in 2017 to 655 in 2019. For the past three years, the bulk of the growth was in Luzon.

In 2019, the so-called “Big Three” (Petron Corp., Pilipinas Shell Petroleum Corp., and Chevron Philippines) continued to account for the bulk of the market, with a 50.7-percent share.

It is worth noting, however, that over the past years, the aggregate market share of major oil players has been declining.

In contrast, the other industry players, together with the endusers, captured 49.3 percent of the market, of which 43.0 percent

was accounted for by the share of independent players.

Phoenix leads the independent oil players, with a 7.1-percent share in 2019, making it the fourth biggest of oil players in the Philippines in terms of market share.

It should be noted that Phoenix’s market share consistently increased from 4.7 percent in 2015.

PhilRatings said it also took into consideration the increasing economic uncertainty and the immediate adverse impact of the community quarantine attributable to the Covid-19 pandemic on the company’s business.

“PhilRatings shall continuously monitor developments relating to Phoenix and may change the rating at any time, should circumstances warrant a change,” it said.

Wednesday, July 22, 2020

B1

BDO Leasing books profit in H1

B

DO Leasing and Finance Inc. swung to profitability in the first semester, a turnaround from the net loss it incurred in the same period last year.

In a disclosure on Tuesday, the bank said its net earnings reached P81 million in the first half, which is significantly higher than the P29-million loss year-on-year.

The lender attributed the spike in profits to "successful measures implemented to address margin compression."

Gross revenues reached P1.3 billion in the first semester as lease and loan receivables slipped by 23 percent.

This was due to the sale of a portion of the lower yielding portfolio in a bid to cushion margin compression impact and implementation of new accounting standard on leases.

Total expenses dropped by 25 percent to P1.2 billion due to lower borrowings and interest and fi-

nancing charges—which slid 53 percent on the back of eased policy rates.

In a separate disclosure on Tuesday, BDO Leasing said its stockholders approved the amendment of the company's corporate name to United Platinum Holdings Corp. as it seeks to change the nature of business to a holding firm from leasing and financing.

Its parent firm BDO Unibank Inc. in January said it entered into an agreement to sell a controlling stake in BDO Leasing to a third party as the former restructures its leasing business. It is yet to be approved by regulatory authorities.

BDO Unibank saw its first quarter earnings drop by 10.20 percent to P8.8 billion, from P9.8 billion in the same period last year due to trading and foreign exchange losses. Its total capital base rose to P372.2 billion in the first quarter, booking capital adequacy ratio of P13.8 percent and common equity tier 1 of 12.7 percent. Tyrone Jasper C. Piad

B2

Companies BusinessMirror

Wednesday, July 22, 2020

PSE STOCK QUOTATIONS

July 21, 2020

Net Foreign Stocks Bid Ask Open High Low Close Volume Value Trade (Peso) Buy (Sell) FINANCIALs

ASIA UNITED BDO UNIBANK BANK PH ISLANDS CHINABANK EAST WEST BANK METROBANK PB BANK PBCOM PHIL NATL BANK PSBANK RCBC SECURITY BANK UNION BANK BRIGHT KINDLE COL FINANCIAL FERRONOUX HLDG FILIPINO FUND IREMIT MEDCO HLDG NTL REINSURANCE PHIL STOCK EXCH SUN LIFE

45.1 91.2 70.65 20.05 7.32 35.95 8.14 17.08 19.98 47 16.96 99.85 52.3 0.69 20.7 2.45 8 0.93 0.285 0.6 159 1750

46.05 91.7 70.7 20.1 7.37 36 8.2 17.68 20 48 17.1 100 53 0.78 21.2 2.55 8.5 1 0.29 0.61 160 1790

44.55 92.85 71.1 20.2 7.34 36.1 8.4 17.88 20.2 47.5 17.1 100.3 53.8 0.79 21.2 2.42 8.87 0.92 0.28 0.62 160.8 1750

46.05 92.85 72 20.2 7.4 36.3 8.4 17.88 20.5 48 17.1 100.3 53.8 0.79 21.2 2.55 8.87 0.93 0.29 0.62 160.8 1750

44.55 91 70.5 20 7.3 35.55 8.2 17.88 20 47.05 17.1 99.8 53 0.79 20.5 2.42 8 0.92 0.28 0.6 159.5 1750

46.05 91.2 70.7 20.1 7.37 36 8.2 17.88 20 47.05 17.1 99.85 53 0.79 21.2 2.55 8 0.93 0.29 0.6 159.5 1750

26000 3382910 7828790 141300 239300 3369100 69200 400 198100 5200 600 476620 20620 1000 2700 166000 400 6000 890000 34000 530 5

1173050 309158895.5 556545194 2835245 1755631 121001345 573514 7152 4005175 245180 10260 47634799 1097757 790 56500 422130 3287 5570 250850 20460 84669 8750

460250 -194623807.5 -8101221.5 438000 -339453 -28252880 -1851740 -19084475.5 -587130.5 4100 3200 8750

INDUSTRIAL AC ENERGY 2.28 2.29 2.24 2.35 2.24 2.29 11883000 27410460 ALSONS CONS 1.18 1.21 1.16 1.23 1.16 1.18 90000 105790 26.8 26.9 26.9 26.9 26.5 26.9 597600 16044930 ABOITIZ POWER BASIC ENERGY 0.152 0.158 0.163 0.167 0.157 0.158 140000 22210 24.1 24.15 24 24.2 23.8 24.15 1209100 29159055 FIRST GEN 60.5 61.5 62 62 60.5 60.5 1520610 92009756 FIRST PHIL HLDG MERALCO 262.8 263 263.6 263.6 260.2 262.8 147380 38665452 13.28 13.34 13.4 13.44 13.26 13.28 587600 7840078 MANILA WATER PETRON 3.14 3.15 3.12 3.15 3.1 3.14 2015000 6298930 PETROENERGY 3.3 3.36 3.3 3.4 3.3 3.4 103000 343250 11.14 11.36 11.1 11.38 11.1 11.36 60500 684278 PHX PETROLEUM PILIPINAS SHELL 18.2 18.26 18.4 18.48 18.1 18.26 142300 2599486 8.05 8.06 8.06 8.07 8.03 8.05 16500 132881 SPC POWER 2.23 2.24 2.32 2.32 2.18 2.23 1392000 3099770 AXELUM CNTRL AZUCARERA 11.12 11.98 11.1 11.1 11 11 2000 22100 14.5 14.66 14.5 14.56 14.46 14.5 2352600 34134526 CENTURY FOOD DEL MONTE 4 4.16 4.05 4.1 4 4 12000 48690 DNL INDUS 4.88 4.89 4.8 4.9 4.8 4.88 1736000 8467230 9.01 9.03 9.04 9.12 9.01 9.01 210200 1907602 EMPERADOR SMC FOODANDBEV 64 64.8 64.5 65 63.45 64.8 267080 17203973 0.57 0.59 0.59 0.59 0.57 0.59 51000 29690 ALLIANCE SELECT FRUITAS HLDG 1.2 1.21 1.2 1.21 1.19 1.21 1579000 1891850 GINEBRA 30.75 31.5 31.8 31.8 31.8 31.8 100 3180 134.7 135 134.8 135.8 133.2 134.7 500710 67436445 JOLLIBEE MACAY HLDG 6.76 7.1 7 7.12 7 7.12 3100 21969 5.09 5.1 5.1 5.14 5.07 5.1 122900 627389 MAXS GROUP 0.125 0.132 0.132 0.132 0.123 0.132 570000 73000 MG HLDG SHAKEYS PIZZA 6.19 6.2 6.19 6.3 6.13 6.2 337100 2096593 1.23 1.25 1.25 1.26 1.21 1.25 805000 1000200 ROXAS AND CO RFM CORP 4.05 4.35 4.04 4.36 4.04 4.36 2000 8400 ROXAS HLDG 1.48 1.5 1.48 1.48 1.48 1.48 9000 13320 0.103 0.108 0.108 0.108 0.108 0.108 10000 1080 SWIFT FOODS UNIV ROBINA 122.1 123 123.2 124.8 121.7 122.1 1832920 224253698 0.84 0.85 0.83 0.84 0.82 0.84 21145000 17745340 VITARICH 2.22 2.52 2.22 2.22 2.22 2.22 2000 4440 VICTORIAS CONCRETE A 54.2 56.95 57 57 54.45 54.45 500 27740 58 62.95 63.85 63.85 58 58 620 36018.5 CONCRETE B CEMEX HLDG 0.93 0.94 0.95 0.96 0.93 0.94 2316000 2164670 DAVINCI CAPITAL 3.57 4.3 4.25 4.3 3.9 4.3 6000 24550 9.85 9.9 9.82 9.9 9.82 9.9 33700 332797 EAGLE CEMENT EEI CORP 5.09 5.1 5.08 5.11 5.08 5.1 124200 632451 5.48 5.49 5.57 5.6 5.3 5.48 1411800 7633964 HOLCIM 7.37 7.38 7.59 7.59 7.3 7.37 3286300 24229202 MEGAWIDE PHINMA 8.37 9 9 9 9 9 500 4500 0.68 0.7 0.7 0.7 0.7 0.7 4000 2800 TKC METALS VULCAN INDL 0.8 0.81 0.8 0.8 0.8 0.8 11000 8800 EUROMED 1.91 1.95 1.9 1.95 1.88 1.95 194000 369000 4.5 4.54 4.5 4.54 4.5 4.54 2000 9040 LMG CHEMICALS MABUHAY VINYL 3.76 3.91 3.7 3.91 3.67 3.91 17000 64990 4.11 4.2 4.09 4.23 4.09 4.2 104000 436590 PRYCE CORP CONCEPCION 18.8 19 19.1 19.1 18.98 19 12600 239484 GREENERGY 1.65 1.66 1.6 1.67 1.6 1.66 5934000 9785810 5.05 5.08 5.1 5.1 5 5.05 175200 880120 INTEGRATED MICR IONICS 0.98 1 1 1 0.97 1 156000 153800 4.23 4.73 4.86 4.86 4.3 4.73 5000 23050 PANASONIC SFA SEMICON 1.29 1.3 1.26 1.35 1.26 1.3 1319000 1713160 CIRTEK HLDG 5.89 5.9 6.2 6.42 5.88 5.9 17065100 104523334

749440.0003 -1576430 -625185 -697240 -6576636 -2909402 2131050 -1303332 20074.9999 -1608350 -12294636 -16130 -503510 -13322 -3510832.5 -73240 11009717 -512 -571274 -63475219 -784900 -328060 -147849.9999 160020 50869 -1881037 -382200 -144484 177980 32927.0003 -2740 2129833

HOLDING & FRIMS ABACORE CAPITAL 0.475 0.485 0.48 0.485 0.47 0.485 3790000 1823750 ASIABEST GROUP 7.91 8.35 8.36 8.39 7.89 7.91 10000 83269 760 765 747.5 769 743.5 765 200280 152610130 AYALA CORP ABOITIZ EQUITY 50.75 51.6 49.7 51.6 49.25 51.6 960800 48835020 5.99 6.01 6 6 5.98 5.99 11364400 68138927 ALLIANCE GLOBAL 1.65 1.66 1.64 1.66 1.64 1.65 331000 546270 AYALA LAND LOG ANSCOR 6.25 6.3 6.25 6.25 6.25 6.25 1200 7500 0.47 0.51 0.48 0.48 0.47 0.47 110000 52000 ANGLO PHIL HLDG ATN HLDG A 0.63 0.64 0.65 0.65 0.62 0.63 5862000 3702880 ATN HLDG B 0.66 0.68 0.64 0.68 0.64 0.68 37000 24060 5.16 5.2 5.2 5.2 5.16 5.2 623800 3236631 COSCO CAPITAL DMCI HLDG 3.77 3.78 3.8 3.81 3.77 3.78 5506000 20859990 3.13 3.37 3 3.45 3 3.37 12000 39130 FJ PRINCE A GT CAPITAL 439 439.8 450 450 439.8 439.8 84850 37436732 HOUSE OF INV 3.3 3.4 3.4 3.4 3.4 3.4 61000 207400 68.2 68.3 67.15 69 67.1 68.3 1516270 103466486 JG SUMMIT LODESTAR 0.58 0.59 0.58 0.59 0.56 0.59 517000 299710 LOPEZ HLDG 2.43 2.44 2.43 2.47 2.43 2.43 5982000 14539620 7.87 7.88 7.9 7.99 7.86 7.88 359600 2833855 LT GROUP METRO PAC INV 3.36 3.39 3.4 3.4 3.34 3.36 11603000 39067950 2.93 3.09 2.89 3.09 2.89 3 75000 223650 PACIFICA HLDG PRIME MEDIA 0.77 0.8 0.8 0.8 0.79 0.8 55000 43760 REPUBLIC GLASS 2.27 2.74 2.27 2.27 2.27 2.27 1000 2270 1 1.03 1.02 1.03 1.02 1.03 83000 84860 SOLID GROUP SM INVESTMENTS 925 929 922 940 922 925 245300 227736940 SAN MIGUEL CORP 99.4 99.9 99.65 99.9 99.3 99.9 25390 2530163.5 122 123.5 123 123.5 122 123.5 1220 150200 TOP FRONTIER ZEUS HLDG 0.145 0.149 0.14 0.155 0.137 0.15 1580000 226890

-182850 49216775 24792480 -56870457 6500 -1049756 -9797470 -7143970 -207400 -6091952 -49940 -99994 -16208700 -18360 -88704040 513393 -1550

PROPERTY ARTHALAND CORP 0.54 0.55 0.56 0.63 0.53 0.54 39807000 23327970 AYALA LAND 33.15 33.2 32.8 33.2 32.3 33.2 4617200 152,018,570( 0.99 1.01 1.04 1.04 1.04 1.04 1000 1040 ARANETA PROP BELLE CORP 1.38 1.44 1.37 1.37 1.37 1.37 1000 1370 0.72 0.74 0.71 0.73 0.71 0.73 548000 396910 A BROWN CITYLAND DEVT 0.75 0.79 0.77 0.77 0.77 0.77 32000 24640 CROWN EQUITIES 0.128 0.129 0.118 0.149 0.118 0.128 686190000 82310630 5.82 5.98 5.8 5.8 5.8 5.8 7000 40600 CEBU HLDG CEB LANDMASTERS 4.9 4.97 4.98 4.99 4.9 4.97 1118000 5545610 CENTURY PROP 0.36 0.365 0.365 0.38 0.36 0.36 13630000 4968000 16.4 16.48 16.58 16.58 16.4 16.48 158900 2618088 DOUBLEDRAGON DM WENCESLAO 6.31 6.36 6.25 6.37 6.2 6.37 29700 186411 0.26 0.27 0.26 0.28 0.25 0.26 5380000 1422600 EMPIRE EAST 0.96 0.97 0.96 0.98 0.96 0.97 3162000 3065290 FILINVEST LAND GLOBAL ESTATE 0.8 0.82 0.8 0.8 0.8 0.8 221000 176800 8.82 8.95 9.27 9.27 8.81 8.82 62700 559768 8990 HLDG PHIL INFRADEV 0.83 0.85 0.86 0.86 0.82 0.83 392000 327180 CITY AND LAND 0.7 0.72 0.7 0.7 0.7 0.7 1000 700 3.18 3.19 3.13 3.2 3.13 3.18 22355000 71096620 MEGAWORLD MRC ALLIED 0.179 0.18 0.184 0.187 0.176 0.18 24170000 4338670 1.31 1.4 1.34 1.4 1.28 1.4 185000 244650 PRIMEX CORP ROBINSONS LAND 16.2 16.56 16.8 16.8 16.2 16.2 1353300 22283678 PHIL REALTY 0.229 0.241 0.233 0.233 0.23 0.23 370000 85510 2.65 2.71 2.71 2.71 2.71 2.71 12000 32520 SHANG PROP STA LUCIA LAND 1.82 1.88 1.81 1.89 1.81 1.88 3039000 5622740 31 31.1 31.25 31.3 30.75 31 11559900 359233030 SM PRIME HLDG 3.85 3.94 4.1 4.1 3.81 3.84 147000 570700 VISTAMALLS SUNTRUST HOME 1.17 1.2 1.17 1.22 1.16 1.2 172000 202040 3.62 3.66 3.6 3.66 3.6 3.66 648000 2348550 VISTA LAND

29200 7,441,244.9999) 1199.9999 -1346870 -1124950 -42238.0001 -2000 -1113080 -94230 27307600 -10212318 -127542475 -1126890

SERVICES GMA NETWORK 5.88 5.89 5.83 6.05 5.83 5.88 4327500 25710114 MANILA BULLETIN 0.39 0.395 0.385 0.425 0.385 0.395 1950000 792050 12.24 13.28 12 13.5 12 13.38 4800 64346 MLA BRDCASTING GLOBE TELECOM 2090 2102 2110 2114 2090 2090 25880 54302540 1345 1346 1350 1354 1338 1345 133235 179454765 PLDT 0.05 0.051 0.052 0.052 0.049 0.051 4350000 217260 APOLLO GLOBAL DFNN INC 2.88 3 3 3 3 3 6000 18000 2.97 2.98 3.02 3.02 2.94 2.97 39831000 118294990 DITO CME HLDG IMPERIAL 1.32 1.38 1.35 1.38 1.35 1.38 12000 16410 ISLAND INFO 0.07 0.072 0.074 0.074 0.073 0.073 110000 8040 1.54 1.58 1.53 1.6 1.53 1.54 74000 115090 JACKSTONES NOW CORP 2.07 2.09 2.08 2.11 2.07 2.08 878000 1829770 0.18 0.182 0.18 0.182 0.178 0.18 4340000 776270 TRANSPACIFIC BR 1.98 1.99 1.98 2.02 1.94 1.98 263000 517160 PHILWEB 2GO GROUP 9.15 9.2 9.5 9.5 9.1 9.2 32000 295390 15.34 16.76 15.24 15.24 15.24 15.24 300 4572 ASIAN TERMINALS CHELSEA 3.59 3.6 3.6 3.7 3.6 3.6 95000 344260 CEBU AIR 39.9 40 39.25 39.9 39.05 39.9 70000 2762300 100.1 101 96.05 101 95.35 101 1161430 114981936 INTL CONTAINER LBC EXPRESS 12.14 13.14 13.18 13.18 13.18 13.18 100 1318 0.77 0.8 0.7 0.8 0.68 0.77 289000 214370 LORENZO SHIPPNG MACROASIA 5.65 5.68 5.7 5.79 5.5 5.68 8347600 47022081 METROALLIANCE A 1.78 1.8 1.77 1.8 1.75 1.78 264000 466620 6.2 6.38 6.15 6.43 6.1 6.4 26800 164506 PAL HLDG HARBOR STAR 0.79 0.81 0.8 0.81 0.79 0.8 354000 283490 1.18 1.3 1.18 1.18 1.18 1.18 1000 1180 ACESITE HOTEL BOULEVARD HLDG 0.027 0.028 0.029 0.029 0.026 0.028 96900000 2641500 DISCOVERY WORLD 1.6 1.82 1.61 1.61 1.6 1.6 36000 57950 0.37 0.385 0.375 0.385 0.37 0.385 270000 101350 WATERFRONT CENTRO ESCOLAR 6.31 6.49 6.31 6.31 6.31 6.31 100 631 STI HLDG 0.3 0.305 0.325 0.33 0.305 0.305 10250000 3199250 2.13 2.2 2.12 2.2 2.12 2.2 18000 38600 BERJAYA BLOOMBERRY 7.21 7.28 7.35 7.35 7.21 7.28 510100 3709055 1.9 2.03 2.02 2.09 2 2 139000 280410 PACIFIC ONLINE LEISURE AND RES 1.27 1.29 1.29 1.29 1.26 1.29 625000 796410 MANILA JOCKEY 2.35 2.4 2.4 2.4 2.4 2.4 414000 993600 2.29 2.3 2.3 2.3 2.18 2.29 80000 181700 PH RESORTS GRP PREMIUM LEISURE 0.305 0.31 0.31 0.31 0.305 0.31 1420000 437800 ALLHOME 7.2 7.23 7.1 7.25 7.03 7.2 1614400 11604803 1.5 1.52 1.5 1.52 1.5 1.52 171000 256970 METRO RETAIL PUREGOLD 49.05 49.1 49.5 49.5 49 49.1 2255300 110891595 60.95 61 61 62 60.6 61 337160 20563238 ROBINSONS RTL 125 126.8 127.9 127.9 125 126.8 320 40361 PHIL SEVEN CORP SSI GROUP 1.13 1.14 1.13 1.15 1.11 1.14 1483000 1669030 15.78 15.8 16 16 15.76 15.8 3244900 51311902 WILCON DEPOT APC GROUP 0.335 0.34 0.325 0.34 0.325 0.34 1200000 397150 EASYCALL 6.6 6.75 6.7 6.84 6.55 6.75 22200 148374 0.22 0.224 0.209 0.225 0.209 0.224 10590000 2318050 PRMIERE HORIZON SBS PHIL CORP 4.51 4.95 4.9 4.9 4.9 4.9 1000 4900

-23557490 14577000 1151110 740 14490 52200 326550 5886335.5 1318 -2466902 7930 -1202482 15370 -316052 37580 5544825 -8210322 -786580 -5017784 -

MINING & OIL ATOK 7.98 8 8.19 8.24 7.98 8 16300 132198 24600 1.3 1.31 1.23 1.32 1.23 1.31 7753000 9971950 -1707150 APEX MINING ABRA MINING 0.0007 0.0008 0.0008 0.0008 0.0007 0.0008 342000000 249300 2.6 2.61 2.55 2.61 2.54 2.61 1059000 2,726,010( 2,028,259.9997) ATLAS MINING 1.72 1.74 1.58 1.88 1.56 1.72 476000 802960 BENGUET A BENGUET B 1.65 1.8 1.75 1.88 1.61 1.8 169000 295190 0.185 0.189 0.185 0.185 0.185 0.185 230000 42550 COAL ASIA HLDG DIZON MINES 7.01 7.39 6.99 7.49 6.7 7.39 1300 9186 FERRONICKEL 1 1.01 1.01 1.02 0.99 1.01 1658000 1669100 -202500 0.222 0.226 0.229 0.229 0.22 0.222 60000 13410 GEOGRACE LEPANTO A 0.115 0.116 0.109 0.117 0.107 0.115 32210000 3631220 0.111 0.114 0.109 0.116 0.105 0.114 4980000 554660 -218000 LEPANTO B 0.0082 0.0085 0.0079 0.0092 0.0078 0.0084 312000000 2632600 MANILA MINING A MANILA MINING B 0.0082 0.0087 0.008 0.009 0.008 0.0082 43000000 366400 -50400 0.66 0.67 0.66 0.67 0.63 0.67 1056000 696760 MARCVENTURES NIHAO 1.21 1.23 1.2 1.29 1.17 1.22 458000 553320 NICKEL ASIA 2.09 2.1 2.13 2.13 2.07 2.1 5085000 10672840 -220350 0.39 0.4 0.39 0.4 0.375 0.4 160000 61400 OMICO CORP ORNTL PENINSULA 0.51 0.54 0.54 0.54 0.51 0.54 22000 11520 2.8 2.81 2.72 2.85 2.72 2.8 1459000 4074270 -1127860 PX MINING 10.32 10.38 10.4 10.54 10.16 10.32 3886300 40530992 9153730 SEMIRARA MINING UNITED PARAGON 0.0055 - 0.0038 0.0055 0.0038 0.0055 544000000 2822800 0.0082 0.0085 0.0085 0.0086 0.0085 0.0086 2000000 17100 ORNTL PETROL A PHILODRILL 0.0076 0.0079 0.0078 0.0079 0.0076 0.0076 23000000 180600 PXP ENERGY 6.1 6.13 5.91 6.15 5.9 6.1 407700 2467323 -256584

PREFFERED HOUSE PREF A 100.2 102 101.9 102 100.2 102 19380 1975710 AC PREF B1 505 519 518 519 518 519 190 98510 100.3 102.3 100.2 100.2 100.2 100.2 500 50100 CPG PREF A DD PREF 101.2 102 101.3 102 101 101.2 59730 6045726 104236 520 521 520 521 520 521 2270 1180670 GLO PREF P GTCAP PREF B 1012 1019 1005 1005 1005 1005 10 10050 MWIDE PREF 100.6 101.5 101.5 101.5 101.5 101.5 1100 111650 100.3 101.4 100.3 100.4 100.3 100.4 15000 1505500 PNX PREF 3A PNX PREF 3B 104.5 106.8 106.8 106.8 106.8 106.8 100 10680 PNX PREF 4 1015 1025 1015 1015 1015 1015 65 65975 1020 1039 1039 1039 1039 1039 20 20780 PCOR PREF 2B PCOR PREF 3A 1054 1056 1055 1056 1050 1050 31470 33062480 1099 1100 1079 1099 1079 1099 9620 10531800 PCOR PREF 3B SMC PREF 2C 78.1 78.55 78.2 78.55 78 78.55 77120 6036068 SMC PREF 2D 75.25 75.55 75.5 75.5 75.5 75.5 1690 127595 76.5 78.95 76.55 77 76.35 76.4 66670 5095163 SMC PREF 2F SMC PREF 2G 76.5 76.9 76.9 77 76.9 76.95 31860 2452566 SMC PREF 2I 77 78 77.8 77.8 77.8 77.8 10000 778000

PHIL. DEPOSITARY RECEIPTS GMA HLDG PDR 5.5 5.57 5.39 5.59 5.39 5.5 620400 3421739 -1221605

WARRANTS LR WARRANT 0.68 0.69 - - - - - -

SMALL & MEDIUM ENTERPRISES ALTUS PROP 14.2 14.5 14 15.2 13.54 14.5 2089600 29932462 -2746186 ITALPINAS 1.8 1.81 1.82 1.83 1.79 1.81 794000 1432510 5.55 5.58 5.59 5.65 5.48 5.6 27800 155939 KEPWEALTH MERRYMART 2.45 2.46 2.49 2.52 2.4 2.46 16854000 41504620 1569510 0.57 0.58 0.58 0.59 0.57 0.58 1120000 645920 XURPAS

EXHANGE TRADE FUNDS

FIRST METRO ETF 93 93.45 93.3 93.5 93 93 9430 877985 162895

www.businessmirror.com.ph

Residential projects prop up Megaworld reservation sales

M

By VG Cabuag

@villygc

egaworld Corp., the property development arm of businessman Andrew Tan, on Tuesday said it has booked P38 billion in reservation sales for various residential projects during the first half of the year.

Last year, it recorded P80 billion in sales reservations.

For the entire second quarter, Megaworld generated around P17 billion in reservation sales, at a time

when most parts of the country were placed under enhanced community quarantine.

“While the method of selling real estate during quarantine period was

quite challenging, our digital sales strategies that we’ve been working on since two years ago paved the way for faster, smoother and safer transactions, and client engagements,” Lourdes Gutierrez-Alfonso, the company's chief operating officer, said.

Reservation sales in June alone reached P7 billion as demand for residential lots in Calabarzon, particularly in Cavite, Laguna and Rizal, as well as residential properties in Boracay Newcoast and Iloilo Business Park, went up.

Megaworld’s provincial properties make up most of the sales booked during the second quarter. The company's projects in Arden Botanical Estate in Cavite; Eastland Heights in Antipolo, Rizal; Hamptons Caliraya in Laguna; McKinley Hill and McKinley West in Taguig; as well as

projects in Makati and Pasig, contributed to the bulk of the period’s reservation sales.

“Even during the enhanced community quarantine in Luzon during the second quarter, we received a lot of inquiries and reservations via our online channels mostly coming from the upper mid-market,” Alfonso said.

The company has opened its showrooms for residential projects across the country with enhanced safety protocols in place, such as pre-visit registration, contact-less payments, document sanitation, and digital presentations aside from the standard regular disinfection of the showroom premises and equipment.

Clients who visit showrooms are also given their own hygiene kits, the company said.

‘SLAMCI rises above Covid-19 challenges’

By Bernadette D. Nicolas @BNicolasBM

S

un Life Asset Management Company Inc. (SL A MCI) breached the P94-billion mark in assets under management (AUM) in the first half of the year, as it rose above current market challenges due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

SLAMCI President Valerie Pama said the company considers this milestone in AUM as a “vote of confidence” from their clients.

“As we mark two decades of being our clients’ partner for prosperity, we are inspired to continue innovating so we may offer products and services relevant to their needs," Pama said in a statement.

Moving forward, SLAMCI vowed to continue its push for digital transformation, which was proven essential when the pandemic struck the country.

SLAMCI remained operational during the quarantine period, allowing it to serve its clients.

Those who wished to add to their investments were able to use the Bills Payment Program, while the My Sun Life Client Portal and Sun Life PH Mobile App allowed them to add to or redeem from their chosen fund.

Electronic Statements of Account were also made available on the My Sun Life Client Portal so clients may monitor their investments while webinars were held to keep clients informed about the state of the market and how they can manage their investments in these unprecedented times.

On July 22, SLAMCI will mark another first as it holds its Annual Shareholders Meeting via Zoom.

Aside from digital transformation, SLAMCI said it also remains committed to enriching financial literacy by further enlightening Filipinos on how investing in mutual funds can help them grow their hard-earned money so they can achieve their long-term financial goals.

SLAMCI said it is encouraged by the growing number of young investors with millennials (20 to 35 years old) now making up 31 percent of its clients, closely following Gen X-ers (36 to 55 years old) which comprise majority of SLAMCI’s clients at 47 percent.

“This is a good indicator that we are raising a more financiallyprepared generation,” Pama said.

“With this, we are inspired to continue with our financial literacy efforts such as webinars and special

Apo Agua fast-tracking Davao bulk water plant

By Lorenz S. Marasigan

A

@lorenzmarasigan

boitiz InfraCapital Inc.subsidiary Apo Agua Infrastructura Inc. is fast-tracking the construction of the bulk water supply facility in Davao City and is looking at adding 3,000 more workers by November.

Shake A. Tuason, Apo Agua Operations Head, said Apo Agua has so far signed in roughly 1,500 workers for the Davao City Bulk Water Supply Project (DCBWSP). This brings the total target manpower requirement to 4,500 workers.

“We are ramping up our construction activities while implementing the appropriate health protocols in our offices and project sites per government guidelines.

As we confront the challenges brought by this pandemic, we are set on delivering this project by 2021 while keeping our people’s health and safety a priority,” he said.

To recall, construction works were halted in April due to the enhanced community quarantine brought about by the Covid-19

pandemic. Construction works resumed in May after the government deemed these activities necessary for the reopening of the economy.

Tuason noted that the additional manpower will help complete Part A of the DCBWSP, which involves the construction of raw water facilities, hydroelectric power plant, water treatment plant, treated water pipelines, and facilities for various off-take points in the city.

“We are glad to assist our fellow Davaoeños during this challenging time by helping provide a much-needed source of livelihood,” he said.

Manpower requirements range from carpenters, masons, steel men, rebar fitters, pipefitters, machine and equipment operators, signalmen, watchmen, and utility personnel.

Apo Agua partnered with the Davao City Water District in 2015 to help provide ample and sustainable water supply in the city. Once completed, the bulk water facility will provide over 300 million liters of safe water per day to more than one million city residents.

information campaigns.”

SLAMCI remains the largest nonbank asset management company in the Philippines, managing a total of 16 funds and catering to 160,000 investors with the help of 2,500 financial advisors.

As the company marks its 20th anniversary, the company said it looks forward to serving Filipinos

mutual funds

for the next 20 years and beyond and offering a wider variety of wealth solutions, innovative tools, and excellent service.

“It has been a fruitful two decades of bright partnerships with the Filipinos, and we thank those who made it happen. It would be our honor to fulfill this purpose for more years to come,” Pama said.

July 21, 2020

NAV One Year Three Year Five Year Y-T-D per share Return* Return Stock Funds ALFM Growth Fund, Inc. -a 201.63 -26.36% -9.74% -5.41% -19.94% ATRAM Alpha Opportunity Fund, Inc. -a 1.0383 -38.23% -13.5% -5.92% -24.87% ATRAM Philippine Equity Opportunity Fund, Inc. -a 2.7153 -35.94% -14.48% -7.86% -26.18% Climbs Share Capital Equity Investment Fund Corp. -a 0.6894 -30.36% n.a. n.a. -23.23% First Metro Consumer Fund on MSCI Phils. IMI, Inc. -a 0.6677 -26.33% n.a. n.a. -21.38% First Metro Save and Learn Equity Fund,Inc. -a 4.3241 -23.65% -8.46% -5.1% -18.85% First Metro Save and Learn Philippine Index Fund, Inc. -a,4 0.6826 -25.19% -11.01% n.a.

-20.03% MBG Equity Investment Fund, Inc. -a

80.31 -34.85% n.a. n.a.

-22.2% PAMI Equity Index Fund, Inc. -a 40.5732 -25.44% -8.17% -4.37% -20.88% Philam Strategic Growth Fund, Inc. -a 434.03 -23.31% -7.56% -4.65% -18.53% Philequity Alpha One Fund, Inc. -a,d,5 0.8824 n.a. n.a. n.a. -14.34% Philequity Dividend Yield Fund, Inc. -a 1.0238 -25.67% -8.04% -4.27% -20.44% Philequity Fund, Inc. -a 30.1363 -25.38% -7.55% -3.95% -20.48% Philequity MSCI Philippine Index Fund, Inc. -a 0.7999 -26.51% n.a. n.a. -21.43% Philequity PSE Index Fund Inc. -a 4.1329 -25.17% -7.62% -3.68% -20.88% 692.03 -24.96% -7.59% -3.87% -20.64% Philippine Stock Index Fund Corp. -a Soldivo Strategic Growth Fund, Inc. -a 0.6242 -34.95% -11.74% -8.04% -26.69% Sun Life Prosperity Philippine Equity Fund, Inc. -a 3.1921 -29.21% -9.16% -5.1% -24.16% Sun Life Prosperity Philippine Stock Index Fund, Inc. -a 0.7937 -25.08% -7.76% -3.86% -20.69% United Fund, Inc. -a 2.8882 -25.2% -6.69% -3.49% -20.94% Exchange Traded Fund First Metro Phil. Equity Exchange Traded Fund, Inc. -a,c 92.9074 -24.74% -7.1% -3.04% -20.56% Primarily invested in foreign currency securities ATRAM AsiaPlus Equity Fund, Inc. -b $1.0213 2.77% -0.17% 0.63% -0.69% Sun Life Prosperity World Voyager Fund, Inc. -a $1.4374 8.73% 6.65% n.a.

4.26% Balanced Funds Primarily invested in Peso securities ATRAM Dynamic Allocation Fund, Inc. -a 1.5638 -12.81% -4.19% -3.55% 0.06% ATRAM Philippine Balanced Fund, Inc. -a 2.0717 -12.74% -4.44% -1.87% -5.02% First Metro Save and Learn Balanced Fund Inc. -a 2.4303 -10.84% -2.96% -3.02% -7.65% First Metro Save and Learn F.O.C.C.U.S. Dynamic Fund, Inc. -a,1 0.1865 n.a. n.a. n.a.

-18.38% NCM Mutual Fund of the Phils., Inc. -a 1.8514 -6.36% -1.03% -0.34% -5.62% PAMI Horizon Fund, Inc. -a 3.5179 -8.5% -2.1% -1.45% -7.16% Philam Fund, Inc. -a 15.6589 -9.45% -2.42% -1.65% -7.67% Solidaritas Fund, Inc. -a 1.9341 -12.15% -3.49% -1.44% -8.86% Sun Life of Canada Prosperity Balanced Fund, Inc. -a 3.3036 -17.23% -4.57% -2.76% -14.49% Sun Life Prosperity Achiever Fund 2028, Inc. -a,d 0.9523 -8.86% n.a. n.a.

-6.24% Sun Life Prosperity Achiever Fund 2038, Inc. -a,d 0.8556 -18.42% n.a. n.a.

-14.13% Sun Life Prosperity Achiever Fund 2048, Inc. -a,d 0.8307 -20.55% n.a. n.a. -16.36% Sun Life Prosperity Dynamic Fund, Inc. -a 0.8155 -20.55% -5.55% -3.91% -16.34% Primarily invested in foreign currency securities Cocolife Dollar Fund Builder, Inc. -a $0.03882 3.55% 2.69% 1.84% 1.62% 1.1% PAMI Asia Balanced Fund, Inc. -b $1.0117 0.42% 0.99% -0.03% Sun Life Prosperity Dollar Advantage Fund, Inc. -a $3.9804 4.85% 4.62% 3.82% 1.78% Sun Life Prosperity Dollar Wellspring Fund, Inc. -a,3 $1.134 2.2% 2.41% n.a.

0.47% Bond Funds Primarily invested in Peso securities ALFM Peso Bond Fund, Inc. -a 367.19 4.47% 3.2% 2.61% 2.58% ATRAM Corporate Bond Fund, Inc. -a 1.9448 2.25% 1.04% -0.06% 2.25% Cocolife Fixed Income Fund, Inc. -a 3.1958 4.61% 5.07% 5.08% 2.5% Ekklesia Mutual Fund Inc. -a 2.3044 4.96% 3.13% 2.38% 3.64% First Metro Save and Learn Fixed Income Fund,Inc. -a 2.4531 5.75% 3.47% 2% 3.98% Philam Bond Fund, Inc. -a 4.6532 10.53% 4.49% 2.75% 6.41% Philam Managed Income Fund, Inc. -a,6 1.3024 6.78% 4.21% 2.32% 3.64% Philequity Peso Bond Fund, Inc. -a 3.9633 7.55% 4.39% 2.34% 4.62% Soldivo Bond Fund, Inc. -a 1.0388 10.44% 3.85% 1.92% 7.73% Sun Life of Canada Prosperity Bond Fund, Inc. -a 3.1796 6.76% 4.88% 2.95% 3.38% Sun Life Prosperity GS Fund, Inc. -a 1.7455 5.59% 4.22% 2.38% 2.61% Primarily invested in foreign currency securities ALFM Dollar Bond Fund, Inc. -a $475.48 3.41% 2.49% 2.75% 1.52% ALFM Euro Bond Fund, Inc. -a Є215.85 -1.14% 0.68% 1.01% -1.79% 2.66% ATRAM Total Return Dollar Bond Fund, Inc. -b $1.2293 3.68% 2.97% 1.83% First Metro Save and Learn Dollar Bond Fund, Inc. -a $0.0261 1.95% 1.58% 1.36% 1.16% PAMI Global Bond Fund, Inc -b $1.0756 -1.05% -0.05% 0.44% -1.65% Philam Dollar Bond Fund, Inc. -a $2.4653 4.79% 3.38% 3.19% 2.57% Philequity Dollar Income Fund Inc. -a $0.0607369 2.31% 1.98% 1.85% 0.72% Sun Life Prosperity Dollar Abundance Fund, Inc. -a $3.2028 3.75% 2% 2.52% 0.87% Money Market Funds Primarily invested in Peso securities ALFM Money Market Fund, Inc. -a 128.48 3.76% 3.26% 2.46% 2.11% First Metro Save and Learn Money Market Fund, Inc. -a 1.0427 2.6% n.a. n.a.

1.6% Sun Life Prosperity Money Market Fund, Inc. -a 1.285 3.03% 3.03% 2.59% 1.58% Primarily invested in foreign currency securities Sun Life Prosperity Dollar Starter Fund, Inc. -a $1.046 1.63% n.a. n.a.

0.74% Feeder Funds Primarily invested in Peso securities Sun Life Prosperity World Equity Index Feeder Fund, Inc. -a,d,7 1.0053 n.a. n.a. n.a. n.a.

Primarily invested in foreign currency securities ALFM Global Multi-Asset Income Fund Inc. -b,d,2 $0.94 n.a. n.a. n.a.

-5.05%

a - NAVPS as of the previous banking day. b - NAVPS as of two banking days ago. c - Listed in the PSE. d - in Net Asset Value per Unit (NAVPU).

1 - Launch date is September 28, 2019. 2 - Launch date is November 15, 2019. 3 - Adjusted due to stock dividend issuance last October 9, 2019.

4 - Renaming was approved by the SEC last October 12, 2018 (formerly, One Wealthy Nation Fund, Inc.). 5 - Launch date is December 09, 2019.

6 - Re-classified into a Bond Fund starting February 21, 2020 (Formerly a Money Market Fund). 7 - Launch date is July 6, 2020.

"While we endeavor to keep the information accurate, the Philippine Investment Funds Association (PIFA) and its members make no warranties as to the correctness of the newspaper’s publication and assume no liability or responsibility for any error or omissions. You may visit http://www.

pifa.com.ph to see the latest NAVPS/NAVPU."

www.businessmirror.com.ph

Entrepreneur

Food entreps urged to observe safety guidelines amid pandemic

A

gricultural exporters and local food entrepreneurs are being urged to conform with the international safety guidelines for reducing the chances of contracting the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) from food or food packaging, and spreading the pandemic.

The World Health Organization (WHO) and the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations released “Covid-19 and Food Safety: Guidance for Food Businesses” last April underscoring the need for the food industry to reinforce personal hygiene measures and provide refresher training on food hygiene principles.

“We are encouraging exporters to peruse the document and ensure that you are following the guidelines. The Chinese government, in particular, has requested exporters of agricultural products follow the WHO and FAO guidelines,” the Department of Trade and Industry-Export Marketing Bureau (DTI-EMB) said in an advisory. The safety guidelines said personal protective equipment (PPE), such as masks and gloves, can be effective in reducing the spread of viruses and disease within the food industry, but only if used properly.

In addition, the food industry is strongly advised to introduce physical distancing and stringent hygiene and sanitation measures, and promote frequent and effective handwashing and sanitation at each stage of food processing, manufacture and marketing.

“These measures will protect staff from spreading Covid-19 among workers, maintain a healthy work force, and detect and exclude infected food handlers and their immediate contacts from the workplace,” the guidelines said.

Examples of practical measures to adhere to physical distancing guidance in the food processing environment are staggered workstations on either side of processing lines so that food workers are not facing one another; space out workstations, which may require reduction in the speed of production lines; limit the number of staff in a food preparation area at any one time; and organize staff into working groups or teams to facilitate reduced interaction between groups.

“Maintaining physical distancing in retail food premises is critical in reducing the risk of transmission of the disease,” it said. For retailers, the guidelines said they can implement practical measures such as regulating the numbers of customers who enter the retail store to avoid overcrowding; placing signs at entry points to request customers not to enter the shop if they are unwell or have Covid-19 symptoms; and managing queue control consistent with physical distancing advice both inside and outside stores.

Food workers include managers, cleaners, maintenance contractors, delivery workers, and food inspectors.

These are personnel who do not have the opportunity to work from home and are required to continue to work in their usual workplaces despite the pandemic.

It further said the food industry should have Food Safety Management Systems (FSMS) based on the Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point (HACCP) principles in place to manage food safety risks and prevent food contamination.

BusinessMirror

Editor: Vittorio V. Vitug • Wednesday, July 22, 2020 B3

Study reveals strong entrepreneurial aspiration of Southeast Asian women

T

Roderick L. Abad

@rodrik_28

HE entrepreneurial spirit among Southeast Asian women is high compared to their counterparts elsewhere in the world, revealed the second annual Global Entrepreneurship Survey 2020 of Herbalife Nutrition.

Based on results, 81 percent, or women across the four memberstates of Asean aspire to have their own business, higher than the global average of 72 percent with the desire to become entrepreneurs being most pronounced among the Generation Z and millennials aged 18 to 39.

This survey, which was conducted by OnePoll last March and April, polled 9,000 women, including 2,000 from Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines and Singapore on their attitudes toward entrepreneurship.

The study likewise found that practical reasons mostly motivate

entrepreneurship amid the Covid-19 pandemic.

Pressed on their motivations for starting their own businesses, the respondents agreed that the need to support their family (56 percent), the desire to become their own boss (54 percent) and the desire for a career change (53 percent) are the top drivers to realize their dreams.

They are ahead of other reasons, such as wanting more flexibility in their job (45 percent) and following their passion (41 percent).

“The need to find alternative sources of income to support their

families has become the top motivating factor for entrepreneurship among Southeast Asian women.

With more women in the region having a desire to start their own business compared to the global average, we see opportunities for countries to actively encourage women entrepreneurship,” said Stephen Conchie, senior vice president and managing director for Asia-Pacific, Herbalife Nutrition.

She noted the importance of public-private partnerships to provide the opportunities, resources, education and training that will not only support but also empower women entrepreneurs to break out of social and cultural norms and lay the foundation for more inclusive economic growth.

“Not only can they benefit from having better income opportunities, society will profit from having a new generation of entrepreneurial role models that can pave the way for better opportunities for women in the future,” Conchie added.

While four in five women in Asean aspire to become entrepreneurs, the research showed, only

three (59 percent) have taken actual steps to commence with their own venture.

What’s preventing them from fulfilling their plan are the initial cost to open a business (58 percent) and the lack of financing and market knowledge support (46 percent).

The top gains that they could reap from enterprising are the potential to grow their income (63 percent), the ability to better support their family (51 percent) and the potential to earn what they believe they are worth (49 percent).

Other than money, 84 percent of them are drawn to entrepreneurship by their want to become a role model for younger women. Close to seven in 10, or 67 percent, on the other hand, like to help break the glass ceiling for women.

Overall, nearly 4 in 5 (77 percent) Asean women believe that the female populace should work harder to be given the same opportunities in the workplace and they also see entrepreneurship as a way to open up new opportunities for others in the region.

In fact, 58 percent of them want

to offer opportunities for career advancement to others via entrepreneurship, 56 percent like to give women more positive female role models, and 54 percent want to use entrepreneurship as a chance to showcase the differentiated skills that women have compared to their opposite sex.

For Southeast Asian women to initially pursue their first foray in entrepreneurship, sufficient business and financial knowledge (73 percent), sufficient savings or financial stability (71 percent), a supportive family (64 percent), ability to operate a home-based business (64 percent), a mentor to guide them in my entrepreneurship journey (61 percent), and ability to work on their business part-time until they are ready to go full-time (51 percent) are the components of their journey.

While the road to their dream of owning their own business may not be smooth-sailing, 7 in 10 (70 percent) women in Southeast Asia believe that it will be life-changing, while 6 in 10 (64 percent) trust that it will be inspiring.

Bayan Academy, Tesda, with support of J.P. Morgan, ‘produce’ crisis-proof workers

T

he health pandemic has affected the lives of millions of workers worldwide, its impact far reaching and devastating to a multitude of industries. Once lucrative enterprises in tourism, hospitality, or events management are reeling from the losses and lost income opportunities, and it may take them a few years to fully recover. If there are lessons learned during the pandemic, it is that any business—whether it is a large-scale manufacturer, a back office with 50 workers, or a microenterprise with a home-based operation—must be ready to face any crisis, without the need to sacrifice workers’ welfare.

Bayan Academy, a social enterprise empowering Filipino workers with skills and knowledge, saw the pandemic as an opportunity to expand its reach via online communication. With programs validated by the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (Tesda) and supported by global financial services giant J.P. Morgan, Bayan Academy offered its various courses online, starting with “Contact Center Services,” “Virtual Assistant,” and “Basic Programming.”

Skills that will be developed from these courses were identified as “essential” or with high demand, especially as the economies of the “new normal” will rely heavily on Artificial Intelligence-enabled digital technology and automation.

“Online training will now become the norm rather than the exception,” says Dr. Eduardo A. Morato Jr. chairman and president of Bayan Academy. “The crisis is not a time to retreat, but to equip ourselves further, retool our way of thinking, and update our skills. This is what we are doing at Bayan Academy as we continuously

reach out to retrenched workers; micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs), and all those who want to improve their lot in life and survive not only this crisis, but whatever the future may bring.”

The initiatives of Bayan Academy are fully supported by J.P. Morgan.

“We remain committed to the efforts of institutions such as Bayan Academy in providing work access and increased opportunities for the Filipino,” says Carlos Ma. G. Mendoza, Senior Country Officer of J.P. Morgan Philippines.

“The Covid-19 pandemic has affected communities all over the world, and the best way to address the crisis is by continuously investing in human capital and equipping individuals with the necessary skills to survive challenges that may come their way.”

During the enhanced community quarantine in Metro Manila, Bayan Academy intensified its online courses.

In fact, a second batch of online training graduates completed the Basic Programming using Python course. This would allow the graduates, some who are underemployed ones, to find work or business in the digital economy, which is robust during the pandemic when everyone is quarantined at home.

Earlier this year, Bayan Academy, together with Tesda and J.P. Morgan, presented the “2018-2022 NTESDP [National Technical Education and Skills Development Plan] Action Programming,” a landmark study dubbed as a guide for the “new dawn for works skills and jobs training in the Philippines.”

The NTESDP presents a strong, unified, and sustainable national system for high-level tech-voc skills training program that has a long-term vision

Tesda Director General Sec. Isidro Lapeña awards a certificate of appreciation early this year to J.P. Morgan for its invaluable support in the 2018-2022 NTESDP Action Programming and Resource Allocation Planning Project. From left: Jun Alvendia, Susan Bautista-Afan (Member of the Board of Trustees, Bayan Academy), Patricia Javier-Gutierrez (Head of Communications, J.P. Morgan Chase & Co.), Carlos Mendoza (Senior Country Officer and Head of Banking, J.P. Morgan Chase & Co.), Secretary Lapeña, and Rosanna Urdaneta (Deputy Director General for Policies and Planning, Tesda).

of making Filipinos in-demand and skilled for the challenges of the future, especially in the face of the new normal.

In a landmark move to create comprehensive changes that will strengthen the standards of Philippine Technical Vocational Education and Training (TVET) to bring about reforms relevant to the needs of eight priority industries identified in the NTESDP (namely Tourism, IT and Business Process Management, Real Estate and Construction, Agriculture, Manufacturing, Electronics, Health and Wellness, and Transportation, Communication and Logistics), Bayan

Academy and Tesda, supported by J.P. Morgan and various government and industry stakeholders, led a series of technical working group (TWG) meetings and consultations aiming to formulate industry-led curricula and enterprise-based training and identify critical skills expected from technical education scholars and graduates.

The consultations also led in the conceptualization of industry action programs and resource allocation plans in support of the NTESDP. Tesda Secretary Isidro Lapeña cited all those who contributed to the formulation of the 2018-2022 NTESDP

Action Plan. Lapeña said that while the government is intent on tackling challenges in employment and skills training, he emphasized the need for strengthened collaboration among public-private partners to translate the NTESDP into specific, “demanddriven” TVET programs.

“Tesda and Bayan Academy will jointly implement the conduct of Tesda organizational diagnosis. This will result in the design of a Tesda structure that is more demand-driven and industry-led organization for the effective delivery of the action programs for the eight priority industries,” the Tesda chief said.

Even before the pandemic, Dr. Morato foresaw the need to open inclusive alternative pathways to quality employment and to expand vocational education opportunities for Filipinos, especially those in the most underserved communities to prepare for future jobs that are crisis-proof.

“It is important to reform the Philippine national vocational education by developing its eight priority NTESDP action and investment programs, and to pilot the integration of crosscutting IT training modules across all eight industries to strengthen employability in higher value-added positions,” Dr. Morato says.

One of the priority industries identified in the NTESDP was agriculture, which made a lot of people concerned during the pandemic as it is also about food security, jobs generation, and countryside development. Bayan Academy is currently developing online courses and programs to tackle issues on agriculture in order for more Filipinos to find crisis-proof opportunities and gainful employment in this industry.

Someday, Maybe: Ateneo social entreps wade into PPE, ‘safe’ daily wear fashion

By Rizal Raoul S. Reyes @brownindio Contributor

P

assion and the innate desire to be a major player in the business field are normally the major driving factors that motivate entrepreneurs to put up their brands.

For Ateneans Roxanne Montealegre and Brian Poe, it was “pain” that motivated and inspired them to put up their social enterprise, “Someday, Maybe.”

“A pandemic brought us down to our knees but we want to rise up to the challenge,” Montealegre, a known television personality told the BusinessMirror in a recent interview through Facebook Messenger.

Expounding, Montealegre said Someday, Maybe combined science and the craft to produce safe and sus-

tainable apparel available to the public amid the raging contagion.

Their first collection, she said, is a combination of lifestyle, active wear and business casual with anti-bacterial materials and equipped with medical grade fabrics as an added measure of protection from the virus.

“We’ve been fighting uncertainty with mental toughness but we also have to move forward and take control.

It’s a long way to go but we will begin the end of lockdown by offering precautionary and protective gears,” Poe said.

Moreover, he added, their items will not just cater to medical and non-medical frontliners but for every typical Filipino who wants confidence and peace of mind and functional in everyday wear. As a social enterprise, Someday, Maybe carries an element of compassion as it adopted tailors displaced by Covid-19, while their chemists integrate health-care innovation

into fashion.

Moreover, Montealegre and Poe concurred the future will be quite different and entrepreneurs like them should prepare challenges in the age of the so-called new normal—from addressing needs with tech seeds, creating ethical clothing and eco-friendly personal protective equipment and “converting anxiety into something useful for society.”

Poe is a public servant by heart. His day job is serving as the chief of staff of his mom, Senator Grace Poe. However, people may tend to forget that the younger Poe is also a successful entrepreneur and investor by his own right.

He is most known for his luxury watch brand Time Master Watches.

Time Master is credited with being the first Filipino watch company to develop a dive watch. In keeping in touch

with his sense of social responsibility Time Master Watches has partnered with different non-government organizations like MovEd and Habitat for Humanity for its corporate social responsibility program.

After honing his skills from his first enterprise, Poe had joint ventures with his friends. His first investments were in food and beverage like Dulo Bar in Poblacion, Barley and Craft beer distribution services, and more recently Refined at the Bonifacio Global Center.

However, in keeping with the times, Poe also saw the potential in tech and is the lead investor in STOBZMedia and STOBZDigital which specializes in content creation and social media management services.

Now given the Covid-19 health crisis, Poe is optimistic that his latest business venture with the A-List owner

and S+A commentator Montealegre to create a safer, healthier, lifestyle clothing brand that uses both PPE materials and anti-microbial formula integrated with different kinds of fabric to protect the everyday Filipino will create awareness in the market.

The duo said Someday, Maybe also want to build the brand to generate more jobs. With the rising unemployment, Montealegre and Poe said all hands should be on deck to help keep the economy afloat. They said Someday, Maybe is their small way of helping the country.

Ideally, when the brand does well, Poe and Montealegre plan to expand their product line into other aspects of fashion and promote more locally produced materials and designs.

Poe and Montealegre ask friends, family, and frontliners for their feedback to ensure the designs are comfort-

able. Poe designs the ones for men and Montealegre handles the ones made for ladies.

More importantly, Someday, Maybe plans to continue to address the needs of the market whether by improving aesthetics, or enhancing its functionality and safety features. Furthermore, they aim to create a brand that becomes known for its effortless style, comfort, and reliability.

“I am optimistic about Someday, Maybe because we’re addressing pain points such as having clothing that will also protect us against bacteria, microbes and viruses and providing jobs to displaced tailors due to the pandemic. I’m hopeful that Someday Maybe, we can go out without fear but for now, we do what we can to help. I expect this brand to evolve as we all navigate the new normal together,” Montealegre said.

B4

Show BusinessMirror

Wednesday, July 22, 2020

www.businessmirror.com.ph

Today’s Horoscope

By Eugenia Last

z

CELEBRITIES BORN ON THIS DAY: Selena Gomez, 28; Rufus Wainwright, 47; David Spade, 56; Willem Dafoe, 65.

EXPIRED

A LOCAL beauty brand held a giveaway with the winners getting an x amount worth of their products. After the winners had been named, they were surprised to learn they would have to shoulder the courier’s fee. But it was OK with them since the amount of products they were supposed to get was quite substantial. Imagine their surprise when they checked the expiration dates. It was just in a month.

They didn’t know how to feel. Pretty soon, they learned that the brand had sent out PR packages to influencers and the expiration dates were also in a month’s time. Was it an honest mistake? Or was it deliberate? If it was a mistake, then it’s OK but if the brand tried to palm off products about to expire, then that is another matter.

NOT IN THE SAME FRAME

THEY used to be a popular love team but they were never a couple in real life. At the very least, people thought they were civil. Recent events have pointed to the fact that they’re not even that. During a recent live show, with social distancing practiced of course, the guy asked the staffers not to give him parts where he would be in the same frame with his ex partner.

He barely nodded to her when they first saw each other during quarantine. The guy had always treated the girl with disdain. He always thought he was better than her. In fact, he was so happy when the partnership was dissolved.

ACTOR Johnny Depp gestures as he arrives at the High Court in London on July 17. Depp is suing News Group Newspapers, publisher of The Sun, and the paper’s executive editor, Dan Wootton, over an April 2018 article that called him a “wife-beater.” AP

US MeToo activist says ‘Sun’ misquoted her in Depp abuse story

HER STALKER IS HER EX

THEY used to be a couple onscreen and off, but they eventually parted ways because they were very young then. They had other relationships and eventually got married to other people and had kids. The guy, an actor, fell into hard times and so did the girl. She is now happily rebuilding her life while he is still reportedly hooked on drugs. This is the reason why he cannot get acting jobs. Recently, he has been spotted stalking the actress who is scared out of her wits.

It’s not clear what he wants from her but she wants nothing to do with him.

NOT COMPUTER LITERATE

WHEN the actress left her home network years ago, it was not really because of money or lack of assignments. At that time, she felt that they did not allow her to grow as a person. At that point, she did not even have an e-mail address. She didn’t know to use a computer, or how to eat during a formal dinner.

She only ate the most common food, the type liked by children even if she was already an adult. She felt that people in her old management wanted her to remain ignorant so that she wouldn’t question their decisions.

Since then, the actress has developed into a fearless and independent woman, no thanks to those who thought they could control her.

L

By Jill Lawless The Associated Press

ONDON—A #MeToo activist said in a court document released on Friday that she was misquoted and misused” by a British tabloid newspaper in an article that accused Johnny Depp of physically abusing his ex-wife, Amber Heard.

Depp is suing News Group Newspapers, publisher of The Sun, and the paper’s executive editor, Dan Wootton, at the High Court in London over the April 2018 article, which called him a wife-beater.” He strongly denies abusing Heard.

The article claimed there was a backlash by #MeToo activists against author J.K. Rowling because she was defending her famous pal” Depp, a star of the movie adaptation of her book Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them.

It quoted Katherine Kendall, an actress and activist who says she was assaulted by jailed film mogul Harvey Weinstein, as saying “it seems that Amber got hurt” and condemning violence.

In a written witness statement, Kendall said she spoke in April 2018 to a woman she later learned was a Sun reporter. She said she had been completely misquoted and misused by The Sun to accomplish their goal.” Although it was true that I was a victim of Harvey Weinstein, the rest was a lie,” Kendall said. I was not ‘going public’ on behalf of #MeToo or myself, to criticize J.K. Rowling’s decision to cast Mr. Depp, nor did I accuse Mr. Depp of hurting Amber Heard, about which I have no first-hand knowledge.”

Kendall also said she had heard several times” that Heard was abusive to Depp.

Depp, 57, and Heard, 34, met on the set of the 2011 comedy The Rum Diary and married in Los Angeles in February 2015. Heard filed for divorce the following year, and the divorce was finalized in 2017.

The Sun’s defense relies on 14 allegations made by Heard of violence by Depp between 2013 and 2016, in settings including his private island in the Bahamas, a rented house in Australia and the couple’s downtown

Los Angeles penthouse.

He denies them all and claims Heard was the aggressor during their volatile relationship, which he has likened to a crime scene waiting to happen.”

In nine days of testimony at the High Court in London, judge Andrew Nicol has heard from Depp and from several current or former employees who have backed his version of events.

One of Depp’s security guards, Travis McGivern, said on Friday that Heard spat at Depp and threw a can of energy drink Red Bull at him during an altercation at the couple’s Los Angeles penthouse in March 2015.

Heard claims that Depp hit her and pulled her hair, but McGivern said this did not happen and at no point did Mr. Depp hit Ms. Heard.”

Two of Depp’s former romantic partners, Winona Ryder and Vanessa Paradis, have submitted witness statements saying they could not reconcile Heard’s accusations of violence with the kind and loving man they knew.

Heard is due to give her side of the story when she enters the witness box on Monday.

On Friday Alejandro Romero, a concierge at the Los Angeles building where Depp and Heard lived, testified that tech billionaire Elon Musk visited Heard regularly late at night” from March 2015, while she was married to Depp.

Heard and the Tesla founder had a relationship after she and Depp separated.

The Sun’s lawyer suggested Romero had got the date wrong, but he said he remembered well because it was just after Depp had hurt his finger.

Depp’s fingertip was cut off while he and Heard were in Australia, where he was filming a Pirates of the Caribbean movie, in March 2015. Depp alleges that Heard severed it by throwing a vodka bottle at him, a claim she denies.

Romero said a friend of his was a big fan of Mr. Depp and he was concerned about him not being able to play the guitar. That’s how I remember, and then the same day I saw Mr. Musk.” n

Happy Birthday: You may want to rethink the way you structure your future. How you handle your money, legal matters and health will be crucial to the help you receive as the year progresses. Be smart, practical and prudent to avoid being caught in a situation that spins out of control. How you prepare and plan for the future will determine your lifestyle. Your numbers are 9, 16, 20, 27, 33, 37, 44.

a

ARIES (March 21-April 19): Keep your thoughts to yourself, and pour your energy into getting concrete results. How you spend your time will determine the outcome of a long-term plan you want to complete. Don’t jeopardize your chance to fulfill your dream. Romance is featured. HHHHH

b

TAURUS (April 20-May 20): You’ll thrive on change, but before you jump from one thing to another, read the fine print to ensure you know what you are doing. An emotional situation will leave you feeling insecure. Take better care of your financial responsibilities. HH

c

GEMINI (May 21-June 20): Spend more time nurturing and less time jumping from one thing to another. How you use your energy will have an impact on the way others treat you. Personal improvements at home will encourage a healthier lifestyle. HHHH

d

CANCER (June 21-July 22): Set boundaries when dealing with people or situations that are inconsistent. Protect what you have, and go about your business to ensure your responsibilities are taken care of on time. HHH

e

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): Hop to it. Put your muscle behind your mouth, and follow through with your promises. Dedication will help ward off criticism from people trying to dismantle your plans. Don’t trust anyone with personal matters or secrets that may tarnish your reputation. HHH

f

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): Do what needs to be done, and don’t look back. Take control of matters, and make adjustments that will help calm any situation that has been festering for too long. Don’t let uncertainty or inconsistency prevail.

Create opportunity, and keep moving forward. HHH

g

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22): Align yourself with doers, movers and shakers, and you’ll get things done. Don’t let negativity and criticism dictate what you can do. Take pride in what you have to offer, and channel energy into building a strong foundation for upcoming prospects. HHHH

h

SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): Know that it’s time to move on when someone offers too little too late. New beginnings will bring you closer to the happiness you deserve. Learn from experience, read the signs and hedge your bets as you move toward a brighter future. HH

i

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): An aggressive plan to improve your domestic situation will help you be more productive.

Figure out how much it will cost, and start to organize the best way to enhance your environment. HHH

j

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): Bounce your ideas off loved ones. Make sure they agree with your plans before you make a move. The insight offered will help you make a wise decision. An adjustment to the way you live will encourage peace of mind. HHH

k

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): Don’t be tempted by what someone proposes. Do what you know in your heart is right for you.

A personal pick-me-up doesn’t have to cost a lot of money, but it should put a smile on your face. HHH

l

PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20): Step up and solve problems. Reach out to those less able, and you will make a difference. A change to the way you earn your keep or spend your cash will ease stress. Offer honesty. HHH Birthday Baby: You are entertaining, intelligent and adaptable.

You are helpful and persuasive.

‘it’s a bust’ by kate hawkins The Universal Crossword/Edited by David Steinberg

ACROSS 1 Image file format 4 Rice dishes that may contain raisins 10 Luxury hotel amenities 14 It might be lent or bent 15 Boot-shaped country, to locals 16 Voyage 17 Automatic alternative 19 Capital of 15-Across 20 Give 10 percent 21 Gingerly avoid, as kids’ toys 23 Like a fair play?

24 Bonanza 26 Dispensary product 28 Zilch 29 Slumber party attire 32 Front steps 35 Country whose cuisine has Indian and Tibetan influences 39 Franks 42 Home to Damascus 43 High tea pastry 44 Pea’s place 45 Singer DiFranco 47 Neat

9 It may be captured in midair 4 54 “Hello...lo...lo” effect 58 Clark Kent’s colleague 59 Less common 60 Not falling for 61 Mermaid, say, on a ship...or a hint to the starred answers 64 Pulitzer winner Jennifer 65 Become emotionally vulnerable 66 “Let Me Blow Ya Mind” rapper 67 ___ serif 68 Rich ice cream 69 “___ my previous e-mail...”

DOWN 1 Kids around 2 Backyard entertainment area 3 Creamy Southern side 4 Gymnastics or diving position 5 “___ a trap!”

6 “Well, ___-di-dah!”

7 Group of top stars 8 Amendment that may be pled 9 Percale’s shiny relative 10 Took a relaxing walk 11 City near Salt Lake City

2 Prepared to throw, like a dart 1 13 Extra 18 Food, or the start of a Chinese dish’s name 22 Produced a hard copy of 24 Self-referential 25 Stenches 27 Lengua en Lima 29 Original Sesame Street channel 30 Bird with a blue variety 31 Camera variety, for short 33 Whence the NBA’s Thunder: Abbr.

34 You may crop or rotate one 36 Really catch the eye 37 “Long, long ___...”

38 Acid 40 People who go from one party to another?

41 “Your wish is my command!”

46 Out of it 48 “___, right!”

49 Succulents with fleshy leaves 50 Line dance 51 One who looms large 52 Criticize slyly, with “at”

3 German idealist philosopher 5 55 Climb, as a vine 56 Lift with effort 57 Menu selection 59 Seized car, for short 62 Article in 27-Down 63 You might be stuck in one

Solution to yesterday’s puzzle:

Image BusinessMirror

www.businessmirror.com.ph

Wednesday, July 22, 2020

The risks and rewards of corporate activism

By Joshua T. Beck University of Oregon COMPANIES and CEOs are increasingly wading into political issues. My latest research suggests that such corporate activism can come with high costs if it doesn’t align with the political values of a company’s customers, employees and local lawmakers—or big gains when it does.

In what we think is the first study to examine how corporate activism affects financial performance, three coauthors and I built a database of decisions by publicly traded companies that took a stand on polarizing issues such as LGBTQ rights, abortion, immigration and gun control over a five-year period.

We then looked at the relationships between activism and immediate changes in a company’s stock price and subsequent changes in its sales. We found that the impact depended on how well the company’s activism aligned with the political values of the people the company represents. On average, well-aligned activism boosts a stock price by approximately 1 percent and sales by approximately 10 percent.

Misaligned activism lowered a stock price by over 2 percent and reduced sales by over 4 percent.

The impact on stock prices depends on whether investors think the activism will strengthen or weaken long-term relationships with customers, employees and lawmakers—who may retaliate by rescinding tax breaks or making other policy changes.

We found that companies can avoid or mitigate stock drops when they explain to investors how activism is good for business.

WHY IT MATTERS Companies and their executives are increasingly moving into political terrain. Recently Amazon, Walmart and other companies expressed support for Black Lives Matter. Goya Foods CEO Bob Unanue praised President Donald J. Trump’s leadership during the pandemic.

This trend began in the 1990s and early 2000s as human-rights activists and environmentalists pressured companies to be “responsible” members of society. Today consumers, employees and local citizens are pressuring companies to take actions that support their own political views.

Currently, nearly every major company promotes its efforts to protect the environment and ensure workers’ rights. As more companies take political positions, our research shows companies may want to ensure its views reflect those of its employees and customers. Unanue’s comments about Trump, for example, drew an immediate backlash and calls for a boycott by its largely Latino customer base. This reaction also drew calls for a “buycott” of Goya’s products, suggesting companies might also gain new customers even while losing others.

WHAT STILL ISN’T KNOWN WE are only beginning to understand how corporate activism affects profits, brand perceptions, competitive reactions and—importantly—public attitudes toward the issues at hand.

Future research may evaluate how corporate activism affects a brand’s market position. For example, certain activist brands like Nike and Ben & Jerry’s have a reputation for taking political stances.

Does having an activist reputation reduce competitive threats? How does it affect the way customers view the brand and its products?

WHAT OTHER RESEARCH IS BEING DONE A SMALL but growing field of researchers is examining activism from a variety of perspectives.

For example, in the recent “Future of Brands” conference at Columbia University, scholars presented work examining how corporate activism shapes consumers’ moral decision-making. More broadly, we need more research to understand how people’s political views shape what they buy. the conversation

Lead like a teacher With the rising diversity in the workplace population and the additional need to increase employee engagement given the current workplace conditions, leaders are faced with the challenge of equipping their teams for what lies in the uncertain future.

R

ECENTLY, I was teaching my son a problem-solving skill in Math and I had to draw it for him so he could visualize it. He had a hard time understanding what he needed to solve so I had to show him step by step how to solve it. It was then that I discovered he needed to review the basics and help him along the way until he could do it by himself. He struggled at first but later on, I could leave him to solve the problem on his own and when I checked his work, I was happy to see he already understood.

In engineering, this is what is known as scaffolding—temporary structures used to support workers as they build new structures. The same principle is used in learning. People learn a new concept right away when it is buttressed by prior knowledge and using mutually accepted assumptions.

It is a fairly easy concept to understand and yet many leaders today make the mistake of creating new workflows, processes and policies without providing the necessary support for people to accept them. And with the rising diversity in the workplace population and the additional need to increase employee engagement given the current workplace conditions, leaders are faced with the challenge of equipping their teams for what lies in the uncertain future. And to survive emerging issues and technologies, leaders are hard-pressed into educating themselves and teaching others to cope with new and unusual demands. In teaching others, we need to be very mindful in how we come across because if we are not careful, what can be a learning experience can become hard-headed rebellion.

Malcolm Knowles in 1973 published a book, titled The Adult Learner: A Neglected Species, which put forth six adult learning assumptions on andragogy or how to teach adults. In 1984, he distilled these into four principles in teaching adults. The term “andragogy” was originally coined by Anthony Kapp but it was Knowles who popularized it with adult learning principles. What is surprising is that the principles he put forth almost four decades ago remain relevant today.

Adults need to know why they need to learn something. Have you ever attended a training or a webinar for compliance training and you had to sit through endless discussions or videos of topic

after topic of things you probably will not encounter in your workplace? Chances are you will not even remember all of it. Why? Because we retain what we think is important to what we do.

I remember how people reacted last year when there was an earthquake. I saw people just standing and looking at everybody else what to do next. But everybody took the mandatory course on earthquake preparedness and evacuation. How come people did not act immediately? Probably because they did not find the relevance of the training to their work and they took the course only to comply rather than to learn, or perhaps the course material did not engage them as much. Whatever the reason, it was obvious the training needed to be improved so people would find it relevant and engaging.

For work-specific training, your team needs to understand why they are being sent to training.

They also need to understand how specific learning objectives in the training will actually help them in their work later on. People have different motivations for training—personal inclination, career development, promotion, or even as a break. As a leader, your role is to sift through those motivations and allow for people to position themselves so they can significantly contribute to the team.

Another principle is that adults need to learn experientially. People have preconceived notions and assumptions which sometimes go against what is acceptable in the workplace. And when these clash in the workplace, this could either result in realization or confusion. Use cognitive dissonance to challenge preconceived notions and assumptions by putting your team in conditions where they have to adapt and choose for themselves which would be the easiest and most effective way of doing things. So instead of you telling them, they will learn for themselves and only come to you when they actually need your help or when they encounter difficulties. Experience will be their best teacher. Your role as a leader is to allow them to make those mistakes so they can learn.

One way you can do this is to hold learning sessions where each one shares best practices they have picked up while working on a project. These learning sessions can be weekly one-hour sessions where a team member can be assigned per week to showcase an improvement in the workflow. This

PET imaging center opens THE top hospital in the country, Makati Medical Center has opened its PET (Positron Emission Tomography) Imaging Center, signaling a key development in the diagnosis, evaluation, and treatment of diseases, especially cancer—one of the top causes of death among Filipinos.

The center, led by an internationally trained nuclear medicine and radiology staff, is equipped with the Discovery Molecular Imaging 128 Slice Time-of-Flight (TOF) PET/CT System, a scanner that combines PET and CT scan images providing fast and accurate imaging that helps reduce a patient’s radiation exposure.

PET is an advanced imaging test where a small

amount of radioactive material is injected into a vein of a patient. The machine then detects and records radiation emitted from the body and more specifically from the organ being examined. A detailed fused image will be reconstructed using the information from the PET scanner and the attached computerized tomography (CT) scanner, allowing doctors to have a better understanding of what is happening inside a patient’s body.

In cancer PET imaging, to be specific, the scan uses a radioactive form of sugar, also called tracer, as some cancer cells use glucose faster than normal cells. With this process, the PET scan can help identify cancer cells and guide biopsies and surgeries. It also helps determine

the location and spread of the cancer, the recurrence of cancer, and the effectiveness of the cancer treatment.

When getting a PET scan, it is recommended that patients bring their records so as to tailor the process to their needs. “We also advise patients to refrain from any strenuous activities before the scan,” says Marie Rhiamar Sauler-Gomez, MD of MakatiMed’s PET Imaging Center. “It would also be best if they maintain a diet high in protein and low to no carbohydrates. A couple of hours before their appointment, they shouldn’t consume anything but water.”

More information is available via PETImagingCenter@ makatimed.net.ph.

was especially helpful to my team before when we were asked to create more engaging and gamified online courses. Team members stepped up to the plate and pretty soon we were creating scenario-based modules, compelling videos, and gamified courses.

What surprised me was when my team members even discovered free applications to make courses and videos fun and interesting.

Speaking of scenario-based learning, adults approach learning as problem-solving. People have the mindset that if it is not broken, do not fix it. So if they do not see a problem, why would they look for a solution? As a leader, your role is to look ahead so you can anticipate roadblocks and prepare your team to overcome them. The first time I developed an instructional video, I did not know how to operate a camera, much less do a storyboard or even make a shot list. I thought I just needed a script and a camera, and then point and shoot. Little did I know, there was more work involved prior to the video shoot than the actual event. My manager helped me prepare by asking me about so many things that could happen.

But however I prepared, I discovered there were so many things I did not consider. It helped me fine-tune a list of things I needed to prepare which could help others in return. I also realized that encountering a problem head-on is a sure way of enhancing your creative and critical thinking skills.

Which leads me to the last principle which explains that adults learn best when the topic is of immediate value. A lesson is best learned when there is immediate application. After making people attend a training session, ask them to apply it right away in their work. Apply the 70-20-10 principle which says that people learn more (70 percent) from on-the-job experiential learning than social (20 percent) or formal training (10 percent). As leaders, we need to ensure people have the opportunity to apply what they have learned.

Leaders need to understand that their success as people managers lies in how much they have developed their people, and how much time and effort they have invested in helping their team grow. Your legacy is the success of individual members of your team, whether they continue to be part of your team or move on to other teams. And the best time to start investing is now. n

B5

B6 Wednesday, July 22, 2020

PLDT Home’s new ad sheds light on rediscovering the strongest family connections

L

IFE in lockdown has been a learning phase for everyone. The pandemic may have brought collective fear due to the uncertainty of the times but there remains a glimmer of hope in the small things that were used to be taken for granted. And as families take part in this universal experience, it is also in these moments that people gain a newfound appreciation for the things that truly matter to them.

PLDT Home’s newest campaign video circles on redefining relationships and

creating deeper emotional bonds in the family by rediscovering one’s strongest connections at home. The short film “Rediscover Home” depicts the changes between the normalcy people used to enjoy pre-quarantine, and the life they now know in the new normal.

The video starts with the sudden announcement of the community quarantine, and how this compelled families to postpone the events they were looking forward to – from upcoming trips to exciting fiestas, quiz nights, videoke nights,

travels, and get-togethers. Despite these unprecedented changes, families found new ways to bond together such as family dinners, online shopping, and movie nights at home. Whatever lifestyles they are used to and different social status they are in, one thing is common: these families rediscovered the happiness and bond in simple things inside their homes.

“Rediscover Home” highlights that although many enjoyable activities have been put on hold for now, nothing compares to the joy that comes in rediscovering one’s home, creating deeper and meaningful relationships, and enjoying new bonding activities no matter how simple it can be as long as you’re in the company of the people that truly matter to you - family.

As we navigate the life in the new normal, PLDT Home captures how change can sometimes lay a new foundation for people to find things that are more meaningful, giving way for strongest connections at home as we #rediscoverwhatmatters and #rediscoverhome.

To watch PLDT Home’s latest video, visit PLDT Home’s YouTube here.

Filipino CPAs rising amid challenges

Quick relief for gut instability in this time of the pandemic

I

NSPIRED to change lives globally, AGlobalCare Inc. has been providing financial and medical aid as support to various government organizations, churches , business associations, and chamber of commerce in the Philippines.

"We Believe that we have to do our responsibility in taking care of our community. During the lockdown, we sent several donations for Covid fefense such as facemasks, alcohol, medicines to different hospitals and associations," said Pratik Abichandani, the business development manager of AGlobal Care Inc. A company with pharmaceutical experience for the last 20 years, AGlobal Care Inc. envisions to distribute a unique range of health solutions that are made using 100% potent active ingredients and the platform to inspire people to achieve a healthier lifestyle. Mint Relief is the first product in the belt of Wellness Refill which is part of mother company AGlobal Care, Inc. "Launched in the Philippines in February 2020, we've been receiving amazing response. We decided to use our expertise in pharmaceutical knowledge in building products towards preventive than curative measures. Mint Relief provides fast relief for a wide range of stomach pain caused by stomach disorders due to GERD, heartburn, dysmenorrhea, dyspepsia, acid reflux, bloating, or hyper acidity.

Certified and approved by the FDA as food supplement, Mint Relief is also found to be effective in alleviating pain caused by a wide range of stomach discomfort brought by the current lockdown.

"From our experience, most of our customers are already under medication to treat gastric issues. Normally, the drugs they take usually have limitation of 1 capsule a day and must be taken usually before meals. This makes them feel helpless when they experience tremendous pain after meals and they are unable to take additional drugs," Mr. Abichandani said.

He added that the product provides the solution that is quick and easy. It can be taken anytime even at the onset of disturbing pain and there is no overusage and side effects reported. A natural food supplement made of peppermint and spearmint oil, it is safe for long-term daily

Pratik Abichandani, business development manager of AGlobal Care Inc.: "This pandemic has caused us great stress and anxiety which are the two greatest factors for a wide range of stomach pain. We provide effective & safe quick relief."

use even by pregnant or lactating women.

"Based on users' testimonials, it takes only one capsule to feel the effect within 15- 60 minutes. It can be taken any time, either on an empty or full stomach," added Abichandani.

Aside from easing the pain caused by stomach disorders of many Filipinos in this time of the pandemic the natural way, the company provides opportunities for them to become resellers -- a clear source of income that could greatly benefit them. With that, Mr. Abichandani pledges to continue to expand network and the availability for consumers as his company welcomes more distributors and resellers. The soft gel capsule that comes in a small box of 10 is currently availabe at all K2 pharmacies and major online sellers nationwide. For more information, visit www.wellnessrefill.com.

ABS-CBN Foundation commits to continue its public service programs

W

ITH a six-point agenda amid the pandemic affecting lives and businesses around the world, Filipino certified public accountants (CPAs) have come up with a plan to continue delivering their mandate for the good of the country under“new normal”conditions.

Newly elected Phililippine Institute of Certified Public Accountants (PICPA) president Lope Bato Jr. has outlined the organization's thrust for the Fiscal Year 2020-2021 in an aptly strengthened commitment called RISING. Starting with Recovery Programs from the Covid-19 health crisis, PICPA is to implement re-tooling, re-purposing, and re-pivoting for many of its members with partnership and collaboration with private companies and government agencies like the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA) as measures to dampen the effects of economic downfall.

As technology is now what pervades society in all aspects, PICPA reaches out to its more than 150,000 members worldwide through the use of Eventsbank for its In-house Programs. The organization aims to secure International Standards Organization (ISO) 9001:2015 certification on quality management system of documented information.

The country's CPAs have Social Responsibilty Programs as well. PICPA enters into agreements with government agencies (DILG, DTI, CDA,BLGF, BIR) and private organizations (PCCI, PAMA, etc.) for the implementation of Financial Accounting and Tax Advisory (FATA) Project. The project is a free seminar workshop focused on financial accounting and taxation to help support barangays, municipalities, cities and micro enterprises in the management of bookeeping, financial management, preparation of financial statements, and compliance to tax obligations due to government to help support nation building.

With its International Programs, PICPA continues to bring the Philippine brand of accountancy to the international stage through active involvement as officer, committee chairman or member of International Federation of Accountants (IFAC), Confederation of Asian and Pacific Accountants (CAPA), and ASEAN Federation of Accountants (AFA).

Its New Programs include media campaigns of activities which are relevant to nation-building. Members

in good standing are issued Member Privilege Card (MPC) to avail of discounts and freebies with merchant partners.

The Continuing Professional Development (CPD) on the Net Project offers webinars for free to members in good standing.

On-Going Programs including projects of previous PICPA administrations will be continued such as but not limited to supporting activities of the Professional Regulation Commission (PRC) and Board of Accountancy (BOA), the Performance Governance System (PGS), and the conduct of major annual events like PICPAWomen Summit in celebration ofnWomen’s Month, Non-Government Organtization (NGO) Summit, and Cooperative Summit.

Before taking the helm of PICPA on July 1, Bato served as the Executive Vice-President of the organization and as Regional Director representing Northern Mindanao in the National Board.

He earned his Bachelor of Science in Business Administration major in Accounting degree from the Mindanao State University-Iligan Institute of Technology (MSU-IIT) in 1986. He completed his Master of Business Administration (MBA) at Centro Escolar University (CEU) and currently a candidate for Doctor in Business Administration (BDA) at La Consolacion University of the Philippines.

After passing the CPA Board, he joined SyCip Gorres Velayo & Co. (SGV & Co.) and later organized Quilab Cabilin Bato & Co. (QBC & Co.), a regional audit firm based in Mindanao. In 2016, he started his own firm known as Lope Laranjo Bato & Co. (LLB & Co.) together with five of his senior managers as founding partners.

With many years of stint at PICPA, he has been awarded 2006 Outstanding PICPA Member, Honorary Lifetime Member of PICPA in 2010, Outstanding MSU-IIT Alumnus (TOMA) in the field of Banking and Finance in 2009, and Most Outstanding Director of the Rotary of Club of Cagayan de Oro in 2003, among other accolades.

“We rise together by first acknowledging the heroic acts of people during the pandemic, from whom we draw inspiration and motivation. We rise together to reflect how our community and the world have come together with resilience and compassion. We rise in solidarity as we support each other in bouncing back from economic and non-

economic downfall,”the new PICPA president said during the virtual turnover and induction ceremonies on July 3.

“Some writers say, 'the truth is that almost everyone knows nothing and almost everything is just a guess' which I completely agree. Our profession, like any others, is not spared from all the hurdles. The immediate challenges and obstacles faced by the four sectors namely, academe, commerce and industry, government, and public practice are to be dealt with squarely. We stand in solidarity as we make ourselves relevant to our country despite the hardships that we encounter at our inner core from our family life, to work life, to spiritual life,”he added.

“With the 'new normal,' we are left with only one choice and that choice is to continue the fight against the virus by making ourselves virus-free, by boosting our immune system, by observing all the proper health protocols, and by educating others the proper dealings of Covid-19 because no matter how we protect ourselves, our enemy is invisible,”he stressed.

“In times of an upheavel such as this unprecedented pandemic, we can get into a headspace to imagine a more hopeful future. Although there are many obstacles in life, hope allows us to approach them with a success mindset. It helps us to get closer to our goals despite the ups and downs of life. As it can be said by Pittacus Lore, 'Even when the world throws its worst and then turns its back, there is still always hope,”he concluded.

Other officers sworn in are Marydith Miguel, Executive Vice President; Gladeys Jill Santos, VP for Operations; Atty.

Rheneir Mora,VP for Commerce & Industry; Milagros Cardona, VP for Education; Atty. Roland Pondoc, VP for Government; Michael Gallego, VP for Public Practice; and Estelita Aguirre, Executive Director.

Founded in November 1929 by a group of illustrious pioneers in the accounting profession, PICPA aims to serve the best interest of the members and the stakeholders while promoting, upholding, and maintaining high standards in the accountancy profession and protecting public interest.

Its Core Values are Professional Excellence, Integrity, Commitment, Partnership and Teamwork, Advocacy for Quality, New Technologies and Innovativeness, and Social Responsibility.

A

BS-CBN Foundation shall continue to deliver public service to the Filipino people despite the pandemic and the shutdown of ABS-CBN Broadcasting Network.

Bantay Bata 163 will keep its hotline open for children in distress and for reports on cases of child abuse. It will continue to counsel children needing psycho-social support and psychological first-aid.

The Bantay Bata Children’s Village together with its partners will continue to care for the abandoned and street children in its custody and it shall continue to extend support to all Bantay Edukasyon scholars this school year.

Bantay Kalikasan will continue to protect, enrich and manage operations of the La Mesa Watershed and La Mesa Ecopark. It remains committed to the completion of ongoing community and area development projects that it has already started. Environmental advocacy being

more relevant now will continue through the various digital platforms of the foundation.

Sagip Kapamilya will continue to be at the forefront of “Pantawid ng Pag-ibig,” which as of July 13 has benefitted 840,000 families or over 4.2 million Filipinos. It will continue to distribute relief and food packs for those unable to work due to the ongoing quarantine.

According to management, "The ABSCBN Foundation remains faithful to its mission. We will continue to serve whatever it takes, for as long as we can.

"To all our partners and donors, we thank you for your valuing our work for over three decades. Together we have made a difference in the lives of millions.

"We find comfort in your words of support, and strength in your continued trust. Be assured that the ABS-CBN Foundation will remain as the foundation of the people and shall remain in the service of the Filipino."

BusinessMirror

Editor: Tet Andolong

Wednesday, July 22, 2020 B7

T-HOUSE Movement: Modernizing the ‘bahay kubo’ in the new normal Amor Maclang

P

first dibs in real estate

T-HOUSE, as a new real-estate property developer through the T-HOUSE Movement, is now focused on a niche market to fully support the BPP through Farm Estate Development

T-HOUSE branded this business as FARM-T-HOUSE. When one thinks of a farmhouse in the Philippines, automatically it is the “Bahay Kubo”

RETTY soon when Filipinos all over the world sing the folk song “Bahay Kubo,” something new in this modern times will instantly cross their mind: T-HOUSE! T-HOUSE is basically a brand— a universal brand to lead the Tiny House Movement here in the Philippines. “Tiny House? T-HOUSE! Originally, the business model was to become a new technology product supplier supported with after market products and services and will supply modular impermanent designer prefab products. Until T-HOUSE joined The Final Pitch.

Through the guidance and mentorship of the investor-judges from the program of CNN Philippines’s The Final Pitch, T-HOUSE evolved to become a property developer.

Tagline: “T-HOUSE is a property developer with product-driven dream projects.”

The Tiny House Movement became a huge hit in the US and T-HOUSE aims to bring the movement here in the Philippines, but with a familiar localized twist. This led to the emergence of the T-HOUSE Movement. The T-HOUSE Movement is something that will suit more the cultural lifestyle of Filipinos, especially those in the province. But before T-HOUSE was even launched, a devastating pandemic shocked the world. T-HOUSE then, as well as the THOUSE Movement needs to adapt to the new normal. The needed pivot was influenced by the seemingly endless community quarantines.

With people mandated to stay at home for their safety, it gets increasingly more difficult to cope, especially for those who live in congested cities and metropolis. People yearn for more space, freedom to move, for that longing to breathe fresh air.

The world is veering to what we now call the new normal. Several adjustments are now taking place in order to bring people back to the normal grind, so to speak.

The T-HOUSE Movement is literally about moving—to help humanity move out from the stressful city to a more serene vicinity; moving from loving all sizable to loving small; moving from a sophisticated life to a life that is satisfyingly so simple. Succinctly, it is a movement to leave stress, to love small, and to live simple.

In principle, loving small and living simple is easier when we leave the city and live in the province. Similarly, this change of lifestyle is realized when we live in a smaller house. Living in a tiny house, we can only have our topmost necessities. “Love small, live simple.”

Coincidentally, this T-HOUSE idea aligned well with one of the priority projects of our government due to the effects of the global pandemic: Balik Probinsya Program (BPP).

The BPP executive order is signed.

BPP aims to better prepare the Philip-

From providing transportation services to helping find properties in the provinces, one will find it a breeze moving back to the province pines in responding to emergencies such as the current Covid-19.

“BPP aims to decongest Metro Manila, promote robust regional development, and encourage equitable distribution of wealth, livelihood, opportunities and economic growth nationwide…,” according to news.

Government agencies concerned are urged to plan long-term solutions to help the country recover more quickly from the Covid-19 crisis and help Filipino adapt to the “new normal.”

T-HOUSE, as a new real-estate property developer through the T-HOUSE Movement, is now focused on a niche market to fully support the BPP through Farm Estate Development. Farm Estate Development, also known as Farmlot Subdivision, was described well in this Sunstar article by Roberto A. Capili: “Principally, the Philippines is an agricultural country. Sadly however, government has not yet fully tapped our agricultural lands for productive endeavors. For us to be able to do something about the situation, we must frankly admit, government can-

not provide all necessary support and assistance to develop our agricultural lands. We believe this is where the concept of a Farmlot Subdivision or Agri-Estate Farming could come in.”

“Primarily, Farmlot Subdivision or Agri-Estate Farming is a private-led initiative which aims to contribute its humble share in agricultural productivity at the same time serves as a realestate investment vehicle and funding source for agri-business ventures.”

T-HOUSE branded this business as FARM-T-HOUSE. When one thinks of a farmhouse in the Philippines, automatically it is the “Bahay Kubo.”

Anyone familiar with the “Bahay-Kubo” song knows that surrounding the tiny house is a garden of vegetables of different varieties. “Bahay Kubo [farmhouse], kahit munti [tiny], ang halaman doon [plants], ay sari-sari [variety],” as the song goes.

The FARM-T-HOUSE was launched in a simple online live event on May 22, 2020. The program was headlined by the T-HOUSE Manifesto supporting Balik Probinsya: “Go home to your

Through the guidance and mentorship of the investor-judges from the program of CNN Philippines’s The Final Pitch, T-HOUSE evolved to become a property developer province, if you have. Transmigrate to a new one if you don’t.”

At the launch, a video presentation entitled IMAGINE-The New Normal was shown. It’s a vision of a new way of living, a countryside lifestyle as contrasted from the hustle and bustle of city life. Watch it at YouTube: https:// youtu.be/k4lBEzxO4_o.

The T-HOUSE Movement helps people to have a new home in a happy, healthy and stress-free environment.

And the way to make it happen is by providing services.

Visit the web site www.T--HOUSE.

com and discover ways on how THOUSE will make relocating or transmigrating to the province way much easier. From providing transportation services to helping find properties in the provinces, one will find it a breeze moving back to the province.

Watch the entrepreneurs like THouse on The Final Pitch Season 5: Real-Estate and Livable Cities Edition.

Premieres Sundays 8:30 p.m. with replays Mondays 9:30 p.m. and Saturdays 5:30 p.m. on CNN Philippines. Check out TheFinalPitch.ph to watch previous episodes and seasons.

Jotun Philippines awarded ISO certifications Aboitiz property arm helps MEZ II locators recoup losses from virus

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INTERTEK officials led by (from left) Giovanni Ken Evardoni, audit head, Business Assurance Systems Certification and INTERTEK, Karen Ng, audit manager, Business Assurance Systems Certification awarding the ISO certifications to Stamatis Solomakos, general manager, Jotun Philippines Inc. Joining them are Mahavir Ekad, operations manager, Jotun Philippines Inc.; Edmon Cruz, HSE manager, Jotun Philippines Inc. and Angelica Quisel, QC & process manager, Jotun Philippines Inc.

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OTUN Philippines Inc., a local subsidiary of Jotun A/S, one of the world’s top producers of paints and coatings based in Norway, has recently been awarded ISO (International Organization for Standardization) certifications for the following—14001:2015 Environmental Management Systems, 45001:2018 Occupational Health and Safety Management Systems and 9001:2015 Quality Management Systems. A major feat made in just two years after the inauguration of its modern manufacturing plant in Sto. Tomas, Batangas.

Stamatis Solomakos, general manager of Jotun Philippines Inc. said these certifications is further proof that the firm is serious in upgrading its already globally acclaimed facilities, plants and business processes to

world’s best standards and practices.

“The Philippine market is important for us because we see good growth prospects in the future especially with the steady increase of investments in business areas where Jotun is relevant such as infrastructure, energy and marine,” he added.

In 2017, Jotun launched its first manufacturing plant in the country which costs more than a billion peso to build. The inaugural event was graced by no less than her royalty Princess Martha Louise of Norway and top officials of Jotun A/S including the owner/ Chairman of the Board, Odd Gleditsch D.Y. The local certifications were part of Jotun’s global certification initiative, awarded by INTERTEK, a global leader in quality assurance testing.

Jotun is a Norwegian multinational, privately owned paint company incorporated in 1926.

The company has 40 production facilities in 24 countries, 62 companies in 45 countries and is represented in over 100 countries around the world. In the Philippines, it started through an agent in 1987 then became a branch office of Singapore operations in 2004. Jotun Philippines Inc. became fully operational in 2011 with offices in Sucat, Parañaque and in Mandaue, Cebu. In 2013, it made a bold decision to invest in local production. Construction of the factory started in 2016 and was inaugurated November 2017.

Jotun Philippines Inc. (www.jotun.com/ ap), supply high-quality products for protection and decoration of homes and commercial buildings. Reni Salvador

By Roderick L. Abad

EAL-estate firm Aboitiz Land Inc. is helping its locators rise from quarantine losses as part of its commitment to cooperate in government’s effort to rebuild the nation grappling from the economic impact of coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) pandemic.

The company, together with the Mactan Cebu International Airport Authority (MCIAA), is extending a 50-percent discount on rent covering a five-month period.

With such assistance, it hopes to provide timely relief to its industrial locators inside the Mactan Economic Zone II (MEZ II) as they suffer from a drop in sales and unexpected expenses just to keep their operations under community quarantine guidelines.

Manufacturing, among other businesses, has been forced to adapt to production demand changes, labor support challenges and supply chain ecosystem constraints due to this unprecedented health emergency and the state-imposed lockdowns.

“We share our locator partners’ concerns and we remain committed to helping them survive and recover swiftly from this ongoing health and economic crisis,” said Eduardo Aboitiz, head of AboitizLand Industrial Business Unit.

“We believe that this assistance, along

ENTRANCE to the Mactan Economic Zone II in Lapu-Lapu City

with the support we have extended over the past 25 years, will be reciprocated by our locators through their continued commitment to the Philippines and to the people of Cebu,” he added.

The top executive noted that both the public and private sectors need to work together in these trying times to help keep the economy afloat and continue to give employment to those depending on the industrial zone for livelihood.

MEZ II employs 14,000 skilled workers in 49 multinational companies belonging in light to medium industries that include

precision instruments, medical equipment, communication and electronics, automotive supplies, apparel, and furniture.

Incepted in 1995 in partnership with MCIAA, the 63-hectare Philippine Economic Zone Authority-registered MEZ II in Lapu-Lapu City highlights Cebu in the global export market.

The industrial zone is strategically located in a mixed-use estate, which also houses a commercial corporate building that complements the retail and recreational lifestyle elements of the Pueblo Verde shopping complex, which has over 70 retail stores, services and restaurants, as well as a transit hub.

Sports BusinessMirror

B8 Wednesday, July 22, 2020

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

‘BABY STEPS’ FOR MARCIAL MP Promotions President Sean Gibbons lines up three fights for Eumir Felix Marcial before the Tokyo Olympics.

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P Promotions announced on Tuesday that three fights are lined up for the Tokyo Olympicsbound Eumir Felix Marcial’s first year as a professional boxer.

But Marcial has to immerse himself in the brutal world of professional boxing one step at a time.

“We hope to have three fights [for Marcial]

before the Olympics,” MP Promotions President Sean Gibbons told the virtual Philippine Sportswriters Association (PSA) Forum.

Marcial struck a six-year promotional deal with the Sen. Manny Pacquiao-owned outfit but stressed he remains focused on a gold medal in the Tokyo Olympics that were postponed for July 23 to August 8, 2021.

PBA’s return to gym training moved a week

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HE Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) postponed for next Wednesday its return-to-training order for its teams as the league has yet to officially get hold of health and safety protocols from the Inter-Agency Task Force on Emerging Infectious Diseases.

PBA Commissioner Willie Marcial ordered the postponement after he was informed by Games and Amusements Board Chairman Baham Mitra that the Administrative Order from the IATF would only be released this week.

The IATF tasked the Philippine Sports Commission and GAB to closely coordinate with the Department of Health in the formulation of health and safety protocols for athletes during the Covid-19 pandemic.

“There’s a little delay but we’re positive we’ll

go on with the training return,” Marcial said.

The PBA drew its own protocols but these need the approval of the IATF. The league announced earlier that the 12 teams could return to supervised training on Wednesday. The protocols include periodic rapid or swab tests, social distancing, wearing of face mask, training in gyms by batches (not by teams) and frequent disinfection of training facilities.

Marcial also ordered players, coaches and team staff to follow a home-car-gym-car-home policy. He said violators will be meted fines ranging from 5,000 to first-time offenders and as much as P10,000 to recidivists depending on how many times they violate the rules.

Ramon Rafael Bonilla

Gibbons said that for starters, Marcial, 24, should debut in a four-rounder and slowly move up to six rounds, depending on the result of his first fight.

“Step by step,” Marcial told the forum presented by San Miguel Corp., Go For Gold, Amelie Hotel Manila, Braska Restaurant and Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. and

powered by Smart.

Marcial fights as a middleweight (75 kgs or 165 pounds), a division dominated by Canelo Alvarez, who is 30 years old, and Gennady Golovkin, who is way older at 38.

Asked if he salivates for a showdown with the two world champions, Marcial said it’s too early to think of the big fights.

“It’s too far ahead. I’m just starting out. I still have to fight the best in the Olympics—the Russian who beat me, the Ukrainian, the boxer from Kazakhstan and Cuba,” he said.

Gibbons concurred, saying Marcial vying for a world title would come at the right time.

“As we move along, by his third year [as a pro], I think he’ll be able to challenge someone for the title,” he said.

Gibbons said three fights should fit Marcial’s program for the next nine months. By April, the hard-hitting pride of Zamboanga should be fully focused on the Olympics.

“Hopefully we can do something in October and work from there—three fights before he has to stop and fully concentrate on the Olympics,” Gibbons said.

“We just want to keep in line with what he’ll be doing in Tokyo,” said Gibbons, adding that if not for the Olympics, Marcial could be on a faster mode as a pro.

Marcial also bared that he would be sticking with the training program his coaches at the Association of Boxing Alliances in the Philippines prepared for him for his journey to Tokyo.

Gibbons said the promotions granted Marcial’s request for him to tag along Abap Coach Ronald Chavez and foreign consultant Don Abnett.

Chavez and Abnett were at Marcial’s corner when he qualified for Tokyo in the Asia-Oceania Olympic Qualifying Tournament in Jordan last March and when he bagged silver in the International Boxing Association World Championships in Russia last year.

Ramon Rafael Bonilla

Ramirez asks SolGen to seize alleged payroll theft’s assets

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HILIPPINE Sports Commission Chairman William Ramirez was back in harness on Monday after a monthlong leave to attend to his wife who had to undergo surgery.

And his first order of the day? Write the Office of the Solicitor General (OSG) to seize the assets of a PSC employee who faces charges of qualified theft and falsification of documents for siphoning part of the sports’ agency’s payroll to his personal account.

“We need all the help we can get to get to the bottom of this and make every effort that nothing of this sort ever happens again,” said Ramirez, who convened his commissioners for a virtual meeting late Monday.

In the letter to the OSG, Ramirez sought “assistance in instituting proper proceedings relative to the complaint filed against Paul Michael Ignacio, including garnishment of all real or personal property and the reversion of these back to the government.”

Ignacio allegedly included inactive national

athletes and coaches in the PSC payroll and directed the allowances to his account at the LandBank branch in Harrison Plaza. He had access to the payroll file in his capacity as an IT staff at the PSC Personnel Department.

LandBank officials noticed the irregular transaction and immediately alarmed the PSC, which sought the National Bureau of Investigation’s help in arresting Ignacio.

Initial investigations show Ignacio has been scheming the PSC for the last five years and illegally transacted at least P14 million to his payroll account.

“The board is 100 percent with the Chairman [Ramirez] on this,” said Commissioner Ramon Fernandez who was the PSC’s Officer in Charge when Ignacio was arrested.

Deputy Executive Director for Support Atty.

Guillermo Iroy Jr., Ramirez said, would lead the PSC’s legal team that would pursue the case against Ignacio.

Ramirez

The PSC board also agreed on Monday to tap process and organizational auditors to help the agency fortify its bureaus. Ramirez explained that “we need fresh eyes to look at our processes and seek out areas that need to be strengthened,” he said.

The board would meet again online on Wednesday.

I.O.C. AWASH WITH CASH T HE International Olympic Committee (IOC) reported a surprisingly large surplus of $73.9 million for 2019 as surging financial income comfortably overturned the Lausanne body’s operational deficit.

The result is of limited significance in a nonGames year. It should nonetheless stand the masters of the Olympic universe in good stead as the IOC battles a coronavirus pandemic which has already forced the postponement of the movement’s main cash cow—the Summer Olympics—and will make a deep mark on this year’s accounts.

By way of comparison, in 2015—the equivalent year in the prior Olympic cycle—the IOC posted a deficit of $325.8 million. In 2017, another non-Games year, there was a surplus of just $8.7 million.

Financial income in the latest period amounted to $159.6 million, almost six times the 2018 contribution of $27 million.

An explanatory note attributes the bulk of the improvement to a “fair value increase” of $81.9 million in the IOC’s huge store of financial assets. These stood at a towering $4.7 billion on December 31, 2019.

The IOC’s The Olympic Partner (TOP)

worldwide sponsorship program continued to power away, delivering another $548.2 million in revenue.

TOP already yielded $1.65 billion in the cycle to date—far in excess of the $1 billion (£780 million/€860 million) it produced over the entire 2013-2016 Olympic quadrennium.

With TOP income surging, the IOC’s contributions from this revenue stream to the United States Olympic and Paralympic Committee (USOPC) have also been in particularly steep ascent.

In 2019, the accounts indicate, $88.2 million of TOP program revenue was distributed to the USOPC. This was an increase of 176.5 percent from the $31.9 million distributed in 2015—at the same stage in the last Olympic cycle.

Over the same period, distributions from TOP to other National Olympic Committees (NOCs) rose from $40.1 million to $82.9 million—an increase of 106.7 percent. Total assets at end-December 2019 were put at $5.3 billion, up from $4.1 billion a year earlier.

The IOC’s fund balance at the end of last year was said to total $2.5 billion, up from $2.4 billion at end-2018. Insidethegames

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Rahm’s maturing, not just with his game, but his emotions

UBLIN, Ohio—Jon Rahm made his first trip to Muirfield Village in a dark suit and a royal blue tie, no golf clubs.

He won the Jack Nicklaus Award as the nation’s top college golfer. Rahm graduated from Arizona State in four years, despite speaking little English when he arrived on a campus so big he thought he was in a movie theater when he went to his first class in macroeconomics.

That was four years ago.

Far more meaningful was meeting Nicklaus behind the 18th green after an exquisite performance in the Memorial. Rahm built an eight-shot lead at the turn on the toughest Sunday at Muirfield Village in 42 years. He lost five shots of that lead in five holes. And then he showed equal parts grit and flair by getting up-and-down over the last four holes.

The victory sent him to No. 1 in the world.

It felt like a long time coming, even for the 25-year-old Rahm.

He was No. 1 in the amateur ranking for a record 60 weeks. Phil Mickelson, whose brother was Rahm’s coach at Arizona State, has been predicting greatness since before he won the first of his 10 worldwide titles.

“He just doesn’t have a weakness,” Mickelson said Sunday, the same thing he said in 2017 before Rahm won his first event at Torrey Pines with a 60-foot eagle putt on the last hole.

Mickelson also recognized Rahm’s passion, so great it can lead to fits of temper and bursts of birdies. There is rarely a dull moment.

“He knows himself,” Mickelson said. “He knows that to relax, sometimes he has to let some of his anger out. He can’t hold that in. It might upset some people, but he knows that it allows him to be at his best. And so I think that that’s a big thing, too, is identifying your own self, and he’s done a great job of that at a really young age.”

Rahm held it together when he was four shots behind on the 13th hole Saturday. He birdied the next four holes for a 68, which he considered the best round of his career given the wind and the fast, crusty turf. So in a span of 15 holes—six to end the third round, the front nine on Sunday—Rahm went from a four-shot deficit to an eight-shot lead.

He is an explosive player, with or without a golf club in hand.

Rahm is the fifth youngest player to reach No. 1 in the world, trailing Tiger Woods in 1997, Jordan Spieth in 2015, Rory McIlroy in 2012 and Justin Thomas in 2018. Woods, Spieth and McIlroy had won majors by then, and that’s the next step for Rahm.

For now, he is trying to process a lifetime ambition of being No. 1 in the world.

He recalled a conversation with his coach when he was in his early teens in Spain. The coach asked what he wanted to achieve.

THAT’S ALL Al Mendoza | alsol47@yahoo.com

Fernandez’s cry for help OUR four Olympic bets and other hopefuls to Tokyo 2021 are battling everything, including the virus scare, to stay in shape at all times.

But amid the pandemic crisis comes a roadblock for the Fab Four’s continued, sustained preparation: depletion of training expenses. And, of all people, it’s our government officials doing the damage.

It can’t be helped, though.

For utter lack of money to combat Covid-19, Malacañang was forced to raid the coffers of the Philippine Sports Commission (PSC), stashing away some P1.3 billion for redirection to coronavirus expenses.

Compounding our athletes’ woes was the continued non-remittance by Pagcor (Philippine Amusements and Gaming Corp.) of 5 percent of its monthly earnings to the PSC’s National Sports Development Fund (NSDF). That’s the direct result of revenue-producing casinos across the country getting shuttered down by the scourge.

Our athletes are now supposed to be switching to higher gear in their training,” Commissioner Ramon Fernandez, now the PSC officer-in-charge, told the Inquirer’s June Navarro.

He was referring particularly to pole vaulter OJ Obiena, gymnast Carlos Yulo and boxers Eumir Felix Marcial and Irish Magno, all qualifiers to the Tokyo Olympics reset to July 2021.

Not only are the four in dire need of training expenses but also strong Tokyo candidates like 2016 Rio Olympics silver medalist Hidilyn Diaz of weightlifting, skateboarding’s Margielyn Didal, boxer Nesthy Petecio and judoka Kiyomi Watanabe.

More than 60 more athletes from 18 sports are also struggling to earn Olympic slots, among them track and field’s Kristina Knott and Willie Morrison, karatekas Jamie Lim and Junna Tsukii and golfers Yuka Saso, Dottie Ardina and Miguel Tabuena.

“If government funding remains a huge obstacle in the second half of the year, we have to knock on the doors of the private sector,” said Fernandez. “We have to look for money for the financial requirements of our athletes.”

Actually, many athletes around the world, not to mention their coaches and dieticians, are also suffering from the coronavirus crisis as budget cuts in global sports training have grievously affected their financial status.

Thus, I dread the thought of our Olympians reporting to Tokyo half-baked a.k.a. halftrained, if not under-trained. I pray the Tokyo Olympics would not be renamed Tokyo Ohlimping.

THAT’S IT Birthday greetings to Malaya Sol M. Sadiwa and New Zealand-based Danny Isla (July 21) and Sol F. Juvida (July 23) from dearest ones Dayong, Shang, Mayo, Dada and Migel; Ayapot, Ricky and Ikap; Joy It; and, Tatay Ah. Cheers!

THE International Olympic Committee posts a $74-million surplus for 2019 before Covid-19 struck.

“I said straight up, ‘I want to be the best player in the world.’ I made that deal with myself very young,” Rahm said. “I started working towards that goal, and everything I’ve done golf-wise has been to become No. 1 in the world and become the best player I can be. It’s pretty surreal to think it’s happened this quickly.

I mean, how many people get to achieve a lifelong dream in their mid-20s?”

McIlroy was 23 when he first reached No. 1 in the world at the Honda Classic in 2012, a year after his winning his first major, and he recalled the sensation of meeting a goal. The hard part is what comes next.

“It was weird,” McIlroy said Sunday.

“Nothing changes. You’re still the same. It was hard for me. It was a goal of mine at the start of 2012 and I achieved it pretty quickly. I actually struggled the first couple of months to reassess my goals.”

Rahm replacing him at No. 1 was not a surprise as much as a mild disappointment.

Neither had played particularly well coming out of the three months off from the Covid-19 pandemic. The difference is Rahm won, and it was a big one.

“I’m not saying it’s inevitable that Jon was going to be there,” McIlroy said. “But he’s always had the capabilities.”

Rahm surely has all the shots, a remarkable talent who doesn’t back down. He also is maturing, not just with his game but his emotions. Rahm has developed a reputation as a hothead—clubs buried into the turf, histrionics after poor shots—that will be difficult to shake.

He has tried to tone it down without losing the positive energy that comes with it, and the weekend at Muirfield Village was ripe for anyone to lose it.

He won it with great discipline on the front nine, with that Spanish magic on the back

nine. He built a big enough lead that a two-shot penalty assessed after the round—his ball moved ever so slightly when he put the wedge behind it before chipping in behind the 16th green—turned a five-shot victory into a threeshot victory. Rahm didn’t see the ball move until shown a close-up on a video screen. He accepted the penalty. AP

JON RAHM fist-bumps the legendary Jack Nicklaus after his victory at the Memorial. AP

Fauci

FIRST PITCH TO FAUCI

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ASHINGTON—Dr. Anthony Fauci, the US’s top infectious disease expert, will throw out the ceremonial first pitch at the first game of Major League Baseball’s pandemic-delayed regular season.

The Washington Nationals announced Monday that Fauci—a self-described fan of the reigning World Series champions—accepted the team’s invitation to have the pregame honor Thursday night.

The Nationals host the New York Yankees to open the season nearly four months after it originally was scheduled to begin.

Spring training was halted in March because of the Covid-19 outbreak and teams resumed preparing to play this month.

In their new release about Fauci’s role at the opener, the Nationals refer to him as “a true champion for our country” during the pandemic “and throughout his distinguished career.” AP