BusinessMirror June 06, 2021

BusinessMirror

www.businessmirror.com.ph

A broader look at today’s business n

Sunday, June 6, 2021 Vol. 16 No. 235

EJAP JOURNALISM AWARDS

BUSINESS NEWS SOURCE OF THE YEAR (2017, 2018)

DEPARTMENT OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

2018 BANTOG MEDIA AWARDS

PHILIPPINE STATISTICS AUTHORITY

DATA CHAMPION

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

WHY VACCINE EQUITY MATTERS

Davao Catholic schools urge rich countries to share lifesaving Covid jabs with less affluent nations

D

By Manuel T. Cayon

AVAO CITY—A regional formation of Catholic schools here has joined the global call to compel rich nations to free up their vaccine hoard to enable developing countries like the Philippines to avail themselves of the supply and, in the process, save millions of lives at risk.

It was a call first aired by the World Health Organization (WHO) last year, immediately followed by the Vatican and by Pope Francis himself, and other smaller but global networks, such as the Jesuit Community to which the Pope belongs.

In reaction to several socialmedia posts about Europe’s—and the other rich nations’—stockpile and inoculation spree of extra vaccine against Covid-19, the Davao Association of Catholic Schools (DACS) reiterated the concern of these organizations about hordes of people dying amid the pandemic in poor countries.

The DACS said it “finds it extremely alarming and unjust that over 87 percent of the 700 million vaccine doses administered globally have gone to high-income or upper middle-income countries, while low-income countries have received just 0.2 percent” “We pay great attention to the needs of the most vulnerable peoples in the world as we unite our voice to the growing call for deeper human solidarity in the fight against the virus and upholding the common good,” it added.

The DACS issued the statement recently to join “the Society of Jesus and the growing number of like-minded individuals and institutions worldwide in urgently seeking an equitable and just production and distribution of vaccines and other medical items that protect from, control the

support from low- and middleincome countries “and is a crucial step to removing barriers related to intellectual property, which would allow for the rapid expansion of vaccine production, particularly in countries that already have largescale pharmaceutical firms.”

The DACS said the waiver shall apply to specific global intellectual property protections until the pandemic is under control. This move shall allow for the production of Covid-19 vaccines and drugs on a larger scale and at lower prices, making them more accessible to more people, especially from poorer nations around the world.

Vaccine spree

DAVAO ASSOCIATION OF CATHOLIC SCHOOLS: “We pay great attention to the needs of the most vulnerable peoples in the world as we unite our voice to the growing call for deeper human solidarity in the fight against the virus and upholding the common good.”

spread of, and treat Covid-19.”

“Thus, DACS agrees to and advocates for India and South Africa’s proposal to the World Trade Organization (WTO): a proposal now cosponsored by 58 other governments and favored by about 100 countries, including the Philippines,” it said.

The Jesuit Community said the two countries sought WTO intervention to temporarily waive certain patent rights currently owned by pharmaceutical countries based in Europe and North America for all medical products related to Covid-19 “to ensure that all countries, regardless of wealth, have access to lifesaving medical technologies.”

The Society of Jesus said the proposal has gathered significant

PESO EXCHANGE RATES n US 47.8060

A BLOOMBERG report in mid-May quoted former Sweden Prime Minister Carl Bildt as saying that “suppressing the virus that’s advancing in India and beyond depends on persuading rich nations to share excess doses and help close a $19-billion funding gap.”

However, the report described as “paltry” the donations to the Covax facility, an initiative to bring the doses more equitably to lowand middle-income countries like the Philippines.

The report further stated that, “Many pledged donations have yet to be fulfilled and some are paltry in the face of the crisis. Sweden promised to donate 1 million doses of AstraZeneca Plc.’s vaccine and France intends to share half a million by the middle of June. The US plans to give away just 60 million Astra shots.”

The inequitable access to the vaccines have turned chaotic for many poor countries, as difficulty for governments to access them turned into political discussions, with government critics and opposition accusing their governments of ineptness and mismanagement.

“For a few fortunate countries, optimism is on the rise. The US is preparing to vaccinate middle- and high-school students, a relatively low-risk group, before the start of summer camps and the next school

year. Covid deaths could drop to as low as 1,500 per week by June 5,” the Bloomberg report said, citing the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention forecast.

Already, England reported zero Covid deaths in a daily update in mid-May, and the UK government is clearing the way for people to hug and meet indoors at pubs and restaurants. Officials in Europe, including Germany’s health minister, also expressed hope for decreasing cases, the report said.

It was also reported that month that “most of the British will be free once again to hug, albeit cautiously, drink in their pub, sit down for an indoor meal or visit the cinema after a series of lockdowns that imposed the strictest restrictions in peacetime history.”

The biggest public health crisis in a century was accompanied by a drastic extension of state power.

During England’s lockdowns, police broke up parties and protests alike, shut down religious services and handed out fines of up to £10,000 ($14,000) to youngsters for partying.

As freedom beckons once more, there is excitement.

“But as India grapples with a deadly surge among its population of 1.4 billion, worries are growing for many other spots all over the planet. Despite declines in the developed world, more than 600,000 new Covid cases are reported globally each day, as stubborn epidemics in countries like Colombia, Brazil and Malaysia burn on. Waiving patents on vaccines, a proposal the Biden administration supports, is promising but won’t address immediate needs for supply,” Bloomberg quoted Ellen ’t Hoen, director of Medicines Law & Policy, a research group based in the Netherlands.

“Anything that exists today should really go to places where the crisis is the most serious,” she said.

“Maybe vaccinating teenagers in California shouldn’t be the priority at this point.”

The report said Covax, the vaccine initiative that’s part of the

ACT-Accelerator, has shipped just 60 million doses, less than a quarter of the number already administered in the US alone.

Bildt, who was recently appointed as Europe’s special envoy to WHO’s effort to equitably bring the vaccines to poorer countries, said “both Europeans and Americans have ordered, wisely so, quantities that are very substantially in excess of what they need immediately.” Bildt added: “The EU and the US have been talking about it. But we need to go from talking to actually doing it.”

Words to live by

IN the end, we are all reminded by the Pontiff’s words, that “no one is saved alone; we can only be saved together.”

The Vatican Covid-19 Commission, as well as the Religious Leaders Declaration of April 27, has strongly advised against “vaccine nationalism, rejecting the commercial exploitation inherent in disputes over patent rights and calling for deeper human solidarity in the fight against the virus,” the DACS added.

The Society of Jesus said that in the encyclical Fratelli Tutti, Pope Francis “invites us to realize that we are all in the same boat, but emphasizes the existing inequalities exacerbated by the Covid-19 pandemic.”

“Excessive vaccine stockpiling by wealthy countries further threatens the lives of people around the world, contributing to twice as many deaths than if vaccines were distributed on an equitable, population-based model.

Countries such as the UK and the US have purchased as many as three vaccines per person,” the Jesuit Community said.

“We welcome the decision of President Biden to support the waiver. We also welcome comments by European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, that the EU is ready to discuss the waiver. But the gravity of the situation in countries like India is a reminder that action must be

taken urgently. Any delay will be measured in the further suffering and deaths of people, especially the poorest and most marginalized,” it added.

It said out of 220 countries and economies, 194 have now started vaccination, and 26 have not. Of those, seven have received vaccines and could start, and a further five countries should receive their vaccines in the coming days.

“That leaves 14 countries who have not yet begun vaccination, for a range of reasons. Some have not requested vaccines through Covax, some are not yet ready, and some plan to start in the coming weeks and months,” it added.

The Vatican said Pope Francis has affirmed the need to make the now imminent Covid-19 vaccines available and accessible to all, avoiding “pharmaceutical marginality.”

“If there is the possibility of treating a disease with a drug, this should be available to everyone, otherwise an injustice is created.”

‘Removed from reality’

IN Davao City, meanwhile, business reporters castigated as “removed from reality” the suggestion of the UP Octa research group to concentrate 80 percent of the Covid-19 vaccine doses to Metro Manila, 10 percent to the Visayas, and 10 percent to the rest of the Philippines.

“Wow, where is Mindanao? Is there no surge in Mindanao?” reporters participating in the group chat said. “Maybe the agenda of the group is to annihilate Mindanao.”

The Octa research group was later reported to have rectified its statement to deliver available vaccines to places outside the National Capital Region Plus areas with surge in cases.

The research group said that surge in the provinces was likely an offshoot of the surge in Metro Manila that was late in coming. It also warned that the likely reverse trend would happen if the surge in the provinces is not contained.

n JAPAN 0.4335 n UK 67.4351 n HK 6.1620 n CHINA 7.4650 n SINGAPORE 36.0121 n AUSTRALIA 36.6146 n EU 57.9791 n SAUDI ARABIA 12.7486

Source: BSP (June 4, 2021)

SLAVA PARTOLA | DREAMSTIME.COM

ROTARY CLUB OF MANILA JOURNALISM AWARDS

2006 National Newspaper of the Year 2011 National Newspaper of the Year 2013 Business Newspaper of the Year 2017 Business Newspaper of the Year 2019 Business Newspaper of the Year

NewsSunday BusinessMirror

A2 Sunday, June 6, 2021

www.businessmirror.com.ph

Sinovac vaccine restores a Brazilian city to near normal

S

By Mauricio Savarese The Associated Press

ERRANA, Brazil—Just one Covid-19 patient is in critical condition at the Dr. Geraldo Cesar Reis clinic in Serrana, a city of almost 46,000 in São Paulo state’s countryside. The 63-year-old woman rejected the vaccine that was offered to every adult resident of Serrana as part of a trial.

Doctors say the woman was awaiting one of Pfizer’s shots, which remain scarce in Brazil. But she is an outlier here. Most adults rolled up their sleeves when offered the vaccine made by the Chinese pharmaceutical company Sinovac, and the experiment has transformed the community into an oasis of near normalcy in a country where many communities continue to suffer.

Doctors who treated Covid-19 in Serrana have seen their patient loads evaporate. They now help colleagues with other dis-

eases and recently started eating lunch at home. Life has returned to the streets: Neighbors chat and families have weekend barbecues.

Outsiders who previously had no reason to set foot in Serrana are arriving for haircuts and restaurant outings.

“We’re now as full as we used to be,” Rogério Silva, a staffer at a store for cheap refreshments and snacks, said in an interview.

“Weeks ago, people wouldn’t form a line in here, wouldn’t eat in, and I wouldn’t let them use the bathroom. Now it’s back.”

PARENTS pick up their children from a public school in Serrana, São Paulo state, Brazil, on Friday, May 28, 2021. Brazil's Butantan Institute has finished a mass vaccination of the city’s entire adult population with doses of Sinovac, to test the new coronavirus’s behavior in response to the vaccine. AP

’Project S’

THE success story emerged as other population centers keep struggling with the virus, enduring rising infections and new government-imposed restrictions. Meanwhile, the vaccine appeared headed for wider use. The World Health Organization (WHO) on Tuesday granted emergency use authorization (EUA) to the Sinovac shot for people 18 and over, the second such authorization it has granted to a Chinese company.

The experiment known as “Project S” lasted four months and tested Sinovac’s shot in real-world conditions. The preliminary results made public Monday suggest the pandemic can be controlled if three-quarters of the population is fully vaccinated with Sinovac, said Ricardo Palacios, a director at São Paulo state’s Butantan Institute and coordinator of the study, which was not peer-reviewed.

“The most important result was understanding that we can control the pandemic even without vaccinating the entire population,” Palacios said.

The results offer hope to hundreds of millions of people, especially in developing nations. Egypt, Pakistan, Indonesia, Zimbabwe and others are likewise reliant on the Chinese shot, which is cheaper than vaccines from Pfizer and Moderna.

The city’s population was split into four geographic areas regardless of age and gender, and most adults received two shots by the end of April. Results released Monday showed that the pandemic was controlled after three of the areas had been vaccinated. It was not clear if vaccine uptake was the same in each area.

Serrana saw vast improvements: Deaths fell by 95 percent, hospitalizations by 86 percent and symptomatic cases by 80 percent.

The project “shows the protection exists and that the vaccine is effective. No doubt,” Gonzalo Vecina, one of the founders of Brazil’s health regulator and a medical school professor, told The Associated Press.

Likewise, Denise Garrett, vice president of the Sabin Vaccine Institute, which advocates for expanding global vaccine access, called the results “good and very encouraging.”

Both Vecina and Garrett said

unanswered questions remain and that more data is needed to properly analyze the results, including information about people who got shots but did not develop immunity.

The spread of the virus in Serrana slowed while neighboring communities like Ribeirao Preto, just 12 miles west, saw Covid-19 surge. The upswing was largely blamed on more contagious variants.

Hospitals in Ribeirao Preto are so full of Covid-19 patients that the mayor imposed strict shutdown measures last week, including halting public transportation and limiting hours for the city’s 700,000 residents to buy groceries. Some will wait months for their vaccines.

Almost all shops are closed, and 95 percent of intensive-care unit beds are occupied by virus patients.

Turning the tide of infections

ELMANO SILVEIRA, 54, works at a local drugstore and for the first time wishes he lived in Serrana, which was looked down upon before the vaccination drive.

“My friends from there used to call me all the time…. Now I’m the one calling them,” Silveira said.

“Before the pandemic, we had a big city vibe here. It was really busy.

Now it’s like a desert.”

Just months ago, it was Serrana struggling to cope, according to Dr. João Antonio Madalosso Jr. For every patient who recovered in the first three months of 2021, two more arrived in bad shape, he said.

“Then, by the end of January, we heard this project was coming to Serrana. And calmness set in, little by little,” said Madalosso, 32, as he pointed at empty seats of the hospital’s Covid-19 ward.

“Just look at this. This is much calmer than Ribeirao Preto and the entire region. The vaccine is no cure, but it is the solution to transform this into a light flu so people can carry on.”

That doesn’t mean Serrana is entirely rid of the virus. Some residents refused to get the shot. Others skipped the second dose or got infected before the vaccine took full effect. A few had prior diseases that prevented them from getting the vaccines.

Consequence of ‘doubt’

BRAZIL’S president, Jair Bolsonaro, has repeatedly cast doubt on the shot’s efficacy. He said last

year his administration wouldn’t buy the Chinese vaccine and that he wouldn’t let Brazilians become “guinea pigs.” His health ministry signed a deal to buy tens of millions of doses only after Brazil’s health regulator approved the shot in January.

Had the government acted sooner, Brazil could have had twice as many Sinovac vaccines by now—100 million doses, Butantan’s head, Dimas Covas, told a congressional inquiry last week.

The shot accounts for half the vaccines made available to date in the country.

Vaccines arrived too late for some of the 463,000 people who have died from Covid-19 in Brazil, which has the world’s second-highest death toll.

The relative return to normal “could be happening all over Brazil if it were not for the delay in vaccinations,” said João Doria, São Paulo’s governor and an adversary of Bolsonaro. “These results show there’s only one way to control the pandemic: vaccines, vaccines, vaccines.”

Bolsonaro-fueled skepticism of Sinovac’s shot reached Serrana.

It didn’t help that São Paulo state’s release of efficacy data was confusing, with Doria initially claiming 78 percent protection against mild cases on January 7, then revising that five days later to 50.4 percent, barely above the level required by health authorities.

Carmen da Silva Cunha, 81, has lost friends to the virus, and she got vaccinated despite “a lot of people trying to get into my head regarding the vaccine.”

“Serrana got better, but it could be much more if a lot of people had taken their second shot,” she said in an interview at the hospital, where she sought treatment for a sore throat. She tested negative for Covid-19, and doctors expected her to return home in short order.

Mayor Leo Capitanelli is pleased with results. Standing beside a health screening station on the road into the city, he said people have had only mild and moderate Covid-19 cases in recent weeks. And he boasted about Serrana’s plan to host a music festival for about 5,000 spectators, all vaccinated with Sinovac’s shot.

“This project brought our pride back,” he said. “And it will bring hope for a fresh start next year.”

A4

The World BusinessMirror

Sunday, June 6, 2021

Global food prices surge as drought parches crops

G

By Megan Durisin

lobal food prices have extended their rally to the highest in almost a decade, heightening concerns over bulging grocery bills at a time when economies are struggling to overcome the Covid-19 crisis.

A United Nations gauge of world food costs climbed for a 12th straight month in May, its longest stretch in a decade. The relentless advance risks accelerating broader inflation, complicating central banks efforts to

provide more stimulus.

Drought in South America has withered crops from corn and soybeans to coffee and sugar.

Record purchases by China are worsening the supply crunch in grains and boosting costs

for global livestock producers.

Cooking oils have soared too on demand for biofuel. The surge in food costs has revived memories of 2008 and 2011, when spikes led to riots in more than 30 nations.

“We have very little room for any production shock. We have very little room for any unexpected surge in demand in any country,” Abdolreza Abbassian, senior economist at the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization, said by phone. “Any of those things could push prices up further than they are now, and then we could start getting worried.”

The prolonged gains across t he s t apl e com mo d it ie s a re tr ick ling through to store shelves, w ith countr ies from Kenya to Me x ico repor ting higher costs for food items. The

pain could be particularly pronounced in some of the poorest import-dependent nations, which have limited purchasing power and social safety nets, at a time when they are grappling with the ongoing pandemic.

The UN index has reached its highest since September 2011, climbing almost 5 percent last month. All five components of the index rose during the month, with gains led by vegetable oils, grains and sugar. The Bloomberg Agriculture Spot Index, measuring prices from grains to sugar and coffee, is up 70 percent in the past year.

The world’s hunger problem has already reached its worst in years as the pandemic exacerbates food inequalities, compounding extreme weather and political conflicts. Bloomberg News

Newer methods may boost gene therapy’s use for more diseases

By Marilynn Marchione AP Chief Medical Writer

ordan Janz knew his gamble on an experimental gene therapy for his rare disease might be paying off when he returned to work and a friend sniffed him.

“He said, ‘you have a normal smell, you smell good,’” Janz recalled.

“And I’m like, ‘that’s probably the nicest thing you’ve ever said.’”

T he 22-yea r- old C a nad i a n man’s previous treatment required 40 to 60 pills a day and left him smelling like rotten eggs or stinky cheese. He was born with a flawed gene that left him unable to make a protein needed by virtually every organ in the body. Kids with this disease can throw up a dozen times a day, need eye drops every hour to prevent blindness and often kidney transplants before they’re adults.

Now, Janz and a growing number of others with rare diseases have hope of not just better treatments, but perhaps a cure. Gene therapy increasingly is being used to attack the root cause of their problems by supplying the DNA they lack.

Janz was the first person in one such study at the University of California, San Diego. He and two other participants no longer need the eye drops and pills that only delayed progression of their disease and left them smelling bad.

The company that developed their therapy is testing it for several other diseases by simply adjusting what gene is supplied.

Other companies are doing the same, and US health officials are working on guidance to encourage the trend.

“I am very excited for the field because I feel like we’re beginning to get to a critical mass,” where a single method or product can be deemed safe and then adapted for many uses, said Dr. Peter Marks, head of the US Food and Drug Administration center that oversees gene therapies. “You’re essentially using the same rocket ship to put stuff into space dozens of times.”

J

Not so rare diseases

In the United States, a disease is considered rare if it affects fewer than 200,000 people, said Ron Bartek, a board member of the National Organization for Rare Disorders and whose son, Keith, died of one—Friedreich ataxia, a progressive neurological condition.

There are more than 7,000 rare

This September 2019 photo provided by UC San Diego shows Stephanie Cherqui and patient Jordan Janz in her research lab in La Jolla, California. Janz knew his gamble on an experimental gene therapy for his rare disease might be paying off when he returned to work and a friend sniffed him. “He said, ‘you have a normal smell, you smell good,’” Janz recalled. “And I’m like, ‘that’s probably the nicest thing you’ve ever said.’” The 22-year-old Canadian man’s previous treatment required 40 to 60 pills a day and left him smelling like rotten eggs or stinky cheese.

UC San Diego via AP

diseases and collectively, they’re not so rare—about 30 million Americans have one.

Seven gene therapies are approved in the United States and a few more are sold in Europe or elsewhere. In 2017, when the first ones were OK’d in the US, 854 companies were developing them.

That grew to 1,085 by the end of last year, according to the Alliance for Regenerative Medicine, an advocacy group for the field. More than 400 gene therapy trials are under way now.

“It’s really been an exciting couple of years,” Bartek said. “We’re finally looking at the possibility of profoundly beneficial therapies” for many diseases.

There’s interest from not only small biotech firms but also universities and big companies such as Pfizer and Novartis, he said.

Doctoring DNA

Gene therapies often aim to supply a gene people lack. The trick is getting the new one where it needs to be without triggering other problems.

Some therapies, such as ones for inherited forms of blindness, inject the treatment into the eye.

A common method for others is to remove some of a patient’s blood cells, alter them in the lab to carry the desired gene, and return them through an IV. What has scientists excited is better vectors—disabled viruses that ferry the gene into cells— that seem safer and more effective.

One, surprisingly, may be HIV, the virus that causes AIDS. Doctors recently reported that a gene therapy using modified HIV from London-based Orchard Therapeutics gave a working immune system to 48 babies and toddlers who were born without one. Avrobio, a Mas-

sachusetts company, also is using HIV in gene therapies it is testing for cystinosis, Janz’s disease, and several others.

BioMarin Pharmaceutical Inc. in California is taking a similar approach with a different virus called A AV for hemophilia, a blood c lot t ing d isorder, a nd several other diseases.

“The only thing that’s changing is the payload, the gene,” said Avrobio’s chief scientific officer, Dr. Chris Mason.

The sniff test

Janz lives in Consort, a Canadian village of 700 in Alberta. His mother called the first day of enrollment for Avrobio’s study under Stephanie Cherqui, a pediatrics expert at UCSD. People with cystinosis are unable to clear cystine, a chemical that builds up in their cells and forms crystals that damage kidneys, eyes and other organs, and leads to muscle weakness, trouble swallowing and even breathing.

The vomiting is so bad that many kids need a feeding tube placed in their stomach, and wind up being home-schooled because they’re teased by classmates and their medical needs are so complex, Cherqui said.

“When you meet these families, these children are suffering every day from the disease,” she said. “I can’t even imagine. It’s terrible.”

Gene therapy offers hope of a one-time fix. The therapy doesn’t have to get into all cells to work, just enough of them to make sufficient amounts of the protein that removes cystine so it doesn’t build up.

Janz was treated in 2019 and said he feels “essentially cured,” though it will take longer to know if he really is, and he may need a kidney transplant someday be-

cause of damage done by his disease. Tests show that crystals in his eyes, skin and muscle have greatly decreased. Instead of 54 pills a day, he just takes vitamins and specific nutrients his body needs.

“I have more of a life now,” Janz said. “I’m going to school. I’m hoping to open up my own business one day”—a deli featuring charcuterie, prepared meats such as hams and sausages. It’s an interest he developed during years of frequent trips to Chicago as a young boy to try other treatments. He stayed so often at the Omni Hotel that the chef let him cook in the hotel’s fancy restaurant when he was 13. The staff even bought Janz a knife kit and his own chef’s hat, apron and shoes.

Challenges remain

Gene therapy doesn’t work for ever yone, it ’s u n k now n how long any benefits will last, and safety remains a concern. In the past, a couple gene therapies that used different vectors triggered cancer in a few patients who received them.

“Every time we think we have overcome the safety issues, we continue to butt up against them,” the FDA’s Marks said. “I have confidence that we will work through them...but we can’t get too sure of ourselves.”

Marks and many other scientists think gene editing eventually may offer a long-lasting way to do gene therapy. Instead of just supplying a missing gene to cells, editing permanently alters a patient’s native DNA to insert a gene or knock out one that’s causing trouble.

Brian Madeux, a Phoenix-area man who is now 48, became the first person in the world to have gene editing tried inside his body in 2017 for a metabolic disorder called Hunter syndrome. Through an IV, he received billions of copies of a corrective gene and a genetic tool to put it in a precise spot.

But the therapy wasn’t potent enough to allow him or eight other patients to stop weekly IV treatments to supply the enzyme their bodies are unable to make.

Even though it didn’t give the hoped-for result, “I think the doctors have learned a lot from me,” Madeux said recently. “I felt that I could help other people” by furthering science.

“I took a shot, a chance that something could cure my disease,” he said. “I’m very happy that I did it.” AP

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

Japan enters Taiwan-China fight with vaccine shipments to Taipei

By Isabel Reynolds & Samson Ellis

J

apan announced Friday it was sending some of its Covid-19 vaccines to Taiwan, which has been struggling to procure its own supplies and blamed China for impeding shipments of the shots.

Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi told reporters Japan plans to provide about 1.24 million doses of the AstraZeneca Plc vaccine free of charge. The shipment was expected to arrive on a flight later Friday and Taiwan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs offered its appreciation in a statement.

Motegi reiterated that Taiwan has an urgent need for supplies of the vaccine as Covid spreads and domestic production is not set to be ramped up until July. “We decided to provide this based on our important partnership with Taiwan and our friendship,” Motegi said, adding many in Japan remembered that Taiwan was the first to offer support after it was hit by a devastating earthquake and tsunami in 2011.

The shortage amid rising case numbers in Taiwan has raised fears of a health crisis that could hurt its semiconductor production, which is crucial for global industry. Donating the vaccines to Taiwan could irritate China, Japan’s biggest trading partner, which sees the island as part of its territory and has stepped up military exercises in the region in recent months.

The government of Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen has resisted pressure, both at home and from China, to work with Beijing to obtain Covid-19 vaccines, a politically unpalatable option for officials in Taipei. Tsai and her party have blamed China for scuttling an earlier order of millions of Pfizer Inc.-BioNTech SE shots, although Beijing has rejected the accusation.

T he init i a l response f rom Beijing was muted. The Chinese

Foreign Ministry referred questions to the Taiwan Affairs Office, which issued a statement repeating earlier claims that Tsai was manipulating the dispute for political gain.

Japan approved the AstraZeneca vaccine on May 20 following domestic testing, but put its use on hold because of concerns about rare cases of blood clots. The government has sufficient supplies of other shots to cover its own population and Wednesday hosted a summit on accelerating global vaccination efforts.

Asked about Japan’s plans on Monday, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin said the idea “has drawn doubts from media and the public including in Taiwan.” He added that “vaccine assistance should be restored to its origin purpose, which is to save lives, and should not be reduced to a tool for selfish political gains.”

Terry Gou, the founder of iPhone assembler Hon Hai Precision Industry Co., is working with Taiwan’s health ministry to negotiate the purchase of BioNTech vaccines, Foreign Minister Joseph Wu said in a video press conference with the Foreign Correspondents’ Club of Japan Thursday. Wu added that Tsai’s administration welcomes any individuals or organizations that want to work with the government to secure vaccines for Taiwan.

Taiwan stands to receive vaccines from the US. The administration of President Joe Biden plans to distribute globally 25 million Covid-19 vaccine doses, with 7 million destined for Asia.

Taiwan has so far been unable to directly obtain Pfizer Inc.BioNTech vaccines from Shanghai Fosun Pharmaceutical Group Co. The China-based drugmaker, which has an agreement to develop and distribute them in the greater China region that includes Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan, has repeatedly said it wants to supply the BioNTech vaccine to Taiwan.

Bloomberg News

China drugmakers seen taking aim at lucrative cancer fighters

A

coming wave of Chinese cancer drugs could prov ide pat ients w it h cheaper alternatives to some celebrated and costly therapies, but gaining traction will mean going up against some of the globa l phar maceutica l industr y’s most lucrative and wellprotected franchises.

Treatments known as checkpoint inhibitors that free the immune system to attack tumors have become blockbusters in recent years—Merck & Co.’s Keytruda and Bristol-Myers Squibb Co.’s Opdivo are cornerstones of a $150-billion global market.

Wall Street analysts surveyed

by Bloomberg expect Keytruda sales alone to total more than $17 billion this year, and almost $26 billion in 2025.

Such sums have attracted the interest of China-based companies like Junshi Biosciences Co. and Innovent Biologics Inc. They are hoping to offer similar treatments at lower prices, and win over patients and payers on the pharmaceutical giants’ most precious turf. Their treatments have shown promise in studies, yet the complicated US health system could limit their capacity to compete.

Immune oncology drugs transformed therapy for a broad array of cancers over the past decade and won the technology’s pioneers the Nobel Prize in 2018. Most of the drugs block proteins called PD-1 and PD-L1 that interfere with the immune response to tumors. But in the US, a year of therapy costs as much as $175,000.

The high cost has frustrated US health officials. Richard Pazdur, director of the US Food and

Drug Administration’s Oncology Center of Excellence, went as far as encouraging Chinese companies to undercut US-developed checkpoint inhibitors on price during a medical meeting in 2019.

“A lot of people in the US—literally these drugs bankrupt them,” said Brad Loncar, a biotech investor and chief executive officer of Loncar Investments. “These drugs are so huge that tens of billions of dollars could be at stake here. So much money could be saved for the health-care system.”

Getting noticed

Bristol-Myers prices drugs based on factors including value, scientific innovation, development costs and access, the company said in an e-mail. Merck said it continues to explore ways to improve access to and affordability of its medicines.

China has granted 20 approvals to checkpoint inhibitors, according to a May report from Mizuho. But as yet, no Chinesemade versions have sold outside the country.

US phy sic i a n s a nd payers polled by Cowen & Co. said that the low-cost inhibitors could win up to 30 percent of the market, according to a separate May report.

In any case, China’s drugmakers will have to charge lower prices to compete with their Western counterparts, said Yaron Werber, a managing director and senior biotechnology analyst for Cowen.

“A high-quality, reputable new entrant backed by new data and a 30 percent to 50 percent price concession we think would get noticed,” he said in an interview.

Bloomberg News

Science

BusinessMirror

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

Sunday

Sunday, June 6, 2021 A5

DOST spends over ₧540M for 7 new R&D centers S

even new research and development (R&D) centers based in higher education institutions will receive funding worth over P540 million from the Department of Science and Technology (DOST) to promote industrial competitiveness and regional development.

In a recent news release, the DOST approved seven Niche Centers in the Reg ions for R&D (Nicer) prog rams under its Science for Change Program (S4CP) that w i l l under ta ke qua lit y research to spur innovation in the countr yside.

Created to accelerate science, technology and innovation in the country, the Nicer program has, to date, 35 R&D centers located in 17 regions with a total funding of P1.7 billion. “ In f u nd i ng t hese R & D Centers, the DOST-S4CP capacitates t he reg ions to become i nnovat ion hubs,” sa id Sc ience Sec re t a r y For t u n ato T. de l a Peña.

“By supporting R&D, we serve

the academe, the local industry and the country with the entrepreneurial advancement provided to the local community,” he said.

Fi rst is t he Center for Vector of Disea ses at t he De L a Sa l le Un iversit y (DL SU ) L ag u na.

S e r v i n g t he he a lt h s e c t or, DLSU Laguna will receive P26.5 million to study the insecticide resistance of mosquitoes, formu l at ion of bio - mosqu itoc ide against mosquito lar vae and the utility of natural predators to control the mosquito population.

For the energy sector, the Center for Advanced Batteries will be put up at the Technological Institute of the Philippines (TIP).

In collaboration with the University of the Philippines (UP) Diliman, TIP will receive P142.9 million over three years to develop advanced batteries for renewable energy and electric car applications.

Third is the creation of the Center for Sustainable Polymers at the Mindanao State University-Iligan

House committee approves atomic regulation measure

Science Secretary Fortunato T. de la Peña, Undersecretary for R&D Rowena Cristina L. Guevara and other DOST officials and staff join the members of the House Committee on Appropriations in an online meeting to approve the substitute bill for the Comprehensive Atomic Regulation Act.

T

he bill establishing a stronger legal regulatory framework for ionizing radiation has hurdled the House Committee on Appropriations, a news release from the Department of Science and Technology’s Philippine Nuclear Research Institute (DOST-PNRI) said.

The committee recently approved the substitute bill for the Comprehensive Atomic Regulation Act, which consolidated 13 House bills supporting the measure.

During the committee meeting on May 12, Science Secretary Fortunato T. de la Peña expressed his support for the creation of an independent regulatory body consistent with the international standards.

Among the key provisions of the bill is the proposed creation of the Philippine Atomic Regulatory Commission (PARC) that will regulate all activities and facilities involving sources of ionizing radiation.

These include nuclear and radioactive materials, facilities and radiation-generating equipment commonly used in the medical and industrial sectors.

The country has at present two regulatory bodies that deal with ionizing radiation.

The DOST-PNRI regulates nuclear and radioactive materials and facilities, while the Center for Device Regulation, Radiation Health and Research of the Food and Drug Administration under the Department of Health regulates radiation-generating devices, such as X-ray machines.

De la Peña said that “no less than the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has

repeatedly emphasized that regulatory functions should be separate from promotion and research work, hence the proposed creation of PARC as a separate regulatory agency from PNRI.” He noted the timeliness of the legislative measure with the continued expansion of nuclear applications in agriculture, medicine and industry, and as the country begins studying again the inclusion of nuclear power to its energy mix.

President Duterte signed Executive Order 116 last year that created the Nuclear Energy Program Inter-Agency Committee to study the adoption of a national position on nuclear power. The NEPIAC is chaired by the Department of Energy with the DOST as vice chairman.

“The study incorporates the IAEA’s Milestone Approach on 19 nuclear infrastructure issues a country must first address in preparation for a nuclear power program, including the establishment of an independent regulatory body,” according to the DOSTPNRI statement.

The bill was approved by the House of Representatives in January 2019 before the 17th Congress closed and refiled in the 18th Congress where it was approved at the House Joint Committee on Government Reorganization, Science and Technology and Energy in March 2020 before the Covid-19 pandemic led to stringent community quarantine measures across the country.

Its counterpart bills in the Senate were filed by Senate President Vicente Sotto III and Sen. Ramon Revilla, Jr.

Institute of Technology (MSU-IIT) for the industry sector.

For a three-year period, MSUIIT w i l l receive P107.2 mi l lion to generate va lue-added products, such as poly mer-inf used concrete and foams from coco nut processing by-products and nut r a ce ut ic a l a nd biome d ic a l products f rom f ish processing by-products.

Two programs related to disaster risk reduction and climate change will be established.

The Smart Water Infrastructure and Management R&D Center at Isabela State University (ISU) will be a collaboration with C agaya n St ate Un iversit y a nd Quirino State University.

ISU will receive P77.2 million over three years to provide innovations in water management and promote disaster-resilient infrastructures.

The Coastal Engineering R&D Center at the Mariano Marcos State University (MMSU) will be a collaboration with UP Diliman

and Don Mariano Marcos Memorial State University.

MMSU will receive P79.9 million for a three-year period to mitigate coastal disasters and develop strategies for coastal protection and climate change mitigation.

Si x t h i s t he Ce nter for L a k es Sust a inable Development at t he L a g u n a St ate Poly te c h n ic Un i versit y ( L SPU ) i n col l aborat ion w it h U P D i l i m a n .

Serving the environment sector, LSPU will receive P53.2 mill ion to develop solut ions a nd strategies for the effective management and susta inabi lit y of lakes.

Last is the Center for Environmental Technologies and Compliance to be put up at the Polytechnic University of the Philippines (PUP) in collaboration with UP Diliman and Adamson University.

PUP will receive P53.3 million for a period of two years to provide i nnovat ions i n env i ronment a l technologies and support compliance of the local industries with

environmental standards.

The R&D grants are given to state or private universities to upgrade their facilities, develop human resources and contribute to regional economic development.

Nicer cover niche areas and a b u n d a nt c o m m o d it i e s , s u c h as potato at Beng uet State Universit y (Nor ther n Phi lippines), cr ustaceans at Samar State Univ e r s it y (C e nt r a l Ph i l i p p i n e s) and renewable energ y at Ateneo de Davao Universit y (Souther n Phi lippines).

Other S4CP funding programs include the Collaborative R&D to Leverage the Philippine Economy (CR ADLE), which enables technological advancement and innovation among local companies as it supports the growth of the Philippine Innovation ecosystem. CR ADLE e ncou r a ge s a c ad e me - i ndu s t r y partnership to improve a company’s products, processes and services to be more competitive.

The Business Innovation through S&T (BIST) for the industry funds

Filipino private companies for the acquisition of strategic and relevant technologies for their R&D undertakings.

T he R&D Leadership Program (R DLead) f ur ther develops and s t re n g t he n s t he re s e a rc h c a pabi l it ies of t he ac ademe, research and development institutions and other gover nment line agencies nationw ide. R&D leaders, who are local science and technolog y ex per ts w ith strong leadership and innovative polic y prof iciencies, are engaged to train, d irect and suppor t their R&D goa ls.

“The DOST envisioned S4CP to create opportunities in advancing science, technology and innovation in the country,” said DOST Undersecretary for R&D Rowena Cristina L. Guevara.

“The S4CP is a means to proportionately spread funding across all regions for capacity-building initiatives and securing partnerships across academia and industry members,” she said.

DepEd allots 674 teaching posts for DOST scholar-graduates

T

he Department of Education (DepEd) has allotted 674 teaching positions for the scholar-graduates of the Department of Science and Technology (DOST) for the fiscal year 2021.

“These are our scholars who got the scholarship starting when they were third year under Republic Act No. 10612 or the ‘Fast-Tracked S&T Scholarship Act of 2013,’” Science Secretary Fortunato T. de la Peña reported in a Facebook post.

The Act, principally authored

by the late Sen. Edgardo J. Angara, supports the implementation of the K-12 law by developing a pool of scholar-graduates who can competently teach science, technology, engineering and mathematics in the secondary education, particularly in senior high school, and ideally in their respective home regions.

The scholars, who are set to start their service in August or before the opening of classes, are required to teach the same number of years that

they availed of the DOST scholarship through the Science Education Institute (DOST-SEI).

This is the so-called Junior Level Science Scholarship under R.A. 10612.

As of October 28, 2020, the DepEd has created 3,319 Special Science Teacher I positions to cater to the JLSS graduates, covering the school year 2016-2017 until SY 2020-2021.

According to the law, the DepEd shall ensure the job placement of

DOST-PCAARRD rolls out patent mining to support changes in R&D, tech transfer

T

he Philippine Council for Agriculture, Aquatic and Natural Resources Research and Development of the Department of Science and Technology (DOSTPCAARRD) has rolled out the patent mining program for selected commodities to influence changes in research and development (R&D) and technology transfer prioritization in the agriculture, aquatic and natural resources (AANR) sector.

T he “Patent Mining Prog ram for Selected A A NR Commodities t hrough Streng t hened IP-TBM Of f ices” involves 17 par ticipating state universities and colleges (SUCs) and research and development institutes (R DIs).

The SUCs and RDIs in the program were previously involved in the two batches of the Intellectual Property and Technology Business Management (IP-TBM) program supported by the DOST-PCAARRD. T he prog r a m w i l l d i scove r emerging agricultural technologies and influence the development of priority R&D programs through patent mining.

The process highly relies on patent literature, which contains valuable information that can guide organizations in planning for targeted R&D investments and determining early IP management strategies.

These tools may help advocate changes in R&D and technology transfer and in crafting new science and technology (S&T) plans for the AANR sector.

To successfully carry out these initiatives, the program will capacitate the project teams through the 1st DOST-PCAARRD Patent Mining Mentorship Series, a series of training activities in partnership with the Intellectual Property Office of the Philippines (IPOPHL).

Mentors from IPOPHL will guide the project teams as they proceed with the development of their patent mining reports.

The program will also harness and strengthen the capacities of IP-TBM offices through patent landscaping and mining, discover emerging agri-aqua technological trends and recommend priority R&D programs through patent mining, develop or enhance the IP policies

These are the commodities in the AANR sector with their respective agencies focused on their patent mining studies: Coffee

Cavite State University

Rice

Bohol Island State University

Mango

Bataan Peninsula State University

Swine

Central Mindanao University

Cacao

Caraga State University

Bamboo

Forest Products Research and Development Institute

Banana

Ifugao State University

Goat

Isabela State University

Aqua feeds

Laguna State Polytechnic University

Citrus

Nueva Vizcaya State University

Dairy cattle

Philippine Carabao Center

Milkfish

Pampanga State Agricultural University

Crabs (mangrove and blue swimming crabs)

Samar State University

Shrimp

University of the Philippines Visayas

Rubber

University of Southern Mindanao

Native chicken

Western Mindanao State University

Seaweeds/Sea cucumber

Western Philippines University

and technology transfer protocols of other SUCs to harmonize IP management and technology transfer activities, and develop a web-based management information system for the real-time monitoring of IP filings of the IP-TBM network.

With the accomplishment of the IP-TBM network in IP management and technolog y commercialization, this program will also continue such initiatives by targeting the filing of 170 IP applications and execution of 17 commercialization contracts within the twoyear project duration.

Linkages with various agencies will also be enhanced to support activities on IP protection and management, as well as technology transfer and commercialization.

The program will also extend its policy development support to PCAARRD’s partners in the regional consortia that are not members yet of the IP-TBM network.

Fifty agencies will be assisted in crafting or enhancing their respective IP Policies and Technology Transfer Protocols in accordance with existing laws and regulations.

In addition, a real-time monitoring system that will allow efficient and effective monitoring of all activities and accomplishments of members of the IP-TBM network will be developed through the program.

The program’s inception meeting was held on January 11, 2021 to level off between PCA ARRD and the project teams on the guidelines and requirements for the appropriate implementation and documentation.

An initial meeting with the project leaders from the 17 implementing IP-TBM offices and PCAARRD commodity experts was conducted on January 21, wherein the technology areas per commodity foreseen to be relevant in the next five years were identified. These areas will become the focal point of the patent mining study.

Meanwhile, consultation meetings with the technical experts began in May. The experts will validate the technology areas and industry gaps to be studied by the project teams as they perform the patent mining process. Mae A. Dagaas and Kariza M. Geminiano/S&T Media Services

the scholars as SST I. The appointment of these scholars shall be on provisional status, under the condition that they must pass the Licensure Examination for Teachers within the first five years if they opt to continue teaching in DepEd after fulfilling their service obligation.

T he endorsement of sc hol a rs s h a l l c o me f ro m t he D O S T- S E I b a s e d o n t h e a c t u a l nu m b e r o f g r a du at e s at t he e nd o f t he a c a d e m i c y e a r.

Will local toasted barrels assure the safety and quality of aged wine?

A

project will determine the systemic effect of aged wine from toasted barrels developed by the Forest Products Research and Development Institute of the Department of Science and Technology (DOST-FPRDI), a DOST news release said.

The project, dubbed “Safety Assessment and Determination of Wine-Property Enhancing Compounds of Wines Aged in FPRDI Toasted Wine Barrel,” is led by DOST-FPRDI Science Research Specialist Kim Wilmer M. Balagot and funded by the Philippine Council for Agriculture, Aquatic and Natural Resources Research and Development (DOST-PCAARRD).

The project is linked to an ongoing pilot testing of wine barrels made from locally available wood species, which hopes to help local winemakers improve the quality and taste of their wines.

The wine barrels were developed to find cheaper but quality substitutes to white oak (Quercus alba), which is known worldwide to be the most ideal material for fermenting and ageing wine.

FPRDI will assess the safe use and determine the wine property-enhancing compounds present in wine aged in toasted barrels made from locally available, senile and unproductive santol (Sandoricum koijape), and tree plantation species like bigleafed mahogany (Sw ietenia macrophylla K ing ), mangium (Acacia ma ng iu m), a nd r iver red g u m (Euca ly ptus cama ldu lensis).

The project will also determine the antioxidant activity of wine samples before and after ageing process.

A collaboration between the institute and the private sector, the project team partnered with a local fabricator to produce the toasted barrels and a local apiary and meadery for the food safety analysis of the aged wine.

The project guidelines and requirements and level-off expectations among project implementers and evaluators were discussed in a virtual inception meeting on April 28. FPRDI researchers and staff attended the meeting organized by the Technology Transfer of Promotion Division of DOST-PCA ARRD. Alexander Paul Z. Batalon and Kariza M. Geminiano/S&T Media Services

Faith A6 Sunday, June 6, 2021

Maryknoll priest Fr. James ‘Jim’ Ferry, 95

Fr. James Ferry in a photo taken on February 3, 2020. CBCP NEWS

M

aryknoll priest James Jay Timothy Thomas Patrick Paul Ferry, vicar for the religious of the Archdiocese of Manila, died of pneumonia on May 28. He was 95.

Father Ferry was laid to rest at the tombs of the Religious of the Virgin Mary in Marikina City on May 31.

The future priest ser ved as a corpsman of the US Navy during the Second World War before becoming a surgical nurse.

He first came to the Philippines with the American General Douglas MacArthur at the end of the war.

Every time he was asked about his sea voyage with MacArthur, the priest would say: “MacArthur came with me.

He boarded my ship.”

He joined the Maryknoll when he returned to the US in 1946. Ten years later, he returned to the Philippines a Maryknoll priest.

“Father Ferry always went out of his way to serve the Lord,” said Bishop Broderick Pabillo, apostolic administrator of Manila, during the requiem Mass for the late priest.

“He was a dedicated servant of God,” Pabillo said.

“Father Jim,” as he was fondly called, spent more than 50 years of his life in the Philippines, teaching in seminaries and doing pastoral work in various communities.

Pope John Paul II conferred on him the “Medal Pro Ecclesia et Pontifice” (For the Church and the Pontiff) on February 23, 2002.

The American priest was born on June 7, 1925 in New York.

His first pastoral assignment in the Philippines was in Paete, Laguna. He was later sent to Mindanao where he spent 30 years in Tagum, Lupon, Baganga, Bato-Bato and Davao.

“Those had been wonderful years of mission work,” he said.

Father Ferry served as regional superior of the Maryknoll in the Philippines and taught at the Regional Major Seminary in Davao.

He returned to Manila in 1989, and in 1996, was named Episcopal Vicar for Religious in the Archdiocese of Manila by the late Cardinal Jaime Sin. He then taught Sacraments, Liturgy and Homiletics at San Carlos Seminary, the Holy Apostles Senior Seminary and Maryhill School of Theology.

“We are fortunate in the Archdiocese of Manila that Father Ferry has been active up to the last moment of his life,” Pabillo said.

In 1989, when he was reassigned in Manila, Father Ferry assisted Monsignor Jaime Mora as chaplain of Sto. Niño de Paz Community-Greenbelt Chapel in Makati.

He would become one of the chapel’s regular priests and a board member of the FRD Foundation that used to run the chapel’s operations.

In his Facebook post on Father Ferry titled “From the beginning,” the chaplain of Greenbelt Chapel, Father Rufino Sescon, Jr., wrote: “He was my sojourner in the priesthood for 22 years. I realized that if there is a priest who really journeyed with me so far, it would be Fr. Jim. In fact, even before I became a priest, he already journeyed with me as he was our professor in Homiletics.”

He said, “If there is a priest who I encounter almost every Sunday, it would be Fr. Jim. If there is a priest who concelebrated with me most [especially Christmas Eve Mass and Holy Week Rites], it would be Fr. Jim. If there is a priest who showed me the meaning of deep spirituality, pastoral zeal, detachment, generosity, compassion and a great sense of humor, it would be Fr. Jim.” He thanked the Lord “for sending [Father Ferry] to Greenbelt and Landmark chapels,” who served the first for 37 years and the latter for seven years.

“Welcome him now to paradise so that [he] can celebrate with you the heavenly liturgy. Show him the place You have prepared to those who love You. Rest in heavenly peace, Fr. Jim,” Father Sescon said. LiCAS News via CBCP News and Greenbelt Chapel Facebook page

Sunday

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

Manila priests hold ‘penitential walk’

A

round a hundred Catholic priests took part in a “penitential walk” on the streets of Quiapo and Sta. Cruz in Manila last Tuesday and prayed for the country’s protection amid the Covid-19 crisis.

Priests carrying an image of the crucified Christ lead the “penitential walk” from Quiapo Church to Sta. Cruz Church in Manila on June 1. PHOTO COURTESY OF RADIO VERITAS

In what could be the biggest gathering of the Manila archdiocese’s clergy since the start of the

pandemic, the priests endured the heat as they walked the streets in prayer.

Leading the way were four clerics carrying an image of the crucified Christ. They were followed by two bishops and dozens of priests from various parishes.

Prior to the procession, they gathered for a communal penitential service led by Bishop Emeritus Teodoro Bacani of Novaliches at the Quiapo Church, where they ministered to their fellow priests the sacrament of confession.

From Quiapo, they walked together to the nearby Sta. Cruz Church for a Mass presided over

by Bishop Broderick Pabillo, apostolic administrator of Manila.

In his homily, the prelate said the day was an opportunity for them to “repent, fast and pray.”

“We should use this moment to raise our requests to the Lord and any of our sins will be forgiven,” Pabillo said. “With forgiveness, the Lord will give us grace, especially our welfare now during the pandemic.”

Nearly half of the archdiocese’s 230 diocesan priests attended the religious activity. Patricia Escaño/Radio Veritas via CBCP News

Pope names Filipino archbishop as envoy to Israel and Cyprus

P

ope Francis has appointed a Filipino archbishop as the Vatican’s ambassador to the Holy Land, the birthplace of Christianity.

In a statement on Thursday night, the Vatican announced that the new apostolic nuncio to Israel and Cyprus is Archbishop Adolfo Tito Yllana.

At the same time, the pope named the 73-year-old as apostolic delegate to Jerusalem and Palestine.

Prior to his appointment, Yllana has been serving as apostolic nuncio to Australia since 2015.

He succeeds Archbishop Leopoldo Girelli, who was appointed Apostolic Nuncio to India in March.

The prelate has represented the Holy See on the four continents of Africa, Asia, Europe and Oceania.

Born in Naga City on February 6, 1948, Yllana was ordained priest for the Archdiocese of Caceres on March 19, 1972.

He later earned a doctorate in civil and canon law, and entered the Ecclesiastical Academy, the Holy See’s school of diplomacy.

Praying before swimming

A Muslim boy prays before taking a swim in the Moroccan northern town of Fnideq, near the border of Morocco and Spain, at the Spanish enclave of Ceuta, on May 18. AP/Mosa’ab Elshamy

Archbishop Adolfo Tito Yllana, the new apostolic nuncio to Israel and Cyprus and apostolic delegate to Jerusalem and Palestine. Screenshot/Archdiocese of Brisbane

After his studies, he entered the diplomatic service of the Holy See, serving successively at Pontifical Representations in Ghana, Sri Lanka, Turkey, Lebanon, Hungary and Taiwan.

In December 2001, St. John Paul II appointed him as apostolic nuncio to Papua New Guinea and consecrated him bishop on January 6, 2002, in St. Peter’s Basilica.

Subsequently, he entrusted him with the leadership of the nunciature in the Solomon Islands.

In 2006 Pope Benedict XVI appointed him as apostolic nuncio to Pakistan and to the Democratic Republic of Congo in 2010.

In February 2015, Pope Francis appointed him as apostolic nuncio to Australia.

Yllana is one of the three Filipino apostolic nuncios who are active in the service. The others are Archbishop Bernardito Auza, the nuncio to Spain, and Archbishop Francisco Padilla, the nuncio to Guatemala. CBCP News

Pope Francis leads the Holy Rosary in the Vatican Gardens at the conclusion of the “Marathon of Prayer” for an end to the Covid-19 pandemic on May 31. VATICAN MEDIA

Pope Francis unveils sweeping reform of Catholic Church’s penal sanctions

V

ATICAN—The Vatican published recently major revisions to Book VI of the Code of Canon Law, which covers penal law in the Church, including sanctions related to clerical sexual abuse.

The revisions, which have been more than a decade in the making, were first commissioned by Benedict XVI with the aim of making the code’s penal sanctions more effective and applied evenly across the Church.

Pope Francis introduced the changes with the apostolic constitution Pascite gregem Dei (Tend the Flock of God). He wrote that those who have committed a crime “need both mercy and correction on the part of the Church.”

The pope said that the revisions have improved “fundamental aspects of criminal law, such as the right of defense, the statute of limitations for criminal action, [and] a more precise determination of penalties.”

The reforms also introduced new crimes in the area of economic and financial matters to canon law and moved the canons concerning the crime of sexual abuse of minors and crimes of child pornography from the section on “crimes against special obligations” to that of “crimes against life, dignity, and freedom of the person,” as CNA reported earlier this month.

The Vatican initiated the reform to canon law because of concerns that some parts of the Church were failing to apply penal sanctions amid the burgeoning abuse crisis.

“In the past, much damage has been caused by the Church’s failure to perceive the intimate relationship between the exercise of charity and recourse—when circumstances and justice require it—to the discipline of punishment,” Pope Francis wrote in Pascite gregem Dei. “Such a way of thinking—experience teaches us—risks leading to living with behavior contrary to the discipline of morals, for the remedy of which exhortations or suggestions alone are not sufficient.

This situation often brings with it the danger that, with the passage of time, such behavior will become consolidated to the point of making it more difficult to correct and in many cases creating scandal and confusion among the faithful.”

Pope Francis signed Pascite gregem Dei on the Solemnity of Pentecost and the text was released on June 1. The revisions will enter into force on December 8, 2021.

At a Vatican press conference, Archbishop Filippo Iannone, the president of the Pontifical Council for Legislative Texts, the Vatican department that oversaw the changes, said that there had been misunderstandings about the relationship between justice and mercy in recent years.

This has “fed a climate of excessive laxity in the application of criminal law” in the Church, the archbishop said.

“The presence of some irregular situations within the communities, but above all the recent scandals, which have emerged from the disconcerting and very serious episodes of pedophilia, has, however, led to the need to reinvigorate canonical penal law, integrating it with precise legislative reforms,” Iannone explained.

Bishop Juan Ignacio Arrieta Ochoa de Chinchetru, the secretary of the pontifical council, highlighted how the revised Code of Canon Law now includes crimes that have been typified in recent years in special laws, such as “the attempted ordination of women, recording of confessions, and sacrilegious consecration of the Eucharistic species.”

He said that new cases enumerated in the code also include the violation of papal secrecy; the omission of the obligation to execute a sentence or penal decree; the omission of the obligation to give notice of the commission of a crime; and the illegitimate abandonment of the ministry.

Msgr. Markus Graulich, the council’s undersecretary, said in an interview with CNA Deutsch, CNA’s German-language news partner, that these changes to Church law were necessary because the previous criminal law was not very “user-friendly.”

“In many places, punishments were mentioned only as a possibility, and the whole text gave the impression that it was almost merciless to apply punishments,” he said.

“In this regard, it must be remembered that the penal law was renewed at a time when the law in the Church, and especially the penal law, was fundamentally questioned. Today—also due to the examination of the abuse of minors—the atmosphere is different.”

The Pontifical Council for Legislative Texts is not itself a lawmaker, but assists the pope, who is the Church’s supreme legislator, in drafting, and interpreting canon law.

Pope Benedict XV established the pontifical council following his promulgation of the first Code of Canon Law in 1917.

The Pontifical Council for Legislative Texts has since played a role in interpreting the decrees of the Second Vatican Council and revising the code of canon law. A new code for the Latin Catholic Church was promulgated in 1983, and a code of canons for Eastern Catholic Churches was promulgated in 1990.

The council worked for more than a decade on the revisions to Book VI, published on June 1.

Archbishop Iannone said: “This reform, which is presented today, therefore, as necessary and long-awaited, has the aim of making universal penal norms ever more suitable for the protection of the common good and of the individual faithful, more congruent with the demands of justice and more effective and adequate in today’s ecclesial context.” Courtney Mares/Catholic News Agency via CBCP News

Biodiversity Sunday BusinessMirror

Asean Champions of Biodiversity Media Category 2014

Editor: Lyn Resurreccion

Sunday, June 6, 2021

A7

Saving corals: Batangas dive spots under siege

F

By Jonathan L. Mayuga

or diving enthusiasts, seeing one or two crown-of-thorns starfish (COTS) in their favorite dive spots is tolerable. But a hundred of these large starfish with venomous thorn-like spines covering a bed of corals is considered alarming.

Situations like this call for an immediate action.

Volunteer divers did just that on May 23 when they launched a “search and destroy” operation to save the corals in some of the popular dive spots in Batangas.

Outbreak amid a pandemic

A COTS outbreak can sometimes be beneficial, but most of the time, it can be harmful to coral reefs if it is caused by anthropogenic pressures. Such an outbreak can destroy a healthy reef in a matter of days.

“It takes 20 to 30 years for a reef to recover from severe COTS infestation,” said Danny Ocampo, an ocean conservation advocate.

A dive master and underwater photography expert, Ocampo led a small team of volunteer divers and took a dive at Sepoc Wall, a dive site in Tingloy and Mabini. Infestation was also observed at a dive spot in the nearby town of Bauan.

Ocampo explained that travel restrictions brought about by the Covid-19 pandemic have compelled the diving resorts in the area to strictly limit their diving activities. Consequently, little was known about the proliferation of the COTS in Batangas.

In a voice call by BusinessMirror over Facebook Messenger last June 2, Ocampo said that it was a fellow diver, Yvette Lee Gladys Guy, who informed him about the COTS infestation.

“We also heard from other divers about it,” he said. “When they went to Bauan, our group decided to go to Sepoc Wall, where we discovered the massive infestation.”

Dive to save corals

Along with Guy, Maria Angeles,

John Kenneth Gines and brothers Nixon and Daniel Abulag—all of them Ocampo’s dive scholars and now dive masters themselves—the group took time out from their usual “sight-seeing” activities underwater to save the affected corals.

They have since managed to haul over 300 COTS. According to Ocampo, within an hour that day, they were able to remove a total of 140 COTS at an average depth of 4-6 meters covering an area less than 100 square meters.

They also managed to remove an additional 165 for a total of 306 COTS. “Collecting COTS should be done properly and carefully to avoid damaging corals and ensure they do not release eggs while being removed from the reef due to stress,” he explained.

In Bauan, over 300 COTS were removed by another group of volunteer divers.

A serious threat

Marine scientists and experts say that COTS pose a serious threat to coral reefs.

In her master thesis, Mar Saniano, a marine scientist working for Oceana Philippines, an ocean conservation non-governmental organization, said she that had been removing COTS from the reefs since 2008.

She described the potential devastation impact to the coral reefs in the country as “alarming.”

Saniano told the BusinessMirror via Facebook Messenger on May 24 that she had been disseminating information about the adverse effects of COTS and was glad that it is “finally getting attention.”

However, she noted that COTS can also be beneficial to marine ecosystems.

Globe pushes proper e-waste management and disposal

C

aring for the environment through proper electronic waste (e-waste) management and disposal is part of Globe’s contribution to achieving a circular economy, the company said in a statement.

Circular economy is a process wherein the value of goods is maximized to produce zero or the least waste possible, Globe said.

“In a circular economy, we don’t just talk about recycling, [but we also start] reassessing our purchasing habits,” said Rofil Magto, Globe Climate Action Lead for Sustainability and Social Responsibility during the #TEPTalks webinar on eco-friendly solutions for sustainable innovation.

“We need to inf luence our fellow Filipinos to refuse acquiring new and unnecessary gadgets and always aim to reduce, reuse and recycle electronic wastes. These efforts will help avoid the continuous extraction of raw materials and conserve our precious natural resources,” Magto said at the talk organized by the UP Circuit, a student organization at the Electrical and Electronics Engineering Institute of the University of the Philippines Diliman.

The talk is part of the organization’s The E-Waste Project (TEP), a year-long advocacy campaign to raise awareness on proper e-waste disposal and management through seminars and collection drives.

“Our goal is to raise awareness, educate, and encourage individuals to join the fight for a greener environment,” said Sam Oguing and Jewel Cusipag,

TEP Overall Heads.

They explained: “Amid the pandemic, we continue to pursue social media campaigns, online activities and webinars to provide a platform for the public where they can learn about e-waste and its impact on our environment.”

“As a company that remains mindful of how we affect the community, we always innovate our products and services, engage public and private stakeholders and collaborate with government agencies to work on proactive climate initiatives,” said Yoly Crisanto, Chief Sustainability Officer and SVP for Corporate Communications.

Through its E-waste Zero program, Globe has set up about 120 e-waste drop-off points across the country to ensure that end-of-life electronic devices like old mobile phones and non-working gadgets and appliances do not end up in landfills.

The company also collects e-waste with a minimum weight of 10 kg through requests made via the Globe Sustainability website.

E-waste Zero was also recognized by the GSMA, the international organization representing various mobile operators worldwide, as one of the global best practices in e-waste management.

T he col lec ted e -wa ste is de l ivered to Globe’s par tner treatment, stor a ge a nd d i s pos a l f ac i l it ies: Tot a l Env i ronment Solut ions-A sset Mater i a l Ma n agement Ph i l ip pi nes i n Pa sig C it y a nd Ma r it ra ns R ec yc ler, Inc. i n Cebu.

Volunteer diver Daniel Abulag removes a huge crown-of-thorns starfish during a dive on May 23 at the famed Sepoc Wall, a dive spot in Mabini, Batangas. Danny Ocampo She explained: “They are natural inhabitants of the reef across the Indo-Pacific, [helping] balance the population in a reef ecosystem. Juveniles feed on planktons and algae, while adults feed on corals. They actually prefer weak corals that cannot protect themselves from the seastars.

However, they are devastating or deleterious when they are in an outbreaking population as they can wipe out an entire reef in days.”

Monitoring COTS

Saniano underscored the importance of monitoring COTS in the country’s coral reefs, while noting that a COTS outbreak is a result of a bigger problem.

“COTS infestation is due to [an] imbalance in the ecosystem,” she said.

She shared: “We need to see the interconnection of these organisms. For example, removing benthic feeders like parrot fishes, i.e., those feeding on algae that smother corals, means high food availability for the cryptic and numerous juveniles (I have seen benthic feeding juveniles smaller than a P5 coin). Over exploiting the parrot fishes increases the survival of the juveniles. With this high survival rate, you can definitely expect an outbreak in two to three years.”

Meanwhile, Saniano said that other stressors, such as the increase in nutrient input into the sea and habitat destruction that weakens corals, can

lead to an increase in the survival of COTS. This can also result to COTS outbreak populations.

“We must keep our reefs healthy to avoid the deleterious effect of an outbreak,” she pointed out.

Prey and predator

Jimely Flor es, a marine scientist working for the Environmental Defense Fund, agrees with Saniano.

“If there are too many [COTS], they can wipe out corals,” she said.

“Usually, if the coral reef is healthy, they can be controlled naturally at a young age by predators, such as mollusks and some parrot fishes.”

Unfortunately, there were a few predators left in that part of Batangas where COTS infestation was reported.

“At a young age, they [COTS] are very prolific. Once they mature, they can resist predation. That’s why natural control is important while they are still young,” she said.

Flores said the shell craft industry is aggravating the problem that besets the country’s healthy marine ecosystem, including the coral reefs.

“Harvesting [too much means] there are almost no more shells in the coral reef areas left,” she said. “Triton is the most famous predator [of COTS). Wrasses and parrot fishes are also high-value fishes, but they are almost gone.”

She added: “But when COTS are still young, they can be preyed upon by crabs, shrimps, fishes and other

A coral infested with crown-of-thorns starfish. generalist feeder predators.”

According to Flores, even while the Philippines still has plenty of protected coral reefs, they are “empty.”

Restoring balance

Flores said the best way to get rid of COTS and prevent infestation is restoring balance in the marine ecosystem.

“What we are doing before, which I think some resorts [still do], is to pick them up and place them on land to dry,” she said.

She explained: “The first line of defense is to ensure that the adults are picked up and destroyed on land. The long-term objective is to help restore balance. Resort owners may need resident or partner scientists to do that. Restoration of (marine) biodiversity means ensuring that even the generalist will also not become too many.”

A COTS outbreak may eventually affect fishery and other seafood, according to Flores.

She said: “They mainly attack the corals, but we know the importance of corals in the life cycle of our fish in the ocean, so in the long term, this would result in seafood insecurity.”

Government intervention needed

Saniano said to address the potential adverse impact of massive COT outbreaks, the government must act with dispatch.

“Unlike climate change, increasing temperat u re, sea-level r ise,

which we [cannot] control, the COTS infestation problem can be mitigated or totally avoided,” Saniano said, explaining that since an increase in temperature also triggers spawning among COTS. In preventing future COTS outbreaks, she said there is a need to remove man-induced stressors in the country’s reefs, such overfishing or destructive fishing activ ities, and proper waste management.

Saniano added that establishing more Marine Protected Areas (MPA) is more effective.

“Establishing MPA and effectively managing them can lead to healthier and balanced reef ecosystems that can control the population of COTS [to avoid] outbreaks,” she said.

But this is easier said than done, Saniano said, noting that the MPA require a concerted effort by the national and local governments and individuals.

“A lot of my diver friends are actively collecting COTS in infested areas,” she said. “Others contribute by simply avoiding products that are harmful to corals or those that weaken them. [They can also] avoid stepping on corals that can cause habitat destruction and dumping trash into our seas that [cause] nutrient loading.”

For now, Ocampo said the best that divers like him can do is to rally other divers to search for COTSinfested reefs and take action.

DepEd, BCSP unveil biodiversity toolkit for teachers and learners

I

n celebration of the International Day for Biological Diversity, the Department of Education (DepEd), in collaboration with the Biodiversity Conservation Society of the Philippines (BCSP), launched recently the “SamotSaring Buhay: A Toolkit on Philippine Biodiversity” to impart appreciation and awareness of the country’s rich biodiversity.

Crafted to encourage participation and leadership of teachers and learners in conser vation efforts, the Samot-Sar ing Buhay Toolk it provides information on Philippine biodiversity, threats and conservation efforts, while also discussing its effect on our health, economy and

resilience to hazards, DepEd said in a news release.

“Recognizing the role of the youth as partners in nurturing and renewing Philippine diversity, we in the Department of Education hold responsibility to equip learners with appropriate learning and thinking skills to make them become agents of change and advocates of biodiversity,” Education Secretary Leonor Magtolis Briones said during the online launching.

BCSP President Ranier Manalo explained the importance of the toolkit to the society and environment: “We are also aware that this often involves complex issues in our daily lives in terms

of psychological, social, and economic significance. But at the end of the day, when we require policy harmonization for conservation and sustainability needs, this toolkit is for all of us.”

DepEd Undersecretary for Curriculum and instruction Diosdado San Antonio and Undersecretary for Administration Alain Del B. Pascua shared their appreciation for the creation of the biodiversity toolkit.

“We are thankful to have this toolkit so our schools and teachers can help heighten our advocacy for quality education, quality health and quality life,” San Antonio said.

Pascua added: “In line with the Department’s core value, Makakalikasan,

this tool kit, put together by advocates for the Philippine environment from different agencies and organizations, is a way of ensuring the continued protection and conservation of our natural resources. We do this by empowering our Filipino youth through education and appreciation of our country’s biodiversity.”

Produced by the Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Service (DRRMS) under the Administration Strand, the toolkit can be downloaded for free through various DepEd platforms like DepEd Commons, DepEd LMRDS and Microsite on created resources for teaching climate change.

US, PHL advance ties for biodiversity protection and water sanitation

M

arking the 75th year of diplomatic relations between the United States and the Republic of the Philippines, the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and the Philippine Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) have agreed to advance their cooperation to protect the Philippines’ rich natural resources and improve access to clean water and sanitation, a statement from the US Embassy said.

In February, USAID and the Philippine government, through the National Economic and Development Authority, signed a four-year agreement worth P7.25 billion ($150 million) to protect

the environment, promote sustainable use of natural resources and reduce risks from natural disasters.

Under this agreement, USAID and the DENR signed on May 27 the subagreements for two projects: Sustainable Interventions for Biodiversity, Oceans and Landscapes (SIBOL) and Safe Water Project.

SIBOL is a five-year project worth P1.1 billion ($22 million) to improve natural resource governance, stimulate public and private sector investments in conservation and reduce environmental crime, which lead to greater environmental stability and inclusive green growth.

The five-year Safe Water Project

worth P870 million ($18.4 million) will help improve water security for vulnerable and underserved communities.

Working with both the national and local governments, Safe Water supports increased access to resilient water supply and sanitation services, improves the sustainable management of water resources and strengthens governance and regulation of the water sector.

“The long history of the partnership between the DENR and USAID has been fruitful, and together we have achieved much in creating a more secure environment that sustains both ecological integrity and human development,” said Acting

USAID Philippines Mission Director Sean Callahan.

DENR Secretary Roy Cimatu said: “Given the pandemic, the DENR is committed more than ever to address the country’s environmental challenges.

USAID, a consistent and effective ally of the DENR, has also supported us in creating sustainable models that guided us in managing our ecosystems.

Through these projects, we will advance our shared goals of environmental sustainability and improving the lives of Filipino communities.”

Since 2014, USAID has provided more than P5 billion ($100 million) to help conserve the Philippines’ biodiversity and protect its natural resources.

Sports BusinessMirror

A8 | S

unday, June 6, 2021 mirror_sports@yahoo.com.ph Editor: Jun Lomibao

NAOMI OSAKA: GAME CHANGER N

LEWIS HAMILTON: When I was young, I was thrown into the pit and I wasn’t given any guidance or support. AP

Hamilton backs Osaka B

AKU, Azerbaijan—Seventime Formula One champion Lewis Hamilton called for more support for young athletes dealing with media duties after four-time Grand Slam champion tennis player Naomi Osaka withdrew from the French Open citing her mental health.

Osaka withdrew from the tournament on Monday after she was fined for refusing to attend the typical post-match news conference following her first-round victory. The Japanese player said on social media that she faced “huge

waves of anxiety before I speak to the world’s media.”

Speaking ahead of the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, Hamilton was critical of the French Open organizers.

“The way they reacted was not good with the fine and someone talking about their personal mental health and then being fined for it, that wasn’t cool. I think they could have definitely handled it better, I’m sure. I hope they will take a deep dive into it and find a better way to navigate in the future,” Hamilton said.

Hamilton said he had felt over-

whelmed by media obligations around the time he joined F1 in 2007 when he was 22.

“When I was young, I was thrown into the pit and I wasn’t given any guidance or support.

And what I do know is that, you know, when youngsters are coming in, they’re facing the same thing as I did. And I don’t necessarily know if that’s the best for them,” Hamilton said. “I think we need to be supporting more and I think it shouldn’t be a case where you’re pressured.

“For example, with Naomi’s scenario, she didn’t feel comfortable for her own personal health not to do something. And the backlash is ridiculous.” AP

New York standard-setter on medications

N

EW YORK—When Bob Baffert was banned from entering horses in the Belmont Stakes, it was the latest example of the New York Racing Association (NYRA) taking a strong stand on medications.

Long before Baffert-trained Medina Spirit failed a postKentucky Derby drug test, New York has been one of the industry’s leaders in testing, mandatory medication reporting and documentation. When the Horse Racing Safety and Integrity Act goes into effect next summer, there’s a good chance it includes elements of policies New York has pioneered over the past decade.

“New York, NYRA and other stakeholders in New York, not unlike California and some in Kentucky, have been leaders in pushing for this reform, and so I’m very hopeful to continue to work with them closely and whether it’s the collection processes or the labs or the results management process that they utilize,” US Anti-Doping Agency CEO Travis Tygart said. “Our hope is to borrow the good pieces that are there, to implement those into the program overall but obviously fill in the gaps because there’s a lot of gaps to be filled.”

Horse racing has been in the spotlight because of many of those gaps. Baffert’s five medication violations in 13 months pale in comparison to the charges levied against trainers Jason Servis and Jorge Navarro, who were among 27 people indicted in 2020 in a widespread international scheme to drug horses to make them race faster.

Servis and Navarro took advantage of racing in states with more lax regulations, and one intent of the new law is to standardize rules across the sport.

New York is setting some of those standards by requiring trainers to report corticosteroid injections, transfer veterinary records when

ownership changes and implementing out-of-competition testing that safety authority chairman Charles Scheeler said will be a major emphasis.

Dr. Mary Scollay, executive director of the Racing Medication & Testing Consortium, pointed out New York was the first to do corticosteroid injection reporting and how pivotal the state’s other measures are going forward.

“I certainly think the transfer of medical information from the previous ownership to the claimant is important,” Scollay said. “I am confident that the new authority will require treatment reporting into some sort of a database. Hopefully that would be on a national basis.”

Scollay credits Thoroughbred Horseman’s Association chairman and CEO Alan Foreman for many of those initiatives, which he said dates to a major safety investigation almost a decade ago that led to 38 reforms in Mid-Atlantic states. New York took it a step further by regulating when drugs and cannot be administered to horses.

The result is fatalities being cut by 58 percent and what Foreman called New York’s lowest positivity rate on drug tests in decades, including zero positives all last year.

“You’re talking thousands of tests here, thousands of races and they don’t have a single trainer in New York who has ever gotten a multiple medication violation penalty,” Foreman said. “It’s a collective effort in the Mid-Atlantic of which New York is an active participant and in many cases helps to take the lead.

The New York State Gaming Commission also makes Belmont horses’ medical records public, a kind of transparency that’s missing from much of the horse racing industry.

Trainer Doug O’Neill, who found out firsthand about New York’s stringent regulations with I’ll Have Another at the 2012 Belmont when a quarantine barn was

used to closely observe horses, would like to see more prerace testing to avoid situations like Medina Spirit winning and testing positive after the fact.

“That way if a horse did happen to have a legal therapeutic but it was at a high level, he’s got to scratch,” said O’Neill, who’s saddling Hot Rod Charlie in the Belmont on Saturday. “If your horse accidentally holds on to some ointment that he shouldn’t, you’re like ‘Son of a gun,’ and you scratch and you protect the horse, the connections, the bettors and you don’t have a black eye that you do the way our testing is.”

Scheeler said Wednesday the safety authority and USADA are still early in the process of formulating rules on testing and other elements. AP

EW YORK—A few years ago, a star athlete dropping out of a major tennis tournament over mental health issues might have been seen as a sign of weakness.

Today, at least for Naomi Osaka’s corporate sponsors, it is being hailed as refreshingly honest.

That would explain why so many of them have stuck by Osaka after the four-time Grand Slam champion announced Monday that she was withdrawing from the French Open because she didn’t want to appear for the requisite news conferences that caused her “huge waves of anxiety.”

Osaka, who also acknowledged suffering “long bouts of depression,” received criticism by some who say the media events are just “part of the job. “But Nike, Sweetgreen and other sponsors put out statements in support of the 23-year-old star after she revealed her struggles.

“Our thoughts are with Naomi,” Nike said in a statement.

“We support her and recognize her courage in sharing her own mental health experience.” Sweetgreen tweeted that its partnership with Osaka “is rooted in wellness in all its forms.” And Mastercard tweeted: “Naomi Osaka’s decision reminds us all how important it is to prioritize personal health and well-being.”

Allen Adamson, cofounder of marketing consultancy Metaforce, said that Osaka’s disclosure has made her a more authentic spokesperson—and more valuable to corporate sponsors.

“Every athlete gets a sports sponsorship because they win games or perform well,” he said.

“But the best ones become true brand ambassadors when they have a broader persona. The best brand ambassadors are real people.

[Osaka] is talking about an issue that is relevant to many people.

Mental health is a bigger issue than winning or losing tennis.”

Reilly Opelka, a 23-year-old American tennis player seeded 32nd at the French Open, told The Associated Press he’s glad Osaka “is taking time to get better.”

“She’s one of the best players in the world—she’s very influential,” Opelka said. “The sport needs her.

She’s an icon. It’s bad for the sport to have one of the main attractions not around.”

Osaka, who was born in Japan to a Japanese mother and Haitian father, moved to the United States with her family when she was 3, and now lives in Los Angeles.

She has taken a leading role in protesting the deaths last year of George Floyd and other Black

ROCK Your World (left) walked toward the main track for a training run. AP

people who died at the hands of the police, wearing a mask with a different victim’s name on each match day at the 2020 US Open.

She was named the 2020 AP Female Athlete of the Year.

According to Forbes, Osaka is the world’s highest-paid woman athlete, earning $37 million in 2020 from blue-chip sponsors such as Tag Heuer, AirBnB and Louis Vuitton in addition to Mastercard and Nike.

Nike has stood by sports stars after other controversies, including Tiger Woods after his 2009 sex scandal and former 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick after he knelt during games to protest police brutality against Black people. But it recently dropped Brazilian soccer star Neymar after he refused to cooperate with an internal investigation into sexual assault allegations from a Nike staffer.

Osaka’s disclosure comes as celebrities and other public figures openly address their own issues with depression and anxiety.

Prince Harry and his wife, Meghan Markle, shared their experiences in a televised interview with Oprah Winfrey and have since teamed with her to create a mental health focused series called “The Me You Can’t See,” in which Prince Harry talks about working through anxiety and grief.

Osaka also joins a growing list of top-tier athletes speaking out about mental health. Olympic swimmer Michael Phelps, National Basketball Association (NBA) players Kevin Love and DeMar DeRozan, and the WNBA’s A’ja Wilson have all spoken very publicly about their bouts with depression, sharing both the successes and setbacks.

The four Grand Slam tournaments reacted to Osaka’s withdrawal by pledging to do more to address players’ mental health issues. The episode also could serve as a

tipping point for the professional tennis tours—and leagues in other sports—to safeguard athletes’ mental, and not just physical, health, said Windy Dees, professor of sport administration at the University of Miami.

“It’s absolutely a growth opportunity for the [Women’s Tennis Association] and all leagues, there’s a lot of work to be done,” Dees said.

Marketing consultant Adamson believes Osaka’s decision to come forward will encourage many more athletes to divulge their own mental health battles.

He noted that if Osaka had revealed her bouts with depression 10 years ago, her corporate sponsors likely would have stayed on the sidelines because the issue had been taboo. But, he noted, the pandemic has raised awareness around mental illness.

From August 2020 to February, the percentage of adults with recent symptoms of an anxiety or a depressive disorder increased from 36.4 percent to 41.5 percent, according to a survey by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Census Bureau.

The survey also found the percentage of those reporting they didn’t get the help they needed increased from 9.2 percent to 11.7 percent. Increases were largest among adults aged 18–29 years and those with less than a highschool education.

Ken Duckworth, chief medical officer for the National Alliance On Mental Illness, said Osaka’s decision to go public is a positive development for all people who feel isolated.

“We are moving from mental health and mental illness as a ‘they’ thing to a ‘we’ thing,” he said.

“These are ordinary common human problems. And I firmly believe that isolation and shame directly contributes to people not getting help. I look at a great athlete, an exceptional athlete, as one potential role model.” AP

NAOMI OSAKA’S decision to come forward could encourage many more athletes to divulge their own mental health battles. AP

BusinessMirror

June 6, 2021

Pride Month and queer students:

Why creatively drawing on virtual community matters

2

BusinessMirror JUNE 6, 2021 | soundstrip.businessmirror@gmail.com

YOUR MUSI

CINEMA IN MUSIC

Ben&Ben’s two new singles transport listeners to a familiar place

D

By Stephanie Joy Ching

ESCRIBED as a “patikim” of their upcoming album, Ben&Ben’s new singles, “Upuan” and “Magpahinga” are two imaginative and cinematic singles that paint two very different, yet similar stories of empathy and sincerity.

Publisher

: T. Anthony C. Cabangon

Editor-In-Chief

: Lourdes M. Fernandez

Concept

: Aldwin M. Tolosa

Y2Z Editor

: Jt Nisay

SoundStrip Editor

: Edwin P. Sallan

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

Columnists

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

Like just about everyone, the nine piece Pinoy folk-pop band found that the still ongoing quarantine has forced them to make many changes, one of the more prominent was their decision to move in together to create more music.

“We had to find a way to move forward, especially since our bread and butter-live shows- ay nawala na,” said vocalist Miguel Guico, “And once we thought of moving in together, what we realized is ang dami talagang kailangan isipin na hindi mo makikita sa una. So from finding a place down to setting up our DIY studio, we really took the time to figure out everything before we started creating again,” Though they are unable to perform live anymore, the band made do with holding online shows, stating that though they are unable to feel and absorb the audience’s energy, they hope the joy they feel playing together “translates through the lens.”

“It’s harder to connect to lenses

Annie S. Alejo Photographers

: Bernard P. Testa Nonie Reyes

Y2Z & SOUNDSTRIP are published and distributed free every Sunday by the Philippine Business Daily Mirror Publishing Inc. as a project of the

The Philippine Business Mirror Publishing, Inc., with offices on the 3rd Floor of Dominga Building III 2113 Chino Roces Avenue corner Dela Rosa Street, Makati City, Philippines.

Tel. Nos. (Editorial) 817-9467; 813-0725.

Fax line: 813-7025 Advertising Sales: 893-2019;

817-1351,817-2807.

Circulation: 893-1662; 814-0134 to 36. www.businessmirror.com.ph

BEN&BEN

than to actual eyes and actual people,” admitted keyboardist Patricia Lasaten, ”Especially since we’re all introverts, we get energy from the audience. Nakakamiss talaga yung energy na yun na we just bounce of each other.

Eventually, we just learned to pretend that the camera is the audience,” Though the band stated that they cannot disclose any details about their upcoming album, they did state that the album has a lot of songs that were written prior to lockdown which were just “waiting for the right time to be released.”

“In a practical sense, we talk about it in terms of what we feel is best to release. There’s a lot of gauges in terms of what to release, but one of them is: what do we want people to hear from us? What message do we want to send out during this time? So these two songs came out of that discussion,” said Miguel.

The first single the band released

from their upcoming album is “Upuan,” which they described as a sort of introduction to the musical and thematic experiments of the album. With its bright and upbeat tune set to lyrics that chronicle the innocence and sincerity of a first crush, the song easily paints a picture of nostalgia and the thrill of love at first sight.

“We incorporated a more visual style in the song, painting a picture for the listener and transporting them to that familiar place, of falling in love with someone they just met, whether that is in a classroom, by the beach, at a restaurant,” they said.

“Magpahinga,” meanwhile, is a somber but comforting song with equally cinematic lyrics of sincerity and empathy. According to Paolo, the song was based on the torrent of emotions he and Miguel felt when their sister contracted COVID-19.

“Kasi kapag nandoon ka sa ganung space, feeling mo na walang katapusan ang mabigat at nagdidilim na mga bagay. Pero kahit na nasa kalagitnaan ng ganoon, pwede ka pa rin pala mag-rest at huminga para mas effectively mo pang malabanan yung kailangan mong labanan,” Paolo further elaborated.

“Upuan” and “Magpahinga” are released by Sony Music Philippines and are now both available in major streaming platforms.

IC

soundstrip.businessmirror@gmail.com | JUNE 6, 2021

BUSINESS

SoundSampler

by Tony M. Maghirang

LETTING HIS FINGERS DO THE TALKING Peter Frampton slays softly in new instrumental album

PETER Frampton (Photo by Andy Kropa/Invision/AP, File)

L

ATE last month, legendary British rock musician Peter Frampton released his eighteenth studio album titled Frampton Forgets the Words, showing the way how instrumental interpretations of other people’s songs should be played.

On his latest recording credited to the Peter Frampton Band, Frampton, 71, pays loving instrumental tribute to David Bowie, George Harrison, Lenny Kravitz, and Alison Krauss, among others.

In an interview, the ‘70s superstar behind such classic rock hits as “Show Me The Way” and “Baby, I Love Your Way,” said his new album revisits ten of his favorite compositions by other artists. He suggested that his guitar playing gives voice to the vocal lines of the original songs..

Frampton opens the new record on a sparkling note with own revision of Sly & The Family Stone’s “If You Want Me To Stay”. Over a funky almost jazz fusionesque backbeat, the acclaimed guitarist skillfully picks single chords to make his instrument front the band as a lead singer would. The entire proceeding exudes an air of elegance with its alternating runs of bittersweet sections and ecstatic phases.

He applies the same m. o. to Roxy Music’s “Avalon,” David Bowie’s “Loving the Alien” and George Harrison’s “Isn’t It A

Pity.” It’s as if Frampton wants to plumb the emotional and emotive depths of reliably resilient songs from artists he truly admired.

His rework of Radiohead’s “Reckoner” revises the moody original version into something new that verges on the sorrowful and disquieting in the same breath. He has expressed a fascination with what he called “inventive contemporary bands” and he may have found a connection with Radiohead frontman Thom Yorke and guitarist Jonny Greenwood.

The new album may be the culmination of a flurry of music-making activities in reaction to having been diagnosed with inclusion body myositis (IBM) in 2014. His IBM is a degenerative muscle condition, which has no cure, and it threatens to cut short Frampton’s wizardry on guitars.

Frampton has related that the IBM disease hits particular muscles of the patient. In his case, it is slowly taking away the strength in his arms and hands, the engines of his historic rise to fame and fortune.

He has come to terms with

what he has to deal with and accepts he may reach a point when he will no longer be able to perform at a peak level like he used to. He’s not going to go out there at less than his best form. He shuns the idea of disappointing his audience because he chose to turn up on a bad night.

That sense of his own creative prowess saw Peter Frampton carve his name early on in rock history. He was only 18 years old when he cofounded Humble Pie, one the first supergroups By age 22, he was touring incessantly, making heavy use of the talk box which would become his signature guitar effect. His 1976 album, Frampton Comes Alive! massively introduced the Frampton brand of sound on radio, the music charts and across the demographic divide.

It remains one of the bestselling live records of all time.

He’s collaborated with such legendary artists as George Harrison, David Bowie, Jerry Lee Lewis and Ringo Starr, among many others, and has toured with the likes of Stevie Nicks, Greg Allman, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Cheap Trick, and the Steve Miller Band. In 2014, he was inducted into the Musicians Hall of Fame.

The hastening physical deterioration caused by IBM initiated an intensive period of recording sessions that began in October 2018, which produced All Blues,

Frampton’s second blues album.

Between May and October 2019, Frampton and the band embarked on his “Finale” tour of the United States and Canada, The tour title quirkily puts a question mark on the future of his in-concert career. It’s a weird sideways commentary on a lifelong achiever whose greatest moments are preserved in a live album.

The Covid-19 pandemic forced him to cancel the European leg of the farewell tour, which also interrupted his studio work with his band, He then turned his attention to promoting his autobiography, Do You Feel Like I Do?: A Memoir, which showed up on The New York Times Bestsellers list, attesting to the enduring attraction of great guitar players even to ordinary folks everywhere.

With Frampton Forgets the Words, Peter actually returned to the all-instrumental approach of his 2006 album Fingerprints.

More than anything though, his latest recording was borne out of his continuing commitment to keep working – to rage against the gradual degenerative effects of inclusion body myositis on his muscle capabilities.

There’s no question Frampton has had a stellar career and his impact on rock music, to rock guitar fans in particular, is undeniable. It’s never too late to keep supporting a battle-scarred guitar hero whose music, wordless it may be now, still continues to slay dragons.

3

Pride Month and queer students: Why creatively drawing on virtual community matters the potential of digital technologies and finding ways to express themselves, access support networks and retain a sense of belonging. Queer people are having to recreate the essence of lost safe physical spaces through virtual means that are unique from the countless Zoom calls and Jackbox Games nights everyone seems to be having.

In our own experiences entering the pandemic as queer graduate students, we found support and mentorship from other queer students and faculty members.

From a disability justice perspective, being aware of our interconnections means seeking empowering and grassroots ways to care for each other and form communities. We reach out to those who we may not know as well to foster a connection and ensure they are OK.

By David J Kinitz University of Toronto

& Alan Santinele

A

Carleton University

s academics who are part of a collaborative research team focused on the health inequities experienced by 2SLGBTQ+ people, we know that discrimination, mental distress and isolation are the everyday reality for many queer people internationally.

Demonstrators gather to speak in defense of transgender rights in Austin, Texas, May 20, 2021. AP via The Conversation

At the same time, it amazes us to witness the range of creative strategies deployed by queer communities in Canada and globally as we strive to maintain connection during this pandemic. Queer people are showing, as famously sung by Tammi Terrell and Marvin Gaye (and by Diana Ross) that “ain’t no mountain high enough” to keep us from each other.

In celebration of Pride Month this June, we note both the challenges faced by queer students during the pandemic, and reflect on what queer theory and disability justice have to contribute to our awareness of the importance of staying connected for queer students.

Challenges for queer students Measures in response to the Covid-19 pandemic have serious potential to adversely affect queer people’s well-being and health.

A study of how social distancing might

affect gay, bisexual, queer, trans and twospirit men in Canada notes that given that social support from friends, family and partners is a known protective factor against negative mental health outcomes among queer people, “social distancing may exacerbate negative mental health consequences.”

Some queer students no longer have access to queer-friendly resources and social networks that the university campus once provided. Many found refuge in academic spaces, like student clubs and research groups and felt relief from newfound independence from family. Inperson Pride events are also canceled and events have gone digital.

Chosen families Queer people have a history of combating our unique challenges by re-imagining who is responsible for caring for one another. For example, queer people have learned to build and rely on “chosen fami-

lies,” ties composed of members outside of a person’s biological and legal relationships, developed to survive amid heteronormative societies.

Queer people often have to “code switch”—change how we present ourselves and hide parts of our authentic selves—when sharing space with others in everyday life to pass as straight (or at least, “less gay”), including online socials and family obligations during the pandemic.

Our scholarship draws on queer theory to unsettle heterosexuality as a norm, to interrogate and disrupt varied ways we queer people encounter oppression and find ways to build solidarity. Disability justice also teaches us the value of interdependence, reminding us that no-one can make it on their own.

Finding ways of staying connected Queer graduate students are harnessing

Queer adaptation to thrive We’re also mindful that some queer people lack access to networks and support relevant to flourishing in their lives.

As universities and existing queer networks look ahead at supporting queer students, it is essential that communities of queer people and allies make space for marginalized voices and narratives to be a part of discussions about student health and wellness outcomes, support and the pandemic.

For generations, queer people have demonstrated their adaptability to navigate life outside the status quo, finding and supporting each other. Our creative and queer ways of fostering resiliency are not impermeable to discriminatory social conditions.

We will continue, to the best of our abilities, this legacy of queer adaptation to thrive amid adversity. Finding ways to creatively bolster and expand our networks of care has never been as important as it is now. The Conversation

How ‘allyship’ can make LGBT+ staff feel less excluded in the workplace

M

ore than 40 percent of lesbian, gay, and bisexual people experience conflict at work, such as being undermined, humiliated or discriminated against, according to a recent report. This figure rises to 55 percent for transgender and non-binary staff, compared with 29 percent for their heterosexual colleagues.

The report from the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD), suggests that these issues are often left unresolved and more needs to be done to protect and support LGBT+ people within the workplace. While some progress has been made, there remains a particular and significant lag in the inclusion of trans workers and understanding of the specific challenges connected with gender identity.

Concrete steps are needed to build a more inclusive workplace culture. One way of doing this is to engage in a concept known as “allyship.” The idea refers to everyday acts that challenge behavioral norms and support members of marginalized groups through an awareness of the issues being faced by others.

An important first step is self-education, which might involve exploring free resources available from organizations such as Gendered Intelligence and Stonewall. There are widely available documentaries, films, podcasts and social-media campaigns where trans experiences are explored with nuance.

This can then influence long-term everyday language and behavior which may cause a person to feel included rather than excluded.

One example could be the use of preferred

4 BusinessMirror

personal pronouns in email signatures and during meetings.

An LGBT+ staff network group might also be useful to help workers feel more included, as would a move away from one-off grand gestures (such as investing heavily

“An important first step is self-education.” only in pride month) toward regular smaller supportive acts, particularly visible role modeling from managers and leaders.

Employers should consider too how they cater for different gender identities within Human Resources (HR) policies such as recruitment, leave arrangements and dress code. What training and guid-

June 6, 2021

ance is given to line managers about how they support trans workers for example, particularly during a period of transition?

Are web sites and internal communications properly scrutinized for problematic gendered language or images?

The pandemic has meant drastic changes to how many people work, and altered the social dynamics of the workplace, perhaps for the long term. Businesses should take this time of adjustment as an opportunity to remember the importance of adapting broader policies and practices to specific minority groups.

Allyship presents a good opportunity to build a stronger sense of community for the organization and society as a whole.

The Conversation