BusinessMirror June 09, 2020 by BusinessMirror

‘Developing agri, construction crucial in H2’ By Elijah Felice Rosales

HE government should give priority to developing the agriculture and construction sectors for the next half of the year, as these will be crucial in attaining food security and generating jobs in the lockdown aftermath. Industry leaders agreed focus should be given on food production and infrastructure buildup in the latter half of the year. They told the BusinessMirror that food security is critical at a time of crisis like this, as trading partners are expected to reduce exports to prioritize supplying their domestic requirements. Legislative-Executive Development Advisory Council Private Sector Representative George T. Barcelon batted for the putting up of farming schools in the coun-

WORK resumes at a construction site in Parañaque City with the lifting of quarantines. Infrastructure projects are seen to generate jobs for millions of workers who got displaced by the lockdown. NONIE REYES

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tryside to complement state efforts to return people to their hometowns under the Balik Probinsya, Bagong Pag-asa Program. “With the Balik Probinsya program, the agriculture, aquatic [and] forestry sectors must be given focus. Technical schools must be put up in agricultural regions and attract younger generation that there are economic upside for them,” Barcelon said. “Such effort creates a market for fertilizers, construction, packaging [and] logistics. These can all create new jobs. Not only do we create jobs and reduce our food import dependency, but also go into higher value crops for exports,” he said. Florian Gottein, executive director of the European Chamber of Commerce of the Philippines, echoed the sentiment for improving the agriculture sector in the lockdown aftermath. He said the government

needs to pour money into farm production to secure food adequacy in the time of the coronavirus pandemic. Makati Business Club Executive Director Coco Alcuaz added that essentials, especially food, would likely see a consumption boost in this health crisis, as people prioritize their spending on basic needs, with their incomes slashed. On the other hand, Alcuaz argued now is the time for the government to go all out in its Build, Build, Build (BBB) program. Along with the opening up of various sectors to foreign ownership, an expedited rollout of infrastructure projects would generate jobs for millions of workers who got displaced by the lockdown, he said. “Among the lower-hanging fruits are an accelerated BBB program and See “Agri,” A2

BusinessMirror A broader look at today’s business

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‘SIN’ TAX TAKE DIPS 39% TO P63B FOR 5 MONTHS www.businessmirror.com.ph

Tuesday, June 9, 2020 Vol. 15 No. 243

P25.00 nationwide | 2 sections 16 pages | 7 DAYS A WEEK

THE streets of the National Capital Region, from Mandaluyong City (above) to Quezon City (right), begin their transformation to accommodate bike lanes during general community quarantine. ROY DOMINGO/NONOY LACZA

By Bernadette D. Nicolas

AXES collected from “sin” products from January to May this year dropped by 39 percent year-on-year to P63.1 billion from P102.71 billion in 2019.

In a press conference during a Sulong Pilipinas forum on Monday, Finance Secretary Carlos G. Dominguez III attributed the steep decline in the excise taxes collected from alcohol and tobacco products to the imposition of the lockdown—which paralyzed the economy—in an attempt to save lives from the threat of the Covid-19 pandemic. Of the total, excise tax collection from alcohol products reached P19.79 billion for the fivemonth period, lower by 36.5 per-

AN old woman arranges boxes of cigarettes in Cubao, Quezon City. BM FILE PHOTO

cent than P31.15 billion collected in the same period last year. On the other hand, collection from tobacco products plunged by 39.48 percent to P43.31 billion from P71.56 billion last year. For May alone, Dominguez said sin-tax collections also plummeted by 43 percent to P11.91 billion from P20.87 billion last year. For this year, the government expects to collect P13.2 billion in incremental revenues from sin products, based on new projections by the Cabinet-level Development Budget Coordination Committee. For 2021 and 2022, incremental revenues from sin products are seen to reach P28.1 billion and P31.7 billion, respectively. Overall, the government projects to collect P73.1 billion in total incremental revenues from 2020 until 2022. This was down from its previous estimates of total incremental revenues for 2020 to 2022 of

P137.3 billion. The government’s estimates on the incremental revenues from sin products were revised to account for the impact of community quarantine measures, liquor ban and the overall decline in the demand for nonessential products or unhealthy products like alcohol and tobacco. Previously, the government estimated that total incremental revenues would reach P37.1 billion in 2020, P46.9 billion in 2021 and P53.3 billion in 2022. Deducting the value-added tax exemption on medicine, the new projections on net incremental revenues from sin products will be P6.4 billion in 2020, P22.7 billion in 2021 and P26 billion in 2022, or a total of P55.1 billion. This was a reduction from previous estimates of P31.9 billion in 2020, P41.5 billion in 2021 and P47.6 billion in 2022, or a total of P121 billion.

4 Asian countries bid to supply PHL with rice

By Jasper Emmanuel Y. Arcalas

OUR Asian countries have signified their interest to supply the Philippines with rice as part of Manila’s “contingency” procurement for the coming lean months. The Philippine International Trading Corp. (PITC) held on Monday its 300,000-metric ton (MT) rice importation via governmentto-government transaction (G2G)

with India, Vietnam, Thailand and Myanmar participating in the bidding held via Zoom. The four Asian countries were declared eligible bidders by the PITC after they submitted all required documents, including financial statements and authority letters from their respective states. Under the updated terms of reference (TOR) for the G2G transaction, only foreign governments or state-owned or -controlled en-

PESO EXCHANGE RATES n US 49.9040

terprises are allowed to participate in the bidding process. Vietnam was represented by its state trading enterprise Vietnam Northern Food Corp. 1 (VinaFood 1), while Thailand was represented by its Department of Foreign Trade. The National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation of India Ltd. (Nafed) represented India in the bidding, while Myanmar Rice Federation (MRF) was autho-

rized to represent Myanmar. The PITC’s TOR set the approved budget for the contract (ABC) at P24,833.33 per MT of 25 percent brokens, well-milled long grain white rice. Under the TOR, all bids should be converted to Philippine peso at the prevailing exchange rate of the Central Bank on the bid opening date, which was at $1 to P49.904. The TOR also stipulated that

MORE NPLs SEEN WITH JUNE LIFTING OF GRACE PERIOD

By Tyrone Jasper C. Piad

ITH the lifting of the debt moratorium, many loans could end up unpaid in the coming months as more Filipinos struggle with unemployment due to the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) pandemic. More areas, including Metro Manila, were placed under the general community quarantine (GCQ) beginning June, which meant the grace period for the loan payment had ended. “With the shift to GCQ and the economy slowly coming back to life, grace periods on loan repayments were also lifted as authorities look to provide a balance between affording customers some relief while at the same time safeguarding the banking sector,” ING Bank Manila Economist Nicholas Antonio T. Mapa said. He warned, however, that the banking sector may record an uptick in loan defaults in the near term as it set aside more loan loss provisions. According to data from the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP), the banking industry’s gross nonperforming loans (NPLs) stood at P179.25 billion as of end-March, which is 33.21 percent higher than the P134.56 billion in the same period last year. Allowance for bad loans this year, meanwhile, is currently at P175.03 billion according to latest data. Mapa said that the pandemic has prompted the surge in joblessness due to lockdowns, which could block revenue channels for borrowers. “Customers, however, may be faced with difficult times with unemployment surging…and may be hard pressed to make loan payments at the moment,” he added. In April, at least 5 million Filipinos lost their jobs following the pandemic-induced lockdown in several parts of the country, according to the Philippine Statistics Authority. This translates to a 17.7-percent growth in unemployment year-on-year. See “NPLs,” A2

Continued on A2

n JAPAN 0.4554 n UK 63.3082 n HK 6.4392 n CHINA 7.0474 n SINGAPORE 35.8351 n AUSTRALIA 34.7781 n EU 56.3815 n SAUDI ARABIA 13.2971

Source: BSP (June 8, 2020)

News BusinessMirror

A2 Tuesday, June 9, 2020

www.businessmirror.com.ph

DOLE: Firms start offering 8,000 jobs to displaced migrant workers

By Samuel P. Medenilla

T least 8,000 local jobs from two companies are now up for grabs for overseas Filipino workers (OFW) displaced by the novel coronavirus disease (Covid-19).

The Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) said Optum Global Solutions and EMS Group of Companies have sought its assistance to reach out to the displaced OFWs.

Medical field

IN a statement, Labor Assistant Secretary officer-in-charge Dominique R. Tutay said Optum is seeking to employ 4,000 OFWs for its nurse case management specialists (US-registered nurses), clinical operations specialists (Philippine registered nurses), and customer service specialists (Voice). She said the company is willing to accept shifters and graduates of any four-year course, including fresh ones for its “voice roles.” The labor official said interested applicants could get more information about the said positions via the virtual open house of Optum

from June 8 to 30, 2020. “Candidates may join the online event through https://uhg. hr/8qwu2 where they will be taken to a virtual lobby to learn more about the company and the positions available, as well as chat with recruiters,” Tutay said. She said applications can be sent to joshua.iway@optum.com.

Factory-based positions

FURTHERMORE, DOLE said EMS is now in the process of hiring 4,000 production operators and assembly workers for its Batangas and Laguna Technopark in Biñan, Laguna. Tutay said the applicants do not need to have prior experience with electronics since they will be given training when they are hired. “Applicants can send their resumes to cayc@ems.com.ph or recruitment@espi.com.ph and PhilJob-

FILIPINO repatriates from MV Azura are welcomed by the Department of Foreign Affairs at Naia Terminal 2. NONIE REYES

Net.gov.ph,” Tutay said. DOLE lauded both companies for prioritizing the thousands of Covid-affected OFWs for the vacancies. As of Monday morning, the

Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA) reported that a total of 42,298 OFWs have thus far been repatriated and have returned to their hometowns after Covid-19

impacted the businesses employing them in their host countries. The DOLE earlier said over 100,000 more are expected to return to the country within the year.

JUNE ELECTRICITY RATES DROP TO 2-YEAR LOW By Lenie Lectura

LECTRICITY rates this month dropped by P0.0216 per kilowatt hour (kwh) to P8.7252 per kWh, the Manila Electric Company (Meralco) said Monday. The reduction is equivalent to around P4 in the total bill of residential customers consuming 200 kWh. According to Meralco, the June power rate is the lowest since February 2018. Generation charge, which makes up bulk of the electricity rate, went down to P4.3413 per kWh from P4.3848 per kWh last May. Once again, Meralco invoked the Force Majeure (FM) provision in its Power Supply Agreements (PSAs) for the duration of the lockdown, reducing fixed charges for generation capacity that would have been charged by suppliers. The significant reduction in power demand in Meralco’s service area during the enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) and modified ECQ period prompted the utility firm to invoke the FM. This June, the FM claim totaled P614 million, equivalent to customer savings of P0.2208 per kWh. Without the FM claims,

generation charge and the total rate would have increased by 18 centavos and 24 centavos, respectively, from last month’s rate. For the past three months, the savings due to FM claims reached a total of around P1.6 billion. PSA charges decreased by P0.0613 per kWh mainly due to Meralco’s FM claim. Cost of power from independent power producers (IPPs) also decreased by P0.2334 per kWh due to higher average plant dispatch. PSAs and IPPs accounted for 50.4 percent and 47.1 percent of Meralco’s total supply, respectively. Meanwhile, charges from the Wholesale Electricity Spot Market (WESM) increased by P0.3132 per kWh due to tighter supply conditions in the Luzon grid mainly due to higher incidents of plant outages and slight increase in demand. The share of WESM to Meralco’s supply needs was only at 2.5 percent. Other pass-through charges registered an increase of P0.0219 per kWh. This was mainly due to the resumption of the P0.0495 per kWh Feed-In-Tariff Allowance (FIT-All). The ERC suspended the collection of FIT-All for the April and May billing months in con-

bids shall be divided into five lots based on the designated discharge ports and volume (Manila at 184,000 MT; Cebu at 42,000 MT, Tacloban at 15,000 MT, Zamboanga at 24,000 MT, and Davao at 45,000 MT). The winning suppliers shall deliver the first half of the volume of their secured lots not later than July 14, while the remaining half must enter the country not later than August 14, based on the TOR.

Bids

MYANMAR offered to supply 33,000 MT (10,000 MT for the first delivery and 23,000 for the second tranche) out of the 174,000 MT of Manila lot at an offer price of $489.25 per MT or equivalent to P24,415.532 per MT. Myanmar also bid to supply the whole Cebu lot at $494.25 per MT or about P24,665.052 per MT. India offered to supply 4 out of 5 lots except for Manila. For the Cebu lot, India offered to supply it in full volume at a price of

Continued from A1

UnionBank Chief Economist Ruben Carlo O. Asuncion agreed that unemployment added fuel to the fire because more Filipinos lost their means of livelihood. “Some may come back, and others may not,” he said. “At this point, I am not fully discounting defaults by individuals and even small-scale firms that have been greatly affected by the great lockdown of 2020,” Asuncion added. While the grace period for loan payments lapsing can trigger NPLs, RCBC Chief Economist Michael L. Ricafort said that it was still too early to tell since there were also offsetting measures placed to help some borrowers. Among these are the reduction in key local policy rates to ease burden for borrowers and incentivizing lending activities for micro, small and medium enterprises, he said. The BSP reported earlier that bad loans could reach P556.6 billion this year due to the pandemic, which is equivalent to 5 percent in NPL ratio. Of this amount, 50 percent to 80 percent, or around P278.3 billion to P445.28 billion, would not be recovered. The Bankers Association of the Philippines, meanwhile, said that bad debts could increase to approximately P240 billion to P300 billion in the coming months, with 50 percent to 80 percent of the amount expected to be written off. According to a report by the Inter-Agency Task Force Technical Working Group, NPLs could reach P368 billion assuming a 45-day lockdown period in Luzon.

Agri…

Continued from A1

opening up our doors to job-creating foreign investments, which our neighbors are already doing,” Alcuaz explained.

Construction rebound, jobs rebound

MERALCO linemen wearing makeshift face masks to slow the spread of the virus get ready to do repair work in Manila. NONOY LACZA

sideration of the ECQ. Meanwhile, ERC suspended the collection of Universal Charge-Environmental Charge amounting to P0.0025 per kWh beginning this June, until further notice. Meralco’s distribution, sup-

ply and metering charges, meanwhile, have remained unchanged for 59 months, after these registered reductions in July 2015. It reiterated that it does not earn from the pass-through charges, such as the generation and transmission charges. Pay-

ment for the generation charge goes to the power suppliers, while payment for the transmission charge goes to the NGCP. Taxes and other public policy charges like the Universal Charges and the FIT-All are remitted to the government.

4 Asian countries bid to supply PHL with rice Continued from A1

NPLs…

$484.7 per MT or P24,188.4688 per MT. India offered to supply the second tranche of the Tacloban lot (7,500 MT) at $485.7 per MT or P24,238.3728 per MT. The South Asian country offered to supply the Zamboanga lot in full volume at a bid price of $484.70 per MT, equivalent to P24,188.4688 per MT, while it offered to supply half (second tranche) of the Davao lot at $485.7 per MT or about P24,238.3728 per MT. Thailand, which has been an

active participant of the Philippines’ G2G rice importation transactions in the past, only submitted an offer to supply the full volume of Manila lot at $541 per MT (P26,998.064). Lastly, Vietnam submitted supply offers for all the 5 lots. For the Manila lot, Vietnam submitted a bid offer of $530 per MT (P26,449.12) for the supply of 64,500 MT (divided in two tranches). The Southeast Asian state offered to supply in full volume the

lots of Cebu, Tacloban and Zamboanga at a price of $530 per MT. Vietnam also offered to supply 30,000 MT in two deliveries for the Davao lot at $497.30 per MT (P24,817.2592) Under the TOR, the Notice of Award shall be issued to the prospective supplier within three days from bid opening, unless otherwise advised by PITC in writing through an amendatory bulletin. Afterward, the PITC shall issue the supply contract and the notice to proceed to the foreign supplier.

AMERICAN Chamber of Commerce of the Philippines Executive Director Ebb Hinchliffe equated the rebound of the construction sector to the rebound in employment figures. Speeding up the implementation of public infrastructure, he said, would also hasten the creation of jobs. The government’s infrastructure binge is expected to get a boost from the legislation of House Bill 6920, or the Covid-19 Unemployment Reduction Economic Stimulus (CURES) bill. The measure, a stimulus package with a budget of P1.5 trillion, is designed to raise spending on health, education, agriculture, public works, information and communication technology and tourism infrastructure. A hefty chunk of the funding would be allocated for projects outside of Metro Manila in line with state efforts to develop and create jobs in the countryside. In the April Labor Force Survey released last week, unemployment rate tripled to 17.7 percent, from 5.1 percent during the same period last year. In real value, the number of jobless Filipinos increased by nearly 5 million to 7.25 million. Travel restrictions made it tough for millions to get to work during the lockdown and thousands of business operations had to close—some for good—on declining income, paving the way for a job crisis that was worse than the worst of forecasts. Estimates by the International Labour Organisation put job losses resulting from the pandemic at over 300 million globally. The labor displacement will come as a consequence of prolonged lockdowns in at least 64 economies keeping workers at home and firms shut down.

The Nation BusinessMirror

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Editor: Vittorio V. Vitug • Tuesday, June 9, 2020 A3

FB pressed to delete ‘cloned’ accounts By Rene Acosta @reneacostaBM

& Joel R. San Juan @jrsanjuan1573

HE campaign for the approval, or rejection, for the legislation of the anti-terror bill may not have only generated some protest gatherings in some streets or school campuses. The battle has raged on Facebook complete with stories of fake accounts and alleged “sinister motives.” This developed as both the Philippine National Police (PNP) and the Department of National Defense (DND) voiced their concerns over the reported “cloning” of social media accounts which have allegedly victimized a number of Filipinos. The cloning, based on reports and complaints on social-media, has hit Facebook accounts of both supporters and critics of the Duterte administration and may not have even spared some journalists. Defense Secretary Delfin N. Lorenzana, who also maintains a Facebook account, said it was a “cause of alarm” since his social-media account could also be “hacked” and be used for a “sinister purpose.”

“Of course, of course...I have a Facebook account myself and it could also be hacked and they could also post there,” Lorenzana said on Monday during the turnover of medical equipment at Camp Aguinaldo. “It’s a cause for concern, it creates discordant voices among the people, which there should have been none,” he added. The defense chief was asked about the issue due to public concerns that these copied accounts could be used to post materials and messages that are violative of the law, thus making the real owners of the cloned accounts legally responsible. Lorenzana said the defense establishment has the capability to check on the originators of the cloned accounts and those who may be behind the cloning, adding they were already talking to Facebook officials. Supporters of the administration and its critics are blaming each other on the cloning of accounts, according to Lorenzana. “Both sides [are] accusing [each other],” he said referring to support or rejection of the proposed anti-terror bill. “The [supporters of the antiterror bill] said it was the handiwork of the other side, but the [critics] said

it was the pro,” the defense chief said. “Let us really look into the cause, both sides are blaming each other,” he added. PNP c h ief Genera l A rc h ie Gamboa, for his part, said they were also monitoring the developments related to the matter through the Anti-Cyber Crime Group (ACG) as he encouraged those whose accounts have been copied to file complaints. “We are active on social-media monitoring and anything that are not normal and perceived to be illegal, then the ACG is making its move,” he said during a separate news briefing on Monday. “We encourage everybody that if you see any anomalous, or is not legal in the social-media platform, then let us know so that we can investigate it,” he added.

Separate probe

THE Department of Justice (DOJ) is also looking into all possible angles in connection with the sudden increase in the number of fake duplicate accounts on social-media site Facebook. Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra said the DOJ-Office of the

Cybercrime (DOJ-OOC) has sought the assistance of Facebook managers in the preservation and on the ongoing investigation of the initial list of ghost accounts that have been reported to their office. The National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) Cybercrime Unit has also been tapped to conduct its parallel probe on the matter and is expected to submit a report to the DOJ next week. Justice Undersecretary Markk L. Perete disclosed that a total of 112 users have reported to their office the duplicate accounts under their names. The initial batch of accounts, according to Perete, has been brought to the attention of Facebook Asia Pacific to be taken down, along with a request for their preservation. “The preservation of these data, as well as the determination of the subscriber information of those responsible is essential for us to determine why these so-called ghost accounts exist in the first place,” Perete told reporters in a mobile phone message. “Suffice it to state that at this point, all possible angles and leads will be pursued,” he added.

Those responsible for the creation of these fake accounts may be charged with computer-related identity theft under Republic Act 10175, or the Cybercrime Prevention Act of 2012. Several universities said they received reports from their students of duplicate accounts on Facebook. Earlier, Guevarra expressed apprehension that these duplicate accounts might be used to spread fake news during this health crisis. “This gives me cause for worry. We don’t need false information at a time when we’re dealing with a serious public health crisis,” he said.

Kiko’s ‘duplicate’ accounts

IN a news statement, Sen. Francisco “Kiko” Pangilinan said: “This morning, a scheme to create multiple fake Facebook accounts targeting those who oppose the anti-terror bill, especially college students, was discovered.” He said five new fake “Kiko Pangilinan” accounts have been created, although they appear to be incomplete as yet. Similarly, he added, the other fake accounts bear the names of students from many universities, including

the University of the Philippines and the Polytechnic University of the Philippines. It has also been reported that user names and passwords that UP students used for their Student Academic Information System was leaked online. The fake accounts also contain information such as the student organizations they belong to. Some of the fake accounts are said to be sending threats to the real students, Pangilinan said. The students are worried that these accounts may be used to plant bogus evidence that would implicate them in crimes outlined in the antiterror bill, he said. “We demand that Facebook investigate this incident and find the culprits behind it. We must not allow social media to be used as a platform for identity theft, intimidation, or worse a tool to plant bogus evidence. “Facebook has been making billions of dollars as it turns a blind eye on disinformation and deception. Fake Facebook accounts can be likened to a crime scene and Facebook a willing accomplice to the crime. This must stop,” the senator said.

Duterte now holds fate of anti-terror bill Valenzuela LGU to assist in jeepney modernization By Butch Fernandez

@butchfBM

EN. Panfilo Lacson confirmed on Monday that the Congress-approved antiterror bill (ATB) is on its way to Malacanang and now up to President Duterte to sign into law, with options to veto some of its provisions, or its entirety, or let it lapse into law within one month following its submission to the Palace. Lacson, one of its principal proponent, said Monday the bill can no longer be recalled by members of the Senate and the House of Representatives lawmakers for further refinements. “I don’t think so because they [lawmakers] have voted on it. It was passed on third and final reading, and I believe today it’s going to be an enrolled bill, to be transmitted to Malacañang for the President to either veto or approve, or just make it lapse into law after 30 days,” Lacson added in a televised interview. Told that the Department of Justice conveyed assurance it will not interfere but wants to determine if its provisions are in accordance with the Constitution, Lacson acknowledged that “the DOJ can still interfere by advising the President to veto the bill altogether. Remember, this is not a revenue measure nor is it a budget measure; there is no line item veto here. It’s either the President vetoes the bill in whole, not in part, or he approves it.” In a taped interview, the senator brushed aside criticisms on the alleged “vagueness” of the bill’s definition of terrorism. “First, there’s no vagueness in the crafting of the bill, or in the definition of terrorism itself. It is clearly defined, there are delimitations. We have included 5 acts that would constitute acts of terrorism, we made it very clear the purpose of such acts by nature and context, it should be taken into consideration.” Lacson noted that at the latter part of the bill, “we added a proviso that emphasizes the observance or adherence to the Bill of Rights [terrorism shall not include

advocacy, dissent, stoppage of work…similar exercises of civil and political rights not intended to cause death, harm, endanger life or create risk to public safety]. That’s very clear. People tend to just read the proposed measure not in its totality but piecemeal. Meaning, they stop reading at a certain portion. But if they read the total provisions in the definition of terrorism, they will not arrive at the conclusion that what they are doing now.” He, however, acknowledged that Section 4 of the bill provided a caveat that dissent is not exempted if it poses risk to public safety. What if a peaceful rally, for example, is infiltrated by a terrorist, and it causes an explosion, thereby causing harm, or destruction of property, or killing of people, thereby affecting society or a segment thereof? How would you classify that? In designating a suspected terrorist, Lacson said: “We will go back to the phrase, intent and purpose. By its nature and context ano ba ang purpose at intent ng nagpasabog? If it’s clearly established the intent and purpose is to sow fear and intimidation that would affect the general public or a segment thereof, or destroys critical infrastructure.” The senator added: “For example ABSCBN, there’s a rally in support of it and there’s these infiltrators, a group of terrorists, just to sow fear and intimidation, will infiltrate and cause serious damage to the facilities of ABS-CBN, it will be bound by the definition and we should determine the intent and purpose by its nature and content. There’s no vagueness.” Asked about Filipinos who denounced the bill on social media and ralliers charged with inciting to sedition—prompting lawyers to voice fear if the ATB becomes a law, Lacson replied: “If you are referring to the students arrested in UP Cebu, they were not charged with inciting to sedition. They were charged with another law, ito ang health-related statute, na pwedeng magkalat ng infectious diseases. Ibang batas ’yan. I don’t think they were charged with

inciting to sedition. Ang inciting to sedition is another crime. Walang relation sa anti-terrorism. In the first place it’s not yet a law, it’s just a proposed measure. What’s existing is HSA [Human Security Act] and I don’t think it is also included under the present law. Kasi iba ang inciting to sedition. Pag hinalo-halo mo makoconfuse ang mga tao.” At the same time, Lacson assured there is provision in the new law when a person can be arrested wihout warrant. “None. The elements that exist under warrantless arrest as provided in the Rules of Court, wala kaming binago, wala kaming dinagdag.... Walang dinagdag kasi magkakaroon ng question pag dinagdagan natin ang elements ng warrantless arrest. Lacson added: “Ito pa. Ang ordinary crimes na nagsagawa ng warrantless arrest ang police or military personnel hindi kailangan tumawag sa Commission on Human Rights [CHR] and Anti-Terrorism Council [ATC], o sa huwes na pinakamalapit. But under this proposed measure, that is an obligation. He [arresting offcer] is mandated by law to inform in writing the nearest judge they arrested a suspected terrorist. They have to write also CHR to allow the CHR to visit, inspect and interview. They also have to inform the ATC. These are added features.” According to Lacson, the proposed measures “may look tough but the safeguards are even tougher.” “The mere [act of] not informing the nearest judge, 10 years imprisonment and perpetual absolute disqualification. Di pwede magtrabaho sa gobyerno, tanggal benefits and pension, discharged siya at hindi pwede bumalik sa gobyerno. Sa ordinary crimes, ang warrantless arrest existing ito, maski physical injury, simple theft o nag-vandalize, ganoon din ang elements. Wala kaming dinagdag dito contrary to allegations or suspicions of some sectors na dito lang may warrantless arrest. That is not correct. Under Rule 113 talagang may warrantless arrest,” he added.

By Roderick L. Abad

Contributor

@rodrik_28

HE local government unit (LGU) of Valenzuela City has committed to assist Jeepney Operators and Drivers Associations (JODAs) operating in the city should they decide to push through on acquiring modernized units. Pioneered by the Department of Transportation (DOTr), the Public Utility Vehicle Modernization Program (PUVMP) of the national government aims to push for the country’s public transportation system to be more efficient and environmentally friendly by 2020. JODAs and other similar organizations have until December of this year to consolidate their franchise and form cooperatives, or else they stand lose the chance to be granted franchise and operate in their routes. Each modernized jeepney could cost anywhere between P1.2 million to P2.2 million, equipped with a Global Positioning System, a closed-circuit television camera, an air-conditioning unit, Internet access and a television. Soon, it will integrate an automated fare collection system using coins and Beep cards. Given such advanced features, it is expected to lead to a higher fare than a regular jeepney. Because such modernization comes with a hefty price tag, PUVMP has drawn flak from the public as it is seen to affect the livelihood of around 600,000 jeepney drivers nationwide who may not be able to afford such an amount. Mindful that the “traditional” jeepney phase out pose an apparent threat to public-transport providers, exacerbated by the continuous stoppage of operations of public utility jeepneys (PUJs) despite the declaration of general community quarantine, the Valenzuela City government sees to it that it feels the struggles of the displaced jeepney drivers and will gladly assist their respective JODAs on applying for the jeepney

modernization program. “I will not force you. But we need to be proactive. We have colleagues who already applied yet caught by the enhanced community quarantine. We have colleagues who now have become aware…. Before others get interested to our routes, that should be us. That should be you,” Mayor Rexlon Gatchalian said in FIlipino before the 1,430 jeepney drivers and operators during his recent visit to their terminals to distribute food packs. As of January 2020, three transport cooperatives have already applied for the PUV modernization loan program that are operating in the city. Bank financing via the Land Bank of the Philippines and Development Bank of the Philippines were granted to the cooperatives, namely, Metro Valenzuela Transport Service Cooperative Inc. with 17 units, NovalichesMalinta Jeepney Transport Service Cooperative currently with 23 units and another 29 units to be turned over this year, and Blumentritt Transport Service Cooperative. The local chief executive reminded the rest of jeepney drivers and their operators of the need to start modernizing their vehicles early on before the deadline comes, while assuring them that the LGU will walk them through the entire process. “We will make sure that in the meantime that they cannot earn a living, food packs will be given to sustain their family’s needs, for as long as the city can.... Will also help them comply with the national government mandate on modernizing,” he said. Jeepneys will only be permitted by the DOTr to ply the roads starting June 22, with modern jeeps or e-jeeps given priority over the old traditional ones. Gatchalian will meet again this week with JODA presidents to further discuss this matter and how the city government will help their organizations modernize their fleet of vehicles in compliance to the PUVMP.

DepEd chief says no face-to-face classes until vaccine is available By Claudeth Mocon-Ciriaco Correspondent

ECRETARY Leonor Magtolis Briones on Monday said that the Department of Education (DepEd) will comply with the directive of President Duterte to postpone face-to-face classes until a coronavirus vaccine is available. “We thank the President for reiterating the national government’s willingness to assist us in our endeavor to offer alternatives to face-to-face learning despite the public health situation,” Brio-

nes said in a news statement. She assured parents, learners, stakeholders, and the President, “We are preparing ourselves for this mission.” While admitting that it is a challenging task for the DepEd to prepare schools in a different set-up, DepEd chief said they are committed to make education available and thriving, even in the most difficult time. At present, the DepEd is fully engaged in readying their operations based on their Basic EducationLearning Continuity Plan (BE-LCP),

“We thank the President for reiterating the national government’s willingness to assist us in our endeavor to offer alternatives to faceto-face learning despite the public health situation.” —Briones

from the Central Office down to the school level. The DepEd is updating its poli-

cies, realigning their finances, and collaborating with their partners so that goals of providing quality education and protecting the safety and health of teachers and learners, among others, will be achieved. “Currently, we are continuing to conduct remote enrollment nationwide in order to assess learners’ household information, which will be crucial in the preparation and the contextualization of the learning delivery mode in each locality,” she said. Meanwhile, the groundwork for

blended learning is well under way. Radio, television, online and modular learning—which are pre-existing methods and were already used for decades—are being prepared and updated for this year. At the same time, teachers are being trained on utilizing newer platforms and innovative tools to aid their professional development. “We are working with the private sector and education experts to make these necessary steps logistically sound, especially on the development, acquisition, and de-

ployment of learning resources,” she said, adding that they will provide regular readiness assessment reports to the public as “we have committed to Congress.” With a comprehensive BE-LCP and the President’s instruction serving as guide, the DepEd chief said they will continue with their preparations. “Finally, with our stakeholders coming together, we can leap toward achieving our ultimate goal—of making education a symbol of hope amid doubts and uncertainties,” Briones said.

A4 Tuesday, June 9, 2020 • Editor: Vittorio V. Vitug

Economy BusinessMirror

Villar: Pandemic exposes flaws in food supply chain By Butch Fernandez

@butchfBM

EN. Cynthia Villar views the deadly Covid-19 virus as an “eye-opener” that should prod authorities to promptly address “limitations of the country’s food supply and shortcomings in its distribution system” exposed by the pandemic. Villar, who chairs the Senate Committee on Agriculture and Food, noted that the prevailing pandemic “highlighted the need to promote self-sufficiency among Filipinos, particularly families or households and communities.” “Covid-19 is an eye-opener for many people, not only in relation to our health, but the sufficiency and source of the food we eat, too,” the senator said Monday. “It made us realize how dependent and vulnerable we are when it comes to food. So much so that being food self-sufficient has become an important part of our life goals in the new normal.” In a news statement, Villar recalled that when community quarantine and lockdown was implemented to contain

the virus, Filipinos found themselves running out of food supply “in a matter of a week or so.” She observed, however, that the food supply shortage “was, of course, due to many factors—no money due to loss of income, no access to food due to closures of nearby stores, or food outlets and, movement of food supply was hampered.” She noted that this prompted food experts to agree that the ongoing pandemic exposed flaws in food supply, fragilities in food systems and the urgent need to ensure that these loopholes be plugged by shifts in government priorities as well as people’s mindsets. The senator added: “We have seen a renewed interest and enthusiasm in ur-

ban farming and backyard gardening. That’s a good indication and we should keep the momentum going. Growing food in one’s backyard is the most effective way, especially for food-poor families, to make sure that they will not go hungry during emergencies.” Villar reminded, however, “it is not enough to just promote backyard gardening and provide seeds or fertilizers,” stressing that “it should not stop there, it should be supported by practical and sustainable programs and policies.” A longtime proponent of urban agriculture to avert “food poverty,” she observed that people get restless and angry when they get hungry. “That is not unique to us Filipinos. It is human nature and universal. The expression ‘food is life’ is very true.” Asserting that the right to food is a basic human right, Villar suggested: “We can empower people to grow or produce their own food as much as we can, but agriculture officials and policy-makers should put in place a sustainable program to ensure that the people will not run out of food, with or without a crisis.” She added that besides food security, agriculture should also be about food self-sufficiency, citing that although government prioritized the

The impact of Covid-19 on anti-corruption, governance and development

By Henry J. Schumacher

HE Covid-19 pandemic has already brought about numerous changes to our world and lives.

We may never return to the world we left behind before Covid-19, which could have vast implications for anti-corruption, governance and development. Given the gravity and speed of the political, economic and social changes that we are seeing, it is vital to take a step back to reflect on the impact of these trends. The purpose of this reflection is less to predict the future and more to consider different potential outcomes on key topics and to identify opportunities for course-correction in the short, mid and long term. When faced with extraordinary circumstances, such as the current pandemic, governments often resort to extreme measures, including increased surveillance and restrictions of the freedom of assembly and freedom of speech, and the closing of space for civil society, the media and whistle-blowers. However, the imperatives of social distancing may be accelerating the spread of digital forms of activism and participatory processes, such as citizen assemblies, or public hearings conducted online. Emergency measures often include the temporary suspensionofinstitutionalchecksandbalances.Governments around the world have used the Covid-19 crisis to consolidate power, suspend oversight and accountability institutions, and in some cases to attack political opponents. Depending on the context, the military may also gain an upper hand over civilian power holders, further exacerbating risks of authoritarian abuses. If this concentration of power outlives the pandemic itself, anti-corruption reformers and promoters of democracy ought to gear up for a back-to-basics kind of agenda, pushing for the reinstatement of the appropriate in-

stitutional checks and balances, transparency and ethics, fairness and integrity. In the short term, countries will face clear corruption and governance challenges as emergencies put pressure on governments to procure life-saving equipment, creating fertile ground for fraud and corruption. These include shortageinduced bribery risks, overpricing, diversion of emergency response resources, and kickbacks in procurement processes. The private sector is an active player in this environment! Reduced income, a reduction in manufacturing and increased risk aversion are factors contributing to a worsening of the economy. This is likely to contribute to the rise of the informal sector of the economy, as more people find themselves in precarious employment. This may lead to a paradigm shift in the delivery of social and public goods expected from the state, such as health care, social security measures and even climate governance. All these factors come with high corruption risks. In the short term, huge economic stimulus packages will have to be monitored to ensure they are being spent for the common good, rather than in the private interest of a few. Another facet of the economic dimension relates to the possible spike in poverty and inequality. The pandemic is already hitting harder the poorest and most disadvantaged groups who tend to live in closer quarters and without adequate medical and social support. Many will struggle with job losses and family burdens. Depending on how the economic stimulus bailouts are managed and disbursed,bigcorporationsmayendupbenefiting,usingthe“toobig-to-fail” argument, while the population at large foots the bill. In the medium and long term, the corruption risks are associated with the wider power imbalances brought by inequality and the opportunities for state capture and undue influence by privileged groups in policy processes and decision-making. Reliance on technology in daily life, together with the development of innovative responses to current global needs, might increase exponentially the influence and power of big-tech companies. However, increased recognition of their role in our lives may lead to a new consensus on the optimal extent and means of regulation. The corruption risks, primarily related to the undue influence of large corporations on the policy process and political advertising online, will very much depend on the outcome of government attempts to regulate the activities of such companies. The negative impacts of illicit financial flows on public budgets, government effectiveness and even inequality had been increasingly recognized long before the Covid-19 health crisis. However, the pandemic has laid bare the devastating effects of stashing cash away in tax havens, while governments struggle to pay for basic services required to keep people alive. The pandemic has brought to light the inability of multilateral bodies such as the UN Security Council, Group of 7, or the European Union to effectively coordinate the response to the crisis. When looking at all these topics, it is clear that there are both opportunities and challenges ahead for anti-corruption, governance and development work. Will we in the Integrity Initiative have to continue with our anti-corruption work? I am convinced that we have to! If you agree, join us; if you disagree, tell me why. Contact me at schumacher@eitsc.com.

unhampered movement of food all over the country, “it is not logistically possible to accomplish it during an emergency, or pandemic situation.” Villar recalled that during the first few weeks of the lockdown, “there were barangays and cities that ran out of supply, particularly of fresh crops or produce. Most vegetables, poultry or meat come from outside urban cities, so it took some time for the supply to normalize. Even farmers complained that their crops rotted because they cannot transport them to reach the buyers.” At the same time, Villar observed that the United Nations’s Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) issued a warning that the ongoing pandemic will “further disrupt food supply chains and adversely affecting everyone, from farmers to consumers and food wholesalers to retailers.” Moreover, the FAO noted that centralized food supply chain can easily be disrupted by emergencies such as a virus outbreak. FAO also cited communities that practice integrated farming are “less affected” by the Covid-19 crisis, as they can easily consume the food they grow at home when they lose their source of income or livelihood. On top of that, she added, “they can also sell their crops or produce and earn money to buy their other essential needs.”

www.businessmirror.com.ph

Lawmaker pushes passage of PPP rationalization bill By Jovee Marie N. Dela Cruz @joveemarie

HE chairman of the House Committee on Economic Affairs on Monday urged Congress to immediately pass House Bill 6575, or the PublicPrivate Partnership (PPP) Rationalization Act of 2020, to strengthen and concretize the role of public-private partnerships in nation-building. AAMBIS-OWA Party-list Rep. Sharon Garin said her House Bill 6575 is set to complement Accelerated Recovery and Investments Stimulus for the Economy (ARISE) approved by the House of Representatives last June 4, 2020. According to Garin, the role of the private sector is very important in addressing the challenges posed by the Covid-19 pandemic. “As we deal with the aftermath of the twomonth enhanced community quarantine [ECQ] and transition to the era of the ‘new normal,’ fostering PPPs will help accelerate economic recovery and development. We acknowledge the innovation and technology that the private sector can deliver as we continue to fight this invisible enemy,” she said in a news statement.

Infra buildup to generate 6.5M jobs by Dec, DOF chief reports By Cai U. Ordinario @caiordinario

S the economy reopens after an extended lockdown, more infrastructure projects under the “Build, Build, Build” (BBB) program have resumed, according to the Department of Finance (DOF). At a news briefing on Monday, Finance Secretary Carlos G. Dominguez III said BBB projects, such as the implementation of the Bonifacio Global City-Ortigas Bridge and Agusan Bridge in Cagayan have also resumed. Earlier, Presidential spokesman Harry Roque said the list of projects that have resumed included the Northern Luzon Expressway (Nlex)-Southern Luzon Expressway (Slex) Connector Road, Nlex Harbor Link, and Cavite-Laguna expressway. “Prior to the complete resumption of operations, note that concessionaires, contractors, subcontractors, suppliers are expected to comply with the necessary requirements such as testing, welfare facilities and amenities, ensuring strict compliance to health and safety protocols,” Dominguez said. The finance chief added that other projects that have resumed also in-

clude a number of flagship projects. He said, however, that the cost of the projects that have resumed is still being determined to date. Dominguez said the BBB program generated over 5 million jobs from 2016 to 2019, according to data from the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH). Dominguez also said Public Works Secretary Mark Villar estimated that around 1.5 million jobs will be generated by infrastructure projects to be funded by the budget this year. With the resumption of these projects, Dominguez said, a total of 6.5 million jobs will be generated by the end of the year. Malacañang earlier reported the reactivated construction of flagship infrastructure projects like the Skyway Stage 3; R1 Bridge Project; Tarlac-Pangasinan-La Union Expressway (TPLEx) extension; and the Subic Freeport Expressway. Most of construction works nationwide, including those under the BBB program, were suspended by the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF) in March as part of the government efforts to contain the spread of the novel coronavirus disease.

The bill aims to increase investments and private sector participation by scrapping the P1-billion threshold for projects entitled to incentives. The measure also proposes the creation of the Public-Private Partnership Authority. It also proposes the creation of a project development facility which shall serve as a revolving fund to finance the proper identification, study, development, validation, and preparation for public bidding. To prevent delays in completion and ensure the continuity of projects, the bill also proposes the protection of PPP projects from restraining orders, preliminary injunctions, or preliminary mandatory injunctions, by any court except the Supreme Court. The bill is pending with the Committee on Public Works and Highways since May 4, 2020. As the principal sponsor of landmark bills advocating for better public services through fair and improved competition, Garin maintains that House Bill 6575 is one of the key pieces of legislation that will help jumpstart the Philippine economy and provide relief to the Filipino people in the wake of ECQ.

No tariff adjustment on customers’ water bills in 3rd quarter of 2020–MWSS

HE Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage System (MWSS) said there will be no tariff adjustment on customers’ water bills this coming third quarter of 2020. In a news statement, MWSS Chief Regulator Patrick Lester N. Ty said the MWSS Board of Trustees (BOT) has approved the recommendation of the MWSS Regulatory Office to retain the prevailing second quarter Foreign Currency Differential Adjustment in the upcoming quarter based on its evaluation of the FCDA proposals of the concessionaires, Manila Water Co. Inc. (MWCI) and Maynilad Water Services Inc. (MWSI). As such, MWCI will continue to implement an FCDA of 1.69 percent of its 2020 Average Basic Charge of P28.52 per cubic meter, or P.48 per cubic meter, while MWSI will continue to apply an FCDA of negative 0.21 percent of its 2020 Average Basic Charge of P36.24 per cubic meter, or negative P.08 per cubic meter. Done quarterly, the FCDA is a mechanism that allows the private water concessionaires to recover losses, or give back gains arising from fluctuations in foreign-exchange rates, as payments are made for foreign-currency-denominated loans that are used to fund the expansion and improvement of water and sewerage services. The corrective mechanism is formulated by the MWSS Regulatory Office to avoid under-recovery or over-recovery caused by foreign-exchange movements. Jonathan L. Mayuga

‘China owes us ₧33B in annual marine loss’. . . continued from a8 “I have come up with some notes here actually,” del Rosario said, adding: “This week as we celebrate June 12 or Independence Day, we Filipinos should continue to stand up for our rights. China does not see us as having equal rights. China is simply a duplicitous friend that continues its construction of artificial islands and structures in our West Philippine Sea. China to date refuses to recognize what the international community recognizes: that our nation and we Filipinos litigated our rights amid China’s abuses and violations in the West Philippine Sea,” securing the arbitration award on July 12, 2016. “Part of this award is the unanimous finding that China inflicted the most massive, near-permanent damage to marine life in the West Philippine Sea. In other words, China is enormously accountable and owes Filipi-

nos billions of pesos for its continuing abuses in the West Philippine Sea.” Del Rosario added that more than half of the country’s 110 million Filipinos live in coastal communities, relying on marine resources for their daily needs. “And as highlighted by Justice Carpio and Senator Hontiveros, our country’s best and and brightest scientists at the University of the Philipines [UP] Marine Science Institute conservatively estimated that our country is conservatively losing P33 billion a year in damage to our marine ecosystems due to China’s artificial island building and fishing operations. This sums up to more than P200 billion since the start of 2014,” he added. The ex-DFA chief lamented, however, that China refuses to pay its debt to the Filipino people. “How will we make China pay? It is time for Filipi-

nos to unite and demand what is due to us from China. Philippine authorities have the right to seize assets owned by the Chinese state here in the Philippines to satisfy China’s debt to the Filipino people once China’s full monetary damages are determined.” In del Rosario’s view, it is also time for the Philippines to protect itself from “China’s predatory and abusive practices.” He added that ‘despite China’s clear disrespect of our internationally recognized rights over our territory, our fishermen and our people, our government welcomes China while other countries like the Australia, India, the US, Japan the European Union recently enacted measures to prevent China from taking over their strategic and vital industries like energy, technology and media and telecommunications.” Butch Fernandez

The World BusinessMirror

Editor: Angel R. Calso

With recovery of last case, New Zealand has eradicated Covid-19

ELLINGTON, New Zealand—Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said on Monday she was confident New Zealand has halted the spread of the coronavirus after the last known infected person in the country recovered. It has been 17 days since the last new case was reported, while 40,000 have been tested in that time. And Monday also marked the first time since late February that there have been no active cases. Ardern also announced the Cabinet had agreed to another phase of the country’s reopening, to take place at midnight. “We are confident we have eliminated transmission of the virus in New Zealand for now, but elimination is not a point in time, it is a sustained effort,” she said at a news conference. “We almost

certainly will see cases here again, and I do want to say again, we will almost certainly see cases here again, and that is not a sign that we have failed, it is a reality of this virus. But if and when that occurs we have to make sure and we are, that we are prepared.” She said her government’s focus will be on the country’s borders, where isolation and quarantine will continue. Experts say a number of factors have helped the nation of 5 million wipe out the disease. Its isolated location in the South Pacific gave it vital time to see how outbreaks spread in other countries, and Ardern acted decisively by imposing a strict lockdown early in the outbreak. Just over 1,500 people contracted the virus in New Zealand, including 22 who died. AP

Donald Trump faces more defections by Republicans as Colin Powell bolts

olin Powell on Sunday became the latest notable Republican or former military leader to express concern about President Donald J. Trump, saying he’ll vote for Joe Biden in November instead. The former secretary of State said that by threatening last week to use active-duty US troops against protesters, Trump showed he has “drifted away” from the US Constitution. “He is now the candidate, and I’ll be voting for him,” Powell, perhaps the most prominent black Republican in the US, said of Biden on CNN’s “State of the Union.” Powell, 83, was the top diplomat under Republican President George W. Bush and before that served as chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and as National Security Adviser. He joins a number of prominent retired military officials as well as current and f o rm e r l aw m a ke r s to c ri t i c i ze Tru m p, although not all have said they’ll vote for Biden. Powell has also said he didn’t vote for Trump in 2016. Senator Mitt Romney of Utah, a long-term antagonist of Trump, has suggested he’ll write in his wife’s name in November. The New York Times reported that Cindy McCain, widow of Republican Senator John McCain, is likely to vote for Biden. Senator Lisa Murkowski of Alaska said last week’s she’s “struggling” to support Trump. And former President George W. Bush and his brother Jeb, a former Florida governor, are other possible Biden voters.

Broad critique

Powell on Sunday aimed a broad critique at Trump’s approach to the militar y, a foreign policy he said was causing “disdain” abroad, and a president he portrayed as trying to amass excessive power. “We have a Constitution and we have to follow the Constitution, and the president has drifted away from it,” Powell said. Trump also, he said, “lies about things.” Trump responded swiftly on Twitter, mocking Powell and calling the retired four-star general “a real stiff ” who got the US into wars after the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks on the US. The president followed up by calling Powell, “highly overrated,” and running through his own policy actions. Similarly, on Friday, Trump said he would back any candidate, “good or bad,” against Murkowski in 2022, when she’s up for re-election. “If you have a pulse, I’m with you,” the president tweeted. Trump’s threat to use troops against protesters has drawn high-profile criticism f ro m s e ve ra l f o r m e r m e m b e r s o f h i s administration, including former Defense Secretary Jim Mattis and former Chief of Staff John Kelly. Mattis said in a statement on Wednesday that Trump had abused his power when a park across the street from the White House was forcibly cleared of peaceful protesters

before the president staged a photo op at a nearby church damaged by arson. “We must reject and hold accountable those in office who would make a mockery of our Constitution,” the former defense s e c r e t a r y a n d f o r m e r M a r i n e Co r p s commander said. Murkowsi told reporters that Mattis’s critique of Trump was “necessar y and overdue.” More than a week of demonstrations have been held against police brutality across the US. While initially they turned violent in some cities, they’ve recently been mostly peaceful. On Sunday, Trump ordered the National Guard to start withdrawing from Washington.

Constitutional restraints

Powell said Trump needs to understand the restraints on him contained in the US Constitution. He urged members of the Congress to step up, and said he’s “proud” of his former military colleagues who spoke out against Trump. Powell also said he’s “very close” to Biden on social and political issues and would speak out for him during the election campaign. A number of other former militar y officials—whose political leanings, if any, are often unknown—continued to criticize Trump on Sunday political talk shows. “Many of us watched the use of activeduty military to clear peaceful protesters out of Lafayette Square, and it rang echoes of what the founders feared more than anything, which was the use of armed ac tive - dut y militar y against citizens,” retired Admiral James Stavridis said on NBC’s “Meet the Press.” A “whole spectrum” of former military leaders “jumped and felt that shock of watching active-duty troops clear peaceful protesters. Wrong answer,” said Stavridis, former supreme allied commander of NATO. Stavridis is also a Bloomberg Opinion columnist. “Our military should never be called to fight our own people as enemies of the state. And that quite frankly for me really tipped it over,” retired Admiral Mike Mullen, former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said on “Fox News Sunday.” Mullen wrote a widely cited essay for The Atlantic magazine last week criticizing the decision to use members of the National Guard and other security personnel to clear Lafayette Square near the White House last week. O thers who’ve spoken up recently include retired Nav y Admiral William McRaven, director of the raid that killed Osama bin Laden. There was “nothing morally right” about the decision to clear peaceful protesters, he said. Bloomberg News

Tuesday, June 9, 2020

World reaches 400,000 virus deaths as pope urges caution

ARCELONA, Spain—The confirmed global death toll from the Covid-19 reached at least 400,000 fatalities on Sunday, a day after the government of Brazil broke with standard public health protocols by ceasing to publish updates of the number of deaths and infections in the hard-hit South American country.

Worldwide, at least 6.9 million people have been infected by the virus, according to Johns Hopkins University, whose aggregated tally has become the main worldwide reference for monitoring the disease. Its running counter says United States leads the world with nearly 110,000 confirmed virusrelated deaths. Europe as a whole has recorded more than 175,000 since the virus emerged in China late last year. Health experts, however, believe that the John Hopkins tally falls short of showing the true tragedy of the pandemic. Many governments have struggled to produce statistics that can reasonably be considered as true indicators of the pandemic given the scarcity of diagnostic tests especially in the first phase of the crisis. Authorities in Italy and Spain, with over 60,000 combined deaths, have acknowledged that their death count is larger than the story the numbers tell. B r a z i l ’s g o v e r n m e nt h a s stopped publishing a running total of coronavirus deaths and infections; critics say it’s an attempt

to hide the true toll of the disease. Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro went as far as to tweet on Saturday that his country’s disease totals are “not representative” of Brazil’s current situation, insinuating that the numbers were actually overestimating the spread of the virus. Critics of Bolsonaro, who has repeatedly clashed with health experts over the seriousness of the disease and has threatened to take Brazil out of the World Health Organization, said the decision was a maneuver by the hardman-style leader to hide the depths of crisis. Brazil’s last official numbers recorded over 34,000 virus-related deaths, the third-highest toll in the world behind the US and Britain. It reported nearly 615,000 infections, putting it second behind the US. After Bolsonaro stoked his clash with health experts, Pope Francis cautioned people in countries emerging from lockdown to keep following authorities’ rules on social distancing, hygiene and limits on movement.

“Be careful, don’t cry victory, don’t cry victory too soon,” Francis said. “Follow the rules. They are rules that help us to avoid the virus getting ahead” again. The Argentine-born pontiff has also expressed dismay that the virus is still claiming many lives, especially in Latin America. Francis was clearly delighted to see several hundred people gathered below his window in St. Peter’s Square on Sundays for the pope’s noon blessing after Italy eased its restrictions on public gatherings. Many countries like the US and Britain insist that they can ease restrictions before having stalled their outbreaks. In the US, the virus churns on underneath the unrest provoked by the death of George Floyd and increasingly directed at President Donald Trump’s handling of the protests. On Sunday, the UK revealed that places of worship can reopen from June 15—but only for private prayer. Worries have surfaced over the past couple of weeks that Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s government is easing the restrictions too soon, with new infections potentially still running at 8,000 a day. As things stands, nonessential shops, including department stores, are due to reopen on June 15. Professor John Edmunds, who attends meetings of the British government’s Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies, said the epidemic “is definitely not all over” and that there is an “awful long way to go.” On Sunday, the UK government reported another 77 people died after contracting the virus,

China defends its virus response in new report

EIJING—Senior Chinese officials released a lengthy report on Sunday on the nation’s response to the coronavirus pandemic, defending their government’s actions and saying that China had provided information in a timely and transparent manner. China “wasted no time” in sharing information such as the genome sequence for the new virus with the World Health Organization as well as relevant countries and regional organizations, according to the report. An Associated Press investigation found that government labs sat on releasing the genetic map of the virus for more than a week in January, delaying its identification in a third country and the sharing of information needed to develop tests, drugs and a vaccine. National Health Commission Chairman Ma Xiaowei did not address the specific findings in the AP report, but said it “seriously goes against the facts.” He added that there were many unknowns in the early stage of the outbreak and that it took time to gather evidence and figure out the characteristics of the new virus. “The Chinese government did not delay or cover up anything,” he said. “Instead, we have immediately reported virus data and relevant information about the epidemic to the international community and made an important contribution to the prevention and control of the epidemic around the world.” He ticked off a series of government actions from a detailed timeline in the government report. The timeline says that China began

the lowest daily increase since the lockdown began on March 23. However, the increase is being treated with caution as throughout the pandemic, the increases reported on Sunday have been artificially depressed as a result of weekend reporting lag effects. In France, the government announced that from Tuesday, it will ease restrictions limiting travel from the French mainland to overseas territories in the Caribbean and Indian Ocean. Spain is preparing to take another step forward in the scaling back of its containment with Madrid and Barcelona opening the interiors of restaurants with reduced seating on Monday. In Turkey, Istanbul residents flocked to the city’s shores and parks on the first weekend with no lockdown, prompting a reprimand from the health minister. Russia remained troubling, w ith nearly 9,000 new cases over the past day, roughly in line with numbers reported over the past week. Pakistan is pushing toward 100,000 confirmed infections as medical professionals plead for more controls and greater enforcement of social distancing directives. But Prime Minister Imran Khan said a full shutdown would devastate a failing economy. India confirmed 9,971 new coronav irus cases in another biggest single-day spike, a day before it prepares to reopen shopping malls, hotels and religious places after a 10 -week lockdown. China has reported its first non-imported case in two weeks, an infected person on the island of Hainan off the southern coast. AP

NYT Opinion editor quits after furor over op-ed, NYT reports

T Xu Lin, Vice head of the Publicity Department of Communist Party, shows a copy of the white paper on fighting Covid-19 China in action during a press conference at the State Council Information Office in Beijing on June 7. Senior Chinese health officials defended their country’s response to the new coronavirus pandemic, saying they provided information in a timely and transparent manner. AP/Andy Wong

updating the WHO on a regular basis on January 3 and that the head of China’s Center for Disease Control and Prevention briefed the head of the US CDC on January 4. US officials have been critical of China’s early response, adding to a deterioration of US-China relations over trade and technology and pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong. Asked how China would repair its relations with the rest of the world, Vice Foreign Minister Ma Zhaoxu said that cooperation over the pandemic had improved ties with most other countries. Without naming the US, he said: “Certain countries go against the tide of history. To disguise their inadequate response to Covid-19, they insanely smeared and slandered China. In response to such scapegoating practice, China will

certainly fight back.” The report, which ran to 84 pages in the English version, lauded China’s success in reducing the daily increase in new cases to single digits within about two months and the “decisive victory...in the battle to defend Hubei Province and its capital city of Wuhan” in about three months. Wuhan, where the first cases of the virus were detected late last year, was the hardest-hit part of China in the outbreak. The city and soon after much of Hubei province were locked down for 2 to 2 1/2 months to stop the spread of the virus to the rest of the country. The report credited Chinese leader Xi Jinping with making the Jan. 22 decision to cut Wuhan off by cutting transportation links and banning people from leaving or entering the city. AP

he New York Times says its editorial page editor James Bennet has resigned following public furor over the paper’s decision to publish an op-ed by Republican Senator Tom Cotton under the headline “Send in the Troops.” Bennet’s deputy, James Dao, will resign from the paper’s masthead and be reassigned to the newsroom. “Last week we saw a significant breakdown in our editing processes, not the first we’ve experienced in recent years,” A.G. Sulzberger, the Times publisher, said in a message to staff, the paper reported. The paper concluded that the op-ed didn’t meet its standards after a review on Thursday. Earlier, Bennet defended publishing the piece on Twitter, saying that the “Times Opinions owes it to our readers to show them counterarguments.” In the op-ed, the Arkansas senator denounced “nihilist criminals” and “leftwing radicals” for exploiting George Floyd’s death. Among other issues, Times staffers said the article could put minority journalists’ lives in danger. On Sunday, Senator Cotton said on Fox News that he’s disappointed at the New York Times’ reversal of decision, saying his column “exceeded” the paper’s editorial standard. President Donald J. Trump also weighed in on Bennet’s departure. Bloomberg News

A6 Tuesday, June 9, 2020 • Editor: Angel R. Calso

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editorial

VIPs amid the pandemic

senator who tested positive for Covid-19 visits a hospital and goes grocery shopping despite strict home quarantine protocols, recklessly exposing health-care workers and other frontliners to the virus. Some government officials and their families were able to easily get tested for Covid-19—and they quickly got results—even when there were not enough test kits and the Department of Health was prioritizing the testing of those exhibiting symptoms. Meanwhile, many OFWs remain in prolonged quarantine, still waiting for their delayed test results. A police chief has a birthday party at the police camp despite the ban on mass gatherings while Metro Manila was on lockdown, even as many others, including protesting jeepney drivers and students, have been dragged into jail. A Metro Manila mayor and his entourage were able to drive all the way to Baguio City to visit a posh country club, barging through strict border checkpoints and disregarding quarantine protocols and rules for nonessential travel, even as hundreds of people remain stranded and cannot return to their hometowns. These are some examples showing that the so-called VIP syndrome is alive and well, especially amid the pandemic. The VIP syndrome is the tendency to treat influential people differently. It has become somewhat of a culture among Filipinos that we do not seem to follow standard practices and rules because certain people are regarded as VIPs, in particular politicians and government officials who think they are entitled to certain perks and privileges because of their posts. When he was newly elected president in 2016, Duterte was shown passing through the x-ray and metal scanners at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport like a common passenger. The president was seen shaking hands with people as he walked to the boarding gate, accompanied by his security detail. By undergoing security check at the airport, he wanted to set an example for other officials to follow and shun VIP treatment. He wanted to show that under his watch, the same rules apply to both government officials and the people. No special treatment and no special favors. The VIP treatment seems to be the practice in the bureaucracy during this pandemic. When exposed in media, authorities seem to make light of it. They are quick to sweep issues under the rug and dismiss credible allegations. The guilty government officials come up with all kinds of excuses along with their so-called apologies. They might even exhort people to just forgive and forget, saying there are more important issues facing the country that we should be concerned with during the pandemic. They send a wrong message during this pandemic, which the United Nations called humanity’s worst crisis since World War II: That we Filipinos are not all in this together. That some people are exempted and are above the rules. Many people have shown their utter disgust, particularly on social media. Filipinos have called certain government officials and politicians shameless, irresponsible and arrogant. They are supposed to be public servants. They are supposed to serve the taxpayers generously paying their salaries and other perks. Yet we have seen plenty of examples of them behaving as bullies and showing a reprehensible pattern of abusive behavior against the very people they are supposed to serve. As makers and implementers of government policies, regulations and laws, they should be the first ones to follow the law to show a good example, and not flaunt them in public. What makes it more galling is that they can get away with their bad behavior without sanctions and manage to stay in their posts in the top echelons of government. They can blame media for blowing up issues but the adverse sentiment toward them is just the healthy reaction of many Filipinos appalled by their VIP affliction.

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he Covid-19 pandemic has battered the Philippine economy, as well as the rest of the world. But despite the gloomy situation, the Philippines remains a bright shining star in the eyes of reputable financial institutions like Standard & Poor’s (S&P). Major credit rating agency S&P affirmed its stable outlook on the Philippine economy on May 29 as the government began to ease restrictions to allow more people to work and more business establishments to reopen. The institution just affirmed its “BBB+” long-term and “A-2” shortterm sovereign credit ratings on the Philippines, with a stable outlook. It also expects the economy to rebound by as much as 9 percent next year. (This may be an overly optimistic projection. I expect the economy to expand by 8 percent at best in 2021.) S&P’s statement is nonetheless comforting, and comes at a time when everybody seems to be pessimistic as people struggle with various modes of quarantine restrictions. “The stable outlook reflects our expectation that the Philippines’s orthodox policy-making will continue to underpin its credit metrics, and that the economy will rebound

strongly in 2021,” says S&P Global Ratings in a statement. S&P released the statement as most countries in the world continued to suffer from the impact of the health crisis. Most countries closed their borders and issued stayat-home orders to their citizens in April and May. In the Philippines, the government implemented an almost 11-week enhanced community quarantine to prevent the spread of the Covid-19 pandemic. This vote of confidence on the Philippine economy at a time when we continue to address the pandemic should encourage the government to allow more economic sectors to reopen, while ensuring that the public follows strict health protocols spelled out by authorities. Under ECQ, only sectors considered essential such as hospitals, drug stores, utilities, energy and telecom companies, media, wet markets, veterinary clinics, grocery stores, food and medicine manufacturers,

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delivery services, funeral services, banks, the stock market and some government offices are allowed to operate. The transition of Metro Manila from ECQ to general community quarantine on June 1 enabled more businesses to reopen. Trains and some buses resumed operations, carrying a fraction of their normal passenger capacity in observance of social distancing guidelines. Airlines were also allowed to resume domestic flights. Other sectors such as dine-in restaurants, barbershops and even hotels are expected to reopen with limited capacity this week or in the coming weeks. Other parts of the country that were placed under the general MCQ gave residents greater mobility as long as health protocols such as the wearing of face masks outdoors and social distancing are observed at all times. Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas Governor Benjamin Diokno, meanwhile, was quoted as saying that economic activities could improve to 75 percent of their capacity by July from

S the pandemic seems to be weakening around the globe, we now enter the second wave of the economic consequences. It serves no purpose to second-guess the quarantines that took place to a degree or another in virtually every country.

The International Monetary Fund has received loan requests from nearly 100 nations. You don’t borrow from the IMF to pay a few extraordinary bills like Covid stimulus. The IMF is the lender of last resort when a nation is desperate to stay alive. The Philippines rejected taking any IMF loan in the face of the pandemic. Welcome to Wave Two and TGYF.

The short-term economic consequences are blatant as seen from the unemployment numbers both here in the Philippines and the United States. Local companies have essentially lost 25 percent of their yearly revenues and profits. Nothing can be done to recover the past three months. One listed firm expected

“that’s water under the bridge.” The latest unemployment report out of the US showed that once businesses reopen there will be a jump in the number of employees going back to their jobs. It is not going to be across the board, as many industries are going to be in business later than others. Some sectors, such as global

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“The stable outlook reflects our expectation that the Philippines’s orthodox policy-making will continue to underpin its credit metrics, and that the economy will rebound strongly in 2021,” says S&P Global Ratings in a statement.

Covid-19: Economic wave two

Ruben M. Cruz Jr.

BusinessMirror is published daily by the Philippine Business Daily Mirror

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PHL retains respect of rating agencies

John Mangun

OUTSIDE THE BOX

revenues of P20 billion this year and is now projecting—with some prayer on the side—P16 billion. Another company seems to have had a strong first quarter and is hoping with fingers crossed that they can pick up where they left off once the lockdown is fully lifted. But all of this must be filed under

around 50 percent in June after we emerged from the 11-week enhanced community quarantine. If we are able to contain the pandemic in the next two or three months, economic activities could be in full swing by the fourth quarter, which will put us in a very good position to significantly expand in 2021, as S&P predicted. I share S&P’s optimism that the Philippine economy would achieve a strong recovery by 2021, following a slowdown due to the Covid-19 pandemic this year. The rating agency noted that the Philippines was among the fastestgrowing in the world on a 10-year weighted-average per capita basis— a reflection of its supportive policy dynamics and improving investment climate. With continued growth, S&P expects the GDP per capita in the Philippines to rise to almost $3,540 by this year; $3,800 by 2021; $4,200 by 2022; and $4,600 by 2023. This means that despite the temporary setback this year, we are on course to become an upper middleincome economy in the short term, and perhaps an advanced economy in the next decade or two for the benefit of our children. Let us pray that the global health crisis will be contained as soon as possible, so that we can restore our economic strength and keep our place among the fastest-growing economies in the world. For comments, e-mail mbv.secretariat@gmail. com or visit www.mannyvillar.com.ph.

hospitality and its cousin the airlines, are still facing a huge black hole of unknown demand. My personal thought is that here in the Philippines, obviously, international travel will take some time to recover. This may be offset to some extent by more domestic travel as Filipinos give up Hong Kong for Boracay. Let’s hope so. One caveat for the US is that the riots have caused some major companies to shut down part of their operations. Walmart and Target are temporarily closing about 10 percent of their stores. This is obviously in addition to the thousands of businesses that have been destroyed and looted. The reason I mention this is that from this point on, looking to the US as an economic example is useless. However, our own projections for the Philippines must also have a caveat in that we do not know what will happen with the health situation See “Mangun,” A7

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As monuments to racism fall, Trump’s culture war falters

Hair: The non-Rock musical Manny F. Dooc

TELLTALES

By Francis Wilkinson | Bloomberg Opinion

F you want to know who’s winning the battle being waged on the streets of America, look at who’s being beaten up. It’s not just peaceful protesters, though many police officers across the country—perhaps taking their cue from the June 1 assault in Lafayette Square across from the White House—are having a wilding time of it.

Statues are getting roughed up, too, and their travails may be even more telling. Because while it takes but an instant to crack the head of a protester of racism, it can take a century or more to bring down a monument to racism. Yet they are coming down. VirginiaGovernorRalphNortham said last week that the statue of Robert E. Lee that “towers over homes, businesses and everyone who lives in Richmond” will be removed “as soon as possible.” Richmond Mayor Levar Stoney said he would propose removing four other Confederate memorials from the city’s Monument Avenue as well. In Birmingham, Alabama, Mayor Randall Woodfin used the nationwide protests as an opportunity to remove the city’s 52-foot Confederate Soldiers & Sailors Monument despite a law passed by the Republican legislature expressly designed to safeguard racist iconography from the ravages of public opinion. The statue’s removal, which took place on the state holiday marking the birth of Jefferson Davis, prompted Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall to sue the city. Sue away: The statue is not coming back. In addition to Alabama and Virginia, Confederate monuments were defaced or removed in Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina and Tennessee. It’s not hard to figure out why last week suddenly turned into a giant dustbin for Confederate granite. Just as millions of Americans are invested in the lie of the noble “Lost Cause,” millions are invested in a proximate lie: that racism is a figment of a brutalized people’s collective imagination. Some 22 percent of Americans believe that blacks face little or no discrimination, a figure that rises to 39 percent among Republicans. Reactionary and resentful politics work to transform that self-deception into laws such as Alabama’s monument preservation act, which ensures that public spaces feature icons of racial dominance and subjugation. When acts of racist brutality, such as the killing of George Floyd, break through the national cacophony, they expose the lie as both absurd and corrupt. In that moment of collective recognition, racial reactionaries retreat, and the ground on which racist monuments stand quakes. America’s veneration of racists, in public memorials that both weigh on black consciousness and distort white perspective, is not an exclusively Southern tic. Elizabeth Samet, a scholar of Ulysses S. Grant, notes that Robert E. Lee’s ghostly

Mangun. . .

Continued from A6

as we reopen and what the government’s reaction will be if there are new problems. “Wave Two” economically could be a nonevent or could be serious. As we reopen our economic life, we have no idea how fast economic activity will recover in both the short and long term. The “earthquake” hit and now we have to rebuild. But as with an earthquake, the first thing to do is to look at specific buildings to see if they can be repaired or must be torn down. I am speaking of specific economies that may be in Intensive Care. No, the Philippines is very far from that. While down on the list of potential “basket-cases,” Oman is in deep trouble. That economy has a

The contest isn’t over, of course, and may persist in various manifestations for years to come. But with each protest march, and every discarded Confederate, the direction of the battle is becoming clearer. Future Americans will be spared the labor of uprooting a granite Donald J. Trump from a tainted plinth. It won’t be necessary. There will be no monuments to tear down. presence at West Point, a couple hundred miles above the Mason-Dixon line, has long eclipsed that of Grant, who had to wait until 2019 before a statue on campus was dedicated to him. In addition to barracks named after Lee, there is “a road, a gate and an entire housing area commemorating him.” Perhaps the most interesting assault on a monument last week took place in a cradle of the abolitionist movement: Philadelphia. A statue of Frank Rizzo, a rough-and-tumble cop who rose to become police commissioner and, in 1972, mayor, was uprooted from its base across the street from Philadelphia’s ornate city hall. Philadelphia Mayor Jim Kenney called the Rizzo statue a “deplorable monument to racism, bigotry and police brutality for members of the black community, the LGBTQ community, and many others.” Rizzo was a Trumpy kind of guy, minus the vast inheritance from a wealthy father. He was a white cultural reactionary with a readily identifiable racist streak and a high tolerance for corruption and brutality. Like Trump in 2020, Rizzo made “law and order” his political mantra. If Rizzo had a bad week, it’s very likely that Trump did as well. There is a symbiosis between images of police officers battering anti-racism protesters and those of anti-racism protesters pummeling statues of racists. Police, a largely Trumpian constituency whose aggression Trump has encouraged, are lashing out as the white nationalist cultural terrain of MAGA recedes. The contest isn’t over, of course, and may persist in various manifestations for years to come. But with each protest march, and every discarded Confederate, the direction of the battle is becoming clearer. Future Americans will be spared the labor of uprooting a granite Donald J. Trump from a tainted plinth. It won’t be necessary. There will be no monuments to tear down. GDP in per capita purchasing power of $37,000, down from $45,000 in 2010, smashed by lower oil prices. Oil is big but tourism and industrial exports were critical until Covid-19. Oman is facing bankruptcy. The government can hardly pay its electricity bill. Oman is not alone. The International Monetary Fund has received loan requests from nearly 100 nations. You don’t borrow from the IMF to pay a few extraordinary bills like Covid stimulus. The IMF is the lender of last resort when a nation is desperate to stay alive. The Philippines rejected taking any IMF loan in the face of the pandemic. Welcome to Wave Two and TGYF. E-mail me at mangun@gmail.com. Visit my web site at www.mangunonmarkets.com. Follow me on Twitter @mangunonmarkets. PSE stock-market information and technical analysis tools provided by the COL Financial Group Inc.

Tuesday, June 9, 2020 A7

ne of the hardest things to do during this period of pandemic is getting a haircut. Before the health crisis, a trip to the barbershop was the least of our worries. With the enhanced community quarantine, barbershops and salons were closed and customers that need a haircut were left to their own devices. One could try to trim his own hair, but this is hard to do unless you have a third eye at the back of your head. Many would ask a housemate for help but only few would dare accept the challenge unless he is prepared to create a lifetime enemy. So, most people I know would just let the hair and the beard grow and convince themselves that they look great with their new looks. When I was much younger before I got married, I preferred sporting long hair. This was the fad during the ’60s and the Beatle-mania years. I loved my hair to be flowing, rumpled and windblown. It gave me a sense of being easy going and independent. Few people may still recall the lyrics of “Hair’ by heart: “Hair, hair, hair, hair, hair, hair, hair, Flow it, show it, Long as God can grow it My hair…” When I was young, getting a haircut was a monthly ritual with my elder brother, which my grandpa orga-

nized. The three of us would walk to the barbershop at the corner of our block after church and breakfast. The moment we stepped inside the barbershop, the owner would give my grandpa his reserved seat and hand him the newspaper. My grandpa was a big tipper and a good “dama” player. I had the same barber who attended to me until I moved to the big city to study. In those times, you don’t change your barber, just like your doctor. Since my grandpa paid the bill, he would instruct my barber to cut my hair very short. It was white sidewall with very little hair left on top. Once it’s done, I looked more like

a shorn sheep and felt naked. How I wish I could absent myself in school for the next two weeks to avoid the teasing from my classmates who wear adult-look cuts. Now, I don’t tell the barber how to cut my grandsons’ hair. My eldest grandson even has the image of his favorite Korean teenybopper whose headshot he keeps in his cell phone for the barber to copy. I am more liberal when it comes to the haircut of my grandsons. Baldness runs in our family, and my policy is do whatever you like with your hair while you still have it. Don’t wait until you can count the hair on your head. One thing I like about going to the barbershop is the chance to get to read all the tabloids you don’t have at home or in the office. You are kept updated with the latest scandals in our society and business and the hottest gossip surrounding our celebrities. Since I normally visit the barbershop in the afternoon, practically all the barbers, masseurs and manicurists, plus the hangers-on, have read the papers and the moment an interesting item is brought up, everyone can embellish the story and make it more salacious. Hearing all the comments swirling inside the barbershop on every subject under the sun, the moon and the stars, will give you more information, both factual and fictional, and make you an authority on the subject. It’s more informative than all the briefings you get from the officialdom relative

Bayanihan 2: From healed to recovery? On filing and payment extensions during quarantine

Atty. Lino Ernie M. Guevara

Tax law for business

S the clock ticked last week, both Houses of Congress were scurrying to pass on third reading their respective bills extending the life of Republic Act (RA) 11469 (Bayanihan to Heal as One Act) [Bayanihan 1] as it was set to expire after three months or upon Congress’ adjournment.

Our Constitution provides that emergency powers granted by Congress to the President, shall “cease upon the next adjournment thereof.” Hence, it was to be effective until June 5 or before Congress adjourns sine die (“without day”) from June 6 to July 24. Unfortunately, both bills, to be known as “Bayanihan to Recover as One Act” [Bayanihan 2], if passed, did not beat the clock. Congress waited, but the President did not certify the bills as urgent. News had it that the Executive Branch wants “contentious” amendments resolved first and, more interestingly, was taking the position that it is effective until June 25, 2020 under its own sunset clause. The void left by the law’s demise could pose a lot of legal issues in the continuity of availing some grants, assistance and incentives under it prospectively, like the tax and dutyfree importations of goods, equipment or supplies per Section 4(o) of RA 11469 which were time-bound. Likewise, the penal sanctions can no longer be imposed against any violators. Senate Bill (SB) 1564 was able to hurdle its second reading and was subjected to amendments including reducing the stand-by fund from P236 billion to P140 billion based on the government’s appeal that it can no longer afford spending more than that. The House of Representatives, constituted as a committee of the whole, had also approved House Bill (HB) 6953 extending its validity until September 2020 with a higher funding in the amount of P162 billion. Both bills reiterated all the 30 powers granted under RA 11469, plus a lot more. Congress seeks to do away with the emergency powers of the old law but instead provide Covid-19 “response and recovery interventions,” with more coverage and funding. The Bayanihan 2 bills likewise stripped

the law of its penal sanctions. This is a fair move as it was perceived to have been inequitably applied against ordinary folks while ranking government officials caught red-handed blatantly violating the rules were not penalized nor even rebuked. Let’s check out some of the provisions on sectoral interventions and the extensions or grace periods provided under the proposed bills.

On sectoral interventions

The Bayanihan 2 bills now provide for loan assistance, subsidies or grants to schools, universities, colleges, technical vocational institutions, teachers and students for purchasing distance learning tools, computers and other devices. The House Bill provides massive promotion of online commerce with technical and financial assistance through GFls. This is a positive development to complement the new legislations for tech companies, RA 11293 (Philippine Innovation Act) and RA 1137 (Innovative Startup Act) focusing on giving incentives to startups and micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) as drivers of growth in the digital economy. However, they may also be impacted by a pending legislation at the House, HB 6765, seeking to clarify the taxation of the digital economy. The Senate and House measures also seek to provide regulatory relief to the creative sector by tasking Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) and Department of the Interior and Local Government to review the amusement tax imposition. This may be timely for the entertainment industry hard hit by the lockdown and further complicated by the franchise controversy of a major network. Loan and credit facilities, among others, will likewise be extended to the transportation, agriculture and tourism industry. Fast-tracked and simplified loan processing and requirements are likewise extended to home loan borrowers.

Both bills reiterate the grant of a minimum 30-day grace period for loans by banks, financing companies, GFIs and the like, but now expressly mentioning real estate developers and, in the SB, utility companies. HB specified though that this shall not apply to interbank loan and bank borrowings. They also reiterated the 30-day grace period for residential rents, with the House Bill now including commercial rents and MSMEs. This should address the issue on the legal basis of extending the privilege to commercial leases only by virtue of an issuance by the DTI. The bills now include the extension of utility payments (electric, water, telecommunication) for a similar period of 30 days and payable afterwards on a staggered basis. There are also new provisions pertaining to the extension of the term of standby loans entered into by local government units. The provision as to moving the statutory deadlines and timelines for the filing and submission of any document, payment of taxes, fees, and other charges required by law [Section (z), RA 11469] was likewise retained in both versions, without any changes. And that may just be the problem. This provision should be made more categorical as to its mandatory nature. It should likewise be pointed out that such provision as presently worded cannot be used as legal basis in extending various statutory periods prescribed under the Tax Code. Note that the Bureau of Internal Revenue extended the various filings and payments of taxes in April and May, after initially refusing to do so in the early days of the quarantine. However, it recently issued Revenue Regulations (RR) 12-2020 expressly repealing any further extension of the filing deadlines due to another quarantine extension and instead maintaining the deadlines provided under RR 11-2020, “regardless of any extension or modification of quarantine.” Shouldn’t said Section (z) of RA 11469 be treated as mandatory similar to the grace periods for loans and rents being strictly monitored and implemented? I believe it should. Tax payments also involve substantial disbursements from taxpayers. A clarification and providing a specific period of extension would be more beneficial to taxpayers, not leaving it entirely to BIR’s discretion.

to the coronavirus. Being locked down for over two months without a haircut will make a hermit out of you, if not a minor version of the ‘King of Hairs’, Don King, the boxing promoter who sponsored the ‘Thrilla in Manila’ between Muhammad Ali and Joe Frazier. While personal meeting is not allowed, business meetings are now conducted online or via teleconferencing. Being zoomed with your unkempt hair with all your colleagues in the board viewing your personal appearance is unsightly and distasteful. I cringed looking at my image on the screen and wondered what my colleagues thought of me, particularly the majority owners of the company. Right after the meeting, I asked my wife to cut my hair. She does not lack the training and qualification for it. She has been the hair stylish of our pet dog for years. I sat on the swivel chair and with a paper towel wrapped around my neck, she started snipping at my hair. With a blade, she straightened the hairline and shaved the sideburns. With that, I saved P300. But not my looks. After that grooming experiment, I avoided looking at the mirror. The newsboy had an impish smile as he handed me my morning papers. For the first time, I have strictly stayed home even when the quarantine has been relaxed. We must include this as the most severe form of community quarantine.

Secondly, our Tax Code specifically prescribes various statutory periods, namely: the three-year or 10-year prescriptive period for the BIR to assess, five-year period to collect taxes and the two-year period to file a claim for refund or credit. As these periods are provided under the law, only another legislative act may effect the amendments to these specific prescriptive periods. As worded, Section 4(z) of RA 11469’s moving of deadlines was limited to “the filing and submission of any documents, the payment of taxes, fees and other charges required by law.” The BIR’s previous suspension of the running of the Statute of Limitations in the assessment and collection of taxes under Revenue Memorandum Circular 34-2020 was anchored on Section 223 of the Tax Code, i.e., when the Commissioner is prohibited from making the assessment or enforcing tax collection during said period. Recall that the grounds cited for the suspension were the Covid-19 pandemic and various proclamations. Invariably, however, such “suspension” had the practical effect of “extending” the period for the BIR to assess and collect. Note that such suspension was for a “period starting on March 16, 2020 until the lifting of the state of national emergency and for 60 days thereafter.” So, if we are still within that period, the BIR is given a much longer time to prepare for and make an assessment against targeted taxpayers to the prejudice of the latter. On the other hand, we, as taxpayers, are already obliged to comply with the non-extendible filing and payment deadlines under the BIR’s recent issuance notwithstanding that a community quarantine is still in effect. As RA 11469 heaved its last breath, we can only anticipate what the next law would be. Law can empower. We pray it is one which would genuinely bring true “healing” from the scourge of this pandemic, and more important, lead our country to that road to real recovery. The author is a Special Counsel of Du-Baladad and Associates Law Offices (BDB Law), a memberfirm of WTS Global. The article is for general information only and is not intended, nor should be construed as a substitute for tax, legal or financial advice on any specific matter. Applicability of this article to any actual or particular tax or legal issue should be supported therefore by a professional study or advice. If you have any comments or questions concerning the article, you may e-mail the author at ernie.guevara@ bdblaw.com.ph or call 8403-201 local 160.

A8 Tuesday, June 9, 2020

‘China owes us ₧33B in annual marine loss’

ETIRED Associate Justice Antonio Carpio flatly dismissed Monday China’s claims that it owns the West Philippine Sea (WPS), as well as the whole South China Sea since ancient times. This, as former Foreign Affairs Secretary Albert del Rosario cited computations showing China, in fact, owes the Philippines P33 billion a year in damage to Philippine marine resources in the WPS, or a total of P200 billion since 2014. “This is totally false,” Carpio said at a webinar hosted by Sen. Risa Hontiveros. “I call this the fake history.... This historical claim by China has been ruled by the arbitral tribunal as without legal or factual basis. The tribunal said that there is no evidence that China controlled the entire South China Sea at any time in its history beyond its territorial seas.” He said “all the important maps of China from the Tang dynasty to the Ching dynasty which ended in 1912, all these important maps of China were published in a 2-volume Atlas of Ancient Maps by the People’s Republic of China in the 1990s and all these ancient maps showed without exception that the southernmost territory of China was Hainan Island.” He added: “Without doubt, China’s own official maps since almost 1,000 years ago show that Hainan Island was their southernmost territory.”

It was only in 1932, Carpio stressed, “that China officially claimed the Paracel Islands, it was only in 1946 that China officially claimed the Spratlys.” In 1943, he said, China published the China Handbook to include the Paracels but China did not claim the Spratlys as part of its territory in this 1943 handbook. In 1946, China revised the China Handbook and for the first time in China’s history, China claimed the Spratlys but only starting 1946. However in this China Handbook, China said that the Spratlys was also claimed by the Philippines and the French who were then in Vietnam. Asked by Hontiveros about China’s strategic end-goal, del Rosario replied: “The answer to your first question, is that China wants complete control and domination of the South China Sea, and I think we all know what this is about, it is about feeding its people, it is about fueling their economy, and it is about strengthening their military. Those are the reasons for China to seek total domination of the South China Sea.” Citing the Hontiveros resolution filed in the Senate, del Rosario noted its provisions that China has been causing great damage, maritime losses, to the Philippines, as part of its maritime designs, its ability to move forward on its strategy in the South China Sea. Continued on A4

RIDGE OF HIGH PRESSURE AREA EXTENDING OVER NORTHERN LUZON EASTERLIES AFFECTING THE REST OF THE COUNTRY INTERTROPICAL CONVERGENCE ZONE AFFECTING MINDANAO as of 4:00 am - June 8, 2020

₧1.3-T ARISE bill’s funding provisions constitutional–solons

By Jovee Marie N. dela Cruz

@joveemarie

HE principal authors of the proposed P1.3-trillion Accelerated Recovery and Investments Stimulus for the Economy (ARISE) on Monday said the funding provisions of the economic stimulus are “clearly constitutional.”

Marikina Rep. Stella Luz Quimbo commented on the claim of Finance Secretary Carlos G. Dominguez III that the government is not allowed by the Constitution to borrow money to fund the pending stimulus measures, which the secretary considered as a supplemental budget. (Related story on page B3) Dominguez said a supplemental budget should be funded by revenues and not by borrowings. However, Quimbo said the funding of ARISE will come from different sources. “First, for year 2020, under Section 33 of the bill, the President is empowered to reallocate and realign appropriations to finance the requirement of the bill. That power is [also] provided for in the Constitution,” she said. “Second, Section 34 of the bill provides for standby appropriations. The said section specifically mentions that the standby fund shall only be used when proceeds

from approved loans, bond issuances and other indebtedness are realized,” she said. Also, Quimbo said, Section 35 of the bill authorizes the Secretary of Finance to direct the Treasurer to borrow through bonds, loans, and other forms of indebtedness for this purpose. Quimbo, citing the case of Maria Carolina A. Araullo, et al vs. Benigno Simeon C. Aquino III, said the Supreme Court recognized “unprogrammed appropriations” as appropriations that provided standby authority to incur additional agency obligations for priority PAPs when revenue collections exceeded targets, and when additional foreign funds are generated. Quimbo, meanwhile, reminded the economic managers that the approved ARISE bill was the product of extensive consultations with members of the lower chamber, various government agencies including the economic managers, and sectoral representatives including labor groups, business groups, academe and financial institutions. “The version approved by the HOR has 266 coauthors among our fellow congressmen, and was openly endorsed by five department secretaries [DTI, DOT, DA, DOTr, and DOLE] and 44 business groups,” she said. Quimbo said if there are government agencies that still have reservations on the ARISE bill, the House is more than willing to sit down with them “to come up with a reasonably-sized economic

stimulus package that is impactful and well-targeted.” “The ARISE bill is on its way to the Senate where the same will be deliberated. If the Senate approves a different version of the bill, then a bicameral conference committee will be formed to reconcile the disagreeing provisions of the House of Representatives and Senate versions of the bill,” she added.

Risk of layoffs

QUIMBO, an economist, said the House passed the ARISE bill to protect workers from the risk of layoffs. “We need this strong action to reverse the ballooning unemployment rate [recently announced by the Philippine Statistics Authority]. Now is not the time to be gunshy when it comes to government spending. Now is the time to make good use of our country’s strong macroeconomic fundamentals and financial health which our past and current economic managers have worked hard for, and embark on a debt-financed growth strategy in the short run,” she said. The ARISE bill was approved last June 4 to protect and assist up to 15.7 million workers, create 3 million short-term jobs, and 1.5 million infrastructure jobs over three years, and help up to 5.57 million micro, small, and medium enterprises, both formal and nonformal. For this year alone, the spending plan includes assistance to various sectors such as MSMEs (P10 billion);

tourism (P58 billion); industry and services (P44 billion); transportation (P70 billion); agri-fisheries (P66 billion); and funding for the National Emergency Investment Vehicle (P25 billion) to “minimize permanent damage to the economy.” For his part, House Committee on Ways and Means Chairman Joey Sarte Salceda said the House economic team will take the pronouncements of the Secretary of Finance as the directionally proper fiscal approach. “Strictly technically speaking, borrowings are repayable revenues [while taxes are nonrepayable revenues]. Therein lies the catch: because you have to pay for them with costs, the expenditures have to have economic and fiscal returns that exceed the principal and the interest. In other words, prudent borrowing means financing worthwhile and equitable growth,” he said. “You borrow generally for one objective, and on one condition. The objective is to improve your capacity to pay [through economic growth]. The condition is to find new revenue streams that improve your actual capacity to pay,” he added. Salceda reiterated that Congress is ready to “line up” P100 billion per year in new revenue measures to support this stimulus. “The House, of course, is doing both, with our comprehensive stimulus plan, and through the revenue measures lined up by the Ways and Means Committee, which would amount to about 100 billion incremental revenues per year,” he said.

FUEL PRICES GOING UP F OR this week, fuel prices are going up. In separate advisories, oil firms said Monday gasoline prices will go up by P1.75 per liter. Diesel will also increase by P1.10 per liter and kerosene by P1 per liter. Petron Corp., Pilipinas Shell, Phoenix Petroleum, Seaoil Philippines, PetroGazz.

Cleanfuel, Total Philippines and PTT Philippines said the price adjustment takes effect 6 a.m. of Tuesday, June 9. “This reflects movements in the international market,” they said. Last week, gasoline prices were reduced by P0.20 per liter while kerosene went up by P0.80 per liter and diesel up by P0.25 per liter. Lenie Lectura

As bikes become vital and prices shoot up, DTI urged to step in

HE Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) has been urged to regulate prices of bicycles and small motorcycles, which are becoming popular as a means of transportation among low- and middle-income Filipinos. The call came from Quezon City Rep. Precious Castelo, vice chairman of the House Committee on Metro Manila Development. She said the lack of public transportation amid the Covid-19 pandemic has forced many families to use bikes and motorbikes to go to their workplaces or to the grocery to buy household essentials. “ T hus, t he gover nment, through the DTI, should intervene to protect the public. The DTI should regulate prices of bicycles and small motorbikes and their parts. The Executive branch has such power under the Bayanihan to Heal as One Law,” Castelo said. She added that the DTI should also watch for signs of hoarding and price manipulation. Castelo also urged the government to promote the use of bikes as a means of transportation during and after the general community quarantine (GCQ ), and to designate bike lanes at least in major roads in Metro Manila and the provinces.

She appealed to employers to provide rest and shower facilities and parking spaces to their personnel-bikers. Castelo said employers, banks and even the DTI and other concerned agencies could offer soft loans to workers so they can buy bicycles and small motorcycles. She noted that some local government units in Metro Manila have already started promoting the use of bikes and have assigned bike lanes in some major roads.

Moratorium

AMID the pandemic, an environmental watchdog, meanwhile, appealed to the Department of Transportation (DOTr) to immediately implement a nationwide moratorium on the registration of electric bicycles (E-sikleta) at t he L a nd Tr a n s p or t at ion Office (LTO). Clean Air Philippines Movement Inc. (CAPMI) President and past president of the Philippine Medical Association (PMA) Atty. Leo O. Olarte, MD, said that they requested DOTr for an immediate moratorium on LTO’s Administrative Order -2006-01 covering electric bicycles and other electric vehicles to register (under the Land Transportation Code) at the LTO. This further requires that electric vehicles must also be

operated with a license. “The moratorium on electric bicycles that we are asking must immediately take effect during the state of public health emergency [declared by President Duterte] to allow our work force to use an alternative, affordable, clean, social or physical distancing compliant mode of transportation as they go to work and home in the new normal. We launched our One Million Electric Bicycles Project for the New Normal Philippines for three reasons: 1) to push for our clean air agenda, 2) the immediate economic recovery of the Philippines, and 3) to help win the war versus Covid-19 by applying strict social distancing modality in transporting our work force to their jobs nationwide, “ Dr. Olarte said. “Due to its zero carbon emmission advantage we have long advocated for an effective and sustainable electricit y-driven transportation system for the Philippines. Our common clean air agenda and goals mandate this action. The sufferings and immense pain that Covid-19 caused our country and people are enormous and devastating however, the lockdowns on the other hand also resulted to cleaner air in our cities,” he said. Jovee Marie N. dela Cruz

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Ayala unit to help develop 2 wind farms in Vietnam

By Lenie Lectura

@llectura

C Energy Inc. and UPC Renewables Group will jointly develop two wind power projects with an aggregate capacity of 60 megawatts (MW) in Vietnam. The wind power projects—Lac Hoa and Hoa Dong—are in Vietnam’s Soc Trang province. The projects will utilize wind turbines from Vestas. The turbines will feature a record hub height of 162 meters, making them the tallest in Vietnam to date. With the aim of qualifying for

the current round for wind feed-intariff of 8.5 US cents per kWh, both projects are set be commissioned in the third quarter of 2021. AC Energy, the power arm of conglomerate Ayala Corp., will participate in both projects with a 50-percent voting stake through its wholly-owned subsidiary, AC Energy

Vietnam Investments 2 Pte. Ltd. Meanwhile, Vestas Asia Pacific will provide an Active Output Management service agreement for up to 20 years. The partnership between UPC Renewables and AC Energy started in 2013 during the development, construction and operation of the 81-MW North Luzon Renewables in Pagudpud, Ilocos Norte. Subsequently in 2018, the two companies developed the first 75 MW utility-scale wind farm in Indonesia. The partnership continues to grow as the two companies also formed development platforms in Australia, India and Vietnam. “The synergies between UPC Renewables and AC Energy continue to allow us to advance innovative and challenging renewable energy proj-

ects in the Asia-Pacific region and we look forward to working with AC Energy again to advance wind energy in Vietnam,” said Brian Caffyn, Chairman and CEO of UPC Renewables. Meanwhile, Patrice Clausse, Chief Operating Officer of AC Energy International, lauded the new order from Vestas as a game-changer that will enhance the competitiveness of wind energy. “We have strongly pushed for the adoption of new technologies and best practices to grow our assets in renewables,” said Clausse. “As always, we are delighted to partner with UPC Renewables as we move towards playing a more significant role in helping Vietnam’s energy security, and become one of the largest listed renewables platforms in Southeast Asia.”

‘Online fraud in PHL worsened during pandemic’ By Manuel T. Cayon @awimailbox Mindanao Bureau Chief

avao City—A New Yorklisted firm with expertise in providing insights into the global marketplace has ranked the Philippines as one of the countries that recorded a high incidence of digital logistics fraud even while the country grappled with Covid-19. TransUnion said in a report that the Philippines suspected digital logistics fraud more than doubled even while the country was on lockdown to contain the spread of the infectious disease. “ Tra nsUnion (N YSE: T RU ) recently released its analysis of digital fraud trends in the Philippines. Its assessment found that the percentage of suspected online fraud originating from the Philippines more than doubled when compar ing the per iods January 1-March 10 and March 11-April 28,” the report read. The number of fraud incidents has increased 119 percent in March to April. “This makes the Philippines the country with the 76th highest percentage of digital suspected fraud originating from it from March 11 to April 28. In

comparison, TransUnion found the rate of suspected fraudulent online transactions rose 5 percent globally during the pandemic.” It did not make a listing of topranked countries victimized by online fraud, but only a table of industries where fraudsters had a heyday in duping unsuspecting buyers. The local telecommunications industry was hit with a whopping 3,139-percent increase in incidents during the quarantine period. Globally, the industry saw a 76-percent hike in fraudulent transactions. This may be attributed to the shift in information gathering and dissemination to the online platform as governments discourage their population to prevent mass gathering. “Given the billions of people globally that have been forced to stay at home, industries have been disrupted in a way not seen on this massive of a scale for generations,” said Pia Arellano, president and CEO of TransUnion Philippines. The company said that its assessment analyzed fraud trends to reflect the changing economic environment with Covid-19. It used March 11, the date when the WHO declared the coronavirus a

global pandemic, as the base date for analysis. “TransUnion analyzed the billions of online transactions its flagship fraud and identity solution, IDVision with iovation, assessed for fraud indicators on more than 40,000 websites and apps globally. It identified more than 100 million suspected fraudulent digital transactions worldwide from March 11-April 28,” it said. It examined the impact of digital fraud on industries. Aside from telecommunications and financial services in the Philippines, it also looked into the impact on communities, public sector, insurance, logistics, gambling, gaming, e-commerce, travel and leisure, and health care. While all the rest of the industries noted a decline in fraud attempts outside of telecommunications and financial services, the Philippines did suffer an increase in incidents in the communities (18 percent) and a steady number in the public sector and insurance. “TransUnion’s data show that as socia l d istancing changes shopping patterns, fraudsters have taken notice and targeted the more digital forward industries while following the money

PCCI, Philexport push ‘Pinas Muna!’

wo of the country’s biggest business organizations— the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PCCI) and the Philippine Exporters Confederation (Philexport)—are joining the bandwagon “Pinas Muna!,” an urgent call for economic patriotism aimed at helping revive or restart seriously ailing micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs). “Philippine businesses, especially the MSMEs, have been badly hit by the lockdowns due to the pandemic. The least PCCI can do is rally the whole country to patronize their businesses, from products to services. ‘Pinas Muna!’ can be the integrating campaign of many government and privatesector programs aimed at encouraging our countrymen to avail of Filipino products and services such as Buy Lokal of the Department of Trade and Industr y, ‘Pasyal Na!’ for helping promote domestic tourism, ‘Sarap Pinoy!’ for pushing local food products and a myriad of other campaigns,” Amb. Benedicto Yujuico, PCCI president, said.

Yujuico

Ortiz-Luis

“'Pinas Muna!’ is a time-bound campaign while the country is transitioning from a post-Covid-19 environment. As the country begins its recovery phase for the economy, Philippine enterprises need all the help they can get especially in propping up the market and the demand for their products,” Sergio OrtizLuis, Philexport president said. “Most of the country’s exporters are now looking at domestic markets for their products as the global markets remain depressed,” he added. We will not discriminate against imported goods, but in the short-term, we are left of little options but to patronize local goods and services,”

the export industry leader said. Yujuico said PCCI will enjoin industry associations, local chambers and other business groups to enlist in the campaign. “We would like Pinas Muna! to be constant in the mindset of all Filipinos as we help each other in these challenging times,” he stressed. “At the end of the day, Pinas Muna! can also be regarded as a jobsaving strategy so MSME can restart their economic activities, Yujuico added. PCCI and Philexport both have broad-based membership all over the country, an extensive national network representing mostly the MSMEs.

globally,” the report read. Telecommunications, e-commerce and f inancia l ser v ices all have large digital adoption, financial information and payments at the center of their online experience, it said “and thus digital fraudsters targeted them more compared to other industries during the pandemic worldwide”. “Globally, in post-pandemic, the most common types of online fraud in telecommunications, the industry with the highest percentage of suspected digital fraud growth from the Philippines, are credit card fraud and account takeover/hijacking,” the report read. The types of online fraud from the industry with the second highest rate of suspected digital fraud growth from the Philippines, in financial services, were identity theft and account takeover/hijacking globally. This may account for the increasing number of complaints of users of social media sites, such as Facebook, that their accounts have been cloned.

Tuesday, June 9, 2020

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CPG income plummets, but revenues hold steady in Q1 By VG Cabuag

@villygc

roperty developer Century Properties Group Inc. (CPG) on Monday said its income in the first quarter fell 24 percent to P290.28 million, from last year’s P384.13 million. The company said, however, that the drop was expected due to various events that also affected other businesses, including the Taal Volcano eruption. CPG said revenues managed to grow by 1 percent to P2.8 billion, from last year’s P2.77 billion. The lion’s share of the net income comes from the combined contribu-

tion of affordable housing business and leasing portfolio, the company said. Affordable housing and commercial leasing contribution to net income now stands at P173 million, or 60 percent, compared to just P55 million or 14 percent last year. Income contribution of urban vertical projects is down to only P111 million,

or 38 percent, of the total net income, from P324 million, or 84-percent share in net income last year. “The lower net income in the first quarter of 2020 was not totally unexpected. We managed to sustain the level of our revenues with a more impressive mix with the affordable housing business and leasing portfolio now contributing a combined revenue of P817 million or 29 percent of the pie compared with just P200 million or 13 percent of revenues for the same period last year,” said Ponciano S. Carreon Jr., CPG’s chief finance officer. The company’s total assets stood at P54.6 billion, or P1.2 billion higher than December 2019 while interest bearing liabilities went down by P1.4 billion at the end of first quarter, it said. “The strong 2019 performance and first quarter balance sheet

serve as strong foundations for the group to adopt needed structural and operational adjustments and business flexibility amid the current economic disruptions,” said Carreon. “We are also taking advantage of the opportunity to be ready for another take-off. We expect our high-margin affordable housing and leasing revenues to further grow and boost our bottom-line margins.” The company launched efforts in the past two and half months to protect the welfare of its employees, construction workers, and other stakeholders. It helped increased the country’s testing capacity for Covid-19 with the conversion of the Philippine Arena Sports Stadium in Bulacan into a mega testing facility with the Bases Conversion and Development Authority.

MORE Power to ERC: Junk Peco’s appeal By Lenie Lectura @llectura

ore Electric and Power Corp. (MORE Power) is asking the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) to dismiss the appeal of Panay Electric Co.’s (Peco), which seeks to reinstate its provisional certificate of public convenience and necessity (CPCN). MORE Power said Peco committed “grave abuse” for filing different legal cases meant to stop MORE Power’s takeover. “For more than one year, Peco has continued holding on to the distribution system despite having no franchise. It misused judicial processes to derail the expropriation proceedings mandated under RA 11212,” said MORE Power.

Peco has filed various cases against MORE Power. These are pending with the ERC, a local court and with the Court of Appeals (CA). “To grant Peco’s appeal to restore its CPCN, therefore, is to reward disingenuousness, gross disrespect for the courts this Honorable Commission, and repeated abuse of the judicial process,” said MORE Power. MORE Power also cited Peco’s failure to do preventive maintenance that left the distribution system “rotting, decrepit and a ticking time bomb.” “The deterioration of the distribution system of Peco accelerated during the one-year period when Peco, using all sorts of dilatory actions in the various courts, delayed the issuance and implementation of the writ

Big firms boost PHL capacity to stop spread of Covid-19

loomberry Cultural Foundation Inc. and the Ayala Group’s health-care unit, Ayala Healthcare Holdings Inc. have partnered with the Tropical Disease Foundation (TDF) for a biosafety facility aimed at augmenting the country’s testing capacity to detect Covid-19. The facilities of TDF, a private nonprofit organization that local doctors set up in the 80s, have been accredited by the Department of Health and Research Institute for Tropical Medicine. The group said its partnership adds to the country’s ability to conduct confirmatory RT-PCR tests while contributing to the country’s health-care system overall. “We are happy to partner with AC Health and TDF and in our own way contribute to the Department of Health’s and the Inter-Agency Task Force’s Project T3—test, trace, treat—which has proven effective in curbing the pandemic,” said Donato C. Almeda, Bloomberry Foundation president. TDF can initially process 200 confirmatory RTPCR tests daily with its existing biosafety level 2+ laboratory and a specialty laboratory in tuberculosis research in Makati. Bloomberry Foundation donated to the TDF lab RT-PCR machines and equipment such as PCR and RNA extraction kits, biological safety cabinets and a laboratory-grade refrigerator, among others. This is also the foundation’s second partnership with the Ayala Group, the first being the retrofitting of a unit at the Philippine General Hospital as a treatment facility. Its initiatives include its active provision of medical supplies and personal protective equipment to numerous hospitals in the National Capital Region and nearby provinces. It has also retrofitted facilities to become treatment facilities, and has distributed relief goods and supplies. TDF is an organization that seeks to control and prevent the spread of infectious diseases with public through research, training and other relevant service. It conducts clinical, operational, and laboratory-based researches on infectious diseases with public and private agencies at the national and international level for research programs to facilitate technology transfer. It also serves as a national and international training

center for infectious disease management.

Kimberly-Clark aid

KIMBERLY-CLARK Philippines Inc. (KCPI) has donated its products to various nonprofit organizations and hospitals/treatment centers across the country for the protection of frontline health-care workers and the most vulnerable patients, particularly new mothers and their babies, against Covid-19. The donated items worth over P3.2 million to 39 hospitals included 200,000 Huggies diapers, 200,000 Kotex feminine pads, and 20,000 Joy Bathroom tissue rolls. The company also gave the essential goods to Frontline Feeders PH, a group providing for the needs of frontline health-care workers in public hospitals. “The current health crisis has undoubtedly affected multiple sectors’ ability to efficiently access personal care necessities. Respecting and caring for the communities where we live and work is enveloped in our DNA and we’ve committed ourselves to help them navigate through this situation,” said Michael Vainio, general manager of KCPI. “We’re hopeful that our donation will help inject a sense of dignity and normalcy to the current lives of our beneficiaries as they manage their day-to-day personal care needs,” he added. As more and more hospitals are overwhelmed by the increasing number of Covid-19 cases, the firm understands the importance of helping out the healthcare sector augment its resources. Since the initial outbreak of this novel pneumoccoccal disease early this year, KCPI has also extended its support to nonprofit organizations catering to different communities afflicted by the pandemic. It recently donated products to the We Heal as One Center, a joint initiative of Ayala Foundation and ICCP Group Foundation Inc. that converted the World Trade Center into a 500-bed Covid-19 quarantine facility. The organization also donated to underserved communities, such as marginalized families, street dwellers, blue-collar workers, and urban poor women, through the following groups: Power in Her Story, I Support the Girls, and Project SMILE. VG Cabuag, Roderick L. Abad

of possession for the takeover of the distribution by MORE.” “During that one-year period, Peco ran the distribution to the ground with little or no rehabilitation or maintenance. Many parts of the aging system were overheating and bursting into flames on a regular basis.” MORE Power said 122 personnel are now running the distribution system. Also, it has replaced over 100 distribution transformers.

mutual funds

“The technical readiness of MORE is evident in that it was able to take over operations of Peco as soon as it took possession of the facilities on 28 and 29 February 2020 with no disruption to the power supply to Iloilo City.” To assure Iloilo that it fulfills its promise of better service, MORE Power said it set a record of rapid responses to customer complaints, with an average response time of one hour and 30 minutes.

June 6, 2020

NAV One Year Three Year Five Year Y-T-D per share Return* Return Stock Funds ALFM Growth Fund, Inc. -a 212.74 -20.69% -8.23% -4.74% -15.54% ATRAM Alpha Opportunity Fund, Inc. -a 1.0306 -37.28% -13.72% -6.38% -25.43% ATRAM Philippine Equity Opportunity Fund, Inc. -a 2.8728 -31.5% -12.86% -7.3% -21.9% Climbs Share Capital Equity Investment Fund Corp. -a 0.7286 -23.87% n.a. n.a. -18.78% First Metro Consumer Fund on MSCI Phils. IMI, Inc. -a 0.6935 -22.81% n.a. n.a. -18.34% First Metro Save and Learn Equity Fund,Inc. -a 4.5591 -18.41% -6% -4.23% -14.44% First Metro Save and Learn Philippine Index Fund, Inc. -a,4 0.7238 -19.26% -8.8% n.a. -15.21% MBG Equity Investment Fund, Inc. -a 76.55 -37.47% n.a. n.a. -25.92% PAMI Equity Index Fund, Inc. -a 42.9319 -19.5% -6.47% n.a. -16.28% Philam Strategic Growth Fund, Inc. -a 455.49 -17.8% -6.02% -3.87% -14.51% Philequity Alpha One Fund, Inc. -a,d,5 0.9142 n.a. n.a. n.a. -11.25% Philequity Dividend Yield Fund, Inc. -a 1.0737 -20.61% -6.44% -3.44% -16.57% Philequity Fund, Inc. -a 31.6895 -20.14% -5.81% -3.08% -16.38% Philequity MSCI Philippine Index Fund, Inc. -a 0.847 -20.99% n.a. n.a. -16.81% Philequity PSE Index Fund Inc. -a 4.3755 -19.1% -5.9% -2.63% -16.23% Philippine Stock Index Fund Corp. -a 731.78 -18.97% -5.9% -2.84% -16.09% Soldivo Strategic Growth Fund, Inc. -a 0.6637 -29.95% -9.99% -7.06% -22.05% Sun Life Prosperity Philippine Equity Fund, Inc. -a 3.3872 -23.35% -7.23% -4.08% -19.53% Sun Life Prosperity Philippine Stock Index Fund, Inc. -a 0.8405 -19.03% -6.02% -2.76% -16.02% United Fund, Inc. -a 3.0737 -19.64% -4.59% -2.15% -15.87% Exchange Traded Fund First Metro Phil. Equity Exchange Traded Fund, Inc. -a,c 98.2671 -18.73% -5.38% -1.98% -15.98% ATRAM AsiaPlus Equity Fund, Inc. -b $0.9578 0.65% -0.93% -2.25% -6.87% Sun Life Prosperity World Voyager Fund, Inc. -a $1.3571 9.79% 5.33% n.a. -1.57% Balanced Funds Primarily invested in Peso securities ATRAM Dynamic Allocation Fund, Inc. -a 1.5691 -10.58% -4.23% -3.64% 0.4% ATRAM Philippine Balanced Fund, Inc. -a 2.1206 -9.48% -3.68% -1.63% -2.77% First Metro Save and Learn Balanced Fund Inc. -a 2.4903 -7.1% -1.68% -2.65% -5.37% First Metro Save and Learn F.O.C.C.U.S. Dynamic Fund, Inc. -a,1 0.1916 n.a. n.a. n.a. -16.15% NCM Mutual Fund of the Phils., Inc. -a 1.8759 -3.68% -0.59% -0.2% -4.44% PAMI Horizon Fund, Inc. -a 3.5711 -4.72% -1.58% -1.27% -5.75% Philam Fund, Inc. -a 15.9203 -5.82% -1.84% -1.44% -6.13% Solidaritas Fund, Inc. -a 1.9788 -8.74% -2.79% -1.14% -6.92% Sun Life of Canada Prosperity Balanced Fund, Inc. -a 3.4033 -13.07% -3.51% -2.25% -11.92% Sun Life Prosperity Achiever Fund 2028, Inc. -a,d 0.9684 -5.34% n.a. n.a. -4.66% Sun Life Prosperity Achiever Fund 2038, Inc. -a,d 0.8885 -13.2% n.a. n.a. -10.83% Sun Life Prosperity Achiever Fund 2048, Inc. -a,d 0.8688 -14.97% n.a. n.a. -12.53% Sun Life Prosperity Dynamic Fund, Inc. -a 0.8428 -15.95% -4.43% -3.42% -13.54% Primarily invested in foreign currency securities Cocolife Dollar Fund Builder, Inc. -a $0.03841 4.72% 2.53% 1.62% 0.47% PAMI Asia Balanced Fund, Inc. -b $0.9726 2.42% 0.37% -0.73% -6.29% Sun Life Prosperity Dollar Advantage Fund, Inc. -a $3.8133 5.42% 3.68% 2.88% -2.49% Sun Life Prosperity Dollar Wellspring Fund, Inc. -a,3 $1.0989 2.17% 1.67% n.a. -2.65% Bond Funds Primarily invested in Peso securities ALFM Peso Bond Fund, Inc. -a 363.94 4.21% 3.01% 2.47% 1.72% ATRAM Corporate Bond Fund, Inc. -a 1.9363 2.55% 0.88% -0.08% 1.8% Cocolife Fixed Income Fund, Inc. -a 3.1821 4.68% 5.15% 5.11% 2.11% Ekklesia Mutual Fund Inc. -a 2.2785 4.98% 2.74% 2.21% 2.4% First Metro Save and Learn Fixed Income Fund,Inc. -a 2.4319 6.43% 3.19% 1.88% 3.09% Philam Bond Fund, Inc. -a 4.5486 10.88% 3.89% 2.29% 4.02% Philam Managed Income Fund, Inc. -a, 6 1.2879 6.77% 3.89% 2.11% 2.48% Philequity Peso Bond Fund, Inc. -a 3.9231 7.82% 4.16% 2.16% 3.56% Soldivo Bond Fund, Inc. -a 1.0233 10.03% 3.39% 1.58% 6.12% Sun Life of Canada Prosperity Bond Fund, Inc. -a 3.1501 7.79% 4.7% 2.86% 2.41% Sun Life Prosperity GS Fund, Inc. -a 1.7348 6.91% 4.13% 2.37% 1.98% Primarily invested in foreign currency securities ALFM Dollar Bond Fund, Inc. -a $472.23 3.48% 2.42% 2.59% 0.86% ALFM Euro Bond Fund, Inc. -a Є215.03 -0.53% 0.57% 0.86% -2.14% 3.44% 2.67% 2.31% 0.52% ATRAM Total Return Dollar Bond Fund, Inc. -b $1.2135 First Metro Save and Learn Dollar Bond Fund, Inc. -a $0.026 2.36% 1.45% 1.2% 0.78% PAMI Global Bond Fund, Inc -b $1.0645 -1.25% -0.35% -0.03% -2.8% Philam Dollar Bond Fund, Inc. -a $2.428 5.74% 3.05% 2.81% 1.01% Philequity Dollar Income Fund Inc. -a $0.0602707 2.64% 1.83% 1.73% -0.07% Sun Life Prosperity Dollar Abundance Fund, Inc. -a $3.1661 4.45% 2.01% 2.2% -0.29% Money Market Funds Primarily invested in Peso securities 127.73 3.79% 3.13% 2.37% 1.55% ALFM Money Market Fund, Inc. -a First Metro Save and Learn Money Market Fund, Inc. -a 1.0397 2.66% n.a. n.a. 1.31% Sun Life Prosperity Money Market Fund, Inc. -a 1.281 3.27% 3.03% 2.56% 1.3% Primarily invested in foreign currency securities Sun Life Prosperity Dollar Starter Fund, Inc. -a $1.0439 1.7% n.a. n.a. 0.65% Feeder Fund Primarily invested in foreign currency securities -6.06% ALFM Global Multi-Asset Income Fund Inc. -b,d,2 $0.93 n.a. n.a. n.a.

a - NAVPS as of the previous banking day. b - NAVPS as of two banking days ago. c - Listed in the PSE. d - in Net Asset Value per Unit (NAVPU). 1 - Launch date is September 28, 2019. 2 - Launch date is November 15, 2019. 3 - Adjusted due to stock dividend issuance last October 9, 2019. 4 - Renaming was approved by the SEC last October 12, 2018 (formerly, One Wealthy Nation Fund, Inc.). 5 - Launch date is December 09, 2019. 6 - Re-classified into a Bond Fund starting February 21, 2020 (Formerly a Money Market Fund). "While we endeavor to keep the information accurate, the Philippine Investment Funds Association (PIFA) and its members make no warranties as to the correctness of the newspaper’s publication and assume no liability or responsibility for any error or omissions. You may visit http://www. pifa. com.ph to see the latest NAVPS/NAVPU."

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Banking&Finance

Treasury raises ₧28B from T-bills auction

he Bureau of the Treasury borrowed P28 billion in Treasury Bills (T-bills) on Monday’s auction on the back of lower rates and robust demand from investors. The Treasury upsized the volume it awarded to P28 billion as it doubled the non-competitive bids across all tenors. Broken down, the Treasury awarded P7 billion each in 91-day T-bills and 182-day T-bills and P14 billion in 364-day T-bills. The auction was oversubscribed by almost five times with total bids reaching P96.02 billion. National Treasurer Rosalia V. De Leon told reporters following the auction that the “rates [were] still within inflation and bias towards safe haven prevails” amid the economic uncertainty posed even after government eased restrictions against the Covid-19 pandemic. De Leon also announced that they opened the tap facility for an additional P10 billion offering of 364-day T-bills. All tenors fetched lower rates than the previous auction and secondary market rates. The 91-day T-bills capped an average rate of 2.038 percent, even lower by 0.8 basis points

from 2.046 percent previously. Tenders for the tenor reached P21.751 billion, more than four times as much as the initial P5 billion offering. Likewise, the 182-day T-bills posted an average rate of 2.099 percent, sliding by 1.9 basis points from 2.118 percent previously. Bids amounted to P19.375 billion, nearly four times the initial P5 billion offering. Lastly, the 364-day T-bills recorded an average rate of 2.378 percent, a 4.2 basis-point drop from 2.420 percent in the previous auction. Strong demand for this tenor was still evident as tenders reached P54.9 billion, more than five times the P10 billion offering. In a related development, De Leon also announced on Monday that P2 million in cash and two house-and-lot units will be up for grabs as the first and second Premyo bonds raffle draw will be held simultaneously on June 18. The raffle draw was postponed due government’s imposition of a total lockdown on Luzon. The event will finally push through this month following the government’s decision to ease the lockdown in Metro Manila and other areas to general community quarantine. Bernadette D. Nicolas

‘Sell NPAs to unload financial burden’ By Tyrone Jasper C. Piad @Tyronepiad

nloading distressed assets via special-purpose entities can temper losses and boost liquidity of the banking sector amid economic uncertainties brought by government measures to address the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) pandemic. Isla Lipana & Co. Assurance Partner Zaldy D. Aguirre told the BusinessMirror in an interview that holding on to non-performing assets (NPA) can adversely impact the balance sheet of banks, especially now that financial risks are higher as the number of Covid-positive Filipinos are also increasing. NPAs refer to financial institutions’ nonperforming loans (NPLs) and real and other properties acquired (ROPAs) in settlement of loans and receivables. Aguirre explained that NPAs are unproductive assets “and keeping them is very costly from a capital management perspective.” “The financial impact of holding on to these NPAs can be unbearably painful for banks,” he said. Among these costs are professional fees for lawyers, consultants, asset managers and collecting agents and other related operating expenses, Aguirre further explained. He emphasized that while these NPAs have “unlocked value and latent economic benefits,” realizing them would take some time. Aguirre said that not all banks have the luxury of time to do so, especially if they are cash strapped. “Not all banks can afford to play the waiting game and keep these assets longer than necessary,” he said. “A bank would be compelled to bite the bullet and get rid of these NPAs as quickly as possible if it is placed in an extremely tight liquidity position.” With this concern, Aguirre said that selling NPAs to financial institutions’ strategic transfer corporations (FISTC) can help banks convert them into cash faster, should they be paid in cash up front.

He said that proceeds of sale can be allocated for the liquidity reserves and be reinvested in interest-bearing loans or any other income-generating activities. “Banks are required to maintain ample liquidity to meet the needs of depositors while fulfilling their credit line commitments to their customers,” Aguirre underscored. The Isla Lipana official, however, warned the banks that they may not be able to receive the full value of the NPAs to be sold. He said that the firms should be ready to sell these assets at a big discount to facilitate quick sale. Meanwhile, for the part of FISTCs, Aguirre said that they should be able to negotiate well to score optimal discounts or lowest value for the asset pool. “These discounts should match FISTC’s shareholders’ risk appetite and investment return expectations,” he added. When it comes to managing the acquired NPAs, he said the FISTCs should be able to move quickly in order to acquire the incentives from purchasing said assets. “FISTCs are expected to adopt short term strategies to collect aggressively defaulted loans from original borrowers or in the case of foreclosed properties, a plan to liquidate these assets as quickly as possible within the incentive period,” Aguirre said. FISTC is a special-purpose entity or vehicle tasked to acquire, manage and dispose NPAs. Last week, the House of Representatives approved on third reading the Financial Institutions Strategic Transfer (FIST) Act introduced by the House Committee on Banks and Financial Institutions. The bill aims to help financial institutions manage their bad debts and other NPAs amid the adverse financial impact of the pandemic by selling them to asset management companies known as the FISTC. “The House bill aims to create an avenue where banks can pursue the liquidation of NPAs with qualified FISTCs to respond to pressing business concerns like liquidity crunch,” Aguirre added.

BusinessMirror

Tuesday, June 9, 2020 B3

Stimulus bills ‘financially unsustainable’–DOF exec

By Bernadette D. Nicolas

@BNicolasBM

he country’s finance chief said on Monday several provisions in stimulus bills filed separately in the upper and lower houses of Congress are “financially unsustainable.”

Finance Secretary Carlos G. Dominguez III told reporters they already made lawmakers aware of the huge budget deficit that the government will incur from passing the stimulus bills, including the P1.3 trillion “Accelerated Recovery and Investments Stimulus for the Economy” (Arise), which was recently approved on third and final reading by the House of Representatives. The pending stimulus bills in Congress, Dominguez added, are considered as a form of supplemental budget “because it requires spending over and above the current budget.” “The constitution specifically requires the certification of excess funds and new revenue sources to support the passage of any supplemental budget. In running a business or company, we know that borrowings or loans are not revenues. We appreciate the wisdom behind the constitutional provision for in the absence of additional revenues or income, we jeopardize our fiscal sustainability,” Dominguez said. “However, multiple stimulus bills filed by legislators from both houses include a slew of additional provisions that make the proposals fiscally unsustainable.” The lead authors of the Arise bill in the House of Representatives on Monday asserted their measure is “constitutional.” (Related story on page A8.)

Need to reconcile

While Dominguez said the Senate has already “downscaled” its version of a stimulus bill, Dominguez added they still need to reconcile both stimulus measures from the upper and lower chambers.

“The Senate has already downscaled their proposal. But you know, their proposal is so far from the House proposal bill. The House bill is P1.3 trillion and the Senate is P140 billion; so that it’s like a little over 10 percent only of what the House bill is,” he said during the Sulong Pilipinas forum with the business community. “We have to have some kind of reconciliation of the bills before we really can move forward.” The finance chief also belied a report that he refused to spend because he does not want to borrow to finance a bigger stimulus bill. He argued that the Duterte administration “borrowed the most amount of money in any 5-month period compared with any administration in the past.”

The situation

According to the DOF chief, the government has “funded with borrowing within the budget that we have.” “What we cannot fund for borrowing is additional spending over and above the budget and, by the way, in our borrowings, we have done it very conservatively,” he said. “We have achieved very low rates and we have achieved extended terms. So, that is the situation that we are at and people should understand that is a constitutional limitation.” Following criticisms from various sectors, including business groups that the Philippines has one of the lowest spending for stimulus programs among Southeast Asian nations, Dominguez defended his stance that the “fundamental decision” does not depend on the size of the stimulus bill but on the level of

the fiscal deficit that will result from funding the stimulus bill.

such as the hiring of contact tracers.

Right in the middle

The economic team also recommended that wage subsidies be “fiscally viable” in which beneficiaries should be from areas under enhanced community quarantine and distribution should be done via digital payout technologies. In the same forum, the head of the government’s economic team also pushed for four legislative measures to ensure a quick recovery of the ailing economy. These include infusing more capital to government financial institutions, such as Land Bank of the Philippines (LandBank), the Development Bank of the Philippines (DBP) and the Philippine Guarantee Corp., to enable them to assist micro-, small- and medium-enterprises and other companies affected by the pandemic. “Right now we are suggesting that the Landbank of the Philippines and the Development Bank of the Philippines organize a new GOCC [government-owned and -controlled corporation] that will be capitalized and will be empowered to make investments in companies that are that are important to the national interest and that need injections of capital in the form of preferred shares, in the form of ordinary common shares or whatever,” he said.

According to Dominguez, the finance department has “determined that in order to have a sustainable fiscal deficit, and also to convince people who invest in our economy from the outside and the domestic economy that our fiscal deficit should not exceed the average of the fiscal deficits of our neighbors and our peers.” “So if we are too high on one end or too low on one end, it doesn’t do any good,” he added. “If we are right about the middle of the fiscal deficits of our rating peers and our neighbors, I think we will be in a safe place.” For this year, the economic managers had said that the government can finance a budget deficit of up to 9 percent of GDP, which will put the country in the median of comparable countries in Southeast Asia and East Asia, among peers with similar credit ratings, and among other emerging market economies.

Deficit targets

Earlier, the economic team said their own proposed P173 billion fiscal stimulus program—Bayanihan II and the outright 5-percent cut in corporate income tax rate under Corporate Recovery and Tax Incentives for Enterprises Act (Create)—will already add an additional deficit of 0.9 percent of GDP and push the budget deficit this year to 9 percent of GDP. In his presentation, Dominguez laid out three key concerns raised by the economic team on the stimulus bills in Congress. For instance, he said, decisions for the provision of the credit should not only be coursed through but determined and managed solely by government financial institutions, which “possesses the expertise on such functions rather than the various executive agencies with different mandates.” Still, Dominguez said the DOF supports it the proposed cash-forwork program but proposes that this be redirected towards pressing needs related to managing the pandemic,

‘Fiscally viable’

‘Legislative imperatives’

Dominguez added that three other “legislative imperatives” include allowing banks to dispose of nonperforming loans and assets, reducing the corporate income tax rate from 30 percent to 25 percent and other investor-friendly reforms. This could be through a recalibrating or amending the Agri-Agra Reform Credit Act to make it easier for banks to pump fresh capital into the farm sector. On Create, the finance chief also replied positively when asked if the DOF will still push for the retroactive implementation of the outright five percent cut in corporate income tax cut by July onwards if the bill would be passed upon the resumption of session in July.

Asia’s most distressed sovereign debt may force economy ‘reset’

would-be hub of IndoPacific commerce and global tourist gem, Sri Lanka was already struggling to deliver on grand visions before the coronavirus crisis struck the world economy. The next few months may determine its ability to avert a painful debt restructuring. The South Asian nation is locked in talks with the International Monetary Fund for emergency-financing aid, after its second longer-term program with the fund in less than a decade expired last Tuesday. It’s shaping up as a classic battle between a political program geared toward goosing growth, and concerns about raising enough money to rein an already-massive debt load. A sometime favorite among investors—Sri Lanka as of late 2019 had the largest overweight among JPMorgan Chase & Co. clients in Asian frontier bond market—the country has faced down tough times in the past. And the central bank said last month it will again honor all its obligations on time. That may depend on the policies set following upcoming parliamentary elections, a date for which may be announced Monday. Also key: the degree of forbearance from China and India, which have competed for influence in the strategically located Indian Ocean nation. “Sri Lanka could avoid a debt restructuring, but it would need hard

decisions and reset of the economy,” said Saurav Anand, economist for South Asia at Standard Chartered Bank in Mumbai. “Markets fear that given limited fiscal space, if there is a delay in resorting to corrective actions,” a renegotiation of the payment schedule will soon become inevitable. Sri Lanka’s obligations are considerable: external debt makes up more than half of gross domestic product, and Fitch Ratings calculated some $3.2 billion of payments due between May and December this year. The deep and sudden global recession caused by the coronavirus and moves to contain it has forced extraordinary measures by countries the world over. In Sri Lanka’s case, the added challenge is the pre-existing conditions of low growth and enormous debt. The IMF’s 2016 Extended Fund Facility help for Sri Lanka, which expired this month, was supposed to set help set the nation on a stronger development track. Instead, its overall debt ratio has climbed past 90 percent of GDP, as per a JPMorgan report, and the economy last year expanded the least since 2001, at just 2.3 percent.

‘Complex and unstable’

Visions of an export-oriented Indian Ocean hub contrasted with what the IMF in 2018 called a “highly protective” policy regime under which

domestic industries were increasingly shielded. Trade and investment were more restrictive than in peer emerging nations, and a study showed the tax system to be “complex and unstable.” President Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s announcement of wide-ranging tax cuts after his November presidential election victory—aimed at boosting growth—sparked renewed concerns about the country’s debt payments. Sri Lanka’s dollar bonds have become the worst-performing among the sovereign frontier markets in Asia that have been able to raise offshore debt. The notes have lost about 32 percent this year, with its spread over U.S. Treasuries climbing more than 2,400 basis points at one point in May, according to JPMorgan Chase & Co. indexes. Its yield premium was about 1,700 as of June 5, more than double that offered by its peers in the region which are rated in the single B-grade category: Papua New Guinea, Mongolia and Pakistan.

Sovereign ratings front

Fitch cut the nation deeper into junk on April 24 at B- with a negative outlook. Moody’s Investors Service placed it on review for a downgrade from its current B2 rating on April 17. S&P Global Ratings also followed with a downgrade to B- on May 20

but with a stable outlook, saying additional credit lines from multilateral and bilateral resources could help augment $7.1 billion of foreignexchange reserves. The country’s debt load is also a legacy of a borrowing binge after Sri Lanka emerged battered from a bitter 26-year civil war in 2009. Some of that came from China, with Chinese President Xi Jinping’s “Belt and Road” initiative offering the elevation of Sri Lanka as an entrepot port on the route to the Middle East and Europe. Sri Lanka’s government has indicated it’s expecting about $800 million from China and a $400 million swap line from India to boost reserves. The central bank said in a statement May 19 that the government will honor all its debt obligations on time, as it did in difficult times in the past. As for the IMF, no specific timeline has been announced for reaching a deal. As for private-sector investors, all is riding on the official talks. “We are currently defensively positioned on Sri Lanka dollar bonds despite the high yield,” said Thu Ha Chow, a Singapore-based money manager for Asian credit strategies at Loomis Sayles Investments Asia. “But we are following and awaiting for evidence of structural reforms that would build resilience into Sri Lanka’s economy.” Bloomberg News

Tuesday, June 9, 2020

Art

BusinessMirror

www.businessmirror.com.ph

Today’s Horoscope By Eugenia Last

CELEBRITIES BORN ON THIS DAY: Mae Whitman, 32; Natalie Portman, 39; Johnny Depp, 57; Michael J. Fox, 59. Happy Birthday: Look at the possibilities, map out a plan and refuse to let outside influences cause uncertainty or confusion. Know what your budget is, and make cost-efficient changes to ensure that you are successful this year. Learn from experience, and focus on what you know will result in greater security, happiness and peace of mind. Personal growth is encouraged. Your lucky numbers are 7, 18, 24, 29, 33, 41, 45.

ARIES (March 21-April 19): Make positive changes to the way you handle money, how you present yourself to others and the way you deal with people who are heading in a different direction. HHHH

TAURUS (April 20-May 20): You’ll be under pressure to make changes that you may not want to make. A reserved response will be in your best interest. If you let your emotions take over, someone will take advantage of you while you are down. HH

Fractals 1, Dennis Bato, 2020; acrylic, aerosol spray paint, oil on canvas; 47” x 59” (left), Lurking, Faye Pamintuan, 2020, oil on canvas, 30” x 24”

GEMINI (May 21-June 20): Step up and do your part. Look at a situation logistically, and you’ll find a way to work within the confines of whatever you face. Don’t feel you have to follow others or put your ideas or plans on the back burner. HHHHH

Vinyl on Vinyl returns with four solos

HE art gallery Vinyl on Vinyl unveiled over the weekend its first set of new exhibitions in three months. The Makati-based art space went on hiatus following strict community quarantine measures, but is now back with four solo shows, featuring Dennis Bato, Anjo Bolarada, Isola Tong and Faye Pamintuan. The gallery did not host an opening reception for the launch of the new lineup, but they are welcoming limited visitors by appointment throughout the shows’ run throughout June. All works will be featured online. ‘A LINE STARTS & ENDS AT A POINT,’ DENNIS BATO “AN object,” Bato writes in the own exhibition notes, “will always start in a stationary position and will exhibit movement with the help of an outside acting force. Once the force acting upon it weakens, it will then move back to its stationary position.” Bato proceeded to divulge to us his metaphor and talked about life—about how our journey begins at birth and concludes at death. Outside the directness of knowing Points A and B, however, is an impossible complexity of outcomes wherein one choice, one turn, may affect not only our own lives but those of others, as well. That said, Bato’s latest show, titled A Line Starts & Ends at a Point does not start and definitely does end with the matter of life and death. The artist is not solely interested in the course of one line. Rather, he

wants to explore what happens when all these stories intersect, overlap and interact. “People within the society move around a dimension of physical space at a specific time of existence,” Bato said, adding that these footprints turn into memories, which then comprise what is called the “the psychic value” of a place. “Rather than just assessing a place within its natural qualities, the historical aspect that was captured in that location adds to the value of it. The psychic value of a place piles up like layers that exist atop the physical one.” Bato, who has dabbled in installation and street art, has shown a penchant to explore what is beneath a concept’s surface. The artist is an architecture graduate whose works and thinking reflect the principles of deconstructivism, an architectural movement that, as Merriam-Webster puts it, “encourages radical freedom of form and the open manifestation of complexity in a building rather than strict attention to functional concerns and conventional design elements [such as right angles or grids].” The same is true for Bato’s pieces featured in his latest solos show—where the use of acrylic, aerosol spray paint, oil on canvas conjures layered depth—reflecting not just on the path of one life, but with the interactions of many within a network, within a “dimension of physical space at a specific time of existence.” ‘FOR/AGES,’ ANJO BOLARADA BOLARADA is talented enough to afford compelling artistic expression through different genres, from drawing to painting, from mural to installation, from video to performance. He deals with the relationships of man with himself, with one another, and with his environment. For his latest exhibition, the chosen topic is food security, and the weapon of choice are spoons. Bolarada takes the cue from the cliché “born with a silver spoon,” creating a group of expressionless, human-faced spoons, representing the widened social-economic divide due to the current pandemic.

CANCER (June 21-July 22): Place more emphasis on getting things done and obtaining the knowledge and experience required to move on to your next challenge. A positive change will encourage you to broaden your outlook, as well as your interests. Distance yourself from meddlers. HHH

The show is titled For/Ages, a play on the word “foraging,” or the process of gathering food; and “for ages,” signifying the time spent on the relentless cycle of hunger and satiation. ‘FOREST OF AGENCIES,’ ISOLA TONG Forest of Agencies is Isola Tong’s convergence of interests. Inclined to transgender politics and ecosystems, the artist is also an architect who’s part of a larger research project on the Arroceros Forest Park, tagged as “Manila’s last lung” cared for and preserved by the women of Winner Foundation. Tong reimagines the project and looks into the relationship between urban life and the flourishing forest, consistent with her inclination to animate environments. In turning our attention to this exemplary ecology, we are transported to “a chimeric locationality outside the heteronormative time-space constructs, rife with anachronisms, multiplicities, moments and becomings.” For the show, Tong created six paintings that depict cellular cartography. ‘UGH,’ FAYE PAMINTUAN RECENT news events have been taxing, to say the least. It takes a toll on everyone, and Pamintuan is no exception. The young artist spent her formative years in Texas, and is currently residing in Bulacan. Having to deal with places on opposite sides of the world led Pamintuan to question the idea of barriers and to fill the space in between. Such was her task in her latest exhibit, wherein the artist tried to fill the gaps and make sense of everything that has been happening. The result is a show titled with the monosyllabic sigh of defeat: ugh. Using gestural brushstrokes and color combinations that communicate her textured feelings, Pamintuan produced pieces that tackle aspects of living during these uncertain times. One deals with makeshift living; another talks about body clock. But through the artist’s articulate interpretation, each piece successfully conveys the very emotion of the show’s title. n

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): Do what you need to do, but don’t make unnecessary changes to your plans or your expenditures. Keep your life running smoothly, and stick to what works best for you. HHH

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): Pay more attention to what others do. You’ll gain insight into how best to respond to a situation that has the potential to affect your status, reputation or position. HHH

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22): Take hold of whatever situation you face, and make it work for you. Discipline, initiative and being ready to take action physically will ensure that you don’t waste time or get caught in a verbal battle due to someone’s stubbornness. HHHHH

SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): Say less and do more. If you give in to emotions or bend to someone’s manipulative ways, you will not accomplish what you set out to do. Focus on what’s important to you, and pursue domestic changes that make you happy. HH

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): Do things your way, and avoid outside interference. Pay more attention to fitness, health and the way you present yourself to others. An important relationship will need nurturing if you have neglected your personal duties or responsibilities. Make amends. HHHH

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): Talk about the changes you want to make at home. A fresh start that encourages better health will lead to research and implementing a routine that is geared toward a strict fitness and diet routine. HHH

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): If you follow someone, you will feel you missed out on something that may have inspired you to achieve personal growth. Stretch your imagination, and explore the possibility of doing your own thing. HHH

PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20): Do what you must, but don’t agree to something that may jeopardize your health or relationship with someone you love. Guard against being taken advantage of or being coerced into something detrimental to you financially, physically or emotionally. HHH Birthday Baby: You are smart, adaptable and innovative. You are passionate and sensitive.

‘owe back’ by warren houck The Universal Crossword/Edited by David Steinberg

ACROSS 1 Devious plan 7 Apt shirt for a golfer? 10 National drink of Japan 14 Greek’s foe in the “Iliad” 15 Tomahawk or hatchet: Var. 16 Say grace, say 17 “Save yourself from sin!” 18 Brew to sneak into a caveman-style diet? 20 Grand-scale 21 Revered person 23 Like many bathroom floors 24 Skill with a green sauce? 27 ___ and done with 28 Jittery 32 “Pong” developer 35 Humorous Bombeck 38 Cuckoo clock part 39 Close to the ground 40 Wrestling in a poorly lit dohyo? 43 Rover’s movement? 44 Hazy pollution 46 Hemsworth who dated Miley Cyrus 47 Kind of bean or horse

9 Do a favor for 4 51 Craft bracelet item 53 Ruthless sports commissioner? 59 Tree with a sugar variety 62 Hold firmly 63 “Stat!” 64 Symbol on a sign at a Christmas tree lot? 66 Get there 68 Gait faster than a walk 69 Prefix for -phyte 70 Waterlogged 71 Fez and fedora 72 Atypical 73 Dwell excessively (on) DOWN 1 Throat trouble, informally 2 Thin pancake 3 Arizona natives 4 Type of seat in James Bond’s car 5 Burning ___ (Nevada event) 6 Allure 7 Touch lightly 8 Lionize 9 Sushi fish that’s always cooked

0 Rotten 1 11 Shrunken Asian sea 12 Green in healthy chips 13 Watched warily 19 British boys school 22 Start of a musical scale 25 Roman love poet 26 Go here and there 29 This answer’s direction 30 Trendy yoga animal 31 Therefore 32 The Sun ___ Rises 33 Pharaoh’s resting place 34 Army no-show, briefly 36 Mandela was its pres. 37 Bombay, today 41 Martinique et Tahiti 42 October birthstone 45 Turkey innards 48 Admission requirements, sometimes 50 Highlander 52 Texas city just north of Chihuahua 54 Pranked on Halloween 55 Bunch of chicks 56 Stage whisper

7 Covers with tar 5 58 Starts welcoming customers 59 Loch Ness monster, to a skeptic 60 Invisible glow 61 Secret plan 65 Plastic ___ Band 67 Steal from

Solution to yesterday’s puzzle:

Show BusinessMirror

www.businessmirror.com.ph

Tuesday, June 9, 2020

A writer in the forthcoming Law & Order: Organized Crime spin-off has been fired because of Facebook posts.

Prince William reveals he’s been a helpline volunteer LONDON—Britain’s Prince William has revealed that he has been anonymously helping out on a crisis helpline during the coronavirus lockdown. The Duke of Cambridge’s work with Shout 85258—an around-the-clock text messaging helpline developed by the Royal Foundation—was made public to mark Volunteers Week. Last month, he told fellow volunteers in a video call that was shared on social media late Friday: “I’m going to share a little secret with you guys, but I’m actually on the platform volunteering.” William, who is second in line to the throne, is one of more than 2,000 volunteers who have been formally trained to help those in need. More than 300,000 text conversations have taken place between volunteers and people needing mental health support, with around 65 percent of those texting aged under 25. William’s wife, the Duchess of Cambridge, has also been helping others by taking part in “check in and chat” calls with people self-isolating or vulnerable during the pandemic. AP

Rep’s popular theater workshops plus new class go online MANY people have been using their newfound “extra” time at home to learn something new, whether it’s literature, a foreign language, or the art of baking. Now, Repertory Philippines gives you the chance to explore the world of theater from your home. Get the full Rep workshop experience through intensive online classes ongoing until June 31. For decades, Rep has offered summer workshops to train the next generation of theater talent. And in fact many of Rep’s talented workshop students have entered professional theater through the workshops and they now proudly join the ranks of the company’s roster of professional actors. The classes are taught by seasoned Rep actors and veterans. Beyond teaching theater performance skills, the workshops have also helped students gain real-life skills that last a lifetime. The classes build confidence, enhance communication skills, improve kinesthetic learning, sharpen memory skills, heighten creativity and aptitude, and develop an appreciation for discipline, focus and teamwork. Rep’s Workshops for the Performing Arts include Musical Theater classes that teach the basics of acting, singing and dancing—skills required for musical theater. Enrollees will be grouped by age: Kiddies (ages four to eight), Preteens (ages nine to 12), Teens (ages 13 to 16), and Adults (ages 17 and up). Also, for students who wish to focus on honing a specialty such as voice, or dance and movement, special classes are being offered on Voice, as well as Dance and Movement, both with an emphasis on musical theater performance. For the first time, Rep is launching a class on costume design, which is open to creatives and enthusiasts aged 16 and above. Costume Design for Children’s Theater Musicals will be taught by USbased costume designer Raven Ong. He has been responsible for many of the company’s dazzling costumes, and has been nominated thrice for the prestigious Gawad Buhay for Outstanding Costume Design. Enrollment is now open with a fee of P6,000 for the Musical Theater classes, P6,000 for the special classes in Voice, as well as Dance and Movement, and P8,000 for the costume design class. More information about the workshops and enrollment is available at bit.ly/2zMOV14 or Repphilfoundation@gmail.com.

Ill-considered posts lead to lost jobs amid protests, crisis

By Andrew Dalton The Associated Press

OS ANGELES—A writer from a Law & Order spin-off and the play-by-play broadcaster for the NBA’s Sacramento Kings found themselves out of jobs after making socialmedia posts this week that their bosses found too incendiary or insensitive, highlighting an apparent surge in such firings across many lines of work. Lost jobs over social-media statements that seemed like a good idea at the time have become a common occurrence, but the tense environment of nationwide protests against racism and police brutality with the backdrop of the coronavirus pandemic have made Twitter, Instagram and Facebook especially dangerous for those who want to remain among the employed. With the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis, who died after a police officer pinned his knee into his neck, even when he had become unresponsive, and the coronavirus that has killed over 100,000 and left others unemployed and many socially distant, feelings and emotions are strong. It can be difficult to resist the urge to post or tweet, even for people such as police officers, local officials or teachers who are bound to draw scrutiny. “People when they see a breaking news story they get that rush of wanting to be a part of something,” said Danny Deraney, a publicist who often works in crisis management. “There’s an adrenaline. They feel like they’re saying something so profound. But they need to think before they tweet.” Craig Gore, who has worked on the shows S.W.A.T. and Chicago P.D., was fired Tuesday from the forthcoming Law & Order: Organized Crime spinoff because of Facebook posts. One was captioned “Curfew...” in which he’s shown holding a rifle on his front porch, and in another full of expletives, he threatens to shoot looters who come near his home. Given the gravity of the moment, Gore’s boss, Law & Order franchise creator Dick Wolf, did not warn or suspend him but went straight to firing, saying in a statement, “I will not tolerate this conduct, especially

during our hour of national grief.” A lawyer for Gore did not respond to a request for comment. Grant Napear, longtime TV announcer for the NBA’s Sacramento Kings was fired from his talk radio job and subsequently resigned Tuesday from the team’s broadcast crew after he tweeted “ALL LIVES MATTER” and more to former Kings player DeMarcus Cousins when asked his opinion on the Black Lives Matter movement. Bonneville International, owner of the radio station that fired Napear, said in a statement, “The timing of Grant’s tweet was particularly insensitive.” Napear later tweeted, “I’ve been doing more listening than talking the past few days,” and “I believe the past few days will change this country for the better!” And social media-based firings are not just for the prominent. Many others from public-facing institutions and businesses have been sanctioned, demoted, suspended or fired for impolitic statements online in recent days. The principal trombonist from the Austin Symphony Orchestra was let go after a string of Facebook comments, including one in which she said black protesters “deserve what they get.” The personal accounts of police are under especially tight scrutiny. A Denver officer was fired Tuesday for writing “Let’s start a riot” as the caption to an Instagram picture of himself and two fellow officers smiling in riot gear. An officer in Fulton, New York, posted an Instagram image that read, “Black lives only matter to black people unless they are killed by a white person” and found himself out of a job. The poor timing cited by the former bosses Gore and Napear can make posts that might otherwise pass unnoticed have major consequences, especially in a moment marked by a volatile combination of politics and race. “If you’re in a situation like this, you’ve got to read the room,” Deraney said. You’ve got to get a sense of what’s going on. You don’t need to always say something. These people who are getting fired or resigning, they’re not realizing this.” n

Popular ABS-CBN shows, new offerings on cable TV, TFC THE popular TV series FPJ’s Ang Probinsiyano and a host of programs from ABS-CBN return to the small screen via TFC this month. The other teleseryes making a comeback are A Soldier’s Heart and Love Thy Woman. For those who missed ABS-CBN’s top variety and musical shows, the hosts and artists of It’s Showtime and ASAP Natin ‘To also make a comeback to provide TFC subscribers with joy, fun and music from world-class performers. Mornings will be spiced anew with Magandang Buhay momshies Jolina Magdangal, Melai Cantiveros and Karla Estrada bringing back their heartwarming discussions. The flagship news program TV Patrol will continue to deliver relevant news and information to viewers live and with same day replay. Some new shows will also be launched, according to the company. Judy Ann SantosAgoncillo will be seen in the new show, called Paano Kita Mapasasalamatan, while Angel Locsin will be hosting Iba ‘Yan. Both are public service programs that will put the spotlight on stories and experiences of real people and the life challenges that they face. The new and returning programs will be seen in the Philippines on the new Kapamilya Channel on cable and satellite TV that are owned and operated by other companies, and are not covered by the cease-and-desist order issued by the National Telecommunications Commission to ABS-CBN. For viewers around the world, the aforementioned Filipino shows can be enjoyed on TFC cable and satellite, IPTV and www.tfc.tv.

J.K. Rowling’s tweets on transgender people spark outrage LOS ANGELES—Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling is facing hefty backlash after she posted a series of tweets about transgender people. Rowling drew outrage Saturday on Twitter when she criticized an opinion piece published by the web site Devex, a media platform for the global development community, that used the phrase “people who menstruate.” “I’m sure there used to be a word for those people,” the famous British author tweeted. “Someone help me out. Wumben? Wimpund? Woomud?” She continued with another thread speaking about the concept of biological sex. “If sex isn’t real, there’s no same-sex attraction,” she tweeted. “If sex isn’t real, the lived reality of women globally is erased. I know and love trans people, but erasing the concept of sex removes the ability of many to meaningfully discuss their lives. It isn’t hate to speak the truth.” Rowling’s tweets caused a firestorm of responses from the LGBTQ community and others who were upset with her words. A Harry Potter fan group

tweeted its disapproval of Rowling’s post and encouraged followers to donate to a group that supports black transgender women. Rowling said she respects “every trans person’s rights to live any way that feels authentic and comfortable to them.” She went on to say she would march “if you were discriminated against on the basis of being trans. At the same time, my life has been shaped by being female. I do not believe it’s hateful to say so.” GLAAD issued a response on Twitter, calling Rowling’s tweets “inaccurate and cruel.” The advocacy organization dedicated to LGBTQ equality then asked those upset by the author’s comments to support organizations that help black transgender people. “JK Rowling continues to align herself with an ideology which willfully distorts facts about gender identity and people who are trans,” GLAAD tweeted. “In 2020, there is no excuse for targeting trans people.” Rowling’s representative has not responded to an e-mail request for comment. AP

B6 Tuesday, June 9, 2020

PLDT, Smart partner with Grab for rapid and convenient delivery of internet products

Al Panlilio

LDT Inc., the country’s leading telco and digital services provider, and Grab, Southeast Asia’s leading everyday super app, have announced a groundbreaking partnership to quickly deliver internet solutions straight to Filipino homes. This is part of the company’s ongoing efforts to further pivot toward more onlinedriven services, bolstering its already significant digital presence in anticipation of the ‘next new normal’. Under this partnership, PLDT and Grab will provide various online channels through which customers can conveniently order PLDT Home and Smart’s products and have them delivered straight to their homes within 24 hours. Starting June 8, 2020, PLDT Home

Brian Cu

customers in the Greater Metro Manila area can order PLDT Home Wifi Prepaid units through the PLDT Home website and get their units delivered via the Grab Express delivery service. Purchases can be either paid through debit or credit card for cashless delivery or cash-on-delivery. Another ingenious offering by both PLDT Inc. and Grab are the PLDT Home and Smart Stores on GrabMart, an on-demand grocery delivery solution, where customers can likewise order the PLDT Home Wifi Prepaid kit and have it immediately brought to their homes. To further enhance the partnership, Smart will also allow instant loading of prepaid accounts through the Grab app using the GrabPay wallet. Smart prepaid customers

can easily buy load or mobile data packages for as low as Php 50 using their own number or buy for family and friends. PLDT-Smart SVP and Consumer Business Customer Development Head Alex O. Caeg added,“We’ve started with PLDT products. Soon, more of Smart’s products and services will be made more accessible through GrabMart. This is aligned with Smart’s commitment to bring simple solutions and amazing experiences to enrich the digital lives of Filipinos.” Grab Philippines president Brian Cu said, “We are thrilled to partner with PLDT Inc. in making internet more available to more homes using our super app services. It has always been Grab’s aim to empower Filipinos to do more everyday by leveraging the use of digital technologies that improve their lives and make them future-ready. Our partnership with PLDT jumpstarts the many initiatives we have to deliver positive and a sustainable impact for the benefit of all Filipinos" “Together with Grab, a leader in the digital, app-based transport, food, and logistics space, we are making it quick, convenient, and safe for our customers to enjoy our products and services through on-demand orders coupled with rapid delivery,” said Smart President and PLDT Chief Revenue Officer, Al S. Panlilio. “ Visit www.pldthome.com and www.smart.com.ph.

Toyota announces E-Sports GR Supra GT Cup Asia – Philippines this July

OYOTA Motor Philippines announces the launch of their latest online E-Sports program – GR Supra GT Cup Asia – Philippines. This move was brought about by the latest situation where safety is of highest concern to everyone and mass gatherings like physical races are foreseen to be limited in the coming months. “Safety of our customers, employees, and fans are always at the top of our priority,” expressed TMP President Atsuhiro Okamoto. “But we also recognize the value of waku-doki spirit in everyone! This is a great way to sustain the excitement of motorsports program in the Philippines in a safe environment.” The GR Supra GT Cup Asia – Philippines, an e-racing event under Toyota’s Gazoo Racing motorsports program, will be fully held online and will be open to the public, ages 18 and above. “Finally, Toyota fans can participate in our sports program at the comfort and safety of their own homes. We also expect this activity to reach a wider and younger audience, based on the profile of gamers.” The online e-race, using Toyota’s legendary sports car icon, the GR Supra, is expected to start in July 2020. Winners of the e-race will get a chance to participate in the regional finals, the GR Supra GT Cup – Asia.

E-Sports in the Philippines have grown in popularity over the years. The addition of E-sports programs in various international competitions, producing Filipino medalists, have further legitimized the sport. The GR Supra GT Cup Asia – Philippines is Toyota’s fun and safe alternative to holding the country’s number one motorsports program, The Vios Racing Festival. Usually held in 3 legs from the second to the fourth quarter, the current situation makes it very challenging for Toyota, the racings teams,

the drivers, and public spectators to do this physical event. “We look forward to a better 2021 Vios Racing Festival Season where we can go back to the tracks again and feel the heat and excitement. But for now, we invite everyone to join the GR Supra GT Cup Asia E-Sports Program,” Okamoto concluded. More details of the GR Supra GT Cup Asia – Philippines will be announced soon. Stay tuned at Toyota.com.ph and facebook/ ToyotaMotorPhilippines to get updates.

Enchanted Kingdom supports DepEd’s brigada eskwela 2020 virtual kick-off

EPARTMENT of Education’s annual ‘Brigada Eskwela’ prior to official opening of classes on August 24 was atypical this year as they launched virtual program far from the usual school cleanup, classroom repaint, and repairs. DepEd’s ‘Bayanihan 2020’ is focused on strengthening

collaboration with different sectors and private stakeholders to ensure that quality education is not compromised amidst pandemic through a provision of opportunities under the department’s Learning Continuity Plan. Enchanted Kingdom President and CEO Mario O. Mamon, reaffirmed its support

to DepEd during the launch of joint Brigada Eskwela and Oplan Balik Eskwela Program. Mr. Mamon assured that the Department’s call for support will be cropped up, “please consider EK your unique and alternative learning venue as we collectively seek various ways to effectively implement the basic education learning continuity plan of the department this coming school year. We are still in uncertain and challenging times, but with the Filipino Bayanihan spirit, we shall move forward and overcome as one.” EK has been a staunch advocate of education. Over the years, the country’s leading theme park conducts adopt-aschool initiative from different schools in CALABARZON region transforming every classroom into an Enchanting Learning Zone. Brigada Eskwela and Oplan Balik Eskwela program runs from June 1 to August 29, 2020.

Citi Foundation partners with PBSP for COVID-19 Community Response Program

Citi Foundation in partnership with PBSP provides survival packs to communities in need.

ITI Foundation is contributing a total of Php7.5 million to the COVID-19 Community Response Program of the Philippine Business for Social Progress, Inc. (PBSP), the largest corporate-led nonprofit organization in the country. This partnership aims to provide immediate relief to Filipinos who are most affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. Citi Foundation’s contribution to PBSP’s program will help provide survival packs to 7,200 households or approximately 36,000 individuals. Each survival pack contains at least five kilograms of rice, fresh vegetables, fish, dressed chicken, and canned halal grocery items that can support a family of five for five days. “Citi Philippines is deeply committed to our stakeholders and the country in supporting those in need during this challenging time. In partnership with PBSP, we are complemeting our business activities with philanthropic initiatives to help medical frontliners and affected communities,” said Citi Philippines CEO Aftab Ahmed. Non-government organizations Samahan ng Nagkakaisang Pamilya ng Pantawid (SNPP) and Caritas Manila, Inc. were tapped to identify the beneficiaries of

the COVID-19 Community Response Program. Likhaan Center for Women’s Health, Inc., a non-profit engaged in helping women in marginalized communities, is also helping to set up quarantine centers to further boost the program. In addition, PBSP will be procuring and distributing 4,920 personal protective equipment (PPEs) to identified hospitals to help safeguard frontline healthcare workers while they fight to save lives during these trying times. “We are grateful to have the opportunity to respond to the needs of these communities in close collaboration with like-minded organizations. This partnership with Citi Philippines is a boost to the national efforts to fight this pandemic as we all face this huge challenge together,” said PBSP Executive Director Rey Laguda. In addition to these efforts, Citi has launched a global employee donation campaign called Double the Good. For every $1 donated by a Citi employee to any organization or initiative in support of COVID-19 relief, Citi will donate $1 to one of four organizations selected by each of Citi’s regions to address unique challenges. For Asia Pacific, the chosen recipient is the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)

DLSU welcomes freshmen with tuition waivers

e La Salle University opens its doors to its incoming freshmen in July for those who want to get a head start on their tertiary education. These students can start exploring and adapting to an alternate mode of learning, the DLSU way. Students who opt out of this opportunity will start their first year in college in October during the start of the new academic year in La Salle. In his message, DLSU Chancellor Br. Bernard Oca FSC shared that as the University moves forward together they thought of this endeavor to help their new students maximize their time and resources as things slowly normalize and we transition into our post-quarantine lives. The University continues to find ways to support Lasallians and help soften the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the financial conditions of its students. Incoming freshmen enrolling for Term 3, AY 2019-2020 will benefit from the 20%

tuition and 32.6% miscellaneous fees discount, which brings the average tuition and fees for Term 3, AY 2019-2020 to P65,000. DLSU will also implement 3 Payment Options during this term. Parents can choose to pay in full or in two and three installments. For AY 2020-2021, the University will not implement an increase in tuition and fees. Moreover, a tuition discount of 10% will be given on Term 1, and 5% tuition discount on Term 2. With the opening of classes in July, DLSU will be implementing the Lasallian Remote and Engaged Approach for Connectivity in Higher Education (R.E.A.C.H.), a full support ecosystem such as learning spaces, libraries, laboratories, social events, and career services to respond to the current needs of its students. Classes will utilize a full online learning mode, unless the situation changes and permits to conduct face-toface classes.

RWM's yummiest now ready for delivery

Casa Buenas’ Grilled Iberico Pork Jowl now available for delivery

T’S now been more than 80 days since a highlyinfectious virus forced us to stay in our homes and miss out on many of the things we’ve gotten to love about and in the outside world like enjoying live entertainment; engaging in active travel, sports and recreational activities; and relishing wide varieties of delicacies and food. Glorious food. To Resorts World Manila (RWM) regulars, it will be quite understandable for them to already start missing and craving for such gastronomic favorites such as Victoria Harbor Café’s Stewed Beef Brisket and Tendon Noodles Soup and the signature Pork Char Sui; Happy 9’s Crispy Roasted Pork Belly with Dark Soya Sauce and Wok-Fried Kong Poh Chicken; Silk Road’s Curry Laksa and Lamb Kofta Kebab; and even pre-pandemic newbie restaurant Casa Buenas’ Grilled Iberico Pork Jowl and Garlic Pancit Noodles with Crab Meat. Certainly, mere mention of these dishes should already be enough to immediately make Resorts World Manila loyal diners’ mouths water for they know very well just how excellently good these dishes are. While the recent easing of Metrowide restrictions to a General Community Quarantine have now made a trip to the country’s pioneering integrated resort possible, RWM still kept the interest of its publics in mind and found ways for them to still enjoy a taste of the property’s most popular and heavily-missed flavors, without necessarily

having to leave their homes. Starting June 6, RWM restaurants Victoria Harbor Café, Happy 9, Silk Road and Casa Buenas have come up with a selection of their most popular dishes which can now be enjoyed via delivery. Either for personal or home consumption or for a large party or corporate gathering, the four restaurants are now extending the world-class dining experience they offer right in your own homes or offices. To place orders, interested need only to call 79088885 or Text 0917-878-8856. Orders are cooked, packed, and delivered fresh right to the customer’s doorsteps. To ensure utmost efficiency in its delivery system, RWM devised its own delivery service called “Delishvery” which actually stands for: delicious dishes delivered. Orders may be settled via MasterCard and VISA debit cards; major credit cards and COD. Likewise, dining outlets of RWM-based hotels like Marriott Hotel Manila, Sheraton Manila Hotel and Hotel Okura Manila, as well as select restaurants at Newport Mall also offer pick-up and delivery services. To order, interested parties should just contact the individual hotels directly. For more details, visit www.rwmanila.com, or follow the official social media accounts, @rwmanila on Facebook and Twitter, and @resortsworldmanila on Instagram.

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

Sports BusinessMirror

BERNAL: I WANT TO WIN ALL THREE GRAND TOURS R

EIGNING Tour de France champion Egan Bernal stated his ambition to join the select club of riders who have won each of the three Grand Tours. The Colombian, who last year became the

first rider from his country to win the Tour, has yet to race either the Giro d’Italia or Vuelta a España. Only seven riders have achieved the feat in the history of cycling—Jacques Anquetil, Felice Gimondi, Eddy Merckx, Bernard Hinault, Alberto Contador, Vincenzo Nibali and Chris Froome. Bernal’s compatriot, Nairo Quintana

(Arkéa-Samsic) is the active rider closest to completing the Grand Tour triple, having won the Giro and Vuelta while finishing second in the Tour on two occasions. “I want to win the three Grand Tours,” Bernal told an interview with Italian newspaper La Stampa. Since moving to Team Ineos from Androni Giocattoli in 2018, the 23-year-old has competed at two Tours de

EGAN BERNAL wants to become the eighth man in cycling history to win all three tours.

College hoops coaches discuss racism, diversity

RANK MARTIN remembers the day 22 years ago when he was stopped by a police officer in the middle of nowhere, when he was driving across the country from his home in Miami to help coach a youth basketball camp. “An officer walked up to my window and asked, ‘What’s a guy from your neck of the woods doing up here, like real sarcastically,” the South Carolina coach recalled. “My proper name is Francisco, middle name Jose. He starts making fun of how to enunciate my name. And he said, ‘You’re one of those banana boat guys down there where you’re from,’ so right that moment I was kind of like, trying to figure out how to handle that moment. Common sense said, ‘Frank, defuse.’” It wasn’t the first time Martin experienced racism. It wouldn’t be the last. But it left such an indelible impression on him that all these years later, it was among the first things that came to mind when he saw a video of a white Minneapolis police officer kneeling on the neck of George Floyd as the black man pleaded for help with his final breaths. And it’s why Martin, the son of Cuban political exiles and the first of his family born in the US, is joining dozens of other basketball coaches to discuss issues of race and discrimination amid the social unrest that has gripped the nation. “He was trying to incite me the whole time,” Martin said during a panel discussion Friday with members of the National Association of Basketball Coaches. “Luckily for me I didn’t say anything to him, and he left and I left”—after not one but two tickets—“but in retrospect my biggest failure is that I never took action afterward.” The NABC already has released a list of recommendations for college coaches. Among the suggestions are holding in-person or virtual meetings to discuss current events and racial injustice; establishing Election Day as an annual team day off and helping student-athletes register to vote; holding in-person and virtual meetings with local law enforcement and community leaders; and encouraging teams to be advocates on campus and society in general. The discussion Friday came the same day Texas State ordered an investigation into a former player’s allegations of racist remarks by basketball coach Danny Kaspar—allegations athletic director Larry Teis called “deeply troubling.” “I think we’re all basically going to be affected by this similarly,” Houston Coach Kelvin Sampson said. “This has motivated me to hug my players. Hug my family. Take care of them, but also give them a platform. I gave all our kids a platform to share stories and their feelings, and I think that’s a positive that has come out of that.” Sampson was born in Laurinburg, North Carolina, in 1955. It was an era in which discrimination was still rampant across the country, but especially in the South, and nearly a decade before President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the The Civil Rights Act of 1964. The things Sampson saw as a child came flooding back when he saw the video from Minneapolis. “To me, he might as well have had a pillowcase over his head with his eyes dotted out and his nose dotted out,” Sampson said. “It just brought back memories of the Ku Klux Klan from the ‘50s and ’60s.” Sampson said the look on the face of Officer Derek Chauvin, who has since been charged with 2nd-degree murder, gave him the impression that “he was enjoying what he was doing. It almost brought you to tears.” It did bring tears to the eyes of longtime basketball coach, Ernie Kent, who remembered being stuck in the back of a police car as a nineyear-old and driven around the block so that a white woman could tell an officer whether he had stolen her purse. Kent was heartened, though, when he spent Thursday night at a march in Oregon. “Ninety-five percent of them were white and young,” said Kent, who played for Oregon and later coached 13 seasons in Eugene. “And they were carrying ‘Black Lives Matter’ signs, ‘Protect our Freedom,’ and all these things were coming out of them, and I just sat and watched for an hour from afar.” AP

Tuesday, June 9, 2020 B7

France and is set to target it again this year. Despite the condensed post-Covid-19 calendar, Bernal could feasibly target a Tour-Vuelta double this season, although he has previously indicated that he won’t ride the Vuelta this year. Bernal is, however, set to target the Giro d’Italia next season. “It is a race that is very close to my heart,” he said of the race. “If I participate, it is to win. Then I want to do the same in the Vuelta a España. I think it would be great to win all three of them and be a part of the history of the sport.” This September, Bernal is set to form part of a three-pronged Ineos leadership team at the Tour de France, with past winners Froome and Geraint Thomas likely the second and third favorites for victory behind him. There has already been much talk of who

will eventually lead the British team, with a recent statement from Ineos indicating that a decision will come nearer the race, which is set to kick off on August 29. With the threat of not leading the squad in France, four-time winner Froome has been linked with a mid-season transfer, while the Brit’s ex-rival Alberto Contador has mused that the rise of Bernal is behind a potential Froome move. Bernal said that the team will make the decision in France and that he has a good relationship with his co-leaders. “I have an excellent relationship with Froome and Thomas,” Bernal said. “We behave honestly and sincerely, like real professionals. As always, the course will be decisive. I have a lot of confidence in the team and in the strategy that should take us to victory.” Cyclingnews

declined six of the past seven seasons. In college football, 13 of the 130 schools that played in the Football Bowl Subdivision reported average crowd sizes of 50 percent or less last season. Even the NFL has seen an increase in empty seats despite its generally rock-solid popularity. So as coronavirus concerns linger, how are teams going to lure fans back when stadiums do reopen? Loyalty and engagement apps, widespread around the major leagues and colleges even before the pandemic, will become even more common and interactive as teams try to recapture lost revenue. There also will be more behind-thescenes content and enhancements available via smartphones that will only be available to those in the stadium or arena, offering fans something unique over fans watching at home. “Fans want that experience to be topnotch, period. That’s why teams are thinking about this,” said Britton Stackhouse Miller, senior vice president at Fortress US, a developer of engagement and integration systems with clients in European soccer, baseball, the National Basketball Association, NFL and National Hockey League. Temperature checks, hand sanitizer distribution stations and touchless vending will become the norm for a while. Even concessions will change, though one big difference— gulp—could lead to a lot of grumbling. “If you don’t sell beer the number of visits to the bathroom drops dramatically,” said Marc Ganis, the director of sports consulting firm Sportscorp. “So for a time we may have to think about not selling beer.” It won’t just be the vast oceans of bench seats left open, either. Many experts believe those hardy fans will be the first to return. It’s the corporate suites from which many colleges and pro franchises derive so much of their gameday revenue that may end up being empty until long after games have resumed. Economic woes may last for some time. For fans who stay home, leagues are

looking for ways to keep them engaged, too. When Germany’s top soccer league returned without fans, broadcaster Sky knew it had a problem with silence coming through the TV. Engineers created “carpet audio” from previous games between the same teams, then teased out roars for specific events such as goals and red cards, giving those watching at home the option of a more realistic experience. “This was the only idea that we thought could be most respectful to the fans,” said Alessandro Reitano, vice president of sports production for Sky Deutschland. “To be honest, it’s a major success.” Old crowd noise is a bit like an old game, though. It lacks a certain authenticity. So along came ChampTrack, which created an app that utilizes the microphones of fans. It captures their every roar and groan and sends the audio to its server, which then aggregates the noise into a single stream. That stream is then returned to the viewer using proprietary algorithms to provide the broadcast with realtime sound, which is then immediately erased to ensure personal privacy. “Once they press play on our Web app, they can hear what everyone else is cheering about and their own cheer,” said ChampTrack Chief Executive Elias Anderson, adding the system could soon handle as many as 150,000 fans for each game. Sound is one element of the fan experience. Optics is another. “When it was clear there would be no audience this season, the fans had the idea of bringing their images to the stadium,” said Lubbo Popken, deputy press secretary for German soccer club Borussia Monchengladbach, which affixed fan likenesses to their seats. “We were surprised how many people wanted to be part of this idea and have their images in the stadium. It really changed the atmosphere in the empty stadium.” Of course, none of that is the same as having real fans creating real noise.

REAL FANS NOW THING OF PAST?

IN this October 2012 photo, Green Bay Packers wide receiver Donald Driver celebrates a touchdown after doing a Lambeau Leap during the second half of their National Football League game against the Jacksonville Jaguars in Green Bay, Wisconsin, as Gavin Bollmer (left) and his buddy, Austin LaFountain, wear masks as they tour Globe Life Field, home of the Texas Rangers on the first day of public tours in Arlington, Texas, last week. AP

By Dave Skretta

The Associated Press

ANSAS CITY, Montana—Dayton Moore remembers so clearly the vast sections of empty seats inside Kauffman Stadium when he took over as general manager of the Kansas City Royals, and he remembers just as vividly—nearly a decade later—how those seats filled and fans roared as the longsuffering club won the World Series. Those dueling memories make the thought of playing games in empty stadiums hard for Moore to fathom. “I know how much strength all players draw from the fans and environment,” he said, when asked about plans to play a shortened season without crowds, “and you need that

support to get through an entire Major League Baseball schedule.” As lockdowns are lifted and restrictions eased, sports are finally starting to emerge in the coronavirus pandemic. But in virtually every situation, fans are not yet being allowed to attend and the only consensus for now is that there could be a long period of empty or nearly empty seating. Some US universities are modeling for 25 percent capacity for the upcoming football season or maybe half-full arenas for the ensuing basketball season. “I think for most sports, a reduced crowd wouldn’t negatively impact the overall experience, especially in a situation like baseball or even the NFL [National Football League],” said Katy Lucy, a digital marketing agent from Atlanta whose fandom is split between all things Georgia Bulldogs and the

Washington Capitals. “But it would be different for sure for those who attend in person.” Count her family among those who would pause before heading to the ballpark. “For me personally, I’m not sure I would feel comfortable attending a live sporting event until there is a known treatment or widely available vaccine,” Lucy said. “I trust the institutions to put the proper measures in place; however, making sure that they are enforced is another matter.” Many college and pro sports teams already were dealing with declining ticket sales. Watching at home or streaming games are factors, as is the changing social makeup of fan bases. Dynamic pricing, increases in parking and concession prices, and a push toward luxury seating have exacerbated the problem. Major League Baseball (MLB) attendance has

More German teams kneel before games B

Werder Bremen and VfL Wolfsburg players kneel at centerfield in Bremen, Germany, on Sunday. AP

REMEN, Germany—Four more Bundesliga teams took a knee before their games on Sunday, as Werder Bremen inched closer to relegation and Schalke’s winless run became its worst for 27 years. Borussia Dortmund and Hertha Berlin first kneeled ahead of their game Saturday in an anti-racism gesture following mass protests against police brutality and racism across the United States over the killing of George Floyd, a handcuffed black man, in Minneapolis on May 25. Wolfsburg and Werder Bremen followed their example in Sunday’s opening game. Union Berlin and Schalke—whose midfielder Weston McKennie was the first in Germany to protest last week—also kneeled ahead of their 1-1 draw Sunday. The referee and his assistants joined in. Wolfsburg beat Werder, 1-0, to take a step toward the Europa League while Werder moves closer to relegation from the Bundesliga. They were heading for a largely uneventful 0-0 draw in torrential rain before the 82nd minute, when Wolfsburg’s substitute winger Felix Klaus curled in a cross from the right and Wout Weghorst met it with a bouncing header into the Werder goal. The result leaves Werder, last a German champion in 2009, in 17th place and facing relegation. That would mean only its second

season outside the top division since the Bundesliga was founded. Werder hasn’t won at home in the league since September 1. It is six points off safety and three off Fortuna Düsseldorf in the relegation playoff spot. Wolfsburg climbed above Hoffenheim into sixth place and a Europa League spot. Union and Schalke kept their unwanted records of not having won since the league restarted amid the coronavirus pandemic. While Union was happy with a point to edge away from the relegation zone, Schalke was again frustrated as its winless run hit 12 games in all competitions, its worst since 1993. Robert Andrich gave Union the lead on a rapid counterattack, his first goal coming with his 48th shot of the season, but Schalke answered with a powerful long-range strike from Jonjoe Kenny, the right-back on loan from Everton. Fans are barred from Bundesliga matches because of the pandemic, but Union supporters made their voices heard at the game. Around 30 people gathered in a forested area near the stadium Sunday, standing apart for social distancing, and police on site chose not to intervene, the dpa agency reported. Their chants were clearly audible in the stadium and on TV, something Andrich called “really beautiful.” AP

Sports KIWIS BACK, SOON, IN SPORTS ARENAS BusinessMirror

B8 Tuesday, June 9, 2020

By Steve Mcmorran The Associated Press

ELLINGTON, New Zealand— Sports fans again will be able to fill stadiums in New Zealand after the government on Monday removed restrictions on public gatherings imposed in response to the coronavirus pandemic. Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern announced New Zealand will move from midnight Monday to alert level 1 under which life returns almost to normal, though border restrictions remain in force. New Zealand has succeeded in eradicating the coronavirus—as of Monday it had no active cases of Covid-19 and hadn’t recorded a new infection for 17 days. At a news conference Monday, Ardern said alert level 1 means that public events can take place “without limitation,” including sports events. Stadiums will be able to accommodate fans without regulations around social distancing. One of the immediate beneficiaries will be the Super Rugby Aotearoa tournament which begins June 13. The tournament involves New Zealand’s five Super Rugby team, which will meet each other home and away over 10 weeks. The opening match between the Highlanders and Chiefs potentially could be played in front of 25,000 fans at the Highlanders’ roofed stadium in Dunedin. In announcing the impending move to level

1 last week, Ardern said some precautions would still be necessary at sporting events. “All gatherings of any size can occur,” she said. “However, we are working with ticketing agencies and large scale event organizers on a COVID code whereby contact details are collected so that we can keep a track of people at large gatherings in the event that we need to follow them up for contact tracing. “For those larger events it is a matter of preparedness for us. We may be confident that we’re an environment where we do not have Covid in circulation. But if we have a situation where even one case emerges, and it’s found that they had been in attendance at a large event, we always have to be prepared to be able to contact trace successfully.” International sporting events are still ruled out. Ardern said Monday New Zealand’s borders will remain closed to prevent the virus returning. New Zealand appears to have completely eradicated the coronavirus—at least for now— after health officials said the last known infected person had recovered. The announcement was greeted with joy around the country and means the nation of 5 million people will be among the first to welcome throngs of fans back into sports stadiums, embrace crowded concerts and remove seating restrictions from flights. It has been 17 days since the last new case was reported, during which time an additional 40,000 people have been tested, bringing the total number tested to about 300,000. Monday

marked the first time since late February there have been no active cases. “We are confident we have eliminated transmission of the virus in New Zealand for now, but elimination is not a point in time, it is a sustained effort,” she said at a news conference. More cases are likely to be imported as people enter the country. For now, the border remains shut to all but citizens and residents, with some limited exceptions. Everybody who does enter has to go into quarantine. Just over 1,500 people contracted the virus in

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

New Zealand, including 22 who died. Eliminating the virus won’t end the economic pain for the country. Thousands of people have lost their jobs. The tourism industry, which accounts for about 10% of the economy, has been particularly hard hit. But Monday was a time of celebration for many. Ardern said that when she heard there were no more active cases, she did a little dance in her living room in front of her daughter Neve, who turns 2 this month. Ardern said the toddler had no idea what was going on but was happy to join her.

ARUM: PACQUIAO FOR PRESIDENT

OP Rank promoter Bob Arum believes boxing icon and Senator Manny Pacquiao is positioning himself to run for president of the country in 2022. Arum, who used to promote the eightdivision world champion’s fights, said Pacquiao could be the first boxer to become a president of a country. “The first president I think we’ll get, as a fighter, is Manny Pacquiao,’ Arum said. Arum took it further and bared that it was Pacquiao, now 41 and unretired, who revealed he wanted to succeed President Rodrigo Duterte. “I did a Zoom telephone call with him and he said, ‘Bob, I’m going to run in

A MAN reacts as a medical staffer tests shoppers who volunteered at a pop-up community Covid-19 testing station at a supermarket carpark in Christchurch, New Zealand. AP

the situation within the local government units and how the areas have adjusted to the “new normal,”—from the ease of travel restrictions to the medical capacity of an area to fight the pandemic. “The SBP reiterates that it is closely communicating with the Inter-Agency Task Force [IATF] on Emerging Infectious Diseases and the Department of Health for the national government’s take on allowing basketball to resume activity,” he said. The basketball body hopes activities for “both individual and small groups in 3x3 and 5 on 5” be allowed “with proper observance of good sanitation and turning away from unnecessary contacts in and out of the court.” The IATF has permitted running, cycling, golf, swimming, tennis, badminton, equestrian and skateboarding under the general community quarantine. “This is a slow and careful process that needs to be well planned,” Panlilio said. Ramon Rafael Bonilla

ilipino-born Grandmaster (GM) Wesley So continued to impress amid the pandemic by building a considerable gap ahead of top French Maxime Vachier-Lagrava, 5.5-2.5, in the first half of their quarterfinal duel in the Clutch Chess International that is being played online on Sunday. Winner of the first US edition of the tournament which earned him P1.5 million last week, the eighth-seeded So kept his second-seeded opponent at bay with three straight draws before winning the next three matches to pull away in their 12-game rapid series. The 26-year-old Caviteño also beat No. 2 Fabiano

himself training for fights. White was still willing to take McGregor’s retirement announcement at face value—at least publicly—when he learned about it at his news conference following UFC 250 in Las Vegas. “If Conor McGregor feels he wants to retire, you know my feelings about retirement,”White said. “You should absolutely do it. And I love Conor.... There’s a handful of people that have made this really fun for me, and he’s one of them.” Retirements are a time-honored device for gathering attention and increased bargaining power in combat sports. From Muhammad Ali and Floyd Mayweather to Tito Ortiz and Chuck Liddell, countless champions of boxing and MMA have gone back on their solemn announcements whenever need or ego brought them back to the sport. McGregor made his first Twitter retirement announcement in April 2016 during a spat with the UFC over promotion of his rematch with Nate Diaz. McGregor famously wrote: “I have decided to retire young. Thanks for the cheese. Catch ya’s later.” McGregor and Diaz fought in August 2016. Three years later, McGregor retired again in March 2019 in what White believed was a gambit to entice the UFC to offer him an ownership stake in the company. McGregor began talking about new fights shortly afterward, and he eventually returned to face Cerrone in early 2020. AP

Ramon Rafael Bonilla

Caruana via tiebreak in the US edition. The tournament’s international edition lured the world’s the top eight players led by reigning world champion Magnus Carlsen. The online competition was created by American Grandmaster Maurice Ashley and offers a total prize pool of $265,000 or more than P13 million. In the other quarterfinal matches, Carlsen, representing Norway, thumped the US’s Jeffrey Xiong, 4.5-3.5; Caruana blew past fellow the US’s Leinier Dominguez Perez, 5.5-2.5; while Armenia’s Levon Aronian drubbed Russia’s Alexander Grischuk, 5-3. So went for the win over the French in their remaining six matches on Monday. If he wins, he would face eighter Caruana or Dominguez in the semifinals.

Ramon Rafael Bonilla

Vincent Juico @VJuico Instagram vpjp_j, vince.juico@gmail.com

SPORTS WITHOUT BORDERS

Games on! Mikaela Mayer (right) lands a right to Lizbeth Crespo in their match in Las Vegas in June last year. AP

MCGREGOR RETIRES, AGAIN...HO HUM Female boxer tests positive for Covid-19 C J onor McGregor has announced his retirement for the third time in four years. McGregor abruptly made his latest dubious declaration Sunday morning on his Twitter account, where the former two-division UFC champion also announced his retirement in 2016 and 2019. “Hey guys I’ve decided to retire from fighting,” McGregor wrote in a caption below a photo of him and his mother. “Thank you all for the amazing memories! What a ride it’s been!” The 31-year-old Irish superstar revitalized his combat sports career in January with an impressive first-round stoppage of Donald “Cowboy” Cerrone at UFC 246. McGregor (22-4) hadn’t won a fight in a mixed martial arts cage or a boxing ring since 2016, but he remained the UFC’s brightest star and biggest financial draw. UFC President Dana White has already said McGregor is next in line for a title shot at the winner of lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov’s bout with Justin Gaethje this summer. The UFC’s schedule is in upheaval due to the coronavirus pandemic, but McGregor was expected to get his title shot later this year, and he recently had been talking to White about taking another fight even earlier. Earlier this week, McGregor posted photos and videos of

2022. And when I win, I want you there at my inauguration,” Arum said. Pacquiao is rising from the ranks in government. He started off as a two-term congressman for his native Saranggani, convincingly elected a senator—No. 7—in 2016 and has been making the rounds the way politicians do theirs. He is also bankrolling a local government unit-based basketball tournament. Pacquiao last saw action in the ring last July when he defeated Keith Thurman for the World Boxing Association super welterweight crown. Arum, meanwhile, said he is leaning on a Pacquiao-Terence Crawford unification bout.

So on track in Clutch tourney

Basketball body adopts Fiba guidelines on sport’s return HE Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas (SBP) released on Monday a 19-page Return to Basketball Guidelines in the hope of bringing back the sport amid the pandemic that remains a threat with the absence of a vaccine. The guidelines, according to SBP President Al Panlilio, were culled from the guidelines issued by the International Basketball Federation (Fiba) that was drawn for the information and guidance of its national federations. “These guidelines are meant to be used as reference and aid when various leagues, tournaments and games organizers in the Philippines craft their own respective Return to Basketball programs—depending on the circumstances surrounding them in their own localities,” Panlilio said. “While all of us are eager to go back to playing the sport we all love dearly, the guidelines cannot overemphasize the need to have the safety, health and well-being of Filipino fans as paramount above all else,” Panlilio added. Panlilio, however, stressed that the Fiba pointed out that its guidelines are “not intended to replace the guidance and restrictions of governments and public authorities.” In the guidelines, Panlilio said the federation asked its stakeholders to monitor the severity of

SEN. Manny Pacquiao aims high.

THIS is the third time in four years that Conor McGregor is calling it quits. AP

UNIOR lightweight contender Mikaela Mayer has tested positive for Covid-19 and won’t fight in the co-main event of Las Vegas’s first major boxing card since the start of the coronavirus pandemic. Mayer announced her positive test on social media Sunday, two days before her scheduled bout against Helen Joseph in the Top Rank show at the MGM Grand Garden Arena on Tuesday night. Mayer (12-0, 5 KOs) is a former US Olympian and a rising star in the 130-pound division. Mayer is asymptomatic, but she tested positive for the virus on Saturday, she says. “The rest of my team tested negative and they are all in good health,” Mayer said. “I was really looking forward to bringing back boxing for all of you and I’m disappointed for myself, my team, my supporters and for my opponent.” Mayer was scheduled to face Joseph in a 10-round bout as she angles for a world title shot later this year.

The bout cancellation is the second in three months for Mayer, who hasn’t fought since October through no fault of her own. She was scheduled to fight Melissa Hernandez in New York on the undercard of a show featuring Michael Conlan in March before the pandemic forced its cancellation. “After two hard back-to-back camps, not being able to step in to the ring both times, you can imagine how disappointed I am,” Mayer said. “However, these protocols were put into place for a reason and it’s more important to care about the health and well being of my team and the people at this event.” The Nevada Athletic Commission mandated strict health and safety protocols when it allowed the return of combat sports late last month. UFC has followed those testing procedures and safety measures during its two shows at the gym on its corporate campus, and Top Rank has done the same in its plan to hold two boxing shows in the upcoming week. Tuesday’s show will be headlined by unbeaten WBO featherweight champion and US Olympian Shakur Stevenson against Puerto Rico’s Felix Caraballo. AP

SEVEN national sports association (NSA) leaders led by athletics chief Dr. Philip Ella Juico, met to discuss and draw protocols surrounding sports as to when team training—and even competitions—would go back to what they used to. Or something close to that until after a vaccine is discovered to eradicate this virus. “The main purpose behind the meeting was for the NSAs to share their best practices during training and competitions to cope with Covid-19 and to help NSAs which still have to formulate such protocols,” Juico said in a letter dated June 2 that was addressed to the national government’s Inter-Agency Task Force on Emerging Infectious Diseases. The Philippine Athletics Track and Field Association president led the move to spur the NSAs in requesting government authorities to resume sports activities under a “calibrated approach.” The National Basketball Association resumes its season on July 31 with a different format—a season within a different season. The English Premiere League continued its season on June 1 while the German Bundesliga are now in action from where they left off on May 16. The University Athletic Association of the Philippines is looking to return in January. Sports is indeed making a return to relevance and prominence. What are these protocols? Fan-less games, alcohol dispensers, frequent testing, physical distancing, one venue entrance and exit and decisions guided by science and health experts. Sports fans like me are famished for sports. Greatest games and hardcourt classics are great but nothing beats the at-the-moment and rightnow-blow-for-blow action. Let’s play ball!