BusinessMirror June 14, 2020

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THE EDUCATION

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Sunday, June 14, 2020 Vol. 15 No. 248

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

‘REVOLUTION’

STUDENTS wearing protective masks join a school activity in Manila, January 31, 2020. AP/AARON FAVILA

S

By Claudeth Mocon-Ciriaco

In a nationally televised briefing at Malacañang nearly a fortnight ago, she impressed President Duterte with her clear presentation of how this can be done.

HE learned how to read and write through banana leaves, which have lines, and sharpened bamboo sticks as pencils at the age of 3, during the war years.

Surviving the war period, as well as the martial-law years, perhaps prepared, in large part, Education Secretary Leonor Magtolis Briones for the unique but daunting role that 2020, the Covid-19 pandemic year, would present her.

A challenge, as it were, to fasttrack, by force of circumstance, the march to the future of the Philippine education system that has been criticized for its ancient methods and infrastructure.

With the deadly virus clamping schools under strict physical distancing rules, the school system now has to quickly transform itself into a flexible, creative, nimble system that allows children to continue their education from homes. The problem is: the Philippines, despite being tagged social-media capital of the world, remains in the digital dark ages, with a divide as yawning as the income inequalities haunting the nation of 100 million plus.

As fate would have it, it fell into the lap of Briones, all of 79 years, to lead the “revolution.”

Despite criticism from all sides— those who think the Department of Education should have simply forfeited the school year, those who say it should push back school opening to January, and those who

find so many things wrong in the “blended learning” that DepEd is championing—the strong-willed and visionary secretary made a stand. Children, she said, cannot be deprived of their basic right to education, not even by a deadly virus. With the help of both young and veteran staff at DepEd, she declared August 24 as school opening day, asserting that the government’s attempt to establish alternative modalities of education come August 24, 2020, the opening of School Year (SY) 2020-2021, “can be done” as Covid-19 is changing the educational landscape.

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The war years

EDUCATION Secretary Leonor Magtolis Briones

DEPED

A veteran teacher with vivid memories of the war years is thrust to the forefront of a new battle—forcing an antiquated education system to keep schooling children in a pandemic.

SHE recalled, in a speech just before the pandemic broke, that her mother, a teacher, had to think of ways of distracting the children around the mountain areas from where they were from the sound of aerial dogfights; and on the ground, from the stories of arrests, women eviscerated, children bayoneted.

“We had to be distracted and in the mean time, we learned how to read and to write. I am the child of teachers, we have never been rich. And as a teacher now, I am not rich. So when I went to school, I was immediately accelerated after the war because the district supervisor was surprised that a four-year-old could already read and write from banana leaves,” Briones said in one of her speeches prior to the health crisis.

“This time, you have all the gadgets. You have computers, papers, pencils, televisions, etc., and if all learners still don’t know how to read and write, if all learners still do not know values of citizenship, then perhaps we have to go back to banana leaves,” she stressed.

Briones certainly did not expect, during her stint, that another “war” will happen, although the enemy is unseen, as it brought disruption to the education system. But she is obviously up to the challenge.

“So, we are not saying that the department will be 100 percent ready by August 24, but Continued on A2

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Source: BSP (June 11, 2020)

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A2 Sunday, June 14, 2020

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The Education ‘Revolution’ Continued from A1

we have to have a start, we have

to have a goal.... We have a clear goal and we can adjust that goal if things do not go the way we anticipate them to be, so there,” Briones said in a mix of English and Filipino in an interview.

She reiterated that despite the threat of Covid-19, education should continue, for “children cannot wait; education cannot wait.”

Blended/Online learning

WHEN she sought the approval of President Duterte recently, Briones gave firm assurances that the DepEd is one with the President in his non-negotiable commitment for the health and safety of the learners, teachers and staff.

“It is the first and most important principle of our Basic Education-Learning Continuity Plan (BE-LCP), which details learning opportunities in the time of Covid-19.

We can still provide learning opportunities to our students, without requiring them to come to school, through blended and distance learning,” Briones added.

The blended/distance learning approach is consistent with the President’s preference that no children should go to school physically until it is safe to do so, or a vaccine is found.

In DepEd’s blueprint, lessons will be delivered to students in the comfort and safety of their homes, through the following methods: 1. Printed or digital modules delivered to the homes of the students, or picked up by their parents at designated places, within coordinated schedules; 2. Online learning resources such as the DepEd Commons; and,

3. Television- or radio-based instruction.

“Even in this time of crisis, DepEd can still fulfill its constitutional duty of delivering quality basic education, and this can be done in a manner consistent with the President’s directive,” Briones explained.

On June 8 Briones said they will comply with Duterte’s directive to postpone face-to-face classes until a vaccine is available. She had been hoping that exceptions can be made for provinces that have consistently shown zero Covid cases, but that option must be approved by higher authorities.

“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 said in a statement as she assured parents, learners, stakeholders, and Duterte that, “We are preparing ourselves for this mission.”

Radio as medium

WHILE admitting the big challenge of preparing the schools in a different setup, Briones said they are committed to making education available, whatever it takes.

The DepEd is now readying its operations based on its Basic Education-Learning Continuity Plan, from the Central Office down to the school level.

Meanwhile, Briones underscored the help extended by the local government units (LGUs), the private sector, and civil society organizations.

“I am not sure if it is related to my age, but really I have this affection for radio. We surveyed schools and found out that many of them have their own radio stations, although limited in reach. Many of our municipalities have their own radio stations; there are provinces, with their own radio and TV stations,” Briones said.

“So everybody is helping out and it looks like everybody is excited, because they want to see if it really works,” she added.

She cited the example of World Vision.

“Right now, World Vision helps us in our shift to quality education, the Edukalidad program, because they give advice about technology, and not only about technology but also health

and on other matters,” she said.

World Vision Philippines, through its chairman, former Chief Justice Reynato S. Puno, pledged its solidarity to the DepEd’s Brigada Eskwela (BE) and Oplan Balik Eskwela (OBE).

During the national BE and OBE campaigns kick-off on June 1, 2020, Puno said: “Our decades of collaboration between World Vision and the Department of Education have seen millions of students achieve improved functional literacy through equitable access to age-appropriate, culture-sensitive and contextualized learning process.”

Puno invited both individuals and organizations to support children’s education, noting that challenging times call for a revitalized alliance of stakeholders as the state recognizes the complementary roles of public and private institutions in the educational system.

“Helping ensure the unimpeded delivery of quality education to every student means upholding the Constitution’s provision on protecting and promoting the right of all citizens to quality education at all levels, and on taking appropriate steps to make such education accessible to all,” he added.

PLACARDS demanding that the Department of Education address issues on the reopening of schools amid the pandemic are displayed by members of the Alliance of Concerned Teachers in a drive-by protest at the government agency’s main office in Pasig City. NONOY LACZA

Globe Telecom

GLOBE Telecom also pitched in, allowing learners and teachers to access the online learning platform DepEd Commons without incurring data charges on their Globe or TMpowered smartphones.

DepEd Commons contains online review materials and Open Educational Resources (OER) authored by public-school teachers who are subject matter experts. Teachers can retain, reuse, revise, remix and redistribute the content by blending it with a learning management system to deliver a distance learning modality.

Based on the latest data, DepEd Commons has 7,925,238 users accessing online learning materials as of June 8.

Access to gadgets

IN a separate survey on the enrollment date, a total of 788,066 teachers were asked if they have available computer or laptop or desktop at home.

Eighty-seven percent or a total of 687,911 teachers said they have a computer or laptop or desktop at home.

“And these are their personal belongings, but we would like them to use, of course, DepEd gadgets and this is what we are targeting.... Even in far-off regions people have cellphones because they keep in touch with relatives abroad and also with relatives of friends in other parts of the country,” she said.

The survey to find out who among the students have gadgets or laptops is still ongoing.

Sought for reaction to those who expressed reservations on DepEd’s distance learning, particularly Vice President Leni Robredo, Briones disagreed.

“I would like to dispute that; we are still in the month of June and our original proposal was to open on August 24. We have been doing distance learning, blended learning for decades and decades. We have a university, in the University of the Philippines, which does and which specializes in distance education for the longest time. And those who take up education and study education are already exposed to this,” she said.

“We are not inventing anything new, that’s why [readiness is very important]. And we did also a survey on the readiness of our teachers and the readiness of our pupils. It’s very high, we assume always that the teachers don’t have laptops, they don’t have desktops. Well, 87 percent of them have in their homes; but we will also provide them,” she said. She said they are appealing to the private sector to donate gadgets instead of the usual school bags, pad paper, ballpens during the annual Brigada Eskwela event.

Private schools

AN example of a private school prac-

A MACHINE sprays disinfectant at a school in Marikina City, March 13, 2020. AP/AARON FAVILA

ticing online distance learning is De La Salle Santiago Zobel School (DLSZ).

Beginning July 6, 2020, DLSZ will offer online distance learning for Academic Year 2020-2021.

Online distance classes in both synchronous and asynchronous modes will start on July 6 for Grade 5 to Grade 12 students and July 13 for Pre-Kinder to Grade 4 students.

Grade-school students will use SeeSaw as the learning management system, while high-school students will use Google Classroom. The BRafeNHS students will use Google Classroom, Edmodo, and Schoology and will be provided with handouts.

DLSZ has seven years of experience in the Next Generation Blended Learning (NxGBL), touting worldclass certifications in the use of technology for education with its recognition as an Apple Distinguished School and as a Microsoft Showcase School since 2016 and 2018, respectively.

To enroll or not

BRIONES said the National Economic and Development Authority (Neda) had earlier speculated that enrollment in public schools might rise as students migrate from costlier private schools.

“Now, but on the other hand, others are also saying that there might be a drop in enrollment because the parents are worried about the safety, the health issues, so they would rather have their children stay at home for the next how many months.... And we don’t know if this will balance each other out. Migration from private schools to public schools and the children being held at home or the parents deciding that the children will not go to school anymore at this time because of the health issues. So those are the two ways of looking at the possible drop in enrollment,” Briones pointed out.

The DepEd projects that “perhaps

there might be… [in the] initial enrollment projections, a small reduction in enrollment. But we will see how it turns out by the end of June.”

On June 10, national enrollment data for SY 2020-2021 showed that 8,666,493 learners nationwide have registered using remote or virtual enrollment system for both public and private schools across all basic education levels.

Of this number, 8,369,894 learners enrolled in public schools and 255,124 in private schools.

Briones is happy with the initial number of enrollees as of early June. The DepEd expects roughly 27 million learners to enroll this school year.

Virtual enrollment

THE virtual enrollment, conducted only through phone or online platforms, was implemented as physical activities were still prohibited inside school premises to ensure the safety of learners, parents and teachers.

Lyra Macada, a mother of an incoming Grade 5 learner, found the enrollment process convenient and safe.

For her part, teacher Maria Victoria Guanzon of Sagay City, Negros Occidental, hopes parents and learners will continue to cooperate with the DepEd.

“We appeal for the cooperation of parents during this time of pandemic,” Guanzon said.

The DepEd said all learners who cannot enroll using any remote method will be allowed in the last two weeks of June to physically enroll, in strict compliance with physical distancing and health standards, and in coordination with local government units.

Some school administrators expressed support for the ongoing virtual enrollment, which connected teachers and parents more.

“This experience is all new to us,

and we’re all adjusting. We are grateful for our teachers’ willingness to adapt to this new normal. I can say that it is one of the reasons that influenced our learners and parents to enroll], said Dr. Maria Cristina S. Marasigan, principal of Tagumpay National High School, of Rodriguez, Rizal, as she stressed that education must continue.

Everybody is adjusting

SOME of the teachers admitted being worried, being used to face-toface learning. But Briones said the feeling is mutual.

“I’m in the same state as they are and probably I’m worse than they are because I’m not really a techie person. When I went to college we were taught how to type and not necessarily worked with computers,” she said.

To better prepare the teachers, Briones said that on June 1 up to August 24, 2020, they will undergo upskilling.

“Here in DepEd there are so many free programs that you can learn from. Teachers can learn, DepEd officials can learn, they will learn some more and they will master whatever the skills are needed for this kind of situation that we are in now. They are not alone; a good number of our teachers have the same problem, I have that problem myself so most likely we’ll be learning together,” she said, her trademark optimism shining through.

Gabay Guro

MEANWHILE, Gabay Guro, PLDT’s flagship educational program, is providing free online trainings for teachers nationwide through its recently launched Learning Never Stops campaign.

As of May 30, 2020, Gabay Guro has led 13 e-learning sessions on Facebook with over 300,000 views to

date. The online training videos uploaded on the Gabay Guro Facebook page are all for free. These videos are available for replay, allowing teachers to learn at their own pace.

“Learning is constantly evolving. This is why our Learning Never Stops campaign aims to empower our teachers amid the pandemic as we provide them with engaging online training videos conducted by reputable guest speakers. Through this campaign, we are equipping our teachers with digital competencies and capabilities that enable them to adapt in this new normal,” said PLDT SVP and Gabay Guro chairman Chaye Cabal-Revilla.

For his part, PLDT and Smart Vice President for Learning and Development and Gabay Guro Head for Teachers’ Training Alexander Kibanoff said that in these trying times, they we want to assure teachers that every opportunity will be given to them amid Covid-19. recently launched “Our Learning Never Stops campaign enables them to explore online trainings and curriculum that aim to expand their knowledge and expertise,” he said.

Topics of the live training and recorded webcasts include life learnings from the quarantine, virtual teaching 101, flipping the classroom, improving students’ reading and comprehension, as well as teachers’ mindset improvement in the midst of the pandemic.

Now, Briones said there is a different way of looking at schooling and “the public is still adjusting” to new notions.

“At my age, I recognize—I’m sure at your young age you learners [also acknowledge]—this is a great time to be in as well. It’s scary, full of anxiety, but it is also a great time to be part of a move toward what they now describe is new normal. Everybody is talking new normal, new normal. You are not normal if you did not grab the word new normal in your conversation every five minutes. But ah, that’s how it is shaping up,” she remarked.

To make it easy for all to understand blended learning, Briones compared it to a “blender”.

“With all the best flavors, the choicest materials, the choicest and the best ingredients are all put together to come out with what appears to be different, but actually has already been in use for a very long time.”

The only difference is this time, she stressed, the larger emphasis is on these technologies because “we can’t allow face-to-face, or what we always joke at the Department of Education, it is allowed, the ‘fes-to-fes.’”

So, she concluded, “let’s try blended first. And when you use blended approach which looks good, looks effective, then the children might enjoy it.”

The World BusinessMirror

Editor: Angel R. Calso

Sunday, June 14, 2020

A3

Virus pummels global economy, jobs even without second wave A Huawei Technology Co. ATN 910B Series multiservice integrated carrier router, bottom, and other telecommunications equipment is displayed at an exhibition hall at the company’s headquarters in Shenzhen, China, on May 22. Huawei is seeking about $1 billion from a small group of lenders, its first major funding test after getting hit with US curbs that threaten to cut off access to critical suppliers. Qilai Shen/Bloomberg

Huawei’s patents on 5G means US will pay despite Trump’s ban

H

uawei Technologies Co. owns the most patents on next-generation 5G technology, ensuring the Chinese company will get paid despite Trump administration efforts to erase it from the supply chain, according to a new study.

The study by two research firms identified the inventions most closely connected to the 5G standards and found that six companies owned more than 80 percent—Huawei, Samsung Electronics Co., LG Electronics Inc., Nokia Oyj, Ericsson AB and Qualcomm Inc., the only US-based company in the group.

T hat may be awk wa rd for President Donald Trump, whose administration has launched a global effort to shut out Huawei, accusing the Chinese company of being a security threat. The administration has launched a number of salvos, including a ban on the sale of any silicon made with US know-how that is hurting the Chinese company’s aspirations to grow in cutting-edge fields.

“Even if they hire some other company to build the 5G infrastructure, they still have to pay the Chinese company because of the intellectual contribution to develop the technology,” said Deepak Syal, director of GreyB Services Pte., a technology research firm that conducted the study with analytics firm Amplified AI Inc. Identifying how many patents a company holds—and how key they are to the industry standards—will help determine who profits most from the next generation of technology that promises to revolutionize developments such as autonomous cars, robotic surgery, and connected homes.

Industr y standards are critica l to ensure dev ices work together and communicate w ith e ac h ot her. Te c h compa n ies get together to establish those standards and pledge that any re le v a nt p at e nt s w i l l b e l i censed on “ fair, reasonable and non-discr iminator y” ter ms.

There have been global patent wars for years over how to define those fair terms and who’s entitled to how much money in royalties. They were at the heart of since-settled fights, including Apple Inc.’s scorched-earth battle with Qualcomm, and Huawei’s dispute with Samsung. Huawei has also stopped paying Qualcomm what may amount to billions in royalties amid a dispute.

The GreyB and Amplified study looked at about 6,400 inventions declared “essential” to 5G by their owners that had active patents somewhere in the world as of December 31, 2019. By comparing the wording of the patent to the standard, the team of 25 researchers deemed 1,658 to be

patents “core” to 5G. Courts and negotiators will ultimately have to decide, though, if the patents really are essential to the standard, whether they’re valid or not, and how much they are worth.

Based on the study, all of the companies were found to be padding their patent submissions to ensure they would be able to enforce their r ights later, and in an effort to increase the amount they’d be able to collect in royalties.

“Companies over-declare pretty equally, so reducing everyone’s share by 75 percent or so yields the same pecking order,” said Jorge Contreras, a law professor at the University of Utah who’s written about determining what is “essential” to a standard.

Huawei has collected more than $1.4 billion in licensing revenue and has paid some $6 million to other companies, it said in a court filing in its patent dispute with Verizon Communications Inc. “Huawei creates plenty of its own intellectual property; we don’t need to steal anyone else’s,” Ben Howes, a Huawei spokesman, said in an opinion video.

The company said it put together the video “in response to the US government’s attempts to prevent Huawei from collaborating with academic institutions and innovating with our R&D and patents.”

First-phase study

The GreyB and Amplified study, considered the first phase as m o r e p a t e nt s a r e a n a l y z e d and the standards continue to evolve, showed the interconnectedness between companies around the world, Syal said. He said the purpose of the study was “to bring more clarity” to where the discussions or decisions are being made.

“Rather than saying who has less contributions or who has less number of patents, let’s work toward increasing the intellectual contribution of our country or our company and then build the 5G infrastructure,” he said. “Otherwise, even by blocking, they are not helping in the end because they’re paying money in terms of royalties.”

As part of the Trump administration’s efforts against Huawei, Secretary of State Michael Pompeo last week said European countries “need to get it out of their system.

They need to use Western technologies.”

While the administration has helped curtail Huawei’s growth outside China, it remains a player because of its global footprint and advanced technology.

“From a pure technology standpoint, nationalism just doesn’t work anymore,” said Contreras.

Bloomberg News

P

ARIS—The virus crisis has triggered the worst global recession in nearly a century— and the pain is not over yet even if there is no second wave of infections, an international economic report warned.

Hundreds of millions of people have lost their jobs, and the crisis is hitting the poor and young people the hardest, worsening inequalities, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development said in its latest analysis of global economic data.

“It is probably the most uncertain and dramatic outlook since

the creation of the OECD,” Secretary-General Angel Gurria said.

“We cannot make projections as we normally do.”

In the best-case scenario, if there is no second wave of infections, the agency forecast a global drop in economic output of 6 percent this year, and a rise of 2.8 percent next year.

If the coronavirus reemerges later in the year, however, the global economy could shrink 7.6 percent, the OECD said.

“With or without a second outbreak, the consequences will be severe and long-lasting,” the report said.

Global stock markets dropped after the release of the report, which is more downbeat than other forecasts from the likes of the World Bank.

Gurria argued that “presenting the problem as the choice between lives and livelihoods, meaning a choice between health and the economy, is a false dilemma. If the pandemic is not brought under control, there will be no robust economic recovery.”

In case of a second wave of contagions, the OECD forecast that the

average unemployment rate across the 37 developed countries that it represents would double this year to 10 percent and see “little recovery” in 2021. In the more optimistic scenario, the figure would be 9.2 percent. In poorer countries, the numbers are often higher, and informal workers are especially vulnerable.

The agency urged governments to tackle inequalities by investing in health-care systems, global cooperation on medical supplies, vaccine and treatments and retraining people whose sectors are the hardest-hit.

The virus has infected 7.2 million people worldwide and killed at least 411,000, according to official figures tallied by Johns Hopkins University. The true toll is believed to be much higher. AP

Can U.S. end China’s control of the global supply chain?

T

he trade war amplified calls in the US and elsewhere for reducing dependence on China for strategic goods. Now, the pandemic has politicians vowing to take action.

The Trump administration has talked about bringing supply chains home from China, and even publicly floated the need for a group of friendly nations in Asia that could help produce essential goods.

President Donald Trump last month even said the US would “save $500 billion” if it cut off ties with China.

But interviews with nearly a dozen government officials and analysts in the Asia-Pacific region show that any broader effort to restructure supply chains is little more than wishful thinking so far.

While governments are pushing to win investments, such as Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co.’s planned state-of-the-art semiconductor factory in the US, it won’t be simple to dismantle an entrenched system when many companies are struggling to survive.

More likely is that the virus will accelerate a change that was already driven by market forces as rising wages and costs in China over the past decade caused an exodus of lower-value manufacturing, much of it to Southeast Asia. That’s despite the desire from some in the Trump administration to start decoupling the world’s biggest economies as the US and China spar over everything from the virus to 5G networks to Hong Kong.

“The rhetoric meets the reality, which is that many firms have supply chains set up the way they do for very sensible reasons,” said Deborah Elms of the Asian Trade Center, which has seen an increase of companies looking for advice on reorganizing to increase competitiveness. “Coming out of Covid, it’s going to be even harder to move supply chains because your cash flow is low, your staff are working from home or coming slowly back into the office, and the business climate has shifted.”

While the world trade network mostly held up well amid rolling lockdowns as Covid-19 spread, the economic cost fueled calls among politicians for greater self-sufficiency and alternatives to China. US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, whose department announced an Economic Security Strategy last year, in April named Australia, New Zealand, Japan, India, and South Korea as countries that the US has been talking to on supply chains.

A key plank of the State Department’s new Economic Security Strategy is expanding and diversifying supply chains that protect “people in the free world,” according to Keith Krach, a State Department official who leads efforts to develop international

policies related to economic growth.

Krach said in April a so-called Economic Prosperity Network of likeminded allies would be built for critical products.

‘China plus one’

Industries would include pharmaceuticals, medical devices, semiconductors, automotive, aerospace, textiles and chemicals, among others.

But the idea right now appears to lack any firm foundation. The State Department doesn’t have jurisdiction over trade, and officials in other Asian countries said no formal talks were taking place. A person close to the administration said Krach is prone to pushing grand ideas publicly that haven’t yet become policy.

Still, other governments are moving on their own to shift production away from China—especially since the Covid disruptions. This includes Taiwan and Japan, which were among the biggest investors in China’s manufacturing capacity in the early days.

“Many companies have already begun adopting a ‘China plus one’ manufacturing hub strategy since the US-China trade war began in 2018, with Vietnam having been a clear beneficiary,” said Anwita Basu, head of Asia country risk research at Fitch Solutions. While the pandemic will give that another push, “shifts away from China will be slow as that country still boasts an annual manufacturing output that is so large that even a group of countries would struggle to absorb a fraction of it.”

In 2019, Taiwanese officials encouraged the island’s firms to build a “non-red supply chain” outside of China, passing a law that promised rent assistance, cheap finance, tax breaks and simplified administration for investments in Taiwan. The move helped the island’s economy weather the trade war last year and led to more than NT$1 trillion ($33.5 billion) pledged or invested domestically, and more overseas.

Japan recently started down the same path, with Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s government budgeting about 220 billion yen ($2 billion) for companies shifting production back home and 23.5 billion yen for those seeking to move production to other countries.

“Everyone agrees we really have to reconsider the sustainability of supply chains,” Hiroaki Nakanishi, chairman of Hitachi Ltd. and head of Japan’s biggest business lobby Keidanren, said on television last month. “It’s unrealistic to suddenly return all production to Japan. But if we are totally reliant on one specific country and they have a lockdown, there will be huge consequences.”

South Korea has similar plans as part of its economic blueprint for the rest of the year, announced earlier this month. The government said

it will provide tax incentives, ease investment-related regulations and expand financial support for companies that u-turn. Yet, it hasn’t said how much money will be earmarked for the entire support program.

For all that, China retains some key advantages. Last year 38 percent of Taiwan’s $11 billion of overseas investment still went to the mainland, as did 10 percent of Japan’s—despite increased investments in Southeast Asia over the past few decades due to periodic bouts of anti-Japanese rioting in China.

Young Liu, chairman of Taiwanbased Hon Hai Precision Industry, whose Foxconn unit manufactures iPhone in plants in China, said in midMay that it’s difficult to move assembly of mobile devices to the US due to the sheer number of workers needed.

“China remains unmatched as a manufacturing site given its numbers of skilled workers, deep supplier networks and the government’s credible public support for manufacturers and provision of reliable infrastructure,” wrote Gavekal analyst Dan Wang in a report in April.

Even if companies find economic alternatives to Chinese factories, or bow to political pressure to increase production in their home markets, there’s another reason production inside China continues to make sense: the vast and growing Chinese domestic market.

Tesla, Honeywell

Tesla Inc. is now producing cars there for what is now the world’s largest auto market, and last month Chinese Premier Li Keqiang sent Honeywell International Inc. a letter welcoming its new investment in Wuhan, the city where the coronavirus outbreak started. He and other Chinese officials have touted continued economic cooperation with the US and vowed to implement a “phase one” trade deal with the US reached in January.

“The formation and development of global industrial and supply chains are determined by market forces and companies’ choices,” Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said in March. “As such, it is unrealistic and insensible to try to sever them or even trumpet ‘shifting’ or ‘decoupling’ theories as they run counter to economic law.”

For all the talk of dependence on China, the pandemic showed that other nations could quickly adapt to meet the need for critical supplies when China’s lockdown halted deliveries of protective clothing, ventilators and medical supplies. Vietnam rapidly ramped up production of face masks, exporting more than 415 million in four months, while the US pushed automakers and other manufacturers to retool plants to make respirators

and other critical supplies.

Over the long term, however, there are questions of whether those models are sustainable—and who will pay for new plants outside China.

Waving a wand

A May 14 executive order from Trump allows the US International Development Finance Corp., America’s development bank for emerging markets, to partner with the Department of Defense in the US to lend money to American companies looking to build out supply chains for critical goods such as ventilators and generic drugs.

But with governments already having to fund trillions of dollars in bailout packages for existing businesses and companies going bust in droves, finding the extra capital to restructure global supply chains is a tall order. Andrew Hastie, an Australian lawmaker and chairman of the nation’s security and intelligence committee, called in a recent essay for “time limited tax incentives” to build national self-reliance in key pharmaceuticals, medical supplies and other critical goods.

In the end, the biggest force diluting China’s position in the global supply chain will likely be the long, slow evolution of global trade, as companies see opportunities that arise from new markets, new technologies and changing patterns of wealth. Why would a firm “say to their staff and their shareholders we have opted for political reasons to change the way that we do things,” said Elms, whose organization helps governments formulate trade policy.

“The numbers have to make sense,” she said. “The structure that you have is based on millions of individual company decisions. It’s not so easy to wave a wand and say: Make it so!”

Bloomberg News

A4

The World BusinessMirror

Sunday, June 14, 2020

China offers shots to workers going abroad amid vaccine race

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hina is offering employees of some large state-run companies the option of being inoculated with two coronavirus vaccines currently in development, showing how quickly the country is moving to test the viability of its homegrown shots.

Employees intending to travel overseas for work can volunteer to be administered vaccinations developed by China National Biotec Group Co. or CNBG, a subsidiary of Beijing-based Sinopharm Group Co., according to people familiar with the matter who asked not to be identified as the offer hasn’t been made public. The proposal was relayed to state-owned companies by the government body that oversees them, the people said.

CNBG is among the Chinese companies bidding to create a successful vaccine against the ne w coron av i r u s. T he re a re currently five Chinese vaccine candidates in the human trial stage, competing with products being developed by global pharmaceutical companies such as AstraZeneca Plc. and Moderna Inc. that can bring an end to the pandemic and allow countries to reopen more fully after economically punishing lockdowns and travel curbs.

Beijing has mobilized its health authorities, drug regulators and research institutes to work around the clock with local companies to come up with the world’s first effective vaccine for Covid-19. If China is successful in the race, it would wield immense geopolitical clout.

President Xi Jinping has promised to share any vaccine globally.

CNBG’s experimental shots have been tested on 2,000 people with no reported “obvious adverse effects,” Sinopharm Chairman Liu Jingzhen told local media last month. A CNBG spokesman said she was not aware of the vaccine offer and declined to comment further.

The state-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission, or SASAC, which oversees China’s government-run companies, didn’t immediately respond to a Bloomberg query.

Generate data

If state-run company workers avail themselves of the vaccination, not

A nurse practitioner administers a vaccine. Steve Hockstein/Bloomberg

only will they potentially be protected against the virus but their experience could help generate data on the shots’ efficacy in beating the pathogen that has sickened over 7.2 million people and killed more than 411,000 worldwide.

It isn’t yet known whether CNBG’s vaccines, which employ a dead strain of the novel coronavirus to elicit an immune response from the body, can prevent the infection.

The experimental vaccines are currently in Phase II trials and being evaluated for their safety on humans. Their ability to prevent infection of the virus will only be clear in Phase III trials—the final hurdle to clear for securing marketing approval—in which thousands of people take the shot to see how effective it is in an active outbreak environment.

With China’s cases dwindling to only a handful a day, the vaccines will need to be tested overseas where infections are still growing.

It’s uncertain how many employees of state-run firms have taken up the offer and whether they will be tracked for adverse reactions and their immune response. However, their exposure abroad may give an early view into the vaccines’ potential in places where the virus is not yet under control.

In addition to the ongoing clinical trial, Sinopharm’s Liu and hundreds of the company’s senior managers and employees have voluntarily taken the shots, according to Chinese news reports. CNBG is building factories that will enable the vaccine maker to churn out more than 200 million doses annually, it has said. Bloomberg News

Cruise industry to face years of choppy water

By Dee-Ann Durbin

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AP Business Writer

ome cruise lines are hoping to set sail later this summer but with images of coronavirus-ravaged ships still fresh in many minds, the industry could face years of choppy water ahead.

The global cruise industry expected to carry 32 million passengers and take in $71 billion in revenue this year. That will fall by at least 50 percent this year, says Euromonitor International, a consulting firm. It took the industry three years to recover from the 2009 recession; this time, it will take longer, Euromonitor analyst Alex Jarman said.

“Unlike the previous downturn, the pandemic has put the safety of cruises into question,” Jarman said.

Cruise lines stopped sailing in mid-March after several high-profile outbreaks at sea. More than 600 people fell ill aboard Carnival Corp.’s Diamond Princess while it was quarantined off the coast of Japan, for example. Fourteen passengers died.

Christina Kerby was trapped aboard a Holland America cruise ship in February after several ports in Asia refused to allow it to dock.

“I will take a cruise again someday,” said Kerby, of Alameda, California. “Just not anytime soon.”

Since they stopped sailing, Carnival, Royal Caribbean International and Norwegian Cruise Line—which control 75 percent of the market—have furloughed thousands of staff and obtained billions in bank loans to stay afloat. Major cruise companies weren’t eligible for US government loans because they’re incorporated overseas.

Norwegian warned of a possible

bankruptcy in early May, but then raised $2.2 billion through a sale of stock and debt. It now says it can withstand a shutdown for as long as 18 months. Smaller operators could have more trouble, experts say. Virgin Voyages, a new cruise line owned by Richard Branson’s Virgin Group, has twice postponed its first sailing. Virgin Australia— an airline in which Branson holds a stake—filed for bankruptcy protection in April.

The US Centers for Disease Control has prohibited cruises in US waters through July 24. Operators in Europe and Asia could sail sooner; some German river cruises resumed last week. But most big cruise lines are using this time to refine their plans, upgrade their ships and figure out how to resume safely.

Norwegian says it’s installing medical-grade air filters on its ships and adding medical staff, for example. Carnival is raising the temperature in its washers and dryers to make sure napkins and sheets are fully sanitized.

Cruise companies are talking to US regulators, to foreign ports and to each other, said Brian Salerno, senior vice president for maritime policy at the Cruise Lines International Association, a trade group that represents 95 percent of ocean cruise companies.

That doesn’t always happen in the fiercely competitive business.

“A safety failure for one affects them all,” Salerno said.

Most cruise lines haven’t announced their exact plans for reopening, even though they’re accepting bookings. But some smaller companies are giving a glimpse into the future.

Windstar Cruises, which operates six ships—the largest of which carries 342 passengers— hopes to resume cruises in Ta-

hiti in September. Among other things, the company plans to stagger boarding times to keep passengers apart; expand dining times and space diners out; serve passengers instead of offering buffets; and require crew to wear masks and train them to recognize Covid-19 symptoms.

Windstar’s Chief Marketing Officer Betsy O’Rourke said the company expects bookings for 2020 to start picking up soon.

Bookings for 2021 are already ahead of where they were this time last year.

“People who know and love cruising will be back,” she said.

“They have confidence in us to operate safely.”

But some cruise lovers say they’re just not ready.

Jonathan Adkins is a self-described “cruise junkie” who has been on more than 25 cruises.

This year, he and his husband had booked a Caribbean cruise in March and a European cruise in July.

But the pandemic cooled his enthusiasm. Adkins doesn’t want to share tight spaces until there’s a Covid-19 vaccine. And he thinks cruise companies have handled the crisis poorly.

“I’m not comfortable doing business with them for a while,” said Adkins, who heads a traffic safety organization in Washington. He doesn’t think he’ll cruise again until 2022.

Experts say getting new passengers interested in cruising could be even more daunting. Kishana Taylor, a postdoctoral fellow who studies the influenza virus, was already wary of cruise ships because of norovirus outbreaks.

Cruising just doesn’t make sense to her, she says, even though she loves the ocean.

Tara Smith, a professor of epi-

demiology at Kent State University, says she’s not sure how cruises can protect passengers but still be fun. Pools and dance floors can’t be too crowded, for example. Even if ships reduce capacity, droplets can spread between passengers.

They could test passengers as they get on board, but they would need to get rapid and accurate results.

“It all seems like a logistical nightmare to me,” she said.

Robert Kwortnik, an associate professor at Cornell University who studies the cruise industry, thinks the industry will make some long-term changes to get back on its feet. Cruise companies will have to make health and safety a major part of their marketing, for example.

More liberal cancellation policies could also stick. Passengers used to lose their deposit if they canceled within a month of a cruise, he said. Now, companies are allowing them to cancel even two days before. That helps ensure people will cancel if they’re sick, he said.

For now, cruise lines are offering big discounts. Brian McLaren, who leads the cruise division for the Liberty Travel agency, said it’s common to see 20-percent discounts or $200 off per person.

McLaren said bookings for 2021 cruises are solid, partly because people with cruises this spring have been rebooking.

Joe Schreck of Jacksonville, Florida doesn’t need convincing.

As a workplace health and safety specialist, he says he’s seen how well social distancing guidelines can work, and he trusts cruise ships to take the right precautions.

“Life is too short to worry about stuff like this,” he said. “You have to enjoy the time you have.”

He’s booked on a cruise to the Bahamas in August.

www.businessmirror.com.ph

Resurgence of virus threatens South Korea’s success story

By Kim Tong-Hyung

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The Associated Press

EOUL, South Korea—Just weeks ago, South Korea was celebrating its hard-won gains against the coronavirus, easing social distancing, reopening schools and promoting a tech-driven antivirus campaign President Moon Jae-in has called “K-quarantine.”

But a resurgence of infections in the Seoul region where half of South Korea’s 51 million people live is threatening the country’s success story and prompting health authorities to warn that action must be taken now to stop a second wave.

South Korea’s Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Thursday reported 45 fresh cases of infection, a daily rise that has been fairly consistent since late May. Most have been in the Seoul metropolitan area, where health authorities have struggled to trace transmissions.

“Considering the quick transmission of Covid-19, there’s limits to what we can do with contact tracing alone to slow the spread,” said Yoon Taeho, a senior Health Ministry official during a virus briefing on Thursday, where he repeated a plea for residents in the capital area to stay at home.

Despite the concerns over the spike in infections, government officials have so far resisted calls to reimpose stronger social distancing guidelines after they were relaxed in April, citing concerns over hurting a fragile economy.

Their stance seems in contrast with the urgency conveyed by health experts, including KCDC Director Jung Eun-kyeong, who has warned that the country could be sleepwalking into another huge Covid-19 crisis, but this time in its most populous region.

She has said health workers are struggling more and more to track transmissions that are spreading quickly and unpredictably as people increase their activities and practice less social distancing.

Jung’s concerns were echoed by Kwon Jun-wook, director of the National Institute of Health, who in a separate briefing on Thursday acknowledged that health authorities were only managing to “chase transmissions after belatedly discovering them.”

While South Korea saw a much larger surge of infections in February and March, when hundreds of new cases were reported every day, those had been easier to track. The majority then were concentrated in a single church congregation in Daegu, South Korea’s fourth-largest city with 2.5 million people.

The recent clusters have popped up just about everywhere around the capital.

At least 146 cases have been linked to workers at a large warehouse operated by local e-commerce giant Coupang, which has been accused of failing to implement preventive measures and having employees work even when sick.

Around 200 cases were linked to nightclubs and other entertainment venues, while more than 90 infections have been traced to church gatherings near Seoul.

At least 116 cases have been linked to door-to-door sellers hired

by Richway, a health product provider. These cases are particularly worrisome because most of the sellers are in their 60s and 70s.

South Korea’s total cases are now 11,947, including 276 deaths. Most people have recovered, but the number of active cases rose back above 1,000 this week after dropping below the mark in mid-May. Health authorities and hospital officials last week participated in an exercise for sharing hospital capacities between Seoul and nearby cities and ensure swift transports of patients so that a spike of cases in one area doesn’t overwhelm its hospital system.

“At the least, we might have to invest as much effort as we did until now, or even more,” to contain the new virus surge, Kwon said.

The spike of infections in the capital area has inspired secondguessing on whether officials were too quick to ease on social distancing.

The government in mid-April decided to lift administrative orders that advised entertainment and sports venues to close, allow professional sports to return to action without spectators and green-light a phased reopening of schools.

But Seoul and nearby cities restored some of the controls in recent weeks by shutting thousands of nightclubs, hostess bars and karaoke rooms. Resisting criticism from privacy advocates, officials have also started requiring entertainment venues, gyms and concert halls to register their customers with smartphone QR codes so they could be easily located when needed.

Health authorities have aggressively mobilized technological tools to trace contacts and enforce quarantines, with an infectious disease law strengthened after a 2015 outbreak of a different coronavirus, MERS, allowing them quick access to cell-phone data, credit-card records and surveillance camera footage.

But since the easing of distancing, there has been a clear erosion in citizen vigilance, which, along with the highly effective contact tracing, has been credited for allowing the country to weather the epidemic without lockdowns.

While the Health Ministry and KCDC have repeatedly urged residents in the capital area to refrain from unnecessary gatherings and other public activity, data provided by cell-phone carriers, creditcard companies and mass-transport operators over the past weekend indicated that people were just as active as before.

Government officials have said enforcing stricter distancing rules would be a difficult decision, considering the huge blow it could deal to the country’s weak economy, which the Bank of Korea says could shrink for the first time in 22 years.

It would also be hard to close schools again in a country where hyper-competitive schools and elite university degrees are seen as crucial to career prospects.

Prime Minister Chung Sye-kyun recently noted schools stayed open even during the 1950-1953 Korean War and that it would be wrong to “fail the dreams and future of our children because of the current difficulties.”

Science

BusinessMirror

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

Sunday

Sunday, June 14, 2020 A5

IM4Manila Bay Program: Sustainable solutions, science needed beyond cleanup

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blown cost/benefit analysis is beyond the project’s scope vis-a-vis its available time and resources. Project eSMART, therefore, reserves such role to the mandated government agencies like [DENR] or the National Economic and Developent Authority instead,” Herrera told the BusinessMirror in an e-mail interview.

By Rizal Raoul S. Reyes

anila Bay is facing gargantuan pollution challenges that need to be addressed.

In response, the Department of Science and Technology’s (DOST) agency, the Philippine Council for Industry, Energy, and Emerging Technology Research and Development (PCIEERD) recently launched the “Integrated Mapping, Monitoring, Modelling, and Management Systems and Linked Environments (IM4Manila Bay Program) for the “complete rehabilitation, restoration and conservation” of the Manila Bay using scientific research and development methods.

The two-year (2020-2022) program with a total fund of PP40,616,786.52 from the DOST will be led by Dr. Ariel C. Blanco.

It will be implemented by the University of the Philippines Diliman College of Engineering, through the Training Center for Applied Geodesy and Photogrammetry (UP TCAGP) and the Institute of Civil Engineering (UP ICE).

The DOST-Industrial Technology Development Institute (DOST-ITDI) will manage and monitor the program.

Collaboration to rehabilitate Manila Bay

The IM4ManilaBay Program was conceptualized when the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) asked the DOST how the latter can support the rehabilitation efforts in response to a call for a collaborative effort to rehabilitate Manila Bay, as echoed during the Battle for Manila Bay campaign launched in January 2019, DOSTPCIEERD told the BusinessMirror in an e-mail interview.

Initially, seven projects were conceptualized which were presented to the DENR and the task force with the assistance of PCIEERD, until four were eventually “selected.”

The four projects will provide valuable data and information for monitor-

ing and evaluating whether intervention measures are translating to overall improvement of bay water quality.

Eva luation and uti lization of technologies are expected to result in improved management of solid waste and dredge materials. Models and simulations of scenarios can be used for evaluating future impacts of activities (e.g., reclamation) and intervention measures.

The program aims to characterize Manila Bay and its watershed and linked environments to provide information for policy formulation/ reviews, rehabilitation/treatment, and management through water quality monitoring and mapping, hydrodynamic and hydrologic modelling, and dredge materials and solid waste management, DOST-PCIEERD said in the project profile.

Rehabilitation is beyond cleanup

Prior to the launching of the campaign, the DENR recorded extremely high fecal coliform levels from different water quality monitoring stations. But most recent data shows that coliform levels have “drastically decreased” just a year after rehab efforts, DOST-PCIEERD said.

Environment Secretary Roy Cimatu reported in January 2020 that fecal coliform count at the Padre Faura outfall is now at 920,000 most probable number per 100 milliliters (mpn/100ml) from last year’s record of 7.21 million mpn/100ml.

From prerehabilitation record of 35 million mpn/100ml at the Raja Soliman/Remedios drainage outfall, coliform level went down to 11 million mpn/100ml.

Fecal coliform levels give a general indication of the water condition in Manila Bay—the higher the count, the higher the water contamination is.

Three other projects

The IM4ManilaBay Program is instrumental and contributory to President Duterte’s Administrative Order 16 Series of 2019, “Expediting the Rehabilitation and Restoration of the Coastal and Marine Ecosystem of the Manila Bay and Creating the Manila Bay Task Force.”

It is also in response to the 2008 Supreme Court Mandamus ordering various government agencies to “clean up, rehabilitate, and preserve Manila Bay, and restore and maintain its waters to SB level to make them fit for swimming, skin-diving, and other forms of contact recreation.”

Based on the mentioned data, however, there is still a long way to go to reach the standard fecal coliform level of 100 mpn/100ml for its supposed Class SB classification.

This shows that the rehabilitation of Manila Bay goes beyond clean up drives and sustainable solutions backed up by scientific data must be established and institutionalized, the DOST-PCIEERD said.

Project e-Smart

One of the four projects in the IM4ManilaBay campaign is the “Ecosystems Modeling and Material Transport: Analysis for the Rehabilitation of Manila Bay,” or Project e-Smart.

In his presentation during the virtual news conference, project leader Dr. Eugene Herrera pointed out that the rehabilitation of the world-famous bay needs to tackle the challenges, such as forest mangrove degradation, waste disposal, shore land encroachment, euthrophication and shellfish poisoning.

Herrera admitted that rehabilitating Manila Bay is a herculean endeavor because it serves as the single outlet of all rainfalls and streams coming from more than 150 rivers.

Moreover, Manila Bay has water system links to Laguna Lake via the Pasig River. The primary objective of e-Smart is to streamline solution interventions for the rehabilitation of Manila Bay through hydrodynamic and material transport analysis of the integrated Manila Bay-Pasig River, Laguna Lake and surrounding watersheds system using numerical modeling.

Furthermore, Project e-Smart will provide as much scientific information as possible, including scenario analysis of various coastal development like reclamation, among others, and their corresponding impacts with regard to the hydrodynamics and water quality dynamics of the Manila Bay environment.

Methodologies to be implemented include hydrologic, hydrodynamic,

‘Beshie’ to sterilize air vs Covid-19 A

fter his fruitful stint in the Department of Science and Technology’s Balik Scientist Program (BSP), United States-based aerospace engineer Vicente DyReyes is now working with a multidisciplinary team to develop a technology to help fight the coronavirus pandemic in the country.

It is an air sterilization device that takes advantage of the effective antiviral capabilities of UV technology while constructively eliminating its harm to organic tissue.

To have a strong name recall, especially with the millennials, the team chose the name BioAir Equipment for Sterilization of Harmful and Infected Entities (Beshie).

Besides DyReyes, the team is composed of multidisciplanary experts including Engr. Robert Leighton, Engr. Gabriel Decena, Ar. Jaime Javier, Jason Pechardo and Ria Canlas.

The Lung Center of the Philippines and RS Leighton Trading Inc. are among the cooperating agencies.

DyReyes is the lead in technical design and development, while Canlas will handle administrative and correspondence.

DyReyes informed the B usiness M irror that the Philippine Council for Industry, Energy and Emerging Technology Research and Development of the Department of Science and Technology (DOSTPCIEERD) has evaluated his proposal for the project, which will be submitted “to upper management for evaluation.”

“They [DOST-PCIEERD] said that after their initial evaluation, they are convinced that it is worth recommending to upper management for funding,” he said.

Beshie works even with people present

In an e-mail interview with the BusinessMirror, DyReyes explained how Beshie will kill the virus.

“The most important thing here is we could kill the virus even in the presence of people. The existing one requires no presence of people while disinfecting the surroundings,” he said.

He was proud to say that “our design is going to be very effective in public transportation terminals

like the bus stations, train terminals, hospital, hotels and airports.”

There are similar products that use UVC technology like disinfecting grocery items, called Corona Oven, or disinfecting cell phones.

“But I have not seen a product that has the capability of disinfecting at the same time with the presence of people. They also used robotics with UVC light to disinfect aircraft after the passengers disembark and prepare for the next flight,” he explained.

“While Covid-19 is in the air or the floor, Beshie will force the virus particles to go inside the device where the UVC [ultraviolet C] light will suck the air just like a vacuum cleaner sucks the dirt,” he said.

Afterwards, Beshie will control the flow of the air with the recommended intensity of the UVC at 254 nanometer (nm). As a result, the energy of the UVC light will destroy the DNA of the Covid-19 that will prevent it to reproduce and infect, he explained.

Furthermore, the device will always be working until all the air in the area is captured.

Dyreyes said Beshie will use technologies, such as

the computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulation, in partnership with MSC from India, thermodynamics (heat transfer) and acoustic simulation to be developed

by DyReyes.

“I will handle the acoustic design with minimal noise control and the best material to protect the deadly UVC light to be contained,” he said.

Unlike US President Donald Trump’s weird concept of putting UV light into the human body to kill the virus, DyReyes said Beshie’s technology will kill the virus while they are still in the air.

According to Merriam Webster, “Radiation that is in the region of the ultraviolet spectrum, which extends from about 200nm to 280 nm in wavelength is more hazardous than UVB [ultraviolet B] but is mostly absorbed by earth’s upper atmosphere.”

“UVC light is proven to be effective against viruses like SARS [severe acute respirator y syndrome]. But since they don’t have yet the data against Covid-19 I assume that the behavior of this new virus will be similar to SARS. It is just a matter of how long the exposure of UVC is needed to kill this new virus. I could calibrate through testing the length of exposure for them to be killed without endangering human lives and that is a big improvement,” DyReyes added.

Other countries are utilizing this UVC technology but they are not appropriate to the Philippines since they are expensive and still in the research stage, “while my proposal is already proven against SARS,” he said.

The National University graduate said there are already some industries that contacting him for possible funding and information for business purposes.

His team is building the prototype and applying for patent.

Track record

DyReyes has a stellar record in his professional experience in aerospace engineering and space technology.

He served as a consulting engineer in Strand Aerospace in Malaysia from 2013 to 2015. He

worked as a contract engineer in Bombardier Aerospace, Lockheed Martin Space and Aerospace Corp., Northrop Grumman Corp. and Gulfstream Corp. and Materials Science.

He also worked as a principal engineer, senior technical engineer, senior engineer and engineering specialist at Northrop Grumman, and as an instructor at the New Jersey Institute of Technology

Educational background

Dyreyes has doctoral units in applied mechanics from the Polytechnic University of New York; Master in Science in Applied Mathematics, 1972, Stevens Institute of Technology, New Jersey; and MS Engineering, 1967, New Jersey Institute of Technology, New Jersey.

He finished his BS Civil Engineering at the National University in 1962.

Balik Scientist Program

DyReyes said that his stint in the Balik Scientist Program (BSP) from July to August 2018 was a productive one. He said he loves the purpose and objective of the Balik Scientist Program of the government, especially in its goal help the country in becoming an industrialized country.

“This is one way of improving the livelihood of the Filipino family,” he said.

“I remember whenever I am watching the Olympic games, I’ve always been wanting to hear our national anthem and see one of the Filipinos will get the gold medal. It makes you feel proud as a Filipino to hear our national anthem which I loved singing everyday during my elementary days.

If he’s invited again, DyReyes is open to work with the BSP to share his expertise and experience to the young engineers.

“That is why I love teaching here and that has been always part of the BSP, to improve the standards of engineering schools in the country,” he added.

“Moreover, as I get older it is more convenient to stay in the Philippines because Filipinos are more respectful and caring toward the elderly,” he pointed out. Rizal Raoul S. Reyes

surge-wave and material transport characterization, bio-chemical characterization, geo-simulation modeling and model scenario analysis Herrera said e-SMART hopes to publish its research output for knowledge dissemination to the public and peer-reviewed journals; file patents for patentable products and technologies; participate in conferences; produce models, maps, time-series plots, knowledge and modules, develop scenario-based analysis capacity-building for researchers, professors and students; knowledge transfer to cooperating agencies; increased efficiency and expertise in the hydrologic, hydraulic and hydrodynamic research; and provide sciencebasedrecommendations to national and local policies to support Manila Bay rehabilitation.

As far as the controversial Manila Bay reclamation project is concerned, Herrera stressed that that only a comprehensive benefit/cost analysis can provide realistic, comprehensive and unbiased assessment of the feasibility of such development.

“Considering that such studies should not only quantify the tangible items but also the intangible ones— stakeholder-specific appreciation of the development for example—a full

The other three projects in the IM4Manila Bay Program include: Integrated Waste Analysis, Survey and Technological Options (Project Iwasto): Development of Integrated Mapping, Monitoring and Analytical Network Systems for Manila Bay and Linked Environments (Project MapAble); and Management not Dredged Material Characterization, Treatment and Disposal (Project CharTED DreaM). n Project Iwasto, led by Dr. Maria Antonia N. Tanchuling. aims to describe and assess the solid waste management (SWM) activities in communities that are part of the Manila Bay watershed.

It also intends to set up appropriate waste-utilization technologies to process biodegradable and plastic wastes in selected communities. SWM information, such as waste characteristics and available facilities, will also be systemized and made available to the general public. n Project MapAble, with by Dr. Ariel C. Blanco at the helm, aims to develop and deploy an integrated system for mapping and monitoring the water quality of Manila Bay and linked systems, including major tributary rivers, using geospatial technologies and citizen science. n Project CharTeD DreaM, led by Engr. Reynaldo L. Esguerra. t aims to provide technology for the management and utilization of dredged materials collected from Tullahan-Tinajeros River System.

The dredged materials will undergo characterization, pretreatment, chemical treatment and immobilization studies. Design of pilot treatment facility will be developed for the utilization of treated dredged materials into concrete aggregates.

With Lyn Resurreccion

4th Young Innovators Program deadline extended to June 15

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o entice more Filipino students to pursue game-changing research projects in science and technology, the deadline for the submission for the Young Innovators Program (YIP) is extended to June 15, the Department of Science and Technology-Philippine Council for Industry, Energy and Emerging Technology Research and Development (DOST-PCIEERD) announced.

DOST-PCIEERD Executive Director Dr. Enrico C. Paringit is encouraging the students to submit their ideas to the council and take a crack at getting a research grant.

“We are extending the deadline for the submission of research proposals in the Young Innovators Program to allow more students to get a chance in experiencing research and development in the country first-hand,” Paringit said.

“As a leader and partner in innovation, we believe in nurturing and inspiring people at a young age. We cultivate young minds to become our innovators of tomorrow, motivating them to pursue research in science as a career in the future, also ushering the expansion of our country’s research pool and creating opportunities for breakthroughs and solutions,” he added.

Launched in 2017, YIP provides support to research of Filipinos under the age of 25 to further encourage

them to delve into scientific research by providing them with financial assistance to cover the expenses for their research work, as well as modest stipends for the grantees and honorarium for their mentor.

The program was conceived to persuade students to come up with innovative research that will lead to the creation of quality research papers, publication, product, or inventions, as well as fortify new and innovative research areas.

The program is open to young, talented, Filipino high-school and undergraduate students under the age of 25, who wish to obtain research experience under a mentor.

The research must be for a maximum of 1 year covering the PCIEERD’s sectoral priority areas under the Harmonized National Research and Development Agenda.

DOST-PCIEERD has currently received 65 applications and it expects to receive more with the deadline extension. YIP targets to shortlist at least 25 proposals and approve at most 10 grantees.

T he forms and guidelines for the YIP can be accessed at bit.ly/ YIPForms2020. Only applications with complete documentary requirements will be processed. Inquiries on the program should be sent to pcieerdyip@gmail.com.

Faith A6 Sunday, June 14, 2020

Sunday

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

Pasig, Sorsogon dioceses to implement contact-tracing measures for new normal

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he dioceses of Pasig and Sorsogon will require the faithful who will be attending Masses to give their basic information as part of contact tracing efforts under the new normal mode amid the coronavirus pandemic.

In separate guidelines, both dioceses said once the community quarantine has been relaxed or lifted in their areas, they will be asking those who are attending Eucharistic celebrations in their Churches to write their names on a logbook upon entry.

Bishop Mylo Hubert Vergara of Pasig said the measure will be implemented when parishes in

the diocese would reopen for inperson services.

“Part of the announcement of the reopening of the Church for public celebration of the sacraments and sacramentals is informing the people that a contact tracing mechanism will be implemented,” the Diocese of Pasig said in an administrative decree issued to the clergy last week.

A worker disinfects the Immaculate Conception Cathedral in Pasig City on March 24. PASIG CATHEDRAL’S FACEBOOK PAGE

“Seats will be pre-marked with letters and numbers or numbers alone to easily facilitate the contact tracing,” it added.

“The faithful should be informed that they need to bring

a ballpen when attending the Mass. At the entrance doors of the Church, they will be given a form that they can bring to their seats.

They can fill up the form upon sitting on the pews with the corre-

Saint Francis of Assisi Parish prepared for MGCQ

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n preparation for the opening to the public of the historic Saint Francis of Assisi Parish Church in General Trias City in Cavite after three months of community quarantine, altar server Joel Dayoc led his team recently in a putting physical distance measure on the Church pews.

The preparation is in compliance with Inter-Agency Task Force (IATF) protocol once the entire Cavite province is downgraded to modified general community quarantine (MGCQ) from general community quarantine on June 15.

Based on IATF protocol of 50 percent Church capacity under MGCQ, only 154 persons are allowed inside the parish during masses. Dennis Abrina

Historic Church of Saint Francis of Assisi Parish in General Trias City in Cavite is being prepared for June 15 opening. Dennis Abrina

Vatican negotiator: Deal with china should be renewed for ‘1 or 2 years’

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ATICAN—With the Vatican’s interim deal with the Chinese government due to expire in September, an archbishop who helped to negotiate the agreement said last week that he believes it should be renewed for one or two more years.

Archbishop Claudio Maria Celli was instrumental in the negotiation and signing of the 2018 agreement between the Holy See and China that regularized the country’s government-appointed bishops who had been out of communion with Rome.

“The deal is an interim deal, which expires, as you said, in September of this year. We have to find a formula. We have to see what to do after this deadline. I think we should probably reconfirm it for one or two years,” Celli said in an Italian television interview on June 7.

“However, the Holy See has not yet made a decision in this regard, a decision that will then be communicated to the Chinese authorities,” he added.

After the Vatican signed the interim agreement with Chinese Communist Party authorities on the appointment of bishops in September 2018, Chinese government persecution of Catholics continued with the demolition of Churches and crosses and the continuing detention of underground clergy.

“It is undeniable that there are still situations that still require a journey,”Celli said in an interview with Tgcom24 television program Stanze Vaticane.

The archbishop, a long-serving Vatican diplomat who was president of the Pontifical Council for Social Communications from 2007 to 2016, spoke of the “need for respect” and for “mutual understanding” between the Catholic Church and China.

“It will not be easy. The Holy See still wants to continue on this step. We want to move forward and we want to reach a normality in which a Chinese Catholic can express all of his fidelity to the Gospel and also with respect for his being Chinese,” Celli said.

“I always say, I use a very simple expression, that the Catholic Church in China must be fully Chinese, but it must also be fully Catholic,” he added.

Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin, a key figure in the Vatican’s ongoing

negotiations with China, has compared the Catholic missionary practice of “inculturation” to the Chinese government’s term, “sinicization.”

The cardinal said in 2019 that inculturation and sinicization can be “complementary” and “can open avenues for dialogue.”

Since coming to power in 2013, Chinese President Xi Jinping has mandated the“sinicization” of all religions in China, a move which the US Commission on International Religious Freedom called “a far-reaching strategy to control, govern and manipulate all aspects of faith into a socialist mold infused with ‘Chinese characteristics.’”

The Chinese government is in the midst of implementing a five-year “sinicization plan” for Islam, a religion that has faced increased persecution in the country with at least 800,000 Uyghur Muslims held in internment camps.

Catholic acceptance of the “sinicization” program has been a much-discussed topic following the signing of the 2018 agreement between the Vatican and China.

Most recently a state-affiliated Chinese Patriotic Catholic Association in Zhejiang province issued a statement requiring “patriotism” to be added to the celebration of the liturgy as a condition for Churches reopening.

In a video announcing the pope’s prayer

Pope Francis greets two bishops from China during the Synod of Bishops on young people, the faith and vocational discernment at the Vatican in October 2018. VATICAN MEDIA

intention for March as a prayer for “the unity of Christians in China,”Pope Francis said: “The Church wants Chinese Christians to be truly Christians, and to be good citizens.”

Pope Francis also added this line to his prayer on May 24 entrusting China to Mary. The pope added “and good citizens” to the end of his prepared petition that Chinese Catholics may be “joyful witnesses and promoters of charity and fraternal hope.”

The terms of the 2018 interim agreement have not been released, however, Pope Francis gave some insight into the process that led to its signing in an interview on September 25, 2018, two days after the agreement was signed.

“You know that when you make a peace agreement or a negotiation, both sides lose something,” Pope Francis said. “This is the law.

Both sides. And you move ahead.”

He said that“the bishops who were in difficulty were studied case-by-case,” and that “dossiers came on to my desk about each one. And I was responsible for signing the case of the bishops.”

Following this, drafts of the agreement were put on his desk, Pope Francis said. They were discussed and “I gave my ideas.”

He stated that under the agreement with China, the Chinese government will not appoint

the bishops: “No, this is a dialogue about eventual candidates but Rome appoints, the Pope appoints.”

“I signed the agreement,”Pope Francis stated.

“I am responsible.”

“The others, whom I appointed, in all have worked for more than 10 years. It’s not an improvisation. It’s a path, a true path.”

Pope Francis noted the efforts of Archbishop Celli, along with Cardinal Pietro Parolin and Fr. Rota Graziosi, an official in the Roman Curia, in forming the 2018 interim agreement.

“We do not look only at the present, but we try to look to the future and give the future of our relationship a deep and respectful basis and I would say that we are working in this direction,” Celli said of the ongoing negotiations over the renewal of the agreement.

“On our journey we must all be faithful to the Gospel,” he explained. “It is not an easy path, but it seems to me that we have embarked on a respectful path...trying to understand each other in order to be able to see how to still resolve those knots that remain, and those situations that undeniably leave much more than thoughtful, I would say worried.”

“However, we must carry it forward,” Celli added. Courtney Mares/Catholic News Agency

via CBCP New

sponding details [including name, address, contact number, date, and time of the Mass attended and seat number],” the Pasig diocese said.

The form will be submitted at the exit doors before leaving the Church after the Mass.

Verga ra a lso urged pa r ish priests to device other contact tracing schemes that are applicable and doable in their parish.

Besides contact tracing, parishes are also required to adhere to physical distancing and hygiene directives, such as wearing of face masks.

T he diocese also said that holy water fonts inside Churches should remain empty and covered as precaution against the spread of the virus.

Religious services in Metropolitan Manila remain highly restricted to curb the spread of coronavirus disease (Covid-19).

While Metro Manila was eased

to general community quarantine (GCQ) last week, religious gatherings are still limited to 10 people.

There is no word yet from the government if the quarantine will be relaxed to moderate GCQ on June 15 which would allow 50 percent churchgoers’ occupancy.

In the Diocese of Sorsogon, it has likewise required the faithful to fill up a logbook and urged them not to change seats for easy tracing.

The churchgoers are also asked to always wear masks, get their temperature checked, and step on foot bath before entering.

Likewise, the public is directed to follow entrance and exit signs, always observe physical distancing, and use alcohol or hand sanitizer as often as possible.

“Do not touch icons, images and surfaces; clean as you go, dispose trash properly,” the diocese said.

PNA and CBCP News

Trump’s use of religion follows ways of world’s authoritarian-leaning leaders

I

t was a striking moment: Donald Trump, Bible in hand, posing for photos in an apparent moment of political theater made possible by the dispersal of protesters through the use of tear gas.

The president’s visit to St. John’s Episcopal Church, known as “the Church of the Presidents,” came immediately after giving a Rose Garden speech framing himself as “your president of law and order” and threatening to send federal troops to “restore security and safety in America.”

The next day, Trump made another highprofile visit to a place of worship, this time Washington’s St. John Paul II National Shrine.

Coming at a time of social turbulence, critics accused Trump of following authoritarian-leaning world leaders by sidling up to religion to reinforce an image as a strongman defending a particular brand of tradition.

Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Washington Mariann Budde said as much, commenting that Trump used the Bible at St. John’s “as if it were a prop or an extension of his military and authoritarian position.”

As a scholar who has researched the interaction of politics and faith for decades, I know how potent religion can be as a political tool.

Powerful tool

Religion creates meaning in our lives by articulating values about how we relate to one another. But just as it can unite us, religion can also be a source of division—used to “other” people who are not of the faith and don’t share the same traditions and rituals.

When enough people perceive—or can be convinced—that traditional elements of the social fabric are at risk, religious signaling through the use of symbols and images can help would-be authoritarians cement their power.

They present themselves as protectors of the faith and foes of any outsider who threatens tradition.

In Russia, this phenomenon is seen in President Vladimir Putin’s forging of a strategic alliance with the Russian Orthodox Church.

For his part, Putin presents himself not just as a commanding leader, but also as a devoutly religious Russian. When he appears shirtless, for example, the large cross he wears around his neck is always visible.

Meanwhile, the Church promotes traditional moral values and maintains a distance from the rest of the worldwide Orthodox Christian community, thereby separating the“truly Russian” from the outsider.

In their most recent collaboration, Putin and the Church proposed amendments to the Russian constitution that would enshrine Russians’ faith in God, define marriage as the union of a man and a woman and, tellingly, proclaim “the great achievement of the [Russian] people in defense of the Fatherland.”

These changes, all of which are intended to reinforce Putin’s base of support, would be jarringly nationalistic additions to the constitution.

Putin benefits from this insider-outsider dynamic in advancing his goal of restoring Russia to his vision of its past territorial glory.

In justifying the Russian incursion into Crimea, Putin argued that the region had “sacral importance for Russia, like the Temple Mount in

Jerusalem for the followers of Islam and Judaism.”

Defending and expanding Russian territory is a much easier sell if it is framed as the defense of the holy.

Religious imagery

We see a similar dynamic in India, where Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s grip on power relies in large part on his embrace of a version of Hindu nationalism that elevates Hindus as “truly Indian” insiders and singles out Muslims as outsiders.

Like Putin, Modi wraps himself in religious imagery. He makes high-profile visits to remote Hindu temples while electioneering and never wears green because of its association with Islam.

Modi’s Hindu nationalism cements his popularity among devout Hindus and builds public support for anti-Muslim policies, such as stripping the only majority-Muslim state in India of its autonomy and enacting a controversial new law preventing Muslim migrants from attaining Indian citizenship.

Trump as savior

Trump has stumbled in attempts to portray himself as personally devout, declining to name a favorite passage from the Bible and stating that he has never sought forgiveness from God for his sins.

Nevertheless, public opinion polls have consistently shown that white Christians comprise the core of Trump’s base, although there are recent signs of a dip even among this key group.

And while it is important to note that many white Christians do not support Trump, 29 percent of evangelicals go so far as to say they believe he is anointed by God. Where Trump succeeds is in presenting himself as a Christian nationalist, much as Putin and Modi style themselves as the stout defenders of their countries’ dominant religions.

One way Trump achieves this end is by making statements such as this one on the campaign trail earlier this year: “We’re going to win another monumental victory for faith and family, God and country, flag and freedom.”

In their new book Taking America Back for God , sociologists Andrew Whitehead and Samuel Perry contend that many of Trump’s white Christian supporters see him as their long-awaited savior—not just the protector of traditional religion, but also the defender of a bygone way of life.

In that imagined past, white men ruled the roost, families went to Church every Sunday and outsiders knew their place. A deep-rooted desire for a return to that past may have been why Trump’s “Make America Great Again” slogan has proved so potent.

As Yale scholar Philip Gorski has argued, that phrase can be interpreted to mean “making white Christianity culturally dominant again.”

As such, we should not be surprised that in the current moment of crisis Trump is attempting to use religion to reinforce differences between his supporters and his opponents.

Like Putin, he is posing as the defender of a particular version of a glorious past. And echoing Modi, he is doing this by building support through the denigration of the outsider.

Laura R. Olson/The Conversation

Biodiversity Sunday BusinessMirror

Asean Champions of Biodiversity Media Category 2014

Sunday, June 14, 2020

Editor: Lyn Resurreccion

Where do infectious diseases emerge?

Research confirms presence of PHL eagle in Zambo City

A

Direct handling of a common emerald dove. Rolly Urriz, Haribon Foundation

Table 1. Coronaviruses and their bat host from which they were first identified or sequenced (Moratelli and Calisher 2015).

Family

Genus

Virus

Source Species

Coronaviridae

Alphacoronavirus

Human coronavirus

Sundevall’s leaf-nosed bat (Hipposideros caffer) Small long-fingered bat (Miniopterus pusillus)

Mystacina coronavirus New Zealand/2013

New Zealand lesser short-tailed bat (Mystacina tuberculata)

Severe acute respiratory

Chinese rufous horseshoe bat (Rhinolophus sinicus)

Betacoronavirus

syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV) Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV)

D

id you know that wildlife also experience a lot of stress? Bushmeat hunting for consumption pushes several terrestrial or land-based mammal species to the brink of extinction while agitating hunted animals.

Hunting is common in developing countries across Southeast Asia, South America and Africa. Traditional medicine, pet trade, and ornamental use of body parts were also some of the reasons why wildlife and other biodiversity are hunted and collected.

Live trade for the pet industr y and ornamental use of wild animals primarily occur in Africa, Latin America and in Southeast Asia.

Bushmeat is a vital source of food and income in rural areas in Southeast Asia for over 40,000 years. Increasing human population and the continuous destruction and degradation of forests and other habitats have contributed to wildlife hunting to unsustainable levels.

The demand for bushmeat increases the risk of transmission of zoonotic diseases from animals to humans through direct contact.

What is zoonosis?

Zoonosis is the transmission of disease from animals to humans. It follows a simple equation: wildlife interaction plus increasing demand plus habitat conversion is equal to zoonotic diseases.

This risk from handling wildlife has long been acknowledged. This awareness has to lead to the development of standard practices in handling wildlife.

Wildlife professionals like biologists and fieldwork technicians are expected to follow personal protective measures, such as the use of personal protective equipment (PPE), when handling wildlife to reduce the chances of zoonosis.

Unfortunately, the use of PPE is not observed in the informal bushmeat trading sector across Asia and Southeast Asia. Markets wherein bushmeat is sold usually do not have guidelines on how to prevent zoonosis.

Moratelli and Calisher in 2015 successfully isolated, among other viruses, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV) and the Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) from bats.

SARS-CoV is associated with the bushmeat industry across a wide range of host animals.

The pathway of transmission of the virus involves bats as primary host followed by transmission to intermediate amplifying hosts, such as palm civets that could transfer it to humans.

MERS-CoV, on the other hand, is genetically related to SARS-CoV and also originates from bats but differs in the intermediate host being camels as a potential source of virus for humans.

Egyptian tomb bat (Taphozous perforatus)

Zoonosis in the Philippines

Demand for bushmeat in the Philippines makes it challenging to limit potential zoonotic transmission of viruses from bat-animal human interactions.

In Southern Luzon, civet cats and flying foxes are sold for P150 per individual (price in 2012).

These wildlife are known origins of zoonotic diseases, especially bats. Over 200 viruses have been detected or isolated from bats, including coronaviruses by Philippine scientists in just a hot-off-the press scientific journal.

While the threat to public health in the Philippines posed by viruses from bats is currently unknown, research on the subject continues to draw interest. Recent studies suggest that BtCov, or bat coronaviruses, has a widespread distribution and diversity in the Philippines.

The most recent BtCoV detected in the Philippines was discovered in Mindanao in 2020 by Nikki Tampon and her team from the University of the Philippines and Nakamura Laboratory in Japan.

Their group isolated from a local bat species called long-tongued nectar bat ( Macroglossus minimus ).

Ta m p o n a n d h e r g r o u p h e a v i l y emphasized the conservation of natural habitats as a means of limiting potential zoonotic transmission by reducing batanimal human interactions.

Their recommendations could not have come at a better time as the world faces the Covid-19 pandemic caused by SARS-CoV-2 that has infected almost 24,000 and caused more than 1,000 deaths in the Philippines as of June 10.

Takeaways

It is important to remember that bats are not the culprit in this volatile situation. Humans are.

People keep on encroaching wildlife, habitats as with the plight of Lolong, the largest crocodile in captivity.

People should not harm bats in any way.

They are pollinators of fruits that people need to improve their health.

Bats keep insects at bay, such as mosquitos and the like. Refrain from eating or patronizing bushmeat in any form.

People can also help restore wildlife habitats by supporting conservation programs like Haribon Foundation’s “Forest for Life Movement,” a campaign to restore denuded Philippine forests using native trees.

Finally, keep wildlife in the wild. And together, we will all live in harmony.

J Kahlil Panopio/Haribon Foundation

A7

By Jonathan L. Mayuga

ll hope is not lost for the iconic Philippine eagle. An ongoing research on the world’s largest bird of prey in Zamboanga City confirmed the presence of at least one Philippine eagle family in Pasonanca Natural Park in the city.

A series of expeditions was started in October 2019 by the Philippine Eagle Foundation (PEF) and its partners, the Zamboanga City government, Zamboanga City Water District, Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) Protect Wildlife Project.

The announcement of the find made by the USAID in a news release came in time for the celebration of the Philippine Eagle Week on June 4 to 10.

The critically endangered Philippine eagle is endemic to the Philippines, or can be found nowhere else in the world. Around 400 pairs of this rare eagle species are left in the wild.

While PEF has led Philippine eagle studies and confirmed the presence of the eagle in various parts of the region, an eagle subpopulation in the Zamboanga Peninsula, including those in Pa-

sonanca, is yet to be studied and fully understood.

The PEF, USAID and partners in Zamboanga City have rolled out last year the first-ever field study to survey Philippine eagles and find an active nest inside Pasonanca Natural Park.

The 17,000-hectare protected area is one of the few remaining intact forests in Zamboanga Peninsula, making it an important habitat for many bird species and other wildlife.

Jayson Ibañez, PEF director for Research and Conservation, said there are possibly three more eagle pairs in Pasonanca based on reported sightings of the monkeyeating eagle by forest protectors and traces of their existence, such as feathers, on the forest grounds.

The field study aims to locate nesting sites in the park, record and observe behaviors of resident eagles, and tag and monitor live Philippine eagles.

Finally, on the morning of December 4, 2019, as the team spot-

A Philippine eagle pair soaring together. Philippine Eagle Foundation

ted a male eagle flying from a tree canopy after delivering food, an adult female eagle emerged into view from a thicket of ferns.

The team observed the nest and its feathered dwellers, including a healthy and well-fed one-month-old eaglet.

This was the first active Philippine eagle nest recorded in Pasonanca and the third in the whole Zamboanga Peninsula.

“The presence of an eagle nesting pair and its young is strong proof that conservation is working in the park,” Ibañez explained.

“Eagles breed and nest only in safe and healthy forest habitats. If forests are intact, that means the rest of biodiversity therein is also diverse and thriving,” he added.

In January 2020, however, upon the team’s return, the nest was already empty. Ibañez believes that the chick died of natural causes, which is not unusual especially in the wild.

But in February and March, the eagle pair were again spotted showing courtship behavior, such as exchanging vocals, soaring together and displaying

their talons, with the male even attempting to mate with the female on a few occasions.

These are hopeful signs that the pair can still renest and lay a new egg.

The team continues to monitor the eagle pair while also preparing the site for trapping and tagging, in hopes of catching at least one of the adult eagles and using a GPS tracker to follow its range and movements in the forest.

Research being conducted by experts aim to pinpoint areas of Pasonanca that are hunting and breeding grounds for eagles, which can then be prioritized for stronger protection and conservation measures.

“We hope to see a new nest and track the nesting pair and their new eaglet in future expeditions.

We also think that there could be three more eagle pairs in Pasonanca,” Ibañez said.

“Finding these pairs, and studying and monitoring them will be very important to eagle research and conservation in the region,” he said.

Smart’s green programs lauded in latest GSMA global report

W

ireless services provider Smart Communications Inc. (Smart) earned new feathers in its cap for initiating environmental protection programs that utilize innovative technologies.

In its report, “Digital Dividends in Natural Resource Management,” released on World Environment Day, GSM Association (GSMA), the global industry organization of mobile network operators, commended Smart in two out of its three featured environmental programs.

The study highlighted Smart’s innovations that protect rainforests and restore coastal communities, which are under the PLDT Group’s “Gabay Kalikasan” effective environmental stewardship sustainability pillar.

Conducted under the GSMA CleanTech program, the study explored the “Digital Dividends”of applying various types of technology to natural resource management (NRM).

The report emphasized how digital solutions can significantly improve the efficiency, responsiveness and efficacy of NRM activities.

“Innovative approaches to environmental concerns are believed to contribute to at least 10 of the 17 United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, as natural resources, livelihoods and poverty are interlinked,” said Chaye Cabal-Revilla, PLDTSmart chief sustainability officer and concurrent PLDT SVP and group controller and Smart chief financial officer.

Guarding the rainforest

Launched in the first quarter of 2020,

the Rainforest Connection Program is a collaboration of Smart, the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) a n d Hu awe i Te c h n o l o gi e s P h i l i p p i n e s (Huawei).

It has been successfully deployed in five DENR-designated areas in Palawan, which is recognized as the “last ecological frontier” of the country.

The program uses an Internet of Things (IoT) solution that taps mobile technology to record sounds in the rainforest in order to detect illegal logging and poaching activities in the country’s rainforests.

Developed by a US-based NGO of the same name, Rainforest Connection makes use of old cell phones, all powered by solar panels and wireless technology, to monitor and record ambient sounds of DENR-identified priority forest areas.

The bio-acoustics are then uploaded to a cloud service using Smart’s mobile network connectivity.

Findings based on the collected data are accessible via a mobile app and may be used by key community stakeholders to interpret patterns of forest activity and to guide their course of action.

Restoring mangroves with Ericsson, LGUs

Smart’s Connected Mangroves partnership with network vendor, Ericsson, that is also featured in the 2020 GSMA Digital Dividends

report, was lauded in its Case for Change initiative in 2019, as one of the global mobile industry’s contributions to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.

The IoT for mangroves protection uses wireless connectivity to collect critical data relevant to the survival of these plants, such as water level, temperature, soil moisture, and other conditions in the mangrove area.

The information, which is being collected by the mangrove sensor system, is transmitted over a cloud system to a dashboard accessible to the fisherfolk communities and authorities.

Mangrove forests are deemed important in the protection of seaside communities from typhoons, flooding, erosion and other coastal hazards, and serve as a vital habitat for various aquatic life forms.

The newly established Sustainability Office of PLDT-Smart aims to scale up the project for 2020, following its 2017 deployment in the Sasmuan Bangkung Malapad Critical Habitat and Ecotourism Area in Pampanga.

B esides Rainforest Connec tion and Connected Mangroves, most NRM projects that GSMA studied also leverage data collected through satellites, drones or connected devices.

One in five uses artificial intelligence to discover, explore and derive insights from datasets.

Supporting GSMA’s #RaceToZero

These recognitions coincide with PLDT-Smart’s announcement that it is supporting the GSMA’s

Race to Zero campaign, as a member of the organization’s Climate Change Task Force.

The movement highlights broad-based commitment to zero emissions from all stakeholders, building back better from the Covid-19 context.

Race to Zero aims to mobilize leadership and support from business cities, regions, and investors for a net zero greenhouse-gas emissions economy by 2050, preferably earlier.

PLDT-Smart aims to do this by progressively improving operational efficiencies, turning to green technologies this 2020, and pursuing the use of renewable energy in its facilities.

This is on top of the various partnerships established to help protect and conserve our rainforests, mangroves and marine life—all leveraging on digital technology and the PLDT-Smart network.

“For us, ‘The Race To Zero’ has already begun, we have hit the ground running,” said PLDT Chief Revenue Officer, and Smart President and CEO Alfredo S. Panlilio in a video message.

“We realize this is not a sprint but a marathon. So, we will run this race at a steady pace, keep our eyes focused on our goal, and stay determined to see it through to the finish line,” Panlilio added.

“This is the larger mission before us— the purpose that drives our organizational will and energy toward sustainability on the triple bottom line of profit, people, and planet,” said PLDT Chairman, President and CEO Manuel V. Pangilinan.

UPS matching offsets of carbon neutral shipments in June

U

PS commemorated the recent World Environment Day by matching the carbon offsets of all packages shipped through its carbon neutral program throughout the month of June.

UPS carbon neutral counterbalances the estimated carbon impact of each shipment by purchasing certified-carbon offsets.

“There is truly no better way to honor World Environment Day than to facilitate actions that will help the planet,” said Suzanne LindsayWalker, UPS chief sustainability officer and vice president of environmental affairs.

“UPS hopes to create more awareness about our carbon neutral shipping option so additional customers will take advantage of it, thus helping to fund large-scale carbon

reduction programs and reduce the total carbon impact of shipping on the environment,” Lindsay-Walker added.

Shippers pay a fee as little as the local currency equivalent of $0.75 per package, then UPS will match these offsets throughout June.

This is essentially doubling the shipper’s impact thereby allowing the shipper to potentially net out “carbon negative” in June.

The optional service is available on shipments using UPS Express Plus, Express, Express Saver, Expedited, and Worldwide Express Freight services.

UPS’s carbon neutral offering is just one way the company is using logistics to support the construction of more sustainable communities

in the Philippines.

In January 2020, as part of a $500,000 donation to humanitarian relief efforts across the world, The UPS Foundation, the charitable arm of UPS, worked with local aid organizations to bring life-saving supplies and services to people affected by the eruption of the Taal Volcano.

The Foundation has also donated a total of $65,000 to air quality improvement NGO Clean Air Asia.

Environmental initiatives are also a key focus during UPS’s Global Volunteer Month, which takes place every October.

Recent projects in the Philippines include cleaning up coastal areas, planting native tees, supporting school-based agriculture programs,

and promoting climate-change awareness among Filipinos.

“The Philippines is among the most climate vulnerable nations in the world, and the country has embedded sustainability and inclusivity as guideposts to its development strategies,” said Chris Buono, UPS country manager for Philippines and Indonesia.

“There is heightened awareness and action toward lowering emissions, and the private sector plays a crucial role in attaining this.

Initiatives such as the UPS carbon neutral program underscore our commitment to providing solutions that allow us, our customers and the people of the Philippines to achieve both our business and sustainability goals together.”

Sunday, June 14, 2020

A8

Sports BusinessMirror

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

Michael Jordan hasn’t come close to matching his success as a player since taking over majority control of the Hornets 10 years ago.

By Steve Reed

MJ PEP TALKS HORNETS

Hornets.

Charlotte players say Jordan spoke to them recently via videoconference call about what it takes to be a champion, emphasizing the need for accountability—even if it means making teammates comfortable.

Those are some of the same qualities that were on display during the 10-part documentary the Last Dance, which focused on Jordan’s sixth and final National Basketball Association (NBA) championship run with the Bulls.

In the hour-long conference call that came after the conclusion of the Last Dance, Charlotte point guard Devonte Graham said Jordan told players they can’t be uncomfortable “calling out teammates” in practice when things aren’t going as planned or mistakes become repetitive.

“That’s going to make you guys even better,” Graham said reiterating Jordan’s remarks. “You’ll bond better. Your team is stronger. There is more of a respect level, instead of not saying anything and letting guys mess up over and over and over again, and you’re losing and losing.”

Jordan hasn’t come close to matching his success as a player since taking over majority control of the Hornets 10 years ago.

Charlotte has never made it out of the first round of the playoffs and has only won three postseason games in the Jordan era.

In an effort to stop that cycle of mediocrity,

T

NFL to spend $250 million on social justice initiatives

C

The Associated Press HARLOTTE, North Carolina—Michael Jordan helped build the Chicago Bulls into a winner as a player.

He’s desperate to do the same thing in Charlotte as the owner of the

HE National Football League (NFL) is committing $250 million over 10 years to social justice initiatives, targeting what it calls “systemic racism” and supporting “the battle against the ongoing and historic injustices faced

by African Americans.”

The league, which has raised $44 million in donations through its Inspire Change program, announced the additional $206 million commitment Thursday. It plans to “work collaboratively with NFL players to support programs to address criminal justice reform, police reforms, and economic and educational advancement.”

Less than a week ago, Commissioner Roger

Goodell denounced racism in a video prompted greatly by a players’ video seeking NFL action.

“I am listening, and I will be reaching out to players who have raised their voices and others on how we can improve and go forward for a better and more united NFL family,” he said.

The players want to see definitive action, of course. There has been increasing distrust of the NFL since San Francisco quarterback Colin Kaepernick and others began kneeling during the national anthem in 2016 to protest social injustice and police

Jordan hired Mitch Kuchak as the team’s new general manager in 2018 and the Hornets have since embarked on a rebuilding process which included parting ways with three-time All-Star Kemba Walker last off-season in an effort to focus on developing young players.

Jordan took questions from players and spoke directly about the difference between what it takes to win in the regular season and the playoffs.

Hornets center Cody Zeller said that was an important message for a young team to hear.

“A lot of guys on our team haven’t played in the playoffs and don’t understand the attention to detail you have to play with in the playoffs,” Zeller said. “That was what I enjoyed hearing from MJ, especially as a younger team.”

Jordan’s tenacity and desire to win at all costs were exhibited during the Last Dance.

brutality. The message was misconstrued by the league and many team owners as anti-military and anti-flag. Goodell admitted as much in his video, though never mentioning Kaepernick, who has not found an NFL job the last three seasons.

That distrust was expressed Wednesday by 49ers star cornerback Richard Sherman.

“They’ve tried their best to throw money behind it for a long time,” he said. “It takes more than that. It takes you literally calling out bigotry and being motivated. It’s not just

That meant at times emotions boiled over at Bulls’ practices resulting in altercations between teammates, including one notable exchange of blows between Jordan and Steve Kerr.

Hornets guard Terry Rozier joked that after watching the Last Dance he probably would have got into a few fistfights with Jordan, too.

“I would have taken the Steve Kerr route,” Rozier said with a laugh. “I’m super-competitive.”

But Rozier is not sure Jordan’s aggressive approach would work with some of this generation’s players.

“I feel like you have to pick your poison,” Rozier said. “One thing with being teammates with guys in this league is you have to learn who they are first. Some people don’t like to be confronted in front of others; some people you have to pull aside. So I feel like it is a mixture of learning your teammates and knowing when to

pleading. It’s being consistent year in and year out that you’re combating this issue and that this is a problem that needs to change. And it’s not just this year, not just 2016, not just 2017, but ‘Black Lives Matter.’

They have to matter forever.”

The Players Coalition was established in 2017 to work for social justice, growing out of the Kaepernick-inspired protests and pledging to improve police/community relations, champion criminal justice reform, and promote education and economic advancement in communities across the nation.

Earlier this week, the coalition collected more than 1,400 signatures from active and retired athletes, coaches and executives from a variety of sports and presented them to Congress this week in support of a bill seeking to eliminate qualified immunity regarding police brutality. That bill was introduced in response to the deaths of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor while in police custody.

Saints safety Malcolm Jenkins, a cofounder of the Players Coalition, spoke on CBS about the movement to defund police:

call them out...so that people don’t have a bad taste in their mouth about one another.”

Zeller said Jordan admitted as much in the meeting.

He said the 57-year-old Jordan talked about his post-Bulls tenure with the Washington Wizards when his feedback and criticism wasn’t as well received.

“He said he wishes that he would have done that a little bit differently” in Washington, Zeller said. “The next generation of players that had come in didn’t really want to hear the same feedback and the harshness that he used during his days in Chicago. He wishes that he would have taken Jerry Stackhouse under his wing and taught him how to be a better leader as opposed to trying to do it all himself.”

“It doesn’t mean we eradicate police completely. We’ve got 10 million kids going to schools with police officers in them and no social workers. Three million that have got police in their schools and no nurses.

Six million with police in their schools but no psychologists. Yet we want to invest in putting more police on the streets and overpolicing that we know does not make our communities safer.

“We’d rather see that money go to programs that help with entrepreneurship, that help with our schooling, that help with black people who have been disproportionately affected by Covid.”

Some of the programs the NFL is targeting will deal with those issues, according to Anna Isaacson, the league’s senior vice president of social responsibility.

“What this really is a deeper and expanded commitment form the league and owners to say we are in this for the long haul,” she said. “It’s probably a deeper clarification on what we are meaning and focusing on. It has always been there, that focus, but obviously with current events and even before the last two weeks, conversations with the players have been on

THERE has been increasing distrust of the league since San Francisco quarterback Colin Kaepernick and others began their kneeling protest. AP

really focusing on this. Recent events solidified this has to be a key focus for us.”

Isaacson mentions Big Brothers and Big Sisters, and Metro Peace Academy in Chicago as two organizations the league works with. AP

Quarantined surfers return to Peru’s famous waves

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IMA, Peru—Peruvian surfers are returning to their nation’s world-famous waves after three months spent in lockdown due to the coronavirus.

Wearing masks and carrying their boards, the surfers this week descended onto Lima’s rocky beaches for the first time since the pandemic shutdown.

“It was about time, no?” said a smiling Alessandro Currarino, sporting a black wetsuit and matching face mask after hitting the waves. “Peru has some of the best waves in the world and we need to take advantage of them.”

The South American nation has been hit hard by the Covid-19 pandemic, confirming nearly 210,000 cases—the second-highest number in the region, after Brazil. Authorities in early June announced they’d begin allowing noncontact sports to resume.

Peru is home to some of the world’s top surfers and the sport is believed to have been practiced as far back in time as the pre-Inca Chimu civilization. In the town of Huanchaco, north of Lima, fishermen still ride the waves back to shore with the day’s catch on the same reed boats used by the Chimu people.

At least one Peruvian surfer was expected to participate in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics this summer before the games were postponed.

Peru is gradually reopening after

WEARING face masks as a precaution, surfers arrive at the reopened Waikiki beach in the Miraflores district of Lima on Thursday. AP

instituting a strict quarantine in mid-March.

Under the new rules, the surfers must wear face masks while on land and practice social distancing. They are also required to walk a farther distance to get to the beach.

“After so many days in quarantine, we want people to go out, carefully,” said Jaime Rozeznic, sub-director for sports and recreation in the Miraflores municipality.

For professional surfers, being stuck indoors has meant not just being unable to go

HANDS OFF POLICY

A

S part of a $22-million court-to-dome renovation, the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame replaced the static plaques honoring inductees with touch screens that display videos and career highlights. Another exhibit allows visitors to put their hands inside an impression of Kevin Durant’s, to compare sizes.

That was before a pandemic turned handson into “Hands Off!” Now, for the museum’s planned reopening on July 1, visitors will touch the touch screens with a stylus, and the players’ hand prints will be covered by plexiglass.

“You can look, but you can’t put your hand in it,” hall President John Doleva said. “For obvious reasons.”

As the world attempts to reopen from the coronavirus shutdown, every restaurant, retail shop and other public amenity is looking for ways to return to business while still keeping its staff and customers safe. But for the Springfield, Massachusetts, basketball shrine and other sports museums, there is an added challenge: managing social distancing and other health protocols while preserving the interactive features they have long leaned upon to help bring once-dusty archives to life.

“It’s a much more engaging experience, and you can really only do that through touch,” Doleva said. “It’s a different world, but we want to be one of the first places people think about visiting. We’re investing in all the protocols to

out to restaurants or work in an office—but being unable to train in the water.

Maria Fernanda Reyes, 22, a five-time national surf champion, said she continued to do strength exercises at home but the long spate out of the water nonetheless had an impact on more technical aspects of her training.

“More time in the water the better,” she said during a break Thursday from the cold, choppy waves. “For me, this is where I was born.” AP make sure our museum is safe.”

When it reopens—a date that has been pushed back two months to July 1—the basketball hall will hand out styluses with a rubber tip to every visitor to diminish the chance of spreading the virus from their hands.

On Center Court, where fans can shoot at hoops resembling James Naismith’s original peach basket or dunk on rims of different heights, a staff member will hand out the basketballs and sanitize them after each use.

The World Golf Hall of Fame in St. Augustine, Florida, has been handing out styluses since it reopened on May 18. At the International Tennis Hall of Fame, the plan is to keep the “touch” in touch screen but clean them frequently—once an hour, if not more. Among the other changes: A theater with a hologram of Roger Federer will now be limited to two people at a time, instead of eight. AP

Were they worth it?

Key protest movements over the decades

2

BusinessMirror JUNE 14, 2020 | soundstrip.businessmirror@gmail.com

LIT THE FIRE I

YOUR MUSI

China’s top idol LAY tops iTunes PHL chart with new EP NTERNATIONAL phenomenon and China’s top idol LAY (Lay Zhang) recently headed straight to No. 1 on iTunes Top Albums Philippines with the release of his latest EP, LIT.

A two-part release featuring six songs each, LIT also peaked at the summit of the iTunes Top Albums chart in 14 countries.

Stream Lit, Yixing (his Chinese name), and Zhang (his surname), immediately became trending topics

Publisher

: T. Anthony C. Cabangon

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

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

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on Twitter Philippines following its release on digital and streaming platforms worldwide.

All the tracks in the EP are cowritten by LAY himself, ensuring his message and story is clearly instilled in each song. He has worked with producer heavyweight Murda Beatz (Travis Scott, Gucci Mane, Drake) on the latest release, which strongly holds a backbone in modern hip-hop with an enjoyable sound, never done before.

For this first part of the album, the hit-making team integrated familiar Chinese instruments and cultural metaphors with the soul of “Western music” and top-notch modern production techniques, mixing English and Mandarin lyrics in every song.

The EP instantly grabs your attention from beginning to end. Each song has a rhythmic flow, entrancing vocals, and bass-heavy beats delving into the new “pop meets urban” sound.

Through the tunes, LAY explores the concepts of solitude, arrogance, self-confidence, loyalty, resolution and courage. These six songs blend very ancient musical elements and concepts with the modernity of contemporary pop. From the lyrics, to the production, be prepared for an emotional and auditory journey.

The focus track for the EP is the booming anthem and title song “LIT” and the already released hit song, “Jade,” showcases a combination of traditional “peking opera” and Chinese instruments. The cuttingedge production for songs like “Eagle,” “H20,” “Fly,” and “Soul” will give you an extremely refreshing journey through passionate lyrics showing a whole new blend of music.

On the same day that LIT was released, LAY also dropped the cinematic music video that bears the same title via Zhang Yixing Studio.

The world-class visuals amassed more than 1.5 million views and counting, and peaked on YouTube trending videos in the Philippines at No. 14.

LAY has been on a whirlwind this year after joining forces with Steve Aoki and will.i.am for the hit cross-cultural collaboration Love You More, reaching #1 on the QQ Music China chart. He became a household name in Asia and one of the most beloved stars in the region with a loyal 49 million followers on Weibo and over

LAY

LAY's Lit EP

11.7 million followers on Instagram.

As a solo artist, LAY’s career has skyrocketed from tremendous success becoming the highest-ranked Mandopop star on Billboard 200 chart and the first Chinese artist to enter the iTunes Top 60 in the US with his third album NAMANANA. Outside of music, he is a powerhouse in the

acting world of TV and film and hosted multiple top-rated reality shows in Asia.

Last year, LAY released the digital EP titled Honey and its title track of the same name. The EP reached over 1.87 million digital sales in just three minutes after its release on QQ Music in China.

IC

soundstrip.businessmirror@gmail.com | JUNE 14, 2020

BUSINESS

LOCKDOWN SUMMER 2020

3

SoundSampler

by Tony M. Maghirang

OPM Singles Going Steady

coming troubled night.

Choice couplet: “Dito lang ako sa yong tabi/Di kita pababayaan kailanman”

better future after all lockdowns and quarantines.

Choice couplet: “Dumistansya ka sa akin/Para sayo na rin, bawasan ang angas” MICHAEL RODRIGUEZ - Ngiti Social Distancing. A serene love song recorded on a mobile that tells you can do something in the gathering twilight like simply be a carrier of contagious smiles.

Choice couplet: Di mo na kailangan hawakan ang aking kamay o tumabi sa akin para iparamdam ang pagmamahal/ Ngumiti ka lang sa akin, okay na!

Itchyworms

Appropriating a ‘50s sounding dance tune, this meeting of minds between a rocker and a rapper evokes the fears and uncertainties of an imminent war.

Cool couplet: “Ang pumapatay, hindi mga armas/O karamdaman na wala pa daw lunas”

ITCHYWORMS - Armageddon Blues. Its blues rock comes alive in the service of lyrics that plats footsy with panic and hysteria right at the title—a wrongheaded idea in these tense times.

Choice (doomed) couplet: “Kiss me now, before we die/There’s no reason to wait for another day ‘Cause it’s never coming anyway”

JUN LOPITO and the Bodhisattvas - “Sagala Girl.”

Its power-pop intro decelerates to a cranked-up Stonesy number about a girl “nabenta na ang katawan sa mga hayok sa laman”but still a beauty queen in the singer’s eyes.

Choice Couplet: “Kumapit siya sa patalim/At sila’y sugat-sugat na rin!”

JUAN PABLO DREAM – “You Can Feel (You Are Free)”. A stirring tribute to the frontliners battling the Covid-18 pandemic, the song is driven by post-punk almost arrhythmic beats and swirling new wave synths.

Choice couplet: “Living in a place where you are free to love/ All the people wearing smiles” GLOC-9 and RAIMUND MARASIGAN – “Gera Gera.”

KIM CHIU - Bawal Lumabas (The Classroom Song).

A get-happy sort of laidback RnB that says to treat stay-athome like the teacher’s strict rule to not leave the classroom or there’s hell to pay.

Choice couplet: “Ba’t ayaw nating maging positive/ Napakarami na ring negative, telling us how to live”

RJ JIMENEZ - Kaya Natin ‘To. An all-star cast led by Pinoy Dream Academy Season 1 alumnus RJ Jimenez and budding singer-songwriter Issa Rodriguez do a big Metropop worthy number celebrating hope and positivity in these trying times.

Choice couplet: “Lakas ng loob, ikaw at ako/At ang ating sikreto ay ang ating Lumikha”

RICO BLANCO – “This Too Shall Pass.” A message of hope dedicated to the frontliners and essential health workers, the song leaps from lonesome ballad to rallying dance grooves.

Choice couplet:“We are lost, can we be found?Together can we turn this thing around!”

MARVIN BLUE CORPUS - Quarantine Girl. Another slow RnB about found and lost young love and the singer pulls it a notch higher with boy band vocal smarts and melodies that’re pure ear candy.

Choice couplet: “Gustong gusto kitang puntahan/Pero lockdown pa rin hanggang dito na lang”

STYLO - Sa Muling Pag Hawak. This is almost a gangsta rap track with words sharp enough to cut through the cultural pretensions and scams of modern society.

Choice couplet: “Paglapag ko sa entablado, yuyuko ka’t rerespeto/Huhubaran ko’t tatalupan mga propetang tampalasan.”

ACDMND$ - Lockdown. The barbed wire on the accompanying video is a contrast to the lazily sung, almost droning series of advice to stay safe to stay alive in these emergency times.

Choice couplet: “Wag muna maniniwala, alamin ang true/Face mask on para safe lahat ng crew” GINILING FESTIVAL – Dumistansya. Out of character, this quiet storm of a ballad from a punk band is a fervent plea for spacing to avoid unnecessary problems in the race to a

MASSACRE Party – Huwag Kang Matakot.

A pop rocker reminiscent of some E-Heads song with its own hopeful promise of a safe haven in the

MUFFIN - Stay at Home. A lively instrumental techno romp.

Were they worth it?: Key protest movements over the decades

By Tamer Fakahany

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The Associated Press

ONDON—The protests that left much of the world in a haze of tear gas last year were slowed by a pandemic—until the death of George Floyd sparked a global uprising against police brutality and racial inequality.

From Hong Kong to Khartoum, Baghdad to Beirut, Gaza to Paris and Caracas to Santiago, people took to the streets in 2019 for the pursuits of freedom, sovereignty or simply a life less shackled by hardship while few prospered. It seemed as if the streets were agitated everywhere but the United States.

Now, after the death of Floyd, a black man in Minneapolis who died in police custody when a white officer pressed his knee into Floyd’s neck for several minutes, protests rage around the globe.

Police or military brutality and racism are universal dynamics that are experienced in many societies.

The very nature of a protest suggests a fervent desire for change, the need to right a perceived historic injustice. It’s a means to an end. But to what end? Depending on the government the activists are demanding change from, the results can be varied.

Demonstrations were held last week in solidarity with American protesters, but Floyd’s death also had resonance and reverberations far beyond US shores because of those lives lost closer to home in similar circumstances.

As the coronavirus crisis eased in China, protesters in Hong Kong, the semi-autonomous territory, began to emerge again. And Beijing moved swiftly to quash the movement that caused unrest for months last year, enacting a national security law that would effectively end the existence of one country, two systems.

A democratic government that is amenable to the changes may enact legislation, or a change of leadership can be forced at the ballot box.

An authoritarian regime, however, does not often bend. Protesting against a dictatorship can be a life-or-death struggle which may even require activists to make a deal with the country’s military.

Confronting tyranny can also backfire, the result a more dictatorial leader or a ruinous civil war.

Here’s a look at some of the key protests

In this August 28, 1963, file photo, people carry civil rights signs as they gather in Washington before Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I Have a Dream” speech. The Civil Rights Acts, initiated by the Kennedy administration, and Voting Rights Act were enacted during the Johnson administration, which was sympathetic to tackling endemic racism in the nation. AP of recent decades and what they achieved or failed.

American civil rights The protests that erupted across a scarred US landscape last week had the unusual characteristic of being largely leaderless and are still evolving, though the Black Lives Matter movement was focal. During the critical era of the 1950s and 60s, Martin Luther King Jr., who led the 250,000 strong March on Washington in 1963, and Malcolm X were colossal 20th century figures, representing two different tracks: mass nonviolent protest and getting favorable outcomes “by any means necessary.”

The Civil Rights Acts, initiated by the Kennedy administration, and Voting Rights Act were passed by the Johnson administration, which was sympathetic to tackling endemic racism in the nation. These were key inflection points. But social injustice and the Vietnam War continued to dominate the American decade and beyond, reaching a crescendo of civil unrest in 1968 which has been echoed in 2020.

Democrats in Congress are proposing an overhaul of police procedures and accountability, but like so much in Washington this has been snagged by partisanship.

Key Democrats, including presumptive presidential nominee Joe Biden, are also distancing themselves from liberal calls to “defund the police” as President Donald Trump and his Republican allies blast the proposal.

The Iron Curtain falls Revolution was in the air in Eastern Europe in 1989, powered by a flowering of civil resistance to overthrow Commu-

4 BusinessMirror

nist rule. One-by-one, countries fell in a reverse-domino effect—Washington had always been concerned about the dominoes falling in the Soviet Union’s favor. The final Soviet leader, Mikhail Gorbachev, laid the groundwork for this tectonic shift. The Berlin Wall fell and one-party rule was swept aside in East Germany, Poland and other states once cast as being behind the Iron Curtain, mostly bloodlessly—the exception being in Romania where the tyranny of Nicolae Ceausescu and his family was ended by a firing squad on Christmas Day. This period also included a “Velvet Revolution” in Czechoslovakia, which was the historical antidote to the Prague Spring, a period of liberalization in embracing “communism with a human face” that was ruthlessly crushed by more than half a million Soviet-led Warsaw Pact troops in 1968.

The Arab Spring and the current Redux It was two decades before the world witnessed another wave of protests consume an entire region. This one was the first to be captured on a new digital platform, social media. After decades of dictatorship and kleptocracy, the Arab World became intoxicated by the heady mix of possibility and immediacy. And rulers did fall: in Egypt, Yemen, Libya and Tunisia in 2011. But only the latter transitioned to a democratic next chapter.

Egypt now lives under even more authoritarian rule, where all dissent is extinguished and thousands languish in prison.

Yemen and Libya have been torn to shreds by conflict and humanitarian catastrophe.

Syria exploded quickly from an uprising against the Assad dynasty to ruinous civil

June 14, 2020

war which still continues with more than half million dead and millions displaced.

In neighboring Lebanon and in Iraq, civil protests erupted last October against ruling elites. Lebanon is suffering a confluence of crises as it lurches on the cusp of national bankruptcy. In Iraq, too, where protesters had been killed in scores, the health-care system is not equipped to deal with Covid-19 and the loss of oil revenue is hitting hard. Protests seem likely to reignite in both places.

The Spirit of 2019 and 2020 Sudan captured much of what civil disobedience and protest can achieve—as well its painful cost with many killed and systemic rapes—as the fragile transition to a new era continues. The protest movement succeeded in ousting a longtime military strongman who faces genocide and war crimes charges. President Omar al-Bashir was toppled in April 2019, forcing the creation of a joint civilian-military ruling “sovereign council.” But the civilians are struggling to assert authority in the face of the military’s power.

Hong Kong’s protests, which began one year ago this week, seemed to embody all the facets of democratic aspiration: But the clear intent of President Xi Jinping and the overwhelming might of China’s People’s Liberation Army makes it ever more likely that the territory will be under Beijing rule much sooner than 2047 as agreed upon. The landmark 1997 agreement in which the British colony was formally handed over to China, had stipulated things would remain unchanged for 50 years.