BusinessMirror June 21, 2021 by BusinessMirror

BSP to FIs: Go into sustainable finance By Bianca Cuaresma

@BcuaresmaBM

ANGKO Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) Governor Benjamin Diokno has urged local financial institutions to go into sustainable finance as part of broader efforts to promote a resilient, inclusive, and lowcarbon economy. Diokno said in a recent speaking engagement that mainstreaming sustainable finance in the country is crucial to protect the economy and the financial system from potential shocks related to climate change

“The BSP and financial institutions play a crucial part in mobilizing funds to finance green and sustainable projects, and at the same time, in safeguarding financial stability from shocks coming from climate and other environment-related factors,” Diokno told the recent Climate Defenders meeting organized by the British Embassy. More than $1 billion and P85.4 billion worth of green, social, and sustainability bonds have already been issued by “first mover” banks since 2017, Diokno said. “We expect more banks to follow

suit as enabling regulations had been laid down complemented by continued capacity-building activities for the industry,” he added. In February, International credit watcher Moody’s Investors Service assigned a “moderately negative” ESG credit impact score for the country. ESG stands for environmental, social and governance. Under the credit watcher’s framework, the Philippines’s ESG Credit Impact Score is moderately negative (CIS-3), reflecting high exposure to environmental risks and social risks, contained by institutional and economic resilience.

“The Philippines’s overall issuer profile score is highly negative (E-4), given the high incidence of climaterelated shocks, including typhoons and extreme precipitation leading to flooding. In addition, the relatively large, albeit declining, share of the labor force employed by the agricultural sector heightens the country’s susceptibility to heat stress given the periodic episodes of drought,” Moody’s said. The credit watcher also said the inadequate and intermittent access to clean water and issues of waste and pollution add to the Philippines exposure to environmental risks.

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HANGS AS JUNE 30 NEARS WORK FROM HOME ADDS TO WOMEN’S BURDENS By Samuel P. Medenilla

@sam_medenilla

Neda Director General Karl Kendrick Chua was among those who got his first jab of the Covid-19 vaccine at Taguig City's Vaccination Bus outside the Philippine Stock Exchange Building on Friday (June 18, 2021). The city of Taguig sees the vaccination of employees as pivotal in efforts to accelerate to the new normal and allow the reopening of the economy. NONIE REYES

By Butch Fernandez @butchfBM & Jovee Marie N. dela Cruz @joveemarie

ORTY-EIGHT civil society groups and concerned citizens are asking President Duterte and Congress leaders to convene a special session to extend Bayanihan 2 before it expires on June 30, warning that “over P18 billion in unused funds for critical coronavirus response programs...will expire, stifling our pandemic recovery efforts.” However, two senators are saying the action to make sure these funds do not go to waste can be done solely on the part of the Executive. Senate President Vicente Sotto III, one of those addressed by the 48 groups, said he was open to either option—President Duterte

asking them to hold a special session, or having the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) and Executive department agencies simply move on the funds, as suggested by Minority Leader Franklin M. Drilon. Continued on A6

PESO exchange rates n US 48.3680

OMEN continue to do the bulk of household chores, even if the Covid-19 pandemic compelled many employees to work in their homes, according to a new report from Oxfam Philippines. In its 2021 National Household Care Survey (NHCS), Oxfam said home-based female employees did household task for 13 hours, while their male counterparts spend only 8 hours with the same duties. Of the hours spent on chores by female workers, seven hours involve multi-tasking or juggling at least two activities at the same time. The other 6.5 hours are used for care work such as fetching water, doing laundry or taking care of sick family members.

“This is almost 3 hours more than men who spend an average of 2.43 hours a day with care work as their primary activity,” Oxfam said. Oxfam, however, said the results was already an improvement compared to its 2017 survey, where males only did five hours of household chores per day, while women did it for 12 hours daily.

Social norms

Still Leah Payud, Resilience Portfolio Manager of Oxfam Philippines, said the distribution of home-based task could be much better if male workers would step up. “It is disappointing that there is still inequality at home and that the bulk of unpaid care work still falls on women,” Payud said. Continued on A6

Health, digital infra also on priority projects By Cai U. Ordinario @caiordinario

HE Duterte administration aims to complete 29 more infrastructure flagship projects (IFPs) costing P238.476 billion this year and next year, according to data released by the National Economic and Development Authority (Neda). Based on the list released by Neda, there are a total of 112 projects in the IFPs. This amounts to a total of P4.687 trillion. A total of 12 projects are set to be completed this year worth P35.261 billion. Another 17 projects are up for completion in 2022 worth P203.22 billion. “We are investing in a wide range

of infrastructure projects. They are not only roads or airports but also health facilities, also digital infrastructure. All of these are needed during this pandemic and our move to the new normal,” Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Karl Kendrick T. Chua said in a recent statement. Projects slated for completion this year include the P7.5 billion Flood Risk Management Project (FRIMP) in Cagayan, Tagoloan, and Imus Rivers; the P5.44-billion Malitubog-Maridagao Irrigation Project; and the P4.798-billion Bicol International Airport Development Project. Those set for completion next year are the P45.29-billion Southeast Metro Manila Expressway Project; P23.3-billion Nlex-Slex Connec-

tor Road; and the P20.31-billion Safe Philippines Project Phase I. Meanwhile, a total of 51 IFPs worth P3.28 billion could be completed by the next administration in 2023 onward. The next administration also has a pipeline of 28 projects that are still completing government approvals. These have a combined amount of P1.086 trillion. The list of IFPs to be completed in 2023 and beyond include the P735.65-billion New Manila International Airport; P356.97- billion Metro Manila Subway Project Phase 1; and P175.318- billion Philippine National Railway (PNR) South Long Haul. T he pipel ine inc ludes t he P177.856-billion Laguna Lake-

shore Road Network Project; P112.264-billion C5 MRT 10 Project; and the P107.534-billion Ninoy Aquino International Airport. The pipeline of IFPs is mostly funded by Public Private Partnership (PPP) and only six are Official Development Assistance (ODA)-funded. The ODA projects are the P5.96billion Iconic Bridge Projects for Socio Economic DPWH Development to be funded by the United Kingdom and three funded by China; the P80.65-billion Davao City Expressway; P6.8-billion Panglao-Tagbilaran City Offshore Connector Bridge; and P998.7-Marawi Rehabilitation for the Bridge and Bypass Project and the Grand Padian Market and Sports Complex. Continued on A2

n japan 0.4387 n UK 67.3670 n HK 6.2292 n CHINA 7.5001 n singapore 36.0363 n australia 36.5227 n EU 57.6015 n SAUDI arabia 12.8978

Source: BSP (June 18, 2021)

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A2 Monday, June 21, 2021

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Island destinations gear up for entry of foreign tourists

By Ma. Stella F. Arnaldo

@akosistellaBM Special to the BusinessMirror

EY leisure destinations in the country are now stepping up their vaccination of hospitality frontliners and residents to enable them to open up to more tourists, especially from abroad.

The province of Bohol, for instance, started vaccinating management and employees of hotels and resorts in Panglao Island over the weekend, after receiving 10,000 vaccine doses from the national government. The shipment of 5,000 doses of Sputnik V and 5,000 doses of Sinovac were personally received by Bohol Gov. Arthur Yap on June 16. Boracay Island, the crown jewel of Philippine tourism, has also been vaccinating its residents since May 26. Malay Mayor Frolibar Bautista and private stakeholders earlier requested the national government and the Department of Tourism (DOT) for vaccines good for 40,000 islanders.

In his brief remarks at the vaccination of tourism frontliners on June 18 at the Bellevue Resort, Yap said, “Our message to everyone is to come to Bohol and enjoy tourism. Every tourist who comes to Bohol will help our economy and livelihood. That’s why we are aiming to be the first province to be totally vaccinated for all tourism frontliners, because we want to open up to foreign tourists as well.” He recalled what happened last Holy Week when guests from the National Capital Region (NCR) had to cancel their bookings in Bohol’s resorts and hotels, because of the surge in Covid-19 cases. Vaccination will enable the province to “open to foreign capital so we are

not totally dependent on NCR,” he stressed. The governor had earlier requested for 70,000 vaccine doses from the national government to be able to initially vaccinate Panglao Island frontliners. In a recent tourism forum, Yap said the Sangguniang Province actually approved a P100-million standby fund to purchase vaccines but he was told by NTF Carlito Galvez Jr. to wait for allocations from the national government instead. (See, “NTF’s Galvez discourages Bohol from buying own Covid vaccines,” in the BusinessMirror, June 14, 2021.) In 2019, Bohol received some 1.6 million visitor arrivals from domestic and foreign markets. Leeds Trompeta, general manager of Amorita Resort in Panglao Island, told the BusinessMirror, “The initiative of [Tourism] Secretary [Bernadette] Romulo Puyat and Gov. Yap to vaccinate tour ism frontliners in Bohol is a step in the right direction to restart our industry in the province. With Manila opening up travel, we have observed a marked increase in arrivals and with our associates fully vaccinated, it will provide additional confidence to travellers on top of the health protocols we have already in place.” Romulo Puyat said she endorsed

Health, digital infra also on priority projects Continued from A1

The Asian Development Bank, Korean government, and World Bank are said to be funding the P177.86 -billion Laguna Lakeshore Road Net work Project; P4.723-billion National Interoperable Automatic Fare Collection System Project (formerly Automated Fare Collection Clearing House); and P20-billion AgusPulangi Rehabilitation Project, respectively.

Boracay’s request for 40,000 vaccines to NTF’s Galvez. In a recent town hall meeting between islanders and the Aklan provincial health office, Dr. Leslie Ann Luces said their goal is to achieve “100-percent herd immunity” for all residents and workers of Boracay. The island’s population varies anywhere from 30,000 to 50,000 because some workers go home everyday to the mainland. The vaccines currently being distributed to Boracaynons come from the Aklan provincial government’s allocation from the national government—Sinovac and AstraZeneca. Businessman and Compliance Association of Boracay President Virgilio Sacdalan said, “If tourism frontliners and the community here on the island will be vaccinated, it will create a bubble immediately, considering we have a small population of 40,000.” He added, “We can start accepting international direct flights [and] this will help our tourism industry bounce back.” Prior to the pandemic, Boracay received some 2 million foreign and domestic visitor arrivals. Romulo Puyat has been pushing to include more tourism frontliners in the vaccination priority list, to help the industry rebound. The Philippine Statistics Authority last week reported the tourism direct gross value added slumped by 61.2 percent to P973.31 billion in 2020, due to pandemic travel restrictions. The sector’s contribution to the local economy’s output was just 5.4 percent, compared to 12.8 percent in 2019.

Funding source

Based on Neda data, of the 112 IFPs, a total of 54 worth P2.61 trillion will be funded through ODA. Another 25 IFPs worth P186.24 billion will be funded through the national budget and 20 IFPs will be funded as unsolicited projects for PPP funding. Another five IFPs will be funded through Supplemental Toll Operation Agreement (STOA) and PPP worth P148.43 billion while three projects will be funded by PPP worth P95.8 billion. The data showed one project each will be funded by ODA and PPP worth P64.92 billion; National budget and PPP worth P26.62 bi l l ion; a nd nat iona l budget and ODA worth P28.27 billion. Only two projects worth P20.05 billion will be funded by the private sector. Meanwhile, in terms of sector, Neda explained that the majority or 76 IFPs are on transport and mobility. These projects are worth P4.27 trillion. Data showed 12 IFPs are for urban development worth P156.38 billion while another 10 are dedicated to water resources worth P106.03 billion. A total of eight projects worth P84.89 billion are for Information and Communication Technology; four for health worth P46.44 billion; and two for power and energy

worth P20.05 billion.

Changes

The Bases Conversion and Development Authority (BCDA) earlier reported there were 119 IFPs. However, Neda explained that the 119 projects included the seven projects approved before the latest IFP list revision. These were removed because they have already been completed. “The projects marked (with an asterisk) were part of previous lists of IFPs approved in 2017, 2019, and 2020, and are not considered part of the current list because they have already been completed. All projects completed before the next revision are no longer included in the succeeding list,” Neda documents stated. This means that of the 112 IFPs, only four projects worth P86.82 billion have been completed by the Duterte administration. These are the P65.39-billion Metro Manila Skyway Stage 3; P9.76-billion LRT 2 East Extension; the P5.947-Metro Manila Logistics Network: China Grant Bridges; and the P5.724-billion Metro Manila Logistics Network: Bonifacio Global City-Ortigas Center Link Road Project. The seven projects that were completed prior to the revision of the list are the P18-billion New Clark City Phase 1; P14.97-billion Clark International Airport Expansion Project Phase 2; P3.29billion Angat Water Transmission Improvement Project; and P1.436billion Sangley Airport. The list of projects also includes the Improvement of remaining sections along Pasig River from Delpan Bridge to Napindan Channel and Luzon Bypass Infrastructure Project worth P1 billion each; and the P244.88-million Pulangi 4 Selective Dredging Phase 3.

PCG drills vs terrorism, piracy open in south seas Continued from A12

According to Balilo, the country is a party to the Regional Cooperation Agreement on Combatting Piracy and Armed Robbery Against Ships in Asia (ReCAAP), being strategically located at the crossroads of major international sea-lanes that are vital to the growth of the region, particularly the Sibutu Passage. Coast Guard commandant Admiral George Ursabia Jr. said the Philippines is fully committed to the mission of the ReCA AP in enhancing regional cooperation through information sharing, capacity building and cooperative arrangements in combating piracy and armed robbery against ships. Aside from the maritime exercises, the Coast Guard will also hold medical missions and relief operations in Southern Mindanao, particularly in the coastal municipalities of Sulu. Early this year, Ursabia visited the residents of Maimbung, Sulu and assured them that the

Senate…

Continued from A12

The DOE, he said, “should spare no effort in averting further red and yellow alerts over the grid.” A yellow alert means that the grid has low power supply available, while a red alert indicates inadequate supply. Last week, the DOE called for the deferment of scheduled maintenance work on large coal power plants to avoid more outages. As early as mid-April, Campos said NGCP had warned that Luzon could face power supply short-

Coast Guard will regularly bring to their town public services such as medical care and humanitarian support, especially amid the pandemic. The Coast Guard is also set to transport Covid-19 vaccines to Tawi-Tawi, including the coastal municipalities of Mapun Island and Taganak Island, at the southern extreme of the Philippines. “Rest assured we will sustain our previous efforts in securing our maritime jurisdiction, especially the frontiers where we are needed most,” Ursabia said. “As a matter of fact, for our fishermen and traditional maritime traders, we have already established a lighthouse at the southernmost islets of Panguan in Sitangkai and stationed personnel at Great Bacungan at the seams of the Turtle Islands, in addition to the upgrading of our station at the Municipality of Taganak in Tawi-Tawi,” he added. Ursabia said vessel traffic monitoring and search and rescue fa-

cilities at the Sibutu Passage and Basilan Straits are now in place. Vessels transiting these areas are now better assured the Coast Guard can hear their distress calls from up to a hundred miles away through several marine distress radio repeater stations indigenously developed and established even in “unorthodox high grounds.” “And more timely response is forthcoming with more PCG vessels and Fast Response Boats now forward deployed at 47 stations and substations. I am very proud to mention that our community presence in this area have expanded 130 percent due to the entry of locals to the Coast Guard,” he said. “We believe such organizat ion a l en h a ncement s, soc i a l and technological innovations a nd i n f ra st r uc t u re projec t s, among others, have significantly contributed in the decrease of seajacking reports in the south,” the Coast Guard commandant added. Rene Acosta

ages until August due to baseload power plants simultaneously undergoing prolonged maintenance shutdown. He said the power plants had previously suffered maintenance delays due to the pandemic, which restricted the movement of personnel and held up the delivery of spare parts.

a Blue Print Plan for Energy until 2040, Rodriguez said the outages still happened. “There has to be a meeting again among our stakeholders. We urge the DOE and the ERC to lessen the barriers of entry of new power plants,” he said. Philreca Party-list Rep. Presley de Jesus said intermittent power outages have been a problem since the 1990s and should be resolved now. The power outages would even have been worse without the pandemic because of the high energy demand, he added. Recoboda Party-list Rep. Godofredo Guya said the rotating brownouts are driving investors away.

Wake-up call

In a recent hearing of the House Committee on Energy, Deputy Speaker Rufus Rodriguez said the recent power outages should serve as a wake-up call for everyone to help in averting them. Despite the government having

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Govt still bringing home Pinoys from nations with Delta variants By Samuel P. Medenilla @sam_medenilla

OVERNMENT repatriation efforts of Filipinos in other countries, which have the Delta variant of Covid-19, are still ongoing despite the existing travel ban in the said areas. Malacañang issued the statement amid the concerns of some stranded Filipinos in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) over the slowpace of their repatriation. Some of the affected Filipinos were reported to be running out of funds to meet daily needs while waiting to be brought home. “Filipinos covered by the repatriation programs of the government and repatriation activities of manning and/or recruitment agencies cleared by the Bureau of Quarantine are not prohibited from entering the Philippines,” Presidential Spokesman Herminio “Harry” L. Roque said. “They can enter the country, subject to testing and quarantine protocols,” Roque added. Last Friday, the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) also assured the stranded Filipinos will be given the necessary aid by the Philippine Overseas Labor Office (POLO) in UAE.

Precautionary measure

THE government first issued a travel restriction for India last April af-

ter the country of almost 2 billion registered the first-ever case of the Delta variant. The travel restriction was later expanded to include Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Nepal, UAE and Oman, while its initial 15-day duration was extended until June 30, 2021. “The abovementioned variant, first detected in India, is more transmissible as seen in the experience of other countries, thus there is a need for continued vigilance,” Roque said. In a related development, a total of 347 distressed Filipinos were finally repatriated following the arrival of the special delegation led by Presidential Assistant on Foreign Affairs Robert Borje in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA). Borje was sent by President Rodrigo R. Duterte to the KSA to “advance labor reform cooperation and ensuring the welfare of Filipinos in the Arab country.” In a statement, Borje said the repatriated OFWs will be given a P10,000 reintegration financial aid upon their arrival. Another batch of OFWs from KSA are also expected to be repatriated next week. The special delegation will be in KSA until June 24, 2021 after meeting with Saudi officials and the Filipino community in the Middle East country.

Editor: Vittorio V. Vitug • Monday, June 21, 2021 A3

DTI to use Tinder-like platform to match PPE suppliers, buyers

By Tyrone Jasper C. Piad

@TyronePiad

HE Philippines is set to use a collaborative online platform connecting suppliers, manufacturers and buyers of personal protective equipment (PPE) amid sustained demand in pandemic.

In a recent ceremony, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) formally turned over to the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) the “Enhanced Manufacturing of Protective Wear and Equipment for Covid-19 Response in the Philippines,” or “Empower PH” program. The project is a collaborative online platform providing business matchmaking space for suppliers of materials, PPE manufacturers and buyers. It aims to speed up the production and distribution of PPEs in the country. T he platform was initially launched in November last year. The website is a centralized information hub for product technical design packs and best practices for PPE manufacturing; and serves as

a vetting mechanism for quality assurance. “We believe this initiative is necessary to complement the national government’s efforts to mitigate and manage the impacts not only of Covid-19, but of future pandemics and other disasters as well,” Trade Undersecretary Rafaelita M. Aldaba said. “We want to ensure that ‘Empower PH’ continues to be a platform where our local MSMEs [micro, small and medium enterprises] will have access to information that will enable them to participate and compete in the market,” added Maria Luisa Isabel Lim-Jolongbayan, Team Leader, Institutions and Partnerships of UNDP. The platform’s 5-point vetting

process is based on the level of quality standards by the Department of Health, World Health Organization and Bureau of Philippine Standards. Such is seen as a necessary feature as Aldaba explained that online shopping platforms make PPE supplies easily accessible, but no scheme is in place to check for compliance and safety. “At the same time, consumers should also be empowered,” she said. “With the vetting process [in ‘Empower PH’], we are protecting them by making sure that the PPEs and face masks that they buy are comfortable to wear and safe to use.” Last year, eight Metro Manilabased sewing groups passed the vetting process and signed up in the “Empower PH” platform. The UNDP said it intends to expand the initiative in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao in partnership with the Ministry of Basic, Higher and Technical Education’s Technical Skills Development. Fourteen sewing groups will undergo training on PPE and face mask manufacturing. “We continue to support the expansion of the platform to include medical PPEs, as well as other disaster response needs in the fu-

ture because we believe that it is necessary for the platform to stay relevant and useful,” UNDP Resident Representative Selva Ramachandran added. Prior to the pandemic, the Philippines had no major PPE manufacturing firms. The Coalition of Philippine Manufacturers of PPE (CPMP) repurposed its factories heeding the call of DTI to boost the supply of medical grade PPEs and invested $35 million. The CPMP was able to supply an annual capacity of 720 million masks, 36 million units of medical grade coveralls and isolation gowns, and 120 million units of PPE related accessory cover by the third quarter of last year. In May, however, the group urged the government to set up a supply chain committee ensuring the procurement of locally made medicalgrade PPEs as foreign supplies flood the domestic market. Trade Secretary Ramon M. Lopez backed the garment industry’s plea for the government to have a preference over locally produced PPE during procurement. He expressed the need to have a legislative measure that will prioritize the purchase of “critical products” made locally such as the PPEs.

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DOJ to LGUs: Strictly apply health protocols in vaccination centers By Joel R. San Juan @jrsanjuan1573

HE Department of Justice (DOJ) ordered local government units (LGUs) last Sunday to strictly implement social distancing and other health protocols for Covid-19 pandemic in various vaccination centers. Justice Secretary Menardo I. Guevarra said city government officials, barangay officials or those in charge of the vaccination activity may be held administratively liable if it would be found that they have been remiss with their obligation to strictly enforce health and safety protocols.

Guevarra made the statement when asked whether the InterAgency Task Force for the Management Emerging Infectious Disease would look into the reported complaints about the way the Manila City government is handling its vaccination program. There have been reports of violation of basic health protocols, particularly social distancing, in various vaccination sites due to huge numbers of people lining up as early as 3 a.m. to get vaccinated despite the limited number of vaccines allotted for the day. The problem is being blamed on the “first come, first serve” policy being implemented by the Manila

Improve policies to prevent flash floods, ADB urges PHL By Cai U. Ordinario @caiordinario

LASH floods could remain a concern for mountainous countries like the Philippines if steps are not taken to improve policies, according to an Asian Development Bank (ADB) specialist. In an Asian Development Blog, ADB East Asia Department Senior Water Resources Specialist Rabindra P. Osti said it is estimated that in 2018 alone, the region incurred flash flood damage of about $3 trillion. Ostri said mountainous countries like Afghanistan, the People’s Republic of China, India, Indonesia, Nepal, Pakistan, the Philippines, Thailand, and Sri Lanka are on top of the list of countries that are considered vulnerable to flash floods. “Unless the right policies are formulated, laws enforced and actions are taken, flash floods will be a major obstacle to maintaining social stability and economic progress in the region,” Ostri said. “Flash floods are increasing. Our understanding and actions to address them need to increase as well.” Ostri said flash floods are not only the result of rainfall-runoff but also consequences of geophysical and human processes, including changes in land use due to urbanization and population growth. He noted that millions continue to live in informal settlements near river banks, which are considered geographically fragile areas. The ADB specialist also said many watersheds and rivers lost their natural characteristics due to rapid landcover or land-use changes that lead to an increase in rainfall runoff and sediment flow. “Interpretation of cause and effects of flash flood disasters are often politically, technically, and strategically biased, which confuses the

process of making timely investment decisions,” Ostri said. In order to better respond to these challenges, Ostri recommended that governments harmonize policies on integrated watershed and water resources management, climate change adaptation, and disaster risk management. He added that a flood footprint and accountability mechanism should be used within small watersheds. This will promote upstreamdownstream coordination and enforce disaster laws and regulations. Further, local governments must be provided with technical and nontechnical expertise on flood management. The capacity of local governments should be improved in “every stage of the risk management cycle.” Governments, Ostri said, should also identify hazard zones based on historical hydrological records and observations and they must invest in “Green-gray” infrastructure. These infrastructure facilities include retention basins, wetlands, vegetation shields, sediment traps, flood walls, diversion channels, and retaining walls, among others. “Spatial planning (including land use, urban, transport, and environmental planning) plays a key role. Some conventional activities such as slope farming requiring frequent land preparation therefore yielding more sediment production, can be replaced by high value and longterm fruit and orchid production with proper food security planning,” Ostri added. Ostri said flash floods are triggered by excessive rain on mountain slopes, sudden release of water from reservoirs or other reasons. He added that changing rainfall patterns causes landslides and flash floods in communities that might have never before experienced such disasters.

city government for its COVID-19 vaccination program. Despite its limited vaccines, the Manila city government has also allowed walk-in Covid-19 vaccinations for those under the A4 category (essential workers) including those who are not residing in the city. “The national task force has given the LGUs a free hand on manner of conducting their vaccination programs, but they are at least expected to observe the minimum health protocols in the vaccination sites to prevent any unwarranted transmission of the Covid-19 virus,” Guevarra said The DOJ chief, however, said the people should call the attention of

their respective mayors or other LGU officials first about their misgivings with regard to the conduct of the vaccination program so that appropriate action can be taken. “Whoever are directly in charge of the activity may be held liable. Usually, it’s the city or barangay officials,” Guevarra said. “But their attention should be called first so that they could take corrective or preventive action. Sometimes, the situation simply gets out of control.” A check at the Manila Public Information Office Facebook page showed numerous comments seeking for a better vaccination system to be implemented for Manila residents.

Troops kill alleged members of BIFF breakaway faction Firefight ensued at Sitio Proper, Barangay Linantangan, Shariff Saydona Mustapha, Maguindanao at about 5:52 a.m., Sunday, which resulted in the deaths of three BIFF militants. Lt. Gen. Corleto Vinluan Jr.

By Rene Acosta @reneacostaBM

HE Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) announced that soldiers killed three members of a faction of a breakaway Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF) and also discovered a “terrorist lair” in two separate operations in Maguindanao over the weekend. Lt. Gen. Corleto Vinluan Jr., commander of the AFP Western Mindanao Command, said troops from the Joint Task Force Central were conducting military operations when they encountered more or less 10 BIFF members under Muslimin Amilil, alias Mus, of the 2nd Division of the Karialan faction. The Karialan faction is one of three groups that broke away from the main BIFF group. It has been tagged by the military as a terrorist group after it has allied itself with the Islamic State. “Firefight ensued at Sitio Proper, Barangay Linantangan, Shariff Saydona Mustapha, Maguindanao at about 5:52 a.m., Sunday, which resulted in the deaths of three BIFF militants,” Vinluan said. Soldiers who scoured the clash site recovered the bodies of the three BIFF members, whose iden-

tities the military is still trying to ascertain in coordination with the local police and officials, according to Vinluan. The troops also recovered three .45-caliber pistols, two hand grenades, eight grams of crystalline substance believed to be shabu and P1,000 ($20.62) in cash. The recovered bodies and weapons were brought to the First Mechanized Battalion headquarters “for identification, documentation and proper disposition.” On Saturday, soldiers on combat operations also discovered an abandoned terrorist lair at Sitio Tubak, Barangay Saniag, Ampatuan, Maguindanao. The lair is situated in an area along the hillside and is believed to be owned by the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF), according to Westmincom Spokesman Lt. Col. Alaric Avelino delos Santos. Delos Santos said that Maj. Gen. Juvymax Uy, commander of the Joint Task Force Central, informed Vinluan that the lair can accommodate at least 80 persons to 100 persons. It has more or less a dozen foxholes, three overhead bunkers, eight bunkers, three guard posts and running trenches, reports from the Westmincom revealed.

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Biodiversity group: No record of invasive squirrels in Asean By Jonathan L. Mayuga @jonlmayuga

HILE concerned officials of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) have confirmed the threat of the Finlayson’s squirrel (Callosciurus finlaysonii) possibly now spreading in Luzon, the Asean Centre for the Biodiversity (ACB) said the global invasive alien species database shows no record of such problem, even in any of the member states of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean). The ACB monitors report of invasive alien species in Asean and other parts of the world, it being a major driver of biodiversity loss. The proliferation of Finlayson’s squirrel, also called “Variable species,” was recorded in Metro Manila as early as the year 2000. It is now considered an invasive alien species in Metro Manila and is spreading fast with a confirmed breeding population in Batangas. Basically rodents, squirrels are prolific breeders and are able to adapt even to harsh environments. Finlayson’s squirrel is a fruit-eating, tree-dwelling squirrel. There was a reported attack of this species at the Aguirre Farm in Batangas in November last year. The DENR said it also attacks birds’ nests, hence, posing a serious threat to the native bird population. ACB Executive Director Theresa Mundita S. Lim told the BusinessMirror that initial research conducted by a staff of the ACB revealed there is no invasive squirrel problem reported or recorded in the “Global Invasive Species Dabatase.” “This database recorded only two alien species of squirrel (Sciurus carolinensis), which were also recorded in the Internal Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List as introduced,” Lim, a former DENR-BMB Director, said. The other species, she said, is the Tamias sibiricus, introduced mostly in Europe and South Africa from the US and some countries in East Asia.

Citing the IUCN Red List, Lim said there are 94 species of squirrels found in the Asean; 13 of which are threatened with extinction. The total number of threatened squirrels, which include “near threatened,” “vulnerable” and “endangered,” is 23. “This is from global record. This means this issue may be a concern for Philippines,” she said. “But there is not enough official data to say that the same is being experienced in other Aseanmember countries.” Lim, a licensed veterinarian, was director of the DENR-BMB from 2003 to 2005 and from 2006 to 2018. It was during her stint as DENRBMB that the DENR took notice of Finlayson’s squirrel spreading in Metro Manila. During her stint with the DENRBMB, Lim said the agency conducted an inventory and validated the species if they were really non-native; thereby, finally identifying the thenmysterious squirrel species were seen hopping from tree to tree in gated villages in Makati and Alabang. “That’s how we confirmed that they were ‘alien.’ If they were Philippine species, the handling will be different,” Lim said. Even invasive alien species like squirrels are protected by environmental laws such as Republic Act 9147 (Wildlife Resources Conservation and Protection Act), the National Integrated Protected Areas System (Nipas) Act and the Expanded Nipas Act. The latter provides protection to protected areas and national parks and the wildlife that thrives therein. Lim said a better strategy is needed to be adopted that will involve more players to help in the control and eradication of the Finlayson’s squirrel before they go out of Metro Manila and wreak havoc in our Protected Areas. Unfortunately, she said, because of other priority concerns of the DENR-BMB, the program to prevent the invasive squirrel was not sustained.

Standard Chartered awarded ‘Best Custodian’ bank in PHL

HE Standard Chartered Bank (SCB) was awarded as the Best Sub-Custodian Bank in the Philippines for the third consecutive year. The bank recently won the Best Sub Custodian Award at the Global Finance Sub-Custodian Awards 2021. This is the third consecutive year that the bank received this recognition. The selection criteria included customer relations, quality of service, competitive pricing, smooth handling of exception items, technology platforms, post-settlement operations, business continuity plans and knowledge of local regulations and practices. SCB also won Best Sub-Custodian Bank in the Philippines at The Asset

Triple A Sustainable Investing Awards 2021 for Institutional Investor, ETF, and Asset Servicing Providers. “We are delighted to receive these awards from The Asset, and 3 years in a row from Global Finance. This recognition reaffirms our leadership position and validates our team’s dedication to consistently elevate the quality of our securities services and in lending our expertise to deliver bespoke solutions to our clients,” SCB Philippines Head of Financing and Securities Services Hannah Nunez said. “This also reinforces the bank’s ongoing commitment to digital innovation and in building partnerships to serve our clients and our market better,” she added. Bianca Cuaresma

Cimatu organizes DENR ‘police’ team vs environmental crimes

NVIRONMENT Secretary Roy A. Cimatu ordered the creation of an “interim environmental law enforcement office” in the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) while waiting for the enactment of a law establishing its own police-like bureau.

Cimatu signed an administrative order on June 10 during the DENR’s 34th founding anniversary celebration establishing the Environmental Law Enforcement and Protection Service (Eleps) that he hopes would “strengthen environmental law enforcement” in the country. “We have a growing number of fallen environmental heroes. This is how serious we do our jobs here at DENR, but I hope and pray that no more lives will be lost because of defending our environment,” said in a statement. “Our Department has many laws to implement, but we are lacking when it comes to enforcement,”

DENR Undersecretary for Policy, Planning and International Affairs Jonas R. Leones said. “While we are waiting for the passage of the EPEB [Environmental Protection and Enforcement Bureau], our Secretary has allowed to craft this order to install an enforcement service for the effective protection of our forests and other natural resources.” Under the DENR administrative order, Eleps will cover “all environmental laws as enumerated in the Supreme Court Rules of Procedure for Environmental Cases involving enforcement or violations of environmental and natural resources laws, rules and regulations,” such as terrestrial laws, coastal, marine and aquatic resources laws, aerial

law and other environment and natural resources laws. Cimatu said he ordered the creation of the Eleps “as a defined authority that will promote effective and strong enforcement of environmental laws, establish coordinative mechanisms, utilize science and technology and develop highly competent manpower that will encompass existing enforcement units (e.g., the Environmental Protection and Enforcement Task Force and the Philippine Operations Group on Ivory and Illegal Wildlife) and other enforcement task forces of the DENR. With bigger scope and functions from the EPETF, enforcement units of DENR’s regional offices, Mines and Geosciences Bureau, Environ-

mental Management Bureau, Protected Area Management Office, Provincial Environment and Natural Resources Offices, and Community Environment and Natural Resources Offices will be under the operational control of ELEPS and its supervising officials. The DENR’s bureaus and attached agencies will also maintain close coordination with ELEPS in networking with national and international organizations that address environmental crimes. The Eleps’s lead team will be from DENR’s Central Office to complement its daily operations. Among its several functions, the Eleps has end-to-end duties’ from the enforcement, stoppage of ongoing violations, arrest,

management of confiscated items, investigation, the preparation for prosecution of environmental criminals until execution of decisions by the court. The Eleps will also coordinate with the Department of Justice, the Philippine National Police (PNP), Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP), the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) and governmentowned and -controlled corporations to aid in the prevention and fight against environmental crimes, according to Cimatu. The new service plans to equip enforcement officers with agencyissued firearms and self-protective gears and provide capacity building to effectively perform their official functions. Jonathan L. Mayuga

ICT

INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATIONS TECHNOLOGY

A BusinessMirror Special Feature

www.businessmirror.com.ph

Strengthening PH digital economy in the new normal

By Leony R. Garcia

N May 2021, a report by global internet testing leader Ookla indicated that the country had made great strides in improving internet speed. For fixed broadband, the country’s average download speed reached 58.73Mbps, a 15-notch monthly increase, while speed in mobile registered 31.97Mbps, a sevennotch monthly increase the Ookla Speedtest Global Index revealed. This is good news for the Filipinos as it sends great hope and relief for the majority who rely on the Internet for online classes, virtual meetings, digital networking and businesses, among others. The vast improvement can also be attributed to the Duterte administration’s all out support in expediting the release of local government unit permits needed for the fast tracking of telecommunications infrastructure improvement.

Timely revelation

THE news is timely as the country, led by the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT), observes National ICT Month this month. As the primary policy planning, coordinating, implementing and administrative entity of the Executive Branch, DICT plans, develops and promotes the national ICT development agenda. The DICT has adopted the “Connect, Harness, Innovate and Protect” or CHIP conceptual framework to improve Internet speed in the country. “Government recognizes that there are existing challenges in our efforts to con-

nect with our people. This is due to several factors: a 1 tower to 4,000 households’ ratio; the minimal use of poles/micro towers and in-building solutions in CBDs (Central Business Districts); the low number of towers, fiber, backhaul, and fiber network; and inadequate investment in connectivity in Missionary Areas. In this regard, the DICT has adopted the CHIP conceptual framework in order to address these concerns,” said Cabinet Secretary Karlo Nograles.

CHIP components

THE Connect component contains the DICT’s digital connectivity and infrastructure programs. Harness pertains to capacity-building initiatives to upskill Filipinos for the digital economy. Innovate, on the other hand, highlights the Department’s government modernization and digitization projects. Lastly, the Protect component focuses on the mitigation of risks and threats as the country transitions to a digitally-enabled economy. With the theme, “Onwards Through ICT: Building a Stronger Philippine Digital Economy,” the DICT encourages the public to participate and learn more about its efforts to achieve digital transformation of the country. “Your DICT has adopted the CHIP framework to implement plans, programs, and initiatives aimed at accelerating the digital transformation to strengthen the country’s digital economy in the new normal. Through this framework, we shall strive for our economy to come out of the new normal stronger and more promising than before,” DICT Secretary Gregorio “Gringo” B. Honasan II said.

With this, the government expects an average of 5,000 towers per year to be built over the next three years. “Government also plans to continue the fast-tracking program and projects such as the National Broadband Program (NBP), the Free Wi-Fi for all program, and the National Government Data Center,” Nograles added. The CHIP framework was adapted from the World Bank Digital Economy 2020 report, and outlines and restructures the DICT’s plans and initiatives to accelerate the digital transformation of the country in the new normal. As the DICT rallies its efforts under the framework, Nograles said, it aims to enhance its plans to be more responsive to the actual needs and demands of the Philippine ICT landscape. Moreover, the fast-tracking of telco infrastructure roll-out is expected to continue as more LGUs comply with the Joint Memorandum Circular (JMC) No. 01 s. 2020 signed by the DICT, Department of Interior and Local Government, Anti-Red Tape Authority, and other government agencies. The National Telecommunications Commission, PLDT, Globe, Converge and DITO also welcomed the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) initiative to allow telecommunication companies to occupy a portion of the government’s Right of Way (ROW) as part of the government’s thrust to ensure internet connectivity throughout the country. The new DPWH directive will help speed up the implementation of telco infrastructure projects especially along national roads.

Monday, June 21, 2021 A5

Digital transformation—the key to robust growth

By Stephanie Joy Ching

TUDIES show that internet speed in the country is quite slow, even more so during harsh weather. With this, it is expected that Filipinos will find it difficult to adapt to a post pandemic world where everything relies on having internet access. As part of their response to these issues, the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) created and spearheaded various projects to connect more and more Filipinos to the world wide web. Since June is recognized as National ICT month, the DICT is encouraging people to take part in learning about their plans in further implementing digital transformation in the country. The CHIP framework, which stands for “ Connect, Harness, Innovate, and Protect” is a framework adopted from the World Bank Digital Economy 2020 report. Under this framework, the DICT aims to boost digital connectivity and infrastructure programs, create capacity-building initiatives to upskill Filipinos, modernize systems, and mitigate risks in transitioning to a digital economy.

Free Wifi for All

Among these projects is the Free Wi-Fi for All Program (FW4A). With various sectors of life moving into the digital hemisphere, it is important that even the most remote areas of the country should have access to the internet. Just last year, the DICT recorded that the program was able to put up an additional 4,305 live sites by December 28, 2020, more than the 3,251 live sites from the previous years. For this year, the DICT will be continuing the program in Catanduanes, Palawan, Marinduque and Sorsogon this June. “This program is instrumental to fulfilling the marching orders given by the President to DICT, upon our assumption last July 2019, which includes connecting every Filipino to each other, to their government, and to the world. So, from day-one we immediately went into analyzing factors that may speed-up the implementation and applied the needed reforms,” commented DICT Secretary Gregorio B. Honasan II.

Digital Training for the New Normal

In addition to connecting those who have been left behind, the DICT is also helping people keep themselves safe online along with providing the knowledge to sufficiently navigate the new normal. To do this, the DICT took initiative to inform business leaders, employees and other stakeholders of how to navigate the new normal through webinars and online press conferences. They also provided training programs that cover a variety of topics, such as digital literacy, project management and job training. These webinars and other conferences will be held all throughout the month of June, and each event is catered to a specific sector in order to ensure no one will be left behind. From offering fresh grads digital job training to management training sessions for small and medium business enterprises, the DICT hopes to create and foster digitally literate individuals who can push the economy into greater heights in a post pandemic world.

Keeping Information safe online

Despite the many conveniences the internet has to offer, one must still exercise caution to not get pulled into scams or have their information stolen. As such, the DICT also did their part in strengthening their Critical Information Infrastructures (CIIs) through a Cybersecurity Policy and Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT) Training last March 23. The program targeted sectors such as energy, water, banking and finance, government, business process outsourcing (BPO), and telecommunications, as the DICT believes that informing people on how to navigate the business side of the internet is necessary in the new normal. “Strengthening the country’s cybersecurity is vital to our digital transformation efforts. As we increase our use of information and communications technology, cyber threats and risks also increase,” said Honasan. “Now more than ever, we need to protect our critical information infrastructures from threats and risks as we endeavor to recover from the ongoing health crisis and as we transition to the new normal”

Agriculture/Commodities BusinessMirror

A4 Monday, June 21, 2021 • Editor: Jennifer A. Ng A6

www.businessmirror.com.ph

PHL mulls over hiking biodiesel blend to 4% By Jasper Emmanuel Y. Arcalas @jearcalas

HE Philippines is looking at increasing the coconut methyl ester (CME) blend in diesel to as much as 4 percent (B4) from the current 2 percent (B2), according to a Global Agricultural Information Network (Gain) report. The Gain report noted that the Philippine Department of Energy (DOE) is seeking public comments on four draft Philippine National Standard Quality Standards for biodiesel blends B3 and B4. It added that public comments on draft standards would be accepted by the DOE until June 30. The report was prepared by the United States Department of Agriculture Foreign Agricultural Service in Manila. In terms of CME blend, the report noted that the Philippines has remained a laggard in the region due to its “relative inaction” in the past 15 years to adopt biodiesel standards or

mandates beyond the “long-standing and current” B2 blend. The Philippines enacted the Biofuels Act of 2006 which sought to promote the development and use of biofuels in the country. “The primary concern stalling greater biodiesel adoption has been the cost of local production and its impact on consumer pump prices,” the report, which was published recently, read. However, citing a 2019 study on the economic impact of higher CME blends, the Gain report indicated that the “producer benefits more than offset” the negative economic impact for consumers, “resulting in a net economic gain for the country.” “Producer benefits should regularly continue to outweigh consumer losses given CME accounts for a significantly larger portion of coconut oil (CNO) demand than biodiesel in total diesel demand,” it said. “Opportunities for consumer savings are likely to remain limited to occasions of oil price shocks.”

BusinessMirror file photo

According to the report, hiking the CME blend would further reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions as shown by a separate study conducted by the University of the Philippines Los Baños in 2019. The UPLB study, which conducted

a life cycle assessment of biodiesel production from CNO, found out that the current 2-percent CME blend provided a GHG reduction of 1.3 percent. “Should the Philippines achieve its National Climate Change Action Plan goal of reaching B20, petroleum

displacement and GHG savings become significant given petroleum’s contribution to total Philippine GHG emissions,” the Gain report read. “At such blend levels, the Philippines would need to consider incorporating alternative feedstocks, including imported biodiesel, in order to continue safeguarding pump prices.” The Gain report noted that the Philippine Coconut Authority (PCA) and The Philippine Biodiesel Association (TPBA) have continuously advocated for a B5 blend. In February, TPBA said the industry can very well meet the country’s requirements for the shift to B5 as it has an oversupply of the biofuel. “There is overcapacity among CME producers in serving the current B2 blend, the capacities were built in anticipation of the shift to B5 as guided by the Energy Department’s Philippine Energy plan,” TPBA Spokesman Jun Lao said in a statement. “The combined capacity at present is around 850 million liters, more

than enough to treat 17 billion liters of automotive diesel per year.” In an earlier pronouncement, the PCA threw its support behind DOE’s plan to increase the present biodiesel blend to B5. The increase in CME blend would “definitely” improve copra farm-gate prices which would benefit the over 2.5 million coconut farmers nationwide, the PCA added. “Aside from its positive effect on the environment, health, and fuel efficiency, one of the benefits of increasing the biodiesel blend from B2 to B5 is the increased domestic utilization of crude CNO, which would lessen our dependence on the unstable world market price for our copra, CNO, and other coconutbased products,” PCA Administrator Benjamin Madrigal Jr. said. CME is a biofuel made from coconut oil that is converted to a diesel-substitute while exhibiting combustion-improving properties to lower harmful emissions and improve mileage.

₧18-B Bayanihan fund hangs as June 30 nears

“Most of the provisions of Bayanihan 2 involve appropriations. DBM [Department of Budget and Management] can release the Bayanihan 2 budget between now and June 30, without need for a special session,” Drilon told BusinessMirror in an SMS on Sunday. For his part, Senator Francis “Kiko” Pangilinan said, “government needs to obligate the P173 billion for Bayanihan to Recover As One Act or the Bayanihan 2 before the end of the law’s effectivity on June 30 to ramp up Covid vaccination and eventually recover from the lockdown-caused economic slump.” Pangilinan is the author of Senate Bill No. 2218 proposing to extend Bayanihan 2, but that bill was not passed on third and final reading when the Senate adjourned sine die on June 4. The House earlier passed on third reading a bill for a Bayanihan 3, which includes specific provisions for the extension of Bayanihan 2 appropriations until the end of 2021. Sotto, in a text message to BusinessMirror, said on Sunday: “I can live with both suggestions. It is up to the President.” In the House, Speaker Lord Allan Velasco had yet to comment on the urgent appeal of the 48 groups. However, the Ways and Means panel chairman, Albay Rep. Joey Salceda, favors a special session. Salceda told the House leadership that the P18.4 billion in unobligated funds are important to address the current surge in Covid-19 cases. He said the funds that will expire include P6.6 billion for lab testing

and HRH, and about P873 million for contact tracing. “Without such extension, provinces potentially face a situation of having their contact tracing and healthcare response capacities drastically reduced for at least 26 days (from the June 30 expiry of contracts to July 26, the opening of session) during a period of Covid-19 case surges,” he said. “Local response teams and civil society groups have requested Congress to pass a bill providing for an extension of the appropriations and capacity to obligate and disburse funds until December 31, 2021. The extension is a matter of life and death in many communities, as contact tracers and augmented human resources for health (HRH) were hired under Bayanihan 2 contracts that will also expire by June 30,” Salceda wrote. The bills in the House and Pangilinan’s bill “permit Congressional leaders to take further action on the extension of Bayanihan 2,” said the petition-letter addressed to Duterte, Sotto and Velasco, a copy of which was sent to media outlets. Drilon, sought for reaction to the call of the 48 groups, said that first, it’s important to determine “what remains to be implemented in Bayanihan 2?” He stressed that DBM action is what’s needed to unlock the fund releases, but that implementing agencies that sought the monies under Bayanihan 2 should move quickly as well. Pangilinan, meanwhile, noted that “while the Department of

Health is seeking an additional P66 billion for Covid response, about P173 billion from Bayanihan 2 law have not been obligated or released yet with the expiration of the law on June 30, just 10 days away.” That amount is about a quarter of the total funds legislated for Covid response under Bayanihan 2, he noted, citing Department of Finance data. Pangilinan said that they learned, from the Senate Committee of the Whole hearing, that the P173 billion will be sourced from the unspent funds of several government agencies and tax collections. “Government agencies need to shape up because with this big amount, they can do a lot to ease the difficulties of the Filipinos impacted by the pandemic. It’s a sin to have this much money and be sluggish in acting,” he said. Pangilinan earlier led the call to convene the Senate Committee of the Whole which conducted two hearings on the vaccination program. He said efforts of the Department of Health and the Inter-Agency Task Force to vaccinate Filipinos remain wanting, even though this is seen as key to fully opening up the economy, helping people return to their jobs and giving opportunities to the jobless. Pangilinan cited the case of Italy, one of the countries which imposed strict lockdowns, and which vaccinated around 13.7 million of its citizens. This resulted, Pangilinan added, in an 80-percent drop in the spread of infection, 85-percent drop in the

rate of hospitalization, and 95-percent drop in deaths. Noting the spikes in Covid cases in the provinces, Pangilinan, meanwhile, said government needs a lot of catching up to do to achieve its promised herd immunity of 70 million Filipinos inoculated by the end of the year. “We are apprehensive because right now we are just reaching 100,000 jabs a day and the projection is that by end of the year we should have done 70 million jabs. If we compute, we should be averaging 700,000 a day. We are very much behind,” Pangilinan said, in a mix of English and Filipino, in a radio interview.

‘Deadly blunder’

IN their open letter to Duterte, Sotto and Velasco, the 48 signatories said, “Failing to extend Bayanihan 2 before it expires on June 30 will be a deadly blunder: one that would cause needless suffering and countless deaths.” The Covid-19 pandemic, said the civil-society and labor and other sectoral groups, “still rages in our country. Positivity rates in all regions are beyond the World Health Organization “comfort level” of 5 percent or less. The National Capital Region is still very much under threat with many hospitals already lacking intensive care unit capacity. There have been recent outbreaks in the Bicol Region, Visayas, and Mindanao.” It cited experts as saying that, to defeat the virus, funding is needed “not only for health, but for its social determinants, too. If Bayanihan

2 expires at the end of June 2021, funding for key sectors like public health, public transportation, education, agriculture, tourism, labor, and social welfare would be lost.” The coalition said, “even already obligated but undisbursed funds under Bayanihan 2 would not be paid, disrupting operations of critical pandemic response programs. This would stifle our ability to respond to the pandemic and to revive our economy.” The group cited a May 31, 2021 financial report from DBM showing that over “P18.4 billion in unobligated funds for critical pandemic response and recovery programs are about to expire. Program implementation has been sluggish, and these programs are still urgently needed.”

Agencies involved

THESE unobligated funds include: For the Department of Health, P6.6 billion for laboratory testing services and hiring of human resources for health; For the Department of Interior and Local Government, P873 million to hire and train contact tracers; For the Department of Education, P4.6 billion covering resources for digital education and basic education continuity plus subsidies and allowances for qualified students; For the Department of Agriculture, P1.2 billion for priority programs for affected farmers and agricultural workers; For the Department of Labor and Employment, about P560 mil-

Work from home adds to women’s burdens “We’re hoping that more men, especially those from the younger generations, would start to take on care work and challenge social norms,” she added. To bridge the gap between the

time spent by female and male workers on home-based chores, she recommended that the private sector implement increased parental leaves, flexible work and employer-supporter childcare.

Legislation or policies that support the care economy such providing better water systems, health care delivery, and day care services would also help, she said.

The 2021 NHCS was conducted from January to March 2021 and covered 1,177 individuals from randomly sampled households in Cagayan, Metro Manila, Masbate, Eastern Samar, Cebu,

lion for various programs to mitigate the negative impacts on formal and informal workers; For the Department of Public Works and Highways, P1.0 billion for roads leading to tourism destinations, which require active transport infrastructure facilities; For the Department of Social Welfare and Development, P1.3 billion for Covid-19 response and recovery interventions; For the Commission on Higher Education, about P1.96 billion for subsidies and allowances for students and for the development of smart campuses; and For the Department of Transportation, about P4.6 billion of the P5.6 billion for service contracts for public transport workers “All this critical funding would revert to the Treasury with the expiration of Bayanihan 2 and will be unavailable for spending for these much-needed pandemic response and recovery programs,” the coalition warned. A mong the 48 sig nator ies are: Citizens’ Budget Tracker (CBT), Move As One Coalition, Healthcare Professionals Alliance Against Covid-19 (HPAAC), Action for Economic Reforms (AER), Akbayan Youth, Albay Youth Brigade, AltMobility PH, Ateneo School of Government Alumni Association Inc., Commuters of the Philippines (CommutersPH), Federation of Free Workers (FFW), Galing Pook Foundation, Philippine Business for Education (PBEd), and Volunteers of the Focolare Movement.

continued from a1

Maguindanao, North Cotabato, and Sultan Kudarat. It was funded by the Philippine Commission on Women, WeEmpowerAsia, University of the Philippines Center for

Women’s and Gender Studies, Presidential Commission for the Urban Poor, Planet Cora, Patamaba, Simcarrd, COM and the Local Government Units of Salcedo and Eastern Samar.

Tech, cop instincts unravel pilot’s tale that burglars slew his wife, a Fil-Brit child

On June 17, Babis confessed to policemen who picked him up after a memorial service for Caroline. He said he killed his wife after she threatened to leave him. At the homicide department of Athens’s police headquarters, he told police he handcuffed himself and placed duct tape on his eyes and mouth to simulate a burglary. “The culprit is her 33-year-old husband who has confessed to the act,” the authorities said in a statement released on June 17. They described Babis as a “top class actor” who staged the elaborate crime scene

“and keeping up with the sick charade as the grieving widower for over a month,” according to the Mail. The helicopter pilot attempted to add “details” to the crime scene— drowning the family dog and hanging it from a stairs banister to pin the blame on the burglars.

Technology seals pilot’s fate

BESIDES the veteran cops’ instinct, 21st century technology helped police connect the dots. The BBC report said police examined Caroline’s smartwatch with pulse monitor, and reckoned

that she had long been dead at the time her husband said she was killed by burglars. Police were also quoted saying, “An app on the pilot’s phone designed to count his steps revealed repeated movements from the attic to the basement of the home at the time he claimed to be tied and blindfolded.” Caroline’s biometric watch showed her heart had stopped beating hours before the time Babis claimed she must have been murdered. “It has emerged that the brave Brit fought her husband for 10 minutes before her pulse stopped,”

the Mail said. Babis’s timeline of events was further discredited when police discovered the memory card in the security camera of the couple’s maisonette—a two-story flat with its own entrance door—had been removed at 1:20 a.m. Cops travelled to the island of Alonnisos where a memorial service for Caroline took place on June 17 and told Babis to follow them, as there had been a breakthrough in the inquiry and they wanted to identify a suspect. Babis—in a show of utter innocence—hugged and said goodbye

continued from a1

to his grieving mother-in-law, Susan dela Cuesta, then went with the police on a helicopter to Athens, where he was told that he was the suspect. “He confessed after eight hours of questioning,” the police said. He told police they had often argued in recent months. On June 17, Babis said he strangled his 20-year-old wife when she vowed to leave him, and staged the crime scene. Babis remains in custody at Hellenic Police Attica Headquarters.

Pinay mom, Brit father

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CAROLINE’S parents had moved to the Greek island of Alonissos when Caroline was just 8 years old, and she enrolled at the University of Piraeus. Her mother, of Filipino ancestry, had married a former British serviceman, and they ran a cleaning service on the island. On May 17, Susan commented on social media on her daughter’s death: “There are no words that can express my pain,” she said. “So many people have spoken about Caroline and what a lovely person she was.

The World BusinessMirror

Editor: Angel Calso

Monday, June 21, 2021

Japan’s refusal to sanction Myanmar junta undermines Biden’s strategy W

hen hundreds of protesters gathered outside Japan’s embassy in Yangon during the height of nationwide anti-coup protests in February, Ambassador Ichiro Maruyama emerged from the gates with a firm warning for the junta: Release the detained civilian leadership “immediately.” The remarks, delivered in Burmese, drew applause from prodemocracy demonstrators hoping Japan would take concrete action to pressure Myanmar’s military, also known as the Tatmadaw. But since then Japan has resisted calls to impose sanctions or suspend

ongoing infrastructure projects, saying only it would avoid carrying out any new non-humanitarian deals with the junta. What’s more, some influential Japanese voices want to embrace the junta. Yusuke Watanabe, secretar y general of the influential JapanMyanmar Association—a group stocked with top Japanese politicians and business leaders—wrote in an opinion piece last month that Tokyo “must position itself as a bridge between the Tatmadaw and the United States and other democratic countries rather than

blindly aligning itself with the Western policy of regime change.” Watanabe, the son of a former cabinet minister, touted himself as “one of the few foreigners in constant contact” with coup leader Min Aung Hlaing. Japan’s reluctance to put financial pressure on the military shows the difficulties President Joe Biden faces in convincing US allies in Asia to put real teeth behind calls to defend democracy, a key theme he expressed last week at the Group of Seven summit and other stops in Europe. For Japan and India in particular—two countries along

with Australia that make up the US-backed Quad grouping — tough measures against the junta only risk increasing the regional influence of China. They’ve also avoided joining Western democracies in sanctioning Chinese officials over alleged human-rights abuses in Xinjiang. “The Japanese don’t believe in sanctions,” said Nobuhiro Aizawa, an associate professor at Kyushu University specializing in Southeast Asian politics and international relations. The Japanese view, he said, is “if you don’t accept the democratic principle of governance, you’re not going to be eco-

nomically successful. And if you’re not economically successful, you’re not be able to stay in power.” Japan has urged the military to cease violence, release those taken into custody and restore democracy. On June 8, lawmakers in the country’s lower house passed a resolution condemning the military takeover. “Within the international community our country has many routes of communication with Myanmar, including the Myanmar military,” a Japanese Foreign Ministry official said by phone in response to written questions. “We understand that many countries, not just ours,

are considering what is the best way to deal with this, based on the situation.” Still, the country also has a history of defending Myanmar generals. In 2019, Ambassador Maruyama said “there is no genocide in Myanmar” in response to a case at the International Court of Justice over allegations of atrocities on its Muslim Rohingya population in western Rakhine State. “We fully believe that the Myanmar military will keep its promise” to prosecute anyone who committed human-rights abuses, the Irrawaddy quoted him as saying. Bloomberg News

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Monday, June 21, 2021

As Brazil tops 500,000 deaths, protests grow against president

IO DE JANEIRO—Antigovernment protesters took to the streets in more than a score of cities across Brazil on Saturday as the nation’s confirmed death toll from Covid-19 soared past half a million—a tragedy many critics blame on President Jair Bolsonaro’s attempt to minimize the disease. Thousands gathered in downtown Rio de Janeiro waving flags with slogans such as “Get out Bolsonaro. Government of hunger and unemployment.” “Brazil is experiencing a great setback. The country was an exemplary country for vaccination in the world. We have widely recognized institutions, but today we are in a sad situation “, said Isabela Gouljor, a 20-year-old student who joined the protest in Rio. Other marchers hoisted poste rs re ad i ng : “ 50 0 t hou s a nd deaths. It’s his fault,” alluding to Bolsonaro. Similar marches took place in at least 22 of Brazil’s 26 states, as well as in the Federal District, Brasilia. They were promoted by left-wing opposition parties who have been heartened by Bolsonaro’s declin-

ing poll ratings with next year’s presidential race looming. “Get out Bolsonaro, genocidal,” yelled Rio demonstrators, some of them wearing t-shirts or masks with the image of former leftist President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva—who leads Bolsonaro in some polls. I n S ã o Pau l o, p r o t e s t e r s dropped red balloons as a tribute to the victims of the virus. Bolsonaro’s supporters have taken more often to the streets over the past month, in large part because many agree with his dismissal of restrictions meant to stifle the coronavirus and anger that lockdown measures have hurt businesses. Critics say such messages, as well as Bolsonaro’s promotion of disproven treatments such as

government. It called on the military junta to restore the country’s democratic transition, condemned its “excessive and lethal violence” since the takeover and called on all countries “to prevent the flow of arms into Myanmar.” The resolution also called on Myanmar’s armed forces to immediately and unconditionally release Suu Kyi, President Win Myint and other officials and politicians detained after the coup, as well as “all those who have been arbitrarily detained, charged or arrested.” T he measure was approved with 119 countries voting “yes,” Belarus—a major arms supplier to Myanmar—voting “no” and 36 countries abstaining, including Myanmar’s neighbors China and India, along with Russia.

before the hearing began. T hree ot hers a lso a r rested Thursday—two Apple Daily senior editors and another executive— have not been charged yet and were released on bail late Friday pending further investigation. One of them, Associate Publisher Chan Pui-man, said after attending the bail hearing, “I think that all media workers in Hong Kong are worried. But for now, for us, tomorrow, we will still come out with our newspaper, and we’ll do our best to continue our work.” The Apple Daily has long been one of the most outspoken defenders of civil liberties in Hong Kong. It supported massive protests demanding more democracy in 2019 and has criticized the subsequent crackdown, including the enactment of a national security law last year. The central government in Beijing has defended the legislation and the crackdown on opposition voices as necessary to restore order and stability. The 2019 protests

AIPEI, Taiwan—The US is sending 2.5 million doses of the Moderna Covid-19 vaccine to Taiwan, tripling an earlier pledge in a donation with both public health and geopolitical meaning. The shipment was due to arrive by plane later Sunday, the de facto US embassy said. “The donation reflects our commitment to Taiwan as a trusted friend, and a member of the international family of democracies,” it said in a Facebook post. Taiwan, a self-governing island of 24 million people off China’s east coast, has been scrambling to get vaccines after a recent outbreak. China, which has been ruled single handedly by the Communist Party since 1949, claims Taiwan as its ter-

ritory and says it must eventually come under its control. The US promised 750,000 doses for Taiwan on a brief visit to the island earlier this month by Sen. Tammy Duckworth and two of her Senate colleagues. Taiwan’s President Tsai Ing-wen said the US had decided to increase the donation through efforts on both sides over the past two weeks. “On the democratic front, Taiwan and countries with similar ideas have always been able to interact closely,” she wrote on her Facebook page in Chinese. “Whether it is for regional peace and stability or the virus that is a common human adversary, we will continue to uphold common ideas and work together.” AP

Demonstrators shouts slogans during a protest against Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro and his handling of the coronavirus pandemic and economic policies they say harm the interests of the poor and working class, in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil on Saturday, June 19, 2021. Brazil is approaching an official Covid-19 death toll of 500,000—second-highest in the world. AP Photo/Bruna Prado

hydroxychloroquine, have contributed to the soaring death toll and a sluggish vaccine campaign that has fully inoculated less than 12% of the population. The country of some 213 million people is registering nearly 100,000 new infections and 2,000 deaths a day. “For the leftists, putting their followers in the streets is a way of wearing Bolsonaro down for the election,” said Leandro Consentino, a political science professor at Insper, a university in Sao Paulo. “But at the same time, they are contradicting themselves and

losing the discourse of maintaining health care, because they are causing the same agglomerations as Bolsonaro.” Saturday’s marches came a week after Bolsonaro led a massive motorcycle parade of supporters in Sao Paulo, though his allies and foes differ dramatically on the size of that event. “Bolsonaro needs to show that he maintains significant support to give a message of strength to those who are investigating the actions of his government in Congress,” Consentino said. AP

Myanmar’s UN Ambassador Kyaw Moe Tun, who in February denounced the military takeover, voted “yes” and urged the international community “to take the strongest possible action to immediately end the military coup.” The Foreign Ministry statement said it considers Kyaw Moe Tun as having been dismissed from his position and noted that he has been charged with treason in Myanmar. “Accordingly, his statement, participation and action in the meeting are illegitimate and unacceptable and Myanmar strongly rejects his participation and statements,” it said. “ W hi le Myanmar embraces constructive advice by the international community in address-

ing the challenges that Myanmar is facing, any attempt infringing on the state sovereignty and interference in the internal affairs of Myanmar will not be accepted,” said the statement. The more powerful U.N. Security Council, whose resolutions are legally binding, has adopted several statements on Myanmar, including condemning the use of violence against peaceful protesters, calling on the military to restore the democratic transition and “exercise utmost restraint” and “on all sides to refrain from violence.” But it has never been able to condemn the coup or authorize an arms embargo or other sanctions because of an almost-certain veto by China, and possibly Russia. AP

Editor, CEO denied bail in Apple Daily case in HK ONG KONG — A Ho n g Kong court ordered the top editor of pro-democracy newspaper Apple Daily and the head of its parent company held without bail on Saturday in the first hearing since their arrest two days ago under the city’s national security law. Ryan Law, the chief editor, and Cheung Kim-hung, the CEO of Next Digital, have been charged with collusion with a foreign country to endanger national security in a case widely seen as an attack on press freedom in the semi-autonomous Chinese territory. Chief Magistrate Victor So said there was not sufficient grounds to believe they would not violate the security law again, and ordered them held at the Lai Chi Kok detention center. He set the next hearing for Aug. 13. Law and Cheung arrived at the court in an unmarked white van with covered windows. A handful of activists held up a banner and copies of the Apple Daily outside

US sending Taiwan 2.5 million vaccine doses, tripling pledge

Afghanistan running out of oxygen as third surge of Covid-19 worsens

Myanmar ruling junta rejects UN resolution urging arms embargo ANGKOK—Myanmar’s Foreign Ministry on Saturday rejected a UN General Assembly resolution calling for an arms embargo against the Southeast Asian nation and condemning the military’s February seizure of power. Myanmar described the resolution, which passed Friday and is not legally binding, as being “based on one-sided sweeping allegations and false assumptions.” The statement issued in the capital Naypyitaw said the Foreign Ministry had sent letters of objection to the U.N. secretary-general and the General Assembly’s president. T he resolut ion ref lec ted a broad international consensus condemning the takeover that ousted Aung San Suu Kyi’s elected

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that challenged Beijing’s rule often started as peaceful marches during the day but turned into violent clashes between hard-core demonstrators and police at night. Apple Daily founder Jimmy Lai is currently serving a 20-month prison sentence after being convicted of playing a role in unauthorized assemblies—rallies and marches that had not received police approval—during the 2019 protests. He has also been charged under the national security law. The latest arrests mark the first time journalists have been targeted under the new law, except for a freelancer who was arrested for pro-democracy activities. Hundreds of police and security agents who raided Apple Daily’s office on Thursday also seized 44 hard drives, and authorities froze $2.3 million of its assets. Police said the arrests were based on more than 30 articles that had appeared in the Apple Daily since 2019 and that had called for international sanctions against

China and Hong Kong. The security law specifically criminalizes colluding with a foreign country, institution, organization or individual to impose sanctions or a blockade against Hong Kong or China. Critics say Beijing is walking back on its promise at the 1997 handover of Hong Kong from Britain that the city could retain its freedoms not seen elsewhere in China for 50 years. The US has imposed sanctions against Chinese and Hong Kong officials over the crackdown and called for the immediate release of the Apple Daily editors and executives. Asked how journalists should avoid getting in trouble, Hong Kong Security Secretary John Lee told a news conference this week that “the answer is simple: Do your journalistic work as freely as you like in accordance with the law provided you do not conspire or have any intention to break the Hong Kong law and certainly not the Hong Kong National Security Law.”AP

Men wait outside a privately owned oxygen factory to get their oxygen cylinders refilled, in Kabul, Afghanistan on Saturday, June 19, 2021. Health officials say Afghanistan is fast running out of oxygen as a deadly third surge of Covid worsens. AP Photo/Rahmat Gul

ABUL, Afghanistan—Afghanistan is racing to ramp up supplies of oxygen as a deadly third surge of Covid-19 worsens, a senior health official told The Associated Press in an interview Saturday. The government is installing oxygen supply plants in 10 provinces where up to 65% of those tested in some areas are Covid positive, health ministry spokesman Ghulam Dastigir Nazari said. By WHO recommendations, anything higher than 5% shows officials aren’t testing widely enough, allowing the virus to spread unchecked. Afghanistan carries out barely 4,000 tests a day and often much less. Afghanistan’s 24-hour infection count has also continued its upward climb from 1,500 at the end of May when the health ministry was already calling the surge “a crisis,” to more than 2,300 this week. Since the pandemic outbreak, Afghanistan is reporting 101,906 positive cases and 4,122 deaths. But those figures are likely a massive undercount, registering only deaths in hospitals — not the far greater numbers who die at home. Meanwhile, Afghanistan received 900 oxygen cylinders from Iran on Saturday, part of 3,800 cylinders Tehran promised to deliver to Kabul last week. The shipment was delayed by Iran’s presidential elections, said Nazari. Afghanistan has even run out of empty cylinders, receiving a delivery of 1,000 last week from Uzbekistan. Meanwhile, hospitals are rationing their oxygen supplies. Afghans desperate for oxygen are banging on the doors of the few oxygen suppliers in the Afghan capital, begging for their empty cylinders to be filled for Covid infected loved ones at home. Abdul Wasi, whose wife has been sick for nearly 10 days, has been waiting four days for one 45-liter cylinder to be filled at the Najb Siddiqi oxygen plant in east Kabul. Scores of mostly men were banging on the 10-foot steel gate of the oxygen plant. Some rolled their empty oxygen cylinders up against the gate, while others waved small slips of paper carrying the number of their cylinder inside the plant, waiting to be filled. Wasi said there were no hospital beds for his wife, whose oxygen level hovers around 70%-80%. They

are rationing her, he said giving her small amounts of oxygen when it drops to around 45%-50%. “How can I do anything else? I have been waiting four days for my cylinder to be filled,” he said. The oxygen plant refills cylinders for 400 Afghanis (roughly $5), while in the market it costs 4,000 Afghanis (roughly $50). For the country’s poor—over half of Afghanistan’s 36 million people according to World Bank figures—the situation has become desperate. Wasi said on Friday as he waited outside the oxygen plant that a patient on a stretcher was carried to the door while the family begged for oxygen. The patient died. “Right there,” he said pointing to the gate. “I saw them carrying the patient. They were crying and begging and then he died.” Barat Ali had arrived at the plant at 6 a.m. Saturday. It was his third day waiting for his cylinder to be filled. “The poor people in this country have nothing. I have been standing in the sun for eight hours,” he said clutching his small piece of paper that contained his cylinder number. The government “has eaten all the (international) donations.” Necephor Mghendi, who is the Afghanistan delegation head for the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, told the AP in an interview in Kabul that the groups are working to get an oxygen generation plant into the country. The Afghan Red Crescent runs a 50-bed hospital devoted to Covid patients and uses roughly 250 cylinders a day, but in recent days it has been receiving barely half that many. The needs are critical he said, offering as an example one patient currently at the Red Crescent hospital who needs one 45-litre cylinder every 15 minutes to stay alive, he said. “The situation is very concerning,” he said. Inside the Najib Siddiqi oxygen plant dozens of cylinders were being filled, but owner Najib Siddiqi said he can’t keep up. He supplies hospitals but has cut output to them by half, with the other half going to the crowds banging on his gates. He even fills smaller cylinders for free, but he has only the capacity to fill 450-500 cylinders a day. AP

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Don’t count on needing Covid booster shot—WHO scientist

s some governments and pharmaceutical officials prepare for Covid booster shots targeting more-infectious virus variants, health authorities say it’s too early to tell if they will be required. “We do not have the information that’s necessary to make the recommendation on whether or not a booster will be needed,” Soumya Swaminathan, the World Health Organization’s chief scientist, said in a Zoom interview on Friday. The “science is still evolving.” Such a call is “premature” while high-risk individuals in most of the world haven’t yet completed a first course of vaccination, Swaminathan said. Data from countries introducing precautionary extra inoculations later this year—particularly for vulnerable people whose immunity to SARS-CoV-2 may wane faster—will inform WHO’s guidance, she said. Covid booster shots are likely to be rolled out in U.K. in the fall to avoid another winter surge. Seven different vaccines are being tested in volunteers in England in the world’s first booster study, Health Secretary Matt Hancock said last month. The UK, which has inoculated

a larger proportion of people than any other major economy, has been forced to delay a planned lifting of coronavirus restrictions amid a resurgence of cases driven by the delta variant. The strain, first reported in India, is the most infectious reported to date.

Tweaking shots

More-tra nsmissible var iants, including the beta strain that emerged in South Africa, require higher antibody levels to prevent infection, prompting vaccine makers including Pfizer Inc. and Moderna Inc. to test whether tweaked versions of their existing shots will provide broader immunity. One dose of Novavax Inc.’s variant-directed vaccine may provide sufficient protection against the beta strain in individuals previously immunized against Covid-19, according to pre-clinical research released this month by scientists at the Gaithersburg, Maryland-based company and the

University of Maryland School of Medicine. The modified shot also has the potential to provide broad protection against various strains if used as a primar y vaccine regimen, said Gregory M. Glenn, Novavax’s president of research and development, in a June 11 statement. So far, the existing US-approved vaccines work well enough to protect against beta, delta and two other strains that the WHO has designated as variants of concern, said Francis Collins, director of the National Institutes of Health.

‘Our future’

“Nobody is saying you need a booster today,” Collins said in an interview with biologist Lee Hood at the Precision Medicine World Conference Thursday. “But boosters might very well be in our future at some point, and they might be here sooner if other variants pop up” that aren’t covered as well by existing vaccines. As a minimum, vaccines will need to protect against hospitalization, ICU admission and death, according to Paul Offit, director of the Vaccine Education Center at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. “With that bar, we probably would need a vaccine maybe every three to five years,” he said in a STAT biotech podcast on Thursday.

Immunization with a combination of vaccinations may offer longer immunity or fewer side effects for certain individuals, Offit said. Early data from the UK, Spain and Germany suggest a “mix-andmatch” regimen using two different types of vaccines generates more pain, fever and other minor side effects compared with two doses of the same inoculation, the WHO’s Swaminathan said. Still, the so-called heterologous prime-boost combinations appear to spur a more robust immune response, leading to both higher levels of virus-blocking antibodies and the white blood cells that kill virus-infected cells, she said. Combinations of the AstraZeneca Plc and Pfizer-BioNTech shots are being considered in Malaysia, where the government is trying to speed up immunizations to achieve population-level immunity by year-end, Science, Technology and Innovation Minister Khairy Jamaluddin said on Wednesday. “It seems to be working well, this concept of heterologous prime-boost,” Swaminathan said. “This opens up the opportunity for countries that have vaccinated people with one vaccine and now are waiting for the second dose they have run out of, to potentially be able to use a different platform vaccine.” Bloomberg News

Heat wave grips Southwest US states as wildfire threatens Arizona towns

AS VEGAS—The Southwest US continued to bake on Saturday, and weather forecasters kept warnings in effect for excessive heat in Arizona, Nevada and desert areas, at least through the weekend. High temperature marks didn’t fall Saturday, but Phoenix reached a sweltering high of 115 degrees (46 C) for the day and Las Vegas hit 111 degrees (44 C). Both were 3 degrees shy of records for the date, forecasters said. Predicted highs on Sunday of 116 degrees (46.6 C) in Phoenix and 113 degrees (45 C) in Las Vegas were expected to fall short of high marks for June 20, the National Weather Service said. But Phoenix did set a record Saturday for consecutive 115-degree (46 C) days, meteorologist Isaac Smith said, and Sunday could extend the record to six days. Neither city was expected to reach record highs on Sunday of 118 degrees (48 C) in Phoenix and

117 degrees (47.2 C) in Las Vegas. In Arizona, fire officials blamed extreme heat for the spread of a wildfire that started late Wednesday and grew by Saturday to nearly 27 square miles (70 square kilometers) near Strawberry and Pine, mountain towns east of Interstate 17 between Phoenix and Flagstaff. Evacuations were ordered Friday while aircraft and about 100 firefighters fought flames in rugged pinyon juniper, chaparral, brush and cactus. Officials reported zero containment and scheduled a virtual community meeting late Saturday on Facebook to update residents on efforts to suppress the fire. Smith, in Phoenix, and meteorologist Andy Gorelow in Las Vegas said temperatures should ease through the coming week but could again top 110 degrees (43.3 C) in the region next weekend. Las Vegas tied a record Saturday for the highest low daily temperature, at 88 degrees (31 C), and

In this June 15, 2021 file photo, a pedestrian holds a bottle of cold water at a Salvation Army hydration station during a heat wave as temperatures hit 115-degrees in Phoenix. The Southwest US continued to bake on Saturday, June 19, and weather forecasters kept warnings in effect for excessive heat in Arizona, Nevada and desert areas, at least through the weekend. AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin

Phoenix notched 91 degrees (32.7 C) to eclipse its so-called highminimum mark of 86 degrees (30 C) set in 1959.

Excessive heat warnings remained in effect until late Sunday in the region, also including nearby California and Utah desert areas. AP

Juneteenth, recalling the end of slavery, marked across U.S.

arades, picnics and lessons in history were offered Saturday to commemorate Juneteenth in the US, a day that carried even more significance after Congress and President Joe Biden created a federal holiday to observe the end of slavery. A new holiday was "really awesome. It's starting to recognize the African American experience," said Detroit artist Hubert Massey, 63. "But we still have a long way to go." In Detroit, which is about 80% Black, students from University Prep Art & Design School dodged rain to repaint Massey's blocklong message, "Power to the People," which was created last year on downtown Woodward Avenue. The 'o' in "Power" was a red fist in memory of George Floyd and

other victims of excessive force by police, Massey said. "We did the original," said Olivia Jones, 15, leaning on a long paint roller. "It's important that we return and share that same energy." Ju neteent h com memorates June 19, 1865, when Union soldiers brought the news of freedom to enslaved Black people in Galveston, Texas, two months after the Confederacy had surrendered. It was about 2 1/2 years after the Emancipation Proclamation freed slaves in Southern states. Biden on Thursday signed a bill creating Juneteenth National Independence Day. Since June 19 fell on a Saturday, the government observed the holiday Friday. At least nine states have designated it in law as an official paid state

holiday, all but one acting after Floyd, a Black man, was killed last year in Minneapolis. In Galveston, the birthplace of the holiday, celebrations included the dedication of a 5,000-squarefoot mural titled "Absolute Equality." Opal Lee, 94, who was at Biden's side when he signed the bill, returned to Fort Worth, Texas, to lead a 2.5-mile walk symbolizing the 2 1/2 years it took for slaves in Texas to find out they had been freed. Officials in Bristol, Rhode Island, unveiled a marker that describes the seaport's role in the slave trade. The marker was placed at the Linden Place Museum, a mansion built by Gen. George DeWolf, who was a slave trader. The Rhode Island Slave History Medallion organization raises public

awareness about the state's role in slavery. A street in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, was renamed Saturday for civil rights activists Harry and Harriette Moore. Harry was credited with registering more than 100,000 Black voters. They were killed on Christmas Day 1951 — their 25th wedding anniversary — when a bomb exploded under their bed. The final scene of a movie about the couple, "The Price For Freedom," was also being shot. " They were ordinary people who brought about extraordinary change, and we are privileged to pay tribute to them here in Broward County," county Commissioner Dale V.C. Holness said before the event. Hundreds of people gathered

Monday, June 21, 2021

Iran elects ultraconservative leader as nuclear talks enter critical phase

Ebrahim Raisi was elected after the lowest voter turnout in a presidential election in the Islamic Republic’s history. Bloomberg photo

ltraconservative cleric Ebrahim Raisi swept to a landslide win in Iran’s presidential election, potentially setting Tehran on a more hostile course toward the West as world powers attempt to revive a nuclear deal that could see it return to global oil markets. While the 60-year-old’s ascension could complicate efforts to restart the 2015 accord to limit the country’s atomic activity, it’s not expected to derail them because that policy is decided by Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. The European Union said the talks will resume Sunday. Raisi, who was elected after the lowest voter turnout in a presidential election in the Islamic Republic’s history, is seen as a favorite eventually to succeed Khamenei. With what appeared to be a nod to continuity, judiciary chief Raisi said he would listen to and work with the administration of outgoing President Hassan Rouhani until he takes office in mid-August. “We will certainly tap the experience of the current government,” Raisi said in a state television address standing next to Rouhani as initial results came in. “I will sit down with the ministers and use their experience and views.” While Raisi has previously said he would preserve the nuclear deal that Rouhani helped seal, he’s also indicated he doesn’t want to make it Iran’s central foreign policy concern. With support from the highest levels of Iran’s religious and military establishment, Raisi’s election means that all of Iran’s state institutions and levers of power will be controlled by hardliners. This comes after eight years under moderate Rouhani, who was central to the nuclear accord that former President Donald Trump withdrew the US from in 2018. Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said “the foreign policy of Iran, which is based on consensus, will continue,” after results showed Raisi securing 62% of ballots cast with most votes counted. Rouhani remains in office until August, giving diplomats in Vienna a window to revive the deal that lifted penalties on Iran’s economy. Those deliberations are now likely to extend well into the summer, two senior Western officials familiar

with the process told Bloomberg News on Thursday, while Zarif said there was “a good possibility” of an agreement before the end of Rouhani’s term. Representatives of China, France, Germany, Russia, the U.K. and Iran will meet Sunday in Vienna, the European Commission said in a statement. “Participants will continue their discussions in view of a possible return of the United States” to the nuclear deal, according to the statement. The US exit from the deal empowered Iran’s hardliners, who were always critical of the agreement and won control of parliament last year. Millions of voters stayed home from Friday’s election after most moderate and reformist candidates were disqualified from running. “Apathy seems to be the problem. What was the reason for apathy? You will see differences of views in Iran,” Zarif said. Raisi was sanctioned in 2019 by the Trump administration, which cited his role in a deadly crackdown a decade earlier on protesters alleging vote fraud. He secured 17.9 million votes, according to Saturday’s results, while the only moderate candidate in the race, Abdolnaser Hemmati, came third with 2.4 million ballots. Turnout was 48.8%, the lowest ever in the 42 years that Iran has held presidential elections, according to figures announced by Interior Minister Abdolreza Rahmani Fazli on state TV. Officials with strong security ties from the presidency of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who served before Rouhani, could be also asked to run Iran’s oil ministry. A hard-line shift there may complicate potential future relationships with European oil majors such as France’s Total SA, which abandoned a $5 billion project under the threat of Trump’s sanctions, and pivot instead to Russian and Chinese developers and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps’ own engineering firms. In a statement from the Kremlin, Russian President Vladimir Putin looked ahead to “the further development of constructive bilateral cooperation in various directions, as well as to the partnership in international affairs.” He predicted enhanced regional security and stability as a result. Bloomberg News

for a free concert in New York's Times Square organized by The Broadway League, the trade group for the Broadway entertainment industry. At dusk, the Empire State Building brightened the sky with red, black and green lights to mark the day as it turned to night. Lights were used in similar fashion at other New York state landmarks including the World Trade Center, Niagara Falls and the Albany International Airport Gateway. A Juneteenth parade was held in Evanston, Illinois, a Chicago suburb that is using tax revenue from marijuana sales to offer housing grants to Black residents for past discrimination and the lingering effects of slavery. Sacramento's Black community has organized Juneteenth festivals for 20 years, and this year's featured a parade, talent show, food fair, the reading of the Emancipation Proclamation and even a

golf tournament. "This is the first Juneteenth where it's being recognized nationally and socially, by the masses and not just within the Black community," organizer Gary Simon said. "We've seen an uptick in non-Black folks coming here for the last several years, and I'm seeing the difference in just the conversations taking place today." New York civil rights activist the Rev. Al Sharpton offered a tough message during a speech at his National Action Network, saying Senate Republicans who voted unanimously to make Juneteenth a federal holiday should also support Democratic bills that change voting laws and make it easier to crack down on rogue police officers. "The celebration of Juneteenth is not a party. ... The way to deal with Juneteenth now is to deal with where race is in 2021," Sharpton said. AP

A10 Monday, June 21, 2021 • Editor: Angel R. Calso

Opinion BusinessMirror

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editorial

Do they care?

resident Duterte signed into law Republic Act 11494 or the Bayanihan to Recover as One Act— more popularly known as Bayanihan 2—in September 2020 to provide a unified response to the adverse effects of the Covid-19 pandemic in the country. A total of P165.5 billion was allocated for Bayanihan 2 to fund the Covid response of various government agencies, which were given until December 2020 to use the funds allocated to them.

Bayanihan 2 exposed the poor absorptive capacity of some implementing agencies, which said they needed more time to use the funds beyond the December 19, 2020 deadline. Under the law, anything unspent would revert to the National Treasury. Upon the request of Malacañang, Congress last year extended the availability of the appropriations under Bayanihan 2 until June 30, 2021. According to the May 31, 2021 financial report on Bayanihan 2 from the Department of Budget and Management, a total of P18.4 billion in unobligated funds for critical pandemic response are about to expire on June 30. These include allocations to the following agencies: Department of the Interior and Local Government—P873 million for the hiring and training of contact tracers. Department of Health—P6.6 billion for laboratory testing services and hiring of human resources. Department of Education—P4.6 billion for digital education and basic education continuity, plus subsidies and allowances for qualified students. Department of Agriculture—P1.2 billion for priority programs for affected farmers and agricultural workers. Department of Labor and Employment—P560 million for various programs to mitigate the negative impact of the pandemic on formal and informal workers. Department of Public Works and Highways—P1 billion for roads leading to tourism destinations that require these transport infrastructure facilities. Department of Social Welfare and Development—P1.3 billion for Covid-19 response and recovery interventions. Commission on Higher Education—P1.96 billion for subsidies and allowances for students and for the development of smart campuses. Department of Transportation—P4.6 billion for service contracts for public transport workers. Much-needed as these funds are, the P18.4 billion earmarked for the above-mentioned government agencies would revert to the National Treasury with the expiration of Bayanihan 2 on June 30, 2021. Only Congress can extend anew the availability of the appropriations under Bayanihan 2 beyond June 30, 2021. House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Joey Salceda said last Friday that with the impending expiration of Bayanihan 2, funding for contact tracers and human resources for health hired under Bayanihan 2 will also lapse. In a letter to Speaker Lord Allan Velasco, Salceda said the House of Representatives must conduct special sessions to enable its members to approve the extension of Bayanihan 2. “Without such extension, provinces potentially face a situation of having their contact tracing and health-care response capacities drastically reduced for at least 26 days (from the law’s expiry to the opening of session on July 26),” the Albay Second District representative said. Bayanihan 2 will expire in nine days, which means, per Salceda and 48 civil society groups, the unspent P18.4 billion allocated for vital services as part of the pandemic response will revert to the National Treasury. Will President Duterte call a special session of Congress to extend its life? Will Senate President Vicente Sotto III and House Speaker Lord Allan Velasco act on their own to extend anew the availability of the appropriations under Bayanihan 2? Or, can the leaders of both branches find another fix, such as having Executive agencies and the budget office move on them, without calling a special session? Do our leaders care?

Filipinos should read books written by Filipino authors Atty. Jose Ferdinand M. Rojas II

RISING SUN

T is true that many Filipinos read, but we should be reading more books written by Filipino authors. Many of our authors are world-class, capable of writing quality material in both English and Filipino. Some of them are recognized by local and international award-giving bodies and published by both local and international book publishers. So let us not limit our reading fare to books written by foreign authors. Support our local publishing industry and our local authors, too. Read more books written by Filipino authors in both English and the local languages. The Book Development Association of the Philippines, an “umbrella organization of individuals and organizations engaged in the book trade,” has been coming up with programs and activities to support publishers and authors. One such project is the Aklatan book fair, which is happening online this year. The all-Filipino bookfair runs from June 19 to 21, 2021— that means you can still catch it on its

last day today. BDAP organized this year’s Aklatan with Shopee, with 34 publishers participating and offering discounts of as much as 30 percent. Go to Shopee and start buying local books at huge discounts. The National Book Development Board (NBDB), an agency of the government “responsible for promoting the continuing development of the book-publishing industry in the

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country,” has recently come out with The Book Nook project. Located in 52 sites in Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao, the Book Nook is a reading center for families. Kids and kids-at-heart can borrow and read books that are proudly Pinoy, for free. NBDB aims to provide friendly reading spaces in areas where there is limited access to reading materials and the Internet. The Book Nook sites will serve as a resource center for children, parents, and teachers to encourage them to read critically and

MMDA’s early move to decongest traffic

Since 2005

✝ Ambassador Antonio L. Cabangon Chua

The National Book Development Board, an agency of the government “responsible for promoting the continuing development of the book-publishing industry in the country,” has recently come out with The Book Nook project. Located in 52 sites in Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao, the Book Nook is a reading center for families. Kids and kids-at-heart can borrow and read books that are proudly Pinoy, for free.

Thomas M. Orbos

STREET TALK

T is heartening to find out that the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority is intent on finding ways and means to decongest traffic even as we are still in the midst of pandemic-induced traffic conditions resulting in a lessened number of vehicles on the road. This forward-looking direction had been mentioned by no less than MMDA Chairman Benhur Abalos who noted the increase of motor vehicles on the road as nearing that of pre-pandemic numbers; as well as his pronouncement to adopt several measures soon to decongest traffic.

The recent surge in the number of vehicles on city roads can be attributed to several factors. One is the relaxation of certain Covid related measures in Metro Manila that allowed more people authorized to travel. This goes hand in hand with the fact that as more individuals are vaccinated, then return to normal, to include outside travel, becomes more apparent than before. Another reason for the seeming congestion is that public transport still remains to be in partial operations as social distancing still prevents mass transport operators to achieve maximum capacity. Another contributory factors are the emerging presence of personal mobility devices such as bicycles, e-trikes and motorcycles that had grown exponentially in use during the pandemic, brought about

by the lack of public transport as well as fear of close proximity with other commuters in public transport despite social distancing. The re-allocation of lanes, primarily for the Edsa carousel as well as the bike lanes, has resulted as well to a limited road capacity for private vehicles. Despite the increase in congestion, MMDA remains in favor of extending the suspension of the number coding scheme, which was the agency’s traditional volume reduction measure. This is good, considering that, indeed, Metro Manilans still need whatever mode of transport they can get while public transportation remains scarce for commuters. With the volume reduction scheme still suspended, one possible way to avoid gridlock would be to maximize other routes that traverse

There are still many other options available to reduce traffic on Edsa, especially now that we have yet to hit full road capacity. But it is commendable that we have forward-looking government agencies such as the MMDA that worry early enough before we wake up and find ourselves suffering from the same traffic congestion that we thought we will never see again after the pandemic.

the north-south corridor parallel to Edsa. This is most especially achievable with the completion of two major connector roads—the Skyway 3 to North Luzon expressway connector and the Harborlink that lands perfectly well at the port area for a substantial number of cargo trucks that use the C5. With more cargo trucks forced to use these roads, then C5 becomes more open to private vehicles. Another possible route that can now be maximized is the Ortigas-BGC route via the newly opened Sta. Monica Bridge. Now partially opened, this route can be maximized if the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board will allow public transport (hopefully a hybrid point to point) on this corridor, thus lessening the volume of commuters on the Edsa carousel. Another low hanging fruit is the full utilization of the provincial bus terminals on the extreme ends of

write their own stories. There will also be storytelling, arts and crafts, reading, and writing workshops, plus book club meetings. Readers are also encouraged to organize their own events. Depending on the pandemic situation in each area, the programs will be done in person or online. About 65 percent to 70 percent of the books in the Book Nook sites are for kids and teens, with about 30 percent to 35 percent of the titles dedicated to adults. The Book Nooks carry fiction and non-fiction books, and reference books that focus on the following topics: Culture, History, Art, Values, Environment, Health, Science, Work, Identity, Diversity, and Peace. The books are in Filipino, English, and other languages from around the country. Now that we just celebrated the 160th birth anniversary of Dr. Jose Rizal, it’s the perfect time to remember what our national hero said about the love of one’s own language. In today’s globalized world, it is more important to nourish and promote one’s own culture to strengthen and represent our national identity within the international community.

the metropolis—one up north at the Philippine Arena, the Parañaque Integrated Terminal Exchange in Parañaque, and the Sta. Rosa terminal while awaiting the completion of the terminal to be built at the old Food Terminal Complex. Though still hardly felt with the partial allowance on inter-regional road travel, provincial buses on Edsa—all 10,000 of them— once fully allowed will definitely cause congestion. It would be good then that these provincial buses begin using these terminals while congestion is not yet near pre-Covid levels. Still, if volume reduction cannot be avoided, it would only do well to do such restrictive measures only in the afternoon, say from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m., and only on the northbound side. It would seem that people’s habits in going out might have changed, as seldom is there congestion in the morning. But in the afternoons to early evenings, the same pre-pandemic congestion is already present, indicative that people are now going back to their homes earlier than before. There are still many other options available to reduce traffic on Edsa, especially now that we have yet to hit full road capacity. But it is commendable that we have forwardlooking government agencies such as the MMDA that worry early enough before we wake up and find ourselves suffering from the same traffic congestion that we thought we will never see again after the pandemic. The author may be reached via e-mail - thomas_ orbos@sloan.mit.edu

Opinion BusinessMirror

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Musings on the amendments of the Accountancy Law Joel L. Tan-Torres

DEBIT CREDIT Sixth part of a series

he Professional Regulatory Board of Accountancy has the right intention with its proposed revision of Section 9 of the Accountancy Act of 2004 (Republic Act 9298) pertaining to the powers of the BOA. As proposed, the section shall specify that the BOA shall have “exclusive oversight and supervision over the licensure, registration, accreditation and practice of accountancy in the Philippines,” with particular emphasis on “exclusive.” The Certified Public Accountants in the Philippines are apparently the most heavily regulated among the professionals in the Philippines, maybe even in the world. There are at least seven government agencies requiring accreditation of these CPAs who are the external auditors of the companies dealing with said government offices. These government units requiring accreditation of CPA external auditors are the Bureau of Internal Revenue, Securities Exchange Commission (SEC), Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas, Cooperative Development Authority, National Electrification Administration, and the Insurance Commission. In my talks as BOA Chairman several years ago, I oftentimes joke, but with some element of seriousness, that aside from the seven government offices requiring accreditation from CPAs, it will not be too long when even the barangays may require registration from the CPAs to hold office in the locality. It is high time that the BOA, being the government functionary tasked to regulate the CPA, should discharge its mandate without the unnecessary interference of other government offices. Such interventions from several government units are undermining the regulatory authority of the BOA and causing undue burden on CPAs complying with the various regulatory requirements of these agencies. With this proposed amendment of “exclusive” authority incorporated in the Accountancy law, some order may now prevail in the accountancy profession. Thereafter, it shall be the role of the BOA to respond to the regulatory demands of the other government regulators and take the appropriate action to incorporate in its regulatory work the relevant needs of the other government offices. I surmise, however, that this proposal may meet some opposition from the “competing” government regulators. It will be wise for the BOA to initiate early talks with the other agencies on this proposed amendment to appease their concerns and possible objections. Another point of overlap or intervention of a separate govern-

ment agency in the function of the BOA is in the area of quality assurance of the work of external auditors. Presently, RA 9298 provides that the BOA is tasked “to conduct an oversight into the quality of audits of financial statements through a review of the quality control measures instituted by auditors in order to ensure compliance with the accounting and auditing standards and practices.” In 2017, the SEC, with its Memorandum Circular 9, promulgated its SEC Oversight Assurance Review Inspection Program. The SOAR is “an on-site review of the quality control policies and procedures of accredited firms auditing companies.” Very clearly, the SEC SOAR is a duplication of the BoA task of oversight and quality assurance review. There should be a decision as to which government agency should perform this task. If it is resolved that BOA should continue to discharge this mandate pursuant to the Accountancy Law, the appropriate resources and support should be provided to BOA to effectively pursue this responsibility. To effect this provision of support, it is proper that this is incorporated as part of the amendments of RA 9298. It is very clear that this issue on overlapping and multiple interventions of various government agencies in the accountancy profession and its CPAs should be addressed head on. The CPAs of the Philippines deserve nothing less than being given relief from the many impositions of the many government regulators. To be continued. Joel L. Tan-Torres is the Dean of the University of the Philippines Virata School of Business. Previously, he was the Commissioner of the Bureau of Internal Revenue, the chairman of the Professional Regulatory Board of Accountancy and partner of Reyes Tacandong & Co. and the SyCip Gorres and Velayo & Co. He is a Certified Public Accountant who garnered No. 1 in the CPA Board Examination of May 1979. This column accepts articles for publication from the business and academic community. Articles not exceeding 600 words can be e-mailed to jltantorres@up.edu.ph.

Because I am His Siegfred Bueno Mison, Esq.

THE PATRIOT

ave for illegitimate children who can only use their father’s last name with the consent of the latter, children automatically carry their fathers’ last name under Philippine law. Even though children have this vital umbilical connection with their mother, their identity in law is established by the last name of the father. In a patriarchal society, it almost comes out as naturally as the birth of another living being. The baby instantly becomes identified with a patronymic tone, like “James, son of Zebedee,” regardless of the fact that the child is the product of his two parents. While studies show that around 7% of mothers elect to allow their surnames to be used, this does not change the universal concept that most children will likely be perpetually associated with their father’s surname. While this sense of distinctiveness pursuant to the patronymic culture is more pronounced in other areas than most, the color is not always bright though. Harilal Gandhi, eldest son of the famous anti-colonial nationalist and political ethicist Mahatma Gandhi, lived his entire life in the shadow of his father’s name. As this son rebelled against everything his father believed, the colloquial label for Mahatma Gandhi was “father to a nation, stranger to his son”. On the local front, Sara Duterte-Carpio is far from being a stranger to her father. After all, she may have carved out a niche as Davao City’s Mayor, following her father Rodrigo Duterte’s leadership style. Critics see Mayor Sara with the same air of calculated arrogance as that of her Presidentdad. She is her “Father’s Daughter”, in many ways, lording over Davao City with the same iron discipline. Should Mayor Sara run for higher office, the Duterte brand will spell the difference between victory and defeat. Early on in my professional career, people I meet will almost always ask me how I am related to General Salvador Mison. I suppose the same holds true for my siblings. For my Kuya, the question gets moot as he bears the same first name and practically

followed my father’s footsteps in the uniformed service. Both even retired from the service as Vice Chief of Staff with the rank of Lieutenant General! Both are “notoriously” known for their brand of discipline and whose integrity is beyond reproach. Although my other siblings and I have charted our own professional journeys, our collective public identity rests on being a Mison, born and raised with much discipline! Growing up, I remember that the Mison rod was never spared, Mison time is always at least five minutes early, and a Mison always endures all kinds of trials that come his way. Though he is not as biblical as other fathers I know, my father Salvador practically imbibed and practiced what the Bible tells us in Hebrews 12:5-7, “My son, do not make light of the Lord’s discipline, and do not lose heart when he rebukes you, because the Lord disciplines the one he loves, and he chastens everyone he accepts as his son.” Endure hardship as discipline; God is treating you as his children. For what children are not disciplined by their father?” To discipline is to love; to love is to discipline! Until this very day, I have so much deference and respect to my father, perhaps due to fear, but more so out

Monday, June 21, 2021 A11

On the occasion of Fathers’ day, it is of such joy for believers to identify themselves with The Perfect Father! As He gave us earthly fathers to fulfill a grace-filled purpose, we remain connected with Him. of reverence. However which way we were raised, we are children first, because we have fathers, both in this world and beyond. Both fathers have their ways of disciplining us. But beyond the nomenclature are the relationship, the connection, and the bond between father and children. Although some may call themselves unlucky for being born with a “tarnished” last name or for not knowing who their fathers are, all of us can rest with confidence that we have a spiritual Father above. His omnipresence can sometimes be taken for granted, unfortunately, but not for King David, who once declared, “And I am this day weak, though anointed king;” (2 Samuel 3:39). This simple verse teaches us with specificity that in our earthly existence, we shall encounter frailties, limitations, and drawbacks. We can wage battle with some disease or suffer shame or guilt from a mistake to the point of getting shackled in some kind of despondency. In times like these, best to look at the torch of hope and hang on to our true identity – being a “royal priesthood” and “God’s special possession” (1 Peter 2:9). For some, their human fathers may have abused them or left them with a shameful name. Yet, they should not allow these circumstances to define them. After all, I was once told that “what goes on outside does not define who we are, it’s what’s going on inside us that does”! King David, at the lowest point of his life, seeing defeat from a battle, held on to that specific connection of his entire being with his Father. Circumstances during this pandemic can indeed push us into misery. Hunger, strife, electoral sabotage, even domestic violence, or career confusion can make us give

By Jason Gale

ohn Micklus’s battle with Covid-19 began last Christmas and ended five weeks later with lungs so damaged that doctors said there was nothing they could do to save him. “The doctor’s recommendation was to get my affairs in order,” Micklus said. The 62-year-old called his wife from his hospital bed in southern Maryland. She, in turn, desperately called several physicians, and eventually learned of one last option: A double-lung transplant. Micklus was transferred to the University of Maryland Medical Center in Baltimore, where a rigorous assessment qualified him to

receive lungs from a matched donor days later. He was discharged from the hospital on March 30, marking the center’s second successful lung transplant in a Covid survivor. Hospitals across the US have reported a rise in lung transplants for severe coronavirus cases, the Cleveland Clinic, one of the country’s top-ranked medical centers, said last week. The grueling surgery may be the only solution for patients who experience a life-threatening constellation of lung damage inflicted by the virus, a hyper-inflammatory immune response to it, and the body’s failure to properly repair the injury.

‘Honeycomb change’

All of that can cause the deposition of yellow fibrotic scar tissue, creating

A former infantry and intelligence officer in the Army, Siegfred Mison showcased his servant leadership philosophy in organizations such as the Integrated Bar of the Philippines, Malcolm Law Offices, Infogix Inc., University of the East, Bureau of Immigration, and Philippine Airlines. He is a graduate of West Point in New York, Ateneo Law School, and University of Southern California. A corporate lawyer by profession, he is an inspirational teacher and a Spirit-filled writer with a mission. For questions and comments, please e-mail me at sbmison@gmail.com.

Protecting business and the individual against cyber crimes

By Reynaldo A. De Dios

N the 1990s with the advent of the dot-com bubble, Cyber Liability Insurance gained popularity as a layer of protection for these new companies against unauthorized system access, computer viruses and data loss. At that time, cyber crime and data breaches were not too common compared to what is happening today.

In response to the demands of their clients, insurers had to cover unauthorized access, network security, data loss and virus-related claims. In addition, insurers updated policies to include cyber business interruption, extortion and network asset damage. In a typical ransomware incident, the criminal hackers lock up a target’s network or hold its data until a ransom has been paid. The risk of ransomware is covered by insurers under their general policies. Just recently, a massive attack on a United States fuel pipe company disrupted

the flow of oil products such that gasoline stations throughout the nation had to stop operations. The fuel pipe company had to pay a reported sum of $5 million to cyber attackers. As technology and the Internet evolved, technology-related risks evolved as well. Today, Internetbased technology is involved in nearly every aspect of life, from healthcare to home security. As the frequency and severity of claims is increasing, the cost of insurance is surging and insurers are decreasing their underwriting capacity. Furthermore, insurers are

Cyber Insurance coverage cannot be ignored and may be purchased by companies to reduce the financial risks associated with doing business online. Cyber insurance is also available to individuals to cover loss related to cyber identity theft and damage to reputation, data recovery as well as devices damaged. Finally, the cost of cyber insurance depends on one’s risk factors and the adequacy of security measures in place. asking more questions to determine if clients’ security measures and control are adequate. In this era of the pandemic when entire workforces migrated from working in an office, where cyber security was more controlled, to

Double-lung transplants increase after Covid ‘honeycombs’ organs Bloomberg Opinion

in or give up. The torch of hope may start to flicker. Yet, believers remain confident and blessed to be called children of an Almighty God. In the Bible, 1 John 3:1 tells us, “Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed upon us that we shall be called children of God!” On the occasion of Fathers’ day, it is of such joy for believers to identify themselves with The Perfect Father! As He gave us earthly fathers to fulfill a grace-filled purpose, we remain connected with Him. I have fathered three children, Regina Victoria, J. Siegfred Salvador, and Regina Elena. I did what I could in raising them in the way I was taught how. Some fathers may not be as disciplinarian as Salvador, but, rest assured, all earthly fathers, myself included, can only do so much for our children. In his poem, “On Children,” Kahlil Gibran said: “Your children are not your children… They come through you but not from you, And though they are with you yet they belong not to you.” He referred to fathers as “the bows from which your (our) children, as living arrows are sent forth.” Gibran sees our Heavenly Father as the archer who “sees the mark upon the path of the infinite, and He bends you with His might, That His arrows may go swift and far. Let your bending in the archer’s hand be for gladness; For even as He loves the arrow that flies, So He loves also the bow that is stable.” Bows and arrows (father and children) loved by Him, lets give praise to the archer—our Perfect Father, who, unlike no other, provides, protects, and pardons, simply because we are His!

a “honeycomb change” that makes the lungs completely solid, said David Kleiner, who heads autopsy pathology in the National Institutes of Health Clinical Center in Bethesda, Maryland. The process irreversibly destroys the tiny grape-like air sacs through which gas is exchanged in the lungs, Kleiner said in a lecture on Covid autopsies in July. “Patients really only survive to that fibrotic stage if they are intubated,” he said, adding that the harmful scarring can occur within a couple of weeks of lung injury. Such cases have led to lung transplants around the world, according to a study in The Lancet Respiratory Medicine journal last month, highlighting yet another dimension of the pandemic’s burden on both survivors

and health-care resources. The procedure can be done successfully in carefully selected patients, said the authors from the US, India, Austria and Italy, who proposed criteria for selecting suitable Covid patients. In patients who can’t be weaned from a ventilator or an artificial lung that oxygenates blood, a donor organ may be the only life-saving option, according to doctors at Chicago’s Northwestern Memorial Hospital, where the first double-lung transplant in a Covid case in the US took place in June 2020. It’s done 18 more since, and has at least five patients waiting for donor organs, Ankit Bharat, the hospital’s chief of thoracic surgery and surgical director of lung transplantation, said in the Journal of the American Medical As-

sociation Thursday. “We are seeing a significant surge in patients who recovered from moderate to severe Covid and are now coming to the outpatient setting with progressive oxygen requirements and pulmonary fibrosis,” Bharat said.

Complicated surgery

Writing in a study in Science Translational Medicine in December, Bharat and colleagues described three patients—aged 28, 43 and 62—whose surgeries each took about 9.5 hours, required double the amount of blood normally infused during the procedure, and involved two weeks of post-operative intensive care. More than 107,000 people are waiting for a life-saving organ transplant in the US, accord-

working from home, cyber criminals are taking advantage of new security and human vulnerabilities. Privacy Liability coverage is also important for those companies with sensitive customer and employee information, which are exposed to breaches or violations that threaten the security of those compromised and even damage their reputation. Cyber Insurance coverage cannot be ignored and may be purchased by companies to reduce the financial risks associated with doing business online. Cyber insurance is also available to individuals to cover loss related to cyber identity theft and damage to reputation, data recovery as well as devices damaged. Finally, the cost of cyber insurance depends on one’s risk factors and the adequacy of security measures in place. The author is a risk management consultant and Editor of Insurance Philippines magazine.

ing to the United Network for Organ Sharing. Waiting lists for a full lung transplant, where the organ is provided by donors who have died, are often prohibitively long. Bharat said he’s concerned Covid may shrink the current pool of donor organs and affect their future availability. Almost 33 million people in the US have been diagnosed with the disease, he said, adding that there are reports that up to 80% of them, including many who were asymptomatic, may suffer lung injury. “It remains to be seen whether or not other patients who have recovered from mild, moderate, or even severe Covid-19 are going to be organ donors,” Bharat said. “If not, this may lead to a significant contraction of our donor pool.”

A12 Monday, June 21, 2021

Senate presses DOE to craft brownout contingency plans By Butch Fernandez

@butchfBM @joveemarie

& Jovee Marie N. dela Cruz

HE chairman of the Senate Energy Committee will hold regulators, especially the Department of Energy (DOE), to their promise to provide lawmakers a “comprehensive, short-term” roadmap of measures to avert a repeat of this month’s unscheduled brownouts in the next two months, when power reserves are thin. “This coming Tuesday (June 22), we told them to submit a comprehensive, short-term contingency plan,” Senator Sherwin Gatchalian, panel chairman, said on Sunday, stressing that such no-brownouts assurance is important because of, among others, the Covid-19 vaccine rollout which is being ramped up, and the ongoing registration of voters being done by the Commission on Elections. Having no brownouts “is ideal,” Gatchalian said in a radio interview, because that ensures “there’s no disruption” of business operations and pandemic-related campaigns, “and there’s no price hike.” He was

referring to earlier projections that the unscheduled brownouts of May 31 to June 3 could impact Meralco bills, as the distribution utility was forced by the unscheduled plant shutdowns to source electricity from the spot market, where prices spiked owing to higher demand. Gatchalian said that while he understood the basis for regulators’ insistence that the National Grid Corp. of the Philippines (NGCP) contract firm auxiliary reserves as fallback, there is need to have NGCP do this under competitive bidding, and this process might not resolve the problem of short-term outages between now and August, which

power players warned against last week. Thus, Gatchalian said, he wanted DOE to focus right away on two other options. “So I told DOE to talk to the [power] plants now,” so that either or both these options can be pursued: move the preventive maintenance shutdowns of some big plants, specifically Pagbilao and Ilijan; and advance the opening of new plants. “We can’t force plants to defer a shutdown [if such plants are in danger of breaking down], but we know that certain maintenance shutdowns [of newer plants] can be delayed a bit,” the senator explained, partly in Filipino. According to Gatchalian, several big power plants are expected to be rolled out, but that “red tape” is bugging them down. “I see DOE has shortcomings in terms of the delayed rollout of new plants,” so, Gatchalian said, he asked Energy Secretary Alfonso Cusi to act on the problems related to red tape, i.e., delays in processing of permits, and delays in entry of key machinery and technical people for some plants. “Many new plants can come in, but are tied up in red tape,” Gatchalian stressed. He added that he wanted the DOE to be on top of it, and not keep tossing blame, because

“the DOE is not powerless. They’re the alter ego of the President.”

Food inflation risk

Meanwhile a lawmaker said Luzon’s unstable power supply until August, if left unchecked, could drive up food prices and set back economic recovery. Makati City Rep. Luis Campos Jr. said in a statement on Sunday: “We are gravely worried that the prospect of red and yellow alerts over the Luzon grid in the weeks ahead might drive up the cost of electricity and put more upward pressure on food prices.” Accord ing to Campos, the Wholesale Electricity Spot Market (WESM) prices soared to an average of P9.29 per kilowatt hour (kwh) when the Luzon grid was put on red alert from May 31 to June 2 and had two consecutive days of rotating brownouts in some areas. “The cost of P9.29 per kwh was 171 percent higher than the average WESM price of P3.42 per kwh from January to April,” Campos said. The lawmaker also said higher electricity rates —coupled with potential supply disruptions—could adversely affect power-intensive industries, including food manufacturing and canning as well as cooking oil processing. Continued on A2

TECH, COP INSTINCTS UNRAVEL PILOT’S TALE THAT BURGLARS SLEW HIS WIFE, A FIL-BRIT CHILD By Recto Mercene @rectomercene

HE death of a young British woman of Filipino ancestry on a Greek island has shocked Greeks and Filipinos alike after police cracked the supposed burglary-homicide case and nabbed the husband who confessed to the brutal murder. Babis Anagnostopoulos, 32, confessed to murdering his wife, Caroline Crouch, 20, after an eight-hour grueling investigation, according to the BBC. The “gut feel” of veteran police investigators, combined with the help of the latest technology, helped pin down Babis, who faces a life sentence if convicted. When police arrived at the couple’s residence, they found Caroline strangled, her lifeless body next to her crying 11-month-old daughter in an upscale Athens suburb. The police found Babis handcuffed to the floor near Caroline, with duct tape over his eyes and mouth. Speaking to reporters on May 14, Babis said that he had discovered his wife had been murdered when police officers removed the tape covering his eyes. His hands supposedly wriggled free enough to be able to call the police on his mobile

‘Boosting consumer confidence to boost PHL competitiveness’ By Tyrone Jasper C. Piad @Tyronepiad

ENEWING consumer confidence amid the pandemic is key to improving the country’s competitiveness, which has been dented by poor economic performance amid lockdown protocols. John Paul Flaminiano, senior economist and associate director at Asian Institute of Management’s Rizalino S. Navarro Policy Center for Competitiveness, said in a recent forum that uncertainties due to the pandemic are preventing the growth in consumption. This, he explained, can be addressed by restoring consumer confidence. “Consumer confidence is critical for the economy and getting people to spend,” British Chamber of Commerce of the Philippines (BCCP) Executive Director Chris Nelson said for his part. However, the current situation amid the pandemic-induced lockdown and protocols has been causing uncertainties, which adversely impacted the economy. The economic downturn caused the Philippines to drop by seven slots to 52nd rank in the 2021 Institute for Management Development (IMD) World Competitiveness Ranking. “One of the most effective ways to encourage consumers to spend beyond the essentials and more on consumer discretionary products is to provide consumer confidence by reducing uncertainties,” Flaminiano explained. With this, he stressed the need for a “timely and efficient” rollout of the vaccination program. This, he added, can help the service industry, in particular, because many workers from poor households are employed in this sector. The economist said a proper dissemination of pandemic-related information, apart from enforcing health protocols, is also necessary to lessen the worries of the public while navigating the current situation. “Credible information and clear direction from the government will

also help alleviate the public’s fear in cooperating with government’s pandemic-control policies and provide the public with a more accurate assessment of the risk of reopening the economy,” he explained. “Economic activities may not fully resume unless the public feels safe enough to go about their normal, even prepandemic routines. This is, especially, in light of the surges coming in some other countries despite their higher level of vaccination rates,” Flaminiano continued.

‘Not surprising’

The BCCP chief said he expected the Philippines’s lower ranking in IMD’s competitiveness index given the major economic slump due to mobility restrictions amid the pandemic. “I was not surprised. I was expecting this, primarily driven by the fact that, obviously, the GDP [gross domestic product] has declined so sharply and that is a major factor,” he said. The lockdown measures, Nelson explained, severely damaged the economy because it is driven by service and consumer sectors—both of which were impacted by the pandemic. Based on IMD’s report, the country’s ranking for economic performance pillar dropped by 13 notches. It slid to 57th rank from 44th rank, considering the lower position for the following subfactors: domestic economy, international investment, employment and prices. Meanwhile, the country ranked higher for international trade. To help the economy, Nelson called for the passage of the following economic bills: amendments to Public Service Act (Senate Bill 2094), amendments to Foreign Investments Act (Senate Bill 1156), and amendments to Retail Trade Liberalization Act (Senate Bill 1840). All these were certified as urgent in April. “When these get passed, we need to do it in a way we are targeting increased foreign direct investment,” he said, noting that lifting restrictions will allow more investments in the country.

phone at dawn of May 11. He initially told police that a gang of Albanian criminals had broken into their home in Glyka Nera on May 11. According to accounts, Babis told reporters that he “begged” the criminals not to hurt his wife and child after they threatened to kill the infant if they did not hand over the money. He said he ended up giving them €15,000 (£13,000; $18,000).

Cops’ instinct

However, police probers were intrigued by the orderliness of the room, as burglary and murder is usually marked by struggle, resulting in a topsyturvy crime scene. Following a month-long investigation, police said Babis’s story did not add up. They found no trace of the gang he claimed had tied him up, suffocated his wife and stolen cash. George Kalliakmanis, president of police in Attica, was quoted in a report by the Mail online as saying officers had compared Babis to a “Greek Oscar Pistorius”—the South African athlete convicted of shooting dead girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp at their home in 2013, despite proclaiming his innocence. Continued on A6

PCG drills vs terrorism, piracy open in south seas

HE Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) will begin on Monday (June 21) its week-long counterterrorism and anti-piracy exercises in Mindanao waters as it builds up its sea-borne operation capabilities. The exercises were the second in more than two months for the Coast Guard through its Task Force Pagsasanay after it earlier held maritime training exercises in the West Philippine Sea. The training was joined by eight ships, including four vessels from the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR). A training scenario would have the Coast Guard challenge Chinese militia vessels in the WPS. Coast Guard spokesman Commodore Armand Balilo said the counterterrorism and anti-piracy training, running until June 27, will be staged in the waters off Zamboanga Peninsula, Basilan, Sulu and Tawi-Tawi. Four primary ships, the BRP Gabriela Silang (OPV-8301), BRP Tubbataha (MRRV-4401), BRP Capones (MRRV-4404) and BRP Cape Engaño (MRRV-4411), as well as Fast Response Boats from the 47 PCG stations and substations in the areas will join the exercises. Pilots and technical personnel of the Coast Guard Aviation Force (CGAF) will also join the training, utilizing BN Islander Plane, PCG251 and H145 light twin-engine airbus helicopters, CGH-1451 and CGH-1452. “The exercises will focus on anti-terrorism through boarding exercises and anti-piracy through robbery at sea interdiction. It will also test PCG’s recently acquired ship-based and coastal monitoring and communications capabilities for search and rescue (SAR) and law enforcement,” Balilo said. “These will be done at the Sibutu Passage and Basilan Strait where a series of piracy and kidnapping incidents have transpired in previous years,” he added. Continued on A2

Editor: Jennifer A. Ng

Companies BusinessMirror

Monday, June 21, 2021

CMIC insists Tanco-led VSI violated securities laws By VG Cabuag

@villygc

he Capital Markets Integrity Corp. (CMIC), the regulatory arm of the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE), said that the audit it conducts seeks to determine the compliance of trading participants, including brokers, with its rules. “The objective of CMIC’s regular examinations is to determine the compliance by trading participants with the CMIC rules and other relevant securities laws. It is a compliance audit, not a fraud audit,” it said. “While detection of fraud may occur in a compliance audit, the regular examinations by CMIC are not specifically conducted to uncover fraudulent transactions. An auditor is not responsible for the detection of all classes of fraud.” CMIC was reacting to the statements made by businessman Eusebio H. Tanco, currently one of the directors of the PSE and chairman of the brokerage firm Venture Securities Inc. (VSI). He said the body should

have detected that Marlo Moron of R&L Investments Inc. was acting as trader, settlement clerk, and keeper of the books of accounts of the broker that helped him cart away some P700 million that were made through EQ trades or the transfer of shares from one broker to another. “These machinations of Moron have been going on for over seven years and have apparently escaped the attention of the Capital Markets Integrity Corp., the guardian of the morals of the brokerage community. Had the CMIC bothered to look at R&L and its activities, the CMIC would have easily noticed what was happening as they are better equipped to detect this kind of transactions violative of the rules of the exchange,” Tanco said. The CMIC said Tanco’s contention “is without basis.”“This concurrent holding of conflicting positions, being violative of the rules, was willfully concealed from the books and records of R&L, and was part of the venture of fraud carried out by Moron,” the CMIC said. “Upon knowledge of the fraudu-

lent machinations of Moron, CMIC immediately initiated a full-blown investigation. In its investigation, CMIC found Venture [Securities Inc.] to be in violation of the securities laws. This finding was confirmed by SEC in its decision of June 15, 2021 denying the appeal of Venture to reverse and set aside the resolutions issued by CMIC.” Venture Securities is owned by Tanco and was involved in the R&L case. The two brokerage firms were stripped of their license by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). VSI and its employees, with the exception of Tanco, were fined by the SEC and CMIC. Tanco said for years, his brokerage has been audited by the CMIC and it has found no evidence of any wrongdoing. As a broker, VSI had every right to be protected by the CMIC and to rely on CMIC’s findings, he said. “It is truly incomprehensible that CMIC—for all of over seven years— was not able to discover the discrepancies/anomalies in R&L’s clients’ position vis-a-vis the balances in the

This week

current circumstances, is unlikely,” the broker said.

STOCK-MARKET OUTLOOK Last week

Share prices fell last week as investors decided to cash in on their gains after the main index touched the 7,000-point level. The benchmark Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) fell 56.41 points to close at 6,851.38 points. The main index was up during the first two days of trading during the week but it started to fall after it reached its high of 7,001.21 points. Average daily trading for the week was high at P7.63 billion. Foreign investors made up 43 percent of the trades and were net sellers at P6.72 billion. All other subindices ended mixed with the broader All Shares index falling 7.75 points to 4,166.90 points, the Financials index gaining 23.21 to 1,491.40, the Industrial index rising 61.53 to 9,364.03, the Holding Firms index declining 22.67 to 6,936.33, the Property index plunging 130.06 to 3,293.30, the Services index adding 16.11 to 1,558.65 and the Mining and Oil index giving up 146.51 to 9,311.04. For the week, losers slightly edged gainers 122 to 114 and 17 shares were unchanged. Top gainers for the week were Ever-Gotesco Resources and Holdings Inc., Jolliville Holdings Corp., Sta. Lucia Land Inc., Cebu Landmasters Inc., Ginebra San Miguel Inc., Macay Holdings Inc. and Cirtek Holdings Philippines Corp. Top losers were BHI Holdings Inc., Boulevard Holdings Inc., Atlas Consolidated Mining and Development Corp., Bogo-Medellin Co. Inc., Vitarich Corp., PTFC Redevelopment Corp. and Atok-Big Wedge Co. Inc.

Share prices may continue to slide this week as investors are looking for trade catalysts. Japhet Louis O. Tantiangco, senior research analyst at Philstocks Financials Inc., said sans a trade catalyst this week, selling pressures will continue to dominate the market. “For catalysts, investors are seen to watch out for developments on our country’s vaccination campaign. A further progress on our vaccine procurement, and a further speed up in the number of individuals inoculated may spur positive sentiment. Investors may also monitor the country’s Covid-19 case counts. A slowdown in the daily increase of our cases may also help lift sentiment.” The market will also take its cues from the upcoming meeting of the Monetary Board of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) on Thursday. “While the policy rate is projected to remain unchanged in the upcoming meeting, investors are seen to watch out for the BSP’s inflation expectations. A decline in expectations may also give a boost to the local market.” Meanwhile, 2TradeAsia said investors are also reacting to the recent announcement of the US Federal Reserve which indicated that it may start increasing its rates earlier than expected or in 2023 instead of 2024. “While the BSP is expected to follow suit on the [US Fed’s] rate decision, it will be interesting [to see] how the Monetary Board will react to the US Fed’s plans in its next policy meeting. Brace for volatility, especially banks and highly leveraged shares, should BSP telegraph similarly hawkish messages, though at

Stock picks

Broker Regina Capital Development Corp. advised to sell on rallies on the stock of Ever-Gotesco as it has been rallying since early this month and has been trading above its key short- and long-term moving averages since mid-May. “The stock’s bullish trajectory has propelled [it] into the overbought territories, with no signs of slowing down in the near term. At Ever’s current levels, the stock tapped an all-time high of P0.70 intra-day before settling a few ticks lower. The stock’s rally would likely persist over the next couple of days, judging from the increasing buying momentum. However, we would caution that some investors might be prompted to secure some of their gains,” it said. Ever, which saw its price grew more than four times in four weeks, was last traded at P0.68 per share. Meanwhile, the broker gave the same recommendation on the stock of Converge Information and Communications Technology Solutions Inc. as it has been on an extended uptrend, pushing it above the 50-day and 100-day moving averages and to an all-time high of P23.45 intra-day. “The indicators are uniformly bullish with increasing momentum. The bullish signals and momentum suggest the Converge would continue trading higher over the next couple of days. However, some investors would likely start taking profits soon due to elevated prices.” Converge shares closed Friday at P22.25 apiece. VG Cabuag

PCD [Philippine Central Depository] system, something which a standard auditing procedure called ‘confirmation’ would have easily shown,” Tanco said. “Venture’s actions laying blame on CMIC are mere squid tactics meant to divert attention from the real issues.... The infringements of the securities laws were committed within and by Venture itself,” the CMIC said.

Companies BusinessMirror

Monday, June 21, 2021

Power generation firms have capacity for AS deals–PIPPA

By Lenie Lectura

@llectura

EVEN power generation companies (gencos) have offered a total of 1,349 megawatts (MW) of their capacity to be utilized as reserves for the power-hungry Luzon grid, the Philippine Independent Power Producers Association Inc. (PIPPA) said. The group led by its president, Atty. Anne Montelibano, said during the Senate Energy Committee hearing last week that there are still available capacities for AS contracting. “There are about 21 offers from operational gencos. Seven for Luzon, 10 in Visayas and 4 in Mindanao,” said Montelibano, adding that the offers from Luzon are still subject for verification by the Department of Energy (DOE) and the seven gencos. “Are there available capacity for AS? The answer is yes. These are pending with the NGCP [National Grid Corporation of the Philippines],” she said. “I think the longest was like more than a year ago, if I recall right. I

wouldn’t know the reason because that’s up to NGCP,” added Montelibano in a text message when asked to elaborate on the delays. These gencos have also offered their capacity to the Wholesale Electricity Spot Market (WESM), she added. AS contracting, she said, will increase grid reliability w ith minimal price effects. As such, PIPPA proposed to convert nonfirm AS contracts to firm contracts to ensure a longer stability in reserves; expedite pending offers with NGCP; work on the CSP (competitive selection process) for AS contracting per mandate of the Department of Energy (DOE); expedite transmission and connectivity projects; and

expedite implementation of a Reserves Market. The DOE has already issued a circular governing the procurement of firm AS contracts to help secure the availability of power services during untoward occurrences, such as the simultaneous plant outages and “derating” incidents—which led to the series of Red and Yellow Alerts last May 31 and June 1. Under Department Circular (DC) DC2019-12-0018, “Adopting a General Framework Governing the Provision and Utilization of Ancillary Services in the Grid,” the NGCP is mandated to procure 100 percent firm power reserves, as well as engage in the forward contracting of reserve requirements to ensure grid reliability. The NGCP said procuring AS on either firm or non-firm basis is not a solution to the recurring brownouts in the country. “What we have is a supply and not a distribution problem. For the grid to effectively address imbalances between supply and

demand, we need to increase the power capacity of the country to meet rising demand as we start to recover and fully reopen the economy,” NGCP President Anthony Almeda said. Also, Almeda said the firm contracting being insisted by the DOE will not “result in additional supply, it will only lead to a change in payment terms where all power, used or unused, will have to be shouldered by the public.” This take-or-pay arrangement, he added, would only lead to higher electricity cost for consumers. Based on PIPPA computation, the AS cost impact on consumers in Luzon amounts to P27 per kilowatt hour. The figures could still go down if a CSP for AS is conducted as competition will bring prices down. “Mere conversion of non-firm to firm will decrease the AS costs since firm rates are lower than non firm. Any increase in demand will lower per kWh costs and implementation of CSP will make AS rates competitive.”

mutual funds

June 18, 2021 NAV

One Year Three Year Five Year

per share

Return*

Y-T-D Return

Stock Funds ALFM Growth Fund, Inc. -a

221.5

7.91%

ATRAM Alpha Opportunity Fund, Inc. -a

1.3915

33.49%

-2.83%

1.86%

5.98%

9.24%

-9.35%

-5.67%

-2.77%

Climbs Share Capital Equity Investment Fund Corp. -a 0.775 8.29%

-4.99% n.a.

-3.59%

First Metro Consumer Fund on MSCI Phils. IMI, Inc. -a 0.7226 4.92%

-4.78% n.a.

-2.56%

First Metro Save and Learn Equity Fund,Inc. -a

10.32%

-2.78%

-1.95%

-1.59%

First Metro Save and Learn Philippine Index Fund, Inc. -a,4 0.7071

1.33%

-6.56%

ATRAM Philippine Equity Opportunity Fund, Inc. -a 3.0463

4.8626

-5%

-3.43%

-2.52%

-6.6% -6.94%

MBG Equity Investment Fund, Inc. -a

99.34

23.11%

PAMI Equity Index Fund, Inc. -a

45.3539

Philam Strategic Growth Fund, Inc. -a

476.39

Philequity Alpha One Fund, Inc. -a,d,5

1.0769

Philequity Dividend Yield Fund, Inc. -a

1.1439

9.85%

-2.93%

-1.85%

-2.08%

Philequity Fund, Inc. -a

33.9986

10.73%

-2.48%

-1.16%

-2.22%

8.83% n.a. n.a.

-2.96%

Philequity MSCI Philippine Index Fund, Inc. -a

0.886

-4.03% n.a.

-2.55%

9.54%

-3.09%

-2.26%

-3.19%

8.18%

-3.14%

-2.64%

-2.57%

20.02% n.a. n.a.

-1.86%

Philequity PSE Index Fund Inc. -a

4.6469

10.14%

-2.47%

-1.47%

-3.01%

Philippine Stock Index Fund Corp. -a

778.16

10.25%

-2.35%

-1.58%

-2.93%

Soldivo Strategic Growth Fund, Inc. -a

0.7072

9.22%

-6.77%

-4.77%

-1.63%

Sun Life Prosperity Philippine Equity Fund, Inc. -a 3.5213

8.06%

-4.83%

-2.98%

-2.83%

Sun Life Prosperity Philippine Stock Index Fund, Inc. -a 0.8889 9.66%

-2.71%

-1.74%

-3.14%

United Fund, Inc. -a

-2.88%

-0.86%

-2.37%

-2.14%

-0.98% -2.89%

3.2405

9.03%

Exchange Traded Fund First Metro Phil. Equity Exchange Traded Fund, Inc. -a,c 104.4477

10.21%

Primarily invested in foreign currency securities ATRAM AsiaPlus Equity Fund, Inc. -b

$1.2541

32.62%

4.64%

8.81%

4.26%

Sun Life Prosperity World Voyager Fund, Inc. -a $1.7803

30.1%

10.62%

12.33%

6.43%

-1.3%

0.74%

Balanced Funds Primarily invested in Peso securities ATRAM Dynamic Allocation Fund, Inc. -a

1.681

7.77%

-0.13%

ATRAM Philippine Balanced Fund, Inc. -a

2.2402

7.36%

-0.62%

-0.46%

-1.98%

First Metro Save and Learn Balanced Fund Inc. -a 2.5964

6.19%

0.13%

-0.58%

-1.16%

First Metro Save and Learn F.O.C.C.U.S. Dynamic Fund, Inc. -a,1 0.1945

2.31% n.a. n.a. -2.06%

NCM Mutual Fund of the Phils., Inc. -a

1.9524

5.34%

1.82%

0.65%

-0.59%

PAMI Horizon Fund, Inc. -a

3.6805

0.69%

-0.51%

-2.84%

Philam Fund, Inc. -a

16.5092

5.57%

0.84%

-0.51%

-2.52%

Solidaritas Fund, Inc. -a

2.0596

5.87%

-0.31%

-0.28%

-1.65%

Sun Life of Canada Prosperity Balanced Fund, Inc. -a 3.5129 5.37%

-1.4%

-1.42%

-1.69%

Sun Life Prosperity Achiever Fund 2028, Inc. -a,d 0.9854

3.98% n.a. n.a.

-3.64%

Sun Life Prosperity Achiever Fund 2038, Inc. -a,d 0.9055

5% n.a. n.a.

-4.6%

Sun Life Prosperity Achiever Fund 2048, Inc. -a,d 0.8932

6.08% n.a. n.a.

-4.28%

Sun Life Prosperity Dynamic Fund, Inc. -a

7.85%

-0.46%

0.8836

-1.89%

-1.62%

Primarily invested in foreign currency securities Cocolife Dollar Fund Builder, Inc. -a

$0.03811

-0.57%

3.14%

1.35%

PAMI Asia Balanced Fund, Inc. -b

$1.1456

17.32%

2.98%

5.46%

-2.58% -0.4%

Sun Life Prosperity Dollar Advantage Fund, Inc. -a $4.7109 22.52%

8.33%

8.87%

4.39%

Sun Life Prosperity Dollar Wellspring Fund, Inc. -a,3 $1.2147 11.75%

4.9%

4.95%

1.05%

Bond Funds Primarily invested in Peso securities ALFM Peso Bond Fund, Inc. -a

371.98

1.93%

3.2%

2.44%

0.25%

ATRAM Corporate Bond Fund, Inc. -a

1.9263

-0.6%

1.22%

0.2%

1.37%

Cocolife Fixed Income Fund, Inc. -a

3.2277

1.39%

3.8%

4.35%

0.4%

Ekklesia Mutual Fund Inc. -a

2.2588

-1%

2.21%

1.4%

-1.62%

ALFM

www.businessmirror.com.ph

PSE STOCK QUOTATIONS

June 18, 2021

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

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

43.2 113.1 87.55 24.8 9.75 48.25 10.8 19.64 22.95 55.7 97.25 17.22 122.5 76 1.3 4.16 3.03 1.34 0.4 0.7 202 2,450 0.96

44.65 113.3 88 24.85 9.88 48.9 10.98 19.7 23 55.9 114.5 17.5 122.8 76.7 1.31 4.22 3.11 1.4 0.415 0.72 205 2,490 1

44.5 116 87.5 24.85 9.92 49.25 10.98 19.7 23.1 55.9 97.25 17.3 122.7 77.7 1.24 4.15 3.01 1.34 0.4 0.74 208.6 2,450 0.96

44.7 117 88 24.85 9.92 49.4 11 19.7 23.1 55.9 97.25 17.5 123.4 77.75 1.3 4.2 3.01 1.45 0.415 0.74 208.6 2,450 0.96

44.5 113 85.9 24.1 9.72 47.55 10.98 19.7 22.9 55.6 97.25 17.2 122.5 76 1.23 4.15 3.01 1.34 0.4 0.73 201.2 2,450 0.96

44.5 113.1 88 24.8 9.75 48.9 11 19.7 22.95 55.6 97.25 17.5 122.5 76.45 1.3 4.2 3.01 1.4 0.415 0.73 205 2,450 0.96

1,700 6,984,120 3,649,030 49,200 487,500 7,443,500 45,000 1,000 361,200 2,540 10 17,800 661,420 4,900 72,000 213,000 2,000 8,000 150,000 9,000 1,590 60 10,000

75,670 798,655,717 318,744,302 1,210,920 4,801,192 359,930,000 494,700 19,700 8,281,035 141,844.50 972.5 307,632 81,160,391 374,737 91,840 890,970 6,020 11,190 60,300 6,580 326,618 147,000 9,600

-8,900 24,972,885 -7,842,191.50 -581,175 -2,335,027 -43,388,130 -539,355 -120,692 -34,333,990 233,988.50 -33,440 147,000 -

INDUSTRIAL AC ENERGY 8.5 8.51 8.15 8.5 8.15 8.5 29,488,800 246,914,112 1.37 1.39 1.32 1.39 1.32 1.39 1,674,000 2,295,050 ALSONS CONS 23.95 24.25 23.95 24.45 23.95 23.95 1,992,500 47,938,765 ABOITIZ POWER BASIC ENERGY 0.84 0.85 0.81 0.84 0.8 0.84 33,731,000 27,834,810 FIRST GEN 30.4 30.45 30.3 30.65 30.3 30.4 148,300 4,507,475 75.1 77.5 75.3 77.5 74.65 77.5 125,440 9,562,552.50 FIRST PHIL HLDG 279.4 279.6 278.4 280 275 279.6 486,400 135,422,644 MERALCO MANILA WATER 16.92 17 16.96 17 16.68 16.92 1,828,300 30,826,490 PETRON 3.32 3.33 3.34 3.34 3.32 3.32 811,000 2,700,800 4.05 4.19 4.06 4.06 4.05 4.05 40,000 162,100 PETROENERGY 11.98 12.9 12.6 13 12.6 12.9 81,000 1,035,254 PHX PETROLEUM 21.05 21.25 21.5 21.5 21 21.25 266,800 5,660,705 PILIPINAS SHELL SPC POWER 11.38 11.4 11.34 11.4 11.3 11.4 125,500 1,421,564 VIVANT 15 15.3 15 15 15 15 4,700 70,500 6.31 6.35 6.37 6.46 6.2 6.35 4,041,900 25,732,409 AGRINURTURE 2.95 2.98 2.91 2.98 2.91 2.98 165,000 487,170 AXELUM CNTRL AZUCARERA 13.54 14.34 14.34 14.34 14.34 14.34 2,300 32,982 22.7 23 22.95 23 22.5 23 2,458,400 55,847,155 CENTURY FOOD 15.72 15.76 15.86 15.86 15.48 15.76 557,800 8,741,796 DEL MONTE 8.12 8.14 8.01 8.3 7.94 8.14 5,019,000 40,658,375 DNL INDUS 10.1 10.2 10.08 10.4 10 10.1 1,948,600 19,879,004 EMPERADOR SMC FOODANDBEV 71.15 71.2 71.8 71.8 71.1 71.2 401,740 28,657,210.50 ALLIANCE SELECT 0.65 0.66 0.63 0.67 0.63 0.66 45,000 29,490 1.41 1.44 1.43 1.44 1.41 1.44 7,474,000 10,699,280 FRUITAS HLDG 93.95 94 92 95 91.5 94 156,270 14,686,657.50 GINEBRA JOLLIBEE 200.6 200.8 202 206 200 200.6 894,590 180,411,068 LIBERTY FLOUR 30.45 30.5 30.5 30.5 30.5 30.5 300 9,150 7.67 8.1 7.66 8.2 7.66 8.2 3,500 26,994 MACAY HLDG 6.74 6.75 6.78 6.78 6.65 6.74 208,300 1,400,871 MAXS GROUP MG HLDG 0.3 0.305 0.315 0.315 0.3 0.3 3,970,000 1,199,200 MONDE NISSIN 14.3 14.4 14.6 14.66 14.3 14.3 3,183,800 46,002,452 SHAKEYS PIZZA 7.74 7.94 7.77 7.77 7.72 7.74 378,100 2,928,871 1.09 1.11 1.09 1.12 1.09 1.11 2,117,000 2,335,350 ROXAS AND CO 4.5 4.6 4.55 4.55 4.5 4.5 3,505,000 15,947,700 RFM CORP SWIFT FOODS 0.142 0.143 0.142 0.144 0.14 0.143 9,900,000 1,395,940 UNIV ROBINA 140.8 141 140 141.9 139.1 141 2,075,920 292,380,141 0.85 0.87 0.88 0.88 0.85 0.85 3,616,000 3,108,720 VITARICH 52.1 52.6 52.2 52.2 52.2 52.2 2,500 130,500 CONCRETE A CEMEX HLDG 1.31 1.32 1.27 1.31 1.27 1.31 1,882,000 2,434,170 DAVINCI CAPITAL 2.96 2.97 2.9 2.97 2.86 2.96 1,150,000 3,345,130 EAGLE CEMENT 14.48 14.5 14.3 14.48 14.2 14.48 132,200 1,894,242 7.47 7.72 7.42 7.74 7.42 7.72 35,000 262,012 EEI CORP 6.5 6.55 6.17 6.51 6.17 6.5 1,599,700 10,309,197 HOLCIM MEGAWIDE 6.89 6.91 6.87 6.9 6.78 6.89 865,000 5,917,764 PHINMA 12.74 12.8 12.8 12.8 12.78 12.78 43,300 553,420 1.07 1.08 1.05 1.07 1.04 1.07 241,000 253,960 TKC METALS 2.11 2.12 2.16 2.16 2.1 2.11 1,279,000 2,714,620 VULCAN INDL CROWN ASIA 1.76 1.78 1.76 1.78 1.75 1.78 541,000 953,660 1.9 1.95 1.9 1.9 1.9 1.9 22,000 41,800 EUROMED 4.42 4.56 4.57 4.57 4.5 4.5 10,000 45,210 LMG CORP 5.4 5.46 5.47 5.47 5.4 5.4 190,300 1,028,538 PRYCE CORP 21.3 21.95 21.95 21.95 21.25 21.3 6,200 134,650 CONCEPCION GREENERGY 4.18 4.2 4.1 4.3 4.04 4.2 11,874,000 49,930,340 INTEGRATED MICR 10.5 10.6 10.4 10.6 10.3 10.6 696,600 7,221,478 1.11 1.14 1.14 1.14 1.11 1.11 235,000 263,080 IONICS 5.77 5.8 5.75 5.85 5.75 5.77 27,100 156,940 PANASONIC SFA SEMICON 1.33 1.37 1.38 1.38 1.33 1.37 128,000 174,160 6.39 6.4 6.2 6.4 6.02 6.39 3,007,000 18,917,626 CIRTEK HLDG

42,986,288 2,037,850 -11,248,215 993,200 835,510 4,542,436.50 -31,877,282 -1,703,020 -586,570 -265,860 -914,695 -1,107,524 -606,548 -9,799,215 -120,992 8,332,335 -1,085,478 -23,912,969 -604,580 3,471,117 -51,825,520 50,844 60,750 -9,188,538 375,085 -15,950 0 319,250.00 -26,268,676.00 17,100 486,400 46,380 -28,440 -1,030,960 -582,481 -272,240 -21,300 -453,830 -1,740,134 1,339,411

HOLDING & FRIMS ABACORE CAPITAL 1.09 1.1 1.06 1.09 1.06 1.09 3,467,000 3,733,140 7.3 7.38 7.3 7.45 7.3 7.38 3,500 25,961 ASIABEST GROUP 800 801 806 814.5 791 800 446,970 357,773,275 AYALA CORP ABOITIZ EQUITY 42.5 42.6 42.6 42.65 42.25 42.5 1,687,600 71,713,575 ALLIANCE GLOBAL 10.2 10.3 10.4 10.56 10.2 10.2 7,800,200 80,022,982 3.68 3.69 3.7 3.7 3.6 3.69 2,195,000 7,998,660 AYALA LAND LOG 6.78 6.95 6.88 6.95 6.78 6.78 8,800 60,549 ANSCOR ANGLO PHIL HLDG 0.96 0.97 0.96 1 0.94 0.96 6,022,000 5,794,790 ATN HLDG A 0.72 0.73 0.73 0.74 0.72 0.73 624,000 452,540 0.7 0.73 0.69 0.69 0.69 0.69 4,000 2,760 ATN HLDG B 5.32 5.34 5.4 5.41 5.32 5.32 1,130,400 6,034,700 COSCO CAPITAL 6.21 6.22 6.13 6.24 6.03 6.21 3,838,500 23,650,307 DMCI HLDG FILINVEST DEV 8.09 8.1 8.15 8.15 8.1 8.1 62,700 508,130 FORUM PACIFIC 0.27 0.28 0.275 0.28 0.275 0.28 130,000 35,800 609 609.5 597.5 609 587.5 609 298,590 180,788,040 GT CAPITAL 3.71 3.97 3.98 3.98 3.71 3.97 36,000 135,350 HOUSE OF INV JG SUMMIT 62.1 63 62.8 63 60.35 63 5,691,260 353,533,881.50 JOLLIVILLE HLDG 6.78 - 6.24 6.78 6.24 6.78 186,000 1,249,710 0.94 0.95 0.95 0.96 0.92 0.94 2,423,000 2,278,640 LODESTAR 3.23 3.34 3.21 3.34 3.21 3.34 271,000 870,950 LOPEZ HLDG 12.92 13.24 13.26 13.3 12.92 12.92 3,120,300 40,695,798 LT GROUP MABUHAY HLDG 0.58 0.59 0.6 0.67 0.58 0.59 9,777,000 5,931,750 MJC INVESTMENTS 1.52 1.58 1.57 1.58 1.57 1.58 20,000 31,470 4.01 4.03 4.02 4.1 4.01 4.01 18,913,000 76,022,470 METRO PAC INV 3.74 3.88 3.9 3.94 3.6 3.87 111,000 409,310 PACIFICA HLDG PRIME MEDIA 3.14 3.16 3.05 3.21 2.97 3.15 4,911,000 15,362,870 SOLID GROUP 1.21 1.22 1.21 1.21 1.21 1.21 9,000 10,890 994.5 1,000 995.5 1,003 985 1,000 543,390 542,152,175 SM INVESTMENTS 113.7 114.8 116.5 117.8 113.7 113.7 892,130 101,890,974 SAN MIGUEL CORP SOC RESOURCES 0.73 0.76 0.74 0.74 0.73 0.73 67,000 49,410 130 133.9 130 134 130 133.9 10,720 1,435,601 TOP FRONTIER WELLEX INDUS 0.27 0.275 0.26 0.27 0.26 0.27 660,000 176,200 0.23 0.236 0.228 0.236 0.228 0.236 300,000 68,640 ZEUS HLDG

1,051,080 -42,847,710 -9,716,905 -14,661,024 -71,410 9,700 -85,046 3,593,321 -201,890 5,087,370 -25,226,809.50 -844,230 -28,507,256 -141,160 -2,975,220.00 -346,100 -10,890 852,595 -69,012,112 -755,660 -

PROPERTY ARTHALAND CORP 0.62 0.64 0.64 0.64 0.63 0.63 66,000 41,620 7.5 7.55 7.54 7.55 7.54 7.55 2,200 16,598 ANCHOR LAND 36 36.1 36.7 36.85 36 36 26,411,000 955,967,940 AYALA LAND ARANETA PROP 1.18 1.22 1.16 1.23 1.16 1.2 559,000 665,140 36.4 36.45 36.4 36.5 36.25 36.4 504,900 18,380,035 AREIT RT 1.5 1.52 1.52 1.52 1.5 1.52 590,000 887,470 BELLE CORP 1 1.01 1.01 1.02 0.99 1.01 2,050,000 2,061,220 A BROWN CITYLAND DEVT 0.93 0.94 0.96 0.96 0.92 0.93 326,000 301,090 0.126 0.128 0.126 0.128 0.126 0.128 660,000 83,870 CROWN EQUITIES 6.74 6.9 6.72 6.78 6.72 6.78 15,000 101,100 CEBU HLDG 3.82 3.84 3.68 3.84 3.68 3.82 3,200,000 11,985,430 CEB LANDMASTERS 0.445 0.465 0.45 0.465 0.44 0.465 19,570,000 8,908,600 CENTURY PROP DOUBLEDRAGON 12.1 12.14 12.1 12.2 12.06 12.08 170,600 2,065,546 DDMP RT 2.1 2.12 2.06 2.13 2.06 2.11 13,046,000 27,494,190 6.98 7 7.38 7.38 7 7 84,200 589,554 DM WENCESLAO 0.295 0.305 0.3 0.3 0.3 0.3 760,000 228,000 EMPIRE EAST EVER GOTESCO 0.67 0.68 0.69 0.74 0.64 0.68 384,562,000 262,854,860 FILINVEST LAND 1.09 1.11 1.12 1.12 1.09 1.09 14,686,000 16,204,140 0.87 0.88 0.91 0.91 0.87 0.87 605,000 534,140 GLOBAL ESTATE 7.27 7.49 7.49 7.49 7.49 7.49 100 749 8990 HLDG 1.41 1.43 1.44 1.45 1.41 1.43 1,630,000 2,336,510 PHIL INFRADEV CITY AND LAND 2 2.02 1.94 2 1.83 2 2,755,000 5,316,990 3.11 3.14 3.2 3.21 3.11 3.11 30,226,000 94,859,500 MEGAWORLD 0.4 0.405 0.405 0.415 0.4 0.4 28,330,000 11,502,300 MRC ALLIED 0.58 0.59 0.55 0.6 0.54 0.59 17,332,000 10,041,240 PHIL ESTATES PRIMEX CORP 3.66 3.69 3.7 3.72 3.58 3.69 431,000 1,576,830 ROBINSONS LAND 17.66 17.7 17.8 17.8 17.52 17.7 1,007,900 17,820,710 0.243 0.247 0.246 0.246 0.246 0.246 40,000 9,840 PHIL REALTY 1.5 1.52 1.52 1.54 1.52 1.52 383,000 584,650 ROCKWELL SHANG PROP 2.74 2.75 2.72 2.75 2.72 2.75 139,000 379,250 3.14 3.15 3.06 3.24 2.96 3.15 5,449,000 16,913,590 STA LUCIA LAND SM PRIME HLDG 36 36.1 36.8 36.85 36 36 27,151,000 979,022,080 3.75 3.9 3.9 3.9 3.9 3.9 2,000 7,800 VISTAMALLS 1.77 1.8 1.81 1.87 1.75 1.77 3,754,000 6,773,580 SUNTRUST HOME VISTA LAND 3.76 3.78 3.76 3.8 3.76 3.76 1,668,000 6,289,680 SERVICES ABS CBN 11.5 11.62 11.4 11.7 11.4 11.5 97,700 1,131,568 12.78 12.8 12.6 12.98 12.18 12.8 4,896,600 61,197,792 GMA NETWORK 0.44 0.46 0.46 0.46 0.45 0.45 50,000 22,600 MANILA BULLETIN GLOBE TELECOM 1,815 1,835 1,856 1,860 1,815 1,815 168,515 307,091,355 PLDT 1,261 1,271 1,281 1,294 1,261 1,261 262,720 332,910,215 0.183 0.184 0.184 0.19 0.181 0.183 184,080,000 33,989,280 APOLLO GLOBAL 22.25 22.35 23 23 22.25 22.25 3,687,500 82,778,235 CONVERGE DFNN INC 4 4.1 4 4.14 3.98 4.1 1,022,000 4,173,590 DITO CME HLDG 9.39 9.4 9.5 9.57 9.35 9.4 3,215,700 30,312,710 2.31 2.4 2.3 2.53 2.3 2.4 222,000 527,590 JACKSTONES 2.37 2.39 2.38 2.4 2.36 2.39 380,000 906,750 NOW CORP 0.43 0.435 0.4 0.44 0.4 0.43 27,340,000 11,677,900 TRANSPACIFIC BR PHILWEB 2.6 2.61 2.62 2.63 2.56 2.6 1,257,000 3,275,690 8.52 8.53 8.55 8.55 8.4 8.53 30,600 258,365 2GO GROUP 14.74 14.76 14.78 14.78 14.76 14.76 10,200 150,562 ASIAN TERMINALS 3.3 3.34 3.24 3.3 3.23 3.3 631,000 2,062,170 CHELSEA CEBU AIR 52.05 52.1 53.2 53.25 51.5 52.1 638,030 33,201,291 INTL CONTAINER 158.3 160 152 160 152 160 3,855,240 608,244,092 17.1 18.06 17.98 18.08 17 17.1 233,200 4,193,888 LBC EXPRESS 5.96 5.97 5.7 5.98 5.64 5.97 2,458,900 14,484,619 MACROASIA 2.18 2.19 2.16 2.2 2.16 2.19 64,000 140,500 METROALLIANCE A HARBOR STAR 1.23 1.25 1.25 1.25 1.21 1.24 190,000 233,490 ACESITE HOTEL 1.8 1.88 1.75 2.1 1.75 1.88 2,946,000 5,735,280 0.115 0.116 0.12 0.123 0.113 0.115 377,220,000 44,431,030 BOULEVARD HLDG 3.1 3.18 3.12 3.24 2.95 3.19 162,000 494,300 DISCOVERY WORLD WATERFRONT 0.55 0.56 0.56 0.57 0.54 0.56 4,366,000 2,419,540 FAR EASTERN U 580.5 640 580 580 580 580 90 52,200 7.12 7.55 7.55 7.55 7.55 7.55 1,500 11,325 IPEOPLE 0.375 0.38 0.38 0.385 0.375 0.375 440,000 167,250 STI HLDG BERJAYA 5.19 5.3 5.29 5.3 5.29 5.3 20,200 107,043 6.76 6.8 6.75 6.96 6.75 6.8 4,596,400 31,434,295 BLOOMBERRY PACIFIC ONLINE 2.05 2.11 2.05 2.05 2.05 2.05 45,000 92,250 1.61 1.65 1.68 1.7 1.58 1.65 3,753,000 6,184,380 LEISURE AND RES 2.08 2.24 2.1 2.25 2.1 2.25 66,000 146,480 MANILA JOCKEY PH RESORTS GRP 2.13 2.14 2.06 2.2 2.06 2.14 2,660,000 5,663,260 PREMIUM LEISURE 0.425 0.43 0.425 0.425 0.425 0.425 590,000 250,750 7.99 8 8.15 8.15 8 8 93,100 750,245 ALLHOME 1.35 1.36 1.34 1.36 1.33 1.36 555,000 746,380 METRO RETAIL PUREGOLD 40.3 40.9 40.7 40.9 39.5 40.9 2,732,100 110,236,500 ROBINSONS RTL 50.3 51 51 51.6 50 50.3 1,138,180 57,482,042 SSI GROUP 1.26 1.27 1.28 1.28 1.25 1.27 5,954,000 7,549,220 18.3 18.4 18.12 18.4 18.12 18.3 917,300 16,735,254 WILCON DEPOT 0.38 0.39 0.385 0.39 0.38 0.39 1,250,000 485,150 APC GROUP EASYCALL 6.05 6.15 6.05 6.2 6 6.15 24,100 145,320 423 438 423 438 423 438 560 245,130 GOLDEN MV 1.68 1.69 1.68 1.7 1.64 1.69 8,357,000 13,955,470 PRMIERE HORIZON

-208,086,690 10,905 -603,740 6,780 95,330 2,950 -647,890 5,955,940 -14,040 1,453,670.00 -10,902,670 -477,160 -15,620 -51,467,570 -210,900 -358,700 147,640 199,032 25,200 -313,227,130 647,280 -2,698,120 -87,119,395 -99,093,915 -190,630 749,860 -3,272,000.00 -2,597,302 247,690 97,780 -201,750 6,720 -32,470 6,238,738.50 168,154,280 -3,146,500 -39,776 -9,790 363,430 -3,100 56,000 -72,200 -18,975,495 -17,000 338,650 447,580 440,100 50,605,155 -26,210,581 -5,997,290 -1,874,780 374,570

MINING & OIL ATOK 9.16 9.2 9.4 9.42 9.2 9.2 277,400 2,576,200 -374,800 1.65 1.66 1.68 1.68 1.6 1.65 8,613,000 14,089,480 -2,696,790 APEX MINING ATLAS MINING 6.58 6.59 6.52 6.64 6.5 6.58 2,945,400 19,289,535 -457,404 BENGUET A 5.1 5.15 5.41 5.41 4.9 5.1 811,000 4,101,417 Philam Managed Income Fund, Inc. -a, 6 1.3236 2.72% 4.26% 2.78% 0.18% 5 5.02 5.21 5.21 5 5 70,900 355,846 275,750 BENGUET B 0.305 0.32 0.305 0.32 0.305 0.32 260,000 81,550 COAL ASIA HLDG Philequity Peso Bond Fund, Inc. -a 3.9736 1.64% 4.43% 2.43% -0.69% CENTURY PEAK 2.84 2.87 2.84 2.88 2.84 2.87 97,000 277,450 -8,600 DIZON MINES 6.71 6.9 6.91 6.91 6.7 6.9 42,400 289,262 Soldivo Bond Fund, Inc. -a 1.0346 1.21% 4.49% 1.74% -0.71% 2.46 2.48 2.47 2.49 2.44 2.46 1,387,000 3,403,160 -293,040 FERRONICKEL 0.33 0.34 0.34 0.34 0.325 0.34 590,000 194,800 26,000 GEOGRACE Sun Life of Canada Prosperity Bond Fund, Inc. -a 3.2112 1.7% 5.51% 2.71% 0.16% 0.155 0.156 0.153 0.156 0.152 0.155 24,550,000 3,767,580 LEPANTO A Sun Life Prosperity GS Fund, Inc. -a 1.7474 0.84% 4.76% 2.04% -0.43% LEPANTO B 0.155 0.163 0.155 0.155 0.155 0.155 13,490,000 2,090,950 0.011 0.012 0.012 0.012 0.011 0.012 76,800,000 918,900 MANILA MINING A Primarily invested in foreign currency securities 0.013 0.014 0.014 0.014 0.013 0.013 38,900,000 518,200 MANILA MINING B 1.19 1.22 1.22 1.23 1.14 1.19 2,314,000 2,734,520 -1,797,910 MARCVENTURES ALFM Dollar Bond Fund, Inc. -a $485.72 2.72% 3.2% 2.32% 0.38% NIHAO 1.47 1.48 1.48 1.48 1.45 1.47 86,000 125,880 5.17 5.2 5.2 5.2 5.1 5.2 2,663,700 13,782,155 2,120,856 NICKEL ASIA ALFM Euro Bond Fund, Inc. -a Є220.05 2.2% 1.16% 1.14% 0.4% 0.4 0.415 0.405 0.405 0.395 0.4 1,120,000 447,800 OMICO CORP 0.97 0.98 0.96 0.98 0.96 0.98 564,000 545,150 ORNTL PENINSULA ATRAM Total Return Dollar Bond Fund, Inc. -b $1.1866 -2.1% 2.21% 1.22% -7.33% PX MINING 6.72 6.75 6.6 6.78 6.57 6.72 1,828,300 12,162,111 -1,683,400 SEMIRARA MINING 13.96 14.08 14.28 14.28 13.96 13.96 2,536,100 35,562,484 -13,946,460 First Metro Save and Learn Dollar Bond Fund, Inc. -a $0.026 0.39% 1.72% 1.03% -2.26% UNITED PARAGON 0.0092 0.0094 0.0092 0.0094 0.0091 0.0094 52,000,000 481,700 18.42 18.5 18.1 18.92 18 18.8 169,700 3,120,232 36,802 ACE ENEXOR PAMI Global Bond Fund, Inc -b $1.051 -1.5% 0.57% -0.72% -3.82% 0.012 0.013 0.011 0.013 0.011 0.012 47,100,000 564,400 ORNTL PETROL A ORNTL PETROL B 0.012 0.013 0.013 0.013 0.012 0.012 3,800,000 45,700 Philam Dollar Bond Fund, Inc. -a $2.5006 2.84% 5.32% 2.19% -1.38% 0.012 0.013 0.013 0.013 0.011 0.013 116,100,000 1,400,600 36,000 PHILODRILL 8.24 8.25 8.06 8.29 8.05 8.24 224,000 1,830,846 -197,873 PXP ENERGY Philequity Dollar Income Fund Inc. -a $0.0629606 4.19% 3.54% 2.25% 1.03% PREFFERED Sun Life Prosperity Dollar Abundance Fund, Inc. -a $3.1724 0.3% 3.24% 1.04% -1.59% HOUSE PREF B 101 101.5 101 101 101 101 10 1,010 526 530 530 530 530 530 30 15,900 AC PREF B1 Money Market Funds 101.5 102.5 101.8 102.5 101.8 102.5 2,680 273,377 ALCO PREF B AC PREF B2R 523.5 530 523.5 523.5 523.5 523.5 1,210 633,435 Primarily invested in Peso securities 50.25 50.6 51.5 51.5 49.2 50.25 181,740 9,147,698 -2,439,097.50 CEB PREF ALFM Money Market Fund, Inc. -a 130.25 1.77% 3.07% 2.53% 0.34% 103.5 104.4 104 104.4 103.5 104.4 1,280 133,198 -52,000 CPG PREF A 102 102.2 102.2 102.2 102.2 102.2 580 59,276 DD PREF First Metro Save and Learn Money Market Fund, Inc. -a 1.0525 1.17% n.a. n.a. 0.42% GTCAP PREF A 999 1,000 1,000 1,001 1,000 1,000 1,370 1,370,005 100.6 101 101 101 101 101 40 4,040 MWIDE PREF Sun Life Prosperity Money Market Fund, Inc. -a 1.3049 1.77% 2.86% 2.56% 0.64% 100.4 104.5 100.4 104.5 100.3 104.5 12,010 1,204,845 MWIDE PREF 2A 101.2 101.7 100.5 101.7 100.5 101.7 210 21,117 MWIDE PREF 2B Primarily invested in foreign currency securities 104.5 106.8 104.5 106.9 104.5 106.8 480 50,395 PNX PREF 3B PNX PREF 4 1,005 1,009 1,008 1,008 1,005 1,005 10,550 10,604,450 Sun Life Prosperity Dollar Starter Fund, Inc. -a $1.0574 1.24% 1.67% n.a. 0.48% 1,111 1,118 1,117 1,117 1,111 1,111 20,130 22,391,930 PCOR PREF 3A 1,150 1,159 1,150 1,150 1,150 1,150 50 57,500 PCOR PREF 3B Feeder Funds 79 79.9 79.6 79.9 79.5 79.9 11,090 882,501 SMC PREF 2C SMC PREF 2I 78.3 81.5 79 79 78.3 78.3 460 36,025 Primarily invested in Peso securities 75.4 76 75.35 75.5 75.35 75.4 5,020 378,360 - SMC PREF 2K Sun Life Prosperity World Equity Index Feeder Fund, Inc. -a,d,7 1.2672 n.a. n.a. n.a. 12.18% PHIL. DEPOSITARY RECEIPTS ABS HLDG PDR 11.4 11.46 11 11.46 11 11.46 212,300 2,339,772 0 Primarily invested in foreign currency securities 11.5 11.58 11.2 11.5 10.9 11.5 286,400 3,250,152 -402,710 GMA HLDG PDR ALFM Global Multi-Asset Income Fund Inc. -b,d,2 $1 6.38% n.a. n.a. 2.04% WARRANTS LR WARRANT 1.89 1.9 1.87 1.92 1.84 1.89 575,000 1,076,210 - a - NAVPS as of the previous banking day. b - NAVPS as of two banking days ago. c - Listed in the PSE. d - in Net Asset Value per Unit (NAVPU). SMALL & MEDIUM ENTERPRISES ALTUS PROP 18.26 18.3 18.2 18.5 18.1 18.3 150,500 2,747,208 -18,380 1 - Launch date is September 28, 2019. 2 - Launch date is November 15, 2019. 3 - Adjusted due to stock dividend issuance last October 9, 2019. 2.5 2.52 2.47 2.55 2.45 2.5 357,000 883,790 ITALPINAS 4 - Renaming was approved by the SEC last October 12, 2018 (formerly, One Wealthy Nation Fund, Inc.). 5 - Launch date is December 09, 2019. 6 - Re5.41 5.5 5.4 5.56 5.4 5.5 6,300 34,056 KEPWEALTH MERRYMART 4.34 4.38 4.4 4.47 4.33 4.34 2,528,000 11,128,430 156,430 classified into a Bond Fund starting February 21, 2020 (Formerly a Money Market Fund). 7 - Launch date is July 6, 2020. EXHANGE TRADE FUNDS "While we endeavor to keep the information accurate, the Philippine Investment Funds Association (PIFA) and its members make no warranties as to the correctness of the FIRST METRO ETF 104.6 105 105.9 105.9 104.5 104.6 12,110 1,269,394 68,305 newspaper’s publication and assume no liability or responsibility for any error or omissions. You may visit http://www. pifa.com.ph to see the latest NAVPS/NAVPU."

First Metro Save and Learn Fixed Income Fund,Inc. -a 2.4404 0.32%

3.26%

1.74%

-0.52%

Philam Bond Fund, Inc. -a

4.25%

1.47%

-3.15%

4.4885

-1.38%

www.businessmirror.com.ph

Banking&Finance

Firms have until June 30 to return wage subsidy

MPLOYERS and employees who have not yet returned their Small Business Wage Subsidy (SBWS) may still do so only until June 30 this year. The Department of Finance said the SBWS program task force (SPTF) has resolved to allow the voluntary return of SBWS until the end of this month as it heeded requests from employers and employees who are still unable to return the SBWS despite multiple extensions of the deadline. The SPTF earlier said the SBWS must be returned by employers who failed to maintain the employment status of all employee beneficiaries before the enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) in 2020 and throughout the SBWS or misrepresented in their application material facts relevant to the eligibility of their employees. The SPTF added that employees who resigned during the period of ECQ and modified ECQ imposed in Luzon and other parts of the country in 2020 must also return the subsidy. Employers of the beneficiaries of the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE)’s Covid-19 Adjustment Measures Program (Camp) who received the full amount of the second tranche of the SBWS are also obliged to return the subsidy. The amount of subsidy to be returned should cover the first and second tranches of SBWS, according to the task force. However, Camp beneficiaries who received the full amount of the SBWS second tranche shall only return the amount equivalent to the DOLECAMP benefit received. The procedure for voluntary re-

turns is contained in SPTF Resolution 2, which may be found on the SBWS page of the DOF website. To recall, the task force has previously granted multiple extensions of the deadline, which was originally set on June 15, 2020, to give employers and employees more time to return the subsidy. However, the SPTF decided to set a final deadline, more than a year after the initial deadline, because of the impending liquidation of the SBWS funds. Under the SBWS program, the government gave out a total of P46 billion in wage subsidies to more than 3 million qualified employees of small businesses who were dislocated during the height of the community quarantines imposed last year to curb the spread of Covid-19. The government provided two tranches of cash aid amounting to P5,000 to P8,000 each as a subsidy to qualified employees. An SBWS interagency task force chaired by the DOF, represented by then Assistant Secretary Antonio Joselito G. Lambino II, was formed to implement the program. Its members were SSS President and CEO Aurora C. Ignacio and BIR Deputy Commissioner Arnel SD. Guballa. In the implementation of the program, the agencies took advantage of available technologies, cloud computing and the electronic databases of the SSS and the BIR to accurately target intended beneficiaries and quickly distribute the subsidy to millions of employees with zero face-to-face contact between the beneficiaries and government. Bernadette D. Nicolas

BusinessMirror

Data trusts

THE principle of centralized management of personal data offered by personal data stores can also be seen with data trusts. Defined by The Open Data Institute as “a legal structure that provides independent, fiduciary stewardship of data,” individuals give control of their data to a trustee who decides, on behalf of the individuals, who is able to access and use that personal data, and for what purposes. Should an organization using personal data provided by the trust fail to comply with privacy requirements, data access can be revoked. The data trusts also prioritize the maintenance of data interoperability while also seeking to ensure that users fully understand the use of their data and have consented to its use. Data trust development remains nascent, however, with several challenges to overcome, including the need for universal standards for the development of data trusts and the applicability of trust law. Examples such as John Hopkins development of a data trust for medical research show the potential, while

By Bernadette D. Nicolas

@BNicolasBM

HE Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) still has not backtracked on its position to impose a 150-percent hike on the corporate income tax rate of private schools.

Finance Secretary Carlos G. Dominguez III clarified that what the BIR corrected through issuing Revenue Memorandum Circular (RMC) 762021 were “footing errors” in the illustrative examples under Revenue Regulation (RR) 5-2021. “One of the RR’s illustrations involves a non-profit educational institution, hence, subjected to 1-percent tax rate not 25 percent,” said Dominguez. Dominguez added that BIR Deputy Commissioner for Legal Group Marissa O. Cabreros told him that their new issuance does not affect the principle laid down in the previous regulation. It’s only the RMC “because the principle laid down in the RR was not affected,” Dominguez quoted the message Cabreros sent to him. Correction and clarification are needed to rectify the two illustrations in RR 5-2021. The finance chief made the clarification after House Deputy Speaker

The rise of privacy-centric solutions

Dominguez: Will still impose 150% tax hike on pvt schools

Perspectives S consumer technologies evolve, so do privacy-centric solutions designed to help consumers manage their data and privacy rights. Personal data stores offer consumers a centralized location to safeguard personal data. Typically, solutions allow individuals to create and manage an inventory of personal data and choose how it can be shared. However, many of these solutions are yet to become mainstream. And while a centralized store of personal data offers a simple way to manage data and act as the single source of truth should that copy be stolen the impact on an individual’s privacy can be amplified. At the same time, consumer demand for greater data control may serve to incentivize development and adoption of personal data stores, while the potential for insights from personalized dashboards could prove enticing for some. Data too may continue to be the allure for organizations with the potential to access accurate ‘zero-party data’—data that has intentionally been created and kept up to date by the individual. However, in the absence of mass adoption by individuals, organizations are unlikely to see the benefits of introducing frictions into existing processes to collect data.

Editor: Dennis D. Estopace • Monday, June 21, 2021

the identification of trusts as method to empower individuals to exercise their rights by the European Commission’s “A European Strategy for Data” suggests that data trusts warrant further investigation. The development, and widespread adoption, of Privacy Enhancing Technologies may further encourage the growth of data trusts via a federated approach, ideally reducing a trust deficit and encouraging more organizations to sign up.

Data rights-as-a-service

THE EU’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and the development of other privacy regulations globally has helped to formalize data-subject rights, enshrining into law several rights for individuals. Alongside this, the growing number of publicized data breaches and fines has increased consumers’ focus on data privacy. As such, consumers are becoming more aware of how to exercise their data-subject rights. In response, the data rights-as-aservice industry is allowing individuals to automate their subject access rights, reduce their digital footprint and remove personal data from search engines and other data aggregators, or mask their email identities online. As emerging technologies pervade into our lives, data rights-as-a-service, offer consumers the chance to exercise their rights in an efficient and automated way. The excerpt was taken from the KPMG Thought Leadership entitled “Privacy Technology: What’s Next.” © 2021 R.G. Manabat & Co., a Philippine partnership and a member-firm of the KPMG global organization of independent member-firms affiliated with KPMG International Ltd., a private English company limited by guarantee. All rights reserved. KPMG in the Philippines is hosting an Innovation Summit on July 5 to July 8, 2021, where industry tech leaders and KPMG experts from audit and assurance, tax and advisory fields, will share their insights and demonstrate the latest technology trends to guide organizations and keep them ahead of the competition. Register here for free: https://bit. ly/3vgia3b. This event is spearheaded by KPMG in the Philippines’ Lighthouse Group. With over 12,500 professionals working across different regions, KPMG Lighthouse is a recognized Center for Excellence for data, analytics, cybersecurity, regulatorydriven transformation, intelligent automation and emerging technologies. Visit home.kpmg/ph to know how KPMG can help organizations in successfully navigating through their transformation journeys.

and Cagayan de Oro City Rep. Rufus B. Rodriguez lauded the BIR on Friday for rectifying its “error” in imposing a higher tax rate on private schools through the new RMC. The private education sector has earlier urged BIR to halt the imposition of a higher tax rate of 25 percent from the current 10 percent. Private schools have also since protested BIR’s “unilateral insertion” in its RR 5-2021 of a condition that proprietary educational institutions must be “nonprofit” to enjoy the reduced rate of 1 percent as a result of the passage of the recently-enacted Republic Act 11534 or the Corporate Recovery and Tax Incentives for Enterprises Act (Create) law. In its recently issued RMC 76-2021, the BIR said they needed to clarify the amounts stated in the illustrative examples in RR 5-2021 involving proprietary educational institution and Regional Operating Headquarters (ROHQ).

BSP issues rules for ‘Open Finance’ in digitization push By Bianca Cuaresma @BcuaresmaBM

HE Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) has announced over the weekend that it has established the guidelines for open finance in the country. The Open Finance Framework’s main premise is consent-driven data portability, interoperability and collaborative partnerships between financial institutions and financial technology (fintech) players. Under the framework, consumers will have the power to grant access to their financial data for a customer-centric product development objective. It covers different financial institutions and a broader array of financial products such as, but not limited to, banking products and services, investments, pensions and insurance. The issuance of the Open Finance framework is one of the initiatives under the BSP’s Digital Payments Transformation Roadmap, which targets to have 70 percent of Filipino adults with transaction accounts by 2023. “This initiative will bring us closer to our goal of promoting an inclusive and sustainable recovery and growth for the country,” BSP Governor Benjamin E. Diokno said. The BSP expects a tiered implementation of the framework based on data sensitivity, and types of data and data holder. The tiers are not necessarily sequential and multiple implementations may occur at the same time. The first tier involves sharing of product and service information and other details of financial products and/or services that are already readily accessible online. The second tier involves sharing of subscription and new account applications information. The third tier involves sharing of account information or personal and financial information provided by a customer. The fourth tier covers transactions data, such as payments and other financial transactions data. The fifth tier covers those not covered by tiers 1 to 4 and other more complex financial products or use cases. “’Open Finance’ is definitely not a sprint but a marathon,” Diokno said. “It will be a long and challenging run, but just like any other sport we need to properly prepare and condition ourselves to finish strong in this race.” An industry-led body, called the Open Finance Oversight Committee (OFOC) shall exercise governance on the activities and participants of the Open Finance ecosystem. The OFOC will be under the supervision of the BSP.

The BIR explained that the income tax due and the gross income for the examples were “inadvertently written” to be in the amount of P1 million and P558.5 million instead of the correct amount of P100,000 and P58.5 million, respectively. The same circular also clarified that the 1-percent income tax rate for proprietary educational institutions and the 1-percent Minimum Corporate Income Tax (MCIT) for ROHQ shall be imposed only for July 1, 2020, until June 30, 2023 and January 1, 2022 to June 30, 2023, respectively. Thus, beginning July 1, 2023, the income tax rate for proprietary educational institutions and the MCIT shall revert to 10 percent and 2 percent, respectively. Pr ivate schools have a lready filed a petition before the Court of Tax Appeals in a bid to stop the implementation of BIR’s RR 5-2021, which they said if implemented will have “widespread consequences to

stakeholders of the private education sector at a time when the private education sector is fighting for its survival amidst plunging enrollment caused by the pandemic.” This came after BIR rejected Coordinating Council for Private Educational Associations (Cocopea)’s letter-appeal to rectify the tax regulation, saying its policy is consistent with the Tax Code and that the tax rate reduction under the Create law is applicable only to proprietary nonprofit educational institutions and proprietary nonprofit hospitals. Dominguez, who was a signatory of RR-5-2021, has also since backed BIR’s position on the issue, noting that it was based on the Tax Code as well as Supreme Court decisions in a number of landmark cases. Despite this, Dominguez has earlier said they will welcome moves to possibly amend through legislation the Tax Code to resolve the issue.

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What your future employees want most

Prioritize learning and development: New business mod-

By Tim Minahan

In order to understand how work and talent management will change going forward, Citrix conducted a yearlong examination of global work patterns, based on the experiences of 2,000 knowledge workers and 500 human resources directors in large, established cor porations and midmarket businesses with at least 500 employees based in the United States. When the study was commissioned, both groups of professionals were working under permanent contracts and were or had recently been working from home as a result of Covid-19 restrictions. Our study pointed to three defining priorities for knowledge workers:

1. Employees overwhelmingly expect flexible options: In order to position themselves to win in the future, companies w ill need to meet employees where they are. According to our study, 88% of knowledge workers say that when searching for a new position, they will look for one that offers complete f lexibility in their hours and loca-

tion. Also, 83% predict that in response to the global skilled talent shortage, companies will leverage flexible work models to reach out to suitable candidates no matter where they live, even though only 66% of HR directors said they feel the same. What’s more, 76% of the workers polled believe that employees will be more likely to prioritize lifestyle (family and personal interests) over proximity to work, and will pursue jobs in locations where they can focus on both— even if it means taking a pay cut. Eighty-three percent of employees also think that workers will be more likely to move out of cities and other urban locations if they can work remotely for a majority of the time, creating new work hubs in rural areas.

2. Employees want to reimagine how productivity is measured: In the future, companies will need to rethink how they measure productivity because traditional metrics—and views that real work can’t get done outside of the office—will no longer suffice. According to our study, today’s

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he past year has accelerated digital transformation across sectors. Along with a universal recognition that resilient employees are the true lifeblood of a company came an understanding that a company’s work force is crucial to business recovery. This has prompted organizations to completely rethink how they attract, retain and manage their talent.

employees want to be measured on the value they deliver, not the volume. And they expect to be given the space and trust they need to do their very best work, wherever they happen to be. Eight y- si x percent of employees said they would prefer to work for a company that prioritizes outcomes over output. W hat does this mean? New employees want to work for a company that cares less about the qualified work output they are able to produce, and more about the impact they can have on the business in a holistic sense. But there is a gap here, with just 69 percent of HR directors saying that their company currently operates in this way, and only half of HR directors saying that their organization would be more productive as a whole if employees felt that their employers and senior management teams trusted

them to get the job done without monitoring their progress. For wa rd-t hin k ing compa nies will focus on closing this gap and will design people-centric experiences that give employees the space they need to unlock their full potential and deliver transformative results.

3. Employees want to work with a diverse team: One thing

managers seem to agree? Employees want to work for a company that prioritizes diversity. Eightysix percent of employees and 66% of HR directors assert that a diverse workforce will become even more important as roles, skills and company requirements change over time. Honest, accessible metrics around your diversity progress and remaining gaps are critical to ensuring that efforts to build a diverse team are measurable, targeted and impactful.

What should the major takeaways for business leaders be? See the forest through the trees: Without the restriction of

location, business leaders must look at their recruiting through a broader lens to attract employees who can boost an organization’s creativity and productivity. They might, for instance, dip into untapped pools of talent such as the “home force,” bringing back parents who’ve put their careers on hold to care for children or people who left jobs to tend to aging relatives. It could mean looking to baby boomers who’ve retired, but who still want to work a few hours per week. Companies could also enlist more part-time, contract and gig workers—who make up a larger percentage of the workforce than ever—to take on more hours.

els that developed during the pandemic, as well as changes in customer preferences and needs, have given rise to new roles and opportunities for companies and their employees to grow. Upskilling and reskilling will be critical factors in capitalizing on these transformational forces. As our study found, 82 percent of employees and 62 percent of HR directors believe that workers will need to hone their current skills or acquire new ones at least once a year in order to maintain a competitive advantage in a global job market. HR directors believe that ensuring an organization has the latest collaborative technology in place to enable agile learning is the most important factor in recruiting and retaining the best talent, and 88% of employees confirm this notion, saying that they look for this when searching for a new position. It bears repeating: Organizations will need to prioritize reskilling and upskilling to attract and retain the talent they need to make their businesses grow. Those that do will not only boost the motivation of their existing workers, but will gain the attention of the brightest new recruits and make companies better equipped to face the future. The last year has forever changed the way employees view and approach work, but one thing holds true: Businesses that want to attract and retain the talent they need to move forward must understand the top priorities of their future workforce. They must embrace new, flexible work models and allow employees to design their own careers. In doing so, they will not only boost motivation and engagement; they will also gain the attention of the brightest new recruits and take their business to new heights. Tim Minahan is an executive vice president of business strategy at Citrix.

5 behavioral biases that trip up remote managers I

By Torben Emmerling

n times of uncertainty and seclusion, people seek guidance and stability. In the workplace, they usually turn to their superiors. It can be hard for managers to live up to those expectations, and the task of managing people remotely is one few leaders have been prepared for. It’s harder to grasp the context in which colleagues work and live, as well as the challenges they may face, when you don’t see them regularly. All of this increases the likelihood of misunderstandings and can put additional strain on team relations. Research in behavioral science has taught us that we tend to simplify complex decisions by using “rules of thumb” and heuristics when we face uncertain situations. While these shortcuts allow us to work efficiently even in the face of complexity, they can quickly become the source of biases and errors in our judgment. These biases are nothing new, but a remote working environment can make us especially susceptible to them. Here are five of the most important biases leaders should watch out for when working and managing remotely:

Confirmation bias: Offices provided

various opportunities to connect and share ideas with colleagues from different teams and functions, and receiving

spontaneous feedback was easier. In a distributed working world, the threshold for less formal exchanges and requests is significantly higher, and the need for scheduling yet another call can dissuade us from proactively requesting feedback. When interacting remotely, people are more likely to rely on their own judgment and forgo critical review by others to get a job done. As a result, the danger for confirmation bias — i.e., the self-rewarding ways in which we search for and interpret information that confirms our beliefs — increases. To counter this tendency, force yourself and others to gather critical and discomforting points of view, even if this prolongs the decision-making process. You could even appoint a devil’s advocate tasked with challenging your perspective and testing the strength of your argumentation.

Attribution bias: The sporadic and

limited interactions in remote work environments make it difficult to grasp team members’ individual situations. The lack of context in which people operate hinders the interpretation of important signals. Nevertheless, our brains are quick to compensate for missing information and jump to conclusions about other people’s behavior. This is why we’re easily prone to attribution bias — i.e., the ingrained tendency to attribute the behaviors

of others to character traits rather than situational inf luences. Being more mindful about the particular set of circumstances other people might find themselves in, such as a medical condition or personal issue, can make us more considerate and less likely to jump to conclusions.

Groupthink: In meetings with many participants, attention is a scarce resource. Virtual meetings are particularly demanding, as they require us to stare at screens and carefully follow conversations to identify important information while being watched. As a result, employees are often less willing to speak up, voice criticism or question decisions. In such an environment, individual biases can easily distort the decision-making of the entire team and increase the risk for groupthink. The more homogeneous the team and the more draining the virtual meeting experience, the greater the risk of groupthink. For this reason, we recommend you appoint a small and heterogeneous group when the team needs to make an important decision. You can also use remote collaboration tools to encourage critical dialogues in breakout rooms before ask ing team members to share insights with the whole team. This can create safer spaces where team members feel more comfortable speaking up.

In-group effect: In an online-only environment, it can be more difficult for new colleagues to settle into a team. Physical distance reduces exposure to people, limits opportunities for spontaneous exchanges and diminishes communication across the organization. As a consequence, it can be more difficult for a team to form, bond and cohere. This issue should be taken seriously, as group cohesion is positively related to team performance, and people generally exert more effort for colleagues they care about. Investing in social integration and cross-functional exchange early on can therefore have a great impact on virtual team performance down the line. Plan time for personal and professional check-ins and experiment with creative ways to foster team cohesion. Peak-end effect: In a virtual context, we have limited ability to gauge the time and effort individuals put into their work. Meetings are almost exclusively convened to discuss results, but rarely provide insight into the effort and methodology used from home. This lack of visibility increases the risk of using isolated recent information to evaluate the performance of team members, a bias often referred to as the peak-end effect. The origin of this powerful misconception lies in our tendency to memorize the most

intense moment of an experience as well as its end. It has the potential to quickly, subconsciously and unjustifiably distort team members’ performance evaluations in a significant way. To offset the peak-end effect, managers should plan regular performance evaluations, actively inquire about the path to a specific result and discuss particularly positive and negative performance right away. A change in context almost always leads to changes in behavior, and consequently also in the ways we work. Leaders are called upon to adapt to the changing situational demands and to provide guidance and stability. In this process, scientific insights about human judgment and decision-making should be taken into account to ensure the most effective team management in situations of increased uncertainty. Assessing and addressing this nonexhaustive checklist of the five key biases can help leaders on their way—not only in remote work environments, but also in their personal lives. As the saying goes, never waste a good crisis. The current one certainly has a lot to offer. Torben Emmerling is the founder and managing partner of Affective Advisory, where Alessandro Paul and Daniel Seyffardt are behavioral scientists and consultants.

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BRITISH BRAND TO OPEN FIRST STORE IN MANILA A LONDON-BASED fashion brand, COS makes its way into the closets of Manila’s fashionable set as it opens its first store in the Philippines on June 25. Located at SM Aura Premier in Bonifacio Global City, the new COS store houses womenswear and menswear launching with the Spring Summer 2021 collection. Remaining aligned with the COS aesthetic, the store is designed in line with the brand’s core aesthetic of modern, timeless and minimal design, with the use of sustainable materials. Christoffer Sellin, COS Asia-Pacific managing director, says, “Opening in the Philippines is an exciting step for the COS Brand. We have been hoping to enter the market for some time and I think our new Manila store is a great place to start. I’m excited to see how new customers will engage with our brand and collections.”

SELECTIONS from the COS Spring/Summer 2021 collection.

• Monday, June 21, 2021

On copycats, and the clean beauty brand for laidback looks TOWER 28 Beauty’s most popular product is a cream bronzer called Bronzino. TOWER28BEAUTY.COM

OULD you support a Filipino beauty brand if you found out that it shamelessly imitated a foreign or another local brand? We ask this question because this has been an issue not once, not twice, but many times. Imitation may be the biggest form of flattery but some beauty enthusiasts are not happy about the way some local brands have been imitating others, down to the copy on the packaging. Here is our take on this: Big companies spend billions for research and development and that’s what beauty enthusiasts pay for. They pay for using products that have been rigorously tested for years. They get, for example, a lipstick that will stay on their lips in whatever finish was promised to them, be it matte, glossy or satin. There are no surprises, such as a red lipstick turning magenta a few minutes after application. The foundations cling to the skin well and most of them use patented proprietary technologies that really work to keep our bases covered, so to speak. Unfortunately, not everyone can afford a foundation that costs close to $100, or a lipstick with a price tag that’s equal to a sack of rice in our country. So the majority will really go for the budget-friendly option. Those who are into makeup and skin care will not scoff at a lipstick that costs $20, but most Filipino women cannot afford that but they would like to wear lipstick. They would like to have a skin-care regimen. This is where the less expensive products come in. They don’t only cost less, they also don’t need to be shipped from overseas. As long as the ingredients used in products are FDA-approved and won’t hurt the skin or any body part of the user, every person can make a decision to use any product they like. This is our opinion on this. We draw the line at counterfeit products made to look like the originals, but anything else we believe is a personal choice. As we said earlier, nothing is 100 percent original. Everything was inspired by something. Moving on, the year 2021 has been about discovering new and exciting beauty brands. We love the brands that we’ve counted on for years and we have no plans of junking what we have and what we always buy, but there are new players in the market that have a more casual vibe. This more laidback vibe is perfect for our current realities and situation. One of these brands is Tower 28 Beauty, which is known for its clean formulas that can be used even by those with sensitive skin. Tower 28 founder Amy Liu has eczema-prone skin and before this, she worked for 15 years in the beauty industry. “I was frustrated that my sensitive, problem skin meant I was limited to serious brands that felt clinical, like someone in a lab coat would sell to me. If you have sensitive skin, you’ve heard the terms: hypoallergenic, fragrance-free, dermatologist-tested. It’s a start but that doesn’t mean the product is good for you. At Tower 28, we know that what goes on your skin also goes in your bloodstream. We also know that

beauty doesn’t have to be so serious, which is why our products are non-toxic, free of sensitizing irritants, full of calming, nourishing ingredients, plus a healthy dose of FUN,” said Liu in Tower 28 Beauty’s web site (www.tower28beauty.com). The coolest beauty experts and enthusiasts on our Instagram feed are into Tower 28 Beauty, which was named after a lifeguard tower in Santa Monica, California. Their products are allergyand dermatologist-tested, formulated to be noncomedogenic, non-irritating, gluten- and fragrancefree. The brand also doesn’t test on animals and is PETA-certified. Tower 28 Beauty is a sustainable brand that supports ocean conservation. The products don’t have mirrors, false bottoms, pans and paper inserts. “We also work with a certified carbon neutral packaging printer and use FSC-certified paper from sustainably managed forests with low-VOC plantbased inks [instead of petroleum-based inks which have a much harsher impact on the environment],” according to Tower 28 Beauty site. They are also transitioning all plastic packaging to PCR (post-consumer resin or recycled plastic) and recently switched to shipping boxes made from 98 percent+ recycled paper and recyclable padded mailers en route to the brand’s goal of achieving 100 percent carbon neutrality by yearend. Tower 28 Beauty’s most popular product is definitely the Bronzino Illuminating Bronzer, which is a 2020 Allure Best of Beauty Winner. Unlike a matte bronzer that’s used for contour, Bronzino can be a blush for darker skin tones, or applied to add depth. Some use it on their lids to add a glow. “The siliconefree formula is made with mineral pigment and skin-

Breaking down fashion’s waste problem IT started with an offhand request. Entrepreneurs Peter Majeranowski and Conor Hartman were testing a way to recycle the fibrous stalks left over from tobacco farming, using hydrothermal pressure to turn them into pulp for paper, when a Swedish commodities trading company called up with another idea. “They were like, ‘Hey, this pulp stuff you’re doing is great, but can you try putting a T-shirt through your machine?’” Majeranowski recalled. They obliged, and as luck would have it, it worked. Most importantly, it worked on polyester-cotton blends, the most common textile produced by the global fashion industry. Until recently, any recycling process that preserved the polyester polymers would degrade the cotton fibers, and vice versa. This has led to a major buildup in fabric waste. Every second, a garbage truck’s worth of clothing and textiles gets incinerated or tossed in a landfill, according to a 2017 report from the Ellen MacArthur Foundation. As it turned out, Hartman and Majeranowski’s Virginiabased company, Circ, was able to do both. Business changed overnight, Majeranowski said. “Suddenly, we’ve got the fashion industry cold-calling us—brands you’d see in any mall in Anytown, USA—who wanted a circular recycled textile solution.” Circ’s process involves a combination of water, heat, pressure, and chemicals, which break down and purify the textile fibers, recovering 90 percent of the original materials.

Editor: Gerard S. Ramos

So far they’ve recycled only about 12 tons of apparel waste, but the co-founders say they have the capacity to do two tons per day once their partnerships ramp up. Outdoor gear-maker Patagonia Inc. and Japanese trading company Marubeni Corp. are investors, and Patagonia is already funneling some of its worn-out clothing through Circ’s machinery. The pair also expect to begin producing fully recycled garments later this year through a collaboration with Fashion for Good, which works with major brands and retailers such as Kering Group and Target Corp. to promote sustainable practices and technologies. Other companies use similar biochemical or thermal pressure processes to dissolve old materials, but Circ’s edge comes from its ability to work with blended fabrics, said Greg Curtis, Patagonia’s general counsel on investments. “When you look at the total addressable market for fast fashion, and the poly-blend rubbish that comes out of it, that really does set them apart,” he added. The company’s history begins in 2010, when the market crash dried up Majeranowski’s previous work with an overseas investment group. He got interested in biofuels, and eventually met Hilary Koprowski, a Polish immunologist known for his pioneering work on the Polio vaccine. At the time, Koprowski was looking into whether tobacco plants— which grow easily and have a well-known genome—could be genetically modified to produce antibodies for a vaccine.

(In 2014, they would be: Icon Genetics used tobacco plants to create the ZMapp Ebola vaccine, though Koprowski wasn’t involved.) Circ won’t disclose the price of its recycled fibers; its closest competitor, a subsidiary of fast fashion retailer Hennes & Mauritz AB (better known as H&M) won’t talk about prices, either. However both say the cost of their recycled textiles should be comparable to new. A positive climate impact would be a key selling point for any business marketing recycled textiles, but proving that will be tricky. Because there’s so little accountability data in the fashion industry, there’s no generally accepted baseline from which to measure. “What we really need to see from these companies is reporting,” said Maxine Bédat, founder of New Standard Institute, which publishes sustainability resources for designers.“We need to know how great this innovation is in terms of greenhouse- gas emission figures, and so far we’re not getting that.” Right now, Circ is focused on growth. Majeranowski and Hartman describe a “chicken and egg situation” in which nobody wants to collect and sort apparel waste until they have a buyer or for it. “Our solution right now is we need to scale for that all to make sense,” Majeranowski said. Things are moving fast, Majeranowski said. “We joke now that we were like, is recycling a T-shirt a thing?” he said. Now they’re sure. “It’s a thing.” BLOOMBERG NEWS

loving ingredients like moisturizing mango butter + calming green tea extract to help soothe and condition the skin,” touts the Tower 28 Beauty site in describing Bronzino, a cream which comes in five shades all with a slight sheen. Aside from being made for people with sensitive skin, Tower 28 Beauty is also for those who like to have fun with makeup. They are the people who can use one product for the eyelids, cheeks and lips and just blend the product with their fingers. The prices range from $12 to $28. ■

SENSIBLE DRESSING FOR THE MODERN GENTLEMAN

TAILORED for discerning customers, Ascot Chang is a wardrobe staple for men who value highquality craftsmanship. The iconic brand, which is known for its impeccable heritage of traditional Shanghai tailoring with a contemporary edge, holds a legacy of transcending generations as its timeless designs continue to stay relevant to both the young and old. As the new normal continues to unfold, Ascot Chang highlights sophisticated look reminiscent of a true gentleman. From the classic button-down polo to a custom-made shirt, patrons can always expect a professional yet effortless look suitable for online meetings, intimate gatherings, and other occasions. Ongoing until July 31 at Ascot Chang at Rustan’s in Makati and Shangri-La Plaza, every order of a suit comes with a complimentary Ascot Chang custom shirt. Moreover, for every purchase of two bespoke shirts, customers get one free shirt. The promo runs only until July 31, while readymade Ascot Chang blazers, pants, dress shirts and accessories are also offered with up to 70-percent discount. Rustan’s offers the Personal Shopper On-Call program for shop-from-home convenience now accessible through 0917-1111952. More information can be found at www.rustans.com.

B6 Monday, June 21, 2021

AVID continues growth surge in the first five months of 2021

#Salamat4G: Bringing connectivity to everyone under the new normal

PANGASINAN Peralta Family

HE province of Pangasinan has a lot to offer than just its famed Hundred Islands. There is surely something for everyone to enjoy - from the crystalclear waters of its many beaches and the freshest seafood to the awe-inspiring churches and heritage towns, Pangasinan is a well-loved tourist destination. Thousands flock to the province annually, not only for tourism but also for religious pilgrimage to several historical churches, particularly the Minor Basilica of Our Lady of the Rosary of Manaog which houses the 17th-century ivory and silver image of the VIrgin Mary with the Child Jesus. As the country reels from a global health crisis, Pangasinan has to adapt to the current situation. Communications solutions have become God-send as people cling to faith and family to help weather the pandemic. With the growing dependence on data-heavy technologies, Globe has stepped up to the plate for the public. To be able to provide the best service to its

REV. Fr. Allan V. Lopez (O.P.), Parish Priest subscribers, Globe has been upgrading its cell towers in Pangasinan and other nearby provinces for faster and more stable 4G LTE service. The improvement was immediate. Rev. Fr. Allan V. Lopez (O.P.), Parish Priest of Our Lady of the Rosary Manaoag. Exclaimed: “Salamat at dumating din sa aming probinsiya ang 4G na ito. Kahit sa abroad malinaw na kaming mapapanood ng mga deboto. Pwedeng pwede kayong mag comment, mag type ng amen!” At home, families try to cope with the new normal. Video calls, for instance, allow Drs. Ana and Federico Peralta III to keep tabs on their three children who are all doctors stationed at different hospitals in Metro Manila. The couple shared how the upgraded 4G LTE connection has improved the quality of their online connection. “4G pala yang hi-tech na sinabi na solusyon sa pagka-miss ko sa mga anak ko. Wala na akong kaba sa sitwasyon ng mga bagets. Proud na proud ako sa lakas ng loob at malasakit na ipinapakita ng mga anak ko sa bayan.”

Joel Agustin, Globe Senior Vice President for Program Delivery, Network Technical Group assures the public, “We are bringing connectivity to everyone, especially to areas where a strong, reliable, and accessible internet can spell the difference between surviving and thriving. This is the new normal, and together we will triumph.” To enjoy these improved services, customers must shift to the 5G-ready 4G LTE SIMs now. Globe assures customers that their mobile numbers will be retained when they switch to the new technology. If quarantine protocols in their respective areas allow, customers can go to the nearest Globe Store to change their SIM cards for FREE. For more information, visit https:// www.globe.com.ph/help/mobile-internet/ lte/faqs.html. Customers are also encouraged to update their mobile devices to 4G LTEcapable ones and their handset firmware to the latest available on the system for better mobile data experience.

TransUnion: Financial services have the largest increase in suspected digital fraud attempts

S more consumers go online for banking and other financial transactions, newresearch from TransUnion (NYSE: TRU) found that fraudsters are ramping up their efforts in the financial services industry. When comparing the last four months of 2020 (Sept. 1 – Dec. 31) and the first four months of 2021 (Jan. 1 – May 1), the company found the percentage of suspected digital fraud attempts coming from the Philippines in financial services increased 50%, the highest among all industries analyzed. Globally, the rate of digital financial services fraud attempts increased 149%. Across industries, the rate of suspected digital fraud attempts globally rose 24% when comparing the first four months of 2021 with the last four months of 2020. The percentage of digital fraud attempts coming from the Philippines increased 19% during the same time period. TransUnion monitors digital fraud attempts reported by businesses in varied industries such as communities, financial services, gambling, gaming, retail, and telecommunications, among others. The conclusions are based on intelligence from billions of transactions and more than 40,000 websites and apps contained in its flagship identity proofing, risk-based authentication and fraud analytics solution suite – TransUnion TruValidate™.

“The rate of fraud attempts was up globally and especially in the financial services industry because fraudsters understand this is where the most highvalue transactions are taking place. While this industry is traditionally known for in-person transactions, fraudsters have recognized its rapid digital acceleration and are trying to capitalize,” said TransUnion Philippines President and CEO Pia Arellano. “We are seeing more financial services organizations implement fraud prevention solutions with some success, though our findings make it clear that this is not the time to relax. As the economy begins to open up and perform better, businesses need to do even more to ensure they are providing a secure marketplace that offers friction-right experiences to consumers.”

Examining Fraud Types and Their Impact on Industries

INTERESTINGLY, the telecommunications and logistics industries recorded the two largest declines during this period. TransUnion’s March 2021 assessment, which analyzed the pre- and post-pandemic declaration periods (March 11, 2019-March 10, 2020 and March 11, 2020-March 10, 2021), found the opposite with telecommunications and logistics having the two largest suspected digital fraud rate increases between the periods respectively.

Financial services had the third highest increase in the rate of suspected digital fraud during the March analysis, and jumped to the top spot this time. TransUnion defines true identity theft, the top type of digital fraud in financial services, as the consumer using a stolen identity (from a victim who is a real person) to commit fraud. The second and third type of digital fraud most reported by TransUnion financial services customers are firstparty application fraud and account takeover, respectively. First-party application fraud is when a consumer refuses to repay legitimately incurred debts and/or falsely claims to be a victim of identity fraud to evade debt. Account takeover is when someone other than the owner of an account uses the account without permission, indicating that the account has been maliciously compromised. “An interesting dynamic is playing out where we are seeing other industries facing far fewer suspected fraud attempts than what has been observed in financial services. In some cases, as in logistics and retail, we are seeing a decline in the rate of such fraud attempts,” said Arellano. “The key takeaway for businesses is that fraudsters do not treat every industry equally. They often pick and choose an industry to focus on based on the time of year or what businesses are seeing more transactional activity. For example, in the Philippines, the rate of suspected digital fraud attempts originating from it against online communities like dating sites and forums increased by 10% whereas the global average decreased 4%. At times, fraud attempts are conducted at random simply to determine if businesses are prepared to meet their challenges. In this critical time, it pays to be one step ahead.”

HE Association of Vehicle Importers and Distributors, Inc. (AVID) recorded a 59% surge in sales in the first five months of 2021 (year-to-date) from 15,811 units sold in said period in 2020 to 25,217 units sold in 2021. Year-on-year, sales spiked up by 293% in May 2021, from 1,239 units sold in May 2020 to 4,864 units in the said month this year. Growth is likewise on point, on a month-on-month perspective, with 8% increase in unit sales from 4,864 units sold in April to 4,496 units in May this year. The Commercial Vehicles (CV) segment remains the growth driver with a 625% boost in YTD sales, spearheaded by Hyundai with 101 unit sold last year to 731 units sold this year. The Passenger Cars (PC) segment had a more positive outcome compared to the past months, with a 29% rise YTD from 4,928 to 6,357 units sold. The May 2021 figures showed significant improvement, with sales almost quadrupling from 354 units sold in May 2020 to 1,029 units in May this year. This massive sales hike can be attributed to the gradual re-opening of the economy and less restrictive quarantine measures. Suzuki remains at topnotch in the PC Segment with a total of 3,259 units; followed by Hyundai with 2,170 PC unit sales (YTD). In the LCV segment, AVID reported a 68% gain (YTD), from last year’s 10,782 units to the 18,128 units sold in the same period this year. Ford dominates the segment with 7,692

AVID President Ma. Fe Perez Agudo units sold. Suzuki holds second place with 4,933 units and, not too far behind, Hyundai at third with 2,450 units sold. “We attribute the gradual improvement in AVID sales to our members’ tireless commitment to provide customers with quality vehicles and after sales service that will see them safely through life’s many journeys. We all must keep on pitching in to weather this storm and to bring us all closer to our dreams in the New Normal,” said AVID President Ma. Fe Perez Agudo.

MMDA/MMFF AND MOWELFUND vaccination Program. The Metropolitan Manila Development Authority/Metro Manila Film Festival in partnership with Movie Workers Welfare Foundation, ,Inc., recently rolled out its A4 priority group vaccination for the movie workers and celebrities along with some members of the media held at the MMDA headquarters in Makati City. MMDA Chairman Benhur Abalos, Jr., requested the showbiz celebrities present to help promote vaccination and encourage others to help the government attain the herd immunity against COVID-19. The program was also attended by Cong. Dan Fernandez, Mowelfund President Rez Cortez, Ms. Boots Anson Roa, movie directorJoey Reyes, representatives from the Department of Health and many others.

NutriBrownRice: The new breakfast of the champs

HE life of the modern-day Pinoy is fast and furious. It is hectic and on-the-go, filled with activities left and right that are sure to leave anyone exhausted at day’s end. This fast-paced lifestyle has gotten even faster in this time of COVID, what with the pandemic ushering in the work from home era. Nowadays, many Filipinos literally wake up to work, and will continue working for much of the day. It is crucial that you start the day right, so you can set yourself up well for the rest of the day and attack every second of it. And one of the best ways to do that is to have a hearty but healthy breakfast. A healthy breakfast alternative is NutriBrownRice a delicious and nutritious instant brown rice beverage packed with natural vitamins and minerals. Made of complex carbohydrates and contains essential minerals, helps you sustain your energy level during day. But wait, there’s more! NutriBrownRice® is also healthier than white rice—much healthier. It is, in fact, even considered a superfood. It is an antioxidant and helps protect you from free radicals. It has essential minerals like calcium, phosphorus, potassium and magnesium that helps in the bone, nerve and muscle function. It also has B-vitamins and Zinc for nerve and

hormone regulation as well as aids in immunity. Brown rice can help you lose weight. It is high fiber, and this means it will keep you feeling full for longer as opposed to white rice. In addition, the lecithin content in brown rice isn’t converted into carbohydrates as much, which keeps you from experiencing energy spikes and feeling sleepy after eating. Brown rice blowers your cholesterol. While you’ve been led to believe that oil is bad for you, the oil in brown rice is actually a good thing as it lowers your cholesterol level. In particular, researchers from Louisiana State University found that the oil in brown rice lowered LDL cholesterol—a.k.a. the bad cholesterol—by 7%. It offers cardiovascular benefits. Brown rice is a type of whole grain, and consuming six servings of it helps slow the progression of plaque that narrows the blood vessels. This is great news for Filipinos given how cardiovascular ailments are among the most common causes of deaths in the country. It can lower cancer risk. Brown rice is full of phytochemicals and minerals, and these have been shown to lower one’s risk of certain cancers. NutriBrownRice® is distributed in the Philippines by Dygen Food Ventures Inc., a subsidiary of Dyna Drug Corporation and available at goodwill.market/.

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Monday, June 21, 2021 B7

The coronavirus chronicles: Great speeches, great speakers W

By Millie F. Dizon

HETHER you run a company, team, or start-up, effective communication and presentation are part of the job. This has become more evident in recent times as almost everyone has become a speaker of sorts at least digitally through Zoom meetings, podcasts, or even simply posting online. While speaking publicly can be daunting, there are ways one can improve on this. “Leaders can’t hide from public speaking,” says Katie Burke in an article in Inc.com, “so why not make it a strength?” And why not? Now is the best time to build up on your speaking skills—the words you use, your message, your presentation style. We have a little help from Burke as she shares with us 4 Public Speaking Tips Every Leader Needs to Hear:

n Know your stuff, not your slides. While we can get over-

whelmed with our slides and video presentations, Burke says that it is important to prioritize substance over slides when preparing for important speeches. With this, “being well versed in the content will show up in your confidence, delivery, and communication.” This can be achieved by “drafting the messages you want to communicate, understanding the ins-and-outs of the topic, and

Brand & Business: Chupa Chups brings MLBB and UniPin Philippines in new product collaboration for gamers

The Back to School Fun Pack will introduce the 2 new special packs, the packs will include a scratch card that can be redeemed on the UniPin web site. The first Chupa Chups Jellies Fun Pack contains 4 packs of Chupa Chups Sour Bites 20g, 2 Chupa Chups Cool Cola, 2 Chupa Chups Panda Bears, 2 Chupa Chups Pinkis and a Free UniPin Voucher code worth 11 Mobile Legends Diamonds. The first Jellies Fun Pack is available at Shopee starting June 15th. The second Chupa Chups Jellies Fun Pack contains 4 packs of Chupa Chups Sour Bites 20g, 2 Chupa Chups Cool Cola, 2 Chupa Chups Panda Bears, 4 Chupa Chups Strawberry Belts and a Free UniPin Voucher code worth 11 Mobile Legends Diamonds. The second Jellies Fun Pack will be available at Shopee, Lazada and various grocery shops starting July 1st. The collaboration is specifically released during the backto-school season for students who are still unable to meet their friends during the pandemic. UniPin Philippines mentions the collaboration will be an exciting chance to share and deliver joy to all gamers, especially students

throughout the nation. “We are very excited to be able to work hand-in-hand with Chupa Chups and Mobile Legends on this. We believe the Back to School Fun Packs will bring happiness to students and will help to ease the dullness and frustration of not being able to have a face-to-face interaction by utilising the entertainment that online games can bring,” adds Cynthia David, UniPin Philippines Country Manager. “The collaboration will be the opportunity to explore different ways to engage with children nowadays, Chupa Chups, a brand that stands for forever fun, acknowledges the evolving interests of kids and teens. Gaming incidence has dramatically increased amidst the pandemic with Mobile Legends being one of the most popular mobile games. This is seen as not only a break time, but also as a means to connect with friends given that school is mostly done online. This collaboration with Mobile Legends and UniPin aims to bridge that gap, and reinforce the forever fun proposition,” said Leanne Jacinto-Ledesma, Perfetti Van Melle Philippines Marketing Director. To learn more about this collaboration, please visit www. unipin.com.

Campaign Spotlight: Celebrating The Smart Good Life—Serviceplan Hamburg reveals inaugural panEuropean brand campaign for LG Electronics

MUNICH, GERMANY—Every innovation of LG has the power

WWW.pexels | fauxels

PR Matters

Part One

doing a little bit of research on who your audience in advance.” That way, we will be able to deliver our messages even if technology fails us.

n Be yourself. While we all want to present like Apple executives, Burke believes that we’re better off finding our own voice. When it comes to communication, “authenticity is queen.” Burke herself admits that worst presentations that she has ever given were when “I tried to

to change life for the better. That belief is the basis of LG’s message “Life’s Good,” and the brand’s motivation to kick off a pan-European brand campaign at a time when the good parts of life are returning. After an international pitch against major agencies from the UK and France in March 2021, Serviceplan Hamburg has unveiled a new pan-European brand campaign for LG European Marketing, LG Deutschland GmbH, LG UK, and LG France. Kicking off in the UK, France and Germany, the campaign will run from June until December 2021. Titled “The Smart Good Life,” the campaign features TVCs in different lengths (60”, 30” and 20”) as well as digital and social media formats, produced by Tony Petersen Film GmbH and directed by Bastian Glaessner. The hero family starring in the campaign showcases the surprising and positive changes that consumers experience with LG’s innovations, by performing a completely new version of “It’s a Hard-Knock Life” reworked with the tag line “It’s a Smart Good Life.” After months of lockdowns all over Europe, it’s finally time to celebrate the good life again, with the positivity and lightheartedness that originates in the LG brand claim “Life’s Good.” The campaign features a specially recorded version of It’s a Hard-Knock Life, the iconic theme tune from 1976 musical Annie. It’s designed to appeal to technology enthusiasts and smart home users, as well as aesthetic design lovers, while showcasing the LG brand’s ability to innovate the lives of customers via differentiated technology, such as OLED evo TV, In-

mimic someone else’s style.” “It’s good to learn from your favorite TED Talk speakers and thought speakers,” says Burke, but the best presenters are authentically themselves.”

n Play to your strengths. We

all have our strengths and preferences when it comes to speaking. Some are incredible keynote speakers, but not good in panel discussions. Burke is the opposite—she avoids long keynote presentations and gravitates to-

staView refrigerators, TurboWash washing machines with Energy A, Gram laptops and TONE Free earbuds with noise cancelling. This Europe-wide co-operation of experts from within the Serviceplan Group was able to deliver a multi-platform campaign that works in all major European markets according to: local language, cultural nuances, differences in brand perception, product emphasis, media and performance planning. The main objective of this new campaign is to strengthen the LG brand identity in the UK, Germany and France, where it will air on all major TV stations and streaming & VOD platforms such as RTL, VOX, Nitro, N-TV, Super RTL ZDF Welt Tele5 ARD RTL2 Sport1 DMAX, HGTV Sky DAZN, ALL4, TF1, France TV, M6, and digital platforms such as TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, Spotify etc. The campaign also features radio ads which will debut on Spotify and UK radio stations this month, as well as a social media element featuring digital banners, social media ads, and a website designed by LG. Marina Clowes, Head of Marketing, LG UK, commented: “We are a company that changes lives and makes life good. We look into your life to see how we can add value and make it smarter, so your time becomes more available to do the things you love. Our technology starts from your imagination, and the capability and potential of our products only come to fruition once they become an essential and integrated part of your daily life. Making your life better today than it was yesterday is what motivates LG and what we consider

wards panel opportunities. Find out what works best for you, develop your skills, and build on your communication assets.

n Find your “at bat” song.

An “at bat” song is the song baseball players choose as they walk up the plate in major league stadiums. In short, it’s a song that that energizes and inspires one as he heads for an all-important game. Burke notes that it’s not only

to be true innovation. “The Smart Good Life brand campaign offers an exciting opportunity for LG to position and explain its brand heritage to the local UK market. It’s great to convey the LG story to the UK audience via a positive, universal message. “In order to showcase our philosophy, we worked closely with Serviceplan to develop a European campaign including touchpoints on TV and online. With our innovative LG products and functionalities as the subject matter, we wanted to portray how our technology can enhance our customers’ daily lives and help our customers to experience it via our creative campaign activities.” Florian K lietz, Managing Partner, Serviceplan Hamburg, is happy to finally see this idea literally come to life: “Right from the beginning, the whole team had the feeling that this brief was a chance to make a bigger statement connected to the innovative products of LG. Optimism is what guided everyone of Serviceplan and within the LG team. That positivity I can see in every frame and hear in every line!” View the 60’ ad here: https:// youtu.be/pWOC8PvIW lo. For further information and press images go to: sp-url.com/smartgood-life-en.

Awards: Cannes Lions announces 2021 award entry numbers—29,074 pieces of work are entered from across 90 countries

CANNES, FRANCE—Cannes Lions has published its entry numbers ahead of next week’s Cannes Lions Live running from June 21

for athletes, as “every leader needs an ‘at bat’ song too.” This is because “when it comes to giving a big presentation, you can’t control the weather, the technical difficulties or the dynamic in the room, so I focus on what I can control: my soundtrack.” She adds, there are dozens of ways to boost your confidence before a big presentation, but this small ritual can be a great source of confidence during this critical time. All you need is the right song.” All in all, “keep on finding opportunities to build that skill, find your style,... and remember practice makes [almost] perfect.” And we may add, learn from the masters. For some inspiration, we’re giving you a list of what is considered the top 10 speeches of all time. Next week, find out what these speeches are and why they are timeless. PR Matters is a roundtable column by members of the local chapter of the United Kingdom-based International Public Relations Association (Ipra), the world’s premier association for senior professionals around the world. Millie Dizon, the senior vice president for Marketing and Communications of SM, is the former local chairman. We are devoting a special column each month to answer the reader’s questions about public relations. Please send your comments and questions to askipraphil@gmail.com.

to 25. 29,074 pieces of work have been entered from 90 countries, with entries spanning two years after the awards were paused due to the global pandemic in 2020. Simon Cook, Managing Director, LIONS, said that this was a moment for the industry “to reflect but also look forward”. He continued, “Bringing together this mass of work from across the globe to present to our juries is always an exciting moment for us. The work gives us an initial snapshot of the industry, before our expert juries take on the task of awarding the work that will set the new creative benchmark. This is a highly anticipated moment and the work across two years tells a story about the changing shape of creativity throughout the global pandemic, and showcases the power of creativity as a vehicle for change.” The work comes from a broader mix of entrants than previous years, and across all Lions. Numbers show that brands continue to invest in creativity, while entries from independent agencies are up by 14% and production companies by 19%. The newly launched Creative Business Transformation Lions— celebrating creativity that drives business forward—has had a strong first year, indicating that creative companies are now being asked to solve real business problems, with creative thinkers increasingly applying their skills to the business as a whole. Similarly, the Titanium Lions—recognising work that breaks new ground with provocative, boundary-busting, envy-inspiring ideas—have seen large engagement this year with 15% more entries than 2019.

Sports BusinessMirror

| Monday, June 21, 2021 mirror_sports@yahoo.com.ph Editor: Jun Lomibao

MEMBERS of Gilas Pilipinas celebrate at center court as distraught South Koreans head toward the dugout. Fiba.COM

GILAS GOES 2-0 OVER KOREANS

ICTORY came sweeter the second time around for the Philippines on Sunday afternoon after Gilas Pilipinas repeated over South Korea, 82-77, to wrap things up in the International Basketball Federation (Fiba) Asia Cup Qualifiers at the Angeles University Foundation Gym in Pampanga. The Philippines went 6-0 won-lost in Group A of the qualifiers, pulling off the feat with a cadet squad of collegiate standouts and without a reinforcement from the Philippine Basketball Association. The victory proved Korean head coach Cho Sang-hyun wrong. He described the Philippines to be “lucky” in their first game last Wednesday when

Sam Josef Belangel’s threepointer beat the buzzer for an 81-78 escape by the hosts. Dwight Ramos, Kai Sotto and William Navarro steadied the boat for the young Gilas crew each time the Koreans came threateningly close throughout the match where neither team led by more than nine points. “It’s a little personal, we just want to show that we can hang on with the big dogs like Korea, but that’s how it was,” Ramos told the virtual post-game interview. “It felt good to win but the main thing about the game was that we learned from it, get experience from it.” “So even if we won or lost, we would’ve come out with more experience, more stuff to improve and to learn,” added Ramos, who led Gilas with 19 points on a 5-of9 shooting from beyond the arc.

South Korea had a hot start and jumped to a 9-0 lead, only to yield to the Filipinos’ calculated plays. The game went close in the final half, but Ramos bailed the Philippines from a two-point advantage to a 75-69 cushion with a three-point shot with close to four minutes to go. Ratliffe, whose Korean name is Ra Gun-A, sank an undergoal stab to push his team to 77-79 with 25 seconds left in the game. But free throws by Ramos and Belangel in the dying seconds provided Gilas breathing room, 81-77. Ramos also had a crucial offensive rebound, forcing the Koreans—who were in penalty—to give up a foul. He split his charities in the last five seconds before Hongseok Yang muffed the game’s last shot.

Josef Ramos

VALDEZ’S GREAT CALL FOR FLAG AND COUNTRY AYSON VALDEZ is supposed to be in Fort Magsaysay in Nueva Ecija in July, all locked and loaded to join the Army. But a military career would have to wait as the 25-year-old Magsaysay got a call—an even greater one—to fight for flag and country on the world’s biggest stage, the Olympics. “I was determined to enlist in the Army yesterday [Saturday] morning because inasmuch as I really wanted to help my family, I want to serve the country,” Valdez told BusinessMirror on Sunday. “But I received perhaps the best ever phone call that would forever mark my life as an athlete.” That call came from Philippine National Shooting Association (PNSA) Secretary General Iryne Garcia who told Valdez that he qualified for the Tokyo Olympics in the men’s air rifle 10-meter event of shooting. “The news is a gift from God,” Valdez said. “I have waited and worked very, very hard for 10 years to qualify for the Olympics.” Valdez is the first Filipino to qualify in air rifle event of shooting since Rasheya Jasmin Luis in Sydney 2000 and also the first in two Olympic cycles since Paul Brian Rosario qualified as a wildcard in men’s skeet in London 2012. Now that he’s going to Tokyo, Valdez will have his old reliable Feinwerbau 800 in his grip and on his shoulders day in and day out— and not an M16 standard issue rifle for Army personnel. “I trust my rifle which I have used this for a long, long time,” Valdez said. “But for the Olympics, I would need lots and lots of bullets for the remaining training days before the competition.” The Tokyo Olympics shooting competitions are set from July 24 to August 2 at the Asaka Shooting Range, some 30 kilometers from the Japan National Stadium. Valdez qualified for the Olympics through the Munich-based Inter-

playmaker RJ Abarrientos and Jordan Heading added 10 points apiece. Navarro contributed eight points, while naturalized player Ange Kouame had seven points and eight rebounds. Ratliffe finished with 20 points, 13 rebounds two blocks, while Hyunjung Lee made 13 points and eight rebounds and Hongseok Yang scored 12 points for the Koreans who fell to 4-2 won-lost in the group. Despite the loss, South Korea is joining the Philippines in the Fiba Asia Cup set from August 17 to 29 in Jakarta. Naturalized player Lester Prosper scattered 22 points and grabbed 11 rebounds as Indonesia dominated Thailand, 86-69, to finish its campaign on a winning note also on Sunday. Indonesia booked a 2-4 record while Thailand went winless with 0-4.

Casimero-Donaire guarantees titles stay in PHL’s grip

JAYSON (left) and Julius Valdez are like-father-like-son, with the son going to the Tokyo Olympics.

By Josef Ramos

He also had five assists and three rebound. Ramos was also the most consistent on the team with averages of 13.8 points, 6.2 rebounds and 2.2 assists. “This team has a fighting spirit,” said Gilas Head Coach Tab Baldwin. “Obviously, I was overjoyed to take three wins here, especially two against South Korea.” The Philippines also completed its domination of Indonesia with a 76-51 win last Friday. The sweep included triumphs over Indonesia (100-75) and Thailand (93-61, 9369) in the first two windows of the qualifiers. “We held Korea’s transition game,” added Baldwin, referring to Korea’s 12 against his wards’ seven. Sotto finished with 10 points and seven rebounds, while

national Shooting Sports Federation’s quota system. He earned the minimum qualifying score (MQS) of 595 points culled from his participation in the World Cup, continental championships and Asian qualifying tournaments. The qualifying window was set from July 2018 to June 6, 2021. But the Singapore 2015 Southeast Asian Games bronze medalist admitted he would be shooting in Tokyo as an underdog. “It’s really hard to be an underdog, but who knows? Just like what happened to our basketball team the other day,” said Valdez, referring to the national men’s team’s 8178 queaker of a victory over South Korea in the International Basketball Federation Asia Cup Qualifiers last Wednesday in Clark. “It can also happen to me, to anyone, even in the Olympics,” he said. A Customs Administration graduate at the Adamson University, Valdez said the Olympics was no longer in his radar, until that phone call. “It was a blessing in disguise,” he said. “I was already focused on the Vietnam Southeast Asian Games [in November], until I got that great, great news.” “Now, I have to train very hard to be more consistent, to be more precise with every move, with every breath, with every bullet,” said Valdez, who will be training for the Olympics at the Marine headquarters in Fort Bonifacio. “And you have to be more calibrated in everything you do.” Valdez was all geared up to follow his dad Julius’s footsteps. Julius Valdez, who also stands as his coach, is a retired Army Second Lieutenant. As an athlete, he owns the distinction as the best Filipino in air rifle, having won three Southeast Asian Games gold medals laced by one silver. Julius Valdez, 61, never went to the Olympics, making him a very proud dad especially on Father’s Day Sunday. And same with his mom Marlyn, 51, a teacher at the Sun Valley Elementary School in Parañaque.

ONITO “THE FILIPINO FLASH” DONAIRE JR. and Johnriel Casimero will figure in an all-Filipino unification fight of the world bantamweight belts, international matchmaker Sean Gibbons announced on Sunday. The announcement was confirmed on the same day Naoya Inoue scored a jarring second-round knockout victory against Filipino challenger Michael Dasmariñas to remain unbeaten in 21 bouts and keep his International Boxing Federation (IBF) and World Boxing Association (WBA) bantamweight belts. Donaire and Casimero were at ringside to cheer for Dasmariñas at the Virgins Hotel in Las Vegas. Casimero was supposed to stake his World Boxing Organization crown against two-time Olympic champion Guillermo Rigondeaux of Cuba. But a unification fight with Donaire would guarantee that his belt and Donaire’s WBC title would remain with a Filipino. “[Johnriel] Casimero wants all the belts,” said Gibbons, adding the fight is set for August 14 in

JAPAN’S Naoya Inoue knocks out Filipino challenger Michael Dasmariñas. AP

Carson City under Al Haymon’s Premier Boxing Champions promotion. Casimero, 32, said it’s a blessing in disguise that he will be fighting Donaire instead of Rigondeaux. “It’s 100 percent on,” said Casimero, who is also targeting the undefeated Inoue. World class trainer Jorge Capetillo and strength and conditioning Coach Angel “Memo”

Heredia has been prepping Casimero since his arrival in Las Vegas last June 11. Donaire, on the other hand, is coming of an impressive fourthround technical knockout win over former world champion Nordine Oubaali of France last May 29 in Carson City. Casimero has a 30-4 won-lost record with 21 knockouts, while Donaire totes a 41-6 card with 27 knockouts. Josef Ramos

PSC launches ‘Zumbarangay’

HE Philippine Sports Commission (PSC) recently launched “Zumbarangay Pilipinas,” a program that aims to promote women’s physical and mental wellbeing. The program is also dubbed “Solo Exercise On Cam Challenge.” PSC Commissioner Celia Kiram, in charge of the agency’s Women in Sports programs, spearheaded the national awareness campaign through the online competition amid the Covid-19 pandemic. “The PSC believes the current Covid-19 pandemic is now impacting women’s mental and physical health and global studies find women and girls gained weight during the lockdown and research further shows even short term physical inactivity has longlasting repercussions,” Kiram said. “For this, we at the PSC mounted a campaign to encourage women and girls to rise and shape up by way of solo exercising through dancing,” she added. The contest is open to all Filipinas who could come up with a dance workout for at least two minutes. The are four categories— frontliners, women open, girls open and LGBT—with the winner in each class receiving P30,000, and the second and third placers getting P20,000 and P10,000, respectively. Ten special prizes worth P3,000 each will also be given away. “It is believed that the need to infuse fun in exercising is highly critical to ward off the brewing anxieties, and for some, the state of depression,” Kiram said. “But overall, we just want to encourage Filipino women and girls to maintain an active lifestyle and boost health by regularly exercising even at home any time.” For inquiries or more details, interested participants may visit the event’s Facebook page Rise Up and Shape Up.

DECHAMBEAU WITHIN REACH OF 2ND STRAIGHT U.S. OPEN CROWN

AN DIEGO—Bryson DeChambeau’s bid to repeat as US Open champion nearly derailed in an opening round filled with wild drives and shoddy irons. The brawny golf-ball bruiser gathered himself late in that round, used a dreamy swing thought to play better in the next and went the right direction on moving day when several bigname players got it wrong. How about that, Brooksy? DeChambeau carded his first bogey-free round in a major championship on Saturday, shooting a three-under 68 at Torrey Pines to move within two shots of the lead heading into the final round. Now he has a chance at the ultimate silencer in his ongoing feud with Brooks Koepka: joining him in the back-to-back US Open club. “I was certainly glad to come away free of any mistakes today,” DeChambeau said. “You’ve got to be really patient out here at these majors. It’s something that

is not easy to do.” Nothing looked easy for DeChambeau to start Thursday’s first round. He had three straight bogeys starting at No. 11 to go 4 over and appeared to be headed toward a quick exit. A couple of late birdies helped him salvage a 73 and he headed to the range to sort out his swing, hitting balls under the lights after everyone left. DeChambeau’s

BRYSON DECHAMBEAU cards his first bogeyfree round in a major championship on Saturday. AP

epiphany—keeping his right wrist bent a little longer through impact—didn’t come until later, when his unconscious-but-stillspinning mind dreamed up a solution. His night vision turned into reality when the sum came up, in the form of a second-round 69 that put him within sight of the leaders at even par. DeChambeau trailed Richard Bland and Russell Henley by five to start the third round and went right to chipping away, knocking in a 7-foot birdie putt on the par-4 first hole. He added birdies on Nos. 6 and 13, but it was crucial saves that helped him keep the bogeys off his card. DeChambeau had to take a drop after hitting his drive into the canyon right of the par-4 seventh hole, but hit his approach off a bare lie to seven feet

and made the putt. After mishitting a 95-yard approach shot on the par-4 14th, DeChambeau chunked of the matted rough and made a 20-foot par putt. “My first few goes at majors, I was not successful or anywhere near successful,” he said. “I feel like I’m starting to understand major championship golf and how to play it and how to go about managing my game, my attitude and just my patience level.” He even laid up. DeChambeau hit a 332-yard drive into the left bunker on 18 and, faced with a 204-yard second shot, considered having a go at the green in two. He didn’t like the lie and changed tactics, but his lay-up shot spun left into the first cut of rough. A solid third shot landed next to the hole, ran up the slope in the middle of the green and somehow didn’t roll back. He two-putted from 33 feet for par. “The ball didn’t roll back like I thought, but I gave myself a chance for birdie again,” he said. AP