BusinessMirror March 14, 2020

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SIMPLE DREAMS, SWEET SUCCESS

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Saturday, March 14, 2020 Vol. 15 No. 156

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

HOW THE ONCE COMMERCIALLY DUBIOUS DAVAO NIGHT MARKET—WHERE TERRORISTS EXPLODED A BOMB—REAPED PATRONAGE, FAME, SUCCESS

THE Night Market on Roxas Avenue in Davao City.

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MICHAEL O. LIGALIG | DREAMSTIME.COM

By Manuel T. Cayon

AVAO CITY—Scorned at the onset as a city venture unlikely to commercially succeed—and even marred by an unflattering record of a deadly terrorist blast three years after it was launched—the trailblazing Davao Night Market was conceived to accommodate the rising number of sidewalk vendors here.

The market, however, has proven its critics wrong as it continues to earn multimillion-peso revenues for the city, which, in the first place, did not have to spend much to put up the market. It has even evolved to be a tourist attraction, owing to the range of merchandise it offers, especially street food and native delicacies and, not of least importance, providing a means of livelihood to small businesses and street entrepreneurs.

Frowned upon and questioned, the night market strip along the 1.5-kilometer stretch of Roxas Avenue here turned in P2.44 million to the city coffers on its second year of operation in 2014, doubling to P5 million in

HALAL foods, or food items including meat, prepared and cooked according to Islamic practice, are sold alongside other street food items at the Roxas night market. MANUEL CAYON

PORK meat for grilling still sell hot at the night market despite recent infection of some pig farms outside Davao City. MANUEL CAYON

the year before terrorists exploded a bomb in 2016.

Last year, the city collected P11.63 million from the arcabala, or token collection, from the renter of stalls.

Not only did it work wonders to stave off further congestion of the sidewalks while earning extra millions for the city, the night market has also become the micro-window of how security ringing the place has evolved to be the reflection of the city’s peace-and-order situation, providing a comforting sense of well-being among market goers and residents alike.

TUNA preparations for stew gourmet are displayed prominently to attract visitors at the Roxas night market. MANUEL CAYON

PESO EXCHANGE RATES n US 50.8600

Micro-face of the city

“THE face of security at Roxas

night market is the face of security of the whole city,” said retired Col. Lyndron V. Paniza, who took over the helm from other former Army and police officers who were assigned to secure the strip.

The impression that visitors derived from visiting the night market revolved around “how they felt secure or how they observed the strict security measures around the place is how they also look at the security of the entire city,” he said.

“They would carry the impression that the tight security around the night market is the same tight security we do within the entire city,” he stressed.

Paniza is the designated ground

commander of the more than 100 security personnel from units of the city police, the anti-terrorist unit Task Force Davao, the auxiliary units and the city government-paid barangay tanod. While the Civil Security Unit is only part of several city government offices assigned to manage and monitor the nigh market as an economic enterprise, Paniza’s roundthe-clock security management made him the de facto ground operations officer of the site.

Like his predecessor, retired Army Col. Yusuf Jimlani described their security duties at the night market as a nightmare. “At the outset, it is indeed a huge job to secure the visitors at night in a place where security soft spots are all

around,” he said.

“It’s a highway where people are all around to wait for their ride.

At the other side are several intersections where you don’t know everybody,” Jimlani told the BusinessMirror in earlier interviews during his stint in 2013, after the bombing at the section of the area where massage therapists work.

The explosion on the night of September 2, 2016, left 15 dead and 69 injured, 11 of them seriously. Two years after, the city government reported having spent around P8.7 million for livelihood, continuing medication and education for the kin of the victims and the survivors of the incident.

Continued on A2

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Source: BSP (March 13, 2020)

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A2 Saturday, March 14, 2020

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SIMPLE DREAMS, SWEET SUCCESS Continued from A1

That year and on to 2017, the income dipped among the stall renters who continued to swarm the annual applications at the night market—from the last P5 million collected by the city from stall rentals in 2015.

Sharp rebound

THE income report in those two years could not be immediately found with the City Treasurer’s Office and the Office of the Economic Enterprise, which were able to provide only the income report beginning 2018.

Manuel Nobleza, the focal person of the night market enterprise, said the renters did not report any significant income, but he said visits and income began to perk up toward the end of 2017.

The incident did not dampen interest in selling there. Only two months after the blast, local newspapers bannered stories about how “hundreds of vendors flocked to the Almendras Gym in Davao City in the hope of getting a spot to sell at the Roxas night market.”

The selection of stall renters was made through a raffle to get the “rights” for the stalls. In that raffle in November 2016, the city government had to select from among the almost 2,000 ambulant vendors who filed their applications, to be awarded the rights to 90 food stalls, 95 accessory stalls and 125 used clothes, or ukay-ukay, stalls.

The massage therapy area retained its usual spot at the center of the night market strip.

Melba Gimongala, 44, one of

the 200 massage therapists already working at the night market since 2015, said they would earn at least P300 a night, and on better days, P800. She was not there when the bomb, placed in a bag by a young man pretending to be a massage client, exploded. She was at a hotel in Buhangin giving home service to a regular client.

The massage therapists were back on the job two weeks later, but the survivors were able to go back to their jobs only after two months, all of them still carrying the trauma but had to work nonetheless to earn their daily keep.

By 2018, the night market showed a sharp rebound, wearing off the dust of the trauma, and earned for the city P11,237,427.77.

Last year, income slightly increased to P11,633,063.95.

Nobleza said the number of stalls increased to 502.

Untested waters

NOBLEZA said the night market concept was inspired by the experience of Tagum City, the capital of Davao del Norte, which has a profitable venture with its long rows of food stalls at night. The idea was adopted by this city of 1.7 million residents to help ease the congestion of the sidewalks. There is a standing agreement with the city government to occupy only onethird of the space of the sidewalk.

Through the years, this was not observed as more ambulant vendors played cat-and-mouse with demolition personnel to make a living through sidewalk vending.

This congestion is observed

SAN Pedro Cathedral at night in Davao City. ULYSSES NEMENO | DREAMSTIME.COM

along San Pedro Street, the oldest and most visited street because of its proximity to City Hall, the Sangguniang Panlungsod and the San Pedro Cathedral; Claveria Street, renamed to Claro M. Recto Street, which formed the oldest connect-

ing streets going to the City Hall; along with Uyanguren Street. The latter was renamed to Ramon Magsaysay Street, which connects to the first, also the oldest pier, Santa Ana. Rodelio Poliquit, a retired high-ranking police officer assigned to head the City Traffic and Transport Management Office, had to keep a daily watch on ambulant vendors and wayward pedicab drivers who stalk unguarded streets to ply their routes at night.

He also earlier told the BusinessMirror that the night market would be tested to take the ambulant vendors away from their daylight illegal vending and make them stay at specified places designated by the city government.

Although untested, night vending was already being done in scattered places where workers regularly pass through, or converge, to take their rides.

Many of these night stalls sell counterfeit or used clothing and shoes and sandals and other accessories. Spots in front of city hall was also becoming a tent portion of ukay-ukay.

At a certain point of the night market experiment, the number of stalls reached 762 and by today has stretched from the edge of Claveria Street to as far as near the Quezon Boulevard area, a former haven of street gangs and criminal elements, and which made night vending then a scary proposition.

With a strict city government known for its iron hand against criminality, the night life soon was another brighter spot along the wide Roxas Avenue.

“Before, no one wanted to be there because the night market has never been tried before,” Jimlani told the BusinessMirror in a previous interview. “But today, the night market is teeming with people, even tourists visit the place and the market is very alive toward early morning.”

Jimlani added: “It’s even on the Internet, and the night-market life is being posted on social media.

Even the major television network has covered it.”

He cited a former ambulant ice vendor who became an instant sensation following the sudden spike of likes he got in the postings, sending local residents and visitors alike to form long queues even before the night market starts at 4 p.m. on weekends, and at 6 p.m. on weekdays.

Soon, innovations in street food included something as weird sounding as charcoaled ice cream.

No single-use plastics

AS smoke billows through at night and gets thicker by the hour, Paniza said the night market operators en-

sured that the city’s environmental policies are also strictly observed, along with its security protocols.

Plastics are now disallowed at the food stalls and food sellers have shifted to rice packed with coconut leaves, locally called pusô.

Transparent garbage bins made of screen wires have replaced plastic bins “to allow our security men to also have a quick glance at what is being thrown in them.”

Vendors themselves are expected to help maintain cleanliness and to tell visitors not to throw garbage anywhere. The wide canal that separates the six-lane highway has remained virtually free of garbage common in most canals in the Philippines, and this is attributed mainly to the culture of discipline that city residents have developed through decades of a strong-willed city government.

Paniza said the reduced number of stalls from a high of more than 700 was due to recent changes made to increase security mobility and ease of flow of visitors’ traffic. A huge area was freed near the sidewalk and a small alley divides the two rows of stalls. A space of 10 meters from each checkpoint was also freed to allow security personnel to have a wider view of people coming in and out of the strip.

The nigh market strip is intermittently cut by an intersecting road, each section with each own security entrance and exit, and security personnel are also posted at side roads.

Paniza said the interagency body managing the night market has asked the barangays to check and monitor the residences which operate boarding houses along the night market strip. “The barangays have complied with this to ensure that boarders and visitors in these boarding houses are properly identified by their landlords,” he said.

Six patrol cars are posted on strategic spots along the entire strip and an armored tank is posted outside the spot where the bomb exploded in 2016. A memorial has been installed at the exact spot of the blast.

Paniza said stall renters have been apprised also of the security protocol to check their storage areas beside their stalls, as well as in the roadside or rented houses near the strip “to allow us to check on what are contained in the sacks, luggage and other items.”

“We have no more time to check individually on the things and carts they bring into their stalls, so we cleared a small strip along the canal to allow our bomb-sniffing dogs to go around,” he added.

Best practice

THE Roxas night market has been

the subject of several studies, films and social-media buzz.

“There were studies from the Ateneo and the University of the Philippines, including the likelihood of extending the strip up to the coastal area,” he said.

The night market was also the backdrop of a love story made by an indie filmmaker, Paniza added.

Although the enterprise was inspired by the Tagum City experience, several other cities have taken a cursory look at imitating the concept. Zamboanga City, for instance, has engaged city officials to redesign its own night market, currently composed of ukay-ukay items, to add food stalls.

On ordinary days, the Davao night market is a bustling area of 4,000 people, reaching as many as threefold during special occasions such as the Araw ng Dabaw and Kadayawan.

From only a concept to ease the sidewalks, the activity has turned into a multimillion-peso enterprise with almost uniform accounts from stall renters of highly profitable selling at the strip. A Maranao woman selling tempered glass and body casing for cellphones earns an average of P6,000 and food stall renters not less than P4,000.

For Raisa Lao, 39, sales of her batik clothing and bag accessories dipped at the start of the year, doubly affected by the coronavirus disease, “because these items are popular mostly among visitors from Luzon and abroad.” Only a few locals take interest because the items are common ware in Minda­ nao, she added. Only lately have the sales risen, and now she averages P5,000 a night. Still, “it’s half of the average of P10,000 in previous years,” she added.

The city government has emphasized that it was not interested in the income it is deriving from the night market. “Mayor Sara Duterte has strictly instructed us that the night market should be allotted only to city residents who have no jobs or livelihood,” Paniza said.

What they did was to shorten the rights to only three months, with raffling done every quarter.

“We have to provide opportunity to thousands of others who want to partake of the opportunity,” Paniza added.

The idea was to allow a renter to generate savings and establish her own—and more permanent— business elsewhere. “We want the ambulant vendors to reap the fruit of this enterprise but we want them not to permanently sell here because of the many others waiting in line to have the opportunity to take a good shot at their future,” he said.

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BusinessMirror

www.businessmirror.com.ph • Editor: Vittorio V. Vitug

BTr data: Budget surplus 48.26% lower in January 2020 at P23B

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By Bernadette D. Nicolas

HE national government (NG) booked a narrower budget surplus for January as government disbursements outpaced revenue collection for the month.

Latest data released by the Bureau of the Treasury (BTr) showed the NG posted a budget surplus of P23 billion for January, significantly lower by 48.26 percent, or P21.5 billion, than the same month last year.

In January 2019, the government recorded a budget surplus of P44.5 billion due to lower spending caused by the delay in the passage of the national budget.

Broken down, revenue collections for the month amounted to P294.6 billion, up by 14.76 percent, or P37.9 billion, from last year’s P256.7 billion.

Of the total collec tions for Januar y, 86 percent, or P253.9 billion, was sourced from tax collections while the remaining 14 percent, or P40.8 billion, came from non-tax revenue.

The Bureau of Internal Revenue’s collection for January increased by 5.30 percent year-onyear to reach P194.9 billion from last year’s P185.1 billion.

On the other hand, the Bureau of Customs’ collections for the month amounted to P55.9 billion, notching a double-digit growth of 15.51 percent from P48.4 billion it collected in the same period in 2019.

As for the BTr, its total income collected reached P28.4 billion, soaring almost threefold from last year’s P9.6 billion.

The increase was driven by the P17.3 b i l l i o n d i v i d e n d re m i t t a n c e f ro m t h e Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) and P1.4 billion increase in Bond Sinking Fund (BSF) investment income.

Meanwhile, revenue from other offices

(other non-tax, including privatization proceeds and fees and charges) for the first month of the year also grew by 3.93 percent year-on-year to P12.4 billion from last year’s P11.9 billion.

Faster government spending was recorded in the first month of the year amounting to P271.6 billion, surging by 27.99 percent, or P59.4 billion, from last year’s P212.2 billion.

Government expenditures accelerated due to the timely release of the January 2020 Internal Revenue Allotment (IRA) along with funds for the newly created Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM), as well as payments for negotiated checks issued in the latter part of 2019.

The BTr recalled that the release of January 2019 IRA amounting to P48.0 billion slid to February 2019 due to the delay of the passage of the national budget.

Primary expenditures, or expenditures net of interest payments for the month, amounted to P210.2 billion, growing by 26.39 percent year-on-year from January 2019’s P166.3 billion.

Moreover, interest payments increased by 33.76 percent year-on-year to P61.4 billion from last year’s P45.9 billion mainly due to coupon payments for Treasury Bonds, discount on Treasury bills, and the timing of payments for Global Bonds.

I nte re s t p ay m e nt s co m p r i s e d 2 2 . 6 1 percent of the total expenditures for the month, higher than last year’s share of 21.64 percent. Interest payments as a percentage of total revenues went up to 20.84 percent from 17.88 percent a year ago.

The government net of interest payments, meanwhile, registered a primary surplus of P84.5 billion for the month, decreasing by 6.63 percent or P6.0 billion from P90.5 billion the previous year.

THREE DOMESTIC CARRIERS SLASH FLIGHTS AFTER METRO MANILA QUARANTINE ORDER

By Recto Mercene

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OLLOWING the government’s ban on all forms of travel­- land, air, and sea—to and from Metro Manila for one month starting March 15, the country’s three largest commercial carriers have announced their respective responses relative to the suspension of flights.

President Duterte announced during a news conference in Malacanang Thursday night that the government is adopting the draconian measures to prevent the spread of Covid-19.

So far, the country has recorded 52 confirmed cases and five deaths from the deadly disease.

Philippine Airlines (PAL) said 65 daily round-trip flights would be affected, while AirAsia said 102 flights would likely be to be dropped “between Manila and outlying domestic destinations.”

On the other hand, Cebu Pacific (CEB) did not give a tally, claiming that the matter of suspension would be studied closely “since March 15 is still two days away.”

“We are awaiting official advice from our government regulators. We will provide updates as soon possible,” said CEB spokesman Charo Logarta-Lagamon.

“In the meantime, should you wish to forego travel, you may opt to take any of the following options: n Free rebooking-Change fee is waived.

Fare difference may apply. n Travel fund-Put the full cost of the ticket in a travel fund. The travel fund can be redeemed within 180 days and can be used for bookings as far as 12 months out.

Lagamon said CEB flights continue to operate as scheduled, while at the same time, saying the airline continue to receive rebooking and cancellation requests from their passengers due to concerns over Covid-19.

CEB said passengers traveling to Philippines and international destinations from March 10 to April 30, 2020, would be offered “free rebooking, place the full cost of the ticket in a travel fund which can then be used as payment for a future booking.”

The travel fund is valid for 180 days and can be used for bookings as far as 12 months out.

Lagamon said new flights booked from March 10 to April 30, regardless of travel date and route, can avail of CEB Flexi for free. CEB Flexi enables travelers to rebook their flights up to two times, fare difference may apply. Simply select the “CEB Flexi” add-on during booking,” Lagamon said.

Legacy carrier PAL, meanwhile, advises passengers of affected flights to avail of any of the following options: n Rebook their flight to a new travel date after April 14, 2020, with waivers of rebooking fees. n Refund the full cost of the ticket with waivers of fees. n Reroute their ticket on the same fare class, fare difference rules apply.

PAL spokesman Cielo Villaluna urged holders of tickets issued by travel agents to contact, or visit, the nearest partner travel agency for their rebooking needs.

“Our international flights and domestic flights on routes to and from Cebu, Clark and Davao [other than Manila] shall continue to operate within the period March 15 to April 14,” Villaluna said.

“PAL will provide further updates and as of this time, the airline is awaiting the official guidelines in relation to the implementation of the temporary suspension of domestic flights to/ from Manila,” she added.

“Rest assured that we will comply with all government mandates and continue to coordinate closely with the government authorities in the interest of the health and safety of all our passengers,” Villaluna said.

On the other hand, AirAsia announced that flights not bound for Manila out of other AirAsia’s hubs in the Philippines - Clark, Cebu and Kalibo - will continue their normal operations.

“Guests may check on their flights via the ‘Flight Status’ function on the airasia.com web site and mobile app.”

AirAsia said all affected guests will be promptly notified via e-mail, or SMS, and strongly encourages guests to update their contact details using the “My Bookings” feature on airasia.com to ensure that they receive timely notifications.

AirAsia is making provisions for guests affected by the flight cancellations and travel restrictions following the Philippine government’s latest directive, as follows: n Move flight: One-time flight change to a new travel date on the same route within 90 calendar days from the original flight time without additional cost, subject to seat availability, or n Credit account: Retain the value of your fare in your AirAsia Big Loyalty account for future travel with AirAsia. The online credit account is to be redeemed for booking within 180 calendar days from the issuance date for your travel with us. The actual travel dates can be after the expiry date as long as our flight schedule is out, or n Full refund: Obtain a full refund to your original payment method for the amount equivalent to your booking.

The carrier said “guests whose travel plans are affected by restrictions or cancellations are advised to refer to the Covid-19 Refund Request Guide or visit support-airasia.com and speak to Ava for 24/7 assistance. Guests may reach AirAsia Philippines’ emergency hot line at (02)8722-2742.

“We are experiencing a higher than usual volume of queries and requests at this time following the Covid-19 outbreak. We continue to do all we can to best assist any guest affected by a disrupted service during this period and thank them for their patience,” AirAsia said.

The airline said they understands the urgency of customer queries relating to the current health situation and any changes to their travel plans. “The company has made it a priority to persistently work with various partner organizations, including banks, to immediately address guests’ concerns,” the airline said.

Guests may view an up-to-date status of their refund requests by logging on to their Big Member Account on airasia.com.

AirAsia assures passengers that their safety and well-being and Allstars is their top priority.

“AirAsia is complying with advice and regulations from the local government, civil aviation authorities, global and local health agencies, including the World Health Organization.”

AirAsia is closely monitoring this situation and reserves the right to announce further policies responsive to the latest developments.

Saturday, March 14, 2020

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Regular, work business during Metro quarantine–Palace

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By Samuel P. Medenilla & Butch Fernandez

HE government on Friday assured work and business operations in Metro Manila will continue to be as normal as possible for the duration of a community quarantine that will be imposed beginning on Sunday.

Dur ing a news br iefing in Malacañang, Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) Secretary Ramon Lopez said the Metro-wide quarantine will not lead to the suspension of business operations in the National Capital Region (NCR).

“Offices, restaurants, malls and banks will remain open. Work will also continue,” Lopez said.

Likewise, the trade chief said the supply of goods, both food and non-food items, for the concerned establishments will remain unhampered since cargo trucks will be exempted from the check points that will be setup around NCR as part of its community quarantine.

By 12 a.m. of March 15, land, domestic air, and domestic sea travel to and from Metro Manila shall be suspended, as part of the government efforts to contain the rising cases of coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) in the said region.

The community quarantine is expected to end by 11:59 of April 14. Cabinet Secretary Karlo Nograles, however, said the Metro Manila travel restrictions will be

reviewed on a daily basis and may be lifted earlier if the situation allows it.

Quarantine exemption

ASIDE from cargo trucks, Lopez said workers will also be exempted from the travel restriction.

“All they have to do is show their IDs. That is why companies will be required to issue IDs to their employees especially those living outside of Metro Manila, or show proof of employment [so they could be exempted],” Lopez said.

He said they are also encouraging private companies to engage in flexible work arrangements, such as reduction of work hours and/or workdays; rotation of workers; and forced leaves to minimize the possible exposure of their employee from Covid-19.

With the sufficiency of necessary goods in the NCR, Nograles urged the public not to hoard food items and other essential goods during the community quarantine.

Lopez said they also intensified their monitoring the supplies of

retailers and other establishments to ensure they will not engaged in hoarding of goods.

Those, which will be found to be engaged in the illegal activity will face charges from the authorities.

Sen. R isa Hontiveros, meanwhile, prodded the Duterte administration to promptly clarify the imposition of community quarantine in Metro Manila due to Covid-19, saying: “ Tama na ang pagiging magulo. The people have the right to a coherent government.”

Hont i v e ro s re m i nd e d t he administration officia ls concerned that “the Filipino people have been expecting a cohesive plan from our leaders. They deser ve and need the government to exercise competent leadership in order to shepherd us out of the Covid-19 pandemic.

In add ition, the gover nment should strive to express clear communication of its policies and guidelines surrounding the containment of this pandemic.”

According to the opposition senator, “there is a lot to clarify.”

She pressed the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases to immediately release specific guidelines and parameters of the community quarantine being imposed in Metro Manila, especially its effects on the daily lives of Filipinos and of those who work within the Metro but reside elsewhere.

“Our public health and local government authorities must be at the helm of this community quarantine, subject to proper parameters and regular review, in order to guide and assure the wor-

ried public,” the senator stressed, adding: “We must not forget those who are most vulnerable and who have the least among us: the daily wage-earning poor and the loss of jobs that is already following in the wake of this pandemic.”

Hontiveros called on the Department of Social Welfare and Development and local government units to ensure sufficient food supply through local food banks. “Dapat may pagkain sa bawat hapag-kainan. Likewise, I am urging the Department of Labor and Employment to facilitate immediate cash flow to families who will lose their livelihood in the same light due to Covid-19.”

The senator affirmed that she has “full trust in the capacity of our health professionals to carry out the necessary measures to contain the virus’ transmission,” adding that she is also extending her gratitude to “our frontline health workers who have been working tirelessly in the name of public health and safety.”

“You are the real heroes and I am thankful for your service to our people. In this same line, the protection and welfare of health workers must be prioritized. They must have ample protective gear, compensation, and other forms of support in the conduct of their duties,” Hontiveros said.

She added that this pandemic is “a test of our humanity and institutions. Getting our act together means life or death to many Filipinos. A difficult path to recovery lies ahead. But I have faith in the strength of our people; that as one nation we will overcome, as we Filipinos always have.”

Covid-19 death toll rises to five T

HREE more Filipinos with coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) have expired, bringing the death toll in the Philippines to five, the Department of Health (DOH) reported Thursday night.

In an announcement, DOH identified the three as Patients No. 5, No. 6, and No. 37.

Patient No. 6, the wife of Patient No. 5, was initially admitted at Cardinal Santos Medical Center and transferred to the Research Institute for Tropical Medicine.

The DOH said “she suddenly experienced difficulty in breathing and was intubated late evening of March 11.”

On the same night, the patient died from acute respiratory distress syndrome due to severe pneumonia secondary to Covid-19.

DOH said a repeat chest x-ray showed progressive pneumonia. Patient No. 6 is a known diabetic.

Meanwhile, Patient No. 5, her husband, expired late evening of March 11, also from acute respiratory

distress syndrome due to severe pneumonia secondary to the disease. He is a known diabetic and hypertensive who developed an acute kidney injury.

The third and latest death caused by the disease was Patient No. 37, an 88-year-old female and resident of Pasig City.

She was admitted on March 6 at the Philippine Heart Center after experiencing onset of symptoms on February 28.

“The patient expired this afternoon with Acute

Respiratory Failure as the cause of death,” the DOH said. She was reported to have existing hypertension.

This developed following the death of Patient No. 35, the 67-year-old wife of Patient No. 34. The country’s first fatality was a Chinese national who was also the first recorded Covid-19 death outside China.

As of Thursday, the DOH reported a total of 52 confirmed Covid-19 cases in the Philippines.

PNA with Claudeth Mocon-Ciriaco

Govt, church ban ‘risky’ gatherings in bid to control coronavirus spread

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ONCERTS and conventions and other mass gatherings will be banned in Metro Manila for the duration of its 30-day community quarantine, which will start on Sunday.

“The government is also strictly prohibiting mass gatherings during this period.

These include concerts, large seminars and conventions, spor ting events and social gatherings,” Cabinet Secretary Karlo Nograles said during a news briefing in Malacañang on Friday morning.

Nograles said the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF-EID) made the recommendation as part of government efforts to slowdown the spread of coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) in Metro Manila.

As of press time, he said they will still decide if the prohibition will also include worship services, and religious gatherings such as weddings.

The IATF will be releasing its position on the matter, which he said, he hopes will be

complied with by.

“We know this will be a big adjustment for us here in Metro Manila. But we ask everyone to cooperate because the consequences of allowing these gatherings during this crucial time could be more painful in the long run,” Nograles said.

“The cooperation of everyone is a crucial component of our campaign to beat this disease; if we remain calm, continue to be vigilant, and take the necessary precautions,” he added.

As of March 12, the Department of Health (DOH) already registered 52 cases of Covid-19 nationwide.

Church response

BUT even without the IATF position, some dioceses in Metro Manila of the Catholic Church have already canceled masses and religious activities for several days to protect parishioners from possible exposure from Covid-19.

In a pastoral letter, Apostolic Administrator of Manila Broderick Pabillo said there will be Holy Masses and activities in all churches, including the Archdiocese of Manila from March 14 to March 20.

For his part, Cubao Bishop Honesto F. Ongtioco decreed the cancellation of all public masses in the diocese of Cubao starting March 14 until further notice.

The Diocese of Pasig also implemented a similar no mass polic y, which will star t on Saturday and would last for an indefinite period.

Novaliches Bishop Roberto Gaa said the suspension of masses for the Diocese of Novaliches started on March 13 and will last up to April 14 - the period when the community quarantine for Metro Manila is scheduled to be lifted.

During the period when there will be no live masses. Gaa urged the faithful to par ticipate in Eucharistic celebrations through the radio (Radio Veritas 846AM),

television (TVMaria) and social media platform of the Church.

Wedding ban

WEDDINGS will also be generally be prohibited during the community quarantine although Trade Secretary Ramon Lopez said it might be allowed if the number of people, who participate would be small enough.

Lopez assured the couples, who would be forced to postpone their weddings due to the community quarantine, could refund their down payments from hotel and restaurants.

“There should be a refund [because the reason for the cancellation] is force majeur,” Lopez explained. He said couples, who will not be granted the refund, can file a complaint to the concerned establishment to the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) through its 1348 hot line.

“DTI will side with them so the establishment will make the refund,” Lopez assured.

Samuel P. Medenilla

A4

Saturday, March 14, 2020

ExportUnlimited BusinessMirror

PHL is one of only two countries with positive export growth in Jan

A

FTER posting a strong finish in December 2019, Philippine merchandise exports continued on a growth path to post a 9.7-percent increase to reach $5.8 billion in January from $5.3 billion in the same period last year, preliminary Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) data showed.

The countr y’s export performance in Januar y and that of Thailand made them the only t wo cou nt r ie s a mon g A s i a n neighbors posting a positive year-on-year growth.

“The Philippines remains resilient amid global concerns, with export growth increasing amid adversity. DTI [Department of Trade and Industry] aims to use this momentum to further grow our exports and help bridge the trade gap,” said Trade Secretary Ramon Lopez.

Seven out of the top 10 export commodities grew in sales in

January, with the biggest gainers being other mineral products (68.3 percent) gold (46.0 percent) and electronic products (15.8 percent). Other gainers were cathodes (10.1 percent); other manufactured goods (7.4 percent); ignition wiring set and other wiring sets used in vehicles, aircraft and ships (1.3 percent); and chemicals (1.2 percent).

The majority of merchandise exports were still electronic products at 55.9 percent, while nonelectronic products made up the remaining 44.1 percent. Despite

the Taal Volcano eruption and the onset of Covid-19, electronics exports performed very well, growing 15.8 percent to $3.2 billion from $2.8 billion in January 2019.

“The DTI-Trade Promotions Group is pursuing more product diversification initiatives and strategic trade missions to further increase Philippine exports,” said DTI-TPG Undersecretary Abdulgani Macatoman.

After 24 consecutive months of decline, exports of nonelectronics bounced back to the positive territory, increasing by 2.7 percent to $2.6 billion in January 2020 from $2.5 billion in the same period last year. The top contributors to this increase were mineral products, fruits and vegetables, travel good and handbags, coconut products, and nonmetallic and mineral manufactures.

The top 10 export destinations were China (including Hong Kong), the United States, Japan, Singapore, South Korea, Thailand, Germany, Netherlands, Taiwan, and Malaysia. Exports increased in 9 out of 10 destinations, except the

Netherlands where it declined by 2 percent. Total exports to the top 10 markets increased by 11.4 percent to $5.0 billion in January this year from $4.5 billion last year.

Despite the virus fears, exports to China increased by 7 percent; while exports to Hong Kong grew even bigger at 25.5 percent.

Export growth to these combined markets stood at 16.3 percent in the review period, compared to the negative 7.7 percent posted in the same period last year. Together, they contributed $1.5 billion, the biggest export receipt in the country’s total merchandise exports and the biggest share at 25.8 percent.

“With the evolving situation of the Covid-19 outbreak which has brought about disruptions in supply chains and weighed down consumption in most major markets, we could only hope that the January performance could at least be sustained and still enable Philippine merchandise exports to finish 2020 in positive territory,” said DTIExport Marketing Bureau Director Senen Perlada.

EXPORTS SEEN LOSING $300M AMID FEARS OF VIRUS SPREAD

T

HE Philippines is expected to lose $300 million in export revenues as the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) slowed down China’s exports in intermediate inputs, a study published by United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) showed.

According to the UNCTAD study, the 2-percent reduction of China exports in intermediate inputs that are integrated in the global value chains have affected many economies around the world, including the Philippines.

UNCTAD data showed that by sectors in the Philippines, the biggest loss is seen in communication equipment, which is expected to lose $115 million in exports.

This is followed by office machinery, with exports seen to reduce by $77 million; electrical machinery, to lose $42 million; and automotive to lose exports revenues of $22 million.

“Chinese manufacturing is essential to many global value chains, especially those related to precision instruments, machinery, automotive and communication

equipment. Any significant disruption in China’s supply in these sectors is deemed to substantially affect producers in the rest of the world,” the UNCTAD report said.

But the Philippines is not one of the most impacted economies as Covid-19 hits the manufacturing powerhouse.

UNCTAD cited that the most affected economies, whose industries are reliant on Chinese suppliers are the European Union, the United States, Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, Vietnam and Singapore.

UNCTAD forecast that reduction to EU’s

exports due to slowdown in Chinese exports of intermediate inputs will stand at $15.6 billion; $5.7 billion for the US; $5.2 billion for Japan; $3.8 billion for South Korea; $2.6 billion for Taiwan; $2.3 billion for Vietnam; and $2.2 billion for Singapore.

“China has become the main supplier of intermediate inputs for manufacturing companies abroad. As of today, about 20 percent of global trade in manufacturing intermediate products originates from China, up from 4 percent in 2002,” the study noted. PNA

PHILIPPINES RETAINS TOP SLOT IN GLOBAL ABACA PRODUCTION

W

HILE the Philippines remain as the world’s leading abaca producer, the market supply for fiber products could be raised if other countries in tropical and humid locations were to establish a global industry to meet rising demand.

“The knowledge and the experience about production and processing gained can easily be transferred to other countries,” said a future fibers report released by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations.

The report said Ecuador is the secondlargest producing country, where abaca is grown in large estates and production is increasingly mechanized, even as the crop is also cultivated in other Southeast Asian countries.

It added that abaca, also called Manila hemp, has a high potential to substitute glass fibers in multiple automotive parts, and is currently well recognized as a material for paper products.

The report also underscored various uses of abaca, such as in making ropes, twines, fishing lines and nets, as well as coarse cloth for sacking.

“There is also a flourishing niche market for abaca clothing, curtains, screens and furnishings, but paper-making is currently the main use of the fiber,” it said.

Most of the abaca fiber is pulped and processed into specialty papers, including tea and coffee bags, sausage casing paper, currency notes, cigarette filter papers, medical/food preparation/disposal papers,

high-quality writing paper, vacuum bags, among others.

The repor t said abaca is currently being used for “soft” applications in the automotive industry as a filling material for bolster and interior trim parts.

Howe ve r, g i ve n i t s s t ro n g te n s i l e strength, it can also be used for “harder” applications for exterior semi-structure components as a substitute for glass fiber in reinforced plastic components.

“Replacing glass fibers with natural fiber can reduce the weight of automotive parts and facilitates more environmentally friendly production and recycling of the parts,” it said.

“Owing to the extremely high mechanical strength of the fiber, as well

as its length, application of abaca—even in highly stressed components—offers great potential for different industrial applications,” it added.

According to Philippine abaca industry road map 2018-2022, exports of abaca fiber and manufacture generated an average of $97.1 million per year in the last 10 years. Some $84.9 million came from abaca manufactures, such as pulp, cordage, yarns, fabrics and fiber crafts.

The remaining $12.2 million was from raw fiber expor ts. Europe, specifically t h e U n i te d K i n g d o m , i s t h e p re m i e r destination of abaca fiber followed by Asia, with Japan as the leading buyer.

All abaca pulp was expor ted for specialty paper manufac tures.

Editor: Vittorio V. Vitug • www.businessmirror.com.ph

Coronavirus going global means China’s factories will get hit again

J

UST as China’s factories get back on their feet after being laid low by the coronav irus, a drop in demand from their biggest trading partners around the world is coming back to give them another hit.

M a nu f a c t u r i n g f i r m s a c ro s s China told Bloomberg News that they are close to being able to resume full production as domestic infections slow to a trick le, but a re now fac i ng c a nceled orders and fewer opportunities to gain new customers as the v irus grips elsewhere. “ We are actually more worried about the development of the epidemic in Europe and the US, which will affect their domestic consumption,” said Mark Ma, owner of Shenzhen-based Seabay International Freight For warding Ltd. The company relies on those regions for 80 percent of its business, with about a third of the goods it handles being sold on Amazon. “China’s manufacturers have no big problems taking orders and producing, the main problem now is how the epidemic is contained overseas.”

Weaker demand from developed markets is now posing a fresh risk to China’s restart, with the world ’s second-l a rgest economy a l ready facing its first quarterly contraction in decades and the weakest year since the early 1990s.

That could feed a global v icious cycle, which in a worst-case scenario, adds to recessions in the US, the euro area and Japan to chop some $2.7 trillion off global output, according to Bloomberg Economics. “ The feedback loop is emergi ng ,” s a id Tr i n h Ng uyen , Hong Kong-based senior economist at Nati xis. “A s China recovers and resumes its supply chains, it w ill be hit by demand shocks from its ow n subdued demand and an increasingly infected world.”

A lmost 81 percent of 2,552 Chinese companies involved in trade have resumed operations, according to a customs administration sur vey released on Saturday. Export data for Januar y and Februar y published at the weekend gave a taste however of what may lie ahead: Sales abroad dropped more than expected, by 17.2 percent in dollar terms.

Dav id Ni runs a Nanjing-based company that buys aluminum alloy car wheels from Chinese producers and exports them to US retail outlets, and he was planning to showcase his products at the Inspired Home Show in Chicago in mid-March. It was canceled last week, handing him a demand-side problem to match the supply-chain difficulties he already faced in China due to factor y closures.

“I’d booked hotel, f light ticket and a booth—ever ything was ready,” said Ni, who’s based in Los A ngeles. “But seeing the situation

in the US, I began to feel afraid of going on business trips.”

Producers are being squeezed as well. Jing Yuan is the chief executive officer of a company making capacitors, a vital part of electronic circuit boards, in A nhui prov ince.

He said that his firm has been fully back at work since the end of Februar y, but suppliers of its raw materials in South Korea have raised prices by 50 percent and deliver y time has more than doubled. South Korea has been one of the worst-hit nations by the virus outside China, w ith more than 7,000 cases.

A su r ve y b y M ade - i n- C h i n a . com—one of the main platforms connecting Chinese suppliers and global buyers—found that by late Februar y, 80 percent of manufacturing firms had resumed operations. By late April, says General Manager Li Lei, production capacity should be back to normal.

But there are knock-on effects.

The overseas companies they supply are only now feeling the effects of the time those Chinese factories spent off line, according to Ben Chu, the web site’s editor in chief. “Due to the lag ging effect, the other parts of the global supply chain outside China are now in the midst of difficulty,” said Chu.

Second wave

THE risk that the outbreak isn’t actua l ly under control in China also can’t be discounted. With the return-to-work process as yet incomplete, China could face a resurgence in cases once workers are fully back, and doubt remains over whether the government statistics show the full picture.

A manager for overseas business at a Zhejiang-based lighting company, who asked not to be named, said the v irus has forced them to cancel, or postpone, client v isits and exhibitions, meaning a likely drop in orders from countries that have been hardest hit by the epidemic, including South Korea, Italy and Germany.

Despite t he g r i m out look , C h ina’s pol ic y-ma kers are st ic k ing to a relatively modest roster of stimu lu s so fa r, wh ic h h a s foc u sed on t r i m m i ng m a rket i nterest rates, a nd c ut t i ng fees a nd t a xes for compa n ies. At t he of f ic i a l le ve l, t here’s l it t le t a l k of a pac k age of t he sc a le t h at fol lowed t he g loba l f inancia l cr isis in 20 08. T hat may yet c h a nge a s t he pol ic y-m a k i ng c yc le i n B eiji ng resu mes.

Chua Hak Bin, an economist at Maybank K im Eng Research Pte. in Singapore, sees the waves of infections happening elsewhere coming back to “ haunt” China.

T he economy “w i l l have to grapple w ith waves of secondar y shocks from the rest of the world even as the primar y shock ” is being contained, he said. Bloomberg News

www.businessmirror.com.ph

OurTime BusinessMirror

Nursing homes face unique challenge with coronavirus in US

CHR calls for passage of bill penalizing abuse of elderly

M IN this March 4, 2020, photo, seniors gather in an auditorium for morning announcements at Little Havana Activities and Nutrition Centers of Dade County Inc., in Miami. The new coronavirus is posing a special challenge for nursing homes and other facilities that provide care for the elderly. AP

M

IAMI—From Miami to Seattle, nursing homes and other facilities for the elderly are stockpiling masks and thermometers, preparing for staff shortages and screening visitors to protect a particularly vulnerable population from the coronavirus.

In China, where the outbreak began, the disease has been substantially deadlier for the elderly. In Italy, the epicenter of the virus outbreak in Europe, the more than 100 people who died were either elderly, sick with other complications, or both.

Of the 21 deaths across the US as of Sunday, at least 16 had been linked to a Seattle-area nursing home, along with many other infections among residents, staff and family members.

The Seattle Times reported that a second nursing home and a retirement community in the area had each reported one case of the virus.

That has put other facilities in the US on high alert, especially in states with large populations of older residents, such as Florida and California. About 2.5 million people live in long-term care facilities in the United States.

“For people over the age of 80... the mortality rate could be as high as 15 percent,” said Mark Parkinson, president of the nursing home trade group American Health Care Association.

The federal government is now focusing all nursing home inspections on infection control, singling out facilities in cities with confirmed cases and those previously cited for not following protocol.

Federal rules already require the homes to have an infection prevention specialist on staff, and many have long had measures in place to deal with seasonal flus and other ailments that pose a higher risk to the elderly.

Even so, facilities’ response to the coronavirus has varied across the country.

In Florida, where about 160,000 seniors live in nursing homes and assisted-living facilities, mandatory visitor screening is not in place “because we’re not at that stage,” said Kristen Knapp, a spokesman for the Florida Health Care Association.

But elder-care centers are posting signs urging visitors to stay away if they have symptoms, and are looking into alternate ways for families to connect, such as through video chats, Knapp said.

Concierges in the 14 Florida nursing homes run by the Palm Gardens corporation are now giving all visitors a short questionnaire asking about symptoms, recent travel and contact with others, said company Vice President Luke Neumann.

Neumann said the nursing homes also have purchased extra thermometers in case they need to check visitors’ temperatures and stockpiled preventive supplies, including medical masks, protective eyewear and gowns. In the laundry rooms, they are making sure to use enough bleach and heat to kill any lingering virus germs, he said.

At the South Shore Rehabilitation and Skilled Care Center south of Boston, patient Leo Marchand keeps a container of disinfecting wipes on a shelf by his bed that he uses several times a day. The 71-year-old Vietnam veteran and retired truck driver has chronic obstructive pulmonary disease that makes it difficult for him to breathe. The possibility of contracting the coronavirus scares him.

“It’s a concern,” Marchand said.

“It really is.”

Many facilities across the country have said they were having trouble getting medical masks and gowns because of shortages.

More intensive screening of visitors, meanwhile, is not sitting well with some.

“Some of the visitors have been quite reluctant to comply, and that has been stressful,” said Janet Snipes, executive director of Holly Heights Nursing Center in Denver.

Under federal regulations, nursing homes are considered a patient’s residence, and the facilities want to keep them connected with family, especially when they are near death.

“I don’t think you can flat-out prevent visitors,” said Dr. David A. Nace, director of long-term care and flu programs at the University of Pittsburgh Department of Medicine. He oversees 300 facilities in Pennsylvania.

For now, facilities in most states are stressing basic precautions, including handwashing and coughing etiquette.

Centers throughout the country are also trying to prepare their staffs for the worst.

An adult daycare center in Miami’s Little Havana neighborhood bought long-lasting prepared meals in preparation for possible shortages. The Hebrew Home in Riverdale, New York, is running nursing staff through drills to see how they will handle situations at the 750-bed facility if the virus progresses. Their IT department is setting up infrastructure for staff to work remotely if they become sick.

“If one of our sites has an outbreak, we quickly will deplete the staff in that location,” said Randy Bury, CEO of The Good Samaritan Society, one of the largest not-forprofit providers of senior-care services in the country, with 19,000 employees in 24 states.

Some families are considering pulling their loved ones out of facilities.

Kathleen Churchyard said her family has decided to move her 80-year-old mother out of her retirement community near Jacksonville, Florida, and into her sister’s home nearby if the virus is confirmed in the area.

Churchyard, who lives in Concord, North Carolina, worries her mother is not taking it seriously, and is particularly worried about her dining hall.

“I tried to get her to buy some stuff to prepare.... She said, ‘No. If [the virus] takes me, it takes me,’” Churchyard said. AP

Editor: Angel R. Calso • Saturday, March 14, 2020 A5

By Lade Jean Kabagani

ANILA—The Commission on Human Rights (CHR) called for the passage of House Bill 7030 or the Anti-Elder Abuse Act, which seeks to protect senior citizens from any kind of abuse, as it slated activities for the annual Grandparents Week celebration from March 11 to 18.

In a statement on Wednesday, CHR Spokesman Jacqueline de Guia said the commission hopes that the “government will be able to continuously sustain its efforts in caring for

the elderly.”

She said the bill pushes mechanisms for legal, social and moral redress to penalize individuals who abuse senior citizens.

House Bill 7030 seeks to punish individuals with jail time and fines for abuses against senior citizens that range from physical, psychological, economic, sexual, and neglect and abandonment.

Meanwhile, de Guia said the weeklong celebration aims to give recognition to the importance of fostering love and care for the elderly.

“There’s a need to inculcate in the minds of the youth the importance of giving honor and respect to our lolos and lolas who play important roles in our society,” she said.

She sa id t he gover n ment, alongside the international community, has made recent strides to promote and protect the rights of the elderly.

“The Commission, thus, lauds the efforts of the Philippine government in the passage of the Republic Act 11350 or the National Commis-

sion of Senior Citizens Act—which creates the National Commission on Senior Citizens to ensure the full implementation of laws and programs concerning senior citizens— and President Duterte’s Executive Order 104, which sets a maximum drug retail price ceiling for at least 87 drug molecules, or the combination of medications within a single capsule,” she said.

The Department of Social Welfare and Development’s Social Pension Program for Indigent Senior Citizens, she said, proves the country’s commitment to bolster the social services afforded to the elderly.

The House of Representatives on February 4 has unanimously approved the proposed law on third and final reading.

The Grandparents Week is being observed under the Proclamation 757, series 1996. PNA

Over 900 drugstores in Region 8 to benefit the elderly

T

ACLOBAN CITY—Over 900 pharmacies in Eastern Visayas are expected to impose the new standard prices of some 87 expensive medicines, the Department of Health (DOH) said on Monday.

“The ceiling prices of these medicines, at the point of wholesale and retail, will be imposed both in public and private drug outlets starting May 17,” Minerva Molon, DOH regional director, said on Monday.

This includes chain and independent drugstores, hospital pharmacies, health maintenance organizations, among others, she added.

The new prescribed prices of medicines addressing leading diseases, such as hypertension, diabetes, chronic lung diseases, and major cancers are stipulated under the Executive Order 104 on maximum drug retail price (MDRP) signed on February 17.

DOH Region 8 National Drug Policy Officer Angela Bolos, in a separate interview, said copies of the expanded scope of MDRP have been distributed through the Drugstore Association of the Philippines and Philippine Pharmacist Association chapters in Eastern Visayas.

She clarified that existing stocks

of listed medicines will be allowed for disposal on the prevailing prices. However, prices will be strictly imposed on the effectivity date regardless of the status of the existing stocks.

“We are closely working with the Food and Drug Administration [FDA] and the Department of Trade and Industry [DTI] for the implementation of the new executive order,” Bolos said. The DOH will also deploy pharmacists to conduct price monitoring and inspection of drugstores.

The DOH said the new price matrix will also be placed prominently

Learn from the success of ‘Parasite’

By Nick Tayag

MY SIXTY-ZEN’S WORTH

B

Y winning the Oscar’s Best Picture, the Korean film Parasite not only made history, it also set a benchmark for the rest of Asian cinema. What’s our take home?

The remarkable feat of Parasite is not just a fluke or tsamba in our local lingo. It was, in fact, the culmination of decades of sustained growth of South Korean cinema. It was inevitable and, had been a long time coming, to be sure.

Korean films have been reaping awards in Cannes and Berlin, Venice and other international festivals. Breakthrough films like Oldboy and Burning helped pave the way for Parasite toward the Academy Awards.

The cultural environment is ripe for it. Korean cinema, together with the entire K-pop culture, has become global as Korean movies and tele-novelas are now ubiquitously watched around the world. Korean movies have even broke global box-office records, like Miracle in Cell No. 7, The Host and Train to Busan.

Bong Joon-ho, Park Chan-wook and other Korean directors have directed Hollywood movies, a recognition of their expertise and craftsmanship. Even Korean actors like Lee Byung-hun and Ma Dong-seok have been appearing in some Hollywood movies. South Korea’s Busan International Film Festival has now become Asia’s largest and most important film festival.

As a cinephile for over 60 years now (I saw my first film in 1957), I have seen the rise of Korean cinema in terms not only of output but level of quality. I was a fan of Korean glossy blockbusters

and creative genre films, which began to emerge in the late 1990s and 2000s, and started to attract significant international attention. Thanks to the proficient subtitling of their films, the rest of the world acquired a taste for them.

But it should be noted that while they score big in international film festivals, South Korean films are being patronized by local audiences.

Audience support. That’s the key factor in their success. They had a ready audience for them. To me, it’s the missing piece in our efforts to level up our local cinema. In our good-intentioned eagerness and enthusiasm to cultivate new filmmakers through film festivals, we may have forgotten the other part of the equation: the audience.

Sure, we have all these indie film festivals designed to offer films that are a notch higher in terms of content and style than what are being shown in the more mainstream, avowedly more commercial MMFF, Cinemalaya, QCinema, Cinema One Originals and so on. They are held one after the other, year after year. It’s a virtual cornucopia of fresh new films by our young filmmakers. But there is one problem: the mainstream audience does not come to these festivals.

For festival organizers, the gauge of commercial success is so low.

An audience of 5,000 for a 10-day festival is already something to brag about. (Disclosure: I am part of the technical working group of QCinema International Film Festival, so I would know).

Maybe Filipino viewers are not made aware enough about these festivals, or they simply resist going to these festivals. So how can we give them a taste of what a good film is when they don’t queue up in spite of the incentive of a much lower ticket price?

The common beef about indie film festivals is that they are closed events; it’s where you see the usual faces—elite and effete film cognoscenti and culturati who are into precious little art films. The dismissive justification is: if you don’t get it, it’s not for you. The upshot is only a few care to watch them. No wonder some cynics say that the term indie is derived from the expression “indie pinapanood.”

True or not, this snobbish aura attached to indie film festivals nevertheless needs to change if festivals are to stay vibrant and sustainable. Rather than be excluded, ordinary citizens need to be encouraged to see these less watched films. They need to be coaxed, beguiled, and won over into becoming appreciative of films not for their star value, but for their content and craftsmanship. Let’s widen the circle exponentially, to include more and more, year after year.

The bottom line: let’s not only make good films, let’s also build the audience—people who will be taught to be critical and demanding. To echo the latest marketing buzz, let’s open up a “blue ocean” market and create new demand for well-made meaningful but engaging films. Let’s make watching indie films fashionable or, should I say, “cool.” That takes education and wider exposure.

In this light, I think Quezon City is in the right direction. Mayor Joy Belmonte hit the nail on the head in her keynote speech at the Seventh annual QCinema Awards, when she broached her idea about film viewers becoming educated jurors of films themselves and expanding the market for QCinema.

Mayor Belmonte said something

in each drug outlet, which is still subject to special discounts for senior citizens and persons with disabilities.

“We ensure the effective implementation and dissemination of guidelines to stakeholders. Violations of the price caps will be dealt with in accordance with the Cheaper Medicines Act and other relevant laws,” Molon said.

A total of 122 medicines have been considered for inclusion in the EO. The DOH, FDA and DTI are still reviewing and finalizing the price reduction of the remaining 35 drugs. PNA

about campus roadshows, which include the showing of QCinema winners with short lectures and open discussions. That’s smart. Let’s start them while they are young. To bring QCinema’s cinematic feast down to the grassroots, there have also been free film showings in the city’s barangays. Beyond the pleasure of watching, let’s stimulate discussions in the school, with family and friends and our different interpretations of the same film. As Mayor Belmonte puts it: “Cinema is a social activity…the meaning of a movie does not lie solely within the film itself but in the interaction of the film and the audience.”

Indeed, let’s encourage ordinary moviegoers to write reviews and be vocal about films. Sort of turning every moviegoer into a lay Richard Bolisay or Pauline Kael. This way we are actually taking part in the progress of our filmmakers, by pushing the boundaries of their imagination and creativity.

Making a “cinezen” out of every citizen makes business sense. With every “woke” moviegoer, the market continues to expand for quality film festivals, giving the mainstream commercial circuit a run for its money. By giving voice to an ordinary cinezen’s passion for cinema that is meaningful, provocative and progressive, may this one humble opinion stimulate more exciting discussions about the many ways to help put our cinema industry on the global stage (or, should I say, screen) in the years to come.

Let’s hope that other film festival organizers, as well as universities, would invest in pursuing developmental activities along the line of film appreciation and film criticism. Let us build critical, demanding cinema goers who will be the foundation for a vibrant new Philippine cinema that would, one day, make world history like Parasite.

So, hopefully, in the next editions of local film festivals, we won’t see the usual faces again and again.

A6

BusinessMi

Saturday, March 14, 2020 | Editor: Jun Lomibao | mirror_sports@yahoo.com.ph

CANCELING TOUR

PARIS-NICE ‘BEHIND CLOSED DOORS’

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HE organizers of Paris-Nice have announced restrictions to public access at the race in the wake of a French government limit on the size of gatherings in the light of the growing coronavirus epidemic.

The French health ministry issued a 1,000-person limit on any gathering on Sunday evening as the number of individuals infected with the Covid-19 reached 1,126—up 20 per cent from the previous day.

“In order to comply with the French Ministry of Health’s ban on gatherings of more than 1,000 people, the organizers of Paris-Nice have decided together with the government authorities to hold the race ‘behind closed doors’,” race organizer ASO announced on Monday.

“Public access will be restricted at the start and finish of each stage with a buffer zone within 100 meters of the podium at the start and 300 meters at the finish.

“The organizers of Paris-Nice call upon spectators to

‘DISASTE I

observe these new rules even though they stand in contrast to cycling’s tradition of bringing riders and fans together.”

Last week RCS Sport was forced to cancel or postpone its marquee spring events—Strade Bianche, Milan-San Remo and Tirreno-Adriatico—after the Italian government introduced stringent limitations on movement and public gathering because of the world’s second-largest outbreak of the coronavirus in northern Italy.

With local authorities saying six people at the UAE Tour were exposed to the virus and several teams were quarantined in Abu Dhabi as a result, five teams withdrew from Paris-Nice: Astana, CCC Team, Mitchelton-Scott, Team Ineos and UAE Team Emirates.

Race organizers decided to allow for an additional rider for each remaining team and new invitations to CircusWanty Gobert and B&B Hotels-Vital Concept.

The race got under way as scheduled last Sunday.

Cyclingnews

Pogačar sheds light on UAE quarantine

T

ADEJ POGAČAR has taken to his personal website to describe the ongoing quarantine he and his UAE Team Emirates teammates are being held under in the Arab country.

The 21-year-old has been held in a hotel along with fellow riders and staff since the end of the UAE Tour on February 27.

The team had initially voluntarily stayed behind in the country as a precautionary measure after two members of the race entourage tested positive for the Covid-19 coronavirus.

Though not confirmed, UAE Team Emirates staff members were thought to have been the two positives, while team sprinter Fernando Gaviria was later suspected of being among four riders at the race to have caught the virus.

Pogačar, who won what turned out to be the race’s final stage on Jebel Hafeet, wrote of the confusing situation endured in the early days of the outbreak, where all teams at the race were stuck in the hotel. After several days of testing, most were allowed to leave, with Cofidis, Groupama-FDJ, Gazprom-RusVelo and UAE Team Emirates remaining in lockdown.

“Today, March 9, 2020, is the 11th day that I remain locked in ‘my’ hotel room. It’s not really mine alone, as I share it with teammate Erik Bystrøm,” Pogačar wrote. “Who would have thought that things would get so complicated?

Nobody. Well, let’s go step by step, because the purpose and goal of all this was a stage race across the UAE. “After the presentation of [Stage 5] awards, we were transferred to the hotel in Abu Dhabi, and there, in the night, things started to happen. They found two members of the caravan who fell ill and tested positive for coronavirus.

“This meant that the last two stages were canceled in the morning. We remained locked at the hotel and were not allowed to leave our rooms until things would calm down and until all at the hotel would be tested for the virus.

“We had no real information and received notifications only scarcely. On Friday, we remained at our rooms instead of riding at the sixth level stage, and samples were taken during the day.”

Pogačar and his roommate tested negative for the virus

twice, but with six more people at the race testing positive, a 14-day quarantine was agreed.

Tuesday marked the 11th day Pogačar remains confined to his hotel room, though he admitted that conditions at the hotel make the isolation somewhat easier.

“Today is the 11th day I am ‘locked’ in a hotel room,” he wrote. “We are at the first floor of the Yas Marina Hotel, and, fortunately, this is a hotel of a higher category, so the rooms are a bit more spacious. The room has a quite large balcony, too, so this makes the life a little easier at least from this aspect.

“The hotel is looking after us well, the food is excellent, they only bring it in plastic, ring and leave it in front of the door; we return the empty packaging to the cart or tray in the corridor and they pick it up.

“We got training machines at our room, so we try to train at least a little. Of course, there is a TV, Internet, Netflix and PlayStation, so we can, at least, do something and pass the time.

“I only hope that things will go as planned and I will be able to go home at the end of next week.”

Pogačar, who finished second overall at the race, stopped short of prognostications about what will become of the European spring racing season, which has already been affected by the virus, with Strade Bianche, Tirreno-Adriatico and Milan-San Remo among races to have been canceled so far.

“It is hard to say what will happen to the racing—as you can see, matters change from one day to another or from one hour to the other—at the moment to the worse, as races are canceled, and teams like ours are also giving up competitions for some time. I just hope things will stabilize as soon as possible and slowly return to normal.

“Ah, and about the race...it concluded with the fifth stage and my victory! Overall, I was second, which is excellent, I am more than happy.” Cyclingnews

DAVID LAPPARTIENT hopes that the grand tours will be able to take place—but says that due to the situation in Italy, he is a little more worried today with the situation with the Giro d’Italia.

NTERNATIONAL Cycling Union (UCI) president David Lappartient has said that it would be a “disaster” for cycling if the Giro d’Italia and Tour de France cannot take place due to the spread of the Covid-19 in Europe.

Giro organizer RCS Sport has already been compelled to postpone Strade Bianche, TirrenoAdriatico, Milan-San Remo and the Giro di Sicilia, and all sporting events in the country have now been suspended until April 3 after the Italian government enacted stricter measures to combat the spread of the virus.

The measures raise questions about the feasibility of the 2020 Giro, which is scheduled to get underway a little over a month later. The Grande Partenza is fixed for May 9 in Budapest, with the race’s first stage on Italian roads due on May 12, when the caravan arrives in Sicily. The route then travels northwards ahead of the finish in Milan on May 31.

“That would be a disaster for our sport, of course, if we can’t have the Giro d’Italia or the Tour de France,” Lappartient told Reuters.

The Frenchman conceded that the tight time line means that the Giro is at risk, but he

expressed greater optimism that the worst of the crisis might have passed ahead of the Tour de France, which, this year, gets under way a week earlier than normal due to the Tokyo 2020 Olympics. The Grand Départ is fixed for June 27 in Nice.

“Maybe the gap of two months in between will have also some consequences on the virus. Maybe in summer we hope so, that it will, after the summit of the peak, decrease,” Lappartient said. “So we hope that these races will be able to take place. But we are, due to the situation in Italy, a little more worried today with the situation with the Giro d’Italia.

“We know what the decision from the Italian government is until April 3, but who knows what will be the situation after. So there is a potential risk that the Giro can be canceled,” he added.

CYCLING CLASSIC AT RISK

PARIS-NICE, which is organized by Tour owner ASO, is currently taking place despite the growing number of cases in France—1,412 as of Monday afternoon—and despite the withdrawal of seven WorldTour teams beforehand.

Prognosis worsens for Gran

T

WO of the world’s leading experts in global health and contagious diseases have given a gloomy prognosis for both the Giro d’Italia and the Tour de France, as the spread of the coronavirus continues to cut a swathe through the world’s sporting calendar.

The Giro d’Italia is due to start in Hungary on May 9 but is looking increasingly unlikely given the now nationwide restrictions of movement applied across Italy, and June’s Tour de France is potentially also at risk as positive cases continue to increase across Europe.

Devi Sridhar, Professor of Global Public Health at the University of Edinburgh, told Cyclingnews that there was no evidence to “suggest that coronavirus transmission will be affected by

TADEJ POGAČAR: There is TV, Internet, Netflix and PlayStation, so we can, at least, do something and pass the time.

better weather” and added that “postponing [sporting events] makes the most sense until we know exactly where the virus is and isn’t.”

Although French race organizer ASO have introduced new measures to separate athletes from spectators at the start and finishes during this week’s Paris-Nice, in line with the French government’s new edict limiting public gatherings to 1,000 people, these measures would be almost impossible to maintain in a three-week Grand Tour, attracting huge crowds to the roadside. The Italian decree makes it clear the race organizers are responsible for the application of any rules of crowd sizes and distances between spectators.

“Realistically we will only see new cases

RIDE AT U.C.I. HEADQUARTERS IN

T

HE International Cycling Union (UCI) World Cycling Centre (WCC) marked International Women’s Day on March 8 by hosting a large peloton made up of some 80 women for a guided bike ride starting and finishing at the center in Aigle, Switzerland.

The 45-km ride covered some of the course that athletes will tackle during the Aigle-Martigny 2020 UCI World Championships in September.

Retired professional rider Steve Morabito, who is ambassador and strategic manager of Aigle-Martigny’s sustainable development, designed Sunday’s course and was one of several men to accompany the women along the route.

Organized through the collaboration between Swiss Cycling, its #fastandfemaleSUI project, the AigleMartigny 2020 Organizing Committee and the UCI, the bike ride attracted many more cyclists than originally imagined.

“We were pleasantly surprised, almost shocked,” said former professional cyclist Emma Pooley (GBR), who is responsible for #fastandfemaleSUI. Now established in Switzerland, the 2010 UCI World Champion in the individual time trial, is

A global gathering for road safety in Stockholm

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ROUND the world, road traffic accidents take more than 1.3 million lives every year. Even more alarming is their impact on youth: according to the UN World Health Organization (WHO), road traffic injuries are the leading cause of death for children and young adults between the ages of five and 29.

How can the global community collaborate to reverse this trend? This was the key question addressed during the Third Global Ministerial Conference on Road Safety, cosponsored by the World Health Organization, which took place in Stockholm (Sweden) last week.

The event gathered 1,700 delegates from 140 countries, including Ministers of transport, health and interior from member-states, senior officials from United Nations (UN) agencies, representatives from the world of industry and research, international institutions and

nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), including cycling and walking advocacy organisations from around the world.

The conference marked the end of the UN Decade of Action for Road Safety 2011-2020 and the starting point for continued international collaboration on road safety toward 2030. The Stockholm Declaration—which calls for a new global target for reducing road deaths by 2030—was an essential outcome of this conference and was presented by the Swedish Minister for Infrastructure, Tomas Eneroth.

The statement connects road safety to the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, linking road safety to several targets set by the UN Sustainable Development Goals, including for climate action, gender equality, health and well-being, and

determined to see more women taking to their bikes and setting themselves sporting goals and challenges.

“There are women who are so strong but still don’t believe it,” laments Pooley.

“We also need to get rid of stereotypes that women shouldn’t get sweaty and dirty. I don’t actually think women have a problem with that, but society still does.”

She said the International Women’s Day ride was a wonderful opportunity for women of all levels to ride together.

Confirmed competitive cyclists— including 2019 European Games time trial winner and Swiss Champion Marlen Reusser—took part in the ride alongside the Talent Romandie team, leisure riders and mothers pulling their children in trailers. UCI representatives, UCI WCC trainee athletes and local politicians also joined the group.

“This kind of group experience can help women get over their fear or reticence, and encourage them to take up cycling,” said Pooley.

The women’s bike ride concluded with an aperitif and official ceremony at the headquarters of the UCI, whose first female director general also had a message for International Women’s Day. UCI News

sustainable cities and communities.

Focusing on active mobility, the Stockholm Declaration intends to “speed up the shift toward safer, cleaner, more energy efficient and affordable modes of transport and promote higher levels of physical activity, such as walking and cycling, as well as integrating these modes with the use of public transport to achieve sustainability.”

It also reflects the nine recommendations of the conference’s independent Academic Expert Group, developed to support a reduction of worldwide road deaths by one-half by 2030. Among the nine recommendations, two highlighted the need for measures to increase active mobility, which includes cycling and walking, among both children and the general public.

Numerous side events, hosted by organizations attending the conference, marked the week in Stockholm dedicated to road safety, with several initiatives also highlighting the need to promote and strengthen active mobility among and with the youth. UCI News

irror CYCLING

Saturday, March 14, 2020

R DE FRANCE AND GIRO D’ITALIA

Ivan Basso: Let’s stop virus together, let’s win together

ER’ FOR CYCLING In response to the French government’s prohibition on public gatherings of over 1,000 people, ASO has blocked the start and finish of stages to the public.

“As long as they say it is safe for the wider public, we see no need not to race.

But I fear that could all change in a matter of days,” Trek-Segafredo Sports Director Steven de Jongh said.

After Paris-Nice, the focus will shift to the cobbled Classics. Belgium, thus far, has 267 recorded cases of coronavirus and the Belgian government security council is set to meet in Brussels on Tuesday to discuss its response to the virus. Flanders Classics CEO Tomas van den Spiegel nonetheless evinced optimism that the races could proceed.

“There is a feeling that we are managing the coronavirus crisis well as a country,” he told Het Nieuwsblad. “But, of course, we are working on it.

“Together with virologist Marc van Ranst, we have compiled a list of measures to protect both riders and the public. We must be ready to implement the measures if necessary. Although,

of course, we do not know how the situation will evolve.”

The start of the 2020 Giro, meanwhile, is now just 60 days away, but Race Director Mauro Vegni is reluctant to countenance the prospect of the corsa rosa being canceled for the first time since 1945.

“Canceling the Giro would create a very complicated situation not only for cycling and for sport, but for the whole country,” Vegni said, according to Sporza. “I don’t even want to think about such an eventuality. The damage would be truly immense.”

TOUR DE NORMANDIE CALLED OFF

TOUR de Normandie organizers have canceled the 2.2 category stage race that was scheduled for March 23 to 27 in light of the French government’s decree banning.

The French government prohibited public gatherings of more than 1,000 people, when confirmed cases of Covid-19 neared 1,500. In response, Paris-Nice organizer ASO blocked the start and finish of stages to the public, but the WorldTour race is continuing, gatherings of

more than 1,000 people to fight the spread of the Covid-19.

“Cycling is a popular sport,” organizers said in a statement posted on the official race web site. “The Tour de Normandie is a popular festival, and must remain so. The whole world is experiencing an unprecedented situation which, makes us, the volunteer organizers of the Tour de Normandie, helpless.

CAPE EPIC ON AS SCHEDULED

THE 2020 Cape Epic is keeping abreast of health warnings, yet South Africa has not seen anything like the extreme public gathering constraints applied in Europe.

“We are monitoring the situation with public health officials and authorities, including the South Africa Department of Health. At this stage, the Western Cape government does not propose altering arrangements for public events, and therefore we will be proceeding with the Cape Epic as planned.”

Whereas Italy is now virtually in lockdown, South Africa has only experienced a few coronavirus infections.

The Cape Epic is scheduled to start this coming Sunday and organisers are mindful of the event’s diversity of riders. With many competitors flying in from Europe, Cape Epic race directors have reminded riders to apply the highest levels of personal hygiene in their home countries and when they are present at the event.

In the very unlikely scenario that the 2020 Cape Epic is called off, teams will forego their entry fees, as per the event’s standing rule on refunds due to a total race cancellation.

Riders from outside South Africa are reminded to familiarize themselves with travel restrictions from their country of origins.

There have been seven confirmed Covid-19 cases in South Africa from people returning from a ski trip in Italy—but the cases are in KwaZulu-Natal on the eastern side of the country far away from the Western Cape region, where the Cape Epic is held. The Western Cape has not had any coronavirus cases. As such, the local government has not felt compelled to institute any severe policies which could disrupt the race. Cyclingnews

F

IVAN BASSO lives between Milan and Varese, and issued his plea on behalf of the Lombardy region.

nd Tours as coronavirus crisis deepens coming down when we have been able to contain transmission of the virus from person to person,” Sridhar said. “Other sporting events are going ahead without having people watching but cycling seems to be an ‘open attendance’ sport, so it’s harder to manage in the same way.”

Looking ahead to both the Giro and the Tour, both of which have a race convoy well in excess of 1,000 people, Sridhar said: “The key question now is whether there is community spread in areas where the race will be.

“If there is, or clusters have been identified, then postponing makes the most sense until we know exactly where the virus is or isn’t.”

Meanwhile, Adam Kucharski, a mathematician at the London School of Hygiene

and Tropical Medicine, and author of The Rules of Contagion, told The New York Times that “some situations are more likely to spread infection than others.”

“We’ve found that, for things like Covid-19, it’s close-knit interactions that seem to be most important,” Kucharski said. “What we need to think about is not just how much transmission is happening, but where is that transmission happening.”

Both Sridhar and Kucharski advocate an immediate limiting of risky interactions that might further spread the disease.

“Think how to reduce those risky situations as much as possible,” Kucharski said.

“We have different scenarios,” Sridhar said.

“Best case, other countries can contain the virus in a similar way and bring down new infections. Worst case, it continues spreading in the next few weeks to cover a large percentage of the population,” he added.

So, what public health parameters would need to be satisfied for either the Giro or the Tour to go ahead?

“Ideally, we would be seeing decreases in the daily number of new cases, strategies to keep people at distance from one another [by avoiding large crowds/social gatherings], and the sense that we’re past the peak of the outbreak,” Sridhar said, but added, “This is hard to predict right now as numbers are still increasing in Europe.” Cyclingnews

N AIGLE MARK INTERNATIONAL WOMEN’S DAY THE participants pose for posterity at the World Cycling Centre in Aigle, Switzerland.

THIBAUT PINOT says there’s a disconnect between the media coverage and the reality of the situation.

T

HIBAUT PINOT (Groupama-FDJ) has suggested the threat of the coronavirus disease 2019 has been blown out of proportion, arguing there’s a disconnect between the media coverage and the reality of the situation.

Pinot spoke to media on the eve of Paris-Nice, with the interview conducted via video link as part of a series of measures to prevent the spread of the virus at the French race.

Several races in Italy, including Strade Bianche, Tirreno-Adriatico and Milan-San Remo, have been postponed due to the new coronavirus. With France seeing far fewer cases than Italy, Paris-Nice, which started on Sunday, is going ahead, but several WorldTour teams have taken it upon themselves to withdraw.

“I didn’t hesitate to come here,”

Tour de France organizers working on women’s stage race

O

RGANIZERS of the Tour de France and La Course said they are planning to bring back a women’s stage race, soon.

In an interview with Le Telegramme, ASO’s Christian Prudhomme said the organization is working on a multiday women’s race, echoing the same plans that made the mainstream news last year.

“We are seriously working on a project for a women’s stage race. We want to organize it in the short term,” Prudhomme, the general director of the Tour de France, told Le Telegramme Wednesday.

“We want to talk to everyone, not just 50

percent of the population.”

ASO stated last year that it was looking into a women’s stage race that would be the equivalent of its marquee men’s Grand Tour, but did not say it would be a women’s Tour de France.

Instead, ASO stated that it would be “logistically impossible” to have simultaneous men’s and women’s Tours.

Prudhomme maintained that stance confirming that a women’s multiday race will not be held at the same time as the men’s Tour de France.

“Before the men’s race, it is no longer

possible,” Prudhomme said. “The Tour de France has grown, society is not the same at all. It is now unplayable,” he added, without giving further details. “It will not be during the Tour de France, but it will be during the summer.”

ASO also stated last year that, in addition to considerations to launch a women’s stage race, it was setting up a special working group intended to help the development of women’s cycling.

Some members of the cycling community have suggested that rather than host a Tour de France women’s stage race at the same as the men, perhaps shorter stage races could be

considered in conjunction with races like ParisNice or Critérium du Dauphiné.

The first version of a women’s Tour de France was held in the 1950s, but it was only one edition. ASO launched its version of the women’s Tour de France between 1984 and 1989. There have been other versions of the French stage race over the years, through the 1990s and the early 2000s, but it officially ended in 2009. ASO then launched the one-day La Course by Le Tour de France in 2014, after a petition to ASO to include a women’s race.

The seventh edition of the Women’s WorldTour event La Course is currently

A7

ORMER Giro d’Italia winner Ivan Basso has joined a number of Italian athletes and personalities who have made public appeals for people to come together to fight the spread, and impact, of the coronavirus by respecting the advice and rules of the latest government decree.

According to the latest official figures issued by the Italian government, there are 7375 people positive for the coronavirus, over 3,500 are in hospital, 650 are in intensive care and 366 have died—267 of the deaths and 3,372 of the cases are in Lombardy.

Basso lives between Milan and Varese, and issued his plea on behalf of the Lombardy region. He won the Giro d’Italia in 2006 and 2010, and has remained a public figure in Italian sport.

“We have to respect the rules but above all we have to help each other respect the rules,” Basso said in the video message posted on social media by the Lombardy region.

“We’ve got to work as a team, help each and work together to help each. It’s the only way we can get through this very difficult moment.

“When we’ve overcome it, thanks to our unity, we’ll be stronger than ever. Let’s stop the virus together, let’s win together.”

On Sunday, the Italian government introduced new, more stringent rules limiting movement for 16 million people in much of the north of Italy, including Milan and all of the Lombardy region.

People can still travel in the area for work, but are advised to limit their movement as much as possible. Bars and restaurants are open until 6 p.m., but clients must be able to sit or stand at least a meter apart. Most towns and cities have become deserted with a collapse in tourism and the economy.

Last week, the government decree sparked the cancellation of all the races scheduled for March, including Strade Bianche, TirrenoAdriatico and Milan-San Remo. Paris-Nice is still going ahead but the spread of the virus across Europe has raised doubts about the rest of the spring racing calendar. Cyclingnews

Pinot: Coronavirus situation blown out of proportion

Pinot, whose teammates at the UAE Tour remain quarantined in their hotel in Abu Dhabi, said on Saturday.

“I feel a bit of a disconnect with regards to what’s happening on TV. It’s true that it’s being spoken about a lot, but I don’t feel any sense of panic around me.

“What happening between TV and the reality on the ground is a bit disproportionate. We’ll see tomorrow about the measures taken by ASO. In any case, I never had any fear of coming here due to the virus.”

Pinot heads to Paris-Nice on the back of a solid if subdued start to the 2020 campaign, which marked his comeback from his painful late exit from the 2019 Tour de France.

He placed seventh at the Tour de la Provence before finishing sixth

at the Tour du Var. At both races, he was roundly beaten by a Nairo Quintana, who seems reborn in the colors of Arkéa-Samsic.

“From what I’ve seen in February, Quintana seems to me to be very much above the rest,” Pinot noted. “If he gets through the opening stages without issue, he’s the big favorite...by a long way.”

As for his own chances, Pinot knows his debut at the so-called Race to the Sun must produce an upturn in form compared to his previous two outings this season. After early opportunities for the sprinters and Classics riders, the first test for the general classification contenders comes on Stage 4 with a 15-km time trial, and the race will be decided on Saturday with the summit finish at La Colmiane. Cyclingnews

scheduled for this July 19 in conjunction with the final stage of the men’s Tour de France in Paris. The women will complete 13 laps of the Champs-Élysées circuit for a total of 90 kilometers of racing.

Some have expressed disappointment that the race is neither multiday or challenging enough. World champion Annemiek van Vleuten (Mitchelton-Scott) called this year’s edition nothing more than a criterium.

It will be returning to its roots, however, as the inaugural La Course was established by ASO as a circuit race on the Champs-Élysées.

The sprinter-friendly format saw victories for Marianne Vos, Anna van der Breggen and Chloe Hosking in the first three editions.

The race then shifted to a two-day

experiment in 2017, which saw a summit finish on the Col d’Izoard on the same day as Stage 18 of the men’s race, followed by a handicapped time trial in Marseille. Van Vleuten won both stages and the overall title.

Organizers set the race back to a oneday in 2018, as a mountainous road race that linked Annecy and Le Grand-Bornand.

Van Vleuten won that edition as well, which was held in conjunction with Stage 10 of the Tour de France.

Last year, it remained a one-day event on circuits in Pau. It used the same 27km circuit that the men used for their Stage 13 time trial later the same day at the Tour de France. Vos stormed to victory to secure her second title at La Course. Cyclingnews

Sports COVID-19 IMPACT ON SPORTS A8

Saturday, March 14, 2020

BusinessMirror

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

LIST GETS LONGER T

By Eddie Pells

The Associated Press

HE world’s sports schedule cratered at warp speed Thursday, with one of the biggest events on the US calendar, the fun-filled and colorful college basketball tournament known as March Madness, becoming the first mega-event to be scrubbed due to fear of the spread of the coronavirus.

Leaders at all levels of sports, including the NCAA, National Basketball Association (NBA), National Hockey League (NHL), Major League Baseball (MLB), golf, tennis and soccer, decided the risk of playing games with the threat of the virus hanging over them was too great despite the billions of dollars—to say nothing of the trophies, pride and once-in-a-lifetime experiences—hanging in the balance.

By late in the afternoon of an extraordinary, headline-a-minute day across a pandemicrattled globe, the NCAA, which regulates March Madness and virtually all major US college sports, basically had no choice. With conferences and individual teams calling off their basketball seasons at breakneck pace, the NCAA followed suit. They scrapped all college winter and spring championships, the highlight of which is the men’s basketball tournament—a three-week extravaganza that stands as the biggest event this side of the Super Bowl on the US sports calendar.

The cancellation leaves a massive hole in American sports—from campuses across the country, to a growing passel of sports-betting businesses that rely on college hoops money, to say nothing of the hearts of players who were poised to get their first, or last, or only chance to shine on the big stage.

All of it was to be covered by CBS and its partners—about 80 percent of the NCAA’s $1.05 billion annual budget is bankrolled by the money the networks pay to present the 68-team tournament over the air, on cable and online.

“This is bigger than a sport or championship,” said Kansas University coach Bill Self, whose team would’ve been the likely favorite to win it all.

Hours earlier, Kansas and Duke had each taken matters into their own hands, announcing they wouldn’t be sending any of their teams to games, no matter the stakes.

It wasn’t even the most jaw-dropping moment of the morning. That came, fittingly,

at one of the world’s most renowned sports venues—Madison Square Garden—where at halftime of a Big East Conference tournament game, the PA announcer came on and said the tournament had been called.

By then, every major conference, and virtually all of the minor ones, had done the same thing. They were prompted in part by the NCAA’s decision a day earlier to hold all its tournament games—which had been scheduled to start next week in nine cities and close April 6 at a 71,000-seat stadium in Atlanta—in front of friends and family and limited “essential” personnel.

Only 24 hours later, with the stock market tanking, mixed messages coming out of Washington and no promise of quick relief being offered by world health experts, it became even clearer that gatherings involving thousands of people were hard to justify. Also clear: The NCAA would have trouble assembling an equitable bracket for its tournament, given that most games designed to suss out the most-deserving teams and automatic qualifiers had already been scrubbed.

“I’m not a researcher in immunology or infectious disease, but those who are engaged at the NCAA level provided some stark information yesterday,” said Greg Sankey, the commissioner of the Southeastern Conference.

The March Madness news meant it will be a world free of basketball for the foreseeable future.

A day after the NBA put its season on temporary hiatus, a second member of the Utah Jazz—Donovan Mitchell—tested positive for the coronavirus. The league said its suspension would last for at least 30 days—possibly a conservative guess, as teams undertake the task of identifying any player or referee who has had recent contact with the Jazz, then putting them into isolation for the required two weeks.

“What would kill the NBA season is if more players catch it,” Mavericks owner Mark Cuban said in an interview on CNBC. He called the hiatus a matter of “us being vigilant, as all businesses should be. Businesses are going to have to be incredibly vigilant, and that’s hard.”

The NHL also suspended its season, though it did not report any positives for COVID-19.

MLB scrapped spring training and postponed the start of its season, currently scheduled for March 26, for at least two weeks.

The Professional Golfers Association (PGA) Tour decided Thursday night to scrap the rest of

MEMBERS of the Pittsburgh Pirates leave the field after a spring training game against the Toronto Blue Jays on Thursday in Bradenton, Florida. AP

The Players Championship and shut down its other tournaments for the next three weeks.

Commissioner Jay Monahan had said earlier Thursday there would be no fans at the TPC Sawgrass for the final three rounds, or at the next three tournaments on the PGA Tour schedule.

The tour changed its mind late Thursday, with no immediate word whether The Players Championship—the premier tournament run by the PGA Tour, offering a $15 million purse— would be rescheduled.

The LPGA Tour postponed three tournaments, beginning next week, including its first major of the season.

Tennis will also be canceling events. The Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) called off men’s tournaments for the next six weeks;

the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) said its tournament in South Carolina, set for April 6 to 12, would not be held as scheduled, with decisions about the rest of the season to come in the next week.

Nascar announced it would race the next two weekends, in Atlanta and Miami, without fans, and IndyCar made the same decision for its race this weekend in St. Petersburg, Florida.

Horse races were going on in several states, though without fans in the stands—leaving the parimutuel wagers to be made online— organizers of the Kentucky Derby were moving forward with plans for the May 2 race.

The NFL, never off the radar even in the depths of the offseason, announced a number of changes and cancellations on its schedule

of meetings, fan fest and scouting trips—all related to coronavirus.

The US-based Major League Soccer said it would shut down for a target period of 30 days.

Earlier in the day, soccer leagues and teams scrambled to make changes: n Belgium’s soccer league backpedaled on an earlier decision, and decided to close stadiums to fans. n A Champions League game involving Real Madrid was postponed after the Spanish team puts its players in quarantine. n Dutch soccer authorities canceled all matches through the end of the month, including friendlies against the United States and Spain. n Also, a second player from Italy’s top soccer division tested positive. All sports in

that hard-hit country have been suspended through April 3.

For once, there were no major announcements coming out of Tokyo, where conflicting messages about the status of this summer’s Olympics have come out of the country, and the International Olympic Committee (IOC), for weeks.

Instead, the IOC went ahead with its ceremonial lighting of the Olympic flame, an event held in front of the ruined Temple of Hera in Ancient Olympia.

“We are strengthened...by the many authorities and sports organizations around the world which are taking so many significant measures to contain the spread of the coronavirus,” IOC president Thomas Bach said.

Silver: Hiatus will likely last ‘at least’ a month M

A WOMAN takes away signs after the cancellation of the Australian Grand Prix in Melbourne on Friday. AP

F1 CALLS OFF AUSSIE GP

M

ELBOURNE—As thousands of fans queued to get into the Australian Grand Prix for the first Formula One weekend of the season, the teams and drivers were packing up to leave.

Concern over the coronavirus left organizers with little choice Friday but to cancel the season-opening race, particularly after McLaren’s withdrawal because a team member tested positive for the Covid-19 illless and following heavy criticism from six-time world champion Lewis Hamilton.

The two practice sessions that usually showcase what the teams have been improving in the off-season were less than two hours from starting when the decision was publicly announced. Principals of nine F1 teams and organizers met overnight and “concluded with a majority view of the teams that the race should not go ahead,” a joint statement by motorsport’s governing body, local organizers and F1 said.

“It’s been a very fluid situation. I think we’ve made the right decisions,” F1 chairman

Chase Carey said. “We’re all disappointed not to have it, but I think we’ve made the decision we had to made.”

“We’ve been certainly discussing this issue before last week. It’s not like it came out of the blue,” Carey told a news conference beside the F1 paddock that ended in light rain. “A week ago, it looked, when teams started traveling here, we felt it was the right decision (to stage the race).

Clearly the situation changed in the interim.”

Fans will be refunded for their tickets.

Negotiations are continuing with hundreds of suppliers for the race. Australian organizers haven’t ruled out staging the race on a later date.

Practice, qualifying and Sunday’s race were all scrapped, casting doubt over the Bahrain Grand Prix which is scheduled to be held next week and the Vietnamese GP, scheduled for April 5. Authorities in Bahrain have already said no fans will be allowed into the circuit. Carey said a decision on whether or not to go ahead with the race would be made in coming days. The Chinese GP has already been postponed. AP

IAMI—National Basketball Association (NBA) Commissioner Adam Silver said Thursday night that the league’s hiatus because of the coronavirus pandemic will likely last at least a month, or roughly what would have been the remainder of an uninterrupted regular season.

“What we determined today is that this hiatus will be, most likely, at least 30 days,” Silver said on TNT’s “Inside The NBA” while making his first public comments since the league suspended play Wednesday night after Utah Jazz center Rudy Gobert tested positive for the coronavirus, or COVID-19. A second Jazz player, Donovan Mitchell, said Thursday that he has also tested positive.

Later, in an open letter to NBA fans, Silver said “we intend to resume the season, if and when it becomes safe for all concerned.”

Silver did not say if the league intends for the regular season to resume or if the NBA, should it return to action, would immediately go into postseason play. It’s also unclear if play will be able to resume with fans in the stands, something the league’s owners were willing to go without prior to Gobert’s diagnosis and the escalation of the situation.

The 30-day minimum hiatus would mean no games until at least April 10.

Silver said the league and the players association will have to continue determining “what makes sense here without compromising anyone’s safety and I think it’s frankly too early to tell,” Silver said.

The regular season was to go until April 15, with the playoffs scheduled to start on April 18 and the NBA Finals to begin June 4.

The NBA’s 30-day plan was decided on the same day that Major League Soccer announced a 30-day shutdown in response to the virus, that Major League Baseball said opening day would be delayed at least two weeks and the NHL began what it called a “pause” in its season.

“This literally changes hour-by-hour in terms of what we know,” Silver said.

Silver was also asked on TNT if the season may be over. “Of course it’s possible,” Silver said. “I just don’t know more at this point.”

Meanwhile, NBA great and longtime commentator Charles Barkley was not on the “Inside The NBA” broadcast Thursday night and revealed that he is self-quarantining for 48 hours because he has not felt well since a recent trip to New York.

Barkley said he has been tested for COVID-19 and has not yet received the results. “This thing is so scary,” Barkley said.

For now, NBA players have been told to remain in their home market through at least Monday—some teams such as the Toronto Raptors that are self-quarantining would, in theory, need to remain

ADAM SILVER doesn’t say if the National Basketball Association intends for the regular season to resume or if the league, should it return to action, would immediately go into postseason play. AP

place for longer—and speak to a team physician or team athletic trainer once daily. Group workouts and practices are not being permitted yet.

“This remains part of a complicated and rapidly evolving situation that reminds us that we are all part of a broader society with a responsibility to look out for one another,” Silver wrote. “That is what the NBA will continue to do, and we are grateful for your understanding and for being the best fans in sports.”

There are 259 games left unplayed on this season’s schedule. If the regular season is not resumed, that would be the second-largest number of games missed in league history.

The 2011-12 season was shortened by a total of 240 games because of a lockout that wound up trimming 16 games from each team’s

schedule. The 1998-99 season lost 464 games because of another lockout where teams wound up playing a 50-game schedule.

Shutting down could cost the league hundreds of millions in revenue such as tickets sold, concessions and purchases of souvenirs and merchandise—adding to the financial concerns of a year where the league lost as much as $400 million, by its own estimate, after a rift last fall that started with a tweet by Houston Rockets general manager Daryl Morey in support of anti-government protesters in Hong Kong.

It also could cost players, as well.

What is called a “Force Majeure Event”—the legal term for unforeseeable circumstances, such as an epidemic or pandemic—could come into play. Per the Collective Bargaining Agreement, players could lose 1.08 percent of their annual salary for each game missed. AP

BusinessMirror

Editor: Gerard S. Ramos • lifestylebusinessmirror@gmail.com

GENERAL ELECTRIC, ERICSSON SEEK ROYALTIES FROM MOVIE STREAMING GENERAL Electric Co., Ericsson AB and NTT Docomo Inc. have joined a patent-licensing pool that’s seeking to collect royalties on devices used in the booming movie-streaming market, setting up a potential fight with Google, Apple Inc. and Microsoft Corp.

The pool brings together hundreds of patents owned by a dozen companies as a “one-stop shop” for companies that use the VP9 and AV1 video coding formats, according to Sisvel International SA, a global intellectual-property company organizing the pool.

The patents involved are used to compress video and are key to streaming media.

But the new pool could face pushback from the companies that developed the two formats, including Alphabet Inc.’s Google. The owner of YouTube created the VP9 program for video compression as a royaltyfree alternative to the widely used MPEG standard.

The next generation, called AV1, was created by the Alliance for Open Media, whose members also include Apple, Samsung Electronics Co. and Microsoft.

The global video streaming market, which includes movies, video games and other video content, is valued at $42.6 billion and expected to grow at a double-digit rate each year through 2027, Grand View Research said in a February report. That’s putting more pressure on manufacturers to develop devices— smartphones, tablets and television set-top boxes— that can seamlessly fulfill that consumer demand.

The companies that developed the formats also make products or services that stream content and, therefore, can “cross-finance” the money they spend on research, said Sisvel Chief Executive Officer Mattia Fogliacco.

The pool members, which also include Dolby Laboratories Inc. and InterDigital Inc., are tech companies that have been contributing to the growth of the streaming industry but have no other way to recoup their investments than royalties on patents because they don’t make money directly from products. While the pool was announced last year with far fewer members, including Royal Philips NV and Orange SA, Fogliacco said the group hadn’t actively sought licenses until it reached a bigger scale.

“It takes a lot of work to reach a point where the people feel your license is fair value,” he said. “The vast majority of companies that can still license the patents in those spaces have been included.”

The pool will seek a set rate from the manufacturers of devices, like smartphones, tablets or television set-top boxes. It won’t go after companies like Netflix Inc. that stream the content, he said.

Sisvel, which handles licensing pools for other technology, has filed suits against companies that refused to take licenses, including cases against Tesla Inc. and Honeywell International Inc. over patents for telecommunications. Still, Fogliacco said the goal of the new video-streaming pool is to avoid lawsuits.

“I do expect there will be close scrutiny of our license offer,” Fogliacco said. “What I expect, however, is once this close scrutiny is over, the alliance will simply see that it is absolutely fair.” BLOOMBERG NEWS

NEW COMPACT SONY 4K HANDYCAM FDR-AX43 COMES TO MARKET

THE new Compact 4K Handycam FDR-AX43 from global electronics giant Sony gives every content creator the freedom to move while filming without worrying about blurry footage.

Equipped with Balanced Optical SteadyShot with built-in gimbal mechanism the new handycam provides smooth videos while walking, running, or at full zoom—perfect for fast-moving movie recording with high-quality footage. The FDR-AX43 is developed for content creators and vloggers who want their footage to demonstrate a refined quality that will stand the test of time. It is designed to capture moments in real-time and make vlogging easier.

The new video camcorder is available for preorder until March 15. The preorder promotion brings includes free LCS-U21 carrying case, 64 GB SD card and GP-VPT1 Remote Control Tripod worth P5,400.

More information on the Sony Compact 4K Handycam FDR-AX43 is available at bit.ly/3cNwjgi.

Saturday, March 14, 2020 A9

Why brand’s online presence has to be consistently coordinated PRIMETIME

DINNA CHAN VASQUEZ @dinnachanvasquez luckydinna@gmail.com

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HESE days, it’s all about one’s social media presence. It’s a reality that before any consumer buys a product or avails of a service, they will check Facebook and Instagram first and check your accounts.

It’s more than just reading reviews. It’s more about looking at your aesthetic and seeing if any of their friends follow you. Brands are now more conscious and mindful of what they post, and how it will benefit themselves and consumers alike.

To strengthen Beautederm Corp.’s already strong online presence, president and CEO Rhea Tan enlisted the help of her husband’s nephew Lance Tan. Lance is a creative director who was educated in Philippine and American schools (Ateneo de Manila and Parsons in New York). He co-owns Albero, a home furnishings and accessories hub for the junior market.

For Beautederm, Lance looked at the brand’s Instagram account and revamped it.

“We are trying to change the game as we transition into the digital age,” he said.

So what did he do?

“I tried to reintroduce what Beautederm really stands for in order to elevate it as a brand. So I thought, ‘If Beautederm was a person, what would that be?’ And I realized that Beautederm is a premium brand with a touch of luxury.”

Lance also asked himself: If Beautederm was a person, who would it be? “Beautederm is Rhea Tan. She is the personality and essence of the brand.”

The next step was for Lance to transform Beautederm’s Instagram account into something more engaging. He utilized a theme for every campaign to make it more engaging. Lance also utilized stories to tell the story of each campaign.

To introduce Enchong Dee as a new Beautederm Spruce & Dash endorser, Lance utilized a black, white and gray palette for a series of posts about the actor.

The photos and videos showed him in a tuxedo, a muscle shirt, and even topless with a white towel draped across his shoulder.

BEAUTEDERM revamped its Instagram so that every campaign has a specific look that is consistent and identifiable to the brand.

For Darren Espanto, Lance made use of Earth and yellow tones. The Beautederm Instagram account devoted nine posts for Darren, starting with one showing a computer monitor with the caption “Launching Soon: New Ambassador.” The next post was that of Darren with his back to the camera.

“I believe that Darren will be very instrumental for the brand to reach a younger market. Darren is one of the biggest young stars today and, yet, he remains humble, and he is one of the most pleasant and nicest artists we ever worked with. We at Beautederm are overjoyed to have him in onboard,” said Rhea.

The Spruce & Dash campaign saw the always impeccably groomed Rhea wear softer color palettes.

Instead of her usual bright-colored outfits, the Beautederm CEO opted for more neutral tones like beige and light olive. Her makeup, done by makeup artist Randy Gapin, complemented her clothes. Why are we talking about hair and makeup? Because it is always important for campaigns to be consistent in terms of overall look.

According to Lance, all of their efforts are geared toward Beautederm becoming an international brand. ■

Filipino blockchain architect one of IBM’s inventors

BY RIZAL RAOUL S. REYES AMERICAN technology colossus IBM has been a leader in patents and advancing technology to improve our lives. According to the IFI Claims Patent Services, IBM emerged as the top producer with more than 9,200 patents in 2019, the highest number of patents.

One of the inventors cited by IBM is a Filipino. Alexis Pantoja, a blockchain architect based in the Philippines, is one of 8,500 recipients of the IBM inventors who has been granted a US patent for his work on “Managing a Database Management System using a Blockchain Database.” The inventors came from 45 different US states and 54 countries.

In a recent e-mail interview, Pantoja told BUSINESSMIRRO� that he is proud of the milestone and hopes the innovations would become commercial products that will be available in the Philippines someday.

Pantoja recalled that his work

started when he joined IBM in 2015.

Realizing that his interest was on IT security, his manager encouraged him to work on blockchain because it was related to security. “My manager was aware of my interest in the field of IT security. Since blockchain is very much related to security and was an emerging technology back then, he told me to lead the research on blockchain,” Pantoja said.

In his project, Pantoja and his team thought of a way for banks to enjoy the benefits offered by blockchain without the need to migrate the traditional database to blockchain. They wanted banks to use blockchain as part of an incorruptible tampering detection mechanism.

“So that whenever a client performs a transaction [e.g., fund transfer], it does two things: it updates the record in the banks traditional database and it informs the blockchain of this transaction [i.e., only the hash of the transaction is saved in the blockchain to enforce privacy],” he said.

ALEXIS PANTOJA

Pantoja pointed out that blockchain is designed to be secure that only the client can update his or her transactions.” Not even the administrator of the blockchain can

create ‘fake’ transactions on behalf of the client,” he said.

He pointed out that blockchain will not and cannot be updated if it is performed by an unauthorized individual. “Even the administrators/ custodians of the blockchain database cannot tamper with the accounts of their clients, which will increase the trust between the clients and the bank,” he said.

Pantoja sees a huge potential in blockchain technology which can be applied across industry networks in the Philippines, including banking and financial services.

“In concept, we think the idea we have is sound. However, we need to find a way to make it practical to use.

Although it is not a requirement in filing for a patent, the details on how to address privacy is a challenge to us.

If we don’t address privacy, the system will be practically unusable since no bank will use a system that will compromise the privacy of its client,” he explained.

BusinessMirror

A10 Saturday, March 14, 2020

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A WORKER polishes iPhones in an Apple store in Beijing.

In a lively Muslim quarter of Nanchang city in eastern China, a sprawling Chinese factory turns out computer screens, cameras and fingerprint scanners for a supplier to international tech giants, such as Apple and Lenovo. AP

www.businessmirror.com.ph

Gadgets for tech giants made with coerced Uighur labor

BY DAKE KANG & YANAN WANG The Associated Press

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ANCHANG, China—In a lively Muslim quarter of Nanchang city, a sprawling Chinese factory turns out computer screens, cameras and fingerprint scanners for a supplier to international tech giants, such as Apple and Lenovo. Throughout the neighborhood, women in headscarves stroll through the streets, and Arabic signs advertise halal supermarkets and noodle shops.

Yet, the mostly Muslim ethnic Uighurs who labor in the factory are isolated within a walled compound that is fortified with security cameras and guards at the entrance. Their forays out are limited to rare chaperoned trips, they are not allowed to worship or cover their heads, and they must attend special classes in the evenings, according to former and current workers and shopkeepers in the area.

The connection between OFILM, the supplier that owns the Nanchang factory, and the tech giants is the latest sign that companies outside China are benefiting from coercive labor practices imposed on the Uighurs, a Turkic ethnic group, and other minorities.

Over the past four years, the Chinese government has detained more than a million people from the far west Xinjiang region, most of them Uighurs, in internment camps and prisons where they go through forced ideological and behavioral re-education.

China has long suspected the Uighurs of harboring separatist tendencies because of their distinct culture, language and religion.

When detainees “graduate” from the camps, documents show, many are sent to work in factories.

A dozen Uighurs and Kazakhs told the AP they knew people who were sent by the state to work in factories in China’s east, known as inner China—some from the camps, some plucked from their families, some from vocational schools.

Most were sent by force, although in a few cases it wasn’t clear if they consented.

Workers are often enrolled in classes where state-sponsored teachers give lessons in Mandarin, China’s dominant language, or politics and “ethnic unity.” Conditions in the jobs vary in terms of pay and restrictions.

At the OFILM factory, Uighurs are paid the same as other workers but otherwise treated differently, according to residents of the neighborhood. They are not allowed to leave or pray—unlike the Hui Muslim migrants also working there, who are considered less of a threat by the Chinese government. “They don’t let them worship inside,” said a Hui Muslim woman who worked in the factory for several weeks alongside the Uighurs. “They don’t let them come out.”

“If you’re Uighur, you’re only allowed outside twice a month,” a small business owner who spoke with the workers confirmed. The AP is not disclosing the names of those interviewed near the factory out of concern for possible retribution. “The government chose them to come to OFILM, they didn’t choose it.”

The Chinese government says the labor program is a way to train Uighurs and other minorities and give them jobs. The Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Monday called concern over possible coerced labor under the program “groundless” and “slander.”

However, experts say that like the internment camps, the program is part of a broader assault on the Uighur culture, breaking up social and family links by sending people far from their homes to be assimilated into the dominant Han Chinese culture.

“They think these people are poorly educated, isolated, backwards, can’t speak Mandarin,” said James Leibold, a scholar of Chinese ethnic policy at La Trobe University in Melbourne.

“So what do you do? You ‘educate’ them, you find ways to transform them in your own image. Bringing them into the Han Chinese heartland is a way to turbocharge this transformation.”

OFILM’s web site indicates the Xinjiang workers make screens, camera cover lenses and fingerprint scanners. It touts customers, including Apple, Samsung, Lenovo, Dell, HP, LG and Huawei, although

there was no way for the AP to track specific products to specific companies.

Apple’s most recent list of suppliers, published January last year, includes three OFILM factories in Nanchang. It’s unclear whether the specific OFILM factory the AP visited twice in Nanchang supplies Apple, but it has the same address as one listed.

Another OFILM factory is located about half a mile away on a different street.

Apple did not answer repeated requests for clarification on which factory it uses.

In an e-mail, Apple said its code of conduct requires suppliers to “provide channels that encourage employees to voice concerns.”

It said it interviews the employees of suppliers during annual assessments in their local language without their managers present, and had done 44,000 interviews in 2018.

Lenovo confirmed that it sources screens, cameras and fingerprint scanners from OFILM but said it was not aware of the allegations and would investigate.

Lenovo also pointed to a 2018 audit by the Reliable Business Alliance in which OFILM scored very well.

All the companies that responded said they required suppliers to follow strict labor standards. LG and Dell said they had “no evidence” of forced labor in their supply chains but would investigate, as did Huawei. HP did not respond.

OFILM also lists as customers dozens of companies within China, as well as international companies it calls “partners” without specifying what product it offers. And it supplies PAR Technology, an American sales systems vendor to which it most recently shipped 48 cartons of touch screens in February, according to US customs data obtained through ImportGenius and Panjiva, which track shipping data.

PAR Technology in turn says it supplies terminals to major chains, such as McDonald’s, Taco Bell and Subway. However, the AP was unable to confirm that products from OFILM end up with the fast-food companies.

McDonald’s said it has asked PAR Technology to discontinue purchases from OFILM while it launches an immediate investigation. PAR Technology also said it would investigate immediately. Subway and Taco Bell did not respond.

A report on Sunday from the Australian Strategic Policy Institute, researched separately from the AP, estimated that more than 80,000 Uighurs were transferred from Xinjiang to factories across China between 2017 and 2019. The report said it found “conditions that strongly suggest forced labor” consistent with International Labor Organization definitions. The AP also reported a year ago that Uighur forced labor was being used within Xinjiang to make sportswear that ended up in the US. ■

Digital financial services help unbanked Filipinos fight poverty

BY RIZAL RAOUL S. REYES DIGITAL financial services platforms for humanitarian cash transfers help Filipinos affected by disasters to recover early by giving them access to financial services and helping jump-start local markets, according to a recent study launched by international development organization Oxfam Pilipinas together with digital financial services provider PayMaya.

The study “Cash in Hand,” which is based on experience in responding to emergencies in Mindanao and typhoon-affected parts of the Philippines, indicated that inclusive and efficient financial services improve people’s welfare, hasten the delivery of social benefits, spur economic activity, reduce transaction costs, and incentivize innovations in both the private and humanitarian sectors.

Financial inclusion is similarly correlated with the reduction of economic inequality by providing means for poor people to overcome barriers to access to financial services, which arise from their lack of information, collateral and credit history.

“Our experience and ongoing research on cash programming has shown us that using digital financial services platforms for cash assistance helps stimulate local economies.

This becomes an entry point for financial inclusion because the poor and unbanked can

AT the turnover are BSP Managing Director of the Center for Learning and Inclusion Advocacy Pia Roman-Tayag (center), Oxfam Pilipinas Country Director Lot Felizco (second from left), PayMaya Chief Operating Officer Paolo Azzola (second from right), Oxfam Pilipinas Senior Manager for Partnerships and Programs Niña Abogado (left), and PayMaya Philippines Head of Wallets Partnerships Kenneth Palacios.

use financial products to manage risks, grow savings, and access credit to diversify their livelihood opportunities,” Oxfam Pilipinas Country Director Lot Felizco said in a press statement. “Access to digital financial services like PayMaya can help make lives better for Filipinos. Our partnership with Oxfam is a

clear testament to how we can empower the most vulnerable sectors of society through innovation. This is at the heart of what we do at PayMaya, and we will continue to support similar initiatives,” Shailesh Baidwan, president of PayMaya also said in a press statement.

Moreover, Baidwan said digital financial

products, such as the PayMaya e-wallet and card, in connection with on-ground, grassroots access through its nationwide Smart Padala agent network, deliver the much-needed pathways for timely and efficient disbursement of financial aid, and the eventual use of funds for recovery after the crisis.

In a study by Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP), called “2017 Financial Inclusion Survey,” 7 out of 10 Filipino adults are still considered financially excluded, having no formal access to financial services like savings, micro-insurance, micro-credit, payments and remittance.

Furthermore, the BSP 2017 report also noted that almost one-third of the total number of municipalities and cities in the Philippines have no bank or automated teller machine. Only 44 of the 143 municipalities in Eastern Visayas have banks. It is even worse in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM), where only 10 municipalities out of 118 have at least one bank.

“The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas has always been supportive of efforts to give more Filipinos access to much-needed financial products that can help support and improve their everyday lives. In the IAFFORD program, the BSP sees a remarkable example of collaboration and innovation to empower the financially excluded.

It is the kind of endeavor we envisage and hope to propagate as we continue to spearhead the

implementation of the National Strategy for Financial Inclusion. The stories of IAFFORD beneficiaries prove that maximizing our common resources, developing accordant interventions based on a singular vision, and applying the right innovations can uplift the lives of many and provide them the means for recovery,” said Pia Roman-Tayag, managing director of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas Center for Learning and Inclusion Advocacy.

Eastern Visayas and BARMM are Oxfam’s priority areas for humanitarian and development programming. From 2016 to 2018, Oxfam and its partners reached about 42,000 individuals through the IAFFORD (Inclusive and Affordable Financial Facilities for Resilient and Developed Filipinos) Project.

The project also provided 11,538 people, a majority of whom are women, access to digital and conventional financial products for life and livelihood assets protection.

Through this initiative, Oxfam and its partners hope to strengthen collaborative efforts among development agencies, the government, and the private sector, and further contribute to efforts to reduce poverty and vulnerability.

Oxfam is a global nonprofit organization that works in more than 90 countries, including the Philippines, to address the underlying problems of poverty and inequality.

www.businessmirror.com.ph

BusinessMirror

Saturday, March 14, 2020 A11

US probe of Google should include search, senators say

BY DAVID MCLAUGHLIN & BEN BRODY Bloomberg News

ARTISTS Georgina Rowlands (left) and Anna Hart pose for a photo with their faces painted. They’re two of the four founders of the Dazzle Club, founded last year to provoke discussion about the growing using of facialrecognition technology. AP

With painted faces, artists fight facial-recognition tech

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BY KELVIN CHAN The Associated Press

ONDON—As night falls in London, Georgina Rowlands and Anna Hart start applying makeup. Instead of lipstick and eyeliner, they’re covering their faces with geometric shapes. Rowlands has long narrow blue triangles and thin white rectangles criss-crossing her face. Hart has a collection of red, orange and white angular shapes on hers.

They’re two of the four founders of the Dazzle Club, a group of artists set up last year to provoke discussion about the growing using of facialrecognition technology.

The group holds monthly silent walks through different parts of London to raise awareness about the technology, which they say is being used for “rampant surveillance.” Other concerns include its lack of regulation, inaccuracy and how it affects public spaces. Some 19 people attended the most recent event in the East London neighborhood of Shoreditch, and anyone can take part in the walks, in which participants have to paint their faces in a style called CV Dazzle.

The technique, developed by artist and researcher Adam Harvey, is aimed at camouflaging against facial-detection systems, which turn images of faces into mathematical formulas that can be analyzed by algorithms. CV Dazzle—where CV is short for computer vision—uses cubist-inspired designs to thwart the computer, said Rowlands.

“You’re trying to kind of scramble that by applying

these kind of random colors and patterns,” she said.

“The most important is having light and dark colors.

So we often go for blacks and whites, very contrasting colors, because you’re trying to mess with the shadows and highlights of your face.”

A similar technique was used extensively in World War I to camouflage British naval ships and confuse opponents about the actual heading or location of the ships. To test that their designs work, they use the simple face-detection feature on their smartphone cameras. “I can see that I’m hidden, it’s not detecting me,” Rowlands said, checking her phone to see her face doesn’t have a square around it.

The rise of facial-recognition technology is being tested and spreading in developed democracies after aggressive use in some more authoritarian countries, like China.

Britain has long been used to surveillance cameras in public spaces to counter security threats, and London is ranked as having one of the world’s highest concentrations of closed-circuit television cameras. But that acceptance is being tested as authorities and corporations increasingly seek to deploy a new generation of cameras with facialrecognition technology, while activists, lawmakers and independent experts raise concerns about mass surveillance, privacy and accuracy.

Opposition to algorithmic surveillance is not limited to Britain. Russia activists were reportedly arrested last month for holding a similar face paint protest over Moscow’s facial-recognition cameras.

Hong Kong pro-democracy activists routinely use face masks in street protests to hide their identities.

Rights groups in Serbia and Uganda have opposed government projects to install Chinesesupplied cameras. Other designers have come up with countermeasures, like sunglasses, that reflect infrared light to blind cameras.

“There is a movement of resistance against facial recognition that we are actively participating in and we want to kind of further initiate,” said Rowlands.

Rowlands, Hart and two other artists founded the Dazzle Club in August, following news that London’s King’s Cross district—a busy transport hub where many big offices are being built rapidly—had quietly experimented with live facial-recognition cameras without public knowledge or consent, sparking a backlash. London police recently started using live facial-recognition cameras on operational deployments. Last week officers arrested a woman wanted for assault after the cameras picked her out of a street crowd on a busy shopping street. Police say new technology is needed to keep the public safe and images of innocent people are deleted immediately.

Public attitudes to facial-recognition technology in Britain appear to be mixed, according to one survey last year, which found most people said they don’t know enough about it but nearly half said they should be able to opt out.

The Dazzle Club’s founders say they’re worried about the effect that the technology has on people in public if cameras are collecting their biometric data—facial images—without clearly explaining what’s being done with it. “We’re having to adjust our behavior in public space in a way that I think is problematic,” said Hart. ■

Samsung Galaxy S20’s suite of cameras touted as game changer A GOOD story needs good tools to tell it in the best way possible. From crisp photos to engaging videos, a lot more emotions and reactions, thoughts and perspectives can be conveyed in every grand adventure or intriguing narrative.

Samsung knows just how powerful technology can be in storytelling, and is changing the way people tell them with its new flagship smartphones, the Galaxy S20 Series.

With its 108MP ultra-resolution camera, the Galaxy S20 Ultra redefines how everyone sees the world by offering a revolutionary photography experience. Samsung pushes boundaries with its suite of lenses, which include the 108MP wide-angle, 48MP telephoto, 12MP ultra-wide, and DepthVision cameras. Photos come with millions more pixels, capturing impossibly sharp

shots. Even selfies stand out with the 40MP front camera, so self-portraits are detailed and professional-looking.

The smartphone comes with Space Zoom, which brings subjects up to 100 times closer.

Samsung’s most advanced zoom is enabled by a folded lens technology and high-resolution image sensor, so quality photos can be captured from far away. This is ideal for concerts or sporting events, taking viewers from the rafters to the front row.

The Galaxy S20 Ultra can also perform in low light conditions with Bright Night.

Samsung tripled the size of its image sensors, leading to more vibrant and richer photos, even if they are taken at night, in a bar or other dimly lit locations.

All of the photos shot using the Galaxy

S20 Series are enhanced through Samsung’s Single Take. This technology takes one shot and turns it into multiple formats, such as bokeh, beauty and ultra-wide. Custom filters are also readily available effects to add a touch of personality to photos.

Even videos get an upgrade with the Galaxy S20 Series. The device is equipped with 8K video, now the highest-resolution footage on a smartphone. Videos are four times bigger than ultra-high definition, and can still be sharp when played on a cinema screen. When a scene needs to be immortalized as a photo, 8K video snap can take an image from a clip and maintain a stellar 33MP quality photo.

More information about the Galaxy S20 Series is available at bit.ly/3cQWqTp.

THE US Department of Justice (DOJ) should expand its antitrust investigation of Alphabet Inc.’s Google to include the Internet giant’s conduct in online search, in addition to digitial advertising, two senators said.

Missouri Republican Josh Hawley and Democrat Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut said on Tuesday that the department’s inquiry appears to be too narrowly focused on advertising even though the company is a monopoly in Internet search, “where the opportunities for anticompetitive conduct are substantial.”

“It is critical to remember that the company’s primary function is supplying a search engine to users,” they wrote to Atty. Gen. William Barr.

“Narrowing the investigation’s focus such that Google’s anticompetitive practices to dominate the online search market is not captured does a grave disservice to consumers.”

The senators’ plea comes as the Senate Judiciary Committee held a hearing on Tuesday to examine claims that Internet platforms, like Google, favor their own services over those of rivals. Democratic Sen. Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota said she was introducing legislation that would toughen antitrust enforcement by putting the burden on companies to justify conduct that thwarts rivals.

“All of us hear stories about how these companies are leveraging their scale, or financial resources, with unparalled access to users’ data and market power,” she said.

Executives of Yelp Inc., which has long complained that Google is thwarting competition in the market for local searches, told the senators on Judiciary’s antitrust subcommittee that reports the Justice department is focused on Google’s conduct in the digital advertising market are a concern.

“Making the focus too narrow would be a grave mistake,” Luther Lowe, Yelp’s senior vice president for public policy, said in written testimony. “You can’t look at Standard Oil without looking at oil. You cannot investigate Google without looking at search.”

Google is contending with multiple investigations of its conduct, with the Justice department, state attorneys general and the House antitrust committee all conducting inquiries.

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) closed a twoyear inquiry into Google’s search practices in 2013 without taking action. Google declined to comment about the senators’ request.

At the start of Tuesday’s hearing, Sen. Mike Lee of Utah said he is frustrated by overlapping investigations by the Justice department and the FTC, which shares antitrust jurisdiction. Both are investigating Facebook Inc. “Frankly it’s unacceptable that the FTC and the DOJ are duplicating each other’s investigations when both concede that they’re strapped for resources as it is, even when they’re not tripping over each other,” Lee said.

The Justice department probe of Google announced last year as part of a broad investigation into potentially anticompetitive conduct by digital platforms, has focused in part the company’s dominance in the digital advertising market, where its technology delivers ads across the Web. The states, led by Texas Atty. Gen. Ken Paxton, have gone beyond digital advertising to look at search and mobile software, Bloomberg News reported in November.

Editor: Gerard S. Ramos • lifestylebusinessmirror@gmail.com

BusinessMirror

Saturday, March 14, 2020 A12

The perfect time to panic TECHNIVORE ED UY

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WROTE this on a Wednesday morning, and for the past couple of days, after news of COVID-19 cases in San Juan, Bonifacio Global City, Quezon City and Cainta were reported, I’ve received several cryptic messages from friends suggesting that it would be a good time to head to the supermarket and start stocking up on food and other important items. They didn’t go into specifics, just that it’s all but confirmed, and that I would be thanking them later.

Apparently, starting today, Saturday, Metro Manila will be on a lockdown and malls, supermarkets and other establishments will be closed.

Both the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) and Department of Health (DOH), however, immediately released advisories denouncing it as “fake news.”

For all our sakes, I do hope it is fake news.

Still, I don’t think it’s a bad idea to stock up on food that’s good for at least a few weeks, which we did. Just to be clear, we weren’t panic buying, we just want to avoid going to the malls or supermarkets.

As for those people hoarding tissue paper, hand sanitizers and alcohol, you are either stupid (with your priorities) or opportunists who want to take advantage of the situation, just like those who sold face masks at ridiculous prices when Taal erupted.

NOTHING SPREADS LIKE FEAR

WHEN I was a kid, the only diseases that scared us every summer were either mumps (they said it can make you sterile), chicken pox (because of the scars and scabs), sore eyes, and prickly heat (because we’ll get coated with cornstarch)—all of which are barely and rarely fatal. Still, we were afraid because getting sick would rob us a few weeks off our school break.

But with the coronavirus outbreak, it looks like it’s going to be a long school break. Classes have already been suspended, and there are schools that have canceled their graduation/moving-up ceremonies.

The frightening part is not knowing how and when it will end.

The 2020s already started off pretty rough. You can even say the past few months have been horrible.

From that Ukranian plane being shot down, the Australian bushfires, Jakarta floodings, Thailand mall shooting, to the eruption of Taal Volcano and many other tragic events. But it’s the coronavirus that has turned our life in into a nervous waiting game for updates.

Which events and concerts will be canceled next? How many new cases are there? Is the number increasing? Why aren’t there enough test kits? What

can we do to keep ourselves and our families safe?

Did anyone understand what our dear president was trying to say about those kits and… witches?

It’s not that we are lacking news and updates, because we already have an overwhelming mishmash of information. My social-media feed has been overrun by advisories and so many “expert” tips. It’s trying to filter the real ones from the fakes that are making people even more scared.

Heck, even James Bond (No Time to Die) already went into quarantine.

Anxiety is rising and paranoia has driven me to watch Contagion again last week. Turns out I wasn’t alone, and there are a lot people who have turned to Steven Soderbergh’s 2011 medical thriller about an eerily similar virus that rapidly spreads around the world, just to see how bad things could get. Let me just warn you that it’s not the most reassuring movie to watch at this time.

It’s been nine years since it was first released, yet the movie has proven to be so eerily prescient with its similarity to the ongoing coronavirus. If it wasn’t for the star-studded Hollywood cast, you might even think you’re watching a special news report.

Contagion is an explanatory drama and follows the frantic quest of various health organizations, crisis managers, scientists and bureaucrats who are looking for answers, tracking the virus’s origins, devising containment strategies, and working to develop a vaccine.

The filmmakers worked with the World Health Organization and medical experts to create a film that depicts a frighteningly believable pandemic based on viruses like SARS and the swine flu.

In one scene, Laurence Fishburne, who plays Dr. Ellis Cheever, said; “Our best defense has been social distancing, no handshaking, staying home when you’re sick, washing your hands frequently.”

Isn’t that what every newscaster on TV is telling us right now?

In real life, COVID-19 was first detected in Wuhan, China, in December 2019, resulting in more than 113,000 confirmed cases and more than 4,000 deaths. In the film, the MEV-1 virus is unleashed in Minneapolis by Gwyneth Paltrow’s character who has just returned from a business trip to Hong Kong.

Within a month, the death toll in US is at 2.5 million.

The worldwide total reaches 26 million.

The coronavirus puts the elderly and those with underlying medical conditions at the most risk while in the movie the virus hits all ages. The effects of the MEV-1 virus in the movie are also a lot more dramatic and terrifying. People get sick with alarming rapidity and those infected get worse in just a few days before collapsing, suffering seizures, foam coming out of their mouths, before eventually ending in a gruesome death. I told you it isn’t reassuring.

In fact, Contagion will scare you into washing your hands with soap and water immediately and frequently, and make you avoid close contact with people or anything that hasn’t been washed or disinfected.

Yet, the thing that struck me most about the movie was how it showed the ripple effects of the outbreak, things we have been seeing the past few days. These include the lockdown of several cities in the world,

inadequate or late government response, and supply shortages caused by panic buying. Then there’s Jude Law’s character, a popular online personality, peddling “forsythia”, a fake cure, to make money, much like those web sites telling people to drink bleach or some other concoction.

Nothing spreads like fear, and that is proving to be true.

Is it the perfect time to panic?

No. Panicking will just spread more fear.

Instead, now is the perfect time to prepare. The more facts you have, the better off you are. Seek information from legitimate sources and use social media responsibly.

Smart, Sun and TNT subscribers, for example, can access the Department of Health (DOH)’s tracking site for free at ncovtracker.doh.gov.ph through their mobile phones to help them get correct and up-to-date information on COVID-19.

The DOH tracker web site provides the latest information regarding the number and general location of Persons Under Investigation (PUI). Earlier, Smart had made the main DOH web site (www.doh.gov. ph) accessible free of charge, along with the Phivolcs web site (www.phivolcs.dost.gov.ph).

Since the end of January, PLDT Inc.’s wireless subsidiary Smart has made access to DOH websites free. Following the government’s declaration of a State of Public Health Emergency, the public’s need to access accurate and reliable information about COVID-19 has become more urgent.

I know that even the DOH is using TikTok now, but there are a lot of other preventive measures to learn instead of just doing those dance challenges all day.

Like I said, adding a few more food items to your regular grocery list is preparation, but buying stuff like alcohol and toilet paper like it’s going out of style is just ridiculous. Panic buying can get dangerous as some goods such as soap, medicines and alcohol become unavailable for those in immediate need.

As for those planning to make money out of the situation, know that there’s a special place in hell waiting for you.

Lockdown or not, in these times of panic, please don’t forget to be kind.

MR. JEFF CELEBRATES WOMEN’S MONTH

BECAUSE of everything that’s been happening, we’ve almost forgotten that March is recognized as Women’s Month. To commemorate the occasion, Spanish start-up Jeff app, serviced by Mr Jeff Laundry Hubs, shares a few tips to empower women, and help them achieve “self-care” and self-fulfillment.

■ You may be mindful of the environment just by being conscious of your carbon footprint. That’s good, but are you mindful about yourself? Jump-start your health by doing some exercise. Be mindful of your looks by treating yourself to a salon. By taking care of yourself, people are bound to take notice and will also be mindful of you.

■ When making decisions—from small to big ones—ask yourself: “Do I need this or do I want this?”

Focusing on the things you truly need will give your life direction. Avoid toxicity in your daily life. These may include activities, as well as other people.

■ A lot of stress comes from trying to so do many things at the same time. Delegating some tasks like your scheduled laundry can help you relax and save quality time for the things you’d rather be doing.

Unplug, even for just a day.

Using the Jeff app for your home-delivery laundry and dry-cleaning needs, for instance, will ease your life. The Jeff app and web site—downloadable and accessible through any mobile phone or computer— allows you to select the exact location, time, and day of laundry pick up. A driver then picks up your laundry, then delivers them, cleaned and folded, ironed or dry cleaned, in just 48 hours. The laundry is washed in Mr Jeff Laundry Hubs located in several areas, such as Alabang, Las Piñas, Ermita, Congressional Avenue, West Fairview, Tiendesitas and Santa Rosa. More hubs are opening in Metro Manila and Cebu in the coming months. Mr Jeff guarantees a 48-hour turnover. ■

AXA SEALS PARTNERSHIP WITH MYPOCKETDOCTOR ON of the leading insurance providers in the Philippines, AXA Philippines provides more accessible and convenient healthcare services for its health customers through a partnership with MyPocketDoctor (MPD), the country’s first telemedicine application.

MPD offers 24/7 consultation with a doctor via phone that may be accessed anywhere.

It can also help a person save time as prescriptions may be issued via email and medicine delivery nationwide may be arranged.

AXA health insurance customers may now avail themselves of this service for free.

In photo are (from left) AXA Philippines segment director for protection and health Grace Mallabo and chief of retail propositions Alok Rungta, MyPocketDoctor chief executive officer Mads Kjaer Larsen, and AXA Philippines chief customer officer Amor Balagtas.