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The Green ‘Antidote’ Soldiers set aside guns in favor of plows to hike farm production in time of Covid-19

T

By Rene Acosta

HE leadership of the 140,000-strong Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) has directed troops to intensify the war against an enemy that may yet to prove to be a lot more sinister than insurgents of all shades and colors, terrorists of all types of warped grievances, jihadists—an invisible lethal virus.

For soldiers of the Southern Tagalog region, the war, however, goes beyond the regular run-ofthe-mill mission of carrying a gun and firing the big artillery, or even wearing a face mask and the prescribed fatigue uniform while manning a quarantine checkpoint.

It involves the timeless and fulfilling vocation of tilling the land.

Maj. Gen. Arnulfo Marcelo Burgos Jr., commander of the Army’s 2nd Infantry Division (ID), said the project to cultivate vegetables and fruit-bearing trees as well as engage in the art and science of animal husbandry would ensure Filipinos of food sufficiency during and even beyond the period of the enforced community quarantine

amid the Covid-19 outbreak.

Guns for plows

WITH the mission spelled out in clear terms, Burgos and his men temporarily traded off their guns for pickaxes, bars and other farming tools and implements and began working last month, initially on a two-hectare proposed vegetable plot within the 2nd ID’s compound in Tanay, Rizal.

The soldiers even took a crack course in the scientific method of crop production and raising livestock, where they gained more skills and knowledge in the nittygritty of agriculture farming.

They learned the proper way of planting and growing various

NOLCOM spokesman Maj. Ericson Bulosan: “To be part of the solution, the Northern Luzon Command is engaging in farming, even if this is not the line of soldiers.”

crops, and were given hands-on training on the scientific method of caring, raising and mass producing poultry, goat, rabbit and other livestock, including sheep.

Burgos said the innate ability of rabbits to quickly thrive and multiply could ensure an adequate

supply of meat for Filipinos, especially in times of crisis.

The commander of military forces in Southern Tagalog pushed the idea of farming as Filipinos affected by the community quarantine, especially in Luzon, require greater access to and supply of farm products.

“The idle lands of vast military reservations which are to be developed will be put to good use,” he said, adding that the project would also allow the soldiers to contribute in ensuring food security.

The farming project turned out to be a precedent for other military camps which soon began duplicating the initiative of the senior Continued on A2

Virus drives deeper rift between EU’s rich North and poor South

By Alberto Brambilla, Stefan Nicola, Alessandro Speciale & Catherine Bosley | Bloomberg News

T

HE coronavirus is threatening to turn the long-lasting fault line cleaving Europe between its richer north and poorer south into an economic chasm putting its currency at risk.

In Rome, some churches are now food banks, charity boxes crop up in city squares and the 15thcentury hotel where philosopher Jean-Paul Sartre once stayed is giving away its mattresses from a pile by the entrance. Paolo Stella, a 57-year-old barber, says he’d rather burn his shop down than reopen in the current conditions, with the Italian government dithering over a €55-billion ($60 billion) stimulus package adding to the problems.

Five hundred miles north near the German city of Stuttgart, 63-year-old entrepreneur Ernst Prost has rejected state aid despite

a 25-percent hit to sales of his high-grade motor oils.

Instead of letting people go, he dipped into his company’s cash reserves to pay nearly 1,000 employees a bonus of €1,500 with the conviction it would help his firm emerge stronger from the crisis.

The diverging fortunes of the two halves of the monetary union are reviving the age-old question of whether Italy can stick with the currency. The euro was supposed to elevate living standards across the board. But the South fears it’s being left behind.

“It’s a really dangerous moment,” said Jana Puglierin, head of

PESO EXCHANGE RATES n US 50.3720

A CYCLIST wearing a protective face mask passes a construction site near the Colosseum in Rome, Italy, May 4, 2020. With Italy still in the throes of Europe’s deadliest coronavirus outbreak, more than 4 million people are cleared to return to work on Monday. ALESSIA PIERDOMENICO/BLOOMBERG

the Berlin office of the European Council on Foreign Relations.

Italy, Spain and even France, to an extent, were still recovering from the sovereign debt crisis when the coronavirus swept in, public finances strained by multiple bank bailouts and repeated recessions, their health-care systems frayed by years of austerity.

The German-dominated north has had more success in containing infections and more fiscal firepower to ride out the economic pain.

Chancellor Angela Merkel has vastly outspent her allies in the European Union with stimulus equal to around 4.5 percent of GDP. Germany, which in the end agreed to bail out Greece when push came to shove, is now under pressure to ditch its red lines again to ensure the EU holds together.

For Prost, a businessman, the answer should be straightforward.

“We can’t just sit by and watch Italy and Spain go to the dogs,” he said in an interview. “That can’t be in the interest of the European idea.”

German GDP will be less than Continued on A2

n JAPAN 0.4698 n UK 61.6251 n HK 6.4981 n CHINA 7.1006 n SINGAPORE 35.3985 n AUSTRALIA 32.5554 n EU 54.4471 n SAUDI ARABIA 13.4129

Source: BSP (May 15, 2020)

NewsSunday BusinessMirror

A2 Sunday, May 17, 2020

www.businessmirror.com.ph

The Green ‘Antidote’ Continued from A1

Army officer known in military circles as the “consensus builder.”

Tarlac story

IN Tarlac, Armed Forces Northern Luzon Command (Nolcom) commander Lt. Gen. Ramiro Manuel Rey has ordered soldiers to go into vegetable farming, with the project having partially started on a more than a hectare lot located within the Nolcom compound.

“To be part of the solution, the Northern Luzon Command is engaging in farming, even if this is not the line of soldiers,” said Nolcom spokesman Maj. Ericson Bulosan, as he recalled the warning aired by agriculture officials about the possibility of a farm crunch due to the pandemic.

“We believe that this will help our countrymen. Helping and protecting our people is our mandate.

Nolcom will do everything in order to help our government in stopping the Covid-19 and its effects,” Bulosan said.

Sapping the cause and effect of virus

IN pushing for the farming projects in camps in Southern Tagalog, Burgos partnered with the DV Boer Farms, also known as the “People’s Farm,” through its president and chief executive officer Dexter Villamin, a 2018 AFP Kapayapaan awardee.

“If the situation drags on, people will be hungry and the gov-

ernment will have to deal with another problem,” Villamin, whose company was equipping the soldiers with farming skills and techniques, said.

“We feel that it is our social responsibility to avert such problem not only by providing products to serve as food, but also to give our people a means of living while most of the industries are on shutdown,” he added.

Villamin said that with the possible shortage of food in times of crisis such as in the case of a pandemic when people are confined to their homes, bigger problems associated with hunger like civil disobedience could not be dismissed.

Under the partnership agreement with DV Boer, soldiers will train on various techniques in farming, including food processing, while community volunteers and paramilitary forces will help augment manpower in private farms in Calabarzon that are converted into “quarantine farm camps.”

The quarantine farm camps are projected to produce 32 tons of farm-fresh food in eight up to 10 months, with 65 percent of the products to be donated to needy villagers and will become one of the sources of aid by local government units for their constituents.

Burgos’s staff Maj. Mikko Magisa, said the remaining 35 percent will be sold commercially in order for the farms to earn and ensure their sustainability.

PHILIPPINE Army soldiers take on a new role as they escort volunteers delivering essential food supplies in Barangay Batasan in Quezon City. NONOY LACZA

“We have already talked to business groups and they have agreed to buy the remaining 35 percent,” he said.

“This way, we would help the LGU [local government units], the

communities, the private farm and the people in general during these challenging times,” Magisa said of the project.

This early, at least 50 civilian volunteers and Cafgu Active Auxiliaries from Tanay have augmented the manpower of MDT Farm, a seven-hectare agri-business located at Barangay Sampaloc, in order to boost its production from its current inventory of almost 500 highbreed goats, more than 300 chickens, native swine and imported turkeys.

Tanay Mayor Manuel Tanjuatco expressed his appreciation for his municipality’s selection as the host of the military’s maiden project.

“I am optimistic that this outof-the-box program will turn out to be the extraordinary action that will help ensure my constituents’ survival during these extraordinary times,” Tanjuatco said.

‘New’ military doctrine

KNOWN for his unorthodox and innovative style in addressing the complex issue of security, Burgos has begun incorporating the concept of local farming into the civilmilitary operations (CMO) of sol-

ARMY soldiers patrol the Baseco area in Tondo, Manila, during the Luzon-wide lockdown. ROY DOMINGO

diers, at least in Southern Tagalog.

CMO is the peace and development program of the AFP.

Burgos believes that farming, an innate skill for villagers in the countryside, could contribute to the further decline of the communist insurgency in his area of operation.

He knew that members of the New People’s Army that operate in farming villages use hunger and poverty as narratives in their recruitment and in their exploitation of communities.

“This project will bring us back to the basics. It’s simple and yet it is a good antidote to the communist terrorist group’s narrative,” Burgos said.

Compassion and solidarity

THE battle to stop Covid-19 has prompted Burgos to incorporate the value of compassion and solidarity into the training of candidates wanting to join the military through the 2nd ID while the enhanced community quarantine is clamped down on Luzon.

He said they have temporarily shifted the training focus of the 183 trainees “from the traditional physical facet to values

development, emphasizing compassion, sacrifice and solidarity with our people during these challenging times.”

“We saw this crisis as a rare opportunity to indoctrinate our future soldiers on the importance of those virtues by requiring them to actually perform tasks which will directly help those who are in the frontlines of our nation’s fight against this greatest threat,” Burgos said.

As such, the trainees took part in the production of thousands of face shields for frontliners, with a strict guidance for them to adhere to protocols set by the Department of Health in order to prevent the spread of the virus.

At least 400 pieces of the face shields have been turned over to local officials in Baras and Tanay, both in Rizal, and another 500 pieces to different hospitals in Metro Manila. Frontliners in other parts of Southern Tagalog were also given face shields.

“Through this simple act of kindness, we will be able to develop a different breed of soldiers who are more sensitive to the needs of our countrymen,” Burgos said.

Virus drives deeper rift between EU’s rich North and poor South Continued from A1

1 percent smaller by the end of next year, according to the EU Commission’s May 6 forecasts. Italy’s will have shrunk by 3.6 percent, pushing its debt to 154 percent of output—way beyond the level Greece was at when it triggered the euro area’s last financial crisis.

“The debt dynamics and public finance dynamics were already bad,” said Nick Kounis, head of macroeconomic and financial market research at ABN Amro Bank.

“Now they look terrible.”

French President Emmanuel Macron says that if Merkel and other fiscal hawks like the Dutch and Austrians refuse to support either joint bond issuance, or handouts from a centralized fund, then the whole edifice could crumble.

The idea of putting taxpayers on the hook for other countries’ spending is a prospect that makes many politicians in northern Europe nervous.

Changing attitudes

ASKED about Italy’s predicament in an interview this week, Austrian

Chancellor Sebastian Kurz was clear: “They wouldn’t be able to handle this situation without the help of the EU and countries like Austria. But I don’t think that the idea of shared debt is the right answer.”

Against the backdrop of arguments over how to borrow, the European Central Bank (ECB) is leading the response to the current crisis with monetary and marketcalming measures providing a lifeline for Italy.

Yet more economic divergence will exacerbate a problem the institution has faced for years: how to conduct monetary policy in a region with vastly different growth rates and underlying economic circumstances.

Its stimulus push of the past few years stoked widespread discontent in Germany, in particular at negative interest rates that curbed returns for savers. The legality of quantitative easing, the ECB’s other signature policy of recent years, also faces an unprecedented challenge from the German constitutional court.

However, pressure to extend more support to the South is now

bubbling up in Germany’s economic heartlands, where executives like Prost worry about crucial export markets.

“If our customers in Italy or Spain go bankrupt, then the German economy will be hit the very next day.” Two-thirds of his company’s revenue comes from overseas.

Germany’s biggest business lobby this week issued a joint statement with its counterparts in France and Italy, calling for “a strong element of true fiscal solidarity.” They specifically asked EU leaders to include direct handouts as well as low-interest loans.

If, and when that help comes, it might be too late for the millions of Italians kept waiting for their own government’s emergency aid to come through. Renato Astrologo, who runs a popular trattoria in central Rome, is worried.

“We filed furlough requests two months ago, but we haven’t received any money,” he complained.

“That’s not just a delay, it’s a distortion, and I am advancing the money to my employees who have to pay for rent and food.”

GONDOLAS are moored on the Grand Canal, in Venice, Italy, May 13, 2020. Regional governors have been pressing the government to be permitted to present their own reopening plans, taking into account the level of Covid-19 infection and also the growing economic crisis. ANTEO MARINONI/LAPRESSE VIA AP

Editor: Angel R. Calso

The World BusinessMirror

How Alibaba’s Lazada turned produce dumped in virus crisis into a business

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armers in Cameron Highlands, a cradle of Malaysia’s farming industry, dumped hundreds of tons of produce in March after Covid-19 lockdowns shuttered wholesale markets and restaurants across the nation.

They also gave Alibaba a chance to crack a difficult arena.

Lazada Group SA, the Southeast Asian subsidiary of Alibaba Group Holding Ltd., opened a virtual store to link farmers and homebound Malaysians. The uptake surprised even the e - commerce giant: consumers bought an average of 1.5 tons of cabbages, carrots and spinach each day. On the fourth day, 3.5 tons of veggies were sold in less than half an hour. By the third week, about 70 tons had been delivered from farms to doorsteps across the country.

Fresh groceries—now one of the top 3 categories on Lazada Malaysia—weren’t even an option there three months ago.

Before the Covid-19, Lazada had dedicated grocer y arms only in Singapore, Thailand and the Philippines; after the outbreak, it’s expanded to Malaysia, Vietnam and Indonesia.

It’s keen to maintain that momentum, backed by 30 fulfillment centers across 17 cities in the region. “ Co v i d - 1 9 i s a c a t a l y s t o f d i g i t a l transformation in Southeast Asia,” Lazada Group Chief Executive Officer Pierre Poignant said in an interview. “When consumers build a habit, it doesn’t easily go away. E-commerce will become a way of life.”

Demand for fresh groceries has surged globally, but the spike in Malaysia opened a window in particular for China’s largest online commerce company into a lucrative market after years of building one of the region’s largest delivery networks. Since March, more agricultural entrepreneurs, fisheries and local businesses have started to pivot brick-andmortar business to e-commerce, according to Lazada Malaysia Chief Operating Officer Shah Suriye Rubhen. The festive period of Ramadan, in a country where more than half the population is Muslim, has also galvanized demand and farmers have responded by increasing their assortment of goods on offer.

“Local SMEs are realizing that digitizing their business is the way forward to remain sustainable in the long term, diversify their revenue stream, and market to the increasingly growing Internet economy,” Shah said.

Alibaba’s unit may have scored in Cameron Highlands, but the wider Southeast Asian market remains heavily contested.

L a z a d a , s t a r t e d i n 2 0 1 2 b y R o c ke t Internet before Alibaba eventually bought full control of the company, was the first e-commerce outfit to serve six countries in Southeast Asia. But its fiercest rival Shopee, a unit of Singapore’s Sea Ltd., has expanded aggressively in the past year and overtaken Lazada as the most visited web site in 2019, according to research firm iPrice Group. In Indonesia, the largest and most promising m a r ke t i n t h e re g i o n , A l i b a b a - b a c ke d Tokopedia ranks as the top e - commerce company based on web traffic, followed

by Shopee, Bukalapak and Lazada. Blibli is the online grocer y leader, while “Shopee, Tokopedia and Lazada are playing fast catchup,” said Roshan Raj, a Singapore -based partner at research firm RedSeer Consulting.

It’s not just the e-commerce giants—the

resurgence in online grocery has attracted new entrants from adjacent industries. Singapore’s Qoo10 Pte was par ticularly swift to ac t when the government ordered bubble tea shops to temporarily shut along with other nonessential services, offering DIY bubble tea kits. Even meal delivery firm Foodpanda started grocery delivery.

At home in Singapore, Lazada’s Lazmall, where brands sell directly to consumers, has recently attracted big names like Under Armour Inc. in Singapore and Thailand, Starbucks Corp. and 3M Co. in Indonesia and department store chain Robinsons, which is shutting one of its three Singapore outlets in August.

“There are brands that I would not have imagined would come to e - commerce,” Poignant said.

The 41-year-old Frenchman, a cofounder who took the helm last year, says Lazada is interested in grocer y deals, including acquisitions and joint ventures, in Southeast Asia. “We are very open to that,” he said, a d d i n g t h e c o m p a n y i s n’t i n c o n c re t e discussions at the moment. His firm last month teamed up with Indonesia’s Rumah Sayur Group to source vegetables from 2,500 farmers in West Java.

Lazada acquired Singaporean e-grocer RedMart in 2016. It struggled to meet demand and had to temporarily suspend new grocery orders in April to make adjustments. Poignant said changes made to RedMart helped the company serve 50 percent more customers each day a month later.

“Southeast Asia’s e-commerce market is likely to move from a subsidy game to a quality game,” said Lai Chang Wen, CEO of Singaporebased Ninja Van, which helps e-commerce clients deliver more than a million packages daily in the region. “This shift will be pivotal and have a lasting impact.”

Poignant argues Alibaba’s technologies will help differentiate Lazada, star ting with live-streaming. He said Lazada is the only player in Southeast Asia that allows consumers to immediately buy items they see on a stream. By the end of June, Lazada plans to host more than 1,000 daily sessions, up from 4,000 per week now. In April, some 7,000 new live stream accounts were created, up 70 percent from the pre-pandemic era.

A l i b a b a ’s a r t i f i c i a l - i n t e l l i g e n c e technology is another asset. Lazada has more than 100 people working on personalizing its experience, part of Lazada’s 9,000-strong work force across six countries.

For the Chinese e-commerce behemoth, Lazada is the single most important piece of its globalization strategy. It aims to serve 300 million Southeast Asians by 2030, up from 65 million now, according to Poignant.

Underscoring that ambition, Alibaba last week struck a deal to buy half of Singapore’s AXA Tower, valued at S$1.68 billion ($1.2 billion).

Poignant says the 50-story landmark, already home to 3,000 Lazada staff, has very good feng shui. The cylindrical structure was inspired by a stack of coins and originally built as the country’s Treasury Building in 1986. Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong once had an office in the building, Poignant added.

“Southeast Asia is an absolutely critical market for Alibaba,” he said.

Bloomberg News

Sub-zero gas prices seen possible by one of China’s biggest sellers

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n e of China’s biggest natural gas distributors flagged the possibility of sub-zero market prices at its shareholder meeting, a scenario that would echo oil’s record plunge last month that stunned global markets.

Gas prices could turn negative due to a lack of storage capacity, Wang Yusuo, the billionaire chairman of ENN Energy Holdings Ltd., said on Wednesday at the online event from Hong Kong. He didn’t specify any particular region or benchmark, and added that any dip into sub-zero territory would be short-lived.

While lower gas prices would benefit ENN through cost savings on imports, Wang’s comments serve as a warning to gas traders that the spectacular collapse in oil markets might befall them. US oil futures plunged to negative $40.32 a barrel on April 20, an unprecedented level in the world’s most liquid crude oil contract and which inflicted billions of dollars in investor losses.

“For natural gas, I have heard about the possibility of negative prices. I also think it could happen,” Wang said. “That’s because natural gas

has even more limited storage capacity and its production is also more rigid. So it may happen.

But I don’t think it will be a dominant or longlasting scenario.”

Gas price benchmarks across Asia, Europe and the US have all traded near record-low levels this year amid a glut of supply and lackluster demand as the coronavirus paralyzes economies. Traders and analysts surveyed last week by Bloomberg News said while it’s unlikely that prices will slip below zero, they wouldn’t rule out the possibility.

China’s natural gas market is somewhat bifurcated, with its state-owned giants largely in charge of producing and importing gas, and smaller companies like ENN purchasing it from them and then distributing the supply to city utilities and industrial users.

ENN, which mostly operates in eastern and southeast China, has been among the more innovative distributors. It built its own liquefied natural gas terminal near Shanghai, and plans to take advantage of cheap spot prices by boosting imports of the fuel this year, according to the company. Bloomberg News

Sunday, May 17, 2020

A3

Second waves are plaguing Asia’s coronavirus recovery

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n elderly woman with no travel history. An unexpected flareup in a nightclub. A swelling cluster in towns near international borders with no discernible source.

After containing their outbreaks through measures from strict lockdowns to rapid testing regimes, the Asian economies that have seen some of the most success in quelling the coronavirus—Hong Kong, South Korea and China—are now facing resurgences that underscore how it may be nearly impossible to eradicate it.

It’s a painful reminder that as countries open up again and people resume normal life, untraceable flare-ups even after an extended lull in cases are likely. Scientists have warned that the disease may never go away, because it lurks in some people without causing any outward signs of sickness.

“Given the asymptomatic population, these cases are going to emerge from unexpected sources,” said Nicholas Thomas, an associate professor in public health at the City University of Hong Kong. “It is inevitable that the restarting of societies is going to lead to more cases emerging.”

In Hong Kong, a 66-year-old patient with no recent travel history ended the city’s much-envied 23day streak of zero local cases this week. Some of her family members have now been confirmed to be infected as well, and fears are growing that the woman may have seeded more infections as she moved around Hong Kong’s dense city streets before being detected.

On the Chinese mainland, an outbreak of more than 20 new infections in northeastern China has forced authorities to impose movement restrictions

in two cities reminiscent of the loc kdow n pl aced on Wu h a n, the city where the deadly virus first emerged. Schools that had just reopened to students were closed again in three Chinese cities with a total population of 13 million people.

Not far away from China’s fresh outbreak, South Korea has identified more than 100 new cases from several nightclubs frequented by gay customers. Health officials are trying to test more than 5,500 people who visited the clubs since late April, but some fear coming forward given the country’s lingering homophobia. The outbreak threatens to test a virus strategy that has gained praise around the world for containing the virus without strict lockdown measures or disruption.

“It’s now proven that the epidemic has a very long tail,” Wu Zunyou, the chief epidemiologist of the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, or CDC, said on state television earlier this week.

Like flu

There’s a growing consensus that the virus won’t just go away, unlike its close cousin that caused the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome outbreak in 2003 that infected some 8,000 people in Asia.

People who contracted SARS were immediately and visibly ill, and once they were quarantined for treatment, transmission was halted. But the new coronavirus manifests in many people with

few, no, or uncommon symptoms, thus ensuring that hidden chains of transmission endure and cases will likely spike seasonally, like with the flu.

Moreover, people infected with SARS were not contagious during the virus’s incubation period or even in their early days of being sick. In contrast, the new virus doesn’t necessarily make people sick but can easily transmit while it is still incubating, making early detection and containment difficult.

“We have to find ways to live with the virus for now, and this is the new normal,” said Takeshi Kasai, the World Health Organization’s regional director for the western pacific in a briefing on Thursday.

“As long as the virus is circulating in this inter-connected world, and until we have a safe and effective vaccine, everybody remains at risk.”

Hard to trace

More than a hundred vaccines are in development globally, but experts say it could take at least a year until any are ready for use.

Complicating containment efforts, second waves are proving even harder to trace. It remains a mystery to epidemiologists in China how a 45-year-old laundry worker at a local police station in the northern Chinese city of Shulan became infected earlier this month, setting off a chain of over 20 infections.

According to the China CDC’s Wu, she may not even be the first infection in the chain given differing incubation periods. “The laundry woman could have fallen sick after two to three days while the real source is only sick after seven or eight days,” he said. “In that case it’s very hard to tell exactly who infected whom.”

Health officials are now conducting genetic sequencing for the virus obtained from the new clus-

ter of patients and will compare it with the strain found in infected travelers returning from Russia to determine if they’re related, according to Wu. There’s also suspicion that the cluster could stem from North Korea given the area’s proximity to China’s border with the reclusive nation. North Korea has yet to confirm any Covid-19 infections, but the US military said it suspects there are cases, and Kim Jong Un’s regime has accepted help from other nations to fight the virus.

South Korea has been widely lauded for controlling its outbreak without resorting to oppressive restr ictions over its people. But its envied strategy of mass and rapid testing—which slows the virus’s spread while keepi ng mor t a l it y low—m ay have now reached its limit.

More than half of the clubgoers South Korean health authorities want to test remain out of reach and some are not coming forward due to the fear of being outed as gay.

Back in China’s Wuhan, the emergence of six local cases this month prompted the city to embark on an ambitious task: prepare for testing its entire population of 11 million in 10 days.

Despite their swift responses and abundance of resources like testing kits, which some other countries still strug gle w ith, A sian nations could be more vulnerable to a resurgence given how most people live in crowded apartment blocks.

“The high levels of population density—especially in public housing estates—means that any virus has multiple sources for transmission within highly confined geographical areas,” City University of Hong Kong’s Thomas said. “This is the challenge that Asia faces far more so than the rest of the world.” Bloomberg News

Built for a global economy, Dubai now threatened by coronavirus

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UBAI, United Arab Emirates—Dubai built a city of skyscrapers and artificial a rc h i p e l a g o s o n t h e p ro m i s e o f globalization, creating itself as a vital hub for the free movement of trade, people and money worldwide—all things that have been disrupted by the coronavirus pandemic.

Now, with events canceled, flights grounded and investment halted, this sheikdom in the United Arab Emirates is threatened both by the virus and a growing economic crisis. Under pressure even before the outbreak, Dubai and its vast web of state-linked industries face billions of dollars in looming debt repayments.

And though it was bailed out a decade earlier, Dubai may not be able to count on another cash infusion, given the crash in global oil prices.

“They facilitate the transport and the buying of things and the movement of people,” said Karen E. Young, a scholar at the American Enterprise Institute who studies Gulf Arab economies. “That’s not the world we’re living in right now.”

Dubai’s dedication to global trade is memorialized in the first sentence of the first article of its 50-Year Charter, something created last year by its ruler, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, who has overseen much of the city’s growth.

“Dubai is destined to be a crossroad between East and West, and between North and South,” the charter says.

Prior to the pandemic, it reached that status.

Dubai International Airport for years has been the world’s busiest for international travel. Its vast Jebel Ali Port ranks high globally for its cargo operations.

That economic diversity stems from the classic retelling of Dubai’s story. After discovering oil reserves, but none nowhere as large as those in neighboring Abu Dhabi, then-ruler Sheikh Rashid

In this May 8, photo, people look out at the Burj Khalifa, the world’s tallest building, at sunset in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. Dubai built a city on the promise of globalization, creating itself as a vital hub for the free movement of trade, people and money worldwide. Now, with events cancelled, flights grounded and investment halted, this sheikhdom in the UAE faces both the threat of the coronavirus and a growing economic crisis. AP/Jon Gambrell

bin Saeed Al Maktoum warned it would be a finite resource to the city-state.

To protect against that, Dubai became a company town. The state-owned long-haul carrier Emirates flies in foreign workers and tourists alike, who buy alcohol from state-owned duty-free shops, live in housing largely built by state-linked developers and hold credit cards from state-backed banks.

The wider nexus webs out into something US diplomats have called “Dubai Inc.” Much of it worked, up until the pandemic.

“The aggregate of all those crises we faced in the past doesn’t equal this one,” said Tim Clark, president of Emirates airline, on an April 29 conference call.

For Emirates, it must wait until countries open up before filling its flights. Even then, how will airlines handle it when a sneeze “goes 25 feet down the cabin” or if governments enforce social

distancing and require empty seats, Clark asked.

“The airline industry cannot afford to have large numbers of its seats idle,” he said. “It would be absolute economic catastrophe, worse than the current situation.”

Then there were the problems Dubai faced before the crisis. The value of Dubai’s real-estate market had already dropped 30 percent since 2014, when it announced it would host the Expo 2020 world’s fair. That event, on which Dubai already has spent billions, has been postponed to 2021.

US tariffs on aluminum tore away 10.5 percent of Dubai’s exports of the metal to America.

President Donald Trump’s trade war with China threatened Dubai’s shipping, as the government says some 60 percent of China’s exports pass through the city’s free zones to Africa and Europe.

The pandemic has simply thrown into relief how much Dubai, like the rest of the UAE, relies on global trade. Asked about the pandemic’s effect

during a teleconference for the Beirut Institute, Anwar Gargash, the Emirati minister of state for foreign affairs, acknowledged: “There will be questions about globalization.”

Meanwhile, Dubai faces looming debt payments that stem from its 2009 financial crisis. By the end of this year alone, Dubai and its government-linked firms face $9.2 billion of debt coming due, with a massive $30.6 billion bill coming by 2023, according to London-based Capital Economics.

“Worryingly, given its own large debts, Dubai’s government is not in a strong position to provide support” to indebted firms, wrote James Swanston, an economist at Capital Economics.

The government’s Dubai Media Office did not respond to questions from The Associated Press over the upcoming debt obligations. However, officials like former Dubai finance director Nasser al-Shaikh have sought to describe the city-state’s sovereign debt as separate from those of statelinked firms, a distinction authorities also sought to make in the 2009 crisis.

But in 2009, Abu Dhabi ultimately needed to step in with a $10 billion bailout and the Central Bank offered another $10 billion as creditors panicked over such state-linked firms failing.

Dubai at this time also changed the name of the under-construction world’s tallest building from Burj Dubai to Burj Khalifa, after Abu Dhabi ruler and UAE President Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan.

Abu Dhabi has the reserves to easily bail out Dubai again, but may worry about encouraging reckless investments. Oil prices, the bedrock of Abu Dhabi’s economy, also have dropped dramatically in the pandemic. The cost now of credit default swaps on Dubai’s debt—a form of insurance that promises investors payouts in case of a default—already have spiked by 200 percent from late February, according to data firm Refinitiv. AP

Journey

»life on the go

A4

BusinessMirror

Sunday, May 17, 2020

Editor: Tet Andolong

Jasif Farm in San Pablo City

Back to the Basics T

Story & photos by Bernard L. Supetran

he Covid-19 pandemic has undeniably shaken the world’s tourism industry to its core, eventually redrawing the travel map, and reshaping the way we look and do our journeys in the months to come.

While weary souls are raring to go the countryside with the prolonged quarantine, the crowd-drawing international destinations may have to wait and local spots will have to be the first options.

The Department of Tourism itself sees domestic travel to be key in helping restart the country’s tourism industry, hopefully in the last quarter of the year when the sector is opened up. In view with the “new normal” setup, the DOT will be endorsing protocols to ensure public safety even as people begin to travel and help bring the economy back to life in the process.

Among the alternative and lesscrowded destinations worth exploring nowadays are the so-called farm tourism sites which take us back to the basics of fresh food, clean environment, and living in harmony with Mother Earth to make us healthier and more resistant to illnesses. Long before the Covid-19 outbreak, the DOT has been pushing farm tourism and various resorts have been making their presence felt with their unique offerings of garden and agricultural experiences, organic harvest, and family-oriented recreation.

Tucked inland in Mendez town at the Tagaytay Ridge area, L & J Country Estate is a farm resort has been luring visitors for the past few months with their blend of country-style vacation with its manicured gardens, diverse plantations, and special events venue.

It has amenities such as swimming pool, aviary, and children’s playground and comfy air-con rooms minus the trappings of gadgets to enable families to bond the old-fashioned way.

The 1-hectare property is also

known for its delectable local cuisine, most notably bulalo, and a variety of farm-to-table food, side dishes and specially concocted beverages.

A pioneer in the industry which predates farm tourism is Costales Nature Farms, an 8-hectare plantation-slashvacation place and major producer of organic high-value vegetables and herbs for food outlets, organic chicken, eggs and pork.

Situated near foot of Mount Banahaw in Majayjay, Laguna, it conducts seminars on organic farming, farm tourism, effective microorganism technology, and organic hog raising. The first DOT-accredited agritourism site, it is a favorite for benchmarking sustainable practices by agriculture agencies, both here and abroad.

To tap the tourism market, it opened up for day tours and overnight stays for those who want a farm getaway vacation or a different approach to team building. Visitors stay at the cozy but no-frills farm houses, and get a hands-on experience in tending the plots, feeding the animals, and other farm labor.

Joni and Susan Agroshop and Integrated Farms (JASIF) in San Pablo City is among the hottest farm sites close to the metropolis. The 2-hectare farm’s core attractions are its three sunflower mazes, nipa hut-themed gourmet restaurant, a children’s playpen, ATV rides, gazebos, and Instagram-worthy corners.

Over the quarantine period, the farm added recreational facilities to provide more options to active children. Once restrictions on leisure activities are lifted, it will be ready for overnight visitors, campers who want

RioVista Farm and Forest in Sarangani

Agrea Farm in Marinduque

L & J Country Suites in Mendez, Cavite

Cultural and farm tour at CCT Malungon to rough it out under the stars, and weekend acoustic musicians.

In the “heartland” of the archipelago, in the island province of Marinduque is Agrea Farm School, a 2-hectare property which aims to help eradicate poverty for farming and fishing families, alleviate the effects of climate change, and help establish food security.

Using its “Ecology of Dignity” phi-

losophy, it has been helping empower farming and fishing communities in island economies to attain food security through sustainable practices. It has been mobilizing various sectors to inspire farmers, enthusiasts, garden hobbyists, professionals, and others to maximize agriculture competencies for a healthy lifestyle.

In the ongoing lockdown, Agrea is bridging rural producers with urban

consumers through its Move Food Initiative.

Down south, Mindanao is an ideal hub because of its vast fertile soil, fair climate the whole-year round, and age-old farming practices by the lumad indigenous peoples. Malungon town in Sarangani is an emerging farm tourism hideaway with the concentration of agrarian-based recreation.

A must-visit is the CCT Malungon Retreat and Training Center which is engaged in grassroots empowerment initiatives to help preserve the Blaan and Tagakaolo way of life. Its 72-hectare model farm promote traditional agriculture, aquaculture, and recently, a package tour which showcases their tribal indigenous culture and cuisine.

Nearby is RioVerde Farm and Forest, a reforestation and integrated, organic upland farm which two farms—the 47-hectare Sitio Rancho for upland crops, and the 15-hectare Sitio Alngihan for high-value vegetables. Recognized as an Agriculture Training Institute Learning Site, it offers an array of farm activities to visitors after going around the usual attractions.

Also within the town is the B3 Sodaco Farm which has a natural lake dotted with native cottages, and bamboo rafts for leisurely boating and fishing.

Beyond the usual places with the madding crowd, this extraordinary situation is an opportunity to go back to the basics, reconnect with Mother Nature, and relish the simple joys of life.

Science

BusinessMirror

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

Sunday

Sunday, May 17, 2020 A5

Balik Scientists join PHL’s fight vs Covid-19

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ilipino scientists and medical practitioners, who were formerly trained and based abroad, are now in the country helping in the fight against the Covid-19 pandemic.

The Balik Scientists are either working in different hospitals with other frontliners, advising the Department of Health (DOH) on Covid-19 matters and the Inter-Agency Task Force (IATF), which is at the center of policy recommendations on the coronavirus, or working with the Department of Science and Technology (DOST) on projects concerning the pandemic.

T he sc ient i st s a nd med ic a l practitioners are offering their expertise under the Balik Scientist Program of the DOST, in close collaboration with the Philippine Council for Health Research and Development (PCHRD).

Among the Balik Scientists are Dr. Edsel Maurice T. Salvaña, Dr. Joseph Adrian L. Buensalido, Dr. Jonel P. Saludes, Dr. Doralyn S. Dalisay, Dr. Raymond Francis R. Sarmiento, Dr. Reynaldo L. Garcia and Dr. Harvy Joy C. Liwanag.

The PCHRD said that as the fight to stop the spread of deadly coronavirus continues, “it is expected that more and more medical practitioners, scientists, and researchers will render their services in different capacities and share their expertise to protect the lives of the Filipinos. n Dr. Edsel Maurice T. Salvaña is a member of the Technical Advisory Group that advises the DOH and the IATF. He is a multi-awarded and internationally recognized scientist, physician, and HIV/AIDS advocate.

He is a director at the University of the Philippines (UP) Manila, an associate professor at the UP-Philippine General Hospital (UP-PGH), and adjunct faculty for Global Health at the University of Pittsburgh. n Dr. Joseph Adrian L. Buensalido, an expert in infectious

diseases, is a graduate of the De La Salle University-Health Sciences Campus.

After his fellowship from the Wayne State University-Detroit Medical Center in Michigan, US, Buensalido conducted clinical research on the mechanisms of action of antibacterials, antibiotic resistance, hepatitis, HIV, and infections of the spine, among others.

He is currently an Infectious Diseases and Internal Medicine Consultant at the Asian Hospital and Medical Center, Manila Doctors Hospital, and had conducted his research studies at UP-PGH. n Dr. Jonel P. Saludes, a professor of Chemistry and associate vice president for Research at the University of San Agustin, is now assisting in assessing the capacities of the Western Visayas Medical Center’s (WVMC) facilities and technicians for compliance and accreditation by the DOH. Saludes is trained on various fields like magnetic resonance spectroscopy and mass spectrometry, chromatography, and chemical biology, to name a few, from the University of California Davis and University of Colorado Boulder. n Dr. Doralyn S. Dalisay, a 2019 Outstanding Professional of the Year awardee in the field of Pharmacy from the Philippine Regulatory Commission, is also assisting in assessing the capacities of WVMC for compliance and accreditation by the DOH. Dalisay returned to the Philippines as the DOST Balik Scientist in June 2015 to establish a research program on natural products drug discovery at the Center for Chemical Biology and Biotechnology in University of San Agustin.

Dr. Buensalido

Dr. Dalisay

Dr. Liwanag

Dr. Saludes

Dr. Salvaña

Dr. Sarmiento

She holds two US patents on the use of a marine natural product for fungal infections and cancer.

informatics and health data science, among others.

n Dr. Harvy Joy C. Liwanag performs projections for DOH on the health work force requirements for the Philippines to address Covid-19 adequately.

Liwanag is the coordinator of the Training Center for Health Research Ethics and Good Clinical Practice at the UP Manila NIH. He returned as a medium-term Balik Scientist after completing his PhD in Epidemiology at the Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute (Swiss TPH) and is currently being hosted by the DOH- Health Human Resource Development Bureau.

It encourages Filipino scientists or scientists of Filipino descent to return to the Philippines to share their expertise to strengthen the scientific and technical human resources of the academe, the public and private institutions, including the industry, to accelerate the flow of new and strategically important technologies that are vital to national development.

As of June 30, 2019, 526 Balik Scientists returned to the Philippines to share their expertise. They were able to participate in 659 engagements in the academe, public/government agencies and the industry.

For the period 2007-2019, 238 Balik Scientists from five continents returned to the country with 352 engagements benefiting 115 host institutions nationwide.

S&T Media Service

n Dr. R ay mond Fra nc is R .

Sarmiento leads the Data Warehouse Team of Feasibility Analysis of Syndromic Surveillance using Spatio-Temporal Epidemiological Modeler (FASSSTER), a project of the DOST-PCHRD to fight Covid-19.

FASSSTER has been used for creating predictive models and visualizing possible scenarios of outbreaks of dengue, typhoid fever and measles at specified time periods.

Currently, Sarmiento works as the director of the National Telehealth Center of UP National Institutes of Health (UP NIH).

As a Balik Scientist, he specializes in clinical and public health

n Dr. Reynaldo L. Garcia, an ex pert in biomedical research, consulting and biotechnology enterprise, now leads the national databasing of laboratories with polymerase chain reaction to assist DOH in testing.

Garcia returned to the Philippines in 2010 as a Balik Scientist and was appointed as a Full Professor at the National Institute of Molecular Biology and Biotechnology, UP Diliman, and concurrently as UP System Director of the Technology Transfer and Business Development Office.

He currently heads the multiawarded Disease Molecular Biology and Epigenetics Laboratory.

Dr. garcia

Balik Scientist Program

The Balik Scientist program was enacted into law in 2017 although it is being implemented for many years already by the DOST.

Scientist to govt: Rethink intervention in agriculture

By Rizal Raoul S. Reyes

A

lo cal s c i e nt i s t re cent ly u rg e d t h e government to “rethink” its interventions in agriculture as the Covid-19 lockdown has further cut a number of farmers of their income—resulting in depressed demand for goods, food insecurity, and declining gross domestic product (GDP).

“Due to lockdown, mobility restrictions result in quantity reduction in farm labor. If it continues longer, this would translate to reduction in agriculture productivity,” Dr. Glenn B. Gregorio, director of the Southeast Asian Regional Center for Graduate Study and Research in Agriculture

(Searca) said in a news statement.

Going on third month of the lockdown, Gregorio pointed out that a decline in Philippines’ agricultural production is being placed at 2.97 percent due to the decrease in the number of farmers tilling the land.

In a recent webinar on food security, Gregorio said Filipino farmers will experience financial challenges as they cannot sell their produce.

“The loss of income and economic slowdown would also result in decrease in demand, particularly among the farmers and farming families with no safety nets,” he added during the recent Searca Online Learning and Virtual Engagements (SOLVE) webinar on food security.

Moreover, Gregorio said the downturn in agricultural production is exacerbated by farmers’ limited access to farm inputs and markets to sell produce. This has already resulted in profit losses and wastage in farm produce such as vegetables in Benguet.

Gregorio said the government must craft a more collaborative approach in solving the food security problem.

He added the enhanced partnership must involve government, industries and the academe— the center and origin of many innovations and technology.

“Our experience with Covid-19 highlights the importance of how we define food security. This

becomes the basis of how we design programs and projects,” he said.

Nevertheless, Gregorio said a ray of positivity emerged from the pandemic with the support of consumers as a result of their understanding between “what is on their plate and agriculture.”

“Consumers have realized during the Covid-19 lockdown that if they do not support Filipino farmers and the farm sector, they will have nothing to eat—not the ideal nutritious kind everyone desires,” he said.

“The agriculture sector could capitalize on this increasing support to identify several investments needed to strengthen the agriculture systems as food systems,” Gregorio added.

The unique capabilities of Nasa and its partner space agencies in the areas of science and technology enable them to lend a hand during this global crisis.

Since the start of the global outbreak, Earth science specialists from each agency have been exploring ways to use unique Earth observation data to aid in the understanding of the interplay of the Earth system—on global to local scales—with aspects of the Covid-19 outbreak, including, potentially, our ability to combat it.

The hackathon will also examine the human and economic response to the virus.

ESA will contribute data from the Sentinel missions (Sentinel-1, Sentinel-2 and Sentinel-5P) in the context of the European Copernicus program, led by the European Commission.

There will also be data from Third Party contributing missions, with a focus on assessing the impact on climate change and greenhouse gases, as well as impacts on the economic sector.

ESA will also contribute Earth observation experts for the selection of the competition winners and the artificial-intelligence-powered EuroDataCube.

"EuroDatacube will enable the best ideas to be

scaled up to a global level," said Josef Aschbacher, director of Earth Observation Programmes at ESA. "The pandemic crisis has a worldwide impact, therefore, international cooperation and sharing of data and expertise with partners like Nasa and Jaxa seems the most suitable approach."

Jaxa is making Earth observing data available from its satellite missions, including ALOS-2, GOSAT, GOSAT-2, GCOM-C, GCOM-W, and GPM/DPR. "Jaxa welcomes the opportunity to be part of the hackathon," said Jaxa Vice President Terada Koji.

"I believe the trilateral cooperation among ESA, Nasa and Jaxa is important to demonstrate how Earth observation can support global efforts in combating this unprecedented challenge."

Space Apps is an international hackathon that takes place in cities around the world.

Since 2012, teams have engaged with Nasa's free and open data to address real-world problems on Earth and in space.

The Covid-19 Challenge will be the program’s first global virtual hackathon.

Space Apps 2019 included more than 29,000 participants at 225 events in 71 countries, developing

more than 2,000 hackathon solutions over the course of one weekend.

Many Filipinos have participated in this annual hackathon since 2016.

Recently, a dengue mapping forecasting system was developed by data scientists from CirroLytix using satellite and climate data with the goal of addressing the sustainable development goals of the United Nations.

The web application, called Project Aedes won globally for the best use of data.

"Earth observation data has the potential to be used in fighting epidemics and outbreaks threatening humanity nowadays, as well as to analyze its socioeconomic impact," according to software developer Michael Lance M. Domagas, who led the Philippine hackathon in collaboration with De La Salle University, PLDT, Department of Science and Technology, United Nations Development Programme, and the US embassy.

The very first Philippine winner used citizen science and environmental data to develop a smartphone application informing fishermen the right time to catch fish. ISDApp is currently being incubated at Animo Labs.

Prior to mass production, the DOST-FPRDIformulated hand and liquid soaps, and hand mists will undergo further bioassay testing to determine their germ removal efficiency. DOST-FPRDI

DOST-FPRDI develops soaps, Nasa and partners launch virtual hackathon for Covid-19 solutions hand mists vs. Covid-19

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he US space agency, National Aeronautics Space Administration (Nasa), European Space Agency (ESA) and Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (Jaxa) are inviting coders, entrepreneurs, scientists, designers, storytellers, makers, builders, artists, and technologists to participate in a virtual hackathon on May 30 and 31 to put open data to work in developing solutions to issues related to the Covid-19 pandemic.

During the global Space Apps Covid-19 Challenge, participants from around the world will create virtual teams that—during a 48-hour period—will use Earth observation data to propose solutions to Covid-19-related challenges ranging from studying the coronavirus that causes Covid-19 and its spread to the impact the disease is having on the Earth system. Registration for this challenge opened on May 12. ( https://covid19.spaceappschallenge.org/) "There’s a tremendous need for our collective ingenuity right now," said Thomas Zurbuchen, associate administrator for Nasa’s Science Mission Directorate. "I can’t imagine a more worthy focus than Covid-19 on which to direct the energy and enthusiasm from around the world with the Space Apps Challenge that always generates such amazing solutions."

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rom furniture, equipment and fiber products from wood, bamboo and other forest resources, the Forest Products Research and Development Institute (FPRDI) is now into new products: hand and liquid soaps, and hand mists. What’s more, these goods are among the basic essentials at this time of coronavirus pandemic.

Exploring the vast potential of the Philippines’ local forest resources, the Department of Science and Technology (DOST) agency has developed personal-care products which are useful in maintaining personal hygiene amid the Covid-19 scourge.

Dr. Jennifer P. Tamayo, research team leader, said, “The results of DOST-FPRDI’s previous and on-going studies on bamboo charcoal and bamboo-activated carbon were useful in making these persona-care products.”

“The bamboo-activated carbon helps remove microorganisms, such as germs, by absorbing them.

While the Institute has yet to study sapang and tawa-tawa thoroughly, available literature point to their antimicrobial properties,” she added.

The antimicrobial liquid hand soaps were formulated using cinnamon and bamboo-activated carbon, with lavender and Manila elemi oil scents.

The hand bar soaps, meanwhile, used bamboo charcoal, bamboo-activated carbon, sapang and tawa-tawa, with eucalyptus oil scent.

The antimicrobial hand mists for disinfection in the absence of soap and water were made from cinnamon—a proven natural disinfectant— and infused with either lavender or Manila elemi oil scent.

According to Tamayo, bioassay testing and sensory test are being done to further study the products.

DOST-FPRDI aims to partner with local bamboobased companies to speed-up the production of these anti-microbial soaps.

“Maintaining personal hygiene, such as through washing and sanitizing of hands, is deemed an important step in preventing the spread of diseases.

As Covid-19 cases continue to rise in some areas of the country, DOST-FPRDI will look for more ways to help protect the public against this global pandemic,” said FPRDI Director Romulo T. Aggangan.

Besides Tamayo, the research team includes Rebecca B. Lapuz, Rowena E. Ramos, Benjo S. Salvatierra, Rogelio O. Rantael Jr., Kim Wilmer B. Balagot, Kimberly B. Delica, Audel V. Mosteiro, Kristopher R. Breis and Alexis B. Dorado. Apple Jean C. Martin-de Leon/S&T

Media Service

Faith A6 Sunday, May 17, 2020

Sunday

‘We heal as one:’ PHL bishops reconsecrate country to Mary

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he Catholic Church in the Philippines has turned to the Virgin Mary for protection amid the contagion and death brought about by the coronavirus pandemic.

Bishop Dennis Villarojo (right) of Malolos City, Bulacan, leads the national consecration of the country to Virgin Mary at the National Shrine of Our Lady of Fatima in Valenzuela City on May 13. NSOLF

The Church hierarchy, in solidarity with a number of bishops’ conferences around the world,

marked the Marian month by consecrating the nation to the Immaculate Heart of Mary.

A rchbishop Romulo Valles, president of the episcopal conference, led the consecration of the Philippines to the Blessed Mother on May 13, the Feast of Our Lady of Fatima.

The bishops sought the intercession of Mar y for the “ healing” of all those who contracted the virus and for the “strength a nd protec t ion” of bot h t he frontliners and the public.

“We pray as one. We heal as one. We renew the world as one through this act of consecration,” Valles said.

“This [is] our country’s way to implore the grace and mercy of the Lord to end the pandemic of coronavirus,” he said.

The prayer service was streamed on various Catholic media platforms as dioceses across the country are under strict quarantine protocol.

The May 13 consecration, which coincided with the 103rd anniversary of the apparition of Our Lady of Fatima, reaffirmed the bishops’ previous consecrations of the Philippines to Mary.

In March 1984, the Filipino

prelates joined Pope John Paul II with other bishops around the globe in the worldwide consecration to the Immaculate Heart of Mary in Rome.

The following year, the Church also begged the Blessed Mother’s intercession to bring the country to “true freedom and peace” during the Marcos dictatorship.

The Church again renewed the nation’s consecration to the Sacred Heart of Jesus and his Mother’s Immaculate Heart “as a form of joyous thanksgiving” in 1987.

Most recently, in 2013, the bishops approved the yearly national consecration of the country to the Immaculate Heart of Mary during its memorial every June 8, in preparation for the celebration of the fifth centenary of the Christianization of the Philippines.

But t he s e “e x t r aord i n a r y times,” Valles added, calls on the Church to do the national consecration with a “sense or urgency.”

“This is an opportune time to reflect on the current situation that the world is experiencing right now,” he said.

Roy Lagarde/CBCP News

Pope Francis: Pandemic shows need for more nurses

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ATICAN—The coronavirus crisis has shown that governments need to invest more in health care and employ more nurses, Pope Francis said last week.

I n a m e s s a g e m a r ki n g International Nurses Day, the pope said the pandemic had exposed the weaknesses of the world’s health- care systems.

“For this reason, I would ask leaders of nations throughout the world to invest in health care as the primary common good, by strengthening its systems and employing greater numbers of nurses, so as to ensure adequate care to everyone, with respect for the dignity of each person,” Pope Francis wrote in the message published last week.

The pope noted that the World Health Organization has declared 2020 the International Year of Nurses and Midwives, and that Florence Nightingale, the founder of modern nursing, was born 200 years ago on May 12, 1820.

He then paid tribute to medical workers who have died while tending coronavirus victims.

He said: “At this critical moment, marked by the global health emergency caused by the Covid-19 pandemic, we have rediscovered the fundamental importance of the role being played by nurses and midwives.

“Ever y day we witness the testimony of courage and sacrifice of health- care workers, and nurses in particular, who, with professionalism, self-sacrifice, and a sense of responsibility and love for neighbor, assist people affected by the virus, even to the point of putting their own health at risk.

“Sadly, this can be seen in the high number of health-care workers who have died as a result of their faithful service. I pray for them—the Lord knows each of them by name—and for all the victims of this epidemic,” the pope added.

Pope Francis described nursing as “a very special vocation” in which men and women

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

Drive-thru ‘iftars,’ coronavirus task forces

How Muslims are observing Ramadan obligations to the poor

Migrant workers from Uttar Pradesh offer prayers before breaking their fast during Ramadan, while traveling to return to their home state, during a nationwide lockdown to curb the spread of new coronavirus on the outskirts of Hyderabad, India, on May 12. The lockdown that began March 25 sent an exodus of workers from huge informal sector fleeing the cities to their ancestral homes in the countryside. AP/Mahesh Kumar

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any of the world’s 1.8 billion Muslims are experiencing the holy month of Ramadan differently this year—disrupted by social distancing amid the Covid-19 pandemic.

Ramadan, which began on April 24, is the ninth month on the Islamic lunar calendar during which Muslims are required to fast from food, drink and sexual activity from dawn to dusk.

It is also a time for Muslims to renew their faith and remind themselves of the best that they can be by performing acts of compassion. For many Muslims, Ramadan is centered around helping the poor.

As a scholar of Muslim philanthropy, I have watched as people and institutions have adapted practices to accommodate social distancing rules. I have also observed how the crisis has exposed the vulnerability of Muslim nonprofits.

Muslims tend to give their zakat—obligatory annual charitable payments—during Ramadan.

In the US, this has traditionally meant fundraising iftars—the evening meal to break daily Ramadan fasts—or congregational fund-raising at community prayers or volunteering.

Social distancing has made it hard to keep up this tradition.

Anti-poverty efforts

Nurses pray together at a private hospital in Manila on April 17. Eric Paul Guanlao

become good Samaritans offering “courage, hope and trust” to others.

Addressing nurses direc tly, he said: “You—and here I think too of midwives—are close to people at crucial moments in their existence—bir th and death, disease and healing—helping them deal with traumatic situations. Sometimes you find yourself at their side as they are dying, giving comfort and relief in their last moments.

“Because of your dedication, you are among the ‘saints nex t door.’ You are an image of the Church as a ‘field hospital’ that continues to carry out the mission of Jesus

Christ, who drew near to and healed people with all kinds of sickness and who stooped down to wash the feet of his disciples. Thank you for your service to humanity!”

He added that nurses and midwives should be “more fully valued,” noting that studies show that investing in them improves a population’s overall health.

“Their professionalism should, thus, be enhanced by providing suitable scientific, human, psychological and spiritual tools for their training, by improving their working conditions and by guaranteeing their rights, so that they can carr y out their ser vice in

full dignit y,” he wrote.

The pope also praised associations of health- care workers, and offered “a special word” to midwives, describing their work as “among the most noble of professions” and pleasing to God. The International Council of Nurses has celebrated International Nurses Day on May 12 since 1965.

There are more than 4 million recorded cases of coronavirus worldwide and 286,000 reported deaths as of May 11, according to the Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Center.

Catholic News Agency via CBCP News

According to a 2018 sur vey of Muslim philanthropic practices by the Institute of Social Policy and Understanding, US Muslims make efforts to alleviate poverty in America a high priority when giving to Muslim charities.

In fact, the poll found it was the second-most important focus of philanthropy after supporting their places of worship. Education and international relief rounded out their top 4 priorities.

When it comes to giving to non-Muslim charities, Muslims, likewise, spent more on groups that deal with poverty within the United States than other countries.

Civil rights organizations ranked below foreign and domestic anti-poverty efforts even as Muslims face a rising tide of Islamophobia.

At a time when many Muslims in the US are feeling marginalized or at risk of hostility, they are still prioritizing the needs of others.

In fact, they are just as likely to give to causes outside their faith as those within, and of all faiths are the most likely to give to poverty causes outside their religion.

Similarly, a recent survey of British Muslims found that younger UK Muslims are passionate about reducing domestic inequalit y and poverty, and that they are focusing on efforts within their own borders rather than Muslims in other countries.

The economic downturn caused by the coronavirus will have inevitably pushed many families—Muslim and non-Muslim alike—into poverty.

Even before the crisis, more than a third of Muslim Americans were below the poverty line—a higher proportion than that of the general population.

Direct aid

Despite the challenges brought about by social distancing, Muslims organizations have still found ways to channel money to those in need.

In the United States, the Islamic Society of North America has, for example, helped establish a National Muslim Covid-19 Taskforce.

Local community organizations have come together to develop their own Muslim Covid-19 task forces in places like Indianapolis and Chicago.

Some congregations are providing iftar food for those in need through drive-through services because the traditional community meals are all canceled.

Some congregations and organizations like the Islamic Circle of North America Relief are dropping off at homes and apartment buildings.

These local efforts are supported by national networks.

The Community Collaboration Initiative, established by the Muslim Philanthropy Initiative at the Lilly Family School of Philanthropy, where I am employed,” has brought together 26 Muslim American nonprofits to find ways to collaborate.

While other Muslim relief organizations have increased domestic effort to distribute food and aid directly to people’s homes.

Emergency funding

Meanwhile, guidance from religious bodies like the Association of Muslim Jurists of America and the Fiqh Council of North America has meant that struggling Muslim families and businesses can apply for federal funds.

They ruled that it was permissible to apply for loans under the government’s Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act despite the funds being subject to interest—which is forbidden under Islamic law.

I’ve already heard from a number of Muslim nonprofits that they are facing deep financial challenges as a result of the coronavirus crisis.

Muslim Americans represent around 1 percent of the US population and trend younger and poorer.

This may explain why Muslim American nonprofits are vulnerable during times of economic hardship and may benefit from greater support from outside foundations and philanthropists.

Muslims in the US have shown their resourcefulness in finding new ways of giving during the coronavirus-hit Ramadan. Many of the faith’s nonprofits may need to do likewise to keep afloat during the hard economic times to come.

Shariq Siddiqui/The Conversation

Public Masses to resume in Italy from May 18 R

Basilica di Santa Maria del Fiore in Florence, Italy. CNA file photo

OME—Dioceses in Italy can resume the celebration of public Masses beginning on May 18, under conditions issued on Thursday by the head of Italy’s bishops and by government officials.

The protocol for Mass and other liturgical celebrations states that Churches must limit the number of people present—ensuring a 1-meter (3 feet) distance—and congregants must wear face masks.

The Church must also be cleaned and disinfected between celebrations.

For the distribution of the Eucharist, priests and other ministers of Holy Communion are asked to wear gloves and masks covering both the nose and mouth and to avoid contact with communicants’ hands.

The Diocese of Rome suspended public Masses since March 8 due to the coronavirus

o u t b re a k . S e ve ra l d i o ce s e s i n h a rd - h i t northern Italy, including Milan and Venice, had suspended public liturgies as early as the last week of February.

A l l p u b l i c re l i g i o u s ce l e b rat i o n s — including baptisms, funerals and weddings— were prohibited during the Italian government’s lockdown, which went into effect on March 9.

Funerals were allowed again beginning May 4. Public baptisms and weddings may now also resume in Italy starting on May 18.

The protocol issued on May 7 lays out the general directions for complying with health measures, such as the indication of a maximum capacity in a Church based on maintaining at least 1-meter distance between people.

Access to the Church must be regulated to control the number present, it says, and the number of Masses can be increased to ensure

social distancing.

Th e Ch u rc h s h o u l d b e c l e a n e d a n d disinfected after every celebration and the use of worship aids such as hymnals is discouraged.

Church doors should be propped open before and after Mass to aid traffic flow, and hand sanitizer must be available at entrances.

Among other suggestions, the Sign of Peace should be omitted, and holy water fonts kept empty, the protocol states.

The protocol was signed by Italian bishops’ Conference President Cardinal G ualtiero Bassetti, Prime Minister and President of the Council Giuseppe Conte, and the Minister of the Interior Luciana Lamorgese.

A note says the protocol was prepared by the Italian bishops’ conference and examined and approved by the government’s TechnicalScientific Committee for Covid-19.

On April 26 Italy’s bishops had criticized Conte for failing to lift the ban on public Masses.

In a statement, the bishops’ conference denounced Conte’s decree on “phase 2” of Italy ’s coronavirus restric tions, which it said, “arbitrarily excludes the possibility of celebrating Mass with the people.”

The prime minister’s office responded later the same night indicating that a protocol would be studied to allow “the faithful to participate in liturgical celebrations as soon as possible in conditions of maximum security.”

The Italian bishops issued a statement on May 7 stating that the protocol for restarting public Masses “concludes a path that has seen collaboration between the Italian Episcopal Conference, the Prime Minister, the Minister of the Interior.”

Hannah Brockhaus/Catholic News Agency

Biodiversity Sunday BusinessMirror

Asean Champions of Biodiversity Media Category 2014

Sunday, May 17, 2020

Editor: Lyn Resurreccion

A7

The beetles of Calanasan

I

Health officials inspect bats to be confiscated and culled in the wake of coronavirus outbreak at a live animal market in Solo, Central Java, Indonesia, on March 14. AP

U.N.: Live animal markets shouldn’t be closed despite Covid-19 scourge

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ONDON—The World Health Organization (WHO) said last week that although a market in the Chinese cit y of Wuhan selling live animals likely played a significant role in the emergence of the new coronavirus, it does not recommend that such markets be shut down globally.

In a news briefing, WHO food safety and animal diseases expert Peter Ben Embarek said live animal markets are critical to providing food and livelihoods for millions of people globally and that authorities should focus on improving them rather than outlawing them—even though they can sometimes spark epidemics in humans.

“Food safety in these environments is rather difficult and therefore it’s not surprising that sometimes we also have these events happening within markets,” Ben Embarek said.

He said reducing the risk of disease transmission from animals to humans in these often overcrowded markets could be addressed in many cases by improving hygiene and food safety standards, including separating live animals from humans.

He added that it is still unclear whether the market in Wuhan linked to the first several dozens of coronavirus cases in China was the actual source of the virus or merely played a role in spreading the disease further.

Ben Embarek said investigations are continuing in China to pinpoint the animal source from which Covid-19 jumped into humans but that studies have since found other species are susceptible to the disease, including cats, tigers, ferrets and dogs.

Identifying other vulnerable species will allow certain interventions to be put in place to prevent future outbreaks.

“We don’t want to create a new reservoir in animals that could continue to create infections in humans,” he said.

Ben Embarek said it might take considerable time to identify the original animal source for the new coronavirus, explaining that extensive studies need to occur first, involving health officials carefully interviewing many of those infected in the early stages of the outbreak, to narrow down what their interactions with animals were before they fell sick.

Scientists would then need to take samples from animals to find a close match to the coronavirus circulating in humans.

To date, China has not invited WHO or other external experts to be part of that investigation.

Ben Embarek said China likely has the necessary expertise to conduct such studies and WHO has not noted any problems in China’s willingness to collaborate with others. AP

A person runs up a hill at Baker Beach in San Francisco, California, US, on April 30. Governor Gavin Newsom on Thursday ordered beaches closed in Orange County, south of Los Angeles, after a heatwave last weekend lured crowds of sunbathers there. David Paul Morris/Bloomberg

Future warming arriving earlier than expected, new research finds

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limate scientists have previously warned that a lethal combination of heat and humidity will make currently inhabited parts of the planet uninhabitable for months at a time in the decades to come. New research finds that future is now.

The study—published in the journal Science Advances on Friday under the vivid title “The emergence of heat and humidity too severe for human tolerance”—found the Persian Gulf, along with parts of Pakistan, is already susceptible to novel severe events.

The researchers found that conditions briefly crossed into the danger zone—a combined heat and humidity, or “wet-bulb temperature,” of 35 degrees Celsius—on 14 occasions, according to 40 years of hourly data.

Readings of 33°C have come 80 times, and 31°C have occurred about 1,000 times, reaching beyond the Middle East and southern Asia.

Dozens of extreme events have occurred along the US Gulf Coast, including New Orleans and Biloxi, Mississippi.

When heat and humidity produce a wet-bulb temperature of 35°C, the body passes a“survivability threshold,” said Radley Horton, associate research professor at Columbia University’s Earth Institute and a coauthor of the study.

It’s theoretically the point when humidity and heat prevent skin from being able to cool off by sweating, causing the body to overheat, potentially fatally.

“Conceptually, this is a really powerful, scary idea,” Horton said. It’s “the notion that the combination of heat and humidity could be so extreme that a perfectly fit person, sitting in the shade, not moving at all, endless supply of water, either unclothed or wearing perfect clothes for sweating, would not, thermodynamically, be able to sweat fast enough to avoid overheating and getting heatstroke.”

The Gulf of California, the Gulf of Mexico,

the shores of the Red Sea and India’s Southern coast will also suffer from dangerous wet-bulb events decades ahead of previous projections, the researchers found.

The survivability threshold is a general designation. Deadly conditions have already come at lower extreme humid-heat levels.

Recent mass-casualty events have occurred with wet-bulb temperatures of about 28°C, including the 2003 European heat wave, which killed more than 70,000 people, and the 2010 Russian heatwave and fires that killed more than 50,000 people.

The researchers found that dangerous humidheat events, above wet-bulb temperatures of roughly 30°C, doubled between 1979 and 2017.

The global average temperature has risen more than 1°C since the preindustrial era. As a result, the number of people exposed to deadly humid-heat conditions has reached 9 million people, up from zero, previously.

At 2°C of warming, that number grows to 210 million, and at 3°C, 711 million people, according to a paper accepted in Environmental Research Letters in February.

It’s not just humans who are suffering, but other species we’ve come to rely on.

Writing in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences ( PNAS ) last week, a team of researchers found that the temperature shift coming in the next 50 years is greater than humans, livestock and crops have experienced in 6,000 years.

Unless mass-migration becomes the norm, a third of the human population will find itself living in Sahara-like conditions by 2070 if climate pollution continues at current rates.

The researchers writing in PNAS found “a strong tension” between where people are expected to live and the climate conditions they have lived in for millennia. Bloomberg News

By Jonathan L. Mayuga

t’s not your 1970s famous band. Just the same, the beetles of Calanasan, Apayao, are now getting the much-needed recognition.

The little known family of bugs, scientifically known as Coleoptera, Cicindelidae, are thriving in the forests of Apayao province, one of the few remaining unexplored areas in the Cordillera Administrative Region in northern Philippines.

Like other insects, the beetles have been existing for millions of years, yet very little is known about them.

T he reason is that there are ver y few scientific researches that dea l w ith the often considered noxious and annoy ing sma l l anima ls.

For tunately, scientists are now starting to discover and introduce them to the world, and to highlight their importance and reasons why they should be protected and conserved.

Scientific research

A group of sc ient ists h ave started to look closer into the tiger beetles in the Philippines with the hope of highlighting the richness of the countr y’s biological diversity.

In their paper, titled “Annotated list of tiger beetles [Coleoptera, Cicindelidae] in Calanasan, Apayao Province, Luzon, Philippines,” authors—Milton Norman D. Medina, Analyn A. Cabras, Jayson Ibañez, Guiller Opiso and Reagan Joseph T. Villanueva—listed 12 species of tiger beetles found in Calanasan.

The paper was published in the Check List, a journal of biodiversity data that was published by Pensoft, an independent academic publishing company.

As Calanasan is seldom explored, so are its tiger beetles, which are mostly site-endemic.

Unesco Biosphere Reserve

The study was conducted as part of a biodiversity expedition in Calanasan in support of the area’s bid to be recognized as a Biosphere Reserve of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (Unesco).

Medina, one of the senior authors of the paper and expert in tiger beetles, said the study is very timely for the bid for the prestigious title.

“It is very timely because the area is applying for Biosphere Reserve of Unesco. Tiger beetles are very good indicator species.

Unlike other insect groups, they The beetle habitat in Calanasan, Apayao, is protected by the local government unit and Isnag indigenous communities through the Lapat system, an indigenous natural resourcemanagement practice. Photos by Jayson Ibañez

Cylindera genieri Cassola & Werner, 2003

are habitat-specific. It means they can identify whether the area is disturbed or not. Hence, they [residents] can prioritize which areas need to be restored,” he said.

Around 75 percent of the species the scientists collected were endemic, or can only be found in Calanasan, which shows the high value in preserving the forest of the area.

Learning place for sustainable development

Unesco defines biosphere reserves as “ learning places for sustainable development.”

“They are sites for testing interdisciplinary approaches to understanding and managing changes and interactions between social and ecological systems, including conflict prevention and management of biodiversity. They are places that provide local solutions to global challenges. Biosphere reserves include terrestrial, marine and coastal ecosystems,” Unesco said.

Calanasan and its tiger beetles

The municipality of Calanasan is a first-class municipality and the largest in Apayao.

It has a huge tract of primary lowland forest, which remains poorly studied, especially for beetles, according to the paper.

Tiger beetles are often used as biological indicator of the health and disturbance of ecosystems because it is vulnerable to forest destruction.

As tiger beetles prey on small insects like mosquitoes, they can also be used as a biological control agent. Hence, they help prevent insect-borne diseases, like dengue and malaria.

A total of 80 tiger beetle individuals, representing two subtribes, seven genera, and 12 species were documented by the team.

High tiger beetle endemism

In their paper, the authors said the list is the first for Calanasan and includes nine of the 12 endemic tiger beetle species in the country.

They are confident that more species of the beetles are expected to occur in Calanasan, and additional thorough exploration in the area would likely add to the present list.

The team said the number of tiger beetle species in Calanasan is similar to that found in Compostela Valley province in

the Davao region in Mindanao in southern Philippines. Based on a 2016 study, it reported 12 species and seven genera.

Moreover, the rate of endemism in Calanasan is higher (75 percent) than in Mainit Hot Spring Protected Landscape in Mindanao (62.5 percent) based on a 2016 study.

Meanwhile, the authors noted that a study in Northern Mindanao reported a similar rate of endemism of 77 percent among 12 species to their Calanasan study.

Healthy ecosystem

Medina said the ecosystem of Calanasan must be very pristine for the tiger beetles to thrive in an area.

Ibañez, a coauthor of the paper, agreed. “These beetles have many roles in an ecosystem. They are predators of smaller insects, hence, help maintain ecological balance.”

Like the dung beetles, the tiger beetles help break down animal manure, thereby, making the forest healthy.

“Some tiger beetles feed on mosquitoes, some feed on aphids.

So they are also natural biological control agents,” he said. “Tiger beetles are beneficial to the environment.”

Ibañez said the health of Apayao’s forest, including Calanasan, can be attributed to the fact that the province has low population density, which make the environment sustain human pressure.

Indigenous practices

A nother positive factor in Apayao, he said, are the indigenous practices of various indigenous peoples (IP) that protect the forests.

The Lapat system, an indigenous natura l resource-management system of the Isnags of Apayao, is very strong.

Therates coracinus coracinus Erichson, 1834

W hen an area is declared as protected under the Lapat system, they become sites of rich biodiversity because the tribe protects it.

“There are penalties for trespassing a Lapat. They [Isnags] believe in bad omen. So the people are afraid to violate Lapat [or they will] be cursed or experience bad omen,” he said.

IPs and local laws

Also, the League of Peace Arbitrators (Lopa), composed of elders of the IP of Apayao, work together with local government units (LGUs) for the protection of Lapat areas. This help boost the sustainable management of the province’s forest resources.

Lopa, Ibañez said, determines the penalties for the violators of Lapat, apart from the penalty imposed by the concerned LGU of Apayao.

“The diversity of the beetles in the area reflects on the success of the protection of the area because of the practices of the people,” he said.

Forest protection

Tribal leaders and local officials work hand-in-hand to protect Apayao’s forest.

According to Ibañez, around 200 forest g uards are cur rently employed by the prov incia l gover nment.

“The LGU hired indigenous people, just like what they did for the protection of the Philippine eagle in Apayao, to help protect the forest,” he said.

Because of the rich biodiversity in Apayao, the needs of the people are met, he said.

“Because of the rich biodiversity, the province’s agriculture is ver y productive, hence, poverty is not much of a problem,” he said.

He said unlike in other areas, Apayao’s forest remains intact as the Lopa and LGU have declared the forests “off-limits” to destructive development activities like commercial logging.

Apayao’s forest is among the very few areas where hunting is prohibited, thus, it continues to provide safe haven to deers and wild boars, Ibañez said.

So when you see a tiger beetle, remember Calanasan, remember Apayao and its rich biodiversity.

Sports BusinessMirror

A8 Sunday, May 17, 2020

By Jerome Pugmire

P

The Associated Press

ARIS—Nicolas Mahut once spent three days on court in the longest match in tennis history, yet even light training for one hour proved challenging for him on Wednesday.

That’s because he was returning to practice following many weeks of staying at home amid the coronavirus pandemic. The lockdown that started on March 17 in France ended Monday, releasing Mahut and other professionals gingerly back onto court.

Mahut traded shots of varying speed and accuracy with practice partner Grégoire Barrère.

“It feels good to play tennis again. Everyone had missed it; the players, the coaches,” Mahut said after the session, held at a training center near the grounds of the French Open at Roland Garros.

“The big risk is to get injured,” Mahut said.

“We played leisurely for one hour and there are already a few pains.”

For Mahut and many other athletes, this has been a layoff unlike any other.

“What’s different is that this isn’t even like an injury. Everyone’s had an injury, and been away from the circuit for five, six months. But this was a different feeling,” he said. “We weren’t on holiday—far from it for all the people who were confined—and we weren’t injured. It was a really complex situation to deal with.”

What also felt strange was the many new obligatory measures aimed at preventing the

A DIFFERENT KIND OF RUST spread of Covid-19—such at not sitting down on a chair, using different balls than your opponent, and sliding on gloves to wipe down the net cord with disinfectant after the session.

“Hopefully we can quickly have some normal training conditions again,” Mahut said. “But you have to respect the rules.... We’re already lucky enough to be back playing.”

The 38-year-old Mahut won majors as a doubles player, but is probably best known for agonizingly losing to John Isner 70-68 in the fifth set at Wimbledon in 2010, the longest match in history.

They played for 11 hours, five minutes in a match featuring 168 consecutive holds of serve and a combined 216 aces.

But even getting one ace against Barrère was a struggle.

“You don’t lose the feeling with the racket, or very little,” Mahut said. “What’s really hard is serving, your feet are heavy. We’ll need to wait a while before reaching the highest level again.”

He hopes that will be at Roland Garros, a few hundred meters away in western Paris. The clay-court tournament was meant to start on May 24, then got postponed to September 20 because of the virus.

“My optimistic side tells me that we will play at Roland Garros,” Mahut said. “But my more

realistic side tells me it could be a very complicated season [with] no play at all.”

There have been myriad opinions as to when tennis can resume, even without fans.

“What’s for sure is that we can’t start playing again if there’s a risk of contamination,” Mahut said.

“Is playing without fans an option? I really don’t know. I don’t think it’s the right time to get into a debate over who is right and wrong.”

Wearing a blue face mask, Dr. Bernard Montalvan supervised Mahut and Barrère.

He is helping ease French tennis players back into training, with Mahut and Barrère expected to be tested shortly for the virus.

But Montalvan thinks tennis may have to wait for a vaccine before fully returning to normal.

“I can’t say when the vaccine will be ready, probably not for a long time,” he said. “We’ll see what the directives are, but I imagine professional tennis will resume before a vaccine is validated.”

FRENCH veteran Nicolas Mahut wears protective gloves as he gets the balls from courtside trainer Nicolas Copin at a training session in the French Tennis Federation center near the grounds of the French Open in Paris. AP

Women pole vaulters take turn in Garden Clash

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HE bar: Set high by the men’s competition.

Their mission: Raise it even higher.

Three of the leading women’s pole vaulters get their turn to compete Saturday in the second edition of the Ultimate Garden Clash. It’s a rare track and field competition contested during the coronavirus pandemic.

Individually, reigning Olympic champion Katerina Stefanidi of Greece, two-time US indoor

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

winner Katie Nageotte and Commonwealth Games champion Alysha Newman of Canada will compete head-to-head-to-head to see who can clear a bar set at 4 meters (13 feet and 1 ½ inches) the most times in 30 minutes.

Collectively, they will try to better the total of their male counterparts, who had a combined 98 clearances in a competition on May 3.

Mondo Duplantis and Renaud Lavillenie

shared the victory with 36 clearances over a bar set at 5 meters (16-4 3/4), while Sam Kendricks had 26 in an event that was staged in each of their backyards. More than 250,000 people watched the live stream of the fast-paced competition on World Athletics social-media platforms.

Unlike the men’s version, the women don’t have the same sort of setups in their backyards. Instead, they will be connected by video link from their local

nearby training facilities. Stefanidi will compete from Athens; Nageotte in Marietta, Georgia; and Newman from Bolton, Ontario.

The women are envisioning 100 combined clearances. Sandi Morris, the Olympic silver medalist from the US who recently built her own pole vault setup, won’t take part due to a knee ailment that’s sidelined her for two weeks.

“I feel like most people would expect the guys to win in a head-to-head, so if they did, it won’t mean too much. But I think the way this is designed it is very possible—or at least just as likely—that we beat them, either as a group, or individually,” said Stefanidi, the gold medalist at the 2016 Rio Games.

She added with a laugh: “The reason it is important to win is so that we can have bragging rights for the rest of our careers.”

The competition is weather permitting— and Newman may have to bundle up. “Still a little chilly here in Canada,” she said.

“It will be awesome to compete against these ladies because I’ve been dying for a competition.”

Newman added. “But we are definitely trying to

Alysha Newman may have to bundle up because it’s a little chilly in Canada. AP

beat the guys’ number of jumps put together.”

The first installment of the Ultimate Garden Clash was a hit, with more than 1 million people from more than 90 countries watching the broadcast within 24 hours, according to World Athletics.

“We know there’s a real appetite among

High-tech devices help NFL teams keep players safe, in shape

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NDIANAPOLIS—Darius Leonard works relentlessly at his rural South Carolina home to prepare for another football season. He’s also wary of pushing too hard, knowing a minor injury could become a major setback given the dearth of medical experts in his area.

So when in doubt, the Indianapolis Colts star confers with his coaches, who are creating safer, more efficient individual workout programs based on data collected the past few weeks.

It’s all part of a changing National Football League (NFL) world: high-tech devices supplanting old-school creativity.

“We are getting a ton done,” Colts Coach Frank Reich says. “With the technology today, they all have heart rate monitors, so they do their workouts, it’s all logged, it all kind of shoots to our system. This isn’t, ‘Hey, I’m watching you.’This is, ’Hey, I’m interested in you.’ I’m a little bit of a numbers guy, so I like to see these charts. Then I’ll show them to the team.”

That fits neatly into the new guidelines for this year’s revamped off-season program, too.

Teams can conduct classroom instruction and on-field activities through Zoom meetings or similar apps instead of at their facilities. They can meet virtually as much as four hours per day, four days per week.

Players also can voluntarily wear monitors

to track workouts. Teams can send up to $1,500 to each player to purchase equipment.

Not everyone has followed the same script.

New Orleans canceled its off-season program. But the Colts are taking advantage of their allotted time. Reich estimates Indy spends half its time in meetings and the rests monitoring workouts.

Technological advances are helping everyone cope with the Covid-19 pandemic.

“I understand a lot more about the NFL now than I did 10 years ago,” new Dallas Cowboys backup quarterback Andy Dalton said, comparing the difficulty he faced during the 2011 lockout with today’s circumstances. “So I guess the advantage now is there’s still these virtual meetings, so you’re able to connect and talk through the offense and talk through different things, stuff that I didn’t have my rookie year during the lockout.”

Social media also plays a part.

Detroit Lions Coach Matt Patricia recently reminded running back Ty Johnson about training safely—after watching a video of Johnson pulling a Jeep while wearing a helmet.

“Obviously, I’m pretty sure there was someone in the car to hit the brakes in case he slipped,” Patricia said. “I go to safety first. I mean it’s a Jeep, so once you get it moving, the ball bearings kick in and the tires go. Some of that, I was busting his chops about.”

Companies such as WHOOP and Myzone could become game changers even after things return to normal.

WHOOP, an online fitness company, partners with the NFLPA to provide wearable monitors for players. Nearly 1,000 players have used the service over the past three years as well as teams from Major League Baseball, the National Basketball Association, NFL and Major League Soccer.

The waterproof device can be worn around the wrist or bicep and tracks heart rate and strain during workouts and recovery periods. In addition to measuring heart rate variability, resting heart rate and respiratory rate, it

athletes and fans to return to competition,” World Athletics President Sebastian Coe said.

“But we need to do that in a way that is careful and respectful of the measures put in place by public health authorities around the world so we can keep our community safe, and modern technology has allowed us to do that. AP provides information about sleep performance to give coaches the necessary information to ensure safe, efficient workout plans that won’t overstress the body.

“If you go too far and keep training in a state where you’re not recovered, you’re not making physiological gains at that point.

You’re just digging a hole,” said Vice President of Performance Kristen Holmes, a former US national field hockey player and NCAA titlewinning coach at Princeton. “It’s not about more and more and more. It’s about being smart and managing load.”

The results may even help in the fight against Covid-19. WHOOP has information showing customers who tested positive saw a spike in their respiratory rates just a few days before the onset of symptoms.

Zebra Technologies has been using radio frequency identification chips in shoulder pads and practice shirts since 2014. Now it has installed them in footballs. Transmitters at stadiums and practice fields send data that company officials say track measurements within 6 inches of actual distance.

The results often appear on television broadcasts: how far or fast a player ran; how far a ball was thrown; or how much separation a receiver had from a defender. Those numbers came in handy when most pro days were canceled because of the pandemic.

“Not only did we track the Senior Bowl game, but we tracked all of the practice sessions.

We captured all of the player information that week,” said John Pollard, vice president of Zebra sports business development. “The teams apply it as a tool like any other training process or mechanism they may have in place. It can help with things like rehab, too.”

But without the radio transmitters, Zebra cannot track workouts at home. WHOOP and Myzone still can, and their numbers help players like Leonard, a 2018 All-Pro, return to football healthy and prepared.

“I’m not going to say I can get enough out of it, but I can get a good bit,” Leonard said of his modified regimen. “It sucks being from the country where you don’t have a chiropractor, you don’t have a physical therapist who can actually work on you day in and day out. So with me, a guy who loves to train hard and run fast every day, I can’t do that now because if I tweak something I have no one here to help me out. So I really have to take my time and kind of do all the small things right.” AP

THE Indianapolis Colts’ Darius Leonard works relentlessly at his rural South Carolina home to prepare for another football season. AP

Cubicle comeback?

Pandemic will reshape office life for good

2

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VERSES THAT HURT Pamphleteer release poetry-infused neo-folk debut

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By KARL R. De MESA

F

OLK for me has always possessed a utilitarian grace, the equivalent of a campfire story told in rhyme and performed in community.

There’s a lot of laughter and plenty of sting to them, necessarily. Through its minimal musical baseline has been constructed breathing space to tell tales that eventually become anthems to topple political dynasties,

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cajole a smile, or to wound powers-that-be into scathing humiliation.

You can trace that tradition all the way back to its classic progenitors. From Woody Guthrie killing fascists as he documented the growth pains of Americana, Bruce Springsteen reveling in the working man’s yarns, and of course Bob Dylan capturing the duende and dignity of the verses that hurt in his awkward, prosaic voice.

Against the shadow of this canon is Filipino folks band Pamphleteer, with their name conjuring images of the Weather Underground or the local tibak organizations of the 90s handing out hastily printed urgings to attend solidarity meetings on folded 8.5”x 11”scraps.

During the interview with chief songwriter Aldus Santos, I commented that their chosen name also reminded me of those condo unit salesmen littering mall corridors who would hand out flyers while reciting their spiel about big savings and the importance of location. I told Santos: while you often take what they’re handing out due to reflex, it’s also a true that you’re likely crumpling and shooting it into the trash 2 minutes later. In my head I always imagine them saying ‘Here, YOU throw this away!”

This seemed to both delight and amuse him. “That name is a stab at self-awareness: like a pamphleteer, we’re pushing something that’s ultimately irrelevant, but you might enjoy it, who knows?”

“I wanted a vaguely anachronistic name that conjured something sinister,” Santos continued “‘Pamphleteer’ seemed to be that name. I liked the shape of the word, the open-endedness of it. But also, I loved the polarity of pamphlets being vessels for either useless drivel (as in multi-level marketing come-ons) or great ideas (strewn across, say, the A.S. corridors in U.P. Diliman). And whatever it is they carry, it doesn’t matter: they’re still disposable and discardable.”

While Santos may argue that all art is ultimately a non-essential—an idea and issue that is always at the forefront during the current lockdown—the band’s stories that breathe life into the traditional tunes often set to a waltz beat are far from disposable.

“Make sure you are not followed/We gotta remember this time is borrowed” fellow vocalist Dee Cruz and Santos croon on “Collected Fiction,” the title track off their debut LP of 8 songs spoon to be released and available on streaming platforms under Offshore Music, bringing to life characters pulled from an emotive filmic scene—you know, those lovers who seem to hate each

other’s tastes but can’t resist each other’s company?

A literary writer of note himself, Santos’ (the author of the verse collection Vocalese, and nonfiction collection Repeat While Fading) grungy wit and flair for dramatic sarcasm are all over the narratives of the songs. Later in the same song the stakes for the lovers rise: “Kiss me in the library / where I’ll be crime and you’ll be mystery/ Just gloss me over like bad poetry” and the singing resolves into a mantra for celebrating impulse.

This isn’t just very different from Santos’ work on his rock band The Purplechickens, you can hear how he’s now not just embracing traditional forms but celebrating the space that he can operate within them. Previously, both his rock and poetic sensibilities always seemed like they wanted to refuse done-that templates, scoffing at those indolent traditionalists.

Pamphleteer started out as a solo act around 2017 when Santos, better known as the frontman of indie rock outfit The Purplechickens, started getting bookings away from his main band. He’d play stripped down acoustic covers of his band’s songs but also inserting folkie covers. After a few dates his sets started getting way too repetitive for comfort so he wrote some new songs. He also realized that the new material sounded like it came from a fully-formed alter-ego.

“I felt I should call the project a proper name just so I’d be forced to take it seriously,”Santos laughed.

After two songs in the bag, he invited officemate and friend Dee Cruz (of Run Dorothy) to sing on the track that would eventually become “Pas de Deux.” After realizing she was a perfect fit for the songs he re-wrote everything to be performed as a duet with a call-andresponse dynamic.

“It didn’t make sense for Pamphleteer to be a solo thing. I needed company. I was collaborative in my core, it turns out,” Santos explained. “I wrote the tunes but she and I workshopped the plotlines and the character studies together. That was fun. It was like co-scripting several short films in quick succession.”

“I guess we both like odd storytelling, especially in films like Once, The Swell Season, and Wes Anderson movies,”added Cruz.

After playing a handful of shows as a duo, testing out the songs on what would become their first album titled Collected Fiction, both Santos and Cruz had a niggling feeling that what they needed were more colors in the palette.

“We needed bandmates,” Santos declared. So the

current incarnation on their debut LP and as a performing outfit has Santos singing and on guitar and harmonica, Cruz lending her pipes, Marco de Leon on guitar, Jun Ballesteros on bass, and Zig Rabara on drums (also the drummer for The Purplechickens).

Pamphleteer sounds like Santos’ journal of transformation, about how he found out how Springsteen, Dylan et al, those aforementioned troubadours of folk music became community heroes.

Though Pamphleeter’s sound has more in common with modern stylists; you can hear the echoes of the likes of Gillian Welch, Iron and Wine, The Civil Wars, Damien Rice, Bon Iver and The Decembrists in there.

Perhaps more aptly it’s the new folk aesthetics of Bright Eyes and Conor Oberst as well as the Fleet Foxes that are evoked in the romantic apologia of the tracks like “Drunk and Bored” or “My Lover is Not My Love” which suggests a different pain of the lovethe-one-you’re-with kind.

“I’d like to think of [being in Pamphleteer] as putting on a different hat rather than consciously restraining certain sensibilities,” said Cruz “It’s a calmer and more vulnerable way of singing, to fit Pamphleteer’s delicate sound.”

My pick off this album is “Three-Act Plague” an equal measure of bitter and heady, Santos and Dee trade barbs as a blues atmosphere rises up like smoke from the remains of a magic trick. Just as you think the song will remain on an even keel, the voices hurry and are harried, like a confession forced out of necessity, fearing loss: “Say what you want about distance / Say what you will about fear / You always say good riddance / I always want you near.”It’s intimate and resonant. The verses hurt just right. Plus, you can easily sing along.

Recording for Collected Fiction started around December of 2019 at Crow’s Nest, Ely Buendia’s home studio, with Audry Dionisio producing. “And

by New Year 2020 we were already mixing. Around Valentines, in the throes of an earth-shattering virus in its infancy, we wrapped mastering,” said Santos.

There can’t be a more interesting time to hear the kind of music that Pamphleteer has made to cheer on memory, fiction, and ache.

Described as “neo-folk for homesick anxious bookworms” Pamphleteer’s first album under Offshore Music can be heard on Spotify. Watch out for that digital release on the band’s Facebook and Twitter accounts.

soundstrip.businessmirror@gmail.com | MAY 17 , 2020

IC OUR BUSINESS

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SoundSampler

by Tony M. Maghirang

LATEST POP GEMS FROM SINGAPORE

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EING a multicultural city-state, Singapore has a diverse music scene. Its musical attractions run the course from traditional ethnic music to the crossroads of modern rock and pop.

Pundits describe the islandstate to be one of the emerging great cities of the 21st century and its vibrant music scene is being captured by young musicians ready-made for the great international take-over.

Two recent original singles

by Singaporean artists offer a glimpse of the scene’s boundless potentials.

“AWARE” by Dominic Chin

The fourth single off the artist’s debut EP License to Cry, via Umami Records, “AWARE” is a minimalistic electro-pop production with bouncy synths and a crisp beat accompanying Dominic’s unique voice as he sings about his willingness to do anything to win the heart of the object of his affection. Playful whistling and whimsical synth riffs come together in the song’s heady instrumental breaks.

It is a fun, tongue in cheek song, and danceable to boot, in its effort to try everything to please, with simple lines that go: “Tell me what you need, what you need I’ll be / Baby I can take the lead / Or if you want control, if you wanna set the tone / Baby I am yours to own.”

Dominic said, “They have such a party vibe to them, I imagined colorful laser lights everywhere.”

Dominic Chin is a 24 year old singer-songwriter who since 2010, has covered songs on YouTube, which have garnered over 9200 subscribers and a total viewership of 1.3 million views. After his success with the viral tribute song to the late Mr. Lee Kuan Yew, he was compelled to start writing more originals. A series of original single releases led to commercial success with over 75k streams and landed the aspiring artist on major playlists like ‘Electro Mix’ and

‘Singapore’s Top Acts’.

Listen to ‘AWARE’ by Dominic Chin at this link: https://ffm.to/ awaresingle

“Two Sides” by Gentle Bones & Charlie Lim

Two of Singapore’s most prolific singer-songwriters, Gentle Bones and Charlie Lim, have gotten together for the first time to pen the bittersweet anthem “Two Sides.”

The original song starts off with a captivating, lilting beat, introducing the listener to a hopeful but tender mood. With Bones' soothing bedroom vocals and Charlie’s smooth, jazzy tones, the track conveys heartbreak and longing. It is an ode to those going through difficult times with loved ones, showing that both sides of a troubled relationship should be honest with themselves and with one another for wounded feelings to heal in time.

Gentle Bones and Charlie Lim put their own stamp on their shared love for late 90s/early 2000s boy bands sonic palette. It a distinct sound where listeners should be able to enjoy the artists’ beautiful blend of vocal harmonies.

Born and raised in sunny Singapore, Joel Tan, who goes by his stage name Gentle Bones, is the first Singaporean music act to be signed to Universal Music Group and also the youngest English music recording artist to achieve two sold-out performances at The Esplanade Concert Hall. In 2016, he earned a spot at the inaugural Forbes ‘30 under 30’ list for entertainment personalities.

Charlie’s “I Wouldn’t Know Any Better Than You” amassed more than 20 million streams, earning him a spot in Spotify’s Top 5 Most Streamed Singapore artists in late 2019. His Time/Space and Check-

Dominic Chin – Umami Records Singapore

Gentle Bones x Charlie Lim – Dex Wong

Hook records clinched #1 spots on the iTunes Singapore chart upon release. He earned Best Pop Album of the Year honors from The Straits

Times and awarded Best of the Year by Apple Music Singapore.

Check out “Two Sides” on most music streaming platforms.

Cubicle comeback? Pandemic will reshape office life for good

By Kelvin Chan The Associated Press

L

ONDON—Office jobs are never going to be the same.

When workers around the world eventually return to their desks, they’ll find many changes due to the pandemic. For a start, fewer people will go back to their offices as the coronavirus crisis makes working from home more accepted, health concerns linger and companies weigh up rent savings and productivity benefits.

For the rest, changes will begin with the commute as workers arrive in staggered shifts to avoid rush hour crowds. Staff might take turns working alternate days in the office to reduce crowding. Floor markings or digital sensors could remind people to stand apart and cubicles might even make a comeback.

“This is going to be a catalyst for things that people were too scared to do before,” said John Furneaux, CEO of Hive, a New York City-based workplace software startup. The pandemic “gives added impetus to allow us and others to make changes to century-old working practices.”

Hive plans to help employees avoid packed rush hour subway commutes by starting at different hours, said Furneaux, who tested positive for Covid-19 antibodies. In Britain, the government is considering asking employers to do the same.

At bigger companies, senior executives are rethinking cramming downtown office towers with workers. British bank Barclays is making a “long-term adjustment in how we think about our location strategy,” CEO Jes Staley said. “The notion of putting 7,000 people in a building may be a thing of the past.”

That is already happening in China, where lockdowns started easing in March.

Beijing municipal authorities limited the number of people in each office to no more than 50 percent of usual staffing levels, required office workers to wear face masks

In this May 7, 2020, photo, design firm Bergmeyer Vice President Rachel Zsembery holds a sign while speaking with colleagues including Interior Designer Stephanie Jones (left) about the positioning of safe distancing reminders at the firms offices in Boston. When workers around the world eventually return to their desks, they’ll find myriad adjustments by their companies to reflect the post-pandemic “new normal” way of life, executives and experts say. AP and sit at least 1 meter (3.3 feet) apart.

At a minimum, the Covid-19 crisis could be the death knell for some recent polarizing office trends, such as the shared workspaces used by many tech start-ups to create a more casual and creative environment. Cubicles and partitions are making a return as the virus speeds the move away from open plan office spaces, architects say.

Design firm Bergmeyer is reinstalling dividers on 85 desks at its Boston office that had been removed over the years. That “will return a greater degree of privacy to the individual desks, in addition to the physical barrier which this health crisis now warrants,” said Vice President Rachel Zsembery.

There’s no rush to return. At Google and Facebook, employees will be able to work remotely until the end of the year. Other firms have realized they don’t even need an office.

Executives at San Francisco teamwork start-up Range had given notice on their office because they wanted someplace bigger.

But when California’s shelter in place order was issued, they instead scrapped their search and decided to go all remote indefinitely, a move that would save six figures on rent.

“We were looking at the writing on the wall,” said cofounder Jennifer Dennard.

One upside of having an all-remote

work force is that the company can hire from a broader pool of candidates beyond San Francisco, where astronomical housing costs have priced out many. But Dennard said the downside is that it eliminates the “chaotic interruptions”—the chance encounters between staff members that can spark creativity, so the company is planning more online collaboration.

Good Brothers Digital, a public relations firm in Wales, also ditched its office space in downtown Cardiff. Director Martyn John said productivity is just as high as it was before the pandemic forced them to work from home, so he decided to give up the company’s office space to save on rent, one of his biggest expenses.

Why drag employees into the office if they’re happier working from home, he reasons.

“People are just going to expect it now.”

Many changes are expected to remain in place even after the Covid-19 threat ends, as companies prepare for new disease outbreaks or other emergencies.

The work from home trend will only continue to accelerate, according to consultancy Gartner.

After the pandemic, 41 percent of employees expect to work remotely at least some of the time, up from 30 percent before the outbreak, according to 220 human resources executives it surveyed. Workers

who do return will likely welcome wearing office attire once again as a signal things are going back to normal, Gartner said.

Not all companies can go fully remote, especially big corporations with thousands of staff. Even so, they’re thinking carefully about who should return to the office and who can and should continue to work from home.

At Dell, more people are going to work from home but “we’re still going to need offices,” because some jobs are best done there, said Chief Digital Officer Jen Felch.

She cited customer support staff, who can access more resources at the office to diagnose equipment problems.

More than 90 percent of Dell’s 165,000 full-time global staff are working remotely during the pandemic, compared with 30 percent before it started. Once lockdown sends, she estimates that number will be above 50 percent.

The outbreak is also going to force companies to take hygiene much more seriously.

“The amount of people cleaning and sanitizing an office is going to shoot through the roof,” said Brian Kropp, Gartner’s chief of human resources research.

Extra attention will go to places like conference rooms, which will have to be cleaned between uses, bringing added disruption, he said.

Or companies could do away with inperson meetings altogether.

“What’s the point of sanitizing everybody’s desk if you’re getting them all in the same room,” said Hive’s Furneaux, who said he’s thinking carefully about how to hold events such as “all-hands meetings” for his 70 staff. “We might get the weird scenario of in-office conference calls.”

High-tech solutions will play a role, such as sensors to remind people to maintain social distancing, said Joanna Daly, vice president for corporate health and safety at IBM. Existing industrial sensor technology could easily be adapted to offices, said Daly.

One possible example: “We’d want our phones to buzz if we got closer than 2 meters while we were having a conversation,” she said.

Locked down neighbors let loose at ‘Quaranchella’ concerts

L

OS ANGELES—For 15 years, Adam Chester has subbed for Elton John, performing John’s parts in rehearsals with the rocker’s band. But with John sitting out the pandemic, Chester had to find another gig.

And he did: weekly, socially distant concerts in his suburban Los Angeles cul-de-sac.

Which is how Chester has come to serenade a few dozen of his face-masked neighbors from inside a broad rectangle of rainbow chalk with “Social distance” and a heart written at its edge. They dance to John’s “Crocodile Rock” and sing along to the Beatles’ “Hey Jude.”

They call this “Quaranchella,” and it has become a source of community and connection at a time when they’re sorely lacking.

“It’s been an incredible experience,” said Chester’s wife, Maria, who serves as his road crew along with their two teenage sons. “It kind of organically happened because he needed to play, and it’s been evolving.”

“I was going out of my mind inside the house here as a lot of musicians are,” said Chester, who played a major role in the 2018 Grammy salute to Elton John, and at his own club and party gigs, before the lockdown put all that to a halt. “I thought,

‘Why don’t we take this outside once a week?’”

Each show raises money for charity. This week it was Single Mothers Outreach. The response from neighbors has been overwhelmingly positive.

“All week I look forward to that Saturday show,” said neighbor Lisa Silver, who along with others pitched in to buy a tripod to hold Chester’s phone so the shows can be streamed on Facebook.

Exhilarated after the concert, Chester said these Saturday night shows may outlast the quarantine era. He said: “I can’t imagine going back to anything normal after this.” AP

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May 17, 2020

Musician Adam Chester waves to a neighbor driving by as he performs his weekly neighborhood concert in the Sherman Oaks section of LA. AP