BusinessMirror May 23, 2021

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LIFE AFTER COVID For some Covid survivors, the next episode could just be as disturbing.

By Rory Visco

Y

ES, we may all know by now that contracting Covid-19 can be a harrowing experience. It’s almost like signing a death sentence that’s hard to extract yourself from.

As they say in the vernacular: “Ang isang paa mo para nang nasa hukay [one leg is already in the grave].”

We’ve heard of the many stories of Covid-19 sufferers, how they hovered between life and death while in the hospital all alone, in pain and yet with no one to talk to in order to find comfort.

But what about those that did make it in their Covid-19 ordeal?

Were they able to recover totally or were there changes, either physical, emotional or psychological? How did the experience totally affect their perspectives in life, post-Covid?

Changes

HIGH-SCHOOL

music

teacher

Edwynn Castillo was told by his doctor that it will take about six to eight months for him to fully recover. In the earlier stages of his recovery after a severe bout with Covid-19, he could not have a full meal. “I have to eat half or even less because with a full meal, it would be difficult to breathe after.”

He recalled an experience when he tried to reach something from atop their cabinet. He simply stretched his arm to reach the object, but felt out of breath after that.

“I thought that probably because my lungs were damaged by

PESO EXCHANGE RATES n US 47.9180

Covid-19, that I still cannot move that well. After getting the object I tried to reach, it was like when I started—where I would immediately feel being out of breath.”

After four months, he can go up and down a flight of stairs already, but he can do it only once because he soon becomes out of breath. He also started driving, but only for a short distance.

One thing he also noticed: when there’s too much activity, it’s like he was going back to where he started. And with the kind of heat he was bearing, coping was difficult. “It’s important to hydrate or best stay in an air-conditioned room whenever possible.”

For Edwynn, the changes were more physical, but for Jheboy de Mesa, a medical frontliner, it was more emotional or psychological. Though he was not hospitalized for his Covid-19 episode because his was only a mild case, the changes were hard to ignore.

He would easily become too hottempered, which started when he went back to driving.

“I started to notice that change when on the road and driving, that I would easily get irritated, like when another vehicle is getting too close to me or trying to block my

path. At home, sometimes I easily get mad at my wife and kids.”

In those instances, he said he would just simply tell himself to calm down by breathing deeply, and then keep quiet so he won’t get into an argument with his wife.

Jheboy could not ignore that fact: that what changed in him after Covid-19 were mostly behavioral.

For Reggie, who works for the BPO sector, and his wife Terrie, who both struggled with a mild case of Covid-19 at the same time, the changes were mostly mental.

They were so traumatized that they wouldn’t try and dare go out of their house for fear of contracting the virus again.

“If ever we don’t have a choice and would have to really go out of the house, the fear kicks in the moment we’re outside. When we’re at our destination, I feel like we’re on a rush to go back home for fear of getting the virus again,” said Reggie.

He said that whenever they are out of their house, which these days happen rarely unlike before, they would easily lose focus on where to go next. Their fear? That everyone is a virus carrier.

When eating, Reggie noticed there’s always an aftertaste—a

sense of bitterness regardless of the food he ate, unlike his wife Terrie. He thinks probably because he was the one more affected by the virus.

A positive impact of having Covid-19, he thinks, is that they now prepare well when going to another place, perhaps because of the hardships they went through in dealing with Covid-19.

For the long haul?

SO, are there really long-term effects of Covid-19 on patients who were lucky enough to recover?

Yes, there are long-term effects of Covid-19, according to Dr. Cybele Abad, a Clinical Associate Professor of Medicine in Infectious Diseases at the University of the Philippines Manila and a regular consultant of the Section of Infectious Diseases at the Department of Medicine of The Medical City, where he also heads Infection Control.

“Yes, for some. It’s been called Covid-long haul or post-Covid syndrome or PASC—Post Acute Sequelae of SARS COv2.”

She said the long-term effects are highly variable and may vary from person to person, but the most common symptoms are

fatigue and breathlessness or difficulty in breathing. Other symptoms may include cough, headache, palpitations, “brain fog” (symptom of a nutrient deficiency, sleep disorder, bacterial overgrowth from overconsumption of sugar, depression, or even a thyroid condition), among others.

Would therapy work? Dr. Abad answered in the affirmative.

“Yes—it looks like pulmonary and physical therapy work, but this is still being studied as more and more people recover from Covid-19 and have long-term sequelae.”

When asked if the government has plans in place or if private hospitals are looking thoroughly into post-Covid-19 treatment regimen, she sounded uncertain, but expressed hope that this is so.

“I think there are people already looking into it, a Covid care clinic that should be a multi-disciplinary clinic from different specialties.”

Indeed, given the nightmarish scenarios of deaths in the thousands in places like India and Brazil, Covid survivors have a lot to be grateful for. Yet that doesn’t erase the fact that for some, being certified by doctors as a Covid survivor may just be a tiny step in a long, long journey to full recovery.

n JAPAN 0.4406 n UK 68.0100 n HK 6.1730 n CHINA 7.4459 n SINGAPORE 36.0232 n AUSTRALIA 37.2275 n EU 58.6133 n SAUDI ARABIA 12.7778

Source: BSP (May 21, 2021)

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By Bloomberg News

ITH hundreds of millions of people now vaccinated against Covid-19, the coronavirus outbreak should begin to die down in places where a large chunk of the population has been inoculated. But that isn’t happening everywhere.

Instead, two paths are emerging: In countries such as Israel, new Covid cases are declining as vaccinations spread, while in other places like the Seychelles—which has fully inoculated more of its population than any other nation—infections continue to increase or even reach new highs.

One reason for that may be the different types of vaccine being used. Evidence derived from the expanding global inoculation rollout indicates that the messenger RNA shots developed by Moderna Inc. or Pfizer Inc. and BioNTech SE are better at stopping people from becoming contagious, helping reduce onward transmission—an unexpected extra benefit as the first wave of Covid vaccines were intended to stop people from be-

coming very sick.

Other vaccines, while effective in preventing acute illness or death from Covid, appear not to have this extra perk to the same degree.

“This will be an increasing trend as countries start to realize that some vaccines are better than others,” said Nikolai Petrovsky, a professor at the College of Medicine and Public Health at Flinders University in South Australia.

While the use of any vaccine “is still better than nothing,” he said, some doses “may have little benefit in preventing spread, even if they reduce the risk of death or severe disease.”

Studies of millions of people in Israel vaccinated with the Pfizer-BioNTech shot show the mRNA doses prevented more than 90

percent of asymptomatic infections—those who contract the virus but show no symptoms. That’s important, said Raina MacIntyre, an epidemiologist at the University of New South Wales in Sydney, because a vaccine’s ability to stop asymptomatic infection “is the determinant of whether or not herd immunity is possible.”

Herd immunity is typically achieved when the virus can no longer find any vulnerable hosts in order to keep spreading.

Which vaccines a country can secure could therefore affect everything from policy about maskwearing and social distancing to lifting border restrictions and reviving economies, given the influence that daily case counts have on government decisions. For individuals, it may determine how soon they regain pre-pandemic freedoms.

The differences in effectiveness are already leading to preferred brands in countries where more than one vaccine is available.

In the Philippines, immunization centers have been instructed not to announce which shots are being given after a crowd turned up at one location hoping to get access to the Pfizer shot.

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Some vaccines help nations exit the pandemic faster than others

VACCINES (TYPES)

REDUCTION IN SYMPTOMATIC COVID

REDUCTION IN ASYMPTOMATIC INFECTIONS

REDUCTION IN ALL INFECTIONS

Pfizer-BioNTech (mRNA)

97%

91.5%

95.3%

AstraZeneca (Adenovirus vector)

66.7%

22.2%

54.1%

Sinovac (Inactivated)

67%

N/A

54-55%

* Note: Data for Pfizer and Sinovac vaccine is from real-world studies in Israel and Chile respectively, while that for AstraZeneca is from its clinical trials.

Mask-free

IN the US, nearly 40 percent of

PEOPLE wait in line outside a temporary vaccination clinic inside the Bicentenario Stadium in Santiago, Chile, on March 29, 2021. BLOOMBERG

the population has been fully vaccinated, mostly with mRNA shots, and the number of new cases each day has dropped by more than 85 percent in the past four months.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) this month said those who are fully vaccinated could gather without masks or social distancing.

“If you are fully vaccinated, you can start doing things you have stopped doing because of the pandemic,” said CDC director Rochelle Walensky, “we have all longed for this moment, when we can get back to some sense of normalcy.”

A similar trajectory is evident in Israel, which fully vaccinated nearly 60 percent of its population with the Pfizer-BioNTech shot and has gradually lifted restrictions as new cases declined to fewer than 50 a day, from more than 8,000 at the beginning of this year. Qatar and Malta are also witnessing a decline in new cases after giving around 30 percent of their populations two doses of mostly mRNA vaccines.

The results provide further evidence of the surprise efficacy of the new mRNA shots; the pandemic is the first time this vaccine technology is being widely used. They work by delivering genetic codes that instruct the human body to make proteins of the virus that in turn stimulate an immune response.

The existing mRNA shots require ultra cold storage, limiting their accessibility to countries with poor transport and storage infrastructure.

That’s one reason why most countries, though, are relying predominantly on non-mRNA shots ranging from the adenovirus vector vaccines from AstraZeneca Plc, to those from Chi-

nese developers Sinopharm and Sinovac Biotech Ltd. that use an inactivated form of the virus.

These more traditional vaccine types have shown efficacy rates of between 50 percent to 80 percent in preventing symptomatic Covid in clinical trials, compared with more than 90 percent for mRNA ones. There’s little data regarding their ability to prevent onward transmission, but signs are emerging that it may be much lower.

AstraZeneca pointed to the success of the UK’s campaign as evidence of its shot’s benefits, though the results include the impact of Pfizer’s and BioNTech’s mRNA inoculation. Covid-19 infections in the UK fell by 65 percent after a first dose of either shot, while household transmissions dropped by as much as 50 percent. Sinopharm didn’t immediately respond to queries for this story.

An archipelago in the Indian Ocean, the Seychelles has fully vaccinated about 65 percent of its population with AstraZeneca and Sinopharm shots, yet weekly new infections increased rapidly this month, with 37 percent of those patients having already received their two doses. The surge led authorities to close schools, cancel sporting events and ban household gatherings. Among fully inoculation people, around 60 percent received the vaccine from Sinopharm and the rest got AstraZeneca’s shot.

In Chile in South America, the steady ramp-up in vaccination using mostly Sinovac’s shot didn’t prevent the number of new daily cases from almost doubling in mid-April from a month earlier, despite administering enough doses to cover 30 percent of the population. Authorities had to re-

introduce a lockdown across the country in late March.

But in the case of both countries, the type of vaccine available seems to be only one of many factors affecting the spread of the disease. Policy failures in places that reacted too slowly to impose restrictions, or lifted them prematurely, have been a major contributor, as has speed of diagnosis and access to medical facilities. Different transmission rates of virus variants also play a part.

Seychelles President Wavel Ramkalawan said transmission increased in his country after the nation’s world-beating vaccine rollout caused people to let down their guard.

The uptick in infections in Chile was attributed by Sinovac’s Chief Executive Officer Yin Wei­ dong to the nation prioritizing elderly people in their initial vaccination efforts. “It’s normal that the country sees a resurgence of infections as social activities increase among the younger people who are mainly not inoculated,” he said in a May 11 interview.

Variant threat

WHAT seems clear is that all the approved doses reduce the incidence of people becoming severely ill or dying from the disease -- the primary goal of a vaccine. That takes pressure off hospitals and medical resources. Most new Covid patients in the Seychelles, for example, are only experiencing mild symptoms, according to the nation’s president.

This is a crucial first step for countries without access to mRNA vaccines, said Helen PetousisHarris, a vaccinologist at the University of Auckland. After using available vaccines to crush the number of severe cases, countries can stamp out remaining infection with shots that curb transmission once they become available.

Another possibility is that vaccination along with the spread of mild cases could also end up building so-called herd immunity, said Ben Cowling, head of the University of Hong Kong’s department of epidemiology and biostatistics.

“The places with less immunity against infection but more immunity against severe disease will see circulation of the virus causing mainly mild infections, boosting immunity to a higher level.”

Experts say a lot remains unknown and so-called breakthrough infections—where people who received shots still get Covid—do occur, even with mRNA vaccines. It’s also not yet fully known how well the different kinds of shots perform against the different variants of the virus.

The improvements in the US and Israel came before those places were affected by concerning new strains like those that emerged in Brazil and India.

“I would be careful about overinterpreting the data,” said Petrovsky at Flinders University, who points out that no head-to-head studies—where shots are tested against each other—have been performed to identify the best vaccines. For the mRNA shots, “data on their effects on transmission is very limited.”

In the end, it may need the development of new, modified versions of the vaccines to finally win the war against Covid, said Petousis-Harris. Some vaccine developers are working on nasal spray inoculations, which can prevent the virus from taking hold in the respiratory track, thus cutting off infection at its entry point.

“We’ve got some super vaccines that are beyond expectation,” she said. “We’ve learned a lot and so imagine what the next one is going to look like.”

www.businessmirror.com.ph • Editor: Angel R. Calso

The World

Changed by Covid, many workers don’t want to go back to old jobs

By Dee-Ann Durbin, Stephen Groves, Alexandra Olson & Joseph Pisani

The Associated Press

T

here’s a wild card in the push to return to pre-pandemic life: Many workers don’t want to go back to the jobs they once had.

Layoffs and lockdowns, combined with enhanced unemployment benefits and stimulus checks, gave many Americans the time and the financial cushion to rethink their careers. Their former employers are hiring again— and some, like Uber and McDonald’s, are offering higher pay—but workers remain hesitant.

In March, US job openings rose 8 percent to a record 8.1 million, but overall hiring rose less than 4 percent, according to government data.

Nate Mullins quit his job as a bartender last November after clashing with managers over mask rules and worrying that he would spread the coronavirus to his immune-compromised sister.

Mullins’s unemployment checks don’t match what he was making at his Oak Harbor, Washington bar, but they’re enough to get by while he looks for jobs that would provide health care and retirement benefits.

“This opportunity to take a step back and really think about what you’re doing really changed my mind,” said Mullins, 36. “[It] made me think long term for the first time.”

Workers like Mullins are one reason US hiring slowed in April. Employers and business groups argue that the $300-per-week federal unemployment supplement gives recipients less incentive to look for work. Several states have begun requiring those receiving the benefits to show they are actively searching for work, and a few will stop providing the supplement.

But Heidi Shierholz, a senior economist who researches low- and middleincome workers with the Economic Policy Institute, said health concerns and childcare responsibilities seem to be the main reasons holding workers back.

In April, she said, at least 25 percent of US schools weren’t offering inperson learning, forcing many parents to stay home. And health concerns could gain new urgency for some workers now that the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has said fully vaccinated people can stop wearing masks in most settings.

Shierholz added that unemployment benefits are designed to give workers the time to find jobs that are better suited to their abilities.

“We want people well-matched to their skills and experience,” she said.

“That’s what helps the economy run better.”

Higher pay for workers can push up inflation, which jumped in April as the economy struggled with widespread shortages of raw materials and parts amid a faster-than-expected reopening. If companies are forced to raise prices to cover the cost of higher wages, that could slow the recovery and reduce Americans’ purchasing power.

For now, most economists see labor shortages as likely to be temporary. As more Americans are vaccinated, fewer will worry about getting sick at work.

Schools should reopen in September, freeing more parents to return to work, and the extra $300 in unemployment aid is also set to expire in early September. Those steps should bring more people into the job market.

Sarah Weitzel gave birth to her second child in February 2020. She was on leave from her job at a Victoria’s Secret store in St. Louis when the pandemic threw her life into chaos.

She got a text telling her she was furloughed. Then her husband lost his restaurant job. In financial straits, they sold their home, moved in with friends, survived on unemployment insurance and fell deeper into debt.

In the fall, Victoria’s Secret offered Weitzel part-time work that would pay $12 an hour, but she declined. She and her husband, who now works long hours at a new restaurant job, can’t afford childcare.

“Something just kind of broke, where I thought about how hard I was working for this job that paid about $32,000 a year,” Weitzel said.

Weitzel, 31, got accepted to Rung for Women, a St. Louis program that offers career coaching and training for jobs in high demand, including banking, health care, customer service and technology. In the fall, when her oldest daughter starts preschool, Weitzel hopes to get part-time work in a new career.

Mark Smithivas drove for Uber and Lyft for four years before he abruptly quit last spring out of concern for his health. He has spent the last year taking technology classes in a federal worker-training program.

Smithivas, 52, just got his second vaccination, but he doesn’t want to go back to ride-hailing. He worries about carjackings and other crimes targeting drivers in Chicago, where he lives.

“I always viewed this job as temporary, and I really do want to find something that fits my career and background better,” he said.

Some workers say the pandemic helped them prioritize their mental and physical health.

After a lifelong career as a bartender, 57-year-old Ellen Booth was in constant pain from lifting ice buckets and beer kegs. But without a college degree, she felt she had limited options.

When the restaurant she worked for closed last year, she said it gave her “the kick I needed.” Booth, of Coventry, Rhode Island, started a yearlong class to learn to be a medical coder. When her unemployment benefits ran out two months ago, she started drawing on her retirement funds. Booth will take an exam in the coming weeks to get certified, after which she will hit the job market.

Shelly Ortiz, 25, used to love her career as a restaurant server. But things changed last June, when her Phoenix restaurant reopened its dining room.

She wore two masks and glasses to protect herself, but still felt anxiety in a restaurant full of unmasked diners.

Sexual harassment also got worse, she said. Patrons would ask her to pull down her mask so they could see how cute she was before tipping her.

Ortiz quit in July after she learned that the restaurant didn’t deep-clean the bar after a bartender was potentially exposed. She and her partner, a teacher, curtailed their spending, and Ortiz returned to school full time. This month, she is graduating from Glendale Community College with a degree in film and a certificate in documentary directing.

Ortiz stopped getting unemployment benefits in November, when she did some part-time film work. Money is tight, she said, but she’s never been happier. And she doesn’t think she’ll ever be a restaurant server again.

“I don’t know if I could do it with a smile anymore,” she said. “I don’t think it should be an option for anyone to treat any worker the way that service industry workers are treated in America.”

In a tight labor market, some workers are also finding that if they hold out, they might get a better job than the one they left.

Taryn Henderson spent six years working at Best Buy before she was unexpectedly let go in February.

“They didn’t value the work I put in, the time I put in, because I got laid off,” said Henderson, 24, a college student who lives in Austin, Texas. “It was just really discouraging.”

At first she focused on her schoolwork, living on her unemployment checks and a severance payment that gave her 10 weeks’ worth of pay. But soon she was anxious to work again, and thought a new job that valued her more would make her feel better.

After a few months of searching, she found another job with a music streaming service. She’ll start later this month and will make $10 more per hour than the $17 she made at Best Buy.

AP Economics Writer Christopher Rugaber contributed to this report

BusinessMirror

Sunday, May 23, 2021

A3

Chip shortages in ‘danger zone’ as wait times reach new record

S

hortages in the semiconductor industry, which have already slammed automakers and consumer electronics companies, are getting even worse, complicating the global economy’s recovery from the coronavirus pandemic.

Chip lead times, the gap between ordering a chip and taking delivery, increased to 17 weeks in April, indicating users are getting more desperate to secure supply, according to research by Susquehanna Financial Group. That is the longest wait since the firm began tracking the data in 2017, in what it describes as the “danger zone.”

“All major product categories up considerably,” Susquehanna analyst Chris Rolland wrote in a note Tuesday, citing power management and analog chip lead times among others. “These were some of the largest increases since we started tracking the data.”

C h i p s hor t a ge s a re r i p pl i n g through industr y after industr y, preventing companies from shipping products from cars to game consoles and refrigerators. Automakers are now expected to lose out on $110 billion in sales this year, as Ford Motor Co., General Motors Co.

and others have to idle factories for lack of essential components. That’s undercutting economic growth and employment, as well as raising fears of panic ordering that may lead to distortions in the future.

The chip industry and its customers watch lead times as an indicator of the balance between supply and demand. A lengthening of the gap indicates that buyers of semiconductors are more willing to commit to future supply to avoid a recurrence of shortfalls. Analysts track these numbers as a harbinger of hoarding that can lead to the accumulation of too much inventory and sudden declines in orders.

“Elevated lead times often compe l ‘ bad beh av ior ’ at c u stomers, i nc lu d i n g i nv e nt or y a c c u mu l a t ion, sa fet y stoc k bu i ld i ng a nd double order i ng ,” Rol l a nd w rote. “ T hese t rend s m ay h ave spu r red a sem iconduc tor i ndu st r y i n t he e a r l y s t a g e s o f o v e r - s h i p m e nt

above t r ue c u stomer dem a nd.”

The situation has been complicated by a resurgence of coronavirus cases in Taiwan, a key location for chip manufacturing. The country has closed schools, curbed social gatherings, and shut museums and public facilities. While businesses and factories are operating, the government may have to consider broader restrictions.

The countr y is home to Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co., which is the world ’s most advanced chipmaker and counts Apple Inc. and Qualcomm Inc. among its many customers. Loca l manufacturers also produce less glamorous—but equ a l ly c r it ic a l— c h ips, suc h a s display driver ICs that have been a particularly painful bottleneck for global production.

The current level of 17 weeks climbed from the 16 -week level and marks a fourth consecutive month of “sizable” expansion, Rolland wrote.

L ead t imes for cer ta in products are increasing shar ply, even after months of shortages. Power management chips, for example, spiked to 23.7 weeks in April, a wait time about four weeks longer than a month earlier, according to Susquehanna. Industrial microcontrollers order lead times extended by three weeks, some of the steepest increases Rolland has seen since he began tracking the numbers in 2017, he wrote.

Delays are often worse for smaller

ma nufact urers, w it h headphone makers facing lead times longer than 52 weeks, according to people familiar with the supply chain. This has forced companies to redesign products, shift priorities and, in at least one case, completely abandon a project, said one of the people, asking not to be named because the information is not public.

About 70 percent of the companies that Rolland tracks have expanding lead times, compared with 20 percent that have seen lead times contract. NXP Semiconductors NV, a major auto chip supplier, has lead times of more than 22 weeks now, up from around 12 weeks late last year.

STMicroelectronics NV, another key auto chip supplier, saw lead times rise by more than four weeks in April to more than 28 weeks.

Such outsized increases may reflect over-ordering by some customers, who could be concerned about the impact of shortages on their businesses. Historically, companies have been able to cancel chip orders without penalty, although that has begun to change.

“Beginning with January data, we have witnessed numerous large JUMPS in reported LTs,” Rolland w rote, refer r i ng to lead t i mes.

“Whereas in prior years, an individual company would typically move their stated LTs up and down just a few days in a given month, starting this year we have seen significant jumps in LTs that have skewed our data.” Bloomberg News

Europe heads for jobs crunch that may be deeper than US’s

By Alexander Weber

T

he labor shortage that is hitting the US as the nation rebounds from the pandemic is also coming to Europe, where it could prove even more difficult to fix.

Like the US, where April’s payroll growth fell far short of expectations, Europe will struggle to match workers with jobs. That’s despite unemployment at more than 7 percent in the European Union—and more than twice as high in Greece and Spain—which isn’t predicted to return to pre-crisis levels before 2023.

In the short term, coronavirus travel restrictions mean workers can’t cross borders as easily as usual within the 27-nation bloc. That’s a problem because the EU is about to start dishing out its 800 billion ($977 billion) recovery fund, which is focused on environmental and digital industries that will require specialized workers.

But the networks and pipelines that provide new workers have also been disrupted, which will have a lingering impact. Job fairs have been canceled and vocational training programs upended. Universities have seen a slump in foreign students.

Brexit has imposed an additional barrier to movement of labor, because the trade deal between the UK and EU that started this year includes

restrictions on movement and only limited mutual recognition of some qualifications.

“In Europe, the problems are more structural,” said Axel Pluennecke, an economist at the German Economic Institute in Cologne. “Especially in the technical professions, areas like digitization, decarbonization, there will be big demand for qualified workers. You really have to wonder whether this demand will be met.”

The region is already feeling some of the impact of the border closures imposed during the pandemic. Net migration to Germany, Europe’s largest economy, fell by about a third in 2020. Norway is short of specialized hospitality workers such as foreign rafting guides, and relaxed entry restrictions last month to include workers “strictly necessary to avoid downtime in projects or businesses for the next four months.”

Swedish battery-cell manufacturer Northvolt AB needs 3,000 workers for a factory under construction in Skellefteå, and its chief executive—former Tesla Inc. executive Peter Carlsson— has repeatedly highlighted access to expertise as a key challenge.

An EU report in December identified shortages in construction, engineering, software development and—more prominently than in the past—health care.

Likewise, training schools have been hit by closures and social distancing rules. Signups for vocational programs in Germany, which prepare young people for hundreds of specialized professions, declined more than 9 percent last year in a “clear effect” of the pandemic, according to the nation’s statistics office.

Austria, which has a similar system, had more than 8,000 unfilled training positions at the end of April.

The Austrian Economic Chambers resorted to deploying virtual-reality goggles, which Deputy Secretary General Mariana Kuehnel said helps highlight less well-known career opportunities to young people.

German universities had almost 30 percent fewer international students last year, and many studied online from their home countries, eliminating the social interactions that often convince them to stay for a job after graduating.

“The challenge for companies, for countries, is to synchronize the job disruption with the job creation,” said Alain Dehaze, chief executive of Swiss-based global recruitment agency Adecco Group AG. “You’ll have structural changes in mobility, in consumption, and it’ll have an impact on jobs.”

Demographic dilemma Some economies might benefit if the

crisis stops their best workers leaving.

Poland, Romania and Italy—the main countries of origin for skilled EU migrants in 2019—are also among the biggest beneficiaries of the bloc’s recovery fund. They’ll see their demand for specialized jobs rise.

Systems for matching skilled workers with the companies that require them will also ultimately be rebuilt.

But that will take time, and the delay will exacerbate a problem that Europe was struggling with even before the pandemic—demographics.

Germany’s work force, for example, is projected to shrink by about 4 million by 2030 as the baby-boomer generation retires.

“German companies will have to increasingly look outside of the EU to meet their demand for skilled labor,” said Ulrich Kober, head of integration and education at the Bertelsmann Stiftung. “Migration from other EU countries doesn’t cut it anymore.”

That poses a political challenge for governments. They may find themselves under pressure to double down on attracting foreign workers despite high local unemployment, the Brussels-based Migration Policy Institute Europe wrote in a report in February.

“Governments will need to caref u l ly con sider t he sen sit iv it ies around continuing to recruit from abroad,” it said. Bloomberg News

CEO behind 5,300% stock gain says secret is raising salaries

M

asaru Tange says the strategy that turned his company into one of Japan’s best-performing stocks may be surprising: He buys smaller firms and boosts their workers’ pay.

Tange’s Shift Inc., a software tester, acquires other businesses near the bottom of the industry supply chain and raises their engineers’ salaries.

He says he’s able to do this and still charge competitive prices by cutting out layers of companies that serve as middlemen in the outsourcing process. And having more workers leads to higher sales.

Shift’s shares have risen more than 5,300 percent since it went public in 2014, the second-best performance on

Tokyo’s benchmark stock index. The company’s market capitalization has surged to about $2.3 billion, pushing the value of Tange’s 33-percent stake to about $745 million.

Tange, 46, says his business model is an attempt to remove inefficiencies in Japan’s software industry, where layers of subcontractors take cuts on orders before passing the work to another company below. It’s also, he says, a break from the M&A strategy of buying a business and looking to reduce costs.

“I have a strong urge to rescue these young employees,” Tange, Shift’s founder, president and chief executive officer, said in an interview. “I want to create a fair working environment

through M&A.” Tange grew up in what he describes as an ordinary family in Hiroshima in southwestern Japan, where both his parents were civil servants. He established Shift in 2005 after majoring in mechanical engineering and spending more than five years working for a consulting firm.

Shift started out advising companies on how to improve profits. In 2009, it entered the software testing business.

Tange said he wanted to change engineers’ perception that software testing was a second-rate job, including by paying them more money.

For example, for a service where the market price was 2 million yen

($18,320), Shift would charge 1.5 million yen. This would enable it to win customers. At the same time, it would raise the amount paid to the engineer to about 800,000 yen from 500,000 yen. It could do so, Tange said, by getting rid of middlemen.

Shift acquired Yusuke Sato’s company in 2016. Since then, the software developer says his salary has jumped by more than 70 percent.

“Joining Shift was a huge turning point in my career,” Sato said.

Shift has 3,308 engineers as permanent employees as of the end of February, up more than 14-fold from 228 at the end of November 2015. The company acquired at least 14 firms during that period. Bloomberg News

A4

The World BusinessMirror

Sunday, May 23, 2021

Africa’s Covid vaccine holdouts reject world’s route to recovery

A

By Antony Sguazzin

handful of vaccine holdouts in the world’s least-inoculated continent could pose another big challenge for global efforts to end the pandemic.

Burundi, Tanzania and Eritrea have so far rejected the World Health Organization’s advice to register for Covax, an initiative to distribute vaccines to poorer countries, with some officials downplaying the impact of Covid-19 and effectiveness of jabs that have allowed several countries to begin opening up.

The danger is that while the rest of the world slowly returns to normalcy, the virus will spread in these African nations, mutating into variants that can evade current vaccines, cause deadly new waves and spread far beyond their borders.

“If you allow the virus to continue to circulate anywhere, it allows the virus to mutate,” said Shabir Madhi, a vaccinologist from Johannesburg’s University of the Witwatersrand, who led a trial of AstraZeneca’s shot in South Africa. “Those variants are going to be a consistent threat not just to those countries—but globally.”

Together, the three African holdouts have a population of about 75 million, a little smaller than Germany’s, providing an ample reservoir for mutations to develop, much as they did in England, Brazil, South Africa and India. Highly transmissible variants first identified in those countries were later detected in dif-

ferent parts of the world.

And the most mutated version of the coronavirus discovered to date is believed to have come from Tanzania, where people go about their lives with minimal precautions and no vaccines ordered so far.

“They declared they had no intention to join Cova x,” Phionah Atuhebwe, the WHO’s new vaccines introduction medica l officer for Africa, said. “We can only continue with advocacy.”

So far, that advocacy hasn’t made much progress I n w h a t s e e m e d a b r e a k w it h h i s l at e p r e d e c e s s o r, B u r u n d i ’s P resident Ev a r i ste Nd ay i sh i m iye d e c l a r e d i n Ju l y t h at C o v i d -19 w a s t h e c o u nt r y ’s “ b i g g e s t e n e m y.” Fo r m e r P r e s i d e nt P i e r r e N k u r u n z i z a , w ho d i e d i n Ju n e a m i d s p e c u l at io n h e ’ d c o nt r a c t ed the v ir us, had scor ned the d i s e a s e a n d e x p e l l e d W HO o f f i c i a l s , s a y i n g h i s c o u nt r y w a s protected by God. Yet almost a year on, Nday ishim iye h a s not sec u red vacc i nes, say ing the battle had already been won. Burundi ’s government says vaccines aren’t fully effective and lon g - t e r m s id e e f fe c t s a re not

u nderstood t hough it ’s a l lowed soldiers ser v ing in peacekeeping missions overseas to receive them.

“Our position is that these vaccines are still on a trial,” Thaddée Ndikumana, Burundi ’s health minister, said on May 4.

Er it rea st i l l h ad n’t dec ided on its approac h, Infor m at ion Mi n is ter Yem a ne Ghebremeske l sa id.

Ta n z a n i a h a s yet to order a ny d o s e s t ho u g h P r e s i d e nt S a m i a Su lu hu H a ssa n h a s prom i sed a sh i f t i n pol ic y, w it h a n adv isor y pa ne l recom mend i ng t he n at ion joi n Cova x a nd resu me publ ishing Cov id-19 statistics ha lted last May. Her gover n ment h a s yet to say whet her it ’ l l fol low t he recom mend at ions.

Ta n z a n i a’s for mer president, John Magufuli, who dismissed the severity of the disease and advocated steam treatments, died in March of heart ailments. There was speculation he’d also succumbed to Cov id.

W hile there are other nations who’ve yet to immunize anyone, they at least plan to do so. Madaga sc a r, wh ic h touted a n herba l remedy, ultimately signed up for Cova x on April 1. “ We h a v e p o r o u s b o r d e r s ,” Atuhebwe said. “ The biggest worr y is the mutations.”

In a continent with the world ’s lowest vaccination rate—just 24.2 million doses have been administered to a population of 1.3 billion, according to the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention— the perils of waiting are already evident.

Officially, Africa has confirmed about 4.7 million cases and 127,000 deaths, but testing’s been minimal with the exception of South Africa. Anecdotal evidence of oxygen shortages

at hospitals indicates a more severe epidemic than is publicly acknowledged. In South Africa alone, the excess death rate, or deaths above what would normally be seen, is triple the number of people certified to have died from Covid-19.Travelers from Tanzania arriving in Angola were in March found to be carrying a variant of the virus that Tulio de Oliveira, director of Krisp, a South African scientific institute that conducts genetic testing, described as the most mutated yet. Another is spreading rapidly in Uganda and Rwanda, he said. There are concerns the latest mutations could spread further.

W hile some measures to curb Cov id-19 are now in place in all three countries, in Burundi and Tanzania the inf luence of denialist presidents lives on, even after their deaths.

In Dar es Sa laam, Tanzania’s commercial capital, food markets are busy, buses crowded and bars full, while churches and mosques are packed w ith worshipers, most w ithout masks.

“I don’t think that coronavirus is such a big problem in Tanzania as it is in other countries,” said Tanzanian businesswoman Queen Maro.

T hat assessment is belied by ox ygen shortages that earlier this yea r hit hospita ls over whelmed w ith patients display ing Cov id-19 sy mptoms.

“We aren’t seeing a huge number of patients as we did ” between December and February, said a doctor in Dar es Salaam, who asked not to be identified as only four government officials are permitted to speak about the disease. “With the onset of the rainy season, I fear that a new wave of Covid-19 infections is coming and, believe me, it will be bad.”

Bloomberg News

Republicans rebel against mask requirement in House chamber

By Kevin Freking

The Associated Press

W

ASHINGTON—Republicans are rebelling a g a i n s t t he re q u i re ment that they wear a mask on the House f loor, stoking tensions w ith majority Democrats who are refusing to change the rules following updated guidance from federal health officials.

Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., led an effort Wednesday to get the Office of the Attending Physician to update its guidance for mask wearing for vaccinated lawmakers and staff while they are in the House chamber and in committee hearing rooms, but Democrats defeated it along a party-line vote of 218-210.

L aw ma kers ca n remove t heir masks when speaking on the House f loor, but otherwise must keep it on when they are in the chamber. There is no requirement for wearing masks in the Senate chamber.

Democratic lawmakers say they are tired of the requirements, too, but they worry that some of their Republican colleagues have declined to be vaccinated and could spread the virus.

Some GOP lawmakers opted to go without a mask during votes Tuesday, with a few taking particular care to stand in the well of the chamber to ensure that spectators, colleagues and C-SPAN’s cameras could not miss them.

Their defiance could come at a financial cost. Lawmakers who refuse to wear masks are subject to a fine of $500 for the first offense.

Subsequent offenses can result in a $2,500 fine. In practice, however, the House sergeant-at-arms is provid-

ing a warning for the first offense.

Seven lawmakers will be getting such warnings, according to a list obtained by The Associated Press: Reps. Lauren Boebert of Colorado, Thomas Massie of Kentucky, Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia, Chip Roy of Texas, Bob Good of Virginia, Louie Gohmert of Texas and Mary Miller of Illinois.

Three more had already received a warning and will be fined $500.

They are Reps. Brian Mast of Florida, Mariannette Miller-Meeks of Iowa and Beth Van Duyne of Texas. They will be subject to a fine of $2,500 for additional offenses.

McCarthy followed up on their protests w it h a resolut ion t h at stated the mask mandate “ hinders the ability of the House to properly and effectively conduct the people’s business.”

The resolution stated that those who have not received the vaccine “pose no real threat to those who have been vaccinated.” And it called on the attending physician of the House to consult with the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and provide updated mask guidelines.

The mask revolt in the House has been brewing for months, with some Republicans chafing at the extra safety precautions imposed during the pandemic and bolstered after the January 6 insurrection at the US Capitol. Democrats imposed mask requirements last year when many Republicans, defying public health guidance, refused to wear face coverings.

The complaints from some Republicans have grown louder now that the CDC has altered its mask guidelines, saying it’s safe for fully vaccinated people to skip face cover-

ings and social distancing in virtually all situations.

The CDC guidelines say all people should still wear masks in crowded indoor locations such as airplanes, buses, hospitals and prisons. Lawmakers and others in the Capitol have stopped wearing masks when moving around the building.

Drew Hammill, a spokesman for House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, said the Office of the Attending Physician has been consistently conferring with the CDC, and as recently as Tuesday. He said new guidance issued Wednesday states the mask requirement is “entirely consistent” with the CDC’s recommendations and has ensured that the House can debate and pass legislation safely and effectively.

“If Minority Leader McCarthy wants to be maskless on the Floor of the House of Representatives, he should get to work vaccinating his Members,” Hammill wrote.

At one point Tuesday, Boebert, Taylor-Greene and Massie stood together unmasked for several minutes in the well of the House. Democratic Rep. Jamie Raskin of Maryland went over and spoke with them. The conversation appeared cordial.

R askin told reporters that he can’t wait to take his mask off during House f loor proceedings. “The reason we can’t take our masks off is because so many Republicans are not vaccinated and are refusing to do it,” he said.

After Tuesday’s votes, several of the Republicans who declined to wear a mask gathered outside the Capitol for a group picture.

Massie said Wednesday that he had previously contracted Covid-19 and recovered. He said he is “im-

mune” and that “part of the reason you know they’re not following the science here is they don’t care if you have the antibody.”

The CDC states on its web site that people should get vaccinated even if they had already had Covid-19.

“That’s because experts do not yet know how long you are protected from getting sick again after recovering from Covid-19. Even if you have already recovered from Covid-19, it is possible—although rare—that you could be infected with the virus that causes Covid-19 again,” the CDC says.

Massie said he was prepared to test the mask requirement again.

“I can’t afford to be fined into poverty, but if I’m not willing to spend $500 defending freedom, I don’t belong here,” he said.

Roy said that if any lawmakers or staff members have health concerns, they have the ability to get vaccinated and to wear a mask. Meanwhile, he said the availability of vaccines and the data about their effectiveness shows “that we can engage out in the world ” and Americans should see their lawmakers doing that.

“Contrary to some people’s public view and the caricature of myself and others, I’m not looking to, you know, nuke the place,” Roy said.

“What I’m looking to do is raise issues, consistently sort of push back and represent my constituents who are tired of this.”

Taylor-Greene took to the House f loor again on Wednesday w ithout her mask. She remained in the chamber for much of the day and at times positioned herself in a chair behind the Republican lawmakers who spoke on the f loor, which ensured she would be seen by television viewers.

www.businessmirror.com.ph

Big gaps in jab rates across the US worry health experts

By Collin Binkley, Jay Reeves & John Seewer

The Associated Press

F

OXBOROUGH, Mass.—A steady crowd of people flowed into the New England Patriots’ stadium for their second dose of the Covid-19 vaccine this week in Massachusetts, which is nearing its goal of vaccinating more than 4 million and plans to close its biggest clinics in little more than a month.

In the Deep South, meanwhile, one of the largest clinics in Alabama shut down Wednesday and others will follow in the coming weeks because demand for the shot has plunged.

“They didn’t have long enough to test it,” said James Martin, 68, explaining why he has no plans to get the vaccine as he stopped for cigarettes at a convenience store in Clanton, Alabama. “They don’t know what the long-term effect is. That’s what makes me skeptical.”

A month after every adult in the US became eligible for the vaccine, a distinct geographic pattern has emerged: The highest vaccination rates are concentrated in the Northeast, while the lowest ones are mostly in the South.

Experts say the gap reflects a multitude of factors, including political leanings, religious beliefs, and education and income levels.

Close to 160 million Americans—48 percent of the population—have received at least one dose of a Covid-19 vaccine, and 125 million are fully vaccinated against the virus.

New England and Northeastern states account for eight of the top 10 in vaccination rates, with Vermont No. 1 as of last Friday, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Nearly 64 percent of its population has received as least one dose.

Following right behind are Massachusetts, Hawaii, New Hampshire, Maine, Connecticut, Rhode Island, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and New Mexico, all of them at 54 percent or higher.

Eight Southern states are in the bottom 10, all of which are under 40 percent.

Mississippi was dead last at 32 percent, followed by Louisiana, Alabama, Wyoming, Idaho, Tennessee, Arkansas, Georgia, West Virginia and South Carolina.

Closing the gaps is vital to controlling the virus that has killed 588,000 people in the US, health experts say. The vaccination drive has helped drive US cases down to their lowest level since last June, at around 30,000 a day on average, and reduced deaths to about 570 a day, a level not seen since last July.

“Low vaccination rates will leave room for the virus to circulate, re-emerge and possibly form new variants,” said Tara Kirk Sell, a senior scholar at the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security. “High vaccination rates are critical to keeping the disease under control, especially when we get back to the fall and winter.”

The divides aren’t just limited to states—there are marked differences between urban and rural places, from county to county and from one neighborhood to another.

The disparities are even more glaring when looking at individual places around the US: Vermont has four counties where 75 percent of the residents have had at least one dose, while there are 11 Mississippi counties with under 25 percent vaccinated.

Roddy Carroll has seen both sides from where he works in technology sales in Atlanta and where he grew up in northern Georgia. “There’s a pretty stark difference,” he said.

Back home in rural Murray County, only 1 in 4 residents have rolled up their sleeves for a shot. Carroll blames conservative politicians for sowing doubts that have made people reluctant.

“They’re more willing to listen to conspiracy theorists than doctors who know how vaccines work,” he said. “You’re talking about people you’ve known all their life. But you hear them say those things, and you think, ‘How well did I know them?’”

Those anti-vaccine beliefs have led to some uncomfortable conversations with his family, Carroll said. “I don’t know anybody who hasn’t had tense moments like that,” he said.

Dr. Eric Topol, head of the Scripps Research Translational Institute, said the gaps in Covid-19 vaccination can be traced directly to political influences, particularly what he called “anti-science” attitudes among Republican leaders, who were skeptical about the value of masks, too.

Getting more people vaccinated will take continued education, incentives and “head-on” confrontation of misinformation, Topol said.

He expects US regulators to grant full approval to the vaccines soon, which will give employers, the military and health systems the green light to require vaccination. “That will make the biggest difference,” Topol said.

Gail Borel, of Plymouth, Massachusetts, a nurse who arrived with her husband at Gillette Stadium on Wednesday to get their second doses, said she was initially reluctant. But she said she decided to go through with it after her employer said she could be held liable if she refused the vaccine and got patients sick.

Her husband, Tom, didn’t share her concern.

“Everybody I know just wants to get it over with. If this is the path to get it over with, then this is what we’re willing to do,” he said. “I just want this to be over. It’s how we stop wearing masks and how people stop getting sick.”

In Massachusetts, where 62 percent have had at least one dose, there has been little resistance to public health orders during the pandemic, and state leaders have kept tight restrictions on gatherings and businesses, drawing praise from officials such Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation’s top infectious disease expert.

Some credit the success to the state’s deep ties to education and health care.

The Boston area alone has dozens of universities, including Harvard and MIT, and scores of biotechnology companies, including the vaccine maker Moderna.

Nationwide, rural counties are behind urban places in their Covid-19 vaccination efforts—39 percent of adults in rural counties had received at least one shot compared with 46 percent in urban counties as of April 10, according to an analysis released Tuesday by the CDC. The rural-urban gap exists among women, men and both younger and older adults, the CDC said.

In Alabama’s Chilton County, a peach-farming area, the longtime mayor of Clanton died of the virus last year along with 85 others in the county. Yet less than 17 percent of its population is fully vaccinated, giving it one of the lowest rates in the state.

Store clerk Kim Pierce said she isn’t getting a shot despite knowing as many as 30 people who developed Covid-19 and two who died. Besides, Pierce said, she hasn’t gotten sick despite not wearing a mask and working in a busy gas station just off Interstate 65.

“Basically I think it’s just scamming. I don’t think it’s any worse than the flu,” she said.

Recent high school graduate Abby Calhoun said she sees few people wearing masks these days.

“We are from Alabama and we are in the country, so these older folks don’t believe in Covid-19,” she said.

Calhoun got sick and lost her sense of taste and smell in the fall, forcing her to quarantine for two weeks. She is among the unvaccinated, but she might get a shot before going to college in the fall.

“I just haven’t had time to stop by and get it,” she said. Reeves reported from

Clanton, Alabama, and Seewer from Toledo, Ohio. Associated Press writer Carla K. Johnson in Washington State also contributed.

Science

BusinessMirror

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

PSHS teacher creates 60 math YouTube videos to aid remote learning

Sunday

Sunday, May 23, 2021 A5

DOST, NSC ink pack for PHL’s security through satellite project

T

he Department of Science and Technology (DOST) and National Security Council (NSC) are among the government agencies that are committed to securing the Philippine territory.

The YouTube channel of PSHS-Main Campus math teacher Leo Andrei Crisologo.

Image from Dr. Erika Fille T. Legara's Facebook page,

M

athematics teacher, Leo Andrei Crisologo, at the Philippine Science High School (PSHS)-Main Campus in Diliman, Quezon City, took his knowledge and passion for mathematics beyond the classroom by creating 60 YouTube videos discussing Grade 9 topics, with 12 hours of content from first to fourth quarters of school year 2020-2021.

“Crisologo’s instructional videos aim to enrich the content of the learning guides provided by the PSHS System in support of the institutional remote learning modality,” Science Secretary Fortunato T. de la Peña said in a recent DOST Report.

Bec ause of t he v ideo, t he

students are not pressured to at tend s y nc h ronou s c l a sses; and the videos provide an alternative or a complement to the textbooks and learning guides.

At the same time, the students who prefer learning visually or by having a teacher explain the lesson have reported that the videos have helped them a lot, de la Peña said.

The story about the YouTube channel was first posted by Associate Professor and Data Science expert Dr. Erika Fille T. Legara on her Facebook page, de la Peña added on his Facebook.

Crisologo's YouTube channel with his math instructional materials is: https://www.youtube.com/ user/leoandrei/videos

As part of their commitment, the DOST and NSC signed a memorandum of agreement (MOA) on May 19 to collaborate in the implementation of the Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) and Automatic Identification System (AIS) for the Innovative Terrestrial Monitoring and Maritime Surveillance Project, the DOST said in a news release.

“The DOST and NSC will take another step forward and toward a new collaboration to ensure the interest and security of our nation.

From this day onward, the council and the department have officially committed to endeavor on one of our projects geared toward terrestrial and maritime monitoring, the SAR with AIS Project,” said DOST Secretary Fortunato T. de la Peña.

In his message, National Security Adviser and Director General Hermogenes Esperon Jr. expressed his gratitude to DOST for supporting the project in the last three years.

He added that part of his dreams is for the Philippine government "to establish [its] presence in the outer space, and through DOST and the Philippine Space Agency [PhilSA], we have accomplished this.”

“We had small steps, but we made our presence known. With this project, we have accelerated our interest in outer space, and we

do it through the NovaSAR satellite. We can now capture image for maritime monitoring purposes including other interests in national security,” Esperon added.

The SAR with AIS Project aims to improve terrestrial and maritime monitoring capabilities of the country through the NovaSAR-1 satellite, the news release said.

The project acquired data-tasking services of the SAR satellite, allowing the country roughly 3 minutes of imaging (or a scope of 81,600 sq. km.) using the scanning SAR (ScanSAR) mode per day.

The NovaSAR-1 satellite is also equipped with an AIS, allowing for simultaneous ship detection partnered with the all-weather and day and night imaging capabilities of the SAR satellite.

The NSC has been part of the SAR with AIS Project since its outset and have been receiving data from the NovaSAR-1 steadily.

SAR data can be used to monitor and detect a variety of objects.

SAR data is minimally affected by weather conditions making it an efficient option for monitoring.

SAR with AIS data provides for a more detailed information regarding ships being detected. AIS data allows for the identification of the detected ships and the locations they have visited, the DOST said.

This information is very useful in guarding the Philippines' water

DOST officials Secretary Fortunato T. de la Peña and Undersecretary Rowena Cristina L. Guevara; National Security Adviser and Director General Hermogenes Esperon Jr.; PhilSA Director General Joel Joseph Marciano Jr.; and DOST-ASTI Director Dr. Franz A. de Leon lead the signing of the memorandum of agreement for the implementation of the Synthetic Aperture Radar and Automatic Identification System for the Innovative Terrestrial Monitoring and Maritime Surveillance Project. DOST photo

territories against illegal vessels and in determining hidden motives of unauthorized ships, the news release added..

Also, AIS data can be used to plot trajectories of missing ships and assist in rescue operations.

The NovaSAR-1 satellite is designed and built by Surrey Satellite Technology Ltd. in the United Kingdom, while the SAR payload is courtesy of Airbus UK, and the AIS Receiver is by Honeywell Aerospace in the US. The agreement allows the Philippines, through DOST-ASTI, to access the NovaSAR-1 satellite until the lifespan of the spacecraft.

It is intended to provide relevant data on land and aquatic resources in support of the country’s requirements for enhanced monitoring of maritime and agricultural environments, infrastructure identification, and other beneficial applications.

“With the operationalization of DOST’s SAR with AIS, with the continued assistance of the [PhilSA], headed by Director General Joel Joseph Marciano Jr., and now enhanced with the engagement of the [NSC], we cannot help

but look forward to another big leap toward our collective goal of strengthening our R&D infrastructures that are vital for the country’s security and territorial integrity,” said DOST-ASTI Director Dr. Franz A. de Leon.

For his part, Marciano expressed hope to find more meaningful applications of the country's space assets in national security as well as other areas—that with and through innovative solutions using evidence-based S&T approach.

De Leon added: “The SAR with AIS project plays a big role in research and development with its complex capabilities and expertise on terrestrial monitoring and maritime surveillance for national security; and I believe that this is something the National Security Council have always valued.”

The signing of the MOA via online platform was attended by officials from the DOST headed by Secretary de la Peña, Undersecretary Rowena Cristina L. Guevara; officials from NSC headed by Esperon Jr. and Assistant Director General Ma. Victoria Castro; PhilSA's Marciano; and DOST-ASTI's de Leon, the DOST news release said.

DOST-SEI offers 1,640 MS and 765 PhD new scholarships A DOST-Calabarzon team distributes nutritious Sigla Rice Monggo Curls to children in Burdeos municipality on Polillo Island in Quezon province.

The team also provides other S&T-based technologies. DOST Facebook page

DOST brings S&T services to remote Polillo islands

D

id you know that one of primary initiatives of the Department of Science and Technology (DOST) is reaching out to the country’s Geographically Isolated and Disadvantaged areas to provide science and technology (S&T)-based assistance?

Recently, the team of DOSTCalabarzon went to the Polillo Group of Islands to provide S&Tbased assistance to its locals, the DOST said in its Facebook account.

The Polillo Group of Islands is composed of about 27 islands on the southeast part of Luzon that is part of the province of Quezon.

Its three major islands are the islands of Polillo, Patnanungan and Jomalig.

On May 6 and 7, the DOST team's first destination was the municipality of Burdeos, which is known for its pristine beaches and rich fishing grounds, on Polillo Island.

It is the first leg of the Community Empowerment through Science and Technology (CEST) program to the five-island municipalities of the Polillo Group of Islands.

The DOST CEST Program is a package of S&T interventions which aims to build empowered,

progressive and resilient communities.

The team went to provide RxBox, Biotek-M Dengue Aquakit, Enhanced Nutribun, Sigla Rice Monggo Curls, DOST MIRDC Face Shields, Automated Rain Gauge, Local Government Unit Information Dissemination System, and Starbooks upgrade to locals, the DOST Facebook news release said.

DOST-Calabarzon also conducted Technology Needs Assessment with the Pandan Island Fisherfolks Neighborhood Association to determine the kind of assistance the regional office can provide to local fisherfolks.

"Conducting the intervention was honestly difficult, but seeing the smiles on people's faces made us feel happy and satisfied. The locals show their appreciation.

What we did may not be much, but for the people, it is more than enough. It makes me more inspired to do my best," said Jay Villarino, RxBox Project Assistant of DOSTCalabarzon.

One of the primary goals of the DOST is to develop technologies that will reach the country's citizens even in far-flung areas of the country, as it implements its “Science is For The People” tag.

S

tudents who are planning to pursue higher education through masteral and doctoral degrees, the Department of Science and Technology-Science Education Institute (DOST-SEI) may be the answer to your goal.

DOST-SEI is offering scholarship programs for 1,640 new slots for MS and 765 new slots for PhD scholarships this year, Science Secretary Fortunato

T. de la Peña said in his recent DOST Report beamed through DOSTv on Facebook.

De la Peña said the DOSTSEI w i l l be announcing in August the 12,000 incoming freshmen to the DOST-SEI Underg raduate Scholarship prog ra m, a nd about 2,0 0 0 scholarship qualifiers for the junior level science scholarship for students who are already in their third year college.

The DOST-SEI is likewise supporting 43,493 science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) scholars nationwide.

Of these, 36,452 are at the undergraduate level, 4,603 are pursuing their Masters degree, and 2,438 are pursuing their PhD degrees.

For the Foreign Graduate Scholarship Programs, 218 MS and PhD scholars are studying

in 25 countries. The scholars are taking up DOST priority courses in specialized fields where the country is not yet strong, or are not being offered yet in the Philippines.

The courses include space science and engineering, material science and nanotechnology, virology, data science and analytics, biomedical engineering, and courses in emerging technologies, among others.

DOST-FPRDI’s TeknoLokal webinar presents techs, services to OFWs

R

eturning overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs) may now have more choices of possible sources of livelihood if they opt to stay in the country, or to invest in.

T he DOST-Forest Products Research and Development Institute (DOST-FPRDI) recently pitched its technologies and services to OFWs through the DOST’s “TeknoLokal para sa Makabagong Bayani” webinar series.

The FPRDI was tapped by the DOST-National Capital Region and DOST Region X last April 16 and 30 to discuss its technologies that can be potential business ventures for returning OFWs. Among those presented were FPRDI’s bamboo processing technologies, engineered bamboo, charcoal briquetting, handmadepaper making, skeletonized leaves and bamboo-framed face shield production.

Apart from the technologies,

Screen grabbed from https://ifwdph.dost.gov.ph/

the corresponding investment costs and return of investment were also discussed during the webinars.

“We are happy to be part of this initiative that aims to capacitate returning OFWs in setting up their own businesses. The institute’s technologies are fit for those who want to venture into furniture production, and gifts and handicrafts businesses,” said DOST-FPRDI Director Romulo T. Aggangan.

The TeknoLokal webinar series showcases DOST-developed technologies that are “100 percent made by our Filipino scientists and researchers,” and are responsive to the needs of the Filipino people.

It is part of the DOST’s Innovations for Filipinos Working Distantly from the Philippines Program that assists repatriated Filipinos and their families establish technology-based enterprises

in the Philippines.

The program has two phases: 1) Capacity building through product and business concept development, and advisory sessions with technolog y-based enterprise advisors; and 2) Innovation funding thru technical training, market testing, laboratory testing and equipment acquisition.

DOST-FPRDI also showcased its technologies in the DOST Region 1-led TeknoLokal webinar on May 14.

DOST-FPRDI is committed to work toward the competitiveness of its industry partners while promoting sustainability.

As the country’s wood supply began to diminish due to reckless logging, the institute continues to look for ways to wisely use native plants, tree plantation species, and related natural materials to address the needs of its clients. Apple Jean C. Martin-de Leon

and Maria C. Reyes/S&T Media Services

A6 Sunday, May 23, 2021

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Sunday, May 23, 2021 A7

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Sunday, May 23, 2021

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Does vaccine still protect you?

Testing can’t say for sure yet

By Carey Goldberg

P

Bloomberg News

rotection from coronavirus vaccines is expected to wane, but no one knows when. It could be as soon as this fall for the first wave of people vaccinated last winter, and many predict that Covid boosters will soon join annual flu shots.

Ideally, anyone worried about fading vaccine protection could get tested for Cov id-fighting a nt ibod ies, t he pr i m a r y de fense against the virus. But as cancer patients and others with impaired immune systems are learning, it’s not that simple.

“The good news is, we have an antibody test that can test for whether or not you’ve made antibodies in response to the vaccine,” said Craig Bunnell, chief medical officer at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. “The bad news is that we don’t yet know how to interpret the results.”

The gap in knowledge and testing raises the prospect of heightened anxiety in the coming months for vaccine recipients wondering if they’re still protected—anxiety that could curb willingness to venture out in public. That in turn could put a renewed drag on the global economic recovery.

Scientists are racing to figure out the so-called correlates of protection against Covid; in other words, which test results assure immunity.

New data is coming out almost weekly that brings researchers closer to understanding which immune signatures reflect protection, said epidemiologist Michael Mina of the Harvard Chan School of Public Health. But it’s likely to be months before the picture is clear, he said.

It’s also not yet known how long the vaccines last in general.

They’re so new that there hasn’t been time to follow recipients for very long; mounting evidence suggests the antibody protection lasts at least six months, but beyond that remains unclear.

It’s the sort of post-vaccine limbo that those with impaired immune systems already know well.

“Immuno-compromised” people make up an estimated 3 percent of the population, including people with blood cancers—more than 1 million survivors in the US—as well as those with autoimmune diseases, HI V and

transplanted organs requiring anti-rejection drugs.

Michele Nadeem-Baker embodies their dilemma. She’s fully vaccinated and chafing to fully return to the world after more than a year as a self-described “bubble woman” who leaves home in Boston’s hilly Charlestown neighborhood only to take walks.

While new guidance from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) lets other Bostonians rip off their masks outdoors and resume almost-normal lives, little changes for her. Her weak immune system means being vaccinated doesn’t guarantee protection, and she sees no end to sheltering in place.

“I’m being told I can’t get back into life,” she said. “How can I find out for sure if I can? The only way to do that would be to get some scientific proof.”

So last month, Nadeem-Baker, who has leukemia and is a cancer patient advocate, asked to be tested for coronavirus antibodies. The results: more frustration. Though she did have some of the diseasefighting proteins, she said, her doctors told her she needed to keep acting as if she didn’t, because they couldn’t confidently interpret her score.

In the body’s complex array of defenses against germs, antibodies act like the scouts, identifying and targeting intruders. They have powerful back-up troops, including “memory” B cells and T cells that ramp up to combat enemies they recognize. So antibody tests tell far from the whole story.

Say that “John Doe has an antibody level of 14 or 40 or 400 or 4,000,” said Harvard’s Mina, an authority on testing and antibodies. “Those numbers don’t mean anything.”

Establishing which antibody levels are enough for robust protection will require testing many people over time to determine when the virus can break through, he said.

Then again, a patient may have

none of the specific antibodies measured but still have protection from other elements of the immune system, like those B and T cells. Or it could turn out that the specific antibodies being measured are not actually key to killing the virus, Mina added—something like hundreds of bits of duct tape that are stuck all over an enemy’s body but not over their nose and mouth, and so are not fatal.

Not a good sign

Among blood-cancer patients, more t ha n 2,0 0 0 —inc lud ing Nadeem-Baker—have signed up for free antibody testing as part of a study by the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, said the national nonprofit’s chief scientific officer, Lee Greenberger.

“The research is happening as fast as it possibly can, so we understand the magnitude of the problem, and then figure out solutions for how we’re going to protect these patients,” he said.

Early findings in cancer patients illustrate how dramatically Covid antibody responses vary by individual and by condition, Greenberger said. In one type of cancer, “40 percent or 50 percent of patients don’t make antibodies,” he said. “In another blood cancer, everybody makes antibodies.”

Among healthy volunteers, almost all get robust antibody test results, he said, but because other arms of the immune system could offer protection, it’s still unclear what even a zero-antibody test result means, except that “it’s a warning sign.”

The upshot remains so murky that the CDC explicitly says “antibody testing is not recommended for assessing immunity” after vaccination in people with immune issues.

Dana-Farber similarly cautions cancer patients that “unfortunately, there isn’t any way to know with certainty whether the vaccine worked.”

“As we gain more understanding of the test results, their meaning, and how to respond to those results, we may find that testing becomes useful,” it said.

“Until then, we recommend getting vaccinated and continuing to exercise precautions to reduce the risk of exposure.”

Also still to be determined: How the general public will react if immunity seems to be fading and testing remains inconclusive, particularly if—or rather, when, epidemiologists say—new outbreaks arise.

The economic impact is likely to be limited in countries with high

vaccine uptake because any new outbreaks are likely to be localized, said John Ricco from the Penn Wharton Budget Model, which has been analyzing the economic impact of vaccines. But the prospect underscores one consistent finding, he said: “Dollars spent on any sort of vaccine research at this point have a very high return on investment.”

‘Don’t believe them’

Research on new tools for measuring immunity is rapidly advancing, said Harvard’s Mina, whose lab is working on them and runs tens of thousands of antibody tests a week.

He envisions mass testing to monitor immunity for Covid and other viruses—both for individual awareness and for public health.

But for that, antibody tests would need to be much cheaper than the current $120 or so, he said.

Though there are several tests on the market, “If somebody is telling you that they’re giving you an idea of how protected you are, I would say, don’t believe them,” he said.

Weavr Health, a start-up based in Cambridge, Massachusetts, is among companies preparing for when that changes. It’s applied for emergency use authorization for an at-home, 10-minute antibody test.

Chief Executive Officer Linh Hoang cites recent research that found people who test negative for Covid antibodies have a tenfold higher risk of catching Covid than people who test positive. He argues that though it’s too early to interpret test results, indications are strong that antibodies offer “some level of protection,” something like an “internal mask.”

“The question mark is: What is the role of antibodies?” he said. “Is it like an N95 internal mask or a surgical mask? And maybe it varies from individual to individual.”

Once it’s clear what antibody test results mean, more research must determine how best to treat patients who get scant protection from vaccines, said Greenberger.

Options include giving patients antibody cocktails or possibly additional or different vaccines, he said. He has heard of a couple of patients quietly getting a third vaccine shot but cautions that all medical treatments must be tested carefully in clinical trials.

In Boston, Michele NadeemBaker waits hopefully for more certainty about both tests and treatments.

“It’s not over yet for some of us,” she said, “even if we get vaccinated.”

World’s most-vaccinated nation Seychelles sees tourism pick-up

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eychelles has seen a pickup in tourism after vaccinating a bigger proportion of its population against the coronavirus than any other nation.

The number of visitors to the Indian Ocean island archipelago plummeted 92 percent to 6,785 in the first quarter as international travel ground to a near-halt.

Seychelles has since reopened its borders and several airlines have resumed flights. The country saw a recent surge in Covid-19 infections, although it abated this week.

The tourism numbers “are not pre-Covid numbers

but it is a significant improvement,” Naadir Hassan, the minister of finance, economic planning and trade, said in an interview on Thursday.

While the government banned intermingling of households and sporting events in response to the increased virus caseload, the minister said the economy couldn’t cope with another border closure regardless of whether there was another surge.

“When we close down our main sector, that is tourism, is impacted,” Hassan said.

“That means we do not have

revenues coming in, impacting immediately our exchange rate, and the government will not be able to sustain its economy.”

Plummeting tourism revenues have placed the government’s finances under severe strain. That will require it to be more disciplined in its spending and significantly reduce support for Air Seychelles Ltd., the Seychelles Public Transport Corporation and other state entities, according to the minister.

The fiscal deficit is projected to fall to 15.3 percent of gross domestic

product this year from 18 percent in 2020, the budget released in February showed.

Seychelles is currently in talks with the International Monetary Fund about providing budgetary support.

The nation’s debt equates to about 100 percent of its gross domestic product. It owed 18.1 billion rupees ($1.1 billion) at the end of last year, just over half of it to external creditors.

The government plans to reorganize its debt, replacing some domestic loans with more external financing, a move it hopes will bring down its interest bill, Hassan said. Bloomberg News

Features BusinessMirror

www.businessmirror.com.ph

Sunday, May 23, 2021

A9

Returning Pinoys land in Cebu to avoid Manila’s strict protocols

By Ma. Stella F. Arnaldo

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(Clockwise) Aboitiz Equity Ventures Inc. VP for Corporate External Relations Vince Tan, Pasig City Mayor Vico Sotto, Aboitiz Foundation President and Chief Operating Officer Maribeth Marasigan, and Asian Institute of Management-Aboitiz School of Innovation, Technology, and Entrepreneurship (AIM-ASITE) Head Christopher Monterola led the MOA signing for “Project Connect”—an initiative to improve the country—contact tracing through the use of data science.

Aboitiz-AIM-Neda-LGU collaboration to boost PHL contact tracing efforts

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ANILA—To help address the issues surrounding the effectiveness of the country—contact tracing efforts, the public and private sectors together with academe launched Project Connect, an initiative for the seamless execution of this important pillar in the government’s Covid-19 pandemic response (Test, Trace, Isolate).

Through a virtual ceremony held on May 18, 2021, the Aboitiz Group, premier academic institution Asian Institute of Management-Aboitiz School of Innovation, Technology, and Entrepreneurship (AIM-ASITE), and the local government of Pasig City signed a memorandum of agreement (MOA) that would put in motion a data science-driven project conceptualized by the National Economic and Development Authority (Neda), to significantly improve contact tracing in the country.

The AIM-ASITE, with its world-class computing facility, research tools, and data science experts, will help develop data analysis techniques for contact tracing.

The Aboitiz Group, a known advocate of innovation, data science and artificial intelligence, supports the initiative through its social development arm Aboitiz Foundation. Aboitiz helped establish ASITE through a $10-million donation to AIM. It offers Master of Data Science (MSDS), the first graduate data science degree program in the country.

“In Aboitiz, everything we do should drive change for a better world and we are a firm believer that data science is a strong foundation that we can rely on as our country continuously fights this pandemic,” Aboitiz Foundation President Maribeth Marasigan stressed.

The Aboitiz Group through its Foundation has also donated P2 million to fund the implementation of “Project Connect,” which includes pilot testing, SMS blasts, and the development of the Application Programming Interface or API which is essential to increase contact ratio from one infected person is to two to three persons traced (1:2-3) to an ideal of one infected person is to 30 to 37 people traced (1:30-37).

“One life saved by addressing this gap in the pandemic response is more than enough reason for Aboitiz to be part of this initiative. This remains true to our promise of advancing business and communities,” she added.

The Automatic Contact Tracing Using Short Messaging System (SMS) Project, through the said API, would help seamlessly execute contact tracing as soon as an individual’s Covid-19 test result comes out by automatically linking the contact tracing applications used by various local government units to the government’s testing portal.

While the Department of Health data showed that the 7-day moving average for Covid-19 testing reached close to 64,000, the challenge is ensuring immediate testing of those who might have direct contact with individuals who tested positive. This is currently one of the weakest links in the entire Covid-19 response, and when addressed would greatly help prevent the dreaded virus’s further transmission.

“Through quick testing and tracing, we can identify, test, and isolate asymptomatic individuals before they go out and infect others in the community.

Doing so will dramatically reduce cases, limit the spread of the virus, sustain the reopening of the economy, and allow people to go back to work as soon as possible. The gradual reopening of the economy is key to economic recovery, said Neda Undersecretary Mercy Sombilla.

AIM-ASITE Head and Aboitiz Chair in Data Science Christopher Monterola said by connecting DOH’s data to the contact tracing apps used by the LGUs, required isolation time of compromised individuals can be reduced from seven to just four days. “According to simulations done, this acceleration of the contact tracing process can reduce the total number of cases by 50 percent-60 percent if tracing is implemented with about 75 percent of the population complying,” Monterola pointed out.

“By connecting the DOH data of infected individuals and the contact tracing data of say PasigPass, we can identify the individuals most likely compromised if they are in the same establishment within, say, 30 minutes. We can then prioritize on contact tracing the individuals based on the length of contact, nature/place of contact, susceptibility to become seriously ill [age and gender], and most importantly one’s potential to be a super spreader,” Monterola explained.

Pasig City, the project implementation pilot site, is already maintaining PasigPass, a contact tracing solution specifically made for the city that runs via quick response (QR) code system and is required to be accomplished in establishments and operating offices within Pasig.

Pasig City Mayor Vico Sotto said that while around 2.6 million individuals are already currently on the SafePass app, the city recognizes the need to improve its contact tracing and sees further use of technology and data analytics to better fight Covid-19.

“There are so many data points that we can extract [from the app]. You know the potential for data analytics and analysis is really high but obviously, the LGU of Pasig does not have the capability for a lot of these things; it’s new to us as well and we’re trying to figure things out as we go along and we need your help,” the mayor said during the project launch.

“Every time we identify a close contact, every time someone tests positive and we prevent him or her from spreading the disease, that’s a win for us. These are little victories that we see on a daily basis, he stressed, noting that the initial results potential from the pilot test of 1,000 people traced through Project Connect is “through the roof.”

Mayor Sotto thanked all the stakeholders involved in the project including the Aboitiz Foundation. “To the Aboitiz Foundation, thank you for your generosity, for your kind hearts, and your willingness to partner with the LGUs like Pasig City. I know it’s not only Pasig that you are partners with but you have done so much for the community, for our nation and I just want to thank you for that,” he added.

Usec. Sombilla said the Inter-Agency Task Force on Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF) agreed to do the pilot test in the consortium cities including Pasig, Antipolo, Mandaluyong, and Valenzuela. The recommendation to the task force is to scale the initiative nationally as soon as possible.

Special to the BusinessMirror

he provincial government of Cebu has implemented a shorter quarantine period on Filipino passengers arriving from abroad, who are not Cebu residents.

This did not sit well with some tourism advocates, however, who cited the stricter arrival procedures and quarantine process in Manila, as a way to contain the spread of Covid-19.

“All my friends are landing via Cebu now,” said one tourism leader interviewed by the BusinessMirror, but who requested anonymity. “They don’t have to quarantine for 14 days, unlike when they arrive at Naia. Then they just take a flight from Cebu to Manila,” the source added.

In a separate interview, Philippine Airlines spokesman Cielo Villaluna said, “There is no more testing in Manila because they have gone through testing and quarantine in Cebu. Upon arrival

in Manila, they must continue their quarantine at home under LGU [local gover nment unit] monitoring.”

She added though, “If the passenger, upon arrival in Manila [from Cebu], exhibits signs of illness or breathing difficulty, or signs of Covid, the passenger is isolated for evaluation.”

3-day hotel stay

In a memorandum issued by Cebu Gov. Gwendolyn Garcia dated May 13, 2021, she said overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) and returning Filipinos (ROFs) who are not from Cebu shall “present a letter of acceptance from their local government of destination that should contain a commitment

that they shall comply with the reasonable health protocols of said LGU of destination.”

A lso, ROFs should present “proof of their connecting flight from Cebu to their LGU of destination.” She noted OFWs need not present such proof “as Owwa [Overseas Workers Welfare Administration] shall arrange sweeper flights for their return to their LGU destination.”

The controversial Cebu governor, who is not predisposed to using facial masks outside her home and once recommended steam inhalation as Covid treatment, also ordered that OFWs and ROFs who are not from Cebu “shall be subjected to an RT-PCR test upon their arrival.”

Manila has ‘stricter’ arrival guidelines

Even if they receive a negative Covid-19 test result, Garcia said OFWs and ROFs “shall stay in their hotel or in the designated holding area in the MCIA [Mactan Cebu International Airport] until their next flight.” According to her Facebook page, these non-residents “will wait for their results in a hotel for three days.

Once a negative test is released,

they will be allowed to go home.”

According to the Civil Aeronautics Board advisory of May 12, arrivals of international passengers in Cebu are still capped at 300 per day. In Manila, the cap on international arrivals has been increased to 2,000 a day.

PAL’s Villaluna said their flights from Los Angeles to Manila, and San Francisco to Manila “get diverted to Cebu every so often… due to the arrival cap into Manila.

Out of the 2,000-limitation in passenger arrivals per day, PAL’s share is 640 passenger arrivals, which is only two wide-body and a few narrow body planes landing in Manila.”

Passengers arr iv ing at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport from abroad now have to be quarantined for 10 days in a Department of Tourism-accredited quarantine hotel and will undergo an RT-PCR test on the seventh day from their arrival.

They must finish their 10-day quarantine even if they receive a negative test result before the end of their stay. Once finished, they are then required to quarantine for another four days at home, to be monitored by their respective LGU.

SMC fast-tracks Slex extension amid ROW, pandemic restrictions

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an Miguel Corp. (SMC) said w o r k o n it s 6 6 .74 - k m .

Sout h Lu zon E x pressway Tol l road- 4 (Sle x-TR4) project, which w ill extend from Sto. Tomas, Bat a ngas to Lucena C it y, in Quezon prov ince, is pic k ing up pace despite pa ndem ic re str ictions and unsettled r ightof -way issues.

The massive thoroughfare is a strategic road project that is seen boosting the southern Tagalog region and will significantly contribute to the country’s pandemic-recovery efforts.

“We are in the initial stages of construction for Slex-TR4, but despite the limitations of the pandemic and delays in rightof-way acquisitions, we’re moving for ward and making good progress,” said SMC President R amon S. Ang. He added: “Next to the TPLEx [Tarlac-Pangasinan-La Union Expressway], Slex-TR4 is our longest expressway project by far. We know from experience the inherent challenges of a project of this scale, so we are able to mitigate them and do the best we can.”

“As with any project of this size, acquiring all the necessary r ights-of-way is the pr imar y challenge. While we anticipated that it will take some time, it also doesn’t mean we don’t do anything. We are using the

A map of San Miguel Corporation’s SLEX-TR4 project.

same strategy we utilized for our Skyway 3 project—which is to concentrate work on all workable areas—and then adjust as other areas become available,” Ang said.

Work on S le x-T R4 , wh ic h started in 2019, is currently concentrated on the project’s Section B in Alaminos, Laguna and Section C in Tiaong, Quezon, near the Hacienda Escudero area.

At Section B, construction is focused on the project’s PNR underpass, Koquinkona Bridge, and Maharlika underpass, all parallel to the Alaminos-Tiaong Bypass road. Pipe-laying for drainage as well as embankment works to

level the road prior to laying of concrete is also ongoing.

Meanwhile, at Section C, work on the Tiaong, Quezon interchange has also progressed well, according to Ang. Construction of the Tiaong Bridge, Tiaong underpass, and Dolores Bridge, as well as drainage and embankment works, are also under way.

Pandemic restrictions necessitated that construction work be scaled down, but Ang said the impact on the timeline is not substantial, as they can further accelerate work once quarantines are eased.

ROW is still the biggest factor that will determine how fast the project can be completed, he said.

“We are confident that we will eventually overcome all these challenges, with the support of our government, LGUs, and all stakeholders. We are committed to do our part and put all our energy and focus on getting this project done because it is vital to the growth of the Southern Tagalog region,” Ang said.

“Much like all SMC projects, this is our own investment—we are not just contractors for government—we are putting in all the resources needed to build it. We are determined to make this successful and beneficial to as many Filipinos as possible,” he added.

Ang underscored the importance of the project: “Slex-TR4 will form part of our interconnected expressway network in the south, designed not just to ease transport of people and goods, but also to disperse economic growth and growth opportunities so they can reach and benefit our countrymen in our regions,” he said.

“Apart from making Laguna and Quezon province more easily and directly accessible, SlexTR4 will boost agriculture and tourism; open up our provinces to more investments, and allow our people to have an easier time visiting their hometowns or loved ones in the province,” he added.

MSME processed fruit export producer gets BOI approval

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micro, small and medium enterprise (MSME) e x p or t proje c t wor t h P1.46 million recently got the nod of the Board of Investments (BOI) as part of efforts by the agency to help MSMEs promote and export homegrown products.

T hrough the BOI Regional Office in Cagayan, the BOI approved the project of KOR-Palm Agricultural Development Philippines Corporation (K ADC) as an export producer of processed fruits with a maximum annual capacity of 120,000 bottles.

Fa l l i n g u n d e r t h e M S M E

category and being located in the coutryside, KOR-Palm’s registration approval was quick, as it only needed the approval of the regional office. “It has always been the priority of the BOI to help prospective entrepreneurs in realizing their businesses. We assure our MSMEs that we are always here for them,” said Trade Undersecretary and BOI Managing Head Ceferino Rodolfo.

KOR-Palm is located in Carmen, Agusan del Norte and operations started in March 2021.

The company produces processed fruits such as mango jam, pineap-

ple jam, and coconut jam, which it exports to Korea.

K ADC is a 100 percent Korean corporation since 2012 and it initially engaged in cassava and mango production. In 2019, it decided to engage in the processing and export of processed fruits to Korea. It outsourced the finished product of Carmen Mango Processing Facility (CMPF) to test the product marketability and profitability, an enterprise owned and operated by the local government of the Municipality of Carmen, Agusan del Norte.

K A DC a lso outsourced 8,160

bottles of mango jam from CMPF in June 2019, however, this is the only batch of mango jam outsourced and exported in July 2020 to Korea through a thirdparty service provider.

Recently, KOR-Palm decided to rent the old production building of CMPF owned by the municipality of Carmen and invested in its renovation and eventual production in compliance with Food and Drug Administration (FDA) standards. The firm outsources its fruits and materials such as sugar, bottle, and sticker from local suppliers.

Faith A10 Sunday, May 23, 2021

Sunday

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

Pope on Myanmar: May God A convert all hearts to peace

Caritas Manila distributes ₧20M in GCs to urban poor MID the prevailing community quarantine, Caritas Manila will be giving away another round of gift certificates (GCs) to Manila’s lessprivileged.

This time around, the Catholic social-action agency targets to distribute at least P20-million worth of GCs to poor families in the archdiocese.

According to Radio Veritas, each GC is worth P1,000 that a family can use to buy groceries.

To d ate, t he a rc hd iocese’s social-action arm has already

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N expression of the Church’s closeness to the suffering people of Myanmar, Pope Francis joined Burmese Catholics for the celebration of Mass last Sunday.

Hundreds of people have been killed and thousands injured in the three-and-half months of violence, following a coup in February which overthrew the nation’s elected civilian government.

T he mass for the Seventh Sunday of Easter took place at the Altar of the Chair in Saint Peter’s Basilica.

Recalling the Gospel reading for the celebration when Jesus prays for His friends as He prepares to take leave of His disciples and the world, the Pope said this passage teaches us how to deal with “dramatic and painful moments” in our own lives.

In praying to the Father, the Lord uses the world “keep,” the Pope noted. As Myanmar experiences “violence, conflict and repression,” he said, we need to ask what are we being called to keep.

‘Keep the faith’

I N response, the pontiff described three challenges: to keep the faith, to keep unity, and to keep the truth.

Regarding the first, he said, we need faith to avoid giving in to despair that sees no way out. The Gospel reading tells

us the way Jesus lifts His eyes to God, despite being weighed down by anguish.

Jesus does not resign Himself to evil or being overwhelmed by grief, the pope noted, and He encouraged His disciples to have the same attitude.

“To keep the faith,” the Pope continued, “is to keep our gaze lifted up to heaven” and “to refuse to yield to the logic of hatred and vengeance, but to keep our gaze fixed on the God of love, who calls us to be brothers and sisters to one another.”

Prayer is the key, he said. It is not a retreat or escape from problems, but essential “for keeping love and hope alive.”

‘Be united’

JESUS prayed to the Father that the disciples may be fully united, “one family in which love and fraternity reign,” the Pope said, and we must avoid “the disease of division.” He said we can experience this in our hearts and it can expand into our families, communities, and even in the Church, where envy, jealousy, selfishness and judgmental attitudes abound, because “division is of the devil,

German Catholics to bless gay unions despite Vatican’s ban IN this May 12 file photo, anti-coup protesters march during a demonstration in Yangon, Myanmar. The country’s military rulers are seeking to limit access to the Internet to an internal network of only “whitelisted” sites to quash widespread opposition to their seizure of power, according to a report by the International Crisis Group. AP

the great divider.”

But we can all choose “to find the courage to live in friendship, love and fraternity,” he said. Each person, even “in little things,” can play a part since “commitment to peace and fraternity always comes from below.” We are called to do this as a Church to “promote dialogue and respect for ot hers” in “communion.”

Truth at heart

THE importance of keeping the truth, the pope said, means not just defending ideas or becoming guardians of a system of doctrines and dogmas, but “remaining bound to Christ and being devoted to his Gospel.”

To keep truth also, he said, means not distorting ”the Gospel to human and worldly ways

of thinking, but to preserve its message in its integrity...to be a prophet in every situation in life.”

Amid war and hatred, “fidelity to the Gospel and being peacemakers calls for commitment— including through our socia l and political choices. This comes with risks, but “only in this way can things change,” according to Christ’s vicar.

It also requires courage, the pope noted, saying, “The Lord has no use for the lukewarm.”

In conclusion, the pope prayed that “God will convert all hearts to peace.” He called on everyone to not lose hope and to know that, “even today, Jesus is interceding before the Father for all of us, praying that He keeps us from the evil one, [while setting] us free from power of evil.” Vatican News

Israel-Gaza conflict: Patriarch asks Catholics to pray for peace, justice

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ATRIARCH Pierbattista Pizzaballa has urged Catholics worldwide to pray for “peace and justice,” as violence continues to rock the Holy Land.

The Latin patriarch of Jerusalem issued the appeal for prayers May 18, as the death toll mounts in the Israel-Gaza conflict.

He told EWTN News: “It is important that all the Church will join the Mother Church of Jerusalem in the prayer of intercession for peace and justice in the Holy Land.”

Pizzaballa added, “Every Christian in any part of the world is spiritually born here, because our faith is rooted here, in this Land.

For that reason, the suffering in the Holy Land is painful [for] the whole Church.”

Furthered the patriarch, “All together, therefore, as one body, we should be committed to raise our prayer to the Lord, our Father, for all His children of the Holy Land.”

The 56-year-old Church leader, appointed Latin patriarch in October, also issued a ref lection on the causes of the current conf lict, which has claimed more than 200 lives.

Pizzaballa said that the fighting was just the latest eruption in a cycle of violence between Israelis and Palestinians.

“Unfortunately, this is not the first time—and I fear not even the last, [when] we will have to deal with these explosions of violence and war in the Holy Land,” he commented.

“These outbreaks of violence will only leave more rubble, deaths, animosities and feelings of hatred, but they will bring no solution,” the patriarch remarked. “We will see mutual accusations on the use of power. Probably, we will resort to international courts accusing each other; but in the end, everything will be as before, until the next crisis.”

He continued: “Until we decide to really face the problems that have aff licted these countries and these peoples for decades…

[I fear, in fact,] that we will be forced to witness more violence and other grief.”

The crisis began on May 6 with Palestinian protests against an upcoming ruling by the Supreme Court of Israel on the eviction of six Palestinian families from the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood in East Jerusalem. The protests led to clashes with Israeli police.

Palestinian militant groups then fired rockets from the Gaza Strip into Israel, prompting airstrikes by the Israeli Defense Forces.

Pizzaballa said: “Jerusalem is the heart of the problem; this time, it was the spark that ignited the country. As [it] is well known, it all started with the…question of Sheikh Jarrah, which has been presented as a legal question.”

Referring to a May 10 statement by the Latin Patriarchate, he said: “However, as we have already reiterated in our previous declaration, it is also evidently a political decision of further expansion of Israeli settlements in East Jerusalem. It is a decision which changes the already-many-times broken balance between the two parts of the city, and this creates tensions and suffering.”

“This crisis, however, indicates that this methodology does not work, and that no solution on Jerusalem can be imposed. The solution can only be the result of the dialogue between Israelis and Palestinians, who will both have to make their own the open, multireligious and multicultural vocation of the city.”

The leader of Latin Catholics in Israel, the Palestinian territories, Jordan, and Cyprus said that this principle applied not only to Jerusalem, but also to the wider Israeli-Palestinian dispute.

distributed—in just two weeks— P10 million worth of cash vouchers to around 10,000 families.

Aside from this, it had also distributed vegetables to needy communities from the P5-million donation of Ficco Foundation.

In 2020 Caritas Manila—with the help of the private sector— provided P1.3-billion worth of GCs to poor residents in Metro Manila and nearby dioceses. The agency will also hand out cash vouchers in the coming days to individuals who lost their jobs due to the pandemic. CBCP News

He said: “The Palestinian people have been waiting for years for a dignified solution, [as well as] a serene and peaceful future: in their land [and] in their country. For them, however, there seems to be no place in the world and, before being able to live with dignity at home, they are continually invited by the various chancelleries to await an unknown and continually postponed future.”

Pizzaballa—a Franciscan friar who served as apostolic administrator of the Latin Patriarchate from 2016 to 2020—suggested that the international media had not given adequate coverage to another “worrying” development: intercommunal violence between Jewish and Arab citizens in Israeli cities.

He said: “We have witnessed violence, organized patrols, lynching attempts on both sides, Jews and Arabs…an explosion of hatred and rejection of the other that probably had been brewing for some time, and that has now emerged violently and has found everyone unprepared and frightened.”

He argued that the clashes resulted from years of “violent political language” that had driven an “ever-deeper” wedge between the two peoples.

“It will take a long time to rebuild these deeply wounded relationships. We will have to work with the many people, of all faiths, who still believe in a future together and are committed to it. They are a lot. But they need support— someone who can bring their voice to the whole world,” he said.

“We will have to start rebuilding…relationships between all of us all over again; and in this sense, it will be a priority to start from the painful discovery of these days—that is, from the hatred that harbored above all in the hearts of young people.”

Still, he stated: “We must not cultivate or allow feelings of hatred to develop. We must make sure that no one—whether Jewish or Arab—feels rejected.”

Speaking after his Regina Coeli address on May 16, Pope Francis called for an end to the violence.

“In these days, violent armed clashes between the Gaza Strip and Israel have gained the upper hand, [and risks] degenerating into a spiral of death and destruction,” he said.

“Many people have been injured, and many innocent people have died. Among them are even children, and this is terrible and unacceptable.”

On May 17, the pope discussed the conflict with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and Iranian foreign minister Mohammad Javad Zarif.

Pizzaballa, who was born in northern Italy, said that community leaders would need to be clearer in denouncing divisive actions.

“We cannot be any more satisfied with interreligious peace meetings, thinking that with those initiatives, we have solved the problem of coexistence among us,” he observed.

“But we will really have to commit ourselves so that in our schools, in our institutions, in the media, in politics, in places of worship, the name of God, of brother and of life partner, resonate.”

“We will have to learn to be more attentive to the language we use, and become aware that the reconstruction of a serious model of relations between us will require a long time, patience, and courage.”

“We will need a new alliance between people of goodwill who— regardless of faith, identity, and political vision—feel the other as part of themselves, and wish to commit themselves to live with this conscience.”

Catholic News Agency, via CBCP News

VICAR Wolfgang Rothe (left) consecrates the union of the couple Christine Walter (center) and Almut Muenster at a Catholic service with a blessing for same-sex couples in St. Benedict’s Church in Munich on May 9. FELIX HOERHAGER/DPA VIA AP

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ERLIN—Germany’s powerful Catholic progressives are openly defying a recent Holy See pronouncement that priests cannot bless same-sex unions by offering such blessings at services in about 100 different churches all over the country.

The blessings at open-worship services are the latest pushback from German Catholics against a document released in March by the Vatican’s orthodoxy office—the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith—which said Catholic clergy cannot bless samesex unions because God “cannot bless sin.”

The document pleased conservatives and disheartened advocates for Catholics belonging to communities of lesbians, gays, bisexuals, transgenders or transsexuals and queers, or LGBTQs, around the globe.

But the response has been particularly acute in Germany, where the German Church has been at the forefront of opening discussion on hot-button issues, such as the church’s teaching on homosexuality as part of a formal process of debate and reform.

The dozens of church services celebrating blessings of gay unions are the latest escalation in tensions between conservatives and progressives that have already sparked alarm—primarily from the right—that part of the German church might be heading into schism.

Germany is no stranger to divisions of churches: 500 years ago, Martin Luther launched the Reformation here.

Pope Francis, who has championed a more decentralized church structure, has already reminded the German hierarchy that it must remain in communion with Rome during its reform process, known as a “synodal path.”

In Berlin, the Reverend Jan Korditschke, a Jesuit who works for the diocese preparing adults for baptism and helps out at the St. Canisius congregation, was scheduled to lead blessings for queer couples at a worship service on May 16.

“I am convinced that homosexual orientation is not bad, nor is homosexual love a sin,” Korditschke told The Associated Press. “I want to celebrate the love of homosexuals with these blessings, because the love of homosexuals is something good.”

The 44-year-old said it is important that homosexuals can show themselves within the Catholic Church and gain more visibility

long term. He said he was not afraid of possible repercussions by high-ranking church officials or the Vatican.

“I stand behind what I am doing, though it is painful for me that I cannot do it in-tune with the church leadership,” Korditschke said, adding that “the homophobia of my church makes me angry, and I am ashamed of it.”

The head of the German Bishops Conference last month criticized the grassroots initiative for gay blessings, which is called “Liebe Gewinnt,” or “Love Wins.”

Limburg Bishop Georg Baetzing said the blessings “are not suitable as an instrument of [the church’s political manifestations,] or political actions.”

However, Germany’s powerful lay organization, the Central Committee of German Catholics, or ZdK, which has been advocating for gay blessings since 2015, positioned itself once more in favor of them. It called the contentious document from Rome “not very helpful,” and explicitly expressed its support for ”Love Wins.”

“These are celebrations of worship, [when] people express to God what moves them,” Birgit Mock, ZdK’s spokeswoman for family affairs, remarked. “The fact that they ask for God’s blessing and thank Him for all the good in their lives, and also for relationships lived with mutual respect and full of love—that is deeply based on the Gospel,” Mock said.

She added that she herself was planning to attend a church service with gay blessings in the western city of Hamm, in which she would pray for ”the success of the synodal path in which we, as a church, recognize sexuality as a positive strength.”

ZdK has been taking part in the “synodal path” meetings for more than a year with the German Bishops Conference. They are due to conclude in the fall. The meetings include talks about allowing priests to get married, the ordination of women and a different understanding of sexuality, among other reforms. The process was launched as part of the response to revelations of clergy sexual abuse.

“We’re struggling in Germany with a lot of seriousness and intensive theological discourses for the right path,” Mock said. “Things cannot continue the way they did; this is what the crimes and coverups of sexual abuse showed us.”

She added, “We need systemic changes, [which regards] a reassessment of the ecclesiastical morality of sexuality.” AP

Biodiversity Sunday BusinessMirror

Asean Champions of Biodiversity Media Category 2014

Sunday, May 23, 2021 A11

Editor: Lyn Resurreccion

Natural wonders of Nayong Pilipino at risk from planned vax site–critics

By Jonathan L. Mayuga

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N October 2019 the national government approved the development of the Nayong Pilipino Cultural Park and Creative Hub inside the Entertainment City of the New Seaside Road in Parañaque City.

The property, an 8.5-hectare reclaimed land in Manila Bay, belongs to the Nayong Pilipino Foundation (NPF). The area was identified as one with high cultural, historical, heritage and ecotourism values because of its proximity to the Las Piñas–Parañaque Critical Habitat and Ecotourism Area (LPPCHEA).

The planned Nayong Pilipino Cultural Park and Creative Hub was intended as a place to learn the country’s natural and cultural heritage, while providing a venue for promoting sustainable tourism. Because of the pandemic, the project was unfortunately shelved.

Fast-forward to May 2021, the property remained undeveloped and is being eyed as the site of a mega-vaccination center by the government, with the hope of accommodating 10,000 to 12,000 persons a day. It was being deemed crucial to the government’s target of achieving herd immunity by the end of the year.

Multifaceted issues

THE proposed vaccination center to be run by ICTSI Foundation Inc. of billionaire Enrique Razon, however, continue to draw flak, initially from the resigned Nayong Pilipino Foundation Executive Director Lucille Karen Malilong-Isberto, who criticized the Department of Tourism (DOT) led by Secretary Bernadette Romulo Puyat and the Interagency Task Force on Covid-19 for pursuing the project.

Malilong-Isberto had earlier raised environmental, legal and moral issues over the proposed mega-vaccination project, saying it will not only threaten 450 trees in the property which have become home to hundreds of native birds, but expose the Board of Directors to potential legal repercussions with the use of government land by a private foundation, which is not within the mandate of the NPF. Malilong-Isberto also took exception to the fact that the primary backer of the mega-vaccination project is not

such as the Pook Arboretum within the University of the Philippines.”

the Department of Health, but the DOT, whose mandate is primarily to promote tourism.

Peace, healing, heritage spaces

A vacant lot, nothing more?

PROPONENTS of the proposed megavaccination site project belittled the “ipil-ipil forest” and “grassland” on the NPF property as nothing more than a vacant lot and a neglected property.

Reports quoted the project’s proponents stating that the NPF’s board of directors had not even planted a single tree in the property over the years, and that the foliage there is nothing more than a trove of “ipil-ipil” trees that grow like shrubs.

Ultimately, they are saying the mega-vaccination facility is more important than saving the ipil-ipil forest and grassland.

THE zitting cisticola is a tiny, resident bird which can be seen in grasslands. WILD BIRD CLUB OF THE PHILIPPINES/NAYONG PILIPINO FOUNDATION

A FEMALE blue rock thrust is a visiting bird spotted by members of the Wild Bird Club of the Philippines at the Nayong Pilipino Forest Park.

He said there is a huge property right across Solaire Resort & Casino Manila, which is in fact wider than the proposed drive-in vaccination at the Quirino Grandstand.

Urban biodiversity VARIOUS groups have since taken the cudgels for the NPF, assailing the proposed use of the property for the centralized vaccination as it not only threatens to scrap the Nayong Pilipino Cultural Park and Creative Hub project, but disturb the existing grassland and forest ecosystems that provide safe havens for urban biodiversity.

Urban green spaces—no matter how small—provide a life-support system in an urban setting.

While the grassland and “ipil-ipil” forest at the NPF property is being dismissed as a neglected property, it nonetheless provides home to a good number of birds, reptiles, and insects in that part of the urban jungle.

The NPF is mandated by Presidential Decree 37 to “promote, encourage, and initiate research and development projects, [as well as] activities in social sciences and the humanities.”

But among others, its purpose is also to establish parks and recreation centers for the promotion of sustainable tourism in the Philippines, while generating opportunities for creating vibrant and empowered communities.

Bird haven THE Wild Bird Club of the Philippines is a witness to the potential of developing the NPF property into a bird-watching site.

As it already is, the place is now home to a multitude of native birds,

THE Brown shrike is a noisy and conspicuous migrant. It is adapted to different kinds of habitats, and preys on a variety of animals—including smaller birds, frogs and lizards.

Green spaces needed

THE grey wagtail—a migrant bird species with distinctive yellow plumage—is often foraging on the ground. and is frequented by migrant ones from other areas.

On September 20, 2020, members of the group went on a bird-watching expedition in the area but was only allowed as close to perimeters of the property, said Mike Lu, who is the president of the Wild Bird Club of the Philippines.

“We were only allowed to stand outside… and take pictures from afar [while being observed by a security guard,]” Lu said. Apparently, he lamented the fact that there are some areas where bikers and joggers are allowed, but bird-watchers and photographers are prohibited. “Perhaps, they don’t want us to document and record the birds in the area.”

In just two hours of bird-watching— including attempting to photograph the shy and very elusive winged creatures, a total of 177 birds from 25 species were recorded.

Eurasian tree sparrows, rock doves or feral pigeons, as well as blackcrowned night herons, were among the

dominant species recorded in the area.

Grassland species AS the property is dominated by grassland, as there are less than 500 trees in the area—mostly ipil-ipil trees— special species of birds that inhabit grassland can also be found in the area, says Lu. “In terms of birds, we found grassland species. Although [they are not threatened or considered endangered, there are very limited] green spaces left in the metropolis,” Lu lamented. “We should be creating more green spaces to benefit city residents rather than destroying what little is left.”

He also expressed dismay that the area is being targeted by the government for its mega-vaccine facility.

“There are many other undeveloped properties in the reclamation area. Why use this property, which is beside a [Covid facility? It] makes no sense,” Lu told the BusinessMirror via Facebook Messenger on May 11.

WEIGHING in on the issue, environmental group Kalikasan-People’s Network for the Environment (Kalikasan-PNE) said the insistence of the government to sacrifice the last remaining green spaces in Metro Manila is proof that the Duterte administration refuses to heed science that says “we need more open green spaces in Metro Manila; more so, during this protracted pandemic.”

“Increasing biodiversity within the built-up urban environment reduces the spread of disease in many ways,” Leon Dulce, national coordinator of Kalikasan-People’s Network for the Environment, told the BusinessMirror via Facebook Messenger on May 13.

Green spaces, Dulce said, promote microorganisms that compete and control the population of harmful pathogens or disease carriers.

“Urban biodiversity increases the exposure of people to beneficial microbiota, and boosts…immunity. It provides us with various needs such as food security, physical and psychosocial wellbeing, and climate resilience. We need to increase green spaces like the Nayong Pilipino Forest Park,” he explained. “Integrating communities with green spaces also help bring the benefits of urban biodiversity closer to people,

The Nayong Pilipino Foundation Cultural Park and Creative Hub is envisioned to provide a place of peace and healing, where people can be one with nature at the heart of the so-called “concrete jungle.”

“In the midst of a metropolitan region, parks provide the benefits of nature to our physical, emotional, and mental health. The Nayong Pilipino Foundation Cultural Park and Creative Hub—while initially planned and designed for a different purpose— will therefore still remain true to its mandate by providing a place of healing for the people and the preservation of our heritage. A nation’s heritage includes its people,” the NPF said in one of its campaign materials sent to the BusinessMirror via e-mail.

“As the world continues to battle this pandemic, and transmission in the Philippines is still rising, our priority is to ensure the health of our citizens. We have to work together to make sure…everyone has access to testing and treatment, so that we can finally control the contagion that has ravaged our economy for months,” it says.

The NPF believes that one day, the future Nayong Pilipino Cultural Park and Creative Hub shall be a heritage space for the benefit of the public.

It visualized: “We shall stroll along paths in our urban forest and pocket gardens, learn about Philippine flora, and watch children run free in open spaces.

A library shall be built as a repository of knowledge products free and open to the public. We shall share meaningful conversations about our future museum with a permanent collection of ethnographic objects. The NPF Cultural Park shall also be a venue for training future cultural leaders. It shall be a place that enshrines inclusivity, creativity, collaboration, and innovation.”

Today, the tug-of-war between project proponents and environmental groups over the Nayong Pilipino property continues to spark spirited debate.

But as a bird enthusiast, and passionate bird watcher, Lu argued that if the greenery of the NPF will be cleared soon, there will be no more trees and grasslands in that side of the city left.

Where will the birds go then?

Community protecting flying foxes, hornbills, waterbirds in Tawi-Tawi

By Asean Centre for Biodiversity

EARCHING for Sulu hornbills, a group of community rangers called “Tawsi (Tawi-Tawi Advocates for Wildlife Support Initiative of Panglima)” traversed the muddy and treacherous road of Panglima Sugala in the province of Tawi-Tawi.

A t s ome p oi nt , t he y h a d t o tow their truck and began tirelessly trekking 19 kilometers up to its deep, thick forest. Soon after, their efforts paid off, as they found an active nest that serves about five Sulu hornbills, or tawsi, as Tawi-Tawi residents call them in their vernacular.

Sulu hornbills, which are endemic in the Sulu archipelago, are considered one of the world’s most critically endangered species, with less than 50 individuals out in the wild.

Using their cameras and global positioning system-equipped phones, the community rangers immediately sent a report to Philippine Biodiversity Conservation Foundation Inc. (PhilBio).

The rich biodiversity and ecosystems of Tawi-Tawi have gained attention from concerned organizations and groups

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aiming for biodiversity conservation on the island. Aside from being the home of the Sulu hornbills, other threatened species, such as flying foxes, Christmas frigatebirds, Far Eastern curlews, and Great knots are also found on the island.

The Asean Centre for Biodiversity (ACB) is supporting the Communitybased Biodiversity Conservation in the Tawi-Tawi Group of Islands project of PhilBio, which aims to strengthen the capacity of community members on biodiversity research and monitoring of the Sulu hornbill and other threatened forest birds, while establishing baseline information on migratory birds, flying foxes, and their habitats on the island.

The collaboration commenced last year, but was only formally launched online in April due to restrictions borne from the pandemic.

Community-led IN her presentation at the online launch, Executive Director Lisa Paguntalan of PhilBio said preliminary monitoring activities of the community were conducted between October to November 2020.

“The results came out good and

acceptable,” Paguntalan said, as she described the monitoring activities under the new normal. She shared some of the challenges faced by the team, such as knowledge gaps in identifying certain species.

The Tawi-Tawi biodiversity conservation project, according to her, is community-led. At its core is multistakeholder collaboration, which creates a platform that gives value to both local and scientific knowledge.

“We believe…the community’s active involvement, matched with their local knowledge and lived experiences, could best serve the project, whose benefit will also redound to the community,” ACB Executive Director Theresa Mundita Lim said.

Other partners of PhilBio in the project are the local government unit of Panglima Sugala that supports the 26 Tawsi rangers, Ministry of Environment, Natural Resources and Energy, Philippine Marine Corps, North Carolina Zoo, Asian Species Action Partnership, and the Oriental Bird Club.

Three active nests of Sulu hornbills were discovered in Panglima Sugala. Other threatened species

that were recorded include the critically endangered Blue-winged racquet-tail, Sulu pygmy woodpecker, black-billed hanging parrot, Philippine slow loris, the undescribed Sulu warty pig, and pit viper.

Fifty-seven waterbird species, including the critically endangered Christmas frigatebird, endangered Far Eastern curlew and Great knot, the vulnerable Chinese egret, and the nearthreatened Malay plover, were identified in the initial report.

Three roosting sites of flying foxes, on the other hand, were confirmed in the municipalities of Bongao and Panglima Sugala.

The common island flying fox and large flying fox were the two species commonly found in the three roosting sites, while the critically endangered Golden-crowned flying fox in the Bongao roost was the only one found thriving within a human settlement.

Asean connection

THE Tawi-Tawi Group of Islands is part of the East Asian-Australasian Flyway. Lim said the area borders two biogeographical zones that host unique,

genetically connected sets of wildlife.

“It is important to narrow the knowledge gaps and increase understanding on species distribution, movement, and likely local migration between the Philippines, Malaysia and [Indonesian Borneo],” she added.

The ACB chief cited a study conducted by Juan Carlos Gonzalez, a University of the Philippines professor, in 2013 that showed strong evidence of the genetic interconnection of hornbills in the Philippines, Malaysia, and Indonesia.

Studies suggest that the genetic ancestry of the Philippine hornbill assemblage (Buceros, Anthracoceros, Aceros, Penelopides) can be traced back to Sundaland. These birds were believed to have crossed multiple biogeographic barriers, such as Huxley’s line—a zoogeographic boundary placing Palawan and Borneo together; Wallace’s line between the Asian and Australian faunal regions to Sulawesi; the Moluccan Islands (or “Wallacea”); and Lydek ker’s line, which runs along the border of Australia’s continental shelf to Melanesia, which is a subregion of Oceania.

“As we deepen our understanding of the ecology of these species, we will also get to appreciate their importance and strengthen efforts to conserve the remaining population of these critically endangered species [including] the Sulu hornbill,” Lim explained.

Next steps LIM expressed her hope that, with this project, the platform, methodologies—particularly those that apply community participation and citizen science in the Asean—can be highlighted, and learning experiences can be shared across the region on its implementation.

Assessment results may encourage research partnerships and collaborations, as well as help share conservation strategies—including mainstreaming of biodiversity—into local policies and development plans.

Paguntalan said PhilBio will continue assisting the monitoring and community-based education as well as awareness activities in Tawi-Tawi.

She also recommended continued support for Tawsi rangers and the rehabilitation of logged areas.

Sports BusinessMirror

A12

| Sunday, May 23, 2021 mirror_sports@yahoo.com.ph Editor: Jun Lomibao

Mexico opens baseball schools

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EXICO CITY— Mexico’s education department said Thursday it is opening several schools to train youths for baseball, President Andrés Manuel López Obrador’s favorite sport.

Three-year high-school level schools will also be set up for boxing, track and field and sports therapy, but a larger number will focus on baseball, which is largely regionally popular in Mexico’s north and Gulf coast.

Soccer remains by far the most popular sport in Mexico, but the president grew up playing baseball in the Gulf coast state of Tabasco.

He is so enamored of the game that he often posts videos of himself at bat and earlier this week stopped during a presidential tour to take a turn at bat in a pickup game he saw taking place on a field in the northern state of Sinaloa.

Baseball schools will be set up in two places in northern Sonora state, one each in the Gulf coast states of Veracruz and Campeche and one on the outskirts of Mexico City.

A total of two boxing schools and one track and field school will be set up in or near Mexico City. Each school will serve about 210 students.

Classes are scheduled to begin in August.

Graduates will get a diploma and will either be able to join teams, teach or act as trainers.

Meanwhile, just over a week before the start of the Americas Olympic qualifying tournament in Florida, the Cuban team does not have visas to travel to the United States, athletes and officials said.

Managers and players expressed their concern about the lack of authorizations to attend the event even though they have sought to obtain them in more than three countries. Sanctions imposed by Washington on the island make it impossible to apply in Havana.

“We do not have the preOlympic visas at the moment.

Huge efforts have been made, ” Luis Daniel del Risco, treasurer of the Cuban Baseball Federation, told The Associated Press. “We tried in Mexico, we tried in Panama, we tried to do it in Guyana.”

Finally last week the athletes and their managers presented the documentation to the US Embassy in Cuba, which has had its consular area closed since 2017 by order of then President Donald Trump.

They have yet to receive a response.

In response to an AP request

A FORTRESS OF A BUBBLE

MEXICAN President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador throws out the first pitch during the inauguration of the Alfredo Harp Helu Stadium, the new home of Los Diablos Rojos baseball team, in Mexico City in March 2019. AP

to the State Department on Tuesday, US officials declined to provide information about the baseball players, saying that “visa records are confidential.”

The Cuban team has spent months training for the qualifying tournament in the hopes of representing their country in this year’s Tokyo Olympics, team captain Frederich Cepeda said.

“It is very sad what is happening, we have been training for a long time,” the outfielder said during a break in training. “It is a dream for us and for the people of Cuba to achieve the Olympic qualification....What we want is our right to play.”

The qualifying tournament will be held from May 31 to June 5 and Cuba would be in Group B, where it would face baseball powers such as Colombia and Venezuela as well as Canada.

If the Cubans cannot make the games in Florida, they can try to qualify of the Olympics in Taipei in June.

Cuban baseball executives say all the athletes have been vaccinated against the coronavirus with two doses of Cuba’s own Soberana 02 vaccine and a booster dose of Soberana Plus.

Baseball returns to the Olympics this summer after a 13-year absence. AP

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UENOS AIRES— Argentina’s national team has created a strict protocol to protect its players and staffers from Covid-19 during next month’s Copa America, as the country enters its worst period since the pandemic began.

The national team complex in Ezeiza will become a fortress to host superstar Lionel Messi and his teammates from May 26 to the end of the tournament, which will be played between June 13 and July 10.

Because all players are to sleep in single rooms, 17 trailers were rented to serve as accommodation for Coach Lionel Scaloni and his staff.

The Argentine soccer federation (AFA) also installed giant tents that will serve as a fitness center, restaurant, Covid test center and entertainment. The idea is to preserve social distancing in closed spaces. Each player will have to change in their own rooms.

Argentina will also play two World Cup qualifying matches before the continental tournament.

It will host Chile on June 3 and visit Colombia five days later.

Colombia is scheduled to co-host Copa America, but street protests against President Iván Duque have cast doubts over the organization.

As players arrive, they will be isolated until their Covid-19 tests come back negative. That will be repeated for at least three days, and there will be no visits from people outside the bubble.

Argentina’s team doctor Daniel Martínez told journalists that even though some players are vaccinated

“we have to take care as always” because South American soccer body Conmebol requires them to show negative tests.

“A vaccinated patient can be positive and that could stop him from playing,” Martinez said.

Argentina’s national team is waiting for the country’s health ministry to approve vaccines by Chinese pharmaceutical company Sinovac, which were donated by Conmebol, to immunize their players. Martinez confirmed some players have already taken their shots, but did not identify them.

Argentina has recently hit a record number of daily cases and deaths from Covid-19. The South American country has had more than 3.4 million cases and more than 72,000 deaths from the virus.

Colombia removed as co-host of next month’s Copa America.

Conmebol, meanwhile, announced on Thursday that Colombia will not co-host next month’s Copa America, a decision reached less than a month before the opening match and amid a wave of street protests against Colombian President Iván Duque.

It would have been the first Copa America hosted by two countries.

Hours earlier Colombian authorities asked Conmebol to postpone the tournament, which is also organized by Argentina. Sports Minister Ernesto Lucena told journalists it should take place in the end of the year because of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Copa America is scheduled to be played between June 13 and July 10.

DETROIT Tigers starting pitcher Spencer Turnbull (center) hugs catcher Eric Haase as teammates rush in after Turnbull threw a no hitter against the Seattle Mariners on Tuesday. AP

FURY

ITH their fight in the balance, world heavyweight champions Anthony Joshua and Tyson Fury are trading blows on social media instead of the ring.

There was a back and forth between the English boxers over Twitter on Wednesday, prompted by Joshua calling Fury a “fraud” because his rival might have to pull out of their August 14 fight in Saudi Arabia following an unexpected ruling in the United States.

An arbitrator has ruled that Fury is contractually bound to fulfill a third fight with Deontay Wilder, and that it has to take place by September 15.

“You’ve let boxing down!”

Joshua wrote directly to Fury.

“You lied to the fans and led them on. Used my name for clout not a fight.

“Bring me any championship fighter who can handle their business correctly.”

Fury responded with an expletive-laden post, saying the arbitration was “out of my

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hands” and that Joshua knew it was going on in the background.

“But I tell you what,” Fury said, “if I’m a fraud let’s fight this weekend bare knuckles till 1 man quits? Let’s put up 20 mill each!!!”

Joshua then questioned why Fury would announce they were fighting—he did so in a video on Twitter on Sunday—if the arbitration was in process.

“If there was an arbitration going on, why announce to the world we are fighting!” Joshua said. “The fight was signed!

UNDISPUTED.”

THE national team complex in Ezeiza will become a fortress to host superstar Lionel Messi and his teammates. AP

of the host countries. Group A features Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Paraguay and Uruguay. Group B includes Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru and Venezuela. The four best teams in each group advance to the knockout stage.

Qatar, the 2022 World Cup hosts, and Australia, both scheduled to play as guests, decided in February to withdraw from the tournament due to the coronavirus pandemic.

The decision to remove Colombia as a tournament host doesn’t assure calmer days for Copa America. Argentina has recently hit a record number of daily cases and deaths from Covid-19. The South American country has had more than 3.4 million cases and more than 72,000 deaths from the virus. AP

With hits now scarce, no-hitters on the rise

FURY, JOSHUA TRADE BLOWS ON SOCIAL MEDIA

JOSHUA

Conmebol said in a statement it was impossible to postpone the tournament to November and assured it will inform “on the next days about the relocation of the matches which should be played in Colombia.”

On Tuesday, Argentinian President Alberto Fernández said his country would consider hosting the entire Copa America if Colombia was unable to co-host because of social unrest.

The protests in Colombia began April 28 after President Ivan Duque attempted to ram through a tax increase amid a pandemic that has left millions without work or food.

Although he quickly backed down, protesters have remained on the streets, broadening their fight to include grievances ranging from the decrepit state of Colombia’s health care and education systems to the slow implementation of a 2016 peace deal with Marxist rebels.

Last week, police and protesters clashed in the Colombian cities of Pereira and Barranquilla, the latter of which was scheduled to hold the Copa America final.

A Copa Libertadores match last week between Colombia’s América de Cali and Brazil’s Atlético Mineiro was interrupted several times because of tear gas used to disperse the protesters.

The original Copa America plan had Buenos Aires hosting the opening match, a quarterfinal and a semifinal. The cities of Córdoba, Mendoza and Santiago del Estero were to hold Group A matches.

This edition of Copa America was going to feature a new format with five teams based in each

Fury replied that he would not go into the details of the arbitration over Twitter, and said: “I’ll smoke wilder first then you will get yours as well.”

Joshua’s promoter, Eddie Hearn, has given Fury’s camp a deadline of the end of this week to salvage the fight. However, the prospect of it going ahead appears increasingly bleak.

Hearn is already looking into securing an alternative opponent for Joshua. That could be Oleksandr Usyk, the mandatory challenger for Joshua’s WBO belt. AP

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OMETIMES, the simplest explanation is the valid one: The number of hits per game in the major leagues has plummeted, so no-hitters are on the rise.

Even so, this season has been a bit extreme.

Yankees right-hander Corey Kluber pitched the majors’ sixth no-hitter Wednesday against the Rangers, just a night after Spencer Turnbull’s gem, and 2021 is on pace to obliterate the modern record of seven no-hitters in a season.

Cleveland, Seattle and Texas have already been no-hit twice, and of the 21 complete games that have been pitched this season, more than a quarter of them have been no-hitters.

“It’s definitely getting harder to hit. The pitchers are only getting better and I think their plan of attack against hitters are getting better,” Oakland Athletics third baseman Matt Chapman said Wednesday. “The shifts play a big part in that as well.

It seems like there’s not many hits out there. The way guys pitch, there’s a lot of power arms and guys have high spin rates and they don’t leave the ball over the middle of plate very often.”

Of the six pitchers who have

thrown one, only three have been All-Stars—Kluber three times, John Means in 2019 and Wade Miley back in 2012. It’s enough to make these no-hitters feel almost...routine?

“I think it’s still really hard,” said Texas manager Chris Woodward, who was on the losing end when Joe Musgrove threw the first no-hitter in San Diego Padres history last month then again Wednesday. “It’s one of the hardest things to do in sports. Any time it’s happening, any game I’m watching...if a guy has a no-hitter through four, I’m always kind of like intrigued.”

It’s hard to separate all these no-hitters from the context of what baseball looks like in 2021.

Entering Wednesday, the average game included 7.83 hits per team. Only one season has ended with a lower figure, according to SportRadar. That was 1908, during the dead ball era. The other seasons when hits were the scarcest were 1968—the famous “Year of the Pitcher”—and two more dead ball seasons, 1909 and 1907.

Remarkably, there wasn’t a single no-hitter in 1909 and only two in 1907. But there were six in 1908 and five in 1968. AP

BusinessMirror

May 23, 2021

How effective is the first shot of the Pfizer or Moderna vaccine?

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BusinessMirror MAY 23, 2021 | soundstrip.businessmirror@gmail.com

YOUR MUSI

NEW HEIGHTS, SAME PASSION SB19 continues to map out their stellar career with soaring new single

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By Stephanie Joy Ching

ROM glossy dance tunes to rough, explosive power anthems, P-Pop boy band SB19 shows no signs of slowing down as they turn their dreams of bringing Pinoy music to the global stage into a spectacular reality.

Publisher

: T. Anthony C. Cabangon

Editor-In-Chief

: Lourdes M. Fernandez

Concept

: Aldwin M. Tolosa

Y2Z Editor

: Jt Nisay

SoundStrip Editor

: Edwin P. Sallan

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

Columnists

: Niggel Figueroa Anabelle O. Flores : Tony M. Maghirang, Rick Olivares, Darwin Fernandez, Leony Garcia, Stephanie Joy Ching Pauline Joy M. Gutierrez : Kaye VillagomezLosorata Annie S. Alejo

Photographers

: Bernard P. Testa Nonie Reyes

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

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Having been recently nominated in the same category as international acts such as Ariana Grande, BTS and Blackpink for this year’s Billboard Music Awards, the boys are one in saying that the whole thing felt very “overwhelming” to them.

“It’s overwhelming for us since we’re just rising and starting, but we already received this opportunity, so we’re very thankful.

And although we haven’t received any announcement of the winners, we feel na panalo na kami sa sarili namin dahil it’s the first time for a Filipino artist to be included or nominated sa Top Social Artist,” said main dancer and vocalist Ken. Nevertheless, the group is thankful for the immense support they received from everyone, especially their indefatigable fans who support them wholeheartedly 24/7.

“Sila talaga yung dahilan kaya patuloy kaming umaangat despite everything that’s been happening,” said lead vocalist Pablo.

Moving away from their sleek, dance and ballad heavy concept of Get In The Zone, the group tries their hand in a rougher, rock like concept with “What?,” an explosive single with gritty, powerful vocals.

In explaining the concept behind the anthemic tune, the boys shared that they wanted to make something that would “boost the morale of people” during the pandemic.

“Parang nasa battlefield tayong lahat. Like we’re all fighting for something, whether it be business, our lives or the people we love.

So naisip namin; why not make something that would really

SB19

motivate or boost the morale of people. Binigyan talaga namin ng grit yung labas ng kanta, ginawa talaga naming rough para maging anthem na talagang mag-a-uplift sa tao,” explained Pablo.

The single not only allowed SB19 to experiment with a rougher vocal performance, but also to display their storytelling capabilities, as the boys themselves came up with the postapocalyptic concept of the song’s music video.

“We had more than 50 percent involvement with the ‘What?’ music video,” shared Ken. “Ako personally, gumawa ako ng concept or storyboard para sa music video. And then I asked the opinion of the other members, nag-collaborate kami until nakapag-come up kami ng isang buong idea. From there, nakipagcollaborate kami sa staff namin

para ma-improve pa namin. We really tried to be involved with everything.”

Following the release of “What?”, which just hit over 10 million views on Youtube, the group also released their new single “Mapa”, a slow, thoughtful ode to their very supportive parents.

“It’s a shorter term for ‘Mama and Papa’, and at the same time nabuo niya yung word na ‘mapa’ or map in English. Sinasabi dito na sila yung naging gabay natin sa pagtanda natin sila yung naghelp at nag aaruga sa atin. So in this song, gusto namin ibalik yung pagaaruga at pag gabay nila sa amin at sabihin na; ‘Kami na muna, kami na yung gagawa’” Pablo concluded.

Both “What” and “Mapa”

by SB19 are available in major streaming platforms.

IC

soundstrip.businessmirror@gmail.com | MAY 23, 2021

BUSINESS

SoundSampler

by Tony M. Maghirang

Six brand new heavies this Sunday MANI KONTADOR, Nakain ng Social Media

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OST modern music is defined by the era and place of its original execution.

Hailing from the wilds of Sta. Cruz, Laguna, punk pranksters Mani Kontador seem to defy the laws of time and space by lacing their take on US-minted pop-punk with smart-ass parody of becoming consumed by today’s social media.

The album title, “Nakain ng Social Media” and those of the tracks like “Sayn Ap,” “Mensahero,” and “Sheyr” speak volumes of satiric minds, more so in such lyrics as “Halina doon sa beach hindi para lumangoy kundi para mamingwit ng likes” from “Aprub.” Meanwhile, the pop-punk backing sounds like the right companion to a spoof of manners in the digital age.

Mani Kontador simply knows how to elevate pranking to some sort of art form.

PANDAY SINING MUSIC COLLECTIVE, Kontrapulis

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HE police haven’t gotten any respect especially in the aftermath of the infamous drug war. That’s not about to change with the latest crackdown on mass activities purportedly with Red tags on them.

Ditto with the progressiveleaning Panday Sining Music

Collective who won’t even give the police the time of day or a minute to confess their alleged crimes against the common tao.

Their EP titled “Kontrapulis” is all about bloody encounters with law enforcers.

“Makalakab” likens a good police today to a good Communist during the Cold war era while “Tiktok” narrates the end of an innocent victim to whom “respetong pinakita ko, dahas ang sinukli.” Last track “Mayday” attempts to tie all the official atrocities to the persistence of the three ‘isms of First Quarter Storm vintage. There must be something in the air to unleash “Kontrapulis” and other recordings of similar bent.

THE SUBSPRING, Vice Kingdom and the Capsule

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ITH their latest release on digital music platforms, Paranaque’s The Subspring trio relive the garage rock revival of the mid-2010s. In a PM, band guitarist/vocalist Carl Juliano said he used heavier distortion, more reverb and a lot of modulators resulting in a more eclectic fare over their earlier debut release. The blues slips through in opener “Blue(s),” “Solvent” rocks and rolls, and “I Don’t Know Luv” features an allout drum-led rock charge.

Juliano further revealed the five songs on the album tackled personal issues, girl troubles and long distance relationships. He hopes the release of these songs today will vindicate the years they’ve invested to making them listenable to their core audience.

Surely, The Subspring deserve a wider circle of listeners beyond their hardcore fans.

DRY CLEANING, New Long Leg

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OR new listeners and latecomers, a handy introduction is to describe Dry Cleaning as a British post-punk band whose influences extend from the Velvet Underground to Television to The Fall. It’s a long way of saying that they’re so indie they should be operating on the sidelines.

Strangely, on their latest album New Long Leg, they’re closer to mainstream acceptance than their inspirations suggest. “Leafy” is a reinvention of Wire’s lean guitars to pop-metal exuberance. “ Every Day Carry” goes break dance friendly in the exquisite push and pull of the taut bassline.

“Her Hippo” reanimates The Cure in lesser Goth, jazzier pop drag.

Vocalist Florence Shaw would rather sing like Kim Gordon than say, Adele. She also flings unconventional lines the most memorable being “I’m smiling constantly and people are stepping on me!” from “Her Hippo.” Hear Dry Cleaning proclaim the next iteration of cerebral punk.

MARIANNE FAITHFULL & WARREN ELLIS, She Walks in Beauty WO pairings mark the latest release from ‘60s icon turned ‘80s feminist punk to ‘00s sensitive balladeer Marianne Faithfull. Musically, she pairs

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up with long time Nick Cave collaborator Warren Ellis.

Lyrically, she exquisitely draws the magnificence from the essential works of 19th century English poets Shelley, Keats and Byron.

Before you exclaim “confessions by death’s door,” understand that Ms. Faithfull’s age-sculpted raspy voice delivers Byron’s “She Walks in Beauty”, Shelley’s “Ozymandius” and Keats’s “Odes to a Nightingale” to a kind of postmillennial angsty temperament.

Warren Ellis’ soundscapes weave cheery cadences with near dirgey passages to keep stupor at bay. Rest assured that for its Old World coyness meets New World pluck, “She Walks In Beauty” is made from enduring stuff.

ROYAL BLOOD, Typhoons

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OCK duo Royal Blood came out of the woodwork championing guitar heroics without a guitarist between them. Still, they came out big, bold and metallic in their debut of 2014. Their third and latest album remains true to delivering visceral riffolas sans a guitar player and while hard rock old-timers may rue the apparent contradictions, or even be a hint of a devious scam, brace yourselves to the grinding grooves of “Mad Visions,” the uber-belligerence of “Who Needs Friends” and the stormy turbulence of the title track. Then, there’s the refuge of the calming “All I Have Is Now” to look forward. All in all, “Typhoons” is really one hell of a headbanger’s ball.

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How effective is the first shot of the Pfizer or Moderna vaccine?

By William Petri University of Virginia

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OVID-19 vaccines now reach more people across the US (and around these parts as well, particularly the Pfizer BioNTech shot that drew people in droves last week, including young individuals, during the coveted jab’s first rollout in Metro Manila—Ed.) Given the increased availability of vaccines, some people have asked: Could we delay the second dose of the Pfizer and Moderna shots to allow more people to be vaccinated more quickly? And, how safe am I after my first dose?

As an immunologist, I hear this question frequently. The answer is that a single dose is very effective—but I would add that you should still get both doses. The issue is important, however, not only for your

Residents of Marikina City prepare to receive the Pfizer-BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine at the Marikina Sports Center. NONOY LACZA 2021, 7,214 health-care workers there had personal health but also for the country’s received a first dose, and 6,037 had received health as leaders figure out how to ensure the second dose. there’s enough vaccine for everyone who Altogether, there were 170 cases of inwants one. fection between December 19, 2020, and A recent study in Israel showed that a January 24, 2021. Of those, 89 people, or single dose of the Pfizer Covid-19 vaccine is 52 percent, were unvaccinated; 78 people, highly effective, up to 85 percent. or 46 percent, tested positive after the first The Sheba Medical Center reported dose; and three, or 2 percent, tested posiits experience with vaccinating its nearly tive after the second dose.

10,000 staff members with the Pfizer CoThis is consistent with a reanalysis vid-19 vaccine. Vaccination there started of the phase 3 clinical trial data reportDecember 19, 2020, which coincided with ed in 2020 in the New England Journal of the third wave of Covid-19 in Israel. The Medicine. In that study, the 52-percent researchers looked to see the rate of reducprotection from the first dose included tion in SARS-CoV-2 infection and Covid-19 infections that occurred in the first 10 disease after vaccination. By January 24,

days after vaccination, when one would not expect the vaccine to have had time to generate protective anti-spike antibodies.

Using the data from the published study of the Pfizer vaccine, Public Health England determined that vaccine efficacy was 89 percent for 15-21 days after dose 1—and before dose 2 on day 21. The range was between 52 percent and 97 percent.

For days 15-28, or up to the first week after the second dose, protection from the first dose was estimated at 91 percent.

The range for this was between 74 percent and 97 percent. A second dose would not be expected to confer immunity within that time.

Bottom line So what do we know? The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention urges people to get both doses of the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines.

You should be reassured that even after a single dose of either of those vaccines, you have very high levels of protection after your body has time to build immunity, about a week.

The scheduled second dose of these vaccines makes them even more effective, but at a time where vaccine supplies are limited, there’s a lot to be said about prioritizing the first dose for the most people. The Conversation

Everything in its own time

By Rizal Raoul S. Reyes

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iane Garfin was once a marketing executive who yearned to become a designer. She served as a marketing director for several Philippine retail companies for more than a decade before moving to London.

All the while Garfin hoped that her nine-to-five job would prepare her to become an entrepreneur who designs and creates her own products. It was in the early part of the past decade that Garfin felt the urgency to act on her dreams. She saw herself at that time as someone who was “already in her 30s doing a desk job with a lot of repressed creativity.”

Finally, in 2014, she made the big leap.

With P20,000 as seed capital, Garfin launched a fashion accessories line called Leupp Ltd. The business grew and attracted her friend to join as a business partner.

Soon, Leupp Ltd. expanded to offer more accessories, including watches.

Timepieces quickly became Leupp Ltd.’s most popular product. In 2018, the group changed direction and focused solely on watches. They branded the products after the company name, Leupp, which is a play on the word loop.

After all, time, Garfin thought, is just

that: “A cycle of repetitions.”

Priced starting P1,899, Leupp is positioned on the low-priced spectrum of the timepiece market.

For years, it was a segment that was synonymous to catalog parts, Leupp Ltd. founder offering whiteRiane Garfin labeled generic designs from fast fashion brands that have watches merely as an extension line.

“This is what makes us unique,” Garfin pointed. “Leupp is a microbrand focused on watches and only watches. It’s that laser focus that allows us to remain designobsessed and provide customers the best unique designs for their buck.”

Garfin and two design London-based associates take care of the design of the products, which are then produced by their manufacturing arm based in Hong Kong. “This allows us to stay true to our commitment: to provide sophisticated products at radically affordable prices,” she said, adding that their ultimate goal for Leupp is to become the public’s go-to

4 BusinessMirror

brand when it comes to everyday-wear fashion watches.

Inspired by minimalism Leupp is inspired by the principle of kanso, which is Japanese for simplicity. The idea is to eliminate clutter; to get rid of the nonessential. “[Leupp] is characterized by unique, versatile, and elevated designs, as well as flattering, flawless, and genderless silhouettes,” Garfin said.

These elements are most evident in the Kubo, Mori, and Ito lines, which Garfin notes as being so versatile that they can be worn with both casual and formal wear.

Kubo, in particular, has an asymmetrical winder, giving it an unexpected yet classy look; Mori, meanwhile, fully embraces the minimalist aesthetic with its clean-looking markers. Ito, arguably the boldest of the three, boasts a square, Bauhaus-inspired shape coupled with an all-black watch face.

Other models that Leupp takes pride in are the Ueno, which Garfin notes as being her personal favorite, and the Imako, which she describes as being “an unconventional watch designed for the non-conformist.”

The road map Just like any other business today,

May 23, 2021

Leuup Ltd is also feeling the brunt of the global pandemic. Nevertheless, the timehonored tradition of gift-giving during birthdays, anniversaries, and other special occasions continue to help the brand survive these challenging times.

“We are still able to pay our bills. The staff are still getting their wages. We are all healthy. So I am grateful,” Garfin said.

Now operating in a studio tucked in the leafy Putney district of southwest London, Leupp continues to focus on creating simple, clean, and contemporary timepieces for fashion-conscious consumers, in stark contrast to their contemporaries, most of whom often tend to put emphasis on style over substance.

Today, Leupp watches are available in its official store at www.leuppwatches.com, as well as in Lazada, Zalora, and their physical stores located at the Paragon, Mall of Asia, and the Penthouse, SM North EDSA and Market Market.

Garfin said that the plan is for Leupp to start catering to a global market within the next two years. “It’s a notion that’s nothing short of ambitious, I’d give you that, but judging by how wellreceived Leupp’s timepieces are, I’m quite sure it won’t be long before that happens.”